I'm so sorry it's taken this long to churn out such a short chapter! RL is unfortunately still kicking my ass and I'm finding writing anything hard work at the moment. My absolute loathing of leaving anything unfinished will mean this story will be completed but due to extenuating circumstances, this one may take a while. I only hope you'll stick with me. Love to you all - as always!

As Charlie settled into his new job they tentatively found a new routine.

The new role had many more branches than the one he'd left behind in Romania; as well as the hands-on work tracking and studying the dragons, he was also responsible for working with local people, producing reports for the Ministry and teaching the occasional lesson to interested students at Hogwarts, amongst other things.

Harry had learned the hard way that "Professor Weasley" dished out corporal punishment.

Charlie had his own office at the Ministry, too, and on Fridays when most Ministry workers finished earlier than the rest of the week Harry often wandered down from the flat after lunch to hang about and make a general nuisance of himself.

"Get out," Charlie demanded one such afternoon. "If I don't finish this report my boss will feed me to a Welsh Green. Go annoy Hermione."

Annoying Hermione was Harry's second favourite Friday afternoon activity. Ron was still far too busy to be an entertaining co-procrastinator.

Harry's re-emergence into wizarding society had been slow and tentative but ultimately rewarding. He was no longer mobbed by enthusiastic well wishers either on the Alley or in the Atrium. His patronage of several pubs in the area was appreciated and the sidelong looks of pity had slowly started to ebb.

Harry Potter may have been injured, but he was not out for the count.

If he rarely ventured over to the Auror office, that was okay. He met up with old workmates regularly at the Leaky or over a coffee. He stayed in the loop. And made it clear he had no intention of rejoining them just yet.

On a Friday afternoon, Hermione Granger- Weasley was easily distracted. Unfortunately for Harry, she had decided that he had now had plenty of time to settle back into his flat and since he was mobile and relatively self-reliant, he had no excuse not to pick up her books again.

"Really, Harry," she sighed as he dunked a chocolate biscuit in his tea. "I can't do all the research for you. St Mungo's are out of ideas. We need to work together on this."

"The Healer is referring me..." Harry mumbled.

"He's referring your case," she corrected. "To Unspeakables. That's not necessarily a good thing."

"It's fine, Hermione," Harry said with a long suffering sigh. "I can't wait for a cure to fall on my lap, I know that."

"So get back to work. RCMC doesn't run itself, you know. I have to put real work in to keep this bloody department going."

"I know, I know."

Harry had wondered if Hermione had been instrumental in Charlie's, and ultimately his own move back to London. There were two heads of department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures - one in regulation, the other in control. Hermione took charge of regulation, which surprised no one. And dragons fell under the category of control. But still, Hermione and her partner worked fairly closely together.

It was easier for him not to ask.

She Disapparated at three on the dot, ready to pick her son up from his nursery and start the weekend. Harry set the series of locking charms on the door and turned in time to see Charlie striding down the corridor, his cloak folded over his arm.

"Done?" Harry asked. Charlie nodded.

Harry frowned and tilted his head to the side. His partner had a funny look in his eye.

"What?" he demanded.

"Do you still want to get married?" Charlie asked, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Yeah. Why not."

"Then let's do it." Charlie's eyes were bright with excitement.

"What, now?" Harry asked, laughing.

"Yeah. The office we need is just down there. I don't want to wait any more."

He stopped laughing. There was something warm bubbling inside him - this feeling, he had no name for. It wasn't new, entirely. But it was definitely something special.

"Yeah. Okay. Let's do it. Do you have the -"

From his pocket, Charlie pulled the small pouch that contained their rings.

"You're well prepared."

"I've been waiting for this for a long time."