Prodded by her internal alarm clock, Ginny opened her eyes a little after six in the morning, incredibly grateful that she was still around to open them. Aware of Harry next to her, she slowly shifted her head to look at him, glad to see his eyes were closed. Carefully, she turned over onto her side to get a better look at him.
Yesterday, he'd looked like he was ready to fall over and she'd been reminded of when the Aurors were running him off of his feet, sending him all over Europe anytime there was even a hint of Dark activity. The dim morning light made him look relaxed, hiding the shadow of stubble on his face and she resisted the impulse to sweep his fringe out of his eyes. I don't want to wake him, she thought, knowing that he'd been asleep only for a couple of hours at most.
"I'll have my work cut out for me then, bringing him to heel," echoed in Ginny's memory and she shook her head as if she could shake the thought out. Nope, you're gone and I'm still here, she thought, glancing at the clock. And I have a load of work to do.
The cat chose that moment to jump up on the bed, nonchalantly walking across Harry's stomach, making him frown and shift around before finally waking up. "Bloody cat," he mumbled, voice hoarse.
"Good morning," Ginny said quietly, giving in to her desire to touch him by sweeping the hair out of his eyes, catching sight of a few more strands of gray.
"What time is it?" he asked, squinting at the clock.
"Almost six-thirty."
"Oh, God," he groaned, rubbing his hands over his face, the sound of his beard rasping against his skin loud in the quiet room.
"Did you sleep?" Harry grunted and shrugged, pushing the cat off his chest. "Stay home today."
"I can't. I need to start setting up the obstacle course and it's the last week before finals," he said with a long sigh.
"One day. You've earned it," she said. Harry turned over on his side, closing his eyes as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"Stay home with me," he said, taking her hand in his and holding it against his chest.
"I can't," Ginny groaned. "I have my first final today."
"We're both screwed, then." He held his arm out and she burrowed into his embrace, resting her head against his chest. "Listen, I want Ron to stay with you today, all right? Let him handle the Apparating."
"Harry, I'm not a child. I can Apparate myself, okay?" she protested.
"I know you're probably all right, but I don't want you to wear yourself out and get stuck somewhere," he said, sounding unconscionably reasonable. "Matthew said it could take as long as a week to get your full energy back."
"I know how to take a bus, Harry."
"Do you know what line goes right by here?" Ginny frowned in thought and Harry smiled. "See, you don't even know. You'd have no idea how to get home if you couldn't Apparate."
"I'd get a cab," she said, affecting a superior tone. "I know the cross streets." Harry drew a breath to argue and she put her finger against his lips. "But I'll humor you and let my big, scary brother escort me around today."
"Thank you," he said, muffled by her finger still against his lips.
Ginny heard the other shower start up and she sighed. "Ron's up."
"Good. Maybe he'll make coffee." Harry's eyes slipped closed again and Ginny kissed him on the cheek.
"Go back to sleep. I'll get you up in time, all right?" Ginny slipped out from under his arm, smiling when Stuart took her place. Tugging the cat's tail, she shuffled into the bathroom to take care of her most urgent business. Washing her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror, frowning at the dark circles under her eyes. Hm, looks like some makeup is in order today.
She was studying the new coffeemaker in the kitchen when Ron ambled in, looking fresh as a daisy, hair still damp from his shower. "Morning," he said, taking the carafe out of her hand, expertly filling it with water and pouring it into the coffeemaker. "How are you feeling?"
"All right. Still a bit tired. Matthew said it could take a week before I'm all the way back," Ginny said, figuring it was useless to try and hide anything from him. She looked through the cabinets, trying to think of where Harry might have put the coffee, finally finding it in the cabinet right above the coffeemaker. "You're in charge of me today. You get to follow me around, carry my books and Apparate me wherever I want to go."
"Hm. I think I hear Hermione calling my name," Ron grunted, measuring out what looked like entirely too much coffee into the filter before snapping it shut and pushing a button.
"Do you need to get back? What about your own finals?"
"Had them last week. For once you have excellent timing," he said, favoring her with a grin. Cocking his head toward their bedroom, he asked, "How is he?"
"He's asleep right now, but he'll need to get up soon. I tried to get him to stay home today, but he says he can't. Too much to do. Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah, not too bad. Bed's a bit small, but I did a bit of lengthening on it." Ron opened up the refrigerator and peered in, pulling out the eggs and a package of bacon.
"Well, it is meant for Teddy. You're lucky it's not in the shape of a race car." Ginny handed him one of their new, expensive copper pans and watched as he cracked several eggs into a bowl and quickly scrambled them.
"That would have been cool."
The smell of coffee and bacon permeated the kitchen and Ginny heard their shower start up. "I'd hoped he would sleep longer," she said, dropping bread into the toaster.
"Harry's tough," Ron said, shoving a mass of eggs onto a plate along with four pieces of bacon. "Here, eat." He handed the plate to Ginny and she obediently took it, settling down at the breakfast bar.
"Yes, Mum," she said with a cheeky smile.
"You're too thin. Mum would be scandalized. Harry, too." Ron put even more eggs and bacon on another plate and set it next to her along with a cup of coffee. A moment later, Harry came out of the bedroom, dressed for work.
"Aw, Weasley. Breakfast waiting for me. I didn't think you still cared," he said with a simpering smile as he sat down.
"I don't, but for some reason my sister has decided to keep you around," Ron said around a piece of bacon. "All right, mate?"
Harry shrugged, drinking half of the coffee in his cup in long gulps. "I'll be fine." Ron slathered butter and jam on the toast, plopping a slice on each of their plates before pouring his own cup of coffee.
"Ginny says I'm to chaperone her today," he said as he buttered his own toast.
"Yeah, if you don't mind. I don't want her to get too tired and get stranded." Harry smiled at Ginny's soft snort. "That reminds me, I need to add you to our Seal."
"Such a level of trust."
"Sod off, Weasley." Harry quickly finished his breakfast, glancing at his watch. "Bugger," he muttered, hopping off of the barstool to disappear back into the bedroom, coming out a moment later with his tie loose around his neck and his blazer over his arm. "Blood," he said, looking at Ron and Ginny. Dutifully they contributed drops of blood while Harry reset the Blood Seal to allow Ron access to their home.
"Here, let me do that. You'll only mess it up," Ginny said, quickly tying his tie as he shrugged on his blazer. She took a step back as he picked up his bag, settling it across his chest. He still looked like he'd had a rough time of it and she sincerely hoped the kids didn't give him too much trouble today. "Don't let them smell weakness."
Harry snorted, raising an eyebrow. "Mind your brother, all right?"
"Ugh, yes, all right! Are you going to be late?"
"Depends. I'd like to get a start on that course," Harry said, eyes losing focus as he turned his thoughts inward.
"Well, you look dead on your feet, so you have my permission to skip running today and come home straight away."
"Doctor's orders?" Harry smiled down at her and she felt a wash of happiness, going up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
"Yes. Even though I'm technically not a doctor yet," she said, acutely aware of Ron standing behind her. Harry nodded at him over her head and Apparated out of the flat, leaving the two of them standing there. Ginny sighed and turned to look at her brother. "Well, I have an Organic Chemistry final in about an hour and a half. Get ready to carry some books."
"Oh. My. God. I think my brain is going to melt," Ben said, collapsing down into a chair outside the coffee shop.
"Mine too," Ginny said, taking the seat across from him. Ron settled into the one next to her, scooting his chair back to take advantage of the warm sun.
"How can you have had a hard time? Don't you already know all of this with your …" he paused a moment, looking around, "potions stuff?"
"Well, potions is hardly the same thing, isn't it?" Ginny said with a shrug. "Organic chemistry is all about structure and properties and such and potions is … potions."
Ben shook his head at her. "You're going to have to show me how that all works one of these days. But right now, the only organic chemistry I'm interested in is introducing as much caffeine into my system as possible. What do you want?"
"Iced americano, if you please."
"Um, can I get you anything?" he asked Ron shyly.
"Double macchiato. Ta," Ron said, flashing a smile bright enough to make Ben blush.
"You stop that!" Ginny said, hitting him in the shoulder when Ben went inside to get their drinks.
"What?" Ron asked, aggrieved at her abuse.
"You know what. You've been flirting with him all day!"
"I have not!"
"You have, too!" Ginny narrowed her eyes at her smiling brother stretched out in the chair in the sun. "Admit it, you like the attention."
"It's just a bit of harmless fun, yeah? Come on, he knows I'm married to Hermione," Ron said, sounding just a little defensive.
"Well, don't let it go too far, all right? It's a stressful time right now," she said frowning when he rolled his eyes at her.
"You're just jealous because I've replaced Harry in his affections," he said loftily, looking away across the grassy quad.
"Hardly," she snorted, remembering Ben's look of amazement when she'd shown up outside the lecture hall with Ron in tow.
"Ginny," he'd hissed, pulling her aside after she'd made the proper introductions, "are all of the men you know really, really ridiculously good-looking?"
She looked back at Ron, leaning against the wall with one foot propped up against it and his arms folded across his chest, knotwork tattoo peeking out from under the sleeve of his shirt. He looked utterly implacable and she wrinkled her nose. "You think he's good-looking? I mean, Hermione likes him, but she's got some odd tastes. I've always thought Bill was the best-looking, even with the werewolf scars."
Ben's eyes bugged out and he shook his head. "We're going to have to have a conversation when all of this is done."
A few moments later, Ben came out of the coffee shop, juggling the three drinks and a paper bag with pastries. "Here you go," he said, setting the drinks and pastries down on the table. Ron leaned forward, digging in his pocket and pulling out his wallet, but Ben waved him off. "I've got this round," he said with a grin.
"Fair enough," Ron shrugged, taking his drink and a croissant.
Ginny sipped her iced coffee, enjoying the coolness of the drink in the warm sun. "Now," Ben said, leaning towards her, "will you please tell me what happened this weekend?"
Blinking in surprise, Ginny gathered her thoughts, fixing a blank look on her face. "Well, we spent all day and night Saturday getting moved into our new place. Harry let me oversleep on Sunday and I missed our last study group," she said.
"Ginny. We both know that's complete BS," Ben countered and she felt a flush rise to her face at Ron's grunt of agreement. He held up one finger. "First, Auror Gutierrez is called away. Second, Harry comes to my apartment looking like he hasn't slept all night, telling me that you're tired from studying and moving. Third, the guy that was making trouble falls over dead and then Auror Gutierrez says she won't need to keep an eye on me anymore and that I should be safe." Ben looked at Ron and pointed his finger at him, making Ron raise his eyebrows. "Fourth, your brother shows up looking like some kind of, I don't know, a honey badger or something, carrying your bag and not letting you out of his sight."
"Well—" she began, only to be cut off by his raised finger.
"I'm sure being a cop taught Harry how to lie pretty well, but there are some things you just can't hide and like my mom used to say, there's just no such thing as coincidence," he said, sitting back in his seat and folding his arms in satisfaction.
"What's a honey badger?" Ron asked, sounding amused.
"It's a vicious little shit. I'll show you a video. Don't change the subject!"
Ginny felt the pressure of two sets of blue eyes on her and she took another sip of her coffee to stall for time. "Has anyone ever told you you're too smart for your own good?"
"Several times. Out with it, sister."
She looked at Ron and he shrugged as if to say it was her call how much she wanted to tell him. Sighing, she shook her head and marshaled her thoughts. "Well. Do you remember when you first learned about us and all the …" she said, waving her hands the way Ben did whenever he referenced magic. He nodded and she went on. "I told you about Harry and Voldemort—how he defeated him? Well, what I didn't tell you about was about a thing called a Horcrux …"
Harry's eyes snapped open, panicked breath harsh in his throat. He lay very still, eyes darting around the room, seeing only their dim bedroom and he turned over, exhaling a shuddering breath at the sight of Ginny next to him, curled on her side. He stared at her until he saw her ribcage flex with her breathing before letting out a sigh of relief. Closing his eyes, the vision of Ginny falling backwards as if she were a puppet with cut strings assaulted him and he opened his eyes again, shaking his head, wishing he could shake the terrible image out of it.
The sound of his blood rushing was so loud in his ears he was certain it would wake her as he reached out a hand to her, afraid she would be cold to the touch again. She wasn't, though, and the relief he felt at the sensation of her warmth nearly took his breath away as he settled his hand on her hip. "Harry?" she mumbled, turning towards him, brown eyes heavy with sleep.
"Shh, go back to sleep," he whispered, kissing her on her forehead.
She frowned, looking more alert. "What are you doing awake? You need sleep more than I do."
"I'm fine," he insisted, feeling foolish for having woken her. He still felt exhausted and a headache throbbed behind his eyes.
"Liar. Come here." Ginny lay on her back and stretched out her arm, inviting Harry to lay his head on her breast, stroking her fingers through his unruly black hair. The steady beat of her heart against his ear had a calming effect and he let his eyes slip closed. "What woke you?" she asked in the quiet darkness.
"You were falling. The stairs."
"Oh." She took in a deep breath, the sound of the air rushing into her lungs filling his ear. "Well, I'm not falling, all right?"
"Yeah." He rubbed his thumb over the strip of exposed skin between her top and pajama bottoms and Ginny shifted under him, moving to lie on her side to face him. She reached out and rested her hand against the side of his face, pulling him in for a kiss. Their kiss was gentle and sweet at first, but the feeling of her soft lips against his sparked something primal in him and he pressed harder, cradling her face in his hands. She made a soft sound and he became aware of her hands in his hair, fingernails scraping along his scalp to send a wave of prickles all over his body.
Wrapping her fingers in his hair, she gave a sharp tug and he grunted as she opened her mouth to him, inviting him to explore. Desperate to feel more of her, he grabbed the waist of her pajama bottoms, pushing them down along with her knickers, growling when she kicked them off the rest of the way. Harry closed his eyes, submerging himself in the sensation of her warm body against his as he slid his lips over her heated skin. Her pulse in her neck beat a steady rhythm against his lips and he felt his own thrumming to match.
He used his teeth on the soft skin at the junction of her neck and shoulder, drawing a trembling gasp from her. Wanting to hear it again, he bit down harder, letting out his own gasp when she moaned his name and dug her nails into his back, raking down hard to make his skin burn. "Are you marking me?" he asked, leaving his own red mark on her neck.
"Yes," she whispered, doing it again, harder this time and Harry pressed his mouth to her shoulder to quiet his groan, aware of Ron's presence in the apartment. Sliding his thigh in between hers, he pushed her legs apart, the feeling of her wet heat nearly making him giddy with desire.
"Anything but cold now," he muttered against her breast as he stroked her with his fingers, searching out the places he knew she loved to be touched, a visceral thrill rolling through his gut when she bucked her hips against his hand. Sealing his lips to hers, he swallowed her cries as she came, wave after wave of tremors sweeping through her, leaving her clinging to him as if for dear life.
Every single twitch, jolt and sigh let Harry know that Ginny was gloriously, wonderfully alive and his heart rejoiced when she whispered his name over and over to him as her hands slid over his back and shoulders, her touch feather-light. His skin twitched at the sensation of her fingers skating underneath the waistband of his boxers as she reached for his hard cock. He bit down on her shoulder to muffle his sounds, breathing hard through his nose as she brought him off in a few quick strokes.
He rubbed the red mark his teeth had left on her as if he was trying to erase it. "Did I hurt you?" he asked quietly.
"No," she whispered, sweeping a lock of hair from his temple. "All right?"
"Yeah," he sighed, shifting onto his back. He closed his eyes, vainly wishing for sleep. He was monstrously tired, but his brain refused to shut off. The messages from Archimedes weighed heavily on his mind and he was tired of mentally composing response after response.
"Do you want a potion?"
"No." He smiled as he felt her hand glide over his softening cock in his damp boxers. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to put you to sleep," she whispered his ear.
"And you think that's the way to do it?"
"Works for me sometimes," she said matter-of-factly.
Harry raised his head and looked at her. "Does it?" She shrugged and gave him one of her half-smiles, continuing to stroke him with the flat of her hand. "I'm not going to lie and say that I'm not intrigued at the idea of you wanking me to sleep, but no. I need to get up and settle my head."
"Okay," she said, withdrawing her hand and settling back on her pillows. "I'm going to stay here. You may have wanked me to sleep." He kissed her on the forehead and got out of bed, jumping in surprise at the silent Scourgify Ginny sent his way. She winked at him as she primly set her wand on the new bedside table.
Harry was surprised to see Ron sitting awake in the lounge, reading one of his books on blood magic and he was acutely aware of his slowly dwindling erection. Ron flicked his eyes down to his crotch and then back up, raising an eyebrow. Harry felt his face heat up as he sat down in the recliner and took his laptop out of his bag, hoping he wouldn't notice the throbbing red streaks on his back and shoulders. "Couldn't sleep?" Ron asked mildly, turning a page in his book.
"Slept for a bit. Woke up," Harry said, surprised to find his glasses on the arm of the recliner, having only a vague memory of his actions when he'd gotten home. He put them on and opened the laptop, squinting at the bright light from the screen.
"When you got home, I thought you'd sleep for a week." Ron closed the book, leaving his finger in it to mark his place. "I didn't even ask. How was your day, darling?"
Harry snorted, giving him the V as he looked over his email, dismayed to see one from Auror Sutton as well as Archimedes. "Horrible. Shitty and horrible. Yours?"
"Not too bad. Messed about while Ginny had her exams. Flirted a bit with your boyfriend."
"How'd that work out for you?"
"I think we're running away to Ibiza next week."
Harry grunted as he read over the email from Archimedes. It pretty much repeated what the Patronuses he'd sent had said and he shook his head, cursor hovering over the trash button. He decided not to delete it and read the one from Sutton.
Harry, I hope this message finds you and Ginny both well. I'm very sorry that she took injury in the confrontation with Weatherbee and I'm hopeful for a full recovery. I want to thank you for your support throughout these events. I don't know that we would have been as successful without your knowledge and expertise. I know that you had your own reasons for leaving the Aurors in England, but I hope you'll consider Archimedes's offer to join our department. I'm sure you'll find that we're a little bit different here! You'd be such an asset to the department and I have no doubt you'd be the youngest department head in our history. I have a feeling that you and I would make an excellent team.
—Mark
Sighing, Harry closed the lid of the laptop, leaning his head back against the recliner. Eyes shut, he heard Ron shift around and set the book down on the coffee table. "Bad news?" he asked.
"Aggravating. I was hoping I'd be left alone out here, you know?" He lifted his head and looked at his best friend. "You'd be such an asset to the department. No one else has your experience. Become a director in three years. Youngest department head in history," he said, repeating information from both Archimedes and Sutton's messages. "It's the exact same shit I got from the Ministry."
"I would beg to differ on the whole 'no one else has your experience' bit. I was right there," Ron said, sounding a little affronted.
"Shall I point them your way, then? They might take you as a consolation prize."
"Consolation my arse. Isn't that what you were to that school when Hermione turned them down?" Ron stood and stretched. "Tea?"
"No, thanks." Despite his exhaustion, he still felt like he couldn't settle down. "I'm going to go for a run."
Raising his eyebrows, Ron looked at the clock on the microwave that said "3:30 am" in blue. "Want company?"
"What are you, my bodyguard?"
"No, you've made it quite plain that I'm Ginny's," he said loftily, filling the kettle with water. Harry padded past the kitchen on the way to the bedroom to change. "Oi, mate," Ron said with a knowing smile, making him pause by the door, "you might want to have her take a look at your back."
"Lot of good that would do me. Gin's the one that did it."
"Ugh," Ron groaned, turning the burner on underneath the kettle. "You two are the worst."
A few minutes later, Harry was running down the trail that went along the water heading through Marina Green toward Crissy Field, concentrating on his breathing and trying to quiet the voices in his head. He had just passed the public restrooms when a dark-clad figure darted out and ran toward him. Whirling, Harry drew his wand and had nearly cast Stupefy when he realized it was Auror Sutton.
Tucking his wand away, he turned and resumed his run, determined to ignore the other man. Keeping his eyes on the lights of the Golden Gate Bridge in front of him, Harry focused on the sound of his trainers hitting the paved trail, seeking solace in the rhythm. The Auror running easily next to him was making that difficult, however, and he found himself growing more and more irritated. He finally slowed to a stop at the Warming Hut, absurdly pleased that Sutton was breathing harder than he was.
"Am I being watched?" he asked without preamble, turning to face the other man.
Sutton shrugged and shook his head. "Archimedes wanted to keep an eye on your place for a few days in case anyone decided to get cute. Some of his more ardent supporters are … unsettled by Weatherbee's current absence."
"So Archimedes put you on it?" Harry asked, not completely surprised that their place was being monitored. He filed away the information that Weatherbee's death hadn't yet been announced for later contemplation.
"Not me specifically, no. I got a message that you were heading out and I was curious as to what would make you leave your home at this time of the night."
"Satisfied?"
Sutton smiled and shook his head. "How's Ginny?"
"Fine."
"I heard Ron Weasley's in town."
"Yup." They stood looking at each other, the wind off of the bay giving Harry a chill on his sweat-dampened skin.
"Aren't you going to ask about Jacob?" Sutton finally asked.
"I haven't seen any announcement in the paper, so I assume he's fine," Harry said, feeling a small twinge that he hadn't asked after him. He'd just been caught up in the events, purely by an accident of birth.
"He's recovering. Whatever Weatherbee did to him involved more than just blood."
"I can refer you to an excellent Healer." Harry rolled his shoulders, trying to alleviate the ache there. "Listen, this has been a nice chat, but I have an early morning." He turned to run back, stopped by the other man's hand on his shoulder. Shaking it off, he turned. "What?"
"You got our messages? I know Archimedes sent you several Patronuses."
"Yes, I got them," he said, a flash of annoyance coming over him as he remembered his classes exclaiming at the spectral greyhounds that trotted into his classroom throughout the day.
"And?" Auror Sutton asked, looking at him expectantly.
"And what?" Harry asked, knowing what Sutton wanted to hear and stubbornly refusing to say it.
"What about his offer?"
Harry took a deep breath through his nose and let it out slowly. "His offer? To join the department? To be his dogsbody and be groomed to take over the department when he really retires? To be sent away from Gin at his whim anytime anything even smells the least bit Dark? To put my life on the line again, hoping for a pat on the head and a medal? To be 'Famous Harry Potter, Dark Wizard Catcher'?" He shook his head, giving Auror Sutton a mirthless smile. "No."
"Come on. You're wasted there at that school and you know it. Join the department, be my partner," Sutton said earnestly.
"So you can save me from being wasted? You have any kids? How old?"
"I have a son. He's ten."
"So I'll be seeing him in a couple of years, then?" Harry looked at Sutton in the light of the nearby streetlamp and shook his head. "We'll see how 'wasted' I am when I'm teaching your son, yeah?" Not waiting for a response, he turned and jogged swiftly away, glad when Sutton didn't follow him.
The next evening, Harry and Ron were putting together the new telly under Ben's supervision. They had spent most of an hour deciding on the perfect speaker placement for optimal surround sound and now Ben was on the sofa, directing Harry as he levitated the television against the wall, focusing on keeping it steady.
"Hm, I think just a bit higher on the left. And then move the whole thing to the right. Your other right. More. Okay, I think that's good," he said with finality.
"Gin, would you do the honors?" Harry asked, his arm getting tired of being stuck out in front of him. Ben had proved to be exceedingly picky in television placement.
"Of course," she said, setting aside her container of Chinese food and getting out her wand, efficiently casting a Sticking Charm.
Ben sighed in amazement when Harry lowered his wand and the television hung on the wall as if it had always been there. "But what about all of those cables?" he asked pointing to the black cords hanging underneath the television.
"Well, let's get them hooked up and then you'll see," Harry said, smiling at him. Plugging the cables into the audio/video receiver, he stood up and waved his wand with an outrageous flourish, casting an Invisibility Charm on the unsightly cables. Ben gasped in appreciation.
"Magic is so cool," he breathed, reminding Harry that magic didn't have to be all about Horcruxes and involuntary possession, that it could be something as simple as sticking a telly to a wall and hiding some cables.
"What d'you even need a telly that big for?" Ron asked from his sprawled position in what was apparently his favorite recliner. He took a drink of his beer and pointed at the television with it. "That's got to be the biggest one I've ever seen."
"Oh, there's definitely bigger," Harry said as he picked up the needlessly complicated remote control. "I think I showed remarkable restraint." He chose to ignore Ginny's snort of disagreement as he pressed the button that should turn everything on. All of the devices clicked and whirred to life and he pressed another button, a little tray sliding forward.
"Use this one," Ben said, handing him a disc. Harry dropped it in and pressed the button to close it, smiling as he heard it spin up. A few moments later, a loud fanfare seemed to come from everywhere and Ron jumped in his seat, startled by the music.
"Bloody hell! You're going to wake up the neighbors with that racket!" he exclaimed, ears pink with embarrassment. Laughing, Harry turned down the sound, completely delighted at the clarity and quality of the speakers.
"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…" he intoned as the yellow script crawled into infinity against a star field.
Ben sat on the sofa, mouth hanging open in awe. "It's so pretty," he breathed reverently.
Harry had just sat down and put his arm around Ginny as Darth Vader threw a fit at the disappearance of the two droids when a ghostly greyhound trotted through the door, coming to a stop in front of him and sitting down in that strange way greyhounds had. All eyes were on him and he finally set his hand on top of the Patronus's head. Harry, could you meet me at the Church Key around nine tonight? There are some things I'd like to discuss. Message delivered, the greyhound dissipated into a pearly fog.
"What just happened?" he heard Ben whisper to Ginny.
"I got a message from Archimedes," Harry told him, running his hand through his hair.
"What'd he say?" Ron asked, leaning forward in the recliner, Sith Lords and space princesses forgotten for the moment.
"Wants me to come by a pub called the Church Key in … half an hour," he said, glancing at the clock before taking a long swallow of the beer he'd just opened.
Ron grunted and nodded. "You going to go? Want me to come?"
"Yeah, I'm going to go," Harry finally said after a long moment. "I can't keep putting him off. I can go by myself, I think." Ron shrugged and drank more of his beer. Harry was sure he was planning on coming along anyway.
"As usual, you're up to your arse in alligators and it's up to me to manage them. You can consider me your solicitor," Ron said with a grin.
"A year of law school hardly makes you a solicitor," Ginny pointed out.
"And a year of medical school doesn't make you a doctor, does it?" he shot back.
"Oh snap," Ben murmured as Ginny rolled her eyes.
"You mind if I go?" Harry asked Ginny, half hoping that she would object.
"You've got to talk to him sometime, don't you? It's just going to get worse the longer you put it off," she said with her typical pragmatism. Harry nodded, looking at the telly without really seeing the droids wandering around in the desert landscape, wondering exactly what Archimedes wanted to tell him that was so important that it couldn't wait for the next day.
At the appointed time, Harry and Ron walked through the door of the Church Key, Harry remembering the debriefing session they'd had there after the events of the Pensieve. Archimedes was alone in a booth at the back that had an excellent view of the front door. He noticed that there was a pint of Guinness waiting for him across from the older man.
As they approached, he saw Archimedes signal the barmaid and make a request, nodding his head at Ron. By the time they were seated, she was back, setting a freshly-poured pint of Guinness in front of Ron. He took a long swallow, nodding at Archimedes in thanks.
Determined to make Archimedes break the silence that stretched out between the three of them, Harry drank his own Guinness and looked him over. He didn't seem to be any the worse for wear from their adventure the other night, but he knew that he must be feeling the residual effects from tampering with and breaking the Blood Seal. Ron had been impressed when Harry described how quickly he'd done it. "He's going to be feeling like shite for at least a week," he'd commented.
But there he was. Pink-cheeked, iron-gray hair in his usual ponytail and his long beard snowy white. Harry thought he could see a hint of shadows underneath his eyes and quashed the flash of sympathy he felt for the man. Ron spun a coaster on its edge, the sound of it flapping down to the table the only sound.
Finally, Archimedes cleared his throat. "How's Ginny?" he asked.
"Didn't Sutton tell you? She's fine," Harry said, satisfied at the flush that rose to his cheeks.
"That's good to hear. When she didn't turn up at SF Thaumaturgical, I was very worried."
Harry shrugged, knowing that he was fishing around to see where he'd taken Ginny after he'd left Weatherbee's basement.
"You were worried?" Ron said, "When my mum saw her hand move to Mortal Peril she went completely spare. Sent me a Howler telling me to get my arse over here and find out what's going on."
"I'm sorry for causing your mother undue stress," Archimedes said apologetically.
"But not sorry for putting Ginny in that situation?" Ron looked at him with a raised eyebrow, combative scowl on his face.
Archimedes heaved a long sigh. "I'm sorry for the whole situation. One man dead, your sister hurt, Jacob hurt, Statute violated, Legion of Honor damaged, Muggles attacked …"
"Sounds like it's been a great year." Ron took another swallow of beer and silence fell once more.
"Harry—" Archimedes began, but Harry cut him off.
"You lied to me. The very first time we met, you lied and said you were retired. Why?" he said, careful to keep the anger he felt out of his voice, focusing on trying to sound merely curious.
Archimedes winced. "I felt that if I had introduced myself as the head of the San Francisco Regional Auror Department you would have run in the opposite direction. I wasn't lying when I said I was an admirer of yours and I very much wanted to get to know you."
"And you thought that lying to my face was the best way to do it?"
"I was planning on telling you eventually, but then things started to get out of hand and I felt like the timing was never right."
"You could have told me that night you Summoned me out into the rain and got me in the shit with Gin. D'you know she threw me out over that?" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ron's mouth fall open in amazement.
"Getting you in trouble was not my intention, Harry. I had no idea of the history between you and Ginny over your Auror career. You're right, I should have told you then," Archimedes said, looking very contrite. He fiddled with a coaster, turning it over and over in his hands. "Is that when she got her tattoo?"
"What about her tattoo?" Ron asked, looking between the two of them. "Harry, is Ginny's tattoo activated?"
"Ron, she insisted, all right? Yell at her about it," Harry said tiredly. "Besides, it's come in damn handy."
"Oh, you can bet we're going to have a long conversation," Ron said, mumbling under his breath about sisters that didn't have any sense of self-preservation.
"Please accept my deepest apologies, Harry. I held on to the misguided hope that I could ease you back into the idea of rejoining the Aurors and I thought the best way was to present myself as more of an Auror emeritus." Archimedes took a long drink of his cider. "I haven't often had to admit that I was wrong and I'm afraid it doesn't come easy to me."
Harry looked at him, wondering if he was expecting absolution from him. He had to admit that he was a bit mollified by the apology, but that didn't entirely take away the sting of Sutton's amazement the night of the disaster. "Why me?" he asked after a long silence.
Archimedes shrugged. "You've got talent, skills, instincts. You managed to stay alive when you were a child with the worst Dark wizard hunting you down. Fully-trained and more knowledgeable in the field of Dark Arts than most people realize. I know Artemis has no idea as to how much you really know and he'd probably faint on the spot if he did," he said, clearly refusing to mention the baggage that came with the Harry Potter name.
Looking at him earnestly, he continued, sounding like he was warming to the subject. "I wasn't lying when I said you could become the youngest department head in history. You could have my place by the time you're thirty-five."
"Won't that upset some people? Me coming in as some sort of usurper?" Harry said, thinking of Sutton.
"You mean Mark? He's been champing at the bit for the opportunity to work with you. He could become your right-hand man."
"Already got one, thanks."
"Cheers," Ron said, clinking his glass against Harry's.
"It would be a wonderful opportunity for you and for California. Harry, you could rise far indeed." Archimedes fell silent, clearly waiting for his response.
"Did I ever tell you exactly why I left the Ministry?" Harry asked after a moment. "I was tired of being used. All of my life, I was used. Voldemort wanted to use my death as a way to cement his power. My aunt and uncle used me as a glorified house boy. My cousin used me as a punching bag. Wizards used me as a beacon of hope. Death Eaters used me as symbol of hate. Even Albus Dumbledore himself used me to some extent." Harry shook his head and took a deep breath.
"When it was all over, I thought I finally had the chance to do something I wanted to do instead of something I had to do. I went into the Aurors for the opportunity to fight against the Dark on my own terms, but that was another lie." Mouth dry, Harry finished his Guinness, savoring the rich taste.
He looked around the pub before continuing, eyes settling on the flirty group playing darts in the corner. "The Ministry was so desperate to put the past behind that I became their new symbol. Everything's going to be all right now! We've got Harry Potter! He's training to be an Auror and will protect you and your children from all of the things that go bump in the night! Read the latest interview with him in the Daily Prophet and find out his favorite counter curses!" he said, bitter memories coming to the surface.
"And I went along with it at first. Wizarding Britain had just been through a hard time, I reasoned. If I can do a little bit to make the transition easier, then I should. After a while the interviews slowed down and the general public moved on with their lives for the most part, but the Ministry never forgets, yeah?" The barmaid put fresh drinks down in front of them and he took a grateful swallow of the fresh pint.
"Far be it from the Ministry to set aside a useful tool and I was entirely too useful to them." He shoved Ron with his elbow. "And then this one gets a girlfriend and up and leaves me and it just got worse. I was done with being sent anywhere there was a whiff of the Dark, never really too sure what could be waiting for me. And all the while Kingsley is telling me how far I'll go."
"Sorry, mate," Ron said quietly.
"Not your fault, yeah? You were ready to be done after that knee thing." Archimedes was looking at him with an unreadable look in his eyes, fingers steepled under his chin and Harry focused on the dark depths of the beer in his glass. "I was tired of holding Gin at arm's length. I wasn't going to leave her a widow with children, so I got out. I want to live my own life and do what I want for a change."
He looked back up at the Auror, realizing that he did value the man's friendship and didn't want to lose it completely. "So I'm going to have to decline your offer, Archimedes. That part of my life is over." Harry felt his heart racing and he felt absurdly lighter. He'd never given voice to his feelings about being part of the Ministry and being the physical embodiment of Wizarding Britain's hopes for moving forward and all of the pressure and expectations that came with. He knew Ron had surmised most of it, but to actually put it to words was completely different.
Archimedes let out a long sigh and drank nearly half of his cider in long swallows. "Well, I guess I can't argue with that," he said as he set his glass back down. "Again, please accept my apologies. I didn't quite fully … realize how you felt."
"Well, I don't make a habit of blabbing all over the place about my 'feelings'," Harry said, taking his turn at spinning a coaster on its corner.
"So, uh, Ginny's tattoo," Ron said slowly, "you said it's been handy?"
"Yeah. She said she wanted an absolutely foolproof way to get ahold of me. She used it to get me out of the Pensieve when we were messing about with that coin." He looked at Ron and smiled. "Your sister's stubbornness can be useful, sometimes."
"She saved us both that night," Archimedes said musingly, a speculative look on his face.
"Don't even think about it," Ron growled, beating Harry to it. Archimedes held up both hands in surrender and reached down on the bench next to him, setting several books on the table.
"What's this? A bribe?" Harry asked, looking over the titles. They were all very old and had titles like 'Bloode Will Tell' and 'Alchemie of Blood'. His heart skipped a beat and he picked one up, leafing through the musty pages. "A Treatiese On The Blood Of Witches And Wizards And The Uses Thereof," he murmured. "I've been on the lookout for this one." He put it back on top of the stack. "Where did you find these?"
"Weatherbee's library. Thought you might be interested in them."
"What about his heirs?"
"There aren't any as far as we can tell," he said, pushing the books towards Harry. "Keep them."
"Don't you want them for the department?" Archimedes smiled and raised his eyebrows. "Of course," Harry said, not envying the grunt whose job it had likely been to produce magical copies of the books and verify the accuracy.
"And I thought you'd want to see this." He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper, handing it to Harry.
Unfolding it, he realized it was a copy of the news article announcing Weatherbee's death and he quickly scanned it, handing it to Ron when he was done. "So, you have Jacob discovering him?"
"I thought that would seem the most plausible. He was his campaign manager, after all," Archimedes said with a small smile.
"Natural causes," Ron said with satisfaction, handing the sheet of paper back to Archimedes. "I told you." He finished his pint in long swallows and left the booth, heading for the loo.
"Are you expecting any trouble when this is published?"
Archimedes moved his hand back and forth like a seesaw. "Well, we're not expecting a huge outcry, but I've got the Aurors and MLES both on alert for anything unusual."
"Do you think there's a chance that Ben might be attacked again? I know you've reassigned Gutierrez."
"We still have eyes on Ben, don't you worry."
"Like you have eyes on my place?"
"You're watching Harry's place?" Ron asked as he sat back down.
"We have someone in position until we're sure things have returned to normal," Archimedes said. "How much longer are you in town for?"
"I'll probably go back day after tomorrow," Ron said with a questioning look at Harry.
"Up to you, mate. Hermione's got to be missing you, yeah?"
"Yeah. Had a Patronus from her this morning. It was … nice." He had a dreamy look on his face and Harry suppressed a shudder.
"Well, I hope you'll accept an invitation to our house for dinner tomorrow night. To make up for the reason for your trip out here," Archimedes said with a glance at Harry.
"We'll see how Gin feels after her finals. I understand tomorrow is a tough one," Harry cut in, saving Ron from being put on the spot.
"Of course. Just let me know. I know Sarah would love to see you all." He checked his watch. "And speaking of, she's probably wondering how long I'm planning on staying out tonight."
Harry looked at his own watch, surprised to see that it was later than he thought. "We should probably get back, too." He gathered up the books and slid out of the booth, feeling a little awkward standing there.
"Thanks for meeting me," Archimedes said, holding out his hand to Ron and shaking his hand firmly. "Good to see you again, Ron. I hope we can get together tomorrow night."
"Yeah, cheers," Ron said, carefully not promising that they would get together.
A few moments later, they were back home, Ginny and Ben still on the sofa, watching as Princess Leia placed medals around Han's and Luke's necks. "Chewie way gets boned here. He did as much as Han did," Ben was saying around a mouthful of popcorn.
"Oh, you're back! How'd it go?" Ginny said, getting up from the sofa and taking the books from Harry. She looked at the titles and wrinkled her nose. "What are these?"
"Books from Weatherbee's library. Archimedes gave them to me."
Ginny raised her eyebrow and set them on the coffee table. "All right then. So, are you still friends?"
Harry shrugged and took off his hoodie, hanging it up on the coatrack by the door. "We're invited to dinner tomorrow night at their place."
"Are we going?" she asked with a glance at Ron.
"Haven't decided yet. Depends on how tired your finals make you." Harry grinned down at her and kissed the tip of her nose. "Come on, let's put in Empire. It's the best one."