18 Weeks

Neville burst into the office. "Let's go, there's been a spike in activity outside Cardiff."

Harry grabbed his cloak. "Was the first squad already dispatched?"

"Yes. Ron went with them. Tonks and Castle are on their way."

Harry followed Neville to the lift that went directly to the outside.

"I'm definitely not going to miss this," Neville said.

Harry gripped his friend's shoulder. "You're a great Auror, Neville. It won't be the same without you."

They exited and quickly disapparated.

He knew something was wrong the moment he caught his bearings. The air around him felt heavy and he heard far off yells and screams. He tugged on Neville's sleeve and took off running in the direction of the spellfire.

He braced himself against the closest building and slowly peered around the corner.

Ron, Tonks, and Castle were fighting against what looked like two assailants.

"Neville, take this side, I'll come around the back."

"Got it."

They switched places. Harry slinked around the brick building and carefully walked closer to the battle going on only meters ahead of him.

Wand out, he cast a quick location spell to pinpoint where everyone was.

He gasped, feeling a pulse on the right side of his body. He quickly whipped his head around and met the sneer and cocked eyebrow of another assailant.

"A little late, aren't ya?" He swung his fist and landed a full blow on Harry's nose.

Harry fell against the wall and tears sprung in his eyes. "Stupefy!"

The man above him blocked him with a shield. "Really, Potter? I thought you were some hotshot Auror."

Harry growled under his breath. He pushed himself onto his heels and surged forward tackling the wizard to the ground. He punched him with his free hand, satisfied by the sound of cracking under his knuckles.

He hurried to his feet, kicked the wizard's wand away, and quickly immobilized him. He wrapped him up in chains for good measure and secured the suspect's wand.

The wizard on the ground was left in a permanent glare. Harry picked him up by the back of his collar and began to drag him toward the other fight taking place.

He tossed him behind a pile of rubble and slowly peered around the building.

There were four suspects, one down and appeared injured. Neville had already joined Ron and the others.

Harry quickly glanced around. What happened to the first squad?

He took a deep breath and fired three stunners, hitting two and distracting the other two.

He came out of his hiding spot and entered a duel with the larger of the four. He fired off stunners and slicing hexes, but the man wouldn't back down.

Harry barely put up a shield and winced when he felt something slice across his face. He aimed a leg-locker curse at the man and disarmed him, shot another stunner to knock him off his feet, and immobilized him.

The commotion around him died soon after. All the suspects were down and apprehended.

Harry braced himself against the wall. He felt someone slowly walk up to him.

"Looks like someone got you good," Tonks said.

"Where's the first squad?" Harry asked through his swollen lip. God, his face hurt.

Tonks didn't meet his eye. "They're all down. Clarke is hurt pretty bad. We've already notified the medical team."

Harry sighed, leaning his head against the building.

She turned her head slightly. "You alright, boss?"

Harry nodded. "You?"

Tonks held her arms out. "Didn't get hit at all. Maybe I should become Head Auror."

"Shut up," he grumbled.

Tonks grinned. It didn't even seem like her bubblegum pink hair was disheveled. "Merlin's pants, can you imagine me, Head Auror? No, thanks."

"You're not helping here." Harry felt around his nose. He was sure it wasn't broken, but he could feel the blood streaming down the side of his face.

Tonks laughed. "I still like going home to my family, thank you very much. But you," she wagged a finger at him, "you're good at what you do, Harry."

He grimaced. Merlin, it didn't feel like it at that very moment.

# # #

Harry scribbled his name on the sign-out sheet. The nurse handed him three vials.

"Take one every four hours until they're gone. The pain and scarring should disappear within a day."

"Thanks." He took the vials, slid them into his coat pocket, and walked out of St. Mungo's.

He was so tired. He just wanted to go home and pass out on his bed.

He lumbered down the sidewalk looking for a safe place to disapparate.

"Mama, can we get ice cream later?"

Harry's gaze fell on a brown-haired little boy. The boy's eyes met his and he immediately grabbed his mother's hand.

"Ice cream sounds delicious. Should we get some after your dentist appointment?"

The boy smiled brightly at his mother. "Okay!"

Harry grabbed his phone from his pocket and turned it on. He waited a few seconds before dialing Hermione's number. He continued down the sidewalk and listened to the dial tone.

"Hey, Harry," Hermione greeted.

"Are you home?" He asked right away.

"No, I'm at Tesco. Did you want to come over?"

"Can I?" Harry turned down a sidewalk and entered an old phone booth.

"Of course you can. I'll be a few more minutes, but you can head on in."

"Alright. I'll see you in a few."

He hung up and cast a notice-me-not over himself. Moments later he disapparated to the front stoop of Grimmauld Place. He tried the door and felt it give way, opening up to the brightened foyer.

He removed the charm and entered. With Hermione here, Grimmauld Place felt more like a home than ever before. Sirius and Remus had remodeled it well, but it still felt sterile without a hint of warmth or life. He wondered if the shell of the house would somehow always retain that dark past. However, Hermione proved him wrong.

He hung his coat in the closet and went down to the basement kitchen to set up a tea service.

His eyes immediately fell on a flower vase in the middle of the kitchen table. It was a colorful array of tulips, peonies, and other flowers Harry didn't know the names of. He set the kettle on the stove and stared at the flowers. Where did they come from? Hermione wasn't the type of person to buy herself flowers.

He opened the refrigerator. Was that Sirius's fruit tart? When did he come by?

He heard the front door open. He closed the fridge with his foot and went up the stairs to return to the foyer.

Hermione stood beside the entryway table, a canvas bag full of food at her feet. She slipped off her jacket and stuffed it into the closet. "Hi, Harry. This is a surprise." She leaned over to pick up the bag.

"No, I'll get it." Harry hurried over and picked it up. "I did call you."

"I know, it's just you haven't come by Grimmauld Place in awhile."

Harry led the way back down to the kitchen. "It hasn't been that long."

She was silent as she followed him into the kitchen.

He set the bag on the counter, but all of a sudden she exclaimed loudly. She stood before him, her hand reaching out and tracing the side of his face. "You're hurt! Did you go to the hospital? What happened?"

Harry took her hand in his. "I went to the hospital. It's been treated. A suspect got the jump on me. That's all." He looked a whole lot better than he did earlier, that's for sure. The slice coming down the side of his face was just a glaring red line, his lips weren't swollen, and his nose was completely healed.

Hermione bit her lip. "Everything is okay? You're fine?"

He nodded and kissed the palm of her hand. "I'm fine. So, you went to Tesco? What did you get?" He began digging around the canvas bag and started unloading the contents onto the counter.

He heard her sigh softly. "I wanted to pick up some fruit and snacks."

He took out a roll of cookie dough. "Snacks?"

She pouted. "You know what I mean."

Harry set out two more rolls of cookie dough, boxes of popcorn, a bag of peaches, apples, mangoes, and a box of cheese crackers.

He folded up the bag and finally took a good look at Hermione, who was standing beside the stove pouring out a cup of tea for both of them.

"Hermione," his eyes fell on her rounded belly, "you look -"

She turned her head to her side. "Did you forget I was pregnant?"

"No, I," he sighed. "You're showing a bit more. I mean a whole lot more than when I saw you last."

She picked up a teacup and handed it to him, taking a roll of cookie dough from the counter. "I think it has been a good week or so since we've seen each other?" he grimaced slightly, "I don't know. But, yes, I feel bigger, my back pain is proof of that."

She opened a low cupboard and took out a cookie sheet, setting it on the counter. She set the oven to preheat and proceeded to open the roll of cookie dough.

He nodded. He took the roll of cookie dough and began setting out little balls of dough. "Don't touch it."

She groaned. "Fine." She moved to the fridge and took out the fruit tart. "I didn't know Sirius knew how to make this. It's delicious."

"It's his signature dish, so he says. His treacle tart has gotten better."

Hermione laughed. "I suppose he's more of a dessert person."

"Definitely."

She cut herself a slice of fruit tart and set it on a plate. "Harry, your birthday is in a few weeks."

"Damn, my birthday." He wiped his hands clean and tossed the empty roll of dough into the trash.

"Are you going to do anything?" She ate a forkful of food.

He shrugged. He watched her scoop more food onto her fork. She held it up and motioned for him to take a bite. He walked over and ate it.

She set her fork aside and set her hand on his torso. "Has Sirius said anything?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't want anything big." He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "If anything I'd like a repeat of what we did last year."

Hermione smiled. "I doubt I can survive a whole day at a music festival. I'd get too tired."

He grinned and kissed her on the cheek. He returned to the cookie sheet and slid it into the now heated oven. "I wouldn't mind a repeat of what we did on Valentine's Day or New Year's."

Hermione blushed, red creeping onto her neck. "Harry!" She blinked. "Wait, are you saying you haven't had sex since, you know," she trailed away.

His brows furrowed. "I haven't had sex with anyone but you."

"Why?" She looked genuinely confused, her arms crossed and resting on her small bump. Why would she think he'd be sleeping with someone else?

"I'm not seeing anyone right now," he explained, "why would I be having sex with someone?"

"Well, we were not seeing each other and we still had sex," she reasoned. Her cheeks were still pink as she picked up her fruit tart and tea and went to sit down at the table.

"That's different." Harry grabbed his tea and joined her at the table, eyeing the vase again.

"How is it any different?"

He ran his fingers through his hair. It was different because it was Hermione and him. Not some stranger. One nightstand. Or some groupie. He felt more comfortable with Hermione than anyone else. He honestly didn't think he would be able to find someone as freeing as she is. He felt amazing things with Lena, but even she couldn't compare to how he was with Hermione.

"Because you're my best friend." He fingered one of the flower petals before him. "Where did these come from?"

"My bosses got them for me, as congratulations. I told them about the baby and last week during one of our morning meetings, they announced it to the rest of the team and gave me the flowers." She stared at the flowers and let out a small sigh. "I should probably take off the freezing charm. They're just so pretty."

"It even has your favorite flower," Harry pointed at the tulips.

"It does," Hermione perked up. "That surprised me, but Mr. Sterling said he noticed they were my favorite."

He choked over his tea. "He noticed?" Why the bloody hell was one of her bosses noticing her favorite flowers?

She shrugged. "Because you and Ron bring them all the time."

"Right." Harry turned to the flowers and glared.

Harry left his cloak in his office and went to the training room to change and start his usual workout session - a mile run and stamina cycles.

Once done, he sat on a bench and wiped his sweat off with a towel. He felt some people cluster before him.

He peered up through his hair. "What do you need?"

"Don't be like that, Potter," Abbott said. "What are you doing after work? Some of us are going out for drinks." Abbott wagged his eyebrows slightly. Lena, Banister, and Roxane were standing beside him.

"Yeah, Potter," Lena hinted, "it'll be fun."

Harry shook his head. "Not feeling up to it."

"Well," she placed her hand on his shoulder, her finger grazing past his neck, "if you change your mind, we'll be at the Mystic Brew around eight."

She turned on her heel and left him, Abbott and the others trailed after her.

He groaned into his towel. Time to head back to the office. He barely sat down in his seat when Tonks and Neville stepped into his office with the medical reports of the first squad.

"Headley was critically injured, but he's completely healed. He's staying one more day for observation."

"Irving is still recuperating. He had a full blast of the controlled substance that was on the premises."

"Clarke will be out for the coming week for occupational therapy on his arm. The curse that hit him completely shattered the bones from his shoulder to his fingertips."

Harry nodded. "And the forensics team, did they come back with their reports on what the controlled substance actually is, how much was there, and if it was the substance that created that spike in magic? Or was it the suspects?"

Neville shook his head. "It was the suspects. Upon investigating the scene, we found three muggles, dead. They must have killed them when they came across their hideout."

"Damn," Harry said under his breath. "And the substance?"

"They're still doing tests, but they're pretty sure it's some mixture of muggle drugs and some magical plant properties."

"Great. We've never come across a smuggling house with muggle and magical narcotics before."

Tonks tapped a finger against her leg. "Not yet. These fools blew their cover. Who knows how many other houses there are in Britain."

Neville glanced at his watch. "Well, that's my final report. I'm clocking out. I'm going home to my fiancée."

Tonks cooed. "Longbottom got himself a fiancée."

"That I do, Tonks, that I do." Neville grabbed his cloak and slipped it on. "I'll see you two tomorrow."

"See ya, Neville."

"Bye, Neville." Harry stared at the papers across his desk. He heard Tonks sigh and tried to ignore it.

"That's nice that Neville's getting married. So," she bumped his desk, "what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You know," she sing-songed, "marriage, family life."

He leaned back in his chair and rested his hands on his stomach. "I think I'm doing alright. I almost have a family life."

Tonks rolled her eyes. "I suppose." She stepped toward the door. "I'm clocking out too. See you."

Harry put his files away and decided to head home too before someone else stopped him with any updates that might prolong his workday.

On the ground above, he took out his cellphone and called Hermione. He grumbled when it went straight to voicemail.

Walking into Dogwood Garden, he instantly noted how quiet it was. "Sirius?"

He walked through the kitchen and upstairs. No lights were on and Sirius wasn't asleep in his room. He even checked the broom cupboard and everything was accounted for.

Maybe he went out? Harry shrugged and labored up to his room and flopped onto his bed, falling asleep almost immediately.