Story is set on July 30
It was nearing lunch time and in the department of Magical Law Enforcement, commonly known as the DMLE, there were calls throughout the cubicles as to who was going to do the lunch run that day.
Law enforcement officer Bailey was looking through his wallet for some money for his order when the automatic doors that separated the Auror offices from the law enforcement offices opened. He looked up, his cubicle being the closest, but frowned when nobody appeared to enter.
"Hello?" he called warily, moving one hand to his wand just in case.
"Hi!"
He wasn't expecting any sort of reply, let alone what sounded like a little girl, so it startled him when it came, making him drop his opened wallet. Coins fell out, some rolling away. He bent down to pick them up; some had rolled underneath his desk.
"Uh-oh," came the little girl's voice again and he saw two small feet on the other side of his desk. Startled again, he bumped his head, swearing.
"My daddy says bollocks too," she informed him, then added, "then my mummy tells him off. Oooh, I found a shiny galleon, can I keep it?"
Rubbing his head, Bailey sat up and peered over his desk. He saw a cute little girl, maybe four or five – he had never really been around kids before – and she was staring at the coin.
"Well now, don't you look pretty," he said, and she looked up and nodded.
"It's a special day," she told him, then crooked her index finger to beckon him closer.
Amused, he leaned over his desk.
"I have a 'portant date," she whispered happily, then frowned,"but I can't find him."
"And you've come to the law enforcement office to ask for our help to find him," guessed Auror Bailey. She was so cute!
She pursed her lips and tilted her head, giving the matter some thought. She then shook her head.
"No."
"Hello, who's this little cutie-pie?"
Auror Sampson had come for Bailey's order on her way out to do the lunch run.
"I'm Dora," she responded politely, "and I'm five...and a half," she quickly added.
"Wow, really? I thought you were like, eight or nine," teased Auror Sampson.
"I'm pretty smart," agreed Dora.
"How can we help you honey?" asked Sampson.
"She has a date but she can't find him," confided Bailey.
Sampson looked at Bailey then at Dora, who nodded but felt the need to add, " a important date."
"Are you here by yourself, honey?" asked Sampson.
"No. May I see the minister?" asked Dora politely.
"Of what department?" asked Bailey, surprised.
Dora thought about it. "Of magic," she shrugged.
Bailey and Sampson exchanged amused smiles. "Oy, Cooper, Jenkins, come get a load of this. This kid just asked to see the Minister for Magic," called Bailey to his colleagues.
" I'm afraid the minister is busy today," soothed Sampson, as the other law enforcement officers crowded round Bailey's desk. "She's a very busy lady, you know."
Dora nodded slowly but felt compelled to add, "But she probably knows where he is."
"Your date? The Minister for Magic knows where your important
date is?" clarified Sampson.
Dora nodded, looking up a the large clock on the wall. "Please hurry, it's nearly time."
"I think we need to take down some facts, don't you, Auror Jenkins," teased Cooper to his fellow auror.
"Come sit here, Miss Dora, and we'll help you find your date once we get all the facts," assured Auror Jenkins, as Cooper pulled out a chair for Dora to sit on.
"Now, who is your date?" asked Jenkins.
"Harry Potter," replied the little girl.
Jaws dropped open.
"This kid is dropping some big names," chuckled Bailey. "Shall I go get the boss?"
"Nah, he was in a bad mood when he got here this morning, something about sugar free coffee, maybe we can – oh, there's James. Oy Potter, got a minute?" called Sampson.
"For you, Sampson, I have two," teased James Potter walking over to the group. "How can I – Dora, what are you doing here? Where's your dad or mum?" he asked, looking around the room.
"Uncle Jamesy!" Dora sighed in relief, lifting her arms for him to pick her up. She then wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed hard.
"Dora!"
Everyone turned to see a frantic couple rush in, straight to James and Dora.
"Mummy, Daddy!" cried Dora, reaching for her mother.
"Darling, are you all right? You shouldn't have run off like that." The woman took the little girl from James and hugged her, then the man joined them, hugging both of them together.
"Aw group hug," said James, and he hugged the three of them.
"Why didn't you let us know she was here, James?" asked the man, as the woman looked her daughter over for any injuries.
"Just found out myself, Teddy. I thought we were meeting at the place," shrugged James.
"We should let the others know we've found her, they're searching the ministry as we speak. I think Ginny was heading to ask Hermione to put the ministry in complete lockdown or something," suggested Teddy.
"Right you are," agreed James, and he waved his wand. "Expecto Patronum!"
Once his stag had formed, he told it to find the family and tell them Dora was at the auror offices unharmed.
"Dora, sweetie, what are you doing here? We were talking to Uncle Percy and when we turned around you were gone," asked Teddy.
"You was taking forever," said Dora, dramatically.
"She told us she had a date but she lost him," interrupted Auror Sampson, and then introduced herself and her colleagues.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Victoire Lupin and this is my husband Teddy, and of course, Dora," apologised Victoire.
"A date?" Teddy looked at his daughter.
Dora nodded. "I heard you and Grandma saying it. Today is a 'mportant date."
Teddy, Victoire and James exhanged amused looks.
"Well, it looks like this is case closed. I'm off to get lunch, bye Dora," waved auror Sampson as she left.
Before she could get to the doors, they opened and another couple, two men, stepped through, looking around till their gaze landed on the Lupin family.
"Dora!" cried the little girl in one of the men's arms. She wriggled down out of the man's arms and ran to Dora who, likewise, wriggled to get down out of her mother's arms.
"Rory!" cried Dora, as the two girls hugged as if they had been parted for years, rather than fifteen minutes.
"Daddy said you was lost," said Rory. Her father put his hands on her shoulder as he looked at his niece.
"All right, Dora?"
"She's fine, Al," assured James to his brother. "Hey, Scorpius." He brushed his finger along his niece Aurora, aka Rory's cheek, before pulling a sickle out of her ear, grinning as she gasped in wonder.
" I have one too," cried Dora, showing her cousin her coin.
"Hi James," replied Scorpius, smiling at his brother-in-law. "Looks like Harry will have a full escort to his surprise 'not his birthday' lunch."
"What do you say, girls, shall we go surprise grandpa in his office?" suggested James, crouching down to their level.
"No need for that, thanks James."
Everyone turned as Harry Potter came to see what the hold up with his lunch order was.
"Grandpa!" cried Dora and Rory, running over to him.
Harry bent, arms open, and scooped then both up on either hip.
"What a lovely surprise," he told them, kissing each one on the cheek.
"We're taking you on a date, Grandpa," beamed Dora, and Rory nodded.
"A 'portant date for your birfday," agreed three year old Rory.
"No, it's cos it's not his birthday," corrected Dora.
Harry glanced at James, Al and Teddy. "Mind explaining that?" he asked in amusement.
"Well, seems Dora had quite the adventure, wandering around the ministry," said Teddy, coming forward to hug the man he considered his father. "I'm sure she'll tell you all about it over lunch."
Victoire followed. "Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Uncle Harry," she said, kissing him on both his cheeks.
"Oh thank God!"
Once again, everyone's attention was diverted to the doors, as Ginny Potter and Hermione Granger-Weasley stepped through.
"See Ginny, I told you I wouldn't need to shut down the whole ministry," teased Hermione.
"I found him, Grandma," called Dora.
"Me too," called Rory, not wanting to be left out.
"Clever girls," praised Ginny, kissing each girl on the cheek before kissing Harry on the lips. "Hey you!"
"We've come to take you out to lunch," explained Albus to Harry.
"It's for your birthday, Dad," reminded James, poking him.
"But it's not my birthday till tomorrow," Harry reminded them.
"No matter how much you want to forget it," said Ginny shrewdly.
She had been there when Harry had discovered how grey he was going, and even though she assured him it made him look distinguished, she was amused by how much it seemed to bother him.
"Tomorrow you'll be the focus of the wizarding world again," said Ginny, knowing from past experiences. "So today is just about your family wanting to celebrate with you. Lily is meeting us at the restaurant."
"Shall I expect him back later?" asked Hermione, in amusement.
"No, we're kidnapping him for the rest of the day," announced Ginny.
"He's not a kid, Grandma," said Dora. "We're grandpa-napping him!"
Harry threw back his head and laughed. The one good thing about getting older was having grandchildren.
"Lead the way," he announced, lowering his granddaughters to the ground. He held out a hand for each of them and they took it.
"Best date I've ever had," he said, winking at his wife.
One by one, the Potters followed the trio. Hermione left too, just as Sampson returned with the lunch orders, with Harry's slice of treacle tart he'd ordered.
"Put mine in the cool box, I'll have it tomorrow," Harry told her as he passed her.
Ginny shook her head at Sampson with a warning look.
"We're off sugar, remember?" she asked Harry, arching a knowing eyebrow.
"Fine," sighed Harry, but winking at Sampson.
"Come on, let's go, Potters, Potter-Malfoys, Lupins," cried James, standing so the automatic doors remained open. " I'm so hungry I could eat a Hippogryph!"
"Yuck!" giggled Rory.
"Grandpa, what did Grandma mean, that you'll be the fo-fo, um...?" Dora frowned.
"Focus," clarified Ginny. "Focus of the wizarding world."
"Yeah, that," nodded Dora.
Her grandpa shrugged. "Beats me. I'm just Grandpa Harry, right girls?"
"Right," his granddaughters replied in unison, as they walked over to James.
Dora turned suddenly. "Bye," she waved to the law enforcement team still watching on. " Thank you for helping me."
James picked her up and she looked at them over his shoulder.
"We didn't really do anything," called Bailey, as he waved back to her.
" I know," said Dora, smiling brightly, "but if you try harder, you'll get better."
Bailey flushed as his fellow workers nudged him, teasingly.
"Thanks for this," called Dora, holding up a shiny coin, grinning as she rounded the corner with her uncle, the last of the family.
"Let's stamp that one as case closed," teased Auror Sampson.
"She took my galleon," bemoaned Bailey.
"And what do I do with this now?" asked Auror Sampson, holding Harry's lunch order up.
"You heard the boss, stick it in the fridge for him tomorrow," replied Cooper, shrugging.
"I also heard the boss's wife," Sampson reminded Cooper. "So do I piss off Harry Potter or Ginny Potter?" she asked,
"Harry," chorused the team unanimously.
Shaking her head, Auror Sampson dropped the bag containing the treacle tart into the nearest bin.
"Just my luck to get the lunch orders today," she bemoaned.