"Come in,"

Harry Potter took a deep breath and turned the handle. He pushed open the door to see Gawain Robards sitting at the desk in front of him. He had not looked up from the paperwork in front of him. He looked around the office. He had not gotten a good look at it the last time he was there. It was a rich mahogany color with wood panels around the room. Robards was sitting behind a large wood desk, with papers and books in neat piles. Behind him was a wall full of formal looking photos and what looked like official certificates. Robards whole office could only be described as neat and formal. It made Harry uncomfortable looking around it. Harry took note of one personal object in the entire room. On Robards desk was a photo facing away from him. Harry could not see what it was, but it relaxed him slightly to know that Robards had something personal.

"You can take a seat," Robards said. Harry took a seat across from Robards

"Why did you call me here?" Harry asked

"I wanted to see how you were doing and figure out when you are coming back" Robards said

"I'm not coming back" Harry said forcefully

"You will" Robards said, not looking up from his paper work

"You don't know that" Harry spat

"Here's where you are wrong Harry, you will alway come back to this job."

"No, I won't"

"Yes, you will. You will always feel the need to save people. You will always come back here to keep doing that"

"Is that what we do here? Save people?" Harry asked

"Yes, we do. I'm guessing right now you won't be willing to admit it, but that is all we do. I know you are upset about the Nott mission but we did what we had to do to save innocent civilians. I thought you of all people would understand that"

"Is that why you dangled me like a piece of meat in front of Robards?" Harry asked

"That is exactly why I did that. You saw it for yourself. Nott killed Crestview's principle solely because she threatened to fire him. How many more people like her do you think there would be if we did nothing?"

"Wait, why was she going to fire him?" Harry asked. Robards raised an eyebrow

"Why do you want to know?" Robards asked

"Did she figure out he wasn't who he said he was?" Harry asked, a slight bitterness in the back of his voice.

"Based on the current evidence, we believe she believed that he was having an inappropriate relationship with a student, Reagan Proditor."

"Reagan? She was sleeping with him?" Harry asked. There was a mix of shock and disgust in his voice

"She was not. But the evidence pointed in that direction. In actuality, she was being forced to work for him. We have reason to believe some sort of bargain took place between her parents and Nott. Grey is leading a team to raid the house." Harry wanted to ask more question, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Robards was trying to lead him away from the issue at hand. Well, in that case, two could play that game.

"What about Grey? Why did she try to get me out of there?" Harry asked. Robards chuckled

"Auror Grey is many things, but a good listener is not one of them. She seems to feel a level of responsibility for you. She was not supposed to inform you, but I should have learned a long time ago there is no controlling her" there was a certain amount of affection in his words. He almost sounded like Molly talking about Ginny. Harry made a mental note of that.

"If she cared about me so much, why would she let you dangle me like a piece of meat in front of Nott?" Harry pushed.

"You understand that I only did that to try and create the best possible outcome?" Harry crossed his arms over his chest. Robards sighed. He reached for the top file on his desk. He passed it to harry. It was a muggle manilla folder, with Nott's name in the top corner. Harry thought that it was odd, given that all of the other files were made of parchment. Harry opened up the file and read the first few lines

"This is an MI6 report," Harry said, surprised. Robards nodded

"My niece is a squib, she joined the SCAS. She's a behavior analyst. I had her write up a report for me about Nott's psychology based on mine and other Aurors notes from several interactions we had with him. Based on her analysis, I had to decide the best course of action. The plan we went with involved the least risk and the greatest possibility of success."

"Right, because using me as a piece of meat was the safest option. And what about Ginny? Was her being kidnapped part of the plan?" Harry said. Robards sighed

"You will be a good auror, Harry. You are talented, experienced and you have a good head on your shoulders. I knew you could handle one death eater on your own. If I did not think you could do this, I would not have sent you to do this. I understand that you've been used as a piece of meat your entire life, whether it was the triwizard tournament, or the old ministry trying to gain favor. What happened with Miss Weasley was not part of our expected outcome. We did not account for Nott thinking to go after someone close to you. His profile showed that he would only focus on you, rather than go after anyone else. I understand why you would be upset with my course of action, but if you read that entire report, you would understand where I am coming from." Harry sat in silence "You need to understand Potter, that I am doing what I can to keep this world safe. I expect you will continue to work with me to do that. I will see you back at training when your arm is healed."

"I haven't agreed to come back," Harry said

"You will," Robards said. The door of Robards' office slammed open. Harry jumped up at the noise. Standing in the doorway was an Auror Harry had never seen before. Harry tried not to, but he couldn't help but stare at them. They had metal parts and pipes poking out from their Auror uniform.

"Trainee Potter, this is Auror Lyra Castellano, one of our communication specialists," Robards said. They looked absolutely terrified.

"Sir, I just got word from Grey's team. The raid went bad. One of the targets was killed. I tried to get more information, but they're panicking." Robards sighed

"Get Grey on the line" he said

"That's the problem sir, Grey's injured. She was out cold. They don't know what's wrong with her. She was alone when she was attacked." Robards stood up suddenly.

"Where is she?" He asked

"On her way to Saint Mungo's" Lyra said

"Call her parents and get them there as quickly as possible. I'll meet them there" Lyra nodded and they both rushed out of the office. Harry was left alone. He turned to see if they were coming back. He noticed that the photo on Robard's desk was still not visible to him. He wanted to see what it was. He reached for it, but he suddenly felt guilty. He paused. His curiosity got the better of him. He reached for the photo. He could now see the image clear as day. In the photo was a stoic looking Robards, a smiling Kingsley, Grey making a peace sign and two faces that made his heart skip a beat. Draped over Grey was Tonks, their pink hair a bright shock against Grey's deep black hair, not yet dyed teal. Next to them, just as stoic as Robards, was Mad Eye Moody, his mechanic eye whirling around. Written in the bottom corner a short message was written.

Remember who we are doing this for.

Harry stared at the picture. He ran his thumb over Moody and Tonks. He felt his eyes prickle slightly. He did not hear the door open behind him. Robards stepped into the room. He cleared his throat. Harry jumped at the sound. Robards was facing him. Harry quickly put the photo down.

"I had to grab Auror Grey's medical folder" he said

"I'm sorry sir," Harry said quickly. Robards walked over to his desk and picked up the photograph. He sighed deeply

"I know you must be surprised to see this. I keep it here to remind me why I do this job. It's grueling and difficult. We put our lives on the line to protect others. This is just a reminder of why I'm here. That's how I knew you were not really going to quit. You are like me. You are here for a reason, one that you can never let go of. You lost. You lost people you love, so you need to keep other people safe"

"Yeah," Harry whispered

"I can assume I'll see you here when your arm heals?" Robards said

"Yeah, I'll be there"

Two months later

Lisa Turpin pulled her bag over her shoulder. She held her winter coat closed over her jumper. She saw the small shop in the distance. It was smaller than she was expecting, but it was a cute little place. She could see why he picked it. She approached the bright red door. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. He was sitting at window table in the very front. He waved when he saw her.

"Hey Lise," he said

"Don't call me Lise, Harry"

"Oh, so now I'm Harry instead of Potter?"

"Shut up. Shouldn't you be happy about that?"

"I guess I should be. How are you doing? How is everyone?"

" they're ok. Noah's doing pretty good. He organized principle Wright's memorial. The new principle gave him an award for civil service. He's focusing on the school winter formal right now. You know he asked me to it"

"Really? That's great, Lisa"

"Yeah, I'm not sure if I'll wear the dress I wore to the Yule ball or not. My mom wants me to get something new, but it still fits and it still looks good, so why would I change it?"

"Fair enough, how's Kathryn and Reagan?"

"Did you learn anything from the Aurors?" She asked

"Yeah, I heard about Reagan's mom, It's horrible. How's she holding up?"

"Not great. She's really confused about all of it. I mean I would be too if I was in her shoes."

"Yeah. The Aurors are still investigating. Want me to keep you posted for her?"

"Maybe, I don't know if it will help her."

"Yeah. The Aurors are still investigating. Want me to keep you posted for her?"

"Maybe, I don't know if it will help her."

"What about you, how are you doing?"

"I'm seeing someone. You know, to get through all of my issues." He gave her a sympathetic smile. "My parents sent me to see her. She's pretty great, all things considered. She diagnosed me with PTSD. Says it's what's triggering my depression symptoms. She thinks we'll be able to work through some of my issues before I leave for university"

"Are you still planning to go to Oxford?" She raised a eyebrow "Come on, it was all you would talk about. Have you heard back yet?" He asked

"Yeah I did," She said

"Was it good, bad?"

"I got in"

"Congrats Lisa, I know how much you wanted to go there"

"I'm not going" she said

"I'm sorry?"

"Well, I don't know if I'm going. I'm not entirely sure if I want to leave all magic behind. I took the general test for Draoidh University. I'll start out in a muggle program, and if I ever want to change my mind, I can" She said

"Woah, I wasn't expecting that," he said

"If I'm being perfectly honest, I don't think anyone was"

"You could say that again"

"I think I made the right choice"

"I think you did too. I'm proud of you, Lise." Harry said

"Thanks. That actually means a little bit to me"

"Can I now call you a friend?

"I'll think about it" she said. They both laughed lightly. That was how they spent the rest of the afternoon. To the people who passed, there was nothing odd about the pair sitting at the table. They just looked like two normal teenagers, joking in a cafe.