Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.
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Hermione apparated in the direction of the tracking charm, stopped and checked it before apparating again. Once she got close she was able to pinpoint the building the man was in and started talking her way into the building.
A little magic made her seem sincere and convincing and the secretary led her into the back room where Hadrian was looking at the records Tim had found.
"I can guarantee that the thefts are isolated to the South London office" Tim said. "There's no sign of even small amounts going missing anywhere else."
"Well that's a relief" Hadrian said smiling.
"Hello Harry" Hermione interrupted.
"Hermione" Hadrian exclaimed shocked and more than a little concerned wondering how she'd found him so soon after he arrived back in the country. If she knew he was the owner of PGC had she also been involved in the thefts. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you" Hermione stated fiercely. "What's going on Harry. Why didn't you tell me you were here in London."
"We arrived yesterday. This isn't a holiday Hermione, I'm here to work" Hadrian replied. "I planned to visit you once we'd caught the criminal."
"This is a muggle business. Why on earth would they need to call in the Aurors? Particularly to call you back from wherever you've been the last few years?" Hermione asked astonished.
"That's none of your business" Hadrian snapped.
"It's classified. He cannot tell you" Tim said conciliatorily.
Hermione ignored him and turned to tackle/hug Hadrian. "I'm so glad you're home. I've missed you so much. Ginny's prepared to forgive you if you still want to marry her, or I can help you find another witch with a brother" she said eagerly. "Most of our year and Ginny's year level are married now so you'll need to try to get to know the younger girls. I know you stayed away from girls who only know you by your reputation as the boy-who-lived but they've grown up now, they're not all giggly and silly anymore. And if you can't bring yourself to trust a stranger then maybe you and Ginny could try again. Ginny's really changed Harry and is ready to get married and be a mother I'm sure she'll agree to allowing one of her brothers to inseminate you if that's what you want."
Hadrian gently disengaged from Hermione and looked at her carefully wondering why she seemed so delusional. His heart hurt at the sight of her looking so thin and worn out, almost as bad as he imagined he'd looked at the end of a summer with the Dursleys. Still he needed to get to the bottom of her crazy idea first to make sure she wasn't a danger to Tim or their children before he could worry about helping her.
"Ginny says she is prepared to forgive me for what exactly?" Hadrian asked frowning.
"For breaking up with her and for leaving. For not giving her the time to come to terms with what had happened to you. She understands now and she wants you back" Hermione said surprised Harry was questioning the obvious.
"She has always wanted me back. Or rather she wanted the 'boy-who-lived' back so she could parade me around like a fancy show pony. I would be willing to bet the entire contents of the Potter vaults that she still doesn't give a damn about me as a person and if I appeared in glamours she wouldn't even like me until I told her who I was."
"No you're wrong. She loves you and she forgives you for leaving, please come back" Hermione argued.
"I didn't do anything for Ginny to need to forgive me. You know that! It's Ginny whose actions were almost unforgivable and I don't feel at all inclined to forgive her, nor do I believe she has changed enough not to try to manipulate me again if given half a chance. And frankly Hermione I don't care" Hadrian declared looking at his friend and wondering how she didn't remember that.
"Don't you want to get married, have children of your own?" Hermione asked.
"Even if I wanted to marry a witch, the only advantage to marrying Ginny Weasley would be that she couldn't break my heart because I already know she 'll never love me. I'd already know she doesn't care about me in the slightest. That's she's only in it for the fame and the money. Is that the sort of marriage you want for me Hermione? Don't you want me to be happy?" Harry asked demandingly.
"Don't I deserve more than that?"
"Yes of course you deserve more than that. But marriage isn't all sunshine and roses Harry no matter how much you love each other" Hermione said bitterly. "I want you to be happy Harry, but you've always wanted children, a family. Don't you want to come home? We're your family Harry" Hermione protested.
"No the Weasleys are Ginny's family not mine" Hadrian retorted. "They made that perfectly clear when they all condemned me without even asking for my side of the story."
"Oh Harry I didn't mean to..." Hermione said contritely.
"No. Just like you didn't mean to become too busy for Teddy to even recognise his godmother's photo?" Hadrian said bluntly. "You just got so caught up in your work and your relationship with Ron that everything else went by the wayside."
"I don't even know where he is" Hermione admitted sadly. "Andromeda died suddenly and he was gone. No one at the funeral knew what happened to him."
"Is that why you didn't tell me about Andromeda's death, because you didn't want to admit you'd lost Teddy?" Hadrian asked unamused. "If you were truly worried about him you would have told me. I have resources to find him that you don't."
"I asked Kingsley to have a search made for him. I didn't just do nothing" Hermione protested.
"Teddy's a minor of the House of Black. As his head of house there is a way for me to know his location in my vaults, kind of like Mrs Weasley's clock but more specific." Hadrian replied.
"Then can we go there now and find him?" Hermione said eagerly.
"I don't need to find him" Hadrian said bluntly. "Andromeda didn't die unexpectedly, Hermione. She suffered from her heart for months and made plans for when she wouldn't be well enough to look after Teddy. She asked for your help but you were too busy. I wasn't. I helped out when I could for months as Andi's health declined. Andi had enough warning to call me to come, I travelled back to England and spent her last couple of hours with her. before she died, she gave me her blessing to take custody of Teddy. I packed up Teddy's things and took him home with me. We didn't come back for the funeral because three international portkeys within a week is far too much for a toddler.
"Why didn't she call me?" Hermione asked.
"Because Teddy didn't know you. I managed to visit him at least every two weeks even after leaving the country" Hades replied. "Besides she had called you. Tollie told me she was asked to stay out of sight for the weekend because you would be there. But you cancelled on her at the last minute. She was sick and needed the help and you were too busy with work so we didn't think there was any point to calling you again."
"Why didn't you call me? I'm his godmother. I have a right to see him" Hermione retorted thinking that this would be a way to force Harry to keep in touch with her.
"No you're not actually. We assigned new godparents when we adopted him" Hadrian snapped. "I needed someone I could trust to be in his life if anything happened to me."
Hermione looked hurt. "Harry you're my best friend. You could trust me" she said sadly.
"No Hermione I can't trust you to put my needs or Teddy's above your job or your relationships with the Weasleys. When we needed you. You were too busy to care" Hadrian said unyieldingly.
"By the way Kingsley has known Teddy was with me the entire time, he told me that you'd been in to ask about his whereabouts once and I gave him permission to tell you he was with me if you asked again. You'd have know where he was months ago if you'd cared enough to bother to ask more than once."
Hermione looked horrified. "I thought he would contact me as soon as he knew anything. I'm his godmother."
"Kingsley is one of Teddy's new godparents. He knew why I felt the need to allocate him new ones" Hadrian replied.
"But he lives here in England too, how is that any better than me" Hermione protested.
"Because he puts the effort in to visit" Hadrian snapped.
"That's not fair, you wont tell me where you live" Hermione retorted.
"You knew where Andi lived for years Hermione and you were less than ten miles from her and Teddy still didn't know you well enough to recognise your photo. Teddy's doing really well by the way, he has settled in and loves preschool" Hadrian said with a glare that showed Hermione exactly how unimpressed he was that she could argue that he couldn't take away her rights as Teddy's godmother when she couldn't even be bothered asking how he was.
"I'm not moving back to England. And even if I do sometime in the future I would never live in the wizarding world. I came to find out who is stealing from me" Hadrian said bluntly.
"Stealing from your vaults?" Hermione asked astonished. "I didn't think that was possible."
"It wouldn't be without the goblins' help and I trust them, but no I meant stealing profits from my company and muggle accounts" Hadrian explained.
He watched Hermione's face carefully to see her reactions. She looked shocked first and then relieved. "I didn't know you had a muggle bank account much less a company. What does it do?"
"The Potter Griffin Corporation buys, develops and leases land and property, mostly in the muggle world" Hadrian said dismissively.
"PGC?" Hermione whispered in awe. "They're the biggest landowners in Britain. I've heard there's been an act of parliament drawn up to limit them from owning more land. Mum and Dad's Dentistry was in a PGC building."
"Yes but I'm also one of the best landlords in the country. My properties are warded against fire, theft and violence as well as mould mildew and to ensure structural stability. Even in areas where other landlords have vacant properties there are waiting lists for my properties and my rents are generally a couple of dollars a week less than the comparable rate." He didn't tell Hermione that he'd already begun buying and developing property in a different name both in Britain and in the united States so that the government wouldn't realise he was still accumulating rental properties. It meant a slight increase in administration costs running two separate businesses but it was well worth it to keep the politicians off his back. He did more for his tenants than they ever had anyway."
Hermione kept arguing how important it was for Harry to move back home and reunite with Ginny until Hadrian stunned her. He got out the veritaserum and put three drops on his childhood friend's tongue, disarmed her and cast a sticking charm on her chair removing her wand before enervating her.
Hermione looked furious for a moment before the potion kicked in.
Did you have anything to do with me being cursed in April 1999?"
"No"
"Do you know who paid ex-Healer Davis to curse me?"
"No"
"Do you have any suspicions who might have paid him to curse me?"
"Yes"
"Who?"
"Ginny Weasley."
"Why?"
"Ginny was trying to hide that she was pleased about something the day it happened. And she was annoyed when she found out you were hurt, but she also seemed relieved about something. She seemed more upset that you embarrassed her by standing her up in front of her friends than worried about your health and wellbeing. She doesn't even like to hold her nieces and nephew, so I suspect she would have been quite happy with the idea of the two of you never having children."
"Was there anything else that made you think she would attack Harry?" Tim added.
"I've thought she would strike him one day when they were arguing. She has quite a temper" Hermione replied.
"Other than in the heat of the moment, is there anything that led you to believe Ginny could plan an attack on Harry?" Tim asked again.
"Not at the time he was attacked, but now I don't know. She will go a long way to get her own way" Hermione replied.
"Why on earth do you want me to get back with Ginny if you suspect she might have been behind me being cursed?" Hadrian exclaimed incredulously.
Hermione had to answer the question even though Hadrian hadn't intended to ask it. "Because you're my only true friend other than Ginny and I miss you and worry about you. If you and Ginny got back together you'd come home and she's settle down and stop drinking."
"Have you ever stolen from me?" Hadrian asked to cover all the bases though he really didn't think she could be the thief.
"Yes" Hermione said in the flat veritaserum induced tones.
"What have you stolen from Harry?" Tim asked because Hadrian was too shocked to ask.
"I stole spare parchment and quills from his bag many times, I once borrowed his invisibility cloak in fifth year without asking him and since he's been gone I've been to Grimmauld place several times and eaten food that was Harry's and read the books there" Hermione itemised the list and Hadrian sighed with relief. Tim frowned suddenly realising the dangers of veritaserum and how specific the questions needed to be. He was glad Hadrian trusted him to help with this because honestly his husband was too emotionally involved in the situation.
"Do you have any idea who is stealing money from me?" Hadrian asked more specifically.
"No" Hermione replied.
"Why did you write that book about me Hermione? Didn't you know you were breaking my trust?"
"The number of lies being published was driving me crazy and Ron suggested I should tell the truth and set the record straight. As your best friend I'd be believed and it seemed the best way to combat all the people profiting from lying about you" Hermione explained. "Besides Ron wanted me to write it."
"If I told you how to find me could you keep it secret and not tell anyone?" Hadrian asked.
"I'd have to tell Ron if he asked. We have a traditional pureblood marriage" Hermione said.
"The kind of traditional pureblood marriage you want me to be subjected to. I thought you were my friend Hermione" Hadrian said sadly.
"I am your friend, you're my best friend" Hermione replied unemotionally due to the potion.
"How did you find me today?" Hadrian asked.
"I saw a man that looked a bit like you in the Alley yesterday but the way he moved convinced me that it was you. I didn't have time to approach you and I didn't want to make a scene in public so I cast a tracking charm."
"You couldn't have. I would have felt it hit me, my clothes are warded against charms. How did you find me?" Hadrian demanded wondering whether he should give her more veritaserum.
"The charm hit the man you were with" Hermione replied. "The man here now that you haven't introduced me to."
"What would you do if I told you this was my husband?" Hadrian asked looking at Tim.
"Ask if you are happy" Hermione replied.
"I am" Hadrian replied smiling, "what would you do now?"
"Be happy for you and try not to tell Ron and the Weasleys" Hermione said.
"Thank you" Hadrian said administering the antidote.
"How could you?" Hermione asked angrily trying to get up but finding herself still stuck to the chair.
"Hermione someone is trying to at the very least end the Potter line, and someone has stolen over 100,000 pound from me over the past year alone. And within hours of me setting foot back in the country you're here insisting that I come back and marry Ginny. Something you know very well isn't in my best interests. I needed to know you weren't involved in the rest of it."
"Please come home Harry" Hermione begged. "Even if you and Ginny don't get back together you are still family."
"Where we live it is illegal to place a tracking charm on anyone other than you own minor children without the persons permission. Attacks like this are the reason I don't ever want my family to live in Britain" Hadrian said angrily.
"I didn't attack him" Hermione exclaimed.
"What would you have don't if I wasn't with Tim when you found him?" Hadrian asked pointedly.
Hermione couldn't look at either of them. "I wouldn't have harmed him?"
Hadrian pulled out the vial he'd taken from her. "What's this?" he asked.
"It's not Veritaserum" Hermione protested.
"No but Tim was premature and has food allergies. Even I don't know for sure he wouldn't have an allergic reaction to this" Hadrian said sternly.
"You used a truth potion on me. A much stronger one than this too" Hermione said angrily.
"As an Auror I used a perfectly legal method of interrogation against someone who used an illegal tracking charm to find my partner and lied her way into the building for an unknown motive. Not to mention that you know damn well that I knew you weren't allergic to it" Hadrian retorted. "What would you have done if he had an anaphylactic reaction to the potion? Do you have an epi-pen or even a bezoar, a portkey to St Mungo's in case he had a reaction?"
"I'm sorry Harry" Hermione said cowed by the depth of his fear fuelled fury.
"I have a new home and a new family Hermione and I'm far safer there than I could ever be in wizarding Britain" Hadrian said. "I can be me there, not have to struggle and constantly fail to live up to some idealised image of a hero that doesn't really exist. And I can walk down the street and not have to worry about reporters, crazed fans, revenge attacks or people who think I owe them something for not killing Voldemort before the death eaters attacked their families."
"But what about a family?" Hermione asked, not wanting to say anything about the spell he'd been hit with because she didn't know that Tim already knew.
"I have a family Hermione. I'm married and we have two beautiful children. I still need a son for the Slytherin line but we want to wait a year or two before we have a third child."
"Are you going to let me go?" Hermione asked.
"I will when I'm ready to leave Hermione. I don't trust you not to come back with an ambush" Hadrian said spelling her to sleep, conjuring a box around the chair and casting a silencing charm on it.
Once she was out of sight Hadrian collapsed into Tim's arms. Tim hugged him tightly and reassured him that everything would be alright, that Hermione couldn't hurt him, Teddy or Rosie and had no claim on Teddy.
Eventually Hadrian calmed down and they continued sorting through the paper trail.
"What are you going to do about her?" Tim asked gesturing to the box.
"I don't know. I want to trust her but I don't trust a lot of the people she trusts and the oaths made on a pure blood marriage means she literally cannot lie to her husband"
"Even if she took an oath not to tell him?" Tim asked.
"I'd have to give her permission to tell him about the oath and hopefully he would back off because he wouldn't want her to lose her magic and be married to a squib but if he demanded it she would have to tell him and lose her magic. The marriage ritual would trump anything but an unbreakable vow" Hadrian explained.
Tim looked horrified. "And they want to force you into a marriage like that? Why on earth would this girl subject herself to that knowing you don't really love her?"
"She wouldn't. Her blood's purer than mine so I'd be forced to be the one vowing to obey" Hadrian said dryly.
"Would you have gone through with it if you hadn't been cursed?" Tim asked.
"I didn't find out about the way pureblood marriages worked until after I was cursed. I think they hoped I wouldn't realise that the promise to obey would literally be magically binding or maybe that I wouldn't find out about the vows until the day of the wedding in the hope I wouldn't be willing to back out and make a scene in front of everyone" Hadrian said sighing.
"Were our marriage vows magically binding like that?" Tim asked not sounding more than slightly concerned about it.
"We didn't vow to obey each other" Hadrian reminded him.
"Do you love me as much as you do because of the wedding vows?" Tim asked.
"I don't love you any more today than I did before we married" Hadrian said calmly. "My marriage vows prevent me from cheating on you which I never would have wanted to do anyway or from deliberately doing anything to hurt you but I can't imagine ever wanting to do that either. Your vows do the same but can you honestly say they've impacted your behaviour, you weren't tempted to cheat on me or hurt me before the wedding were you?"
"No of course not!" Tim refuted automatically. He was silent for several minutes thinking hard.
"Is that all?" he asked searchingly. "What other effects is it having on us?"
"It would prevent me from aborting our child even if you wanted me to, and it would prevent me from doing anything to disgrace you. The vows also probably help me to accept the need to keep your 'don't ask, don't tell' rules because they're important to your career."
"You don't know how sorry I am about that" Tim replied.
"Hey Gibbs, Jimmy and Ducky knew from the start and you would have told your team if they'd been willing to believe you were getting married. It's not your fault you took so long to trust them with this. It's not like I trust most of my British friends with our secrets either. And you tried to tell your parents even though you knew how they were likely to react.
"Back to what to do with Hermione I think I probably should obliviate her just to protect her" Hadrian said reluctantly.
"Obliviate?" Tim asked.
"Wipe her memory of meeting me today" Hadrian replied.
"You'd never do that to anyone back home would you?" Tim asked alarmed.
"I couldn't obliviate you, I love you too much to contemplate it even if our marriage vows didn't prevent me from using any offensive magic against you" Hadrian said wrapping his arms around Tim and kissing him. "The statute of secrecy is an international law that legally allows me to obliviate anyone who finds out about magic that doesn't have the right to know but I'm very careful not to use magic where I could be caught doing it."
"Does that mean if Tony went nosing around where he shouldn't be and saw something he shouldn't you'd have to obliviate him?" Tim asked.
"Yes but the wards prevent nosing around and tell me exactly who's in the house at the time. The real risk isn't me, Teddy has accidental magic episodes. Rosie's still too young for accidental magic but the healers are certain that she's a witch so she might in a year or so" Hadrian replied. "I'd do anything to protect them so I can't promise I won't have to obliviate Gibbs or your team one day but it hasn't happened yet and I wouldn't do it without telling you or at least telling you afterwards."
"I don't have a problem with you changing someone's memory to protect our family but how can that be legal? Surely our government didn't agree with your government memory wiping our citizens?" Tim said shocked.
"It came into law during the time of the Salem witch trials" Hadrian replied. "It was kind of hard to argue against allowing women and children to protect themselves from being burned alive. And indeed the number of mundanes put to death for witchcraft dropped dramatically once we separated ourselves from general knowledge."
A/N: Thank you to lilly-flower15, Kourtney Uzu Yato, charm13insomnia, dobbys-stinger, serenityselena, Firehedgehog, Reader Ethiriel, Almonda, LadyDrak75, xDarklightx, Serpent91, Selenity84, Rori Potter, DarkRavie, acherongoddess, buterflypuss, madnessdownunder2, julschristine975, DS2010, Locket1, lillisa34, Silvermane1, Fallow53 (Guest), lia (Guest), Merlenyn, Hyakhintos, Kimmiekitten75, Elle ananda, makennaclove, 88kellymarie, Lisa Doe, MariaNelson, souleater1234, bells7451, purpledixi, A3.14, love-fic-harrypotter28, xyxyxy11, mousehounde, Karakot, .9, SG-1agnus, SweetTormentedAngel, Alexy971, Li Morgan, Random26417, bell chelle, tirrou83, Nell1994 and Maria0030 for your support.
