Harry hurried through the atrium of the Ministry of Magic, ignoring the flashes of the cameras and the questions as he dashed into an open lift, jabbing the number nine repeatedly until the lift doors closed with a clang. Breathing a sigh of relief, Harry smoothed out the crumpled piece of parchment he had received last evening.
Dear Mr Potter
We require your attendance tomorrow at 10 AM at Courtroom Number 12 for a full hearing in front of the Wizengamot Panel and the ICW liaisons regarding your actions last month in Paris. Please understand that failure to show up to the hearing will result in your Bounty Hunter license being revoked and Aurors will be alerted to capture you.
We hope to see you tomorrow.
Regards
Newton Scrivensghast
Wizengamot Scribe
The lift doors opening shook Harry out from the fury he had felt while rereading the letter. It seemed that the ministry would always prefer to cause trouble for him. Thank Merlin he hadn't become an Auror. There was only so much stupidity he could take before blasting the whole building off. Hermione had helped though. Working together with Malfoy, she had created a possible list of issues that the Wizengamot might try to charge him with. Though, unlike his fifth year, he would have to handle the actual hearing himself. He had elected not to appoint a solicitor, preferring to defend himself of any allegations.
Going down the flight of stairs, Harry entered the corridors leading to courtrooms of the Ministry of Magic. Halting outside Courtroom 12, Harry looked at the parchment one last time before entering the dungeon. The dungeon was quite familiar to the ones he had visited before on his previous sojourn to the Ministry. Walls made of dark stone, he spotted the Wizengamot members conversing in low voices, before seeing him enter and making their way to the bare benches. Moving to the middle of the courtroom, Harry cast a dismissive look at the chair with chains on its arms before taking out his wand conjuring a high wingback chair for himself. There was a murmur of disquiet at his display of magic, before Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic, called the hearing into order.
"Since everyone is present, I would like to begin the hearing" Kingsley's deep voice boomed as he looked around the courtroom "Preliminary hearing of the twentieth of June, into offenses conducted under the International Criminal Statute and the murders of fourteen men on the twelfth of May in Paris, by Harry James Potter, current resident of Number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London. The hearing will be conducted by Kingsley Shacklebolt, Ministry of Magic, Gawain Robards, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Monsieur Pierre Laurent, ICW representative for France."
Kingsley took a deep breath before continuing "The charges are that the accused committed fourteen murders on foreign soil, knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions. He also incapacitated two members of the French Auror Office and the British Ambassador to Paris."
Looking at Harry, Kingsley asked "How do you plead, Mr. Potter?"
"Depends on the context, I guess"
"The context?" Robards asked, perplexed. "The context is that you killed people, Potter and you injured official representatives for two ministries."
"In that case, I guess I'm guilty" Harry replied casually, examining his nails. The members of the Wizengamot were muttering at Harry's glib response. The ICW representative seemed to be swelling up in indignity, but before he could open his mouth, Kingsley interrupted.
"Perhaps you could explain the reasoning for your answer, Mr. Potter?" Kingsley looked a bit amused at Harry's nonchalant attitude.
"You could have asked that earlier. The fourteen people I killed were directly involved in the kidnapping of a British child, Ms. Victoire Weasley, currently about to start her third year at Hogwarts. The Weasley family engaged my services as a Bounty hunter to get her back. The three idiots that I incapacitated were trying to hinder me from doing my job. So, I disabled them in a non-lethal manner and left them with broken wands. A wand costs nine galleons, I guess I will just buy them new wands."
There was a snort from one of the corners of the chamber as Draco Malfoy covered up his amusement. The others weren't so amused.
"You murdered foreign nationals in my country, Potter" Laurent yelled, finally losing his composure.
"They were criminals, you nitwit" Harry barked "Anyone would think that I would get a medal for getting rid of your trash. Besides, like I said, I was under contract. I can't be sued for that."
"Mr. Potter, please" Kingsley rubbed his temple "Do you have anything else to say in your defense?"
"Nope"
"Very well, those in favor of clearing the accused of all charges?" Harry watched as hands were raised in the air, more than the half required for his acquittal. Grinning to himself, he waited as Kingsley asked, "those in favor of conviction?" Half a dozen hands raised at this, including Robards who glared at the minority of hands raised before shaking his head.
"Cleared of all charges" Kingsley said, banging his gavel on the lectern.
"Brilliant" Harry sprung to his feet, the high wingback chair vanishing. But before he could exit the chamber, he was stopped by a scribe who passed him a sealed parchment, before bowing and leaving him. Opening it, Harry read the short note before briskly making his way out.
Exiting the lift on level one, Harry made his way to the guarded room at the end of the hallway. Four Aurors looked at him as he approached them, before one of them stepped forward.
"State your purpose for being here"
Before Harry could reply, the door opened and Kingsley came out "It's alright, Stevens. Mr. Potter is here at my invitation. Please remain outside the room while we conduct our meeting."
"But sir, he hasn't handed his wand" the Auror protested.
"I hardly doubt four more Aurors would suffice if Potter wanted to kill me" Kingsley replied, before nodding to Harry and waving him into his office.
"So, what's up?" Harry enquired, once he had settled himself onto one of the chairs in the room as Kingsley poured them both whiskeys.
"The ministry would like to offer you a contract and you would be doing me a favor if you could accept it"
"Alright, so who am I protecting?" Harry asked, sipping his whiskey.
"Daphne Greengrass"
"Wait, what?" Harry sputtered
"Yes"
"But I thought I put her in prison. You know, the bounty I brought in a few months ago"
"I am aware of that" Kingsley replied in a pacifying manner. "However, she wasn't charged by the Wizengamot and is currently at her home in Yorkshire."
"And why wasn't she charged? I distinctly remember her killing at least one bounty hunter and trying to kill me"
Kingsley looked grim "Actually, the reason she was not charged is the reason you need to protect her now, Harry. Tell me, what do you know of her?"
Harry considered the question "Nothing much, I am afraid. She was a Slytherin in my year. She mostly kept to herself, as far as I can recall. Though people always looked afraid whenever she spoke to them."
"That may be because of her father, Reginald Greengrass. Her father was one of the owners of The Daily Prophet. Using his reach and power, he was able to gather private information on a lot of people which he would use to blackmail them or extract favors. Daphne is a chip of the old block. I suspect she was a gatherer of information at Hogwarts as well. Probably why everyone feared her."
"So, why do you want me to protect her?" Harry asked curiously.
"Because Reginald Greengrass died yesterday. And people are already crawling out of the woodwork to kill Daphne as well. Apparently, though Daphne was familiar with her father's business, she wasn't too keen on taking over when she learned the full extent of his deeds. She burned all the records of blackmail that her father had carefully collected for over three decades. And since yesterday, she avoided three different bounty hunter teams with the help of the Aurors. No doubt more would be coming soon."
"So, the bounty hunters will keep coming. You can't expect me to protect her for the rest of her life. And what about Astoria?" Harry said indignantly.
"And you won't have to" Kingsley calmly replied "I am exerting pressure through all avenues to make it known widely that the records have all been destroyed. And most people have got the message. However, there's one person who is hell-bent on revenge. Thaddeus Nott. While the man is gunning for Daphne, he has no interest in Astoria as he knows the Greengrass family business is always passed to the eldest child."
"I know him" Harry instantly said, "Wasn't he the one who was disgracefully discharged from the Aurors?"
"Indeed. I believe Reginald had a hand in what happened to him. Now, he is a mercenary and he's coming back for revenge. And I can't get the Aurors because I know how lethal Nott can be. I served with him, and I know only you who can bring him down"
"I will take it," Harry said after considering his thoughts for a moment. "But I want good pay. And where's she, anyway?"
"Outside waiting for you"
"You knew I would say yes" Harry accused. Kingsley shrugged before motioning him to the door of his office. A woman Harry had seen a few months ago, was standing there with the Aurors. Daphne looked at Kingsley, who nodded reassuringly at her.
"Potter"
Harry grinned at Daphne "Hello, Greengrass. You ready?"
"To do what?" Daphne raised a finely manicured eyebrow.
"For this" Harry grabbed her arm, before powering through the Ministry wards with her.
Within a second, the two were standing in Diagon Alley, with Daphne retching.
"You could have given me a warning" Daphne shrieked, finally stopping her dry heaving.
"Now, where is the fun in that?"
"Fuck you, Potter."
"Not now, darling. Later perhaps" Harry smirked, before ducking a hex from Daphne. Jumping over another hex, he flicked his wand, disarming Daphne in a smooth motion, grabbing her wand and then tossing it back to her, who caught it with a scowl.
"Shall we?" Harry smirked at Daphne who gave a sharp nod.
Diagon Alley had changed after the war. It was impossible to see the vibrant, dazzling window displays of spellbooks, potion ingredients, and cauldrons due to the huge crowds walking around the Alley. Children ran around outside, with Boys pressing their noses against Quality Quidditch Supplies' display to gaze at the latest brooms while their parents tried to hurry them along.
"So where are we going?" Daphne asked, smoothly avoiding an old warlock who was darkly muttering about running children.
"My office. Ron will meet us there" Harry replied, deftly ignoring two witches who had been flashing smiles at him. Harry's office was on the second floor of the Apothecary and after climbing two flights of stairs, he tapped the door before opening it and gesturing for Daphne to get in. Daphne wrinkled her nose at the dirty office, trying to find space to sit among all the chairs filled with files. Deciding not to try dislodging the files, she conjured a chair before seating herself.
"You need a house-elf, Potter"
"I have one. He is just a grump" Harry tossed a few files away from the sofa before slumping down. "Now, do you know anything about Nott?"
"Not really. I mean he used to come to our house when Astoria and I were younger. His nephew Theodore was one of our playmates. Apart from that, we never met the man. It's our father who ruined his career"
"Huh" Harry grunted, looking outside the window into the Alley. Daphne turned to look at Harry, who seemed to be perusing a file he had taken out of one of the cabinets. "Nott was one of the Auror trainees during the 1970s. I suppose it says a lot that he survived the first war with Voldemort."
"Or maybe he was corrupt" Daphne pointed out.
"Possible" Harry admitted "It might be the reason he left the Aurors. Your father may have let some information slip which might have caused him to leave the country". Pouring himself a measure of whiskey, he took a sip out of it while looking outside. Daphne sighed quietly and continued to look at Harry, who abruptly frowned before opening his mouth to say something but wasn't quick enough. The window exploded in a shower of glass as Harry was thrown across the room into the cupboard, hitting it with a loud thump.
Daphne jumped from her chair and darted over to the blasted window, hearing pained cries and shouting. Ducking a pale green curse, she conjured a wave of wind to blow away the smoke, to reveal the twisted visage of Thaddaeus Nott staring at her.
"Hello, Ms. Greengrass. It's been a while" Nott said, conversationally. He was surrounded by three more men, standing alert while two others seemed to be erecting wards to keep the civilians out. Daphne clenched her teeth before sending an exploding hex at Nott who shielded it deftly before sending a blasting curse back at her.
The curse exploded below her, sending her in the air before Nott caught her with ropes and dragged her onto the street. The Alley had emptied in a manner of minutes as Nott gave her a shark-like grin. Daphne groaned in pain as she landed on the street. Her arm was bent at an awkward angle, making her pretty sure that it was at least a sprain. Potter was down for the count. And with Nott looming over her, she didn't really see a way out of this. Closing her eyes as she saw Nott begin the motion for the killing curse, she heard someone calling out.
"Oi, cunt!"
Daphne opened her eyes, just as Nott was banished into the storefront of Flourish and Blotts. Turning around, she was surprised to see Potter running at her, his wand moving at full speed as he defended himself from Nott's cohorts. Seeing the opportunity, Daphne grabbed her wand where it had fallen and started cursing the two men who had been holding the wards.
Harry, on the other hand, dodged out of the way of an entrails expelling curse, before jabbing his wand at the debris, transfiguring them into knives and flicking them at his adversaries. Two of them shielded against the knives, while the third one was stabbed in the throat. Glancing at Daphne, he saw her bringing down one of the men, while the other was shielding frantically. Grinning maniacally, Harry took out a decoy detonator and dropped it. Launching stunning spells at the duo in front of him, he pivoted on his feet to intercept a spell from Nott, who had clambered out of the shop. Deflecting his spell, Harry slammed his wand into the ground. The ground broke apart and Nott cursed, disapparating. At the same time, the decoy detonator blasted off in the distance, distracting the last one, and allowing Daphne to nail him on the head with a reductor.
The remaining two started raining spells on him. Avoiding the spells, Harry closed in on one of them, swinging his fist into his feet, blocking a spell from the other man. Snap kicking the man on the head, Harry knocked him unconscious. Daphne meanwhile, had stunned the last man.
"Nice" Harry grimaced at the shower of blood and bones around him. Daphne was panting on the ground, trying to regain her breath. Harry walked over to Daphne, absently casting a healing spell at Daphne while examining the wreckage around him.
"Where the hell is Weasley?" Daphne ground out, pushing to her feet.
"He should have been here. I guess the contract he's on is taking more time than we expected"
"Now what?"
"Do you trust me?" Harry looked at Daphne who watched him with narrowed eyes. Finally taking a deep breath, she gave a short nod.
"Good" Harry grabbed her elbow. "We will be apparating to a safe house of mine. Once there, we can make more plans." At Daphne's nod, Harry twisted on the spot, taking Daphne with him.
They appeared on the edge of a forest. There was a small path leading to an imposing stone gate, worn out with time.
"Where are we?" Daphne asked as they approached the old gate.
"The ruins of Potter Manor" Harry grunted, tapping the gate with his wand before cutting his hand and rubbing the blood on the gate. Healing the wound with a word, they watched the gate slowly open, allowing them inside the grounds. An old manor stood at the edge of a long valley, desolate and lonely, more dead than alive.
"What happened to this place?" Daphne breathed out, looking around with wide eyes.
"Voldemort" Harry shortly replied.
"That explains it. So why are we here?" Daphne asked.
"If we're to kill Nott, we need to be in the driver's seat. We can't allow him to dictate terms. Here, there are no civilians. Fewer chances of anyone getting injured. This may be our best chance" Harry explained, pushing the old door open.
For Daphne, it was like entering a haunted place. Light shafts cut through the dusty rooms, briefly illuminating the place before going back into the shadows.
"This is where you're supposed to grow up," Daphne said wonderingly, looking inside the drawing room where a long dining table stood under a rusted chandelier.
"I suppose so"
"Voldemort took everything away from you, didn't he Potter?" Daphne commented, examining an old portrait of an old man with piercing eyes hanging on the wall. Harry curtly nodded, casting a scourgify at the chairs lining the table, cleaning them. Sitting down, he gestured for Daphne to do the same. Suits of armor lined the walls of the Hall, giving him an idea.
"Let me guess, you plan to leak that I am holed up here. Use me as a bait" Daphne remarked.
"That's the plan. I plan on turning this house into a fortress so when they arrive, I will be the hunter, not the hunted."
Harry stood up, raised his wand, and pointed it around the Hall. Instantly, the torches burst back to life and cast a warm light around the duo.
"There's just two of us, Potter" Daphne pointed out.
"Not for long" Harry assured her, walking to a blackened wall in the corner. Tapping the wall four times in four different spots, he pushed magic into the house, linking him to the core wards. Taking a deep breath, he uttered a spell he had last heard being used back at the Battle of Hogwarts.
"Piertotum Locomotor"
Instantly, the statues and suits of armor sprung to life on their plinths all around the hall, making Daphne jump. She looked on as they thundered past her, standing before Potter in a line before giving a short bow and moving out of the Hall. Harry leaned back, breaking his link to the wards.
"I want to help," Daphne said.
"Are you good with wards?"
"Yes. What kind of wards do you want?"
Harry smirked "The lethal ones."
Later after the wards were created, Harry and Daphne stood in the kitchen, drinking mugs of coffee that Harry had asked Kreacher to brew. The house elf had taken one look at the manor before vanishing. A coffee pot and two mugs had materialized in its place. Harry hadn't heard from Kreacher after that. Daphne had also drawn a range of runic bombs all across the house, telling Harry that they might need every advantage they could get.
"You never told me why you went into bounty hunting?" Daphne said, taking a sip of the coffee.
"I never told anyone" Harry countered. He was drawing a runic scheme on a piece of parchment he had found in the study.
"Well, tell me now. We have some time" Daphne retorted.
Harry breathed deeply before considering Daphne "After the war, I wanted to be an Auror. However, after joining, I found the rules and regulations to stifling. Many people who were guilty got off on technicalities. Shack tried to change things, but I was burnt out by then. At that point, Bill Weasley told me about Bounty hunting. Since I had nothing to do and needed money to eat, I jumped into it. Ron followed me into it after he quit the Aurors two years ago. He is mostly a consultant, I suppose. Not a full-fledged hunter like I am."
"Why" Daphne curiously asked.
"He didn't want Hermione to worry. Besides she is pregnant with their second child. So, he sticks to cases where the chances of danger are lower."
"Huh" Daphne examined the runic scheme Harry was designing. Looking at the schematics, she drew the dots "Are you planning on blowing up the house?"
"It's a possibility" Harry admitted.
"But why? It's your history. Generations of your family grew up here" Daphne sputtered, setting her coffee down.
"But I didn't. For me, this house is nothing but a reminder of what could have been" Harry said "I visited the place after the war, you know. Never really connected with the place though. So, if there's a way to destroy their numbers, I will take it."
"So, tell me about yourself. Why were you trying to flee the country a few months ago?" Harry asked, setting the schematic aside.
Daphne rolled her eyes "My father was trying to get me married to a rich pureblood. I didn't want that. I am a dueling champion, Potter. Professor Flitwick himself taught me at Hogwarts. Besides, I wanted to explore the world. But my father wouldn't let me. He restricted my access to the family funds. So, I helped Roger steal the gauntlets in exchange for the money to start a new life somewhere outside this bigoted place." Daphne studied the schematic Harry had drawn, making a few alterations as she completed it.
"Here" she handed the schematic to Harry "I reduced the radius of the blast. After all, wouldn't want to blow us up by accident."
"Right" Harry chuckled, watching Daphne out of the corner of his eye as she looked out of the windows. His smile vanished when she turned to him and asked "How did you survive the blast at your office? I thought for sure that you were dead."
"It's a trade secret. And I am not telling you anything else" Harry said, preempting Daphne's speech, who scowled. She began to argue but then stopped, alert.
"My alert ward just went off," she told Harry tensely, who instantly looked outside. A layer of fog was settling in now, through which seven dark figures slowly approached, creeping through the fog like dementors. Drawing the elder wand, he looked at Daphne "Are you ready?"
"Do I have a choice?" Daphne snapped, also clutching her wand.
"I am afraid not," Harry said, almost sadly. Giving her a small nod, he started moving towards the dining hall, using silent hand signals to get Daphne to follow him. Looking through the window, they watched as two men broke off towards the front door. One of them pressed open the door, and that was the last thing they both did. The door blasted apart, shredding the two men alive courtesy of the runic bomb Daphne had attached to the door.
Smiling to himself, he took Daphne's hand and started to tug her towards the back room when an explosion discharged, and the windows down the corridor exploded one after the other, showering Harry and Daphne with glass. Dark plumes entered the room, solidifying into men who were instantly engaged by Harry and Daphne both. Dropping one with the stunning spell, Daphne chanced a look at Harry and looked on in wonder as he battled four wizards across the room without breaking stride. He was like an unstoppable machine as he deflected and parried spells at record speed, before attacking them back. In short order, he had them all down on the floor, suffering from various injuries.
"Are you hurt?" Harry asked, checking over Daphne before scrutinizing the faces of the men who had attacked them.
"Only in my ego. I was a dueling champion, and you are the one taking on four at once and coming out on top" Daphne joked.
Harry flipped over all the bodies, looking for Nott "he's not here. The bastard is not here"
Suddenly, the house was hit by a series of gouging spells, destroying the walls and letting the moonlight in. Harry grabbed Daphne and pushed her to the floor, muttering a spell under his breath. Suddenly, yells came from outside as the suits of armor attacked the assailants. Harry sent a spell into the night, not caring if it hit before he saw Daphne clutching her stomach. A gouging spell had grazed her chest and blood was now pouring out at an alarming rate. He frantically tried to cast healing charms on her but to no avail. Quickly making up his mind, he put her in a healing stasis to keep her wounds from exacerbating. Just then, there was another boom as one of the walls caved in.
Snarling, Harry got up and used the rubble of the destroyed walls as projectiles, trying to take out as many as possible.
"Enough" a voice snapped outside, Harry recognized Nott's voice.
"Leave, Nott. Before I kill you"
"That's not possible, Boy who lived. You just killed my entire crew. And a mercenary is nothing without his crew" the man emerged from the shadows. "I am afraid tonight, either you die, or I do. That's the only way this will end"
"Fine by me" Harry bit out, and flicked his wand, sending a wave of destruction at Nott who responded with a shield charm that cleaved his spell in two before sending three killing curses at him in rapid succession. Using the wall as cover, Harry slashed his wand, using a flaming whip to bat away the hexes from Nott before connecting with Nott's shoulder.
The man screamed in pain as the flame whip took off a chunk of his shoulder. Grimacing, he applied a healing charm before destroying the cover Harry was hiding behind, throwing Harry back from the force of the spell. Harry disapparated, appearing behind Nott, and hurled a cluster of debris towards Nott. Nott held out his hand, and the debris shrunk as it flew toward him, until it appeared to vanish entirely as it reached his grasp.
Nott returned fire with a great plume of fire that Harry deflected into the ground, the ground becoming hot and scorched from the spells. Jets of light erupted from both their wands and collided, pushing them apart. Harry apparated once again, appearing right behind Nott. Pressing his wand to Nott's torso, he yelled "Sectumsempra"
Severus Snape's spell cleaved through Nott's shield like a hot knife through butter before bisecting the man in half. At the same time, Harry was thrown back by the backlash of Nott's shield shattering, landing back inside the destroyed dining hall, where Daphne appeared to have lost consciousness. Quickly moving across the rubble, he cradled Daphne's head in his lap. Her face was covered in blood and soot, and she wasn't looking good. Desperately, Harry gathered her in his arms and then vanished with a crack.
A blazing radiance of white light greeted Daphne as she woke up slowly. She looked around in confusion, looking at the white walls and halogen lights, and a table full of potions. "I must be in Saint Mungo's" Daphne mused. Her stomach and ribs hurt every time she took a breath. Groaning, she took a deep breath that seemed to burn her insides. Suddenly, the door to the ward opened and a lime green robed healer bustled in.
"Miss Greengrass, I am glad to see you awake"
"What happened?" Daphne managed to croak out.
"Spell damage. You were bleeding out when you were brought to Saint Mungo's two days ago. A delay of a few more hours would have killed you" the healer said, handing Daphne a glass of water that she drank, spilling a few drops. The healer then checked her status, casting a few spells, while making notes on a clipboard.
"You seem to be recovering well, Miss Greengrass. You should be out of here by the end of the week if all goes well" the healer commented, giving Daphne an encouraging smile who nodded. Handing two potion vials to Daphne, the healer instructed her to take the potions in an hour, before leaving.
A few minutes later as Daphne started to fall back into sleep, the door opened again and someone else entered. She looked up as a familiar man with green eyes and a lightning shaped scar walked to her bed. He didn't look like he had slept well, dark circles under his eyes.
"Daphne" Harry greeted, pulling up a chair to the bed, settling himself beside her.
"Harry" despite herself, a smile made its way onto Daphne's face. "What happened?"
"You were hit with gouging spells" Harry said. "I dueled everyone and killed Nott. After that, I couldn't heal you, so I brought you here." Saying this, Harry took a deep breath "I am sorry, Daphne. My plan led to you almost getting killed."
"There's nothing to be sorry about" Daphne countered "I agreed to your plan. It was the only way to flush Nott out. None of it is your fault and I don't want to hear anything about it."
Harry looked at her for a moment before giving her a nod "I guess if you're fine with that. What are you gonna do now?"
"I don't know" Daphne softly said "I mean it's the first time in my life that I don't have my father's estate hanging over me or a killer stalking me. I don't really know what to do."
"I have an idea"
"Oh, dear. Here we go" Daphne gave a fake shudder.
Harry gave her a scolding look "Do you want to hear about it or not?"
"Okay, fine. Go ahead. Dazzle me" Daphne smirked at Harry's annoyed look.
"Come work with me"
Daphne blinked "Wait, what?"
"You're a great duelist, Daphne" Harry started "And you admitted that you wanted to be one. But duelists lead boring lives. I know that because I asked Flitwick in school once. It's only two or three tournaments a year. As a bounty hunter, you can take your own contracts, be beholden to no one and live your life the way you want to. The pay might not be regular and the health benefits rather poor, but you can do a lot of good" Harry finished, giving her an expectant look.
"So, you want me as a partner in your team?" at Harry's nod, she asked "But about Weasley?"
"I told you, he's more of a consultant. Besides, making any hires is part of my job. So here we are"
"Can I take a few days to think about it?" Daphne asked.
"Sure, I mean I am sorry to spring it on you when you're recovering. I just thought you should know that you have options"
"That was kind of you, Potter" Daphne gave another smile, before yawning.
Harry took that as his cue to leave "I will leave now. Let me know what you decide". Getting up, he pulled Daphne into a careful hug before releasing her, who looked shocked at the gesture. Nodding goodbye, Harry opened the door and walked out.
Harry organized the files on his desk as he perused the new contract that the ministry had sent him. It was something about hunting down a gang of snatchers who had escaped after the war and had resurfaced now. He had expected to hear back from Daphne but hadn't. It disappointed him, to his surprise. He had been intrigued by her and had wanted to get to know her better. Maybe, she wasn't interested.
He was broken out of his thoughts, as the door to his office banged open, revealing Daphne Greengrass standing in front of him. A smile spread across his face as he walked over to welcome her in.
"I have a few conditions before I join" Daphne said, shrugging off her outer robe.
"Okay" Harry perched himself on his desk, waiting for her to continue.
"I don't want to be treated like a delicate flower. I have had enough of that in my life. If I become a bounty hunter, I am your equal. No trying to hold me back from danger. And you train me up. I saw you dueling, Potter. I want to be like that. If you agree to these two conditions, I am in."
"I have one condition of my own then" Harry retorted.
"What's that?"
"That you call me Harry" he replied, grinning as a smile spread across Daphne's face as well.
"Well, Harry" making an emphasis on his name "Do we have an accord?"
"Welcome aboard, Daphne" Harry poured a glass of whiskey, before offering it to Daphne.
AN: Hey all, here's another one shot in this series. I might build it up to a Harry Daphne pairing as I absolutely love them. As for now, please read and review.
