A big thankyou to all my reviewers - this positive feedback is so cool!

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Potter catches the Snitch!

They were going to meet Harry for lunch. He was working in one of the smaller universities today, and Ron was hoping to see a bit of whatever it was his friend did. Harry knew all about Ron's world, and magic, and Ron had answered every wistful question about being an Auror that Harry had cared to ask. Harry hadn't been quite so forthcoming about his job; in fact he was very diffident about the whole thing.

They had only three more names on their list to interview by the time Ron and Hermione strolled down the corridor leading to where Harry was. The redhead had sought and been given permission to place a small tracking spell on Harry's watch, in order to be able to find his best friend when he needed to. Harry had taken the request in the spirit it was intended, one from a lover concerned about his partner. They'd spent a few very nice minutes pressed against a wall in the hallway exploring that gesture, and Hermione had walked in on them, scolding lightly once more when she realised what they were up to and making them laugh as they broke apart.

Harry was working in something called a 'server room' when they arrived, but Ron could see no sign of food or waiters. The room was well lit, and there was a small group of students standing around, watching someone who was sitting in front of two screens, his hands a continuous blur of graceful motion as the watched the screens reaction.

"Can I help you?" one of the girls whispered, and Hermione shook her head, pointing at the dark haired man, who was so intent on his labours that he didn't even look up. With a shock, Ron realised where he'd seen that sort of focus before.

"We're here to have lunch with Professor Potter," Hermione whispered back, "What's going on?"

"Some idiot freshman decided to hack into the server to retrieve a file he wasn't supposed to have access to," the girl rolled her eyes, "There was spy ware on his computer, and someone is yanking all our data off the server. Professor Potter isolated the lab, and he's trying to get the data back and shut the attacker down for good."

"Did you see that?" someone else hissed, and she turned back to watch whatever it was Harry was doing. The small group fell silent again and Ron glanced around. There were many of the things called computers in here, including some that had obviously been taken apart. He couldn't see any damage to the pieces, and wondered how the freshman had hacked in without damaging the machines he saw. He also couldn't see any spies in the room, and decided that this was one of the Muggle/Wizard things where words had more than one meaning. He decided to make a determined effort tonight to get a proper explanation from Harry and Hermione and settled in to watch his friend.

He couldn't follow the prompts that were flashing on the screen - the words made no sense and they passed by quickly, but it was evident that the students here could. As they were older than the average freshman, Ron assumed that these were the advanced class, and therefore could be expected to understand what they were seeing even if they couldn't emulate it at these speeds. Harry's face in profile was intent, his green eyes flashing with the reflected light, and Ron had a smug moment of 'mine' which he repressed sternly. He belonged to Harry just as much as Harry belonged to him, and possessiveness was an ugly trait in a lover if it went too far.

There was a gasp and the screens stopped flashing, replaced with a simple message that made both Ron and Hermione laugh incredulously. 'Gryffindor wins!' in maroon and gold letters floated on a blue background and Harry turned, his eyes widening in surprise even as he blushed in embarrassment.

"Yeah, well," he shrugged at the laughing pair and Ron reached over to clap his shoulder gently. Harry grinned in reply and turned back to his work, his movements almost languid after the frantic rush of just moments ago.

"Right," he called to his students, "I got all the data back and left a nice little surprise of my own for the git. I want you to go into the lab and shut every single computer down, then physically disconnect it from the network. We'll have to scour each drive independently, and then check the server again before the lab can reopen. Maddy, there are five disks of mine in the blue box with the programs you'll need, so get started. I want each computer checked twice before we open the lab again."

"What about Professor Taft's composition class? They've booked the lab for today," Maddy asked, even as she walked briskly across the room. The screens behind Harry shut off the Gryffindor message and he got up and stretched for a moment, his lean body a tempting display that had Ron very interested in moments. From the look Harry gave him that had been the idea, and Hermione tsked under her breath. From the corner of his eye Ron spotted at least two other people eyeing Harry, which just went to show what good taste he had in men.

"I'll deal with Taft when it comes up," Harry replied wryly, and the student nearest the door glanced out into the corridor.

"Oh good," he said, "Here he comes."

Harry rolled his eyes and walked over to where the two Aurors were standing. He leaned in and lowered his voice, making them lean in as well.

"You might just want to have your wands ready - Taft can be a bit of a dramatist," the joking tone was welcome, as it reassured both Aurors that Harry was in a good mood after the memories dragged up yesterday. Ron made a production of placing his hand at the cuff of his sleeve, as if he was about to push it up and whip his wand out. Harry snickered and went to deal with the pompous man that was already demanding explanations as to why the door was locked.

What followed was nothing short of a battle royale. Harry never raised his voice, and barely moved from his easy slouch in the doorway as he explained quietly and calmly that the lab was out of order due to unforeseen sabotage and that the Professor would have to reschedule his time. Harry was polite throughout the explanation, while Taft got increasingly rude and irate. Ron could understand the other mans point of view - he had made plans for his class that hinged on the availability of the lab - but at the same time he was surprised the man could be so unprofessional. It wasn't Harry's fault the idiot had chosen now to sabotage the server, and it was certainly not a personal attack, as he seemed to claim.

"Why doesn't Professor Potter go get Walters? Isn't he head of faculty with Richardson on leave?" one of the students near Ron muttered as he carefully sifted through a pile of round shiny discs. Maddy shook her head.

"Walters only deals with the research labs here. With Professor Richardson away, Professor Potter is the head of the faculty, because he deals with the public and speciality labs. Walters won't come down from research to deal with these problems, and although Professor Potter is only here part time, he deals with a larger area than Walters, so he's in charge," Maddy whispered and then shooed the rest of the senior students into the main lab.

Ron had a very nice glow going over the student's obvious respect for his friend, and even Hermione was beaming proudly. Harry dispatched Taft with a few more polite comments and then closed the door, turning to look at his friends. His eyes narrowed suspiciously and he folded his arms, tilting his head and hitting them with a mild glare that made Ron want to confess. To anything.

"What?" Harry asked, and Ron grinned, going over and stealing a brief but passionate kiss, grateful that the students had gone next door.

"You're sexy when you're authoritarian," he muttered and Harry grinned wickedly, making bits of Ron that had calmed down regain their interest.

"We'll see about that later," it was a promise that sent a very pleasurable shiver down the red heads spine.

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