"Sit down" he ordered, in a tone which left no room for objections.

He was tall, strong and a bit somber. He was dressed in a black suit, same color as his hair, and the visitor could have sworn that his green eyes, as they looked at him, had strangely taken on the shape of daggers.

Harry Potter's appearance was quite intimidating, and in this particular situation, he seemed to be trying hard to look even more so.

The visitor thought that if Potter hadn't locked his office door, he would certainly have run away after the first look the man gave him. Or jumped through the window, if there was one.

Potter had his hands clasped on the table, his body dangerously leaning forward, and the other man could have sworn he was about to attack him. Attack him fiercely. Attack him mercilessly.

All because of her.

He sat down just as Harry Potter had ordered. He didn't particularly like the idea of submitting himself to the orders of a man with a split forehead, but he believed that in this case, the man in question could be potentially dangerous.

"I assume you know why you're here" the man said, his eyebrows slightly arched and his brow furrowed. The strong features of his face showed his displeasure at being there, playing that role. But Bob knew that the damn man didn't really care about that. Harry Potter only cared about one thing.

And she was just two floors down the Ministry.

Bob sucked in a great deal of air, striving to be a dignified, courageous man who, in reality, he wasn't.

"I have no idea".

But he kind of did. What else could it be? Harry Potter breathed her. He lived for her. Worst, he lived with her. And Bob understood that, because of the degree of closeness, and the irrefutable affection and complicity those two had for each other, Harry Potter wanted to know who his precious little darling was dating.

And Bob wouldn't hesitate to answer, with a stupid smile on his face, that it was him.

However, he was beginning to doubt whether he could smile at Harry Potter without him breaking all his front teeth.

Harry questioned him with a look, and remained staring at him for long seconds as Bob held his breath. He had heard how much Harry Potter valued his best friend and her well being, but that couldn't be normal.

It wasn't like Bob was planning on marrying her or anything. They only went out two or three times, although Bob couldn't deny she was absolutely charming. Such a privileged and brilliant mind and a delicate beauty, Hermione Granger was nothing short of fascinating.

"Allow me to clarify this for you, Mr. Jackson" Harry said with an abnormally slurred voice, and finally, he sat up slowly, without deflecting his two emeralds from Bob. "Actually, it's pretty simple. I assume that I will be able to clarify it with only one proper name with which you must already be famíliar", he paused "Hermione".

Bob immediately felt uncomfortable. He had guessed since he set foot in that office that Harry Potter wanted to discuss his intentions with his best friend, Hermione Granger. And Bob also knew that Potter didn't have an especially pleasant temper with Hermione's boyfriends - or soon to be ones.

But facing the situation was much more complicated than he had anticipated.

And maybe complicated wasn't the right word to define it, Bob thought, watching Harry tilt his head back slightly and ruffle his hair, all the while looking at him almost deadly. Maybe the word was scary. Spine-chilling. Drop dead out of sheer terror, kind of scary.

"I-I understand", Bob said, with a slight shake of the head. He sighed deeply before looking into his green eyes regretfully. Maybe that was the last thing he would ever see in his life. Building up his courage, he continued, "I understand your concern with Hermione Granger, Mr Potter, but I believe my personal life is none of your business".

There, he said it. It was out there. He could feel death approaching at lightning speed. Maybe if he was fast enough he could hide under the table. No, that was ridiculous. There was no way out.

Bob felt his heart fail when he heard Harry Potter's voice again.

"Your right, Mr. Jackson, your personal life does not interest me. Trust me, not in the slighest" he paused again. "However, my Hermione's personal life does concern me. And since you intend to involve her in yours, well..."

Bob swallowed hard.

"M-Mr. Potter, I understand that you might be worried about me..."

"I'm not worried about you".

"...no, no, not at all, I-I..."

"Can you stop stuttering?"

"Y-yes sir, I... understand that you want to know my intentions towards Hermione, and I assure you they are only the best possible".

Bob hoped, really hoped, that his declaration had convinced that weird man. He was ready to ask her hand in marriage, if that would allow him to leave that office alive.

But Harry acted unexpectedly, and Bob's jaw fell just a little. Harry remained staring at him, an expression of disbelief creeping across his face, and then, surprisingly, he threw himself back, leaning back against the seat of his chair and started to laugh. Hysterically.

Harry freaking Potter was laughing.

And my God, even his laughter sounded intimidating.

"What the hell!" exclaimed Harry, struggling to recover from the sudden ouburst. "What, in God's green earth, do you think we're talking about?"

And then he laughed again.

Bob felt like he had the whole of Saara desert in his mouth.

"Wouldn't you like to know... my intentions towards Hermione? Isn't that why you called me here?"

"Seriously, Bob? Merlin, who do you think I am? Her father?" and Harry chuckled again before composing himself. "Well, I'm not interested in your intentions towards Hermione. I don't care about promises of undying love, constant devotion, and faithfulness 'till death do you apart. I know you won't be able to keep them".

Bob made a conscious effort not to be offended.

"So what do you want?"

"It's rather simple, really, I assumed you'd already figured it out". He looked right at him. "Stay away from her".

"W-What?"

"Do I really need to repeat myself?"

"S-Sorry, Mr. Potter, but you don't have the right!" exclaimed Bob, his hands shaking almost feverishly.

Harry narrowed his eyes dangerously in Bob's direction, and he realized, once again, how arrogant and presumptuous the boy-who-defeated-you-know-who could be. Despite that, Bob thought it best to agree with everything he said. He was only 28 years old and had a great appreciation for life.

"Yes, I do, well... a little".

"But sir... I believe this decision is up to Hermione..."

Bob tried to be soft, but he didn't see how a man like him, over six feet tall could be soft. Somehow it seemed to work.

Harry's gaze faulted for the first time. For the briefest of moments, Bob thought he seemed almost guilty.

"Yes, you are right" Harry agreed, shaking his head slightly. "You can't possibly imagine how I feel about this, taking part in her personal affairs".

"W-Why are you doing it, then?"

It took Harry a few seconds to respond, and then, looking at Bob Jackson intently, he spoke, as if his mind was wandering far away from that cold office.

"Because I love her" he sighed, "and I can make her happy, I know I can. I love her with all my heart and I doubt anyone on this earth will ever feel the same way I do, because it's almost too much. Hermione is everything to me, my safe haven. I would kill and die for her, Jackson, as I already have", he took a breath "Hermione is my life".

Bob was speechless. Harry Potter looked no less intimidating as he practically opened his heart to an undeclared enemy like him, but his eyes were different. The greens got such an intense glow when he talked about her, a glow Bob had never seen in his eyes or anyone else's. Except maybe… on hers.

Bob nodded, aware that he was being absolutely truthful. And he couldn't compete with that. He might even come to love Hermione someday, but hardly like that. In that devoted, passionate and irreparable way he knew Harry loved her.

"I see", Bob said at last.

"I'm planning on telling her. I've been planning for months, but then you showed up. I think she might love me too, you see... but if she doesn't, well, if... if she doesn't want me, I don't want it to be because of her moral obligation to another person".

Bob stayed silent.

"I'll make her the happiest she can be or die trying".

It was funny, Bob thought, that he entered that office justifying his entire existence to Harry Potter, and now that man felt the same urge as he did.

Bob felt quite important.

"I know you will".

Harry sighed and stood up, looking relieved. Bob did the same, hardly believing he could finally be free of that torture.

Deep down, he sort of wished that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger would get together, because he knew, now he knew, that they were tailor-made to each other.

Harry Potter held out a hand to Bob, which he reluctantly accepted. He couldn't tell if Harry's handshake would be strong enough to break his bones in three seconds, and if it was, he prayed that Harry was okay enough with him so he wouldn't.

And he seemed to be.

And Bob Jackson has never been so happy to walk through a door in his entire life.

As he put his feet out, intending to finally get back to breathing without the constant observation of a pair of green eyes, he almost ran into a woman who intended to enter through the door he was leaving.

Holding his breath, he noted it was Hermione.

She wore her curly hair loose, the chocolate-colored strands running down over her shoulders and hitting her just below them, and her honey-colored eyes were bright and sharp as always.

Bob sighed, shaking his head. She was never going to be his.

"Bob? What are you doing in Harry's office?" Hermione asked quickly, and Bob didn't know what to say. He watched Harry Potter's head peek through the door as well, and she beamed the moment she saw him.

"Mione, please come in" said Potter, with a tone so soft, respectful and affectionate that Bob never thought he could use. "I was wondering if we could talk...".

She looked up at him still smiling and took a step forward, entering the room and apparently, completely forgetting about Bob's presence in the hallway.

Bob sighed as the office door closed, but not before he heard Hermione say, in a pained voice, "Are you all right, Harry? What happened? Did Bob do something? He did, didn't he? Oh, I knew it! The nerve! I'll handle him, but first, here, let me give you a hug".

Bob rolled his eyes and slapped his palm in his forehead. Those two bullheaded lunatics.

Thank Merlin he was out of there, for good.

Hello!
This is my second translated fic – from portuguese, so I apologize for any errors.
I wrote it more than 10 years ago, and thought I would start sharing it with all of you, who still have Harmony in your hearts, even after all these years.

Let me know what you think about possessive Harry and our dear Bob.

Thank you! :)