Harry stepped off the lifts onto the second floor of the Ministry of Magic, running his hand aggressively through his hair. He attempted to shake out some of the water that had collected in his hair, since it had been pouring rain that morning upon his arrival. Anyone inside of the Ministry wouldn't know this though, given that the Ministry's enchanted windows showed a severe blizzard scene at the moment. The maintenance department was on strike once again, it seemed. As Harry turned a corner towards the Auror Department, he contemplated whether maintenance spent more time on strike or off, that was until he was greeted by a plump witch with an inviting smile who was sitting attentively behind a desk.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter," she said. "How are you today?"

"Well, thanks," he said, smiling back as he entered the department. "Is Robards in yet, Eleanor?"

"His holiday started today," she said, reaching for a large folder.

Harry's face dropped slightly. "That started today?"

She nodded. "A week and a half in Tunisia with the wife and children. He sent me his itinerary just yesterday. It sounds wonderful."

"I'm sure," he said absently. "So, wait, that means that I'm—"

"In charge," she said, handing him the folder before picking up another small stack of papers. "In the folder are the most recently reported incidents, and here," she handed him the stack of papers, "are the memos and messages we've received since this morning."

He took the stack and eyed it wearily. "It's only 8:30."

"You mean it's already 8:30," she said. "It's usually larger."

"Right," he mumbled before he began to make his way to his office, his hands now full.

"Oh, and Mr. Potter," she said, following him with a small pad and quill in her hands. "I'd also like to remind you that the students from Hogwarts will be here around eleven—"

"Hogwarts's students?"

"Mr. Robards did tell you, didn't he?"

Harry sighed. "He didn't. This is my first day back in the office since last Wednesday. I've been on assignment up north investigating…" He trailed off and sighed. His day had just started and he already knew it was going to be a long one. "What about the Hogwarts's students? Is it the seventh-years?"

"It is," she said, checking her pad. "Several of the individuals who are interested in careers as Aurors. Usually the head of the department gives a bit of a lecture to them to inform them of what they're getting into."

"And I suppose that's me at the moment?"

"Yes, sir."

Harry bit his bottom lip and stared at Eleanor as he tried to figure out how he was going to get all the work he had planned to do today complete on top of running the department.

"Can I get you some coffee or tea?" she added quickly as Harry continued to stare through her, deep in thought.

"Tea, please," he said as he slowly sat down in his chair behind his desk and began running his hands through his hair again.

"Very well," she said with a nod before she vanished from Harry's sight. As she disappeared, a memo flew into the room and landed neatly on Harry's desk. He stared at it for a long moment before leaning over to open it. He read:

Lunch, later? -Hermione

Harry sighed and hastily scribbled back.

Can't. Robards is on vacation and loads of work is already piling up. –Harry

He tapped his wand swiftly onto the piece of parchment and watched as it flew steadily out of his office, narrowly missing Eleanor as she returned with tea.

"Thanks," he said with a weary smile as she dropped it off and made her way back to her desk. He started absently flipping through the folder he had received before settling on signing off on case reports. It was the dullest part of being an Auror, and the process had a tendency to get backlogged for weeks at a time since his superior, Arwen Robards, usually ignored the task.

He'd been at it for only a half an hour before he stopped once he heard the voices of several people milling around the outside of his office. He checked his watch. It was almost 9:00, which meant everyone else was getting in and the morning meeting was about to begin…The morning meeting he hadn't yet prepared because he'd been so sidetracked by Robards's absence.

"Bloody ridiculous," said a gruff male voice. "I lost the whole load because of bad calls."

"That's what you get for betting on Muggle sport," a female voice said.

"I think the same results would have occurred regardless," a younger sounding male voice said, just as the door to Harry's office opened. "It doesn't matter if it's wizard or Muggle gaming, Hillsby is a terrible gambler."

"Morning, Harry," waved the older wizard with the gruff voice.

"Morning, Hillsby," he said without looking up.

"Geez, Harry," said the witch of the group, who was currently observing his work load. "What's with all the paperwork? Bit off more than you can chew, have you?"

"Robards is on vacation, Mal," said the younger wizard. "Harry's second in command. So, he's in charge."

"Oh, that's right," said Hillsby. "Forgot he wouldn't be here today."

"You're not the only one," Harry mumbled as two more people entered the room.

"Oye, Marks," said the dark skinned woman who had just entered and pointed to the younger wizard from before. "How'd that spot in Edinburgh go? I heard you had to stun a whole group of elderly people."

"That never happ—" said the younger wizard named Marks in a frustrated tone. "I mean, who starts this stuff?"

"Probably you," said Mal with a grin as several others chuckled. Jacob Marks was the newest Auror out of training and generally caught slack from the others due to his age and precocious nature.

"What time is it?" Harry interrupted.

"Five 'til nine," said Hillsby once the group started to take seats around the room.

"All right," Harry said as he pushed the work he was doing to the side. "We've got five minutes until the morning meeting and we're missing…?"

"Savage," said the fifth wizard in the room known as Williamson. "And Henry."

"Henry is in Antsworth," said Mal, flipping her long dark hair over her shoulder. "He and Thomas are there until next week."

"Savage is in America until Thursday," Hillsby added as a pale man with light hair appeared at the door.

"Look who has returned from the dead!" said Mal excitedly as she jumped up from her seat to greet him. "David Rooney! How was Paris?"

"Nice," he said as he came in and greeted everyone. "I'm glad to be back, though."

"Glad to have you back," said the dark skinned woman with a sly smile.

"Oh, Delina," Rooney joked. "You didn't miss me did you?"

She smiled. "Maybe a little. I mean everyone here is far too competent to blame any of my mistakes on, so without you to use as a scapegoat…"

Everyone laughed, right as another body appeared at the door and glanced around the room. Harry smiled as Ron entered.

"And look who else is back!" Mal said excitedly, greeting Ron.

"Excellent," Marks said. "Now we've got more people to put on detail and I don't have to work double watches!"

"Don't count on that," Harry said, glancing around the room while Ron took a seat. "Well, I know I've usually got a whole list of things laid out for the day, but with the extra work that I wasn't anticipating shoved on me, this meeting is going to be a bit on the fly. First off, Rooney and Weasley are back from Paris, as you can see, so welcome back to the both of you."

There was small applause and Ron and Rooney took mock bows.

"They've come back at just the right time because, as you know," Harry continued, "the up and coming months tend to be the busiest ones on record. So, let's get right to handing out assignments." He reached over to the folder on his desk and opened it. He glanced at Mal. "Hubbard. According to the plans from last week, you and Patricks," he glanced at Delina, "Are to investigate some disturbances in Norfolk." He handed the folder to Delina and stepped back. "I haven't looked through it yet to check out the details, but I trust the two of you will review it and take the proper precautions."

"Absolutely," Delina said with a glance at Mal. She nodded.

"Rooney," Harry said with a small grin. "As a welcome back present, you get to mentor two trainees."

Rooney shrugged and took the folder Harry handed him.

"Inside there," he said, "there's a routine inspection assignment for you to take them on and rate their performance. They'll both be answering to you for the remainder of their third training year, so make sure to keep your reports on both of them in order."

"Right," Rooney said once he opened the folder to inspect the two people he would have to train.

"Gerrard in Paris said your skills have improved greatly," Harry continued. "A fantastic compliment since your temper was always what got the best of you."

Rooney managed a watered down smile. It was a fact that his temper definitely had always been his shortcoming as an Auror, and had kept him from receiving some well deserved promotions over the years. It was almost strange for Harry to be lecturing Rooney on the advancement of his skills when it was he who had been Harry's officially assigned mentor when he was in his second year of training. Of course, the training program for Harry had been done more at his own request than the department's.

Given Harry's reputation, the department had been prepared for Harry to all but take over the day he joined. However, Harry wasn't looking for preferential treatment, or the excess responsibility. He did the majority of the training program regardless of how advanced others found his skills during the process. By the time he was twenty, he had officially graduated to full blown Auror status, and by twenty-two, he had already advanced to second in command of the department, the position he still held today. He had been afraid that the appointment would upset some of the people who had been there longer than he had, but surprisingly, everyone seemed to welcome the idea.

"Marks," Harry said, picking up another folder. "You and Williamson will head over to St. Mungo's to investigate those individuals suspected to be involved in the murder of those Muggles in London. Muggle authorities have said the cause of death is unknown, but I believe it to be an Unforgivable Curse."

"What if they won't talk?" Marks asked eagerly.

Harry glanced at Williamson, who rolled his eyes. "We'll take care of it," Williamson said in a very official tone.

"Aren't you an Auror?" Delina snapped at Marks. He blushed.

"Hillsby," Harry said. "You'll be on detail today seeing as that's really all I've got as far as assignments go. It's almost been entirely too quiet around here lately."

"That's a good thing."

"It's odd," Harry said, handing Hillsby several documents. "What level security clearance do you have?"

"Four."

"Excellent." Harry grinned. "You can help me sign off on case reports."

"Oh, that'll be fun," he said sarcastically.

"Right," Harry said before clapping his hands together. "That's it for today's meeting. Ron stay behind, I need to talk to you."

"You didn't give me an assignment," Ron said with a shrug. "I couldn't go anywhere if I tried."

"I've got something for you," he said before glancing around the room. "Any other questions before everyone is off?"

Mal raised her hand. Harry pointed at her.

"Why didn't you tell us you were getting married?"

Harry's eyes went wide as Delina and Marks both reared their heads around on him in a surprised manner.

"You're getting married?" Williamson asked as he stood in the doorway clutching his assignment.

Harry and Ron exchanged glances before Harry sighed dejectedly. "Who told?"

"Well, that as good as confirms it," Mal said with a smirk. "I owe Eleanor lunch."

Harry's face dropped. "Wait, you didn't actually know?"

"Not until you just said it," she said with a gesture towards him. "Eleanor suspected it because she keeps sorting through random post concerning party favors and flowers and what not, but it was addressed to some random unknown name." She paused and shrugged. "It happened too often to be a mistake, and once she and I chatted about it, I came to the conclusion that someone may very well be hiding the fact that they're celebrating something…" She chuckled. "Sorry Harry, but that description fits you better than anyone. For all we knew, it could have been a birthday party, but the wedding just seemed like the more exciting guess."

"So, you tricked me into admitting it?"

She grinned. "I did get top marks in investigation technique."

"Can she and Marks switch assignments, then?" Williamson asked. "I'd rather be stuck with her than him."

"Okay, okay" Harry said once everyone started smiling at him. "The truth is out…"

"Well, congrats!" Marks said excitedly. "That's fantastic!"

"Thanks," Harry said lazily as everyone else wished him congratulations in mixed unison. "But here's the thing, I am trying to keep it quiet. So if you all could just not tell anyone—"

"The papers would have field day," Rooney said as they all started exiting the room, seemingly ignoring Harry's request. They were instead commending Mal on figuring everything out. Harry watched them leave and then clumsily plopped down on the edge of his desk. He looked at Ron.

"I don't think anyone is going to tell anybody," Ron encouraged.

Harry gave Ron a look to say he didn't agree, but took a deep breath and changed the subject. "You, my friend," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "get to talk to the Hogwarts's students today."

"What?"

"A group of them are headed this way around eleven," he said, checking his watch. "They come in every year, the seventh-years. We talk to them about being an Auror. You chat, you answer questions, and it's all good fun."

Ron made a doubtful face. "Are these kids expecting Harry Potter? Because if they're expecting you and they get me—"

"They won't be," Harry said. "It's usually Robards' job, but since he's on holiday—"

Ron made another doubtful face.

"I just have so much work to do," Harry said honestly. "Plus, I'm headed to Hogwarts in just over a week to do my lecture anyway."

Ron's expression didn't change.

"And you know that these kids would much rather have you talking to them than Robards," he said as he tried to inflect fake cheerfulness in his tone. "I mean, you are the famous Ron Weasley."

"I actually just go by Ron nowadays," he said as several memos came flying into the office. "But I guess I don't have a choice in the matter. In the meantime though, what shall I do?"

"You can finish your Paris discharge work," Harry said seriously. "You did never hand in your last week's worth of reports, and technically, I can't give you a real assignment here until you're fully discharged from the French Ministry."

Ron sighed. "So, that's the real reason I'm stuck speaking to—"

"No," he interrupted. "I really am just that busy, and as much as I like going back to Hogwarts and talking to kids, I'm just not up the usual, 'Tell us how you defeated Voldemort,' chat today."

"Oh, but it's such a good story," he joked as Eleanor walked into the office.

"Post is here," she said, handing Harry a very large stack of envelopes before turning and handing Ron some as well. "Oh, and," she smiled, "congratulations on your engagement."

Ron tried to hide a laugh as Harry begrudged a smile and a thank you to the woman who had contributed to the outing of his secret.

"Just hope that everyone keeps their mouths shut," Ron said after Eleanor left. "With the news being as slow as it's been lately, it'll be front page for sure."

Harry sighed. "I'm firing anyone who tells."

"Can you do that?"

He smirked. "No, but I can still tell them I can."