Standard Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story; they all belong to JK Rowlings. This is a work of fan fiction, produced solely for enjoyment. No infringement of rights is intended.

– CHAPTER SIX –

Auror Headquarters

A few minutes later, they arrived at the Ministry's Atrium, near the now restored Fountain of Magical Brethren. They strode over to Eric, who scanned them with what Harry now knew was a Secrecy Sensor, and took all their wands. He handed them each a slip of paper and warned not to lose them if they wanted their wands back.

Harry led them to the elevators, and they descended to Level Two, the cool, female voice making her usual announcement. 'Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administrative Services.'

Harry strode out as soon as the doors opened, not wanting to think about the last time he'd used this elevator. He'd been chasing Bellatrix Lestrange after she'd murdered Sirius; his blood boiled at the memory, and he had to fight to keep himself calm. Heading towards the nearest cubicle labelled Auror Headquarters, Harry paused, wondering how he was going to explain that he'd captured a dark wizard who was meant to have died sixteen years ago, and that he was currently carrying him in his unlicensed Animagus form; in a glass jar.

He took a deep breath and stepped into the cubicle, hoping that it belonged to an Auror he knew from the Order. It didn't; he was about to turn around and look in another cubicle, when the Auror turned around.

He was young, no more than twenty-five years old; but his face was lined and his eyes were circled by black lines. Suddenly Harry was strongly reminded of Remus, 'He must be under a lot of stress. I hope I don't look like that at his age.' He was interrupted from his thoughts by the young Auror.

'May I help you?' He asked politely, but he couldn't quite hide the irritation of being disturbed, clearly intent on finishing what looked like a lengthy report.

'Ah, actually, I'm here to help you.' Harry cleared his throat, unsure how to proceed.

'Really?' The Auror replied, arching his eyebrows sarcastically. Harry twitched nervously, and pulled out the jar.

'Well, the thing is, I've got this rat here you see; only he's not actually a rat. He's an Animagus, and a Death Eater. I caught him trying to spy on me.' The Auror had been startled when Harry said he'd caught a Death Eater, but was suspicious, when he then announced that the so called Death Eater was spying on him.

'And what makes you think you're so important that he'd be spying on you?' He asked, sure that Harry wouldn't have a proper answer for him and would leave him be. 'I really need to get this report in,' he thought wearily, 'I don't think I can go on for another day without a good night's sleep.' For an answer, Harry lifted his fringe, clearly displaying his scar.

The Auror jumped out of his seat in shock, 'Oh my God. Are you really Harry Potter?' Not leaving Harry enough time to reply, he continued. 'It's such an honour to meet you Sir. I can't believe I'm meeting you; my sister, Romilda Vane, do you know her? Anyway, she's told me all about you.' He blurted on like this for a while, ignoring Harry's grimace.

'So she said that you had -'

'Look, I really do have a Death Eater in my pocket.' Harry interrupted, now fed up of hearing about what Romilda had said about him, 'Now, if you want to arrest him, it would really help, I have quite a lot of things to do today.' He couldn't believe of all the Aurors he could have asked to help, he'd picked Romilda's elder brother.

The Auror looked shocked for a moment for a second, but recovered immediately. 'Of course Mr. Potter, let me get a Senior Auror for you, I ah,' he blushed slightly, 'don't know how to force an Animagus to reveal himself.'

'Great,' Harry thought to himself, 'he's a chatterbox, and incompetent. How did he ever become an Auror?' His respect for the Auror was rapidly diminishing. Vane ran out the cubicle, and returned a few minutes later with Kingsley Shacklebolt. Kingsley grinned,

'Hi Harry, how are you?' Smiling weakly, Harry replied.

'Fine thanks.'

'I believe congratulations are in order, happy birthday.' Harry looked confused for a minute, then remembered that he was seventeen today; so much had happened since last night. He smiled warmly.

'Thanks Kingsley.'

'Your welcome, now; to what do we owe the pleasure? After all, not many young wizards choose to spend their time in the Auror Office, especially not on their birthdays.' Grinning wickedly, Harry replied in an off-hand manner.

'Well you know, I thought I'd have a look around. After all, I want to be an Auror after Hogwarts.' Nodding approvingly, Kingsley played along.

'And we'd be lucky to have you. From what I heard, you taught an entire group how to fend for themselves, and even taught them how to cast a Patronus. Not many adults can cast one, you know; most impressive.' Harry smiled warmly, glowing from the compliment.

'Well, I did have another reason to visit. You see, I caught a rat this morning, and I thought he'd interest you. It's quite an oddity you know; not many rats have silver paws.' He smiled smugly when he saw Kingsley blanch in shock. Kingsley leaned forward,

'You caught Pettigrew?' He whispered urgently. Harry nodded happily. 'Can I see him?' Harry pulled the jar out of his pocket again, and handed it to Kingsley.

'Ingenious, I take it that it was Miss. Granger's idea to put him in an,' He tapped the jar with his wand, 'unbreakable' Harry nodded, 'jar?' Harry shrugged.

'I'd already stunned him twice, he wasn't going anywhere.' Kingsley nodded,

'They must have been quite strong spells Harry, he's still out cold.' Harry's face suddenly hardened.

'Ye well, let's just say that he deserved it; and if I'd had my way, you would probably have received him in a body bag.' Kingsley shuddered. He'd heard stories from other Order members about Peter's treachery, but Harry's response shook him to the core. 'I wouldn't ever want to be at the wrong end of his wand.' He thought, remembering that no one had survived as many confrontations with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as Harry had.

'Right well, we'll take him from here Harry; you don't have to worry about him anymore. We'll just need some written declarations you and your friends telling us what happen, then you're free to go.' Harry nodded; this was expected, after all. Kingsley continued, 'I'd also like to congratulate you, and thank you. You've helped put a dangerous man behind bars, and hopefully, he'll stay there for a long, long time.' Harry nodded absently.

He wasn't interested in praise, he just wanted to leave with his friends and enjoy his birthday, now that he'd been reminded of it. Kingsley sensing his mood; said,

'Well why don't I go get you some parchment so that you can write down what happened?' He stood up, and called, 'Accio parchment!' a small bundle flew towards him. He caught it, grinning. 'I took a page out of your book. Honestly, I don't know how no one ever thought about it before!'

'I had help with that.' Harry blushed, and pulling the parchment towards him, he grabbed a spare quill that was lying on Auror Vane's desk. He started writing his account of what happened that morning, while Kingsley went to get the others, who had been in Arthur's office recounting the same story.

He finished quickly, and signed it, just as Ginny came into the cubicle, looking happy.

'Hey Harry, can I borrow that? Hermione practically used up their whole stock.' Not waiting for an answer, she pulled the parchment and quill off Harry, who was smirking, and started writing. 'This is so exciting.' She said excitedly, 'Kingsley said they'll be a trial, and we will all be called as witnesses, and -' She looked up at Harry, who's face had turned a delicate shade of green.

'Harry, what is it? Is it about the TriWizard Tournament, you don't want to stand up and retell it do you?' He shook his head and sobbed quietly. Clearly, Cedric's death still haunted him. He never showed it, but she knew. 'Oh Harry, everything will be alright.' She leaned over and hugged him tightly, kissing him softly on the cheek.

At that moment, Ron and Hermione ran into the cubicle, cheeks flushed with excitement. 'I can't believe we're going to be called up, this is going to be so cool, Harry -' Ron stopped abruptly when he saw Ginny hugging and kissing Harry gently. She spun around and blushed crimson; there was an awkward silence.

'It's ok Ron; Harry was just worried that he'd have to tell everyone what happened at the TriWizard Tournament. I was trying to comfort him.' Ginny said forcefully.

'You were doing a bit more than -' He was interrupted by Hermione, who kicked his shin. 'Ow! What was that for?' He yelled indignantly.

'What was what for Ronald?' Mrs. Weasley popped her head in.

'Oh, um nothing mum.' Ron's face turned as red as his hair.

'Right,' she looked suspiciously around the group, 'well when you've finished, I think we should leave. We've sent quite enough time here as it is, and it's Harry's birthday after all. We should be out celebrating.'

'Oh, that reminds me guys, thanks for all the presents. They were great.' Harry said earnestly.

'You're welcome mate, maybe we can break your set in tonight. I'll go easy on you as it's your birthday.' Ron winked, Harry sighed.

'What's the point in going easy? You know you'll win either way.' Ron grinned devilishly.

'That's true, maybe if you should practise with on of the garden gnomes, that'll be a bit fairer, though I'd still hedge my bets against you!' Ron's grin widened

'Hey! I'm not that bad, you're just too good!' Harry complained.

The girls rolled their eyes, 'boys' they both thought. Hermione stood up,

'Well when you two have finished arguing, maybe you'd like to leave?' Ron and Harry shut their mouths and got up. Ginny quickly finished her account, signed, and they left, Fleur attracting the attention of every male on the way out.

When they got back, Mrs. Weasley asked Harry what he'd like to do for the rest of the day, as most of it had been wasted. Harry opted for a game of Quidditch. So a few minutes later, Harry, Ron and Ginny trumped out of the home, brooms in hand; Harry had borrowed Bill's for the afternoon.

Hermione followed them outside to sit and watch, and they played a leisurely game of Quidditch for the rest of the day. Ron played Keeper, and Ginny and Harry played Chaser, trying to get the ball past Ron. They had a great time, and when it started to go dark, they marched back inside, took showers, and joined Hermione, Fleur and Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen. They were cooking dinner and discussing bouquet designs, as their earlier conversation had been interrupted. Hermione was only partially listening, and when the others came down, opted to follow them into the lounge, where they ate snacks and joked around until dinner.

Mrs. Weasley had prepared a sumptuous dinner as usual, and had invited a large number of people to celebrate Harry's birthday, mostly Order members and Luna and Neville.

Kingsley came, and informed them that, under Veritaserum, Pettigrew had turned out to be a veritable mine of information. He'd given them names of Death Eaters, their locations, who Voldemort was recruiting, his plans and a whole host of other information. Obviously he couldn't disclose the details, but he indicated that the next few weeks would probably see a number of raids and arrests, and to watch out for them in the Daily Prophet. He thanked Harry and the others again, saying that his arrest might turn out to be 'a crucial development in the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named'.

Harry went pink at this point, and mumbled that he'd only stunned him, before turning to talk to Remus, who was just as, if not more proud of Harry than Kingsley. He'd finally avenged his parents, capturing the man who'd betrayed them all.

Trying to change the subject, Harry thanked Lupin for the book, promising him that he'd learn every spell in it by September 1st; he still hadn't told him that he wasn't returning to Hogwarts this year. He wondered when would be the right time, but decided that this wasn't it; not when everyone was so happy.

The twins showed up a bit later, and discreetly fed an unsuspecting Bill a Canary Cream. Everyone roared with laughter, apart from Mrs. Weasley, who pursed her lips in frustration. After changing back, Bill spent the rest of the night chasing the twins around the house, occasionally sending a hex in their direction. They laughed and put on their Shield Hats on. Before he knew it, the last hex Bill had shot at them bounced back, and he was covered in long orange fur. This time everyone started laughing, and it wasn't long until the girls were in fits of giggles on the floor. Hastily, Bill countered the charm, and blushing a bit, reminded himself never to try and hex Fred and George again.

'Imagine if I'd used something more powerful, I could have been in real trouble then.' He thought.

After a long night of talking and joking around, people began to leave, and yarning loudly, Harry say he was going to bed. Ginny followed him upstairs, but Ron and Hermione said they weren't tired yet. Harry was too exhausted to wonder what they were up to, and bidding Ginny good night at her door, he ascended to the twin's room, where Mrs. Weasley had said he could sleep again.

Slipping into his pyjamas, he climbed into bed. He was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.