It was a hot and grueling day outside, the sun beating down on the grounds around Neville as the last days of summer began and in came the hottest month of the year. He hated the heat honestly, which the humid greenhouse in his back yard did nothing to help, but he didn't mind. He was doing what he loved in the one place where he knew Mindy wouldn't come looking for him.

Mindy. She had been driving him nuts these past few days. Ever since that fight with her before James's party that weekend she had been going out of her way just to push his buttons. I want this or I want that… it was always the same with Mindy. And he just didn't have the patients or the money to put up with her little temper tantrums anymore. A teaching position at Hogwarts and the money he was given with his Order of Merlin 2nd Class was only so much. And it was basically all gone.

Hogwarts needs to start soon, he thought grimly, she can't follow me there. Oh ho, this is going to be an amazing year.

Why don't you just dump her? A little voice in the back of his mind said. He'd considered the thought, definitely. It's not like he was madly in love with her and blind to her crazy attitude, giving her everything and anything she wanted at the drop of a pin. No, he knew what she was doing. And he kept giving it to her too: that's what made it worse.

He honestly didn't know why he didn't just dump her. It was something to seriously consider.

Neville was so wrapped up in his reverie that he almost didn't notice the crumpled up piece of paper hidden in the handful of dragon dung he had just shoved into a pot.

He picked up the piece of paper, thinking it to be a piece of debris, and took it to the composter before returning to his plant. However, another piece of paper was sitting there, clean, folded neatly right beside his potting plant.

Not exactly knowing what he was doing, he pulled out his wand and pointed it weakly at the paper. Not sure what else to do, he slowly reached for the paper, unfolded it, and read:

I don't know how you do it. Defeated the last of the Dark Lords horcruxes and don't even have the courage to dump your girlfriend; although if I were you I'd be afraid of her temper too. I wouldn't suggest throwing this paper away again. It only comes back once. Floo to the Ministry at exactly 09:00 AM today. Use the destination 526983 to get through. We'll be seeing you soon.

-DC, HDC
-JM, DI

He read the note over and over, not really sure whether it was a joke or not. Pocketing the paper he took a look at his watch: 8:30. Well, if he was going to go, he might as well look decent.

And it does say Ministry of Magic along the bottom, he thought, shouldn't be too bad. 'Ministry of Magic Department,' it read. "Department of what?" he wondered aloud, heading in for a quick shower before heading to Destination 526983.

Harry jumped as the alarm clock went off. Eight already? He thought sourly to himself as he reached to turn the alarm off, before it woke his sleeping wife and son. Might as well let them sleep as much as possible.

'Report to your office at exactly 09:00AM tomorrow morning….' Harry had been going over the note in his head over and over again, and he still had no idea what to make of it.

'Hopefully your alarm clock doesn't take another lie-in. We refuse to be kept waiting….' That line really made him nervous. How anyone except the people in that room could've known that that was what happened was beyond him. And it was because of that that he was going to go check this note out in the first place.

Since Dean had yet to wake up after they had found his body yesterday, Harry and his team were told to search the area and then lay low on the mission until Dean woke up. Which, according to the doctors, could be anywhere from today to months from now, which didn't sound very promising.

Taking advantage of this day off, he decided to go in and check out exactly what this note was about and what it wanted. Whether it was a clever joke or a strange set up by rouge Death Eaters to capture him, he didn't care. He couldn't have people spying on him. Not with Ginny and James around.

Once he was showered and dressed and had his coffee, he was about to go to his office when he heard a voice behind him.

"Harry? What are you doing up?"

He turned around and saw his wife standing there, still half asleep, her hair a mess, and in her dressing gown.

"I'm just… going into work. You know, check in on some things. See if Deans awake," Harry lied quickly.

"But didn't the doctor say they didn't know when he would wake up?"

"Well yeah, but I'm still going to check up on him and some… other things."

Ginny was instantly awake. "But you hate working overtime. They gave you the day off didn't they? You love off days because you get to be with James."

"I know, I just—"

"Harry, what's going on? Did something happen? Is the team ok—is Ron?"

"Nothing happened to anyone," he said stepping forward to calm her. "Everything is fine I'm just checking something out."

"What's going on?" She asked quietly, going to sit at the table.

He sighed. He'd have to tell her. It could possibly involve her safety and the safety of her only son after all.

"Something… odd happened yesterday at work. I got a note. It told me to go to my office at 9 and to floo to some location and to wait there for more information. I'm not going into detail, but I think that someone may be watching us. Don't panic," he said when he saw Ginny's eyes widen, "I don't think it's anything major. But I think just to be on the safe side I want you to take James and go to Mum and Dad's, alright? And warn Andromeda. Just to be safe."

"But Harry, what if it's a trap, or rouge Death Eater group or something? Lucius Malfoy was just released from house arrest last week, what if he's trying to hurt you?" She was in panic mode.

"I am almost one hundred percent positive that it isn't Malfoy. I honestly think it may be harmless, but I just want to be careful. You know how it is."

Ginny sat and thought about it quietly. After the war, other than a few Death Eaters trying to exact revenge, everything had really calmed down after the day Voldemort died. No big attacks, no more deaths, maybe a couple scrimmages and a riot or two, nothing bad had happened. Everything seemed fine. Then Harry had started to help round up the other Death Eaters and go to Auror School. A year later there was a breakout in Azkaban, and all the Death Eaters who had been capture had attacked Harry. Just when they thought everything was over, he was almost dead again. Ever since then, every time something odd happened to her family she was set on edge. But she knew no matter how much she fought, Harry would do whatever he wanted.

She sighed. "It's 8:45 now. You should go. I'll wake James at 9 and go over to Mum's. I'm sure she'll enjoy having a baby to fawn over for the day. Maybe Ted will come over and play with him."

"Thank you," Harry said as he got up and strode to the fire. "I promise I will be extremely careful."

He turned and flooed away to the Ministry, not seeing the worry and the fear on his wife's face as he did.

Ron flooed into his office at 8:50 and began to pace back and forth waiting for nine o'clock to roll around.

"Ron, I don't know if I can go through will all this again. The anxiety, the hope, and then the heartbreak if it doesn't work…. I don't know if I want to take that chance again…"

"Some chances are just worth taking. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. All you have to do is try again and keep going…."

It was still bothering him to no end. How could anyone know what he had said to his wife in the privacy of their own home? He thought maybe they were being watched (after all, Malfoy did just get off of house arrest), but no matter how much he tried to bring it up with Harry or Danny, it's like he didn't exist. They were either ignoring him or they really couldn't hear what he was saying.

Which, of course, just made him even more nervous.

8:55. What could this note possibly mean? And was he really going to investigate it? He could very well just leave it alone, but Mad-Eye's voice popped in his head at the thought. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" He needed to check this out, for his family's safety and his own.

9:00 the clock chimed.

Time to go.

When Harry had arrived at his office he had found a single piece of paper on his desk that read 'At 9:00 sharp, floo to Destination 526983. No need to worry. This isn't anything that needs 'checking out,' at least not by your definition.'

When he stepped out of the fire into Destination 526983 he was in dark room. Feeling a bit paranoid, he reached into his pocket to grab his wand, only to realize it wasn't there.

I know I had it when I left the house, he thought to himself. He knew he didn't leave it in his office. He never went anywhere without his wand: he slept with the thing for Merlin's sake. Feeling extremely paranoid now, and practically hearing Moody rolling over in his grave for his lack of 'constant vigilance', he turned around and started looking for the fireplace once again. But he found nothing. He began to run, looking for a way out but no matter how much he ran, it seemed never ending. After running for what felt like an hour, he stopped at the sound of a man speaking.

"Here's how this works. There is a department deep within the Ministry of Magic, a special group of people, usually unheard of, unrecognizable because they are hidden in everyday society. You could be working with them now and you wouldn't even know it…."

Harry froze. Standing there in the pitch black room he began to listen. He felt completely naked being a dark room without his wand, not a sound except for the loud reverberating voice. Something about it sounded oddly familiar….

"I know right now you all are probably thinking, 'What is in this for me?' Well what's in this for you is you get to work with some of the greatest witches and wizards and muggles ever to walk the earth. You will experience magic like you couldn't possibly imagine in your wildest dreams. This is not a behind the desk job. You get to be out there, in the action, fighting and defending. You will die a hero, even though no one will remember what for.

"But you will make history, I can guarantee that, because we here, in The Department, don't protect witches and wizards and muggles. No… we protect Magic."

When the voice stopped talking the lights came on. Even though he could've sworn he was in a never ending room, the room he was standing in was small and all white, floor to ceiling, with a single door and a mirror. A man was standing in front of the door.

Again Harry reached for his wand before realizing again it wasn't there. Feeling stupid for not remembering it before, he stood back in a dueling stance and held his hands out with his fingers curled in front of him.

"Who are you?" he said calmly, but coldly, taking a step forward. "Why have you brought me here? Where is my wand? What do you want with me?"

"One question at a time, Mr. Potter, please," the man said with a smile. He seemed perfectly relaxed, even in the face of one of the most powerful wizards alive. He was leaning against the door dressed in grey muggle jeans and a grey sweater with the sleeves rolled up. There was a grin on his face and a twinkle in his light green eyes.

"My name is Erik Malik. I have brought you here because I believe this is where you need to be. Your wand is in your pocket. And I would like for you to follow me," he said as he stepped forward and opened the door. "Right this way if you please."

Harry stood still. Not knowing whether or not to trust the man, he moved one hand down to his pocket keeping one hand pointed. "My wand is not in my pocket," he said as he reached for it, "I would know if it was, I already checked twi—" He stopped short as he felt a bump in his pocket. He took out his wand and loosely pointed it at the man with confusion.

"I told you it was in your pocket," he said, "now this way, I insist."

He stepped into a bigger room, completely black with no doors. There were some chairs and a desk with another man sitting there. He was simply sitting with his hands folded and laying neatly on his completely empty desk. The only thing on his desk was a name plate that read 'Isaac Carrey.'

"Welcome, Mr. Waters," he said nodding to Harry, "Agent Malik. We're just waiting for the others to join us before we begin the debriefing."

"I'm sorry, but you called me Mr. Waters? Surely you must know who—"

"I'm perfectly aware of whom you really are Mr. Waters, but you look like a Mr. Waters to me." He pulled a small hand mirror out of his desk and handed it to Harry. "Go on. Take it."

With a confused look Harry slowly reached out for the mirror, but just as he was about to touch it a section of the wall behind him opened up. He turned and watched as two men, Malik (whom he had not noticed leave the room) and another man with jet black hair that lay rather unflatteringly (and unfairly) flat on his head. His eyes were a dark grey, almost black, but had a seemingly friendly glint in them.

"Ah, Mr. Clark!" Carrey said from behind him, "So glad you could make it."

"Clark? My name isn't Clark, its W—"

"I'm perfectly aware of whom you really are my good man, but you sure do look like a Mr. Clark to me. Now, if you would please, we're waiting for a couple more people before we can begin. They should be arriving any minute now. As a matter of fact," Carrey said as the wall once again opened up behind them all and three people stepped out, "here they are now."

As 'Agent Malik' again walked in with the two new people, everyone came and sat down while Malik went to stand behind Carrey.

"Now I bet what you all are wondering," Carrey started, "'what am I doing here?' Well, you are here because you four have been selected especially by me and Agent Malik here to join our department force. We believe that you four would benefit well from what we here in The Department have to offer. Let us help you help us to help you. If that makes any sense to you. Help me… help you." Carrey chuckled to himself.

One of the two nameless men who walked in spoke up. "What exactly is this place this… Department? Department of what? You are a ministry organization, are you not?"

"We are yes, as you heard in the speech when you arrived, a special organization in the Ministry of Magic that not many people, practically no one, ever hear about. We are simply called The Department, and to put things even more simply, what we do here is protect magic. Protect it from being morphed or destroyed or turned into something that just isn't acceptable to our society."

"And we want you fellows to join," Malik spoke up from behind Carrey.

"Why us?" Harry asked simply from his seat.

"Why me?" The other nameless man said from the far end of the group. He seemed genuinely shocked.

"Because you four are some of the most powerful and best wizards the wizarding world has seen since the Hogwarts Founders or even Merlin himself," Carrey said simply. "You four could help us more than most other people. And this job is more important than you realize; more important than it seems. We've been keeping tabs on you for years and we believe you are up to the challenge.

"Here: let me give you the grand tour of everything here in The Department, and I'll show you exactly what we do here. Then by the end if we haven't convinced you, we will send you on your merry little way, and you'll never have to worry about us ever again."

All the men looked at each other a little nervously before all four spoke at once.

"Alright."

"No funny business."

"Do I get to keep my wand?"

"I'm not sure how I feel about this… but I'll see how it goes."

"Excellent!" Director Carrey said enthusiastically. "If you all would please follow me," he opened another door in the wall behind his desk, stepped aside, and gestured everyone out into a long, dark, empty hallway. "I think you're going to enjoy it here."

A/N: Short chapter, I know. I wanted to make it longer but if I did this chapter would be like 10K words and I didn't want that. This just seemed like the perfect place to end the chapter. I promise chappy 4 will be longer. But early update because my work schedule next week is crazy.

I have to say, I'm slightly discouraged by the lack of reviews, but I will not beg for them and will continue to post with or without them :)

So we know that three of the four recruits are Harry, Ron, and Neville…. Anyone want to take a gander at who the fourth guy is? I'll let you know if you're right, but I won't tell you unless you guess it right! I feel as though it's pretty obvious... maybe that's just me. (And I threw in my Jerry Maguire reference if anyone caught that. (At least Carrey did.)