Harry had been at the Ministry for close to two hours. Kingsley had asked him to arrive at six in the morning not because his mission was to begin at six but as Harry discovered there were a lot of small details to take care of before becoming an Auror. Harry had filled out copious amounts of paperwork including medical records, a direct deposit form, an in case of emergency form and a will, in the event of his death. Kingsley had given Harry a crash course of rules and protocol of the Auror Department; luckily he'd also been provided with manuals on both so he could familiarize himself further when he had down time. Finally Kingsley had arranged for him to finally take his apparition test before meeting with Reed Axelrod about the mission at eight. Wilkie Twycross, the same wizard who had instructed him during his sixth year in apparition had given him his test, which he passed easily. Currently he was slumped in a plush armchair in Kingsley's office waiting for Kingsley and Reed to fetch him. As he waited he thought back to his good-bye with Ginny early this morning.

At five in the morning the alarm clock sounded. Harry quickly turned it off as not to wake Ginny, whose bed he was currently sleeping in. He had gone to sleep up in the attic but he was restless and had eventually gone down to the kitchen for some water. As he passed Ginny's landing on his way back up to the attic her door swung open and she pulled him in by the arm. "I can't sleep," She'd said, "Come lie with me for a bit." Harry agreed but set an alarm as not to oversleep. They had talked quietly and kissed a little before both falling asleep, apparently being together was enough to cure them both of their restlessness. Carefully untangling himself from the sheets Harry returned to the attic to fetch his clothes before taking a shower. As he dressed after his shower he slid the chain with the dog tags over his neck before pulling his shirt on over them, they rested just beside his heart. He made sure he had everything packed in his school bag before leaving it by the fireplace down in the kitchen. He made himself some toast and poured himself some pumpkin juice. He ate quickly before looking at his watch. He had fifteen minutes to say good-bye to Ginny. He'd said his good-byes to everyone else last night before heading up to bed. Ron and Hermione weren't even up yet, they weren't due to the airport until ten. Harry rinsed his glass before heading back up to her room. Carefully he slid back onto the bed beside her and instantly her arm draped over him, pulling herself closer. He watched her sleep, wishing he didn't have to say good-bye. He kissed her lightly on the lips and slowly her eyes fluttered open. Understanding immediately why he was waking her this way her eyes glittered with tears. "Don't cry," he whispered, "I'll be back before you know it." She nodded, biting her lip before crushing herself to him. Still warm from sleep her lips felt hot on his and her tongue penetrated his mouth urgently. Harry pulled her on top of him and ran his hands over her curves; her hips, her bottom and finally her breasts, which he could feel, were bare beneath the thin cotton nightgown he was touching her through. He stiffened instantly and stifled a moan into her neck. She was aware of his reaction and moved a hand between them to touch him through his jeans. Harry groaned audibly this time, caught off guard, Ginny had never touched him like that before. Ginny chuckled quietly before returning her mouth to his. Their fifteen minutes passed all too quickly before Harry had to go. "I love you, Ginny," Harry whispered as he tucked her back into her bed. He didn't want her to watch him disappear into the fireplace. "I love you too," She whispered back, "Be safe." He hugged and kissed her once more before whispering, "Bye," and returning to the kitchen.

"Harry," a jovial voice boomed, rousing him from his recollections, "Nice to finally meet you. I'm Reed Axelrod," said a wiry looking man with bronze colored hair.

Harry stood and shook Reed's hand, "Nice to meet you as well."

"I have heard so much about you from Kingsley and I'm looking forward to having you on our team," Reed said, "I will warn you that it is most irregular for someone of your age to become an Auror. No doubt you know that NEWTS and Auror training are typically required but considering that you are responsible for the defeat for Voldemort we are making an exception. In fact from the things Kingsley's told me, you might be able to teach the Auror department a thing or two."

Harry blushed and managed, "Ah…thanks,"

"Why don't we all take a seat and Reed can explain the mission," Kingsley suggested.

Harry moved into one of two straight-backed wooden chairs that sat in front of Kingsley's desk. Reed took the other and opened the file he carried with him. "We have pinpointed the location of Cerbus Carroll and our mission is to capture him for questioning and imprisonment in Azkaban."

"Who is Cerbus Carroll?" Harry asked, somewhat surprised that he hadn't heard of him.

"Cerbus is not a death eater but sympathetic to them. He is a pure blood wizard of Greek descent who supports wizard supremacy and outlaw of muggle-born wizards. As he isn't a death eater he wasn't involved in the atrocities that Voldemort conducted but since the war has ended he's been helping known death eaters who survived the battle to escape and go into hiding to evade capture. He has become something of a rallying point for Voldemort supporters," Reed explained.

"So where is Cerbus?" Harry asked.

"Greece," Reed replied, "Where else? We have a team in place watching his every move. We are hoping to discover where he is hiding death eaters before we capture him, but he gives nothing away. You are going to be part of the team who moves in for the capture. There are six of you on the team; you will be departing for Greece via portkey in two hours time."

"What's happening for the next two hours?" Harry asked.

"I would like to spend some time with you interviewing you about your dealings with Voldemort and death eaters over the last seven years," Reed said, "Additionally I would like for you to meet with each of your team members and get to know them a bit before you all head out."

"Sounds good," Harry said, "Would you mind if I used the bathroom first?"

"Not at all," Reed said, "I'll wait here for you."

Harry didn't really have to use the bathroom, he mostly wanted an excuse to send Ginny a little message he knew it would make her feel better the more often he managed to send her little messages. He locked himself into a stall before pulling the dog tags from beneath his shirt. With his wand he manipulated the letters to read 'Gin, Leaving Ministry for mission at ten. Miss you already. Will be re-living this morning all week. Love you, Harry.' He cast the protean charm on the tags and tucked them back under his shirt.

In Reed's office Harry took a seat in front of the desk. Reed settled behind the desk and prepared to take notes about what Harry was telling him. "So Harry, tell me about your experiences with Voldemort and the death eaters."

"Any particular experiences?" Harry asked, "I've had a lot of run ins with him."

"Just start from the beginning," Reed suggested.

"Like with my parents deaths or when I saved the Sorcerer's Stone from him when I was eleven?" Harry asked.

"Let's start with when you were eleven and had a more active role in your confrontations," Reed said.

"Well, during my first year at Hogwarts when I was eleven there was this teacher called Professor Quirrell who was sharing his body with Voldemort. You see Quirrell met Voldemort in an Albanian forest and Voldemort convinced him to share his body until he was strong enough to get his own body back. Quirrell was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. On my first night at Hogwarts I experienced pain in my scar," Harry said, lifting his hair to reveal the lightening bolt shaped scar on his forehead, "No one had any idea at that point that Voldemort was within the castle. I came to learn eventually that my scar bothered me due to my connection to Voldemort, when he was angered or ecstatic and he had less control over his emotions I would feel it in my scar."

"Do you know why you had this connection to Voldemort?" Reed asked, fascinated.

"Voldemort created seven horcruxes; do you know what those are?" Harry asked. When Reed nodded Harry continued, "Voldemort was going to create his final horcrux when he killed my parents and I. My mother's love protected me and the spell backfired destroying Voldemort and making me the final horcrux instead."

"You were the seventh horcrux," Reed asked sounding simultaneously fascinated and horrified, "What were the others?"

"The diadem of Ravenclaw, the cup of Hufflepuff, Slythern's locket, a ring that belonged to his grandfather, a journal kept by his sixteen year old self and his snake Nagini were the other six horcruxes," Harry said.

"Do you think he had plans to make more?" Reed asked.

"I'm not sure but Dumbledore told me that Voldemort thought seven to be the most powerfully magical number," Harry said, "So maybe not."

"Okay," Reed said, "Now getting back to the Sorcerer's Stone…"

'Right, in the summer before my first year someone tried to steal the Sorcerer's Stone from Gringotts but not before it had been moved to Hogwarts for greater protection. All year Quirrell tried to get past the defenses guarding the stone. Voldemort wanted the stone to regain his body and have immortal life. My friends and I figured out what was being hidden but we thought it was Snape and not Quirrell who was after it," Harry continued.

For slighter over an hour Harry shared his experiences with Voldemort. Reed was alternately fascinated and impressed with Harry's stories. At the end of an hour Harry had only made it through his first three years of school. The whole time Harry paused briefly only once when the dog tags around his neck grew hot against his chest.

"We'll have to meet again soon so you can tell me more," Reed said, "Right now I would like to introduce you to the team of Aurors you'll be working with on this mission."

"Okay," Harry said nervously.

Reed led Harry into a room down the hall which inside resembled a locker room. There was a large locker for each Auror, their name in gold above each. Harry spotted his locker right away and dropped his bag in front of it. As he turned back around he saw the five other Aurors entering the room behind him. He looked at them curiously and they mirrored him.

"This is Harry Potter, our department's newest Auror, as you all know his first assignment is with all of you in Greece," Reed said, "Harry this is Linus Mercer, Fletcher Oskins, Noah Irvine, Tilly Allen and Katherine Hunt," Reed said as he pointed to each in turn. They all took turns shaking his hand; Linus and Katherine were friendly, Tilly seemed curious, Noah was unimpressed and Fletcher seemed indifferent. "Why don't you all take a little time to get to know one another? I'll be back in a half hour to do the mission briefing before you go."

Reed left the room and each of the six settled on the benches in front of their locker.

"Is it true what they say about you, Potter?" Noah asked.

"I don't know," Harry said, "What is it they're saying now?"

"Reed told us that you're seventeen, still in school and haven't done any Auror training, yet they've made you an Auror," Noah said.

"Yes, that is all true," Harry confirmed, "I'll be eighteen next month," he added somewhat desperately.

Noah made a dismissive sound before saying, "Great, they're letting a kid do a grown-up's job. We'll be lucky if he doesn't get us all killed."

"But he's Harry bleeding Potter," Linus said with Irish accent, "He defeated Voldemort, he probably knows more about how to properly do this job than we did after finishing Auror training."

"Maybe he knows more than you did after finishing training," Noah said excluding himself from Linus' statement," I don't want to work with some kid who doesn't have the qualifications to be here."

"I reckon being the person who single-handedly finished off Voldemort earned him his spot whether he is qualified or not," Katherine said, "I think we should wait to judge him until after this first mission."

The group was silent for a minute, seemingly taking Katherine's suggestion to heart. Harry knew that there would be at least one person who doubted his place within the department; it didn't bother him. Harry decided to try to get to know his fellow Aurors; after all, he'd be stuck with them for the next week. "So, how long have you all been Aurors?" Slowly this got everyone talking. By the time Reed returned to do the briefing Harry knew where everyone was from and how long they'd been Aurors and what missions they'd been on previously. Everyone besides Noah seemed to be warming up to Harry.

"The portkey will take you to the base house in Athens. The six of you will split into two teams; Fletcher, Katherine and Harry are team one; Linus, Noah and Tilly are team two. Each team will rotate with twelve hour shifts. The team already in place will update you on the target's activities and routines. We aim to capture him, question him about where he is hiding the death eaters and have him transported back to Azkaban. We have to handle this mission with extreme delicacy, should he realize that we are onto him he could alert the death eaters he is hiding and we would lose the lead we currently have. Please keep very detailed notes in your field journals, you never know what tiny scrap of information could come in handy later on," Reed said. "You have fifteen minutes until the portkey departs; make sure you're all ready."

Harry turned on his bench to face his locker as the other Aurors checked the contents of their bags or went for one last bathroom break before departure. Harry pulled the dog tags from under his shirt and read, "Harry, Thanks for the update. Good luck on your mission and be safe. This morning WAS pretty amazing. Love you, Ginny." Smiling he returned the tags to beneath his shirt.

For the first time ever after using a portkey Harry did not end up on his rear end. He stumbled on the landing, but at least remained upright. He noticed Noah stumble as well and felt better immediately. At the base house each was assigned a bed before the surveillance team briefed them. They showed them hundreds of pictures of the Target moving through out Athens. They gave detailed reports of his activities and routines. They posed possible theories and outlined questions that still lacked answers. The biggest question was still, where was he hiding the death eaters. The second was, where did Cerbus go once a week when they failed to see even a glimpse of him all day long. Surely he was visiting the death eaters or bringing them supplies, but where did he go? When the new arrivals were as up to date as it was possible to be team one was sent out to track the target and gather any further clues they could about where he might be hiding the death eaters.

Harry, Katherine and Fletcher was team one, they grabbed their gear and prepared to head out. Each performed a disillusionment charm on another before they stepped out into the sultry Athens air. The three of them split up, each covering one of the places that Cerbus usually was at this time of the day. Harry, though basically invisible due to the disillusionment charm, was hiding behind a large potted plant watching a coffee kiosk that Cerbus frequented. He was preparing to have a long afternoon of simply watching for Cerbus when to his immense surprise he saw the target step up to the cart and place his order. A jolt of excitement ran through Harry's veins, what luck to stumble upon Cerbus so quickly. He sent word with his patronus to Katherine and Fletcher that he had the target in his sights. As Cerbus received his coffee and took off down the street Harry followed in pursuit.

When Cerbus walked down a pier at the shore and boarded a ferry, Harry followed. He didn't understand why a wizard wouldn't just apparate to where they needed to go but assumed that Cerbus must have a reason. Harry soon discovered that this ferry made stops at many of the small islands surrounding the mainland of Greece and this ferry carted people between them. Harry stayed on the opposite side of the ferry from Cerbus but kept a close eye on him, not wanting to miss him disembarking onto one of the islands. Harry made notes in his field journal and took a few photographs of the target as they traveled all while keeping Katherine and Fletcher informed of his position via patronus. Harry realized that somehow he had managed what the team that had already been in place had failed at. Quite by accident he had spotted Cerbus just before he did his disappearing act for the day.

Cerbus stayed on the ferry until it stopped at the island of Crete. The reason that he hadn't simply apparated to Crete became obvious as Cerbus helped a crew member of the ferry unload several large crates onto the dock. It would be near impossible to apparate without being seen if you were also transporting so many large crates. Harry followed him off the dock and into a small pub. At the pub he had a drink while discussing something with the barman. When Cerbus had finished his drink the barman handed Cerbus something, it looked like a key, but Harry was not close enough to be sure. Harry followed Cerbus back down to the dock where he levitated the crates into a wooden boat. They item the barman had given him was a key, which Cerbus used to unlock the boat from the dock. Harry watched from the dock as the boat made its way to a much smaller island. Determined to find out what Cerbus was up to he tried to apparate to the small island. When nothing happened Harry realized that barriers had been constructed as to not let anyone apparate onto the island. Deciding it wouldn't be safe to follow Cerbus in another boat Harry headed back toward the pub. Instead of going into the pub Harry went into the market next door and asked the woman behind the counter, "What is that island over there?"

The woman squinted out the island then pointed to the island Harry had watched Cerbus go to, when he nodded she said, "Spinalonga."

Harry recognized the name but couldn't immediately place where from. Finally he recalled from his days of muggle school that Spinalonga was a leper colony. It was where people who had been diagnosed with leprosy were sent to live as not to contaminate other people. Through out the world there were a handful of places like Spinaglonga that lepers went to live. A cure for leprosy had been discovered in the 1950's and eventually the island was abandoned. It would be the perfect place to hide death eaters, Harry thought. Somewhere with a past that would prevent outsiders from wanting to visit. Harry wandered back to the dock and peered at the small island in the distance. He could not see that Cerbus was returning and without being able to apparate onto the island it would not be safe to attempt to follow.

Harry apparated instead back to the base house. He sent his patronus to Katherine and Fletcher, requesting that they return to the base immediately. When everyone was assembled Harry explained how he had spotted Cerbus, followed him to Crete and his theory about Spinalonga. Most agreed with Harry's theory and immediately Reed was contacted to be made aware of the progress on the case. The second team of Noah, Tilly and Linus were sent to Crete to keep an eye on things while Harry prepared to present his findings to Reed and Kingsley when they arrived later in the evening.

Several hours later Harry had explained every single minute detail of the things that had happened earlier in the day with Cerbus to Reed and Kingsley. They like his theory and felt sure that he was right. Currently the three of them plus Katherine and Fletcher were huddled around the kitchen table strategizing about how to capture both Cerbus and the death eaters that were more than likely hidden on the island. The problem was trying to come up with a plan that wouldn't give them away if the plan itself failed. If things didn't go perfectly and they were revealed to be behind it Cerbus and the death eaters would likely flee and that was not something that any of them wanted to see happen.

The best idea so far was for one of them to contact Cerbus as a death eater in need of hiding and then to actually meet up with Cerbus disguised as a death eater in order to gain admittance to the island. There were too many things that could go wrong with that plan though. Eventually Reed and Kingsley sent Harry, Katherine and Fletcher to bed so that in five more hours when the other team came back from watch they were ready to take over.

Harry lay in his bed unable to sleep; his mind was still spinning, trying to come up with possible plans to catch Cerbus and the death eaters he was hiding. He was pulled from his thoughts when the dog tags on his chest burned. Harry pulled them from under the covers and read, "Harry, I haven't heard from you for over 18 hours. I know you are busy, but just let me know you're okay. I love you, Ginny."

Harry quickly changed the message to read, "Ginny, I am safe, no worries. We had a big break in the case today. I'm lying in bed trying to work out what to do next. Love you, Harry."

A moment later the tags burnt again and he read, "You're lying in bed, but you're not thinking about me?"

"I am now!" Harry sent back with a smirk. Indeed his mind had returned to the good-bye and he imagined how much further things might have gone if they'd had longer than fifteen minutes.

The tags burnt once more and Harry read, "Me too. Sweet dreams, Harry. I miss you! Love, Ginny."

The messages from Ginny had been the perfect distraction. His mind was occupied with vision of her rather than stretching to come up with a solution to the Cerbus problem. He fell asleep quickly after that, dreaming only of her.

Author's Note: Hi All!! I need reviews this time…I need to know how I did. I struggled with this chapter. I am so much better at writing the fluffy romantic stuff….I am hoping that the stuff about his mission lives up to expectations. I need suggestions…if you have them now is the time! I have an idea or two about how to resolve the mission…but they are feeling feeble at best. I'm starting to think that the next time Harry goes on a mission I will write about it from Ginny's POV.

Spinalonga is a real place and it really was a leper colony off the island of Crete. I read a book about it and as I was thinking about Harry's mission it came to my head and so I decided to use it.

Anyway – please, please please review and offer suggestions if you have them. Thanks!