Now that was an overwhelming response to the first chapter. Didn't really expect that many follows/favorites/reviews to be honest. Thank you to everyone that took an interest in this story so far. Will try not to disappoint anyone.
It's been one week since Harry started seeing his court mandated therapist and for an entire week, he debated with himself if he should continue with his sessions or not. It wasn't even his idea to go see one in the first place.
"Stupid judgement. Stupid Hermione." Harry muttered. "All she had to do was take the stand and be character witness for me but did she do that? Of course not. It wouldn't be Hermione if she didn't go off tangent somehow. I should've just pulled a random person off the streets..."
He uttered a low growl, making strangling motions with his hands. This was all her fault. How hard was it for her to do one simple thing? It wasn't like he was asking her to do something illegal. Just come down to the Ministry and provide a sound testimony. Something that she's done a hundred times when they were still in Hogwarts.
Harry sighed. It is what it is. He still remembered how mortified Hermione looked when the judge suspended him from active duty. She stood there ranting about the unfair social standards until the judge pointed out that it was because of her testimony that they arrived at this decision. While he is a valued Auror, they simply could not risk sending him into the field without a mental evaluation by a professional.
Truth be told, He's got nothing against therapy. In fact, he's all for it given the amount of positive articles he found. Many of the articles cited multiple studies that when people finish with their therapy sessions, they swear that it's life changing but studies also stated that this type of treatment wasn't meant for everyone. It was the last part that he agreed with. Like he told Michael last week, he's not one of those people who enjoy talking about their feelings and being all touchy-feely.
He's the kind of guy who would rather finish the mission with a broken arm than to stop and seek medical attention.
"Harry?" A voice calling his name pulled him out of his internal monologue. "Is that you?"
Harry turned around, recognizing the familiar blond that bumped into him last week. "Hello again Miss." He greeted, plastering on a smile on his face. "I'm afraid you still have the wrong person. Like I told you last time, my name is Harrison Evans, not Harry..." He paused, "Planter?"
"Potter." Daphne corrected, a skeptical look on her face. She took her cousin's advice but instead of showing up an hour earlier, she showed up two hours early. She spent those two hours sitting in the empty office, biding her time until he showed up. Luckily for her, there wasn't a lot of foot traffic on Saturdays so it wasn't too hard to recognize him again. Even after a week, he was still wearing the same dark green hoodie.
It matches his eyes. She thought to herself. Ever since Daphne laid eyes on him, she couldn't forget how green his eyes were. She smiled inwardly, pleased that he was just as she remembered. The unshaven scruffy look, untamed messy black hair and those green eyes... A girl could get lost just by looking into them.
"Right. Harry Potter." Harry said. "Well whoever he is, I'm not him. I'm Harrison Evans Miss..."
"Greengrass." She spoke up, introducing herself. "Daphne Greengrass."
Harry repeated her name several times over in his mind, now wondering why she sounded so familiar. It took him a few seconds until the name finally clicked. He recalled a blond girl in Slytherin with that name but for some reason, he couldn't put a face to it. He did, however, recall overhearing her name being whispered in the hallways but he never had the opportunity to meet her... with Voldemort and all...
The only other thing that he remembered was that the guys used to refer to her as the Ice Queen...
Daphne 'The Ice Queen' Greengrass...
The girl who wouldn't give any boy a second of her time.
He wondered if this was the same person. He held out his hand and she took it without hesitation. "It's very nice to meet you Daphne but I have an appointment that I must keep so if you'll excuse me..."
"Of course Harrison." Daphne replied, moving to one side. She frowned, a bittersweet taste in her mouth. She was positive that this man, Harrison Evans, was an alias that Harry Potter was using. She stared at his retreating back and then an idea popped into her head. Her hand slowly took her wand out of her holster and pointed it at him.
"Petrificus Totalus" She whispered, performing the incantations with her wand.
Harry felt the magic gathering behind him and he silently willed a shield into existence. While he didn't know what kind of spell was being performed, he surmised that it was probably one used to stun or stop a person. The spell scratched the surface of his shield for a nanosecond before being dissipating. He stopped walking mid-step to give off the impression that her spell worked. Anger then started to seep into his veins as the footsteps came closer.
It pissed him off that even after the war, there were still people out there that would use magic with malicious intent. Haven't their kind lost enough during the war? Hasn't everyone suffered enough already? This was the reason why he joined the Aurors after the war.
To protect people who couldn't protect themselves.
To uphold the ideals of justice when no one else would.
Neville once asked him why he chose to join up with the Aurors. Didn't he want to step away from the fighting and start a normal life? Harry almost laughed in his face. He wanted to tell him that there was no way he could ever have a normal life. He was Harry Potter, the man who took down a dark lord. Every minor league criminal from all over the world wanted to be the one to take him down. Criminals and people alike, all they wanted was Harry Potter, the savior, but no one wanted to know Harry Potter... the man behind the name.
Ginny had tried but even she couldn't see past the knight in those fairy tales.
When Daphne finally walked up to him, his eyes continued to stare past her, scanning the area behind her to make sure that this wasn't some kind of coordinated attack. Her head then tilted slightly to one side, as if she was pondering something but when her hand was about to touch his forehead, his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist. His magic then flooded the room and he glared at her.
"I don't take kindly to people who are after my life Miss Greengrass."
Daphne stood there shocked at the sheer amount of magic just radiating from Harry. It was unfathomable just how one man could produce this much magic. Her body started shaking, unable to withstand the pressure coming from him. "Harry please, I'm not after your life!" She pleaded, begging him to stop. "I wasn't going to attack you!"
"Why should I believe anything that you have to say? You just tried to curse a defenseless man." Harry snarled, "And on top of that, you attempted to curse a lord. I am well within my rights to end your life right here."
At this point, the door to Michael's office suddenly swung open, the therapist stepped out holding a baseball bat. He took a quick look around and recognized the two people standing outside. "Daphne? Harry?" He asked, wondering what was going on between them.
"Even if I decide to grant you some mercy, do you even know what the punishment is for attacking an Auror?"
"You attacked him Daphne?" Michael asked, shocked at the allegation. "Are you insane? What were you thinking? You can't go around doing that!"
"I wasn't attacking him." Daphne weakly argued. "I wanted to confirm if he really was Harry Potter."
Harry sighed and then dropped his hand, pulling his magic back as well. Daphne released the breath that she was holding and then took a step back, giving herself some distance between herself and Harry. "That was unnecessary." She mumbled, massaging her wrist. "It's not like I could have hurt you anyway. Did the spell have any kind of effect on you at all?" She wondered out loud.
"What do you want with me Miss Greengrass?" Harry curtly asked, intentionally ignoring her question.
"I just want a few minutes of your time to talk Harry. I'm working for a law firm that is very interested in signing you as a client." Daphne said, her hands shaking as she pulled out a business card from her pocket.
Harry took the card and recognized the familiar names of Thatcher, Bletcher and Fletcher. This was one of the many law firms that tried to sign him after he defeated Voldemort. "I'm not interested." He replied, handing the business card back to Daphne. "I don't need any legal representation and even if I did, I certainly wouldn't take it from someone who just tried to hex me."
Daphne winced, knowing that the last part was a jab at her. She swallowed the sinking feeling and reached for his hand. "Are you sure about that Harry? Everyone knows that you're a powerful wizard. No one is disputing that fact but a man of your status can only go so far. Having a law firm like ours standing behind you is only an added bonus. I'm not that naive to think that we would be the only ones that attempted to contact you but what I can guarantee is that if you sign with us, I'll make sure that you never regret that decision."
His eyes flickered between her hand and the determined look in her eyes. "And what if I said no?" He challenged, staring into her eyes, almost if he was daring her to continue.
Never one to back down from a challenge, Daphne shamelessly smiled. "Do you know the definition of perseverance Mister Potter?"
"Unfortunately I do..." Harry dryly replied. He looked towards Michael for some help but his therapist just held his arms up, wanting nothing to do with their conversation.
"All I'm asking for is one outing Harry. It doesn't even need to be a date. It can be drinks between friends."
"A Date?" Michael chimed in, looking strangely at his cousin. "Are you trying to ask Harry out on a date or get his business?"
Daphne then blushed, a pinkish hue appearing on her cheeks as she slugged Michael in the arm. "So what do you say Harry? I'm sure that you have much better things to do than to continue dodging me."
"I can always ring you up on charges you know." Harry muttered, his eyes staring at Daphne. "And then request a restraining order against you..."
"But then you'll have to see me in court and as you know, I'm a lawyer and I will drag this case out until you concede." She cheekily replied. "I have nothing but time on my hands Harry."
Harry opened his mouth to counter argue but then proceeded to promptly close it, realizing that he wasn't going to win that argument. "Stubbornness is not a good look for you Miss Greengrass." He pointed out. "Do you know that pub on Elmhurst?"
"Yes." Daphne nodded. "Do you want to meet me there?"
"If I must."
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