A/N: This chapter contains a piece of parody I've been busting to share with you all for ages - hope you like it. Thanks to people who take a few minutes to let me know what they thought. Since so few people bother, especially with crossover fics, I appreciate every review even more. I guess it isn't a surprise that it is my loyal readers who always leave reviews - you guys rock!

Serieux Part 2

Chapter 11 Yes Minister

Tony spent most of Tuesday hunkered down in Legal giving depositions, going over his testimonies in upcoming cases and just generally crossing his T's and dotting his I's on his case reports. It was dull and mind-numbingly boring, especially for someone with his mercurial personality and yet, after the turmoil of yesterday, he embraced dull and boring gratefully.

Fornell trailed along behind him at work, glaring at anyone who even looked at him sideways, never mind thought about trying to approach him. Considering that he was getting weird looks from most people it meant that there were a lot of people who were getting the evil eye. Even Delores Bromstead, who looked like she was wanting to approach him, didn't. Tony spent most of the working day smiling apologetically at people, especially people like Delores who he considered to be his friend, but Tobias was taking no chances in light of what happened with Abby.

Meanwhile, the director had sent Gibbs, Bishop and McGee off to Norfolk for a contraband search of the USS George Washington, based on an anonymous tip off from a member of the public. Even with the assistance of the dog squad and a bunch of MPs and some newly graduated probies from FLETC it would take them a couple of days, especially since they were down an agent. Tony figured that Gibbs wouldn't be too happy being sent off on what essentially, should have been an assignment for one of the more junior teams. Still it made for a restful day which was what he needed after yesterday – although he'd never admit it.

After work, he and Fornell drove to the Hay- Adams Hotel on Sixteenth Street, N.W. Washington to meet up with Hermione who'd flown into Dulles a few hours earlier. She'd brought several of her ministerial staff with her, who, according to Tobias, were from a non-magical background. Tony remembered her talking about finding a Head Girl of Hogwarts, working for some parliamentary secretary in the British Civil Service after giving up on ever getting promoted within the MoM because she was muggle born.

This was one thing that he and Hermione planned on changing – people should be promoted based on merit and their performance, not their blood status. It seemed shocking that almost two decades after the war, bigotry was still rife and along with it its inevitable companions, corruption and collusion. It sounded as if she'd made a good start when assembling her team – all were either first generation magical or else so called half-blood, which was a ridiculous label. Well with the exception of her press secretary who Toby said, had remained in London.

He was really looking forward to seeing Hermione again. To him she would always be considered family, after helping to save him from having his soul sucked out – existing as a soulless husk – essentially a zombie. So she'd always have a special place in his heart, even if that was the only thing she'd done for him. But she'd saved him again a few months ago when she'd found him, drowning in self-doubt and deeply depressed and offered him a lifeline. She'd given him back his life again, given him a job, family and a purpose.

Still as much as he loved her and considered her family, he felt like she was probably going to make a fuss and try to convince him to leave NCIS immediately. He couldn't really blame her though. Not after that frenetic, emotional call last night!

At first he'd though his wildly incoherent phone call had been solely to blame for her jumping on a plane and flying across the pond to DC at a moment's notice. However, Tobias admitted he'd spoken to her too, told her about Abby's brain snap and admitted telling her that Gibbs would be out for blood – his.

Upon reflection, Tony regretted what had gone down in the bull pen yesterday. It wasn't professional of him letting fly at Gibbs like that, despite the provocation; he regretted that he hadn't respected Gibbs position as team leader. He'd been insubordinate and he'd let himself down. So he was sure not going to let down the victims of crime by running out on their courts martial or trials just because things got a bit uncomfortable because he couldn't keep his trap shut.

Thankfully, after a horrible day yesterday, Tony had woken this morning after only a few hour sleep, feeling surprisingly refreshed after his restless night, determined that he not make the situation any worse than it already was. Going for a couple of hours run as Padfoot had definitely done the trick and when he'd sought his bed for a second time he'd slept like the dead. That was something that the average human would never be able to grasp – how much neural activity in a canine brain was geared to processing scent information since a human's primary sensory organ was their eyesight.

He'd tried for a very long time to suppress that aspect of himself, thinking it was too risky to go transforming into his animagous self - that it would be too painful. He'd tried to live without his magic and be Anthony DiNozzo, except in the direst of circumstances. Usually Padfoot only surfaced when he was too overwhelmed to resist shifting – like after Cate, Paula and Jenny had been killed and lord help him, when he'd broken off his association with Jeanne Benoit after his mustang was blown up by that CIA snake, Trent Kort. Padfoot also insisted on muscling his way through his staunch defences when all of that crazy crap with Rivkin had hit the fan.

Then last night Padfoot had refused to be silenced, insisting on making an appearance and practically refusing to take no for an answer. In the clear light of day, he was grateful that Padfoot took matters into his own hands when his inner canine recognised that yesterday had simply been too much. That he was in a state of emotional and mental overload.

Truthfully he'd felt as if he was going to combust - he only had vague memories of bits and pieces of his Skype call to Hermione, althouh the bits he did recall made him cringe in embarrassment. Partly because he always liked to keep his emotions under control, but mostly because he was usually much more adept at keeping the separate parts of his identity…well separate. Yesterday, they had all collided and it wasn't pretty.

His vague recollections of the word vomit he'd inflicted on the British Minister of Magic left him feeling highly uncomfortable. Even if he did know her and considered her family, it was still unbelievably awkward for an incredibly private person such as himself to lose control like that. For 17 years Tony had managed to juggle two disparate human identities pretty damned successfully, well mostly, yet after the day from Hell he'd been feeling way out of his depth. And clearly, based upon his rambling, incoherent Skype call to Hermione, he was definitely way out of control.

Thankfully, Padfoot had come along and halted the turmoil within, letting his inner wolf out to play. Said canine had centred him and created a sense of peace and calm that was sorely needed at that point in time. Now he felt almost human – no pun intended and even with only a few hours' sleep he'd coped with the tension left over from yesterday.

So as they made their way across the lobby and into the elevator he looked around his surroundings appreciatively. He decided that Hermione had picked an excellent hotel to maintain her cover as Minister of Cooperation, although perhaps her assistant had done the research for her. Whoever had picked this particular hotel, it was a good choice – it had an olde-worlde charm about it that probably fit into the stereotypical view most Americans had about all things British. He admired all the rich wood panelling, archways and ornate ceilings, admittedly it was a world away from social media madness, selfies, RBF, duck face and all the other insanity of 2016. It felt like they'd stepped back in time to a gentler, more gracious era.

When they arrived at Hermione's generous sized suite, they entered swiftly and before she had time for more than the briefest hug greeting the two agents, they proceeded to search the premises for hidden camera and listen devices. Hermione looked on perplexed, with the tiny furrows across her forehead an indication she was trying to put it together. Luckily she wasn't such a power mad despot that she demanded to know what they were doing. When they pronounced the room clear, they explained that Tony felt like he was being followed.

Although her suite was clear, that didn't mean they could let down their guard, since as Tony pointed out, they probably hadn't connected her with him yet. Her arrival had been pretty spontaneous, after all.

Even if they had made the connection, it was highly likely that they wouldn't have an opportunity to plant surveillance devices in the room. Once she left it vacant though, they would need to check regularly for surveillance – they'd have to train her protection detail on how to search and deal with any bugs they found.

He strongly suspected that one or more of the alphabets had gotten curious because Gibbs had been stirring up a hornet's nest. Another reason for him to regret his outburst in the bull pen yesterday.

Hearing a knock on the door, Tony found himself reaching for his gun as he and Fornell shot an enquiring look at Hermione, whose eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the sight of Tony's Sig.

She was quick to reassure them. "It's okay, guys. It's one of my team. I called him when you were searching the bathroom."

Fornell scowled, they had urgent information to discuss and had to strategize for tomorrow and they needed to be able to speak freely – something they couldn't do with her team around.

He was about to object but Hermione raced to the door and let in a raven-haired, slimly built male, who barrelled through the door, demanding of her excitedly. "Where is he?"

She giggled, gesticulating at the tall individual with the gun levelled at him, those chameleon coloured eyes of his regarding the newcomer stonily. Gulping, since Tony was quite intimidating when required, even without the gun, the member of Hermione's entourage smiled nervously – his green eyes full of mischief though.

Pointing at the gun, he quizzed jokingly, "Is that anyway to greet your beloved godson, Snuffles?"

Shooting a rapid-fire glance at Hermione, seeking validation for what his heart was already declaring to him loud and clear but his head needed confirming, she nodded. Her expression a combination of mischievous trickster at pulling off her huge surprise and tender joy at being able to reunite two of her favourite wizards.

Chuckling, she responded emotionally. "Yes Tony, it really is Harry. All grown up and complaining about his grey hair."

"Hey! I am not," he objected laughingly as he raced towards Tony, who hastily stowed his weapon before being seized in a fierce bear hug that transported him back twenty years to the grounds of Hogwarts.

"Oh Merlin's ghost! I can't believe it's really you, Snuffles," Harry cried out enthusiastically.

And if both wizards were a bit shaky and teary-eyed when their emotional clinch finally broke up, then both Hermione and Tobias diplomatically chose not to notice, much less comment on the fact. Well apart from Hermione smiling like the Cheshire Cat at the Mad Hatter's tea party.

Longing to spend time with Harry and talk to him, Tony knew that it would have to wait. Hopefully after they had discussed Hermione's visit to NCIS tomorrow, they'd get a chance to catch up. After all, there was so much to talk about – a lifetime of catch up.

Hermione called down for room service, ordering them tea and coffee and they got down to it. Tobias started by filling Hermione and Harry in about the most recent developments - Tony feeling like someone was watching him and confirmation that Gibbs was trying to find out who had hired him by searching out his intelligence contacts. Hermione was steaming mad at the news and ready to go and have a piece of him right then, only to be disappointed to learn he was in Norfolk, as per her request to keep him away from Tony.

That snippet of information had Tony scowling when he heard Fornell and Hermione discussing it. Meanwhile Harry chuckled at his godfather's expression – forgetting how intimidating he could be when he'd been staring down the barrel of his gun.

"Alright, so now you know why we were searching for electronic surveillance devices in here when we came in. You'll need to check every time that a hotel staff member enters the room, even when you are here." Seeing that Hermione was going to say something, Tony got in first. "Don't worry, we checked again when they brought in the coffee."

Tobias nodded in confirmation. "And we'll show Harry and your other protection team members how to locate them too so they can carry out regular searches. Probably the most likely time to plant them will be when you leave the room."

Harry looked across at Tony who was smirking. "Care to share, Snuffles?" he asked him.

He laughed, "Yeah, I was thinking we should set up surveillance to see if we can catch them bugging you." He looked at Fornell, who nodded in agreement.

"Good idea, DiNotzo." Pulling out his phone he made a few calls. "Okay, my people are coming by in an hour and a half.

"So let's get to work out the logistics for heading to this meeting with Director Vance tomorrow before my people arrive." Fornell took control of the agenda. "It's scheduled for 11.00 am tomorrow. Do you want to use Granger or Wealsey professionally, or did you go with the hyphenated last name?" Fornell inquired tactfully.

Hermione chuckled, "Never bothered with the whole hyphenated surname thing, although I will admit that Weasley doesn't have the professional gravitas of Granger – at least not in the muggle, er non-magical world. Plus, I have a birth certificate, school records, driver's license and my degrees all under the name Hermione Granger, so let's go with that."

"Okay, I'll introduce you as Minister Granger. Now that we've settled that issue, I want it on record that I think you should request that Tony be released from his NCIS duties immediately. Now that we know that Gibbs is pissed off and curious, he poses a dual danger, and additionally, we have someone following Tony. I'm guessing it aint to ask him out on a date."

Hermione shook her head firmly. "We've been over this already, Tobias. Tony wants to finish up his time and he has my full support."

"Yes, I know. But that was before we knew he had someone watching him for what I'm pretty sure are for nefarious purposes, and then there is the Gibbs factor. He clearly spent much of yesterday stirring up interest in DiNotzo's new gig, which, knowing that it was classified and above his paygrade was at best, ill-advised, at worst breaking the law. That makes me extremely nervous," Fornell resolutely defended his stance.

"The man clearly has more than a few screws loose," Harry observed and the two feds choked.

"Look I appreciate your concern, Tobias but I have people depending on me. I can't let them down – they deserve justice and just because it got a bit difficult that's no excuse to run out on them." Tony stated determinedly.

"Yeah I know, DiNotzo. Federal agent here too. Just saying that we can consider alternatives. You could work from home – get set up to record depositions at your apartment – either via the computer or NCIS Legal could come to you. Or alternatively, you could fly back to London with Hermione and we could set up with The Met or MI5 to provide a video link for you to appear at trials or courts martial hearings as required. Where there's a will there's a way."

Hermione frowned. 'Toby, I get that you're worried but I told you I had it covered. You haven't given me an opportunity to share my plan."

"Yeah but that was before… now we know that Tony could really be in trouble from unknown forces."

"Nevertheless, I think between us all, we have it covered."

"Yeah but Tony needs a permanent protection detail and I don't think my boss will approve me being MIA for five weeks to watch his back, Kiddo."

"Well isn't it lucky that my plan involves Harry being Tony's protection detail for the remainder of his time at NCIS. Plus, he can help him with his packing and accompany him back to London." Hermione grinned triumphantly at Harry who looked equally please with himself.

Tony, meanwhile was conflicted. The idea of spending almost five weeks with his godson was pretty exciting to him but at the same time, he didn't want to put anyone out.

"Harry, I can't ask you to do that. What about your kids?"

"At school…and besides, it's part of my job. You're our new director and if you might be in danger, you need someone watching your back, Snuffles."

"But what about Ginny? How does she feel about you being gone for five weeks?" Tony quizzed him.

"She knew what she was signing on for when I became an auror; she still married me."

Tony, who was often accused of being a master of deflection. prevarication and evasion when it came to all things personal, recognised evasiveness when he heard it but decided to watch and wait before challenging Harry. After all, in so many ways Harry – especially adult auror Harry – was a stranger to him.

"This is part of the job, Snuffles…but it is also more than that. All these years I thought you were dead and I felt guilty. If I hadn't been so stubborn, if I'd listened to Hermione I wouldn't have got sucked into Riddle's trap and gone racing off to the ministry that night you fell through the veil. You had to come racing to save us and ended up dying. So now I have a chance to not only repay the favour and make amends, but I'm going to make sure I watch your back so we get to be together again."

Tony reached out and squeezed his shoulder. Clearly they needed to have a long talk about blame – and it wasn't a teenage boy who'd been kept in the dark by his headmaster, but the time and place was not here and now. They would talk later – in private.

"I want you to come home and be with your family…I want you to meet my kids and Teddy – Remus and Tonks son. Teddy's awesome and he's going to be an auror like his mum and his godfather – and his mother's favourite cousin, Sirius Black. So I'm determined to make up for being robbed of all those years we should have been together. I was cheated out of having you as a replacement father-figure, not once but twice. I'm not risking losing you a third time, especially before we have a chance to get to know each other again. Got a lot of catching up to do." Harry declared, his voice tremulous.

Tony nodded. He understood regrets and guilt and how it could take over your life. Truly, he didn't think he was in danger… well maybe from an enraged Leroy Jethro Gibbs, but he could handle Gibbs – he'd been doing it for 15 years. But he didn't want to put Hermione at risk.

"Hermione, while I'll enjoy having Harry around, if I've got myself a stalker, then you probably need him more than I do. I have my gun, plus a back-up and I also don't go anywhere without a knife; I'm trained in unarmed combat too."

She smiled at him. "It's fine, Tony. I brought over two muggle born wizards who were in our year at Hogwarts, Dean Thomas who shared a dorm with Harry and Justin Finch Fletchley who was a 'Puff. Plus, Dennis Creevey is going to fill in as my press secretary on this trip and he can help out as an extra bodyguard as well.

Harry exchanged an amused smile with Hermione, and Tony, ever the nosy investigator wanted to know what was so funny about Creevey.

'Nothing, we were remembering his older brother, Colin, who was killed in the war. He used to drive Harry nuts with his hero worship and obsession with sneaking after him and taking his photo." Hermione explained reminiscently.

"Not to mention I was also trying to figure out how Hermione's regular press secretary would cope with muggle society."

Hermione chuckled, "Or more to the point, how muggles would cope with her – she's from a pure-blood family, and she's highly eccentric, even for a witch. I think muggles' heads might explode if they tried to follow her logic."

Harry snorted at that. "Witches' and wizards' heads explode when they try to follow Luna's thought processes. Muggles would probably start a riot."

Shooting an apologetic look at Tony, Hermione corrected herself and Harry. "Erm… I mean non-magicals."

Harry looked perplexed. "Eh?"

"I prefer the term non-magical, Harry" Tony responded. "Muggle is a derogatory term meant to make first-generation wizards and wizards feel inferior and it makes it easier to call first gens unclean, and it insults their families. It makes them sound like foolish bumbling buffoons."

"Or tribbles," Fornell contributed, earning an amused laugh from Tony and a bemused look from Harry. Clearly not a Trekkie.

Tony nodded. "Plus, it creates complacency in wizards and witches about non-magicals. They aren't cute little cuddly teddy bears who aren't very bright. Many of them are very, very bright and some are very, very evil. They've come up with many inventions that more than make up for being unable to perform magic. After all, wizards might be able to fly on brooms but non-magicals went to the moon almost fifty years ago. Not to mention they can put satellites into orbit around the earth and have sent telescopes into deep space to study other planets.

"But even more crucial, calling them muggles makes it far too easy to under estimate how violent, how evil and how destructive some sections of the non-magical world are and that they are organised. Wizards and witches have no idea the threat that some of these groups, these terrorist pose to not just other non-magicals but to wizards and witches too. A nuclearized warhead would take out the Ministry of Magic and surrounds just as easily as the rest of London. Time to stop underestimating potential enemies just because you think of them as fluffy, not very bright pets."

Harry looked horrified and intrigued at the same time. "I'm guessing as Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, you'll be attending to that deficiency in our defences?"

Tony nodded. "Got it in one, Padawan."

Harry looked confused and Tony, Tobias and Hermione exchanged amused smiles. Okay, clearly not a sci-fi fan. Tony felt a movie marathon coming on in the very near future.

"Okay, let's back to business. I'm sure Harry will do a great job watching Tony's back, but Gibbs is likely to be unpredictable. Ever since Iran he's been…erratic." Fornell observed. "I still think he shouldn't risk it."

"Yes and I have a plan, Tobes. I told you that already." Hermione scolded him mildly.

Tony and Harry grinned. Hermione sounded like she was dressing down one of her kids.

"I thought that the 'plan' was Harry," he protested.

"Well obviously it was part of it but I have something else up my sleeve that I've been working on too."

Hermione pulled out a piece of parchment from her oversized hand bag cum-satchel. Tony raised his eyebrows since in his limited experience of Hermione, circa 2016, she preferred paper and pens or her iPad.

Seeing his reaction, she smirked. "When I'm working on charms or spells I prefer old school," she explained, pushing the parchment over at him so he could read it.

Concentrating, he frowned. "So okay, I'll admit to being rusty after all, I've spent almost two decades in the US, most of that time without magic. Actually it is more than two decades when you factor in there was 12 years in Azkaban. When you think about it, I've spend more of my life living free of magic than I have as a wizard. Anywaaay… bottom line I don't recognise this charm – it looks a bit like a notice-me-not charm but yet it's not. Sorry, but I can't identify it."

He looked frustrated and more than a bit embarrassed. Clearly he was going to need to brush up on his skills before he returned to London.

Harry laughed uproariously. "That's because Hermione created it last night."

She smiled, shaking her head deprecatingly, "That isn't entirely true, Harry. As you spotted, Tony, I took inspiration from the notice-me-not- charm. So I can't take all the credit."

Fornell was feeling out of his depth. "What's a notice-me-not charm?"

Harry and Tony grinned, knowing what was coming – 'Didactic Hermione.' "It's also known as the disillusionment charm," She slipped into lecturing mode without conscious thought. "It's used to conceal an inanimate object or a person by making it act in a chameleon-like fashion – taking on the colours and textures of its surroundings. It's a way to hide in plain sight, and that got me thinking."

Tobias was trying to wrap his brain around it. "So if I had the notice-me-not charm cast on me, I could be sitting here and you would just see me as part of the sofa?"

"Exactly." Harry assented approvingly. Hermione had explained that while Fornell was a muggle…um non-magical human, his daughter was a witch and also related to the Weasleys which made them related by marriage. He was quite quick on the uptake for a mug – er non-magical human but then, he was a federal agent.

"So anyway, as I said, it made me think about ways to keep Tony safe on his team so he could work out his notice like he wants to." Hermione continued her explanation. "So I came up with a charm – a sort of emotional forgetfulness charm for strong emotions. Your team members will be able see you and be able to talk to you and interact normally but if they experience strong negative feelings they'll suffer temporary forgetfulness. What they don't remember, they can't act upon," she finished dryly.

"So Jethro gets angry and then poof, he can't remember what he's mad about?" Fornell double-checked.

"Yes."

Harry and Tony looked at each other and started laughing uproariously.

"But I thought that it was against your laws to perform magic on us non-magical people?" The FBI agent objected.

Well technically, the charm is performed by Tony on himself, not them. They just may happen to be affected by it but only if they are feeling very strong emotions like anger, revenge, fear, or disgust which is directed at him. And it's not even a permanent effect, it will wear off again when they aren't around him. Think of it as a temporary disconnect between their feelings and their memory."

Hermione managed to look innocent and earnest. "Maybe it's a fine line but I think that under the circumstances, we can ignore it if we step over the line just a little."

"Not that different from being affected by a cologne he might chose to wear that gives others a headache," Harry mused mildly. "And don't forget its purpose is self- protection so just like you can defend yourself if someone attacks you – this only effects people who are a threat to Snuffles."

Tony started chuckling suddenly. When they stared at him, he explained in between snickers. "Gibbs will be so pissed off that he can't remember what pissed him off - then he won't be able to remember why that was, either. For someone like him whose default emotion is anger – especially at me, he'll be 'forgetful' most of the time. Unless I keep plying him with coffee continuously to keep him… mellow.

Fornell snorted gutturally once or twice, indicating for the grey-haired federal agent, extreme amusement.

"So I guess if you're the Minister of Magic, you have a pretty good grasp of what is lawful and what isn't," he shrugged. "Just to be clear, it won't have any permanent side effects or anything?"

Hermione nodded emphatically. "If someone is in close proximity to Tony while he's charmed and they experience strong negative emotions – the charm will put a mental barrier up between the emotion and the motivation that triggered it. And it is only transient in nature. Once they aren't around him, they'll be able to remember what they forgot."

She looked across at Tony, seeing he was deep in thought. "What's wrong, Tony?"

"Nothing's wrong…I'm just thinking how useful your new charm could prove to be when trying to apprehend someone dangerous. If it works, we need to experiment when we get back to London. It could prevent aurors getting injured or worse."

She looked pleased and embarrassed. "Let's just keep this between the four of us for now, it may need tweaking."

Harry laughed. "You're such a perfectionist, Hermione, even back in first year…"

Before the pair had a chance to devolve into friendly teasing or reminiscing, since they had Tobias' people coming soon Tony interrupted. "Hermione, can I ask a question?" Seeing he had everyone's attention he plunged in. "I noticed that ever since Tobias and I arrived you've called me Tony. You haven't slipped, not once have you called me Sirius. I'm impressed…so what's your secret since you normally stutter and stammer when you use it."

Hermione blushed bright red and stared at her feet.

Harry laughed at his friend's awkwardness, spilling the beans since she remained mute. "She charmed herself so she can't say Sirius anymore. She's embarrassed that she had to rely on a spell."

Folding her arms and pouting at Harry, she scolded him, "Stopping dobbing me in! You're supposed to be on my side." Making eye contact with Tony she admitted to him, "I tried, Tony but I couldn't seem to stop calling you …that name. But I had to stop – there can't be any slips when you take over the DMLE. So I came up with a charm to make sure I didn't put you in danger."

He nodded. "Good idea. There's no shame in resorting to a spell." He assured her warmly, reaching over and giving her a quick hug.

Tobias agreed. Yep, whatever it takes to get the job done – so long as it isn't illegal or harmful. And changing the subject, since my team will be here soon, how about you call your team and get them in here so we can explain what's happening before my people get here?"

~o0o~

They wandered down to eat an early dinner at the hotel restaurant after setting up Hermione's suite with enough surveillance equipment to make sure she was safe, which made all three men feel moderately happy. They'd also threatened her protection detail with unspeakable horrors should they let anyone get close enough to so much as put a hand on her. Tony stared at the three wizard appraisingly.

Two of them were pretty imposing – Dean Thomas was impressively well built, he clearly spent a fair amount of time lifting weights because he had good muscle definition. Justin Finch-Fletchley wasn't as well defined, more like the sort that played rugby than pumped iron, but both wizards were strong and had worked as security in the years after they left Hogwarts and found their way back into the non-magical world. Apparently Dean had been working as a bouncer at a nightclub, in part to subsidise his art career and Justin had been the security consultant on several family businesses – albeit white collar ones.

The third of the trio was a small statured, highly energetic wizard – he reminded Tony of a jack-in-the-box. He was perky and eager to please, definitely shades of Ned Dornaget back when he was brand spanking new probie. Hopefully, Creevey knew how to take care of dirtbags, although being smaller often meant learning early on in life how to kick ass by aiming at their kneecaps or aiming slightly higher up. Either that, or smaller guys ended up getting their butt kicked pretty comprehensively on a regular basis.

After dinner, the plan was to return to return to Hermione's suite and have her team check the rooms for bugs that might have been planted by spooks when the room was unoccupied. Tony and Fornell would observe and advise as necessary. Afterwards, the British contingent, bar Harry who was going to stay with Tony, would retire to their room early to catch up on their sleep since DC was seven hours behind London and they were flagging. So while the food was excellent, the travellers all ate a fairly light dinner, soup and a small appetiser, avoiding heavy or rich sauces and ingredients.

~o0o~

They arrived at NCIS bright and early since Tony knew that it would take a while to get Harry's security pass sorted. Figuring that it would be best to sign him in as advance security for the minister's entourage rather than as his personal security detail. Tony thought that way Director Vance could sign off on Harry as a bodyguard so he settled for a temporary day pass – which still took time. When he led his godson up to the bull pen he noticed the visceral reaction. Suspecting it was the outlandish choice of wall colour or perhaps the exaggerated use of skylights, he decided not to assume.

"What?" he probed.

"I feel like I need a big glass of pumpkin juice."

Tony chuckled. "It is rather overpowering. After we got bombed a few years ago, everyone was excited that we could repaint it something a little less in your face. Unfortunately, our esteemed leader overruled us and had it repainted in this…awesome colour."

"So you won't be wanting to repaint our offices pumpkin orange, then," Harry remarked, relieved.

"Hell no!" Tony declared fervently. "Come on, let's go – I'll give you a tour of the joint."

When they arrived back in the bull pen 20 minutes later, Gibbs was there – pacing. Okay so they had gotten done with the contraband search in Norfolk, obviously – that was not expected.

"So glad you deigned to finally join us, DiNozzo." Gibbs greeted him sarcastically. "My office, NOW." He yelled before stalking off towards the elevator.

End Notes:

As someone reminded me recently, not all my regular readers are au fait with the HP fandom so here are abbreviations for terms used with HP canon. HTH :-) Sundance

DMLE – Dept of Magical Law Enforcement

Auror – magical cops (work for the DMLE)

MoM – Ministry of Magic (governing body of wizards and witches)