Reckless

Chapter One

Nine Years Later…

Harry grumbled softly as his alarm went off. With an annoyed sigh, he slammed his hand down on the snooze button. He rolled back over and snuggled deeper into his covers. A content sigh had just escaped his lips when the door opened. His sigh of contentment turned to one of aggravation as he rolled over to face who had entered. Hermione stood at the doorway putting her hair up in a messy ponytail.

"Harry, that's the third time you've hit the snooze button, get up or you'll be late!" She scolded as she walked back out of the room to finish getting ready. The twenty-eight year old sighed and threw the covers off.

"Yes, mother…" He grumbled when he was sure she was out ear shot. He staggered into a pair of jeans and grabbed a button up from the closet. He paused as the smell of freshly made coffee filled the house. "Hermione, you're a life saver…" He muttered as he slipped on his shoes.

"I thought I was your mum," she returned from the doorway. He smiled sheepishly at her. She grinned and extended the plastic cup of coffee to him. He smiled honestly as he took a sip. "Why haven't you been waking up on time?" Harry's smile fell a little. "Are you still having nightmares?"

"It's not that," Harry told her as he lowered his cup, "this job is getting a little boring." Hermione raised her eyebrows. "The job started out with us rounding up all these Death Eaters, now all we're doing is sitting behind a desk all day."

"Every job has its downsides, Harry," Hermione told him, but in reality, the monotony bugged her too. She needed to be doing something, helping someone or she felt useless. She imagined Harry felt the same. "I've got an idea," Hermione told him. He tilted his head. "Today, why don't we restore our motivation and switch departments?" Harry's mouth fell open.

"What? Hermione, I didn't say I wanted to stop tracking down criminals-"

"I know, I know." Hermione cut him off. "Let's change to the Muggle justice system, where we could do the most good. We won't be able to use our magic of course…but we know-" Hermione caught Harry's slack jawed expression. "What?" She asked.

"Who are you? And what have you done with Hermione?" Harry asked. Hermione smiled fondly as she recalled the last person that had said that to her: Ron.

"I'm tired of all the monotony too, Harry. I've been thinking of transferring for a while now. I'm asking you to come with me," she stated with a sigh. Harry gave a small smile at the familiarity of those words.

"I never thought that was in question," he quoted. Hermione smiled softly. As Harry stared into his best friend's eyes he realized that now was the time to return the favor after she had followed him from Britain. "Where are we transferring too?" Hermione smiled.

"I've been talking to Agent Hotchner from the BAU. He has agreed to see us after we put in our applications for the unit," she informed him. Harry gave a small amused chuckle.

"There's the Hermione I know," Harry stated. He glanced at the clock. "We're late for work." He stated bluntly around the mouth of his coffee cup. Hermione's eyes widened and her face lost color. Harry couldn't help but grin.

"What?!"

Hermione growled and swatted at the paper airplane that seemed intent to tangle itself inside her wild hair. For the first four times, she simply burnt it and focused on the paperwork the office demanded she have finished by that afternoon, but the sender was very persistent. As it swooped by for the fifth time, she snatched the parchment out of the air and practically slammed it onto her desk. The ink wheel clattered slightly to the side of her desk. She caught the sounds of a deep laugh coming from the cubicle right of her. She glared evilly at her best friend. Harry only beamed back and motioned toward the small wiggling plane. Hermione rolled her eyes and opened it.

"What are you," she grumbled underneath her breath, "a school boy still?"

Do you think he's looked at the applications yet? The simple note read. Hermione's eyebrow twitched. All of that annoyance for a simple sentence?! With the way he was sending them (if she had been anyone else) she would have though the message was urgent. With a small roll of her eyes, she grabbed her feather and wrote back a simple: No. We'll discuss this more at home. I have to work unlike somebody…

She sent it back with a furious fling of her wand. She smirked lightly as it smacked Harry in the forehead. Despite her aggravation, Hermione couldn't help but enjoy this side of Harry. Despite having lived with him for many years, it still took her by surprise to see him so…carefree. The weight of taking down Voldemort and saving the Wizarding World, despite having Hermione, Ron, and countless others to help him, had taken quiet a toll on Harry. He was basking in the freedom he had now; and, in turn, Hermione was soaking it up right along with him.

Quickly, the end of the day approached. Hermione gathered up her things, almost in tandem with Harry. Their coworkers had long since stopped commenting on how well the two of them worked together and moved together. Hermione gave a small sigh of suffrage as she realized that they would have to establish that since of familiarity with another team; but that feeling of suffrage quickly fled at the idea of what the new team would be like when they were accepted. Maybe it was a little conceded of her to think that Harry and she would be accepted when so many others had been turned away, but with their credentials who could resist? They worked exceptionally well with others. They knew how to handle their own in the field and knew the way a wide spectrum of criminals ticked.

Harry, on the other hand, was not as confident. He had problems with authority. While it had been toned down over the years, it was still there and no doubt on his records. He only hoped that Hermione and he would be accepted as a unit if they made it. These thoughts were still circling in his head as they took the Metro home.

Aaron Hotchner tumbled into his office after a long day of work. Despite his body screaming for sleep, he sat down behind the desk and shifted through the envelopes and papers on his desk. He slid a pen underneath the fold of one of the envelopes and removed it. It was an application for admission into the BAU and stapled to the back of them were Strauss' evaluation on the applicant. He heaved a small sigh. The team was often short staffed in the field. His agents were ambushed even with others in the area with him. They needed more agents but the standard was so high that many of the applicants didn't make it to his desk for an interview. Like every other time, he hoped that this one would make it. He read the name on the page: Hermione Granger.

He was so buried in the extensive file that he didn't notice Emily Prentiss, one of the BAU's newest agents, knocking on the office archway lightly. The black headed beauty shook her head lightly at her boss's extreme work mentality. The burning sensation in her hand alerted her to the reason she was here. She stepped into the room and set the hot Styrofoam cup of Starbucks coffee directly onto the file he had been reading. Aaron looked up at her in surprise then hastily removed the cup from atop the file.

"Don't do that!" He scolded her lightly. Emily smiled in amusement. "You could ruin the file." She stated with him. Despite her mockery, he smiled. "One sugar, one creamer?" He asked. Emily nodded.

"Figured you could need it after today," she told him. She stepped over to hover above his shoulder. He looked over at her briefly before raising the cup to his lips. "Careful!" She informed him seconds too late. "It's…hot…" She finished with a small mutter. Much to her surprise, Aaron didn't drop the scolding hot coffee.

"Thanks for the warning," he choked. Emily chuckled lightly.

"Coffee's hot. You don't have to be Reid to know that," she told him with a slight teasing air. The look it earned her only made her smile wider.

"Emily," he drawled warningly. Emily scooted away from him and back toward the door. The large smile was still firmly on her lips.

"Going, going. I was going to help you, but I guess you don't need it," she stated as she began to turn around to walk out of the doorway. She smiled wider as she heard a sigh come from the desk. Emily could imagine the slightly conflicted look on Hotch's face as he looked from the desk top piled with papers to her back.

"Fine…Come back in here."

(A/N: To those of you eagerly waiting (probably not eagerly, but you know) for an update on Stripped Bare, I'm ashamed to say that I am experiencing very strong writer's block. In the meantime, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.)