February 2003

"Potter! Weasley!"

They stopped in their tracks, already heading for their office to collect bags and coats and get the hell out of the Ministry for the weekend.

"Yes?" Harry said, turning with his best professional smile on his face.

"Good job today," Rosewarne said. His face was a mask of seriousness. It had been a serious job.

"Thank you, sir," Ron said from next to him. "It was an exciting assignment to be a part of."

Rosewarne nodded and headed off to his own office. With more staff shortages, the man had come out of his almost retirement in the training department and was now overseeing a big project on Muggle drugs that were creeping into Wizarding circles. When the project was launched he'd immediately requested both Harry and Ron on his team, which to Harry was a big deal. He was still settling back into the department after his previous blip.

"You're such a kiss ass," Harry murmured as they ducked into the office they shared with a few others. "Thank you, sir," he mimicked. Ron hit him on the arm.

"Fuck off."

"Cheers, mate."

"You coming for a drink?"

"Nah," Harry said. "I'm meeting Will later. He's taking me out somewhere."

Ron shrugged out of his Auror's robe and hung it on one of the hooks next to the door, then stripped off his shirt to replace it with a clean one. Harry chucked his own robes over the back of his chair and just finger-combed his hair back – it was the best he was going to get before jumping in the shower.

"You're pretty serious about him, aren't you?"

"Who, Will? Yeah. I guess so."

"Mum likes him."

Harry smiled. "I got that impression, yeah."

"She said he's good for you."

Harry was bemused to think that Molly had spoken about Will with Ron. She had come over to his flat for tea one Saturday afternoon, bringing with her a huge cake and a tin of biscuits for later. She'd even arranged to Apparate into the car park behind his building, then walk up the stairs so Will wouldn't be suspicious.

They'd spent a rainy afternoon eating cake and drinking tea, chatting about Arthur who sent his apologies, but was tinkering with the car in the garage (which was probably true). Molly didn't shy away from questions about Harry's childhood, instead explaining how she'd come to unofficially adopt him when he was a teenager.

"Molly and Arthur are far more like my parents than my aunt and uncle would ever be," Harry had said, making her beam.

All his worrying about introducing Molly to Will was for nothing. Well, not for nothing… the connection to his family was something that Will seemed to cherish, like Harry had given him something a lot bigger than just tea and cake.

The sex was good, their friendship was solid, they had a good time together going around Muggle London where Harry was never stopped or recognised. They had a long standing tradition that on payday they went down to Camden Market and ordered something from a food stall they hadn't visited before. Their friends had started to mix.

When Will kissed Harry it felt warm and safe and real. It felt like staying in bed for an extra half hour on Sunday morning because there's nowhere else to go. It felt like a Molly Weasley Christmas jumper. It felt good.

So what was missing?

A/N: Hey guys, I'm going to be on holiday for the next couple of weeks so there likely won't be an update now until I'm back. I'll be writing while I travel, so I'll hopefully come home with some more of the story ready to tell.
Hope life is treating you all well!
- HFS xx