Present
MLE- Interrogation
In one of the many interrogation rooms of MLE, Harry sat across from the witch who may have information on Calum Dearling. Sumire Nagano was a pretty witch. Her straight dark hair and faintly up-tilted eyes showed her Japanese ancestry. Her mouth curled up at the corners, her expression happy and a little mischievous. Nagano looked harmless until you paid attention to her flat black eyes. No emotion flickered in those black depths, just the hard gleam of barely leashed brutality. Nagano had also been the only one of the four to land a spell on Harry, which said a lot regarding her skills.
The interrogation chairs within MLE were spelled for interrogation, and powerful enchantments worked on the subjects once they were bound to the chair. The enchantments forced those subjects to talk and to talk truthfully. However, despite the power of the enchantments, Nagano sat on the MLE interrogation chair silently, smiling at Harry.
"Miss Nagano, can you tell me where Calum Dearling is?"
"Yes."
"Where is he?"
"Here." Harry stared at her, his muscles tensing as he restrained the urge to hurt her. Her smile widened as if she found his struggle amusing.
"So, you're the husband." Her voice was playful, faintly lyrical betraying that English was not her first language.
Harry ignored her comment, pressing for the information he wanted. "Tell me where Dearling is."
"He told me about how you screamed." She leaned closer to him, her mouth shaping the words with relish. "That you were louder than the screams your witch made when she went down."
Heat raced through Harry in an explosion of rage, the intensity of the emotion making red color his vision. He wasn't even aware he had moved but he blinked and realized he had one hand wrapped around her scrawny throat. Her eyes glittered tauntingly at him, and she laughed breathlessly. Harry squeezed her neck harder and her laughing finally cut off. Nagano made a choking as he cut off her air. Harry struggled to relax his hand and stop choking her. He didn't want to kill her. Yet. Slowly his hand relaxed and she threw herself back from him unable to rub her red throat because her hands were bound.
Nagano definitely knew where Dearling was and seemed to be able to resist the enchantments on the chair. Looking at her glaring malevolent eyes, Harry had a strong feeling that even torturing her would yield no results. Maybe he should do it anyway, just to be certain.
Harry stared at her, letting the tight control he kept over his magic relax. It felt good like he was able to stretch into his true shape. Nagano's eyes widened and she glanced around the room before turning back to him.
He placed his hands on the table and stood up to lean over her, demanding again, "Tell me where Dearling is."
Nagano leaned toward him as if imparting a secret. "He's probably watching your wife."
Bitch. His wand was at her throat in an instant, while his mind supplied progressively darker images of torturing her. He remained frozen, digging for his control or the next words out of his mouth would be an unforgivable. And he didn't know which one.
What he did know however was the next time she drew her wand on him would be the last time.
Harry stood up and walked out of the interrogation room, the door closing quietly behind him. He nodded to the two Aurors in charge of the prisoner letting them know he was done with Nagano. He didn't watch as they entered the room behind him to take her back to her detention cell. Harry headed down the hall until he spotted an empty conference room ducking in quickly and shutting the door before pulling out the communication mirror.
"Hermione?"
There was a long pause.
"Hey, Harry." Her gaze seemed fixed on his chin, and her expression was politely inquiring.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine." There was an awkward pause, her gaze darting to the side before again towards his chin. Anger and sorrow twisted inside him like a fiendfyre, turning everything to ashes.
Harry sucked in a breath, pulling hard to control his emotions. Bury it. "What are you up to?"
"I'm busy. Reading."
He waited for her to say anything else but the silence stretched again between them. "Okay. I'll see you when I get home, love you."
"Bye."
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Present
Grimmauld Place
While showering Hermione noticed a small scar across her ribcage on the right side. It looked like someone had dragged a knife along her ribs. She touched the scar gently as water cascaded over her. Her head felt too heavy and the humid air pressed down on her. What a strange thing to not recognize your own body.
She turned off the shower stepped out and toweled off rapidly before dropping the towel on the floor and stepping into the bedroom towards the full-length mirror on the right side of the room. She inspected her body now as if it belonged to someone else. She had always been thin, books and studying had always taken precedence over eating. During the war though between half starving in the tent and the constant stress she had become quite bony.
Now Hermione ran her hands down her flat abdomen, looking at the way her arms flexed. From what Harry told her she had been in a coma for about three months, unless everyone woke up from a coma in superb athletic shape she must have been quite something before the accident.
She remembered how Harry had looked that first night when he had rushed to her side without a shirt. The definition of the muscles of his chest, the thickness of his biceps. Harry had definitely come into his own since her last memories of him. He had been closer then to the leanly muscled teenager who had made love to her in the middle of a forest. Even then though Harry had been strong, it had been a different kind of strength than he had now.
Thinking about adult Harry's body made a low hum of arousal flicker through Hermione that she tried to ignore. It was still disquieting to look at Harry sometimes, even though changes were undeniably appealing. The fact that he had the body of a man made it impossible to ignore the years she had lost.
Harry was twenty-six years old now, fully a man, and the last memory she had of him he had still been a lean twenty-one-year-old. He was broader, his chest had filled out, and he seemed bigger all over, although Hermione didn't know if that was reality or her perception of him. The feel of him which had always been as familiar as her own magic had changed, the comfort of knowing him so intimately had been stolen away from her.
The Harry she knew had wrestled with his control, but he was so contained now. Almost like a blank slate sometimes, staring at her with those familiar green eyes. His skill in wandless magic was just way beyond what she might have thought possible considering the struggles created by his past.
He was still sleeping next to her holding her in his arms each night since her nightmare. He hadn't broached the subject with her again, and Hermione thought it was because he gained his own comfort from the arrangement. She pretended he was still the man she knew, and he pretended she was still his wife. Then they woke up and pretended everything was okay some more.
Hermione shook her head, trying to focus, she was doing it again. Focusing on anything but herself. Looking at her body gave her such an intense feeling of disassociation. How could she not know her own body? Looking at herself it was like it wasn't even her own body. It was some shape she had polyjuiced into.
Since she woke up all her concentration had been external, the fact that Harry was her husband. The fact that she was a bloody auror. The fact that she had somehow moved from one best friend to the other. In the face of those life-altering facts, she hadn't processed other, more intrinsic changes.
She stared into her own face looking for the differences five years made.
"My name is Hermione Jean Granger." She whispered to herself staring at her body.
No wait that wasn't right. She laughed at her naked reflection struck by the absurdity of her actions.
She met her own gaze again in the mirror.
"My name is Hermione Jean Granger. Potter." The addition of Harry's last name sounded discordant. Jarring. Like a musical instrument played out of tune. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
Hermione reached out, her hand having the slightest tremble. Little whispers in her mind told her she was acting crazy. She laid her palm flat against her reflection, trying to make the connection between her physical self and the mental image she had of herself.
She pushed her magic against the mirror feeling the buzz against her fingertips, little cracks in the glass started spreading from under her hand.
Cutere. Shatter.
The mirror bucked and broke into tiny pieces, most dropping but a few bursting close to her where she stood leaving little cuts, the worst one on her hand. She clenched her fist, feeling the sharp jagged edge of pain.
She was stronger than this, she would not fall apart. She went back to the bathroom to clean up, leaving the glass on the floor, she would clean it later.
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Past
November 2003
The cameras flashed as Hermione walked up the stage, Robards, Shacklebolt, and Harry stood together with Shacklebolt closest to her. She stopped two feet from the podium as Shacklebolt began speaking, "Witches and Wizards, as Minster of Magic it is my pleasure to stand here to swear in Hermione Jean Granger as an Auror for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
'Miss Granger has performed amazing deeds as only a teenager. She has been called by some as the brightest witch of her generation. And here she stands again a testimony to all things courageous, righteous, and selfless amongst us.
Despite joining her training class late, she nonetheless managed to score at the top of her class and is graduating in the number one spot." Shacklebolt paused and looked over at Harry, who had kept his face impassive. "Not that we would have expected anything less with Auror Potter stepping in." The crowd laughed delightedly.
"Now raise your right hand and repeat after me," Shacklebolt. He waited until Hermione stood straight her hand over her heart, "Do you swear to faithfully execute the duties as an Auror of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and to the best of your ability preserve, protect, and defend the laws of the Ministry and the citizenry it governs?"
"I, Hermione Jean Granger, do swear to faithfully execute my duties as an Auror of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the laws of the Ministry and the citizenry it governs." Hermione lowered her hand when she finished and met Harry's gaze as he came forward, and the black cloak appeared in a burst of golden magic, the Auror insignia on the sleeves.
Harry stepped to the side and held it out for her, and she stuck her arms through the sleeves. His hands brushed the back of her neck as he caught her hair pull it from the back of the cloak.
Shacklebolt leaned forward to speak into the mic again. "Congratulations Auror Granger!"
Cheers broke out as Hermione turned a big smile on her face and jumped into Harry's embrace. He twirled her around once their matching cloaks flared out before hugging her again. Harry lowered his face until his mouth was near her ear when he spoke, "Congratulations Auror Granger."
Hermione placed her hand on his chest as the crowd continued their cheers, searching his eyes. She knew it had been hard for Harry, her decision to join the Aurors. "Thank you, Harry."
He leaned forward to press a kiss near the top of her head. "You can thank me later."
Hermione laughed, before turning to face the crowd and waving one last time before she was escorted off stage alongside Harry.
The commencement quickly turned into a large party, music, and food appearing as wands waved and house elves snapped their fingers. As they moved through the crowd Harry remained at her side, their shoulders brushing as they talked to friends and family.
Neville made it through the crush, not even saying hello first, his arms going around Hermione tightly. "Congratulations, Hermione. I'm so happy for you."
Hermione was a little thrown off by how emotional Neville sounded and how tightly he was holding her. She was just about to try to wriggle away when a small gentle hand pulled on Neville's arm. "Let go now, Neville. Harry is getting jealous, even though he's hiding it quite well."
"I'm not jealous," Harry told Luna as he pulled Hermione a bit closer to him as Neville finally stepped away.
Hermione stayed pressed to Harry's side as she smiled at Luna and also noticed that Neville's face appeared a bit too red. "Thanks, Neville, but um, have you been drinking?"
"Yes." Neville nodded emphatically as he answered. "I'm so happy for you guys! Doing what you love– finding — finding the right person. Do you know how hard that is?"
Luna patted and rubbed Neville's back comfortingly. "Even they're going at it a bit wrong, Neville. Why don't we dance?"
Neville looked down at Luna a bit blearily. "I like dancing."
"Hermione." They turned as Ron and Padma Patil stepped into their group. Ron stepped forward intending to throw his arms around Hermione but instead hugged her with one arm as he realized he's have to hug Harry too, who was pressed against her. "Congratulations!"
"Congratulations, Hermione." Padma smiled. Her bright gold jewelry gleamed brightly with every movement and contrasted beautifully with her skin tone.
"Thank you!" Hermione smiled her arm wrapping around Harry's waist under his cloak. "I couldn't have done it without Harry helping me. I was a bit out of practice at first."
"Liar," Harry muttered too low for the others to hear, and she pinched his side.
Padma cocked her head observing Harry and Hermione. "I would have never thought of you being an Auror, Hermione, but I do admit you look good in that Auror robe."
"Neville and I will probably be back after we dance." Luna let them know as she started to lead a slightly unsteady Neville toward the dance floor.
"Is Neville drunk?" Ron asked astonished.
Padma glanced at him in surprise. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was after everything."
Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked at Padma curiously, and Hermione asked. "What happened? Harry and I have been so busy lately with my training and his cases."
Padma leaned in, "Well you know he was dating Pansy and Nott from Hogwarts?"
"What!" Ron stood on his tiptoes looking towards where Neville and Luna disappeared for a second as if he would go confirm it before looking at Padma. "I didn't know this! When did this happen? And both of them? At once?"
Padma shrugged. "Well I'm not as close with him as Luna or Ginny, but yes that's what I heard from Parvati. Apparently, it was going along brilliantly until something happened."
"Until what happened?" Ron questioned.
Padma shrugged again. "Don't know, but Nott hasn't been seen in public and Pansy went to visit France for awhile."
Hermione looked over when Harry tugged at her hand, and he tilted his head in the direction of the dance floor. "Harry owes me a congratulatory dance, so we'll catch up more later?"
Ron looked like he wanted to talk more but he nodded. "Okay, we'll catch up more in a bit?"
Harry gave Ron and Padma a nod then started walking toward the dance floor pulling Hermione along. Hermione held tightly to Harry's hand as pulled her but looked back to shout an answer to Ron, "Yes of course! After we dance!"
Hermione made an appreciative hum as Harry's hands slid around her once they reached the area where couples were dancing and he spun her onto the dance floor. "I don't think you spoke two words to them."
"A drunk Nev kind of threw me off. And Pansy... and Theo?" Harry gave a small shudder thinking about it.
Hermione frowned at him. "Well if it made him happy..." Harry gave her a skeptical look and Hermione shrugged. "Sometimes happiness doesn't always look like what we expected."
Hermione felt the way Harry tensed at that, his arms tightening a bit as he spun her amongst the other dancers. She slid her arms up his back, pressing closer. They didn't stop when the music changed, adjusting as the beat changed with each song.
Like some sixth sense, even though his expression was sociable Hermione could feel Harry's unease. "Harry?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you want to leave?"
"Of course not. This is your party."
"Does it still bother you? That I'm doing this?"
"No." He leaned down to give her a peck on the cheek. "I'd bet on you over any wannabe criminal."
They stayed very late at the party. Hermione didn't manage to catch Ron alone to talk to him like he had seemed to want. Luna and Neville had left rather early. When they finally made it back to bed it was early morning and Hermione crawled in next to Harry exhaustedly. She cuddled up to him in a small nightshirt. "Are we still getting Teddy next weekend when we're off?"
"Mhmm."
Hermione looked at him and he was staring up at the ceiling in the dark, his mind clearly miles away. She sat up and pulled off her shirt, before leaning back toward him and saw that now his eyes were focused on her.
"Hermione? Aren't you tired?"
She reached out and stroked her hand along his face. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Harry caught her hand by her wrist holding it against his face as he turned and pressed a kiss to her palm. "You're tired though, it was a big day for you. Let's go to sleep."
"But I want to make love to you."
"Do you?" His voice was so quiet when he asked her.
Hermione's heart squeezed and she leaned closer to him, pressing kisses to the edge of his lips. "I want you so much I can't bear it sometimes."
Harry moved quickly, rolling her over so he was on top, capturing her hands and raising them above her head. He moved back on his knees pulling her close so that her legs were high on his hips while her arms laid out above her.
His hands slid along her legs slowly, a warm stroke that sent shivers through her. His cock was hard, and he took himself in hand rubbing the head of his cock along the entrance to her pussy. "Tell me." Harry's voice was guttural as he rubbed himself on her.
Hermione twisted her hands in the sheet above her head, her legs falling open more to make it easier for him to continue to stroke her intimately. "Make love to me."
Harry leaned forward, his other hand reaching for her breast, cupping it, and playing with the nipple. "Say please."
She arched into him, trying to give him more access. Undulating her hips against his stroking. "Fuck me please, Harry."
The shadows and light cast from the window, fell across Harry's body over hers in stripes, highlighting his chest, but throwing his face into darkness. She could only see the barest gleam of his eyes, the hard planes of his face as he covered her, moving so that the thick head of his cock pressed against her, barely penetrating her.
Harry was over her, pressing her into the mattress. His forearms braced around her face as his hips pushed against her. "Is this what you want? My cock in your pretty pussy?"
"Yes, please, Harry." The words came out with whimpers as he penetrated her deeper. There was this wet sound as he withdrew and thrust inside her again, deeper. Always always reaching that spot that made her see stars behind her closed eyes.
She couldn't control how hard she clutched at Harry, her nails digging into the muscles of his back as she wrapped her legs around him. The words kept coming with his encouragement, sex, and love swirled together and were indistinguishable.
His head lowered to latch on to her nipple and she let out a keening sound at how strongly he sucked her nipple while his hips moved hard against hers.
Hermione writhed against him, her tongue dragging heatedly against his neck as all her feelings twisted into a ball. Her body tensed and her toes curled as her climax approached. Her hands went up the back of his neck grasping his hair, and she felt him respond in kind, both of them holding each other tight as their mouths latched together, tongues sliding along each others as their orgasms broke over them in concert.
When Harry finally broke the kiss Hermione sucked in a deep breath, feeling faint. He stayed over her, his cock still inside her as he filled her with his hot cum. "Hermione?"
"Mmm?" She was too blissed out to talk.
"Open your eyes." Harry waited until she looked at him, heavy-lidded and relaxed, love gleaming in her dark eyes. "Marry me."
Hermione tensed and her eyes flared wide. Harry grunted as she clenched down on him. "What!" It came more of a squeak than an actual word.
Harry pressed harder against her, his cock hardening at the way her pussy was tightening on him. "I love you. You're my happiness. Marry me, please, Hermione?"
Hermione's eyes filled with tears and she sucked in an almost sobbing breath. Harry reared up, pulling her with him, onto his lap. "Are you mad? Do I do it badly? Aw, fuck, I'm sorry."
"Yes! I mean no! I mean, of course, I'll marry you." She threw her arms around his neck squeezing tight. "You're my happiness too."
"Then why are you crying?" Harry asked cautiously still a bit frozen.
"Because I'm so happy!" She laughed, tears still on her face, and kissed him. "I'm so happy."
"I made you happy?" Harry asked relaxing as he pulled her back down from their sitting position.
"Ecstatically. Fantastically happy."
"Good because I think you gave me a heart attack. Now you should make it up to me."
Hermione laughed her hands sliding along his shoulders. "It would be my pleasure."
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Robards leaned forward to hand the report to Harry. "We've been receiving complaints from the Americans that we've got illegally modified magical and muggle items coming from England."
Harry leaned back in the chair across from Robards desk and flipped open the file. There were long manifest lists with some eye-popping quantities. "Are these numbers verified? How could this go unnoticed? This must have taken warehouses full of supplies."
"That's according to MACUSA. You know how Americans can be excitable sometimes. While I'm not sure about the numbers I am sure that at least we've got a problem with some dark group. They've been quiet here in England probably not trying to draw notice as they export their unique weapons. So we're starting this investigation with very little to be able to track them down. If those numbers are right our best bet is focusing on tracking them down through their supply chain."
"Mhmm." Harry agreed still flipping through the documents.
Robards tapped his desk, a speculative look in his eyes. "Are you going to partner with Granger to work on it? She hasn't handled anything this high level."
"I disagree with that considering her war efforts. And yes, this looks like the perfect way to start her off. This group appears to be mostly focused on money making as opposed to violence so probably a lower risk than most of the cases." Harry hit the last page looking at a picture of a tall blonde wizard. Why was it always blondes causing issues?
"This is the main suspect?"
"Yes Calum Dearling, I've already got the administrative division pulling all the records we can find on him, as soon as they come in I'll send them to you."
Harry stood up tapping the file on his hand. "I'll keep you updated on the progress." With a nod, Harry walked out of Robards office winding his way through the Auror division to Hermione's desk.