Present
Ministry of Magic- Auror Division
The contact mirror seemed to be burning a hole in Harry's pocket. His hand worried over the smooth surface throughout his first day back at work. It was difficult to restrain himself from attempting to check in with Hermione every fifteen minutes. Hermione was fine, he told himself.
She was safe. He repeated to himself as his thumb moved against smooth glass. She was safe within the wards he had set and no one was getting in there. Harry shook his head again trying to concentrate on the paperwork in front of him.
Harry forced himself to let go of the mirror and pick up his quill. The reports he was going through were extremely detailed. He wrote his notes in a heavy hand, determined to find the information he needed. However, much of the information wasn't pertinent to his goal of tracking down Calum Dearling. Calum Dearling was a muggleborn wizard who had turned to the manufacture of dangerous magical weapons for dark wizards.
He was also the wizard responsible for Hermione's injury.
Harry worked through the stack of papers slowly, methodically, trying to spot any promising snippet of information. The reports were mainly from low-level informants sharing whispers and rumors about the potential locations of Dearling or one of his associates.
About midday, a piece of paper charmed into the shape of a bird flew onto his pile of paperwork. The elaborately folded little bird walked around for a moment before the magic exhausted itself and the paper unfolded revealing a short note.
Ronald Weasley is on his way to the Auror Dept.
Fuck. Harry crumpled the note, tossing it into the bin before getting up to head Ron off and catch him in the hallway. As he thought Ron was walking rapidly down the corridor, the tips of his ears were red and his face was thunderous. Ron's hair was a little wild, he had grown it out since the war and he more closely resembled his older brothers now, especially factoring in the scarring they all shared. Ron's arms were striped from the brain tentacles, Bill had the scars from his werewolf encounter and Charlie had numerous ones from his work with dragons.
Harry kept his face expressionless, reaching for occlumency and opening a convenient conference room door. He tilted his head to indicate Ron should enter wordlessly. Ron stomped in without pause.
Harry had barely closed the door when Ron shoved him back against it threateningly. "What the fuck, Harry. She's been awake for weeks and you're not letting her talk to any of us?"
"Put your hands on me again and I'll have you thrown in the holding cells," Harry told Ron coldly shoving him back. "Hermione's recovering. She needs doctors and rest right now, not the stress of someone who can barely control their fucking emotions."
"Me? Me? Look at you!" Ron pointed angrily at him, his voice coming out dumbfounded," You warded your house even against my mother Harry."
"I warded it so no one could get in. And maybe you didn't hear me. My wife cannot be stressed out by people who can barely control their emotions."
Ron froze, an incredulous look on his face as if he couldn't believe Harry said had actually said that. His arm raised as if he was going to punch Harry in the face. At the last minute though Ron turned and kicked one of the chairs in the conference room so hard it slammed into the wall, breaking a bit of plaster. "You know, I always admired how you just moved on from shit. Your aunt and uncle being horrible abusive bastards. Cedric dying. Sirius dying. Everyone dying and fucked up. And then there's you just charging after the next fucking thing."
Ron shook his head, looking away from Harry's flat face. Not a flicker of emotion showed through. He could feel Harry's anger though, it hovered in the air threatening to break through the tight leash of his control like a storm gathering. "You're so fucking scared of losing her that you're going to drive her away for good."
Harry stepped up to him, the chilling blankness still in place. "I have a job to do. You know the one you pissed away?" Ron tensed, then stilled, seeing the anticipation in Harry's eyes. Harry reached around him and opened the door. "Don't push me on this. Now go back to your own wife and leave mine to me."
Harry's shoulders were tense as he watched Ron walk away. While Hermione hadn't wanted to see anyone else, she had wanted to see Ron. He swallowed hard, his hand reaching into his pocket to clench on the mirror.
He was still staring down the corner when Auror Robert Holland, a member of his team assisting with tracking down Calum Dearling approached him. Robert was tenured and methodical, someone who lived by the maxim that slow and steady won the race. He was thicker than Harry but not fat, just very solid, and his hair hadn't yet gone grey despite his age. "Harry? You got a minute?"
Forcing his mind away from the ball of conflicting feelings regarding Ron Weasley and his wife, Harry turned towards Holland. "Yeah. What's up?"
"We just got a lead that they may be showing up at Charming Charlie's off Knockturn today."
"How credible is this? Who's the source?" Harry tried to not anticipation cloud his thinking. He wanted Dearling in custody badly.
"Complete chance. We busted this kid for trying to pickpocket and he's trying to convince us not to call his parents by letting us know what he heard regarding our undesirable number one."
"Let me talk to this kid."
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Present
Knockturn Alley- Raid
Harry stood across the street from the shop Charming Charlie's pretending to read the Daily Prophet as he waited for the rest of his team to get into position. His team today was composed of two Aurors and a healer for the raid today.
The two Aurors, Mulvaney and Holland had been with the Auror office longer than Harry and were reliable wizards in a fight. They were quick on their feet and had decently fast reaction times-essential skills in a raid. The last member of his team was Bryce Connors, a healer, and part of a new initiative of the Auror division since Hermione's injury to have a healer on site or close by for planned raids or dangerous arrests. Harry had determined the boy they had arrested was credible, and his intel indicated that co-conspirators of Calum Dearling would be present in the shop.
Harry kept his turbulent emotions contained behind the walls he had put up with his occlumency. A part of his mind kept wanting to replay the last time he had seen Dearling. The golden snitches flying through the air and the explosion afterward, injuring Hermione. The rage Harry felt towards Dearling was consuming and vicious. The idea that he might be close to a clue on where the bastard might be hiding made the walls of his mental shielding tremble with the effort to keep his emotions contained.
The signal coin burned hot in his pocket, alerting Harry that finally, all of his team was in place. He threw the newspaper into the nearby rubbish bin and crossed the street and walked purposefully towards the entrance of the shop, his wand clenched in his hand at his side.
Harry didn't bother with any niceties, blasting the door to pieces and stepping through the wreckage to shout. "MLE, Auror Potter! Everyone drop your wants and get on the floor!"
Satisfaction warmed Harry when the suspects ignored him. The wizards and one witch jumped at his entrance and pulled out their wands pointing them at Harry. He was going to enjoy this fight. Let's play, he thought viciously.
Spells flew at Harry rapidly from multiple directions and he dove out of the way, hearing the crash and the crackle of powerful magic as it slammed into walls and the furniture of the shop. Harry cast a buckling hex on the floor causing it to jerk under the dark wizards. He could hear his team yelling from the back of the shop and then the shouts of disarming spells. The targets were boxed in now, Harry blocked the front and his team blocked the rear escape.
The witch shot a superbly aimed cutting curse that would have taken off Harry's arm if he hadn't ducked so quickly, but it still left a deep cut disabling his left arm. The pain burned but it sharpened Harry's focus and time seemed to slow down for him. The dark witch raised her wand to cast against Harry again, but he was quicker shooting off spells in rapid succession.
She blocked several stunners before Harry's knockback jinx slipped by her shielding and the power of the spell flipped her back against the wall where she hit with a loud thud, her head snapping back before dropping to the floor unconscious. One down three to go.
Auror Mulvaney managed to get one of the wizards stunned, but the other two were still shielding and throwing out curses, trying to maneuver themselves up the stairs. Idiots, Harry thought.
He waited, tossing stunning spells to keep the wizards occupied until they reached the fifth step of the stairs before charming the staircase flat. The wizards slid down the flattened staircase like a slide to almost at Harry's feet where he stunned them.
The team healer ran up to him and began to work on his arm healing the wound by the witch. Bryce Connors was a short curly haired man, a few years younger than Harry, they hadn't known each other in school but he was an extremely competent and talented healer. "You usually do a better job of shielding Potter."
Harry shrugged. "I wanted to make sure I got everyone, Connors." The healer flicked him a concerned glance but didn't question him further.
They shackled their four detainees and processed the scene for charges and further evidence. Excitement flickered through Harry at the success, they were going to get that bastard.
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Past
June 2002
"You look happy," Ron observed.
Hermione smiled down at her melting ice cream while they both sat in Fortescue's Ice Cream. "Yeah, I am."
"How's the things?"
Despite the oblique way he referenced her issues, Hermione's eyes darted around the ice cream parlor before going back to her best friend. "It's going really well. I've—I've only woken once and —and I didn't do anything."
Ron looked down. "Have you talked to him about it?"
The who remained unsaid, sometimes even saying Harry's name in public made ears perk up. Hermione and Ron were already getting side eyes, especially since it was now common knowledge they had broken up although no one was really aware of the details.
Hemione shrugged, her smile fading a bit. "Why burden him with that? He doesn't need that."
"You know what the healer said about being honest with the people who matter. Honesty is important, Hermione."
"What about you? Who have you told?"
Ron shrugged. "I don't have anyone that important in my life yet."
"What about your dad? Or Molly? I know she was upset about you leaving the Auror division."
"If you could have brought back your parent's memories would you have told them everything? Even that?"
Hermione's eyes watered a bit and she blinked rapidly. Ron reached out to cover her hand but she pulled back. "That was a low blow."
"I'm sorry. It's just –this is happening fast, Hermione. Did I want you to maybe see where things could go? Yes, of course. But we break up, then you quit—"
"You quit too."
"Then two months later you're sitting here telling me you moved in with him. Last month. That's – that's blindingly fast."
"We've already lived together before Ron. It's not like it's new."
Ron pushed his ice cream away, stretching briefly before he ran his hand through is hair. He looked around the busy ice cream parlor for a minute as a delaying tactic before he turned and looked at Hermione. She had been relaxed when she first came in but now she was tense and defensive as she sat across from him and he didn't know how to fix it. "Hermione."
"What?" She didn't look up at him, despite the slightly pleading note in his voice.
"I just want you both to be happy. And keeping things to ourselves is how we let things get so out of hand."
Hermione looked up at Ron a slow smile curving her lips as she leaned forward slightly. Her voice was lower to make sure no one could hear anything even with the discreet sound concealment charm. "I don't think I've ever been happier. It's different now, without anything hanging over us. I thought I would go crazy without something but it's been so freeing to just be. To read just because I enjoy it, to experiment just because I'm curious, and have him with me for everything."
Looking into the way Hermione almost seemed to glow as she confessed her feelings, honestly made Ron just a bit jealous. His life after the break up hadn't been nearly as smooth a transition. He was still a bit worried about the secrets she was keeping but how could he be negative in the face of the intensity of her happiness? "I–"
They both broke off as someone approached too close and they felt the ripple of magic as the silence concealment charm was dismissed.
"Harry! You got off early." Hermione jumped up from the booth, pressing a kiss to his cheek before throwing her arms around him for a brief hug.
Ron didn't miss the sharp glance he got from Harry as they settled back down but ignored it. "Hey, mate."
Harry slid his arm behind Hermione, his hand resting possessively on her shoulder. The effect of his black hair and the black Auror uniform would have made him eye-catching even if he wasn't a war hero. Ron ignored the faint aggravation he felt as people started staring at the three of them more openly. It was hard to deal with the attention when he remembered how much he had wanted it growing up, and how fucking miserable it had made him once his wish came true.
"Ron." Harry nodded at Ron, but when he looked at Hermione there was softening of his expression. "What were you two talking about?"
"Nothing important." Hermione's eyes slid to Ron as she tensed under Harry's arm as if she expected him to blurt out everything about her nightmares and potion abuse.
Maybe when Ron had been a teen he might have been that ham-handed but those days were long past him, and it was all he could do not to groan at how weirdly guilty Hermione managed to act as she answered Harry's question. Ron cast desperately about for something to say when Harry's eyes flicked between him and Hermione and he blurted out," Oh she was just telling me about you two living together now."
If anything Harry's expressed cooled even further. "Do you have a problem with it?"
"No, of course, he doesn't."
Hermione's interjection tried and failed to be nonchalant and Ron could feel tension gathering at his temples. Oh, this was going so badly. Worse than when he had fucked with Harry about shagging a Hermione replica. Accidentally stepping on landmines with Harry seemed to be all his relationship with his best mate had turned into despite Ron's best efforts. To try to help things Ron said firmly. "I'm happy you two are being there for each other. I just hope—" Fuck. Ron cut himself off too late as he reconsidered his words at the last minute. Mentioning honesty would be like casting a blasting curse on the already tense mood.
"You hope what?" Harry asked.
"Harry." Hermione waited until he looked at her. "Maybe we could go check out that shop? The one with the tellies? It might be fun."
"Tellies?" Ron knew he had heard that word before it escaped him.
"Sure. Since you're done let's get going then?" Harry scooted out before looking at Ron while he helped Hermione out of the booth. "Muggle things. See you around mate."
"Yeah, I'd better leave too." Ron got up to follow them out, feeling more like a third wheel than he had in a while.
Hermione smiled at Ron as they parted on the street. "Let's all do dinner soon okay?"
"Yeah, sure," Ron answered feeling awkward as Harry nodded at him and the couple turned to walk off in the direction of muggle London. Somehow he thought he wouldn't get an invite to Grimmauld anytime soon.
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Past
October 2002
Living with Harry had been easy, not that it was a surprise, Hermione supposed. Some habits were so deep inside that even when the years stretched on they didn't fade away, just settled in the dark corners waiting to spring back into action.
Now she stood in front of him as he sat on the couch and twirled in her dress. "What do you think?"
"I think you look beautiful. You always do."
Hermione could feel her cheeks heating at the admiration in his words. "You're definitely much more smooth than you were as a teenager." She teased as she sat next to him. "You look very handsome too."
Harry was dressed in a black suit, his hair falling stylishly over his forehead. Hermione knew he didn't want to go to the ball but agreed because of her gentle insistence. Halloween had never been a good time for Harry and she really wanted to change that.
They spent most of their evenings quietly together, reading, watching things on the telly they had purchased, or other more fun activities.
Harry pointed at her," Don't look at me like that, or we're not going anywhere."
"I swear you were a legilimens." Hermione laughed patting her cheeks. "And we're definitely going Harry Potter. We're practically turning into recluses with how rarely we go out."
Harry shrugged. "I'm happy."
Hermione came closer and he reached for her, settling her on his lap sideways, and she rested her head against his shoulder. "Mhmm. I'm happy too but I still think it would be good to get out tonight."
"Fine," Harry muttered, his mouth moving along her neck as she shivered. "At least I'll get to have you in my arms while we dance."
Hermione jumped up as soon as his mouth moved lower, knowing they'd never leave if she let him continue. She hustled him out of the house, waiting impatiently as he set the security wards before they apparated to the annual Ministry Halloween Gala.
As soon as they entered the crush of the crowd Harry's face immediately changed, his lips downturned.
"Stop making that pouty face, I know you can nail a fake smile."
Harry looked at Hermione and his lips twitched. "If I smile they will feel more comfortable coming to talk to me. This way I look like I'm an inch away from doing an unforgivable."
"See now instead of making mad faces at the telly when we watch Firefly you can make them here at much more deserving people." She teased.
"Hmph." He wrapped his arm possessively around Hermione, his hand on the curve of her ass. She looked so hot in her thin, strapped short black dress and thigh wand holster.
Hermione shot him a smile and wink.
Minister Shacklebolt approached them with a big smile. "My two favorite heroes'! I'm glad you two could make it."
"How could we miss this?" Harry asked neutrally, and Hermione gave him a hard poke in the side.
Shacklebolt nodded in agreement, missing or ignoring Harry's tone. "So, Miss Granger have you considered coming back to the Ministry? You know we would welcome you back with open arms. There are also positions in different departments if the administration wasn't to your liking."
"No thank you, I do appreciate the offer though. I've got some personal projects I'm working on."
"Well, the offer is open, just owl my office when you're ready," Shacklebolt said firmly. "Having you three as part of the government inspires confidence in magical Britain."
Hermione shot Harry an amused glance. "I'm sure Harry's got it covered."
"From what I've heard from Robards I absolutely agree, but still it would be nice to have you all back. He's told me that he's already looking at you Harry for the deputy auror position."
"Just doing my job," Harry responded looking vaguely uncomfortable with the praise.
Shacklebolt shook Harry's hand in thanks before saying his goodbyes to them to go mingle further.
"Personal Projects?" Harry asked after a moment.
"Yeah, I'm still training you the way I want you." She teased giving him a flirty smile and his hand tightened briefly on her ass.
"No training necessary, just tell me and you got it." Their eyes met and they smiled. Hermione saw the couples dancing, and she tugged Harry towards the floor just as a new song started.
"You remember how to do this right?" Hermione asked him as they moved toward the other dancing couples.
"I've actually gotten better."
"Show me then." Hermione stepped into his arms, raising her hands to rest them against his broad shoulders. Harry pulled her close and the rest of the crowd seemed to disappear.
Harry spun her smoothly around the dance floor. Her body was relaxed against him, letting him lead without fighting to change direction. Her eyes didn't waver from his, he could feel the intensity of her focus on him. It made his heart speed up, the intensity of attention almost like a physical caress. Hermione looked as if nothing else existed for her but this moment, being in his arms.
She was pressed so tightly against him that he could feel the press of her breasts against his chest. This might be the first time he'd actually enjoyed a Halloween night. They usually passed either horrifically or with him trying to forget what day it happened to be.
Tonight however was like a dream, dancing on the clouds with the woman of his dreams. The music was low, the pulsing beat blending with their own breathing and heartbeats. The silky material of her dress brushed against his suit, the softest of sounds, and each time sent frissons along his nerve endings.
As much as he couldn't wait to get that dress of her tonight at the same time Harry found he didn't want the dance to end. It felt so right. The way things were supposed to be for them. Finally, after so many years, they were going to get it right. Hermione looked up to him giving him a slow smile, he wanted to pick her up and apparate them straight into bed. Instead, he smiled back at her, trying without words to tell her how he felt. He leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
"Are you happy, Hermione?"
"You make me happy."
Harry promised himself he always would.