Chapter 25

Harry watched as the lights turned off on the pharmacy. A few seconds later Priya and Shoka emerged. Shoka waited as Priya locked the door. The two chatted for a bit as they walked down the street out of town. Shoka, he knew, shared a house with two budding fashionistas. They knew she shared those interests to a degree but he'd never bothered learning the names of her roommates.

He wondered if he should have. Priya probably did. But then again, they worked for her. And not for him. And she spent far more time with them. She was chatty and personable when she wasn't seeing patients. He was quiet and didn't spend entire days at the clinic. Hhe was the random dude who showed up when she forgot her lunch or when there were too many berries in the greenhouse.

He followed a few hundred meters behind the two girls. If they noticed his presence neither of them said anything, or gave indication that they did. They stopped outside of Shoka's house. The girl hesitated for a moment, frowning at the flashing lights in the window. Even from down the block Harry could hear the music playing. It wouldn't be long before some of the local authorities came to investigate, he thought.

Priya looked at the clerk for a second before turning her gaze to the house. She sighed and asked if she wanted to get a late dinner, she'd buy. Shoka hesitated, and it took some prying but eventually she agreed.

Harry frowned to himself. Not because he had any issue with his wife taking her employee out for dinner. Hell, given her track record with dating women, it almost certainly would have wound up in an interesting night for Harry in a month or two. Although he knew Shoka was too young for both of them.

No, at this moment, he frowned because he would have preferred her to go straight home. But that was his own damn fault. He hadn't bothered telling her who he'd seen in town. He'd chosen to use his wife as bait, to see if their spells were as efficient as both he and Emily had assumed. And he'd figured the best way to accomplish that was to observe until she returned home.

He knew that the less she knew, the more casual she would appear. The more normal the routine would be. And the higher chance there was she was actually in danger. Not that he'd let her be in danger. He'd stop anything that remotely looked like a threat. And really, going to dinner served his purpose as it was something completely normal. And nothing that should cause any concern or interest. It was, he thought, the type of thing he'd have told her to do if they were trying to lay a trap anyway.

Still, it rubbed him the wrong way that he hadn't bothered to tell her about it. And he knew she'd have words with him about it later. And that he'd feel very small during that conversation because he knew she'd be right.

Part of him wondered if he should have popped home and scribbled a note to Emily in their little diaries. But those felt oddly personal for the two women. Although he doubted Priya would care if he read her words, it seemed like something he should keep out of. Even if Priya shared what felt like every word Emily must have written in them to him. That was her prerogative to do so, and not something he should assume.

He followed them as they ducked into a small restaurant. Harry waited outside, down the block, and watched the entrance of the building. He wished he'd brought something from the greenhouse to munch on. Instead he cast a disillusionment charm on himself and waited.

Dinner took about an hour. Harry watched, keeping his focus without much of an issue as he continually scanned the area around the restaurant. There was no sign of any other Englishmen as he did so.

They emerged looking flushed and happy. They were giggling about something. Priya undoubtedly said something clever that embarrassed and amused the younger girl. He assumed they were talking about boys.

It was unfair, he knew. They could have been talking about anything, from annoying patients or customers, to a funny show, to something amusing that happened at the restaurant. But he'd reduced it purely to boys.

Which, in fairness, the inverse was almost always what he talked about on the evenings out with his new friends. Being the only married member of the group he tended to find himself less objective than the others.

It was to be expected, he thought. As they were going home to their hands while he was going to a beautiful Indian healer who was still doing everything in her power to conceive a child. Although he didn't voice that specific detail to any of his friends. Or comment on it to anyone.

He didn't even talk about it with Priya. Although he had heard her and Emily discussing it one late evening when they thought he was asleep. Emily had an idea, she'd said. But it needed some more thought before it came to anything remotely close to fruition. Priya sounded skeptical and Harry had fallen back asleep before they'd gone into the details. And he hadn't worked up the courage to ask about it come morning.

He wished he had. While he found himself half frightened at whatever Emily would consider to be a viable solution. He'd started to look into alternatives himself. But nothing seemed to have much of an effect. Although it was a bit early, he thought. And some of the more radical ones came with possible consequences he wasn't willing to explore as of yet.

He'd debated seeing a Muggle doctor. But he didn't really want to know what they would say. And he figured there could be issues if he just randomly obliviated Muggle medical professionals. Not that anyone needed to know but there was always the chance he screwed up and that didn't feel fair to the Muggle.

Shoka led the way back to her house. The party had ended in the hour they'd had dinner, although Harry couldn't tell if it was willingly or not. Shoka and Priya chatted for a few moments outside of the house before Shoka ducked in. Priya waited until she was inside to turn and start the walk down the path toward their home.

He cursed under his breath, frowning at her decision to walk home. Didn't she understand the risks she was taking? Didn't she have a clue of the danger she could be in? She had to know that she could be ambushed at any moment!

Except, he frowned, she didn't. He cursed himself this time. He should have known he'd have immediately assumed the absolute worst possible situation. One he should have been smart enough to avoid.

He willed her to decide to apprate as he followed her through the dark forest path. Priya ignored his wishes and continued to saunter, showing no real interest in making it back to their house.

It was, he thought to himself, why they'd decided she should be in charge. She would have weighed the decisions differently. She would have told him what was going on and come up with a better plan than 'stalk through the forest.' But instead he'd made an executive decision that he was now regretting.

He debated ending his experiment now. It might surprise her, but she wouldn't be annoyed to see him pop out of the forest and walk home with her. And then she'd be safe and he wouldn't have to worry about anything.

He had to remind himself that she was safe. He wasn't very far away from her. And he could respond very quickly to any possible threat. And he could sense magic coming from further away than almost anyone else on the planet. There was no way Fudge and his Aurors would be able to surprise him. And at that moment, the only magic he sensed was coming from his beautiful, smiling wife.

Except he knew he shouldn't believe everything he thought. That was a recipe for disaster. He'd mentioned, in passing, that he didn't think anyone could sneak up on him magically. And less than a day later, Emily had managed just that.

She hadn't bothered to explain to him how she'd done it, either. Which was beyond frustrating. Perhaps even more so than the fact that she'd managed to sneak up on him as he walked toward the greenhouse, boop him on the nose as she skipped across the path, and then disappear into the woods. He'd made to chase after her only to realize he couldn't sense a damn thing.

The girls had been rather smug and rather giggly about it when he'd returned from the greenhouse. They'd refused to tell him what Emily had done. Judging from their responses he doubted that Priya even knew. But was enjoying the teasing enough to play along and act all haughty and superior about it for the rest of the night.

He should have been cross about it. He should have insisted on learning whatever she could have possibly done to make herself so invisible to him. And how she'd managed to do it in almost no time. She shouldn't have had that power.

Of course she was Lord Voldemort, and he should have known better. And he should have expected her to take such boasts as a challenge and, well, rise to meet them. It was what she did. She liked challenges. Both magical, and as they were learning with her new hobby, physical. So he should have known better than to assume he was infallible.

Part of him wished he'd have been more insistent. They had argued a bit about it, but Emily hadn't caved in the least. She hadn't even bothered to try to give a clue or two. Instead she'd just refused and told him to figure it out, he was smart and had time. So he kept pestering her. Until they were snipping back and forth at each other on the couch rather than reading and enjoying the fire.

It grew rather heated. They didn't quite resort to personal insults but their words were more barbed than necessary. It devolved, perhaps too quickly, into a competition to one-up each other. Looking back, he didn't think either of them really had any sort of upper hand.

Their argument annoyed Priya. So she fixed it in the easiest way she could think of. She'd slipped her wand into her hand and flicked it at Emily. She'd flown up from the couch and landed right in his lap. He grabbed her on instinct, earning himself a glare. But before she could get away from him Priya put her hand onto Emily's shoulder and held her there. It earned him the same glare Emily normally reserved for Harry.

Stop arguing, Priya had ordered them. They answered by arguing. It was Emily's fault, obviously. If she'd just tell him what she'd done so he could figure out how to counter it. Oh screw you, figure it out on your own you pillock. It lasted another two or three minutes before Priya had enough.

Stop. Arguing. She'd ordered again, far more anger rising into her voice. They both cowered away from her. Harry felt a momentary pang of disappointing his wife. Priya turned their glares back at them and they had no real choice but to cave. They'd agreed they would stop arguing.

Good. Priya said. Now kiss and make up. That led to, naturally, more arguing. And much like the previous argument it only ended when Priya had her way. After that, well, they all found the night more enjoyable.

Still, Harry thought, as he watched his wife walk up the path toward their house, he should have pressed the argument more in the morning. He should have approached it differently. Complimented her on her ingenuity and asked for her help. It wasn't a slight on him. It should have been a learning experience, but he'd let his ego get in the way.

Priya took out her wand and Harry's breath hitched. Had she seen something he'd missed? Had she sensed a danger he hadn't felt?

But instead she waved it ahead of her and he saw the lights of their house flash on. She walked up to the front door but didn't enter. Instead she walked around back and peered toward the greenhouse. She must have thought he was still in it, he'd mentioned working on some more of the plants. She paused for another moment before turning and walking inside.

He waited outside. It was the last part of his plan. If they were going to do anything, if they'd followed him unnoticed, then it would be around now that they acted. She'd have her guard down, she'd be alone in the house, it would be the perfect time for some type of ambush.

So Harry ducked into the woods and waited to see if anyone appeared. He focused on ambient magic in the area, he looked around for anything. Part of him wondered if the more intelligent thing would have been to follow Fudge and his Aurors rather than let them wander away. But he knew he cared far more about being near Priya than he did Fudge and that doing anything else hadn't ever been a realistic option.

He focused on her in the house. In his mind he saw her duck toward the refrigerator. He felt her take out the half-empty bottle of New Zealand Chardonnay. She poured herself a glass of it, took a healthy sip and refilled it. She put the bottle away and took the glass back to the back patio.

She stared out at the darkness for a few minutes, sipping the wine every few moments as she did so. At least until she grew bored of staring. She ducked back into the house and trudged upstairs. Harry shifted around to the front and saw the lights in their bedroom pop on.

Once again he focused on her magic. He felt her enter the bathroom. He sensed as she put the wine on the counter and opened the cabinet that housed her bubble baths and bath bombs. He could smell the scents of the bath bombs she sampled before settling on a cinnamon tinged one. He could feel the scent of it, mixed with his memories of her. He enjoyed it for a moment as he felt her turn the tab to start the water.

A flick of her wand set the temperature and plugged the tub. She grabbed her silken bathrobe and ducked back into the bedroom. Harry let his senses fade as she started to change.

Instead he turned his attention to the area around him. He focused on anything that felt out of place. Nothing stood out. But he knew better than to assume his first glance was the correct assumption. That was a rookie mistake. So he took a deep breath and took his time.

He'd done it before. Hell, the first time he'd done it had been in Milwaukee with Avery. They'd known someone was hiding in that orphanage. Someone that had been abusing the children with power it didn't fully understand.

Harry had focused himself, let the power flow from him, let it search through every inch of the building. He'd found the old hidden bomb shelter, the tunnel to it, and the hiding spot of that vile man. It hadn't taken long.

He'd tried it again in Canada while ghost hunting with Avery. It had ended far more poorly there. Well, that wasn't fair, he thought. It had worked. The fact that it also infuriated the ghosts and brought them down on him with an anger he'd never experienced before was little more than a slightly unexpected setback.

And sure, he'd had nightmares of being devoured by ghosts for months. But he was pretty sure that for some screwed up reason, Sophie Sinclair found that appealing as they shacked up in Vancouver.

Either way, he wasn't going to question it.

He'd lost this specific ability once he'd pulled his stunt here in Japan. But that wasn't overly uncommon. He'd lost almost all of his abilities. It had taken far longer to get them back than he'd have liked.

If he was honest, he wasn't sure he was even fully back to himself yet. Most times he felt like he could do anything he'd been capable of. But there were times where there was almost a block. Like something in him was preventing his magic from being truly grand. He'd thought about asking Emily about it.

In fact, he still meant to. He figured it would be a good project for next winter, once they'd had the entire house set up how they liked and had settled more or less into their lives. If anyone would be able to help him pinpoint more of exactly what he'd done and how to best combat it it would be Emily Price.

He and Priya had done far less research into it than they probably should have. They'd only really started to question it when the topic of his infertility came up. But he'd fled before there could be too much work done in that regard.

But now he had two brilliant magical minds, two of the brightest witches of their eras, and, well, him. So it seemed they could approach the situation from a variety of different directions and see if they could come up with a solution.

Part of him wondered why he hadn't started sooner. Was he just being a coward? Wondering if it was a problem he couldn't fix and how that would affect the rest of his life? It was possible, he thought. But it rang false in his head.

Yes. He was afraid. He could admit that easily. He was afraid he'd never be able to come up with a solution. That he'd never be able to give Priya Potter what she wanted. That he'd never be able to hold his own scion in his hands. That the Potter line would die with him.

He could accept that, if he had to. But what he couldn't do was accept that without trying everything in his power to prevent it. It was stupid, he thought, but the older he got the more it appealed to him. The more he longed for spending his days with Priya and their children. The more he wished he could make it an absolute reality.

Of course, he had to admit, months ago the thought of discussing his sex life with Lord Voldemort seemed like an unnecessary and taboo subject. But, well, since then he'd had sex with Lord Voldemort. Which, well, was an odd thought even in the best of times.

Sure, he'd wanted to do it at school, when she was the cool older sister that seemed to have his best interests in mind. He tried not to think too hard about the implication there. Before she'd made him kill her. Before he'd realized just how manipulative she was. Before he'd met the love of his life.

After Priya he knew there wouldn't be anyone else. Sure, he'd admit freely, he cared for Emily. But she wasn't Priya. And she would never be Priya. He'd resigned himself to a fate far worse than death when he'd left her.

He knew he wouldn't find another like her, no matter how long he lived. But he also knew she wouldn't be able to get what she'd like with him. But she'd get over him. She was stronger than he was. And she'd find someone who could give her what she wanted. His last act would be easy, give her the freedom she so deserved.

And then she'd shown up at his school and told him how stupid he was. He may have been able to leave Priya once. But he hadn't been nearly strong enough to do it twice.

He hadn't been sure why Emily stayed with them. Part of him wondered what others saw when they saw her. He supposed she could have passed for his younger sister, if she had to. They didn't look that much alike in the grand scheme of things, but had someone questioned it they could have gotten away with that. No one, though, had questioned it. At least not to their faces.

But regardless, Emily had stayed with them. Largely because, he thought, somewhere along the line she somehow managed to become besties with Priya. By all accounts it made no sense. And Harry wasn't sure who was more confused about the newfound friendship. Him, or Emily.

Either way, it had happened. And it had been, he thought, a good thing. Still, he'd been monumentally surprised when Priya told him he needed to sleep with her.

Harry had assumed she'd been joking. Priya shrugged her shoulders and said as casually as possible that it was true. Emily hated herself. She felt like she needed to be punished. She needed to be reminded that she was actually human and deserved to be alive.

Did she?

Oh don't give me that bullshit. You're the one that brought her back.

Fine.

Anyway, she hates herself. I mean that much was obvious when I found her cutting herself in the bathroom.

Wait, what?

It isn't important.

How is that not important?

It just isn't. She needs to remember life. She needs to actually want something. To love something. To remember what it was like to actually be desired and important and everything of that nature.

Harry had only stared at his wife. Finding himself astonished by the conversation. It had continued, into hypotheticals he hadn't even really imagined. He told her she'd never go for it. If she wanted to suffer, she'd suffer, she was too stubborn to do anything else.

He remembered Priya's raised brows and her knowing smirk as she'd asked him two simple words.

Wanna bet?

He'd lost.

He laughed at the memory. He still had no real idea what they were. In the grand scheme of things he wasn't sure it mattered. The three of them were happy. And Emily had changed in that time. She hummed when she worked. She smiled more. She wore brighter clothing. She joked.

In short she felt far more like a person than he was accustomed to dealing with. And he liked that version of her. As did Priya. He'd have been content with it staying that way. They'd both assumed it would for a while at least. And that eventually, she'd find someone or something else, and move on.

Priya thought alpinism was a bit of a fad, something to distract herself. Harry wasn't sure. She'd started hiking more and more through the woods around their home. Every day it seemed she was more engaged with it. He thought she truly enjoyed it.

Outside of cheating their way up Fuji, Harry had no real interest in doing anything else related to mountains. He hadn't bothered to tell her he'd apparated to the top of Everest on a dare with Avery years before. It didn't seem important. And he was sure that she was far more interested in the journey than the destination. Largely because if he could apparate there, she could too.

But Priya thought she'd stay. She'd teased Harry about it. How lucky he was that his wife didn't mind. He'd rolled his eyes at her. It had been her damn idea! And she'd instigated every time they'd done anything!

That was enough reflecting, he thought. He'd only been paying the bare minimum of attention to his spell as he'd reflected. He could feel his magic spreading out around his home. Almost to the town on one end and well into the mountains on the other. He focused on it now, again looking for any sort of disturbance, any sort of irregularity.

He found none.

It was pointless, he knew, to stand out in the woods all night. They'd had plenty of time. If they were going to follow and ambush Priya or him they'd have done so already. He stepped from the trees and walked into his house.

He let his magic fade away from the woods as his hand traced around the trim of the door. His and Emily's defensive charms were clearly noticeable. None of them, as far as he could tell, had been altered in any way. He spent a moment focusing on them, determining one from the other as he inspected his own home.

Nothing was amiss. It would be almost impossible for any magical person or creature to stumble upon their home. Or even the path leading to it. They'd been meticulous with the charms. And he only said almost impossible because if he or Emily had to do so blind, he figured they'd be able to. Outside of that, no chance.

He walked to the floo in the foyer. They almost never used it. But had set up a delivery only system with the Japanese government. It had taken a month or two of negotiating and Harry had no real interest in staying in any form of contact with them.

In the end they'd agreed to leave him alone as long as he agreed to keep a low profile. It was easy enough, he said. Priya told them of her plans and they saw no real problem with it. They'd inspected her pharmacy once, but aside from that, as long as Harry stayed out of the way, there seemed to be little reason to refuse a trained doctor in a small backwater town.

They hadn't mentioned Emily. But the Japanese hadn't asked. In the end, only, he thought, four Japanese officials even knew he was in the country. They'd promised to plead ignorance to his presence if ever questioned. It was, the Japanese Minister told him, the least they could do for the gift Harry Potter gave them.

He liked the man. He wondered if he should. He was mid forties, short and thin with jet black hair. But he seemed honest, and straight forward. More so than many of his countrymen or fellow politicians. He'd asked Harry, in private, if they could rely on him in the event of an emergency. Harry had agreed.

It was a small coup of sorts, he thought. The man, if need be, could call on Harry Potter. He expected he'd be asked to stop a massive typhoon or something at some point in the future. But he figured, what the hell, why not?

Adding in Avery and Fumiko and it meant that only perhaps, seven or so people knew where they were. But somehow, Fudge and his Aurors had wandered into his sleepy little town. It didn't sit well with him. The easiest answer was that someone spilled.

Did it though? He had to ask himself that. Where would he go if he had to look for him? Both he and Priya were famous for their work in Japan. The first place he'd have looked was Japan.

But they were far from their usual haunts. They'd assumed most people would give up. There was the possibility, he supposed, that Fudge was just far more thorough than he would have expected and spent time surveying every little village. Fudge had looked exhausted. The Aurors had only looked bored.

Of course, had they decided to survey most of Japan, it would have taken time. And why would the Minister of Magic of Britain be spending that much time combing through a foreign country.

He knew he wouldn't come up with anything by standing in his foyer. He did one final check on his charms. They were all operating as perfectly as they should have been. Still, he added one basic intruder alarm around the doors and windows before making his way upstairs.

"You in there, babe?" he asked as he entered the room, knowing full well his wife was in the bathroom.

"Just soaking," she responded.

"Want me to throw something together for dinner?" he asked. It was a stupid question, he thought as he'd already known how she'd spent her evening.

"Oh no. Shoka and I stopped for a bite after we closed the pharmacy. Thank you though," she answered.

"I'm not really hungry anyway," Harry said, absently peering around the bedroom for no real reason than to give his mind something to think about.

"Filled up on berries in the greenhouse?" Priya teased.

"No actually," he answered, opening the door to the bathroom and peering in. Priya had her hair up and was resting back in the tub. It was nearly overflowing with cinnamon scented bubbles and her eyes were closed. She didn't bother to open them.

"Really? I assumed you got distracted when you didn't come back to the pharmacy," she started. She let her voice trail off. Harry pressed his lips together and weighed his reply.

"We need to talk," he said. He almost cursed himself as soon as he said it. Was there a single worse quartet of words in the English language? He couldn't think of one. Priya raised her brows and slowly turned her head to face him. She tilted it to the side and stared. She studied him for a moment before speaking.

"How serious?" she asked.

"I'm honestly not sure. It could be very serious," Harry answered.

"Did Emily die in an avalanche? I haven't checked the journal yet."

"No," Harry laughed.

"You think that's funny?" Priya shot back.

"A bit," Harry admitted. But he held his hands up defensively as an amusing thought flashed to the front of his mind. "But mostly because I was thinking of what she'd do if the mountain tried it."

"She would take it personally," Priya chuckled, her own lips curling into a small smile.

"I suspect there would only be thirteen eight thousanders remaining," Harry said. Priya nodded her agreement.

"Okay but are we talking serious like I need to get out of the tub, or serious like you need to get into the tub?" Priya asked. She sat up, making room behind her in their large marble bath. Harry pondered it, wondering what the correct solution was here. It was probably serious enough that they should talk about it immediately.

On the opposite side, though, it wasn't like they were in any imminent danger. And he would know if that changed the moment that changed. And honestly, he was already taking his shirt off before he made the decision. Which, he supposed, meant he already made the decision before he bothered to think about it.

He settled into the tub behind her and let his body relax into the steaming water. He closed his eyes and let his arms wrap around her waist as she leaned back against him in the warm water.

They were supposed to talk. He remembered that as the warmth soothed him. He hadn't realized just how tense he'd been as he stood outside and the water felt wonderful on his muscles. So wonderful he wondered why he preferred showers over baths.

He must have dozed, although he couldn't be positive. A while later, though, Priya decided she'd had enough. She lifted herself from the tub and grabbed a towel. He watched her dry off and don her robe before he bothered lifting himself out of the tub. He flicked his wrist to open the drain and dried himself with magic before grabbing another robe for himself.

"So what's up?" she asked as she walked back into the bedroom. She peered at the journal on her bedside table. It wasn't glowing so there wasn't anything new from the Himalayas.

"Something rather unusual happened today when I came back into town," Harry said. He ran his hand through his hair and wondered how dumb he could possibly be. He'd always known he'd tell her almost as soon as he saw her. So why then was he struggling to find the words?

"A funny thing happened on the way to the forum?" she teased.

"I saw Fudge talking to Suzu," he said. Priya blinked as she stared at him. Then she did nothing. For what must have been a full minute. Before she blinked once more.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Fudge and a couple of Aurors walked up to Suzu after she left work and started asking her questions," Harry explained.

"What did she do?" Priya asked.

"Faked that she didn't speak English, gestured vaguely toward Seiyo and walked away. She rather expertly showed them how interested she was in talking to a trio of gaijin," Harry said. "They didn't follow her. I doubt she was the first person they approached."

"Mmm," Priya agreed. "Probably not. Other locals may have pointed them in the general direction of the clinic had they mentioned either of our names. Not that they could find it. Unless you think they did?"

"No. I don't think they did. They looked very lost and very confused," Harry said. He paused and pressed his lips together and Priya sat down on the end of their bed and watched him.

"What?" she asked as he offered no further information. He pressed his lips together and let his mind form the words before he said them aloud.

"I'm trying to think of any detail I might have missed. I didn't watch them very long," Harry admitted.

"Did you recognize them?"

"Well Fudge yes. But the Aurors with him? No. Well, I mean yes, but no."

"Helpful," Priya rolled her eyes. But she was smiling so Harry continued.

"I mean I recognized the faces but I don't know their names. I'd seen them around Fudge as functions before but it never felt important to learn who they were. They may as well have been furniture," Harry said.

"I know the type," Priya admitted.

"They looked bored," Harry said. "Fudge seemed excited. But the Aurors looked like they were thinking more about dinner than anything else."

Priya merely 'hmm'd her response before her own lips pressed together and then to the side in a way Harry found obnoxiously cute for no real reason. He watched her in silence. He could almost see the wheels spinning in her head and felt no pressing need to interrupt.

"And they spoke to Suzu in English?" she asked after a few moments.

"Yes," Harry answered.

"No attempt at Japanese?"

"Not that I heard."

"Interesting."

"Well, I mean, it's Fudge," Harry said.

"He's the highest ranking British politician and has been for two decades," Priya responded. "I know you don't think highly of him but he's not an idiot. And he would understand that not everyone speaks English."

"So you don't think it was him?" Harry asked.

"I'm not sure," Priya said. "It just seems odd that he'd come to Japan himself. Search for you himself. And not bring any sort of translator? Or prepare a spell? Have no way to speak the language? It seems unusual."

"Or desperate," Harry said.

"That too," Priya agreed. "But we've heard nothing from Britain to suggest that would be the case."

"We've also heard nothing from Britain," Harry countered.

"True. We should try to get a message to Avery. But I'm sure he would have updated us if there was anything worth updating," Priya frowned.

"They're still in New York, right?"

"Paris," Priya corrected. "Have been since Christmas. Avery dislikes the colonials."

"And the French are better?"

"Apparently," Priya shrugged her shoulders. "I would suspect that it was Fumiko's decision."

"Fair enough," Harry said. "But it doesn't help us much right now."

"I'll send a message in the morning," Priya said. "Did you follow them?"

"Only briefly," Harry said. "I came back to the pharmacy and observed instead."

"Fair," Priya frowned, although Harry could sense she thought he made the wrong decision.

"They were heading toward Seiyo. After that I wanted to make sure you were safe and that they hadn't done something remarkably stupid," Harry said.

"I appreciate that," Priya said. "But you do realize I am a big girl, right?"

"Of course," he responded with a frown. "Would you rather I followed them?"

"I don't know," Priya admitted. It was a complicated question for her. Harry had abandoned her without notice once already. It was a rather vile feeling. And had he followed them he would have had to do so again. Even if it was temporary it would have weighed heavily on her. And she wasn't sure how she would have coped with that.

"I didn't want to do anything too hasty," Harry admitted.

"And you're worried Fudge is the imposter?" Priya laughed.

"Well, you know," Harry smiled at her with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"I actually appreciate that you thought of me rather than rushing off to be Harry Potter but I sort of wish you'd tracked them," Priya admitted. Harry nodded and she continued. "But I think I'd have been mad at you either way."

"I know that feeling," he said.

"You didn't get any type of tracking spell on them or anything?" Priya asked.

"No. I didn't get very close and didn't want to give them any real reason to stick around," Harry said.

"Because you think they'd have noticed you?" Priya teased. It wasn't common that Harry doubted his abilities. The patient smile he gave her still managed to do things to her that, well, she rather liked talking about in the right company.

"Even I make mistakes," he said.

"And you figured if they hadn't found anything, finding magic on them later would be worse," Priya added.

"If they're on their way out I see no real reason to keep them in town," Harry admitted.

"But were they on their way out?" Priya asked.

"The million galleon question," Harry nodded. He walked over to his side of the bed and tossed himself onto it. She spun around and peered at him.

"Well, what do you think?" she asked.

"How many patients do you have tomorrow?" he asked. He waved his hand toward the ceiling fan and it clicked onto the lowest setting, a gentle breeze wafting around them.

"Only two on the books, both in the morning. But you know that with Emily gone I like to hang around in the event that someone shows up," Priya said. Harry nodded.

"I know. But Suzu and Shoka both know how to contact you in case of an emergency. I think we should have lunch in Seiyo," Harry said.

"That cafe we like just off the town center has fantastic outdoor seating," Priya suggested, picking up on the dual meaning of his suggestion.

"With great views in every direction," Harry agreed.

"You think that's wise?" she asked.

"I think we need to be proactive rather than reactive," Harry said.

"The opposite of what you did today," Priya countered.

"I needed to make sure my family was okay," Harry said. Priya smiled at him, biting her bottom lip ever so slightly as she did.

"God I love you," she said.

"Love you too," he laughed. "But well, the way I see it, if we sense any magic we'll have a fairly good idea who it is. We can disguise ourselves readily enough. If we find them we can see what they're doing. Best case they leave."

"Worst case?" she asked.

"They don't," he answered.

"I don't think it's a brilliant plan," Priya said. "But I'm not sure we have a better one at the moment. If they did find our clinic, though, I would hate for anything to happen to our girls," Priya said.

"Me too. But had they had any clue I think they would have done more with Suzu. I think they're floundering."

"Which begs the question of what they need and why," Priya said.

"One of us," Harry answered.

"You," Priya countered.

"Or you," Harry said.

"Me?"

"Yes."

"As what, a hostage?" she asked. She moved so she was laying on her side next to him, propped up on her elbow.

"Maybe. But it's not like you're not a brilliant healer with a great deal of magical research and theory behind your name. Maybe Neville blabbed. Maybe they know we had something to do with Grindelwald in Iran," Harry listed the options.

"Well, did they ask about you or me?" she asked.

"I only heard Potter," Harry admitted. "So I'm not sure."

"You, you dolt," Priya laughed. "They won't know we're married."

"Right," Harry chuckled, surprised at how quickly that had slipped his mind.

"Are you worried they might come here?" she asked.

"I'd thought about it. All our defenses are running as normal though. And I added an intruder alarm around the house before I came up here. We'll know if they do. And if they accidentally trip some of Emily's more potent ones, well, problem solved," Harry said.

"Speaking of the devil…"

"Should we contact her?"

"I don't think so," Priya said. "We don't know what they want. She can't really be anything more than another pair of eyes right now. We may as well let her enjoy her vacation."

"And it's almost summit day," Harry added.

"I can't wait to tease her about how adorable she sounds in her journal," Priya laughed. She spared one more glance to her bedside table where the journal sat, still not glowing. Priya giggled once more than quoted. "There's something almost magical in the air here. It's invigorating and warm, despite the chill. Part of me wants to just roll around in the snow and stay forever."

"She would kill you if she heard you teasing her like that," Harry teased.

"I'm tempted to get it published," Priya smirked.

"They would never find your body."

"Probably not," Priya said. She pulled back the covers on her side of the bed and slid under them. Harry did the same on his. He wondered if he'd actually be able to sleep that night. Logically he knew his house was perfectly safe. But logic and his brain didn't always agree. Still, Priya yawned and looked like she'd have no issue falling asleep as she threw an arm around his chest.

"So Seiyo tomorrow," she said.

"Unless you come up with a better idea in your sleep," Harry responded. Priya didn't respond past curling herself up against him. She wiggled around until she was comfortable. He let his magic slip from him to douse the lights in the room as he relaxed against the pillow. He enjoyed her warmth against him for a few minutes before he let the pesky thoughts filter into his head.

Tomorrow they would search for an answer as to why Cornelius Fudge wound up in Japan. He knew he wouldn't like it. Which meant he knew he would find it. But perhaps they'd be lucky.

Perhaps they'd find nothing. Maybe Fudge had already continued on his way. Perhaps the English Aurors were already surveying some other random town, looking for Harry Potter and Priya Patel for reasons that he'd rather never know. Maybe it would be nothing more than an odd blip on his life. Something they'd forget about in the years to come as they settled into happiness.

Maybe he'd get that lucky.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I do appreciate all of the feedback and support I receive. If you'd wish to support me further I am available on PAT RE ON at TE7writes. There are five additional chapters of this story available there as well as the first 9 of my next fanfic.

Thanks for reading!