Author's note: Here comes chapter 3. I am slowly building the withdrawal and distancing phase of Harry of which being an Auror plays a major role. Feel free to leave reviews!
Harry woke up from his dreamless sleep at 5 PM. He was sleeping in Sirius' room which was the master bedroom at Grimmauld Place. He slept so peacefully for the first time since Horcrux hunt started. Now that he was well rested, it was time for getting ready and having some food, as he didn't have any food in almost 24 hours.
"Kreacher" called Harry. The elf apparated right infront of him and gave him a long bow so that his nose was touching the floor.
"Master Harry! It is good to see you back here. What can Kreacher do for you?" beamed the elf.
"I have a meeting scheduled with the minister at 6PM. I have to leave at 5:50 from here. But before that I need to get ready and eat something, so could you prepare something light, say like sandwiches in 20 minutes? I will get ready till then and then we will have an important little chat while eating".
Though Kreacher could tell that something is wrong with his master, he nonetheless excused himself to the kitchen. Meanwhile Harry went to the washroom to get freshened up and have a quick hot water bath to relax his body. He put over a pair of blue jeans and white T-shirt, and reached the kitchen in exactly 20 mins. Already becoming punctual, good going Potter... Harry thought to himself. Kreacher quickly served him four sandwiches.
Harry put two sandwiches in a separate plate and asked Kreacher to sit on opposite side of the table and eat with him. Kreacher became emotional on being treated as an equal by a wizard and happily obliged Harry's request.
"Kreacher, from today I would be staying in this house permanently. So please clean and make this place liveable as soon as possible".
The elf was on cloud nine on hearing this as he could now serve his master happily in his favourite house. But there was hint of a small disappointment in his expression, which he tried to quickly hide but Harry saw it anyway.
"Don't worry. I know you enjoy working at Hogwarts as you must have made friends with other elves there. I have it all planned. I will be writing to professor McGonagall soon so that you can go and work in Hogwarts in your spare time at convenience. Anyways I will stay here very rarely and would be out for work most of the time" said Harry while munching on his sandwiches.
"Thank you so much master" said the happy elf.
"Which brings us to the next point to discuss. You will find many people (both familiar and unfamiliar) enquiring about me at Hogwarts and outside Hogwarts as well. You must not tell anyone about my daily activities and life (that is not in public domain ofcourse). I mean don't tell them that I forbid you, just don't reveal any information. Now how to do so is for you to figure out".
Kreacher found this order very odd. As far as he knew his master, he shared everything with his best friends. "Master, do you mean Kreacher cannot say anything about you to anyone, including Mistress Hermione and Mr Ron?" asked Kreacher.
Harry blushed profusely when Kreacher addressed Hermione as mistress. It is the title used by elves for partner of their master. However he instantly switched back to his stoic expression on finding the elf's big eyes on him "Yes Kreacher, they are no exceptions to this rule. By the way you should call her Ms Hermione as we are not married".
"You both are not married master, but I can see that happening in the future. I can clearly see love for Mistress Hermione in your eyes. And no girl in this world can refuse to be with my great master, vanquisher of the Dark Lord" said a determined Kreacher while nibbling on his sandwich.
Poor elf thinks that I still have a chance with 'Mione. Who will explain to him that getting loved back by your love is far difficult than finishing Voldemort. Is my mind so weak that even a house elf is able to do legilimency one me and find out that I love Hermione? I need to learn occlumency as soon as possible, thought Harry.
"Ok ok, just don't say that infront of her. It would be rude if she is not comfortable being addressed as mistress" said Harry, not interested in arguing with the determined elf as he had to quickly finish this discussion before going to the ministry.
"Now the next point is that you can allow familiar people into this house anytime. Don't stop them from entering or staying, as it will raise suspicion. But if they ask about my whereabouts, don't tell them even if I am at the house at that time. If I am at the house, inform me about the guests and I will do whatever is necessary at that moment", said Harry while eating the second sandwich.
Kreacher was now really worried for his master. It was as if he is seeing a new Harry. Nonetheless he didn't dare argue back when he saw the determined man infront of him who happens to be his master.
Harry looked at his watch and it was already 5:48. He quickly stuffed rest of the sandwich and got up to leave. "I will be back in roughly a couple of hours. Please prepare dinner by that time". With that he disapparated, which Kreacher noticed was not accompanied with the usual pop sound. It is a remarkable feat as only a handful of wizards are able to apparate silently and now Harry was one of them.
Harry apparated at a quiet street near the ministry. On ensuring that no muggle has seen him, he took a stroll to the telephone booth through which he entered the ministry.
As he was walking along the main corridor, he saw many wizards apparating in and out of the fireplaces on either side. People were silently peeking looks at the boy who lived and whispering among themselves as Harry started walking quickly to avoid the gossip and questions.
When he reached the fountain with statues, he saw that some people (who he assumed to be ministry spokespersons) were briefing many enthusiastic reporters who were standing behind a railing. The reporters and spokespersons both turned their heads to look at him and he suddenly found himself as the center of attraction.
"Mr Potter, please give an interview to us". "How did you deal the final blow to You-know-who, Mr Potter?". "Where were you in the last one year?". "What are you doing at the ministry at this time Mr Potter?". "We heard that you would be meeting the minister, is it true? If yes, what's the purpose of the meeting Mr Potter?", and many more questions were being simultaneously shot at Harry who was caught off guard with the extreme attention being given to him.
Not that being under heavy scrutiny is anything new to him, never before he has been gheraoed like this by reporters. They were growing restless and even trying to break the railing to rush to him for getting his interview. Harry quickly turned and started walking away from them, ignoring people shouting his name.
He reached a counter where a beautiful red haired witch of nearly his age was sitting. On seeing Harry Potter himself, her face turned red from blushing but she composed herself to address him in a dreamy voice "Hello sir! I am Alexa Roberts. How may I help you?".
"Hello Ms Roberts! I am Harry Potter and I have an appointment with the minister at 6PM. Could you please check and tell me how to proceed further?".
The witch quickly scanned through some records and said "Yes sir, you have a meeting scheduled with the minister in his office. You are required to deposit your wand here and take the lift to reach 7th floor where you can find further directions to the office".
Harry deposited his wand at the counter, took a badge that showed the purpose of his visit and said to nobody in particular "What's even the point of taking away my wand when I can do wandless magic?". The witch stared at him open-mouthed at this revelation as he left the counter and reached the lifts.
Luckily he found an empty lift and quickly got into it and pressed number 7 to avoid people and questions. At 7th floor, he followed the directions to reach a counter with two Aurors on left side of the minister's office. One of the Aurors looked at the badge fixed to his t-shirt and slipped into the office to inform the minister about the visitor. He came out 10 seconds later and held the door open for Harry to enter.
On entering the office, he was greeted by an enthusiastic Kingsley sitting at his desk doing some paperwork "Hey Harry! Nice to see you again. Please come here and have a seat. Would you like to have something to eat and drink?"
Harry took a seat and said "Thanks Kingsley, but I just had some food before coming here. But I can have some coffee if you insist".
Kingsley waved his wand and a paper airplane (similar to inter departmental MEMUs that Harry saw last time when he visited ministry with Mr Weasley) zoomed out of his office. "What's up Harry? You said that you wanted to meet me privately to discuss something serious".
At that moment a tray with two coffees and some cookies flew into the office and settled on the desk.
Taking the cup and sipping some coffee, Harry said "Yes. I wanted to discuss with you about getting started with the Auror training so that I can join the ministry as an Auror after the training. I haven't completed my education at Hogwarts yet but I have talked with professor McGonagall and she assured to provide me the graduation certificate as I already know most of the NEWT level stuff".
To say that Kingsley was happy on hearing this would be an understatement. "Amazing Harry! There is no better news than you joining us. Is this why you rejected McGonagall's offer of joining Hogwarts as a professor? And don't worry about the qualifications. The ministry is offering appropriate positions to all those who participated in the battle of Hogwarts against Voldemort".
Sipping his coffee, Kingsley continued "When do you want to get started with the training?"
"I would like to start at the earliest possible date. If possible I can start from tomorrow itself" said Harry.
Kingsley choked on his coffee and started coughing. "Tomorrow? What's the hurry young man, take some rest. You have just saved the wizarding world after an year of hide and seek. Meanwhile go out and give some interviews boy, the world wants to know about you. You have got admirers everywhere".
"No Kingsley, I have thought very well about this. While it's true that danger looming over the world has diminished a lot with Voldemort's death, it is still not eradicated completely. Bellatrix fled just before Voldemort's fall and so did many prominent death eaters. Not to add many mid and low level death eaters are still at lose along with many dark creatures who joined Voldemort. For now they all have gone into hiding but they can still cause troubles and kill people, or in the worst case regroup behind a new leader which will complicate the matters again. Therefore, I feel the urgent need to get started as early as possible" said Harry trying hard to convice Kingsley, even though he knew the real reason for starting early, that is distracting himself from thoughts of Hermione.
Kingsley became serious on listening to Harry "I am still not convinced Harry, but if you insist then I won't refuse. Death Eaters are still out there, and it is in best interests of everyone that you join ministry as soon as possible and assist us to capture the remaining death eaters".
He took a bite of cookie and continued "But not from tomorrow, you can start your training the day after tomorrow. I will meanwhile talk to the head of Auror office Elizabeth Jennifer regarding your joining. You will receive official owl about the same from us by tomorrow".
"Umm Kingsley, can you help me with one more issue?"
"Sure Harry, just spell out whatever help you need from me?"
"As you said, everyone wants to know about me and take my interviews. But the thing is that I don't want to reveal about myself. I don't want to give interviews and all. In short, I want to stay away from media limelight and lead a normal life. Can you please do something to ensure the media stays away from me?"
Kingsley couldn't believe his ears. It is normal for teenagers wanting to be famous. And here is the teenage boy sitting infront of him, who is already the most famous wizard of modern times but wants to stay away from media. This is the sign of a selfless human being.
He smiled genuinely at Harry and said "As you wish Harry. Though I can't stop papers and magazines from printing about you, I can make sure that reporters and media don't pester you".
Kingsley stood up and extended a hand to Harry "It was wonderful meeting you today Harry. I didn't expect to end up recruiting you. Welcome onboard the ministry of magic!".
"Thank you Kingsley! See you later". Harry stood up, shook hands with Kingsley and took his leave. His excitement about being an Auror was running high and he looked forward to being an excellent one.