A/N: I know that it is taking me a while to get chapters up on this, and I am sorry. I hope this chapter answers a few questions (and creates some new ones). The story reads a lot better continuously.
Redeeming Oneself
Harry sat up with a start. His heart was pounding in his chest and he looked around his room. The sun was just rising and he was as he had been when he fell asleep, alone. He sighed, rubbing his face as he climbed out of bed. He glanced at himself in the mirror, and shook his head. The sadness and shame that had been there the night before had faded some and had left behind the Harry that stood looking at him.
"So, what are you going to do about this?" Harry asked himself in the mirror. He almost expected his reflection to respond, or at least shrug. He shrugged and pulled on his boxer shorts. He had to admit that living alone did have its advantages. If he had lived with anyone, he would have had to care that he had slept bare in his bed with his door wide open. Hermione's brilliant, smiling face slowly slipped before his eyes, causing his stomach to do somersaults. Then again, certain company might have been welcomed.
`What is wrong with you?' Harry thought as he slid his slacks on, buttoning them and belting them. He pulled his shirt on over his head and slipped his feet into his shoes. He shook his head, knowing there was nothing he could do about his hair. He glanced at himself one last time in the full length mirror. He forced a smile as he nodded at his reflection.
Harry waited out of sight of Hermione's door, waiting. He had contemplated what he was going to do. Coffee had seemed like a nice peace offering. He held back as he watched her come out of her house, locking the door with a swift tap of her wand. Harry was frozen to the place he hid. He had seen her, but today, he really saw her. She had her hair up in simple clip, but already some of the strands had escaped her, curling. She was wearing slacks and a dress shirt, the top buttons loosen. He had always known she had a figure, but the cut of the shirt was very suggestive.
"Hey!" Harry called as he chased after her. "Hermione!"
Hermione turned as she came to the crosswalk. She saw Harry jogging toward her. He pulled even with her and handed her a cup of coffee.
"Harry," Hermione said stiffly. "Thanks."
"No problem," Harry said. He glanced over at her. "Look, I am really sorry about my behavior, Hermione. I was out of line. I was just in shock, that's all. I am sure you had your reason."
"For the love of Merlin, Harry," Hermione said turning to face him. "We never had a child, Harry. We haven't even slept together, yet, or anything. We shared a few mediocre kisses three years ago. Kissing doesn't cause kids."
"Yet?" Harry asked, unable to help himself. A smile crossed his face and his eyes betrayed him as he took a sweeping look at Hermione. Hermione flushed, the heat rising to her cheeks.
"No, Harry," Hermione said shaking her head. "We tried this, and it got too awkward."
"When?" Harry asked. "We never even went out."
"Look, Harry," Hermione said slowly. "Don't you think there is a reason you don't want to remember it?"
"Couldn't the same be said to you about Ava?" Harry said. Hermione smiled at Harry, as if she expected no other response from him. She stepped closer to him, lowering her voice so that he would have to really focus on what she was about to say. It was something she had recently learned during her new assignment. When you yelled, people stopped listening, but when you lowered your voice they strained to catch your every word. She let her smile play on her lips.
"Look, Harry," Hermione said as her fingers went to his collar, adjusting it down where it was trying to flip back up. She smiled at him. "You are an amazing guy. I know it and you know it. If you and I ever slept together, I am sure it would be unforgettable. I have heard the stories."
He looked down at her with that smile toying on her lips, and he forgot what he was going to say to her. He was disappointed when she pulled away from him. They continued in silence on the way to the ministry. He had never actually walked there, but he could see why she would want to walk. It was very relaxing and peaceful.
"How is Draco?" Harry asked. He didn't really care how Draco was, but figured it might score him points. Hermione saw right through his attempt.
"He is fine," Hermione said rolling her eyes. She continued down the sidewalk a few more feet then stopped. "You know, you shouldn't have hit him. He's trying to prove to us, all of us, that he has changed."
"A leopard doesn't change its spots," Harry said as he threw his empty cup in a refuse bin.
"Don't you mean cheetah?" Hermione said. Harry laughed.
"Either way," Harry said. Hermione shot him a playful look at the headed through the front doors of the ministry.
"Well, this is where we part, Harry," Hermione said. "Good luck with your meeting with the Transylvania folks today."
"Today?" Harry asked slowly.
"Yes, it is in the file. Please tell me you read the file," Hermione said with a little bit of her bossiness etching back into her voice.
"Oh, yeah, yeah I read it," Harry said quickly. He forced a smile and looked at his watch. "Oh, I have a meeting with Ron and Ginny in like ten minutes. See you later, Mione."
"You too, Harry," Hermione said waving him off as she headed toward the Hall of Records. Harry impatiently jabbed the up button to the elevators, hoping the urgency would make the lift get there faster. Harry tapped his foot rather agitatedly while various witches and wizards got on and off on each of the floors. He nearly screamed as an ancient witch held the elevator while giving directions at a turtle's pace.
Finally on his level, he sprinted to his office, grateful to find Ginny was waiting already. She looked a little miffed, but he didn't have time for the drama. Ron nearly mowed him down to make it to his desk with a stack of books and papers.
"What's that?" Harry asked out of pure curiosity. Ron hated reading and for him to be willingly toting books and papers must have meant only one thing: Ron had a new girlfriend and he was trying to be interested in the same things she was. Harry had to give it up to Ron; he really did try at his relationships. They just always seemed to fail.
"Ronny has a new girlfriend," Ginny teased.
"Is it that girl from the bar?" Harry asked. Ron nodded.
"Yeah, Rebecca," Ron said. "You should have come home with us, it was… well, anyways, I'll tell you sometime when my innocently little sis isn't around."
"Oh, yeah, Ron, right," Ginny laughed. "I am real innocent."
"I don't want to know, la…la… la…" Ron said putting his fingers in his ears. Harry laughed, but then remembered the meeting they had that afternoon and he stopped.
"Look, we have that meeting this afternoon, and I am at a complete loss at what to do," Harry said as he fished the folder out of his bag. The spread out the contents of the folder on the conference table and went through each piece of information in hopes of pulling together something.
"I wish Hermione was here," Ron mumbled as he checked his watch. The hour was creeping up on them. Ginny made a face.
"Always turning to Hermione for help, Ron," Ginny grumbled as she rubbed her forehead and continued to read more. "You know, she's not perfect, and she doesn't have all the answers."
"What an odd thing to say about me, Gin," Hermione said curtly as she entered the room carrying a stack of papers. She dropped them at the end of the table.
"What's this?" Harry asked. Hermione smiled at him, a pity-filled smile.
"Ah, well, you know I have had something of a soft spot for pathetic boys," Hermione said.
"Gee, thanks Hermione," Harry and Ron both said. She laughed as Draco came up behind her.
"Hey," Hermione said in a sort of out-of-breath way when she saw Draco. "I'm almost ready."
"Oh, ok," Draco said looking at Harry. He smirked at Harry and took Hermione's hand, raising his eyebrows.
"Draco!" Hermione snapped as she pulled her hand out of his. She pointed to the outer office. "Wait for me over there, ok? I'm coming."
"Fine, but we have a long ride, ok?" Draco said. He made a face at Harry. "You know how these Muggle-born witches are, so demanding!"
Draco laughed and headed away from them. He had made his point and intentions very clear. Ginny smiled an almost cruel and sinister smile. She had leaned back in her chair in a rather comfortable way, finger tips touching as if bringing her finger tips together; she was bringing the pieces to a puzzle together.
"So, you are dating Draco after all," Ginny said snidely. "I thought that was just a rumor."
"Anyway," Hermione said loudly, blatantly ignoring Ginny. "My original notes are in there, and well, you should be fine. I will see you next week boys." Hermione looked at Ginny, raising an eyebrow at her. Almost as if she was warning Ginny something. It was something about her expression that had Harry and Ron confused.
"Uh, ok," Ron said looking rather confused. Hermione started away. Harry jumped up and chased her down.
"Hey, Hermione?" Harry asked as she turned back to look at him.
"Yes?" Hermione said.
"If he makes you happy," Harry started nodding toward Draco. He felt a little like vomiting. "I am happy for you." Hermione rolled her eyes, imagining what it must have taken him to actually conjure those words in his mind and speak them.
"I will see you next week, Harry," Hermione said with a smirk on her face. She patted his arm and entered the elevator lift with Draco. Harry stood at the door as the door closed, but not before he saw Draco take Hermione's hand.
The meeting couldn't have gone better, and Harry was terribly grateful for Hermione's notes. He even got a smile and a nod from Shacklebolt, who didn't dole out that type of praise very often. Not when he expected greatness from like Harry Potter. He hung back while Harry answered a few remaining questions and shook plenty of people's hands.
"Very good, Harry, very well done," Shacklebolt said as he patted the boy's shoulder. "Here I was thinking I had made a mistake letting you replace Hermione, but it seemed to work out fine."
Harry nodded. He knew he should have told Shacklebolt that very minute that Hermione had, indeed, been a very vital part of his presentation, that if it wasn't for Hermione, Harry would have fallen flat on his face with this. He opened his mouth to say something but Ginny came up beside him and squeezed his hand. Harry shot her a look and pulled his hand away.
Shacklebolt was signaled to by another ministry official and was gone before Harry could tell him. He was tempted to push Ginny down and run after him, but that just wasn't something he could do. For one, Ginny would hex the hell out of him, and he would have to explain to others how he ended up with a tail or something. Hermione wouldn't have held him back as he seemed to insist on doing to her. Harry walked away from Ginny and towards Ron. He shouldn't have removed Hermione from his team. She was great. Harry made a face.
"What's the matter?" Ron asked as they walked back to the office. Harry shook his head.
"Nothing I can't deal with," Harry murmured.
"No one said you couldn't deal with it," Ron said as he took his usual laid back position in his chair, his foot against the filing cabinet.
"You know, you shouldn't put your feet up," Harry reminded him. Ron grinned and rolled his eyes.
"You sound like my mother," Ron said. Harry laughed and put his own feet up on the filing cabinet.
"Now, if Downy walks in here and catches us with our feet up, we are trying to keep our upset Boggart contained. Got it?" Harry said. Ron laughed and nodded.
Ginny stalked into the office and gave Harry a rather disturbing look. Harry glanced at Ron, but Ron was searching through a drawer for something to eat. Harry thought that if Ron wasn't careful, one day Ron's metabolism would catch up with him and he was going to balloon up to a size of a small whale.
"Since we did so great, do you guys want to grab a drink?" Ginny asked. Ron was quick to his feet, Harry rising slowly next to him. Harry smiled. This was something he loved about Ginny. She was such a party girl. If it hadn't been for Ginny, Hermione would have never gone out with them, and if she hadn't gone out with them, Harry wouldn't have gotten to kiss her. God, three years seemed like forever ago.
They sat at the bar at the Leaky Cauldron. It had been Harry's idea after the last time Ron and he went out for some serious celebrating. Ron hadn't been able to get home and Harry had to carry him all the way. It wasn't until Harry got to Ron's flat that he realized that would have been the perfect opportunity for Ron to go home on the Knight Bus. He had himself a good laugh over that one.
Harry and Ron weren't light weights when it came to drinking, but Ginny out drank them by a long shot. She tried to get them to dance with her, despite the absence of music. She was very amusing, and when they all left, she intended on go home with Harry. She help Harry get Ron up into his flat and walked home with Harry. He didn't tell her that she could spend the night, but he never told her that she couldn't either. He shut his bedroom door after showing her to the guest room and locked it with a spell only he could remove. By the jiggling door knob at three-thirty in the morning, Harry knew he had made the right decision.
Harry got up early the next morning and left for work, avoiding Ginny. He had heard her attempt the door quite persistently before she gave up and went back to her own bed. Harry cringed. She wasn't a pleasant person when she didn't get what she needed or wanted. He had remembered how she would hex the heck out of people who even mildly crossed her. Harry didn't want to think too highly of himself, but he wasn't stupid. It wasn't a secret that Ginny still held a candle for him.
It had been sweet while they were in school, and during the very short time his sixth year when they dated, that had been fun, but he was a man now. He was out for more than rolling around in the Forbidden Forrest or behind Hagrid's house. That had been fun, yes, but he was thinking about settling down, starting a family.
"Ava," Harry murmured as he opened his top desk drawer. He took out the parchment and reread it, though he had read it so many times that it was committed to memory. He closed his eyes, tilting his head back as he recalled the events. It had been, what, a week ago, maybe two? Harry had been sitting at this very desk, Hermione was out to lunch, and Ron had been sleeping with his feet propped up on the filing cabinet. Downy had already caught Ron once sleeping, and was threatening to have actions taken if Ron couldn't stay awake.
"Harry," a voice had drawled in that slow, sophisticating and annoying way it did. Harry had looked up from the journal he had been reading.
"Draco, what brings you by the Aurors office?" Harry had asked. He had known that Draco hadn't been able to pass the licensing test for Auror and had been rather unceremoniously dumped in the Hall of Records. Harry had thought it was sad, because Draco did have potential.
"I was asked to give this to you and you alone. Shacklebolt wants this to be a one man operation, very hush-hush, from what I overheard. He did tell me to tell you that you needed to handle this personally," Draco said quietly as he handed Harry a sealed envelope. Shacklebolt's seal was on the back. Draco looked over at the sleeping Ron most unpleasantly. "He says that there is no room for mistakes."
Harry had broken the seal himself and read the orders. It was a simple case of underage magic that needed to be confirmed, thought to be rather dark magic though, and Harry was to use extreme caution. Observe, but do nothing. The subject's name was Ava D'Agostino. Shacklebolt said to keep it quiet and that he would come to Harry when the time was right. Harry had done as he was told, and found the only thing that was not to par was the fact that some muggle woman was raising his and Hermione's child.
Shacklebolt still had not debriefed him, and that irked Harry. If Hermione was unwilling to give him answers, perhaps Harry would have more luck getting them from Shacklebolt. Obviously, Shacklebolt wanted Harry to find out about Ava. Harry wanted to know why. He had so many questions that needed answers.
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