In anticipation for the (relatively) imminent finale of Memories in my Blood, as well as the fact that I am drawing a total blank as far as Daddy Dearest is concerned, I have begun my next project: an adaptation of my Secrecy challenge, which you can find in Portkey forums.
As usual, I don't own Harry Potter, just any OC's that may pop up.
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Chapter 1 - Hypothetical Situation
Somewhere deep within the bowels of the Ministry of Magic, hidden away within the enigmatic Department of Mysteries, was a room. Illuminated by a single light and completely devoid of furnishings save for a small table and two chairs, two men sat within it, a stack of personnel files between them.
"That time of the year again," one of the men sighed as he took the folder at the top of the stack and opened it, reading a personnel profile. His companion merely hummed in response as he grabbed the next file and opened it.
"I understand that Potter is eligible for recruitment this year," the second figure said conversationally. The first man raised his eyebrow at his companion.
"Planning on snatching the Ministry's prized auror?" he asked, half-jokingly.
"Perhaps," the second man responded, amusement lacing his voice. "Tell me about Potter and his team."
"Why should I?" the first man inquired, setting aside his first file and grabbing a new one. "I thought you people knew everything."
"We might, but I'd rather hear it from you," the second man said, setting his folder aside and taking another one. His companion sighed as he recalled information.
"Potter, combat and squad leader," the first man recited from memory, "graduated from Hogwarts, class of '98, applied to the Academy four months later. He sped through the training in two and a half years, with special marks in combat training. His rather impressive penchant for killing dark lords aside, Potter has easily become one of the best aurors under Ministry control right now. However, he can be reckless at times, and has a habit of ignoring orders when he thinks it best. Through either skill or sheer dumb luck, he manages to wriggle his way out of any situation that this habit brings him into."
"Recklessness and mild insubordination, we can deal with that," the second man said, unconcerned. "What about the rest of his team?"
"Granger, intelligence: graduated with honors class of '98. She sped through the training with flying colors in just under two years. She's definitely the brains of the operation, but sometimes she can analyze things a bit too deeply," the first man said as he grabbed a third file.
"In other words, a complete opposite from Potter's behavior," the second man said, taking another file. "Continue."
"And finally Weasley, strategy: graduated class of '98, but just barely with enough N.E.W.T.s to get into the Academy. He got through training a couple of months early. He plans the raids for Potter's squad, and is a decent fighter, but other than that, not particularly remarkable. His main flaw is his temper; he tends to argue with comrades over things of various importance, and has a past history of anger and jealousy issues."
"All problems that can be remedied with training," the second man replied, setting his current file down. "All of them are skilled soldiers, and all have issues that can be worked out. However, the final test will be tomorrow, and we'll know for sure whether they're ready or not," he continued as he grabbed yet another file. His companion sighed as he repeated the action.
"Maybe," he said neutrally as he read in the dim light.
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Harry Potter sighed as he stood in the lift at the Ministry of Magic. Normally it was a fairly short and smooth ride from the Atrium to his office in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but today, it seemed like everybody had to go somewhere, so the lift was stopping for someone at almost every single level. When the lift finally reached the appropriate level, Harry nearly dashed out of the device to escape the feelings of claustrophobia that the densely packed population inside was inspiring in him. As he approached his cubicle, he chuckled as the brown-haired woman sitting at the neighboring desk.
"Beat me to work as usual, I see," Harry said as he hung his robe on the back of his chair and gave Hermione a hug.
"It's not my fault that I wake up before you two," she said as she returned his embrace.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Harry drawled, waving her off, "at least I get to work on time," he continued as he returned to his desk.
"At least," she conceded before returning to her work. Half an hour later, a tall redhead strolled into the room and entering Hermione's cubicle.
"Hey, babe," Ron said as he bent down towards her.
"Hi, Ron," Hermione replied, kissing her boyfriend on the lips briefly before frowning. "So nice of you to join us, half an hour late," she continued sternly. Ron just shrugged indifferently and slapped Harry on the back.
"Hey mate, sorry if I don't kiss you," Ron said as he walked to his cubicle.
"Damn, I was so looking forward to that," Harry groaned, feigning disappointment. Sighing, Harry shifted his attention to the large pile of papers on his desk. "Still got a bunch of paperwork from the Crowley case to fill out," he groaned as he grabbed a quill and began working on it. Ron merely grunted his agreement.
"Honestly Harry, this is important," Hermione huffed from behind her walls, although she silently agreed with them, the seemingly endless paperwork was beginning to become tedious. The aurors were doing an exceptionally good job containing stray Death Eaters after the fall of Voldemort so by the time they had become actual aurors, most of them had already been captured and imprisoned, so their days were mostly spent investigating petty crimes and filling disproportionately large amounts of paperwork.
Around lunchtime, a monotonous female voice boomed throughout the DMLE office. "All aurors report to meeting room two immediately," it said simply before shutting off. As everyone stood up and shuffled to the specified room, Hermione slapped her forehead.
"I'm such an idiot!" she hissed to herself.
"What?" Ron asked, confused.
"Today is the day for our bi-annual psychological examination, I completely forgot!" Hermione groaned, mentally kicking herself for forgetting something so important.
"Wait, we were supposed to have an exam today?" Ron asked dumbly. "I didn't even know we had psych exams." Hermione huffed at him in frustration.
"Of course we have examinations, Ron, it's how they know whether we're fit for field duty or not," she admonished. "There was a memo on the bulletin board, didn't you see it?" Ron cringed guiltily, proving that he had not. Harry had seen a memo on the board, but only briefly glimpsed at it, so he did not know the contents any more than Ron did, but he was smart enough to keep silent about it.
After they had arrived at meeting room two, Head Auror Wilkins explained the process and handed out the forms to everyone. Mercifully, the questions were simple yes or no, Harry noted, whose hand was beginning to cramp from a day of detailed writing. Taking up his quill, Harry began to answer the questions. Most of the questions were pretty straightforward hypothetical situations, and Harry answered them easily, but the final question gave Harry pause.
If you had to lie to your friends and family in order to protect this kingdom and its citizens, would you do it?
It was such a simple question, yet Harry could not think of an adequate answer.
His first instinct was "no", he couldn't lie to his best friends Ron and Hermione, his surrogate family the Weasleys, or his possible wife Ginny. Yet, as he sat there with the quill in his hand, doubt began to creep in. Would the lives of every British citizen be worth his friends and family's curiosity, and his own clear conscious? Harry could not think of any such situation where such measures would be necessary, not even during Voldemort's reign, but that wasn't the point of the question.
Harry doubted that anyone would believe a lie of his, but it did not ask about his acting abilities, but whether he could do it at all. Silently hoping that he would not regret his decision, Harry dipped his quill tip into the ink bottle and circled his answer.
Yes.
Sighing heavily, Harry capped his ink bottle and blew on the paper to dry the ink before turning it in and returning to his desk, Hermione having already returned to hers. Several minutes later, Ron joined them.
"That wasn't too bad," Ron said as he dropped into his chair with a thud, "but that last question was a load of bollocks. I mean, come on, they must be nuts to think I'd lie to my friends and family!" he exclaimed, outraged. "What about you, Hermione, what'd you say?" he asked, getting up and walking over to her cubicle, Harry leaning his chair back to peer around the wall. Hermione sighed as she tapped the tip of her quill on her desk.
"I said yes," she admitted quietly. "I felt guilty for doing it, but I said yes."
"What?!" Ron shouted, his ears turning red. "But Hermione, I'm your boyfriend!"
"And that makes you more important than everyone else in this country?" Hermione snapped angrily. "I already said I felt guilty about it, but if it comes down to you or them, I'd lie to you and everyone else for that matter!" Despite the hypocrisy of the feeling, Harry could not help but feel a twinge of hurt when she said those words. Growling angrily, Ron turned to Harry.
"What about you?" he asked through clenched teeth. Harry sighed and looked away from his friends and squad mates.
"I said yes," Harry said, bringing his chair back down onto its front legs and resuming his paperwork.
"Unbelievable," Ron groaned as he stomped back to his desk. "Un-bloody-believable." Harry sighed as he tuned out Ron's grumbling. He dismissed the question as a hypothetical situation, just like every other question on that exam.
He just hoped that he would never wind up in a situation that would call him on his answer.
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So, what do you think of it so far?
Daddy Dearest is next on my to-do list, I promise.
Don't forget to read and review!
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