The Head and the Heart

Author's Note: I own nothing that is worth millions of dollars. Some chapters are loosely inspired by Syfy's Warehouse 13. This story will be relatively short- about 5 chapters. It is nearly complete so I hope to update rapidly if the response is good!

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Chapter 1: Of Teenagers and Broken Hearts

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Hermione had decided beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would rather face an angry hippogriff than an enraged fifteen-year-old girl.

“You don't understand me!” shrieked the high-pitched voice of Rose Weasley as she stomped up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door with such force that the whole house shook.

Hermione rubbed her temples and tried to soothe the headache building up behind her eyes. Rose had Ron's fiery red hair, but she also had his rotten temper. She knew that the girl was going through a difficult time but it was hard to bear the brunt of Rose's teen angst 24/7. Hermione secretly wished she could put Rose right back on the train to Hogwarts, but they had a long summer ahead of them.

“She'll calm down” said a small voice and she turned to see Hugo standing uncertainly in the doorway. Although Hugo was a spitting image of his father, he was much more like Hermione in his disposition. He was a bookworm and while he could be very intense about certain things, he was also far calmer than his wild older sister. “Do you want me to fetch you some tea?”

“Yes Hugo, that would be great, thank-you!” she tried to give him a warm smile but she felt weary and she was quite sure that although her son was only fourteen, he could see right through her.

When Hugo returned she listened as he prattled on about an interesting charm he had read about and she tried to engage in the conversation. Normally she would love nothing more than to feed into her son's intellect, but she couldn't stop thinking about the fight she had just been in with Rose.

Once the last sip of tea was gone and Hugo had tired of the topic she decided enough time had passed that Rose ought to have cooled down. She headed upstairs to check on her, knocking tentatively but getting no response. “I just want to talk Rose, I'm not angry” she started, but the room was very silent on the other side of the door. Trying the doorknob she was not surprised to find it locked, but remedied that with a quick “alohomora”.

The room was empty but the window was left open, the warm summer breeze faintly rustling the bright orange Chudley Cannons window curtain. “That girl will be the death of me” she frowned.

**********

“You need to move your feet more Teddy” Harry instructed as he sent his godson reeling onto the floor mat after a well-landed blow.

“I'm never going to beat you” Teddy panted, sweating as he rose to his feet.

“You'll need to if you hope to be head auror one day” Harry smirked, giving Teddy a good natured pat on the back to indicate that they'd sparred enough for one day.

“Why would I want to become head auror? We all know you're going to live forever. Isn't it true that that the beloved Harry Potter is immortal?” Teddy joked with a twinkle in his eye.

“I wish” Harry snorted. “I'm turning 40 soon, I sure don't feel immortal.”

“40 and still Witches Weekly's pick for Most Charming Smile every year.”

Harry scoffed at this. “Gilderoy Lockheart was awarded that same privilege five times if I recall and he was a total moron. Speaking of morons, stop pumping your muscles up like that with your metamorphmagus abilities. It doesn't actually make you any stronger.”

“No but the ladies love it” Teddy retorted, flexing in a nearby mirror.

Harry rolled his eyes and left the gym in favor of the bright summer sun. Although he was sweating from his sparring match with Teddy, the hot air felt good on his skin and he stripped off his shirt and as he walked home, Teddy tagging slightly behind. Godric's Hollow had been revived considerably since that miserable night he had visited his parents' graves and been attacked by Nagini. Now there were many more houses and cottages as well as a gym, a few decent pubs and several quaint shops.

His head was tilted up towards the bright blue sky when Rose Weasley suddenly popped out from behind a shrub, making him draw his wand with lightening fast reflexes.

“Gee Uncle Harry, I hope you don't intend to curse me with that” she said with all the sarcasm of a fifteen year old girl.

“Not unless you deserve it” he responded warily, putting his sweat soaked shirt back on.

“You know I'm a perfect angel!” she scoffed, winking at Teddy who rolled his eyes. Rose often reminded Harry of Ginny, which was both a good thing and a bad thing. “What were you two up to, beating on each other as usual?”

“Training” Teddy said. “And I never beat up on Harry, he just beats on me.”

“He has had far more experience” she reminded him. “After all, you've been an auror for what, three years? Uncle Harry is the Boy Who Lived and He Who Defeated Voldemort.”

“Don't forget he's also Witches Weekly's Most Charming Smile” Teddy quipped, enjoying ganging up on Harry.

“Enough of all that” Harry frowned. “Rose, does your mother know you're out pestering me or did you run off again?”

Her words came out in a quick whiny jumble. “I only left because I really can't stand her anymore, I mean she is such a nag, you know it's true and also, it's not like you and my Dad didn't used to run off all the time on your adventures...”

Harry whirled on her quickly in the middle of walking path, blocking her from going any further. She was suddenly reminded that her kind Uncle Harry was also one of the most powerful wizards alive and she got a bit scared in spite of herself. “First off, do not speak about your mother that way. If you think she's nagging you it's because she loves you and you should be glad for that. Not all of us had that.” He and Teddy exchanged a look and Rose appeared properly chastised.

“It's just difficult because I miss my Dad...”

“I know, and that's something to talk to your Mom about” Harry sighed. “I'm taking you home right now. I'll catch up with you later Teddy.”

“I'm going to dinner with Victoire” Teddy informed him.

“You don't have to tell me everything you do, you're an adult. In fact, when are you going to move out already?”

“What and leave you alone and lonely?”

Harry waved him off but there was laughter in his eyes as they parted ways. “It's not like you really live alone” Rose commented after a moment of thoughtfulness. “You have James and Albus and Lilly on the weekends right?”

“Yes, as long as work doesn't get in the way” Harry said, and there was such sadness in his eyes that she hooked her arm around his.

“You can always adopt me Uncle Harry” she joked and Harry mussed her hair in response.

“One adopted trouble-maker is enough thank you kindly!”

Hermione was sitting on the porch when they arrived, looking agitated but not angry. “I should have known that she'd go running off to you” Hermione sighed, shaking her head.

“Look, now you've got me into trouble too” Harry joked, giving Rose a little shove.

“I'm sorry mom” Rose said in a small voice, but she didn't sound particularly sorry. Mostly, she seemed worried about how long she would be grounded.

“Please go up to your room so we can talk. I'll be in shortly.” For once Rose didn't argue and slunk off into the house. “She has too much Weasley in her” Hermione sighed as she sat heavily on the front steps, Harry easily falling in beside her.

“How are you holding up?” He asked, concern evident in his voice.

“I'm fine” she responded quickly, but she knew from the look in his eye that he spotted her lie as soon as it left his mouth. He knew her too well. “Well, it's been rather tough with Rose lately. Hugo seems to be taking things well but he's usually one for bottling things up anyways so I'm not even sure...”

“I appreciate how much you love your kids, but I asked how YOU are doing.”

“I'm tired” she confessed. “I'm tired to fighting with Rose ever since she got home, I'm tired of avoiding the public for fear of being judged. I've been cooped up in my house for two months now doing work, I rarely leave...”

“What right does anyone have to judge you?” Harry burst out, suddenly upset. “Ron is the stupid git who didn't appreciate what he had, and...”

“Shh!” she warned, slapping his arm. “Rose and Hugo don't know about what happened. I don't want them to judge their father. And I don't want them to pity me either.”

He took her hands in his in a surprisingly gentle act, looking into her eyes in a way so intense that for a moment she felt dizzy. “Your children love you Hermione. You're a great mother. You have no reason to feel bad about yourself.”

“Easier said than done” she said, pulling her hands away and standing up abruptly. “I feel... well, it doesn't matter how I feel. What's done is done, but the wizarding world doesn't take kindly to divorce and it's a nightmare...”

“I know all about that” Harry reminded her, looking down at his feet.

“But you don't really. They always judge the woman more harshly for some reason, like it's her fault for not keeping her husband interested or whatever. I'm sure Molly is back to thinking I'm some scarlet woman.”

“No, Ron is a scarlet man... if such a thing exists. You haven't talked to Molly since he moved out?”

“I'm afraid to” she admitted.

Harry laughed and Hermione scowled at him. “You've faced vicious creatures, evil horocruxes, armies of dementors and scores of Death Eaters and Molly Weasley is what frightens you most?”

“First off, she is a ferocious dueler as I recall. Second, she is very traditional so yes, I am concerned about what she'll have to say.”

“She'll probably say that Ron is a rotten git and you deserve better. She loves you Hermione, as though you were one of her own.”

“Was she that kind to you when things with Ginny ended?” She immediately wished she could take her words back as she saw the pained look on his face.

“She understood the circumstances well enough” he replied shortly. “I think she was more miffed at Ginny, but Ginny's never been one to care much about what others think of her.”

“I wish I could be so carefree.”

“Don't” he responded sternly. “The fact that you care so much is what makes you wonderful. Anyways, I see you have a grumpy teenager to attend to and I need to take a shower, so I'll talk to you later.”

“Harry... come over for dinner?” she asked, her voice small and uncertain.

“I was already planning on it” he said, offering her a broad grin and hugging her impulsively.

“Wonderful, but ugh, you sure do need a shower Potter!”

*******

When Harry arrived at the house later that evening things were still in a state of disarray. Hugo had books scattered about all over the place and Rose was stomping around angrily, making as much of a fuss as possible.

“I haven't even gotten a chance to start cooking!” Hermione lamented upon seeing her best friend looking freshly showered and out of his sweaty gym clothes. In fact, he looked quite nice with a dark v-neck t-shirt that revealed his toned arms and a pair of khakis. I probably look like a wreck she thought self consciously.

“That's fine, I'm a better cook anyhow” he said in a joking tone, but they both knew it was true. He helped himself to her kitchen and started taking out the ingredients he wanted. “Chop these up” he said, throwing her a few veggies.

“Ah, give me all the hard work then” she sighed, sitting down to the island table at the center of her kitchen. Between her work in Magical Law and Ron's ownership percentage in Weasley Wizard Wheezes they had managed to have a rather nice home built in Godric's Hollow. “What will you be doing as I slave away?”

“I will be uncorking this bottle of wine” he said with a wink. “Besides, you could just use your wand if it's such a hassle.”

“Muggle cooking tastes better” she joked.

“I think it just seems that way because of all the hard work put into it.” He popped the cork and retrieved each of them a glass. He knew the layout of the house quite well after spending many an evening there on double dates with Ginny while the children ran amok. The realization that this dinner would be hosted without Ginny and Ron gave him a tinge of sadness. How did everything go so wrong? “Let's have some music” he announced, not wanting to make Hermione any sadder than she was already undoubtedly feeling.

He turned on the Wizard Wireless and found a station playing some sort of spicy jazz music. Hermione laughed as he waggled his eyebrows at her and turned it up louder. Soon they had dinner sizzling on a skillet and the smell of food brought Hugo and Rose running in.

“Ohh wine, do I get to have some?” Rose asked slyly.

“In your dreams” Harry replied, smirking at her as he served them each a plate.

Hugo said nothing but waited patiently for his turn to be served. He watched his mother and noticed that for the first time since his father had moved out, her smile was actually reflected in her eyes.

*****

After dinner was done and Harry had strong armed Rose into doing the dishes, he and Hermione retired to the front porch where a couple rocking chairs made for the perfect relaxation furniture. Harry had always secretly preferred Ron and Hermione's home to his and Ginny's. Ginny was very stubborn about certain fashions and trends and the house always felt more like something from a catalogue than a home. Hermione had simpler tastes and while the house was brand new, it had an old, homey feeling to it. A wrap around porch provided a great place to sit when the weather was warm and enjoy a glass of wine or a butterbeer.

“I'm glad you could make it for dinner, I haven't seen you in weeks” Hermione said after a long pause.

“I've been away on a mission” he said simply. “Otherwise I'm sure I'd be here a lot more often. I've missed you.”

“I'm sure” she scoffed, not believing it.

“Why is it so hard to believe that I'd miss my best friend?”

“I don't know” she said softly. “I'm in disbelief about a lot of things these days.” She looked off into the dark sky, avoiding his gaze. For about the millionth time Harry felt the strong urge to knock Ron's teeth in for upsetting her so. But Hermione had made him promise to do no such thing, and had in fact made him pledge that he would try his best to stay friends with Ron. Won't happen any time soon he thought glumly. “Does it get any easier?” she asked suddenly.

“Not so far” he shrugged. “It's only been a year and a half since Ginny left me but it still hurts like hell. Especially since she...” is already engaged to another man he thought, but Hermione already knew and it hurt too much to say it out loud. “I wanted to create the family I never got to experience... I wanted to give Ginny everything she deserved and I wanted to be around for my kids but I mucked it all up.”

“Your job is important Harry. Ginny never seemed to understand...”

“Who can blame her? I was less of a husband and more like some shadow that came and went. I was too busy with this whole `saving people thing'.”

“Somebody needs to do it. I'm just so sorry it had to be you.”

“I could have quit. I could have taken a job writing about Quidditch or something. Instead I chose the occupation that took me away from my family two-thirds of the year and left my wife wondering if I'd even come back alive. It wasn't fair to her. It still isn't fair to my kids. I'm supposed to spend time with them this weekend but no doubt I won't be back from my mission by then.”

“You're a good father Harry!” she exclaimed, alarmed by his sudden depression. She reached out from her chair to grab his arm, forcing him to look at her. “Your kids know you love them and they are so proud of you. Every time James and Albus and Lilly come over they talk nonstop about you. Maybe it wasn't enough for Ginny, but she has always been headstrong about getting her way.”

“Well, she got it. Found herself a rich, handsome bloke who has all the time in the world to dote on her. And I want to be happy for her but I just can't...”

“Nobody could expect you to be happy for her Harry. She...” is a cruel little bitch Hermione thought. But what she said instead was, “She has always had a certain image in her mind of how things should be. She saw you as the ideal hero, but she forgot that heroes aren't perfect, that they fall down sometimes, that they struggle, that they need help.”

“I've always had you to help me” he said, moving her hand from his arm and slipping it into his own grasp. She was surprised by the gesture and felt a jolt run through her that shook her a bit. She didn't know what to say in response so they both just sat there in silence for a long time, caught up in thought, their fingers still gently entwined as the calming sounds of night surrounded them.

*****

Weeks had passed since their talk on the porch, and Hermione had neither seen nor heard from Harry. Since she worked at the ministry (and also since she had a bit of clout as a war hero) she was able to ascertain from the auror department that he still had not returned from his mission. She was growing very concerned and was about to suck up her pride and ask Ron about it when Harry finally showed up at her house one evening just after she had returned from work.

As soon as she opened the door and found him on the other side she threw her arms around her, wrapping him in her most encompassing bear hug. “Dear God Harry, I thought you were dead!”

“I'm sorry” he murmured against her neck, enjoying the familiar smell of her skin and not wanting to let her go. “I got wrapped up in this case and I couldn't risk sending out any messages.”

“We should really work out some sort of system in the future so I don't have to spend all my time fretting over you.”

“Thanks” he replied, reluctantly releasing her.

“For what?”

“For caring” he shrugged. “Aside from the fact that I hadn't come by to pick up the kids in a few weeks I'm not sure that even Ginny would notice if I'd been killed.”

“Don't say that. A lot of people care about you.” She realized just then how closely she was still standing to him and it took her breath away a bit. Stupid woman. Are you really going to get all swoony over your best friend after all these years? Before she was even able to collect herself, a distinct name was calling for her from the other room.

“Hermione?? Are you home?” Ron called, his voice echoing through the otherwise very silent house.

“I'm in here” she responded, her voice squeaking. She had not seen him since he had moved out and they had only communicated via owl about allowing the kids to visit him. Harry must have sensed her anxiety because he placed his hand on the small of her back. Somehow it did relax her slightly.

Ron looked pale as he walked into the room. “What are you doing here?” Ron asked upon seeing Harry.

“Nice to see you too mate” Harry growled and Hermione unconsciously moved closer to him to get him to calm down.

“Whatever, I'm not here about that” Ron continued. “It's about Rose, she's run off.”

“Oh God Ronald, she's never been to your flat before... she could get lost or hurt or attacked...”

“That's why I came to get your help!” he hollered over her.

“Okay, let's go now. I'm sorry Harry, but I need to go find...”

“I'm coming” Harry said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“This is really a family matter” Ron said in a dark tone.

“Well, I am still her uncle right?” Harry responded, and he took Hermione's hand and half dragged her to the fireplace, not allowing for any further discussion.

Once they had gone through the floo to Ron's apartment they found Hugo sitting on the couch with a rather young looking blonde. “Ron you didn't!” Hermione blurted out, reeling on her still-husband. The blonde girl looked at them both through big, frightened blue eyes.

“I didn't what? Invite my girlfriend over? I'm an adult man Hermione, and we're separated, there's no reason I can't have company...”

“Not while our children are here!” she half screamed, tears flooding her brown eyes.

“Both of you, in the other room, NOW” Harry said in a tone so cold and serious that neither of them even tried to protest.

“Don't do this in front of Hugo” Harry said as soon as they were in Ron's bedroom, the door firmly closed behind them and a silencing spell cast over the room.

“You moved out two months ago and already you think it's okay to be parading your floozy in front of our kids? You had no right Ronald...”

“You both clearly have a lot to work out” Harry interrupted, placing himself firmly between them. Isn't this how it's always been? Hermione thought from somewhere in her infuriated mind. “Right now, the objective is to find Rose, let's not lose focus of that.”

Out of nowhere Ron shoved Harry hard but Harry had a considerable amount of physical training over his former best friend and he did not budge. “I can find my daughter just fine without your Potter” Ron hissed. “In case you've forgotten, you aren't the only auror in the room.”

“I didn't suggest otherwise Weasley. What is the plan?”

“The w-w-what?” Ron stammered.

“The plan to find Rose. How should divide up?”

“Uh, well, I reckon...”

“Ronald is hopeless at coming up with a solid plan, we've known that since our first year at Hogwarts!” Hermione exclaimed. “I say we all fan out in separate directions of the apartment, Hugo will go home first of course...”

“This is the first time I've seen my son in weeks!” Ron bellowed. “You can't just send him home!”

“Well, I'm certainly not leaving him to sit on the couch with your little sl-”

“ENOUGH!” Harry hollered, stepping between them once more. “I will take Hugo with me to search for Rose. Once one of us finds her, cast your patronus so we know she's safe and we'll meet back here.”

“Good for you, taking charge” Ron said sarcastically. “You sound almost as bossy as this one” he nodded towards Hermione and the hurt in her eyes was enough to make Harry nearly lose his temper.

“In case you forgot Weasley, I AM your boss. Let's go.”

When Ron had moved out of his and Hermione's home, he had found what he referred to as a “swanky bachelor pad” on an offshoot from Diagon Alley. While Rose knew Diagon Alley perfectly well, she'd had no experience in this section and it was frighteningly close to Knockturn Alley. As they split up Harry gave Hermione's hand a reassuring squeeze and then he headed off with Hugo at his side.

“Are you mad at my Dad?” Hugo asked after a few blocks.

Harry eyed the boy, thinking how he looked so very much like Ron at that age and his anger abated. “Not exactly. I am upset with him, but I know he's a good person. And even good people make mistakes.”

Hugo nodded to show he understood. “I think I know where Rose is.”

“Why didn't you say so sooner?”

“I didn't want a bunch of people to show up yelling at her. She's been upset lately and while she can be... difficult, I don't want her to be more upset.”

Harry couldn't help but grin at Hugo's compassion and logic, a trait that he obviously got from his mother. “Alright then Mr. Weasley, where is your sister?”

“Well, when we were little our Dad was still working at WWW with Uncle George. We used to spend a lot of time playing in the shop, and one day Uncle George gave us a `magic key' as he called it. I now know it was just a regular key to the attic space of the shop, but back then it was really cool. We would climb up there and play with all the dud jokes that he had chucked up there, and I would read books and Rose would pretend she was a famous catcher for the Chudley Cannons. Rose always wears the key on a chain like a necklace. I think she's superstitious that it will give her luck to become an actual Chudley Cannon one day.”

Harry smiled at the thought of them playing imaginary games in the attic like he once had in his closet. He wondered if his own kids had played with their cousins up there when they visited. He liked to think they had all gone on imaginary adventures together. Hugo led him to the joke shop and George was so busy with customers he didn't even notice as they slipped behind the counter and up the spiral staircase to the attic.

Hugo knocked carefully, looking as pensive as Hermione before she was about to try a particularly difficult spell. After a long while, a muffled voice came from the other side saying “go away”.

“It's me Rose” Hugo responded. “And Uncle Harry.”

“He's not even really our Uncle, not now that him and Aunt Ginny are divorced.” If the words had come from any source other than an emotional teenaged girl, Harry may have been hurt. Instead he just nodded at Hugo to keep trying.

“Rose, let us in! You know Uncle Harry could open this door very easily if he wanted to.”

The door flew open with furious speed and a red eyed Rose stood on the other side, looking as furious as any Weasley had ever been. Once more she reminded Harry of his ex-wife, but he didn't hold it against her. “WHAT DO YOU WANT?” she screeched, and Harry deftly stepped through the door before she could try to stop him.

He could see why it was such a magical place for the kids to play. Dim light filtered in through a duty window, giving the room an orange glow. There was spare furniture stacked up in every direction, and in-between were yellowing cardboard boxes of old Weasley Wizard Wheezes. It was a lot larger than he expected and he suspected there was plenty of nooks and crannies for a child to explore.

“Rose, we just want you to come home” Hugo said tentatively.

“We have no home now that Dad's gone and fucked it all up” Rose said matter-of-factly. Harry thought about scolding her for the language, but he doubted that would help matters any.

“I didn't know either” Hugo said in a soft and painfully sad voice. “But as Uncle Harry said, even good people make mistakes. Dad was a war hero, and he's an auror, and he's our Dad! Nothing changes the fact that he's our Dad.”

“He cheated on Mom Hugo. It's so obvious. I knew the moment he introduced us to that stupid bint.” Rose said with harsh laugh. “He's scum, and I hate him.”

Hugo gaped at her, unable to speak, so Harry stepped in. “You don't hate him Rose, and while his actions aren't admirable, he will always love you with all his heart.”

“Just like he promised to love my mother? No, I'm washing my hands of him. Is that why Aunt Ginny broke up with you too Uncle Harry? Are all men just dogs?”

Harry took a long breath to steady himself and remember that Rose was just a kid still, and a wild one at that. “Ginny left me because I was always away at work” he explained. “Life gets complicated sometimes as you get older... I thought I'd faced the worst of it when I was around your age, but there's a thousand ways the heart can be broken.”

She was silent for a while, holding her knees to her chest, burying her face in her lap. “I'm sorry Uncle Harry” she finally mumbled. “I shouldn't have said that to you.”

“I've had much worse” he laughed. “Being famous isn't all it's cracked up to be. Which reminds me, if you're going to be a famous Quidditch player you can't spend the rest of your life sulking in this attic. Are you ready to go home?”

She nodded from beneath her tears and he sent out his patronus to seek her parents. As they waited he spoke to her. “I know why this upsets you so much Rose. You are just like your father; you have his hot headedness but you also have his sense of passion. You love Quidditch just like him, and you're good at it just like him. You can be funny like him, but you can also show surprising cleverness at times. And it bothers you that someone you are so close to can do something so foolish. But Rose... you will forgive him one day, and what you share with him won't be gone forever.”

She suddenly threw her arms around his shoulders and cried against his shoulder. Slowly Hugo approached and softly rubbed her back until she wrapped her other arm around her brother and they joined in a three-way hug that continued until they heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Thank Merlin you're alright!” Ron sobbed, hugging his daughter furiously. Harry was happy to see that she was hugging him back. Hermione joined them both and soon the whole family was together and Harry felt he needed to leave. As he slipped away nobody seemed to notice.

*****

“You left rather abruptly the other night” she said instead of hello. She had walked into his office rather briskly, closing the door firmly behind her.

“I could tell you all had a lot to talk about” he responded, barely looking up from his work, a mug of steaming coffee still dangling from his hand, half forgotten as he jotted something down on a piece of parchment.

“Yes well... I wanted to say thank-you.”

“It was Hugo who found her, not me.”

She sighed, walking around his desk, taking the mug from his hand, setting it down and then forcing his eyes up from his work to her face. “It's not just that you found her. It's that you were there. Things could have gotten really ugly between Ron and I, and you prevented that. Also, whatever you said to Rose must have sunk in because she has been much less of terror since I brought her home.”

“You're welcome” he said finally, giving her a tired but warm smile. “They're good kids you've raised. Speaking of which, I finally got to spend some time with my own.”

“Aw, hence the coffee and the bags under your eyes” she joked.

“They ARE a handful” he laughed.

“But you loved every minute of it, didn't you?” her voice was soft and as he looked into her eyes something seemed to pass between them but he didn't know what it was. Before he could explore it any further, there was a sharp knock on the door which made both of them jump. Shortly after a short, bald, round man entered.

“Can I help you?” Harry asked, wary by the intruder.

“I hope so Mr. Potter. I am glad to see Ms. Granger is here as well.”

“It's Weasley” Hermione corrected and the odd man tilted his head to the side, his beady black eyes giving nothing away in his expression.

“You prefer Granger though, I can tell” he responded. He was right, but Hermione wasn't sure how he could possibly know that. She had never told anyone that she lamented giving up her maiden name, even more so since her and Ron's separation. “I need you to both come with me now.”

“Woah pal, first up, who are you?” Harry demanded, standing up and unconsciously shifting himself protectively between the intruder and his best friend. “Second, what makes you think we'll just come along with some stranger?”

“I understand your hesitation Mr. Potter, especially given the history you both have with traps, tricks and evil. But I know you will come with me because you can both sense that I will not harm you.”

Hermione stepped away from Harry slowly, drawing closer towards the black-eyed man. “I know it sounds crazy Harry, but somehow I know that he's right. We need to trust him.”

“What?!?” Harry sputtered. “Hermione, we don't know who he is or what he wants. Get out of my office sir, or I will...”

“You will what Mr. Potter? Look, you haven't even drawn your wand yet. Unusual for someone are cautious as you no? You would have already come if it weren't for your primal instinct to protect Ms. Granger. A most admirable instinct I must add, but entirely irrelevant to this cause. You must come now Mr. Potter, we haven't much time to waste.”

Harry held onto his resolve for a minute, fixated on drawing his wand and stunning the man. Somehow the thought dissolved like sugar in water and a moment later he was mindlessly following the stout fellow and Hermione out of his office and down the hall.

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Chapter 2: Perspective Altered

They followed the stranger into the street in a dreamlike state, and once there he removed a dented golden bicycle bell from his pocket and held it out for them to touch. As though hypnotized they both reached out to the object and in a dizzying swish they were ripped off their feet, hurtled through space and landed firmly in the middle of what appeared to be a massive library.

As soon as Harry's feet were firm on the ground, the drug like effects of the hypnosis he was under vanished and he quickly grabbed Hermione as she staggered to gain her balance. His other hand deftly moved for his wand and in a split second he had it pointed at their plump kidnapper.

“Start talking” Harry growled, keeping Hermione close by his side. Out his peripheral he noticed that she had her wand poised as well.

“I'm sorry for the tricks, but I had to get you here somehow and I couldn't have you making a scene about it. Everything concerning my department is very secretive you see.”

“What did you use on us? Imperius?” Harry asked, already knowing that it hadn't felt like imperius at all. Imperius he could sense and fight. Whatever the stranger had done to them felt like a pleasant floating sensation and dimmed his awareness and inhibitions entirely.

“I used this” the stranger explained, pulling a amethyst medallion out from under his frayed black robes. “It allows to the wearer to exude total control over those around him. Sometimes it takes a little while to take effect and it only lasts for a short time, but I assure you it's quite safe. It only works if the user intends no harm to the subject.”

“Intends no harm eh?” Harry responded skeptically. “Why didn't you just ask nicely then instead of using some... some whatever that is on us?”

“Would you have really come? You would have stunned me and taken me in for questioning. And we haven't the time for all that. I have brought both of you here for an urgent matter.”

“Where is here?” Hermione asked wearily, speaking for the first time.

“The Department of Ancient Magic” the stranger said, and Hermione's eyes lit up instantly.

“I thought it was just a rumor” she gasped, letting go of Harry's arm and lowering her wand. She began to turn around in circles, gaping at the incredible number of books and scrolls surrounding her. The shelves went to high up she could barely see the top, and small candles floated around, casting dim light into what looked like a vast cavern.

“Nobody is meant to know about this place” the stranger conceded. “The secrets we house here make the Restricted Section of the library at Hogwarts look like a child's playpen.”

“It's incredible” Hermione smiled. Harry was not as easily pleased however.

“That doesn't answer who you are or why we're here.”

“My apologies. My name is Broderick Caldwell and I am the sole guardian of the Department of Ancient Magic. I am a glorified librarian of sorts.”

“What does a librarian want with us?” Harry asked, confused.

“I will be glad to debrief you on all of that if you will just follow me.” Harry wanted to protest but Hermione took his hand in such a gentle fashion that he sighed, un-tensed a bit and slowly lowered his wand. He did not however, holster it.

They seemed to walk for over fifteen minutes, just passing row after row of books until finally they reached a set of dusty marble stairs with grand banisters adorned with mythical creatures. Two bright torches burned magnificently at the top of the stairs and Harry realized that his eyes had become so acclimated to the dark that he had to squint to readjust to the new brightness.

At the top of the stairs was a large room with a tile mosaic on the floor. Like everything else in the place it was dusty and thus making out the designs was difficult. From what he could see however, there were various runes and depictions of ancient Gods. In the room were several rows of desks, each equipped with a roll of parchment and a quill and inkwell. The room in and of itself wasn't what was interesting however. Harry's breath was nearly taken away when he turned around to gaze out at the cavern. At this height he could see above all the shelves and realized how far they went on, the floating candles bobbing up and down in a swaying motion for row after row. Even more breathtaking was the fact that he could see the top of the cavern and could now tell that neon blue lights lined the craggy ceiling, giving it a mysterious glow.

He hadn't felt so wowed since he had first set eyes upon Hogwarts those many years ago. However, Hermione looked even more stunned by it, tears stinging at her eyes as she took in the majesty of it all. It's probably all the books Harry thought with an inner smirk.

“Ah hem” Broderick cleared his throat to regain their attention. “I have brought you both here because the Department needs you help.”

“If you're looking for someone to help your file books away you might have looked elsewhere” Harry quipped, and Hermione nudged him in the ribs.

“I can take care of the books thank-you kindly. That is not why I sought the two of you out. Recently, there has been a series of attacks on Muggles. These attacks are worldwide and seem to be random as far as I can determine. The only thing they all have in common is that the muggle victims were killed by a cursed object in every case.”

“Why haven't I heard about this?” Harry and Hermione asked simultaneously.

“Because, Ancient Magic was used in every case. Magic that nobody ought to know about except me, magic that has been locked deep underground and guarded throughout time. It is very puzzling, but worse yet, it is extremely dangerous. Counter spells to ancient magic often require using ancient magic. Even when we do find these cursed objects, they are exceedingly difficult to diffuse.”

“Why would anyone be doing this?” Hermione gasped, thinking of those innocent victims who died in fear, not knowing what was happening to them.

“We have no idea. Clearly it is someone who has a vendetta against muggles, but I can't guess at what they hope to accomplish.”

“Who else knows about this?” Harry asked sternly.

“Only myself, the Minister of Magic, and now the two of you. As you can imagine, we must keep this very secretive. If even a few of the secrets kept here were discovered by the wrong person the results could be disastrous. That's why you two were specifically chosen. Your dealings with the horocruxes proved you have great resolve then it comes to combating evil and overcoming the effects of dark magic. Additionally, Mr. Potter's impressive career as an Auror makes him well equipped for hunting down our culprit, while Ms. Granger's brilliance with research will help you determine how to counteract these cursed items. Finally, it is not a secret that you are a great team when you work together. You work together like the head and the heart one might say.”

Hermione blushed slightly at these compliments, but kept a steady head. “We will need a lot more back-up then just us two. Who else works for this department?”

“I am all that's left” Broderick said, a hint of sadness creeping into his tone. “I had several apprentices studying under me, but they were all killed in an attempt to deal with this issue.”

“Woah, if it's that dangerous Hermione should not be involved” Harry said suddenly. “She is a mother and she isn't field trained...”

“Don't speak for me Harry. Do you really think I'm going to let innocent muggles be killed and do nothing about it? Even my job in magical law comes with its risks and enemies; it's a lifestyle I learned to live with being your friend. What I want to know if what sort of help we can hire to help us stop this lunatic.”

“You can't” Broderick said sternly. “In fact, you can tell nobody about this new assignment. It took me a month of careful calculations to determine if even the two of you could be trusted. The Minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt, had every faith in you but even still... the magic you will be dealing with is unlike anything either of you have studied. It can seep into your soul, it can infect your very being. It's instable and highly unpredictable. I understand I am putting you in a difficult position by burdening you with this. But I will need you to decide now. If you refuse this mission, I will have to erase your memory of me and of this place.”

“I will do it” Hermione said immediately and Harry tugged her to the side so they could talk privately.

“You can't do this Hermione, this sounds incredibly dangerous and you have kids and...”

“You have kids too Harry, and you can't do this without me. You know that.” She looked into his eyes, challenging him to disagree but she could see from his gaze that he knew it was true. She put a reassuring hand on his arm. “We need to do this Harry. Besides, you've always taken care of me. I'll be fine.”

“Now you're just trying to appeal to my ego” he said with a smirk. “Fine, let's do this.”

*****

Several weeks passed after their decision was made and they heard no word from Broderick. Both the Auror Department and the Department of Magical Law were informed by the Minister himself that Harry and Hermione were being reassigned. It caused quite a stir since both of them were integral parts of their respective offices, but the Minister made it amply clear that he had no need of them and the details were not to be discussed.

With all the business of clearing out their belongings and transitioning their roles on to a successor, neither of them saw each other until it was time to bid their children farewell at the Hogwarts Express.

When Hermione, Rose and Hugo arrived at Platform 9 3/4 Ron was already waiting there, his hands awkwardly stuffed into his pockets. Since the incident with Rose running off, they had agreed to open better communication between the two of them, but it was very strained still. She couldn't believe how much it still hurt her just to see his face. “Ron” she said as a way of greeting.

“Hermione” he responded with a stiff nod before giving each of his kids a big hug. “I'll miss you guys so much! I'll see you at Christmas and I'll certainly sneak by to catch one of your Quidditch matches Rose. Show those Slytherins how a Gryffindor does it! And listen up both of you, don't do anything I wouldn't while you're at school.”

“That's not saying much Dad” Hugo laughed. “You, Mom and Uncle Harry were always getting into trouble. And now that James has the Marauders map...”

“Hush!” Rose snapped and Ron gave them a wink of approval while Hermione just rolled her eyes.

“I was not a troublemaker” she corrected Hugo, straightening out his tie. “It was just that your father and Uncle were always dragging me into their mischief.”

“Don't listen to a word she says” quipped a familiar voice from behind her. “You mother was absolutely wild in her youth. She was the one that corrupted your father and I.”

“You're a bad liar Uncle Harry” Rose smirked. “Let's go Hugo, I want to sit with James and Albus and Lilly.”

“Forgetting something?” Hermione asked before they could run off. She took her time hugging each of them, trying not to think about her new mission and what it would be like for them if something were to happen to her. She whispered final words of advice to each of them and reminded them to write frequently unless they wanted to be on the receiving end of an embarrassing howler. “You already saw yours off?” she asked Harry once she'd finally let Rose and Hugo go.

“Yeah, we got here super early. They were all far too excited about getting back to school to start mischief. Lilly is determined she will make the Gryffindor team this year.”

“Before you know it the whole damned team will be all Weasleys and Potters” Ron laughed and Harry acknowledged him for the first time, shaking his hand. Ron looked bashful, not quite able to meet his best friend's eye.

“Ron will be serving as Head Auror in my absence” Harry noted.

“So I heard” Hermione said slowly. “I think you made the right choice Harry. Ron will do a good job.” She looked at her soon to be ex-husband and there was a look of gratitude in his eyes that was so sincere that she thought he might cry.

“I should say hello to my sister” he said, abruptly excusing himself. Hermione watched him walk over to Ginny, who was standing with her fiancé. The fact that Ginny had brought him with her made Hermione's heart hurt for Harry and she looked to him to see a look of utter sorrow in his gaze.

“Do you still love her?” she heard herself asking, and immediately regretted it. “I'm sorry, it's none of my business.”

“It's fine” he shrugged. “I don't think I do really... I just miss what we had, what we could have been... mostly every time I think of her I think of all the ways I failed our marriage and I hate myself for it.”

She wanted to tell him that none of that was true, that he had been a faithful and doting husband and an incredible father, that she often envied Ginny for the love Harry had shown her. She wanted to tell him that all he had done wrong was be the hero Ginny had wanted to marry from the start, and that is was Ginny's fault for not being more patient and understanding. But she knew that none of that would make him feel better, because she knew exactly how he felt. While it had been Ron who had ruined their marriage in the end, it had been on a downward spiral for a long time before that. They had always bickered but as they got older it turned into all out fights where the littlest thing he did would get on her nerves and he would always accuse her of nagging. It was for these reasons that she secretly felt that maybe she had driven him into the arms of another woman, that maybe she was un-loveable.

In addition to all their differences, Ron also had terrible jealousy issues that did not dissolve with time. It was always about Harry she remembered, wondering for the thousandth time if there was any merit to his jealousy. Did I not love Ron well enough?

She was so wrapped up in these thoughts that when she turned to find Broderick standing directly behind her she nearly jumped five feet in the year. “It's time” was all he said, and he held out the dented bicycle bell and Harry and Hermione reached out and touched it at the same time.

*****

“I have discovered that there have been multiple reports of muggle deaths in the surrounding the city of Portland, Maine, all of which have one similar peculiarity; the victims did not have a brain when they were discovered.”

“So you think a cursed object is responsible?” Hermione deduced and he nodded an affirmation.

“Take the night to research whatever you can about ancient magic that has these effects. We can't wait much longer than that I fear, there have already been five deaths. We have access to the international flu network which will take you to the Portland hub. From there you will have to blend in muggles most often to investigate. That is another reason you were both ideal candidates; you were raised in muggle households.”

“I think I get it” Hermione nodded, eager to get to researching. Harry was far less eager, but once the process had started he felt like they were back at Hogwarts again as Hermione kept sending him to find books in the massive library and she eagerly poured over volume after volume. Harry resolved that the next time they had to do research he would bring his broom so he could fly around the room instead of walking. He guessed he'd already walked several miles just fetching books for her.

“There's so many things it could be!” Hermione groaned hours later. The cavern was as dark as ever but Harry's watch informed him that it was nearly 4 AM. They were running out of time.

“Well, let's go over what you've found so far” he offered, glad to sit down and take some weight off his feet.

She chewed the tip of her quill pensively and he found himself thinking that she looked quite adorable. Don't think that the angel on his shoulder scolded himself.

Almost immediately the devil chimed up, Why not think that? It was one thing when I had these thoughts back when she was with Ron and I was with Ginny, but we're both single now. What's the harm?

She's your best friend! the angel reminded him. She's never thought of you in that way and would be disgusted if...

If what? the devil laughed, she would be disgusted if she knew how sexy you find her?

“...then there's another curse that allows you to enchant any common beetle to be possessed to crawl into someone's ear and eat their brains...”

“What?” Harry said suddenly, snapping away from his thoughts so loudly that she stared at him sternly.

“Were you even listening?”

“Sorta” he admitted sheepishly.

“Honestly Harry, you were the youngest Head Auror in history and have been chasing evil since you were a child and yet you still have the attention span of... of... Ron!”

“That's harsh” he smirked and she found herself laughing.

“Sorry, I guess you really aren't that bad. To summarize, we could be looking for any number of things, I'm really not sure and I don't have time to keep researching.”

“Well, that's that then” he shrugged. “We'll just have to go investigate and hope something matches up with what you were able to find.”

She looked reluctant to stop researching but saw the logic in what he was telling her. Broderick adjusted the wards so they could apparate in and out, allowing them to go home and pack. Once they returned he gave them some American cash and a few other items that they would need to blend in. Finally, he wished them luck and sent them on their way.

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Chapter 3: The States

“Is it possible that International floo is even worse than the local one?” Hermione coughed as they were spat out into the Portland hub.

“I think so” Harry admitted, struggling to stand upright as the room still swerved oddly around him. When he was finally straightened out he brushed himself off and took her suitcase to carry for her. “So where do we start?”

“Sleep” Hermione said to Harry's surprise. “I know time is of the essence but if I don't catch a quick nap first I am going to be too tired to function.”

Harry couldn't argue with that logic, so they found a nearby muggle hotel and got adjoining rooms, agreeing to meet in the lobby in four hours. When the time came Hermione was still stifling a yawn as she found Harry waiting for her.

“Are you still tired? I can do some investigating on my own if you need to catch up on your sleep” he offered.

“Are you calling me old Potter?” she laughed, giving him a playful shove. When she touched him she could feel the solid muscles of his chest beneath his shirt. He's still in such great shape, I probably look like an old woman next to him. Suddenly, and for no real reason, she wished she'd spent more time on a few cosmetic spells.

“Here are the locations we should check out first” she said, handing him a piece of parchment. “These are all the locations of the victims homes. Broderick gave them to me before we left.”

“Okay, so I guess we grab a cab and have them take us to these places?”

“And then what, break into these homes while the cab driver watches?” Hermione laughed. “I'm ahead of you. We have a rental car waiting outside and I happen to own a GPS.”

“Look at you and your fancy muggle tech!” Harry laughed, giving her a high-five. “I just hope you know how to drive in America because I've only done it a few times and I find it to be a bit of a frightening thing. Everything's all backwards.”

“How bad can it be?” she responded. Forty-five minutes later after several near collisions and a few wrong turns she found out exactly how bad it was. “People are driving like maniacs!”

“Well, I don't think it's any more chaotic than London, but I don't think either of us drive frequently enough to be well practiced.”

“I vow to figure out an integrated charm that will get this car to drive itself based on the GPS system.”

“Well, if anyone could figure it out it would be you!” Harry laughed, impressed with her vigor. The first place they stopped at was a triple decker apartment right near the outskirts of Portland. Nobody seemed to notice as they walked right up to the door and let themselves in once they were sure it was empty. The apartment was a bit filthy, with dirty clothes from the now deceased owner scattered everywhere, a sink full of dishes that had attracted a swarm of fruit flies, and an odorous, overflowing trashcan.

“This fits the profile” Hermione mumbled, covering her nose the stench. “The victim was a 27 year old single male.”

“Sexist much?” Harry retorted.

“It's not sexism, it's a fact that you men can be slobs.”

“I'll have you know that I not, and never was a slob. The Dursleys would never have allowed for such behavior. Now Ron on the other hand...”

“Will be a slob until the day he dies” she chuckled, sliding some rubber gloves on before investigating. “Let's split up, I'll take the back rooms, you take the front. Look for anything that seems out of place or is giving off a magic aura. You should be able to sense anything that's cursed as standing out from the rest of these muggle items.”

They spent about an hour searching and found nothing. They moved onto the next victim's house but relatives of the deceased were already packing up their belongings and moving them out. The next three victims homes were unoccupied so they were able to investigate, but yet again they came up with nothing.

At the end of their long and fruitless day they headed back to the hotel, tired and discouraged. Harry offered to order some pizza and they each got cleaned up before meeting back in her room to go over their limited and ultimately useless notes.

“I see no connection between the victims besides the fact that they all live in Portland” Hermione sighed, grabbing a slice hungrily as she poured over her notes. “They are different genders, different ages, different ethnicities, and none of them have similar jobs or even similar income. The only thing they all have in common is that they all lived alone.”

“And all of their homes were dirty” Harry noted between bites. “I mean, every house we went into was in need of a good cleaning.”

Hermione jumped up suddenly, nearly knowing the pizza box off of the bed they were sitting on. “Harry, you're a genius!” She ignored his furrowed brow and ran to retrieve her research notes. “I thought the beetle curse sounded like a long shot, but it makes perfect sense!”

“The curse where a beetle crawls into the ear and eats all of your brains out?” he shuddered.

“Yes, it's rather a lot trickier than it sounds. The beetle needs to be able to consume quite a lot or mass in a fast time span and then not grow any larger so that it can still crawl back out and move onto a next victim. It's a rather miraculous, albeit cruel and sick, bit of magic. I had nearly forgotten, but I read that these beetles are attracted to places that are dirty, places where mold and rotten food and things like that are common.”

“So someone cursed some beetle and it's just been crawling around Portland killing people? A single little beetle is going to be awfully hard to find Hermione, not to mention that whoever is doing this could have cursed more than one beetle... what if there are hundreds of these things running around?”

She bit her lip pensively as she considered this. “Based on the rate of deaths I'm willing to bet that there's only one. Furthermore, this curse takes a lot of preparation work according to the book, it's not just a simple enchantment. So no, I think there's only one bug eating beetle out there. But there could be more if we don't work fast.”

“There's never enough time” Harry sighed, laying back on her bed and closing his eyes. “What do we do next?”

“I suppose we figure out how this little insect has been transporting itself all over Portland. It's covered a good amount of ground in a short period of time.” She took the opportunity to study his face while his eyes were closed. A shadow of stubble was aligning his jaw and he had faint purple bags forming under his eyes. She resisted a strange urge to brush his dark hair back from his forehead and trace the shape of his lightning bolt scar. He's still so handsome she thought, noticing that grey hair was starting to grow along his temples. It's okay for me to think these things, he is my best friend and I love him... it doesn't mean I'm in love with him.

The thought of being in love with Harry was unsettling, and once more she was reminded of her many fights with Ron over his jealousy towards Harry. She felt a sharp pang of guilt for looking at Harry the way she was and she tore her gaze away quickly. After a moment she realized how silent he was and observed the steady pace of his breathing. He had fallen asleep.

She yawned suddenly, realizing how exhausted she was and she cleared the notes and now empty pizza box off the bed. Carefully she laid beside him, making sure there was a good amount of space between them. We're just friends sharing a bed she reassured herself before sleep crept in.

*****

Harry awoke with a feeling of warmth and contentment that he hadn't felt in a very long time. There was a woman in his arms and her steady breathing was soothing. He buried his face against her neck and inhaled, smelling a unique combination of lavender and parchment that reminded him of his best friend. He sighed happily, thinking of Hermione.

Hermione... oh shit! slowly his brain woke up and he realized that somehow he had moved in his sleep into a rather compromising position in which he was spooning her as she slept. Worse yet, a certain part of him was reacting in a way that was more than a bit friendly. Carefully he extricated himself from their position and slipped away, praying she wouldn't wake up in this embarrassing moment. Fortunately, she was deeply asleep and did not budge as he rolled away and retreated to the bathroom.

Splashing his face with cold water his emerald eyes stared back at him in the mirror. She would have cussed me out pretty good if she had woken up. Probably would have hexed me a few times for good measure too. It meant nothing though; I'm a guy, I've been single for over a year now. Of course my body would react like that, it's not like...

“Harry?” he heard her call out and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He smoothed out his wrinkled shirt and tried to come out of the bathroom in the most composed, nonchalant way.

“I guess we dozed off” she shrugged, already gathering her things to head back out. “We need to get moving though. They were all brought to the same morgue after their bodies were discovered. That seems like a good place to start. Go get cleaned up and put on your suit... we'll have to impersonate FBI or something like that.”

“You don't think they'll be a little thrown off by the accents and lack of a badge?”

“Honestly Harry, you're a wizard aren't you?” she teased. “We'll confound them.”

Her tone was perfectly normal and business-like so he relaxed a bit, feeling certain that she hadn't noticed his aggressive cuddling. Once he was properly dressed she met him in a very business professional black skirt and black blazer. He thought they looked like a fairly good representation of the agents he'd seen in American films, so they headed back out and arrived at the morgue with far fewer incidents than their first driving attempt.

Once inside they were greeted by a security guard who looked half asleep. He was watching something on a small TV and wearing half of a doughnut on the front of his uniform. Hermione barely had to confound him before he was eagerly unlocking whatever door they requested and leaving them alone to investigate. “Almost too easy” Hermione muttered as they set to work looking for signs of the cursed little insect.

“Don't jinx it” Harry responded, pulling back the sheets on a few cadavers to get a closer look.

“Ugh really Harry, do you have to get so up close and personal with those bodies?”

“You make it sound perverse when you say it that way. And yes, I'm guessing that if the little bugger is still around here he's going to be huddling close to bodies. It likes decay right?”

“Your logic is sound, but I don't know how you're not vomiting.”

“It's not the first dead body I've seen” he said quietly and she felt a pang of sadness at his words but said nothing. She had known that his job as an auror had been far from pleasant, and that his days of facing death and destruction had not ended with Voldemort. She tried not to think about it too much for the sake of her sanity, but she was certain he had faced unspeakable acts of cruelty and inhumanity. Sometimes the cases she was working on would require reviewing his field reports. Just reading about the details and seeing the pictures had lead to sleepless nights. She couldn't imagine what is what like for him, being there first hand.

She was suddenly reminded of a time shortly before Ron had proposed to her and Harry's partner at the time had been killed. He wasn't allowed to talk about the details of the man's death, but Hermione could see from the haunted expression in Harry's eyes that it had been something horrific.

The day it happened he had come to her and Ron's flat. Ron was still working for George at the joke shop at the time and he was stuck working late on inventory. Harry had shown up on her doorstep looking weak and disheveled.

“I had a bad day” he said when she looked at him with concern in her eyes. She immediately threw her arms around him, wishing for the millionth time that she could take some of his pain from him; that she could somehow absorb it through physical contact. “My partner is dead” he mumbled against her neck as he clung to her.

He was dating Ginny at the time but it was Hermione he had sought out first for comfort. When Ron came home he found the two of them drinking a cup of tea on the sofa, her curled up beside Harry, her head rested on his shoulder, both just staring into the fireplace in silence.

“Sorry to interrupt this romantic moment” Ron said angrily upon seeing them so close to one another.

“Ron-” Hermione hissed, about to scold him, but Harry had already stood up and gently placed the cup of tea on the table.

“Thank you for the tea Hermione” was all he said, and then he simply disapparated.

“What the bloody hell is going on here?” Ron swore, his face growing as red as his hair.

“For once could you stop being such an insane git?” she seethed, worried to death about Harry's psychological state of being. “He just lost his partner on the job, he was here to talk about it...”

“Here to seek comfort was he?” Ron asked, looking slightly ashamed but still not relinquishing his anger. It was the way that he said the word “comfort” that suggested something far more than a hug and cup of tea.

“Is that really what you think of Harry and I Ron? That we would so carelessly disregard you and Ginny? After all we've been through...”

“There's nothing here” Harry declared, exasperated. Hermione was snapped away from her memories and back to their glum surroundings. She nodded to show that she had found nothing either.

“We should figure out if the same vehicle was used to transport all the bodies. That might be a good place to search further.”

“Like finding a needle in a haystack” Harry muttered as they headed back out. She barely heard him though because she was still thinking about the unbidden memory. He had never mentioned that night again, had never come to her like that again and she had tried to push it from her memory.

As they walked out of the morgue she turned to thank the security guard for his time, only to find he was passed out asleep on the job, his face planted on top of a bag of potato crisps. As she moved around the desk however, she realized he was not sleeping. His eyes were wide open and unseeing.

“Harry” she whispered, grabbing his arm.

“Do you sense it?” Harry asked, suddenly grabbing his wand. “Magic was used.” Just as she brought her wand out they witnessed an earwig crawling down the man's neck. Hermione reacted quickly and instinctually, casting a spell that enveloped the bug in a bubble, moving it away from the deceased security guard and bringing it wiggling through the air towards them. She pulled a plastic bag out of her pocket and let the bubble drop neatly inside.

“I guess it didn't need to travel far to find a suitably dirty host to prey on” Harry said with a frown. “Poor bloke.”

“It must have been clinging to people who work in the morgue and jumping from host to host until it found a climate it liked. As you said, in this case it didn't have far to travel.”

“What do we do with it?”

“We bring it back to the cavern” she said matter-of-factly. “It's nearly as difficult to diffuse this little bugger as it was to curse him in the first place.”

“Can't we just crush him?”

“This mission turned out to be relatively simple, but it's not THAT simple” she responded. “If he was that fragile I'm sure he'd already have been crushed. No, we'll need to take care removing the curse, and for that we'll need the...”

“Yes, I know, we'll need the library. But we aren't any close to catching whoever set the curse in the first place. Six muggles dead and all it took was one little beetle. How could we possibly track it back to the culprit?”

“We can't” she said sadly as they exited the morgue and stepped out onto the dark streets of Portland. Cars zoomed around them, their headlights casting a glow that lit the sidewalk as they returned to the car. “Harry, Broderick knew this wasn't going to be any easy case to close. We may track down several curses like these before we see any hints, and even then we'll be lucky. Whoever is doing this is being meticulous about not being caught. Their victims are random, the locations are scattered, and the objects are so commonplace that they're impossible to trace back to just one individual.”

“So people are going to just keep dying and we can't do anything about it?”

“People die all the time Harry, you know that more than anyone. All we can hope to do is to find these cursed objects before they do too much damage. We can keep the number of casualties down until hopefully, whoever is doing this slips up. We do have one lead at least. Whoever is doing this knows about Ancient Magic and they shouldn't. We need to figure out who could have accessed this knowledge without having ever seen the vault.”

“That's something at least” he muttered, pressing his forehead against the glass pane of the car window and not even noticing that she had already figured out a way to charm the car to drive itself.

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Chapter 4: Have Yourself a Harry Little Christmas

“That's it Harry, just a little to the left, almost there.... yesssss!” Hermione exclaimed as Harry loomed over her.

“Such bossiness over a simple Christmas tree” he muttered as he came down from the stepping ladder, the star on the top finally perfectly adjusted to Hermione's specifications. “You know, we could just use magic and have this done in two minutes.”

“That's not nearly as much fun” she pouted and he grinned in spite of himself. They had been on three cases since the “Brain Beetle” case as they now called it and while they had always solved and stopped the cursed object causing the murders, they were no closer to figure out who was in charge of the whole debacle. Hermione had been researching relentlessly to find out where such secrets about Ancient Magic might exist outside of the cavern but she'd had no luck. Harry for his part was more concerned about the fact that there was a very good chance that the culprit had taken notice of their investigations. He was worried that whoever it was, their next play would be to attack himself, Hermione, or one of their family members.

Today he had resolved not to think about that. Everyone would be coming over to Hermione's house for a Christmas Eve party and he was looking forward to seeing his kids and spending time just enjoying life for once. The many hours of research in the cavern plus the many miles of travel had put a strain on him. Having Hermione with him had made it a lot less difficult though. When he was with her he felt like he was exactly where he wanted to be; exactly where he was supposed to be.

“Is the ham done cooking?” she asked him as they finished trimming the tree.

“It's all set to serve, I cast a warming spell on it so it'll still be piping hot when everyone arrives.”

“What about the desserts? Do you need any help...”

“Everything is all set Hermione” he laughed. “It'll be fine.”

“I'm just nervous” she admitted, wringing her hands. “I haven't seen Molly or Arthur since Ron moved out, and now that the divorce is finalized...”

“They're excited to see you” he promised her, placing his hands on her shoulders to calm her. “I just talked to them yesterday and they were saying how they've missed you.”

“You don't think it was a mistake do you?” she asked, and for one horrific moment Harry was afraid that she meant the divorce. He felt his gut clench up in a strange way when he thought about her entertaining notions of taking Ron back. “I mean, you don't think that inviting Ron and Ginny was a mistake? It might be too soon still, and it could be awkward and I don't want the kids to suffer...”

“I think we can handle one night of the Weasley siblings” he assured her. “We can all act civilly towards each other I'm sure. As for the kids, they'll be thrilled to have both of their parents here. And if anything becomes uncomfortable, we have each other right?”

“Right” she said in a puff of air. Just then a roar came from the fireplace, spitting Molly and Arthur out into the room. Shortly after followed George and his wife Angelina and their kids. Bill, Fleur and family showed up shortly after, and soon most of the Weasleys were there, making a ruckus as the children ran about and causing havoc.

Hermione had nearly forgotten how stressful it was to host all the Weasleys at once and she retreated to the kitchen and poured herself a healthy serving of wine. She had barely managed a sip before Molly was upon her.

“Hermione dear, I'm so glad to have a moment alone with you” she began, nodding when Hermione gestured to pour her some wine. “I've thought about writing to you so many times. In fact, I've tried several times but the words never seem to come out right. I had always hoped that all of my children would find the same happiness in marriage that Arthur and I have...”

“I know Molly, and I'm sorry for what happened between me and Ron” Hermione interrupted, absurdly wanting to go find Harry and beg him to flee to the cavern with her so they could hide out together amongst the books.

“You have nothing to apologize for Hermione!” Molly responded, her tone almost sharp. “I don't want you to blame yourself for any of it. Ron has always had a hard time believing he was good enough and I know you did everything to make him feel loved and worthy. I never thought he would be capable of... of what he did, but you are not to blame. He is my son and I will always love him but that doesn't mean I always like him.”

“Thank-you for saying that Molly. It means a lot to me. I was afraid you'd hate me.”

“I would never! You're an incredible witch and my son was lucky to have you as long as he did. My grandkids are lucky to have you as a mother too, and you should know that you're welcome to visit anytime. I've missed your visits.”

“I'll make a point to see you more often” Hermione promised, tears stinging her eyes.

“Will I be seeing your parents here this evening?”

“No, the kids and I will visit them tomorrow. I thought it best not to have them here with Ron in the same room. My father still has grand thoughts of knocking him out.”

“I wouldn't blame him” Molly huffed. “I believe Arthur might have done the same if his health was a bit better! Well, I believe Teddy and Victoire just arrived and I haven't seen them in ages, so excuse me.”

Shortly after Molly left Ron arrived and Hermione was thankful to see he hadn't brought his girlfriend. She hadn't broached the subject with him because she didn't want him to think she was jealous. She wasn't jealous, but it did still hurt her to be reminded that her husband of nearly 20 years had tossed her aside for a twenty-something year old. He greeted her stiffly and she greeted him in in kind, moving quickly on to Rose and Hugo who she immediately suffocated with tight hugs.

After making sure everyone knew where the food was she went to look for Harry but he was nowhere to be found. When she saw Ginny she began to sense why. Ginny was glued to the side of her fiancé, laughing at one of George's jokes raucously. “Hermione!” she greeted gleefully. “Where have you been hiding?”

“I haven't been hiding” Hermione responded, her tone defensive. Ginny just smiled, tossing her still brilliant red hair behind one shoulder and hooking her arm through that of her soon-to-be new husband.

“Have you officially met Joshua? I don't know if you've heard, but we're getting married in the summer!”

“Nice to meet you” Hermione said, stiffly shaking the man's hand. He at least had the good grace to look uncomfortable at being introduced to Harry's best friend. “I'm sort of in the middle of something Ginny, but we should catch up soon!”

“That would be great!” Ginny smiled. “Maybe we could take the kids to Diagon Alley for a bit of shopping while they're home.”

“I'd love that” Hermione lied. Ginny had been the maid of honor at her wedding, and was one of her only close girl friends but Hermione would always take Harry's side, just like he would always take hers. She did miss Ginny, and she did understand that Ginny's separation from Harry had come after a long time of trying to make things work. Still, she couldn't understand how the redhead could be so damned insensitive at times.

“Where's your Dad?” she asked Albus as she looked for Harry. James and Albus both looked like their father, but Albus had the green eyes and the same sort of unusual soulfut maturity his father had always shown.

“I'm not sure, I was looking for him but then I got caught up talking to Hugo...”

“It's okay, I'll find him” she said with a kind smile. Looking into his face reminded her so much of that little boy she had met on the Hogwarts Express with the broken glasses. Despite spending every day for the past few months with Harry, she suddenly missed him.

“I'm worried about him” Albus said before Hermione could walk away. “I told my mom not to bring Joshua. He's okay I guess, but he's not my Dad. Sometimes I think she just does things to be a bitch.”

“Language” she warned him but she smiled a little on the inside. “I don't think Joshua means to replace your father Albus, he's just in love with your mother, and she's in love with him so she wants him around.”

“I still don't get why she couldn't still be in love with my Dad. He's the greatest bloody hero in wizard history, he was a great seeker, he is... was the greatest auror to live.”

“Don't forget that he's rich” Hermione joked, which earned Albus a small smile.

“Do you know what he's doing for work now? James thinks it's something super important, like saving the world stuff that's top secret. Of course, Scorpius Malfoy keeps saying that my Dad just washed out and couldn't hack it anymore as an auror. That can't be true though, right?”

“It's not true and you already know that Albus. I can't tell you much about what your Dad is doing, but let's just say James is pretty close to the mark.”

Albus beamed at his Aunt and once more she was struck by how much he looked like Harry. She remembered how her heart used to flutter when Harry would smile at her like that back when they were students at Hogwarts. Best not to think about that she decided, giving Albus a quick hug before resuming her hunt for Harry.

She finally found Harry sitting on the porch, using a warming spell and a glass of fire whiskey to stay warm. Teddy was there with him as well and she suspected they were talking business. “I've been looking for you” she said as a way of greeting.

“What's wrong, did I not frost the cookies properly?” Harry asked, and she could tell he was a little drunk.

“No, the cookies are quite well frosted. Actually, with all the Weasleys in there I'm sure they're demolished by now.”

“I think she's come to check in on you Harry” Teddy joked, giving him a wink to suggest that there was something going on between the two of them.

“I'm fine” Harry hiccupped. “Actually, I should get back inside, I should be spending more time with my kids while their home, not wasting time out here with this brat” he gestured at Teddy. Teddy laughed and Harry took his leave. As he brushed by Hermione his arm grazed hers lightly but she felt it was intentional, a simple way of saying “thanks for caring”. After all the time they had spent together over the years, she could understand his simplest gestures.

“So, Harry hasn't been home much lately” Teddy noted, sipping from his own glass of fire whiskey.

“You know he's on a special assignment from the Minister.”

“Yes, and oddly enough you got pulled from the Department of Magical Law at exactly the same time for an equally mysterious mission. Couldn't be the two of you are working together again could it?”

“Nothing can get past you Teddy” she said dryly. There was no point in denying it, she was sure he wasn't the only one to put two and two together.

“So... you're spending a lot of time working together then. Is that all you're spending a lot of time doing together?”

“Teddy!” she gasped.

He gave her a mischievous grin. “All I can say is that when I do see him, he seems a lot less grumpy than he used to.” When she didn't give into his bait he sobered up a bit. “Well, whatever it is, I'm glad he has you. Life hasn't been easy on the old man, we both know that. But he deserves to be happy, and not just because he's the savior of the wizarding world but because he's a good guy.”

“I know Teddy” she said, giving him a pat on the back absent mindedly. After the war Harry had spent any extra time he had visiting Teddy, and when Teddy's grandmother Andromeda passed, Harry had brought his godson into his home and raised him like he was his own child.

Feeling the cold she coaxed Teddy to come back inside where Harry was in an animated conversation with Rose, James and Albus about quidditch strategy. She was glad to see that he had managed to recover from his depression and enjoy himself. He caught her eye and gave her a kind smile. She felt her heart flutter as it had those many years ago.

“We're going to head out” said a woman with a distinctly French accent. “Thank-you for everything!”

“Of course Fleur, so glad you could come!” Hermione said, breaking her eye contact away from Harry, but she was a moment too late. Fleur smirked, having seen the look that had passed between them.

“Zat one has always been `andsome and age `as treated him kindly. Maybe `e looks even better as `e gets older.”

“Isn't that the way of it with men?” Hermione joked, trying to sound lighthearted. “They get better looking and we get fat and saggy and wrinkly.”

“Zat is not always true” Fleur said kindly. “You are still quite beautiful, and Ron is balding.”

Hermione laughed in spite of herself, hugging her former sister-in-law, thankful for her kind words and also thankful that Fleur hadn't pushed the topic of Harry. Teddy's insinuations already had her feeling awkward enough.

Shortly after everyone else said their farewells as well, until only Hugo, Rose, Ron and Harry were left. She ushered Hugo and Rose to get ready for bed once they had helped her finish cleaning. “You best get to bed or Santa won't come” she warned.

“We're teenagers Mom, we know Santa isn't real” Rose said, rolling her eyes.

“Don't let him hear you say that!” Hermione called after her. She walked into the kitchen to finish up the last of the dishes to see that Harry had already taken on that task and Ron was looking a bit boozed up, sitting at the island table nursing a glass of liquor.

“Are you okay Ron?” she asked. “Do you need me to help you apparate back to your flat? I don't want you splinching yourself.”

“No we wouldn't want that” he snapped and she knew that tone right away. She had heard this dark, sarcastic tone many times throughout their marriage. Ron was jealous about something.

“What's your problem Ron?”

“What's up with the two of you?” he asked, pointing directly at Harry. Harry turned the water off in the sink and slowly turned, crossing his arms, his expression grim. “Don't think I'm a bloody fool. You both leave your jobs at the same time and now you're playing husband and wife in MY house.”

“This isn't your house anymore Ron” Hermione replied, feeling heat rise to her face in anger. “I guess you've used your brilliant skills of deduction to figure out that we're working together but it's confidential and you don't need to know anything more than that.”

“Working together or fucking together? Or both?”

Hermione gasped at the crudeness of his language. Her hand twitched to grab her wand but Harry had already moved forward and was leaning across the table, glaring at Ron. “Don't talk to her like that.”

Ron stood up. He was a couple inches taller than Harry but he did not share Harry's affection for boxing and thus he wasn't as impressive in terms of muscle tone. “Don't tell me how to talk to my wife.”

“She's not your wife. You botched that up well enough yourself. You're drunk Ron. Take the floo home before you say something you'll regret.” Ron's face turned beat red with fury and Hermione did take her wand out now, but Harry gestured for her to put it away. She was standing behind him and it was rather incredible that he didn't even have to see her to know what she was doing.

“This is always what you wanted huh Harry? You could never stand the fact that I married Hermione and not you. Well you can have her, I had my fill of her nagging...”

“Ron-” Harry warned, and then in a split second Ron had punched Harry hard across the face. Hermione rushed forward but Harry was already straightened back out and he deftly moved her behind him once more. He stood firmly between the two of them. As he always has she thought tearfully. “I'll give you that for free Ron” Harry said in a surprisingly calm voice. “We've been friends for a long time and I know this isn't you. Go home, sober up and come talk to me when you're not being a total prat.”

For a moment Ron looked torn between hitting Harry again and sobbing. Finally, he lowered his fist and walked into the other room without another word. Once the roar of the fireplace indicated that he had left Hermione broke into tears and Harry pulled her close to him. Allowing her to cry against his chest, her sobs muffled so her children wouldn't hear them.

When finally she felt she had gotten it out of her system she pulled away and said one word, “git”.

“That he is” Harry responded and then he did something he'd never done before and gently wiped the tears from her cheek with his thumb. It was a startling intimate gesture, and somehow more arousing than any other kiss or caress she had ever experienced. For a dizzying moment she thought she might step across the small gap that separated them and kiss him. But as suddenly as the feeling came upon her it left. I'm just drunk and emotional.

She stepped back and Harry released her. “Will you be alright?” he asked as he gathered his things to head home.

“Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for everything. Oh, and Harry? Happy Christmas.”

Document created with wvWare/wvWare version 1.2.7

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Chapter Five: Getting Lucky

After the exuberance of Christmas had passed and the kids were back off to school Harry and Hermione were quickly back to work. They didn't talk about what had transpired with Ron, but they had both received numerous apologies from him for his behavior. It had turned out that his girlfriend had broken up with him earlier that day and he was a bit emotionally unsettled.

“It doesn't excuse the way I acted” Ron told Harry when he finally agreed to meet him for a beer. “It wasn't even like I was in love with her... not the way I used to be in love with Hermione anyways. It was lust, pure and simple. And she just used me for my fame and ditched out as soon as things started getting complicated.”

Harry didn't feel sorry for Ron per say, but he did try his best to be understanding. He had seen far too many people die in his life and he knew that time with those you loved was precious. And for all of Ron's faults and occasional bouts of idiocy Ron had also been like a brother to him and for that he did love Ron.

“I have another case for you” Roderick announced one day as Harry and Hermione were back to researching anything to do with finding the mystery killer. “There have been five muggle suicides at a the same casino in Atlantic City New Jersey within the past week.”

“Hmm, maybe I missed something Roderick, but I thought that we were looking into homicides?” Harry responded, sneezing as he opened another dusty tome.

Roderick was unperturbed as usual. “I believe that a cursed object is what caused them to take their lives. None of the victims had any previous indications of suicidal tendencies. The first was a soon-to-be-wed young girl who was at her bachelorette party. Her friends said that once minute she was having the time of her life and the next she was inconsolable, taking all of her life savings out of the bank and throwing it away at the tables. Finally she just stood up, walked to the bathroom, broke a mirror and slit her wrists. Another victim was a man who had just had a child with his wife and worked as a teller at the casino. He just up and quit his job, emptied his bank account and gambled it away. He then rode the elevator to the top of the casino, smashed the window out of a hotel room and jumped to his death.”

“I get it” Harry said. “They suddenly go crazy, spend all their money and kill themselves.”

“They believe that money can buy them happiness” Hermione said, suddenly standing up, a light of knowing in her eyes. “I read about a curse like this a while back while we were on another assignment. It's called the Tanxin Curse, which means “greed” in Mandarin Chinese. Anyone who touches an object that has been cursed in this way will suddenly lose all hope in living. They'll think that only more money can solve this deep sadness, and when they inevitably lose their money on some foolish investment they are inconsolable and they kill themselves.”

“Do you speak Mandarin?” Harry asked, a teasing tone in his voice.

“No, I wish! I used a translation spell” she looked a bit put out, but then her demeanor changed in a flash. “That's it... Chinese...”

“Are you hungry or something? I could go for some Chinese food myself.”

“No! These curses, they originate from many ancient cultures but the majority of them come from the times of the first Chinese dynasties and were translated into Mandarin sometime in the early 13th century. In fact, every curse we've stopped so far was translated from an ancient Chinese dialect. Broderick, do you think it's possible that the original copies, the ones from before the translation, are still out there in the world?”

For the first time Broderick's black eyes revealed a glint of fear. “That should not be possible! When magic began to change and new magic was born, it was decided by magical communities throughout the world that Ancient Magic was becoming too erratic and dangerous, and that anything about it should be locked up here for safekeeping forever.”

“Maybe somebody couldn't bare to part with their collection of curses?” Harry speculated. “Maybe they passed off the translated copies but held onto the originals. For Merlin's sake, why didn't they just burn all the books?”

Hermione gasped as though he had just suggested genocide. “And lose all that history! These spells may be dangerous but they are a part of the evolution of magic, they are a part of who we are...”

“Okay, okay I get it” Harry grumbled.

“Even more importantly though, we maintain and protect these ancient writings in case ancient magic ever did resurface, which is has” Broderick added. “Can you imagine how screwed we'd be if we didn't have any of these resources to counteract the curses?”

Harry was too busy surprised by the fact that Broderick had said “screwed” to say much else, and Hermione was already running off to find more research. He grudgingly followed her, glad to see they had a bit of a lead but not sure how useful it was.

“Even if whoever is doing this is using copies of the ancient Chinese curses we have no way to find them” Harry panted, following her as she half sprinted past row after row of books. “I mean, the books could still be China which would suggest someone of Chinese heritage is responsible, but that doesn't exactly limit the pool down much. Also, this happened what, 600 years ago? The books could have been moved to any part of the world since then.”

“Yes, Harry that is all true” she said, stopping to load books into his arms. “But whoever it was would have to have a high level of mastery of both magic and a of ancient Chinese languages in order to translate and use the originals. That narrows down the scope a bit no?”

“You're brilliant” he grunted as she used her wand to add yet another heavy book onto the stack that was now above his head.

“Actually I'm highly logical, which allows me to look past extraneous detail and perceive clearly that of which others overlook” she said, quoting herself with a smirk.

“Don't make me laugh” he groaned, wobbling precariously back to the table where they had been sitting previously. “What are all these for?”

“We need to determine what dialect each of these were translated from. If we have a list of all the forms of ancient Chinese that this person would need to know in order to use the originals, then we'll have a clearer idea of who they might be.”

“Wait, how do you know whoever is doing this isn't just using a translation spell?”

“Clever thought Harry, but that spell doesn't work on ancient languages. You would know that if you had taken-”

“I will determine which dialects these were translated from and send you an owl when I have it figured out” Roderick announced, interrupting her lecture. Hermione blinked as though she had forgotten he was there. “You two need to get to Atlantic City before anyone else dies.”

*****

“Okay, the one thing they all had in common was that they touched casino chips at some point before they went mad. Well, that and they all presumably touched dollar bills, but let's really hope it isn't a dollar bill we're looking for because it could have easily left the Casino by now and then we'll never... Harry, are you even listening?” Hermione admonished as Harry sat on the edge of his hotel room bed, gaping at her.

“I uh... I mean, you look great!” he blurted out, staring at her. He had just finished tying his tie and straightening his collar when she had knocked on his door and entered the room, all-business. She was wearing a sexy black dress that seemed to hug her figure in all the right ways and he was taken aback by how good she looked. He had found her attractive since he was old enough to notice such things, but right now his breath was taken away. It's been too long since I've gotten laid he thought, forcing his eyes away from her.

“Thanks Harry” she said blushing. “So, what I was saying is that we should be careful touching the chips but we need to blend in around the tables. See if anything is giving off a magic aura.”

“Got it” he nodded, offering her his arm. “Shall we?”

She laughed as he gallantly led her out of the hotel room and down the hallway to the elevators. “I always thought casinos were just a horrible waste of money but there is something a bit fun about this” she admitted. “Maybe it's just the getting dressed up bit.”

“Hmm maybe we should get dressed up and go out more often. You know, when we're not preoccupied chasing down villains.”

“Are you asking me on a date Mr. Potter?” she joked, but her own words made her blush. She felt like a flirty schoolgirl and it was absolutely preposterous. He just smiled and said “maybe”.

On the ground floor the elevator opened to reveal the casino. The floors were smooth and gleamed under the neon lights of the slot machines as crowds of people flocked to and from different machines. She had taken care to study the floor plan and decided to try the blackjack tables first. They circled around trying to fit in and act casual.

“Can I get a drink for the lovely couple?” asked a serving waitress with a kind smile.

Hermione nearly blurted out that they weren't a couple out of habit, but Harry saved the day by speaking up and asking for two vodka sodas. “Since when do you drink vodka soda?” Hermione asked him once the server had gone.

“It just popped into my head” Harry shrugged. “I could hardly ask for a fire whiskey. And besides, we should blend in, if we're not playing and we're not drinking people are going to get annoyed by us loitering.”

“I suppose” she said, hoping they made her drink weak. Once it arrived she realized quite the opposite and nearly gagged at the first sip. Eventually though it started going down more smoothly as they moved around the room. She was trying to casually look around for any odd behavior when Harry stopped walking quite suddenly and pulled her close to him, moving his mouth towards her ear to whisper something. She felt a shiver of excitement run down her spine.

“That man over by the high roller table has been watching us for a while now” he said, his hand resting delicately on her waist. “Laugh like I'm telling you something funny.”

She did as he requested as she looked where he was referring to. The man was hard to miss. He wore a black suit, stood at a towering height and was built like an ox. She tried to make it seem like she had been looking at the casino table behind him before moving her gaze back to Harry's face. “What do you think he wants?”

“Nothing good by the looks of him. I've been worried that someone would eventually notice that we've been swooping in and stopping these curses.”

“So what do we do?”

“We take this opportunity to get some information. We need to lure him to somewhere quiet where we can gain the upper hand. Follow me and don't look back at him. If he thinks we haven't noticed him yet he may be overconfident and slip up.” He put his arm around her in a casual way and drained his drink before they started walking back towards the elevators. She noticed how casual he seemed, even starting a bit of small talk and she tried to relax and follow his lead and avoid the temptation to pull out her wand.

As they neared the elevator she could somehow sense that the thug was on their heels. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as they stepped inside the elevator. “He's going to wait and see what floor we go to and then he'll have the edge on us. Unless he thinks we're distracted and then maybe he'll try to jump the gun...”

The elevator chimed and the doors slowly began to slide closed. Without so much as a warning Harry pushed her up against the wall and pressed his mouth against hers. She barely had time to process the fact that her best friend was kissing her when she felt her lips part allowing him to deepen the kiss. It was fiery, it was electric... and then it was over.

The thug had taken the bait, jumping into the elevator last minute, his wand drawn and pointed at Harry's back. Harry was quicker though, swerving fast and grabbing the man's wrist and forcing it away from them. The door was closed now and the elevator was moving up. Before the thug could realize what was happening Harry decked him square in the face, instantly breaking his nose with a loud crack. He stumbled back and now Hermione had her wand drawn, allowing her to instantly stun him.

As the thug fell to the floor the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened, revealing a very shocked elderly couple on the other side. “Our friend just had a little too much to drink” Harry said with a shy smile. “We're bringing him to his room now, no need to worry.”

“We'll wait for the next elevator” the old woman responded. “You are very good friends for taking care of him.”

“Oh, yes, we're the best of friends!” Harry laughed as the doors slid closed once more.

*****

Hermione had used several binding spells to make sure the ox-sized man would not be able to escape the chair he was in when he regained consciousness. Luckily they hadn't encountered anyone else on their way to their hotel room and were able to use a leviosa spell to move him. It was very fortunate they were able to use magic for the task because Hermione was quite sure he was too heavy for the two of them to carry. She was rather impressed that Harry had managed to deliver as good of a blow as he had to the mammoth.

“Wake him up” Harry said, discarding his suit jacket and rolling up his sleeves. She did as he commanded and the man coughed and wheezed as he adjusted to his broken nose, which was still bleeding profusely. “Do you know who we are?”

The man just stared at him, not speaking. Harry simply stared back for what felt like an impossibly long time but Hermione did not interfere. Interrogating criminals in the field was Harry's specialty. Interrogating them on the stand was hers.

Finally the man tried to spit at Harry but he dodged it easily, and resumed his calm posture, staring intently at the man. “I know you are Harry Potter, though it impresses me little. I also know that she is Hermione Weasley and that impresses me even less.”

“Granger” she absently corrected him for no apparent reason.

“Well then, if you know who we are you should be worried” Harry responded. “We are perfectly capable of booking you a cozy room in Azkaban to spend the rest of your days.”

“Do it then. My master will have me set free within weeks.”

“Is that so? Who is this incredible master you speak so fondly of.”

“You will never know that until it is far too late.”

“Why are you working for him? Why did he send you here?”

“My master sent me here to kill you of course. You've been interfering with our plans.”

“Bang up job you're doing on the whole assassination thing” Harry smirked, gesturing to the man's restraints.

“I misjudged you both, and I will be punished. But you will inevitably die, and I can take great peace in that.”

Harry frowned. “Hermione, grab the vertasium.”

“No!” the man howled, his eyes growing wide. “Your Ministry now forbids the use of vertasium in a trial without ample evidence and a warrant. Your little girlfriend here worked on passing that law herself.”

Harry just smirked once more. “Only aurors are confined by those rules. I don't know how up to date you are on current events, but I've resigned. As has my good friend Ms. Granger. We have special privileges when it comes to laws. Besides, I've always been a rule breaker, haven't I Hermione?”

“Yes, unfortunately this is all true” she said, her heart racing as she went to get the potion she had packed away (along with many other objects of potential use). She couldn't believe they were only moments away from the answers they'd been searching for for months.

“There will no place for your sort of weakness in the future” the man said in a surprisingly calm tone. “You will both be killed, I swear it on my dying breath.”

Dying breath? Hermione thought slowly, confused. When it finally struck her it was too late, as she turned around to stop him she saw that Harry was doing the same, grabbing the man's face to prevent him from biting down. The thug just laughed as his jaws clamped shut and a flow of blood escaped his pursed lips. Harry let him go, an expression of panic in his eyes and he threw himself on top of Hermione, knocking her to the ground as a loud BANG filled the room.

When Harry removed himself from her, all that was left of the ox-like man was a pile of ashes. Breathing heavily Harry helped her to her feet and her ears were still ringing. He was saying something to her, but she couldn't make it out.

“Are you okay?” she finally heard, as though he was yelling to her from under water.

“Yes!” she yelled in reply and she wordlessly used her wand to fix both of their damaged eardrums. The room was a wreck of things being knocked over and an ugly painting on the wall had been ripped off entirely and hurled across the room. There was no fire damage however, which she found peculiar because his body had clearly been burned to ash. “Good thing I had cast a silencing charm on this room as soon as we arrived” she muttered as they both set about repairing the hotel room. “What was that?”

“I've seen it used by criminals before when they hire thugs to do their work. They seal a capsule in their cheek filled with a potion that makes them spontaneously combust. They chew down on it if it looks like they're going to be questioned with no way out. The chemical releases and they go ka-boom. Lucky that one wasn't brewed stronger or the aftershock of it would have ripped us and this room completely apart.”

She shuddered to think how close they had been to death yet again, but she said nothing. As they finished cleaning up Harry disposed of the ashes and the room looked like nothing had ever happened. But something had... a man had just died and they had nearly joined him.

“I need a drink” Harry said suddenly, as though reading her mind.

“I guess I could go for one too” she sighed, trying to regain her composure. He put a comforting arm on her shoulder and she was suddenly reminded of their kiss earlier. It was just a clever guise to make the assassin think we were too distracted to notice him.

“I'm going to go down to the casino and get us a bottle of something. I'll be right back.”

“Actually Harry... could we take that drink in your room? I feel a little weird being in here.”

“Of course” he said, looking sheepish that he hadn't thought of that himself. He let her into his room and disappeared for fifteen minutes before returning with a bottle of Jack Daniels. “It isn't fire whiskey, but I think it'll do” he announced, filling up a cup for each of them. He sat beside her on the bed and they each drank in silence for a while until it was time for a refill.

Hermione drank the occasional glass of wine but she wasn't a big drinker and the alcohol hit her quickly. She felt herself growing warm and relaxing back against the pillows on his bed.

“He had a tattoo on the back of his neck” Harry said suddenly. “It looked like a hand grasping an orb... it might have meant something... maybe it was associated with his master, like the dark mark was on the Death Eaters. I could probably draw it...”

“Good Harry, do that tomorrow and we'll look it up once we get back to the cavern. We still need to find whatever has been leading to the suicides here, but I think that can wait until morning.”

“Enough excitement for one night huh?” he said, and there was something in his tone that made her feel like he was alluding to their short snogging session in the elevator. Normally she would have blushed but her face was already warm from drinking. She shook her head when he offered her more Jack Daniels and he topped his own glass off before sealing the bottle closed.

“I'm not glad that we are dealing with another homicidal maniac, but I am glad that we are working together again” he said after some time had passed. “I've missed it, missed us... we make a good team.”

She suddenly felt a overwhelming sense of happiness at his words. She had always had her doubts about how he felt about her, no matter how many times he praised her brilliance. Part of her would always feel like the pathetic tag-along who had to be saved from a mountain troll because she was crying in the bathroom. “I appreciate that Harry. I've missed it too. I know I can be difficult...”

“What do you mean difficult?”

“You know, nagging and bossiness and all that... oh, and I'm a know-it-all as Ron always reminded me” she meant for it to sound like a joke but somehow the pain it brought back escaped from behind her words.

They were both laying down on the bed now and he shifted himself so he could look into her eyes. “Hermione, I've never thought of you like that. Your `nagging' has saved my life countless times. Your `bossiness' has allowed you to transform and modernize the Magical Law Code and the Ministry itself. And as for being a know-it-all... I've long since come to love that about you.”

Love. The word shifted around her mind in a strange and exhilarating way. And then, before she could rethink it, she moved across that gap between them and kissed him. Not a chaste kiss on the cheek like they had shared 1,000 times before, but a kiss with heat and intensity. A kiss that deepened as soon as their lips touched and felt so right that she moved herself on top of him, deepening it further.

His hands went to her hips as she straddled him and their kisses became desperate and frenzied. Somehow his shirt was off a moment later and she was caressing his biceps, his chest muscles, his shoulders. Her dress was gone a moment later and she couldn't even bother to be self conscious about it.

As she moved her fingers across his bare skin she felt when every little scar was raised from his years of waging battles. She kissed each of these softly, and he did the same. The scars on her forearm from Belletrix Lestrange had long healed, but there were still fine traces of the cruel words that crisscrossed her skin like spider webs. He kissed her gently there.

He flipped her onto her back with one fast move and his strength and aggression further aroused her as she fumbled at his belt. As they met there was only one thought in her mind; how is it possible that he is so good at everything he does?

Document created with wvWare/wvWare version 1.2.7

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Thank-you to those of you who have reviewed. As mentioned before, this is a short story (or a novella of sorts) and so we're actually nearing the end! In this chapter, I have borrowed a line from “Love Actually”.

***********

Chapter Six: An Eventual Ending

When Harry woke up in the morning he didn't need to open his eyes to know that he was alone in the bed. He had a vivid memory of the activities of the night before which awoke another part of his body and made him wish he wasn't alone in his bed.

Grabbing his boxer briefs off the floor where they had been carelessly discarded he checked the clock to see that it was on 6 AM. Where did she sneak off to at such an early hour? he wondered. The bathroom was empty so he proceeded to take a shower, resolving to search for her once he was cleaned up and a bit more awake. When he came out dripping wet and wrapped in a towel she had already returned and was dressed, packed and ready to go.

“Ugh, forgetting something?” he asked upon seeing her, feeling very anxious that something was clearly wrong. “Don't we have a cursed object to find?”

“Already did” she said matter-of-factly. “I used your invisibility cloak to sneak into the vault where they keep the poker chips. At 4:30 AM not many chips are out on the floor, so most of them were all rounded up nicely. I should have thought of it in the first place! Anyways, my hunch was right. It was a poker chip that had been cursed. I was careful not to touch it, and now we're all set to head back to the cavern to diffuse the thing. Also, an owl came from Roderick and he had a list of 20 suspects who can translate various dialects of ancient Chinese, and....”

“That's great!” Harry interrupted. “Is something wrong?”

“Not at all!” she said, her tone falsely bright. “Maybe if we cross reference that tattoo you saw on the assassin's neck...”

“You know that's not what I'm talking about.”

“There's nothing to talk about Harry. We were both consenting adults and it's only natural that we would end up sleeping together at some point. We're single and we spend all of our time together. Hell, we wouldn't have time for a relationship with anyone else even if we wanted to. So we had a few drinks and we had sex, it doesn't need to change anything.”

The words a relationship with anyone else hit him like a kick to the gut and he turned away so she couldn't see his expression. It was all so logical when she laid it out that way, and they were best friends and single, so there was no reason the so-called “friends with benefits” scenario couldn't apply.

“You're right” he said when he had composed himself. He flashed her his best smile. “It doesn't change anything. Let's get back to the cavern.”

*****

It was hard to avoid each other but Harry was quite sure that Hermione was trying her best to refrain from any sort of close contact and prolonged conversations. Since they had returned from the casino they had been working on narrowing their list of suspects and thus had been spending long hours in the cavern.

Every morning when he arrived to work she would already be there, plowing through some massive book or another. She would always have a list of resources for him to find, and when he found all those she would have another list. At the end of the day she would voice how exhausted she was and say she was going to fall asleep as soon as she got home, which prevented him from visiting.

The whole thing was beginning to grind on his nerves but he wasn't sure how to approach the situation. He wasn't sure that there was a protocol for “you shagged your best friend and now she regrets it and can't stand to look at your face”. The sex had been good. No good, didn't cover it. It had been phenomenal, mind blowing, explosive. They had both always been intensely passionate and the jolt of being intimate together had been like electricity mixing with water. We've always been two parts of one whole... the head and the heart like Roderick said.

Clearly she wasn't seeing it that way though, so he kept his mouth clamped up as they went through the daily motions. After a week had passed the silence was finally broken when she loudly exclaimed that she had found something.

“I figured out what that tattoo was referencing” she explained as Harry and Roderick gathered around her. “It was incredibly difficult to find because it's the symbol of a very ancient order. The orb was actually a globe, or the planet Earth to be more specific, and the hand is holding it to represent world dominance. The order was called the Sect of the First Power. They believed that wizards and witches were the first mortals and that muggles evolved separately. They considered muggles to be another species altogether.”

“What about muggle borns?” Harry asked, not liking where this was headed.

“They had no issue with muggle borns. They considered them to be blessed. But they felt that muggles themselves had stolen the world from the magic community and they sought to exterminate them. They sought to `restore the first power' as they put it.”

“So that's what they're doing now” Harry deduced. “But it makes no sense. Don't get me wrong, these little curses are evil and all but they're not exactly decimating the muggle population.”

“I have a theory about that “ she said, biting her lip in a worried fashion. “I think that these curses have just been tests. They are learning to master the curses, that's why they're always different and they're only tried once. That's also why they've been using these curses all over the world; they were hoping that if their little experiments were spread out globally nobody would notice until they were ready for the real attack.”

Harry saw the sense in it but it hurt his head to think about. “So what do we do to stop them?”

“Well, we have narrowed the list down to five suspects. I guess we seek each of them out and question them.”

“We'll have to be discreet about it. If word spreads that we're looking for a wizard or witch who can translate multiple forms of ancient Chinese dialects, then the one we're looking for will probably go deep into hiding. They already know that we're onto their `experiments' with the cursed objects, but they may not realize that we've found out about the Sect of the First Power.”

“Okay, we'll have to devise a plan then” Hermione said, feeling very bone weary. It all seemed like such a burden and for the first time it felt outside of her ability to manage. It felt like the horocruxes once more; riddles and clues and death. “I need to sleep on it. I know we don't have much time, but I doubt I'll much use at this point.”

Harry gave her a cryptic look she couldn't read and just nodded. She bid farewell to Roderick and then took the floo network back to her big, empty house. It had been hard on her and Ron's relationship when the kids were both off at Hogwarts and all that was left was each other's habits and mannerisms to pick at and fight about. The house had resumed an air of peacefulness since Ron had left, but it could also be lonely at times. Especially since Harry hadn't come over in the past week.

What can you expect, you've been doing everything to avoid him she admonished herself. And yet still she felt that he would come anyways, would insist on talking about what happened at the casino, would make her see that it was more than just a one night hook up. Why would he tell me that? That's all it was, a mistake. We're both too old for this nonsense, we should have known better.

She tried not to think about Harry or about work for that matter. She decided a cup of tea and good book in bed would set her straight so she headed into the kitchen. Not a moment after she set the kettle on the stove there was a loud POP from behind her and she jumped.

“For Merlin's sake Harry, you nearly gave me a heart attack. Don't you know it's rude to just apparate into people's houses unexpected?”

He didn't look sorry for scaring her. In fact, he looked rather grim with his arms crossed tightly across his chest, his lips pursed.

“What?” she asked, suddenly concerned. “Did something happen?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, something did happen in case you've already forgotten. We slept together and now you're avoiding me and it's not bloody fair.”

“Avoiding you?” she stammered, suddenly regretting her secret wish that he would confront her about it.

“Don't play games Hermione, we're too old and we've known each other too long. You know it's true.”

“I suppose yes, it's awkward. But I thought we agreed that-”

“I take back whatever agreement we made. We were nearly blown apart at the casino and things are likely to get increasingly dangerous in the next phase of this mission. I can feel that something bad is going to happen and I know you can to. And damnit, I don't want either of to get hurt and not tell you how I feel first.”

She felt her heart pounding hard in her ears, fearful of what he was about to say. She wanted to interrupt him or somehow distract him. If she'd still had the time turner she felt she might even be desperate enough to break all the rules and somehow stop them from sleeping together, stop them from ruining their friendship.

He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, suddenly appearing as though he had forgotten what he wanted to tell her. “You should know that I- that what happened between us- that for me... what I'm trying to say if that I enjoyed it.”

She blushed instantly at his words, suddenly having the surreal realization that this was what many referred to as a booty call. Unable to look at him she was relieved when the kettle began to whistle and she took the opportunity to turn away from him and busy herself making tea. “I'm glad Harry, I enjoyed it too, but I really don't think...”

He had moved so silently across the room that she wasn't expecting it when he grabbed her from behind, forcing her to turn and face him. “That's not what I meant. I've never been with anyone but Ginny and I'm sort of a disaster with this whole romance thing, but what I meant is... oh fuck it...” he stopped talking and pulled her in to kiss him and instantly she felt the spark she had experienced in the elevator and again in the hotel room.

This is a terrible idea she thought as she let him pull her closer and deepen the kiss. This can only end badly... she pushed him away suddenly and he let go easily, a confused look in his eyes. “I don't want my heart broken again” she heard herself saying.

“I won't... I wouldn't...”

“I don't know what you think happened between us Harry, but you'd best forget about it. We've both had our hearts trampled on and we're lonely but hooking up with each other will only complicate things and I really can't deal with that. You are the only stable thing I have in my life right now, and I need it to stay that way.”

“So... it meant nothing to you?” he asked and hurt in his eyes was so evident that it shocked her. As an auror he had gotten very good at hiding his feelings, but now they were pouring out at her and she wanted nothing more than to kiss him again, to reassure him, to make him feel better. As she tried to collect her thoughts his shoulders sagged and he just nodded. “I understand... I as foolish to think...”

“It meant TOO MUCH to me!” she half shouted at him, feeling a wall she had long ago built up inside break down. “I fell in love with you years ago Harry, and despite the many times I tell myself that it was just a crush it wasn't. No matter how much I hid my feelings or tried to deny them, they've been a part of me since first year! And admitting that, it's painful. It's incredibly painful to know that all those years that Ron accused me of loving you more, there was some truth to his words. You and I are a scary thing Harry, something I've been trying to avoid since I first had an inkling that I might be in love with you. And now you've gone and made me say it, and it feels like all these defenses I've built are failing.”

“You're in love with me?” he asked in a quiet voice, surprised.

“I know you thought of me like a sister when we were younger, and obviously that changed at some point, probably out of loneliness more than any actual reason. And I don't blame you for that Harry, but understand that what happened can NEVER happen again. When I woke up in the middle of the night and you were sleeping there, I knew right away that it had been a mistake.”

“I NEVER thought of you like a sister” he said, looking incredulous.

“That's not what Ron said. Ron said you told him...”

“I told him that because I wanted the two of you to be happy together. At some point during the horocrux hunt I realized I had rather strong feelings for you. In fact, I realized I was rather enamored with you. You were brilliant and strong and smart and hell, you're pretty much the only person who has always been there for me. But when Ron left you were so sad all the time and I realized he had your heart, and I know you had his. So I lied to him, and eventually my feelings for you lessened, but don't think for a second that you've been alone in this, or that what happened at the casino was some MISTAKE!”

She was crying suddenly and she didn't know why. When Ron had left them she had been heartbroken, but in a youthful sort of way. She did love Ron, but she hadn't cried herself to sleep every night because she missed him. She had cried because his abandonment confirmed everything she feared about herself; that she wasn't worth being loved.

“I know I probably don't deserve you, I don't think I ever had and now that I botched up my marriage I'm probably the last sort of guy you want in your life...”

“You need to stop thinking that” she admonished, glad to have somewhere else to focus the emotions welling up inside of her. “When you were with Ginny I used to envy the way you two were together. You never seemed to fight and you had things you both liked, like Quidditch and-and”

“And really just Quidditch” he said with a small smirk. “And of course we both loved our kids but the lifestyle she wanted just wasn't one I could give her...”

“No, you could have given it to her Harry. You didn't want to. You couldn't do the 9-5 job thing, and live the picket fence lifestyle with vacations to Aruba while you knew people were out there dying. I get that, I've always gotten that about you. You didn't give Ginny what she wanted, but she also didn't give you what you wanted, whatever that might be.”

“A partner” he said quite simply. “I wanted someone who wouldn't judge me when I had a hard day at work and was upset, someone who would help me remember the good things in life during dark times, someone who would take care of me and not just expect me to take care of them. I wanted you.”

She felt her heart well up but she tried to keep herself in check still. Stay clear headed and logical. All of these emotions of his might just be based on loneliness, and when they fade away it will kill me. “Why would you want me?” she asked. “Ron threw me away without a second thought.”

“Ron regrets what he did every day” Harry said, moving closer to her, his hands on her arms as though touch could communicate sincerity. “He knows that maybe you weren't the best match for each other, but he also realizes most of it was him. He told me about all of it; his jealousy, his feelings of insecurity. He said that when some girl showed him attention he jumped at the chance to feel special because he could never believe that you loved him. And he regrets that now, but you have nothing to regret. You are amazing... to me, you are perfect.”

She kissed him then, all inhibitions gone. Emotions she had suppressed for such a long time overwhelmed her as he wrapped her in his arms.

*****

When he woke up in the morning light was streaming through the thin white curtains of her bedroom. He rolled onto his side and was much relieved to see that she was still there, her body wrapped in the sheets, only her bare shoulders exposed as she inhaled and exhaled in a gentle rhythm.

He moved in closer to her, enjoying the scent of her skin before kissing her gently on the neck, waking her. “We're late to work” he said as she yawned, rolling towards him.

“Well, if we're already late than another fifteen minutes can hardly make a difference” she smiled, sliding her hand first down his bare chest and then lower still.

“I can't argue with that fine logic Ms. Granger.”

*****

When they arrived in the cavern Roderick gave no sign of concern about their tardiness. They spent most of what remained of the morning pinpointing the location of their five suspects.

“We need to seek them all out at once” Harry noted. “If we go to find them one at a time one of them might make a fuss about being interrogated and it'll raise a red flag for one we're looking for.”

“Well that's problematic” Hermione sighed. “There are three of us and five of them.”

“We could use the pendant Roderick used to lure us here” Harry responded, looking at the squat little man now. “Bring each of them here and detain them until we have found the one we're looking for.”

“The pendant only enchants a person if the one using it does not intend them harm. I believe our desire to incarcerate the perpetrator may be construed as willing harm upon them” Roderick said.

“Okay... then we need to call in backup.”

“Nobody can know about the cavern!” Roderick reminded them fiercely.

“Then we won't tell them WHY we need to bring these suspects in, just that they need to be arrested. We'll only call in people we trust on this one. I nominate Ron and Teddy.”

Hermione looked wary at the mention of Ron's name, but for the first time she didn't feel the jolt of pain she normally experienced when thinking about him. “I second your nomination Harry. Both are loyal and field trained. If we tell them not to ask questions they won't. And we can always memory charm them afterwards.”

Roderick looked uncertain about this but eventually agreed. They didn't have much of a choice and he seemed to deduce that. Harry volunteered to go recruit Ron and Teddy and they all made a plan to rendezvous at Hermione's house so that Ron and Teddy would not know any more than they needed to about the cave.

Harry started off by visiting Teddy. He felt this would be the easier recruitment and he was right. He found his godson sipping a mug of coffee over a stack of papers in his office at the Auror's department and he was more than happy to have an excuse to take the day off and do something exciting, albeit potentially dangerous. Nonetheless, he did try to pry Harry with questions before consenting 100%.

“So, this mission has to do with your current assignment, the one you are working on with Hermione?”

“Yes, Hermione is my work partner” he said, realizing it would not hurt to acknowledge that fact at this point.

“And where exactly is it that you work? Nobody ever seems to see you, but you seem to travel a lot...”

“I told you, no questions” Harry warned. “It's for your own good, trust me.”

“Oh, I do trust you godfather, I'm just a curious young man” Teddy joked, standing as he finished his last gulp of coffee. “I just a have one last question... when did you and your `work partner' start shagging?”

Harry's eyes widened, surprised that he was so obvious. “How did you know-”

“I didn't, not for sure. I just suspected there was something between the two of you and now I confirmed it. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone, it's great news really. Now that you're getting laid maybe you'll be less grumpy all the time. I mean, good for you, really! She's rather gorgeous actually, I'll admit I had a little crush on her when I was a teenager...”

“Okay, enough of that” Harry warned in his sternest tone, but he was smiling in spite of himself. “I'll see you soon, and try to keep that damned mouth of yours shut for once.”

“My lips are zipped” Teddy responded with a gesture. “But I am happy for you. I know you loved your wife but I could always tell that you felt something for Hermione and I'm glad it could happen for you. Life is a curious thing huh? Miraculous, but curious.”

“Yes, but I doubt Ron will agree with that exact phrasing” Harry mumbled, and then he set off to find his red headed best friend, wondering what he was in for.

Ron looked to be a foul mood when Harry found him in the conference room trying to fix the coffee machine. He looked to lighten up a bit when he saw Harry. “What brings you here mate? Not going to take the position of Head Auror from me are you? Not that I'd really put up much of a fuss... this job is a lot more stressful than you gave on.”

“I need your help on a mission” is all Harry said, sitting down heavily in one of the chairs at the massive conference table after carefully silencing the room. “I need you to apprehend a suspect in a case I'm working on. I can't tell you why he's being apprehended or what he's done, I just need you to bring him in by yourself. We'll also need unrestricted access to the holding cells with no interruptions. Nobody can know that you're doing this for us or that we're even in the building for that matter.”

“Bloody hell, that's asking a lot Harry!”

“If it helps we do have the okay from the Minister. So, will you do it? I need you not to ask any questions either. Simply follow your mission directive. The suspect may be very dangerous.”

“Of course he would be dangerous” Ron groaned. “And of course I'll do it though, I know I've been a git over the past year but I'm still your friend.”

“I know that Ron” Harry said, feeling a strange tug of guilt in his chest suddenly. “Listen Ron, I should tell you something...”

“What, Hermione is working with you? I've already deduced that much. I'm not a total idiot, contrary to popular opinion. I can deal with seeing her as long as she agrees not to hex me or anything. Not that I wouldn't deserve it...”

“It's not just that. Her and I, we... well, I think you should know that we...”

“You what?” Ron asked, tensing up and suddenly gripping his coffee mug with such ferocity that his knuckles were turning white.

“I'm in love with her Ron. And I think maybe she feels something for me too.”

The recently repaired coffee machine suddenly burst, releasing a cloud of steam whistling up towards the ceiling. “I knew there was always something between you two, I knew that she preferred you. I was what... the bloke she settled for? Yes, that's exactly what I was.”

“It's nothing like that Ron. She married you and became the mother of your children because she loved you. I married Ginny because I loved her. And yes, maybe there were some feeling between Hermione and I but they were deeply buried for a very long time. I know that she was your wife, but you left her and she had a right to be happy.”

“Yes, I know she does. But not with YOU” Ron growled.

“You can choose not to accept this Ron, but it's happening” Harry said finally, standing up and running his hands through his raven hair. “If you can get past it, meet us at your old house in an hour. If not than I'll find someone else to ask. But we could really use your help. And... and I don't want to lose you as a friend, despite it all.”

Ron looked like he wanted to say something but he snapped his mouth closed angrily, looking away as Harry walked off.

*****

They sat around the dining room table, all looking at each other and not speaking. Teddy was staring quite openly at Roderick, as though staring would allow him to deduce some information about the mysterious man. Ron still hadn't shown up and Harry kept shifting uncomfortably in his seat until Hermione grabbed his hand from beneath the table and calmed him.

“Well, it looks like we'll need a fifth” Harry said after fifteen minutes passed. “Any suggestions as to who I can recruit?”

“Wait just a bloody minute” said a voice from the other room. “I'm here, no need to go replacing me so quickly.” Ron gave Hermione a pointed look as he entered the room but she just glared back at him, not so easily phased. “So what is this potentially deadly, top secret mission you have for me?”

Harry took point as he handed each a piece of parchment with a name and location. He also passed out a variety of odd items that were clearly portkeys. “You are each to use this portkey to go to the location written on your paper and identify the person you have been given the name of. Once they are identified, you will apprehend them and activate the portkey a second time, which will bring you and suspect back to the holding cells at the Auror Department. Once they have been secured you will have no further dealings with them. Roderick, Hermione and I will do all the questioning. We simply need you to bring them in and be as fast and quiet about it as possible. Only one of these suspects is guilty, so take care not to hurt them. They may even come quite peacefully, but don't let your guard down.”

“Well, that's all very cryptic but consider it done” Ron sighed, stuffing the piece of parchment with his mission details into his pocket.

“Sync your watches. We all leave at exactly at 23:00 tonight, that should give you enough time to prepare. Good luck, and be careful.” Harry felt the surge of pain he always felt when sending people he cared about into potentially dangerous situations but he tried to mask it.

Once everyone had departed Harry and Hermione were left alone in the house, both sitting quietly submersed in their own thoughts. “You gave me the easiest target” she said after some time had passed.

“So he's a bit old, that doesn't mean he'll be easy to apprehend. Dumbledore was well past 100 before he died and still quite formidable as I'm sure we can both recall.”

“Still, I know you did it intentionally and while I don't need you to protect me I thank you for caring so much anyways.”

“I know you don't need my protection” he said with a soft smile, reaching across the table and taking her hand. “In all reality it's been you who has saved my sorry arse most of the time. But, I can't help but be worried. I have a bad feeling about all this, a sort of gut instinct. You tend to trust these instincts when you've been in the field for as long as I have.”

“Do you think Roderick will be able to hold his own if it comes down to a duel?” she asked, eager to change the subject so her nerves wouldn't be rattled.

“Yes, I somehow sense he's a lot more powerful than he looks” Harry smirked, thinking of the round man with his flat affect. “I think I may try to take a nap. I didn't get as much sleep as I normally do last night.”

“I wonder why?” Hermione responded, smirking herself this time. “I'll join you if that's alright... I doubt I'll be able to sleep but it'd be nice to just lie next to you.”

“I'd like nothing more.”

*****

They left at exactly 23:00, using the portkey to vanish from her house. They were both nervous but hid their anxiety well. It was hardly the first time either of them had done something dangerous, and on the grand scale of things this was far less tormenting than facing Voldemort or battling on the blood soaked grounds of Hogwarts.

Harry arrived in an alleyway just outside of a tenement in Tokyo. It was early morning and out on the streets the hustle and bustle of the workday had already began. He appeared to be alone in the quiet alley but he un-holstered his wand anyways, keeping it tucked beneath the sleeve of his jacket. He casually strolled up to an emergency exit and used a simple “alohomora” to gain access.

His target was a middle aged woman named Abishag Porter who had been born in Britain but had spent most of her life traveling throughout Asia and studying different dialects of ancient languages. Little was known about her, in fact, despite the fact that she was a known expert on ancient linguistics, she had never been published. While there was nothing particularly dangerous sounding about this target, Harry felt that she was their best bet. Someone who went to such lengths to avoid public attention could very well be hiding something.

As he approached the apartment she was listed as living at he paused to see if any wards had been set up. He felt nothing coming off of the property, not even the slightest glimmer of magic. In one swift move he kicked open the door and entered the dark hole of an apartment.

His eyes had to adjust from the bright fluorescents of the hall he had just come from. The apartment was dimly lit by candles and piles upon piles of papers, books, broken crates and other rubbishy looking items filled most of the space. “Abishag Porter?” he called out, trying not to sneeze from all the dust and pushing himself to hear any little rustle that might give away her location amidst all the trash.

“Who is asking?” responded a shrill voice, and he picked up his pace, taking a fast right to find a frizzy haired woman sitting at a candle lit desk with a broken quill in hand. To say she was disheveled would be an understatement; she wore a terribly frayed and faded kimono and her greying hair stuck out in so many directions that it appeared to be attempting to flee her head. She was ghastly pale and her light blue eyes stared out at his sharply from behind a pair of taped together glasses. “Could it be... Harry Potter has come to visit me?”

“How do you know me?” he asked sharply, pointing his wand.

“Everyone knows you!” she shrieked, joy evident in her voice. “Just because I left Britain years ago doesn't mean I stopped following you! I would have gone to Hogwarts with you, if I hadn't been so lazy at magic. I'm practically a squib! Dumbledore told my parents he would find a place for me anyways, if I'd like to go, but I had other interests. The summer before what would have been my first year- our first year- my parents took me to China for the first time and I discovered the love of language. As you can see, it's been my passion ever since!”

She gestured around her at the piles of dusty parchment, broken broom handles, rusted pots and other oddities. He could hardly see what any of it had to do with magic, but he was quite certain she was more than a little insane. As he looked around the room he also noticed a wall covered only in pictures of himself.

“You are my second greatest passion, you should know” she continued, clearly unaware of his sudden discomfort. “I bumped into you once, in Diagon Alley, not that I'd expect you to remember, we were both just teenagers, but I felt a real spark. And now you've come to see me again!”

“Er yes... I have some questions for you if you'll come with me” he muttered, suddenly quite sure she wasn't their evil mastermind, but knowing he had to follow protocol nonetheless.

“I rarely leave the house, especially not when I'm in the middle of a translation, but for you, of course!” she leapt up from the crooked rocking chair in which she had been seated and took his arm without asking. Quite eager to leave, he activated the portkey as she stroked his bicep, gazing up at him lovingly.

Once they were in the auror holding cells he managed to excuse himself from her and lock her up and a quiet room while he waited for the others. Broderick was the first to arrive, a tall, grey haired, gap toothed man at his side who was making quite a fuss.

“I don't understand what jurisdiction you have sir” said the man, a slight lisp trailing along his words.

Much to Harry's surprise Broderick just rolled his eyes and stunned the man. “He was a real pest, quoting all sorts of law at me. Not that I don't know the magical code of law quite well, but I hardly have the time. Nevertheless, I don't think he is the one we're looking for.”

“Neither is the ever lovely Abishag Porter” Harry responded, sarcasm thick in his voice.

“Still, I suppose I should interrogate them both. I'll check to make sure they haven't been under the control of any curses or potions either.”

“Very good” Harry said, barely caring. He was hoping Hermione would be the next to show up. The bad feeling had returned to his gut and he was very nervous once more.

There was a loud POP and a moment later Teddy appeared with an elderly woman who seemed rather grandmotherly and amiable. Ron followed shortly afterwards with a stern looking man who looked rather surprisingly like Kingsley Shacklebolt.

“Harriet? What are these buffoons doing taking us into custody?” the man asked in a voice that matched Kingsley's in pitch. Apparently he recognized the old lady, which wasn't terribly surprising considering there weren't all that many wizards and witches who were internationally renowned experts in ancient linguistics.

“Don't worry yourself Samuel, I'm sure they have good reason for bringing here. It's for our own safety, isn't that right young man?” she gave a kind look to Teddy and then turned her gaze to Harry. “Ah look, Harry Potter is here. He's a good man, he'd never mean us harm. Where do you want us?”

Harry felt slightly ashamed for having the old lady arrested but he led her to a sound proofed holding cell nonetheless. None of these people seem like they could be guilty of radical hate crimes against muggles he thought as he closed the door firmly behind each of them, first ensuring that they had been properly disarmed.

When he returned to the main hall Teddy and Ron were still standing there, looking uncertain about what to do next.

“Thank-you both. Your job here is done” Harry said sternly.

“Is Hermione back yet?” Ron asked, concern clear in his voice.

“No, but I'm sure she'll be along shortly” Harry hoped his tone was assuring, but he didn't feel comfortable lying to them.

“Listen Harry, I know that you need to keep this case confidential and I trust you have your reasons. But this is Hermione we're talking about... we're not bloody leaving until we know she's safe” Teddy spoke quickly before Ron had a chance to voice his clear disagreement.

Hearing what Teddy had to say Ron nodded furiously. “She's the mother of my children, and despite what's happened in the past few years she will always be my best friend” Ron said after a beat.

“Alright, let's go find her” Harry said, relieved that he wouldn't have to wait any longer out of a sense of protocol. “It'll take me a bit to get a portkey activated for her location and then we'll go.”

It didn't take him more than a few minutes to come back with a portkey but for Teddy and Ron it felt like an eternity. Without even letting Roderick know where they were headed, the three of them grabbed the item and were spent spinning to the sleepy wizarding village of Avalon, which was located in Northern England.

The cottage where Hermione's target resided was innocent enough looking from the outside. It was the middle of night so it was very dark, and from the inside there was a bare glow that appeared to emanate from a low burning fire in the hearth. Harry silently gestured for the other two to split up from him and flank the sides of the house, heading towards the back as he approached the front door, wand poised.

I hope this bad feeling is just a fluke he thought to himself as he tested the front door and found it unlocked. I hope I find her inside drinking tea with the old man and laughing about some ancient riddle. He knew that wouldn't be the case though. If Hermione had found the old man she would have done her job and apprehended him, even if she thought he was innocent. Hermione was nothing if not a stickler for protocol.

He opened the door as quietly as possible and scanned the room, looking for any sign of movement in the darkness. The fire was down to embers but his eyes were adjusting quickly and he realized the room was empty. He proceeded to move into the next room when he heard a muffled noise, so slight that it had almost escaped his attention. He paused, straining his ears, and he heard it once more.

It's coming from beneath my feet he realized, squatting down closer to the floor. There must be a basement. He proceeded to search for a door to the downstairs, but the small cottage had few rooms and he couldn't find any stairs. After taking a moment to think he started looking on the floor for a hidden door.

Getting on all fours he ran his hands along a tattered oriental carpet in the front room until he felt the bump of a small hinge hidden beneath it. Quietly rolling the carpet back he found a small square door. With his wand poised he ripped it open rapidly to find a dimly lit chamber concealed beneath with a rickety wooden ladder leading the way down. The fall wasn't far so he jumped, wand pointed and ready for action.

The room was empty except for a single chair in which Hermione was gagged and bound. With a quick flourish of his wand he released her and ran quickly to her side to see if she was okay, kneeling at her side as he touching her face where she had been bruised and inspecting a small cut above her eye.

“She snuck up on me” Hermione said as soon as the gag was free of her mouth. With shaky hands she took his face and turned his gaze away from her injuries and into her eyes. “I'm fine, but we need to find her. As soon as she heard you moving around upstairs she fled.” Hermione gestured to a short set of concrete steps that led to a bulkhead outside.

“She?” Harry sputtered, “I thought your target was an old man?”

“She was using a polyjuice potion” Hermione sighed, standing now and ignoring the rubbery feeling in her legs from her close call. She could tell that Harry still wasn't prepared to relinquish his hold on her so she grabbed his hand and started moving to the exit. “When I arrived I found a crippled old man so I let my guard down for just a moment. And then she stunned me and I fell and banged my head. When I woke up I was bound up down here and she was no longer an old man but a young woman. She told me she has been using polyjuice potion for years now to hide her identity and she's been keeping the old man prisoner and making him assist her with the translations. That's all I got from her though. She was hoping that she would catch you in a trap when you came to get me.”

“Then we should still be wary” Harry frowned. “It's unlikely she just took off if her hope was to capture both of us.”

“Harry- she took my wand” she said, pulling him back just before he could push the bulkhead open.

“Then take this portkey and go back” he said, pulling it from his pocket.

“As if I would leave you here!” she scoffed. “Just- cover for me. I'll stay close behind until an opportunity presents itself.”

He didn't like the plan but it wasn't exactly the time to argue with her. Besides, she had shown great resilience in the past. It was hardly fair to start doubting her now.

They burst from the basement and out into the quiet night air. Pausing he quickly picked up on a scuffle coming from the right side of the cottage. He ran towards the noise, Hermione close on his heels. He found a woman with long black hair dueling with both Ron and Teddy. Although she was caught in the middle she was putting up a more than adequate fight. Catching sight of Harry and Hermione she yelled out some indiscernible curse that filled the area with an eerie purple light. Harry quickly put a shield up around himself and Hermione, but the curse hit both Teddy and Ron, sending them sprawling to the ground.

She then focused her attention on Harry, sending a furious series of curses at both him and Hermione, causing his attention to divide and his work to double. They battled back and forth, moving across the dark yard, their spells lighting up the trees with brilliant colors. Harry was so fixated on his target that he did not notice as Hermione slipped away from him, sprinting across the grass to where Ron and Teddy were lying. Luckily, the attacker did not seem to notice either.

Hermione felt her heart stop as she looked at the bodies on the ground. Neither Ron nor Teddy were moving, both of them staring unseeing into the night sky. She wrestled Ron's wand from his grip, turning towards the ongoing duel and setting her aim to take out the suspect. Just as she was about to get a shot Harry charged forward, coming between Hermione and the black haired woman.

Hermione couldn't get a clear shot as Harry deftly dodged a curse, hurled himself at the woman, and then both of them promptly disappeared.

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