Coming Into His Own

Chapter 3: Mr. Putman's Newest Worker

Harry leaned against the glass wall and lowered his head, as he tried his best to hide the discomfort that he knew was showing on his face. And just then, Ginny's lips made contact with the side of his face, as she whispered some incoherent word into his ear.

He hated it when she did this. She should have known better, he mused; he had made it clear to her he didn't welcome such physical contact. But she did it anyways. Perhaps it was to impress the other co-workers, who were at the daycare center to drop off their children, he thought. Regardless of her reason, Harry found himself trying to hide from the stares of the women standing across from him as Ginny continued to kiss his cheek.

Mrs. Delaney leaned over and whispered something into the ear of the woman standing next to her. They then pulled apart and stared at the couple, with pleased smiles on their faces. "Did you two arrive together?" asked Mrs. Delaney.

Harry's heart fluttered the moment the question escaped the woman's lips. He immediately grabbed Ginny's hand, in attempts to keep her from speaking. But the young woman was beside herself - with what he guessed was excitement from having spent the night at his flat - and began to talk before he could think of another way of keeping her quiet.

"Yes," Ginny said with as much zeal as she could muster. "We came in together."

Harry squeezed his eyes shut. Although her statement sounded innocent enough, as it didn't convey anything more than the two of them showing up to work at the same time, he knew it implied much more intimate details about their life. That they would 'come in together' implied that she must have stayed at his flat. And Harry knew that that is what the two women guessed had happened the night before because they both looked at one another again; but this time, with raised eyebrows on their heavily made up faces.

Ginny noticed the women's expressions. A smug smile now crept onto her lips. She glanced up at Harry for approval for what she had done. She hoped he would be proud of her decision to share that little tidbit about their personal life with others. But the stare that greeted her when her gaze met his was not one of happiness. She continued to stare at his furrowed brows and at the tinge of pink that was developing on the apples of his cheeks. And with that, Harry immediately let go of her hand and brought his arms to his chest.

"We'll let you two youngsters get on with your morning," said Mrs. Delaney. She and her friend continued to whisper to one another as they made their way down the hall.

Harry huffed loudly; he knew that within minutes, news of their night would be spread throughout the workplace. The environment at the Ministry was much like those of any other gossipy business. Being shut in together for eight hours of their day, it was hard for the workers to not become curious about one another's lives. And the lively and diverse characters in that building provided drama that rivaled the trashiest of soap operas.

Ginny could not take her eyes from the young man in front of her, nor could she understand his attitude. She assumed his tenderness from the night before would continue onto that day, but she was wrong. She should have realized things would not be like she had hoped from his behavior that morning when they were getting dressed. Yes, he had made her breakfast, which she thought was a loving gesture, but he had spend the rest of his time barricaded in the bathroom as he got dressed and had only mumbled a few words to her before they headed off to work.

But she always attributed this aloofness to him not being a morning person and needing time to awaken his senses. However, hours later, he was still being a bit distant with her. Nevertheless, she grabbed his hand and looked up at him with a cheery grin on her face. "We're still having lunch today, right?"

Harry didn't answer her immediately and spent several moments rocking back and forth on his feet. He then brought his hand to his neck. "I don't know," he said slowly. "I might have a lot of projects to work on. And plus, we've probably gotten our new raid list today."

"I could just stop by to see if you're busy. And if you are, we can reschedule."

He initially wanted to tell her he didn't want company while he lunched, but he simply nodded. "Yeah, that would be fine."

There was then a great silence between them, as they both waited for the other to make the first move; Ginny waited for Harry to give her some signal that he wanted her to kiss him, while Harry merely stood around because he thought it would be rude of him to immediately walk away. But after several minutes of hesitation, Harry took the initiative and spoke first.

"I better get going," he said in whispered tone. He then proceeded to move several feet away from her, thus bashing her hopes of a goodbye kiss. He wanted desperately to say something tender to her or make a gentle gesture like taking her hand in his, but all he could do was rub his neck in a fit of nervousness. "I'll probably see you later on," he uttered, before he began his trek to his office.

***********************

Harry lowered his head as his gaze stayed fixed on what was once his clean and tidy office. The amount of paperwork that had gathered on the surface of his desk was insurmountable, considering he was only out on holiday for a week.

Aside from the pile of documents on his desk, his office was small and uncluttered. In the corner was a tall plant, which had miraculously stayed alive, despite his penchant to forget to water it. Nearby was a large box filled with plaques and photos he had never managed to hang on the wall; he guessed it was his tendency to feel that the rug would be pulled from underneath him at any given moment that prevented him from making himself at home at the agency.

He watched as a long piece of rolled up parchment with a red ribbon around it tumbled from atop the mountain of other "urgent requests" and fell onto the floor. He leaned over and unrolled the parchment. And as he had expected, it was a list of homes that were to be raided within the next couple of days. He took a deep breath as he quickly glanced down the list of twenty households that were under investigation; he knew his day would not end until the wee hours of the morning.

But of all the addresses listed on the parchment, the one that caught his attention was of 511 Norland Park, the new home of Draco Malfoy. It was long expected that the Ministry would pay the young man a visit, ever since he purchased the property several months earlier.

Harry placed the large box that was on his seat on the floor and sat behind his desk. The prospect of interrogating Draco didn't fill him with joy as he had expected. Years ago at Hogwarts, he would have smile at the ideal; but now he felt no emotion over his task. Well, he did feel something. Although he hated to admit it, a small tinge of guilt lingered within him and suddenly made its way to the surface. Even though Draco's family had supported and financially aided the Dark Lord and many of his supporters, Harry now looked on the young man as a victim of association.

Harry shook his head at the thought that he was sympathizing with a Malfoy. He let the parchment fall out of his hands and onto the desk. He whirled around in his seat and faced the large windows that overlooked London.

He sat back in his chair with his arms behind his head and watched the people down below. The sun was now high in the sky and the warm rays glided along his face. He closed his eyes and sunk down into the cushions of his seat and allowed himself a moment of peace before his day began.

After several minutes of relaxation, he heard a knock on his door. He remained quiet; he hoped the person at the other end, whom he assumed was the young woman he had just left downstairs, would think he wasn't in and leave. She had developed a habit of sporadically coming into his office throughout the day, and he wanted to put a stop to that practice. Her presence, although well meaning as she always brought him coffee or pastries, always rattled his nerves.

Harry held his breath for a moment as he listened for any signs of footsteps walking away from his door. But he soon heard his door creak open. He turned his head and found himself looking up at Authur Weasley.

"I wasn't disturbing you, was I?" asked Mr. Weasley, as he strolled into the office with his hand in his pockets.

Harry turned his seat around and glanced up at the man. The dark circles around his eyes indicated that had been in the office since the wee hours of the morning, as he was accustomed to doing on many occasions; no matter how early Harry arrived to work, he could always hear Authur busily rustling about in his office.

Authur lifted his hand to his face and rubbed his chin. "I've been going through some of the paperwork and our records. I can't believe things can get in such disarray in a short period of time."

His fingers fluttered to the bridge of his nose and he gave it a pinch. "I need you to draft a report from our interview with Mr. X. We need to justify another raid on the Wurther house." He stopped talking and yawned loudly. "I'm sorry about that Harry. I'm just so tired--oh, I didn't even ask about you. How are you doing?"

Harry managed a small smile. "I'm fine."

"That's good." Authur quickly ran his fingers through his tousled hair. "And is Ginny here already?"

Harry clasped his hands together on his desk and lowered his head. "Yeah, she's here." He didn't want to say anymore, as that information would induce the same embarrassment within him that he faced moments earlier in the daycare center.

But seeing the expression on the young man's face, Authur did not ask him any more questions. "Well, get some rest or a cup of tea before you start on the report. And of course, you know that later today we're going to Malfoy's house." A grin curled onto the corner of his lips, as he stared out into the sunlight. He placed his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on his heels. "I've been looking forward to this day for a long time now," he muttered, as his voice suddenly lost its grogginess.

Authur made his way to the door once more and stood in the entryway. "Just give me a holler if anything comes up." He then left the young man in peace, as he made his way back to his office across the hall.

Mr. Weasley's new and grand office was supposed to be Harry's, as the Ministry wanted to reward him for choosing to work with them. But the young man would not accept such an office, when his supervisor has such a shabby one. So, he did what he thought was best and switched offices with Authur. The other man was reluctant at first to accept such a gift, but eventually relented.

In the end, Harry thought the move was a good one, as he had such few possessions to fit into a large room. Plus, he would not have heard the last of it from his coworkers if he decided to take residence in the corner office; many on his floor were already peeved at the special attention he often received from the Ministry bigwigs.

Harry noticed that Authur was not as chipper as most mornings, when he would spend at least several minutes in his office, telling him stories. But the workload had been heavier than usual those past couple of months and had affected everyone. The increased raids were the result of many rumors and surveillances that indicated the emergence of a new crop of Death Eaters. These new lawbreakers, who used the attack in June as their inspiration, were said to be gearing up for a war.

Although their department never confiscated anything overly dangerous during their raids and there was no clear evidence of the new Death Eaters conducting meetings, the Ministry was still taking extra measures to ensure that another battle would not take place.

After a few minutes of closing his eyes and even resting his head on the table, Harry finally plunged into the large pile of papers before him and tried his best to organize his assignments. When all the paperwork was sorted into neat piles that he placed on the floor, he began his report.

He opened the file that contained his interview of Mr. X. The Knockturn Alley shopkeeper had been a reliable source to him and Authur, and was always able to provide enough information to warrant several raids. The elderly man, whose identity was obviously concealed for his own protection, associated with many former Voldemort sympathizers and was always more than eager to snitch on those who might be once more dabbling in the Dark Arts - for a fee, of course.

His head remained lowered as he scribbled down his report. So immersed was he in what he was doing that he didn't register a knock on his door. His eyes stayed fixed on the parchment in front of him, as he watched his quill correct some of the grammatical errors he had made.

He smiled to himself, as he thought that correcting his essays was usually Hermione's duty while they were still in school. He took his eyes off the quill and gazed down at his hands, as memories of her flooded into his mind. The sound of her voice as she scolded him for his poor writing style used to annoy him when he was young and; but now, he would give anything to hear it once more. The smile on his face grew wider as his memories became more focused.

Thus it was surprising to him when he glanced up and saw Ginny standing before him, her lips also curled into in grin as she gazed down at him. "What were you thinking about?" she asked.

Harry sat back in his chair and forced a more serious look onto his face. "Nothing in particular." But his answer apparently did not satisfy her curiosity, as she continued to stare at him. He then contemplated saying he was pondering their night together and how nice it was to have her at his home - he knew this was what she was hoping he would say - but kept quiet; he didn't want to encourage the amorous behavior within her.

She finally gave up looking at him and said, "Are you ready for lunch?"

Harry sat up straight in his chair, and quickly glanced down at his watch; he had been so preoccupied with what he was doing that he never noticed it was well past one in the afternoon.

"I stopped by your office an hour ago," she continued, "but you seemed really busy."

Harry seemed almost relieved that he did not notice her presence at his door then, as she certainly would have caused him to lose his concentration and thus unable to finish his report.

Ginny met his gaze for a moment, before approaching his desk and sitting on the edge. "I asked my father if he wanted to go with us, but he said he had too much work to do."

Harry furrowed his brows when he noticed she seemed to have a smile on her face when she uttered the statement; she was clearly not upset they would be alone together during lunch. Harry, of course, liked having Authur accompany them to various restaurants, as his presence always seemed to buffer the tension between him and Ginny. She never did try to hold his hand as much, or bombard him with endless questions about the state of their relationship when her father was present.

"Are you ready to go now?" she asked.

After some awkward silence and having to endure her pleading glances, Harry reluctantly got up from his warm seat and walked out into the hall with her.

"Ginny," said Authur, as he leaned over in his chair so he could look at his daughter. "Do you mind bringing me back some food from the restaurant? I don't think I'll be able to leave this office until later today."

While Ginny wandered into her father's office, Harry stayed in the hall and leaned against the wall. He was about to close his eyes when he heard the loud and gregarious voice of Mr. Putman, the new director of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. A born show off, the man was known to pay others unannounced visits in order to tell them of some agreement his group of eggheads had been able to arrange with another country's agency. His group was currently negotiating a deal with France to allow British Aurors to enter the country in search of criminals.

Harry quickly looked towards his office; the door was still open. He could easily make a fast getaway, if he so wanted. But he found himself unable to budge from where he was standing. Authur Weasley closed the door to his office with his foot when he heard Mr. Putman's voice.

"Oh Harry, my lad," said Mr. Putman as he made his way towards the young man, "I want you to meet my newest employee." He reached over and grabbed Harry's arm, half dragging him down the hall with him. "I don't know if the two of you have already met. There could be that chance, since she also attended Hogwarts."

He looked in either direction with some confusion on is face when he found that his newest protégé was nowhere to be found. "Where did she go off to? I guess she's still talking with Mrs. Wes--Oh Justin, did you meet my new hire?"

Mr. Fitch-Fletchley was making his usual rounds delivering mail and just happened to push his cart down the wrong hall. "Yes, Mr. Putman. I met her earlier today and we informed you that we had gone to school together, remember?"

"Yes, yes. You are clearly right my dear lad." He stopped fidgeting long enough to reach into his pocket and pull out his handkerchief. then proceeded to wipe his brow.

The man often had droplets of sweat dripping down the side of his face. It was probably due to the fact that he was often doing two or three things at a time, and often moved around the office like a social butterfly. But the chubby man stopped wiping himself for a moment and stared at the overflowing cart that Justin was struggling to take under control. "You seem to have a lot there. Will you be able to manage all of it?"

"Yes, but thanks for--"

"That's good." Mr. Putman became bored with the plights of the young man before him and darted his attention to Ginny, who was in the midst of exiting her father's office. "Ms. Weasley! I haven't seen you in ages." He rushed past Harry and cornered the young girl before she could escape.

Ginny moved her head to the side and glanced over at Harry for some support; but he could do nothing else but stare at her and shrug his shoulders. Authur once again escaped the man's questioning by shutting his door.

"It's good to see that I really matter at this agency," Justin muttered under his breath.

Harry reached down and helped the frustrated man with some of the boxes that had fallen on the floor. He was about to place a green parcel back into the metal cart, when he heard a young woman laughing. He paused just as he was about to hold out the package to Justin; the melodic tone of the laughter was so familiar and prevented him from concentrating on anything else.

"Harry," said Justin. "I think there's some room for that box over there." He cleared some space in the full cart for the fragile box Harry held in his hand.

Harry would have looked at the other man, but the young woman coming around the corner caught his attention. He drew back slightly when she was finally standing in front of him. Soon the box was of little importance and slipped from his hand; but Harry never noticed.

Hermione was still laughing from the joke Mrs. Westbrook had told her a few moments earlier, and Harry drank in the sight of the bright smile on her face; it had been years since he'd seen her so carefree and not with signs of worry etched into her forehead. Her face had changed slightly, he mused, as her cheekbones were more pronounced than they had been in school. She wore the deep red robes that Mr. Putman now required of all his staff; her legs were just visible from the slit in front.

He stood up straight, with his eyes wide and mouth opened as he fixed his gaze on her. She stared back at him with equal intensity, but her eyes did not bear the look of surprise that was clearly evident in his gaze.

"Oh there you are my dear," said Mr. Putman. He trotted back to Harry and placed a heavy arm around the young man's shoulders, abruptly jolting him out of his trance. "Harry, I would like for you to meet Hermione Granger."

The old man then busily glanced from Hermione to Harry with slight disappointment, as neither one of them made an attempt to shake the other's hand. The jovial expression that gleamed from the man's eyes soon disappeared; he so hated when people did not share his enthusiasm.

"They already know one another," said Justin. He gingerly picked up the box that lay on the floor, which now contained the broken ceramic garden gnome that Ms. Davies had ordered from the Newport Witch catalog and put it back in the cart. "They were friends in school. You surely remember reading about the trio of Potter, Granger and Weasley in the Dailey Prophet warding off You-Know-Who."

"Oh yes. Nearly slipped my mind."

Just then, Hermione pushed her hair from her face and extended her hand to Harry. "It's nice to see you again."

Her voice seemed pleasant enough to those that did not know her well, but Harry clearly detected that her cheerfulness was forced. He allowed her to take his hand and hold it for a moment. The caress was like he had always remembered - during their more pleasant encounters, of course. It seemed as though all of his senses came to life just then, and he was then able to clearly recall the feel of every part of her body, the tone of her voice while enraptured and the sight of her face during more passionate interludes. And just as the sensations grew more intense within him, he quickly let go of Hermione's hand, almost pushing it away.

Hermione brought her hand back to her side and directed her eyes to the floor. Then began the pregnant silence between them. Of course, no one else witnessed this tense interaction, as Mr. Putman was busy trying to perform a spell on Ms. Davies' broken parcel. Small groans could be heard from the gnome inside, as his parts were slowly placed back together. The gnome then began to move frantically around the box, mumbling curses to whomever dropped him.

Justin lightly tapped Hermione on the hand and nodded towards Harry as he continued down the hall - probably to face questioning from Ms. Davies as to why her gnome was in such poor spirits. Mr. Putman was long gone by now, as he had already found someone else to talk to.

Harry and Hermione continued to stare at one another; actually, he stared, while she tried hard to hide her discomfort. Her head remained lowered for a moment, as she fumbled with her robes, undoing the buttons before fastening them once more - anything to keep from looking at him, he thought. But she eventually glanced up at him, and took a step backwards in the process.

It was easy to see why she would move away, as Harry's stare had now turned more intense. But Harry could not help the glare that was now in his eyes, as he was suddenly reminded of the events that had caused their breakup. But it was not anger that loomed from his gaze, but mere frustration. However, he glanced away when he realized he was making the same expression that Ron always greeted him with. He looked down at his hands, as he told himself he would not play the victim and try to instill guilt within Hermione, like Ron always tried to do with him.

"How have you been doing?" Hermione tentatively asked.

Harry glanced up at her and gave her a hard look. It soon became clear from the expression on her face that she regretted asking him such a question. He guessed she did not mean to inquire about how he had been handling their breakup during those years, and was making idle chitchat to break the silence. He moved his mouth to answer her, but found it hard to talk. Deep down he feared his nervousness would become evident in his voice. After a moment, he finally muttered, "Fine thanks."

They continued to glance at one another, until Ginny interrupted their quietude. She raced by Harry and greeted Hermione with a hug. "Oh my God," she said, "I thought I wouldn't see you again. I had my hopes up, until mum told me she saw you in Diagon Alley."

Harry too had been pondering whether he and his estranged friend would meet once more. He had woken up several times during the night with those thoughts. He imagined how he would react and what he would say when he saw her again; he had obviously never imagined he would be so quiet like he was at that moment.

"I had no idea you would be working here," continued Ginny. "Percy never mentioned anything to us about it."

A sly smile crept onto Hermione's face. "It was my idea to keep things quiet. And since Mr. Putman likes the element of surprise, he went along with it."

Ginny grabbed hold of Hermione's arm and pinched her skin. "Why didn't you even keep in touch while you were away?"

Harry wondered the same thing. He knew Hermione wasn't aware of his new home in Chelsea, but she certainly could have sent him an owl through the Ministry. He never expected to receive a heartfelt letter from her - actually, deep down he did - but merely a note to let him know what she was doing and of her whereabouts.

"I was really busy with my work," Hermione responded matter-of-factly. "I meant to communicate with all of you," her eyes flickered to Harry, before settling back on Ginny, "but I really had to establish myself at the agency first. And that meant working long hours."

Ginny's fingers crept down towards Hermione's hand and gave it a squeeze. "It's all right. I'm not really angry." She paused for a moment and closed her eyes as she breathed heavily. "Now tell me about Paris," she said in a wispy voice. "Is it as wonderful as I've always imagined it to be?"

"It's beautiful. The people are so lively. I know everyone thinks they're rude and everything...well some of them are. But that's because they're such a proud people. But once they feel that you're making an effort to learn their language, they're pretty tolerant. No one really gave me any strife when I mispronounced just about every other word."

With her eyes still closed, Ginny said, "Tell me about the shops and the food. I want to hear everything about the city."

Harry tuned out the women's chatter as Hermione began to give her perspective of French people and culture. That city had been somewhat of a sensitive subject for him. Ginny had made it clear during the beginning of their association that she wanted to honeymoon in that city with her future husband. Harry cringed slightly when he remembered the expression on Ginny's face and the glimmer in her eyes when she told him this wish; the smile on her lips always indicated that he would be that 'future husband' who would take her to this magical city.

"How have you been doing?" Hermione asked.

This must have been the question Ginny had been longing to hear, as her face immediately lit up. "I've been great," she said. "I've just been trying to save enough money to get a small flat somewhere. It's pathetic to think that I still have to live with my parents at my age."

"Ssh," whispered Harry as he brought his finger to his lips. "Don't say that too loudly. Justin might still be on this floor."

Ginny glanced from right to left for any sight of the young man, before she continued talking. "But hopefully, I won't have to worry about getting my own place." She then took Harry's hand in hers and glanced up at him in the same manner that never ceased to make him uncomfortable, especially when there were others around.

Hermione's gaze flittered from Ginny to Harry as she digested the scene before her. Her face tensed slightly when Ginny placed her arm around Harry's waist. Her eyes then remained on Harry for some time, observing every nuance of emotion that flickered onto his face.

Although Harry kept his eyes focused on the nearby window, he felt the power of Hermione's eyes on him for what seemed like an eternity. He turned her way and observed how her head was now lowered.

He wished he could explain to Hermione, and to others at the agency, that he and Ginny were not a couple. But he did none of this and stayed still as the young woman beside him hooked her fingers around his once more.

But finally, Ginny stopped looking up at Harry and faced Hermione. "We're going out to lunch. Do you want to go with us?"

"No thank you. I don't want to be a third wheel." Her voice sounded almost defeated and she kept her head lowered as she spoke. But she eventually glanced up at the couple with a calm look on her face. Seeing that Ginny was not going to take no for an answer, she quickly added, "I have a lot to do upstairs. It's my first day here, and there's still a lot for me to learn about my position."

Harry kept his hands in his pocket and remained quiet. There was definitely some relief on his part that she would not be joining them; but at the same time, an immense desire to be close to her had now exploded within him. But he made certain to keep his facial expressions from showing this new growing interest in her. As he and Ginny were about to make their way downstairs, he took a moment to let his eyes sweep up and down Hermione's body one last time while Ginny was preoccupied with finding her wallet. He then allowed Ginny to grab him by the arm and lead him away.

Hermione remained in the middle of the hall and watched them leave. After they were out of sight, she retreated into a nearby corridor and leaned against the wall. Her heart pounded as she rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes. It had taken all of her strength to keep herself composed during that time.

She had been preparing herself for that inevitable moment for the past two months. And although she was able to conceal the emotions that were running rampant within her at the sight of him, it scared her to think that she would have to keep up the act for months to come.

She opened her mouth as she slowly breathed in and out; but nothing could hold back the well of emotions that were fighting their way to the surface. And just then, a hot tear trickled down her cheek and landed on the corner of her mouth.