Fury

Fury

Chapter Twenty

First Day

Harry Potter, savior of the Wizarding World, the Boy-Who-Lived, wiped snot off of his sleeve and made a face at his little son, who chose that very moment to make an ominous burp. Harry's face changed as well, into something akin to panic, and his voice was nearly an octave higher than normal as he called, "Ginny!"

Al burped again, and then, as predicted, proceeded to spew the entire contents of his stomach onto his father's last semi-clean work robe. Today was the absolute last day that he needed this. "Ginny!" he called again, a note of panic in his voice as Al began to hiccup and cry.

His wife rushed to the door, holding a restless James who was, somehow, wearing one shoe and sock, but not the other. James pushed against Ginny's chest, trying to get down, but she wouldn't let him go; she didn't even seem to be paying attention. "What, Harry?" she asked, her voice full of exasperation.

Harry held out Al, who was still crying. "He threw up on my last set of clean robes."

Ginny raised a brow, still struggling with James. "And what would you like me to do about it, Harry?" There was a dangerous edge to her voice, one he recognized, but he couldn't seem to stop himself.

"Can you throw them in the wash?" The second the words were out, he hurried to add, "I'll get James ready..."

She thrust the toddler at him, and now he had to juggle Al in one arm and James in the other. She held out her hand, a smirk on her face. "Robes?"

He stared at her helplessly, and she burst into giggles. Al, recognizing them, whined for her, holding out his chubby arms, while James grabbed Harry's glasses and immediately put them in his mouth.

"James!"

Harry tried to get his glasses from his son, but couldn't manage with both boys. Ginny took pity on his, took his glasses out of James' mouth, and pulled Al into her arms. "Give me your robes, Harry. I'll take care of them. Jamie's other shoe is somewhere under the bed. I don't know where he put the other sock."

Harry closed his eyes for a second. "Right."

Five minutes later, a dressed and now screaming James was crawling over Harry's head, trying to get at the dog, who was barking excitedly. Too excitedly.

"Snuffles, no!"

But it was far too late. The dog, over-stimulated, hunched on the rug in the middle of the kitchen and proceeded to do what they'd been trying to train him not to. Finished, the black dog ran over the carpet and jumped on Harry, trying to get to his favorite playmate.

Ginny walked in just in time to see Harry swat Snuffles down, wet paw prints on his formerly clean white shirt. He glanced up at her, and she nearly slid down the wall laughing. He barked a laugh of his own, threw his arms in the air, and walked James to the playpen in the corner of the kitchen. He lifted the dog into the pen as well. Ginny couldn't help giggling as she put Al in his own pen; he was too little to play with the dog. "Why don't you call the office and tell them you'll be late?" she asked, wiping a tear from her eye.

Harry gave her a look that told her what he thought of that. "And be the laughingstock of the department on my first day?"

She handed Al his block set. "It's hardly your first day, love."

He grunted, pulling off his tie and then beginning to unbutton his shirt. "You know very well what I mean."

She grinned, sidling up to him. "Of course."

She ran her hands up his chest under the muddy shirt. "You should probably throw this in the wash, too."

Harry swallowed. "Yeah. Probably." Suddenly the shrieks of the kids were no longer as important. Neither was being late.

She raised an eyebrow. "And you should wait for your robes to come out of the laundry."

He nodded. "Uh huh."

She pressed closer, putting her mouth on his neck. "And..."

"Bloody hell, Gin!"

They leapt apart quickly. Ron's head hovered in the fireplace, a looked of shocked disgust on his face. "That's my baby sister, mate!"

"And my wife, tosser!" Harry growled, pulling his shirt over his head and throwing it towards the laundry room. "What do you need this early, Ron?"

Ginny, still blushing and flustered, added, "And do you want something to eat? I think I've got toast ready, if you want."

Ron's grin widened. "Marmalade too, if you've got it, Gin. I thought you'd be ready to go by now," he said, looking at Harry as he searched through the laundry for a clean shirt. "First day and all."

Ginny giggled behind him, slathering marmalade on a large, nearly burnt piece of toast. "Harry thought he'd help me out this morning."

Ron shook his head. "Why'd you go and do something like that, mate?" Harry didn't answer, just glared at his best friend and walked out of the room. Ron looked at his sister. "What happened?"

Ginny speared the fork on a toasting stick and put it in the fire. Ron took a bit, moaning in delight. "Al threw up on his last set of clean robes, and then James tried to eat his glasses. Oh, and Snuffles isn't quite house-trained yet. He ran through the mess and jumped on Harry."

Ron chocked on the bite of toast. "Always good for a laugh, our Harry."

Harry walked back into the room, pulling his shirt closed and working on the buttons. "Was there something you wanted, or are you just here to eat us out of house and home?"

Ron shook his head, swallowed, and said, "No. Just wanted to remind you about that thing that's happening today. The timetable's been updated; they should arrive around four."

Harry frowned. "Isn't that a bit earlier than we were expecting?"

Ron took another bite. "Yeah. Bit eager, aren't they? Anyway, boss wants us in quick you can because we're to be debriefed. Though it looks like Ginny got the message early, too."

Both Harry and Ginny blushed. Harry thrust the remainder of the toast in Ron's mouth and growled. "I'll see you there in ten minutes."

Ron grinned. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, mate. And remember: she's my sister. If you get her in trouble, I'll have to take you down."

Harry shoved his head back into the flames. "Like to see you try. See you, mate. Say hi to Hermione and Rose for me."

Ron mock-saluted him. "Aye, aye, boss."

The flames puffed green for a second, and Ron was gone. Ginny came into the room and handed him his still-steaming robes. "Here you go, love." She kissed his cheek quickly. "What was Ron talking about? Who's coming?"

Harry shrugged the robes on, wincing at the heat. "Can't say. Top secret thing, and all that." He took a deep breath, then kissed each of the boys on the head, barely making James as the dog decided he wanted to join in. Then he gave Ginny a kiss that made her blush brilliant red, and whispered something to her. She giggled.

He strode over to the door, pulling out his wand. "Bye boys!"

James popped up over the side of the pen. "Bye, Daddy!" Al just cooed.

Ginny waved her fingers at him. "Be safe. We'll celebrate tonight." She winked.

Harry grinned at her. "Be home quick as I can!"

And then he Apparated away.

~*~

Harry arrived at his office just as the clock struck 8:30. Ron was sitting in one of his surprisingly comfortable wooden chairs, his long legs resting on the edge of the desk. His robes were slightly wrinkled, and he was blushing madly.

Harry grinned. "Eventful morning, eh?" he asked, sitting in the chair behind his massive desk, and making a mental note to requisition a new one.

Ron shrugged. "Not as much as yours, I gather, but still. You ready for this?"

Harry frowned. "For what? The big chair? I've been ready since the moment they told me about this four months ago. Are you ready?"

Ron pulled his legs off of the desk. "For what?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "For me to be the boss, of course. We've been partners for what, five years?"

"Longer than that, mate, to be honest. And you've kind of always been the boss." Ron sat forward, grinning broadly. "Besides, as my best mate, you've got to show me a bit of favoritism. That's part of the job."

Harry reached into one of the drawers and pulled out a quill, neatly engraved with the words, 'Harry Potter, Head of Auror Department'. He handed it to Ron. "Well then. For your first assignment, I need all of the paperwork for the special event happening this afternoon. And I'll need it at least an hour before they arrive. Procedure, you know."

Ron stared at him, mouth hanging open and quill held loosely in his fingers. "You're serious?"

Harry leaned back, putting his arms behind his head. "We can't all have the glamorous jobs, can we, mate?"

~*~

For the first day as the boss, this wasn't so bad, Harry thought later as he signed off on another round of paperwork. Sure, there was a lot of reading, and so far not a lot of action, but it was what he had always wanted. And true, there wasn't Ron sitting across from him, like he'd always dreamed, but even being the Savior of the Wizarding World didn't get you everything. He'd already sent out two teams of Aurors to track down some wrongdoing near the border of Wales, and then another to northern England to see if the reports of a Death Eater near Scotland were true. And while, yes, he'd have liked to leave the office once in a while, that was what being a boss was, right?

When it came time for lunch, he met Ron in the cafeteria, as always, and, no, Hermione wasn't there, but she was taking time off of work to be with Rose right now. And Ginny...she was far too busy with the boys right now, and she had a major deadline for the paper coming up in a couple of days. He had promised to watch the kids tomorrow so she could attend the Harpies match; he'd have to remember to put that on his calendar.

Ron ate with his usual single-mindedness, demolishing several sandwiches and whatever else he had brought. Harry picked at his food, thoughts whirling around, until Ron flicked a pea at his head.

Harry looked up. "Hey!"

Ron raised an eyebrow. "What's on your mind?"

Harry shrugged. "Loads of paperwork, top secret thing tonight." He sighed. "I sent out three teams today to check out disturbances, and all I could think was, yesterday, that'd be us." He took a bite of his treacle tart; Ginny had sent it with special, and had worked hard on it.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, but Robards wouldn't have given you the job if he didn't think you could do it. And it's not like he's not around to help out; I think he'll have to have all of his limbs removed before he actually retires. You should ask for some advice."

Harry grinned at his friend. "And admit that I don't think I'm cut out for the job? I don't think so."

Ron took another bite, and surreptitiously flicked another pea at Harry, who batted it away. "But Robards told you to ask for help. Even said he wished he had a mentor when he took the job. And, he's still in charge of the mission tonight, and a couple of the ongoing investigations, so its not like you can't take him to the side and ask him anything."

Harry nodded. "Alright, alright. I get it." He finished the treacle tart, then looked at his remaining lunch, handing Ron the carrots and starting on another sandwich. "Just, don't tell anyone I have doubts, right?"

Ron bit into a carrot. "Can't have them thinking the Great Harry Potter is human, right?"

Harry grinned around his food. "Exactly."

~*~

The rest of the day passed rather uneventfully, and Harry couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, though his annoyance at the fact was another source of an even greater annoyance. He'd been hoping nothing would go wrong, and yet...somehow, in his mind, he had planned for something, anything, to go horribly, hideously wrong, and he'd be able to save the day from his now prominent position. Hermione would have called it his saving-people thing coming out again, but Harry hoped not; he loved to prove her wrong.

Before he knew what had hit him, Ron was standing in his doorway, tapping his watch and looking at Harry with a roguish grin. "Showtime."

Harry groaned as he stood and stretched. "Four already?" he asked, cracking his neck.

Ron shrugged. "Unless my watch, your clock, and every other timepiece in this office is wrong, then yeah. Not that that hasn't happened before, of course, but Robards fired Liu after that little incident." Ron shook his head, a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. "And it's not like we haven't played with time before."

Harry slapped his head as he walked through the door. "You ready for this?" he asked seriously, slipping his robes over his uniform. Ron was heavily invested in this project, after all.

"Yeah, and with Robards there, you should be, too. I fully expect him to have something to say." Ron's serious expression belied his teasing tone.

Harry winced. "Almost forgot about that for a second. Thanks, mate."

Ron slapped him on the back. "Not a problem."

They reached the Apparition point in the office, and Disapparated at the same time.

~*~

Immediately upon arrival, Harry pulled his robes closed tight. The wind was nasty, and there was a wet feel in the air that said that rain wasn't far behind. He turned to Ron, frowning. "You sure they're coming in this weather?"

Ron nodded. "For sure, they said. And Robards would have sent an update if anything changed."

Harry shrugged. "Well, then, let's not be the last to the party."

Ron grinned, drawing his wand and sliding it up his sleeve. "After you, mate."

Harry rolled his eyes, and walked towards the rendezvous point, his own wand gripped tightly in his otherwise relaxed body.

~*~

According to Robards, there was a delay, but it was only a few minutes; he hadn't felt it necessary to update them until they arrived because it would give them time to talk. And, with Ron grinning behind him, Harry was regaled with all the ways in which he had, today, messed up. Of course, nothing was seriously wrong, and wouldn't be for quite some time, but if he kept up the way he had today...Robards was trying to be conciliatory, but, even though he had technically retired, it hadn't really been his choice, and didn't Harry see that while, yes, he would do a good job eventually, Robards really should keep the position for a couple more years. Five, tops, though he wasn't averse to having Harry get a bit more seasoned, and was willing to hold the position for another ten.

Ron was, by now, laughing hysterically and silently, while the three others who had accompanied Robards were doing the same to varying degrees of success. Harry politely but firmly rejected Robards' offer, telling him how generous it was, and would he, Gawain, mind coming into the office a couple of times a week for the next month or so to help with the transition. Robards said he'd Floo Harry's secretary.

Harry was stunned.

"You had a secretary?" he asked, trying desperately to think of who that could have been.

Robards lifted an eyebrow. "Yes, of course. All Head positions do. Yours wasn't in?"

Harry shrugged. "Obviously not."

Robards gave him a smirking grin. "You know, if I had been there..."

Harry forced a smile, though he knew it looked terrible. "Well, done is done. I'll look into it, Gawain. Thanks for the help. Is that them I hear?"

Gawain was sufficiently distracted, and shielded his eyes against the rain. "I believe so. I brought along a Healer to escort them to St. Mungo's, as well as a liaison from the Department of International Magical Cooperation and the Department of Magical Transportation."

Harry gave him a tight smile. "Thank you, Gawain."

Robards didn't seem to notice the sarcasm. "Like I said, Harry, I'd like to help you out as much as I can."

Harry didn't respond, all of his attention on the plane currently flying slowly towards them. It was a small plane, with a sharp point and slanted wings. They watched it descend and land with no problems, and taxi to a stop near them. There was a long pause before the door opened, and a longer wait while a stair lift was moved to the door. Harry could just make out the figures of a small number of people coming down the stairs, one with help.

The first two people to make it to the group were dressed in uniform. The taller, a woman with long red hair tied back tightly in a braid, thrust out a hand and said, with a considerable drawl, "Captain Caoilfhionn Mallory, sir, and my co-pilot, First Lieutenant Kevin Able."

Harry shook her hand, smiling, as well as the lieutenant's. "Welcome to Britain. How long are you planning to stay, Captain?"

She shrugged. "Refuel shouldn't take too long, but I've got a need to be elsewhere for a bit. Two days?" she said, looking at her lieutenant.

The other man, shorter but much broader, grinned. "Give or take. Don't have to be back on base until Thursday. Strictly speaking, ma'am."

The captain turned to Harry. "Until Wednesday, then. If that's alright with you, of course."

Gawain stepped forward. "All requests and the necessary paperwork can be filed with these two individuals. Mr. Sendhil Shabur, from the Department of Magical Transportation, and Ms. Jacqueline Smith, from the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

The captain shook their hands. "And you are?" she drawled, glancing between Gawain and Harry, and taking in Ron as well.

Harry stepped forward, cutting Gawain off. "Harry Potter, Head of the Auror Department. At your service. These are my associates," he added, nodding towards Gawain and Ron. "Gawain Robards, and Ron Weasley. He's been your liaison for this little adventure."

Caoilfhionn grinned. "Weasley? Related to George, by any chance?" Ron gave her a dumb nod, looking between her and the plane. "Boy, are you in for a treat."

She turned to look at the couple coming out of the plane. Harry couldn't help but look, either.

They made a striking pair, the two of them: George, the tall redhead with his arm around the slightly shorter, limping Cate, with her long dark hair tied back from a bruised and tired face. When they finally made it to the greeting party, Ron stepped forward and, throwing all propriety out the window, hugged his brother, slapping him on the back. If Gawain hadn't been there, Harry might have done the same.

George put his arm back around Cate, who was grinning widely at everyone. "Hey, Ronniekins, Harry." Ron blushed. "Nice to feel welcome. Considering..."

He held up Cate's hand, where they could see a glittering diamond ring. "Everyone, say hello to Cate Weasley." Harry froze, and Ron's grin did the same. "My wife."

"Mum's going to have a fit." Ron said, his eyes locked on George's.

Harry suppressed his not insignificant surprise, and gently pulled Cate into a hug. "Welcome to the family." He smiled at her, a near smirk. "Good luck. You're going to need it."