Harry heaved himself out of bed and went for his morning run, trying to expel frustration, worry, and tiredness from his restless body. Merlin! He needed it this morning.
He'd barely slept, focusing instead on his breathing, counting each inhalation and exhalation slowly and carefully, and trying to block the feeling of Draco nestled against him; his fingers unconsciously skimming across his body; the graze of his nipple; the brush of his lips against Harry's skin. Merlin, he was convinced Draco had experimentally teased him with his tongue. And when he ran his hand down Harry's back, over his ribs, tormenting his skin with tentative fingers which dipped beneath the elastic of his waistband before reaching his hip... he could have so easily hooked a finger under Draco's chin and lifted his beautiful mouth towards his but Harry knew the man was half-asleep; his movements were barely in his conscience. Still, it left him with a predicament, a rather hard one at that. Thankfully Draco didn't notice.
But this was a dangerous game to be playing and he was not sure how, or even if, he could extricate himself from the situation. There were times, like the previous night, when Draco appeared to need Harry. He wondered what Draco did before, before Harry was there to wake him from the terrors that gripped him during the night, before he was there to hold him until his breathing calmed and his nerves settled. He knew they should talk about this but neither of them seemed willing to broach the subject. Instead, they continued their weird sort of domesticity, going to their separate works, bringing up Teddy together, sharing the chores, ignoring the fucking-huge white erumpent in the room. The longer it went on, the harder it was to talk about what's happening. Harry wondered how things going to change if Pansy accepted the invite to move in too.
Instead of trying to answer the questions, Harry just went running...
Running on Tuesday mornings was always a necessity anyway but that morning Harry needed it more than ever and the run neared two hours. Tuesdays, as always, promised a day ahead of meetings at all levels in which it became harder and harder not to dispel the excess magic through trickle methods. Although he could use the most mundane of actions such as stirring his coffee wandlessly to help himself, he needed more and sitting in meeting room after meeting room did not work for him. Harry sighed as he donned his more formal Auror robes in preparation for the day and left for the office with Hercules trotting along to heel beside him.
Pansy was already at the desk outside Harry's office, going through a pile of paperwork and filing some of it in the open drawer beside her. Otherwise, her desk was spotless, neatly organised with her stationary and a small Puffapod plant next to a tray for incoming departmental memos and the memo pad for sending out. Harry could see several of the Aurors already eyeing her suspiciously so he gave a loud cheery 'morning, Pansy,' as he walked past.
'Ah, Mr Pot...'
'No!' he stopped in his tracks. 'You call me "Harry", or "Potter" if you have to, but not "Mr Potter".' He dropped his voice so the spectators couldn't hear, 'and certainly not, "Lord" or "Your Grace" or "sir" or some other hoity-toity shite unless you want to know how good I am at a wandless Tickling Hex... my heritage remains between you, me, and Mione for as long as possible.' He grinned and pushed open his office door. He was instantly greeted by the smell of fresh coffee and spied a proper mug, rather than the usual plastic disposable crap, of steaming black coffee on his desk.
He took a step backwards and looked into Pansy's slightly worried eyes, 'and thank you for the coffee, you're a star.'
'It's I who should be thanking you...'
'Nonsense. I get the feeling things are going to work out just fine...'
He heard Pansy mutter, 'it couldn't be any bloody worse than it was,' as he walked into his office and flung his long coat towards the hooks.
'Come on, Hercules,' he said, looking quizzically at the dog who had come to a halt and was sitting stubbornly in the doorway. 'Oh, alright, then!' he left the door open through lack of choice. 'I see you though,' he muttered as he caught the dog glancing between Pansy and him intermittently.
Hercules got up and trotted out to sit next to Pansy's desk.
'TRAITOR!' Harry called after him.
He took a look at his desk, something was different. Apart from the coffee, which he picked up and took a careful sip from. Oh, it was good! He studied the desk carefully. It was its usual ordered self but there were three post-it notes placed carefully in a row in front of him. He picked up the first. Head-Auror Robards would like to see you in his office ASAP, it read in unfamiliar neat cursive writing. The second said Neville says he wants to update you on the FFF case after the Team Meeting. The third read Meeting with Minister Shacklebolt has been postponed by half an hour, now 10.30-12.30, please confirm attendance. It will only give you ten minutes before your lunch meeting with MBR.
Hmmm! Harry thought as he studied his desk. It wasn't that it was tidier, all his paperwork and casefiles were as he'd left them the previous night. He looked at his in-tray with a start, it was nearly empty bar a few important letters.
'Pansy!' he called.
The dark-haired woman appeared at Harry's door, that anxious look on her face.
'Do you know anything about this?' He waved his hand casually at the in-tray.
'Er, yes. I didn't know what to do and it was overflowing. I glanced through it and realised most of it was filing and you were probably losing the important stuff amongst the files you didn't need to read and I had time to kill before you got in so I went through it...'
'What time did you get in?'
'7.30am'
'7.30!' Harry exclaimed, horrified. 'You can stop that straight away; you're contracted to come in 8.45am until 5.30pm, Monday to Friday and no weekends, like every other bugger in the Ministry. Were they making you work unpaid hours downstairs?'
Pansy looked at the floor. 'Yes.'
'What about these?' he pointed at the post-its.
'Well, the memos came in and then Mara asked me to pass on Neville's message and Head-Auror Robards kept walking past my desk until he huffed and told me to tell you he wanted to see you so I just wrote it down and put the messages on your desk. Have I done something wrong?'
'Fuck!'
Pansy flinched.
He felt sad to see her react like this. 'Sit down,' he said softly. 'Hercules! I'm shutting the door!' Hercules wandered in and slumped at Pansy's feet as he flicked the door too. 'Okay, first things first, I am not going to punish you or threaten you or shout at you for simply existing and doing what you think is the right course of action. Doesn't mean I don't lose my temper, but you know from school I was on a short leash. If I flair up, don't take it personally, it's 100% from stress, this job is like that. My team know that and we work tightly because they understand. Second of all, you are not my P.A., you are a Researcher, and I shall make it quite clear to everyone that this is the case. If they want to leave me a note, they can write it them-fucking-selves and leave it on my desk...'
'But it wasn't any bother and you've just sacked your P.A...'
'That's my problem. It's not your job so don't take anything extra on.'
'Thank you...' she muttered quietly.
'It's not a problem.'
Pansy's eyes were wide.
'Relax, Pansy. You're sitting there like a bag of exploding snap cards. We'll work through this problem with Gide. I'll give you time. I'll support you.'
'What do you want from me in return?'
'Nothing beyond your work ethic and loyalty to the team.'
Pansy stared at him for a long time. 'Gide wanted... demanded I-I...' she dropped her chin to her chest and Harry's heart-broke as he second-guessed what she was avoiding saying. 'I used to be stronger than this. I was stronger than half the bloody boys at school...'
He got up, walked around his desk, and leant against it. 'Did she hurt you, physically?' he asked again.
Pansy shook her head.
'Did she touch you or make you touch her?' he asked softly. He knew it was exactly like he was talking to a case victim but this was more than helping an acquaintance. This was criminal behaviour and his Auror training kicked in.
'No, but she kept alluding to it, she kept saying she wanted my services like she was building up to it. I think, yesterday...' he voice faltered and faded.
'Oh Pansy, I promise you. I'm going to stop her from getting near you or anyone else for that matter.'
'She calls me a Slytherin slut because of what I said. She kept saying things like I'm no better than a dog. Or that she wanted me to be on my knees before her, she said that she would teach me the consequences of my whore mouth...'
'I see,' Harry was trying to keep a very tight rein on his rising temper.
'She said if I didn't do as she asked, she'd get me thrown out of the Ministry and would ensure I'd never worked again. She said I deserved to be on the streets.'
'Oh Pansy,' Harry repeated, dropped to his knees again, leaning back on his heels so he was close to her but passively and not leaning into her personal space. 'I won't let that happen. She's so wrong to say those things, you do know that?'
She nodded meekly as if unconvinced.
There was a knock upon his door and Harry watched in concern as Pansy practically curled up into a ball on the chair in front of him.
'Not now!' he called, his eyes never leaving her.
'Potter!' Robards gravelly voice responded as he strode into the office anyway.
Gawain Robards noticed that Harry only briefly made eye contact with him from where he knelt back on his heels in front of the young woman whom Harry had somewhat unorthodoxly filched from the Department of Genealogy. Gawain knew the Parkinsons well, his mother had been good friends with the formidable Agatha Parkinson; the girl's grandmother. An iconic woman and it ran in the family by all accounts. He raised an eyebrow; this was no way for a Parkinson woman to hold herself without reason. Miss Parkinson was obviously trying to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible on the chair.
Gawain pushed the door shut behind him, 'what's going on?'
He didn't like the troubled look on Harry's face and he trusted his second-in-command with his life, so that look spoke a million words to Gawain. That and the visit from Madame Gide.
Harry's gaze didn't leave Ms Parkinson's face, appearing not to want to break her trust. Gawain knew it all spelt trouble and he could second-guess this young woman was traumatised by something that had gone on in that department down in the depths of the Ministry. He wasn't Head Auror for nothing.
'Is this something to do with that twatwaffle Gide barging into my office this morning and screeching about you stealing her prized assistant from her without so much as a by or leave? Called you fucking Golden-Bollocks-Boy who no one dares say no.'
Harry let out a small snort but both were watching Pansy closely for signs of a reaction. Gawain saw it briefly. No humour at what he'd had said, just fear behind the slipping mask.
'I see,' Robards said in a slightly softer tone. 'This clearly is a case of no one daring to say no to you. For who am I, your mere boss and an Auror of thirty-seven years, to tell you, the Almighty Chosen Cockmonkey whose barely out of his jizz-stained Spiderman pants, how to run my bloody department? We'll fight this one tooth and nail, and let me tell you now, that cuntbag Gide is running scared already behind all her bluster. Welcome to the team, Ms Parkinson. I leave you to it, Potter. Come and see me when you're done.'
When Robards had left, Pansy said in a small voice, 'he swears a lot.'
'You get used to it. He's quite creative though. Always has a new name for me.'
She smiled ruefully. 'Who's Spiderman?'
'It's a Muggle superhero multiverse thing. Robard's seven-year-old grandson is really into him.'
'Oh. And how does everyone know what's going on without me even saying a word?'
'We're Aurors, Pansy, we're trained to pick up on small details and unusual behaviour. The alarm bells were ringing as soon as you entered my office yesterday. And, well, it's enough to raise eyebrows to see you like this.'
'How far I've fallen,' she sneered.
'Maybe, but there are people around here who are willing help you get back up,' Harry stood up. 'For now, I know you need time and space, Pansy, that's the healing process for you. You also need the right people around you too. The list is quickly building, so far, it's me, Mione, Willow, Draco, and now Robards.' Hercules whined as he watched Harry, his head cocked on one side. 'And that bloody traitor, Hercules, so it seems. You need to trust us to help you. When the time's right, I want you to make an official statement about everything that has happened downstairs and Gide's behaviour, no matter how small and seemingly trivial. It will be painful, and I will need you to provide memories and make the statement under Veritaserum before witnesses. It can all be done under your conditions; when, where, and however you want. People like Gide are cowards who abuse their position to make themselves feel important. But it's shits like her who deserve to be on the streets, not you. She preys on the vulnerable, I couldn't imagine she'd ever pull a stunt like this with men like Robards or women like Mione.' Harry sighed and took a deep breath. 'You're a victim, Pansy, but this is not your fault, remember that. It's up to you, now, how you want to live with this.'
Pansy looked at Harry with wide eyes and slowly she unfolded her too thin limbs and pulled herself up a little straighter, that typical Slytherin pride pushing her emotions down.
'What do you want me to do today?'
'There's a full team meeting in ten minutes, that includes you. We have one every Tuesday. Be warned though, as soon as I announce you as the Department's Researcher, everyone round here is going to want you on their case so there's going to have be some prioritising. Primarily, you work for me, so don't be scared to tell them all to piss off and see me first. For some reason, Tuesdays are normally quiet, it seems the serious criminals take a break on Tuesdays; hence my day being stacked out with meetings. I need you to get your head around this history on Triple-F.' He picked up the casefile from his desk. 'Keep digging on that stuff you started yesterday.'
Pansy nodded, taking the file from Harry.
The team meeting ran as smoothly as ever, Robards looking over Harry's shoulder but not interfering. Despite his rant earlier, it seemed, these days, that Harry actually ran the department in all but name, Robards just backed him up and dealt with the politics behind the scenes, though he often shared what was going on with Harry.
'Finally,' Harry said. 'I want to introduce you, for those who don't already know her, to Pansy Parkinson. She's come up from the Department of Genealogy on a two-month secondment where she was working as a Researcher. She's reporting directly into me, so, if you want Research assistance, you come through me first. She's not my P.A. so don't treat her as such.'
'That much is clear, she hasn't got massive knockers to shove in your face, Harry,' ribbed Alex Hartley. There was a lewd ripple of laughter amongst some of the male Aurors, more so when Mara Sheppard up-smacked the back of Alex's head.
Pansy looked slightly defiant as she stood next to Harry, as if challenging someone to say something. Unfortunately, the Aurors is the wrong department for tact.
'Parkinson?' Sheldon Edwards spoke up. 'As in that kid that tried to dob you into Voldy during the Battle...'
'Yes,' Pansy said quietly.
Someone gave a low whistle.
'We are not the same people we were back then; we were kids in the middle of a war. It's not fair to judge someone on a knee-jerk reaction,' Harry announced sternly. 'And if I catch anyone treating Pansy with anything other than respect, I'll hex you with haemorrhoids the size of Quaffles.'
Several of the Aurors winced.
'Pansy also helped our side at the end, I saw her helping Madame Pomfrey with the wounded and I mean the seriously wounded,' Neville spoke up above the rabble. That silenced any potential complaints.
Harry looked at Pansy in surprise, 'I didn't know that!'
'You were a bit preoccupied sorting out the younger kids and reuniting them with their parents and guardians. I followed Blaise out of the Common Room after you... defeated him.'
The other Aurors had fallen silent, it wasn't often that Harry, or Neville for that matter, talked about the war or the Battle of Hogwarts. There was a distinct feeling of respect.
Harry had snorted, 'indeed. Well, I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge at the time.'
'Well, etiquette never was your strong point, Potter.'
There was a ripple of laughter. 'She's gonna fit right in, if she talks back at yer like that,' Angelina yelled from the back of the room.
Pansy's eyes sparkled briefly and Harry smiled. It was partly in relief because there was fight still in her, she wasn't broken completely.
'Right!' he turned to the team. 'Anyone got any questions.
There was a plethora of exclamations and shouts but he cut them down, '...about work.'
'Good, right, meeting over.' Harry dismissed them, fairly confident Pansy had been accepted into the team, mostly because of Neville speaking up. Nev's reputation for defying the Carrows and beheading Nagini proceeding him into the Ministry, he commanded respect from his colleagues. As far as Harry was concerned, there was no one in the Aurors with courage anywhere on a par with Nev. And, for most, if he was willing to speak up for Pansy like that, well, it would be good enough for them. The fact that Hercules sat protectively by Pansy's side throughout the meeting also didn't go unnoticed by many either. Hercules's loyalty spoke volumes, especially as he was starting to excel at sniffing out traces of Dark Magic in the field.
'Right, Nev, Pansy, Angelina, and Alex, in my office please. I want a catch up on this case with the fires.'
'Life's its usual chaos then?' Neville commented.
'Yep, how's things with you, Nev?'
'Well, I think I'm about to turn everything upside down some more: I've been liaising with the D.M.L.E. section who provide the Protection of Magical Persons. It would appear they finally located a request from fourteen months ago, in one application, for the locations of all Voldemort's inner circle of Death-eaters who avoided Azkaban and an additional request to know what property hadn't been confiscated from the Death-eaters who were locked up. Both requests included Ward details. Both requests came from the Auror office.'
Harry got excited, 'who?' He barely breathed the question.
'Well,' Neville frowned. 'You!'
'ME!'
'Yes, and no...'
'What the fuck do you mean? I never requested this information.'
'Quite, but it's your signature on the paper...'
'...let me see.' Harry positively snatched the request copies from Neville. 'That's not my signature.'
'Quite!'
'Oh...'
'Yep.'
'So, who?'
'Take a guess?'
'Fucking Finch-Fletchley?'
***