January 24, 1945
Sunday Night
Harry's meeting with the Director, McMacson and the Head Auror, Urban Maxis, had gone exceedingly well and now that it was over, he had found himself once more back in his very newly-given office. The place was, as he initially thought, very comfortable and not remotely as wasteful as most Ministry staff seemed to prefer. There were no thousand-Galleon pieces of art or busts scattered about, only simple, comfortable furniture made with true style instead of with any sense of gaudiness. It was pretty nice and exactly the way he preferred everything to be even if Elaine did seem to care and put much stock towards outward displays of wealth.
His main entrance where his eventual secretary would be stationed was rather Spartan in appearance; everything that was present had a use save for the few sporadic pieces of art on the walls and the shelves behind the desk, those likely being put there for some level of customisation by the next employee to sit in said position. Beyond that and once he made it into his office proper, the room was equally as fitted with pieces of importance. There were numerous file cabinets, two desks, two large comfortable chairs for those desks with more across from them, a small table for meals at work and a floo connection that was he told had 'enhanced' security. There were also the two side rooms, one of which was a bathroom and the other, a small bedroom should he choose to stay the night at the Ministry. He was told that the Director had done that many a night back when he'd just got this position. With there being a war at the time, Harry could see just why that would make sense.
Now that he was in what would soon be his office and his office alone, he went over to the main desk to see what had been left for him to deal with. It was evident that he wouldn't be handling the overall handling of Grindelwald's scattered forces even if he wanted to, but that didn't mean there wasn't any way to put him to work. No, Harry was officially the second person in command of the Auror forces, as depleted as they were, and with that came a great amount of political power in addition to actual strength.
Reinhard, Harry thought of at that moment, before he plucked up his first task from atop his desk, The boy always talks about fighting and wanting to do so, and earlier the Director did tell me that I would deal with all internal affairs whilst he dealt with the external ones. Maybe I could toss him the responsibility and position of an Auror, Merlin knows he doesn't need to go through that Junior Qualification course since he's survived a battle with Grindewald's goons… suppose some people would claim nepotism or the like, but most of them should be jumped to Auror within the next month or so anyhow.
With that thought finished, Harry picked up the order that was front and centre on his desk as well as at the top of a short pile. He nearly laughed when he read how short and straight to the point it was, especially after the thought he'd just had. If he didn't know any better, he would have assumed McMacson had some hand in his hiring.
' Congratulations on becoming my Deputy Director, Harry! I'll keep this rather short and to the point to spare us both a bit of time, so without further a due, we need people. Our force is so depleted that we're not able to accurately patrol the typical, routine points that we've done for over a century at the least. As soon as people start catching on to that, there'll be hell to pay. Use this newfound status of yours and get to putting out calls to the public for people to join us, tell them you'll have conversations about the battle and that you'll even take some time out of your day to teach them yourself. We need whatever you can get us!'
Harry set down the first order of business he had been given with a huff. He knew it was going to be something along those lines but that still didn't mean he cared for it. Anything that had to do with his 'celebrity' status, be it in this timeline or the other, was always going to be a nuisance even if it only served to increase his public image. The fact that so many people looked up to him as something of a heroic figure was positive, it would see his political ambitions furthered easily, but Merlin was it a headache and the lack of privacy that came with it… sucked.
"Let's take a look at this second order of business then," Harry said aloud to himself as he grabbed the second paper off of the stack of a dozen or so.
' Assignment for Director McMacson - reassigned to Deputy Director Peverell -
Notice of Treason for; Clifford Yaxley, Heir of House YAXLEY
Current Status; At large, not believed to be killed or captured.
Director McMacson - Deputy Director Peverell - you are being tasked with a primary objective of capturing any and all traitors to the Ministry of Magic and to the greater population of Magical Great Britain as well as her Commonwealth. Forces from across the Crown will be yours to utilise so long as one traitor remains at large. This specific person of interest, Clifford Yaxley, was believed to be within the internal circle of Grindelwald and as such could offer up no small amount of information, especially magical, that could benefit our people.
You have the express permission from the Muggle Government, Her Majesty and the Minister to apprehend peacefully those who served in strategically important positions of the previous Dark Lord and should it be necessary, the authority to use otherwise illicit or illegal means to encourage them to our side. Their knowledge shall become ours, the spells created by the Dark Lord shall be repurposed for the defence of our homelands and those who followed him will come to see the error of their ways by way of joining us so that they can pay restitution for their crimes. This document must be deleted or stored in Vault 093, the key to which is known to you already - no eyes below those of the Head Auror and the select group of whom will pursue this task should ever see this and if they shall, all hell will come down on them.'
When Harry quickly scanned the next few pages, he noticed that the lot of them had names that were also accused of Treason save for two, both of which were from outside of the Commonwealth but nonetheless requested to be captured alive for the information they could provide. He figured this was the Minister trying to garner favour or the Unspeakables… he didn't know too much about the latter, as only Hermione had really spoken about them. Even Elaine didn't seem too knowledgeable regarding them, which he figured was a testament to their abilities.
"You'll be knackered if you don't go home and get some sleep soon. Those are some of the toughest tasks they've given me that I couldn't pass down to Maxis, but I figure if you're where you are now, you can handle them, eh Peverell?" Said the voice of McMacson from the direction of the doorway that led into Harry's wider office at large.
"Shouldn't be too difficult. With Grindelwald gone, I don't think there's much left in the world that I wouldn't be able to handle," Harry responded with a grin to the slightly older man, who almost immediately gave one back to him; McMacson's love for jesting and light-heartedness was known across the entirety of the continent, it was one of the main reasons he garnered so much support from the public despite the hefty losses the Aurors had taken.
Harry still remembered how badly the morale had been hit when it was thought that he'd been removed from the battlefield due to injuries, but that had to be some sort of play to let him go after Grindelwald directly and with that team of specially uniformed Aurors. Most of them had been killed or wounded horribly in a contest of violence against Grindelwald's best fighters that he had kept in reserve, but the damage had been sufficient enough that Harry and Elaine hadn't had to deal with any of them. Corene had even aided, albeit without the man's knowledge, apparently.
"I like that sort of thinking so long as it doesn't get you killed after a few months. Then again, if you're going to marry that Gaunt girl, I reckon you're made of tougher stuff than I am. Not to speak poorly of her, especially since I'd like to consider us friends at the very least on account of our mutual crowds and partnerships, but she's tough and sticks to whatever she says," McMacson looked fondly at a piece of art as he paused and after a few seconds when he turned back to Harry, he continued. "You're fortunate to have her with you, I can tell you that. Some people that Horace met with regularly regarded her as the most powerful witch in the last century with a small, fringe group saying that she was the strongest since Morgana - I can't agree with the latter, but she's a prodigy, just like you've apparently turned out to be."
"I wouldn't fancy myself a prodigy, just very lucky with a knack for offensive magic of the non-explosive variety," Harry responded, downplaying his abilities as he sat back into one of the chairs across from what used to be McMacson's desk.
"Come off it, we both know you've got to be one of the stronger wizards currently in our country, if not the strongest. Some people think that with you and Gaunt together, nobody will be able to stop you. Then again, those are also the same people that think you have the Hallows, as you'll hear about a lot and a few of them even think you're going to attempt a coup within the next five years," McMacson laughed openly and nodded towards a cabinet, to which Harry simply nodded; this was this man's office until very recently.
"I hope it doesn't surprise you all that much, but I'm really not all that interested in political games. They're needlessly draining and often enough, filled with drama the likes of which I can't stand. Elaine, she's the one that wouldn't mind changing a few laws but that's about it… I hear you're hoping to do the same in the near future. Only when everything's all peaceful again," Harry said, shaking his head when he saw that McMacson had pulled whiskey from the cabinet whilst he'd given such a serious response.
McMacson summoned a few glasses that came through the doorway behind him before he turned back to Harry, nodding with a toothy grin on his face as he started pouring a glass for the both of them. "You'd be right if you thought I was hoping to continue advancing. I've got a lot of the same connections that you seem to and a good public standing to prop myself on, though I'll admit yours is slightly stronger even if I am the more handsome one out of the two of us - I'm kidding… mostly, anyhow, would you allow me a few questions to satiate my curiosity? It's childish of me, I know, but I never did get to have you away from the crowd back at Hogwarts."
"Ask whatever you'd like, boss," Harry said with a shrug and acknowledgement of the other man's position despite the fact that he wasn't one to abuse it.
"What made you and the rest of those students from Slytherin come out to help the Aurors and Volunteers? You kids were down in the dungeons, hidden away in some heavily warded parts of the Slytherin dorms as they say - why not hide until the fighting was done? In hindsight, we both know how that would've gone for our society, especially with you having been the one to strike the killing blow, but that's had me curious since I've read all of those interviews that were given by your mates," McMacson asked, the man taking a long sip of his whiskey once he was finished.
Harry paused, contemplative on how he should answer but glad that not one person had given up Elaine's layer. He knew he shouldn't have expected any different from a bunch of followers, especially with Grindelwald dead at her and his wands combined, but Merlin, it was a curious thing to know that her power was so absolute that not even one person had slipped up in their 'recollection' as they were given.
"I would say it had something to do with all of the explosions. We kept hearing one after other, to the point that the place we were tucked away in was constantly shaking and there were bits of the school falling apart. Some of it was repaired by the Professors who'd stayed behind, but the situation was only getting worse. When we heard that Professor Dumbledore had returned, that he and you had gone off to fight, we figured that was it," Harry smiled sadly, unable to help himself as he thought of this time's Dumbledore in comparison to his own; the man was impossible to help, moodier and sickly, but he shared the same face and oftentimes, the same voice. "Elaine and I had decided to go out in the hope of doing whatever we could. Our housemates wouldn't stay behind once they knew what we were planning to do, so they came along with us. That's that."
"Make it sound simpler, why don't you?" McMacson asked with a huff before he took another drink. "Here I was expecting some large, secondary reason that would make itself known but I guess I gave Slytherin too much credit, yeah? Everybody likes to think that house traits make each and every person, but you all came out when we were nearly beaten back to the castle. There were quite a few of you that paid for it, some just as harshly as the lads and lasses I'd trained for the months leading up to that fight… I do hope they'll all recover as best they can, but I've found since my earliest time in the Auror force that it's your mind that takes the longest."
Harry couldn't help but nod at those words. McMacson was right, it was your mind that was often hit the hardest when you found yourself out of action after having witnessed so much violence, all of it needless.
"I've soured the mood of my Deputy already, that's my bad, Harry. You're a good man, as best as I can tell. People say you're a prodigy, Horace's father absolutely loves you, and Politicians from all three factions are known to spend time with you, I was too interested for my own good in hearing your stories of the conflict and days leading up that I forgot how it feels, at least initially," McMacson stood up after he downed the rest of his glass and smiled politely at Harry, tipping his head respectfully when he caught the younger boy's eyes. "If you ever need assistance of any kind in dealing with the problems war and violence leave behind, give me a shout. I have a friend who can relate all too well with you and he's found a way to come to terms with it all; you've already met him."
"Thank you, Director," Harry said politely, a lump starting to form in his throat as he spoke with the older man on account of the topic and the memories it was bringing to the forefront of his mind.
"Mac works," McMacson said as he made it to the door, the man twirling about to give an exaggerated, comedic bow before he turned back away. "I'll be keeping an eye out for you tomorrow, yeah? We've got work to do and I've got a lot of files for you to review, that whole team meant to capture wanted people will be yours to set up and let me tell you this, it's going to be a right pain in the arse! Goodnight, Pev!"
Once the man was gone and Harry's frontmost door was closed, he let his head rest on the desk. He would return home soon, hopefully to a good meal and nice, long sleep, but likely not. Elaine would wake him up, purposefully or otherwise, when she got back. She always liked to pick his mind now that he had experienced so much alongside her, really, it was like she valued his opinion on some situations more than her own. He had thought that was good initially, but when he realised how deeply infatuated she was with him, it made him grow worried.
He loved her, he truly did after all this time spent together, but her possessiveness, her willingness to do anything to keep him and that drive to stay at his side whilst gaining power, it was fairly terrifying. Those comments she would off-handedly make about them staying together for eternity, well, they were the icing on the cake.
Come on you lazy arse, Harry said to himself while his face still rested on the desk, right next to the incredibly important stack of papers, It's time to get up and head home before Elaine comes knocking. You don't want to be known as the bloke who has his wife come looking for him, do you?
Harry stood up with a groan and made his way over to the floo, his hand automatically grabbing a handful of powder. He said the phrase required to return home and his last thought whilst he was at the Ministry was a hopeful one; he dearly hoped that Elaine had tried her hand at baking again, he was famished.
As it turned out, when he returned that night, Elaine had already been asleep in bed. She hadn't left a note for him, there was nothing new in their bedroom nor anything else that Laddey or the other house-elves had noticed within the entirety of the home or the grounds that it owned. There was nothing remotely new, and yet, Elaine was comfortably asleep without having decided to stay awake until he had returned. It was very unlike her and yet, he doubted he would press the matter.
If it were important, Corene would come to him privately or Elaine would make mention of it in the morning. Should it be a conversation that truly should stay between the three of them, who was he to get involved? For all he knew, the conversation could very well be in relation to their romantic life or matters related to House Gaunt and by extension, House Carrow.
"Laddey," Harry quietly called, hoping the elf would be smart about it and not pop in right beside the bed.
As he suspected, Laddey showed off his exceedingly high intelligence and avoided doing so. In fact, so careful and considerate of Elaine's sleep was the elf, that his pop hadn't been heard by Harry, yet the diminutive creature appeared through the door within the next ten seconds, ready for orders. "Harry called Laddey, sir?" the elf asked, happy and eager-looking to do whatever Harry's bidding was before he fell asleep.
"Wake me up if an owl arrives, please, or if we get a letter delivered by any other means. Would you ensure the security of the floo too? I've established a new connection as of today with my new place of work and I'd hate to find out it's not all that safe for us to have it," Harry, when finished, waited close by for Laddey's response. The Floo had come as a bit of an after-thought, but since he was already on the matter of security, he figured he'd toss that in; any message delivered for Elaine or him, he would want to be awake for the moment it was received.
"Laddey can do that for you, sir. Will that be all the Master Harry wants?" Laddey asked, smiling so widely that his eyes were partially closed and when Harry nodded that it was all he needed, the elf gave him a bigger smile, then he turned and left. Again, there was no pop that was audible and so very peacefully, very slow, Harry climbed into bed.
He had stuff that he needed to do on the morrow, throughout the week and most importantly, for the next year or two. All of it would matter far more than he could think it would, for his actions and those done by those close to him would be very strictly watched by the world at large for quite some time.
January 25, 1945
Monday Morning
"Master Harry sir," Harry heard the voice of Laddey urging him awake and the soft coo-like snoring of Elaine beside him, the girl incredibly, still asleep. "Master Harry, please sir, Laddey is doing as you told him to. The Master Harry had an emergency try to get through, it was from Mister Slughorn's friend Mac. The Master Slughorn said it was most urgent, that Mac would like you to arrive as soon as you can."
As soon as 'Mac' registered in Harry's mind as the Director and person he'd met at Slughorn's party as Director McMacson, Harry was getting himself out of bed. One glance at the nearby clock revealed that he had slept for a little over six hours and whilst that wasn't great, if there was a message for him in the middle of the night that was urgent enough to wake him up to receive, it was far more important than his sleep.
"Let's go to the hall," Harry whispered to Laddey as the two moved to do just that, quietly and without making any manner of fuss so that Elaine wasn't woken up; she could be awfully grumpy in the morning, amongst other things.
Once the pair found themselves in the hall, Laddey extended one of his short arms upwards, the letter easily visible with the Ministry stamp front and centre. "Laddey will go get tea for the Master Harry while he reads, would you like something to eat too, sir? Laddey could have one of Harry sir's favourites prepared."
Harry shook his head as he tore the stamp off the envelope. "No, no, just tea's fine, Laddey, thank you," he answered, the house-elf popping away shortly thereafter whilst Harry extracted the letter, eager to read it and see what the reason for such a late-night summoning was.
It was obvious that whatever it was wouldn't be swell. Merlin, when he took his brief skim through before reading it, he realised his guess had been a bit of an understatement. His phrasing of 'not swell' was far from the phrasing he'd like to use.
' There's been an attack by more remnants of Grindelwald's forces, this time against the recently returned, first batch mind you, inhabitants of Hogsmeade. This is only after the Minister's Chief Advisor ignored suggestions to wait on account of those holdouts attacking rescue workers. We have no idea how many were killed, the number of attackers behind the attack itself or where they've gone off to. Come in as soon as you can, and bid your fiancee a farewell. You'll be needed here for most of the day so that we can get this team formed. It's clear waiting is no longer viable despite the lack of resources we have to work with.
Director Mac.'
"Something wrong, my love?" Elaine asked with her mouth so close to his ear that he could feel the soft moistness of her lips against it.
Harry whipped about, the letter still in his hand as he turned to face her. She hadn't made any noise, there hadn't been a breeze from her movement nor a brushing of her body against his, he hadn't even felt their connection or that unexplainable feeling that told you when you were being watched. It was as if she'd just randomly appeared beside him and that had him set on edge, especially due to the sensitive nature of the letter. It wouldn't do if all of that information came into being as public knowledge.
"Work stuff," he said when she raised an eyebrow at him, expectant of an answer that had already taken longer than it should have to be said. "I'll have to return to the Ministry so I can help them handle a few things. It could be most of the day, but this won't be all that common, I think - how about your job working with the Chief Advisor? I don't think you'll get all that much time around the Minister, what with the current situation and rumour of his retirement that we've kept on hearing."
"That's awfully naive of you to think that we, the saviours of the wizarding world, won't be afforded the chance to meet with our Minister. Have you forgotten we're to be awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class, for our work in saving the world? Perhaps we'll be given plaques, statues, busts and any other works of honour throughout the greater wizarding community so long as we keep up the pressure," Elaine patted him on the back, and then her hand drifted lower to pinch his rear. "Go, enjoy your day with the Aurors and work on apprehending those responsible for attacks against our people. I'll push for their executions as a testament to our willpower and the punishment for murdering civilians in the name of a 'greater good' that can no longer happen. The people call for their blood more ravenously than I do, it's wonderful."
"Wouldn't it be best if we kept a couple alive?" Harry asked her, curious as to what her answer would be since he already knew the stances of those higher up in the political offices. With her where she currently was, the information could very likely already be in her lap, but he wasn't quite sure of that. All he knew for certain was that work-related topics would stay where they're relevant; at work.
"Ah, I see what you're hinting at," Elaine said, grinning at him. "If we managed to keep a couple alive and pry them into speaking by means of torture or leading them on in the promises of a pardon, it would be beneficial in many ways as you've more than likely read - yes, the document that I assume you've gotten assigned has come from two of the people with whom I work. Even if I'm not supposed to officially know what their business is, suffice to say that I do."
"They could lead us to their friends. We'd establish peace much faster once they've all given each other up and nobody else rises to fill their shoes," Harry said after she all but acknowledged her own spying on those she was working with. It wasn't surprising, any action she took at this stage would have some manner of ulterior motive. She was Elaine, there wasn't all that much altruism in her, regardless of the cause or how just he judged it to be.
"I doubt many would surrender their comrades, stashes of items or stolen artefacts or even much of the spells they'd learned directly from Grindelwald or those close to him. We're their enemy, we always will be their enemy and whilst many of them perhaps, at one time, would have given us the occasional answer, all those who remain are the most devout to his cause," Elaine shook her head with a wide smile, leaned in to kiss him despite their sleep-tastes - she threw in a bit of tongue too - then she pulled back and swatted him once more on the rear, this time in the direction of the stairs that ultimately led to the Floo access. "I'll be waiting in bed for your return, at which point we'll go over my speaking with my grandmother. She had much to say, albeit most of which was wasteful or apolitical enough that it proved pointless. Still. her magical knowledge, on the other hand, was most wonderful and a few of the spells she mentioned were ones that you have used that I've personally witnessed. It's incredibly intriguing, but it can wait, my future husband. "
Elaine's eyes and tone were incredibly knowing, enough so that he reckoned her grandma had mentioned Slytherin's Study, but he didn't confirm her questionable look in the event that it was solely a test. She was incredibly at sniffing out lies or inconsistencies and so if he tried to get smart with her, undoubtedly his jig would be up, as the saying went. On the other hand, if he went all mushy with her and played the part of a fool, he reckoned he could get away with a good deal more. It'd worked so far and he bet it would continue to do so.
"I look forward to getting back home quickly, then. Whatever she's taught you, I reckon you'll try to use it against me and before too long, you'll cast the same spells I do only better and with more accuracy. We can even talk about our marriage, like when it's happening and who we'll invite," Harry leaned forward, seizing the initiative as he kissed Elaine smack dab on the lips before he withdrew and grinned at her as charismatically as was possible of him. "See you tonight, don't get up to too much fun without me."
As he walked away, he saw her narrowed eyes and thoughtful expression. His attempt to distract her had apparently worked, or at least she wanted him to think it had. On the one hand, he was happy with that whilst on the other, he was very nervous. Teasing a girl like Elaine - not that there were any other women like her - would likely see him in a very tough spot sometime in the future. She never forgot any of his actions, nor would she let him think that he had the advantage in their continuous game of aggressive affection.
"Back already, Harry?" Levit asked, the Junior Auror looking especially tired despite his energetic, happy tone as he sat behind the front desk.
"I was called in, it's nothing too big, they just wanted me to get an early start on the day. How about you? Shouldn't you be home by now? You've been here for most of the day and unless you only managed to get a bit of sleep before coming back, I would think you're due for a break," Harry asked as he motioned for the young man to walk with him for a few minutes, at least until he made his way over to McMacson's office.
Levit shook his head, the younger man still smiling despite the exhaustion that was plain to read on him. "We don't have enough people to keep everything running, so I volunteered. There's going to be another restructuring of the department soon from what I can tell, new ranks and all since we've gotten more people interested from across the Commonwealth, so it made sense to me that I show I'm worth keeping around before I end up getting replaced."
Harry snorted. "I can tell you this right now, as the Deputy Director, I'm more than certain I can make sure you stay on. Merlin knows people like you are needed and between the two of us, younger blokes like us help make the department seem new and revitalised. When was the last time you can think of that the leaders of a Department were all in their twenties and thirties?"
"Never," Levit said with furrowed brows as he pulled a face that reminded Harry an awful lot of Hermione. "So far as I've read, before you three took the positions that you have in the past couple of years, the youngest people previously were in their forties and fifties, but usually older. Experienced people was what the Ministers of the past often went for, but our current one is brilliant enough to see how youth can change it for the better."
"Brilliant. I'm glad you think the same as I do, at least in that instant. Now, how about we grab a coffee each before we get to work? I don't know about you, but I could definitely have on right about now," Harry said, clapping the slightly older young man on the shoulder before the two made their way to the small kitchen in the corner. It ate maybe all of a couple of minutes and whilst time was of the essence, those minutes wouldn't make all that much of a difference.
When Harry was done and Levit was on his way back to the desk, the former took a moment to admire the people working in the office even now, noting each of them down for their dedication when he saw that, like Levit, a majority were faces he had seen earlier. He wasn't sure how long he'd remain in the position he currently held, not with the turnover rate of senior leadership, but he'd make certain that they would be acknowledged as long as he had the power to do so.
Elaine, he thought as he looked them all over, his hand on the doorknob of McMacson's office, When she takes charge of the Ministry and I get a new position to serve alongside her, I'm going to reward all of those who were as religiously and respectfully as these lot all do. We'd be in a better position by far if this is how people worked in every office and department, no doubt it'll help root out all of that corruption nonsense too.
"Director McMacson, Head Auror Maxis," Harry greeted a second later when his thought was finished and he'd opened the door. "Sorry it took a little while for the message to reach me, my home's security is quite formidable."
"Oh, believe me, we know just how hard it is to reach you, Deputy Director Pev," McMacson said, friendly and only minorly teasing as he gestured to a seat. "Take a seat, I see that you've already grabbed something to keep yourself awake and I'm sorry for calling you back this early, for what it's worth. This isn't exactly ideal, believe me, I know."
The Head Auror, Urban Maxis, huffed at that. "These bastards ruined my day with my children today. The least we can do in return is ruin the rest of their lives when they're rotting in a cell, awaiting execution for their crimes against humanity. My home country will never be the same because of those that fought for him. "
Harry wasn't all that familiar with the Head Auror, but the anger in his voice and the way that he spoke, that being with a minor accent that wasn't natively English, told him enough. Whoever the man was beyond his position as Head Auror, he was filled with anger directed solely towards Grindelwald, enough so that he wouldn't even speak his name. That level of disdain could only come from a person directly affected by the conflict.
"What do we know?" Harry asked towards the two older men, the stack of papers on McMacson's desk only eyed for a moment by Harry.
"Not much, unfortunately. These terrorists as we'll call them, they're very organised and very well-trained. Who knows, maybe a couple of his inner circle survived and they're leading this group of resistance. If that's the case, I imagine this conflict will be ongoing for quite some time, lest we're given a massive boost in membership as the Chief Advisor is attempting - that stack of paperwork on my desk, the much taller one on the far right I mean, it's nought but resumes and requests to work from all across our great Commonwealth."
"Patriots and good people, all of them. I only hope our new friends in the East are half as charitable now that the war's over," Maxis commented with his arms crossed as he looked over to the large map that was on McMacson's wall, a bunch of figures and points all across it that Harry hadn't taken all that good of notice previously.
McMacson must have seen where he was looking and he laughed it off. "Don't worry about those, they were more for our personal amusement than anything Ministry related even if that's not entirely the right word to use. Muggles, they're not the smartest as we've seen when it comes to conflicts, but there were some interesting decisions made strategically throughout this war and we aimed to predict them in the hopes of getting some experience of our own should we ever get engaged in another conflict. There's still pockets of resistance across the channel, even in our Island, but it's mostly dealt with," McMacson shrugged and went over to his desk so that he could pick up the stack of papers. "I'll hand these off to you and then you can talk with Maxis about the restructure… Merlin, we've only just had one but it makes more sense after seeing how the Muggles do things. More ranks with individual responsibilities for better management. Might change how close the department historically has been with one another, but that comes with time, yeah?"
"You're leaving all of the hiring and the total restructuring of the department to the two of us?" Harry asked, blinking at the older man as he took hold of the documents.
"Yup, good use of the word 'us' there too. Together, your status and experience alongside Urban's, I wager there's nothing in the world neither of you can take on. Even if that does amount to nothing more than pencil-pushing, it'll make me feel a hell of a lot better knowing it's the two of you doing it," Mac grinned and looked at the door, his message clear as he continued. "If you two could, please don't take too long with this. We still have that team that needs forming, the one meant to deal with his errant followers. Handle that first if you'd like, but we need both of these errands dealt with."
"Is there anything else we should focus on if we have time?" Harry asked as he collected the stack of papers McMacson had given him and started towards the door, Urban right behind him. "We could hopefully knock this out before the end of the day."
"I don't know if that's possible, but I like the energy. Really, all that I want from the two of you today is getting the people picked for in-person meetings out of the hundreds of options that we have, getting the same thing done for people to lead this team of Grindy-hunters and if you really have some spare time by the end of that, prep the reconstruction of the department. I would think some new positions for management and some intermediate spots for people to sit in would be very helpful," McMacson said, a faraway look forming on his face that didn't last more than a few seconds before he shook his head and motioned, again, at the door.
Harry didn't linger long after that and with the Head Auror at his side, they made their way over to his office, where the majority of the day would then be spent. From early in the morning to late into the evening, the two men worked straight through without one singular break; they ate whilst going over paperwork, took their coffee runs whilst discussing stand-out candidates and eventually, began to fall asleep at their seats whilst discussing the new positioning system. It was especially relevant on account of the many Commonwealth members being hired.
"It'll be a busy few weeks for us," Urban said to Harry as the older, more grizzled man slid on his leather jacket and stretched his arms, likely trying to bring a sense of awakeness back to them.
In response to the man's comment, Harry nodded. "We picked one-hundred and seven people and somehow, we've still got another two-hundred or so applications to go. It'll be us that handle all of those interviews too, at least until we get some of the other survivors trained in those new ranks… what are we going to do for uniforms for them? Pay, hours, duties, we covered everything save for differences in uniforms."
"Something to worry about another time, when I'm not rushing to get home to spend a modicum of time with my two children," Urban said before he nodded towards Harry's Floo. "Mind if I use this to get home? Don't want to wake Mac up if I can help it, but don't tell him that. I wouldn't want him thinking I'm being overly considerate, else it'll go to that already large head of his."
Harry couldn't help the snort that such a comment drew from him as he nodded. "Feel free. Merlin knows we'll be spending a lot of time together, at least until we each get a secretary of our own and far more higher-level staff to help us out. Actually, that reminds me, I'll go put this on Mac's desk and tell Levit the good news."
"Make sure he doesn't go around blabbing about it until the morning. Now goodnight, Harry. I'll see you in the morning - you may even be fortunate enough to try one of my daughter's breakfast creations," With those parting words, Urban was gone and Harry was headed quickly towards the door, for before too much longer, he'd be at home and in a bed of his own. The thought was very comforting.
January 27, 1945
Wednesday Morning
Harry shook his head as he set down a stack of mail. There was much to do still, but in the past few days, he'd forgotten nearly all of his personal life in favour of his new job. He hadn't intended on doing that and Elaine, whilst she had been very accommodating - and not at all angry - was clearly not all that happy with him; Corene, Aster, Reinhard, Daphne, Slughorn, Sarah, Marcus, Veronica… the list of people he wanted and needed to catch up with only grew, but so did his list of jobs. Sure, he recognised that it was at least partially his fault, but what else could he do?
"Elaine?" He asked once he had tucked away those same pieces of mail, assuring that she wouldn't read them or attempt to find them in the first place.
All of a second went by before her response was heard. "What is it, darling? I'm attempting to complete an assignment of my own."
Right, she's been right busy lately. Almost more than I have, only her problems aren't half as dangerous and far more self-inflicted by the Ministry, he thought before he responded to her. "Could you come here for a minute or two? We could take a break, enjoy some lunch and talk a bit about our friends. Feels like we've forgotten a lot of them."
Elaine strode in not too long after, one eyebrow of hers raised as she sat down on the bed to look at him whilst he stayed seated at the desk. "I've been in some level of communication with all of them, as I suspected you would do too. Some of your friends, namely the Goldhorns and the Gryffindor friends they're involved with, are still hidden away quite safely and with limited contact," she grinned, her eyes all but flashing as she started kicking her feet gently. "Nearly all of those similar to them have done the same, that being to keep themselves tucked away from any problems. - I know of Grindelwald's supporters still out and about, murdering and pillaging to their heart's content. I know of the Ministry's financial issues and near bankruptcy, of our Commonwealths requesting additional autonomy and much, much more. They could supply additional funds, use their political capital to assist us, but they don't."
"Why didn't you tell me? I could speak with Sarah and the others, I'm sure they'd respond to me," Harry leaned forward as an expression of his curiosity, as it seemed like Elaine had kept just as many work-related secrets as he had; it still wasn't lost on him that she had other secrets too, those being related to her and Corene's grandmother who'd all but dismissed him when he'd met her.
I don't need to worry anymore, we're not returning to Hogwarts and if we do… I can take care of what needs taking care of, Harry thought, the room no longer as vital as it once was to him.
"I think you overestimate your abilities, but the offer is very polite of you, my love," Elaine said as she suddenly stood up and made her way over to him in a predatory, mock-stalking fashion with mirth in her eyes. "We should choose to speak about matters more important while we have this little amount of private time together - our future. I would like to see it last well over one hundred years and if you'd allow me to begin research on the matter, perhaps under your direct supervision should you find such magic nerve-causing, I'd like to start now. Of course, that isn't the only matter we've to attend to, our marriage and the time in which we'll procreate are also incredibly important."
Of course, she'd use the word procreate.
"Is this magic that gives us so much time together ritualistic, or is it done via a spell? Unless I'm mistaken, if it's the former, there'll be some sort of drawback and if it's the latter, well, it can't be. I've studied right alongside you long enough to know there's no magic good as that," Harry narrowed his eyes at her when he finished, wholly certain that he was correct and only slightly on-edge when it came to such magics. That unnatural coldness of her hands and the physical strength she possessed were both results of rituals that he personally wouldn't have done… then again, there weren't many that he would so much as consider.
Elaine leaned forward to press a forceful, lingering kiss on his lips and when she pulled back, she swiped her tongue across her bottom lip. "Tasty," she said simply, smiling at him with a hunger that he recognised in her more randy of moods. "It would seem you weren't only watching or gawking at me during those lessons of ours. I half thought you were learning arithmetics and runes from me with some ulterior motive in mind - we both know you were to some degree - only I thought there were layers to it, as there was to mine."
"Wait wait, we're getting a little too off-topic. I had wa-" Harry was cut off when Elaine climbed into his lap, wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned down to pepper kisses all along his jaw and the corners of his lips.
She persisted with that for nearly a minute, not bothering to hear what it was that he had to say until finally, she pulled back with a content smile on her face.
"You wanted to plan something, didn't you?" Elaine asked with a smirk on her face as one of her fingers traced along his right arm.
"I wanted to invite our friends over for a meal so that we could catch up with them. Reinhard especially and Aster too, I could see if either of them were interested in a position within the Auror office - it would help our power base if we had them higher in the office," Harry added the latter half when Elaine looked doubtful, but it worked, or at least she made it look as if it did.
"We'll have an informal gathering," Elaine said easily enough before a sinister look settled back on her face, and then… she dove back in.