Harry Potter You Are a Married Man!

**You Are a Married Man!**

"Harry James Potter, you are a married man!"

The voice of Ginny Potter rang as clear as a bell in the dark, shattering the stillness. Harry's eyes went wide as he snapped his head up to look at his partner, but he couldn't see Jones in the gloom of the abandoned house. She heard the voice, though, and apparently so did their stakeout targets as the pop of Apparition was plainly heard from the floor above. After the sound dissipated the only sounds that could be heard were the slow, measured breaths of Auror Jones and the quick, shallow breathing of Auror Trainee Harry Potter.

Jones took out her wand and after a quick _lumos_ her face was close to Harry's. "Potter! What the bloody hell was that? What did you do?"

"Um…" Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I was nervous, and, well, I took off my wedding ring."

Jones cocked her head and looked at Harry. "Hmmph. Well, hopefully Steeplejack and Weasley will have better luck at their location. Let's go see if they left anything upstairs, but after that we need to go report in."

After collecting the evidence from the upstairs room Harry and Jones headed back to the Ministry. It was while they were processing the evidence that a blue parchment airplane hovered in front of Jones, and after she read it she informed Harry that their presence was requested in the Head Auror's office. After making their way back upstairs it was luckily, or unluckily, a bit of a wait outside Head Auror Robards' office. Harry sat nervously on the edge of one of the chairs and could only glance occasionally at his partner Jones. She didn't seem upset, or angry, but he knew after six months not to try and read her moods. Much easier to talk it out than try to guess, but he was in no frame of mine for conversation. As he waited, and the voices continued to rise behind the Head Auror's door, he turned his wedding ring around his finger. As he vacantly stared at the picture of the Wimbourne Wasps pitch that hung outside of Robards' office Harry kept wondering why Ginny done that, why she'd put that enchantment on his ring? He'd never taken it off before; there'd never been a reason.

"Harry." Jones sat straight in her chair, her Auror's robe seeming to cover her from her neck down to the ground, completely obscuring the chair. "You didn't know about it, and we got some good information. Don't be down on yourself."

"I know, it's just…if I hadn't done that we might have caught them."

"No, we wouldn't have made it past…"

Jones never had the chance to finish, as the door to Robards' office flew open. Without being invited Auror Jones stood up and walked inside, pausing only long enough to glance at Harry and nod her head towards the office. After a deep breath Harry reluctantly stood up and followed her into the office, sneaking a glance at the big boss for a second. Instead of being ready for them, and starting the dressing-down that would obviously occur, Robards sat with his head in his hand, looking at a piece of parchment on the desk. Without looking Robards took out his wand, closed the door and returned to his parchment.

Harry felt the sweat begin on his forehead and had to resist the urge to reach up and wipe it off; he didn't want to draw the Head Auror's attention. He'd heard the stories of Aurors receiving the full force of Robards' wrath and had heard the tail end of one incident when Dilkins, his Auror Instructor, had sent him up to the office with the weekly progress reports a few months back. To calm his nerves he began to focus on the items in the room, since he'd only been in the Head Auror's office once, when all the Trainees had received their partner assignments. The desk was large, wooden and highly polished with a minimum of parchment on the surface. The bookshelves behind Robards were crammed full of books, some in better shape than others, and the annual Wimbourne Wasps Supporters calendar hung next to a picture of a witch who Harry could only assume was Mrs. Robards. With his nerves somewhat soothed he chanced a quick glance over at Jones. His partner sat there calmly with her hands in her lap, red hair pulled back in her ever-present bun, and she simply looked like she was waiting for her train to arrive. How could she be so calm?

"Right." Robards lifted his head from the parchment and sat back in his chair, glanced at Harry and then turned to Jones. "Total loss?"

"No, we gathered evidence from the scene. We logged it into Evidence after we arrived." Jones' voice was matter-of-fact. "Due to the unforeseen circumstances which you've been briefed on we were unable to apprehend the suspects or gain additional intelligence."

Harry felt his stomach sink into his shoes, closed his eyes momentarily and braced himself for the shouting.

"Potter! What happened?" Robards glanced briefly at Jones and then turned his attention back to Harry. "Bit of a surprise?"

"Yes, sir." Harry gulped. "I had no idea."

Robards chuckled and smoothed his eyebrows. "Women. Not a word, Jones. Ok, Potter, take off your bloody wedding ring!"

Harry reached down and slowly pulled his wedding ring off of his left hand. The minute the ring ceased contact with his skin Ginny's voice rang out loud and clear through the office and, with the same tone of voice as before, reminded Harry that he was a married man. After quickly replacing his ring, and silencing Ginny's voice, Harry couldn't help himself. "I'm sorry, sir, if I would have known…I've…I've botched everything."

"Yes, yes you have. What the bloody hell was your wife thinking, boy? Aurors have to be able to detect cursed objects; I ought to have you repeat that coursework! Shite, maybe you need the remedial session! What would have happened if you would have done that with Death Eaters upstairs instead of shoddy dark object counterfeiting plonkers?" Robards leaned across the desk and stared at Harry for several seconds, the muscles in his jaw pulsing rapidly.

"Oh quit it, Gawain, the boy feels bad enough as it is." Jones let out a contemptuous sigh. "You know it's the latest thing, not his fault the lot in Research is behind the times." She reached over and patted Harry on the shoulder. "It wasn't a total loss, Harry, and besides, it was a low-level operation."

Robards picked up a piece of parchment, rolled it into a ball and threw it softly at Jones. "How the bloody hell am I supposed to maintain my authority with your mollycoddling, Sunny?" He shook his head in mock disgust. "Ok, Potter, here's what she wasn't allowed to tell you before you went out tonight. We know exactly where the lot that is passing off fake dark objects, and to be honest they're not very good fakes, we know all about their little operation. Steeplejack and Weasley are probably picking them up as we speak, so don't fall all to pieces on me. Jones and I thought it would be a good exercise to test your surveillance training, but your wife put the skids to that. She give you anything else, a new watch? New glasses? Charmed underpants? Wait; don't tell me if it's that."

Harry shook his head. "No sir. Nothing else, sir."

"Well, go down to Research in the morning before you report in, just to be safe. And Potter?"

"Yes, sir?"

Robards shook his head, chuckled and turned to Jones. "Sir. I owe Dilkins a few pints for that." After turning back to Harry he smiled. "I was newly married once, too. Be glad it was just your wedding ring." He opened the door with his wand. "You can go, Potter. Oh, and not a word about this to the Missus, please."

Harry nodded, saw Jones give him a reassuring smile and left the office, and although he was relieved he still felt a bit uneasy.

-ooo-

It was a normal training day for the Harpies, with the usual schedule, so Ginny sat in the locker room and finished putting on her training kit. Since it was a Wednesday it meant early conditioning followed by flying drills and then the team would break off into the individual position practices. Even though she was on the reserves Gwennog Jones, captain of the Harpies, did not believe in segregating the training based on starting roles. Gwennog's belief was that everyone on the team should be ready to play at a moment's notice.

As the team began to assemble around Gwennog for the usual morning briefing a woman who was definitely not a player edged her way through the women until she eventually ended up next to Gwennog. After whispering something in her ear it was obvious that Gwennog hadn't heard, as she rolled her eyes and rounded on the newcomer.

"Bramble, speak up, for Merlin's sake!" Gwennog pointed to her ears. "At a level humans can hear, please? You'll never manage that rabble if you don't speak with authority."

The dark-headed woman adjusted her glasses and exhaled sharply in irritation. "Yes, Gwennog. Two Aurors are here to see Ginny Potter."

Every head in the locker room focused on Ginny, but for some reason the only thing that went through Ginny's head was that she couldn't remember exactly who the Bramble woman was. Was she a secretary? She wasn't an assistant coach and she'd definitely never seen her on a broom. Eventually, though, her synapses fired enough to realize exactly what the woman had said.

Taiga Warblethump, the first team beater, was next to Ginny and elbowed her. "What'd ye do, Potter? Can't yer famous husband get you off?"

That led to a large amount of snickering until Gwennog let out an ear-piercing whistle. "You lot aren't paid to gossip, you're paid to play Quidditch, and we've got Appleby in two weeks. Get your sorry arses out there and get to work." She focused on Ginny. "Not you, Potter, you stay here."

After the locker room cleared out it was only Ginny, Gwennog and the Bramble woman. Her mind racing a mile a minute Ginny tried to figure out why the Aurors were there to talk to her, she hadn't done anything illegal, and she felt confused until all of the sudden it hit her. Harry was an Auror. She was his wife, and he'd had to modify his personnel documentation after they were married. She was Harry's next of kin. "Oh God. No." She sat down quickly on the bench, and all of the horrible things that she knew could happen to Aurors flashed through her imagination.

Gwennog realized immediately why Ginny's mood had changed dramatically. "Bramble, you sit with her and I'll go talk to the Aurors. Are they in reception?" As soon as she saw Bramble nod she quickly left the locker room.

Ginny felt the other woman's hand on her shoulder. She sniffed and with a trembling hand wiped her eyes.

"I'm sure it's nothing. Paperwork or something." The dark-headed woman adjusted her glasses with her free hand. "We'll get it sorted."

With a trembling voice Ginny shook her head. "He said this could happen. We both knew it could happen and now…after all he's been through, after everything, it happens now? Merlin, what will I do without him? I'm sorry; I don't even remember your name."

"Bramble, Melody Bramble. I'm the new press secretary. Don't worry about that, though, I'm sure…here she is now."

Ginny's head snapped up and with palpable nervousness she focused on the doorway to the locker room where Gwennog stood with a plump red-headed female Auror and a tall, thin male Auror. It was Gwennog who kept her attention, though, as she saw that Gwennog didn't look upset, she looked amused.

"Bramble, give them some space." Gwennog looked at her watch and then turned towards the female Auror. "You've got fifteen minutes and then she has to be out on the pitch."

Melody patted Ginny on the arm and left, and soon the two Aurors sat in front of Ginny in conjured chairs. Even though Ginny was somewhat reassured by Gwennog's usual gruff demeanor, she still had doubts. She watched the two Aurors look at each other until finally the woman nodded.

"Mrs. Potter, I'm Auror Sunny Jones and this is Auror Ossian Steeplejack. First off, I apologize for coming unannounced and let me calm your fears, Harry is fine. He's doing paperwork at the office."

At that moment Ginny exhaled deeply, surprised that she had been holding her breath. "Thank Merlin. He always said…"

"We'll give Robards a few pointers on procedure and not scaring new Auror brides to death, love." Steeplejack stroked his beard. "But rest assured your husband is fine."

"Yes, your husband. That is why we're here, though." Jones arched an eyebrow. "Apparently his wedding ring had a fidelity reminder charm on it? One that he wasn't aware of, was he?"

"Oh." Ginny's eyes went wide.

"Oh, indeed." Steeplejack nodded. "I'll let Jones tell you, since she's his partner."

Jones saw the light of recognition in Ginny's eyes. "Yes, I'm that Jones. Mrs. Potter, last night we were on a surveillance assignment, a stakeout mission, and Harry removed his ring for some reason. That's when your fidelity reminder charm activated and the suspects Apparated out of the location."

Ginny closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the lockers, causing a large metallic clang to reverberate throughout the locker room. "Merlin's pants! Why did I let the woman at the shop talk me into that?"

"Bigger commission, that's my guess." Steeplejack looked over to Jones. "What? Bigger sale, bigger commission…"

"Ossian…" Jones smacked him on the arm lightly with the back of her hand.

"Is he in trouble?" Ginny continued to stare at the ceiling.

Jones' laughter was light and short. "No, dear, he's not in trouble. Mrs. Potter, can I have your attention?" Once Ginny ceased staring at the ceiling and focused on her Jones continued. "Mrs. Potter, your husband is an Auror. A trainee for now, but that won't be for long. He's going to be in situations in the future where he will need complete certainty regarding his equipment, and that includes everything on his person, including any current and future gifts from you. From here on out he'll have everything checked by the Research department, but you'll need to remember that when it comes to…no more hidden charms, ok?"

"Definitely." Ginny nodded rapidly in agreement. "Are you sure he's not in trouble?"

Steeplejack looked over to Jones. "Did Robards yell?'

Jones nodded. "A bit."

He turned to Ginny. "He's not in trouble. And before you ask I'm sure he was ordered not to say anything to you about last night. You can discuss it now, of course, but just between the two of you, no one else. Oh, and so you know, that charm won't be on the ring when he gets home tonight."

Gwennog opened the door and the light from the pitch streamed into the locker room. "Are you lot finished with my Chaser yet?"

The two Aurors stood up and Jones dismissed the conjured chairs. "Yes, we're finished. And Gwennog? This little visit never happened officially. Wouldn't do to see anything about this in _The Prophet_."

Gwennog nodded. "I'll have the press secretary deal with anything. Potter! If I don't see you on a broom in five minutes you've got another hour of conditioning!"

* * *

><p><em>Six months later<em>

Ginny stood next to the case of wedding bands at Fiona's Filigree and felt the overwhelming urge to conjure a chair. Hermione had been looking at the rings for over forty minutes, had the woman behind the counter bring out at least twenty of them to examine and had yet to even narrow down the possibilities.

"What about this one, Ginny?" Hermione held up a ring. "Do you think he'd like this one?"

After pulling back her hair into a ponytail Ginny rolled her eyes. "Hermione. It's my brother. You'll be lucky if you even get him to wear one. No, I take that back. He'll wear one at least for the ceremony, after that?" She shrugged and decided to walk over to another case to look at earrings.

Ginny's refusal to assist in procuring the perfect wedding ring for Ron irritated Hermione, and she placed the band in question back in the little velvet box on the top of the counter. She turned her engagement ring back and forth slightly on her finger as she leaned over and looked at the rings, some of them for the fourth or fifth time. "It has to be comfortable or else he won't wear it, and he's quite active…"

The witch behind the counter smiled. "Oh, we have some additional services we can add to the piece to ensure your groom will not only wear his ring, but will never want to take it off. For an additional fee we can add the Perfect Promise Package."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Are you talking about a fidelity reminder charm? I've heard of those. What's the process?"

"Ah, yes, very popular." The witch took out a brochure and handed it to Hermione. "It is quite a simple charm, actually. You would need to be present and record a small saying or phrase that will play whenever the ring leaves his finger. The spell is activated the moment you place it on his finger during your vows, and it will remain active for the length of your marriage. The charm is guaranteed to not wear off due to weather, corrosive potions or other physical activities."

Ginny had rejoined Hermione, noticed the brochure in her best friend's hand and felt warmth spread over her face. "Um, Hermione, I just remembered, we're supposed to meet Mum for lunch. Can't be late. We can come back another day."

Hermione pursed her lips. "I don't remember making a lunch date." She reached into her purse and pulled out a small leather-bound organizer. She flipped through the pages and traced a finger down the side that read Wednesday. "We're meeting Luna for lunch on Friday, but I don't have anything for today. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Mum mentioned it to me this morning. Come on." She pulled Hermione's arm and almost drug her out of the shop much to the consternation of the witch behind the counter. As soon as they got out of Fiona's Filigree Ginny reached over and pulled the brochure out of Hermione's hand, wadded it up and threw it in the air. Before the brochure could return to earth she had her wand out and set it on fire. As the two best friends watched the brochure turn into ash Ginny shuddered. "You don't want to do this. Trust me. Come on, we're not really meeting Mum, but I'll tell you why there is no way in bloody hell you want to do that charm."


End file.

Harry Potter, Humor