Three sets of eyes were looking directly at him. It was impossible to look them all in the eye at once, so he settled for Hermione. Harry was surprised at the odd mix of professionalism and determination that was present in his best friends demeanour. The invitation had been separate from the normal more personal letter she had sent him the day prior and had been worded differently as well.

If he was willing to speak to them, she would promise no infringing on his oaths to the Auror Corps or their friendship. He had sent a positive reply, after his owl came back from delivering the response to Hermione's personal letter to him. It wasn't until about an hour before this meeting that he really began to think of what she could want and if there was more than Theo and her to the 'them'.

Selwyn, Harry remembered the girl being a year ahead in school and quite striking. A Slytherin so he hadn't paid her too much mind but she had been a substitute on the quidditch team for a season or two. She had also been in Azkaban, one of those imprisoned under the blanket Dark Mark sentencing. From the introduction when they first sat down at the conference table in a room that must be designated for this he now knew she was Nott's cousin and he had been told not to call her Carrow, ever.

"Now Harry, I am sure you are wondering why I have asked for this meeting, in this way. Basically we want to offer you a deal, one that we are sure other Aurors have had with groups or individuals. There is an area we need information on and in return we will supply you with consulting and relevant information. This is to be a private deal between our organization and you. Here is the contract we have drawn up that explains how or why others might be involved and the information useful to us now. Eventually this will not be relevant and there is a clause covering that as well."

For a moment Harry just blinked at the poised and straightforward young woman in front of him, startled his best friend of 10 years could speak so formally to him. Then he decided that while his brain was starting to move through the information in that statement he could skim the contract. He would need a lawyer to sort this out, the were clauses, conditions to obligations, definitions, and endgame provisions. From his more thorough skim of what he could completely understand and an assumption Hermione was not part of a plan to somehow take him down he came to a vague understanding. They wanted to know what he could tell them about the Parole Program and Azkaban conditions.

As he kept going there were clauses where it was understood for security purposes he wouldn't be able to tell them things and the reverse to where it was physically or emotionally detrimental for one of them to disclose information to him. As he read something became more clear than the legal jargon and it was a question. Several questions really. He composed his thoughts before looking up. All three faces were inscrutable, even Hermione had a mask on that showed little. Impressive.

"What is your end goal?" Hermione blinked at him and the others exchanged a glance then looked to the curly haired witch. At this her mask faltered and Harry could see she wasn't sure how to tell him, or perhaps how much to tell him.

Hermione being involved made this almost a forgone conclusion. There was no doubt in his mind that she would die before betraying him or endangering his career. Well at least she would tell him straight out that's what she was doing if she needed to for a purpose.

For instance about a month ago in their regular correspondence she had asked if he had a lawyer and when he replied he didn't, why would he? She requested an in person coffee and gently explained that as Head of House Potter he really needed to do better. In addition to the papers and folders of information on Head of House duties and privileges she also gave him a book, no surprise. A thick tome that touched his heart as no book since the photo album Hagrid gave him had. A complete to current known Potter Family History with the publishers information for additions to the master which she had organized to be housed in their rare manuscripts archive.

Perhaps it was plans fermenting in her mind that had prompted the lawyer discussion or perhaps it was the influence of Theodore Nott, who was also Head of House after his father's death in the Final Battle. The precise reason was of little consequence, as the results changed his life. Not dramatically but in awareness and vulnerability. That day she had spoken only very briefly of the personal reasons he might want one, probably so he wouldn't get embarrassed or turned off the idea. What had come out of it though were several meetings with more scheduled a him being busier and he began to learn about what it meant to be Head of House, and many things to be wary of, witches included. It put a new spin on Ginny and his on again of again relationship.

Hermione speaking interrupted the mental list of times Hermione had influenced him for the better and he had only made it back about three years before Nott's voice broke into his litany.

"Recently Hermione brought it to my attention that we need security. For each of us sitting here but also for those that don't have it in the current system. Many of us are orphans, have undesirable parentage to some section of society, or just have some damage from the war and its effects." With that he broke off and then looked at the women in the room. Hermione nodded and Selwyn shrugged slightly. Notts shoulders dropped and so did at least some of his Slytherin mask.

"Look Potter, the three of us have no one, hell even you could be counted as alone. In a position where if societies temper or scandal shifted the land you could be vulnerable. We are going to build an empire, Hermione's term, for ourselves. Not to take over anything but to keep us in the position of always having the power to make choices. That's the end goal." Nott spoke seriously and Selwyn shivered a little but looked defiant and stern.

He met Hermione's eyes and could see the same steel in them as when she learned of house elf abuse. It wasn't the concept of house elves that upset her, she had explained the concept of symbiotic relationships in nature and more so in magic. It was the one sided relationship. Between some wizards and their elves. It hadn't turned out to be slavery as she had wrathfully decided that summer after meeting Winky, but it was just as terrible. Disrespect of the elves contribution to the health of magic in Wizarding Britain. She couldn't prove that in Hogwarts but had proven it to his satisfaction in the years since. This was similar in tenor, they had spoken of the stealth attempt to remove rituals and parts of history. The danger of removing parts of the history and culture of Wizarding Britain. As children raised in the muggle world it was terrible to think that instead of education on this world it was trending towards erasing it in favour of a new modern hybrid world. Hermione had brought it to his attention and as usual any time she planted a seed of something to look for or a puzzle his problem solving mind took it and let it grow in the background until another piece of information could be added to the specific growing mental file.

Citadel Inc. was mentioned in the contract and he was quite sure that name was explained by the reference to an empire. There was a part that he thought meant he would have to amend the contract to include access to others that were employed within the purview of Citadel Inc., so they planned to bring others into the fold. The parolees perhaps and others they counted as vulnerable.

Harry shouldn't have been surprised by the smile on Hermione's face. Clearly she could tell from his posture and expression there was nothing he opposed in this venture. Of course he would support Hermione in whatever she decided to do and depending on the scope this it could be broad enough to feed her various voracious appetites.

"Can we have dinner now? You will be disappointed in me and give me one of your looks if I sign it before taking it to the lawyer you suggested I hire and advised I used in a similar example you gave." He was grinning with her and Selwyn snickered quietly while Nott rolled his eyes and looked slightly incredulous.

"Does she ever stop surprising you with her advanced planning Potter?" Nott quipped.

"Hasn't yet, didn't see that lawyer intervention leading to this and am not sure which came first. Decided it didn't matter in these situations years ago." For the first time Harry could recall he was sharing amusement with Theodore Nott. It was nice, maybe Hermione was right.

Is consulting what you have decided to call your swotty habit?" Harry asked as they finished dinner and an elf that had been introduced as Sunny, by a resigned looking Hermione, set out coffee mugs and a decanter.

It was a tradition of Helen and Matthew Granger to have coffee and chat after dinner and Hermione had kept it as a reminder of her parents. She had only a year after their memories were restored before they were killed in a traffic accident. Harry enjoyed partaking in it and fondly remembered the visits he had shared with them.

"Which swotty habit exactly?" Amanda, she had insisted he call her that when dinner started, sniped from the seat across from him. They all laughed and it was clear that each accepter Hermione had many habits that could be termed as such.

"It was Amanda that suggested we could consult with companies and individuals of our choice. Take on clients we have already decided we want to work with and can help us achieve our goals. It hadn't occurred to me we could offer companies or organizations our services instead of having them try and pitch it to us. Kind of changed the playing field for me. As you know several people and businesses have approached me over the years but there weren't many contracts offered that I actually wanted to participate in. You know this from my whining about it then though. What do you think?" Hermione's excited voice made him smile gently.

Right after the war he had been so pent up and simultaneously despondent that for about a month Hermione shielded him from almost everything. Any sign he couldn't handle a request or topic and she made excuses our outright defended his right to time and space after all he had been through. He had been staying at The Burrow because Molly insisted and for days afterward he couldn't really process any of what had happened. Under heavy wards they had their first real private conversation in what felt like forever. Maybe since Ron had come back during the hunt. Harry had been brusk and hadn't shared anything really until she blew up and screamed at him.

Did he think she would put up with this? maybe everyone else was awed by his glory but she didn't survive a war with him to watch him fade in front of her. That had led to him screaming his outrage at her, how dare she demand anything else from him? She was wrathful in her heartbreak that he could think she didn't love him and only want to know how he truly was. That conversation changed a lot in that immediate time but also in the longer term. His feelings of captivity and inability to let himself feel in that busy but broken home were the most immediate issues. Grimmauld Place has been her suggestion, so obvious in hindsight. Of course she had given him options, a cabin in the remote woods, a flat in muggle London, with her or alone. He hadn't thought for a moment she would let him fade from her life but she clearly expressed her feelings that he owed no one anything at all. She had spent a month in Grimmauld with him and things were much better.

Not what either considered good enough but both could vent and be freer with themselves in that old house and with each other. It had strained other relationships and had led to different paths than continued living with the Weasleys might have but they had all recovered, or close enough to function. After that month he had surprised her by insisting he went to Australia with her to find her parents. The process of recovering them took a couple weeks and their memories hadn't fully recovered before they were killed. They always knew who she was and more came back everyday but nearly twenty years of memories was just too much to come back quickly.

The ever present Bulgarian firewhisky was being enjoyed casually when their conversation about potions was interrupted by Hermione and Theo needing to make a note for tomorrow's brewing. Harry's request to see the lab led to them all traversing the main wing to the north wing which he had been in earlier for their official meeting. Down the stairs he wouldn't have known were there if Theo hadn't turned a corner and walked through what Harry had though was solid wall. Hermione grinned at him and pulled him through by the hand.

"One of our swotty sessions was centered around the hidden passages at Hogwarts and others like them." He grinned at her and enjoyed the playfulness of the moment as they both remembered the Marauders and their map.

It was huge, that was his first thought as he looked around the complex of rooms. There were several openings from the entrance he was standing in and as Theo headed to a corner it was clear, moving walls and walkways. Amanda too looked curious and told him she had only been down her twice. Hermione summoned a walkway with wandless gestures and as it arranged itself into a gangway from them in the direction Theo had moved in Harry was impressed.

"So have you guys been experimenting with your discoveries here or studying things you need?" He asked, still marvelling at the magic that must be needed to create and power this labyrinth.

"Both. Well it's gone both ways. Hiding the entrance to the lab led to the study of walls and what people had done to and with them. That led to our system for being able to separate or regulate different sized rooms for different potions requirements. And to contain any mishaps. The walkways were something we crafted as a challenge a few weeks ago after Milly couldn't get to us and that aided issues. We warded this against any living thing other than the two of us. Milly tried to get through, we hadn't eaten lunch, and the reaction of the wars stopping her set off several potions in progress." There was a wry grin at the elf's reason and a wince at the remembered explosions.

"These are our solution and the first of our own spelled creation, together anyways. So the elves can come into the foyer and use a walkway to get to us if needed and we set up an intercom too. That one will be patented as soon as we can get the paperwork set up. How is work? And Ginny?" They chatted as they reached Nott and then while they explored this lab.

He spoke a little about Ginny and told her he wanted to have a coffee somewhere secure and talk to her about it. Work was good mostly. The active Auror part anyways. A shared glance contained much understanding about the people who tried to make Harry more than an Auror at the Ministry. When he asked about the potion he was floored. This was an experimental variation in polyjuice. It didn't turn you into a copy of another but used your own body mass in different ways. You couldn't be a specific person with their hair but the potion would use the DNA from a hair to give you a blend between them and yourself. The use time of four hours staggered him, they freely admitted it wasn't there yet but that was what the arithmancy and their understanding indicated.

As he spun into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place Harry's mind was full of the possibilities. The three of them had ideas and plans. Many of them. Some would end up benefiting society if he understood them correctly. Some were ancient traditions and rituals that they were researching to understand, some muggle technology or innovations that they would like to try and harness or imitate, and some were their own ideas and passions. Amanda had listed some of the more esoteric files she had seen in their research cavern, as she called it. One had been The Veil. His eyes had shot to Hermione's and she had surely seen the flash of hope. Her understanding smile and small head shake told him that at least currently they didn't have the answer for that particular riddle. Still, he wondered if there was a way he could be involved, at least a little bit, it sounded exciting.