Harry knew his was in trouble and never going to hear the end of this as he arrived in the corridor leading to the banqueting hall of the Ministry. Throwing his Auror robes for social occasions over his shoulders as he hurried towards the entrance, he knew from the soft play of music and louder growing conversations that the official part of the presentation for this year Order of Merlin was over. Fighting off the most dangerous Dark Wizard of their time three times while still underage and then defeating him at the age of twenty four, was probably the only thing right now that would prevent Harry from losing his job.

He had been supposed to be handing them out to the three receivers and holding a small speech because one of them was one of the Aurors in his division. But a last minute arrest had come in and he had been held up until twenty minutes ago. He had arrived to an empty home, no surprise as he and his wife had agreed to meet here, taken a shower in record time and dressed as fast as possible and still knew he was way too late.

Slightly out of breath he arrived in the hall and the guests standing closest to the door all turned around staring at him surprised. Harry quickly walked right into the crowd of the high society of the National and International Wizarding World, trying to draw as less attention to himself as possible, as his eyes scanned the crowed in front of him.

"Oi Harry!" the familiar voice somewhere to his right cause him to stop and turn, seeing his best friends standing at a bar table not to far from him. Ducking behind a corpulent Wizard in a purple robe he made his way over to Ron and Hermione.

"Were have you been?" Hermione asked the moment he came to a halt in front of them. Right in that moment Harry could see what George meant, Hermione did sound like her mother in law when she was angry. And currently her temper was even more explosive as she was five months pregnant and constantly ready to release her hormonal mood swings on those around her.

"I had to work, we finally found Rabastan Lestrange, you'd think I'd let anyone else handle him? Aside from the fact that the only ones on duty were newbies." he asked defending himself. He had told them it was a stupid Idea to have all high ranked Aurors attend the ceremony and leave the work to a dozen Aurors who where fresh out of their training.

Of course trouble was bound to happen and just barely half an hour before the start of the presentation, the message had come in, leaving no one but Harry to help.

"But you know this is important! Scrimgeour was furiously, he even snapped at Minerva."

"He bloody didn't? What an Idiot." Harry exclaimed, rolled his eyes in annoyance while he also grew angry at the Minister.

"Yes he did, but she wasn't happy about that I can tell you, she gave him quite a piece of her mind on what she thought about him and the situation. I'm sure he won't do it ever again, I swear he even flinched." Ron said not able to keep the grin off his face.

"You didn't happen to know where she is right now?" He said and both friends thought for a moment.

"I think I saw her talking to Draco and Tori somewhere by the bar not to long ago." his best friend answered and stood on his toes so he could see better. But before Harry could say or do anything another voice answered behind them.

"Well done Potter, I know you have the intellect of a Troll, but you know, even a Troll would have managed to get punctual to an event planned for months." he knew that voice all too well and turned around the see Draco and his wife Astoria.

"And you looked way better as a Ferret and still managed to convince Astoria to marry that face of yours, so lets just say we're even." Harry answered with a raised brow before grinning and turning to Astoria who shook her head smiling.

"Good to see you Tori, you and Hermione look wonderful tonight."

"Thank you and hello you old charmer." she answered and they shared a hug, "Will you two ever cut the fake insulting?" she then asked and threw a glance up at her own husband, who only shrugged his shoulders with a smile.

"Probably not." Draco answered before the two greeted Hermione and Ron.

"How's Scorpius?" Harry then asked the two and they both smiled automatically at the mention of their son.

"Good, his with my mother tonight. I'm pretty sure he did some accidental magic the other day, but Astoria still says he only swept the bowl down the coffee table." Draco said and Astoria sighed.

"Because I saw it with my own eyes Dear." before they would start an argument Astoria decided to face Harry again and change the subject.

"Why couldn't you make it in time?"

"Because we found Rabastan Lestrange and I was the only high ranked Auror left to arrest him, which we did by the way, but made it impossible to be on time." he answered and the two nodded understanding.

"Well, I think, though you have a very good excuse, that you need all of that charm of yours to make the many unpleasant conversations your wife had to make up to her." Tori said and Draco nodded.

"That is why I'll be on my way to search for her now. Do you know where she is?" Harry asked the couple who had been seen with her last.

"Probably still at the far corner of the bar trying to be left alone and failing miserably." Harry swallowed at Draco's words.

"Ah shit, okay. Thanks and if we don't see each other again I hope you have a nice evening." he hugged and shared kisses to the cheek with Hermione and Astoria and both Ron and Draco gave him a clap on the back. With that Harry made his way towards the bar, ignoring as much people as possible on the way.

He saw her at the far end of the corner of the bar like Draco had told him, she looked stunning in her close fitting dark red dress, her dark hair in an elegant up do hairstyle. But that one look that made him want to drag her home was also enough to show him that she was in a bad mood. While one arm was crossed over her chest the other held a glass of scotch close to her face as she watched the people in front of her. Harry also saw the tenseness in her neck and upper back, thanks so the low cut dress, from the way she stood there.

Ordering himself a drink, Harry downed the offered whisky in one go, demanding another before he walked over.

"You look absolutely stunning Mrs. Potter." he said when he came to a halt next to her, it always amused him a little that he was the only one who could call her that, every other person would hear a sharp 'its McGonagall-Potter' combined with a glare.

"I know Mr. Potter, twenty other men told me already." damn she was furious.

"Minerva I'm sorry I wasn't here on time, really. But we were able to arrest Rabastan L-" she turned to look at him now and he saw the anger flashing in the beautiful eyes behind the modern square glasses she had gotten sometime after the war.

"Oh I'm not angry you weren't here on time or here at all Harry! Sure it would have been nice to know you had to work, then I could've stayed home too. I'm angry at Scrimgeour and the way he talked about you." Minerva interrupted him and Harry blinked at her confused.

"You're not mad at me?"

"No, something was bound to happen when you leave the command to Aurors barely out of the training. He said that it was typical of you to leave the responsibility to others, that you never understood how important it is for you to play the poster boy for the Ministry and that you practically spat in the face of the whole Ministry and embarrassed him in front of every important wizard in and out of Britain." her voice shook with anger as she told him what Scrimgeour has said to her.

"And that made you this angry?"

"No, that made me angry. What made me this angry was when he brought up our marriage." now the anger that he had harboured against the Minister since he learned of his behaviour towards his wife grew.

"He didn't." his own voice giving away his anger.

"Oh he did. He told me that since we married you lost the focus on your responsibility even more, that I should make you an even bigger poster boy for them and that we have to celebrate our wedding anniversary big way, unlike our wedding, which he regrets allowing us to celebrate like we wanted and," she was nearly shaking with anger now, "that we should finally produce, he actually said produce, some children because it's our damn duty to do so."

"Where is he? I'll rip his-" Harry was now furious and he would make Scrimgeour regret every single word.

"Don't bother, he's too thick to understand any of it. And I already told him that if he would ever try to tell you or us what to do and interfere in our relationship I would hex is old, wrinkled, miniscule balls off." that caused a smile to appear on his lips.

"That's my wife." Harry said and leaned in to kiss her. He could taste the Scotch on her lips meaning this wasn't her first, but knowing his Scottish bride could hold her liquor even better than he could, he simply enjoyed the mix of alcohol and her honey like lips. When they parted he smiled and stroked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"You know we can always stop doing this." Harry told her quietly, they've had this conversation not as often as he had thought they would. He had dated Ginny and Padma only around a year each, the only real relationships before Minerva, but the two of them couldn't coup with bing famous and everything that came with it. They had this conversation, and near the end argument, at least once a week and he hadn't even defeated Voldemort back then having been only 16 and 18 years old.

"No, we agreed on it and I knew what I was getting myself into. You can't drop off the radar, apart from the fact that this wouldn't be possible with our jobs, the Wizard World loves you, you are the symbol of their freedom since you were a baby. It would be the same when the Muggles suddenly lost their Royals- I know you hate that comparison, but let's face it that's just the way it is." Minerva said and he knew she was right.

"And I don't mind it, I don't like it, I could live without the photos, the events and interviews, but I don't mind it. We're spending time together and if people feel better if they see on pictures we are happy, doing charity work and building bridges with other Nations, then fine, so be it. It's really a way for us to do good things. That's what we agreed on and we do a fabulous job, because we do what we want. But we didn't agree on becoming the poster couple for a downright ridiculous and uptight Minister and his screwed up Politics, trying to tell us how to live our lives."

"When was the last time I told you how brilliant and wonderful you are and how much I love you?" Harry asked, amazed how it was possible that he was married to her. Minerva smiled at his words.

"It's been a while."

"Well then, Minerva McGonagall-Potter, you are the most beautiful and wonderful witch to ever walk under the sun and I'm head over heels in love with you and that will never change, not in this life or another."

"I love you too you old charmer." Minerva replied and kissed him once more, even though he wrapped his arms around her body and held her as close as possible it was quite a chaste kiss for them. Like it always was on events like this because cameras were never far away. Once they parted again Harry placed two small kisses up her jaw so he could whisper in her ear.

"You know what? let's make the best of this evening, we'll dance a little and then I will take you home and get you out of this dress so I can fuck you and I will make you come so often you won't remember your name." he murmured in her ear and noticed with pleasure the almost inaudible moan that escaped her lips and how her fingers dug into his neck.

"What are we waiting for?" she whispered back and after another kiss he lead her on the dance floor. They had almost finished their dance, both teasing the other with whispered words and what would look like accidental brushes of hands, when Harry noticed movement out of the corner of his eyes.

"I wondered when he was going to show up." Harry mumbled when Scrimgeour made his way towards them surrounded by his two bodyguards. The Minister only had time to open his mouth before Harry already interrupted him.

"I believe you have said enough today Scrimgeour." addressing him with his surname was always an indicator for the Minister that Harry wasn't pleased with what he was saying or doing, or both. And today he was really not in the mood.

Harry and Minerva stopped dancing and he placed himself slightly in front of his wife. With a calm expression so nobody would get the wrong idea he spoke.

"This is my last warning Scrimgeour. I hope you remember that I am the hero of the Wizarding World as you like to tell me, and therefore I am by far more popular than you are. They will follow my lead, not yours just to make things clear. We have been on the same page so far, but this can change should you ever overstep your boundaries again, did you understand me?" Harry said and he could see the anger rise in Scrimgeour's face but he knew that Harry was right and there was not one thing he could do about it.

"You wanted me to be their hero and you got what you wanted. Officially I don't have the power, but unofficially we both know that I could ruin your entire existences if I want to. Now, I never did anything like that because you did your job good, even though we don't get along personally. So let me put it this way, if you ever dare to speak to my wife like that again or disrespect her in any way, or interfere with our life, then I will destroy you. I will wipe you from their minds and our history, so nobody will remember the pathetic little man that once was Minister and even Fudge will seem better than you. Did I make myself clear?"

Scrimgeour quivered with rage but he didn't dare to speak at first.

"I can't hear you." Harry said and Scrimgeour forced himself to calm down.

"Alright."

"And?"

"I'm sorry for disrespecting you Mrs. McGonagall-Potter. It won't happen again." Minerva gave a small nod.

"Good, now that we have solved this. I'd like to enjoy the rest of the night with my wife, if you don't mind Minister." Harry told him and Scrimgeour didn't need to be told twice to better leave them alone.

"You know what? Screw the dance, let's head home." Minerva whispered in his ear.

"What? But we technically didn't finish our dance." she raised an eyebrow at him and he grinned at her.

"Just kidding." with that he kissed her again, before nearly dragging her off the dance floor and out the hall.

"Seems like Potty managed to save his arse again and is going to get lucky tonight." Draco grumbled as he and Ron watched their friends leave the party in a hurry from their bar table with their drinks, while their wives talked about children again.

"Yeah, lucky bastard." Ron grumbled and both took a sip of their drink.

"Fifty galleons he'll knock her up this year."

"Your on."

Hello dear readers,

I know I posted this once and then deleted it, because I thought I had to change it, but I'll keep it the way it is because I like it this way better

The One Shots of this Collection will all play in the same universe. That should explain itself a bit more with every new chapter. But just to clarify this is an AU where Harry prevented Voldemort from returning in his fourth year and so he could have some peaceful years before Voldemort managed to return when Harry was 23. And nobody gives a damn about Harry and Minerva, because of the high age of their kind it's normal that witches and wizards have partners that are significantly older or younger than them.

I hope you enjoy these and please tell me in a review if you do so or don't ( in a respectful manner people!)

Patti