Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or Marvel.

This is a re-write of Spying is Never Easy.

thanks to fooplaya for editing

Chapter 1

His Majesty George the Sixth, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India was not a dumb man. The War may be over but that did not mean the threat was. Cut off one head and two would take its place, after all. Schmidt had been the face of Hydra but that did not mean it had died with him. The Strategic Scientific Reserve had been a joint project among the Allies, mainly Britain and the USA, once they joined the war. The Reserve had been disbanded as an international agency once the war ended, after Britain's own Agent Peggy Carter and the Howling Commandos had taken the last base in Austria. Without Erskine's work or Captain America there was no reason to keep it running, especially with Hydra seemingly defeated. He had been saddened to hear of the good Captain's death, he had met the man once during his time in England and been struck by how… sincere he was.

But Hydra had not been the only enemy during the war. Gellert Grindelwald and his army of fanatics had wreaked havoc across Europe and although it had not been proved the ICW strongly suspected a link between the Dark Wizard and the Nazis, perhaps even Hydra. Then there was Albus Dumbledore, the Wizarding Worlds hero and Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts. He was the new darling of their world and it did worry him some. The man had 'defeated' Grindelwald… and there ended any mention of the man, but defeated did not necessarily mean killed.

What part of the SSR that continued on was purely American, even Carter now lived over there. America was their ally but he knew the country would always put its own needs first. Britain needed its own first line of defence. They had stupidly left a lot of equipment, even files and personal behind in Britain and so he gathered them all up to create a new intelligence agency, MI7. He then set them to finding 'Muggleborn' who had left the Wizarding World, disenchanted by the rampant bigotry, giving them normal schooling and training to join the Agency. An oath was created, sworn by all members, to serve the people, to protect them from all threats foreign and domestic. They were loyal to the Crown, as long as the reigning Monarch remained a good ruler.

Once that was all done, he left the Agency to do its job. When his daughter came to the throne in 1952, the SSR had been replaced by SHIELD in the US, an agency MI7 did not trust due to their use of former Hydra scientists. When Voldemort began his rise, the Agency worked quietly to get the innocent out, finding many recruits among them. They secretly fought and killed many Death Eaters without the Ministry noticing. Even they were shocked when he became obsessed with a partially heard prophecy and began targeting two prominent families. Unfortunately, they were not in time to save either family and Neville Longbottom was raised safely behind the ancient wards of Longbottom Manor while little Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, vanished from even their ability to track.

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Harry was sitting on a bench watching the Thames flow past and enjoying his lunch when an older woman walked up and sat beside him. Instincts left from the war and honed by two years as an Auror told him there were three others around and he slouched further on the bench, his wand slipping into his hand.

"No need for that Mr Potter, they are simply ensuring we can talk privately."

"And you are?" He turned to face her and was reminded, in some ways, of his old Transfiguration professor. They had the same stern look though this woman was definitely not a witch and had more grey hair.

"I am Director Smith of MI7," she answered calmly even as Harry blinked in surprise. He knew certain departments in the government knew of them and even of the events of the war but he'd never heard of her division before.

"I've never heard of it."

"Very few have. But our function is very simple, keep an eye on the magical world and the various powered people, for lack of a better term at this time."

"You mean like that Hulk there are rumours of?"

"Exactly."

"So why talk to me?"

"Simple, we want to recruit you," she smiled at his surprise.

Harry nearly choked on the sip of tea he'd taken even as his eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"It has come to our attention that you aren't happy with your current position. We want to offer you an alternative where you will still be helping people, just for Queen and Country rather than only the magical subjects."

"How many magicals do you already have?" He asked as a few puzzle pieces slotted together in his mind. While things had gotten better for muggleborns since the war, he knew many had left the magical world before, during, and even after said war. His question made her smile again.

"Quite a few," she admitted, "we can offer you a competitive salary, all travel expenses paid, the chance to complete your normal education, perhaps even get a degree, access to world magic's and of course, the chance to make a real difference in the world."

Harry had to admit it sounded tempting and almost anything was a better offer than what he currently had. Shaklebolt had overhauled the entire department once he was made Minister but there were still several older, senior Aurors left who did not appreciate a bunch of kids being admitted without ever finishing their schooling or going through full training. Despite, or maybe because, the Minister liked him they enjoyed giving him the bad assignments and generally trying to make his life miserable. They seemed to think he owed them something, despite several of them going into hiding during the war, instead of using their skills to help. And he refused to go to Shak over it, knowing it would just make them worse. He'd been considering resigning for a while now and trying something else, maybe Quidditch but if this was genuine then it was much better. She then produced a folder and handed it over.

"Think it over. If you decided against it then sign the top sheet and everything inside with self-destruct. If you decide to join us sign the other paperwork, once you do the address for the department will appear and we will know to expect you within two days. Good afternoon Mr Potter." She left with her escort and he finished his lunch before concealing the folder and heading back to work.

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Harry watched Ginny leave with a sense of relief, which then made him feel guilty. But it wasn't really his fault. He had after all broken up with her the end of his sixth year. She was the one who had then waited for him. He'd come back from the war but he wasn't the same person anymore, he'd spent a year on the run and then died! That changed a person. But she'd spent the last two years pushing for them to get back together and he had finally lost his temper with her over it. It hadn't helped that Molly wasn't exactly subtle with her hints about the topic either. Even Hermione had been commenting on the state of their relationship lately. Apparently, since she and Ron had been married for just over a year and were expecting their first child, it was time for him to settle down as well. But wasn't that up to him? He went into the study and found the folder sitting there before sighing and opening it, maybe he did need to get out into the world for a while. He put the top sheet aside and went to work reading the rest before picking up a quill, this was his last chance to back out. In the end, he signed and watched as the papers vanished to be replaced with a business card showing only an address. No turning back now. For the first time since he'd died he felt the swell of excitement, he was facing the unknown again, although this time alone. He'd spent most of his life alone, before Hogwarts and the 'Golden Trio', and he'd been a rather different person back then, untrusting and independent. Perhaps some of those skills were needed again. He pulled out a piece of blank parchment and penned his resignation letter before sending it off to Kingsley.

The next morning Harry approached the given address and entered a nondescript office building in the heat of London. He was taken straight to Smith's office where more paperwork awaited and then a magical oath had to be taken, which explained how the agency had remained so well hidden. The more complete paperwork had him a little concerned, some of their policies were not ones he could agree with but he could initiate his own contingences, he'd done it before. He was then shown to a dorm room as he would remain within the agency until his training was completed.

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Hermione removed the letter from the owl and gave the bird a treat and some water before it flew off. She sat at her desk, one hand going to her slightly rounded stomach briefly. Another three months and they would be parents, it was as scary as it was exciting. Ron still worried her a little, he was still more a boy than man a lot of the time, but he was trying. She hadn't wanted children this quickly, she'd been using contraceptives, since she was half way through a transfiguration apprenticeship under McGonagall. Thankfully the older woman had kept her on, in the past Professors had sometimes had families and the appropriate quarters were available. Minerva was not a young woman anymore, teaching and being Headmistress was exhausting. Thankfully replacing her as head of Gryffindor had been easy enough and Hermione was already taking most of the class marking off her. Next year she would begin teaching the lower years while writing her own paper on Transfiguration for publication. Hermione shook off her thoughts and opened the letter, instantly recognising the handwriting. What did he have to say for himself after the horrible way he had treated Ginny?

Dear Hermione,

By the time you read this I will be long gone. Don't bother looking for me, you won't find me. Grimmauld Place is locked up tight and I haven't banked with the goblins since the end of the war. I already sent my resignation in to Kingsley.

I know you're wondering why and that hurts, because once you would have known immediately. You are the sister I never had, once I had hoped for more but you made your choice clear and I respected that. So why haven't you shown me the same respect? I love you Hermione and I love the Weasley's but I do not love Ginny the way you all want me to. I don't think I ever did. You petition so strongly for everyone else's rights and then try to trample over my right to choose.

So, I have chosen to leave the Wizarding World. I am done being their whipping boy one day and poster boy the next. I want to live my life and make my own choices like everyone else has. Maybe I'll finish my education, find a girl and settle down, maybe I'll spend my life travelling and seeing all the places I've heard of. I don't know yet and that is the whole point.

I am sorry I did not say goodbye in person but I am sick and tired of having the family rant, rave and try to dictate my life and I know that is what a goodbye would have turned into. I wish you all the best.

Best wishes,

Harry Potter

Hermione let the letter fall to her desk as she stared out the window. Had they really treated him like that?

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Harry collapsed behind his desk, exhausted. He'd thought he was fit before; he'd had no idea what true fitness was but the agency was ensuring he knew what it meant now. He pulled the book towards him and began reading, forcing himself to concentrate. Just three more months and training would be done. Thankfully he got to skip some as he had lived in the non-magical world for a good portion of his life, he'd actually needed more classes on wizarding society than non-magical society. That wasn't counting what he needed to finish both types of education though. He started on his NEWTS in six days, his A-levels would have to wait a while longer. But despite the pain, he knew it was worth it.

The most interesting class had been computers. The class had left him feeling like an idiot, not just because he didn't know how to use one but because he had believed the claim that electronics didn't work around magic. As the teacher had pointed out, if that was true then how could the Ministry, Diagon Alley and St Mungo's be based in the city? So, Harry had dived into the world of computers, the internet, hacking… he loved it! And then they had shown him how to mix magic and technology and he had been in Heaven. Technomancy was apparently his calling, even more so than Defence. His finals for that were coming up and for them he had begun creating a program to get past any security to get the data needed and then sort it all into a usable database, all without ever having to get close to the target system. It was fun and he just knew if he kept building on it the right way he could end up with a basic AI.

No one cared about his scar or titles here, he was just another recruit and it was great. Since training was tailored to the recruits' needs he basically only saw his trainers. He had a dorm room to himself since there weren't a lot of recruits at the moment but that just made it lonelier.

So far everything with the Agency appeared to be as advertised but after a life of betrayal, he would not trust so quickly or easily. He had a backup, he'd had one since the day he'd left Hogwarts, something no one else knew about. He'd found one of Tom's old places, deep in the Scottish Highlands, and had claimed it as his own. It had been obvious that Tom had long ago abandoned it so he had strengthened the wards and set a Parseltongue password to ensure security. Inside he had put various healing potions, clothing, money (he'd emptied the Potter accounts from Gringotts as soon as the war ended since he didn't want any trouble over the dragon thing), fake ID's and memory vials. After the fiasco with Lockhart and then all the experience with Pensieves he thought it best to be prepared for anything, the Ministry was too quick to wipe memories for his liking. Now it was his backup with the Agency as well, he'd read all the fine print in the employment contract after all, including the policy for highly sensitive missions.

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Harry aimed carefully down the range, waiting for the right moment before gently squeezing the trigger. Just like with the last five shots this one hit dead centre.

Behind magically reinforced glass those watching the test exchanged looks even as the training officer grinned, he had cleaned up in the pool. Youngest Seeker in a Century, quite a few had failed to equate that to the ability to hit a target. Potter had the skills to be the best sniper out there, one to challenge Shield's best and win nine times out of ten, pity he didn't want to be a sniper. Not that anyone could blame him, he'd seen enough death during the war to not to want to always have missions involving killing.

If only he was this good at hand to hand… though he was steadily improving there, he had the speed and stamina, his strength was the main issue. Weight training was fixing that, though not too much, they didn't want him muscle-bound. He was being taught every dirty trick in the book, especially ones that took advantage of his small build. Thanks to the medical department he'd put on height, he was no longer the scrawny nineteen-year-old that they had been presented with to train. He was now a healthy, very fit, nearly twenty-one-year-old. The next set of trainers would push him beyond his current limits, the SAS were the best for a reason after all.

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He'd run through several training missions since 'graduating' but now was the real test, a real mission. It was something short and sweet, just an intelligence hand-off but still, there were dangers. He took the seat he'd been told to and opened the book he'd grabbed, settling in to read, waiting for the contact. People ignored him, he looked like any other student studying for exams. He didn't tense, flinch, or look up as someone brushed by and he felt a slight weight drop into his pocket. He stayed another hour before packing up and leaving, the USB stick safely in his laptop case. He got on the train and headed back across the channel to England but he didn't relax until he was back at HQ and the USB had been handed over. After he'd showered and debriefed he went to his hideout and found a memory vial glowing so he opened it and took back the stored memories before making a new copy and setting it into storage. So that was what being obliviated was like, at least they had only taken the mission like they said they did.

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Harry stepped into Mrs Smith's office and stood in front of her desk, waiting for her to speak.

"Take a seat, Mr Potter," she ordered without looking up so he took the single seat before her desk. She finished something on her computer and then looked up. "Do you know what SHIELD is?"

"It's the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. They answer to the World Security Council. Created from the SSR after World War II. The current director is Fury. They're based in America for the most part," Harry answered from memory and she nodded.

"While they have some agents who are from Britain, our government has no real ties to them. Any SSR agents remaining in Britain post-war either retired or were folded into this agency to begin it. Frankly, we don't trust SHIELD, there are too many unanswered questions on where exactly they get funding, their authority, you get the idea. They don't seem to be aware of your people but we don't know for sure. They treat other intelligence organisations like annoying little siblings and frankly we've had enough."

Harry blinked and then his eyes widened slightly. "You want a spy."

"Correct. Congratulations on being picked."

"Thanks, but why? Shouldn't someone with more experience go?"

"Maybe, but there's no guarantee they wouldn't have files on them. You're new enough to still be invisible. We'll even remove your file from the system, only a hard copy will remain somewhere safe. And your own, new skills, should help with that and your mission." She chuckled and he nodded, fighting down an embarrassed blush as he remembered accidentally frying half the computers in the building when he'd first started tinkering.

"My orders?"

"Gather intelligence on the organisation and the people in it. Technology would be nice as well. You will send everything to this office only." She handed him several files and he took them. "Everything you will need has been arranged. Your flight leaves in three days. Good luck Mr Potter."

"Thank you, Ma'am," he began leaving her office.

"One last thing," she called and he turned to look at her, "don't get caught," she ordered and he nodded before heading home to read up and prepare. Well, he'd always wanted to visit the States, just not quite like this.

TBC…