"Tell Auror Potter to come in here right this instant." Her voice made her assistant quiver as he scurried off to do what she ordered.

When the heavy door closed behind him, she sighed and sat down heavily on her chair. What the hell, Harry? Her mind was going in all directions as she processed what to do first. She sent her best team along with trainee Aurors—trainees!—for a surveillance job a few days ago. It was supposedly a harmless mission, a simple course requirement for these students. However, this was a high profile stake-out that was why she sent her senior trainers and back-up, just in case. A good call, she scoffed. She rummaged through all of the paperwork from this disaster and scowled at every single one of them.

A knock stilled her movements. She closed her eyes and counted from ten backwards. When she reached one, she sighed again and called out, "Come in."

Harry went in and walked to the front of her desk. Limping idiot. "What did you do to Johnny? He was about to pee in his trousers when—," he stopped in what he was saying when he saw the look on her face.

She leaned back on her chair and matched his gaze with her own. They stared at each other for a moment and then he coughed and started with, "Before you say anything—"

"Auror Potter," she said with her most controlled voice. Any minute now she was going to blow a fuse if she let him speak, she knew. She sure as hell didn't want to lose her composure.

"Ma'am," was his response with a slight nod. This irked her more. 5, 4, 3…

"Take a seat. I'm sure your busted leg couldn't take the pressure of your humongous head," she spat out.

"I'm sure my leg could take it, Ma'am," he replied.

"Oh, really?" she brought out a piece of paper and did not keep her eyes off it. "What about your three broken ribs, fractured hip and collar bone, sprained wrist, and lacerations and bruises all over your body? What about that collapsed lung? Can they take the pressure?" she asked but not without the venom in her words as she tossed the paper into the pile on her desk. She rarely does this act since she was such a neat freak. She saw the alarm bells flicker on his face.

His gaze lowered and after a few tense moments, he spoke calmly, "I'm all fixed, Ma'am. The limp will be gone after I take a good night's rest."

"I don't care," she said as she stood up. She knew he was putting up a strong front for her sake. Bloody idiot. "Take a seat, Auror Potter," she ordered as she crossed her table and stood in front of him. She met him at eye level once again and she knew through his eyes that he was going into a losing battle. Begrudgingly, he sat down on one of the chairs in front of her table. She saw him wince as he did so, and that gave her a little bit of satisfaction. Serves you right, you dolt.

"Now tell me, what in Merlin's name do you think you accomplished after that?" she demanded.

"We caught Ermes Moretti, Ma'am," he said. Her blood boiled in her veins. She didn't know whether it was because of Harry's arrogant demeanor or that bastard's name. Moretti is a wizard but chose to live outside of the Wizarding community. He chose to be a high-ranking official with very powerful muggle connections. He smuggled drugs and weapons all over and killed hundreds of rural villagers or made slaves of them for his "expansion projects". He had recently adapted a liking for dark magic through the black market and was seen dealing with a few sketchy wizards. They had information that there would be a meeting of some sort in a village in Italy. This was where Harry and his team had the stake out.

"Yes, but you endangered twenty of your men, injured ten of your subordinates and all 5 of your trainees, and almost killed yourself, along with Peterson and Wyatt. You took down twenty-three of his men. But subsequently, four muggles were killed," she crossed her arms as she told him the casualties of the encounter. "What was the protocol? I'm sure you know this by heart but being you, you neglected it, time and time again."

"Hermione—," he started.

"What was the protocol?" she repeated, ignoring him.

He sighed and looked away. "If we were compromised, abort the mission, apparate the trainees back to HQ, stun all witnesses, and get out immediately."

"And did you do that, Senior Auror Potter? Were you even compromised?" she forced him to look at her. She was breathing heavily by this time, her pent up anger rising to the occasion.

"With all due respect, Ma'am," he seethed, "I had to do what I had to do. There was no time. We had enough evidence that he was about to start havoc in the Wizarding and muggle world that very same night. You would've done the same if you were there."

She shook her head. "I would just go into battle without any plan at all?"

"We had a plan. Before we went out there, we made up another plan, and a whole lot of others. That was protocol," he shot back. She closed her eyes again, and took a ragged breath.

"Do you know how many obliviators are out there in the field now? You risked our exposure! It was a muggle village! Over a hundred people saw what happened," she jabbed a finger on his chest.

He was quiet for a minute and then quietly said, "At least we saved their lives and millions of others."

"By risking the lives of the people around you and your team? Risking your life?" she asked as her eyes bore on his. He didn't back out of her challenge.

"That's nothing new, right?" he asked rhetorically with a ghost of a smirk on his face. But then, his face fell. "I was the head in that assignment and I take full responsibility for what happened."

"Do you want to die, Harry? Do you?" she shouted at him. She tried to keep her calm, she really did. But she failed miserably. She leaned on her table for support as she calmed herself down. After a tense minute, she softly added, "Well, I don't want you to."

He tried to get up and comfort her, but she quickly moved out of the way to sit in her chair once again. She collected the scattered papers on her desk and piled them to the side. She looked back at him and saw that he was now standing again, waiting for her to speak up. She rubbed her temples and without opening her eyes, she said, "Your mission was for surveillance purposes only, but you acted on impulse and took care of the job on your own. You acted out of line and disregarded the protocol. You risked exposure and the lives of your team, the people around you and your life. Do you have anything to say for yourself, Auror Potter?"

"I would do it again just to catch that fucker," he said with confidence.

She looked at him and was quiet as she contemplated on her decision. "There will be a trial on Friday concerning today's mission. A lot of people are angered by what you did." She heard him say "What else is new," but she continued, ignoring him. "But I will support you, as your division head. The next time you do this, I would personally suspend you until further notice. Have you filled out all your necessary paperwork?"

All she received was a curt nod. "Alright, I don't want to see you around here until Friday morning. You are dismissed, Auror Potter."

He didn't move on his spot and she knew he wanted to say something. She looked at him and asked, "Anything more?"

"Why are you so mad?" he said faintly but still matching her intense gaze.

"Because once again, you were reckless and didn't consider about your own safety," she said honestly. She didn't know how to control her emotions when it came to her professional and personal life, most especially when it came to his well-being.

He didn't answer right away, but she knew I'm sorry would come out of his mouth. "What do you want me to do, Hermione? The opportunity was there. You know that if it was in my grasp, I would take it."

"Really?" she asked softly. Her sarcasm stunned him for a long second. She knew that they both knew that this wasn't about the mission anymore.

This isn't the time and place for this, her mind insisted. But she couldn't stop the onslaught of her thoughts. You had a lot of chances, Harry! But you didn't tell me… you didn't. Not once.

She jerked herself out of her thoughts and chastised herself for her weakness. She took a few moments, composing herself. She was not going to let her emotions get to her. She would never do that again.

"I do now. I'm not a coward anymore," he whispered. And once again, she knew that they both felt the implications of what he said. She looked up at him, and held his gaze. He gave her a small nod, "Ma'am," and he turned away. Before he could get to the door, she spoke up.

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Harry. Please don't die," then she added quietly, "just like Ron."

He turned around at that and was about to say something but she interrupted him. "I may not have been Mrs. Weasley, but I did love and care for him, just like I do with you," Lie, her mind argued. "You both are my family, and with him gone," she choked with her last words, her tears finally resurfacing. "I just want you safe, Harry. Please promise me that."

She could see his struggle but then he made up his decision. In quick strides, as much as his leg would let him, he was in front of her. He turned her chair around and kneeled with his good leg, and hugged her close. She did not know how to react at first, but then she let her instincts take over. She let her tears run freely as she held on for dear life. After all of these years, he still had that effect on her. She cried harder on his shoulder. Her thoughts drifted to Ron. She really did love him. She gave him her heart. But she couldn't fight it anymore. It just wasn't enough, and it wasn't fair to him when she had already given it to someone else a long time ago.

They never talked about what happened. He blamed himself for what happened with Ron. She also blamed herself. All of them were in that same mission, one of the most dangerous in their careers. They won eventually, but it cost them the life of their best friend. They both immersed themselves in their work, and achieved what they had only dreamed of, with Harry being a Senior Auror, a hands-on job with the students and the field, and with Hermione being a division head in the MLE. But they both had three years of mindless hellos and good byes, birthday gifts and Christmas greetings. This was the first time in years that he was this close.

She pulled back a moment later and closed her eyes as he wiped her tears with his thumbs. "I promise," he said.

Something changed, she knew he could sense that. She could feel it too, in her heart, in her soul. Something changed, and for now, that was enough.

A/N: Now, I don't know how I came up with that. Hopefully, it was good. Thank you for reading.