Since I completed Zeelthor's challenge, it is my turn to issue him one of my own.

But since I am so kind, I will give him a choice. Zeelthor, you can either write the HarryP/Mab we talked about the other day, or you can write Ancient Mai/The Merlin and regret nothing.

The choice is yours.

 

Except sending us all nuts by making us imagine Ancient Mai/The Merlin doing ... I can't even finish that sentence.

It probably says something about my personality that my mind went straight to old people smut even though there's a surprising dearth of smut in this thread.

 

It does. 'Romance' does not equate smut. It can be subtle, too.

Besides, Zeel is too much of a pussy to do something like that.

 

I've already written quite a bit of a second part of the Dumbledore and Mab story, set at the funeral. Not sure how to turn it into hanky-panky, but I'm working on it.

As for The Merlin/Ancient Mai. They were young once. Supposedly, Mai was a hottie.

 

I went overboard but the worst part of that is that it isn't very good. There's very little romance but it's done and I'm not changing it.

Another challenge please.

~*~*~​

August 8, 2018

Sir Jeffrey Young wasn’t what Hermione had expected. She had expected some old white haired politician, someone who had a career of vanquishing political foes behind them and was experienced enough in the ways of Whitehall to get things done with a wink and a handshake. Instead she got Young.

He was about her age, thirty-eight, maybe three or four years older. He had a long, handsome face with eyes that were a pale, ice-blue colour that Hermione had never seen before. His nose was slightly crooked. Hermione judged it to be the result of a badly set break. It added to his looks rather than detracted from them. It added character to his face, suggested experience, whereas a perfect nose would have made him look like a pretty boy. There were lines in the corner of his eyes and he was of a height with her tall husband, though where Ron was struggling to keep weight off since his promotion to supervisor Young was lean and fit.

Hermione smiled at Young and tried to ignore the flutter of desire that she felt. He was a striking man and carried himself with a self-assuredness that she had always found attractive. It reminded her of Harry, the impression that there was nothing he couldn’t do.

When she took his proffered hand Hermione noticed that the back was mottled with small, circular burn scars. Cigarette burns. Torture, Hermione thought.

“Please, let’s sit,” Young said, gesturing to the two wingback chairs that filled the small room. A full tea service rested on the table between the chairs.

They were in a private room in one of London’s more exclusive social clubs whose membership included some of the most prominent men and women in the country, magical and otherwise, and had done so for over four hundred years. Its mixed membership had made it perfect neutral territory for the meeting.

Hermione sat, her mind working hard. Afghanistan or Iraq, she thought, or both. He’s the right age. Those wars were over but Hermione expected that there was a profusion of veterans working within the British Government, just like many Ministry workers were veterans of the Second Blood War. She noticed that his maroon tie was decorated with winged parachutes and decided to research the significance of that after the meeting.

“This meeting will be much more productive if we both admit what we’re hoping to get out of it,” Hermione said briskly.

“Better relations between the main government and your ministry,” Young said, choosing his words carefully, “especially in the area of law enforcement. We can’t let there be another Steger incident.”

Philip Steger was the last in a decade long series of misunderstandings and diplomatic incidents that had soured the relationship between the British Government and post-war Ministry of Magic since the brief golden age of wizard-muggle relations that had been Shacklebolt’s eight years as Minister. Steger was a serial killer who had targeted pretty young muggle women, though not because of any prejudice but because he knew that he would be less likely to get caught killing muggles than witches.

He was right.

The Aurors hadn’t become aware of him until after his sixth kill and then only by accident. They opened a case and had duly informed the Muggle Liaison Office who had, on the Minister’s orders, withheld notifying muggle authorities, least the knowledge that there was a wizard preying on muggles further damage wizarding-muggle relations.

After the thirteenth murder they’d had no choice.

A joint wizarding-muggle task force had caught Steger shortly after his fifteenth kill (that they knew of), having combined their intelligence and filled in crucial gaps in each other’s knowledge. It was too little, too late though. Wizarding-muggle relations had ground to a halt and Muggle Liaison officials had been ejected from their offices in muggle buildings.

The Minister had stood down and Shacklebolt had left his instructor’s position at the Academy to finish out her term and use his contacts in the British Government, particularly his personal relationship with an ex-prime minister, to re-establish wizarding-muggle relations. He had started by suspending the Muggle Liaison Office’s authority and sending Hermione to meet with Young.

“No, we can’t,” Hermione agreed. “I speak with Minister Shacklebolt’s full authority and I can assure you that …”

“Cut the political speak,” Young interjected.

Hermione smiled, delighted by his bluntness. Harry’s inability to stomach politics had rubbed off on her a long time ago and was part of the reason why Shacklebolt had had to lure her away from a lucrative research position with a private company to take a job as a Special Advisor to the Minister (she had refused to be called a Senior Undersecretary).

“Very well. Shacklebolt wants to re-establish mutually beneficial relations and make sure that there are no further losses of life because people are playing politics. He doesn’t expect to create miracles overnight but for now he proposes a joint task force, similar to the one that arrested Steger. A team of your detectives will work with a team of Aurors to identify and solve wizard-on-muggle crimes. You will pay your detectives but the Ministry will bear all other costs for the foreseeable future as a gesture of conciliation. However, we have the problem of identifying these crimes. Steger shows that a determined, skilled wizard can avoid detection by both of our law enforcement agencies.”

“We can help you with that. UK police forces use the HOLMES 3 database to catalogue major crimes, the crimes which we will be focusing on. We’re currently working on an algorithm that will assess these cases and return a percentage value on whether or not they’re related to magic. The Steger task force will investigate and determine whether there’s anything there and depending on their assessment they’ll either move forward with the investigation or leave it in the hands of the original investigating officers. We expect there to be some false starts but as the algorithm’s refined we’ll get better results.”

A smart man, with a plan and the will to see it through

God that’s attractive, Hermione thought. A smart man, with a plan and the will to see it through. If Harry had thought through anything he had done she would have jumped him in Sixth Year.

Young leant forward, maintaining eye contact. The closeness suggested a level of intimacy that, combined with the attraction she was feeling, Hermione wasn’t entirely comfortable with.

“Together, Hermione, we’re going to achieve great things, even if no one ever hears about them.”

~*~*~​

September 2, 2018

“Come on, Hermione! The kids are back at school, we’ve got the house to ourselves and I’ve locked the Floo down. Let’s order in and have some alone time,” Ron said, trying and failing to waggle his eyebrows. He’d never quite mastered that.

Hermione allowed herself a brief smile at the failure and then turned her attention back to fixing her hair. “I have to work, Ron. I told you that.”

Ron gave her cocktail dress a disbelieving look. “Work, right.”

Hermione gave him a flat look, her lips thinning. “It’s a work party Ron, Minister Shacklebolt will be there. You could come you know.”

Ron’s face twisted into a moue of distaste. “I’m going to order a pizza.” He stalked out of their bedroom, muttering to himself too lowly for Hermione to make out the words.

“What an ass,” Hermione muttered to herself.

~*~*~​

Young opened the door of Hermione’s Ministry car and offered her his hand as she slid out of its lush interior.

“No escort tonight, Mrs Granger?” he asked. Hermione had kept her surname after getting married. She figured that there were already enough Weasleys in the Ministry without adding another one. Plus, she wanted to remind the purebloods of her heritage.

“My husband just got off of a double shift,” she lied. She rarely used Ron’s name when speaking with Young, though she didn’t realise it. In fact, she rarely spoke about him at all.

Young accepting the lie without question, though he knew it was a lie. He offered his arm to her. “Then, with your permission, I will be your escort tonight.”

Hermione smiled and slipped her arm into his. They made an attractive couple.

~*~*~​

“Hermione, fancying seeing you here!”

The familiar, cheerful voice startled Hermione out of her deep conversation with Young. The reception had been going on for nearly three hours and over the last hour she and Young had gravitated into a private corner and settled into a discussion that had jumped through half a dozen topics. The content of the conversation had been less pleasing than the company.

“Harry? Harry!” Hermione said, smiling at her old friend. “You look good.”

He was tanned and fit and dressed impeccably in a dark blue three button suit. “You too,” Harry replied. He offered his hand to Young. “Jeff, how are you?”

Hermione looked on with surprise as Harry and Young exchanged pleasantries with a level of familiarity.

“I did some work for the government in Afghanistan,” Harry explained. “Jeff and his boys showed me the ropes and kept me out of trouble.” At Hermione’s disbelieving look he amended, “Well, as much as anyone could.”

Harry had left the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in 2004, deeply dissatisfied with his life. He’d tried being an Auror, aced the Hit Wizard course and been the fast track to command his own team but found that he didn’t enjoy any of it. He’d given Shacklebolt his resignation, said goodbye to Hermione, the Weasleys and his small circle of friends and disappeared. For the next decade he had popped in and out of their lives, sometimes in person, sometimes through mail and sometimes through the media. He’d studied duelling in Rome, spent time in Tibet and the Imperial court, accompanied Neville into the Amazon and more. Hermione didn’t begrudge him his absence from her life, not when he was so happy and growing so well into his own legend. Though, occasionally she used to wonder what it would have been like if his and Ginny’s relationship hadn’t fizzled after the Battle of Hogwarts and they’d been married and raised children alongside her and Ron.

“Where’s Ron?” Harry asked, looking around.

“He worked a double,” Hermione said, though she knew that Harry would no more believe the lie than Young had.

“Excuse me,” Young said, “but I need to speak to the Minister while he’s got a moment.” He nodded towards Shacklebolt who was temporarily bereft of petitioners. Young slipped away, making his way easily through the crowd. People moved out of his way or Young slipped by them, quickly and smoothly.

Hermione watched him go, her eyes lingering on the breadth of his shoulders.

“Careful, love, your husband will get jealous,” Harry said.

Hermione offered him a tight smile. “He’ll get jealous no matter what I do,” she said with a touch of bitterness in her voice.

“True,” Harry said softly. “God knows I love the man but he’s … difficult.”

That was the kindest word for it.

Harry and Ron had drifted apart over the years and Hermione had the horrible suspicion that part of it was Ron’s unspoken jealousy over Harry’s lifestyle.

“He accused me of having an affair with Justin once, years ago. Justin Finch-Fletchley, from Hogwarts,” Hermione said. “All because we were working overtime preparing for Lucius Malfoy’s trial.” A trial that had ended with consecutive life sentences, Hermione remembered with a pang of satisfaction.

Her eyes fixed on Young as he talked animatedly with Shacklebolt.

“He’s a good guy,” Harry said, looking at Young. “Just remember, your actions have consequences and you have kids.”

~*~*~​

October 29, 2018

“You didn’t?” Young said, his voice ringing with amusement.

“Right on the nose,” Hermione said, her solemnity ruined by the twitching of her lips. “The little bastard deserved it.”

“You’re talking about a respected member of wizarding society there,” Young reminded her.

Hermione snorted and wondered how they had got onto the subject of her school years. Harry, she thought, it had started with Harry. Most good things did. The previous months reports on Joint Task Force Concerto (the muggle-wizarding law enforcement task force) that they were meant to be reviewing lay ignored amidst the cartons of take away food that littered Young’s office desk.

“Draco Malfoy was a little bastard at eleven and he’s a little bastard now. A couple of years after Harry resigned and went off travelling he started trying out some of his father’s old tricks. Harry came back, had a quiet word with him and he decided to retire from politics. If Harry died though you can bet he’d be at the Ministry the next day, pushing his agenda. He’s a cockroach.”

“He’s a scary bloke, Harry is,” Young said. He ran his left hand lightly over the burn scars that mottled the back of his right hand. His expression became distant as he remembered something unpleasant.

Hermione reached out and took his hands lightly in her own. “Oh?”

Young pulled himself back to the present with visible effort. “He’d never tell you but he saved my life in Afghanistan. The government had hired him to kill a rogue wizard who was running around attacking our forces. It was the second time they’d hired him to work in Afghanistan. My unit worked with him both times. He killed the wizard in about three days and was waiting around for a ride back to Kabul – magical transport’s a big no-no in Afghanistan. The Soviets left the place riddled with anti-transportation enchantments. Then he heard that my unit had been jumped on patrol. Two wounded and I was captured. An IED knocked me out and the insurgents dragged me off. Command had no idea where I was and was turning Helmand upside down searching for me, no luck though. Harry tracked me, informed command of our position and then when he realised I was being tortured came in and got me. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. He was … brilliant.”

“Yes, he is,” Hermione agreed. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Young smiled. The smile slowly faded as a comfortable silence settled over them and he stared at her with a serious expression. Hermione didn’t break the stare or let go of his hands.

Young didn’t move when Hermione leaned in and kissed him lightly on the lips. When she pulled back Young said, “We shouldn’t do this.”

“No, we shouldn’t,” Hermione agreed.

They leaned towards each other at the same time and Hermione felt a thrill of pleasure run through her as her lips met Young’s.

 

It wasn't terrible. There were some nice bare bones ideas there, if that makes sense.

Your challenge - Harry Potter and Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (film or comics version, you choose).

 

What about a plausible Ron and Lavender in their sixth year? Where Ron would go on and reject Hermione for valid reasons, rather than just the physical thrill of doing stuff with Lavender.

Naturally, I want to read this, Hermione being emotionally unstable and crushed by the rejection and what not, because I am somewhat riled up by that infidelity fic I just saw. I could understand if it was just the beginning of her relationship with Ron, if they weren't married, if they didn't have kids, but not like this. Not even if it's just a one-shot.

 

I don't want to start an argument here but you do realise shit like that happens in real life, right?

People are unhappily married for decades, have kids, buy a house and whatnot and then turn around and have an affair with someone that they connect with or even someone that they just find attractive.

Or is the anger because I made Hermione less than perfect?

 

What? No. I'm perfectly aware of that. I was merely commenting on that particular fic, that's all.

And it cannot be honestly said that I ever saw Hermione's character as perfect, canon or otherwise. I don't mind the character itself, don't misunderstand, but I hate that often when shit falls apart between her and Ron, it's always somehow Ron's fault, like how it's implied here that he still has those jealousy issues which led to a broken, or very, very distant, friendship with Harry, how he's still somewhat of an immature child, yet she fucking married him.

Bah I'm reading too much into this shit.

I suppose it's more than just the infidelity that's bothering me. But hey, that's just my opinion. Maybe I'm seeing shit that's not there.

 

I was aiming for the marriage falling apart being both their faults. Yes, Ron still has jealousy issues but Hermione's the one who cheats. That's what I intended but, it must be said, that I didn't put much effort into it.

And yeah, she married him knowing about his issues but we all make mistakes.

 

I found it immensely satisfying, Peace. Well written muggle, well written Hermione, and I really, really want to read more about this Harry and his adventures.

 

So do I. Maybe I'll work him into a challenge sometime in the future.

 

Well written doesn't necessitate that it will be a well liked character.

 

Conversely, strongly disliked characters are often the sign of good writing. That was an excellent piece, Peace, would read more.

 

I agree with Nefar. Everybody hates Umbridge in canon. Therefore, JK did a good job characterizing her.

 

I liked this one-shot. As Zenzao said - well written Hermione and well written muggle. I especially liked the muggle, as he wasn't a caricature, or a perfect sue. Just a normal man.

And if I can post a new challenge:
Harry and Cho, one-night stand after the Battle of Hogwarts, and its consequence 9 years later, at their meeting in Hong-Kong.

 

I sat down and started writing. I wasn't sure where the story was heading, just that it was heading somewhere. It is now 3660 words and unfinished. It will be finished but that time limit thing is blown totally to hell.

It amazes me that I couldn't write an entry for Antho #3 but I've done several thousand words for this thread since it was started.

 

Open challenge. Anyone who wants to write it, feel free.

It may end up being more difficult than you think.

Fem!Harry (NOT named Harriet) and Luna.

 

If anyone wants to cheekily take credit for the Hiccup/Elsa I am definitely not writing right now, this would be the time to challenge me to do it.

 

I challenge you to do it then.