"Can I let the shield down now?" Stewart asked, tired and obviously drained from the power needed to keep it up for four and a half hours.

"Yeah, do it. And when the broom comes near, get on the back quick just in case they're still hiding near."

When the broom came to hover just outside the shield, they let it down and clambered on, rising slowly because of the weight. When they were finally above the tree line, sun shining orange on the horizon, they moved off, Harry scanning the trees below, hoping not to catch a glimpse of Snape dead. Hopefully he had made it back ok.

"How far? I don't think your broom can hold out the entire distance."

"Just far enough that we know we're out of their territory, so that we can apparate. If we can find a paved road I bet we'll be safe."

They flew for almost an hour before Harry spotted a red car driving down a wooded highway, and he took them down into the forest. They surveyed the area quickly, and when they saw no omens, they apparated, glad to find themselves inside Snape's shop.

"Professor Snape! Are you here?" Harry was panicked because it looked like the shop was still closed. "Professor! Professor!" Harry was just about to move into the storeroom to check when Snape ran in followed by Kinglsey Shacklebolt and Draco Malfoy.

"Potter, are you injured?" Snape hurried over to him and looked him over quickly before turning to Stewart and doing the same. "How did you escape?"

Harry held up the broom. "We made a multiplied shield charm and waited through the night. There were hundreds of omens in the trees above us and we were surrounded by Sirens. They tried to lure us out, but I held my hands over Stewart's ears while they screeched and held the shield up.

"I'm impressed Potter," Kinglsey said in his deep voice, arms crossed. "Not bad for an apothecary."

"Yeah Potter," Draco spat, "surprised you didn't wet yourself."

Kingsley jabbed a finger in Draco's chest and said, "Cool it Malfoy. I'll have you put on probation again if you can't control your temper."

"Yes Master," he said, averting his eyes downward, but not before shooting Harry an amused look.

"I didn't know if you got out ok or not," Harry said to Snape, trying to ignore Draco. "We watched through the trees as we flew. We were going to go to the Ministry next if you weren't here."

"I only just returned. I had to walk out and had just contacted the Auror's office when you arrived."

"Er, is it ok if I go now?" Stewart held up his hand like a student and put it down again quickly, turning red. "I lost my supply of Ignea Horus and I need to report back to Diagonalley."

Harry looked at Snape, and remembered the bag full of the purple flower that still hung on his back. "Can we give him half of what we collected? My bag is full."

"Give him the entire bag. I have a full bag in the back."

Harry handed Stewart the bag to a grateful look, and Snape said, "Tell Devon hello for me."

Stewart nodded, and said, "I will. Thank you," and then he was gone, back to his own shop and master.

Draco kept shooting Harry looks of contempt and amusement as he was forced to take Harry's statement for a report, while Kinglsey spoke to Snape, and after another half hour they were gone.

"Sit down Potter, you look exhausted."

Harry plopped down on the brown couch in the storeroom and stared off into space for a moment, only brought out of it by the surprise of finding his professor plopping into the space next to him. He looked over and said, "I thought maybe you'd died."

Severus snorted. "If only you were so lucky Potter."

Harry gave a short laugh, and said, "Really. They were everywhere. They could have gotten you."

"One followed me into the woods and we sparred. I left her unconscious and placed a disallusionment charm on myself, before hiking for the rest of the night."

"Oh." Harry ran a hand through his hair and caught a glimpse of his reflection in a glass jar across the room. There was dried blood down one side of his face, twigs in his hair, and his shirt was torn in several places.

"Lucky I bumped into Stewart," Harry mused then.

"Why Potter? Or he'd be dead because you weren't there to save him?"

"Actually I was thinking we'd both be dead. And I didn't want to spend the night in the woods alone trying to hold up a shield while they screeched at me."

Severus eyed him appraisingly for a few moments, making Harry uncomfortable, and then said, "I find myself again mistaken."

"About what?"

"You Potter. You are not the spoiled, self-centered brat I believed you to be."

"Yeah, well you saw what my life was like before. How could I be?" His eyes grew wide for a moment as he realized his tired mistake. He hadn't wanted Snape to know he remembered. Severus realized too and looked over at him.

"You told me you did not remember."

"It was easier that way."

"Hm."

They sat that way for another few minutes, quietly thinking, before Snape told Harry to clean his wounds and add a disinfectant, and then go to bed. He was also told he had this and the next day off to recuperate, for which Harry was grateful.

"Glad you're not enslaved," Harry told him as he pushed himself up off the couch. Snape didn't respond and he went up to his apartment, musing that he suddenly didn't hate the man so desperately anymore.

* * *

Five am was early, but Harry needed the two hours for exercising. He didn't like the fact that he had trouble running from the Sirens in the forest, huffing and puffing and light headed. He needed to be fitter, stronger. Jennifer's exercise manual in hand, Harry started rising at five every morning to go for a jog around the neighborhood before there were too many people around. After an hour, he would return to his apartment for push ups, sit ups, crunches, pull ups, jumping jacks, weight lifting, and a number of other exercises outlined in the manual, and then a quick shower before going downstairs to open the shop.

After a week of this, along with studying with Jennifer after she got done with her apprenticeship every evening, Harry felt like he wasn't doing enough. Hermione gave him a spell that would read his books to him in his own voice, and was listening to the Auror books during morning exercises, and his Potion's books after Jennifer left and before bed. But he still needed more exercise.

Snape seemed to have grown some kind of superhuman confidence in him now and had him brewing potions to be sold for at least half of the day. During his new one hour lunch break, Harry was doing sit ups on the storeroom floor, while listening to his Potion's texts, and had found other ways to do little exercises throughout the day. For instance, somehow he had managed to convince Master Snape that he needed a pull-up bar installed in the Storeroom. This way every time he walked through the room he could do one or two pull-ups, grab the ingredients or potions he needed, and leave again. Snape was incredulous.

"You really are taking this seriously, aren't you?"

Harry looked up at the man, standing in the doorway as he did crunches, listening to his texts.

After canceling the read-aloud spell, Harry sat up and said, "Why shouldn't a person learn more than one subject? Muggles do it at University. They learn lots of things at the same time. We do at Hogwarts too."

"The goal of an apprenticeship is to become a master of one particular skill set."

"Yeah, but I mean, Auror's need potion's too, right? Anti-poisons and healing potions, and sometimes even strengthening potions like moon fruit. And they have to go buy it. But what if they could make their own? What happens if they need something and can't get to an apothecary? Helps to know how to search for the ingredients in the woods and brew it yourself in a fix."

"I see you have thought this out."

"I can't help what I want to be. Even as a child before Hogwarts I loved watching the police on TV, making the world a better place. I want to be part of that. Someday I'm going to have kids and I want them to be able to be safe... no Voldemort or other dark wizards. I don't want them to go through what we did at Hogwarts."

Harry stood up, tired of looking up at the man, and wiped the now cold sweat from his forehead.

"Be careful that you do not overstep your bounds Potter."

"Sir?"

"I only mean to warn you because I know how you were at Hogwarts. You are not an auror yet, and they will not take kindly to you trying to play hero if you are ever in the position. It will not bode well for you later if should truly wish to enter the program when you are done here."

"So, if I see somebody who needs help I can't?"

"Not if the aurors are already involved. Understood?"

"Yes sir. I don't go seeking out trouble anyway."

"I have it on good authority that others do not see it as that way. I spoke to Kinglsey and he said the head of the Auror department feels that you are preparing yourself to cause trouble."

"How? I mean, I don't want any trouble. Is that why Jennifer hasn't come over the last few nights to study? They won't let her?"

"It is possible. Keep this in mind."

"Yes sir," Harry said, a little shocked. Snape left him to his thoughts, and he sat down on the couch. It wasn't like he was going to bust in on them and ruin an operation or something. When did he even get out except to run errands for Snape, go running, or get groceries? He had hardly even seen the Weasley's since a few days after the Siren incident.

If only Harry could have known the trouble he'd get himself into in just a few short days time, he could have prepared for the berating he'd receive from Tonks and the other Senior Aurors.

His day had started like any other. A good jog, exercise and study, a shower, and then off to open the shop. Only today Snape wanted him to go to Diagonalley and get something from the apothecary there. Harry was excited to see Stewart and see how he was doing after the whole Siren debacle a couple of weeks ago.

The Apothecary in Diagonalley was full of students picking up supplies for the fast approaching term at Hogwarts, and Stewart was too busy to chat with him. Harry instead found his attention drawn to the redhead who had just come in the front door. His heart skipped a beat, and he realized just how much he had missed Ginny over the summer. He had been so engrossed in his studies that he had forgotten to long after her. She had just spotted him when there was a small explosion outside, making everybody duck and scream.

Harry pulled his wand and wasn't sure what was going on until a man with a scraggly looking beard ran into the apothecary with his wand out and started shouting at people. "Get down or I'll kill yeh!"

Apparently Ginny hadn't moved fast enough because the next second, he had taken her with his arm around her neck and wand pointed at her head.

"No," Harry said calmly, standing up, hand held out in a non-threatening gesture.

The man spun with Ginny to face Harry and shouted, "Get back!"

Harry froze, terror striking his heart at the sight of Ginny's pleading face.

"I'll kill her," he said with conviction. "You just stay back boy and do as I say."

"No," Harry told him. "Take me instead. Do you know who I am?" He lifted his bangs to show his scar and the man's eyes lit up. "She's not worth anything to you. Take me."

"Harry no," she begged, but her captor jammed the wand into her scalp and she whimpered and bit her lip to keep quiet.

"You just gonna let me take you then? No shenanigans?"

"Promise," Harry said. "I'm your ticket out of here."

"Damn straight. Come here boy." He let go of Ginny and pushed her forward and down to the ground. As soon as she was out of the way, Harry was quick with his wand and had a stunning spell aimed at the man's chest. It hit him squarely, knocking him backwards, but not before a jet of flame flew out of his wand and hit the ceiling, erupting in an orange inferno. Just then several Aurors burst in through the front door, wands spewing water to put out the fire. People ran from the shop, leaving the unconscious man, Harry, Ginny, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks, Jennifer, and Draco.

"What the hell was that Potter?" Kingsley asked, enraged. "You could have killed them all!"

"I was just-"

"You were just nothing Harry," Tonks said, still angry but more calm then Kingsley. "You were butting your nose in where it doesn't belong. You have no training, and no right to act the hero."

"I wasn't, I was just-"

"Save it Potter." Kingsley's voice boomed, a finality in it that was not to be overrode.

Ginny went to him then, a sorry look in her eyes and wrapped her arms around him.

"I wasn't going to let them hurt her," Harry said quietly, holding her tight. "He let her go, and when she was out of the way, I stunned him. The fire was my fault, the whole thing was my fault. Blame all of your problems on me if you have to in your report, but the fact is, Ginny is safe, everybody is safe. I didn't know you were in the area, and I didn't mean to overstep the bounds. If I had known you were here things would have turned out different."

Draco snorted then and said, "Yeah right Potter. You were always this way at school, the little hero mongering for glory."

Harry ran a hand through his hair, and Kingsley snorted and cast an angry glance at Jennifer. She looked down at her shoes, shame crossing her eyes, and Harry suddenly felt sorry then that he had dragged her down with him apparently.

"Unless you need us, you have my statement," Harry said quietly, and moved to walk past them and out the door with Ginny. When he got next to Kingsley however, he paused, and said, "All Jennifer and I did was study so that I would be ready to be an auror when I'm done with my apothecary apprenticeship. You can't change who I am. Don't try to change what I want to be." And then he and Ginny were gone.

Before they went back to the Burrow, since Ginny was there to get school supplies alone, being almost 17, Harry took her down an empty side alley and hugged her tight.

"I didn't know what to do. All I knew was I couldn't let them hurt you."

"I know," she said. "They're so mad at you now though."

"Let them be." He ran a hand through her hair.

"You don't care?"

"I do. But I care about your safety beyond my career."

"Harry," she sighed. "I wasn't sure if you loved me. I thought you'd go and find yourself a more sophisticated woman now that you've got your own place and... that Jennifer girl. I was so sure..."

"No," Harry said. "She knows I've got eyes only for you. And it looks now that our studying is at an end anyway."

She giggled then and Harry attributed it to the stress of the situation they'd just escaped. "Remember when we used to talk about marriage?"

He nodded. "The offer still stands."

"I'll take it," she said into his shoulder. "Mum will have a fit that I'm engaged before graduation, but let her be."

"You don't care?" he echoed her.

"Just about you."

Harry grinned then, and knew this was the best day of his life, even if his Auror career was over before it had even begun.