The First of September

Harry Potter woke on the morning of September first feeling as if the world was a little off-kilter.

It was always like that, the strange mixed feelings about the first of September that cropped up every year. Even when Harry wasn’t thinking about the date, he would wake on the first feeling sick to his stomach.

Hogwarts was meant to be fun, educational. Harry had been promised to have the best magical education and an opportunity to create friendships that would last a lifetime.

What Harry got instead was a lot of PTSD and a firm belief that Teddy would attend Illvermony School of Magic in Massachusetts or the Aurorabelle Academy of Magic in Toronto. Remus wouldn’t be disappointed, he knew what Hogwarts had been like.

And it always started on the first of September.

Harry forced himself out of bed and showered and dressed on autopilot. A hairbrush through his hair, black trousers, blue button-up shirt… Harry was pleased that he could stop with ties, they were so stuffy and made him feel suffocated.

Mum said that Harry should wear them for the first three months, Dad said Harry didn’t need them at all. Harry met them nearly in the middle and suffered through exactly one month of them.

September first, no tie.

It made the strange day a bit better.

Harry grabbed his laptop (a graduation gift from his grandparents, mum’s parents) off its charger and took it with him toward the kitchen. The house was quiet, Teddy must still be asleep. It was quite early, early enough that Harry might take his coffee out on the deck and watch the sun rise while he caught up on emails.

Or Harry would find his dad standing at Harry’s stove while the kitchen filled with the smell of food frying. The coffee pot was on, which was nice, but Harry didn’t understand what his dad was doing in his kitchen at five thirty in the morning.

Dad was not a morning person.

“Er…” Harry slid his laptop on the small dining table he had, just big enough for his family to sit at. “Morning?”

Dad turned and grinned at Harry. At only thirty-seven, Dad was still rather young and handsome. There were a few grey hairs peppered in with his short black hair, a few lines that crinkled at the edges of his eyes, but he certainly didn’t look old enough to have a son Harry’s age.

“Your mom has Teddy, he’s riding the bus with Tuck,” Dad said, going back to the stove. “I thought you and I could have breakfast.”

Harry didn’t comment on his mum kidnapping his son, it wasn’t as if Harry bought the house across the street from his parents to not keep them all close. Dad also mentioned breakfast in a casual way, but Harry’s stomach still twisted with nerves. It was early, it was a bad day; Harry didn’t want to eat fried eggs and bacon just then.

“Brilliant,” Harry said flatly, knowing he couldn’t just refuse. “Clogged arteries before the sun’s properly up, exactly what doctors everywhere recommend.”

Dad rolled his eyes and scooted over so he could open the oven, adding another smell to the mixture in the kitchen. Harry peered past his dad and felt ashamed when he saw a pan of muffins on the top rack.

“Thanks,” Harry said sheepishly. Since Dad was cooking, Harry pulled plates and mugs out of the cabinet. The kitchen was still a bit confusing, Harry didn’t use it terribly often. It was nice though, clean and airy.

The cabinets were the same teal as Teddy’s hair while the walls were a light blue. It clashed, but Harry had let Teddy decide most of the paint colors. Harry’s room and attached bathroom were the only rooms that Teddy didn’t get to pick the colors for and when Harry floundered on what to do, he ended up with a burgundy and gold bedroom… which made him sort of ridiculous.

Though Draco probably had a green and silver bedroom, so Harry didn’t think he was any more immature than Draco.

Harry did catch up on his emails while Dad finished breakfast. Harry sipped coffee while he read a short email from Neville, more filled with typos than anything. Poor bloke still couldn’t get the hang of typing. There was a much longer email from Hermione, mostly describing the holiday she planned to take with her fiancé, Ron Weasley, in the winter.

Harry liked Hermione quite a bit, her fiancé only a little. Harry and Ron had been in the same house and year at Hogwarts, they were friendly and Harry had gotten close to him when they were on the same quidditch team, but Harry had never fit in with Ron, Seamus, or Dean as much as he had Neville.

Neville was a quiet sort too. The two of them had met the summer before their first year and hit it off. Mum loved Neville, she said he was a solid sort to keep Harry out of trouble. Which was hilarious to Harry because Neville’s grandmother seemed to love Harry based on how many horrible situations Harry had accidentally gotten Neville involved in over their years of school.

It was also why Susan Bones’s aunt wasn’t Harry’s biggest fan… though she had also thought for quite some time that it was Harry who was interested in her niece. Harry wished Ms Bones was still living for many reasons, the top one being so he could finally prove that it was Neville who had fancied Susan something fierce.

By the time Dad was ready to sit and eat, Harry had finished one cup of coffee and sent off emails to Neville, Hermione, and a quick one to Susan urging her to teach Neville to type.

“Your mom said there’s been some trouble at the hospital?” Dad mentioned after a few minutes of easy silence.

Harry frowned while he peeled the wrapper off the muffin he had. It was a guilt muffin, homemade blueberry, Harry’s favorite, so he had to eat at least one.

“Nothing wild,” Harry said. “I think that we’ve managed to piss off a church though. They’re taking the existence of wizards rather personal I think.”

It was actually very wild, but Harry knew there would be some pushback. The protesters weren’t getting any more unruly, but they had grown. It was probably a good thing that Harry was somewhat famous; the draw of the ‘Man-Who-Conquered’ was still outweighing the muggle protesters on the hospital lawn.

Draco wanted to contact MACUSA and station aurors at the hospital. MACUSA said they wouldn’t spare manpower to a muggle problem. Harry had contacted the muggle police who wouldn’t get involved in a magic problem.

They were stuck with one foot in both communities and quite on their own. It was a lot of pressure for Harry, as it would be his shoulders where blame would rest if anyone was hurt.

Dad listened patiently while Harry described the situation. The great thing about Dad was that he wasn’t a doctor. Mum and Harry were more alike, both always wanting to delve down and find causes and develop theories on problems. Dad was more surface level - if A was happening then do B, every time.

“What’s stopping you from hiring your own security?” Dad asked when Harry had him caught up. “Hospitals have security guards, right? So hire some of your own and station them outside.”

“What do I do with them when the mobs are gone though?” Harry asked, pinching off a bit of his muffin and chewing it slowly.

It was great, Dad was a brilliant cook, but it wasn’t a great day to start with food first thing.

“If you don’t need them full-time as staff, hire them under a seasonal contract,” Dad suggested. “You said one of your healers is a vet, right? Surely he knows a few well-trained men who could use work.”

That was brilliant, actually. Harry still had plenty of padding in his budget that he could hire on six guards - maybe a mixture of muggles and wizards? - and still not touch his emergency funds.

“You’re a genius,” Harry told his dad.

Dad smiled so his eyes crinkled when Harry popped in a much larger bite of his muffin.

“I have always said I’m the brains in this family, son.”

Harry didn’t waste any time when he arrived at the hospital to find Healer Anderson and ask him about sending along the names of any blokes he knew that needed work. Anderson was a good bloke, Harry was quite fond of him, Harry also found it funny that Anderson was always flustered around Harry.

Flustered was preferable to thinking that Harry was brain-addled though. It didn’t bother Harry, except Anderson had been screaming when he spoke to him and that had been annoying.

Once that was taken care of, Harry slowly made his way through the hospital up to his office. He tried to check in on his staff as he went, but Harry swore that some of them simply hid from him.

It was rude, actually. Harry might be ‘the boss’, but really Draco was in charge of staff and Harry never saw office doors closing when Draco walked by.

Harry made sure to stop by Medical-Neurology to find one of his few friends within the hospital. Doctor Derek Shepherd was a brilliant man who Harry was quite pleased to be friendly with. Not only did Derek have big ideas for medicine and healing, but he was very knowledgeable about the hospital and the staff in general.

And he had a tendency to keep Doctor Lexie Grey on his service which meant Harry got to see her rather often.

Lexie was beautiful, probably the smartest person Harry had ever known, and had a never-ending interest in magic. She was also single, which meant that Harry never had to worry about chatting her up. It probably didn’t mean anything, loads of people were probably interested in Lexie, but Harry liked when it was him who she paid attention to.

It was flattering, didn’t hurt anyone, and it made Harry smile.

And since it was September first, Derek didn’t have Lexie with him in his office.

“Oh.” Harry blinked unhappily at the perky redheaded intern who was shadowing Derek. Harry couldn’t remember her name, but he thought it was a calendar name? May? June?

Derek grinned rather knowingly when Harry handed him the coffee he brought him. The other cup was meant to be for Lexie, but since she wasn’t there…

“Lexie’s day off,” Derek said after Harry begrudgingly gave Lexie’s to the other doctor. “I did promise her that if nothing dire came in that you and I wouldn’t operate together without her.”

“Oh. You won’t be operating today?” The red-headed doctor looked immediately disappointed. “I could have sworn I saw a tumor removal on the board for today?”

“You and I will operate,” Derek told her, pointing from her to himself. Then he pointed at Harry and himself. “Harry and I will not.”

That was fine by Harry. Harry had done two operations with Derek in the last month and while they had been resounding successes - Harry liked having Lexie with them when they operated. Harry had floated between a few different services, getting used to different surgeons and healers and their operation style.

Harry was able to operate with most of the surgeons as they tended to refer to him as the informal leader of their operational team. Not all of the surgical interns or residents were the same and Harry didn’t have time or any desire to deal with incompetence when he was operating.

Harry liked to teach, Harry didn’t know how to teach muggles to work around his magic and young and eager interns could get hurt if they weren’t exceedingly careful. Lexie Grey was always extra careful and it made her a genuine delight to teach.

If Lexie were a witch, she would make a great healer. As a muggle though… Harry was simply crossing his fingers that Lexie planned to do her residency at Seattle because he was toying with recommending a group of healers and doctors who could fit seamlessly with either side of the hospital.

Harry’s secret five year goal was to have a great number of their services combined. There was no need for muggle neurology and magical neurology. It would have to be done in baby steps though, that was what Mum said.

“Do you have anything on your board for today, Chief Bailey?” The doctor gave Harry a perfectly friendly smile and Harry had no real reason to dislike her, she just wasn’t who he wanted.

“Me? No,” Harry shrugged. It was intentional, mostly. Actually, it was Draco whose name was recorded as moving operations off his and Harry’s calendar for the day.

Harry was pleased to know that Draco wasn’t up for a day of intense operations either, but it left Harry with a lot of spare time. A problem that Derek actually solved for him.

“Light day?” Derek asked. He clicked his tongue when Harry nodded. “I wish I could have stayed home today. I’ve got a renovation project I want to start… it would be nice if I had my own wand to clear away the area I need.”

“What sort of renovation?” Harry asked as he leaned against the doorway of Derek’s office. Harry wasn’t great at renovation, but his house had been a slum when he bought it. It only took Harry a few days to fix it up, much less time than it took him to renovate Grimmauld Place.

“I’ve got some land outside of town and there’s this beautiful spot near the cliffs where I’d like to build a house eventually.” Derek sighed as he spun his desk chair around to face his computer again. “I don’t know if there’s enough room though, it’s hard to envision with the trees that are overrunning it.”

Harry hummed and tried to remember what all was on his schedule for the day. No operations… No staff meetings… really Harry had a bit of paperwork that he needed to go over, set up a consultation with the hospital in France where Gabrielle studied at… but other than that? Harry’s day was mostly empty.

“I could remove some trees for you,” Harry offered, liking the idea as soon as he said it. Getting to go outside for the day? Get away from the hospital for a bit? Harry could pop by home, change into something more comfortable… maybe even grab his broom?

Yeah, Harry liked that idea a lot, actually.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.” Derek was already clicking away on the computer, not even blinking as he moved through his files. “I’m swamped today and I’d hate to impose.”

“It’s no imposition at all!” Harry insisted. “Oi, I know! If you want, I can deal with some trees while you work and you can repay me with a drink tonight?”

Derek has invited Harry out for drinks a few times, but Harry usually turned him down. If it wasn’t work keeping Harry busy, it was Teddy or Tuck. Harry usually kept his brother when their parents were working and Mum or Dad kept Teddy if Harry was going to be at work past Teddy’s bedtime.

If Mum had taken Teddy that morning then surely she wouldn’t mind having him that night? Harry would check with her, but he was sure it would be fine.

“Yeah?” Derek looked at Harry again and he was grinning, though there was a little sparkle in his eyes too. “You’re sure?”

“Absolutely,” Harry swore. “Really, mate, you’re doing me a favor here.”

Derek didn’t hold back then when he gave Harry the address for his property (then had to search the coordinates instead so that Harry didn’t have to also borrow his mum’s car) and the key for his trailer in case Harry needed it.

“I’ll meet you at Joes tonight,” Derek said after they had all the details squared away. “If you find something else you’d rather do, I won’t be offended.”

Harry felt guilty then, thinking that he must have turned Derek’s offer down too many times before. Even if Harry didn’t socialize outside of work much, it had been quite a busy month.

It was a mixed bag though because Harry was also pleased that he had made at least one friend who wanted to socialize outside of work.

Mum had no problem with looking after Teddy when Harry found her in her clinic. It made Harry itch a bit to be in there, his eyes kept wanting to latch on the plaque that had been installed to commemorate Sirius for his donation.

It had been Mum’s donation of Sirius’s money, but the plaque still said Sirius Black.

“And Doctor Shepherd asked you to go do some tree removal for him?” Mum asked Harry after she already said she wouldn’t mind keeping Teddy. “Harry, what on God’s green earth made him think you were the man to turn to for something like that?”

Harry raised one of his arms and tried to flex it, grinning stupidly at his mother as he did.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Harry asked, feigning offense. “I’m a very manly man, Mum.”

The blonde doctor who worked in the clinic with Mum a lot, Doctor Stevens, snorted.

“Oh, sorry!” She covered her mouth with her hand when Mum gave her an unimpressed scowl. “I - I was thinking of something entirely unrelated.”

“Uh huh,” Mum said disbelievingly. When Harry tried to take her momentary lapse in attention to sneak away, she turned right back to point a finger at him.

“You will be careful and I will be telling Dr Shepherd that if you so much as get a splinter because he’s using you as cheap labor that he’ll be answering to me.”

Harry grinned while he cheekily saluted his mum. She was firm, but fair, and every warning and threat she gave Harry always just sounded like ‘I love you’.

“Yes, Mum,” Harry said obediently, if a bit teasingly. “Remind me, do I call you or an ambulance if a tree falls on me?”

Doctor Stevens snorted again and Harry dashed out of the clinic before Mum could hit a real stride on her lecture. It was silly to tell Harry to call an emergency line if he was hurt when he and Mum both knew that she was always his first call.

Harry debated on finding Draco and telling him that he was taking off for the day. Ultimately though, Harry decided that Draco was smart enough to figure it out on his own and that he certainly knew how to get a message to Harry if it was needed.

Harry didn’t spend two months of daily lessons teaching Draco how to cast a patronus for nothing. Sure, it had been for ease of Draco sharing information with Harry during the worst of the war, but it was also convenient when Harry simply wanted to skip work.

It didn’t take long for Harry to get changed into jeans and a dark blue St Mungo’s sweater. Harry took his broom from the closet too, undoing the charms he set on it when he stored it with Teddy’s broom.

Teddy’s broom was a sturdy and reliable Nimbus, custom ordered to be both size-appropriate and painted a neon mess of colors. Harry’s Firebolt was entirely too fast and temperamental for Harry to trust Teddy on it. Despite Teddy’s disinterest in flying, Harry had noticed Teddy’s eyes started lingering on Harry’s broom recently. It was an easy enough fix, as all Harry had to do was set a few charms to keep Teddy from being able to sneak off with the racing broom.

Harry felt a little silly when he also grabbed a snitch off the shelf, but it wasn’t as if anyone would be around to see him reliving his quidditch days.

Derek’s property was exactly as he had described it. The little trailer he owned was much more posh than Harry expected - Derek sort of made it sound like a shack in the woods - but everything else seemed normal.

It was a beautiful piece of property too. The cliff stood up enough that Harry could stand on the edge and see the water. It was bittersweet when Harry thought of Ginny Weasley’s brother’s house that sat on a cliff… Harry had been given access to the property before he left to hunt horcruxes by Fleur Weasley and he had only been there twice —

Once when he had to bury Dobby and another time for a dinner celebrating Fred Weasley’s life. As neither of those visits were especially happy memories, Harry moved away from the cliff to go search for the section that was over run with trees.

Except when Harry found the part of his property where Derek mentioned trees being in his way, there were only two? Honestly, Derek had made it sound much more dire. Relocating two trees and repairing the ground where they had been took Harry so little time he was nearly disappointed.

It was a good thing he brought his snitch or he would feel obligated to go back to work.

The weather was perfect for a few hours spent flying. Derek’s property was secluded enough that Harry didn’t attract any attention either, it was only an open sky and a snitch.

Or it was… until Harry started doing barrel rolls just to let off some energy and heard applause. Harry straightened himself quickly and peered down at the ground. Aside from a colorful hooded sweater and wavy brown hair, he couldn’t tell who it was.

Harry began a quick spiral downward, careful to aim away from the person. It was a woman, but Harry didn’t recognize her until he was nearly right in front of her.

“Hi.” Lexie Grey was the mystery woman, the mystery woman dressed very casually in her jeans and sweater with a case of beer in one hand and a cooler in the other. Harry wanted to ask why she was there, how she even found the property… what he said was:

“Is that an organ?” Harry blurted, waving his fist that held the snitch toward the red cooler. The sticker on it said live organs and Harry suddenly worried that maybe Lexie wasn’t entirely sane.

“What?” Lexie looked down and was blushing when she looked back at Harry and began rambling. “No! No, there’s no organs in here, I swear. I - okay, technically I stole this which maybe I shouldn’t tell you and it would be really cool if you didn’t tell your mom. But it’s not organs! It’s food! I swear, look!”

Harry was both bemused and a bit flattered that Lexie seemed so flustered. He had to drop his broom to reach out and catch the six-pack before she dropped it in her haste to prove the cooler did not contain any organs.

“Sorry!” Lexie groaned rather adorably after she opened the cooler long enough to show what looked like some fruits and sandwiches from a deli.

“Do you… I’m confused.” Harry laughed nervously. “Am I bothering you? Or in your way? I can go, I was only screwing around.”

“What? No!” Lexie’s face scrunched up. “Derek - um, Doctor Shepherd told me that you were out here working and asked if I’d bring you lunch?”

That… seemed a strange thing for Derek to do. Unless Mum put him up to it, but Harry got the impression that she didn’t like Lexie much. Mum historically didn’t like anyone that Harry found interesting or attractive though, she had even found a way to criticize Cedric Diggory.

Harry wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the eyes or whatever the saying was though. Lexie was off work, Harry was skipping work, it was a nice day…

“Do you want to have lunch with me?” Harry asked, working hard to not sound awkward about it. He added a smile - his mum said it was a charming smile and Harry had nearly gotten Lexie’s number with it before.

“Like a picnic?” Lexie asked.

It wasn’t a no and if Lexie wanted to have a picnic then Harry certainly wasn’t going to say no.

“Yeah, of course,” Harry said. He eagerly plucked up a green leaf from the ground and tapped it with his wand, enlarging it and softening it until it fluttered to the ground as a green blanket.

“That’s so cool,” Lexie said as she sank down to her knees on the blanket and touched it. “It’s so soft!”

“I’ve always been a bit better at transfiguration than I am charms,” Harry said as he too sat on the blanket. He crossed his legs and twirled his wand, conjuring a single red rose in a clear vase. The flower looked sort of wilted, but Lexie didn’t mind.

“It’s beautiful.”

Then Lexie smiled at Harry and he completely agreed - beautiful.

Lunch with Lexie was surprisingly nice.

Lexie had seemed sort of nervous at first, but she relaxed when they hit the familiar topic of work. A few comments about some upcoming operations they were planning led to a comment about their co-workers. Then Harry was pleased that they turned quickly to gossip.

It had seemed to Harry like the medical staff all liked him just fine, but nobody ever wanted to complain about anyone or share any personal stories with him. It might have been because of his title, but Harry suspected it had more to do with his mum.

Lexie didn’t care though, she was too happy to tell Harry about the sister she just met and all the drama between them.

“You tried to hook up with Derek?” Harry asked, shocked when Lexie insinuated just that. Lexie and Derek worked together so easily and Harry had never even considered being jealous about it.

“Not like that!” Lexie said quickly. “I mean, I guess it was kind of like that? But he was very nice when he said no. I was just having a bad day and he was some guy in a bar.”

If Harry were some guy in a bar, he wouldn’t have turned Lexie down.

“Is that why Meredith doesn’t like you?” Harry asked. “I thought they were broken up?”

“They’re…” Lexie waved a strawberry when she apparently couldn’t find the word she wanted. “They’re Derek and Meredith, I guess. But no, that’s not why she hates me. Or hated me? Maybe? I don’t know. I live in her attic now.”

Harry took a bite of one of the sandwiches Lexie brought and swallowed it down with a swig of one of the beers. It was a stalling technique to make sure that he heard Lexie absolutely clearly.

“You live in your sister’s attic,” Harry repeated slowly. “Why?”

“Cheap rent?”

“Lexie…” Harry sighed while he wondered just how little medical interns made. Harry knew he was fortunate to have parents who were financially comfortable and he had more than enough galleons to pay for his healers program plus to open his hospital. Harry just couldn’t fathom that Lexie thought she needed to live in an attic with the sister that didn’t sound very nice.

If Harry didn’t have Teddy, he would offer her the spare room in his house. It would probably be a bit too forward though and confusing for Teddy.

Outside of anything else Harry thought about Lexie Grey, she did seem to be a genuinely kind person who deserved better.

“Why don’t you talk to the other interns?” Harry suggested. “Maybe see if someone else is struggling to find a place to live and needs a roommate? There’s bulletin boards in the common areas, right? You could hang a flyer.”

“That’s a great idea!” Lexie said, beaming like Harry was a genius for thinking it. “Meredith isn’t so bad, sometimes, but she has so many roommates and it’s exhausting.”

“Really? Who all lives with her?” Harry asked curiously.

Lexie listed off a few names and Harry tried to not make a face. Izzie Stevens, Alex Karev, George O’Malley. Harry didn’t know any of them well, but he remembered their names from a list that Draco had given him. According to Draco, those three plus Meredith and Doctor Christina Yang, were the group of doctors who had been nosing in Harry’s medical files.

Draco swore they didn’t get a chance to read anything before he found them, but it still made Harry squirm uncomfortably. Harry had deleted the records, erasing any digital proof that he had ever been a patient in Seattle, but it kept niggling in Harry’s mind that Draco knew. And if he did, how long until he would bring it up or mention it to someone?

Harry wanted to trust Draco, but Draco was Draco and if he thought it would be funny to release Harry’s information then he would do it. And Harry’s reputation would be so irreparably damaged that any advances he made in combining magic with medicine would be tainted.

Lexie must have picked up on Harry’s reluctance to talk anymore about their coworkers because she hummed for a second before lighting up again at the sight of his broom.

“I didn’t know that wizards actually rode broomsticks,” she said. “I thought it was a myth.”

“Like how you probably thought wizards were a myth?” Harry joked, relieved by the familiar and safe topic. He grabbed his broom and let it hover in the air between them. It was the look of awe with a dash of fear that made him make the offer… though really Harry would have ended up asking her anyway.

Harry’s two real relationships to date had both been with quidditch players. It wasn’t necessarily on purpose, Harry just found more in common with people who also enjoyed flying.

“Do you want to ride?” Harry offered.

“I… will I fall?” Lexie asked, already jumping up enthusiastically.

“Not if I told you tightly,” Harry said very seriously.

It wasn’t necessarily true, Harry was an excellent flier and had plenty of practice with flying double, but since Lexie didn’t seem to mind him holding her then there was no need to brag too hard.

Lexie sat in front of Harry and he wrapped his arms around her slim body to reach the handle.

“Here we go,” he warned her before kicking off.

Lexie squeaked - she bloody squeaked - on the their ascent but she didn’t squirm or move at all.

“You’re a natural,” Harry laughed as he began an easy lap above the tops of the trees. “You’re not scared? Not panicking?”

“No, I’m totally freaking out,” Lexie said loudly, perfectly calmly though. “I’m trying to figure out the science behind flying.”

Unable to resist and testing the waters some, Harry leaned forward until he could just rest his chin on her shoulder. Harry turned in to her, putting his lips very close to her ear.

So she could hear him better, of course.

“There’s no science,” he whispered. “It’s magic.”

And, apparently, something of an aphrodisiac.

They flew for an hour with Lexie inching backward every few minutes until they were truly flush against each other. Harry kept up his whispered comments and got a bit braver when Lexie tilted her head, stretching her neck out like an offering. Harry, giving her plenty of time to do or say anything that would indicate she wasn’t interested, slowly pressed a soft kiss to the side of Lexie’s neck.

She sighed in a little breathy moan and Harry had never flew back to the ground so quickly in his life.

“Yes?” Harry checked when they eye on the ground and his Firebolt had been tossed to the side. Lexie had her arms around his neck and Harry had his on her waist, but if it wasn’t a very clear yes then it would be a no.

Aside from it simply being the only proper way to be intimate, Harry’s parents had only had the consent conversation with him roughly fifty times as he had been growing up. Harry might not be too terribly experienced, but he wasn’t a monster.

“Yes,” Lexie said quite clearly before she leaned up and pressed her lips against Harry’s. It was soft, sweet, at first.

Then Harry sort of became putty in Lexie’s very capable hands.

It didn’t actually surprise Harry that Lexie was as excellent a lover as she was a doctor. Lexie seemed like the type of person who decided she wanted to do something and then studied her arse off until she achieved it.

If Harry were to reward her dedication to studies with a letter grade then? It would have been something surpassing even an O. What was better than outstanding? Phenomenal? Chemical-altering?

Harry would think on it.

“Brilliant,” Harry said happily when he and Lexie had finished. They were lying nude on the blanket on the ground and Harry thought maybe nudists had it right all along.

There was something about the breeze that turned cool by the setting sun cooling their bared bodies. Harry laid on his back, grinning kind of stupidly, while Lexie laid on her side with a hand on Harry’s chest.

Harry had been unsure about taking his shirt off, he didn’t particularly enjoy being undressed, but Lexie had been complimentary enough that he was feeling oddly relaxed about it. It was strange, but nice, until Lexie noticed his scars.

“Can I ask a personal question?” she asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence between them.

Harry turned his head and grinned at her. “Be silly to say no, wouldn’t it?”

Lexie laughed and tilted her head in agreement. Harry didn’t see where she was going until her finger began tracing the largest scar on Harry’s body, the lightning bolt that centered in his chest and branched out in a work of morbid art.

“What’s this from?” Lexie asked innocently, her finger running along the central scar. “Not a surgery?”

“Er… no.” Harry reached up and put his hand on hers, flattening it so she would stop tracing it. “That - that was from a - a fight.”

A very mild way to describe the Battle of Hogwarts that Harry fought in. It made it sound like a brawl in a pub, but Harry didn’t actually want to talk about that. It wasn’t healthy, avoiding discussing trauma, but Harry didn’t want to unload anything on Lexie.

Lexie was sweet, smart, beautiful. But there was something innocent about her, something pure that Harry didn’t want to ruin.

That thought made Harry’s stomach lurch with the follow up that Ginny Weasley had been someone Harry could talk to about the war. Cedric hadn’t lived long enough to see the war, though he was considered the first official casualty of the second Wizarding War.

Harry liked Lexie, but he was going to ruin her.

And that, more than anything, sobered Harry’s mood quite quickly.

Harry decided that he would take Derek up on his offer of drinks that evening. Harry took Lexie home first, grimacing again at the thought of her sleeping in an attic. He had made an offer for her to go to the pub by the hospital with him - it was very close to where Meredith Grey’s house was - but she turned him down.

Which was something of a relief.

Ideally, Harry would talk to his mum about the whole thing. Mum would be too supportive though, claiming that Harry definitely didn’t ruin peoples lives and that Lexie wasn’t good enough for him or some other tosh. It wouldn’t be rubbish, Harry believed that Mum believed all of that, but… Harry wasn’t in the mood for blind and loving support.

Joe’s Bar was apparently a hot spot for hospital staff to socialize in their off hours. The sign on the door said it was open twenty-four hours and ‘the first drink’s free’ for Seattle Healing Hospital employees.

The inside of the pub was about what Harry expected, all wooden walls with various signs covering them. There were a couple of pool tables in the room to the left, a place for darts on the right, and tons of tables and booths. There were just as many patrons filling the bar as there wear seats though and Harry recognized most of the faces from the hospital.

Harry heard his name said a few times as he tried to squish between bodies to get to the bar. At first, Harry was disappointed to not see Derek or any of the magical staff. The sign on the door didn’t exclude healers or medi-witches and wizards from being allowed in…

Harry rather desperately hoped that maybe his staff simply didn’t know about the pub. He hated the idea that they would feel excluded or disliked.

Not that the bloody mob of religious fanatics helped any probably.

Harry finally got to the bar counter and ordered himself something strong. The bartender told Harry the first one was on the house, just as his sign said, but Harry still slipped a bill in the tip jar. Then, with the line forming behind him for drinks and refills, Harry tried to sneak off toward where the dart game was set up as it was the least busy place in the pub.

That was where Harry found Derek, casually drinking a beer with the blonde pediatric doctor and her brunette girlfriend.

“Hey! It’s Harry!” The brunette, Doctor Callie Torres, raised her very colorful drink when Harry walked toward them. Derek was standing to throw a dart and groaned when he looked over his shoulder at Harry.

“I guess the next round is on me,” Derek told the others before throwing his dart and nailing the precise center of the target.

“Hmm, I don’t know…” Arizona was scrutinizing Harry hard with her lips twisted to the side and a fingernail tapping her chin. “Callie, he looks like he got laid, right?”

Harry sputtered on his drink and then blushed a deep red when Callie studied him for a second and nodded.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t seem like it went great,” she said. Her voice turned sympathetic when she put a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Was little Grey too freaky or not freaky enough?”

“What?” Harry could feel his face burning. “Did - did Lexie tell you all??”

“No, you just did,” Arizona said. She clicked her tongue before taking Derek’s place in the marked off lane for dart players.

“How’d it go?” Derek asked, joining Harry and taking one of the dark colored drinks off the table.

“There were only two trees,” Harry said, refusing to discuss Lexie with an audience. Derek seemed like he could keep things to himself, but Harry had heard too much gossip from Arizona and Callie in hushed conversations to trust them with anything private.

“I meant with Lexie,” Derek said after downing half his drink in one go. “I don’t want details,” he tacked on quickly, causing Callie to snicker. “I mean… you know… I didn’t misread the situation, right?”

It clicked for Harry then: he had been set up.

That explained the randomness of Derek asking him to remove the trees, Lexie’s arrival with food… and Harry had just that morning expressed disappointment that he didn’t see Lexie.

It was nice… kind of. If Lexie hadn’t commented on Harry’s scar and Harry didn’t let his negative thoughts get the best of him… if it wasn’t September first then Harry might be grateful.

Harry shrugged and Derek frowned at him for a moment before seemingly coming to an abrupt decision.

“You two carry on without me,” Derek told Callie and Arizona. “I think I’ll step out back for some air.”

Derek twitched his head for Harry to follow him, which he did after nodding politely at the others. Derek only made one stop at the counter to ask for two more whiskey and cokes. The bartender (Joe, apparently) got them for them quickly and said he would put them on Derek’s tab.

‘Out back’ turned out to be a rather narrow alley behind the underground pub. It made Harry feel claustrophobic enough that he finished his drink quickly and started his second when Derek passed him one of his drinks.

“Thanks,” Harry said, slumping against the brick wall and sighing.

“It seems like the least I can do,” Derek said. He stood beside Harry, probably looking much more distinguished as he too leaned against the wall to sip at his drink.

Derek didn’t pry, didn’t ask any questions. It was that passive calm that led Harry to trying to explain what happened after a few minutes of sorting his thoughts out.

“Lexie’s a good person,” Harry said slowly, swirling his drink and staring at the opposing wall. “She’s very nice. Beautiful, brilliant, bloody hell she’s so smart…”

“But?” Derek asked evenly when Harry trailed off.

“But…” Harry shrugged. “I don’t know. Is she too nice?”

No, that wasn’t it. Neville was the nicest bloke in the world and he and Harry were as close as Harry was to his real brother, maybe even closer. Since Derek hadn’t said anything yet, Harry tried to explain better.

“It’s not that she’s too nice,” he said, trying to word the intangible feeling that Lexie’s shoulders couldn’t carry the weight of who Harry was. It didn’t have to mean anything, shagging, and probably didn’t to most people.

Harry didn’t want to have a lopsided relationship though: what good was the physical intimacy if there wasn’t any emotional and mental connection?

Merlin, Harry felt ridiculous. He wasn’t trying to marry Lexie… but… Harry didn’t think he was someone who could maintain a ‘casual’ relationship.

“I was in a war, mate,” Harry said, adamantly staring at the wall. Most people knew that, it had certainly been reported on enough. There was more to it than just being a soldier though, there were mental scars that Harry would carry as long as the physical ones.

“I - er… I mean I’m sure you know that Mum and Dad - Miranda and Tucker, I mean, adopted me. And, I dunno, I suppose kids with happy childhoods don’t end up being adopted by their doctors, right?”

Derek might have fallen asleep standing, he was so quiet. That made it easier for Harry to talk, the liquor didn’t hurt either.

“My parents are brilliant, I wasn’t exactly an easy kid. Even without the outbursts of magic, I - I guess I had some issues, right? Then before I could even settle in anything, I had to go to this bloody school, Hogwarts. You know the professor for the school swore to my mum, right to her face, that it was safe?” Harry scoffed.

“It was a nightmare, mate. Take my word for it, if you have a magical kid - muggleborn, adopted, whatever, send them anywhere except Hogwarts. I used to get so anxious about going back that I’d spend the last week every summer absolutely miserable sick.”

“Why did you?”

Harry jolted and blinked, sort of surprised about Derek actually listening to him.

“Why did I do what?” Harry asked.

“Go back,” Derek clarified. He lifted a shoulder in a small shrug. “I can’t imagine that Miranda or Tucker would force one of their kids to attend a school in another country if they didn’t want to go.”

Harry smiled bitterly while he threw back the rest of his drink. He didn’t drink often and the lightheaded feeling he had was precisely why he didn’t actually enjoy drinking. One or two socially was fine, but Harry didn’t do it much more than that.

“Guilt,” Harry told Derek as a blunt answer. Harry didn’t see it as a kid, but he did when he was given the peace and security that a brain needed to mature.

“I didn’t know it, not until my godfather died, but there was a prophecy made about me. It was the reason my biological parents were killed and why this wizard, Riddle, became obsessed with me. It basically said that I was the one who needed to kill Riddle. And so every year I’d have a shit year and every year I’d be guilted into returning…”

It wasn’t subtle either, Harry should have seen it. Harry didn’t know if he would have made different decisions or not, but it was an unfair position to put him in.

“Your parents would be so proud to know that you’re here, learning the things they learned, dear boy…”

“I believe that if you had not been here this year, Miss Weasley would have died and we would have seen the return of Lord Voldemort.”

“You’ve saved the soul of an innocent man, Harry. I hate to think what may have become of Sirius if you were not here.”

Every year it had been some new reason why Harry should be grateful to attend Hogwarts. It was no wonder that Harry decided at Dumbledore’s funeral to not return.

Harry knew he had a job to do, but there was nobody left to guilt him into returning to the school and trying to do it from there.

“So… lots of trauma, mate. There’s days I wouldn’t get out of bed if it weren’t for Teddy and my parents. I didn’t want to get out of bed today.” Harry huffed a hollow laugh and sagged a little more against the wall. At some point in Harry’s ramblings, Derek had taken the empty glass from him and so Harry ran both hands over his face, scrubbing hard to wake up a bit.

Harry probably shouldn’t have said quite so much, but Derek wasn’t a gossiper and he didn’t seem likely to go running about to the others. Harry cleared his throat and tried to straighten up, make himself less of a visual mess.

“Sorry for the unsolicited trauma dump,” Harry said with a forced lightness. “I left my therapist in England, you see.”

“Wizards have therapists?” Derek turned just enough that Harry could see his easy and calm smile. If Harry wanted to divert from what he had brought up himself, Derek would let him.

“Not at all,” Harry told him. “One of my friends, Susan, is training to be the first though. I’ll tell you that therapy would have been much easier if I didn’t have to try and find the muggle equivalent of being prophesied to save the bloody world.”

Derek whistled lowly and shook his head at Harry.

“And so while Lexie is sweet and pretty and smart… she isn’t someone who you can relate to.”

Harry nodded rather miserably.

“That’s not the end of the world.” Derek put a hand on Harry’s shoulder and it was comforting. Derek reminded Harry quite a bit of Neville, truthfully, he tended to keep a cool head and didn’t get too worked up.

It used to be Neville and Hermione trying to talk down Harry and Susan and their too many emotions.

“You’ve clearly been busy,” Derek said calmly with Harry hanging on his every word. “You went from a war to studying healing to becoming the chief of a what’s becoming the most famous hospital in history. You have a son, Harry. When have you ever had a chance to date around?”

Never. Harry had never ‘dated around’.

Harry had one boyfriend in his third and fourth year of school, a girlfriend in his sixth. There had been an awkward date or two when he was studying at St Mungo’s that Susan set him up on, then Lexie. That had been it.

“What do I tell Lexie?” Harry asked. Derek was older, probably wiser when it came to relationships.

And apparently completely out of good advice:

“That is a great question for Miranda.”

Yeah, because Harry wanted to ask his mum how to tell one of her interns that Harry thought she was too perfect for him to date.

“Mum…” Harry lightly shook his mother’s shoulder, waking her from her dead sleep. It was late - early? - but Mum wouldn’t care. “Wake up,” Harry whispered, trying to keep from waking his dad as well. “I need to talk to you.”

“You smell like whiskey, Harry James,” Mum muttered without opening her eyes.

“Sorry.” Harry turned his face so he wasn’t breathing in his mum’s face. “I’ll - we can talk later,” he said.

“Go brush your damn teeth and get some water,” Mum said as she began stretching beneath her covers. “I’ll be up in a minute.”

Harry was lucky, truly. Even if it was difficult to relate to others and dating seemed like a personal challenge… there was always one place he could go when he needed someone.

Even if that someone came with a stern lecture about the importance of not sleeping with interns.