Harry Potter sighed as he looked out the fake window of his cubicle. It was raining outside today. The skies were grey and forlorn. Harry hoped that didn't have something to do with his mood. Or, if it did, that no one else was affected by it. He looked at the large stack of interdepartmental memos in front of him glumly. They were grey too, and he knew he would have to deal with at least a few of them before heading home. He looked at the top one.

Harry-

I need you to be prepared to give a statement on the detainment of Arsikov. I know you weren't directly involved, but the public will react more favorably if the news of his death comes from your mouth.

K.S.

The death eater had been wounded by a few aurors during his capture, and although Harry couldn't say for certain, he thought that they had probably done it purposefully. Arsikov had committed a few particularly nasty crimes against women and children, and many wizards wanted him dead. The man had died later in Azkaban, and now it was apparently up to Harry to justify the use of force against him. Not that most of the public would mind that he had died, with any luck. He sent an affirmative reply to Kingsley and picked up the next memo.

Mr. Potter-

One of my curse-breakers has discovered a strange new string of runes in Egypt that look to be the work of a dark witch or wizard unknown. We are not sure if this wizard has been dealt with by Egyptian authorities or not, but while we work with their government, we have permission to send a small team of aurors and curse-breakers to unofficially investigate further. I realize that this is outside the scope of your normal duties, but Head Auror White has spoken very highly of you and recommended you for this position. As it is not official ministry business, you have the option of choosing whether or not to go. It is expected that you will be in Egypt for no less than a month, working with two curse-breakers, one Egyptian, one British, and an Egyptian expert in ancient runes. Give me word within the next two days if you are interested.

R. L. Craftford

Head of Curse Breaking and Neutralization Office

Order of Merlin Second Class

Harry's heart leapt with excitement for a moment. Here was finally an opportunity to go out into the world and do the things he had dreamed of doing when he became an auror. The things he was GOOD at. Actually fighting dark wizards, and solving mysteries, instead of sitting at his desk doing paperwork, or following half-leads to death eaters that ended up being false trails. In Egypt, which was one of the most exciting places in the magical community. Then his heart fell. Ginny wouldn't want him to go. And things had already been a bit rocky the past few months. Harry knew that his girlfriend was expecting him to propose soon. They had been together for six years after all, and with Ron and Hermione getting married last year she had been getting particularly anxious to tie the knot. He wasn't exactly sure why he didn't want to. His relationship with Ginny was stable. She was pretty, and he loved her family. He loved Ginny too, of course, but both of them had explosive tempers, and Ginny was too stubborn to ever let him win a fight, so he had begun to hide things from her. Little things, of course, about why he was unhappy.

They hadn't had sex in over six months, and honestly, Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to sleep with her ever again. He still wanted to be having sex, just, not with Ginny. Sometimes he stayed up all night agonizing about their relationship, and whether he should end things, or marry her, or if he had any other options, and he still wasn't sure what the right choice was. But he knew that if he left for a month, Ginny might not stay around long enough for him to decide. Nevertheless. He might not get another opportunity like this for years. Every piece of his heart was begging him to take it, to escape from the monotony that was suffocating him, even if it was only for a month. Harry took a deep breath, and penned a letter back to Craftford accepting the assignment.

As soon as he sent the memo on its way, Harry felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his chest. He found himself looking forward to the future in a way he hadn't in a long time. The rest of the memos and paperwork flew by quickly, and even the sky looked a little brighter. Craftford came down to his office as he was preparing to leave, a large smile on his round face. The older man cast a few charms around the cubicle to keep eavesdroppers away and then turned to Harry.

"Mr. Potter! I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Roger Craftford, head of the Curse-Breaking office." The portly man extended his hand to Harry, and Harry felt himself grinning back.

"Pleasure to meet you, sir."

"I can't tell you how happy I am that you've decided to go to Egypt. I know that with all of your experience you'll be excellent."

"I'm honored that you considered me, sir." Craftford waved his hand dismissively, as if it was ridiculous that the Chosen One would be honored at anything he had to say.

"Now, I'll want you to leave on Monday to go join the team that's already in Egypt. I'll arrange a portkey for you. This is a very discrete mission, you understand? The Egyptian government wants this dealt with quietly so there is no panic. We'll need to arrange for some polyjuice potion for you and the others, to change identities as often as possible. We have a young man who has made some strides in speeding up the process considerably. He's damn talented with most potion making, really. I'm sending him with you, in case anyone needs a healer or if there are any problems with the other potions you're bringing along. I think you two know each other. Draco Malfoy?"

Harry nodded, and felt his heart leap unexpectedly. He and Malfoy had been on cordial terms since the end of the war. They said hello to each other in the lifts and made comments about the weather. Somehow, now that they worked together, it was possible to forget that they had hated each other for years. That Malfoy had been a Death Eater. That they had saved each others' lives. Now the two of them could just peacefully coexist, not getting too close, working in the same building but never the same department. Harry almost missed Malfoy's constant animosity. It would be interesting, at the very least, to work with him more closely.

"Anyways, he will be joining you on Monday to travel to Egypt. I will send you a memo with the specifics of what you should bring, but I just wanted to introduce myself and give you a short briefing now. It seems very clear to my curse-breaker out there that this is the work of dark magic. I hope you lot will be able to take care of it before this gets out of control. Have a good weekend, Mr. Potter, I'll be in touch."

Harry stared after his retreating back, wondering if the other man had even noticed that he hadn't let Harry get in more than a few words. He shook his head and grabbed his coat to leave. Ron gave him a miserable wave on his way out. The piles on Ron's desk seemed to be right on the verge of tipping over and he would clearly be there for a while longer.

On impulse, Harry decided to stop by Hermione's office in the Regulation of Magical Creatures' Department. Hermione was the only person he could talk to about the Ginny situation, since Ron was her brother, and he figured Hermione would know the best way to break the news about him leaving. Wrinkling his nose at the smell of the dung of many magical creatures, he made his way to the back of the department offices to find Hermione scribbling furiously away at her desk. She was one of three people that he could see still working. Harry knocked at her open door tentatively, and Hermione jumped half a foot in the air, spilling her ink all over herself.

"Merlin's Beard, Harry, just because you're an auror doesn't mean you have to move so quietly! Help me clean this mess up."

"Scorgify," they said in unison, and the ink disappeared from Hermione's robes, seeming to be sucked into their wands.

"Sorry," Harry said. "What are you working on?"

"It's a new proposal for the rights of house elves in Great Britain. I need to have legal look it over before I bring it to the Wizengamot, though. It's really very shoddy right now. I haven't had much time with it, what with everything else going on. How are you? Ron says you lot have been up to your noses in work since Arsikov."

"The minister seems to be punishing all of us for that mess with filing proper paperwork," Harry said with a grimace. "Aurors really aren't meant for paperwork."

"Is that why you decided to go to Egypt?" Harry stared at her in shock.

"What?"

Hermione folded her arms. "Honestly, Harry, you should have thought this through better. They sent someone to talk to Ginny about it already, so you wouldn't accidentally give away confidential information. She flooed me earlier. She seemed pretty distraught."

"Damn. Alright," Harry said, lies of being ordered to visit Egypt for work vanishing from his mind faster than the ink had left Hermione's robes. "Why did she floo you and not me?"

Hermione sighed. "Harry. With all of the fighting you two have been doing lately she's on eggshells. She didn't want to upset you or push you over the edge to breaking up with her or seem controlling."

Harry felt a familiar twinge of guilt at the thought of Ginny grip his mind for a moment. "Well what does she expect me to do?"

"She expects you to love her, which you don't." Hermione's voice was level and sympathetic as she laid a hand on Harry's. "You KNOW you don't, Harry. Why do you keep torturing both of you like this?"

"I do love her, in a way, Hermione. What am I supposed to do?"

"You need to end things."

Harry let out a bitter chuckle. "Easy for you to say. If I lose Ginny, I lose all of the Weasleys. I lose Christmas. I lose bloody everyone who I care about, who will see me as the heartless bastard who broke her heart. Not to mention the media. Merlin, they'll have a field day with this."

"Harry," Hermione said sternly. "You need to end this. Now."

"Oh, bloody hell. I suppose right before I leave for a month is a good a time as any. Come get a drink or eight with me."

"Ok, just give me a moment." Hermione waved her wand gracefully, setting her desk in order and they walked out of the ministry. "You need to stop talking to Ron."

"What? Why?"

"You said 'bloody' about five times in there."

A few hours later, Harry was feeling full of liquid courage and far less nervous at the idea of breaking up with Ginny. He and Hermione had rehearsed a whole breakup speech at the bar, and Harry repeated it to himself over and over as he fumbled with his keys and somehow made it into their flat.

"Harry? Is that you?" A red head poked up from the couch pillows and Harry felt that pang of guilt again. Clearly she had been waiting up for him, and rather than going home to speak to her immediately, he had gone out drinking, unable to even do her the courtesy of breaking up with her sober. Some Gryffindor.

"Yeah, 'lo Ginny." She stood up to greet him, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on him, or, rather, trying to. Harry awkwardly turned his head to the side, arms coming up to gently push Ginny's arms away. "Look, ah, we need to talk."

Ginny backed away from him, a hard expression on her face. "You're going to Egypt for a month. Yes. The ministry told me."

"Yeah, and also-"

"I want to come with you, Harry."

"You- what?" Two sentences in, and already Harry's prepared speech was destroyed.

"I want to come with you. I figure that if we really love each other, we shouldn't be apart for a month. And I'm good with hexes. I could end up being useful."

Harry ran his hands through his hair, pulling at it from the roots. "Ginny, I don't want-"

"I won't be a burden. I promise. I can handle myself."

"Ginny, no one is saying you can't handle yourself."

"Then why can't I go with you?"

Harry sighed, leading her to sit down on the couch. "Gin, you know I love you. I really do. But this isn't working. We aren't good for each other. I think that this relationship is making us both miserable… and shit." Forgetting the end of the line, he improvised.

"I've got to do what's best for both of us. And put a finish to this relationship." Harry could feel his words slur together, and took a gulp of air to stave off the buzz he was feeling.

"Harry, are you breaking up with me?" Ginny asked incredulously. Harry watched miserably as the recognition dawned on her face, and she suddenly looked as though she'd been punched. "Why?"

"I'm not happy."

"But. I love you." Ginny appeared to be in a state of shock, but true to her nature she looked far from crying. "Are you gay, Harry? I've always wondered. I know you say you're bisexual, but-"

"I'm not gay, Gin," Harry said angrily. "This isn't about that. We don't make each other happy. You don't make me happy."

"Fine," Ginny said crossing her arms. "Then get out of my flat."

"This is OUR flat, Ginny, I'm on the lease-"

"If you don't get out of my flat in the next ten minutes, I will call the Prophet and tell them you're gay."

Harry stared at her, shocked that she would stoop so low. Her voice more gentle, Ginny continued, "I don't know what your issues are, Potter, but I don't want to have to stand here watching you figure them out after you leave me. I need you to leave tonight so I can process this." She turned away, long red hair fluttering behind her as she walked into their bedroom and closed the door. For a moment, Harry almost thought he heard a sob.

He hurriedly threw his most important belongings into a bag and left, stumbling down the streets aimlessly as he thought of where he should go. Grimmauld place was filled with aurors from out of the country for now, while the ministry rebuilt a safe house that had been destroyed by a dragon a few weeks ago. Ron and Hermione's wasn't an option either, in this case. Unwilling to bother any of his friends so late, Harry decided his best bet was to spend the night at his desk, and rent a hotel room for the next few nights. He apparated to the ministry, feeling lucky to have made it in one piece in his state. Drinking and apparition were frowned upon, especially for an auror.

"Potter?" Harry turned around in surprise, gripping his wand out of habit.

"Malfoy? Whateryou still doing here? It's two in the morning!"

"Finishing up a potion. A very time delicate one." Malfoy surveyed Harry's disarrayed state and sniffed haughtily. "What happened to you, Potter? You smell like a cheap whorehouse."

"Had a few drinks," he muttered, trying unsuccessfully to smooth his robes and hair.

"I'll floo your Weasley, have her come take you home," Malfoy said, uncharacteristically generous.

"Broke up!" Harry managed to get out. "I-err, broke up with her. I'm going to sleep here."

"Ah," Malfoy said impassively. "Well you're coming to sleep at my manor, then. I don't want to get sacked for letting the Famous Harry Potter sleep at a desk."

"No, no," Harry protested unconvincingly as the blond man grabbed his arm. In his inebriated state, Draco Malfoy's touch felt like lightning running through his arm. Harry looked up at him, suddenly noticing how strong he was, and how soft his blonde hair looked when it was slicked back like that. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he was being apparated, and his guts were compressed and twisted until he couldn't handle it.

"Gunna be sick," he said, and Draco leaped out of the way looking green as Harry threw up into his rose bushes. Malfoy vanished the vomit looking irritated, but his mouth curled into a sneer as he turned back to Harry.

"Good lord, Potter, did no one ever teach you how to hold your liquor? You're like a first year having his first butterbeer."

"I can handle it, Malfoy," Harry protested angrily. "I drank more than you could handle in a month tonight."

"TWO butterbeers?" Malfoy asked in fake astonishment.

"Shove off."

"Get your drunk arse inside. I expect you to make sure you haven't killed any roses in the morning. The gardener doesn't come until Tuesday." Harry leaned on Malfoy slightly as they headed for a guest room, muttering curses and insults at his childhood enemy as he did so. Malfoy pointedly ignored him, dumping him onto the bed unceremoniously and leaving, shutting the door after him. Harry stared at the ceiling of the room, waiting for that guilt to hit him again but it didn't. He had ended the guilt, and somehow, after all of the drama of the day he felt free.