Authors Note: Hello everyone! I really hope you all enjoy this story! The entire premise of this story was my husband's idea and we are kind of co-writing it. The story is completely planned out but we love to hear your thoughts and hopes for how you wish it to go or what you think might happen. Feel free to review or DM us! This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction so I sincerely hope I can grow more as a writer (even though it's entirely for fun), and that you all enjoy our story, as I am SUPER excited about the plot.

For all new readers, I would just like to say as plainly as possible that, while I love reviews and welcome them wholeheartedly, I do not appreciate reviews or comments that are blatantly rude and borderline trolling. I like constructive criticism, but downright bashing of my writing style because you don't like the direction the story is going is your problem. No one is forcing you to read this fic. It is solely for my enjoyment to write and hopefully improve upon my skills.

A few notes, it is rated M for later chapters of lemons and violence. The fic will take a darker turn eventually but I wanted to keep the lighthearted tone of the Harry Potter series at first, with some added swearing. Again, if you don't like it, no one is forcing you to read it.

Thanks again and I hope you enjoy this story!

I do not own characters or any copyright for Harry Potter. That all belongs to J.K Rowling.

Edited August 31, 2019

~oOo~

Five years. Five years had passed since the final battle at Hogwarts.

Harry sat in his office as the head of the Auror Department at the Ministry of Magic and ran his hands through his hair. He knew he should have been working, but over last few years, he couldn't find the motivation to do much of anything. He was supposed to be filling out paperwork for the next Death Eater hideout raid in the next few hours, but instead he found himself staring off into blank space, contemplating what his life had come to.

That's what his life consisted of nowadays: paperwork, interviews, ministry meetings, raids, more paperwork, more interviews, more meetings, and then maybe arriving back at home at a decent hour to eat supper before starting it all over again. He had to admit to himself that the routine was nice, seeing as he severely missed the routine of Hogwarts, however he couldn't shake the feeling that he was working himself to an impossible end with no real outcome, even though he knew his work was extremely important and life changing.

Even after five years, Harry was still working diligently with the Minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt to rebuild this new world without Voldemort. And they were incredibly successful in their endeavors. He worked closely with the Auror department after his training, and rebuilt from the ground up, slowly but surely growing more confident in Britain's Ministry.

One thing was certain: all the sacrifices that Harry made to defeat Voldemort left him as one of the most famous wizards of all time. Not only was he written and immortalized in every history book ever written since he was a baby, he was now the face of new hope and change. People came up to him in the streets asking him to do the weirdest things like cast a spell with their wand, sign an article in The Daily Prophet, or even kiss or hold their children. He couldn't take a simple walk on the street or get himself food without being accosted by people of all sizes, ages, and ranks.

In this new world for Harry Potter, privacy was merely a fond dream. Everything about being Harry Potter strained every good thing he had, especially his relationships with his friends and those he considered his family. Everything had changed, and even though the world changed for the better, Harry's world had changed for the worse, and only continued to do so. He hoped by the end of today, he could possibly manage to get some much-needed time to himself, no matter how selfish he appeared to be.

Because today was different. Today, Harry would embark on what he thought of as the craziest idea of his life. With only a few weeks of planning, Harry was sure he had gone mad, yet this crazy and out-of-this-world idea was the one thing giving Harry hope for his future.

The hour struck three and he decided he needed to put his affairs in order before the meeting he was supposed to be preparing for. An extreme sadness began to engulf him, as was a common emotion that he had become accustomed to in the past year, losing his best friend and Ginny, not to mention all the other rubbish he had to put up with.

Harry looked around his office as he leaned back into his chair. If he was honest with himself, he knew he was going to miss this. His dream had always been of becoming an Auror ever since his fourth year. Though he also had to admit to himself too: he was tired. He had been working non-stop with the Ministry, revamping the Auror training program and rebuilding an entire country. The Horcrux hunt left him in a state of perpetual wariness and unease and, if he were honest with himself, he just wanted to take a step back from his Auror duties, to not have fighting and defense on the brain constantly. His entire life had been sacrificed to other people at this point in his life. Despite everything he had done for everyone else, he still found that being the head of the Auror department had major drawbacks, one being the people he was in charge of that didn't exactly take him seriously or respected him as a seasoned fighter. Most looked down on him or scoffed in his direction, saying he was inexperienced in actual battle. That's what happens when your only qualification for your position is that you're The Boy-Who-Lived. It was a rank he wasn't sure he deserved, and most definitely didn't earn of his own merit.

Harry sighed heavily and put his head in his hands to try and clear his mind. The stresses from the weeks before weighing heavily on his mind. His impeding headache throbbed in his temples and slowly eased as Harry's closed eyes blocked out the surrounding light. Harry opened his eyes and let his hands drop, slapping the desk in their decent. He then bent over and opened a hidden drawer located underneath his desk. Inside were the Elder Wand, his Invisibility Cloak, and some documents bearing a new name and face.

Carefully and with shaking hands, Harry hid these items away inside his robes. He stood and walked to the front of his office and glanced around his office wistfully one last time, trying to commit it to memory, and closed the door behind him with a resounding sense of finality. Barely sparing a second, Harry tried to commit the feel of the wooden door beneath his fingertips before his hand came to rest at his side, and off he went without a backward glance.

Walking with purpose, Harry hoped he wouldn't run into anyone he knew, mainly Arthur or Ron. Even though Ron was talking about running Weasley's Wizard Weazies with George, his former friend still worked at the ministry with Hermione. While Hermione chose to be an Auror like Harry, she had a more behind the scenes position in the Auror department. Ron wanted nothing to do with being an Auror and therefore worked alongside Arthur. Harry could tell this bothered Ron considerably, seeing as Harry knew Ron still wanted all the glory of being an Auror without the added responsibilities and work, but he handled it well enough, considering he had Hermione to reign him in. Harry still didn't know how he felt about his two best friends being together or if they even worked together. He often found himself wondering if he would still be speaking with Hermione if she wasn't dating Ron, but he didn't let himself dwell on that aspect. It just made his decision that much easier, knowing he had no one to crawl back to.

As Harry strode out of the department and across the hallway to the meeting room, he saw Ron. It looked like he just left the Misuse of Muggle Artifact Department and was perusing a stack of papers to bring to Hermione. He wasn't planning on seeing Ron today. And any other day for that matter, but especially today. Nevertheless, he decided that if he didn't say something to Ron, he would regret it later.

"Hey, Ron." Harry murmured when he was within hearing distance.

Ron was taken aback by the sudden appearance of Harry and nearly stopped in his tracks. "Oh. Hey, Harry." He lowered the papers that were occupying his mind, if ever so slightly. "Erm, what are you up to today?"

"The team and I are about to go on a raid in a Death Eater's old house." Harry started conversationally, feeling the air thicken as though Ron felt entirely too awkward to be standing there. This was Harry's last attempt at a friendly encounter with his former friend. Might as well try. "They're expecting at least three to four individuals that are going to be apt at coming back to the ministry for questioning."

There was an awkward pause before Harry countered Ron's question, feeling that Ron wasn't going to carry on unless prompted. "And erh, what about you?"

"I have to go back to George's shop." Ron stated matter-of-factly, sighing. "He made me part owner last week since Fred..." Ron said with an expression that was almost annoyed and angry at having to explain.

Harry nodded once, staring at his feet and around Ron's head and stammered, "I see." Another awkward pause. "Well, I need to be off now."

"Yeah, me too." Ron said tersely, turning his attention back to his papers in order to keep his hands and his eyes busy; in order to not have to acknowledge Harry's presence at all.

"Goodbye, Ron."

"Yeh, bye." And off he went.

After watching Ron's retreating back for a moment, Harry began walking much slower toward the meeting, his heart aching. He never wanted to hurt his friends, yet anything he said, did, or didn't do seemed to make them resent him. He couldn't live on with more clipped conversations, wishing things would go back to normal, and this last encounter with Ron cemented the decision into Harry's heart.

Harry continued on his way to the Auror meeting and walked through the huge arches with the entire existence of Aurors' names, alive and dead, inscribed on them. The incredible sight still brought the same feeling of awe that he had when he first began his training.

"Shit Harry, I thought you were going to be late." Ramon Galfar guffawed. "Needed to take a break Mr. Savior-of-the-wizarding-world?"

"Sorry Ramon, had to talk to Ron before leaving." Harry replied, ignoring his mocking.

"Alright come to room 213A. The portkey is ready."

Fuck! Am I really going to go through with this? I'm going to have to be in constant hiding, disguises, everything! Harry's resolve was wavering slightly, and internally he knew this was more than likely one of the worst ideas he'd probably ever had.

"Come on already, I'm going to have 14 children by the time you get over here." Ramon bantered.

"Merlin, if any girl is willing to give you any number of children, then we know the Gene pool of the wizarding society is going downhill fast." Harry said, gifting him a small smile, glad he was able to retort some sass back at him to shut him up properly.

With their entire team laughing at Ramon's expense, Harry began the meeting and then they were ready. They all grabbed hold of the Portkey and felt that pulling sensation on his stomach, landing just outside the incredibly shabby manor house.

He landed with graceful perfection standing in front of Nott Manor. Now that the mission started, every Auror was in battle mode. No joking, no smiling, and serious expressions marred their faces, though there was an excess of eye rolls whenever Harry gave an order.

Harry took lead as the Aurors followed a V formation into the house. All sides were covered, and they were expecting anything to happen. If their sources were correct, there were three different rooms to go through in the atrium alone, and Harry decided to split their efforts.

"Davis and Ramon, you take the left corridor and Brian and Cynthia take the right stairway. I'll go down the middle." Harry ordered.

"Sir, shouldn't we leave one person by the entrance?" Cynthia asked in her same snobbish tone that she saved specially for Harry. "That way we can have a front vantage point in case you get over powered on the upper levels."

"No! We don't want them to have any methods to escape. This is one of the last known uncaptured Death Eaters. We have to take calculated risks." Harry whispered loudly, not wanted to alert the people in the house of their arrival, though he heard shuffling above his head on the second floor. They must've had a detection charm in place in the Manor. "Now GO!"

There were murmurs of disagreement and rude comments under their breaths, but they listened to orders reluctantly as trained.

Harry was walking down the long corridor double checking every angle of the place as he walked. One thought was still going through his mind. I guess there's no backing out now. I'm going to do it. Harry reached the end of the hallway and heard muttering on the other side of the door.

Harry launched a blasting spell at the door that made it fly off its hinges. Henry Nott and Theodore Nott were standing, their wands at the ready. Harry saw the flash of the green light, and transfigured the door into a statue in front of him, blocking the curse.

He summersaulted to the side and launched three cutting curses at the two members. One managed to hit Mr. Nott in the face, effectively blinding him. Theodore launched a variety of different curses before having a blasting curse land directly in his chest, knocking him out cold.

Henry Nott was screaming in agony as he tried to find purchase on the old wood floor; and his wand. An easy Flipendo knocked him out cold. Then Harry began his plan.

He took out the Elder wand and set scorch marks around him, coming from all directions, as thought there was a protective ward or curse on the house. Knowing that everyone would wonder where he was, Harry left his phoenix feather core wand regretfully at the place of the scorch marks. He held the Elder wand in his hand but stopped almost immediately as he was ready to apparate. He almost forgot in his haste that the Ministry would be able to detect any apparation within these walls.

Almost immediately, he heard footsteps resounding above him, making their way quickly to the source of the commotion he just caused. Shit. Guess I'm going to use the invisibility cloak till I'm far enough away to disapparate.

Harry threw on his invisibility cloak, and was tip toeing around his teammates as they threw the door open and rushed in to the unconscious figures of the Nott family. He was barely stepping foot outside the door before he heard a few members of his team crying out in anger, fear, agony, and confusion.

"Why, Harry!" Ramon wailed. "Why did he insist on doing this alone?!" Harry heard a dull, meaty thud, as though Ramon had punched the wall.

"Damnit! Why didn't he fucking listen to me?" Cynthia yelled. The rest became muffled as Harry drifted further and further from the manor, rushing away as quick as he could to put some distance between them.

Harry's resolve was wavering, so he repeated his reasons for leaving like a mantra in his head. I need to go on my own instead of ruining everyone's life. I need my fame not to interfere with my life or the life of those I care about. If Britain ever needs my service then I will be back to do whatever I can. Until then I want to go and explore life as a normal non-famous wizard. Harry thought over and over again, excitement and sadness gripping his heart like a vice.

His life was about to start anew for the third time, and Harry felt a kindling of true happiness spark within him for the first time in months.

~oOo~

Harry sat down in one of the Blacks' many hideout locations that no one living would ever know about. He had all the tools necessary to disappear, and was waiting on his personal Gringotts letter with his fake identity to show up.

The amount of bribery I just did to make a fake identity in the wizarding world is crazy. I mean 10,000 galleons for the initial Identification with 1,000 a year for hush up money. Harry thought as he opened the previously blank documents, shaking his head, and saw his new identity scrolled out before him. I wonder how many Death Eaters got away or had the potential to get away with the help of the Goblins?

"Stupid, fucking owl," Harry grumbled as the owl took a righteous shit on his table.

As the owl flew away, Harry examined the letter with all documentation. Harry's identification showed him as "Jake R. Meier". He was 23 years old, and went to Durmstrang. He was an average student that excelled in Potions. Well fuck, I'm awful at potions. Too bad the Goblins couldn't let me choose what I 'excelled' at. "Guess it's time to learn," Harry muttered to himself.

Harry began modifying himself with glamour spells to match the man that showed in his new pictures.

His hair changed to hazelnut brown and grew out a few more inches, making his hair like it was when he first went to the Quidditch World Cup. It didn't have the tell-tale messiness and was wavier than his normal hair, just reaching the tops of his shoulders. Maybe I should grow my hair out like this normally. One less step I'd have to do.

His eyes became a dark shade of brown, and the remnants of the scar on his head vanished also. Harry then looked down, and noticed the Daily Prophet was lying on his table next to the bird shit.

Our dear Harry Potter is on his 8th day of being missing. The ministry is unable to locate a body, but did confirm that scorch marks were found at the scene along with his wand. It seems as though a curtain of sadness has fallen over the wizarding community today as we are led to believe the worst has happened. Prayers go out to the family and friends of Harry Potter. For more information on his life and what you can do to help find the Wizarding World's Savior, turn to Page 11.

Guilt washed over Harry and he quickly became unable to gather his thoughts. He felt awful for putting his friends through this because of his own selfish desires. I'm already committed; there is no going back. Deciding it was now or never, Harry apparated to the French Magical customs.

After speaking with a few representatives about moving to a new country, he handed over his bags and identification. This was the final step before putting himself into Magical France; the final hurdle.

"Hello Monsieur Meier," the officer spoke.

"Good morning." Harry grinned back at the officer.

"What brings you to Magical France?"

"Looking to work in an apothecary and further my knowledge in the art of potion brewing." In reality, he had just pulled this excuse about potions out of his ass, but it was at least a start. Maybe this could be something he followed through with…

"What school did you attend?" the officer asked in a very straightforward manner, checking over his papers.

"I attended Durmstrang Institute." Harry replied confidently.

The officer checked a box and continued asking trivial questions to see if they compared with the paperwork. Harry had, of course, studied his new documents to memorization and hoped he played the part convincingly enough, trying to channel his inner Viktor Krum as inspiration, minus the accent, of course.

After a few more checks and scans the officer said, "Well, all your information checks out. Enjoy your time here."

Harry walked out of the customs, travel documents in hand, into what some might consider paradise. It was a large shopping area with a lot of delicious food items. It seemed almost surreal to Harry that this place existed with seemingly no disturbance from Voldemort's war. He kept walking looking at all the shops, and places before coming to a Wizarding Apartment in the middle of the shopping district.

Harry walked into the apartment leasing office, and asked how much it was to rent an apartment for an entire year.

"The price is 35 Galleons a month." The lady at the front desk responded. Harry paid the entire year in full.

After Harry secured his place to live, he wanted to go find a place to work after a quick bite to eat. Traversing the entire shopping district, he was denied employment in five shops. This was more than likely because of him having no work experience to show on his new documentation.

It also didn't help that this particular district was also occupied by muggle shops as well. The few wizarding shops he was able to find were only apparent if a wizard stepped into the store. Eventually, he turned the corner and found the last shop in the district.

Harry entered Bernie's Apothecary. Apparently, everyone and anyone who knew anything about potions knew about this place. It was known around the world as one of the best shops in the world because of the Potions Master who owned the shop.

Rumors about the owner swirled around, but not one had enough validity to confirm or deny anything except for one thing: Bernie was one of the most mysterious people around. He was also super cheap and incredibly sarcastic and bitter. If a sickle could save your life, he wouldn't give it to you unless you'd give him a wizard's oath to give him 100 galleons for that one sickle, and he'd grumble about it the entire time. This gave Harry an idea.

"Bernie!" Harry spoke confidently as he strolled into the shop.

A man who appeared to be in his late sixties or seventies who gave Harry the vibe that he was staring at a grumpy Ollivander turned around to gaze at the young man through narrowed eyes. "What do you want, boy?"

"Well, I want to work here under your supervision, and learn as much as I can from you." Harry said with a serious expression.

"Dear fuck, did your parents throw your head into a wall when you were a baby?" Bernie asked.

"No, they didn't but—" Harry began.

"Well, haven't you heard I hate to pay anyone for anything?" Bernie interrupted. "I can do this entire job myself and I would never have to pay you a knut."

Harry stepped forward as the man turned away again. "That's where you're in luck! I want to work for free to get some job experience and knowledge from the best potions master that's ever lived." Harry grinned.

Bernie stopped in his tracks and grinned mischievously. "Well fuck me silly, this is the first time anyone has come in here trying to work for free." Bernie said in surprise, turning around slowly as he eyed Harry from a distance.

After a moment, Bernie walked forward and sized Harry up, scrutinizing his features. His eyes narrowed suspiciously as his eyes wandered over Harry's face.

"What's your name, boy?" Bernie asked, eyes still narrowed. He was so close to Harry that he felt a small puff of Bernie's breath graze his skin.

Harry extended his hand to shake and cleared his throat slightly. "Jake Meier."

Bernie took a step back without shaking his hand. "Well Jake Meier, show up in one week, and forget everything you've ever learned about potions. You're about to become my bitch while I'm teaching and working you to death. Hopefully you have at least a basic understanding of potions to work at this shop."

Harry lowered his arm and thanked him for his generosity. "Yeah, yeah." Bernie said, waving him off.

As Harry began to walk out of Bernie's store with a giant smile on his face at having finally accomplished the last item on his list, a beautiful blonde woman entered the apothecary. She also seemed vaguely familiar. Harry walked slowly to listen in on the conversation before exiting.

"Hello, Bernie." The woman said, seeming to float over to where the shop owner now stood.

"Well hello, my faithful customer." Bernie chuckled.

"I'm here to pick up that potion for my pa again." Her voice rang in the air like the soothing melody of bells. Harry didn't even realize he was fully stopped and staring at her back. He could have swore he knew her from somewhere, although it was hard to tell from just her back.

"As you are and vigilant as ever." Bernie said as he reached underneath the counter. "I brewed it myself last night. That will be 50 galleons for the ingredients alone."

"Here you are." the woman almost sang. "Are you sure we can't also pay for the actual potion as well?"

Bernie raised a hand as though to cut her off. "No, my dear. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I just want you to replenish the ingredients I use." He smiled warmly at her and shooed her in the direction of the door. "Have a nice week, Miss Delacour." Bernie said with a grin as he waved her goodbye.

Harry was fixated on the spot as Gabrielle passed him. He didn't expect to see anyone he recognized this soon, not to mention that Harry immediately became transfixed with the woman's beauty. Her hair flowed across her in wavy tresses of gold over her shoulders and back, her bright blue eyes shone and danced even in the subdued light, her rounded face was free of any marks and her body curved in a very tantalizing way. What Harry noticed first however, was her radiant smile that forced the air to freeze in Harry's lungs at the very sight.

While these thoughts filled his mind, Harry hadn't even realized he was staring directly at Gabrielle. Her scent filled his senses as she passed him, a combination of vanilla and flowers, and he almost followed her out the door before he caught himself. Her beauty was intoxicating and although Harry knew she was part veela, he still had to remind himself that she didn't know him: at least not this version of him, and that she was a human being who did not deserve to be gawked at. He knew that feeling all too well too.

She almost stopped at the arch of the door, potion in hand to give Harry a faint, shy smile. Harry returned her gesture in kind and watched her step out the door and disappear into the crowd with a swish of her golden hair.