Disclaimers - J. K. Rowling owns Harry Potter.

A/N - Written for my Writing Challenge #5, thanks to all who voted. Also, thanks to phil_urich for the beta read. As with most of my writings, this ignores the epilogue. The Tarot cards I got using the three card spread are :

Current Situation - The Hanged Man represents surrender and sacrifice. Giving up and letting go allows space for something better, something more authentic to come into your life. The fact that this card is showing up in this position means you are holding on to something that is not working for you, something that's not healthy. You're not happy with your current state of affairs, but you're scared to cut the cord and step into the unknown.

Actions to Take - The Seven of Disks represents the waiting stage of your creative and/or financial development. You have put in the necessary work. You just have to wait a little longer to reap the benefits. The fact that this card is showing up in this position means you need to chill out and become more patient. You can't rush the process, as much as you would like to. Breathe through your frustration and trust the efforts you've made will pay off.

Expected Outcome - The Knight of Disks represents stability, simplicity and straightforwardness. The fact that this card is showing up in this position means you are going to stop complicating things and keep it simple. You'll be tired of swirling around in that head of yours, playing games and trying to figure other people's ulterior motives. Instead you'll opt to do and say what you mean and take people at their word. There won't be any second-guessing.

Sitting on the stairs, Alicia watched as Harry peeked out from behind the blinds at the house across the street. She remained silent as he shifted his weight back and forth on his feet, a clear sign he was getting tired of all this waiting. He never did have much patience, she thought to herself.

Having been partnered for almost two years now, they had gotten to know each others little ticks and tendencies. They could almost communicate without having to say a word; a simple motion could convey a lot more and was quicker than if they spoke. That was part of her dilemma now. The more time they spent together, and the better she got to know him, the more she grew attached to him.

Beyond the fact that she wasn't supposed to fall for her partner, in her mind he was still little Harry Potter. She remembered the gobsmacked expression on his face right before they took the pitch at his first Quidditch match. But he really wasn't a kid anymore; as hard as she tried to cling to the thought, the more Harry did to convince her otherwise.

Currently on a stakeout together in a Muggle neighborhood, they were supposed to be observing the house across the street accused of housing illegal magical artifacts. But she kept finding her mind wandering, and unfortunately it kept wandering to Harry. Damn it, girl. Focus. You're on duty, not supposed to be day dreaming.

Harry turning away from the window startled her. He gave her an amused glance before heading for the kitchen. The Muggle family that lived here had been magically persuaded that it was time for a family vacation. Posing as a couple, the family had only thought it natural that the two of them would house sit while they were away. So while the family was away, they posed as a young newlywed couple and distant relatives to the neighborhood to avoid suspicion.

"You want some coffee?" he asked casually as he walked by. When she simply shook her head no, he snickered under his breath and rolled his eyes. "Feel sorry for whatever bloke you're fantasizing about now," he teased as he passed into the kitchen.

Folding her arms across her knees, she dropped her head down on them. Moron, she called herself. Of course he would notice you acting like a school girl. Picking her head up, she ran a frustrated hand through her hair. Why do I make things so complicated. He's my partner, and you don't screw around with that.

Getting up from her perch on the stairs, she shuffled over to the window and looked outside just like Harry had. All this waiting was making her anxious and she was hoping for something to take her attention.

"Anything?" Harry asked from behind her.

"Nothing. Are they sure they got the right place?" Alicia tugged the blind back in to place and moved over to the couch. Flopping down upon it, she stared up at the ceiling. "All this waiting is making me crazy."

Harry laughed as he sat down in a chair next to her. Holding a coffee mug, he smirked as he looked down at her. "You were crazy long before this." He laughed harder when Alicia threw a pillow at his head.

Laying there on the couch, she watched Harry as he picked up the magical black box and pointed at the Muggles' wireless set. As much as she liked being a witch, she did have to admit that some of these Muggle toys were kind of cool. While Harry watched the images flashing on the screen, she returned her gaze to the ceiling.

She knew she had to put these silly thoughts about Harry aside. It would cause nothing but trouble if she tried to act them on; it just wasn't worth it. He's a great guy. But let's be honest, he's out of my league. No matter how much he tries to downplay it, he's still Harry Potter, Hero. I'm just a simple Auror whose biggest task is to make sure his head stays attached to the rest of him. I'm just his partner, a fancy word for teammate. That's all we are to each other, teammates again. There's no sense in pining over him when there's no chance. It'll just make things awkward.

Besides, he'll probably end up with some blonde witch with big knockers, she thought to herself, and then began giggling as she began to imagine Harry's possible future wife. Each girl becoming more outlandish than the last.

As Harry looked over at her and was about to ask what was so funny, a sound similar to a digital alarm clock began to ring. Alicia jerked up into a sitting position as Harry shut off the television and stood up. While she quickly gathered her boots to put them back on, Harry moved towards the window.

Peeking around the blinds, trying to make them move as little as possible, he watched the house across the road. The blinds were drawn tight and it looked like no one was there, but with the alarm having gone off, he knew something magical had triggered the monitoring device.

Alicia slowly walked up behind Harry and standing close behind, peered over his shoulder. Ignoring the urge to close the small gap between them, she asked, "Anything?"

Giving her a quick glance over his shoulder, "Looks like no one's home, but something tripped our alarm." Turning back outside, Harry strained to see any movement across the road.

Suddenly realizing she was breathing heavily, Alicia closed her eyes for a moment and tried to picture Harry as the little boy. "Damn," she whispered as every attempt failed. Just as quickly as the image of young Harry would come to her mind, he would age and become the man standing before her.

"Uh?"

Her eyes snapped open at Harry's voice, and she found him staring at her. "Nothing," she replied hastily, hoping her face wasn't red at getting caught. "I'm just tired of sitting around and waiting, you know?" she said, trying to cover up her slip of the tongue. Gritting her teeth, Alicia simply pushed everything outside of the mission out of her mind. It's just pretend. Once this bloody mission is over, all these stupid thoughts of Harry will go away, and we can just go back to the way things were.

Harry's sudden stiffening in his posture, snapped Alicia back to the moment and she looked outside. A light had been turned on in an upstairs window, and they could see shadows crossing back and forth. "At least two people," Harry said aloud as another shadow passed, a little shorter than the first one.

"Think they could just be getting ready for bed?"

"At seven in the evening?" Harry asked sarcastically as the alarm rang again.

"Yeah... well... whatever. My point is we don't know what's going on. Remember last time we rushed in, wands blazing. I do not need another chewing out by Robinson. Old man is scary enough without his face turning red."

"Alright, alright. I'll go check things out, quietly," he muttered, coming away from the window. "Trust me, I know how to be discreet."

"Since when?"

Harry shot her a smirk. "Hey, I only got caught for half the stuff I did."

Rolling her eyes, Harry disappeared in to the hallway and then outside. Returning to the window, Alicia watched as Harry stepped out on to the lawn and then disappeared in to the shadows. Even though she knew Harry was under his Invisibility Cloak, she still looked about for any movement. With her hand against the window frame, she began growing impatient and started tapping the frame with her fingers as she continued to wait.

After what felt like a few hours, but was most likely only a few minutes, Alicia thought she saw a flash a light from the back of the house. For a second she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her, but the detector suddenly rang out. Straining her eyes, she desperately tried to see if she could see anything

Seeing a second flash, followed by the same alarm ringing, Alicia knew something was wrong. Sprinting to the front door, she threw it open and charged across the street as she drew her wand. Sliding to a halt at the front corner of the house, she peeked around the edge as she heard the sounds of spells blasting and crashing a few feet away from her. While she couldn't hear anyone casting, she easily recognized the tell tale sounds of magic being used.

Just as she was about to round the corner, the house's front door crashed open and a portly man stumbled down the steps.

"Hold it!" Alicia ordered, spinning towards him and leveling her wand towards him. In a panic the man tried to reach inside his jacket, but at the movement, Alicia quickly cast a binding charm. A rope shot from the end of her wand and before the man could even blink, it was wrapped around him tightly. Watching the man fall, Alicia stunned him unconscious to keep him quiet.

A loud explosion and the loud crack of wood reminded her of the fight out back. That's gonna attract attention, she thought to herself sarcastically.

Hearing a siren wail in the distance and noises come from the neighboring homes, Alicia gave up trying to be discreet. Coming around the back corner of the house, she caught sight of a figure a few feet away raising his wand to cast. Instinctively, "Expelliarmus!" When the wand went flying she quickly fired a stunner, striking the figure in the side and sending him crashing to the ground.

Moving to put a similar binding charm on this as she did the last, she heard footsteps. Just as she was turning towards the sound, "Drop A.!"

Without thinking Alicia dropped straight down to the ground, landing on her stomach. As she went down, she felt something pass just above her back but any other sound was muffled by the stunned sensation she felt at the impact of her and the ground.

Staying motionless, her ears strained for any sound. At the sound of steps nearing again, Alicia figured out where they approaching from and as they stood over her, she waited until whoever bent down. Bouncing an inch or so off the ground, she flipped over and jammed her wand in to the person's chest. Just as the spell was about to leave her lips, she realized she was face to face with a wincing Harry.

"Ya mind?" he asked rhetorically pushing her wand away from him. "You alright?"

"Fine," Alicia answered pushing herself up to her knees. Before either could say anything else, two torches were suddenly trained on them.

Shielding their eyes from the intense and sudden light, they heard the Bobbies yell at them not to move. Sparing a glance at Harry, she saw the shoulder of his shirt was torn and he was sporting a nasty bruise. "What happened to being discreet?" she mumbled softly.

"Had to improvise," was all Harry had time to say before the two officers stood over them. "Usual story?" he asked with a dark bit of humor as the policemen came towards them.

"Late night stroll, and heard noises?"

"Worked last time," he replied.

Rolling her eyes, Alicia slowly sat up as the policemen circled around them. With a quick wink of the eye at Harry, Alicia agreed to the idea. As more policemen converged on them and the duo were separated while the bobbies tried to piece together what happened, the two easily wove a cover story that they tried hard to make as believable as possible without giving too much away.

Two hours and at least a dozen retellings of their little story later, a dispatch from the Ministry of a high ranking Auror arrived and Alicia and Harry were finally allowed to leave. The police reluctantly agreed that the pair were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Returning from the kitchen, Alicia chucked a bag of ice at Harry's head. If it hadn't been for the other Auror showing up, Harry most likely would've been forced to go to the hospital. But a healing potion had taken care of everything except the bruise and soreness. With seeker like reflexes, she watched Harry catch it with ease using his good arm and hand. He shot her an annoyed look as he put the ice on his tender shoulder.

Before an argument could break out, a rapping on the window drew their attention. On the outside window sill rested a large brown barn owl. As Harry dropped to the couch with a groan, Alicia opened the window and the large owl flew in to the middle of living room.

They both saw the large red envelope tied to one of its legs as it landed on the coffee table in the middle of the living room. Reaching out Harry untied the letter from the bird and once it had finished its delivery, the owl took flight back outside. Closing the window and casting a quick silencing charm, Alicia sat on the edge of one of the chairs. After a few moments of uneasy silence, Harry broke the seal and the Howler took to the air.

"Just iwhat/i the bloody hell are you two fools doing?" roared the voice of their director from the animated red envelope. As the Howler continued its rant, Harry leaned back against the back of the couch and pressed the ice harder against his shoulder. Finally after about a five minute rant and specific orders to report to the office in the morning, where they would most likely get chewed out again, the Howler destroyed itself in to little bits of paper.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Alicia get up and begin to pace about the room. He knew what was coming, he had seen her do this countless times before a Quidditch match. It reminded him of a large cat, a lioness perhaps, caged and looking for a way out.

"A., look I-" he started, but was quickly cut off.

"Shutup. Just shutup," Alicia told him as she spun around and advanced on him. "I am sick of this shit. Your constant improvising is getting old. I'm supposed to be your partner, but you keep going off half cocked alone. How am I supposed to have your back when you're always going off alone?" Stopping her pacing, Alicia rubbed her temple as she felt a headache coming on. "There's got to be some reason why I put up with you."

"My boyish charm?".

She looked at him in amused disbelief, struggling with staying angry and laughing. "Yeah, you have all the charm of a Flobberworm." she told him as she sat down next to him. Removing the ice she examined his shoulder. "Looks like nothing is broken, but you'll have a nice bruise for a couple of days. Shoulder will be stiff too. Too bad it didn't hit something useless like your head."

"If I hadn't acted, the whole investigation would've been lost and we would've wasted the last couple of weeks." Harry grimaced as Alicia applied too much pressure to the injured area.

"I'm sorry, did that hurt?" she asked him darkly.

Gingerly rubbing his shoulder, "I guess it is a good thing you didn't go to St. Mungo's; you've got one hell of a bedside manner. Your patients would die, not from the injuries, but your care."

Annoyed, she pressed once again causing Harry to grunt in pain. "I must be delusional to think you're cute," she said softly under her breath without thinking.

"Delusional? What?" Harry's head snapped around to face her. "Cute?"

Groaning, Yup, definitely a headache. "Nothing. Just a stupid thought, and more proof that we spend way too much time together. No need to get a bigger head than you normally do."

Not letting it drop, "What are you talking about?" Then it clicked, as if he now had the key to put everything together. "So that's why you've been so distracted lately. There is someone running around in that head of yours."

"Don't flatter yourself, Potter," Alicia joked. "I've had better." She hoped joking about it would either make it go away as a slip of the tongue or make it not feel so awkward. It didn't though.

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

She snorted in surprise at his statement. "Tell you? That's the last thing I wanted. We're partners, Harry. Beyond the fact we'd be breaking who knows how many regulations, I'm not going to jeopardize my job, life, or our friendship on something stupid like this," she told him before standing up.

Harry watched her walk across the room, and bend down to rummage in a bag on the floor. A few moments later she came back with a small jar in her hand. Putting it down on the table before Harry, "Here, put this on the bruise. It'll help the swelling and should heal the bruise a little bit more quickly."

As she was drawing her hand back, with quick reflexes Harry grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down to the couch. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Harry grabbed her by the shoulders and kissed her. Being taken by surprise, Alicia didn't immediately protest. When he pulled back, Alicia gave him a hard shove in the chest as she jumped to her feet.

"What the hell was that?"

Standing up with some effort, Harry stood toe to toe with the taller woman. "I don't think it's stupid," he said simply. "You want to know why I improvise, why I don't always think things through, it's because my instincts have gotten me this far. I may not have always walked away clean, but I've walked away."

"And what's that got to do with us?"

He grinned at her. "You know how you always mock me about being able to read my mind," he paused and waited for her to nod. "Guess what, after three years, it goes both ways. I might be a little slow on the uptake but you don't just think I'm cute, and as much of a stick in the mud as you are, I think you're cute too."

"Really?" she said a little more hostile than was probably called for. "So what do we do now?" she shouted.

"How should I know?" he shouted back. To anyone who would walk in at the moment, it would appear as if the two were fighting instead of declaring their mutual attraction.

"Well after all the bullshit you put me through, I think you should take me to dinner. And I'm not talking about the Leaky. A proper dinner, at a real restaurant, where you actually have to look nice!"

Suddenly Harry started laughing, and Alicia quickly joined him as they realized just how stupid they sounded. Neither was sure what to say now that they had calmed down a little. "I'm... I'm going to get some rest. Don't stay up too late," Alicia said, flinching at how she thought she sounded.

"Yes, mother," Harry teased as she headed for the stairs. Once she was upstairs, Harry flopped back down on to the couch. Sparing a glance at the now bag of water on the table, he picked up the small jar and leaned back in to the couch. Holding it before his face, he looked at the blue-ish looking slime in the jar. He smirked to himself as he tossed it up in the air and caught it. Who knows? This could be fun.