Chapter One:
It was a warm, humid night for October and the London pubs were bustling with people. In a dark side street, a green-eyed man took out a vial and downed the revolting smelling contents in one gulp. His messy black hair slowly faded to light-brown and short whilst his face morphed into the reflection of a baby-faced but thin, sickly looking man.
The Ministry of Magic had been planning this under-cover operation for months now and with the arrest of Peter Jackson, a suspected Dark arts artefacts dealer it had not only finally given them the perfect opportunity but had provided them with a perfect disguise due to the young wizards plea for leniency and confession in exchange for a lighter sentence than he would have been given for attempting to sell such a dangerous object. Even all these years after the war, Azkaban was still a scary place.
Harry Potter, the Auror appointed as the main under-cover operative, stepped out into London's hustle and bustle and headed for a seedy Wizarding pub six blocks away.
As he stepped inside The Rook's Roost, he scanned the tables for a fair-haired, tall man the real Peter Jackson had pointed out as Devon Landis, one of the main ring-leaders, in one of his memories. Just as he began to feel anxious he'd somehow entered the wrong pub he felt a hand clap him on the back and a loud voice say
"Pete, what the hell are you doing dawdling around by the front door? You know we always sit round back, c'mon. Lou, 4 Butterbeers, yeh? Cheers"
Harry allowed himself to be steered towards the rear of the pub where he saw two familiar faces, a witch named Amy and another wizard named Horus. "Hi guys, how are the kids?" Harry asked. Horus smirked at him. "No idea, Violet's disappeared on me again and taken them with her."
"Oh, aren't you worried? Don't you think you should call someone?"
Horus let out a loud chuckle. "What the hell for? It's hardly the first time she's done it. Don't remember you being this worried last time. Anyway, who would I call, not like I can have the Ministry nosing round the house looking for clues."
"Oh, why's that then?" Harry enquired. "Merlin, Peter, do you really need to ask that, you're one of my best customers. Has someone slipped you a love potion or something? I think it's addled your brain. If the Ministry got their hands on half the stuff that's in my house I'd probably spend the rest of my life in Azkaban."
"Oh, yeh, think I'm just tired today mate" He knew it wasn't the best excuse in the world but the other man seemed to accept it as he smirked at him.
"Right, lads" said Lou as she placed the 4 butterbeers down on the table, "and ladies," she said, referring to Amy, the quiet, mousy looking woman in the corner of their table, "don't forget, early close today so if you've got any dodgy deals to be made I'd suggest you do them quickly"
"Right then," Devon said after taking a huge gulp of butterbeer, "let's get down to business" Peter, you've met Amy once before and she was obviously impressed since she's back and very interested in what we talked about last time we met. Do you have it with you now?"
"Um, yep, I do" Harry felt around in his pocket until his fingers touched the brown paper packaging the dagger was wrapped up in and passed it, like the real Peter had told him to, under the table and into the hands of Devon who then showed it to Amy who picked it up to inspect. Obviously pleased with the object, the witch pulled out a red velvet bag and slid it across the table towards Harry. He picked it up and peered inside. There was well in excess of 60 galleons in there. He nodded and the deal was done. The ministry had placed a tracking charm on the dagger so Harry knew it would be retrieved one day. He just hoped it wouldn't be used against anyone.
The last orders rang out as the four rose to leave. Horus and Amy left through the door to the right of them and Harry followed Devon out into the now cold night air through the front door.
As he stepped outside, the icy wind blew into his face making Harry wrap his bare arms around his torso. "Are you cold?" Devon asked, "I know some ways we could warm up," the taller man remarked, pushing Harry flush against the wall and stroking his neck lightly. "Um, I thought you had a boyfriend?" Harry questioned. "You know I do, when has that ever stopped you before? Anyway, he doesn't get off work for another five minutes. Imagine what we could do in that time." He replied, kissing down the side of Harry's neck.
Funny, he thought, the real Peter hadn't mentioned any of this in his interviews, nor had the ministry provided any training for what to do in these situations. On the one hand, he wanted to push him away but that could jeopardise the whole operation especially if this behaviour was commonplace but on the other hand, he had long fantasized about men and what Devon was doing was turning him on a little. He was only human after all. He knew he had to stop this before it got out of hand.
But before he even had the chance to push Devon away, a loud and very pissed off voice interrupted them. "What the fuck, Devon, you promised me you were done with this shit! And you, you whore, what the fuck do you think you're doing with your tongue down my fiancé's throat?!"
Harry turned to meet the stony grey eyes of one Draco Malfoy. He was stunned into silence at seeing the blonde again. No one had seen him since the war ended. He regained his voice as Malfoy's hand closed around his throat. "What the bloody hell are you doing? Get your hands off me," he screamed back at him. "Then fuck off and don't come back!" Malfoy yelled as he released him. "Draco! Pack it in, nothing happened, was just a bit of friendly playing, that's all." "Yeh, looked real fucking friendly(!) I forgot my coat, I'll meet you back home" the blonde snapped before wandering off in the opposite direction.
Harry could feel a bubbling sensation on his forehead realised that the Polyjuice Potion had begun to wear off. He needed to get away from Devon, and fast. "Sorry mate, have to go" he yelled back over his shoulder at Devon and rounded a corner. "Aww, c'mon, don't let him put you off, he'll get over it, he always does. Don't forget about Jase next Thursday, make sure you're here" he heard Devon yelling faintly.
Once Harry was at least five streets away from The Rook, he stopped running and slumped down in a doorway and felt his disguise melt away. He transfigured his clothes back to his favoured muggle jeans and jumper but stayed in the doorway to catch his breath. It had been a long night.
He looked out across the street the make sure he hadn't been followed but all he saw was an empty street lit only by a neon sign advertising a Chinese restaurant and a wooden sign above a doorway that read Skye Wilder's School of Dance. The door opened and Harry shrank back into the shadows where he wouldn't be seen. The man that exited was none other than Draco Malfoy. Harry stayed silent but watched him closely as he turned to yell goodbye and that he'd see them tomorrow to someone inside the building. He could see that Malfoy had been crying but now the man looked….terrified; there was no other way to describe the expression on his face. And what the hell was he doing in a dance school? A muggle dance school no less. This was Malfoy, he hated all things muggle. What if the muggles in this school were in danger because of him? Hadn't he referred to Devon Landis as his fiancé earlier? Devon was already known to be involved in the dark arts and Draco Malfoy had previous involvement; what if they were plotting something together? Harry had to find out and he obviously wasn't going to get close to him as Peter Jackson. He would just have to come here as himself again tomorrow and try to find out exactly what Malfoy was planning.