4 years after the Battle of Hogwarts, the war is still raging between the Ministry and the surviving Death Eaters. Harry is an aspiring Auror who can't seem to come to terms with his own depression, but when a case leads him to rescue a kindred spirit, can she help bring him back from the edge? Or only push him further along?
Rated M For: Language, explicit sexual content, general brutality, excessive alchohol abuse, and other adult content.
You have been warned :)
A/N: Formatting of any given chapter may not be correct at immediate publication. I only write when I am at work using google Docs, and when I copy from Google docs to the website the formatting can sometimes get messed up in the process. Any time this happens the chapter will be fixed as soon as I am able to be back at my computer.
Apologies in advance
xxxx
Voldemort was dead, but that didn't mean the war was over. Wizarding Britain had clawed its way through four brutal years wrought with bloody battles, living in fear of what the next day would bring. The Dark Lord's followers continued to carry his banner even after he was killed, fighting for the cause they had rallied to support.
The years post-war had seen an uprising in young men and women conscripted straight out of Hogwarts into the Auror academy. The turnover rate was at its highest point in history, it seemed every day more and more of the warriors of the light were turning up dead or missing. Many people had thought that the death toll would still once the Dark Lord was killed, but if anything it had increased. Without leadership or a focused agenda, the Death Eaters had become a chaotic force of destruction throughout Europe.
It hadn't taken long for Harry Potter to be sworn into the ranks. After all, who would deny the Chosen One? He who had dueled the Dark Lord and lived, who had single handedly vanquished the most powerful dark wizard to ever live. Harry had risen in the ranks, far quicker than anyone had anticipated. He excelled at his job, having grown into a highly capable wizard in his own right. Looking back sometimes he wondered if his fame had anything to do with his position, but he liked to think that he had earned it. Countless numbers of Death Eaters had been killed or captured by Harry's hand. He always tried to take them alive, but most times they were more inclined to take the less than peaceful road once surrounded. Harry suspected that part of that may have to do with who it was they were confronted with, there was a price on his head above any other, Voldemort's lap dogs hadn't taken too kindly to Harry destroying their leader and effectively turning the tide of the battle that they had been so convinced would be their great victory.
As it was, Harry currently found himself bunked in a cabin in the woods in southern Wales with four other highly skilled Aurors. The mission was to track down Rodolphus Lestrange. Kingsley himself, as acting minister, had given Harry the case, and even allowed him to hand pick the team that accompanied had been extremely busy since Voldemort's fall, suspected to have been the one to rally the troops and keep them going, he was implicated in dozens of murders, and many other disappearances. Bottom line? He was a big player that needed to be weeded out.
Harry looked uneasily to his right to see Ron staring blankly into his hands, and he wondered if he should have even involved his best friend in the case. Rodolphus had led a team into The Burrow not long after the battle of Hogwarts, looking for Harry. They had broken past the wards, and in a brutal and bloody display of revenge for his now dead spouse, Rodolphus had singled out Molly Weasley and taken it upon himself to avenge Bellatrix. It had happened in slow motion for Harry, trying to push through the crowd to reach the closest thing he had ever had to a mother, but he had been too late. In a gut wrenching flash of green light Harry had watched, stunned, as her lifeless form crumpled into the dirt. The Death Eaters had fled after that - out of fear or accomplishment, Harry didn't know. As the family gathered around their fallen matriarch, all Harry could think of past the numbness in his mind, was that he would tear Lestrange limb from limb with his bare hands if he ever got the chance.
Now, three years later, it looked like Harry and Ron would have their chance.
Maps and graphs were piled high on the table in the center of the room. The cabin was sparse, devoid of any distractions, devoid of anything really save for necessities. Every man in this case understood the gravity and impact, the importance of finding Lestrange. He was a key leader in the Death Eater's war effort, and removing him from play would assuredly give the ministry the upper hand. Ron looked as tense as Harry felt, white knuckling the table as he stared absently at the map in front of him. They'd been here for two weeks, scoping out the security measures employed around the countryside manor where Lestrange and his men were hiding. Both young men knew this would be a turning point for them, both of them knew what they were here to do, and the gravity of bringing Molly's killer to justice was weighing on them.
Sooner rather than later, the time came, after months of searching, planning, briefing, studying, and scouting, the time was finally here to move against the stronghold.
Nerves ran rampant as the five men, under the cloak of a cloudy summer night, crept through the forest towards their destination. Harry felt his stomach turn to lead the closer they got to their destination, and he felt the tremors in his hands start. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn't just a fearless hero charging into glorious battle. Harry had been through enough of these raids to know how bloody they could be, how brutal, and how quickly things could turn south.
Ron threw up a hand and the men stopped in their tracks, lowering into defensive positions. Harry's keen eeyes had picked up what Ron had seen at almost the exact same time, and the two of them knelt to the ground gently pushing leaves aside. There was a faintly pulsing rune carved into the ground at their feet, emitting a ghostly pale green light that had been covered under a layer of leaves and brush. Ron traced the tip of his wand over the rune, muttering incantations faintly under his breath until the light faded. Ron was what Harry considered the "security expert" of the group. During Auror training he had specialized in detecting and breaking down wards. With his brother Bill being a curse breaker, and dating Hermione who was proficient in ancient runes, Harry hadn't been surprised in the least when his best friend had turned out to be highly capable at frying Death Eater defenses.
The group moved stealthily through the woods for what seemed like hours, stopping every few minutes to nullify a rune, to deactivate a ward, or disarm a trap, and as far as they could tell, they hadn't yet been detected. The pit in Harry's stomach grew deeper and deeper as the large manor loomed over them, silhouetted in the moonlight. It was an ancient palace with twisting steel spires and dark, dingy windows, and Harry could sense the dark magic permeating the estate like the fetid stench of infection from an open wound.
Harry turned slowly to look at his men, taking them in, memorizing details, each and every one of them knew that there was a chance that one or more, even all of them would be dead before morning. They were outnumbered, and the Death Eaters had the home court advantage. He nodded, and as one unit the aurors each made the swirling motions around themselves with their wands that would disillusion them, they had reached the end of the tree line, and now it was an open lawn between them and the manse.
Unease searing in Harry's veins, he gave the command to proceed, and as one highly polished unit, the aurors fanned out across the yard. Everyone knew the plan, they had studied it, recited it, practiced it, for months they had honed their precision, and now it was time to execute it. Harry and Ron veered around to the back door, while the others crept to the front. Weeks had been spent planning the entry alone, it would be the most crucial part of the raid - surprising their prey was key. Harry looked at his watch, the entire team's were synchronized. He counted down the seconds to himself. Blood pounded in Harry's ears as the "Reducto!" left his lips. The heavy oak door in front of him blasted inwards with the force of an invisible cannon, and Harry heard a similar sound come from the front.
Instant chaos erupted upon their entrance, Harry barely had time to survey his surroundings before he was dodging a flare of yellow light, which grazed his arm and left a stinging bloody trail across his bicep. Auror training and his natural reflexes kicked in and Harry was ducking spells and slinging his own back towards the source. The room was dark and it was hard to see who was who. Harry and his men were wary of friendly fire, but they had no time to sort it out. Harry flung his wand up and a large wooden chair soared into the air to his right and took the brunt of a hot jet of crimson light that had been racing straight for his head. Senses overwhelmed by the smells, sounds, and lights erupting around the room, Harry did his best to assess his surroundings. Flinging a jet of gold light into a nearby opponent's chest, Harry ducked behind a wall just in time to see the man crumple to the ground. The wall exploded behind his head and Harry crouched to the floor to avoid being pelted by chunks of plaster and stone. Looking across the entryway, he saw Ron in a similar position, firing off curses from over the top of an upturned desk. Ron nodded to him and as one they sent a barrage of spells in the same direction, which resulted in a gratifying scream as Harry's confringo charm set their target on fire at the same time Ron's Reductor curse threw him into a wall.
Taking advantage of the momentary lapse in curses flying their way, the two friends simultaneously surged forward to the next available spot of cover they could find, a jet of purple light barely missing Ron's head just as he ducked behind a wall. Harry made short work of the latest opponent with a wordless flash of green light, there was no time to consider saving as many of the scumbags as possible, they needed to get upstairs before Rodolphus found a way to escape. Ron gave Harry a knowing look, the silent approval noted - deadly force was needed. Hoping his men could hear over the roar of battle Harry pointed his wand to his throat and bellowed as loud as he could manage "Shoot to kill boys! We gotta get to Lestrange!"
At first the team's new tactics took the Death Eaters by surprise, giving the aurors the upper hand as they tore through the ranks, but soon enough the enemy had adapted to the new flow of battle, and the game became more dangerous as both sides were no longer pulling any stops. Harry, heart pounding, watched as the tip of a wand poked around the corner he was using as cover, as soon as the owner's arm followed suit Harry grabbed it and snapped it backwards repeatedly slamming it into the wall until the fingers released their grasp on the wand. Harry yanked the hooded figure towards him and felt a snap as his fist collided with the man's nose. Fingers came up to claw at his face as Harry ruthlessly snapped his neck, causing the lifeless death eater to fall to the floor. Magic wasn't the only part of a well rounded Auror training after all, close quarter combat called for more physical measures. Harry was always sickened by the brutality when he was forced to kill in such a manner, but hesitation for even a second, had gotten many a better Auror than Harry killed. Kneeling down Harry pulled back the hood, identifying the masked man as Macnair, the deranged executioner who had once tried to take Buckbeak from Hagrid.
After what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes, Harry and Ron reached the spiraling staircase at the other side of the room. Looking out over the room to survey the battle Harry could see, to his relief, that while bloody and bruised, each of his men were intact. Leaving the rest of the team to hold back the seemingly endless wave of black hooded figures, Harry and Ron vaulted the stairs 2 at a time, Harry throwing another masked psychopath over the bannister as he charged down the stairs towards them.
Harry could feel his heart thudding from exertion and excitement as they reached the top floor landing, settling into defensive positions with their wands at the ready, the two friends crept down the suspiciously empty hallway. Silently checking each room on the way down the hall, Harry's unease grew greater as the lack of opposition on the upper floor became apparent. There was no doubt that Rodolphus was a capable wizard, but surely he hadn't left the entirety of his force downstairs to fight and left himself unprotected.
At last Harry and Ron stood before a massive oak door at the end of the hall, contemplating their entry. He knew they were coming, this was going to be tricky. Just as Harry reached for the door handle, the entire thing exploded outward in a roar of flame and shower of splintered oak, knocking Harry back into Ron, sending both of them stumbling backwards flat onto their backs. Winded and coughing Harry fought to regain his orientation as the hallway filled with a dark cloud of smoke and licking tongues of dancing emerald flame. "Fuck!" Harry yelled "Ron it's fiendfyre!"Ron seemed not to have paid the slightest bit of attention to Harry as he was already back on his feet, charging back down the hall. Even from his position on the floor Harry could see the murder in his friend's eyes. Still stunned from the impact Harry couldn't bring himself to get up just yet, but after a second he was able to roll himself over and heave himself up, trying to quickly regain his footing and go after Ron before he got himself killed.
With an arm shielding his face from the ever growing flames Harry burst into the room with his wand at the ready, to see curses flashing back and forth as fast as he'd ever seen them. Ron had grown into an accomplished duelist during his time as an Auror, but here he was driven by pure hatred and adrenaline. It was a beautiful thing to watch as the two men circled back and forth in almost a dance. Colorful magic whirled around them as their wands and hands moved faster than the eye could track. Jets of flame erupted from Rodolphus' wand and Ron froze them in mid air, throwing the giant shards of ice back at their caster. Rodolphus threw up a giant golden shield and the ice fell away harmlessly. He hurled the shield at Ron and it became a spinning golden blade, lethally cutting through the air. Just before it made contact with Ron's torso, he ducked under it and flung a jet of flame back towards Rodolphus. Harry had watched Ron duel enough at the academy, and in their own off time sparring sessions, to already know what direction Ron was taking this. Without Rodolphus noticing, Ron had slowly inched closer and closer between spells. As Rodolphus raised his wand to sling the next curse, Ron charged, and grabbing the older man by the front of his robes, bashed skulls with him in a crunch that made Harry dizzy from across the room. Harry knew he should stop Ron from beating Rodolphus to death, but half of him was jealous that he wasn't doing it himself. Harry could hear the wet smacking sounds over and over as Ron's fist collided with the older man's face, and finally Harry pulled him off. "Ron stop!" He yelled.
"Harry this bastard killed my mother! You were right there! You want him dead as much as I do!" Ron screamed back in Harry's face, the venom in his eyes unlike anything Harry had ever seen. Before Harry could react, Ron's eyes went wide as a jet of deep purple splayed across his back, dissipating in a wide splash of miasmatic color. "RON!" Harry cried out, as he slowly helped his friend to the floor, there was a pulse, but he was unconscious. Rodolphus was leering at Harry from the floor across the room, his wand still raised. Before he knew what he was doing Harry had crossed the room and kicked the man as hard as he could in the chest sending him collapsing back to the floor. Harry's wand was up and ready as soon as his foot landed, and Rodolphus barely had time to raise his own as Harry yelled "Avada Kedavra!"
Two jets of emerald light collided in a violent explosion that rocked the entire house.