Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters in it, they belong to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Books or Bloomsbury Publishing or Warner Bros or whoever owns the rights at this time, but I do not nor do I claim any rights.
Summary: This is the much-anticipated sequel to Life Not Worth Living. It will pick up where its predecessor left off. It takes place after Harry's Hogwarts' years when he is an older man. It is a Harry/Tonks fic, so if you don't like that ship, then you should stay clear of this story.
A/N: I have rated it M because there will be violence, adult themes, and strong language. If you have not read Life Not Worth Living then this story will make no sense to you most likely. So I advise you to go read that story before attempting this one or you will be really confused.
Thanks to Patrick (The Rat Killer) for betaing the chapter.
Chapter One: Return to the World
For most people the safe return of Auror Potter and Auror Tonks was met with celebration, for most people feared that their captive would kill them. However not everyone was joyous over their return to the Wizarding world, especially since they weren't dead.
Cornelius Fudge was one of the people who weren't happy to have them safely returned. The months that he spent when Harry Potter was missing were blissful and worry free. He didn't have to worry about anyone trying to over throw him, and boot him out of his position of power. A position that he worked very hard to maintain when Harry Potter was around. Now that Harry was back it meant that he once again had to wake up every morning wondering if he would have a job when the day ended.
Malcom Hardy was another man who was not at all happy that two of his associates had been returned unharmed. He was sure that Potter had been in cahoots with the menace known as Silver Wolf, but he wasn't able to prove it. Though he was determined to prove that Potter was connected to the pain in his ass, and then when he did he would put Potter in Azkaban where he believed Potter belonged, along with Tonks. Hardy was happy with his current position as head of the Auror department and he wasn't about to allow the wonder boy or his clumsy bitch take that away from him.
Hardy had worked hard to convince Fudge that Kingsley Shacklebolt was not doing his job right and that he should be removed from the position of power. Fudge knew that he could control Hardy, where he couldn't control Kingsley, so he saw this change as a betterment for him as well.
Hardy tried to get information out of Harry and Tonks when they were found outside the Ministry of Magic, but he found that they had no memories of what had happened to them while they were being held captive. Hardy was not happy about this turn of events and set out to make life hard for both of them. Harry and Tonks were put on inactive duty while Hardy tried to figure out what had happened to them while they were missing.
Having no memories from the months that they were missing Harry and Tonks went back to their individual homes without a clue to the fact that they were a couple. Harry returned to his one room apartment that he had left behind months before. He sat down in his red armchair and felt more depressed than he had ever before. Not only could he not remember what had happened to him, now he was on inactive duty with nothing to do but sit and stare at his vacant apartment.
Tonks was not much better as she returned to her apartment. Without being at work she really didn't have anything to do, and the money she had would run out soon if she didn't get back on to active duty soon. She wasn't rich like Harry, so she depended on the money from her working to pay the bills a lot more than he did.
A week pasted and still no one had heard much from Harry or Tonks since they were both still being kept on inactive duty by Hardy. He was determined not to allow them back to work until he knew exactly where they had been and who had captured them. Though he had a hunch that Harry was protecting the person who did it because he still believed that he was somehow in connection with the mysterious Silver Wolf.
Spade was becoming concerned as the time passed because two of his top agents were still not back within his ranks and he didn't like that. He needed Wolf and Panther working on getting their team together, so they would be up and operational when he needed them.
"Blade there has to be a way to get those two back, because without their team we may not be able to pull off this latest mission I have received."
Blade sat across from Spade in his office and he knew exactly what Spade meant, and the truth was Blade was a bit worried too. He knew that Harry was not in the mental shape to take the strain of being away from Tonks like he was, and Blade didn't like the situation at all. "I say we eliminate the threat to them, then they could have their memories back."
"I would love nothing more than to take Malcom Hardy out of his position as the Head Auror, but you know as well as I do that we can't do that without drawing attention to ourselves. No there has to be some way for us to get Wolf and Panther back and keep them a secret from Hardy until the time is right to take the rug from under him."
Blade knew this was true too, but his wolf side wanted nothing more than to kill Hardy for the hell he had caused Harry and Tonks. "I know Spade it is just troubling as we are helpless to aid them."
Both men sat in silence for a while thinking about the problem at hand and ways that they could fix the problem. Blade was the first to speak after the prolonged silence. "What about Fox? Couldn't she just give them their memories back and that way we would have our agents back?"
"I wish it were that simple Blade I truly do, because then it would be no problem. However if we had Fox give them their memories too soon then Hardy might question them and get the answers he wants so badly. No giving them their memories back is out until we are absolutely sure that Hardy is no longer a threat to our operation and their wellbeing."
A knock came to the door, as both men were once again silent. Spade gave permission to enter and a man walked in looking grim with a paper in his hand. He handed the parchment to Spade and then placed a small package on his desk before excusing himself from the room.
Spade read the parchment and as he did his face began to pale a bit.
"What's wrong Spade?" Blade asked knowing that there was something bad in the parchment that he was reading.
"This is a report from one of my contacts. It is just as bad as I thought Blade, and the situation is dire at best."
Blade being in on most of what was happening knew that the situation was bad if Spade was getting pale over it. Though he wasn't sure which situation he was referring to since there were a few different situations happening as they spoke. "Spade if it is as bad as it seems maybe I should get a team together and take care of the situation."
"No I need you here Blade, no I will send Tiger with a team to take care of this quietly as possible. I do not need this problem to escalate further than it has. Though I fear the worst sending any team into this situation."
"Are you sure that Tiger would be best suited for this mission Spade? I know he is fully trained and all, but you know the type of team he pulls together."
Spade opens the package on his desk and looks at the contents for a moment, which looks like a pack of playing cards. "I am well aware of the rogue members he pulls together for missions, but I think his speed will be an added advantage."
Blade looked at the deck of cards that Spade held in his hand and instantly knew what the situation was that he was talking about. "What about the casualty factor? We might be talking about muggles, but we can't just send any team in there blind."
Spade looked down at the deck of unopened cards in his hand and then at the parchment again. "I would rather be sending in Wolf and Panther's team, but seeing as they are inactive at the moment I am left with little choice at this point Blade."
"How about Ice Queen?"
Spade laughed at the comment and then looked serious once more. "No that would cause even more casualties. You know how Ice Queen is once you send her on a mission she gets into kill first ask questions later mode. No we need these people brought back alive if at all possible. That is the only way we can connect everything together."
Blade looked down at the floor once more wishing that he could come up with a solution that would serve the purpose, but everything kept returning to the same fact that they needed Silver Wolf back and they needed him now.
Harry was taking the inactive duty badly as he sat in his apartment. He had repeatedly done his Occlumency to figure out what had happened to him over the time he was missing, and kept getting the same answer. "Who the hell is Fox and what does this person have to do with my missing memories?"
Spade against his better judgment sent Tiger along with a small team to go take care of the situation before it got any worse. Little did he know that the situation was already worse than he knew. A week after sending Tiger and his team out they lost contact with him and the team. Spade called in his inner circle to discuss the situation.
"Spade I told you it was wrong to send Tiger out on this mission. He may be fully trained, but he is immature." Blade said heatedly as he sat at the table knowing full well that Tiger was not the right person for the mission he went on.
"That's enough Blade I know I shouldn't have sent him, but I had little choice in what to do. I didn't know how bad the situation had gotten, and now it seems that it is far worse than I first believed."
"It gets worse I am afraid Spade. I found out from a source that one of Tiger's team members was found dead. Matt Hawk was found a few hours ago, and it is reported that he was brutally slain. It looks like some sort of an animal from the account that my source gave me attacked him. It gets even worse I am afraid since my source also said that Faris Hamza, Afzal Bahadur, Xian Di Akira, and Omar Rais have gone further into hiding, so it will be that much harder to find them now." Shadow said as he looked at Spade with disapproving eyes.
"Not only have we lost one of our inner circle, a rogue member, and now four of the most wanted muggles have disappeared! Can this day get any worse?" Ice Queen asked though it was clear that she was pissed by what had happened.
"Maybe we could send another team in that is more prepared for this type of mission." Quake said hoping to sound convincing.
"That is just it Quake we can handle wizards just fine, it these damn muggles that are giving us a hard time! How can a bunch of muggles get the better of a fully trained wizard, let a lone a team of five of them?"
"As I said Tiger may be trained, but he is too immature for this type of mission. No we need to send in a team that is mature and trained. Especially now since the top muggles are underground we will need to flush them out to get at them." Blade said heatedly as he was still pissed about sending Tiger in the first place.
"Okay Blade that's enough I know it was a mistake to send him, but running him into the mud when he isn't here isn't going to help matters." Spade said as he stood up from his seat. "We need information and the only way I know to get it is to bring the rest of the muggles in alive for questioning. In order to do that we will need a team that is able to get in and out of the muggle habitants without drawing too much attention. Blade get a hold of Fox and tell her that Operation Memory is a go. Shadow head back and pump your sources for as much information as you can get out of them; I want to know as much about this situation as possible. Ice Queen get a team together I want the body of Matt Hawk brought back to our infirmary for a complete autopsy. Quake I want you to get in touch with our people in America. I want Dolphin here as soon as possible."
"Sir are you sure about her? After all she is NSA." Quake asked as he looked at Spade.
"I know that she is part of the National Security Agency, but she is also a muggle born witch. She will be able to blend in better than many of our agents, and also she is fully trained. She might even be able to use some of her NSA contacts to aid us in finding our missing agents. " Spade said as he sat back down. "Dismissed."
Everyone had their assignment to do and walked out of Spade's office to complete their task. Spade put his head in his hands and stared at his desk. "Merlin help me if I am wrong for doing this."
