Chapter 2: I Am No Auror

April 22, 2000

Rolf Scamander woke early, smoothed his hair back into a ponytail and walked out of the tent and into the stultifying Brazilian rainforest humidity. The air was so thick he felt that he could just stick out his tongue and drink it in. As he went about making a small campfire he looked over quickly to the other tent, their tent. So far it looked just as it did the night before; the wards were still in place around the camp which gave him a small sense of satisfaction.

As the branches began to crackle and the fire grew, Rolf thought back on everything that had brought them here. The Death Eaters had caused a bit of havoc in Dorset, had been chased by the Aurors and there were casualties amongst the Muggle population. That had put him on his guard, but three nights later when the wards triggered he knew that the time of hiding was over. Instructor had advised him to above all keep the Lovegoods safe, and their location was compromised. Even more than that, though, there was Luna.

Initially he'd found himself visiting with her as a way to pass the time, but over the last few weeks it was different. He'd listened to her after they had arrived at his grandfather's expedition headquarters as she had explained all of the things that had happened to her in the war; he'd heard her name mentioned, and there were things in the file, but hearing it first hand was quite different. When she'd become very emotional he had just reacted and pulled her close, smoothing down her hair until she quieted somewhat. It was when she was in his arms that he began to think of things that were definitely not in his instructions from Instructor. One of the rules of the Invisibles was to not get involved, and there, holding her, he realized that despite his intentions he was definitely involved.

Another rule of the Invisibles was to never reveal personal information. He'd failed miserably on that tenet. Since taking on the job and becoming a trainee he'd told nobody about, well, anything. In truth his life was very solitary; the mission, completing the mission, and training. But with Luna, things were…different. She listened, actually, truly listened. Very few people actually listened. Sure, they comprehended what you were saying, but they were usually busy crafting a response in their head even before you were finished speaking.

Not Luna.

Luna listened to him, and he could see in her eyes that she concentrated on what he said, empathized with what he went through, tried to understand. She waited until he was finished to ask her questions, not interrupting like some people. Most people. She made him feel at peace. And peace, from what he understood from the other Invisibles that he'd talked to in the small amount of time that was actually available for conversation, peace was a hard commodity to come by.

It was while Rolf was contemplating his feelings towards Luna that all hell broke loose.

-ooo-

The first thing to happen was that Rolf's empty tent burst into flames. The smoke started billowing through the dense foliage, causing Rolf to immediately run to Luna's tent. After throwing open the flap he saw her standing there, barefoot and wearing a thin nightdress that ended mid-thigh, and all he could think of was that he had to protect her at all costs.

"I'm fine. I'll wake Daddy and we'll help."

Rolf shook his head. "Stay here, I can…"

"You'll need my help. Two wands are better than one."

He nodded, and as Xenophilius pulled himself from the hammock and moved the mosquito netting out of the way the wards started shrieking. The bang and scream from the distance indicated that the wards, even if they had fallen, had been effective. The two Lovegoods and Rolf exited the tent to find Newt Scamander in a yellow nightshirt with his wand at the ready.

"Rolf…"

"I've got it, Pop-Pop. Watch the south, by the river."

As his grandfather shuffled hurriedly over to the south perimeter of where the wards used to be Rolf took a look at his surroundings, putting his plans into effect. He waved his wand over at one large tree, causing the branches to quiver. Luna and his grandfather had decided to make camp in their current location somewhat due to those trees. His grandfather said something about how they were very sturdy and good for anchoring something, but Luna said that the trees were friendly, even if they were full of Spickflickles, some sort of tree sprites.

When the five figures became visible Rolf flashed for a split-second back to that horrible night, back to the altar, back to the little squib girl's screams, and for a second he remembered what Instructor had said. . .Auror. Stop thinking like a Goddamned Auror, boy! He glanced quickly over to Luna, saw her take her wand and deflect a curse, and that's when he felt an overwhelming calmness fill his body. The panic from the Bulgarian incident, the panic at knowing he had only fractions of moments to act and protect the little girl, the panic was gone. Time seemed to slow for him as he watched the five dark-robed figures move slowly through the undergrowth. He pointed his wand at the closest figure and even though his words weren't loud they were very distinct. "Organum expulso."

The lead figure stopped suddenly, realized that his blocking spell had done nothing, and then panicked and tried to run away but it was too late; the man's internal organs exploded inside, puffing him up as if he was one of those fish deep in the sea that magically pulled in air until it was twenty times normal size, and then it sounded as if someone set off a firecracker under a damp blanket. The net effect was that the man collapsed and then seemed to ooze down a slight rise in the undergrowth. It had all happened within seconds, but every living person had watched it, transfixed by the action. Every living person, with one exception. Rolf Scamander didn't bother to watch the man's grisly demise, he had moved on to the next figure, the closest one, a slighter figure, a figure that turned to Rolf and leveled a wand.

"The Aurors will have your badge for that!"

It was a woman's voice, Rolf registered, but it did not stay his hand. He deftly flicked her curse aside and snapped his wand in a horizontal motion. The words, once again, were not loud, but plainly heard. "I am no Auror. Caput Scalpere."

The woman's eyes were open wide as her head slid off her shoulders, hit the side of a rock with a wet thwack and rolled towards another of the dark-robed figures.

That was the sign for the dark figures' attempt at intimidation to fail. All pretense of trying to scare Rolf or anyone else in the camp was over, the wizarding niceties of dueling between quips and threatening comments was right out the window and the whole mess devolved into a mass of spells being shot from behind cover, killing spells among them, which took out a few of the native animals. Between the falling birds and other denizens of the trees the rain of debris from the surrounding flora seemed to come as thick and dense as a London rain.

From the right side, where Rolf knew that Xenophilius and his Grandfather were behind some cover, one of the enemy figures went down, leaving only two left unaccounted for in the trees. Only a clearing of downed foliage lay between them and the little spot where he crouched behind a rather large rock. As he looked over to Luna she smiled at him and pointed down.

"This is the first time you've held my hand, Rolf. I think it's because we're under attack and you didn't have to worry about letting me know you're an Invisible." She smiled wider as a spell went over their heads and hit a tree. "I know you're an Invisible because you said you weren't an Auror and Auror's aren't allowed to use the spells you just used. When this is over you can kiss me as much as you want."

"Thanks. I will." Rolf leaned around the side of the rock and then faced Luna. "For luck." He kissed her, pulled his hand away from her and then ran half-crouched over to a spot that he figured could give him decent cover. If he didn't get hit with too many spells, that was. Surprisingly, though, he never had to dodge a spell as he heard Luna cast multiple bombarda spells to give him cover. She'd done exactly what he would have done, but without asking.

It was at that point when it hit him, as another spell destroyed the tree immediately to his right, that Rolf realized that Luna Lovegood had not only let him know that she would like him to kiss her, and not just once, but she knew that he was an Invisible. She knew! And she wanted him to kiss her. It was too much. This attack had to end quickly; he needed answers from too many people as he had a lot of questions. He pulled a leaf from the closest tree, muttered something quickly, tapped his wand on the leaf and watched the leaf fold and bend itself until it looked like a small, green little humanoid stick figure that ran through the undergrowth with surprising speed. He wasn't surprised when it returned bearing what he had hoped it would; Luna's wand. Rolf took it from the leaf-construct and watched as the spell ran out and the leaf crumbled away into a small green pulp, but Luna's wand in his hand seemed different; it was warm to his touch. It wasn't his wand, nothing had ever replicated that feeling, but it wasn't dissimilar.

Rolf stood up, ignoring the cover, ignoring his uncle's concerned shout from off to his left, ignoring what his Auror training said would be a fatal error; he ignored everything and actually smirked. With Luna's wand in his left hand he shielded and blocked spells over and over and over; it was an immediate and unconscious decision to only use Luna's wand for non-lethal spells. His wand, on the other hand, literally in his other hand…he had no objection regarding what type of spells should be cast by that wand. Fire leapt out of his wand and fell like a red-flamed net over the area covering the two enemy figures. When one of the figures rolled on the ground, fire eating away at his robe, Rolf flicked his wand at the figure, uttered a quick Sanguis Coque incantation and walked away towards the remaining viable information source.

As the female figure shed her robe, unable to stop the fire, she pointed her wand at Rolf. "What'd you do to Anthony?"

London accent, female, approximately forty years of age, right-handed, damaged foot evidenced in her balance issue, a Dark Mark visible on her bare arm. From the quaver in her voice she wasn't expecting much resistance or at least Aurors. "Throw down your wand." A split-second went by without action so Rolf slashed his wand down with a violent motion. "Lacero." The witch's hand was severed at the wrist. Her wand, with her hand, fell with a wet thump to the rainforest floor. He scream began instantly but stopped as if bottled. With her good hand she felt her mouth as her skin began to knit itself together, leaving her unable to scream. Her eyes were full of pure terror as she looked at her tormentor.

Rolf shook his head. "Not optimal, but it'll do."

Luna put her hand on his shoulder. "That's very impressive, localizing a skin healing spell like that, but I don't think she can tell you anything like that. Can I have my wand back now?"

Rolf looked at Luna in surprise, as he had no idea that she had moved next to him. Instructor would not be happy if knew that. Instead of commenting on her compliment he simply handed her back her wand.

"Thank you." Luna took her wand and then went over to the woman, cast a spell and stopped the bleeding from the stump that used to end in the woman's hand. After that was completed she bent down and pried apart the fingers on the woman's severed hand, pulled out the wand and handed it to Rolf. "She might have used the wand but probably didn't want to pull it out of her old hand. Or she was afraid you'd make her blood boil."

"Thanks." Rolf put the wand in his pocket. "I need to take her in for questioning and get everybody out of here. Can you take your father Pop-Pop someplace safe? I'll contact you as soon as I can." He felt his breathing change and the world once again returned to normal speed except for his heart, which continued to beat rapidly. When he realized why he also decided that, Invisibles' directive notwithstanding, he was involved. He kissed her quickly, causing Luna to tilt her head and smile. "I want to take you up on that offer, Luna. You know, the…"

The woman captive kicked Rolf in the knee, causing him to drop to the ground, but Luna's levicorpus spell had the woman high off the ground. As the woman struggled, twisting in the air, Luna went over and put her arms around Rolf's neck, clasping her hands together and pulled him close. "Remember, you're not an Auror. You don't have backup. Think about kissing me after you're done."

-ooo-

"Scamander! Front and center!"

Rolf sat in the little dormitory area, once again, and knew that he would be called to account for his actions to Instructor and Prime. This time, though, he'd protected his charges, done his job, and nobody had lost an eye. With a deep breath he got up, walked into the meeting room and stood in front of the desk. Instructor stood next to the desk while Prime was seated, a file in front of her.

"Scamander!" Instructor walked over and pointed his finger in Rolf's face. "What in the bloody hell did you think you were doing? Not only did you take them out of the country, you took them out of Auror jurisdiction, involved them in a firefight, killed four of them, burned out at least an acre of prime Brazilian rainforest, mutilated our only witness by severing her hand and if her pensieve memories are any indication you…"

"I did my job." Rolf glanced over at Prime and then turned back to Instructor. "And we have more intel than before."

"YOU GOT INVOLVED! WE DO NOT GET INVOLVED!" The spittle from Instructor's mouth flew as he was centimeters from Rolf's face, but Rolf did not react. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?"

"I improvised, adapted, and survived. Just like you taught me."

With that comment Prime gave a small chuckle and motioned Instructor away from Rolf. She opened the file folder in front of her and glanced at it. "You could do much worse, you know, Scamander. Our surveillance indicates that you're very, comfortable with the Lovegood girl."

"Woman. She's not a girl." Rolf stole a glance at Prime and then returned his eyes to their straight-ahead focus of absolutely nothing on the opposite wall.

Instructor walked around Rolf in a circle. "Lovely, oh, this is lov-er-ly. So what are you going to tell her when you have to break a date to do a hit job on a dark wizard, then?"

"Sorry, Luna, I can't make it. Work."

"That won't work forever." Instructor shook his head. "Best to Obliviate them both and be done with it."

"No." Rolf shook his head. "I won't."

"You'll never see us coming then, boy. You'll show up with flowers and she won't have a clue who you are."

Rolf turned his head and didn't waver. He looked directly at Instructor. "Then we have a problem. Besides, I don't have much faith in your other operatives. 'Death Eaters won't get within a dragon's fart of the Lovegoods, eh?' Right." He turned to Prime. "Are we done here? I have a date." After watching Prime nod slightly Rolf left the office, not bothering to close the door.

Prime watched Rolf leave the room and then turned to Instructor. "Well?"

"Holy shite, Prime. Have you ever seen anyone wield two wands like that? And I think the Lovegood girl's good for him. No hesitation, you saw he was when it got messy. Calm, even. You saw my report about Bulgaria. You saw what he was like out there, he didn't think, he didn't hesitate, he acted. I think he's ready now. What about you?"

"Yes." Prime nodded and closed the folder. "He knows we're not infallible now. He'll trust only himself and, I think, her. You saw how she pulled out that wand from the hand. She was with Potter in that organization, Dumbledore's Army. You've read her file, you know what she went through in the war. What do you think, do we contact her as a possible operative?"

"Nah." Instructor shook his head negatively. "Keep her off the books, at least until she and Scamander go one way or the other. They stick together it's a two-for-one package. They call it quits…then I say we contact her."

"Agreed."

-ooo-

Luna sat at the little table in Rolf's flat, looked around the small kitchen area and smiled. "What name did you use for this place?"

"Windmere. William Windmere." He shrugged.

"It isn't a bad name but I would think it would be hard remembering who to be every day. I think it is much easier just to be myself, but you can't do that, can you?"

He leaned forward and took one of her hands in his. "How in Merlin's name did you know I was an Invisible?"

"Well…you acted like an Auror but I know you aren't an Auror. Harry told Ginny you were a crap Auror because you wouldn't follow their rules. Ginny and I had lunch a long time ago and she mentioned it and I just remembered it. And I knew you were an Invisible because I saw the signs. Daddy wrote an article about the Invisibles a few years ago, you know. It wasn't very well received, but most people read The Quibbler before tea and that's when bilgepuppies are around. They keep you from comprehending hidden truths and they hate tea. That's why you should always drink tea." She looked over to the stove. "Should I start the kettle?"

"Absolutely." A chimney swift flew out of the fireplace, flitted around Rolf's head and landed on the table. Without pausing to consider if he was revealing a secret Rolf untied the little missive and unrolled it.

Don't muck it up with the Lovegood woman. Prague in four weeks. Contact site 4. - Instructor

Rolf rolled the little message up, set it on fire with his wand and then turned to Luna. "Have you ever been to Prague?"

"Daddy says that the Crumple-Horned Snorckacks are plentiful around there. Are we going to look for them? That could take a long time."

"I've got a meeting there in four weeks. And as for the Snorckacks? I'm sure we'll find something. I'll ask Pop-Pop." As he pulled her onto his lap for a kiss Rolf heard Instructor's voice in his head. Improvise, adapt, survive and succeed. Looking into Luna's wide eyes Rolf knew that he'd accomplished each and every tenet of that creed.