Chapter 2

"Neville?!"

I can't believe it. There is no way Neville Longbottom has gone evil. Can't be.

It took me a minute to process this information. Neville had definitely changed since I last saw him. And not just mentally. He had lost a lot of weight. His once black hair had started to go grey. Dark bags lined his eyes and he seemed to have a permanent scowl attached to his face that would have made Argus Filch proud.

"That's me," he deadpanned, and he decided to leaned against the table, his wand lazily pointed at the ground.

"Neville, what the bloody hell are you doing?" asked Daphne. I glanced over to her and saw she had the same look of shock that I had. Neither of us had lowered our wands.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm taking out the trash." That followed by a slight chuckle and then he did smile. Somehow it didn't fit him.

I fought down the bile rising to my throat and took a deep breath.

"So you're the one responsible for all those disappearances."

That smile turned into a full-fledged evil laugh.

"No shit, Sherlock. What was your first clue?"

This isn't right. Neville shouldn't have turned dark. It should have someone, anyone else. Not him. Not the nicest bloke I knew.

Calm yourself, Weasley. Maybe I can talk some sense into him.

"Neville, it doesn't have to be like this. Just put down your wand and let's talk about it!" I pleaded with him. Maybe if I can talk some sense into him, he'll go quietly.

"Don't really see anything to talk about Ron. I'm just delivering justice."

Son of a bitch. He's lost it. He's gone off the deep-end.

"Justice?! You call one hundred and thirty dead bodies justice?!" demanded Daphne. I saw that she had taken an incredulous look and I couldn't blame her.

Neville laughed again at that comment.

"No. I call that a work in progress. This is war, and it's not over until everyone who escaped Azkaban is punished!"

"Does that include you?" we both asked at the same time.

His evil smile vanished and instead he said, "You wanna see something cool?"

Before we could answer he jumped onto the table and aimed his wand at us.

"I've improved quite a bit since the DA, Ron!"

"Stupefy!"

The stunner had come from behind the counter. The Barmaid and owner of the Wyvern's Inn, Anfis Dolohov, had cast it and it had hit Neville square in the back. I smiled at the irony. Antonin Dolohov's little sister saving the day.

Except it didn't work and Neville just shrugged it off.

"Bitch, please."

Without another word, he flipped us off and apparated out of the Pub.

If I had to take a guess as to why Anfis' stunner didn't do the job, it was probably because of the fact Neville likely had on one of Fred and George's inventions: The Curse Proof Vest. George made it after the second war and it would deflect all but the strongest curses.

It's standard issue to Aurors and Hit Wizards and can be bought for 50 Galleons apiece for civilian use. Last I heard from George, it's one of their most popular items they sell.

The irony of this was not lost on my part. A crazed vigilante is on the loose. He's wearing my brother's invention. He's willing to kill anyone he sees as a Dark Wizard. And he has nothing to loose.

"Daphne, we're going to need some help." was what I said before reholstering my wand.

She did the same and looked me dead in the eyes. She was giving her special look. The one reserved for whenever I did something stupid.

"And just who'd be crazy enough to help us with this mess?

The Next Day, Negril, Jamaica, Margaritaville, 4:30 P.M.

Jimmy Buffett was proclaiming that life was just a tire swing and while I didn't quite know what he was talking about, I decided to roll with it.

It seemed like this what Muggles called "Happy Hour" in restaurants and pubs. It was hot, we were on the beach and everybody was wearing shorts and strange shirts with many colors on them.

But I knew who I was looking for. In fact I saw him right up ahead. He had sandals, a straw hat, swim trunks and a colorful shirt on, and was sipping on what I can only guess is some strange concoction from the Caribbean. Out of all the people I knew, I know for fact that this man is indeed crazy enough to help us with the mess that is Neville Longbottom.

I walked up in front of him. I had learned a long time ago never to sneak up on him. Not after what he'd been through.

He pushed up his straw hat. He had grown a beard since I last saw him. Bangs covered his forehead and I knew he had done that on purpose.

"Hello, Ron."

I smiled and shook his hand. "Hello, Harry."

He pulled his hat back and down asked, "What's up?"

"You got somewhere private we can talk?" I asked, looking around. This case is too sensitive to talk about in the open. Anybody could listen in.

Harry got up, drink in hand and motioned for me to follow him. We headed into Margaritaville and went into a backroom.

"You can do this?"

He snickered and said, "I can do anything. I'm the Head Bartender."

"Nice." I locked the door behind us and retrieved the file from my bottomless pouch. We sat down and I handed it to him. Only took him a few minutes to down the rest of his drink when he started reading.

"Merlin's beard! Neville?"

I nodded solemnly. I still couldn't believe it myself. I always figured it'd be Harry who snapped and became a vigilante if it ever happened.

Not that I'd let him know that.

He closed the file, got up and walked over to the mini-bar.

"You want a drink?"

"I'm good. Thanks though."

He walked back over and pushed the file towards me. I picked it up and put it back in my pouch.

"So, can you help us?" I hope I didn't sound too much like I was begging. We really need help on this.

He downed his drink, wiped his mouth and said, "No."

That hit me a like a ton of bricks. Did he just tell me no? Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. The man who killed Voldemort. He just said no!

"Well, why not?"

He chuckled at that and scratched his beard.

"Ron, I've lived in Jamaica for nearly 8 years now. Know what has tried to hurt me?"

I shook my head. He put his left leg on the table. On the calf muscle was a nasty looking bite mark.

"A 15 foot Tiger Shark when I was learning how to swim. It took 50 stitches, but they saved my leg."

My mouth had to have dropped a bit, because I had closed my jaw after he said that.

"Besides that, nothing. No Dark Lords, no slanderous press, no nothing."

"But Harry…" I began. He held up his hand and cut me off.

"Don't 'But Harry', me. I'm sick of being the Hero. In fact…" he pulled out his wand and tapped my left and right shoulders, "I knight you, Ronald Billius Weasley, as the Hero."

He was smirking slightly, and I couldn't tell whether or not he was joking. The end result was the same though. I was on my own. I guess I got to go to my boss for help.

"See you at Christmas then, Mate."

He smiled and said, "Stop by anytime."

Auror Department, 5:30 P.M.

Daphne and I walked into the office and closed the door behind us. I took a deep breath and said to the back of the chair, "Head Auror Lovegood, can we have a word?"

The chair turned around Luna Lovegood faced us, smile on her face and Butterbeer cap necklace still around her neck. Hard to believe that schoolgirl I knew had become Head of the Aurors in under eight years.

"Hello Ron and Daphne. How I can help you?"

We both took a seat and explained the situation to her. She seemed deep in thought as it was laid out. It took a little, and she seemed to take all of the information in stride.

"Who could we hire as a contractor?" asked Daphne.

Luna seemed to gaze off into space. Nothing new. She always does that. But that's also where most of her brilliant ideas come from.

Finally she spoke.

"Why not Draco Malfoy? He's got plenty of contacts in the underworld. And Neville would never suspect us using him."

Silence came to the room at the mention of that…I'm not sure I can count Malfoy as a man. More like monster. Ever since the Second War, there were rumors of just what Malfoy did to earn money.

Things involving hiring himself out for Wetwork and taking the ears off his victims for trophies.

The Auror Homicide Division has been trying to pin something on him for years. He's always slipped through the cracks somehow.

"Luna, you realize that Draco Malfoy is a sociopath, right? And that he's suspected of killing over fifty people?" asked Daphne.

We both had our reasons for hating Malfoy. Mine was that he tormented and tried to kill my best mate all throughout Hogwarts. He didn't even get Azkaban for when he became a Death Eater.

Daphne's was a bit different. Malfoy had married her sister, Astoria Greengrass.

If you ask me, Astoria is just as mad as Bellatrix Lestrange was. My sister-in law scares the shit out of me.

Before Luna could answer, Tonks opened the door and said, "We have another body."

Knockturn Alley, 5:45 P.M.

"Bloody Hell." was all me and Daphne had say about the scene. The man, and I assume it is a man or once was, had been found in a back alley of Knockturn.

I wanted to puke up my dinner. The body was barely recognizeable. The only distinctive thing about it was the Dark Mark on his left arm, faded but there.

"That's no way to die." I turned to my wife and nodded.

Why the hell did Neville turn? What happened to him to do this?

As I thought this, there was suddenly some rustling from in the back of the Alley. I pointed at where it came from and Daphne nodded. We got out our wands and slowly but surely made our way to it.

"Surprise, bitches!" was what Neville yelled out before he leaped out from behind the dumpster. Almost as soon as he did that, curses and spells started flying everywhere. Nothing was working.

Finally, he said, "You know, I never did get to show you something cool yesterday."

Just as he was about to attack, a streak of blonde came out of nowhere and leaped onto Neville's back.

"Die, you bastard!" yelled out Draco Malfoy as he drove a knife into Neville repeatedly. What the Bloody Hell is going on? Why is Draco Malfoy trying to kill Neville?

Not that I'm not happy someone is.

Wait a minute. This could be the break we're all looking for. Two birds with one stone. Malfoy kills Neville, and we get him to confess to the other murders.

Except that Malfoy was thrown off Neville and the son of a bitch apparated away, flipping us off again.

As Malfoy wiped the knife blade clean, he licked it with his tongue and then muttered something. Probably, if I had to guess, "Hmm…B-Positive" or some other sick shit.

"That how you do all your victims, Malfoy?" I shouted.

He looked up to me and my Wife and smirked.

"Enjoy the show, Weasel King?"

Great. Just great. Back to school day taunts. Typical Malfoy.

"If you hadn't gone psycho on him, we would have had him!" yelled out Daphne as she holstered her wand.

"And if I hadn't, you two would be dead!"

"We were doing fine, you bastard! You let him get away!" I shouted, walking up to the son of a bitch. Malfoy had sheathed his knife and now stood up, staring me eye to eye. Monster to man. Auror to Killer.

If Tonks hadn't decided to show up at that minute, things probably would have got bloody. Instead she spoke words. I couldn't understand them at first.

But then she spoke the words that would haunt me for the rest of my life.

We had to work with Draco Malfoy to get Neville.

I hope you enjoyed it.