*Wow! Thanks for all the follows and faves! And thanks to Grumylar, cassy1994, hotflower901, and sjrodgers23 for reviewing. I hope to post once a week, though not necessarily on a specific day of the week.

Over the course of the next few days, Harry went to the Ministry as usual. Taken from the big case he had been working on, he concentrated on catching up on all the paperwork he and Ron had blown off in the past six months. Ron was going to owe him big for that.

"Oi, any more messages?" Ron whispered across the desks they shared in their office.

Harry nodded.

"Anything promising?"

Narrowing his eyes, Harry questioned, "What do you mean, promising?"

"You know, any leads on the case?"

"Oh. A few who sent messages to all five victims."

They each went back to their respective tasks. After a while, Ron spoke up again.

"And what about . . . prospective dates?"

"Ron," Harry frowned. "I'm not in it for the dating service. It's strictly business."

He tried his best to keep a straight face. He didn't want to admit to Ron that he'd sent a message back to Ophidian for anything other than business, but he and Ron told each other everything.

"I contacted that first bloke," Harry confessed, "and he wrote back."

"And?" Ron's eyebrows rose in anticipation.

"And what? I told you, I'm not supposed to be looking for dates."

"Yeah well, it wouldn't hurt," Ron chuckled. "If you don't find someone soon, Hermione is going to start trying to set you up."

Ignoring Ron's comment, Harry continued to talk about the case. "So, I need to respond to these blokes in a way that keeps them interested, and gets information out of them without them figuring out that I'm an Auror."

"Just be yourself."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I can't be myself. I don't want them to know who I really am before we meet. I'm pants at letter writing. To be frank, I'm surprised the first one wrote back at all. My message was so stupid."

"Couldn't have been all that bad if he wrote back," Ron shrugged.

"I suppose. I'd rather talk to him. You know, some give and take in the conversation. Messages are so slow."

"Why don't you give him access to your portable floo? You can talk, but he won't be able to see you."

"That's brilliant, Ron. Why didn't I think of that? I could set it to receive calls for Snake Charmer in a addition to my real name. That should work, right?"

"I think so. It's new technology, and I don't know that much about it. But theoretically, it should work."

Later that evening, Harry experimented with his portable. He contacted Ron and asked him to call for Snake Charmer. When it worked, Harry was anxious to allow the contacts to call him. If he was being honest with himself, he would have admitted he was hoping for one in particular to respond.

Within an hour, Harry's portable roared to life.

"Hello?" a tentative voice called out. "This is Ophidian."

Harry cleared his throat. "Hello."

The connection was not as clear as a full sized floo would have been, but at least they could hear one another.

"Well, this is interesting," Ophidian said. "I don't know anyone else with a portable floo."

"I only got mine a few weeks ago," Harry told him.

"Ah, are you one of those people who has to have the latest thing?"

"Uh, no. I got it for work actually."

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I love new things. I was just curious. There's only so much you can learn about a person on paper."

"Yes, I agree, which is why I thought it would be nice to talk."

"There seems to be some interference. I can hear you, but not as well as I would if we were . . . face to face."

Harry could hear the innuendo in the man's voice. It made him shiver. He enjoyed the boldness of this man. He definitely wasn't like the club boys. He was a self assured man.

"Maybe in good time," Harry said. "In the meantime, you could tell me more about yourself."

"Hmm, are you trying to get me to tell you what I look like? I thought the beauty of this service was the anonymity."

"A little mystery is good, but don't you want to know what you're getting yourself into? I might look like a mountain troll or have buck teeth."

"Do you?"

Harry laughed. "Ok, I'll put your mind at ease. But I'm not describing myself. We'll stick to the rules of anonymity. I will say that no, I'm not a troll of any sort. I don't have buck teeth, but you'll have to take your chances on the rest of it if you're not willing to reciprocate."

"Let's live dangerously," Ophidian laughed. It was a low, husky sound that Harry very much enjoyed. "You've intrigued me as to what the rest of it comprises. I'm willing to take a chance if you are."

Harry grinned, and was glad the other man couldn't see it.

Ophidian told Harry a bit about himself. He was vague enough that Harry wouldn't be able to guess too much about him, but detailed enough to keep Harry's attention.

Like Harry, he enjoyed flying. He was decent at charms, but potions were where his passion lay. Harry listened as Ophidian told him of some of his adventures gathering ingredients in exotic countries. He was from money, Harry concluded. Potion Masters made a decent income, but it would have taken years to acquire the sort of wealth extensive travel required.

Harry shared some of his adventures, leaving out the parts about Voldemort being involved. The other man asked thoughtful questions and made comments that made Harry feel well attended.

By the time they'd finished their conversation, it was bedtime, though Harry didn't know how he was supposed to sleep. All he could think about was Ophidian's laugh. The sound was naughty enough to send tingles to his groin. He swore the man did it on purpose. As he lay in bed, he let his hand wander under the sheets. All the flirting and innuendo had kept him half hard throughout most of the conversation. He wondered if he had anywhere near the same affect on Ophidian. He doubted it. But the thought of another man lying in his bed, thinking about Harry brought him to full rigidity.

It didn't take long for him to pump out a satisfying orgasm, which left him drowsy. He took a moment to clean the mess off his stomach, then fell asleep nude with a smile on his face.

oOo

A few mornings later, Harry woke in a similar state as the night he spoke to Ophidian. He recalled quite a vivid dream about being sucked off by a snake unlike any Harry had ever seen in real life.

He took care of his condition in the shower, cleaned off and continued to get ready for work. Not that he had much to do there. Having made quite a bit of headway on his and Ron's paperwork over the past few days, Harry had to work slowly to make it seem as though he was busy. Shacklebolt was reluctant to give Harry anything else to work on, however. He wanted him to be free to pursue any leads in the dating service murders.

Harry hadn't even realized he'd closed his eyes until the portable on his wrist chimed, giving him a start.

Another contact. That brought the count up to six so far. As he read the message and glanced at the profile, his eyes widened.

"Ron. It's another one who could be him," he called to his partner.

"Blimey, really?"

"He's hit all five victims."

"What's the message?" Ron asked.

Harry read aloud, "Hello Snake Charmer, I found your profile interesting. I'd like to get to know you better. Take a look at mine and leave me a message. You won't be sorry."

"Well, he's confident," Ron commented.

"The name he's using is Silver Spoon. Makes him sound rich. Do you think that's what he's doing? Luring men who actually have money to him by pretending he has it too."

Ron shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

Harry replied that he liked what he saw in the man's profile, although in reality, Harry didn't believe a word of it.

"I guess I just wait now," Harry sighed. "At least it's something."

A few hours later, Harry received another message from Silver Spoon. It was longer than the first, and he obliged Harry by telling a bit about himself. He was tall, blond and had a weakness for shiny things, especially gold and boys.

Harry shook his head. So much for anonymity. When he told Ron, they shared a giggle.

"Sounds like Malfoy. Blond, rich and completely full of himself."

"You don't think Malfoy would lower himself to a dating service do you? He probably thinks he's the most eligible bachelor since Kirley Duke got married," Harry snickered. "Still, maybe he's hard up since his father was convicted. I haven't heard much about the Malfoys since the war."

"So, what are you going to do? Are you going to meet with this guy?"

Harry shook his head. "He hasn't suggested it yet. I don't want to scare him off. I'll lay it on thick, making it seem as though I'm wealthy. If this our man, he'll take the bait."

Harry added the new information to his parchment. Not much written yet. Undercover work was so slow going. To be fair, it had been less than a week since Shacklebolt had given him the assignment. But Harry was a man of action. He'd rather be out in the field chasing down what he could see, than sitting around waiting for something to happen.

Hermione wandered down from the Ministry library just before lunch with a stack of books on Pureblood traditions for Harry to read. He groaned loudly. He would definitely rather be out in the field than reading something he had absolutely no interest in.

"Harry, you have to have at least a working knowledge if you're going to claim to be a Pureblood."

"Ron's a pureblood and he doesn't know all this crap."

The man in question sat with his lips pursed.

"What," Harry frowned. "You do know all this crap?"

"Sort of. I mean, not the way the high society Purebloods do, but, yeah. You just need the basics." Ron picked through the books, leafing through a couple of them and handed two to Harry. "These should do."

"Hmph. Do you have any idea how long it took me to find those books, Ron?" Hermione crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm sure Harry appreciates it, love." He kissed her forehead. "But he appreciates having to read only two even more. Are you coming to lunch with us Harry?"

"Um, I'd better start looking through these. I'll catch up later."

Harry sat, pretending to be interested in learning all about Pureblood Etiquette and You. As soon as they left the office, though, he rolled up his sleeve to make a portable call.

"Hello? I'm afraid I can't see you."

"It-It's me, Snake Charmer," Harry said nervously. "Remember, we can't see each other on my portable."

"Oh, yes. Pity. Did you enjoy our talk the other evening?"

Harry blushed, thinking, yes. he. did. He cleared his throat. "Very much," he replied. "What about you?"

"Me?" Ophidian took in a deep breath and released it slowly. "The same."

Harry had the feeling he was being teased, as if Ophidian new exactly what Harry had done that night after their conversation ended. His cock twitched.

"So, what did I do to earn the pleasure of your company once more?" Ophidian asked.

"We never did get around to talking about Quidditch. I noticed your profile says you're an avid fan. What's your team?"

"I'm a Puddlemere United man myself. I've hardly missed a match. Their last match against the Harpies was brilliant."

"I have a friend on the Harpies." Too late, Harry cursed himself for giving that away. "Officially, that's my favorite team."

"Officially?"

"Well, I can't very well go around telling everyone the Ballycastle Bats are my true favorite because Finbar Quigley is so fuckin' hot."

"Why not? I would," Ophidian chuckled.

"Maybe you're just a bit more brave than me, then," Harry said quietly. Damn, how was this man getting Harry to say things he didn't want to?

There was a pause on the other end. "Are you not out?"

"Officially?" Harry tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a cough. "No, not officially. I don't know why I just told you that."

"You, sir, sound like a challenge."

Harry was afraid the man on the other end would decide he was more trouble than he was worth.

"And I love a good challenge," Ophidian finished. "Do you?"

"I've had my share," Harry chuckled.

"Oh, I doubt you seen as many as I have. I've overcome a lot in my life." Ophidian reflected. "I'm sure I can handle coaxing someone out of the closet."

For a brief moment, Harry heard vulnerability in Ophidian's voice. It was gone nearly the instant he recognized it. He wanted to hear more. There was a story there, and Harry was betting it was a fascinating one.

"I can be fairly stubborn," Harry said, continuing the banter.

"Then I shall have to do my best to lure you out."

Harry froze. Ophidian's words sounded almost sinister. The Auror in Harry immediately picked up on it. But Ophidian may not have meant it that way. What the hell was Harry doing flirting with a potential suspect anyway? He tried to compose himself and continue playing the game.

"The gauntlet has been thrown down."

Silence on the other end.

"Ophidian?"

"Something's changed. Have I said something wrong?"

Merlin, this man was perceptive.

"No. I'm afraid I get a little defensive about disclosing my homosexuality. My friends have been urging me on for a few years now. You have quite a task ahead of you. If you're still eager."

"You are by far the most entertaining man I've met in a long time. I think you want to come out. I think you want to be naughty and wild. But something is holding you back. I want to find out what that is and liberate you from yourself."

Harry took in a breath that sounded far too shaky.

"I must be going," Ophidian said, as if he hadn't just stripped Harry down to his core. "I have an appointment. I look forward to our next conversation."

"Yes," Harry swallowed.

The green flames disappeared and Harry was left wondering what the hell just happened. Ophidian went from a suspect in a murder case, to a flirtatious diversion, to a sage who could seemingly see into Harry's soul in one short tête-à-tête.

If he was the man the Aurors were looking for, he wouldn't be tripped up easily. Merlin, Harry hoped he wasn't that man.