The Brethren (Based on the book by John Grisham).

By snowflakey

Summary: Trumble is a minimum security wizarding prison, home to the usual assortment of relatively harmless criminals – drug dealers, bank robbers, swindlers, embezzlers, tax evaders, and three former Hogwarts students that call themselves The Brethren. They meet every day in a law library where they handle cases for other inmates, practice law without a license, and sometimes dispense jailhouse justice. And they spend hours writing letters. They are fine tuning a mail scam, and it's really starting to work. The money is pouring in.

Then their little scam goes awry. It ensnares the wrong victim, a powerful man on the outside, a man with dangerous friends, and The Brethren's days of quietly marking time are over.

Disclaimer: All rights belong to J. K. Rowling, John Grisham and their respective publishing houses. I just mix the characters, mess up the plot and read the reviews I get.

Rating: It's rated R for extortion, language, themes, suggestions, and basically because I don't trust myself later on. Nothing too scary first up, though.

Chapter Two

Though he was among the richest people under twenty-one in Britain, James Potter still drove his own muggle car around London. He didn't need or want a Surrey, or an aide, or a bodyguard. Sometimes an intern would ride with him and take notes, but for the most part James enjoyed the tranquility of sitting in muggle traffic while listening to the latest hits on the wizarding channel. Many of his friends, especially those who'd achieved the same status as him, had larger cars with drivers. Some even had limos.


You see, James Potter worked for the Ministry of Magic. He was an Auror – a very prestigious job. One that involved danger, intelligence and wit. But he rarely went on assignment.


Being an Auror was definitely an experience. But James Potter, former Head Boy and third In line for dux at Hogwarts, had been on precisely one assignment. Which involved lying flat on his face in scrub outside a dingy shed in the rain. The Ministry had received a "tip-off" that there would be a Death Eater meeting that day in that shed. The Death Eaters never turned up.

James had gone straight into Auror training out of Hogwarts, and, quite frankly, had been disgusted at the little they did. Almost all were too scared for their own lives or families to really do anything that would change the world. And besides, there was not enough funding. The current Minister for Magic spent more on government advertising than it did on defense. They were in a war, for crying out loud. And that was why James Potter joined the Order.

The Order of the Phoenix, known in short as just the Order, had been formed by Albus Dumbledore, and worked not against, but rather alongside the Ministry, handling cases the Minister wouldn't risk. The Minister would much rather keep his popularity and his limousine than actually do anything outright to Voldermort. That would be like writing his own suicide note.


Lord Voldemort and his band of Death Eaters were a rising evil in the wizarding world. They killed muggle-borns, muggles, muggle-lovers, and anyone not "pure". Like Hitler, but much more extreme. And if you tried to fight him, or made a stand against him, you could be sure as hell when you woke up the next morning you wife and children would have "disappeared", and a skull symbol would appear above your house or apartment.

For this reason, the Ministry was losing the battle. Badly.

James was smart. He knew he didn't want to be an Auror, but kept up his job.

Secretly to most people, though, he worked for Albus Dumbledore.

He was rich, but not too rich. Most of his friends were hotshot businessmen, and he liked to believe he had grown up a bit since Hogwarts. But he was still humble and generous to those who knew him well.

Having secretaries attending to business (making speeches etc. about the Dark side, doing research for Dumbledore, etc.) was a waste of time and money and privacy. Not that he didn't have the money or the time. If he ever sought higher office at the ministry, he certainly didn't want the baggage of a chauffeur wrapped around his neck. Besides, he enjoyed being alone. His office in London was a madhouse. He had five people bouncing off the walls, answering owls, opening files, doing meaningless things that he could have done himself. He was only an Auror, still in the final stages of training. But he was a popular Auror.

He was single, a widower. His wife, a pretty former Hufflepuff who he married straight out of Hogwarts, had died last year. She was nice, and they got on well, but he perhaps didn't miss her as much as he should have when she got caught by Death Eaters and killed in a shopping centre.

James lived in an apartment near his office. He lived quietly, occasionally stepping into the social scene that had attracted him and his late wife in the early years.

He drove his muggle car along the streets of muggle London, the traffic slow and cautious because of a horror crash a few days earlier. snow. He was quickly cleared at the security gate at the office he was visiting, and was very pleased to see a preferred parking space waiting for him, along with two plainclothes security personnel.

"Mr. Maynard is waiting," one of them said gravely, opening his car door while the other took his briefcase. Power did have its perks.

James Potter had never met with the Magical Intelligence Agency director in person.

They'd conferred twice on Auror conferences, years earlier, back when the poor guy could get around. Teddy Maynard was in a wheelchair and in constant pain, having been involved in the same "accident" Dumbledore had. The thing was, Teddy's problem was incurable. Terry, or Terrence, was stuck in a muggle wheelchair for life.

This meant that even people like James Potter, junior Aurors, got themselves driven out to his office anytime he needed them. Lake a half-dozen times in fourteen years, but Maynard was a busy man. His light-lifting was usually handled by associates.

Security barriers collapsed all around the Auror as he and his escorts worked their way into the depths of the MIA headquarters. The MIA had nothing to do with the Ministry, and was not directly involved with the Order. But occasionally the Order needed a favor, and this was one of the times the MIA was happy to return it. By the time James arrived at Mr. Maynard's suite, he was walking a bit taller, with just a trace of a swagger. He couldn't help it. Power was intoxicating.

Teddy Maynard had sent for him.

~*~

Inside the room, a large, square, windowless place known unofficially as the bunker, the Head of MIA was sitting alone, looking blankly at a large screen upon which the face of Auror James Potter was frozen. Like a muggle television on 'pause'. It was a recent photo, one taken at a black-tie fund-raiser three months earlier where James had half a glass of wine, ate baked chicken, no dessert, drove himself home, alone, and went to bed before midnight. The frozen image was appealing because James was so attractive. Dark brown hair that looked black – messy, but just enough to be fashionable. Piercing blue eyes that smiled at most citizens. Full hairline square chin, really nice teeth. He was almost twenty years old and looked it, too. He flew on his broomstick for at least half an hour every morning and every night, if possible. The MIA hadn't found a single bad habit. He enjoyed the company of women, especially when it was important to be seen with one. He had been, after all, the Head Boy of Hogwarts.

Both his parents were dead. He had no children to complicate life. His wife of two years had died in a Death Eater attack. A year later, his thirteen-year-old owl that he had kept through Hogwarts died too, so now, it was just James and Flog. Yes, that's right. Flog the Dog. Strange but true. James didn't have a religion, nor did he need one. The Auror trainer had told him that being an Auror was so unpredictable that you couldn't keep a regular schedule. Yeah right. Teddy pushed the button and the face disappeared.

James was famous, but not too much so, primarily because he'd kept his ego in check. On the outside, he was known as a bright and hardworking auror who was articulate, fiercely honest, and loyal, conscientious to a fault. Because his district was the home of four large defense buildings, he had become an expert on military operations. This was one of the reasons why Teddy Maynard had sent for him.

Teddy pushed the button again, and there was James' face. For a five hundred-year veteran of intelligence wars, Teddy seldom had a knot in his stomach. He'd dodged Avada Kedavra curses, hidden under bridges, frozen in mountains, poisoned two Czech Death Eaters, killed many of the Dark supporters, learned seven languages, fought two wars, tried to prevent the next one, had more adventures than any ten aurors combined, yet looking at the playful face of James Potter he felt a knot.

Teddy Maynard worked with, but not for Dumbledore. Not many of the public knew about him because he rarely ventured outside. The two men, about the same in age, had fought together in two previous wars, and were now trying to put a stop to this one. Together. Teddy Maynard, however, had a few extra twists thrown in that Dumbledore didn't know about. Nothing too drastic, just enough to ensure their plan went ahead successfully.

He-and the MIA-was about to do something the agency had never done before. They'd started with a hundred Aurors, fifty intelligence workers, four hundred and thirty-five Ministry of Magic workers, all the likely suspects, and now there was only one. James Potter. Auror for the Ministry of Magic and part of the Order of the Pheonix.
Teddy flicked a button and the wall went blank. His legs were covered with a quilt. He wore the same thing every day-a V-necked navy robe, plain with no adornments. He rolled his wheelchair to a spot near the door, and prepared to meet his candidate.

During the eight minutes James was kept waiting, he was served coffee and offered a pastry, which he declined. He was over six feet tall, pretty fit, was fastidious about his appearance, and had he taken the pastry Teddy would've been surprised. As far as they could tell, James never ate sugar. Never.


Not since he left Hogwarts, anyway.


Teddy thanked his lucky stars that James Potter had changed since Hogwarts, most likely from the lack of influence of his friends. James Potter used to be a carefree, hyperactive boy with a loud voice and strong leadership. Now, he had settled down and changed.

All Teddy Manyard wanted was the strong leadership side of James back. Strong enough to put a stop to one of the biggest wars the magical world would ever face. Teddy had the plans, the money, the wandpower. He just needed a foreman to lead things. A pretty face to reassure the public.

James was not stupid. He sipped his strong, sugarfree coffee as he reviewed a little research of his own. The purpose of the meeting was to apparently discuss the alarming flow of black market artillery into the country. This black market artillery being flying carpets. Again, James Potter had been Head Boy at Hogwarts, and in no way did he believe that someone as important as Teddy Manyard would send for him to discuss flying carpets. He had no inkling of the real reason he was here, but he was determined to be prepared. A soft buzzer sounded, the door opened, and the head of the MIA rolled out, wrapped in a quilt and looking older than what he really was. His handshake was firm, though, probably because of the muscle strain of pushing himself around. Lake followed him back into the room, leaving the two Hogwarts drop-outs to guard the door. They sat opposite each other, across a very long table that ran to the end of the room where a large white wall served as a magical screen.

After brief preliminaries, Teddy waved his wand and another face appeared. Another wave of the wand, and the lights grew dim. James thought it was great – wave your wand around, high-tech images flash instantly. No doubt the room was wired with enough magical sensors to monitor his pulse from thirty feet.

"Recognize him?" Teddy asked, talking about the face on the wall.

"Maybe. I think I've seen the face before." James had no idea.

"He's Natli Chenkov. A former Minister of Magic for Russia. Now a member of what's left of the Russian Government."

"Also known as Natty," James said proudly. He did know the guy after all. He was on the magical wireless a couple of weeks ago.

"That's him. Hard-line Death Eater, close ties to the Death Eater Military, brilliant mind, huge ego, very ambitious, ruthless, and right now one of the most dangerous men in the world."

"Didn't know that." James said, sipping his drink. "Why? What's he trying to achieve?"
A flick, another face, this one of stone under a gaudy military parade hat.

"This is Yuri Goltsin, second in command of what's left of the Russian magical army. Chenkov and Goltsin have big plans." Another flick, a map of a section of Russia north of Moscow. They're stockpiling arms in this region," Teddy said. "They're actually stealing them from themselves, looting the Russian muggle army, but, and more important, they're buying them on the black market."

"Where's their money coming from?"

"Everywhere. They're swapping oil for Israeli radar. They're trafficking in drugs and buying Chinese tanks through Pakistan. Chenkov has close ties with some mobsters, one of whom recently bought a factory in Malaysia where they make nothing but assault rifles. It's very elaborate. Chenkov has a brain, a very high IQ. He's probably a genius."

Teddy Maynard was a genius, and if he bestowed that title on another, then James Potter certainly believed it.

"So who gets attacked?"

"We do," said Teddy, almost somberly. Voldemort wants England, so by starting a was from Russia, he'll start another War. Think about it. Death Eaters fighting here already. More coming in to fight from Russia. We can try and fight one side, but both together will become invincible, and we will not be able to stop them. A year from now at the very latest, and chaos will be upon us,"

A year to save the world," mused James.

"That's right," said Teddy.

There was a long pause as James contemplated the end of the world. Teddy certainly let him. The knot in Teddy's stomach was significantly smaller now. He liked James a lot. He was indeed very handsome, and articulate, and smart. They'd made the right choice.

He was electable.

You see, what he was planning to do was twist the arm of England so that James became elected the Minister for Magic. That way, he and Dumbledore could infiltrate the Ministry and try and save this war from tearing England apart. James would be the figurehead, the one the public could trust, but in reality have a team alongside him, lead by Lily Evans, that would change the Ministry to become something powerful.

At that moment he was the most important man in the world of politics. He just didn't know it yet.

~*~

Lily Evans flicked on the light to her appartment and dumped her bag on the floor. She ran a hand through her shoulder length hair and sighed. James Potter. How could she work under him. Dumbledore had just given her her full assignment, which included, in short, taking over world politics to win a war that was long overdue.


And, yet again, she would do all the work. Just like how she had to do all the work at Hogwarts on any assignments in which they were paired up. Just like she had to do all the work when she was Head Girl, because the Head Boy was too lazy. And now, she would have to do all the work for James Potter while he sat there and looked pretty.


She ground her teeth in frustration. How could this be? She knew from his reputation at Hogwarts that James Potter was a slacker who lived in his own little world, and never did anything unless he absolutely had to. She knew what would happen. She knew that she and her team would be the ones planning the campaign for Minister out, and that she would write his speeches and pick out his outfits, and that he would get all the glory.


Was she jealous? More than a little. What she would give to be in his shoes …


~*~

James, that night, would give anything to be in anybody else's shoes right then. He was lonely, with no friends the comfort him but his owl and a chocolate frog. He flicked through a Wizard's Health magazine with the wizarding wireless turned on. He let out a deep sigh until he came across a page in Wizard's Health titled "correspondence".

He looked at the first ad.

Attractive, 23 year old male seeks male friend to talk to.

James could use a friend to talk to around his age. He took a look at the post office box number and got out a quill and parchment. What he didn't realize was, the ad was a "guy seeks guy" ad, and he was about to get himself into a gay extortion scam without even realizing it.

Sorry! I haven't updated in like, eternity! But I'm writing bits everyday now, so I promise the next chapter will be up faster.

Thanks go to

Zetta – MWPP will be on the same side in the end, just not yet *laughs evilly*

Starbjorn – lol!

Willow23 – Thanks! Hope you like this chapter!

Tribal Leader – Thankyou! I'm glad you liked it!

littlegoober – Thankyou!

Thanks for reading!