Disclaimer: I own not a single one of JK Rowling's work. And I don't own the song in this Chapter as well. I'm content in saying that Izzy is mine.
Chapter 4: Harry's Plans
It was Monday morning and as he promised his partner, Harry Potter was back at work. As of this moment, he's walking the hallways of the Ministry of Magic, wearing a smile on his face. He was approaching the Fountain of Magical Brethren when his best friend Hermione Granger found him.
"Harry! You're back! And looking good too!", Hermione said as they entered a service lift.
"Yeah. I'm back. Can't afford to miss more than a week's worth of work, can I? We got the Jones final trial this week. I can't miss that.", Harry said with a grin.
"Level four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being, and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office and Pest Advisory Bureau", the cool female voice of the elevator announced.
Harry expected Hermione to get out of the lift since she was currently working under the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures—still obsessing over her advocacy on house elf rights. He was surprised however, when she didn't join the crowd that went out of the lift.
"Isn't this your floor? Where are you going?", Harry asked her.
"With you! I need to talk to you, in your office", Hermione beamed.
"O—kay."
"Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services.", the female voice said.
"This is us!", Harry said brightly.
When they got into the office, noticing Valerie wasn't on her desk, Hermione started talking.
"So, spill the beans Harry! What's gotten into you?", Hermione asked, tapping her foot as she did so.
"What do you mean what's gotten into me?"
"I heard what happened last week. And now you're all cheery, bright and sunny if you will! And I am not liking the smile on your face—it seems as though you have something very sneaky planned", Hermione said, narrowing her eyes.
"A very sneaky plan? How do you even come up with things like this? Is it wrong to smile now, Hermione?", he feigned innocence with another smile.
"No. But that smile! That's the same smile you were wearing when you and Iz—erm—when you were trying to fool Ginny and make her jealous—er—in our sixth year, remember?", she modified her sentence, not sure how Harry would react to hearing Izzy's name.
"Ah. You mean that little charade with Izzy?", Harry showed no signs of being affected by the thought of Izzy, which surprised Hermione.
"Er—yeah."
"That's very observant of you, Hermione. I always wondered why you didn't consider being an Auror. But then again, I guess you're entirely dedicated to spew, aren't you?", he joked.
"It's S.P.E.W.! And don't change the subject! What is it that you're planning?!", Hermione demanded.
"Do you really want to spoil the big surprise? Hmm? Now, if I were you I'd get back to my office, resume my work and stop thinking about this. You're wedding's in a week, you have a lot in your hands, and you can't afford to be distracted. Don't worry, whatever it is that I am planning, you'll find out soon enough, okay?", Harry smirked as he led her out of his office.
Hermione's jaw dropped, as she was being maneuvered out of the Auror Headquarters like a display mannequin. She had no choice but to go back to her office when Harry shut the door in her face.
Meanwhile, Harry turned around, ready to greet Draco on his first day back. He stopped on his tracks when he heard that Kingsley was shouting at Draco.
"Where's Potter?! Where the hell has he been all week? You didn't think I would notice, did you?", Kingsley asked Draco.
"Er—he's not feeling well"
"He didn't file for a sick leave. No excuse owl as well. Care to explain that?"
"Oh I'm sure he just forgot. Probably just slipped off his mind. But you know, he told me he'll be back today."
"Right, right. Do you know where he is now? I really need an update on the Jones case."
"Oh is that all you need? I have all the files in here!", Draco said as he turned around to get the files.
"No. That's not what I need. What I really need is an update from him. Not from you. This is my way of checking if you are both doing your part of the job. Stop covering for Harry. Where is he, anyway?", Kingsley asked with a deep and stern voice.
Sensing that his partner was in danger, Harry spoke up. "I'm here, Kingsley, stop being so harsh on my partner. Here's the update for the Jones case. See? I always do my part.", Harry said as he handed Kingsley a thick-looking envelope.
Draco looked relieved.
"What happened to you, Potter?", Kingsley turned to him.
"Wasn't feeling well. But I'm better now! Really, I'm great!", Harry smiled his mysterious smile again, which made Draco raise his eyebrows and become suspicious just like Hermione.
"Are you sure? You know I'm quite disappointed, don't you? I was supposed to announce the new Head of the Auror Department this week. I wanted it to be you, but then you had to choose last week as you moment of irresponsibility. Why, Harry, why?"
"He didn't plan this, Kingsley. He's proved himself for almost two years now. Isn't that enough? Have you ever heard of anyone being considered to be the new Head of Aurors just two years after becoming one? He's great, and there's no one more competent than him for that job, and you know it. Give the post to Harry!", Draco tried to convince Kingsley.
"No, I'll tell you what. Give me a challenging and a major project. And I'll prove myself once more. Ah. I have an idea. Give me the Bellavich-de Lune case.",Harry said.
Draco and Kingsley raised their eyebrows at the same time.
But Harry ignored them. "It's a new one, isn't it? I've done some research—and I think you're going to like what I found. So, go on, send me to Greece. I want to investigate this case.", Harry asked him with a smirk on his face.
"The Bellavich-de Lune case? You want it? Draco, are you sure you two can handle this? I mean, we know very well that Potter might have a hidden agenda in taking this case.", Kingsley turned to Draco.
"No. Give it to us, give it to him. You know, he might be the best cover we'll ever have on this case. I mean, Everard Bellavich, the fourth, that is, is getting engaged to Isobelle de Lune—who happens to be the distant niece of Aurelius de Lune. It won't be suspicious at all, if Harry runs to Greece with the aim of stopping the engagement. Harry here is Izzy's ex-boyfriend, remember?", Draco said honestly.
"I guess you're right. But once both of you are already in Greece, I want you to find out exactly what aces de Lune has against Everard III. This is major work. The ministry of magic of Croatia and Greece has asked for our help. They can't be involved since this investigation concerns their own royals.", Kingsley explained.
"We want to know exactly why de Lune has such an iron grip on the politics of Croatia. And we want to prevent him from taking over Greece as well. You can see the dilemma here, can't you?", he asked them.
"Yes. I can. If Izzy doesn't marry within a year, the crown is passed on to Aurelius' daughter, Amanda de Lune. If she marries Everard IV on the other hand, and we don't discover Aurelius' ill-dealings, he still will have great influence on Greek politics. We don't want that happening.", Harry said. Kingsley was impressed for it was clear that Harry did his research on the topic.
"Okay Harry, Draco, I might give you this case, but this isn't final yet. I'd have to check with the other ministers and governors. I can only recommend you—it's up to their votes if you get the case or not. But I promise I'll let you know as soon as we arrive at the final decision.", Kingsley said.
"Great! I just hope it doesn't take too long, I mean, Izzy's birthday is on the 15th of May. We don't really have much time, do we?", Harry said.
"Of course we should have a decision before that time so that whoever it is that gets the case will be there on her birthday—on the engagement ball. But I don't expect a decision as early as next week. Anyway, it's not like you can leave England for Greece next week. We all have a wedding to go to, right? Ron and Hermione's?", Kingsley smiled at them.
"Yeah. And it's not like we're gonna meet Izzy if we go to Greece next week. She'll be at the wedding as well!", Draco added.
"Oh, will she be there?", Kingsley asked.
"Of course she will there! She's the maid of honor, didn't you know?", Draco asked the minister, who just shrugged.
"Anyway, I'll be reading these updates. See you on the trial on Wednesday, and on the wedding next week. I'll tell you who gets the Bellavich-de Lune case as soon as possible.", he said just before leaving the room.
When he was gone, Draco wasted no time in commending Harry.
"Nicely done. I knew you were gonna be back today, but I never expected you to bounce back so strongly. Really, Harry, you got yourself a perfect plan", Draco patted his back.
"It's all thanks to Marius, actually.", Harry replied.
"Oh, so you talked to Marius recently?", he asked.
"Yes. You see I contacted him by floo, since I wanted reliable news regarding the engagement. So he got this idea of me getting the Bellavich-de Lune case. He was the one who suggested to their Minister that they approach Kingsley. In our conversation, he briefed me as much as possible on the details of the case—he couldn't say much since he didn't know if Aurelius was watching their networks. But he'll be here next week for the wedding and he told me, he'd tell me more by then", he explained.
"Well his timing couldn't be more perfect. We really need this break, and you really need to get Izzy out of that engagement.", Draco said.
"Yeah. It really is the perfect timing.", he replied.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Lunch break was almost over when Harry found Draco shouting in front of the fireplace.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE JUST PRETENDING?", Draco shouted at the fireplace. He was obviously talking to someone through the floo network. Harry can't hear what the other person's reply was, but apparently it wasn't good for Draco shouted some more.
"YOU'RE BEING ABSOLUTELY STUPID! YOU MEAN YOU'VE BEEN PRETENDING FOR FOUR YEARS NOW? WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT? WHY'D YOU HAVE TO HAVE TO PRETEND THAT YOU TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT HARRY? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"
Harry's eyes widened with shock when he walked towards the fireplace and heard the voice of the other person. It was Izzy's voice.
"You don't understand, Draco! I had to leave England! I had to forget! It's the only way! I had to pretend not to remember him!"
"That's rubbish and you know it.", Draco replied more calmly.
"No it's not. If that's the only thing you can tell me right now, then I'd better go. I have a lot of things in my hands right now. I can't afford to talk to someone who's so unsupportive.", Izzy said harshly and in a flash, she was gone.
"Aaargh!", Draco groaned in frustration.
"D—Draco?", Harry called from behind him.
"Er—Harry! You're back! And you're early too! Good. Good. We can---er—prepare for the Jones trial", Draco said awkwardly.
"Uhm—were you—were you just talking—to—er—Izzy?", Harry asked.
"Oh. You—you heard? Uhm. Yes. I was.", Draco answered truthfully. He didn't see the point of lying when Harry obviously heard bits and pieces of their conversation.
"A—and did she just—say that she's er—only pretending to forget me?", Harry said uncertainly, but he kept his fingers crossed for the possibility that Izzy might have not forgotten at all.
Draco sighed. "Yes. She did. She didn't forget you Harry. She just wanted to run away from everything. She fe—fell in love with you when you were pretending to be a couple. I guess she found it too much to handle, watching you and Ginny together.", he said.
"Hah. This is crazy! This. Is. Absolutely. CRAZY!", Harry said, and he suddenly burst into hysterical laughter. Draco just stared at him.
"Now you've really gone mental", Draco said silently while Harry laughed.
"There's nothing hilarious about it! If you ask me, I really think this is so stupid! I can't believe I'm going to say this but, you two, no matter how great aurors you are, you are the two of the most stupid people I've ever met. You're running away from each other when you're obviously smitten with one another. How stupid is that?", Draco shook his head.
But Harry was still laughing.
"Would you cut it out? I'm trying to figure out why she's doing this! It's like she just threw you down the lake to drown or somethi—oh! Oh, right!", Draco's face was full of realization. At this, Harry stopped laughing.
"What? What is it?", Harry asked, and watched Draco rummage through the drawers of his desk. When he opened the third drawer, he stopped and withdrew from it something very tiny, obviously shrunken.
When Draco restored it to its original size, Harry found that the tiny object was actually a worn-out looking box. Draco handed it to Harry.
"What's this?", he asked.
"Open it and find out", Draco replied.
The box was faded, but by the looks of it, it once was a colorful box. Harry opened it carefully, revealing several of its contents—all looking perfectly well kept, unlike their container.
At the top of the pile of things was a sheet of parchment—it was a letter, to no one in particular. It read:
It's time to say goodbye. It's time to let all this stupidity go.
There's no use holding on to something that isn't even there, right?
Today I'm letting this box drown,
with the hope of killing all the memories its contents ever gave me.
And now, it's time.
When you love someone so deeply, they become your life.
It's easy to succumb to overwhelming fears inside.
Blindly I imaged I could keep you under glass
Now I understand to hold you, I must open my hands and watch you rise
Spread your wings and prepare to fly, for you have become a butterfly
Fly abandonedly into the sun.
If you should return to me, we truly were meant to be
So spread your wings and fly, butterfly
I have learned that beauty has to flourish in the light
Wild horses run unbridled or their spirit dies
You have given me the courage to be all that I can
And truly feel your heart will lead you back to me
when you're ready to land
I can't pretend these tears aren't overflowing steadily
I can't prevent this hurt from almost overtaking me
But I will stand and say goodbye
For you'll never be mine
Until you know the way it feels to fly
Harry recognized the handwriting. It was Izzy's. Harry looked into its contents one by one. He found the sprig of thyme he gave her at the Burrow, several stolen pictures of them taken by Colin, some chocolate frog cards they wrote on, transfiguration scrolls with a horrid-looking drawing of Filch, the ribbon Harry had once stolen from her hair, the ring Harry wove out of grass and gave to her, and the locket which was his Christmas present 4 years ago.
Seeing the locket, he took it, and held it in his hand. He now had two if Izzy's locket. Up until now, Izzy's heart shaped locket remained in his possession for he never had the chance to give it back to her. The locket he was holding now, he always assumed it contained a picture of her and Draco. He thought she and Draco were a couple but then when she left for Greece, Draco made it clear that it wasn't him whom she was smitten with, it was Harry. And so Harry summoned the courage to try to open the locket, and hoped against all odds that the locket would open for him.
The locket only opened for two people. Izzy, who owns it, and the person whom Izzy loves, the person whose picture is inside the locket. Harry held the locket, pulled the two faces apart, and held his breath as it opened. Inside, there was a tiny picture of him and Izzy, with Izzy occasionally resting her head on his shoulder, and Harry stroking her hair.
"Draco, what—why? What is all this?", Harry finally asked.
"Izzy threw that into the lake four years ago. She didn't know I was there at the dock as well, and I had been watching her. After she threw that box, she watched the ripples on the surface of the lake, and she ran away. She never knew that I saw her, that I used a summoning spell on this box, and retrieved it when she had gone away.", Draco said.
"Why—why are you giving it to me?"
"What am I going to do, keep it? I intended to give it to you as soon as you gather the courage to go after her. But it seems as if I've waited too long for that to happen. So I'm giving it to you now. Run after her Harry, you don't have much time. She remembers you! She's only pretending not to! She's running away, just like you did", he said.
"I—I have to go to Greece right now! I really should, right?", Harry was suddenly excited and nervous at the same time. He paced the length of their office, right in front of Draco.
"Harry!! Harry! Stop it! You're making me dizzy! No no no. You can't go to Greece right now. We still have to work on the Jones case. You're hysterical if you think I'm covering you for one more week. And besides, Ron and Hermione's wedding will be next week. She'll be there for sure.", said Draco.
"Right. Yeah, you're right. I have to calm down. I already had a plan this morning. And I think I'm pushing through with it.", Harry said.
"What exactly is your plan?"
"You were there, remember? We're taking the Bellavich-de Lune case. I really want to discover what evil and foul things Aurelius de Lune has hidden in his closet. I'm sure he's blackmailing the Bellavichs for something. He gets away with anything in Croatia, and now he's trying to control Greece and Izzy as well! I'm gonna have to break them up. She can't be married to Everard Bellavich. If that happens, Aurelius will have free reign in Greece as well."
"So, you're gonna present yourself as Everard's competition? You know the royal marriage laws allow that, really. But you have to prove that you're more competent than Bellavich.", Draco said.
"That's how it will appear for the everyone else but Izzy. Well, she likes pretending, right? I think it's time to let her have a dose of her own medicine. I'll run after her, but I'll pretend not to. Let's see how she reacts to that. I want to see what she'll look like once she's beaten at her own game.", Harry smirked.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
A/N: Okay. It's still Harry's POV, I know. But just hang on a bit. Izzy will be in the next chapter. I'm still building up Harry's state of mind here. I don't want him to be all weepy in this story. I'd hate for him to be all sentimental and full angst. So I had to make sure Harry's ready to strike back when Izzy returns. ;p