Chapter 4: Walking and Whingeing

When I arrived at the Ministry I was almost relieved, as Melody was decidedly not happy that I was leaving again. After listening to her for almost all of the previous evening and pretty much all of that morning, it was good to get to the noise and chaos of the Ministry so I could have a bit of peace. She'd said all the right things, that I was an academic not an Auror, that I had no business being on the trip with Harry, that I was jeopardizing my position at Hogwarts and that whatever training I had received had in no way properly prepared me for my task. I'd spent the night in the spare room, as after telling me all the reasons I shouldn't go I had tried to rebut her issues, but somehow we'd ended up shouting at each other. She took the dog, went to the bedroom and shut the door, leaving me no other option but the spare room.

Once I'd arrived at my floor I pulled out my badge and made it to my desk; somehow before I had a chance to even say 'Good morning' Edith was lifting a cup of tea in my direction. "You have no idea how much I need that, thank you. What is it this morning? Anything before nine?" I sat my backpack down on the floor and took a sip of tea.

"No, just the meeting with Head Auror Robards, Aurors Potter and Weasley and then a short meeting with Agent Boot at the practice range. After that your schedule just says 'out of office'; that's it."

She didn't look particularly happy, and when I saw the stack of folders on her desk I figured out why almost immediately; she'd be stuck doing paperwork the entire time I was gone, however long that was going to be. Definitely not enough to keep her busy, and she would be bored as hell. "Shit, Edith, I had plans, too. Ok, hold on a second." I went into my office, rummaged around on my desk and collected the newspapers that I had been reading the day before. I started to head out to her desk but she was already sitting in the chair next to my desk, so I sat down. "I'm probably not going to be able to take all this stuff with me, and there are still a lot of boxes to go through, so I need to you to take the lead on this."

"Oh thank Merlin." Edith sighed and leaned back in her chair, letting her notepad and quill fall to her lap. "The thought of all those reports…"

"I guessed as much. Horrible waste of a Hogwarts education." Especially for a Slytherin. I took another sip of tea. "Ok, you know about the disappearances, and what I told you about my newest book, so…"

"Picked up a copy last night on my way home, plus your other books." Edith looked down at her shoes. "I'm sorry, but I haven't read them."

"Not a big deal, Edith. Not everybody's cup of tea. I've been through them and I didn't see anything too objectionable to wizards, well the first one, probably…and the textbook…ok, if you were a wizard who hated Muggles you'd probably hate all of my books, but see what you think. I have no idea if you'll be able to contact me or not, Harry hasn't told me anything and I have no idea what the proper procedures are, but if you can contact me send me anything and I'll fill you in as best I can."

After walking out of Robards' office with Harry I didn't feel any better about the whole situation. I figured there'd be more to our little expedition than "go see what you can find out," that they had more clues than the burnt book, but that was really it. The only thing that made me feel any better was that we were going to be disguised, as I was somewhat known in the Wizarding community but Harry was internationally famous. Even though we were going to be in a Muggle village in case any of the "interested parties" were around we needed to look like, well, not us. Ron suggested that I go see Luna Scamander, as he thought that the giant beard she gave me at the New Year's Eve party a couple of years ago was hilarious, but Robards yelled at him to stop cracking wise and get his ginger ass to work.

Harry and I left the two of them going over a map and I followed Harry down a hallway towards a small room that looked like a crazy hair salon crossed with the costume room of a theater department. When we entered a middle-aged witch looked up from her Daily Prophet, threw the paper onto the floor and started clapping her hands.

"Potter, it's been ages. Can I finally…"

"No Beatrix. Not this time." He looked over to me. "There's an Auror on staff who likes the spiky hair all in black thing, I think you call it bunk."

That made me laugh. "Punk?"

The witch came over and stood in front of us. "That's it. I'm thinking a blue Mohawk, leather chaps and a lot of tattoos. Ooh and a nose ring!"

Harry shook his head. "No tattoos, definitely not. Ginny hates them, what would happen if they didn't wear off? Like Chumley?"

Beatrix shook her head. "That was a mistake. One time, one time I mess up and I hear about it for years." She looked at us, and then took out her wand and began waving it around me, causing slight yellow streaks to move around me. "So what are we doing today?"

"Nature tourists in Ireland." Harry gave her a piece of parchment and she looked at it.

"Bloody boring. Ok, let's get started."

About an hour later Harry and I left the room, him with dark red, shaggy hair and a goatee while I was, well, let's just say I was happy with the results. Instead of my thinning blonde hair I had shoulder length chestnut colored hair, a full beard and grey eyes. Both of us looked as if we'd slept in our clothing a few weeks, as it was sufficiently outdoorsy and frayed at the right spots. We arrived back at my office so I could pick up my bag and go meet Terry Boot at the practice range, and when we stood in front of Edith she looked up at us strangely.

"I'm sorry, he's not in at the moment. Can I take a message?"

"It's me, Edith." I thumbed over to Harry. "And that's Harry."

She put her quill down on the desk and leaned back in her chair. "Merlin's pants, I would never have guessed. Mr. Potter, is that really you?"

When we arrived down at the firing range I thought we'd try to fool Terry, but Harry didn't say anything. As we walked in the door Terry stood motionless at the cubicle for a few minutes and then sat down in the only chair in the room. I didn't want to say anything, as I thought he might recognize the voice. My illusion was shattered almost immediately.

"Glad you're finally here, Professor. We've got a lot to go over and a very short time to do so." He looked over to Harry. "Good one, Potter. You look like a Weasley."

What the fuck? "Oh come on, how did you know?" I looked at Harry, and then back to Boot. "I don't look anything like I usually do."

"Same height, you walk the same way, you're standing with your weight on your left foot and Potter…well, I know Potter.

"Shit." I took a look at Harry. "Do you think I could fool Melody?"

Harry shook his head. "No time, Hank. Sorry." He looked over to Terry. "Send him up to my office when you're done."

Once Harry had left Terry looked at me sternly. "This goes against my better judgment and all of my training, but I don't have a choice. This is a temporary license, and I'm only going to approve it if you can demonstrate proficiency. I expect better than yesterday." He walked over to the range without saying a word, so I followed him, and when we got to a cubicle with a box on top he stopped. "I'm issuing you two firearms, the Walther and the Beretta. The ones we used yesterday are full-Muggle weapons but these have been adapted for non-Muggle use. There are two holsters for you, one is a side holster, that's for the Beretta, and the second is a back holster for the Walther. The holsters are enchanted, you'll never feel the weight or the straps, you can sit comfortably in any position, and they don't show up on any Muggle scanning devices. They don't create any tell-tale bulges in your clothing, either, but you do have to wear a shirt underneath. I would tell you why if you were a wizard but you're not."

I started to reply that I was actually 1.3% wizard but thought better of it. He handed me the empty holsters, and after realizing I had no idea whatsoever what to do with them Terry showed me how to put them on. He was absolutely right, it was like they were barely there. I had to feel with my hand at the small of my back to make sure the holster was actually there.

"Now then." Terry picked up the handguns and handed them to me, grip first, and I put them in their respective holsters. "These are slightly modified from what you used yesterday. The clips auto-reload four times before they need to be replaced and will automatically disengage when empty. It's magic, that's all you need to know. The main thing is that the safety can be controlled by a nonverbal command, but with your skills it's doubtful that you'll be able to make them work. Load a clip and give it a try."

I loaded a clip as Terry took a few steps back. Soon the targets began to appear, and I held the Beretta at the targets and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened, and I looked over my shoulder at Terry. He remained motionless, and didn't say anything, so I tried again, but nothing happened until I physically took off the safety. After squeezing off a few rounds I turned the safety back on and put the Beretta back in its holster.

Harry and I arrived in Ireland out in the country at a small house that looked like it hadn't been occupied in at least ten years, as it seemed to be falling apart and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Before I could even ask Harry told me that we were in a small Auror owned property in the country, a house they used as a safe house of sorts. While I was looking around the place Harry walked over to a cupboard, tapped the door with his wand and then reached inside to find several envelopes, some of them rather large. After stuffing the enveloped into his jacket Harry shouldered his large backpack and headed towards the door, saying that we had a lot of hiking to do before we made it to our campsite for the night.

Luckily the weather was decent and we made good time, but I don't know if I was just out of shape or tired from the lack of sleep the night before or whatever because when Harry stopped and declared we had arrived at our site I half way threw my pack down and almost fell onto the grass. "Son of a bitch, Harry. I mean, I know Aurors have to be in good shape and all, but shit, I'm a professor." I pulled back my hair and tied it into a ponytail. "Fuck, I knew the hair and the beard were a bad idea. Ok, how far is the village?"

Harry sat down and pulled a map out of the pocket of his jacket. "Um, let's see. If we make good time we should be outside of the village before the sun goes down. tomorrow."

I took a deep breath. "You're got to be fucking kidding."

Harry laughed at me. "No, I'm fucking not." I looked at him as if he'd grown another head and the both of us started laughing. "Ginny hates it when I swear, but if I kind of look like Ron…oh well, come on, we've got a tent to put up. You've got to help me, since outside the tent we're both Muggles until further notice."

Once we'd put up the tent and I'd said a few choice words Harry did the protective spells, unzipped the tent flap and we stepped inside. It was just like all wizarding tents, amazingly larger on the inside than on the outside. Harry put down his pack and sat down on one of the cots, and I literally fell into mine. I was fucking exhausted. I took off my glasses and rested an arm over my eyes. This was fucking ridiculous. I looked like a hermit or a drummer from a crappy band, I was sweating my ass off and we were going to tear down everything in the morning and walk all goddamned day to get to the village.

"Oh, Hank, there's one for you in here."

I lifted my arm to see Harry next to me, holding out an envelope. I took the envelope and recognized the writing immediately; it was from Melody.

Dearest Hank,

I am sorry for last night and this morning. I know I shouldn't have been so horrible to you, but to be honest I'm worried. I'm worried that all of the things that happened before are starting again, that even with the extra training you've received you'll still be in danger. How could they send you out there with only a few hours of training and your skills? I'm sorry, love, but you aren't much of a wizard. Honestly, I wonder about that lot. If that's their usual level of preparation then I'm frightened to think about the survival rate of new staff.

Don't worry about things here; I will take care of everything for you while you're gone. Above all listen to Harry and Ron and for Merlin's sake don't do anything stupid. Remember what you say, that you're a lover, not a fighter. I promise to remind you of that when you get home. I had lunch with Hermione today and she reminded me of things yet again. I still don't know how she and Ginny do it, every day there's a chance their husbands might not come home. Frightens the bloody hell out of me.

Received another note from Edith, asking about Spit. She also promised to keep me updated when she could, and she asked if we could have lunch later this week, something about your books. I'm not sure what that's all about, but I'm hoping she'll have an update for me by then, or better yet you'll be home and the three of us can go together. I'm still not sure I like you having an assistant that young, but I trust you. Why do you have an assistant, anyway? I thought that you had to be fairly high up in the department for that. I've been an assistant editor at Witch Weekly, longer than your two-day stint with the Ministry, and I don't have an assistant!

I'm sorry, Hank. I should've realized all the things you were going through. I'll make it up to you when you come home.

Love,

Your Melody

I sat up and folded the letter and stuck it in the inside pocket of my jacket which I was still wearing, even though I was "sweating my arse off" as Ron says. Harry was busy reading a large folder so I didn't disturb him; instead I got up and tried looking through the cupboards until I found a kettle. Somehow or other the faucet worked in the small sink, so I busied myself making tea, and while doing that I almost smacked myself in the forehead. Of course I knew how the faucet worked, magic. You would have thought that living in the wizarding world, let alone being married to a witch would make things like the faucet working in the middle of nowhere normal, but every now and then something like that would happen. I guess I must have been laughing to myself as I heard Harry speak, but I didn't catch what he said.

"Sorry, what's that?"

"I said, I take it you had a funny letter?"

I shook my head. "Not really, the letter was from Melody. I'm just laughing because the faucet freaked me out. You'd think living here this long would make me used to stuff like that."

Harry folded up the file and took off his glasses. "Took me years, and to be honest every now and then something takes me off-guard, usually something of George's."

The kettle sang its happy song and Harry and I busied ourselves making tea; he pulled a tin of biscuits out of his pack and for a while we sat silently, munching biscuits and drinking tea. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer.

"How do you do it, Harry? With Ginny, being an Auror, the whole could be killed tomorrow thing?"

Harry sat there for a while, and I didn't say anything. Finally he cleared his throat. "Well, it's always been that way for me, really. You know what it was like when I was at Hogwarts. Well, you've read and heard about it, but it always seemed to be lurking around the corner. The days when the only things I had to worry about were Quidditch and essays, those were the good days. Things got complicated very quickly. After Voldemort was gone, it's…it's just what I knew. Ginny and the rest of the DA went through some awful things, so…"

I took a sip of my tea. Harry and I had talked about this topic somewhat before, but somehow it was different this time.

"Look Hank, Ginny and I know the risks. We also know what it would be like if there weren't Aurors out there every day making sure people are safe. She knows that I couldn't sit in an office somewhere and push parchment, it's not me. She knows that and she understands. It doesn't make it easy sometimes, that's for sure. If I may ask, why the questions? Melody?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Blew up big time at me last night and this morning. Said there was no reason I needed to go, I'm a crap wizard, shit like that. Slept in the spare room last night."

"Well, she is right. You are a crap wizard."

"Fuck off, Potter."

"Sorry, couldn't help it. She's right on the other things, though. It is dangerous that you're out here, but Ron thinks you're connected to this and I don't disagree."

The next day came entirely too early for me, and even though Ginny always complained that Harry never liked to get up in the morning he was up and ready to go at the crack of fucking dawn. After a quick cup of tea and some cold breakfast we set about taking down the tent, and as soon as it was stowed away we shouldered our packs and headed off towards the village. Harry filled me in on our cover story, and unfortunately it hit a little too close to home for me, which he apologized for in advance. Ron had decided that I was a writer who had decided to take in the Irish countryside by living in a tent for a few months because my long-time girlfriend had left me, and Harry was my friend who decided to go along to keep me from chucking myself in front of a bus. I made a mental note to find a way into Ron's office and do something horrible to him, like eat all of his chocolate or something. Definitely a job for George to help with when I got back.

Luckily for me a light rain began to fall, making the hike somewhat bearable. I'd always wanted really long hair, but the combination of hair and beard was beginning to get to me. We stopped in a village on our way and had lunch and a pint at the pub, mostly because I was whining, or whingeing as Harry reminded me, that I was starving and my feet hurt. When we made it back on the trail Harry considered our pub stop a good test, as nobody seemed to take us for anything except hiking Muggles.

The rest of the day went fairly well, as Harry and I talked about a number of subjects, most of them nowhere close to the reason we were walking through Ireland, and one topic we kept coming back to was college, specifically what it was like for me in America. After explaining how everything worked Harry laughed, saying that if Hermione lived over there she'd probably be on her eleventh doctoral degree, and then he fell silent. I guess the gears were working as I didn't say anything, but almost a mile down the trail and five subjects away he returned to the university topic, asking me if I thought it would be beneficial in the wizarding world. I told him I thought it would, as students would be better prepared in the work place, and some would have advanced, specialized training.

As the sky began to grow dark Harry took out his map, and I know I thanked Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha and every other deity I could think of when we turned off of the trail and headed to the campsite. It didn't take us as long to put up the tent this time and after Harry put up the protective spells we were inside. Since it was my turn to cook I decided to make breakfast because the cold breakfast that morning hadn't cut it. Once we'd eaten and cleared everything away Harry and I grabbed a beer from the little fridge and sat at a table. He spread out the map of the area and before I could even ask he answered my question.

"Ok, Hank we're here." He looked to find something to write with, so I handed him an ink pen from my pocket. "Thanks. Right, we're here and the village is here. Not more than an hour, um, two since you keep whingeing. We'll go slowly. It's a small village, and the house is on the outskirts. Not sure if we'll go there straightaway, might go to the pub first and see what we can find out. Buying a round probably wouldn't hurt, help loosen some tongues."

"Please tell me we don't have to get up so early tomorrow." I took a sip of my beer. "I mean, come on."

"Melody's right, Hank, you'd be a horrible Auror." He folded up the map and put it inside a file folder. "All right then, let's knock off early. Mind if I listen to the wireless?"

"Help yourself, I'm crashing."

I woke to the smells of bacon, always a good way to start the day, and unlike yesterday I actually didn't feel too bad. Sure, my legs hurt a bit, but it wasn't the horrible stiffness of the previous morning. Harry and I polished off breakfast, and then we took off, packs on our backs, heading down towards the village. I tried to get myself back into the frame of mind that got me to the UK in the first place; depressed because Janine had dumped me, sure there wasn't any hope for me, doubting myself and my career, irritable…and I just couldn't do it. Every time I thought about something crappy that Janine did I remembered how Melody made everything better, and actually I was happy that I couldn't even remember a lot of the things that Janine did.

"It's not working, Harry."

"What's not working?" He looked at me oddly. "What are you talking about?"

"Ron's cover story. I'm trying to remember how I was when I got here, well, not here here, you know what I mean. I keep thinking of all of the good things that Melody's done and I can't…" Harry stopped walking, and it took me a moment to realize, so I walked back over to him. "What?"

"Think about what would happen if Melody left you." Harry looked at me seriously. "Or worse."

That hit me like a ton of bricks. "Oh fuck me."

Harry smiled and chucked me on the arm. "There, think of that when the time comes. Now come on, it's only over that hill."

That night since we'd effectively established our cover story Harry decided to light a campfire; camping with a wizard definitely had its advantages, as one quick spell with the wand and the campfire was roaring wonderfully. I watched a log start to catch fire and then remembered what Harry had said, that outside the tent we were Muggles.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to not use, um, you know outside the tent?"

"Muggle repelling-spell. The radius isn't that large, but large enough. Ok, ready to go over everything again?"

"Good grief. Sure. You should have been a teacher, Harry. I think I've got it all memorized by now."

Harry shook his head at me. "Kind of the point, isn't it? Besides, Ron often finds things on the third or fourth go-round that we've missed. You tell me this time."

I sighed and shook my head. "Fine. Village has about 600 people in it if you count cats and dogs, there's really only a pub and the post there. Oh, a small school and another shop that sells pretty much everything. Most of the people there work in the fishing industry, so either they're back every day or gone for weeks at a time. You couldn't detect anything with your sneakoscope and didn't see anything that would make you believe that anyone magical lives there or used to live there. Since the house that burned down is out of the way most people don't know anything about it except for the one old guy who finally started talking after the third round of drinks, and he said his father helped build the place in the fifties because the house that was on the property before fell down. Other than…" Wait a fucking second. The fifties. The house was built in the fifties.

"What is it, Hank?" Harry leaned forward. "You look like you just thought of something."

"When I worked with Draco Malfoy a couple of years ago everything centered on land and houses. You know, the WLF trying to steal Muggle land. A lot of the houses on the land that the wizards lost were built in the fifties, after the war. The Muggle war, World War two. The Muggles built new houses because of the bombings and maybe this is the same thing. We never looked at Ireland because, well, we didn't need to. Harry, maybe this is the same thing, except instead of changing the Muggles' memory they just burned the place down, but that doesn't make any sense. Why would they do that? Just to piss off the Muggles? They'd have to build a whole new house, and it would be obvious to the Muggles that someone had moved in. What happened to the family that used to live there? I know you told me but I can't remember."

"They left years ago, but nobody could tell us why. And nobody said anything about why the house was abandoned, either. Hank, I think you've hit on something. It's as good a place to start as anything." Harry looked excited, and then his face fell a bit. "Malfoy knows more about this than anybody else, doesn't he?"

"I guess. I know he has a ton of books and he did almost all of the research, plus he talked to a lot of people. I really just helped him compile it, actually."

I watched the flames flicker across Harry's glasses as he sat and watched the fire. "Not really what I wanted to do, but can't be helped. We need to tell Ron that he has to talk to Malfoy."

I know I didn't mind, but it was obvious that Harry wasn't looking forward to it at all. I knew some things about Draco's past, I'd heard the stories, and how he was horrible, downright evil to Harry, Ron and Hermione when they were at school. I had a hard time reconciling the Draco Malfoy that I knew with the stories of Draco Malfoy at Hogwarts. I wasn't sure what to say to Harry, but it was out of my mouth before I could stop myself. "Harry, Draco once told me that he's not the same person he was back then, that he hopes we've all changed from the people we were, that we've grown up. How do you do it?"

Harry sat in front of the fire quietly, and I noticed that his right leg was bouncing up and down slightly. "Time. It's taken a lot of time. When he was up before the Wizangamot, right after the war, after everything started going back to normal I asked Kingsley to let me talk to him. When I went to where they were holding him, I was…I don't know what I was. He was different. Said it was like everything he knew was a lie, and that he realized everything he'd ever done was wrong. I came the closest I've ever come since the war to actually wanting to kill someone, right there. Why should I believe him? I knew that since I'd won out over Voldemort that I'd get off easy. I was a hero. The thing that stopped me was that when I looked into his eyes I saw that he wanted me to do it. I realized that if I did it I'd be no better than the Death Eaters, justifying killing someone because it was the right thing to do in some twisted way of thinking. I kept seeing him up in the Astronomy tower, the night Dumbledore died, and I knew he couldn't do it. I knew then, but I buried it." He reached down, grabbed his bottle of beer and took a large drink. "People don't understand, they can't really, but I do. He was put on this path by his father, trapped, no way out, exactly the same way that I was, just on a different side. Nobody should have to go through that, so we started talking. I don't think he believed I wasn't just trying to soften him up before I killed him. It's taken a long time, but we've managed to…well, I don't know what you would call it. He does a lot that nobody knows, charity work. Never takes any credit. I think in his own way he's trying to make up for all of the horrible things his family has done over the years. What they did to Hermione…" Harry shuddered and looked away. "Ron's the one that…he's managed to deal with it all some way. He's the one who said that Malfoy should work unofficially for the Aurors, that Malfoy has connections and a name recognition that will get him into places that we'd never be able to go. 'He's our Snape, Harry.' That's how he explained it to me, and it makes sense. Doesn't make it easier. I'll never forget what happened, but I can forgive. Up to a point."

Holy shit. I had no idea what to say after that, but then something popped into my head, a memory. "Harry, I don't get it. Ron doesn't act like he's the one who suggested that Draco work for the Aurors or the Ministry. When Draco spoke for me in front of the Wizangamot…well…"

Harry nodded. "I know. He doesn't like Malfoy at all, but he said that he's useful. Who's the best player you know at wizard's chess, Hank? Ron. We see something in front of us, but Ron's thinking five moves ahead and what your next five moves will be. I've given up trying to figure it out, I just let Ron put a plan together and go with it."

Later that night after we'd retired to the tent Harry sent off a message by using one of the cabinets in the kitchen area, saying that it worked something like the vanishing cabinet, and of course I wasn't sure what the hell he meant, so Harry gave me the basics. He also told me about Draco and the vanishing cabinet, and once he'd started I remembered the story and what happened afterwards, but there was no way I was going to interrupt him.

I figured there'd been enough recounting of painful stories, so I took a look at my watch, stretched my legs and announced I was going to bed. Sure, I probably should have sat there and talked about things with Harry, I know Melody would have been angry with me for going to bed, but at some point and time there's just too much talk, too much out in the open and it's time to just put a cap on things and change the subject or do something altogether different. I figured I'd gauge things in the morning and go from there.

The next morning was cold and rainy, as well as the next and the next. We went into the village several times but we hadn't really found out anything. Well, I take that back. We did find out that one of the waitresses was married but sleeping with the cook, that I could buy cigarettes in the shop and smoke them without getting yelled at by Melody and that Harry and I are slobs. By the fifth day of staying in the tent the place reminded me of my college dorm room; clothes everywhere in piles, socks, empty teacups and beer bottles, a bottle half-full of water that was turned into an improvised ashtray and a sink full of dirty dishes. The fact that Malfoy was going to be involved somehow, the recounting of the stories, the eventual telling of my cover story to the regulars at the pub and the fact that classes started at Hogwarts the following day made me and Harry irritable. I tried to hide it by reading a lot and smoking, and Harry? Harry didn't say a whole lot. He read reports, looked at maps and generally just kept to himself. So much for an exciting Auror mission. Instead of the excitement I expected it was a colossal exercise in patience. I should have known it would have been like that but somehow I had a different picture in my head.

Finally on the morning of the sixth of September, after examining the burnt out house and walking around the area looking for clues for the millionth time Harry got a note when we returned back to the tent. At that point I didn't even bother to ask if there was any Auror mail, I just flopped down on the bed and tried writing a letter to Melody, but everything sounded like I was whining so I lit it on fire and threw it out of the tent. I lit up a cigarette and Harry looked over at me, irritated. He usually didn't mind the smoke, as he did something with his wand to make it all get sucked into a little, shit, I don't know, negative energy sphere thing that sucked all the smoke into one spot where it congregated and eventually turned into a solid little ball that I threw out of the tent before I went to bed. This time, though, he hadn't done the spell and the smoke went over towards him.

He started looking through the mail and gave me hell without even looking at me. "Merlin's pants, Hank. If you don't…"

"Sorry, you didn't do the…" I noticed Harry was smiling as he was reading a letter. "What's up?"

"Better put that out and help me clean. We've been called back."