Amelia woke with a start, and she immediately regretted moving her head so fast. Her head was pounding, she wasn't a drinker at all and Frank had called for pints all around all night and Amelia kept drinking them. She grimaced as she tumbled out of bed and headed straight for the kitchen for a cup of tea and a headache potion. She was going to have to run extra hard tomorrow to make up for missing her morning job this morning but she just wasn't up for it.
It was a slow moving morning for her, but thankfully she always started out early so that she wasn't late as she apparated to the Ministry. She groaned as someone nudged her. The headache potion was taking longer to work than she had hoped. She stopped off and picked up the Daily Prophet and a gillywater. The Headlines were splashed with new murders and disappearances. Amelia's knuckles tightened as she read. Another wizarding family was found murdered in their home and another muggleborn went missing. She tucked the paper under arm and headed for the lifts. She waved at a few friends before she stepped up and headed to the Auror's office. Today would either make her dreams come true or dash all her hopes.
She stepped off the lift and she had to blink to make sure she was on the floor. Wizards and witches were going to and fro and paper memos were buzzing everywhere. Lucretia Black walked over to her briskly, "Well get a move on Bones on the conference room," she barked. Amelia nodded and followed her. She looked over her shoulder and Frank and Alice were just stepping off the lifts and she waved them both over. Lucretia Black hated repeating herself. They all bustled into the conference room. Lucretia Black closed the door and motioned for them to sit. "You all passed." She told them all business like. She sat down at the head of the table and looked at all of them. "Alice you showed a remarkable talent in concealment so you are going under cover. You will be working with Thalia Grace." She handed Alice a stake of parchment and her Auror's badge. "Frank and Amelia both of you scored high on the target challenge so we want you two teamed up and on the advance team with Alastor." She handed them their badges. "Good luck and it was training with all of you. Constant vigilance!" She stood up an nodded to each of them and then left the conference room.
Amelia was looking at her badge. She had been working toward this her entire life. From her very first memory of sitting on her dad's lap by the fire and reading through the law books of the Wizengamot. There wasn't anything else she wanted to be. She didn't spend her time thinking about her wedding day or the color of her children's eyes. Those dreams were for other girls, not Amelia. She dreamed of a life of danger and intrigue. And not holding her badge she had realized her dream. Now it was time to live it. She stood up and tucked her badge into her robes.
"You ready Frank?" she asked her best friend. He smiled and stood up.
"Always." he gave her a playful punch on her arm.
Amelia stood outside of the conference room as Alice and Frank embraced. Alice was going under cover right away. She was going to take the place of a dragon egg salesmen the MLES had arrested last night. Amelia stood apart from the couple to give them some private time. It caused a pang in her chest that she didn't have anyone to kiss her goodbye and shed a tear over the dangerous nature of her job, but she had wanted it that way. She had her shot at Frank and she told him no.
A deep sigh escaped her lips, still it didn't make it any easier. But she had made her choices in life and now was the time to put all those choices together and get everything done.
"When you two are done snogging in the office. Ca we get to work?" a gruff voice barked at them. Everyone turned around and took in Alastor Moody. Alice and Frank separated like properly scolded school children. Amelia tried to keep her jaw from dropping, but she couldn't keep the huge grin and deep blush from plastering themselves across her face. Alastor was her idol and it just now sunk in that her and Frank would be working with him.
"Mister Moody, its such an honor to get to work with you. I've been a fan for years," Amelia gushed. Frank looked at her curiously. He had never seen her like this.
"Got your N.E.W.T in brown nosing did ya?" he asked her. Amelia instantly deflated and stepped back her face now taking on a different sort of blush. "Got work to do so best be off," he turned and walked down the hallways towards the Auror cubicles. Amelia nodded at Alice who gave Frank one last hug before she turned and headed toward the holding cells to talk with the dragon egg salesmen since she was going to be taking his place. Amelia let Frank follow after Alastor as she tried to get back her confidence. She wasn't used to being scolded by anyone. She was always the student that got that high marks, and Alastor's remarks hurt. He was her idol.
"Don't fret about that," Frank whispered slipping his hand into her's and giving it a slight squeeze. "You're going to be the best of us all." One last squeeze and he let her hand go. Amelia smiled and was glad she had Frank. They made it back to the Auror cubicle area and it was a mad house. People were flying in and out, paper airplanes were zooming and dive bombing people. Alastor pointed to two cubicles adjacent to each other each.
"These are yours." Alastor barked at them. They each nodded and walked over to their own personal spaces. They were simple. A desk and a chair, nothing more as it seemed that most Aurors didn't spend too much time in their offices. Alastor motioned for both of them to follow him down to the Auror conference room. It seemed like they were in for their first meeting with the whole gang. Amelia and Frank were the last into the room and they took the seats closest to the door. It looked like a round room with bleachers ringing the depressed circle in the center. Almost like a stadium. Alastor made his way down to the center of the room. It fell quiet and everyone looked at him.
He looked up at all of them. His blue eyes seemed to pierce through all of them. Amelia shivered under his gaze. "You've all read the Prophet so you know whats about on. What you don't know is that these attacks and killings are just random and they aren't done by random people." he nodded to a burly looking wizard guarding a door. The wizard banged twice on the door and it opened. Two demenators glided into the room each with a arm clamped down on the arm of a rather sick looking wizard. Amelia didn't blame him, the wave of despair that washed over her was mild to what that wizard must be feeling right now. They dropped him in a chair and instantly the chains circled up around his legs and arms. The demenators glided back out of the room and Amelia slumped against Frank. She had a few more regrets than she wanted to admit to anyone and she just had to relive all of them in rapid succession. Alastor walked over to the man and pointed his wand at him. "Tell them," he growled.
The man looked up at Alastor with hollow eyes. "The Dark Lord is going to kill you all," he whispered. His hallow eyes roamed around the room drinking in everything before him as if it were the last time he would see a living soul. "He comes like death on a swift wind for all mudbloods and muggles alike. All will bow to his awesome power before death." There were a few people shifting under his ominous proclamation.
"Who is he?" asked Alastor.
"I told you. The Dark Lord." he seemed to tire out, his head lollied forward.
Alastor didn't care, he poked him hard in the chest with the tip of his wand. The man jerked awake, "Who is helping him?" he demanded.
"His faithful servants." the man tried to move his arm. Alastor saw the gestured and yanked his arm around to expose a curious tattoo. Everyone leaned in to get a closer look. "Only those worthy enough to gain the Dark Lord's trust can be called Death Eaters." he whispered. The image of that tattoo would forever be burned into Amelia's memory. A skull with snake protruding out of its open mouth. It looked livid against his sallow, pale skin.
"Who are these Death Eaters?" he demanded.
The man barked out a loud laugh that sounded weird coming from his emancipated frame. "We are any one and everyone. Maybe even people in the Ministry," he added with a sick grin. "The Dark Lords draws us to him. He seeks us out, he teaches us about the dark arts and about power. You can't stop him," he laughed again. "You can't stop him." Alastor motioned to the burly wizard who once against banged on the door. Amelia's breath caught in her chest as the demenators glided back into the room to retrieve their prisoner. Soon it was just Alastor standing in the circle once again.
"We think these so called Death Eaters are responsible for 12 murders so far. 10 wizards and 2 muggles. We have to find them and capture them if they will come. I have it directly from Barty Crouch's mouth that you are to use everything in your arsenal to take them all down. Everything." he emphasized.
A lone hand went up. A tall dark wizard stood up, "Even unforgivables?" he sat back down once his question was finished. Alastor nodded and there were a few gasps around the room.
"So that is our top priority. I don't care about dragon poachers or illegal breeders or any of that silly nonsense at Gringotts. All of you are on this. I want your best work. The entire department is on this but we are leading the charge, but before we break Amelia Bones and Frank Longbottom are now part of the advance team." he motioned for both of them to stand and they did. A smart applause greeted them and they quickly regained their seats. "Constant Vigilance!" was his departing words. Everyone broke up and went back to their desks to redouble their efforts now that they had a clear target.
Amelia and Frank wandered back over to their desks wondering what they had to do as this was technically their first day on the job. "No time to get comfortable we've got to get over to Fenwick Manor." His voice softened as he said the last bit and Both Frank and Alice looked at him curiously. "There's been a murder," he told them.