Nobody's Hero

Chapter 9: Near Misses in Paris

Severus Snape approached Malfoy Manor with some trepidation. He had not learned very much from Dumbledore about what the Order was looking for and he was sure that the Dark Lord would not be happy. That usually meant one thing and one thing only, the bearer of the news was in for a little punishment.

Snape was glad to see that there were few of the inner circle present in the Hall as he entered. He hated it when there was a large audience when he was being subject to the Cruciatus. The only good thing was that your muscles tensed up and you didn't make a mess of yourself, a small consolation when you were screaming your lungs out.

As he came forward and bowed before the Dark Lord, he was gratified to here him say to the others, "Leave us."

Snape rose and stood before Voldemort, waiting passively for the room to finish clearing before speaking.

He wasn't all that surprised when Bellatrix was the last to leave and she shot him a look that would quail most others. He just watched her go, his face a stone mask, revealing nothing.

When she shut the door, Voldemort said, "What have you learned, Severus?"

"Less than I hoped to," Snape said, evenly. "All Dumbledore would admit to is that something has gone missing and the Order is trying desperately to find it."

Snape was surprised when the Dark Lord did not immediately comment but just stared thoughtfully into the fire.

"And he gave no indication of what it could be?" Voldemort pressed.

"I did ask, but all he told me was it was a bit smaller than similar items of it's type and that it was definitely magical."

"Is that all he said?"

Snape pondered a moment and then added, "He said one more thing, my Lord. When I asked how it had gone missing he said "It slipped away."."

"It slipped away," Voldemort repeated softly, more to himself than to Snape. He pondered in silence for several moments, then said "An odd turn of phrase, don't you think?"

"Yes, my Lord. I thought so too," Snape replied.

"What do you make of it?" Voldemort asked with a thin, evil smile on his face.

"To me, it would seem to indicate something that could move under it's own power or he probably would have said something along the lines of someone taking or moving it, my Lord," Snape replied.

"Yessss, Sseverus," Voldemort hissed gleefully. "I believe that Dumbledore may have told you more than he thought he did."

"Perhaps, my Lord. He is getting rather old," said Snape.

"You have done well, Severus. Not as well as I had hoped, but better than I expected," Voldemort said lowly. "Leave me, but try to see if you can discover anything more about what has "slipped" away from Dumbledore and his Order."

"Of course my Lord, I hope to maybe probe some of the less powerful members at the next meeting," Snape said with a bow.

As he turned to go, Voldemort called out after him, "Remember that just because I haven't punished you at this moment, that I am totally pleased with you. If you fail to find out more, you will feel my displeasure."

"Yes, my Lord. I understand completely," Snape replied.

"Go," Voldemort said in final dismissal.

XX HP + GW XX

The next couple of days flew by for both the hunted and the hunters. Harry and Ginny were treated to a lot of what Paris had to offer, from museums and churches to national monuments and even one night at the theatre, all in all a wonderful second week of their impromptu honeymoon.

For the searchers, it was just a long couple of frustrating, fruitless days. The couples took turns sitting at the station in hopes that "The English Woman" would show up, but so far the staff at the bistro had not indicated that she had stopped in.

While one pair sat, the other would take turns wandering the area, stopping in shops and speaking to the Gendarmes, asking if anyone recognized the pair in the photographs. So far it had not turned up anything in the slightest.

As the time stretched on, Fleur would sometimes sit with Tonks, or Remus. They pretty much traded off so everyone spent some time with each of the others.

Only Tonks seemed not to get disheartened at the lack of progress. She tried to explain that stakeouts were the most boring thing except paperwork that she did as an Auror, but the others, though they listened, still found it difficult to just sit and watch all the time.

Fleur was sitting with Tonks at the moment and they had fun talking about how Remus seemed to be handling being in close approximation to Tonks.

"You 're wearing 'im down, I can tell," Fleur said with a smile.

"You really think so?" Tonks asked, unsure if it was true.

"Oh, yes. You should zee him when 'e thinks you're not looking," Fleur replied. "'E can not keep 'is eyez off of you."

Fleur then looked at the half eaten croissant before her. "I hope zomt'ing 'appens zoon, or I weel lose my girlish figure, sitting 'ere eating all this," she said, pointing at the pastry.

"But they're so good," Tonks said, taking another bite of her own.

"I know, that iz what makes them zo dangerous," Fleur replied with a chuckle.

Tonks looked a little uncomfortable, finally saying, "I need to use the loo. I'll be right back," as she rose and headed off quickly.

Fleur watched her go and she hoped that the young Auror finally got her man. She was just looking around when she saw the girl at the counter, motioning frantically towards the door. Just exiting was a rather nicely dressed woman.

Fleur's eyes opened wide, the meaning of the counter girl sinking in. "What a bloody time for Tonks to go to the loo," she said to herself, rising quickly and heading out after "The English Woman".

It took her several moments to get through the door and for a moment she panicked, not seeing the woman. Turning her head frantically she finally spotted the woman casually walking down the street, she had been momentarily blocked by some people walking by.

With one quick glance back toward their table and not seeing Tonks, Fleur began to quickly follow the woman, wanting to close the distance so she wouldn't lose her in the bustling crowds of people. With a sigh, she caught up most of the way when the woman stopped and looked in a shop window.

XX HP + GW XX

Tonks returned from using the loo and was surprised to see the table empty. She quickly realized what must have happened and she hurried over to the bistro. "Did the English Woman stop in?" she asked.

"Oui. I was able to signal your friend and she followed 'er outzide," the young girl said.

"Do you know which way they went?" Tonks asked, hoping that she'd get lucky.

"I iz not shur, but I think they went to ze right," the girl replied apologetically.

"Merci," Tonks replied, as she hurried for the door. She looked immediately to the right, but didn't see Fleur. Shaking her head she began to walk quickly in that direction, it was all she could do.

XX HP + GW XX

Fleur was trying to keep up with the woman, but with the crowded pavement, it was difficult to keep her in constant view. She caught sight of her turning the corner ahead and hurried to catch up.

Fleur turned the corner, trying to act normal, with her eyes scanning the way ahead trying desperately to see her quarry. The foot traffic was much less on this side street but to Fleur's horror, she didn't see the the woman any more. She took a few hesitant steps not knowing what to do, when suddenly from her side and slightly behind she heard, "Why are you following me?"

Fleur turned and found herself looking at the woman she had been following and the surprise was evident on her face at being caught.

"I am zorry, I deedn't mean to alarm you, I was 'oping to ask you a few questions," Fleur said hastily.

"Why?" was the simple response she got.

"We are looking for my fiancé's sister. May I show you a couple of photographs?" Fleur asked.

When the woman didn't say anything for a moment, Fleur quickly took out the photographs and tried to hand them to the woman. She looked down at Fleur's hand but didn't touch the pictures, so Fleur spread them apart for the woman to see. ""Ave you seen either of these two?" she asked somewhat desperately.

The woman's eyes flitted to the photographs and then back to Fleur. "No, sorry, never seen them."

She then turned to walk away.

Fleur said, "Please, if you can 'elp,"

The woman looked back and with a firm look said, "I said I didn't know them. Do I need to call the Gendarmes?"

Fleur dropped her hands in defeat, "Non, that weel not be neceszary."

"Do not attempt to follow me," the woman stated, and then turned back the way they had come. Once she got to the corner, she flagged down a taxi and disappeared from Fleur's view. She watched the taxi till it was lost in the sea of like vehicles that seemed to flood the street.

Dejectedly, Fleur began to walk back to the station, where she would have to report her failure, something that she was going to hate to do, but she knew that the others needed to know.

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Tonks was hurrying down the street when she spied Fleur walking slowly back towards her. Fleur's face said enough for Tonks to know that something had happened and it wasn't what they had hoped for.

Tonks stopped and waited for Fleur to get to her. Fleur spotted her from a little distance away and looked at her, quite dejectedly.

Tonks closed the distance and put her arm around the sad French girl, "Tell me what happened," she said to Fleur, softly, without any rancour.

"Of course az zoon az you left, the girl zignalled that ze woman was just leaving. I followed az best I could, but she spotted me and confronted me," Fleur said sadly. "I showed 'er za photographs, but she said she did not know zem."

Fleur's eyes were misting up with her frustration at failing, "She zaid she would call the Gendarmes if I bother 'er any more and zen she took a taxi away."

Tonks just nodded, "You did fine, Fleur. It's not your fault, I should have been there."

Fleur just looked at Tonks like she was crazy, "Iz this 'ow et iz on ze stakeouts?" she asked with a wan smile.

"Sometimes," Tonks said. "Let's get back to the station, Bill and Remus should be back soon."

Fleur nodded dejectedly and they walked back to wait for the two men and report what had happened.

XX HP + GW XX

Noelle was thinking fast and furiously, wondering who the woman who had followed her was. If she hadn't spotted that she was being followed, she would have led them right back to the apartment. She thanked God that James had her undergo some training back when Europe was still so heavily divided into East and West.

This wasn't the first time she had been aware of someone following her. Steadying herself she had the Taxi driver take her up several blocks and turn to the centre of Paris. When they got as far as she figured she needed to go, she had the driver pull over and stop at one of her favourite stores. What was good about it, was that it had more than one entrance.

She paid the Taxi driver and walked hurriedly through the doors, after taking a quick look around, in case the woman had someone with her in a car. She walked straight through and out the other side, where she knew there was a taxi stand where she could immediately catch another taxi.

Making sure that she wasn't being followed she took the next taxi to a spot a couple blocks from the apartment, where she could get to it easily but make sure no one had trailed her.

She finally made it to the apartment and she paused out side the doors for a moment to see if she could spot anything unusual, or out of place. Seeing that no one seemed to be around or interested in her. She swiftly made her way into the lobby and to the lift. Finally feeling safe once the door had closed and the car was up past the second floor.

She fumbled with her key for a moment, but recovered quickly, getting the door opened. She threw he purse down and headed right to the table where James, Harry and Ginny were seated.

James immediately knew something was wrong, "What is it, my dear," he asked.

Noelle sat down, "Could I have some tea first?" she asked a little shakily. Now that she was safe the excess adrenalin needed something to do, so she began sharing a bit.

James had the tea ready in no time, and he poured out a cup for Noelle. She took a large sip which helped her to calm down.

"I was followed this afternoon," she stated plainly.

James looked shocked, it had been quite some time since she had been followed by anyone, not since the easing of the East / West tensions.

Noelle then looked at Harry and Ginny, "The woman who stopped me had photographs that looked remarkably like you two," she said, with a questioning look.

Harry and Ginny were shocked. There shouldn't be any photographs of them as they looked now and how someone could have obtained any was beyond them.

"Us?" said Ginny.

"Yes, though now looking at you two again, there were some minor differences. She asked me if I had seen the people in the photographs," Noelle said, calming down now that she was home. "I said I didn't know the people and I left, making sure I wasn't followed, and worked my way back here."

"You did very well, dear," James said with a smile.

Noelle got a thoughtful look on her face, "Why is someone looking for you two?" she asked.

Ginny was the one who spoke up, "Could you describe the woman who stopped you?"

"She was an exceedingly beautiful French woman, with long blonde, almost white hair," Noelle said after a moments reflection.

Ginny nodded her head, "My brother's fiancée, from the sounds of it." she then gave a sheepish grin, "See, Bill and I eloped."

Noelle smiled, "How romantic," she said with a small sigh.

"My parents, well my mum really, wanted for me to take a different path in life and well, I didn't want that, so Bill is my saviour," Ginny said, looking lovingly at Harry.

"Even more romantic," Noelle said with a grin, winking at Ginny.

Harry looked troubled, "I wonder how they tracked us to Paris?" he asked.

James shrugged, "It's probably something as simple as the conductors on the trains remembered you, you two are quite striking."

"And what about Noelle?" Ginny asked.

"She was obviously seen meeting you two at the railway station. She does frequent that little bistro inside the front door quite a bit. Even if they don't know her name, they could still recognize her as a regular and from there it's easy enough to sit and wait. Not all that mysterious, when you think about it," James said thoughtfully.

"It's a bit of a bother, don't you think?" Harry said.

James laughed, "Yes, I suppose it is." He then got a more serious look on his face, "I take it you'd rather not go back?" he said, more for Noelle's benefit.

Harry and Ginny both nodded. "At least for a while yet," Ginny said, looking at Harry.

Harry just nodded in agreement.

"Well, do you have any plans?" James asked.

"Nothing concrete," Harry replied. "We just plan on travelling around for a bit to see some of the rest of Europe and maybe the world."

James raised his eyebrows, "How you fixed for money?"

"We're fine," Harry replied. "I have a bit of inheritance that I can use. Trust me, money is the least of our worries."

"Well then, you just need to disguise yourselves more when travelling. That shouldn't be too hard," he said smiling, giving Harry a wink.

Harry couldn't help but smile back, "No, we should be fine."

Harry sighed, looking at Ginny he said, "If your brother is so close, we'd better be moving on."

"Any idea where you will go?" Noelle asked, a bit sadly. She was enjoying having the young couple stay with them. It was almost like having the children she and James had wanted but due to fertility problems, she couldn't carry a child to term.

"I don't know, maybe Germany, Berlin, or perhaps to Scandinavia, Norway," Harry said.

"I'll miss you two," Noelle said, sadly. "It's almost like having children of our own."

Ginny was the one who picked up on Noelle's melancholy. "Can't you have children?"

"Unfortunately, I can't carry a baby for some reason. The Doctors explained it, but it doesn't matter really, they just said they couldn't fix it and I really didn't pay attention to the technical stuff," Noelle said, "They did say there was a chance of like one in a million, but we stopped trying, because with every failure, I just became more depressed.

She then smiled brightly, "But enough of maudlin things, if you two are leaving, lets have one last night out on the town. Dinner and dancing, on us," she stated looking at James.

James nodded, "Okay, sounds good to me, how about you two?"

Ginny looked hopefully at Harry, who had to laugh at the puppy dog look she gave him. "Okay with us," Harry replied, causing Ginny to squeal and jump into his lap, kissing him soundly.

XX HP + GW XX

It was a very forlorn pair of women the Bill and Remus found when they returned to the railway station.

"What's the matter," Bill asked as they reached the table.

Fleur looked up with a sad face, but it was Tonks who did the talking. "It seems Fate must be on Harry's and Ginny's side," she said with a rueful chuckle.

"How's that?" Remus asked.

"Well, I had to run to the loo, and when I got back Fleur was missing. The girl at the counter said the English Woman had just been in and Fleur followed her. Somehow the woman noticed and confronted Fleur. She denied knowing the people in the photographs, but she seemed to act like someone who knew about losing a tail. She caught a taxi and disappeared," Tonks said, giving them the condensed version of what had happened.

"By the time I caught up to Fleur the woman was long gone," she said, catching them up fully.

"Damn it to bloody hell," Bill said hotly.

Fleur looked at him very apprehensively, but when Bill saw her face, he quickly calmed down, "I'm sorry Fleur, I'm not mad at you, just at the fact we were so close, but missed again."

He then looked at Tonks, "So what now?"

"Well, things aren't totally bad. We know that she was on foot till she noticed Fleur. That has to mean that she lives fairly close by. I know it isn't much, but at least we have that."

"Okay, then what's the plan?" Remus asked.

"Well, if we look at this logically, we can narrow our search by quite a bit. Most Muggles won't walk more the three or four city blocks and since we know the direction she was heading that cuts down the search area," Tonks explained.

"How do we know she was going home?" Bill asked.

"We don't for sure, but she had just bought fresh pastries, most people usually head straight home with something like that," Tonks said.

"Okay, I can believe that. Anything else?" Remus asked.

"Since she was on this side of the street, odds are that she lives on this side. She would most likely crossed over here than further down. People just tend to walk on the side of their destination," Tonks replied. "Plus she had already crossed one street, so we can eliminate that as one we need to search."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Bill said, rising and looking at the others hopefully.

Fleur rose, showing a bit of a happier face than she had since she had confronted the English Woman. She went to Bill's side, "I am sorry, mon cherie," she said softly.

"I wouldn't have done anything different, Fleur," he said tenderly, giving her a brief kiss.

Tonks and Remus rose too, and started towards their friends, when Tonks looked cheekily at Remus, "What about me, mon cherie?" she said, wagging her eyebrows at him.

Bill and Fleur couldn't help but laugh at the look on Remus' face. They heard him mutter something under his breath.

Tonks got a amused look on her face and said, "Not yet, huh?"

Remus just shook his head and headed for the doors, though he was a bit embarrassed by Tonks' continued blatant passes at him, he was starting to enjoy them and just maybe he'd succumb to her one of these times, just to see what she'd do.

XX HP + GW XX

Since they were going out to dinner and dancing, Harry and Ginny took out their best clothing, a very nice suit for Harry and a wonderful, dark blue dress for Ginny, it's colour making Ginny's hair stand out beautifully.

Ginny was a bit nervous, her only dancing had been learning at home and then the Yule Ball a couple of years ago, and she didn't exactly have the most experienced of dance partners then.

She was looking at herself in the mirror and hoped that she looked good for Harry. She shouldn't have worried, because as she was tugging at the dress, that had a fairly deep plunging neckline, Harry walked back into the bedroom, having showered and changed in the bathroom.

Nervously she turned to him, "How do I look?" she asked, softly.

For a moment, she was worried, because Harry just stared at her, his face a blank mask.

"Good Godric, you're beautiful," he said emotionally. He came over and took her into his arms and kissed her deeply.

Ginny moaned into his mouth and she felt her nipples harden at the intensity of his kiss. If they didn't need to leave shortly, she knew what would have happened, so she broke the kiss and rested her head on Harry's chest.

"Merlin, Harry. That was some kiss," she said breathlessly.

"You won't get an argument from me," Harry said huskily.

It took a moment for Ginny's heart beat to return to near normal, and she just let herself enjoy being in Harry's loving arms. "We should really be going out into the living room," she said softly.

"I know," Harry said, but he didn't let go of her at that instant. He let himself be filled with Ginny's warmth and love for several seconds more before he slowly let go of her.

"Help me with my tie?" he asked with a grin.

Ginny just laughed, "Of course," she said. "What would you men do if your women couldn't tie your ties?" she asked playfully.

"Go with out them," Harry replied, cheekily.

Ginny finished tying his tie and gave him a swat on his arm, "Prat," she said, but she was smiling widely at him. She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss but when Harry tried to put his arms around her and deepen the kiss, she spun away with a wonderful laugh, saying, "We need to get going."

Harry smiled at her and replied, "We'll continue this later." His voice laden with promise.

Ginny smiled brightly at him, "I certainly hope so." She then slipped out of the door, looking back over her shoulder as she left.

Harry quickly grabbed his coat and sped after her, catching her in the hall just as they got to the living room, where Noelle and James were waiting.

"My, don't you two look grand?" Noelle said with a smile. "However do you keep them looking so wonderful, when all you have are your packs?"

"It's all how you pack them," Ginny said with a smile.

Noelle just laughed, "Well it almost seems like magic to me."

"You have no idea," Harry said very softly.

They all exited the the apartment and headed for the lift. They could hear it coming so they waited patiently off to the side. It finally arrived and the elderly couple from across the hall stepped out.

Though their hair was grey, they were quite lively and didn't walk as if that old. Ginny looked at them closely and it was hard to tell their actual ages.

The couple smiled and said, "Good evening."

"Thank you," Noelle said, smiling at them. "And a good evening to you too."

The woman kept walking down the hall towards their apartment, but the gentleman stopped for a moment. He looked closely at Ginny and then Harry, his eyes twinkling and a smile came onto his face.

Ginny and Harry watched as the man scrutinized them closely. It looked like he was about to say something when his wife called out from down the hall, "Come on Nicolas."

The man tipped his hat at Harry and Ginny, turned and started after his wife, "Coming Perenelle, I'm coming," he said good naturedly.

He stopped for just one second and looked back at the small group as it was stepping into the lift. Harry and Ginny were the last to get on and as they did, they took one last look down the Hall.

Nicolas smiled at them, then as he turned to continue to their apartment, he shook his head and gave a low laugh.

Harry and Ginny watched him go as the door to the lift closed. The last view they had was of the man, whispering something to his wife and they both looked up the Hall, smiling at Harry and Ginny, until the door shut completely.

Ginny leaned close to Harry and whispered, "Do you think?" she asked, questioningly.

Harry just shrugged, he didn't know for certain, but it seemed odd that the couple had the same names as the famous Flamels.

They exited the building and instead of James' regular car, there was a Limousine waiting. It wasn't big by most limousine standards but it was more than roomy enough for the four of them.

When Harry looked questioningly at James, he just laughed and said, "This way I don't need to worry if I drink a little to much wine. The limousine is owned by my company and I rarely use it, so I thought tonight would be as good as time as any." He then leaned a little closer to Harry and Ginny and added, "Plus the windows are tinted and in case the people who are looking for you happen to be around, you can't be seen by accident."

Harry didn't think that likely, but as the car approached the intersection, he glanced out the window and saw someone who looked familiar. At first he had a hard time placing him, but then he realized the man looked an awful lot like Remus Lupin and his companion looked remarkably like Nymphadora Tonks, the Auror.

Harry caught Ginny's eye, but by then they were past the couple. Harry just whispered to her, "I'll tell you later."

Ginny thought his voice sounded a little strange but just shrugged. It wouldn't do to wonder about it now and Harry had said he'd tell her later, and that was good enough for her.

XX HP + GW XX

Remus was getting tired, they had been searching the area since the afternoon and evening was now falling. The task seemed hopeless, they had been circling the blocks for hours with nothing to show for it, except aching tired feet and legs.

He came to a halt. "Dora," he said tiredly. "How much longer are we going to tromp around like this?"

Tonks sighed, she knew it was a long shot at best. They'd need to be exceedingly lucky to see the woman they were looking for, or Harry and Ginny, especially since the woman had probably warned them about being asked about them.

She turned and looked at Remus and saw how drained he looked. She then looked up and down the street and saw virtually no one in sight, just a few cars were driving on this side street.

Remus saw her look and said, "We need to rest and rethink things. Hell they could be in this limo going by and we'd never know it."

Tonks watched the limo pass, its tinted windows obscuring the passengers completely. She knew he was right, they weren't tackling this job efficiently. They need to concentrate on the times when people would likely to be coming or going from their homes or apartments.

Nodding tiredly herself, she said, "You're right Remus, lets go to where were supposed to meet Bill and Fleur. We'll head back to the hotel and map out a strategy for tomorrow."

Remus was so relieved, he didn't even protest when Tonks linked her arm through his as they turned around and headed back the way they had come. Tomorrow was another day, maybe they'd have better luck then.

XX HP + GW XX

A/N: Ah so close, yet so far. The searchers have an area to keep an eye on, but now that Harry and Ginny know that they are there, will they venture forth to be seen, or slip away again.

Poor Fleur, caught at the most inopportune time, letting the cat out of the bag, so to speak. Plus Tonks must be right, Fate seems to be on Harry's and Ginny's side.

Was the elderly couple who they appear to be? Coincidence, or not?

As always, your reviews are highly appreciated and if I haven't been replying of late, it's because FF seems to be sending them in bulk sometimes. I recently got 93 notifications at once after not getting any for half a day. But I will thank each and everyone here and now. Not only those who review but also all those that have made it a favourite or added it to an alert list, either for the story itself or for me as an author. I appreciate all of you.