Disclaimer: None of the characters from the Harry Potter series belong to me, only new characters I have created within this story.
A/N: Many thanks to my beta
Several weeks passed without a breakthrough. The team continued to receive call-outs on a daily basis, but none linked into their main investigation and all were quickly passed on to other departments. They had not managed to get anywhere with Nives either, the only information coming from a pre-detention search in which the officer conducting it found a black skull and snake tattoo on the prisoner's left arm – the mark of a Death Eater. Even Henry's experienced questioning techniques fell short. Varkus Nives' lips remained sealed.
"I dunno how to get him talking," Harry muttered one morning as he ran a finger up and down the arch of Hermione's back. They were both lying naked on the bed, the quilt lying in a heap on the floor. Harry was still catching his breath after their early-morning antics.
"It's frustrating honey, I know - we're all feeling the same…" Hermione murmured through a pillow, enjoying Harry's touch against her bare skin. "He must have some vulnerability – we just haven't found it yet."
"We'll need to find it soon. It's like all the Death Eaters and Stalkers have gone into hiding. I don't like it. I think they're planning something – something big." He brushed his finger over a small freckle near her shoulder and began circling around it lightly.
"That tickles!" she giggled before turning on her side to face Harry. His hand slid from her shoulder and brushed over her left breast. Smiling, he gently circled a finger over her nipple, causing it to harden at his touch. "And that's a tease!" Hermione whispered softly as she sighed with pleasure. Returning his smile, she rolled out of the bed and walked towards the door, allowing Harry to marvel once more over her perfectly formed body. "Fancy a shower?" she asked teasingly as she left the room. Harry followed quickly behind her.
/ - / - / - /
Harry and Hermione entered their office late that morning to find Mildred standing at one of the three desks they now possessed, pondering over a roll of parchment. Shortly after the new team was formed Mildred had their office relocated – it now resided in one of the few rooms separate of the many booths and desks that formed the majority of the Auror Office, through a dark wooden door to the left of the Dome. The floor to this office was the same black marble as the main offices, the walls a light cream colour and completely bare of portraits and ornaments. Six brightly-lit candles hovered around the room.
"Harry, Hermione, good to see you both," she greeted them with a smile. "Sorry to just appear out of the blue, but I have a lot of places to be today so figured it would be best to see you both before I leave."
"No problem at all – what can we do for you?" Hermione asked as she sat at her desk. Harry sat beside her as Mildred poured herself a coffee from a small kitchen counter to their left.
"Two things," she said as she sat in front of them. "Firstly, Professor Malfoy has discovered one of his students has a DS tattoo." Harry and Hermione stared at their boss, dumbstruck. "He's only a third year, but he may have information we need. I'd like you to go to Hogwarts and see if he knows anything."
"Of course," Harry replied. Mildred stood to leave, turning back to them as she reached the door. "And secondly – decide a name for your department please. I'm getting fed up of writing Department 101 on my paperwork." On that note, she left.
"A student?" Harry asked as Hermione turned her attention to the mind map, now dominating a large portion of the back wall to their office. "Why would the Death Stalkers be recruiting kids?"
"It's low – even for them…" Hermione replied as she pinned a new sheet of parchment – DS Students – to the mind map and connecting it to the page Hogwarts Rumours with an orange line. "Who should go to Hogwarts?"
Harry instantly thought of Ron, and what might happen if he ran into Hermione. "I'll take Henry if he's free – he has a better chance of getting information from the student than any of us." Hermione nodded, happy with his suggestion. "Right, could you find Katie, Jo and Matt and bring them up to speed? Who knows – they may have been able to retrieve info from one of the prisoners."
"Sure," Hermione replied as they left the office. "Don't be gone long," she told him, kissing him softly on the lips before running towards the questioning rooms in search of the team. Harry went in search of Henry, finding him in the canteen picking at a lonesome leaf of lettuce.
"Not busy by any chance?" Harry asked as he sat opposite the Auror.
"No – just pissed," Henry replied as he pushed his plate away. "Nives' jaw is shut tight. I've tried every combination of questions and every possible way I can think of manipulating him into answering. I've even resorted to a powerful batch of Veritaserum brewed by Professor Malfoy at Hogwarts! I expect he was conditioned to resist interrogation whilst he served under Voldemort."
"Well, I have a proposal that might take your mind off that scumbag for a couple of hours," Harry suggested. "Might clear your head a bit?"
Henry's face lit up at the prospect of a distraction. "You have me interested. What's the task?"
"We've received word from Hogwarts that a student bears a tattoo of the Death Stalkers," Harry explained. "If we interview him we may be able to unravel some of this mess – if he knows anything. Fancy it?"
"Sure," Henry agreed. "Give me two minutes with him and he'll be telling us everything he knows!"
/ - / - / - /
Rain was bouncing off the cobbles as Harry and Henry apparated outside Hogwarts' main gate. McGonagall was standing on the other side, waiting for them.
"Good to see you, Harry," she said as she waved her wand at the tall black gates. "Follow me."
McGonagall began to make her way towards the castle, leaving Harry and Henry confused, staring at the still-motionless gates blocking the way. Walking right up to it, Harry made to grab one of the metal bars. His hand passed straight through it as if it wasn't there. Realising what she had done, the two Aurors ran through the gates, following the Headmistress towards the school. They followed her in silence up moving staircases and through hidden corridors, past pupils going between classes and ghosts chatting to each other quietly until they came to a large statue of a cat inside a stone alcove, holding its right paw up in front of its face as if it was swiping at an invisible fly.
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore," she said to the cat. Springing to life, the cat pounced through a hole in the alcove's ceiling, pulling a stone staircase upwards with its tail.
"The boy is waiting with Draco in my office," McGonagall explained as they ascended the stairs. "His name is Christopher Herold. His parents have been informed and will arrive at the school tomorrow to discuss the situation. I can forward their details to you if you wish?"
"That would be useful, thanks," Harry replied as they reached the top of the stairs. The cat was curled up next to the oak door that led into the office. McGonagall entered first, Harry and Henry following afterwards.
The office had not changed much since Harry had last seen it. The same large table sat in the middle of the room, the same grand chair sitting behind it, sparkling in the candlelight. Draco stood next to the desk, a hand on each shoulder of a young boy. He had sandy brown hair and blue eyes, with random freckles dotted across his face. He wore the traditional Hogwarts uniform, his cloak emblazoned with the Slytherin crest. He looked scared as the door slammed shut behind them. A portrait of Dumbledore watched on from its place on the wall behind the large table.
"Christopher, these are the two Aurors I told you about," McGonagall explained. "They are here to ask you a few questions."
"The first question being – where did you get that tattoo?" Henry asked, flicking his wand towards the boy. His right sleeve shot up to his elbow to reveal a small DS tattoo imprinted on his wrist. Christopher remained silent, shaking slightly beneath Draco's hands.
"The strong, silent type, are you?" Henry sneered, approaching Christopher while spinning his wand in his hand. "Would you be the same in Azkaban, I wonder? Locked up on your own, the life force being sucked out of your body bit by bit over decades of complete isolation…"
"Stop right there!" Draco snapped. "Who is this nutter, Minerva?"
"Henry Stone – he's a colleague of mine," Harry replied forcefully. "He's only doing what needs done, Malfoy. Leave him to it."
"You know what, let's just cut straight to the chase!" Henry declared, pointing his wand at the student's face. "Who recruited you?" The boy was shaking violently now, terrified of the man who stood before him. "Who is responsible?" His wand started to glow red. "Tell me who recruited you!"
"Henry stop!" Harry yelled at the Auror, his wand raised in warning. McGonagall had her wand out too, the tip glowing purple as she prepared for the worst. "Lower your wand!" Harry ordered his comrade.
Henry came to his senses, sheathing his wand as he turned away from the boy. "Apologies, Headmistress. These Death Stalkers killed four of my bravest men, and I let it cloud my judgment."
"Be that as it may, you raise your wand at another student in this school again and I will turn you into a dung-beetle before you can utter a cry for mercy!" McGonagall warned the Auror with a glare. A clock began to chime as she turned to Christopher. "As for you, if you think you are leaving this room without uttering a word you have another thing coming! Perhaps I should transfigure you into a parrot? Maybe then you'll be able to talk!"
As the clock struck its twelfth chime, the boy let lose a mischievous grin. "Oh, Professor, it's far too late for that." He turned to the two Aurors, chuckling. "The wheels have been set into motion. By the end of tonight, Hogwarts will be ours…"