AN: I've given out two chapters today because my next update won't be for a few days I'm afraid! Thanks as always to my reviewers I'll be back on here soon!

Chapter 10

She couldn't stand to wait much longer; he had been away for over two months and the intermittent reports she managed to snatch here and there around the department were not promising. They had come up with nothing and she knew that meant he would be out of the ministry and the country for even longer. One day she decided what she had to do; there was nothing else for it and though she knew it could cost her her job if she got caught the long term benefits would far outweigh that and once her decision had been made there was no going back. She waited until the department was quiet before attempting to break into his office and find what she needed.

All current case files were kept in the head of department's office until they were suspended or closed when they would be removed to the archive office on the lower floor, a job she often had to do. That being the case she had a fair idea where the file would be located in Beerney's office but she was stumped about how to get the password into his room. She had thought about trying to sneak in somehow when he was busy but without an invisibility cloak or enough magic to make herself invisible to the naked eye she had abandoned the plan and decided on a separate course of action. It was now almost the end of the general working day when most of the administration staff would be leaving to go home; aurors would work on shifts through the night in case any emergencies came in and the boss often stayed in until later too. He was never tied to a single shift but was always on call when he needed to be and his hours were long which meant the vacancy of his office was unpredictable.

After filing the last of the day's paperwork, given to her by her own superior that morning; she clocked out at the reception desk and then hung around in the admin staffroom for a while picking up her cloak and a few other pieces and waiting for the others to file out, all desperate to get home after a long day at work. She hung around until it was empty before making her way back along the corridor outside in the opposite direction to the exit heading straight for Beerney's room. Hiding in a deep doorway opposite she waited for a while; the office was getting quieter as all the day staff headed out and she could only hear the occasional door opening and closing somewhere around instead of the usual hustle and bustle of a busy department. By the time she came back into work there would be another pile of papers and files to sort out and her day would begin again, if she didn't get caught doing what she desperately needed to do now.

Eventually her patient waiting paid off and she watched as the gold doorknob of Beerney's office turned and was opened from the inside; her bald headed boss left the room and after glancing along the corridor and seeing no one around he let the door close by itself as he headed along the corridor in the opposite direction to her. "Imobilus," she called out quietly flicking her wand in the direction of the door which froze immediately barely half an inch from closing. Waiting until Beerney had turned a corner she walked towards the door and slid her finger inside carefully opening it with a gentle push. The room was dark and she held her wand aloft whispering, "Lumos," and the end of it ignited with a deep green glow. She held it out in front of her as she started to search his desk cautiously looking for the file which would give her the information she desperately needed.

There were many ruffled folders on the heavy oak desk which she had never been privy to while working at the Ministry and as she rifled through the information found that they detailed missions currently being undertaken showing serious dark magic being used in evil ways. One thing she did notice as she continued to search through them, which irked her a little, was that no where did she find any information about where the assignments were being carried out. Groaning in frustration she finally laid her hands on a thick folder at the bottom of the pile which was stamped with 'top secret' across the corner; inside it was a much older file which had a faded stamp reading, 'case remains unsolved'. She cast the older folder aside and started to rifle through the other pieces of parchment behind it eventually coming across a picture of James attached to a piece of paper detailing his basic information, such as his height, weight and sex. Three parchments behind it showed the same basic information on Blaise, Martika and Jordan who were all on the same assignment and she scowled as she looked down on the dark haired Russian auror who waltzed around the department as if she was the most important person there. Martika had always seemed to think she was above everyone else in work and life status, or at least she gave off that air, and she felt as if the woman was always appraising people when she met them to see if they were worthy enough.

Checking the remaining parchments gave her nothing more to go on and she dropped the file back onto the desk breathing out deeply and still feeling frustration; she couldn't wait much more for him and had to find a way to get to where he was, wherever that was. Glancing around the desk again she noticed the old folder she had discarded from the one she had just perused and decided it wouldn't hurt to check through it too. Scan reading the details she became intrigued by the story which told how a dark wizard had infiltrated the British auror department to work with them to infiltrate the faction of dark wizards which he belonged to. A double agent, she thought to herself, in the British ministry! There was still no information however on where the current assignment may be taking place and after half an hour she gave up; feeling defeated she sat down in Beerney's chair. She was about to get up and leave when a noise outside the door made her breath catch in her throat and she heard a whispered password before the lock clicked and the doorknob began to turn. Panicking about being caught and losing her job she dived between two heavy chests of drawers into a darkened nook which she hoped might be enough to conceal her existence from him. Extinguishing the end of her wand just in time she sat holding her breath for a moment in the confined space and waited.

Beerney entered the room and he sat down in the old leather covered swivel chair behind the desk; it creaked as his weight was taken and she heard him sigh deeply, "Come in," he called suddenly and she heard footsteps walk over the threshold and close the door which Beerney had evidently left open behind him. "Please, take a seat," her boss went on as the footsteps walked over to the desk and she heard more creaking leather as the second person sat on the proffered seat. "Harry," Beerney began and she felt her breath catch in her throat again, it was James' father, "thank you for coming in." Beerney sounded weary and she remembered that the last few days she had noticed his complexion becoming paler and paler as worry lines appeared on his face.

"It is not going well Terence?" Harry asked.

"I don't think so, no," he sighed again before continuing, "reports we are getting from Zabini and James show that they have found nothing at all, no unusual activity, no sign of Lestrange and I am starting to worry that he may have moved on again which means the case may continue to go on unresolved. As you can imagine that is the last thing we want; you know as well as we do how long this case has been going on for and we are desperate to bring it to an end before any threat can enter our country again. I cannot imagine that the High Lord will rest until he at least tries to do that and unless we can stop him beforehand there will always be that threat."

"So James and the others have seen absolutely nothing at all?"

"No," Beerney sighed again, "all the activity that had been going on around the Russian ministry seems to have stopped, no disappearances, no killings, no demonstrations by wizards or giants; everything is calm but it is unnerving; it's as if they have another plan up their sleeve and I don't want to wait and find out what it is."

"Of course Terence, of course."

"I feel we may need to recall Zabini and the rest of the team soon and put out a general surveillance group just to make sure nothing untoward is going on; the Russian ministry seem to have taken it all as a sign that the High Lord has backed down but I really am not in agreement. I think there is something more sinister going on; but until we know for sure I feel it is a waste for James and the rest of them to be out there in St Petersburg," she held in a breath again, that's where he was?

"You have to do what you feel is necessary Terence," Harry said as she continued to listen feeling she had finally got a bit closer to knowing where James was; St Petersburg was a start but she knew she needed more information if she was going to go out there to him. "I have to say I think I agree with you that there is something else going on; it sounds like a lull before a storm to me; why would he suddenly stop everything he had been doing unless it meant something to him? Dark wizards don't work like that; they don't give up; they move to another plan, usually a more sinister one," he went on. "Do you know how much longer you will give them?

"We shall give it a week or two and then I'll bring them back out I think. A recon team can go out there to replace them while they study the case from back here, to be ready if and when something happens;, it is inevitable I am sure."

"You still keep the coordinates of their positions?" Harry asked quietly.

"Always," Beerney replied, "on file in here though so nothing goes astray," he chuckled lightly and she heard him pat a drawer in his desk.

"Well thank you for sharing the news; it's Ginny more than anyone who worries about him but you can't help fearing for your children, especially when you have been in their position before!" Harry said as he stood up; another creaking leather sound told her that Beerney had stood up too and she hoped that meant he would leave the office with Harry. The cramped corner she was hiding in didn't give much room for comfort and she was starting to feel an ache in her legs which were tucked up underneath her; she needed to move and soon.

"Not at all Harry, I worry about them myself as always and know it is difficult for you too, especially, as you said, because you know what they are facing and what the other side are capable of. You know where I am if you need any more information; but as I said he will probably be back here by the end of the week." His voice drifted off as they both walked out into the corridor and she let out a huge sigh as she heard the door close behind them, self locking as it always did, and leaving her alone with two sets of useful knowledge. The whereabouts of James was in the desk drawer but he was going to be home soon enough; should she continue to look for his whereabouts or should she wait patiently for him? Contemplating the two options she stretched out her cramped body and sighed with relief.

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After two long and fruitless months of watching and waiting James was starting to feel restless; they had waited to hear news of any strange activity around St Petersburg, frequenting the local inns and restaurants where whispers had been heard before about the High Lord and his league; but so far they had come up with nothing. Whatever had been on the cards seemed to have come to a halt and the whole team were becoming a little disheartened with the mission. They reported back to Beerney on a weekly basis and he advised them to stay alert and ever watchful but it seemed pointless, not so much as a squeak had been heard from anyone. They had divided into partners upon arrival on the outskirts of St Petersburg where they set up camp on the edge of a village, as was standard practice; and James had worked with Jordan for the last seven and a half weeks. However a few nights ago Martika, who James was still feeling rather wary of, had suggested that they swap partners in an effort to look like a young handsome couple who might be able to dig out more information from other informants. Zabini, while feeling a little rebuffed that she did not want people to think of them as a couple, had agreed with the idea and the last three nights James had found himself alone with her in a corner of a sleazy bar listening out for information. They would sit there into the early hours of the morning and then leave arm in arm to walk out of sight before apparating back to their waiting colleagues who would see by the looks on their faces that there was nothing new.

Tonight they were staying in the camp while Blaise and Jordan went out to try another local wizarding pub; the two aurors were to visit separately sitting in different areas of the bar with their ears out for anything, though they were all starting to give up on the idea that they would ever find anything now. That meant he and Martika would be manning the camp, ensuring their defences were not breeched by anybody and keeping contact open with the auror office in case anything happened. After his first official mission, which went disastrously wrong due to his and Annemarie's mistake, James was always careful to follow exact protocol at all times. He and Martika had set up their own schedule for keeping watch over the camp's perimeter and the tiny floo network which worked only for communicating with the ministry.

James was currently alone and he was thinking about how much he was missing the wonderful girl who he now could not wait to tell everyone about. The longer he had been away the more he had missed her and the fact that the mission was somewhat uneventful only gave him more time to dwell on her. What was she doing? Who was she with? Was she still waiting for him? That thought crossed his mind occasionally as he was still acutely aware that they were a secret but he was quite hopeful that she would be waiting when he got eventually got home, something which was much easier this time as he wasn't surrounded by dementors feeding from the horrible thought. He would make sure that their secret came out as soon as possible when he returned home so they could start being a real couple and he wouldn't have to worry at all anymore.

"All is clear outside," said a deep voice from the flap of the tent and James looked up to see the mysterious and somewhat scary Martika looking down on him, as always as if she was appraising him for something. He still did not feel at all comfortable when he was around her, alone or not, and he kept his guard up at all times.

"Good, good," he replied standing up and heading to the supply station where Zabini had left out their usual rations, "dinner?" he asked and she nodded her head with a slight grimace at the thought of the food they would be eating. She walked almost on air across the tent to the supply area and took the can he offered her before returning to a seat in the middle of the room. After sitting down she withdrew her wand from the pocket of her jet black robes and heated up the small can in an attempt to make the food more pacifiable. James joined her, still a little on edge, and watched as she tucked into her food with a regal air; she was a striking woman but had a severe face which detracted from her beauty; she wore her standard issue black Russian auror robes at all times and pulled her long dark hair back from her face into a tight bun. She was quiet and barely interacted with any of them except on matters to do with the mission and James felt he didn't know her any better now they had been in close quarters for two months than he had when he first met her at the ministry. She glared at him after a moment and his gaze wondered to another part of the room as he tried to think of the pretty brunette at home with soft skin and a mischievous smile, the smile he was desperate to lay his eyes on and soon.

"James, you have been an auror for long?" she suddenly asked shocking him out of his reverie; this was the first time she had attempted to talk to him in anything other than a professional capacity and for a moment he was struck dumb.

"What? Oh yes, almost five years now; I trained straight from school," he explained giving her more information than he realised she had asked for.

"And you like it?" she went on still in a severe and strongly accented voice.

"I can't imagine doing anything else," he returned.

"Even when you are away from home for so long, away from the people that you love?"

"Y...yes," he stuttered recalling how hard it was to do that at the moment but knowing he wouldn't have it any other way.

"And is...is there a...a person that you love?" she asked a little shyly, "At home?"

James swallowed hard; he had never admitted it to anyone before and as they were still a secret he did not know if he should share it; would Martika tell anyone? Did he want her to be the first person to know? "I...well...sort of," he admitted, "it's...it's a little complicated."

"I see," she replied finishing the last of her measly, tasteless meal and discarding the tin on the floor beside her, "and you...you miss this...'sort of' person?"

"Very much," he said realising he was smiling at the thought of her and feeling like a smitten fool, "well as anybody would miss a loved one," he coughed trying to look less lovestruck and staring seriously at the woman who appeared for the first time to be interested in something other than the mission.

"And you do not feel the need to...to look elsewhere when you are away for so long?" she whispered quietly, "When you are out here alone with someone else? Have you ever been in that sort of position before?" Yes, he thought to himself, the first time I fell in love; his face must have fallen at the thought because she went on, "Is everything alright James?"

"What? Oh yes, yes I was just recalling..."

"Recalling what?" she asked curiously.

"A long time ago, I was in a position such as this and I...well I took advantage of the situation, although I didn't intend to and..." he paused and wondered why he was telling her all of this but as he was about to continue they both heard a noise outside the tent and their heads turned simultaneously in the direction of the door flap.

"I will check our perimeters again," she said jumping to her feet swiftly and heading out of the door as James jumped up quickly too and held his wand aloft in case anything untoward happened.

He was waiting with baited breath when the flaps to the tent opened and an unfamiliar but strong flowery scent wafted through the entrance followed by a female dressed rather seductively, "What are you doing?" he asked in a rather angry voice as she zipped the tent closed behind her.