Living Memory
Chapter Ten: Flashback, Flash Forward
The priest said some prayers over the grave that was freshly dig. It took a few days before the funeral took place. The only person who came to the funeral was a well dressed man who wore a pair olive green sunglasses. The sky was still gray, but it let up after a few days. The young woman who was buried was killed during a mugging in Boston. Her companion was with her and brought her to the hospital. She died by the blood loss. Boston was on edge because of a massacre in the airplane hangers. There were nearly forty bodies were found. The priest didn't know that the man who was with him caused most of the damage in the hangers. He didn't know that the man had taken the bullet out of the young woman who had died, so that there was no way of connecting the her to the deaths at the hanger.
"We come from dust and we return to dust," said the priest. He noticed that the man was obviously well off, but there wasn't any headstone or anything else to mark the grave. "She was an angel from Heaven, and now she has returned to there. Let her have some rest now," he added.
"She won't have any rest now. Later, I'll make sure that she gets some peace," said the man.
"Why don't you pay for her headstone?" asked the priest. It was fairly obvious that he could afford to pay for one.
"Her name isn't Eden Martin. And I don't want the headstone to say that as her name, or to say that her name is unknown. And I also promised I would bring her home. This is just a temporary place for now," he answered.
The priest nodded. The young man with red hair and paralyzing blue eyes had a chip on his shoulder. He was honorable, but he was also dangerous. "Thank you very much for coming here on such short notice, Father," he said.
"You're welcome, Mr. Dante," said the priest. He left him alone after that. Dante had something in his hand. He took it out and held it in front of him. It was the necklace that she wore around her neck before. He had fixed the chain the night she died. He had washed the necklace until the blood was gone. He unclasped and put it on. He placed his hand on top of her grave and closed his eyes as the breeze came over of him.
* Three Days Ago*
The news from Boston swept through the United States and went all over the world. Draco and Harry read the news from Boston. The news of more than thirty people being killed in the hanger. Among the bodies were weapons, the Boston Police Department found that some of the bodies there weren't staff from the airport. They had to be the men who killed the staff, but they were all died.
Harry found out that one of the men was one of the most hunted men in all of the Muggle underworld. A Jack-of-All-Trades named Brian Hunt was found among the bodies. There the guns were all over the place and different kinds of bullets were found everywhere. There were no security cameras in the hangers. The few that were outside were destroyed by the men who attack. They looked at the pictures grimly. There was something else. According to the reports, there was another person who was shot at the scene, but the person was no where to be found. The loss of blood from this person was too much. The Boston police checked out hospitals for any usual injuries, but there were too many to report. Except for one, a young woman between the ages of nineteen to twenty-five was brought to the hospital, but she was already died on the scene. The person who brought her in claimed that they were victims of a mugging.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Harry to Draco.
"I've always wanted to try their clam chowder. I hear it's great," replied Draco thoughtfully. They took their off wearing Muggle clothes to Boston. Hermione came into work without saying much to Harry other than her usual morning greeting. She didn't mind that Harry and Draco took off so quickly. She went off to go talk to the Unspeakables. The two men who knew some of the darkest secrets of the Ministry of Magic. She came to the department and found them at their offices down the darkest corridor of the building. She knocked at the door.
"Enter," said one soft voice. She walked in to find that the men weren't really as old as she imagined. She had only seen them both once in passing. It was during the World Quidditch Cup that she went to with Harry and the Weasleys when she was fourteen. "Dr. Granger, what brings you to our part of the world?" asked Bode as he stood up to look at her. Croaker used his wand to shut the door behind her, causing her to flinch slightly.
"I was investigating the murder of Skye Jones," she said.
"Ah, yes. Nasty business, but the Aurors are the ones assigned to it. It is not of our concern," said Bode. They were more talkative that Hermione had imagined they would be. Or rather, they knew how to talk just enough to let one think that they were saying anything important.
"Yes, I know. I found out that the murderer was a Muggle, but more importantly, someone came to me with information. This person told me to ask you about Project Lazarus," she said softly.
The two men looked at each as if they were silently communicating with each other. Croaker spoke up, "Let me guess. Charles Jones told you to ask us because he can't talk about it?"
Hermione nearly jumped from her skin as she nodded, "He told me about a man named Dante who used to be a wizard, but he refused to tell me more."
"We can't tell you much about Project Lazarus because there really isn't much we know. That is the truth, Dr. Granger. If Charles Jones even mentioned the project at all, then they must be responsible for Skye Jones' murder," said Bode.
"How?" asked Hermone calmly.
"We have long investigated this group for more than ten years. We had to halt investigations before because of You-Know-Who. By the time, we returned to investigating them, they were much larger and more powerful than before," said Croaker as he tensed up. Bode had arms propped up on his elbows with his finger tips touching each other.
"Project Lazarus is an operation we know very little about, but we do know that the project is being run by a group known as the Continuum," said Bode as he looked at Hermione.
"What does Dante have to do with any of this?" she asked. Her frustration was increasing by the minute towards the two men.
"We honestly don't know. We do know that the Continuum is a group of men and women who also happen to be comprised of Muggles and wizards," said Croaker.
Hermione felt her blood go cold. No wizards worked willing with Muggles for a single goal. "What?" she asked, needing some clarification.
"Make no mistake about this, Dr. Granger: the Continuum is very dangerous. Charles Jones is suspected being a member of it for more than a decade," said Bode as his eyes narrowed.
"Then, why did he tell me about any of it?" she asked.
"That we don't know. However, you would do best to stay out of it," warned Croaker as he lifted his wand and the door swung open. Hermione took it as a sign that it was time for her to go. She walked out of the room with more questions than ever.
*
The bed and breakfast that Dante was staying at over looked the sea once again. He was dressed in black slacks that he wore to the funeral. He was wearing just his white tank top. He looked out the window in silence. He was alone once again and the only thing he had left of Eden was her necklace.
Dante had plans of returning to England, but wasn't about to leave American soil without knowing who hired Brian Hunt in the first place. He had to know because he wanted to know who would kill Skye Jones. He wanted to shoot himself for being so stupid. Dante felt as if he deserved what happened because he made the mistake of leaving lose ends back in New York. He should have killed the son of a bitch when he had the chance.
After Eden had died, he went back out into the rain and let the rain wash away the blood on him. Dante took longer showers feeling like Lady MacBeth when she couldn't wash away the blood of King Duncan. He felt forever soiled. He had killed many men before, but this time it was different. He felt dirty and unclean. His guilty outweighed everything else, and it hung on the air like a pendulum. Eden died because of him and his enemies. He also knew that he was sought after by someone. Possible by the person who hired Brian in the first place. He remembered when he left the hospital, he had defied orders from the doctors who told him that the people who were paying for the hospital bills didn't want him to leave. At first, foolishly, he thought that the people paying for the bills were his family, but they weren't. He still left even after all the urging from the staff.
Dante should have been suspicious then, but his head was too scrambled to pay attention to such details. He should have looked into it, but he couldn't stay the hospital. They were treating him like a case study and bring in psychology students to gawk at him and ask him questions. He didn't like being a sideshow for a circus. He had to get a new gun, but he would have to wait until he returned to England. He kept the gun that he used to kill Brian Hunt a few nights ago. He cleaned it and loaded it with fresh bullets. He was taking a risk by carrying it. The police were looking for anyone suspected of killing the people in the hanger. The Americans had a justifiable considering it happened in an airport. There were speculations that it was a terrorist attack, but something had gone horrible wrong. The police were correct to assume that the man responsible for most of the deaths was dangerous.
He did figure out which hotel that Brian was staying in, but the police had already raided it. However, Dante knew that Lenore Henson would know where Brian's place was in New York City. He called her.
"Hello?" asked her sultry voice came through on the other end of the line.
"Lenore. It's Dante," he answered.
"Dante! Words gotten down here about what happened in Boston. Are you all right?" she asked with uncharacteristic concern for him.
"I'm fine. Brian's dead. I need to know where his place was in New York before the cops there get to it," he said calmly.
"You killed him, didn't you?" she asked him.
"His place," he repeated, ignoring her question. What he couldn't see was Lenore biting her bottom lip. She didn't think she would ever hear of Dante killing anyone. And she should have known better than to ask questions.
She finally gave Dante the address which he jotted down. He got dressed and went to the airport after chucking the gun he had into the harbor. He decided to take another flight back to New York.
*
Harry and Draco asked questions from the police about what happened in the airport. The police looked like they had nothing, but work several hours straight. They decided after questioning the police, it was time to go and talk to the hospital staff. Harry and Draco got the description of a man matching Ron's description and they even got a chance to get footage off the security camera.
They say him bring in a bleeding woman in his arms. She was already dead on arrival. Ron had a tired look on his face, but his eyes remained soulless. Harry watched the tape very carefully. He watched as Ron sank down into a chair with blood all over him. He was staring at his hands. In one of them, he had something that was silver and covered in blood. He looked strangely unemotional. For Harry and Draco it was a strange thing, Ron was always so emotional. His temper was quick, but the man they were watching held no emotion.
"Can't you see it, Potter?" asked Draco quietly, so no else could hear him.
"What?" asked Harry.
"There is something there. I've seen it. I can see it because I've had it myself. It's rage, Potter. It's cold rage," answered Draco. He looked at Harry who said nothing more. They found out that the police were seeking him for questions as well. The police report said that the girl was a victim of a mugging. The man who reported it left the hospital before they could ask anymore questions. It seemed that he only stayed until the girl was confirmed dead. Harry didn't know why, but he had to see the girl's body in the morgue. There was no identification on her.
Harry and Draco walked down to the morgue. They walked down the cold corridors of the sublevels of the hospital to head for the basement where the bodies were found. Draco had never seen a Muggle place like that before, nor did he ever hear of one. Harry was more prepared than he was. Draco looked around to find that there were a bunch of wide filing cabinets that were part of the walls.
"Where is she?" asked Draco.
"Inside one of these," answered Harry without making any gestures. A coroner came to talk to them. "How can I help you, gentlemen?"
"We would like to see Eden Martin," said Harry. The doctor went over to one of the drawers, and much to Draco's shock, he pulled it open to reveal Eden Martin's body. Draco looked away from the body. Harry stepped up and looked at the body. It struck him to realize how young she really was. There was a cleaned bullet wound on the side of her neck. Her sick was pale as proof that she had been dead for days.
"There was no identification on her. The man who brought her here also paid in cash, even though there was nothing they could do and she was already dead. She was so young," said the doctor regrettably.
Draco turned around to look at the body finally. "With different hair color and texture, she could look like Ginny Weasley," he stated in a hoarse voice. Harry turned and looked at the body again. There was no denying it. She was about the same age as Ginny Weasley. It made Harry shudder. That might have explained why Ron was so broken up over the death of this girl.
"What is her name? I don't think Eden Martin was her name" asked the doctor.
"We don't know for sure," answered Harry. The doctor pulled the sheet over her and closed the drawer. Draco had never been so disgusted by Muggles in his whole life. He felt sick to his stomach. How could they just shove people in drawers like that?
"Let's go," said Harry. They finally left the hospital and found out that Dante was stayed at a hotel suite with Ms. Martin. They investigated the hotel and found that they didn't stay long at the hotel and checked out the day of the shooting. After that they found out that the body of Eden Martin was gathered by a mortuary. The police still couldn't find Dante, but they didn't have the resources that Harry and Draco did. They didn't have truth serums and spells to get information out of people. They decided to return to England and gathered up the information for the report to Percy.
Harry went to Hermione's office and to his surprise she wasn't there. He looked around to find out where she went, but someone said that she had a meeting at the Ministry's head offices. Draco and Harry told Percy what they found in Boston. "I think it's time we bring in some Hit Men from the Ministry," he said.
"We can handle this. We're Aurors. We've seen worse," said Harry.
"I just think of how many people have died in and around Dante," said Percy with a sigh.
Draco and Harry didn't look at each other. "Any idea how this person looks like? Are there any Muggle photographs of him?" asked Percy.
"None," lied Harry immediately. Draco didn't even shake his head.
"We have to find him," said Percy with an angry tone.
"What do we do? He's a Muggle," said Harry.
"Hermione found out that he was a wizard. A disgraced one," Percy informed him. His voice sounded cold and harsh. He didn't like the thought of anyone who was once a wizard doing things like the Muggles did. Harry noticeably shifted uncomfortably in front of him.
"We'll find him soon," promised Draco because he knew that Harry wasn't going to say anything. Harry didn't trust himself enough to talk at this point.
"I want you to bring this Dante to me. Since he used to be a wizard, he will face us first before we leave him to the Muggles' justice," said Percy.
"Yes, sir," they said together.
"You're dismissed," he said. Both of them stood up and left as if they couldn't do it fast enough. Percy suspected that they were hiding something from him. He decided that he had no choice, but to investigate the matter himself.
*
Dante had reserved a round trip ticket back to Boston so that he could go to the burial of Eden Martin. He only needed a few hours to look at Brian's apartment. It wasn't unusual that someone would have a round trip ticket for only a few hours. To the untrained eye, Dante looked like a typical businessman. He broke into Brian's penthouse using his lock pick kit. When he first got it, he found that he knew how to use it without using the directions.
Dante wasn't too surprise to know that Brian had a permanent place. His place looked like the ultimate bachelor's pad. His apartment didn't have the old Victorian elegancy that Lenore's apartment had. Rather, it was ultra modern. It had a pool table, a bar, and a computer system in the living room. His place was decorated in black and silver. Dante looked around to the pool table and noticed that there was a switch underneath. He pressed it and found a cache of weapons in a hidden compartment behind the rack of pool cues.
Each weapon was clean and shiny. There were bullets in drawers organized by type. The weapons ranged from small daggers and guns to machine guns. Dante knew that the gun with a silencer was the weapon used to kill Skye Jones. That was more than enough for the police to find. So, Dante wiped his finger prints off the switch, but carefully left the cache of weapons open. He went to the computer and set to work hacking into it. Brian's password was "eliminator." Dante knew Brian rather well. He found all the careful records of Brian's bank account. Dante was careful never to keep records of his Swiss Bank account where people could easily find it. He only had a good idea of how much money he had. All, Dante had to do was look at the last records of money transfer to figure out who paid him. Not to Dante's surprise, the money was wired from another Swiss Bank account. There was no real name. At least Brian was smart enough not to put real names, but the account number was there in the transfer. Actually, that was all the Swiss Banks cared about: numbers. Dante jotted down the number on a piece of paper which he took of a pad so that the indentation wouldn't even show. He cleaned everything up and put almost everything back to the way it was in the computer, but he didn't log off the computer. The police would have easy access to Brian's records that way.
Dante decided it was time to go back to Boston because he didn't want to be late for Eden. He took the flight back to Boston and checked into another place. He was used to be moving to place after place. He wasn't foolish enough to settle down anywhere too long. He looked into the records. The person's accounts placed them in England, which was the place where Dante was headed. It didn't take him long to learn about computers. Anything out of necessity, he learned to do quickly. Being a Jack-of-All-Trades meant that he could be able to do almost anything required for his work. If Dante wasn't sent to kill someone, he was sent to retrieve something. Most of the time, it was information on files and disks. Dante learned something about the world. Knowledge was the ultimate power.
Harry and Draco returned to Boston at the same time. They decided that if Dante was there, they should be there as well. They got rooms at the wizards' enclave in Boston. Harry and Draco paid for their own rooms instead of the Aurors fitting the bill for them. Draco did it out of sheer pride, while Harry did it because he didn't want to be held responsible for something else in case they got caught. "Eden Martin's body was picked up to be buried," said Harry to Draco later on during tea time.
"That was quick. I know that even in the Muggle world, if someone is on government assistance, it usually takes a while for anything to happen," said Draco.
"That's exactly it. Someone is paying for all this. And I think we both know who it is," said Harry. Draco nodded. "When is she getting buried?"
"Tomorrow morning. He'll be there," said Harry with certainty.
"Then we'll be there as well," said Draco.
*Present*
Harry and Draco came to the place where Eden Martin was buried. To Harry surprise, Eden Martin was buried on Muggle holy ground in a Catholic cemetery. Draco and Harry watched from a good distance away. They both had cloaks of invisibility to conceal themselves. They watched Dante talking to the priest.
Both found the whole conversation as strange as the priest found it. The priest left him after he was thanked for his services. Dante leaned over the grave and placed his hand on top of it. The breeze came and blew at his hair. Harry and Draco stayed where they were. Harry pulled off his cloak soon enough and nodded at Draco to do the same. Draco pulled off his cloak.
"What are you doing here?" asked Dante without moving or turning around to look around him.
Harry seemed to freeze at his spot. He and Draco looked at each other. "It's very rare that anyone can sneak up on me like that," said Dante in a very clear voice, still without turning around. He had no weapons on him, so he decided not be threatening.
Draco waved at Harry to come forward with him. They were both surprise because they thought they were far enough not to be heard by Dante. They walked forward until they came just within ten feet of Dante. He stood up and turned to face them. He looked at them through his olive green lens.
"Do I know you?" he asked them calmly. Harry realized that there was no recognition on his voice. Dante took of his sunglasses.
"Yes," said Harry.
"Well, then," said Dante. The breeze came again. Harry and Dante looked at each other. There was something strange about Dante. He was Ron, but there was something wrong with him. He didn't seem to recognize Harry at all.
Finally, Draco broke the silence, "You're under arrest."
AN: I'm far too lazy to upload stuff during the break. Sorry, I can't stand the connection at home. I've had a good day. I got an A in psychology. Woohoo for me. Anyway, I left another wonderful cliffhanger here, didn't I? After reading the last part, do you think Dante/Ron will come peacefully? The odds are against him here, but do you think that will stop him? I also got around to making Fred and George sprites for my website, but they're not up for adoption. They were gifts to someone. I'll be making ones up for adoption soon. I am currently working on a rant section for my website. An interesting article about how not to write fanfiction. I decided to do this part differently because I wanted to show the steps leading up to this part, but in a different way. I don't care if there are any complaints about how this part was written. 'Cause guess what? I'll be doing the next part the way I did the first chapter. Look forward to Chapter Eleven: Harry.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. He and all the characters belongs to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing, except for this story and the original characters in this story. Use with permission. ^_~