Hey people, how're you doing?! This is finally arrived, by God, did it take me a while to get mentally prepared for this. Lemme just say, I don't want to abandon this story at all, I love this story, I truly do. So I will NOT be abandoning it in anyway, maybe neglecting it a bit, but I'll never abandon it!
SO with all that said please don't get mad if updates take A LITTLE longer than usual, it's just me, trying to even out the playing field of the story!
Chapter 21: Order Meetings! Part 2
Jayson stared at the occupants in the room with a raised brow, as they still refused to speak. He turned to Sirius expectantly.
"Well, are you gonna talk or am I gonna start get answers myself?" he asked impatiently.
"Oh, and how would you do that without us stopping you?" Jayson looked to his left to see the attractive pink haired woman glaring at him.
"Simple, you see it may have been a while since I've stepped on British soil, but I still remember quite a bit. For example, if I left this house and apparated to Knockturn Alley, grabbed a suspicious looking guy and tortured him for information before killing him and then, leaving a small phoenix symbol near his body, I'd get some of the Intel I'd need but at the same time I'd just have created a major shit storm for you. I know the Order is a bit of an infamous group around Magical Britain. I've just found a lead while creating chaos in my wake so that you cannot follow me. Magical gangs of the thugs I'd target would be out for your blood, thus effectively keeping you off my trail… hypothetically of course, I'd only do this if you tried to stop me after withholding valuable information." Jayson said with a kind smile, he looked back at the woman and found her looking at him with a hint of disgust. He didn't care, he'd seen that look a million times and you don't become a hit-man if you can't handle a bit of criticism.
"You'd really do that?" Dumbledore's voice asked over the shocked silence of the room.
"Of course, I'm here because I have my own score to settle with that noseless son of an inbred bitch and his little gang of merry men." Jayson stated. He didn't realise it, but many of the members stared at him in shock, it was obvious what he said was harsh and definitely a promise of harsh and cruel deaths, but he'd said it in such a calm and relaxed tone, it reminded everyone who had known him before he disappeared that when he had a target in his sights nothing would stand in his way… nothing.
Sighing Dumbledore turned to Harry who was still in his disguise before nodding at him. Harry/Matthew nodded in return before he spoke.
"Voldemort's hideout and existence were revealed by Harry Potter a little over a month ago. We aren't sure what his plans are but we do know he isn't too happy about being known to the public. Our resident spy; Severus Snape hasn't been able to reveal much of Voldemort's plan, as he says there have been spells put in place…"
"The unbreakable?" Jayson asked turning to the oily haired man.
"Yes. The Dark Lord has placed us all under the Unbreakable Vow, so I said before, I cannot tell you." Snape said testily at Harry/Matthew.
"After all of this, tell me exactly what the Vow said, knowing wizards, you probably haven't looked at this at another angle." Andrew commented before nodding at Matthew to continue.
"As I was saying, he has the Vow in place thus cannot tell us anything about this new hideout, but Sirius, Remus and I have made a few dents in another investigation we have been working on, and no we will not share any information with anyone until we're absolutely certain about it." Harry said loudly as he glared at Dumbledore who looked like he wanted to say something.
"Voldemort's motives are still unsure but we've come to the conclusion that he's going to attack either the Ministry of Magic or Diagon Alley. We're still waiting on details from Severus." Matthew said before he stopped.
"Alright, so Ol' Voldy wants to overtake either the Alley or the Ministry. Makes sense, if I were an anti-social, arrogant, predictable, genocide-ish, old fart I would've done the same." Jayson said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"What do you mean?" Gwen asked still eyeing Jayson suspiciously. If the dark skinned boy noticed he didn't show it as he shrugged easily.
"If he gets the Alley, all he has to do is assign his merry men to guard it, and by doing that he has effectively shut down all Alley productivity, with everyone too scared to work the businesses will eventually fail, then he could turn that entire alley into whatever he wanted to. Who would stop him? The Ministry? Please, those guys would probably piss down their leg if they saw a Death Eater, never mind Voldy himself. So, if he got control of the Alley shut down the businesses he could turn it into a streaming farm…" Jayson said as his thoughts wandered further.
"Streaming Farm?" one of the Weasley twins asked with furrowed brows.
"Yeah, they did the same thing a few months ago in Canada. Now THAT was surprising. The thing involved with streaming is… it's like picking pedigree dogs, you weed out the mutts, and in this case the pedigrees are the purebloods and the mutts…"
"Half-bloods and Muggle born."
"Exactly, but instead of just pushing them to the side, the streaming process involves killing them. Streaming for the next generation of purebloods and killing off all the others before they have a chance at becoming a threat. So in an easy essence; natural selection, like what lions do with cubs that aren't their own."
"Alright, and with the Ministry, well… that's pretty obvious why he'd want that." The other Weasley twin stated with a thoughtful look.
"Yeah, so now the question is, what do we do to prevent these things from happening? Also, we need a time frame, having Order members constantly rotating shifts will not work. We need a set time and place, the Auror support and a lot of luck."
Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a second before something slammed onto the table and everyone turned to see Molly Weasley who had been quiet for a while glaring and Jayson.
"Headmaster, I'm sorry but I can't do this, he disappears for three years,"
"It was more like two and a half really…" Jayson muttered just loud enough for people to hear.
"Then he comes back and expects everyone to follow his plans and thoughts, I signed up to be under your command, not the command of this boy, who by the way is way too young to be in here! He should be upstairs playing with Ron and Ginny!" Molly yelled, ignoring the interruption.
"First of all Mrs Weasley, I'm only here because these two asked me to be." Jayson started, gesturing to Remus and Sirius.
"Secondly my thoughts and plans could very well keep you alive in this war. I will not command anyone, but at the same time I will not be commanded." He said harshly and turned to glare at Dumbledore when said this.
"Finally, I have seen more destruction than any of you could ever hope to imagine, I've seen pain and agony more times than you've smiled and I've seen death more times than you could ever see life. I never lived here to have some twisted form of a childhood; I never tracked the order down out of some hope of salvation, I've never been a boy for as long as I can remember. I've killed since I was thirteen. Now because you feel the need to shelter your children who have gotten soft because of your overbearingness and unwillingness to let them grow you've kept them as just that, children, and I will be the first to tell you. In war… children are always the first to die." Jayson stood and turned to the door.
"I'm gonna go take a piss, start discussing ways of getting info about Voldy's plans!" he called over his shoulder as he pushed the door open and looked for the restroom.
No one spoke as the door closed again as they were completely thrown for a loop at what had just happened. Many looked at Molly who was sheet white in the face and she shook uncontrollably, before collapsing back into her seat.
"Severus, could you please get her a calming draught, quickly." Dumbledore asked as he moved over to the woman who was obviously in a state of shock.
"Was he always this… eccentric?" Tonks asked the group of people sitting at the table.
"No… he's changed, he's more… I don't know… but he definitely wasn't this bad before." Sirius answered looking slightly worried.
"The way he spoke, he was completely, calm and yet… I swear I could feel so much, pain in him." Remus added.
It was then they noticed Molly was still shaking, and Matthew was the first to act. He grabbed her face and turned it so that he could look into her eyes. Using a Legillimence probe Harry instantly found the source of the woman's shock. It was her family, being constantly tortured and by D. Eaters while she sat watching helplessly.
Harry/Matthew pulled out quickly and explained the situation to Dumbledore saying he'd rather let the aged wizard handle it, in case he screwed it up somehow.
Dumbledore went into the woman's mind and was shocked frozen at what he saw. Acting quickly so there wouldn't be any lasting damage he removed the probe in her mind, which made her see all those horrific things before pulling out of her mind and handing her the calming draught.
"Albus, what did you see in there?" McGonagall asked as she saw the Headmaster's shocked face.
"There are just some things that not even I can put into words, Minerva." Dumbledore said solemnly before moving back into his seat. The quiet sobs of Molly were heard through the kitchen; Harry gave Remus and Sirius a 'we'll talk later' look. No one knew what 'Matthew', Molly and Dumbledore saw but it was obviously terrible if their expressions were anything to go by.
"Do you understand what I'm saying now?" they all whipped their heads to the door to see Jayson standing there, not looking smug as Harry was expecting but looking unbelievably serious.
"This is a war, not a petty argument where the young will be left out, but an actual war where everyone is a target, especially children."
"But, that was just sick, how could you possibly allow a mother to see something like that?!" Dumbledore asked Jayson angrily.
"How could you allow a mother not to prepare her young for a war you knew was brewing?! I am not going to apologise for what I showed her, if she kept babying her children well, it easy to see where it would have wound up! Those two would be dead along with her husband and possibly every other male Weasley!" Jayson said pointing a finger at the twins. "And her daughter? Do we really need to think hard about what a bunch of supremacists would do to the last Weasley female left alive, and let's not forget the fact that her family are a bunch of 'Blood traitors'. She'd be a pet, nothing more than a bed girl for these bastards! You all would've have let her believe that shelter was the best option when it's the opposite. They have to learn to protect themselves!" Jayson said yelling at the people in the room as Molly started weeping a little harder.
"They are just children!" Tonks yelled back as she stood from her seat.
"Then they will be killed!" Jayson retorted, shutting her up. "Looking at you, your posture and the level of confidence you seem to ooze, I'd guess that you're an Auror, yes? Tell me then, how many children have you seen murdered by Death Eaters? How many who could've defended themselves but were instead lied to about the outside world? How many young girls found raped and killed, or sold by Death Eater scum?! … HOW MANY?!"
Tonks was thrown by these questions, then it hit her, while, his methods were more than questionable, he made a logical argument. She had seen and heard about many kids dying in Death Eater raids, but it was apparent none of them fought back. Had they been raised in a place that was too sheltered? Was it because parents didn't explain to their kids that fighting back was okay if they had to? She looked back up at Jayson and he stared back at her, his eyes were dull and cool. She didn't know him as she just recently joined the Order but it was obvious, this guy barely had anyone out there to look after him. He had definitely seen things that would haunt him forever. But what if he had been raised the same way as those kids, would he be this way now?
Jayson shook his head. "Don't wreck your brain thinking about my parents. I'll tell you…" he moved over to the kitchen door and pushed it slightly. "They were Death Eaters."
Tonks gasped a bit at that… that was a major shock. She saw him turn to her and smile. "And I killed them." He then turned back and walked out of the kitchen.
"Snape, we'll postpone on the loophole thing, I'm… too tired to do anything right now. If any new information comes up… Moony'll tell me." Then the Order members heard the sound of the front opening and closing before they all burst.
"Wow, took him five months to tell us that…" Sirius muttered to Remus.
"Wait, everything he said was true?" Tonks asked.
"Well, I don't agree on the whole train your kids from a young age stuff, but a lot of what he said was actually true." Remus told her. "You wouldn't know because you weren't in the Order at the time, but Jayson, he was a different person, oh he was cold, calculating and a bit of a pain the arse most days, but he was also happy… well the closest thing to happy you could get I suppose."
"So, h-his parents?" Fred asked shocked. He and his brother remembered Jayson from their younger years but they were never told about anything related to the boy's family.
"Yes, Jayson is the child of two Death Eaters. They beat and tortured him for years; we do not know the full extent of the abuse he suffered, as he never told us any details. But one day it seemed as though Remus had caught the scent of someone following him, it was Jayson. We still don't know how he knew but he told Remus he knew about his 'monthly rituals' and would inform the ministry if we did not help. And that is how Jayson found the headquarters of the Order." Dumbledore answered sombrely.
The room was silent, before McGonagall spoke.
"It was a month or two when he revealed his past to us, which we have no right to speak about… that is all up to Jayson to talk about. He then demanded to get training. Of course we disagreed instantly, but the threat of exposing Remus was still his trump card, after a week of debating, threats and hunger strikes, Albus gave in and allowed him to train. His skills were lacking in the beginning, but he quickly caught on. While his power and skill were only slightly above average; his strategies and aim were beyond his years. We can only assume the boy's parents taught him about tactics and sharp shooting, etc."
"Why did he leave then?" Fred asked tilting his head.
"There was a… misunderstanding, during one of the training sessions…" Sirius started cautiously.
"'A Misunderstanding'?! 'Misunderstanding' he says! The boy threw Harry under the bus in order to get the mission done!" Gwen protested loudly.
"What?!" Tonks asked as her eyes widened.
"Not an actual bus, Tonks." Remus explained. "The training session was to get an opposing team's flag. Now, obviously we couldn't get actual wands for the boys, so we used training wands. Since it doesn't do anything but shoot colourful beams. There were four on a team; Harry, Jayson, Gwen and Sirius versus Albus, Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick and myself. Gwen and I were knocked out in the first two minutes. Soon Sirius followed, that means only Harry and Jayson were left. They were caught behind an obstacle when Harry sudden flew out and took spells from the three professors while Jayson circled around and took out Flitwick and McGonagall he got a foot away from the target before Albus took him out." Remus told them.
"The fact that he used Harry as a diversion was a low move. I was highly surprised he even thought of it." Dumbledore said with a chuckle as he rubbed his chin.
"But ever since that day, Harry hasn't truly forgiven Jayson for what had happened." Sirius said with a sigh while shooting a curious glance at Matthew. "What are your thoughts on it, Matthew?"
"It's obvious isn't it? Harry Potter feels as though the trust in his comrade was completely destroyed. Sure it was just training, but the question is, would Jayson have pulled the same stunt had it not been a controlled environment?"
The meeting hadn't/couldn't be continued after that question as too many of the members wondered over Matthew's question. So the meeting was drawn to a close.
After supper Dumbledore had tried to get Harry to cancel his Christmas party just as the teen had suspected, but he was shot down. Not giving an inch Dumbledore then demanded to be present at the party to which Harry couldn't disagree to since he didn't really have a legitimate reason. After supper Harry's group left for the cottage at nine and were bombarded by questions from Tia who was currently reading in the sitting room.
"He's back?!" She asked when they mentioned Jayson.
"Yeah and he's still as cocky as ever." Harry muttered angrily.
The adults shared a look before the conversation continued. The evening went on until around ten or eleven when Harry called it a night and went up to his room. He got into his pyjama pants and climbed into the bed before passing out in a matter of seconds.
The next day was filled with preparations as Sirius apparated to the Black manor; he hadn't been year since he was around sixteen. What not many knew was that Grimmauld place wasn't the Black Ancestral home; it was where the Black family usually stored their dark artefacts. Who would ever suspect the Dark family of Black to have a house in an area surrounded by muggles? If ever Raids were conducted the Black Manor wouldn't turn up anything suspicious, no matter how the world viewed the Blacks' they certainly earned their place in Slytherin house.
After telling the house-elves that occupied the manor to prepare it for a ball that was to be held the next day, well, sufficed to say Sirius was bombarded by the happiest elves he had seen in a while.
Harry went out and got robes for the occasion, not by choice, he was forced to, by Tia and Gwen. The twins were a force to be reckoned with when they worked together. After about three painstaking hours, they finally agreed that black robes with green trimmings would suit Harry best. The raven haired boy thanked every deity that it was finally over. Until the girls mentioned the barber; Aurors be damned, Harry escaped by apparating straight into their cottage and holed himself up in his room, saying he would only come out if they wouldn't get his hair cut. The girls finally agreed. All in all, Harry would say it was a productive day.
Remus though, had other plans, as he appeared in front of a very fancy looking muggle hotel. Entering the lobby he was shocked to find the place looked about as large as one of the rooms in the Black or Potter manors. Shaking his head he walked up to the teller and was greeted by a beautiful Asian girl by the counter.
"How may I help you today, sir?" she asked sweetly.
"Oh- um, I'm looking for a Jayson Cross?" he told her nervously.
"Oh, allow me to just confirm if it is alright for you to come up, sir." She said as she picked up a phone and dialled a number before speaking.
"Hello Mister Cross, this is the front desk, there is a man here requesting to see you." She told him before nodding and looking back at the man.
"Your name, sir?"
"Oh, Remus… Lupin. Remus Lupin."
"One 'Remus Lupin', sir. Okay, I shall send him up right now, sir, thank yo- oh now we don't offer those types of services, Mister Cross no matter how many times you ask." The pretty Asian said with a giggle. She put the phone down and turned to Remus.
"Mister Cross says he will see you, sir. His room number is 945. Thank you."
Remus muttered a quick thank you in return before asking her what floor that room number was on. After a small embarrassed chuckle she told him and the wizard was back on his way to see Jayson. He entered the elevator and pressed the number twelve, before the doors shut and he was underway.
When he arrived on the floor and found the room number, he stood and considered how much Harry would hate him for doing this. Sighing, he knocked and couldn't react to how fast he was pulled into the room, had an arm pressed in his throat not allowing any room move between him and the door and found the barrel of a gun pointed towards his head.
"How many times did I threaten to report you to the Aurors after you pulled that chicken prank on me?" Jayson asked in a low threatening tone.
Remus actually froze, the tone of this soon to be sixteen year old combined with the cold unfaltering look he gave Remus, made the werewolf freeze and made his heart feel as though it was about to explode.
"Thirteen." He answered in a hoarse whisper. He gasped as he felt the arm leave his throat and heard the clicking of the gun. Had he answered wrong? He looked expecting to see the gun pointing at him but he saw Jayson move into the room and toss the gun onto the couch before he too threw himself on the couch.
"So what can I help you with?" Jayson asked in a bored tone.
"We-We're having a Christmas party, we thought it'd be a good idea to see who would support Harry in the upcoming war and if Voldemort would send any of his unknown Death Eaters to spy on us. You should come." Remus replied, feeling his rapidly beating heart calm down some.
"Hmm, I don't think that'll work out well." Jayson said as he stretched and reached over to his bag and pulled out a box of cigarettes.
"Come on, it'll be fun." Remus said trying again.
"Harry's gonna be there, I'm not in the mood to put England's 'Golden Boy' in a coma before he has to battle the Dark Fuckface."
Remus sighed; the animosity wasn't only from Harry's side. They were both to blame for the fall of their friendship.
"Look, just… if you feel like coming it's at Black manor, here's the coordinates of the apparation point, if you do decide to come by." Remus said as he placed a note with coordinates on it before he turned and left.
Jayson glanced over at the piece of paper before shaking his head and moving to the bathroom as it was still only ten in the morning. He wanted to take a shower and head down to flirt with that little number at the front desk. As he made his way to the bathroom he caught sight of a small music box on the counter beside the bathroom door and stopped slightly. Scoffing he shook his head and went inside. That box would soon determine whether Jayson would forget his past and move to his future.
Hermione sat at her kitchen table blocking all the talking her family had been making and was currently sulking at the fact that she couldn't join her friends at the party this evening. Sighing, she pushed around her breakfast, not really feeling in the mood to eat anything, until an owl flew through the window; scaring the family members that didn't know about her magical abilities.
"Hold on, I'll get it." Her aunt said in a whisper but was shut up when the snowy owl turned its head and shot the woman an ugly glare.
"Sorry, Hedwig, what's up girl?" Hermione said as she stroked the owl's feathers, further shocking her family.
The snowy beauty stuck out her leg and Hermione untied the letter.
"You know this… this thing?" Her cousin asked in a terrified manner.
Hermione ignored her while her parents quickly strung together an excuse about how her school didn't believe in technology as it would disrupt the students from learning and thus had trained animals to deliver letters and parcels.
"Hey Hermione, sorry about the sudden request, but what's your address?
Harry."
Hermione blinked and blinked again before she quickly got a pen and scribbled a reply to Harry, curious about his question. She tied the response to Hedwig's leg and the owl flew off out of the window and made her way back to her owner.
Her parents looked at her questioningly, but Hermione simply shrugged in response until the heard a small pop and a knock at their door.
"No…" Hermione muttered feeling an excitement well up inside her but at the same time dread.
"Now who could that possibly be?" her aunt asked in an annoyed tone.
Greg Granger stood from the table and went the door. The others sat quietly before they heard Greg's voice.
"Hello, can I help you?"
"Hi, is Hermione here by any chance?" they heard another male voice ask in a kind tone. Hermione's aunt, mother and cousin all turned to look at the brunette girl. What made Hermione feel even more dreadful was the spark that all three women had in their eyes when they heard her name.
"Who might you be?" Greg asked suspiciously.
"Oh, I'm a friend from school. My name's Harry Potter, sir. I decided to come by and give Hermione her Christmas gift in person since she won't be able to attend to ball this evening." Harry replied.
Hearing the word present, Hermione rushed over to the door and saw two emerald eyes, the same two eyes, she had seen at school, the same eyes that looked at her in admiration and respect and the same eyes she was certain she was falling hard for.
"Oh, there you are, 'Mione. Sorry, you couldn't make it this time, but hopefully you'll be at my new year's party; yeah?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Yeah, Harry, I'll be there." She answered instantly, avoiding her father's look.
"Well, here you are. Happy Christmas, 'Mione. I'll see you back at Hog-" Harry stopped when he saw Hermione shake her head and point into the house. Getting the message instantly Harry nodded.
"I'll see you at school then." He said with a smile before getting off the porch and walking a little ways away from the house, looking around to ensure he was alone and spun in his spot, popping away.
"What's this about a New Year's party?" Hermione's dad asked sounding cautious.
"Can we talk about it later? Just know that I've been invited and I've accepted." Hermione said before turning and walking away from her dad who stood in place and sighed tiredly.
Tracey, Daphne, Luna and Susan would be getting their gifts at the party. Harry went out and got each girl a necklace and a watch, but each necklace centre was different in some way. Hermione got a necklace with an emerald in the centre while Susan got a ruby, Daphne got a white diamond, Tracey got a necklace with a Gem and Luna's had a rare multi-pearl.
Their watches were also beautiful with small diamonds around the face but had an image in it. Hermione's was one with a proud lioness whose head would turn and survey her surroundings before it opened its mouth and seemed to roar. Daphne's watch had a beautiful black mamba snake relaxing in the branches of a tree; its tongue would occasionally stick out as it smelt the air. Tracey's watch had a pure white wolf sitting upon a hill and howling at the moon before another wolf soon joined it and the two went on to play as they rolled down the hill. Susan's watch had a badger hissing and attacking a hippogriff fearlessly. It would retreat slightly before jumping back and attack the creature before the hippogriff flew away and Luna's watch had an image of an animal, it was pure black and had long fangs, it moved through the shadows of the trees before it jumped out and a pure black jaguar; Harry's animagus form came into view.
Harry wasn't sure if the girls would get the meanings behind the pictures but he hoped they would. He thought it would help them whenever they weren't feeling too confident about themselves.
The evening finally rolled around and Sirius, Remus, Harry, Gwen and Tia were ready for the night.
Harry wore the dress robes the girls had picked out for him only this time it had the Potter family crest on his chest, showing the world that he would soon be Lord Potter. Harry's hair had grown quite a bit and he tied it behind his neck so his hair looked manageable at the very least.
Sirius wore his formal robes with the crest of house Black over his chest, the Lord of house Black, was still a rebel of course and refused to tie his shoulder length slightly curled hair back. Remus didn't have a crest over his robes but they were still freshly bought compliments of Sirius who wouldn't take them back no matter what Remus said.
Tia wore an elegant white dress which made her look heavenly, her pixie like hair was let loose and styled that made her look formal yet fun at the same time. Gwen on the other hand being the complete opposite of her sister wore a tight black, knee high dress with a low dip in the back and black heels. Her hair was spiked up as usual, but being just as rebellious as Sirius the twin went a step further and added highlights into her hair.
Seeing the two girls, their boyfriends went dry at the mouth while Harry complimented Tia on how angelic she looked and was promised pain by Gwen when he coughed and said something that sounded very similar to 'floozy'.
The guests were arriving by the drones. The five of them stood by the door and greeted each guest happily before showing them to the ballroom. Harry first Daphne and Tracey arrive at the manor. Both girls looked absolutely breath taking. Daphne wore a baby blue dress with a tear along the side that lead up to her thigh. Tracey wore a beautiful green number with a very reserved look, as it only showed her collar bones until she saw Harry, smiled and gave a small twirl, he then saw the unbelievably smooth back of the raven haired Slytherin, and it was nowhere near as reserved as the front as the dip stopped just at the small of her back.
Harry swallowed his spit and put on a friendly smile as the girls arrived at the front door.
Daphne and Tracey's parents went over to greet the adults while Harry greeted the girls.
"Daphne, Tracey. You two look absolutely beautiful." He said as he bowed and kissed the girls hands before he turned and saw a shorter version of Daphne and tilted his head.
"Hello, and may I ask who you may be, young miss?" Harry asked as he bowed to the small girl who raised an eyebrow and smirked at Harry.
"Astoria, Astoria Greengrass." The girl replied in a haughty tone.
"Well, miss Greengrass; it is a pleasure to meet you." Harry said.
"Yes, I'm sure it must be, tell me, have the Delacours arrived?"
"Astoria!" Daphne hissed shocked.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Daph." Harry said waving the girl's behaviour away as if it was nothing. "They have not arrived as of yet, I am surprised you know of their invitation to the party." Harry said with a small smirk.
Astoria simply sighed. "I have my ways, mister Potter." She replied before taking off her coat and handing it to an elf that popped in to collect it.
If Harry was shocked by what the younger Greengrass was wearing, he didn't show it. Astoria wore a tight, short black dress with a dip in the back and a large chunk missing from the front showing off her budding bust. She sighed haughtily and made her way into the manor towards the ballroom.
"So… that's your sister huh?" Harry asked with a small smirk at Daphne.
"Shut it…" the blonde muttered before moving into the ballroom.
"We're just going to mingle a bit. We'll see you in there, yeah?" Tracey asked hopefully.
"Yeah, just after I greet the guests here." Harry replied.
"Good and I expect a dance, Mister Potter." Tracey said with a small smirk before she walked back to him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. She then smiled at him and winked before headed back towards the ballroom.
"Hey Harry."
Harry turned to see Susan wearing a beautiful yellow dress with a dip in the front showing off her impressive growth she'd developed in her short number of years.
"Susan, wow, you look fantastic." Harry said as he greeted her with a bow and a kiss to the hand.
"Hello Harry and I've got to say, you look very handsome yourself." Susan replied with a giggle.
"Daphne and Tracey are already in, so are the Patils' and Blaise and his mother." Harry told her when he motioned to the ballroom. "I'll be in shortly."
Next to arrive was Neville, then Hannah, Lavender and finally in a bright purple dress came Luna and her father dressed in an odd suit comprised of silk, leather, feathers and what appeared to be antlers. Smiling as she walked up to him; Luna grabbed Harry and pulled him into a tight hug and kissed his cheek, before stating that she'd be inside, waiting for him.
The other guests finally arrived when and Sirius and the others headed inside to join their guests. They got halfway when they turned and noticed Remus still looking around outside, waiting for someone. The four others shared confused looks before calling out to him.
"Oh, sorry, I figured someone would come but it looks like they had other plans." Remus told them with a small smile.
"Who were you waiting for?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"An old friend." Remus replied with a small shrug.
They went into the party and proceeded to mingle with the guests who had already arrived, they knew some would be late, as the old saying goes: Fashionably late to a party, most wizards took that saying literally and would arrive thirty minutes after a ball had begun.
In a fancy hotel in room 945 on the twelfth floor sat a fifteen nearly sixteen year old boy who sat on the window sill of his hotel looking out at the view below with a lit cigarette in his right hand, a mobile phone in the other. He had an earpiece in his ear and was currently speaking with his handler.
"Agent Storm, you have a new mission; do you accept it?" his handler asked.
"Agent Strom, I accept."
"The target is a high-end trafficker. They've shipped everything from counterfeit bills to underage children. The target was last seen in Magical Mumbai conversing with known arms dealer and drug lord Antonio Travers. We have Travers in custody now; we've dragged every bit of information out of him that we can. He says the target is currently in your derestriction."
"Wait, they're in London?"
"Correct, your mission is to eliminate the target. They have done too much to be labelled as redeemable in our society; your mission is to take them out."
"Copy, in which manner would the company like this done?"
"The higher ups want it to look like an accident."
"They're magical, correct?"
"Correct."
"That's going to be tough then… How much time do I have?"
"Until March."
"Shit… you guys always have to make it near impossible, don't you?"
"Agent Storm… no Jayson, you don't have to do this, not after what happened…"
Jayson chuckled slightly. "Come on, Karen, we both know if I've already accepted a mission and back out of it, well, I'd get killed. I'm fine, I can handle this… Tell me the name of the target and last known location."
Jayson sat and listened to the name of the target and raised a brow at where they were now.
"That's a creepy coincidence." He said with a small laugh. "I've been invited to that party. I'll gather Intel and report back in 48 hours. Storm, out." He pulled out the earpiece and looked over at the note that still rested on his coffee table. "Well, I guess it's party time."
Harry was currently speaking to his friends off to the one side of the ballroom. This party was his idea, but then he remembered that, he didn't really like people that much. He'd already met most of his guests and determined the ones who would be allies and the ones who would threats to him in the upcoming war. The families of the girls were all behind Harry, with the exception of Michael Greengrass whose family had always remained Grey in the wars. Harry told him he completely understood, and that if Michael still felt the same after a few days of considering it he would back off.
The eleven friends were all having a great time until Pavarti caught everyone's attention by pointing towards the door.
"And who is that?" she asked curiously.
Everyone turned and Harry felt his breath hitch in his throat as he saw Jayson standing in the doorway of the ballroom looking around. The dark skinned boy wore a pair of formal shoes; a plain white shirt- with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows- a black tie and a black waistcoat. He was dressed completely muggle styled compared to every other male in the room, but he seemed completely oblivious to the fact. He also looked over Harry's group twice or three times and still hadn't made his way over to greet simply continued to scan the area until he spotted someone and made his way over to them.
"Harry do you know that person?" Neville asked curiously, but he didn't get a reply as Harry pushed his way through his friends and made a beeline for his ex-friend.
"What are you doing here?!" Harry whispered angrily to the boy when he finally stopped him.
"My, oh my, Harry, God, how long has it been?"
"Cut the crap, Cross. What do you want?" Harry asked again harshly.
"Oh calm down, Cinderella, I'm not here to ruin your ball. I'm here for something else." Jayson said as he turned to leave, but Harry stopped him by grabbing his arm.
"You here to kill someone?"
"No, can't I just enjoy a few refreshments, mingle etc. etc.?"
"No, you can't! Who invited you anyway?!"
"Why, I believe your uncle should be the one you ask that question." Jayson stated before he pulled his arm out of Harry's grip and continued on his way.
Harry was about to chase him when he felt someone grab his shoulder.
"Harry, what the hell is going on?" Tracey asked when she finally reached him.
"Who was that person?" Pavarti asked, feeling nervous about the mystery guy who had Harry this tense.
"Just… a person I used to know." Harry stated before turning and facing his friends with a smile.
"More punch anyone?" He asked as he made his way towards the food table, cautiously followed by his friends, all except Padma who was still silently watching this mystery man.
She saw him casually talk to guests as if he had been their friends for years, making them laugh, telling them compelling stories and smiling along while someone else spoke. She watched him charm his way through almost everyone in the room, but what she couldn't figure out was why it felt as if he was simply putting on an act. As if he was just acting this way for some other ulterior motive. She then saw him walk backwards while talking to some other guests, probably saying goodbye and accidently bump into her father who seemed to curse in Hindi while the boy apologized for his idiocy.
"Padma, come on, everyone's wondering where you disappeared to. Let's go." Pavarti said as she grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her along to where her friends where, effectively breaking her sight from the boy. But Padma still couldn't shake the feeling that that boy was faking something, that he had a different reason for being here.
Jayson spoke to Faraaz Patil for a while, asking several questions, the elder man was surprised to find a boy as young as Jayson so interested in the shipping business. He told him as much as he could about it, before Andrew smiled apologetically and said he needed to use the loo. Faraaz gave the boy his floo address and told him to floo him whenever he had more questions about the shipping industry.
Thank him profusely Jayson made his way to the bathroom before making a beeline to the front door. He was greeted by a house-elf who asked if he was leaving.
"No, I've just got to use a muggle device and don't want the wards destroying my phone, so I'm simply stepping out, I'll only be a few minutes." Jayson told the small creature before quickly walking to the edge of the Black manor wards; it took him a few minutes. He then dialled a number and put the phone up to his ear.
"The Sparrow hunts at twilight." the voice said through the receiver.
"The Crow hunts at dawn." Jayson replied.
"Welcome, Agent Strom."
"Yeah, let's cut the pleasantries. I've made contact with the target. Faraaz Patil. Run his name through the database and send me everything you get on this guy." Jayson said quickly.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Agent Storm."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Please continue to, Illuminate the way of society." His handler said before cutting the call.
"Bloody, company, they go out of their way to keep themselves a secret then they go and say their name in the ending message… Idiots." Jayson muttered before lighting a cigarette he had pulled out of the box in his pocket and headed back to the party.
After the walk he had one last pull before blowing the smoke out and headed back into the party. When he walked back into the ballroom, he heard a massive slapping sound come from one of the groups that were hanging out along the side of the room. Curious, he walked in their direction and found Harry's group surrounding two girls. Both girls had blonde hair and fair skin, Jayson thought they were twins for a second until he noticed that both the girls had another blonde behind them.
"What the hell?" he muttered as he got closer.
"If you ever, insult me or my family again, I vill do much worse than slap you!" he heard one of the girls say.
The other girl then turned and ran towards one of the bathrooms. "Just the hell did I miss?!" Jayson asked himself.
"I'm am very sorry, about 'er." One of the blonde girls said but that wasn't important right now. Jayson knew that voice from… somewhere.
"I 'ope your sister vill be okay?" the girl asked the other blonde who was a part of Harry's group by the looks of it.
"Yeah, Astoria will be fine. She's always had a bit of a big mouth."
Jayson's memory finally caught up to him and he snapped his fingers.
"Fleur?! Fleur Delacour?!"
Everyone froze and turned to see Jayson standing on their side while pointing a finger at the pretty blonde girl who was currently holding back another little blonde girl who he also knew. "And Gabrielle! Wow, what are the fucking chances?!"
"Do we know you?" Fleur asked with a raised brow at Jayson.
"It's me… Cross, Jayson Cross!"
The two blonde French girls eye's narrowed in concentration before realisation hit and that turned back to Jayson wide eyed.
"J-Jayson?!"
"Yeah! Wow, what's it been like… four years?!" Jayson asked with a massive smile. "Come on, we have to catch up!"
Harry sighed and rubbed his face, he'd forgotten about the fact that Jayson was at the Party. No thanks to Remus. Then the whole Astoria and Gabrielle fight and now Fleur and Jayson have reunited. This party was turning out to be just a huge ball of stress.
Hey peeps, so sorry for the long wait! Not a great chapter… I'm sorry. (v.v)
What do you guys think is in Jayson's box? And what do you think happened to make him the way he is? I'd love to hear your guys' theory!
So I gave the name (sorta) of the company Jayson is working for, obvious I know but I wanted to add another factor to the story! It will also help in the future. So you didn't meet the Delacours the way you thought you would but you still did! Next chapter I'll go into detail about what happened with Harry and the others while Jayson was busy with his shit.
So how you guys like it so far? Please leave a comment and follow and favourite this story! Show the love peeps.
Peace, Love, Respect
Zak
(7 574 words minus the A/N's in the beginning and end!)