A/N: I have no reason for not udpdating sooner except to say work... at least I have this weekend off, so expect another chapter then as well.

Disclaimer: I can say I own Tiffany, but not Harry, Hermione, Ron, Seamus, oh the hell with it, if you recoginize then from the books or movies I don;t own it.

Recap: Harry and T had their 'date'. It went well, and we met some of T;s friends... and Rebecca. Kingsley called Ron 'Ron' and he harped on it. They solved the mystery of the wand... sort of. And T got on Kingsley's bad side and he tried to use legilimency on her and got shcoked. And then on Friday just as they were about to start training for the day as a whole group (Hermione was back from her Healer duties) Kingsley informed them that Mundungus was caught smuggling illegal substances in a troll. Whew.

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At the crime scene

"Eww, yuck… Harry please tell me this isn't…" Ron started disgusted.

"Er… I think it is" I replied.

"Oi, you lot, get out of that, yer contaminatin' the scene."

I looked to see a very irate looking older man screaming at us.

"You think we want to be standing in Troll Bogeys?" Ron spat.

"Cool… wait, did you say bogeys?" T asked.

"Yes he did." Hermione said stepping out of the muck.

The rest of us followed.

"Aye, I hope yer didn't mess it up too much… them Aurors are a high strung bunch of-" the man stated.

"Arthritis, I think you should stop complaining before you say something you regret." Seamus said stepping in plain view of the man.

"Shameful is that you? What yer doin' wit this lot?"

The man came over and shook Seamus's hand.

"I'm helping the Auror's for a while on a case." He replied smiling.

"Aurors, you say? I heard about that from Romance, thought he was bullshittin'" the man said giving us all a once over.

"Nah, it's nothing permanent, just until the case is done." Seamus told him.

"I should bloody well hope not, the rest of the department would fall apart without ya. Today already I done seen three mistakes, luckily Groggy was here." Arthritis admitted.

"Can someone please tell us what the hell you two are talking about?" Ron asked rudely.

"Ron" Hermione yelled.

"Oi, my fault. Everybody this is Artemis Ticks. Everyone- well everyone who's a decent bloke; has a nickname made out of their names in out department. So we call him Arthritis." Seamus explained.

"Aye, I'll admit I wasn't too pleased wit it at firs', but I ain't young no more, fits kinda nice now." Arthritis said thoughtfully.

"And Arthritis, this is Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Tiffany Thomas, and Harry Potter." Seamus said as he pointed us out.

As Seamus announced all our names the man seemed to recognize it a bit more easily. And as with most people who've never met me, his eyes flickered to the direction of my scar.

"Aye that you are. Sorry about that Auror's comment, but most of your lot are a bit too… uptight for my liking. 'Specially since old Mad Eye left." He said.

"Well you've never met us then." Ron said proudly.

"Plenty of truth there, I haven't. Though I doubt you'll be much different." Arthritis said.

"Am I the only one still missing something?" Ron asked looking between Seamus and Arthritis.

No, he wasn't. I got the feeling there's more going on too… but I'll refrain from showing my lack of knowledge.

"Hey Arthritis, come here, I need help." A voice called from over by the trees.

"Oi, I'm comin' Romance. I'll be back in a minute to give yer the happening's so far, let me jus' help Romance." Arthritis said and turned to leave.

He left to go help Romance- whoever that is; and Hermione turned to Seamus.

"So what's exactly is his problem with Auror's?" she asked.

"Well, most of the time we deal with regular Law Enforcement. But on something big like this, where the Aurors are involved well…" Seamus said leaving the sentence hanging.

"Well what?" Ron questioned.

"You want everything perfect. And that's impossible." Seamus explained.

"What do you mean by perfect? Do you expect us to not take notice if something is wrong?" Hermione quizzed.

"No, not like that… look, you see how our Portkey landed us right in the middle of… the scene; well that's a common occurrence. This scene was perfectly fine until we apparated into it. But a few Aurors don't seem to realize that." Seamus explained.

"So you're saying that, there are things that are impossible to keep from getting messed up?" Hermione stated.

"Yeah, like when I have to make up a better story than the ones some of the rookies come up with, the Auror's get mad at that fact that we had to use such in depth lies to cover it. They say it makes it harder for their investigation later-" Seamus started.

"It does" Ron cut in.

"I understand that mate, but look at the picture in general instead of just thinking about you. The fact that an Auror is even needed at the scene, means there's something big going on. Something that probably can't be explained as a shooting star, gas leak explosion, government testing or any other commonly used excuse. Muggles aren't stupid. They need a certifiable explanation that justifies what they just saw and/or experienced. And sometimes you have to get creative-" Seamus continued.

"Like when we saw you pretend it was a movie set." Ron interrupted.

"Yeah, exactly. I'm sorry if you think we didn't contain the evidence better, or that the Muggle Worthy Excuses are a bit much at times, but… you're Auror's. Why the hell sign up for the job, if you want an easy life?" Seamus finished.

"He makes a really good point, you know?" Hermione says aloud.

"I was thinking the same thing, and I hardly know anything about his real job." T said.

"Thanks…" Seamus said, his cheeks a bit red.

"Well, we're not like that. I mean… that case with the movie set excuse went great." Ron said thinking on it.

"I know, but if you could pass the message along to the rest of your department, it'd be greatly appreciated." Seamus said.

"No problem." Ron said, as of that settled that matter.

"In fact, you say the Portkey moments happen often?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, even with regular Law Enforcement." Seamus replied.

"Then I'll have a talk with Kingsley about fixing that as well. There's no reason anyone should be apparating right into the middle of evidence." Hermione admitted.

"Especially Troll Bogey's" T added.

Arthritis was back, with another bloke. He was tall, a bit tanned, and looked like he was in mid 30's.

"Guess what Arthritis?" Seamus said.

"What?" He replied.

"They said they'll talk to there boss about fixing their Portkeys" Seamus replied.

"Yer don't say? Well, isn't that sumthin'" He said with a smile.

"Yeah, we promise" Ron added grinning.

"Sorry to be rude, but who are you guys? A lot of Aurors make promises." The new guy said.

"They're-" Seamus started.

"I'll introduce 'em. That's Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter." Arthritis said proudly.

"I knew they looked familiar" The new guy said.

"And what am I? Invisible?" T asked a bit peeved.

"Sorry, darling, but it's easier ta remember war heroes, ya know?" Arthritis said bowing in apology.

"Uh hun. And I'm Tiffany Thomas." She added.

"Well it's a pleasure meeting you the most my dear." He said, taking her hand and kissing it.

"And guys, this is Romance- who lives up to his name." Seamus said grinning.

I could tell Ron wanted to ask why he would let himself be named Romance, but Hermione gave him a look that said she knew the same.

"Romance? What's your real name that you let yourself be called Romance?" T asked, while still holding letting him hold her hand.

"My real name is Romaine Cessily." He replied.

"No wonder" T replied.

"But still, I could see if you were a witch, you're a bloke, Romance should not be a bloke's nick name." Ron said gently.

"Well… the fellas think I'm a bit of a womanizing ladies man anyways, so it does fit I suppose..." He said slowly.

"Well are you a womanizing ladies man?" Hermione asked seriously.

T finally pulled her and away.

"Wait, don't be like that. I'm just not ready to settle down yet. Find the right one, and all that stuff." He said smiling.

"For Merlin's sake Romance your almost 50, you need to settle down and pass some of your skills on to another generation." Seamus said smiling.

"50" Hermione and T both said.

I had to admit I was shocked as well. He didn't look a day over 35.

"Well, Seamus might be exaggerating a bit, I'm only 47, but-" Romance started again.

"Who cares? You look really good for your age. I hope I age that well." T said.

"So do I," Hermione added.

"I hope you do too." Ron said to Hermione.

She promptly smacked him upside the head.

"Got yerself a feisty one there hun?" Arthritis said smiling at Ron.

Ron didn't say anything in fear of being hit again.

"Well, I suppose you want to see the man of the hour?" Romance stated.

"Who's that?' I asked.

"Dung." He replied.

"Yeah where is he? He better have a good explanation for this one, else he's in for it." Ron stated.

We followed Arthritis and Romance as they led us to where Dung is supposed to be. As we walked Romance kept taking it upon himself to 'help' T around certain spots. She just smiled and thanked him… not that I care.

We reached a tent and walked in. Dung was sitting roped to a chair, and looking squeamish.

" 'Arry me boy, good ta see yer, I'm telling yer I was Imperius'd." He said quickly.

"Dung, this is not something to joke about." Ron said.

"Ron, you'd think I joke 'bout this? No, no, this is something even Mundungus Fletcher wouldn't do. I promise ya." Mung said.

"Then tell us what happened." Hermione said.

"I'll tell ya anything yer want ta hear if it'll mean I don't get sent ta Azkaban." He said seriously.

Mung never says anything seriously. I look at Hermione and Ron and can tell they're minds are thinking the same way.

"And you said you'd do it under the influence of Veritaserum?" Hermione quizzed.

"Anything…. Except…" Dung replied.

"I knew it." Ron said.

"No, no, s'not like that. I mean, well yer promise ta only ask me about bein' Imperius'd right?" He said shyly.

"What?" Ron asked.

"He wants to know if we're going to ask him about anything else that might incriminate him for a different crime." Hermione said.

"Right, she is." Dung replied.

"Dat oughta be da last 'o yer worries Dung." Arthritis pointed out.

"We promise" Hermione said.

"Do I have your word?" Dung asked seriously.

"You want to ask somebody about their word?" Ron asked surprised.

"Er… right. Well s'not like I have much choice in the matter do I?" Dung replied.

Hermione was already reaching in her robes for the vial Kingsley gave us.

"And that's truth serum right?" T asked.

"Yeah" Ron replied.

"And he's supposed to be under mind control or something, right?" T asked again.

"Sort of, it's a bit more complicated than that. It's like your mind is filled with this blissful feeling and anything the caster tells you sounds like a really good thing to do. You can fight it if you realize it sounds like something you wouldn't normally do." I explain.

"Which is why Mung was probably easy to use, he's got no conscience." Ron stated.

"I have con sense." Dung remarked.

"I don't doubt that. But the word isn't con sense, its conscience." Hermione said shaking her head.

"Oh… I got one o' those too… unless I sold it..." Dung said looking up at the ceiling of the tent in thought.

"Honestly…" Hermione said as the rest of us giggled.

"And is there an antidote to it? I mean is there a way to trick it somehow?" T asked.

"Yeah there are ways. Other potions, spells…" Ron replied.

"Then how do you know this is isn't a part of it either? That whoever Imperiused him, didn't give him the repellant already with instructions to lie under the truth serum?" T asked.

"Come on now… hey, wait a minute, who is this hag anyways 'Arry? Is she some rookie?" Dung asked looking annoyed.

"Hag? Me? That's rich." T replied, not even looking at him.

"Yeah you. Askin' all these questions and the like…" Dung said staring at her with dislike.

"Just a curious witch along for the ride. Your little episode here is side tracking other really important business." T answered with just as much dislike, still not looking at him.

"Enough. We administer the Veritaserum, and then we'll worry about the validity of the answers later." Hermione said.

And we watched as Hermione poured some into Mung's mouth. He choked a bit, but swallowed it.

"What's your name?" Hermione asked.

"Mundungus James Fletcher." He said tonelessly.

"James? You here that Harry?" Ron asked.

"I heard" I replied a bit shocked at the news.

"How old are you?" Hermione asked.

"I'll be 41 come next month." He replied.

"True or False, you once left Harry alone to get some stolen cauldrons?" Hermione questioned.

"Aye, true." He answered.

"And which member of the order screamed at you good and well?" Hermione asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Molly." Dung answered.

"Well it's definitely him." Hermione said turning to us.

"Yeah, I reckon Mung never would have told anyone about the way mum yelled at him." Ron said smiling.

"Alright then Mundungus, what was the troll carrying?" Hermione said seriously.

"Illegal substances" He replied.

"What kind?" Hermione quizzed.

"Venomous Tentacula seeds, Doxy venom, Acromantula's poison, Essence of Africa, and a bit of Dragon's toe nails." Dung reeled off.

""Blimey, no wonder it was sick." Seamus remarked.

"And where were you taking the troll too?" Hermione asked.

"Britain." Dung replied.

"Where at?" Hermione quizzed.

"Anywhere" he replied just as tonelessly.

"Anywhere? So you didn't have a set destination?" Hermione questioned.

"No." Dung replied.

"That doesn't make any sense." Ron interjected.

"No it doesn't." Hermione added.

"So you mean to tell me, that you were just supposed to walk around with a troll carrying illegal substances?" T asked.

"Yes." Mung replied.

We all looked at each other. Why would someone Imperius Mung to walk around with a troll was the probably the question on everyone's mind?

"That doesn't make any sense. He's obviously been given the antidote." T remarked.

"Sure don't." Romance replied.

"I'm thinking he's tryin' to pull one over on yer." Arthritis added.

"What do you think Hermione?" I asked.

We always go on Hermione's first instincts first. She's usually headed in the right direction.

"Ron, aren't Venomous Tentacula seeds, and the Doxy Venom part of Fred and George's Skiving Snack boxes?" She asked.

"Yeah, but I hope you're not implying they had something to do with this?" Ron asked a bit annoyed.

"No. But…" She started leaving the sentence hanging.

"But, what?" Ron asked annoyed.

"Well we know what Venomous Tentacula Seeds and Doxy Venom can do when mixed together, right? They can make you sick- hence Fred and George's success. And Acromantula poison isn't exactly good for you either when it's in its diluted form." Hermione explained.

"Yeah, and?" Ron said encouraging her.

"And everyone knows Dragon Toe Nails don't agree with Trolls-" Hermione added.

"I didn't know that." Ron interrupted.

"Aye, neither did I." Arthritis said. "And I've been 'round a long time."

"Nor I" Romance added.

"Ok, so anyone who remembers the Dragon Troll Rumbles of 1211, knows that." Hermione explained.

"Sorry Hermione, you know how the rest of us were during History of Magic." Seamus said smiling.

"The point is, Dung may be telling the truth." Hermione said exasperated.

"Of course… and how did we put that together, again?" Ron said raising his eyebrow.

"Well those substances would make anyone sick, and with the Dragon Toe Nails, it was definite that this Troll was going to… not have a happy ending. But I have no idea about the properties of Essence of Africa, it's a really rare substance to find, and not many people have discovered any definite uses for it. But I'd bet that something in it, mixed with the rest of the substances caused the Troll to combust." Hermione explained.

Everyone seemed to be taking this in for a second. What would be the point in letting a Troll combust? It did nothing…

"Oh no." I said suddenly.

"What happened?" Hermione and Ron said together.

"Did you figure something out?" Seamus asked.

"We need a reason for someone to let a sick Troll run through Britain, right?" I asked.

"Yeah." Ron said as everyone else nodded their heads.

"Don't you see?" I asked thinking at least Hermione would have caught on by now.

"No." Ron answered.

"It's a diversion like in first year. Something is going on somewhere else, and the troll was just here to cause a distraction. We have to get back." I said quickly.

"I don't know Harry this is a pretty big, diversion." Ron said.

"But nothing else makes sense." I replied.

"Unless he's still lying." T added.

"Dung, do you know who Imperiused you?" I asked looking at him.

"No" He replied.

"How did you know what the substances were?" I asked again.

"I saw the person shrink them and feed it to the Troll." He replied.

"And you recognized all of them just by sight?" Hermione questioned.

"No, just the Tentacula Seeds and the Acromantula poison, but the person announced all the ingredients as they shrank them." Dung replied.

"What was the person wearing?" I asked.

"Death Eater robes." He replied tonelessly.

A collective gasp rose from everyone's throats.

"Are you sure Mung?" Ron asked unbelievingly.

"Positive." He replied.

"And then what? What happened after he gave the substances to the Troll? Hermione asked.

"He told me to take the Troll for a walk through Britain. That the Troll would follow me because he told it too." Mung replied.

"That's it?" Hermione asked.

"He gave me my wand back, and told me if the troll starts to wander, and stops following me, I was to cast 'Reducto' straight at it's stomach, and run as far away as I could. Run. He specifically said Run." ung answered.

"And did you cast Reducto?" Hermione asked.

"Yes." Mung replied.

"I think Harry's right." Hermione said turning to face us.

"Why now?" T asked.

"Because, it's obvious the person wanted Dung to know the ingredients, otherwise they wouldn't have said them out loud. They also told him to get away, but not to apparate- the only thing that might have kept Dung's part in this a secret." Hermione explained.

"And how's that help?" Arthritis asked.

"By running, instead of apparating, he should get away from the impending combustion but not far enough away that he won't get caught by whoever woule be appearing to tale care of the scene." Hermione answered.

"Why not just leave him to stay next to the troll? Then there wouldn't be any doubt about it at all. By running Dung could've always said he was trying to get away." Romance asked.

"Well that first part's obvious enough, the Death Eater obviously told him to run so he wouldn't get hurt- assuming this is all right. If he wanted Dung to tell, he can't do that if he got hurt- even killed; in the accident." T explained.

"And for the last part… where exactly did you catch Dung?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know meself." Arthritis said.

"I think Groggy caught him, hold on a sec." Romance said.

He stepped out of the tent and looked around. Then shouted-

"Hey Groggy, come here, we need to know something."

A second later, a dumpy looking mad who looked like he could be in his 50's stepped in the tent.

"Groggy, you look like hell, yer know that don't you?" Seamus asked smiling at the man.

"Shameful, where you been? Them rookies aren't cut out for this." Groggy replied.

"I'm helping the Auror's with a case, but this came up and their boss thought it'd be a good idea to see how they work." Seamus answered.

"Well hurry back kid; they make a man want to take early retirement that lot." Groggy answered. "Now what can I help you with?"

"Who caught Dung?" Romance asked.

"I did." He replied smiling.

"Good, then you're definitely who they need to talk too." Romance replied.

"Yes, where exactly did you catch Dung?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't." He replied smiling.

"But you just said-" Ron started.

"I mean, I didn't have to catch him per say. More like he ran into me." Groggy said.

"He ran into you?" Hermione quizzed.

"Yeah. I had just portkey'd in, and before I took two steps he ran straight into me." Groggy said. "Hurt my knee, he did."

"And then what?" Ron asked.

"I asked him what he was doing here. Immediately started telling me he was under the Imperius and what not. Didn't even have to ask." Groggy explained.

"If that ain't dodgy, I don't know what is" Ron remarked.

"We should go." I say.

"I agree with Harry." T said. "If this is a diversion, who knows what's really happening somewhere else,"

"Dung, anything else you can tell us before we go?" Ron asked.

"The place we were in wasn't that far outside Diagon Alley. Looked like an uninhabited muggle home." He said.

"Right then, let's go." I said.

We started to leave the tent. Arthritis stayed behind to watch Dung. Groggy and Romance followed us.

"If there's anything we can do, don't hesitate to let us know, you lot are alright." Groggy said following behind us.

"Thanks, we'll remember that." Ron said.

"We should be able to apparate now." Hermione said stopping suddenly.

"Think you can get us the information a soon as possible?" I asked.

"No problem. Anything for Shameful, and his friends, especially you." Romance said to T.

She smiled at him… not that I care.

"Shameful, hurry back to us alright… I think we're going to need you. I ain't seen nothing like this since the days of You Know Who." Groggy said.

We all looked at each other and just nodded our heads. We waved and then apparated away.

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Romance, Arthritis, Groggy, and Shameful, terrible nicknames right?? But at least I own them, no disclaimer needed for those :) And I think that should be it for kost new people. Between T's freinds, the other Auror's and Seamu's colleagues, I have enough to be going on with. Every chaarcter is important by the way...

Ok, so next chapter back to see Kingsley for some news... And then we'll move intot he next week. They'll be going to see the other wand maker. But before they do that, we have a Sunday dinner to deal with. Sneak Preview:

"Who are you?"

"I'm Tiffany you must be-"

"I've never seen you before, how do Ron, Harry and Hermione know you?"

"They came looking for me. It's a really funny story actually-"

"I'm sure. So are you dating Harry?"

"What?"

-If you don't know who that is questioning Tiffany, then you haven't been reading Harry Potter... Yes, Ginny and Draco will make this Sunday's dinner, they will make it trouble. :)