A note, in case some of you may have forgotten: Waters' first name is Michael. He goes by Mike — to most people, if not to Draco.
Previously: 'And Waters smiles, and he says, "You know that we can use [the fact that the brothers have been fighting]."'
.
Waters looks contemplative, and Draco raises a questioning argument.
Waters sighs. "Trying to decide if it's worth the delay to save myself the later hassle of bureaucracy on my ass for busting in without reinforcements." He grimaces. "Damn, I hate our system sometimes."
After a moment, he exhales deeply and casts a Patronus, murmuring so quickly to it that Draco only catches a few words. "…flag… name… Herring. Two… experience level… quickly, okay?"
He flicks his wand and the massive silver lion tosses its head at him and then gallops away. Draco raises an eyebrow at him in silent question.
Waters smiles with a note of pain deep in his blue eyes and says, "He was a Gryffindor. Through and through."
He must refer to Xander, Waters' old partner — who else would his Patronus represent, but the man who died saving him? A Patronus was a protector, and it took the form representative of the person the caster felt safest with. Draco wonders, and not for the first time, whether Waters and Xander were anything more than partners — something about the look in Waters' eyes and the note in his voice when he speaks of the man — but he knows now is not the time to ask.
But apparently he doesn't have to. Waters smiles just a little bit and says, "No."
"No?" Harry asks, confused by the comment seemingly out of the blue.
There is a tinge of humor in Waters voice as he says, "No. Draco was wondering whether Xander and I were ever… romantically involved. And the answer is no. He wasn't inclined that way and neither am I. Doesn't mean he still couldn't be my world." A slight laugh bubbles up. "I… there are a lot of things I wish I could have said to him, would have said to him — that's one of them."
He draws in a deep breath, pulling himself back up to his full height and it's only then that Draco consciously notices that he's been hunching over, curled into himself. "I think he knew, but you know how Gryffindors can be. Sometimes you have to beat them on the head with things before they finally understand." He grins.
"Hey!" Harry protests.
"Come now, Potter. I'm sure even you can figure out that that's true."
They bicker cheerfully for almost a half an hour, until Waters is tapping out a rhythm that Draco thinks might be a piece by Bach on his leg — he can't quite tell without the notes — and even Harry is clearly impatient. Draco's gaze flips down to his hands, but there isn't a tremor visible. He wonders what makes this moment exciting enough, but he doesn't get the chance to ask before six near-simultaneous pops sound.
Reinforcements.
Gryffindor reinforcements, which worries Draco. Of the six, three are Gryffindors, and the other three could be, for all Draco knows.
Longbottom, Finnigan, Thomas. Finnigan and Thomas' training Auror, Elladora Moody. Longbottom's partner, Robert Zumberg, and their training Auror, Amanda Matthews. The names slither out of the depths of his mind, but it worries Draco that there are only sparing details to accompany them. Finnigan and Thomas work well together — Finnigan the fire and Thomas the mediator between Finnigan and the world. Longbottom's incompetency has decreased since Draco last talked to him. Thomas is an evasion specialist. Longbottom specialises in disguise — but if Draco remembers from Hogwarts, he also has an affinity for plants.
But that's it. Zumberg, Moody, and Matthews are all complete wild cards, which Draco finds irksome. How is he supposed to attempt to form any sort of plan if he doesn't know what he's working with.
Waters looks at him with a spark of amusement and Draco can tell his irritation has been duly noted.
"All right, listen up!" Waters calls. "I don't know how much you've been briefed, but the essence of it is that Davis Herring and a man we strongly suspect to be his brother are in that home over there." He jerks a hand over his shoulder at the house. "Herring scared a little girl — traumatised her. Hate crime."
"Pureblood, the girl?" Moody asks.
"Yes, Ella. Pureblood. Here's the thing — according to King, the one thing that can really drive this man into a frenzy is a Pureblood. We've got three." He nods to Draco, then Longbottom, then Elladora.
Draco stashes this for further analysis — after all, Alastor Moody was a Pureblood.
"I think our best bet is for the rest of us to go in, wands blazing–"
"Yeah, you would think that, wouldn't you, Mike?" Matthews murmurs, and then she giggles — a wind-chime giggle.
Waters grins. "Oh, shut up, 'Manda. You know that's not always my solution."
"No," she concedes.
"Just for the Waitfield case," puts in Elladora.
"And the Marks case," adds Amanda.
"And the Deter case."
"The Redding case, too."
"And–"
"All right, all right! That's enough!" Waters roars. But he's grinning. "Case, you guys. Little girl. Pressure from up top, too. This has got to be neat and quick, okay?"
"You want neat and quick, you shouldn't go for wands blazing, Mike. You know this," Elladora comments.
"Oh, don't take all the fun out of it, now, Ella!"
She rolls her eyes. "You're taking the fall for this already, Mike. It's your case. Do whatever you want."
"Right. Wands blazing." She rolls her eyes again, but she's smiling. "Harry, stick with me, we'll take the front. Draco, you'll be right behind us, invisible." He turns to Elladora and Amanda, giving them silent permission to sort their own teams.
"Right," Elladora says firmly. "Seamus is going to lead. Dean, I know I don't have to tell you to cover him." Dean nods very seriously. Seamus beams so wide his face looks like it's going to split open. "Seamus, don't you dare even think about leaving his range, all right?" Her gaze is as hard as metal, and Seamus nods somewhat alarmedly.
"Good," she says firmly. "I'll be behind you under a Dillusionment Charm."
Draco — almost absently — notes Dean's hand on Seamus's shoulder and the way they communicate without needing words.
Amanda looks at her trainees. "Longottom, you'll be behind, invisible. Zumberg, you're with me." She has to look a very long way up to talk to either of them, but Zumberg in particular. "Just don't do anything stupid and we should be fine, all right?"
Longbottom grins. "No problem, boss!" Zumberg just smiles.
"And I'm assuming we have the back door," she states.
Waters nods. "Someone will have to seal the side door. 'Manda?" Amanda nods and disappears noiselessly. "Anyone know Homenum Revelio already?"
Both Dean and Harry nod. Waters laughs, nodding to Dean. "Really should have figured that one, shouldn't I? What kind of evasion specialist would you be otherwise?"
Dean smiles a tiny bit, just the corners of his mouth. "A shabby one, I suspect."
"I suspect you're right about that," Waters says wryly, amused. "Harry, then, since I believe Dean when he says it.
Harry closes his eyes, remembering Hermione guiding his wand in the tent, showing him this spell. He'd learned a lot of spells that year, that way. They get fuzzy sometimes. After just a moment, he waves his wand in an intricate but brief pattern and says, "Homenum Revelio." His wand points straight at the house.
Two flares pop up over the house — Herring and his brother — and then another, several feet behind it — Amanda.
"Well done, Harry," Waters murmurs softly. Harry beams.
Moments later, Amanda is back among them on silent feet. "No one's getting out that side short of the entire house collapsing around the door."
Waters nods. "Thanks."
Draco taps his head with his wand, feeling for the second time that day the sickeningly cold feeling of a Dillusionment Charm dripping down his back. Beside him, Moody and Longbottom do the same.
"Ready?" Waters asks, facing them all. He gets many nods and a bobbing of the wandlights of the invisible three. "All right, places, everyone! When everyone is in position, we'll go on ten, all right?"
More nods, and the Aurors all slip off in different directions on equally silent feet. They take their positions.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Draco loosens his grip on his wand when he notices that he's clutching it.
Six.
Five.
Four.
He nudges Harry and Harry jumps, but then he turns to face Draco and the stiff tension drains out of his body. Draco smiles — mission accomplished there.
Three.
Two.
One.
BANG. The collective crash of three different doors to one small space being thrown open is loud enough to reverberate off the walls.
"Davis Herring, this is the Aurors! You are under arrest for illegal use of wandlight, defacing of property, and the traumatisation of the mental wellfare of a child. If you come quietly, this will be easier for all of us."