Disclaimer: I make no claim to the rights of any characters that are owned by J.K. Rowling or Warner Bros., and make no money from this venture. This work is purely for entertainment purposes.

—CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN—

The Man with the Bandana

"Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides."
- André Malraux

Justin Finch-Fletchley

16th January, 2004

Hot water ran down his body as Justin struggled to keep his eyes open. he had slept incredibly badly the previous nights. The events of the prior day had been too much. The trial was bad enough, but that weird bandana man showed up at his house with a grand plan, and Justin ended up awake most of the night feeling terribly anxious.

The man claimed to want to help get Zach and Daphne out of the trial alive, and Justin felt inclined to believe him, though Susan had not at first. In fact, she was outright suspicious of him the whole time he was there, which was not very long. Susan had asked him immediately who he was.

"Does that really matter?" the man had replied, his distorted voice sending a chill down Justin's spine. It was then that he turned his eyes to look into Justin's. His brown eyes, Justin remembered, had a look to them as though he was pleading. The man's eyes and eyebrows had been all that could be seen of his face, and Justin saw enough to be convinced of his sincerity. "All I want is to help."

"You say that, but how are we to know that you won't just sell us out to the Ministry?" Susan had then asked bluntly. Justin had lowered his wand, but hers was still firmly pointed at the man's head. "Perhaps we should just kill you now."

"Susan," Justin had said quickly. "No. He's trying to help us."

"Jus, you know I trust you, but I think you might be letting your concern for Zach cloud your judgement right now," Susan then said, not looking away from the bandana man. "We go on one trip to the Ministry and then this guy shows up claiming to want to help. More likely he was sent here to gain our trust so that we are an easier target for the Ministry."

"That's not how they work, and you know that," the man had replied. "If I were working with them, I would take you both out right now." That was when Justin had worked it out.

"Wait!" he said so suddenly that Susan looked away from the bandana man and looked at him. "You. You were the guy in the blocked memory! At the library. You saved me."

"How do you know about that?" the man had asked quickly, the distortion becoming slightly higher pitched. "Xeno put a Memory Charm on you."

"We broke it," Susan had said simply.

After that it, Susan became less suspicious of the man with the bandana, though Justin did notice her eyes looking towards the silver-handled sword he carried with him quite often. He had not stayed long after that, and told them only that he would do his best to get Zach and Daphne out.

"Go again tomorrow," he had said at the doorway, the door open for him to leave. "Use the Invisibility Cloak again. It never failed me."

Justin let the water flow onto him and down his body as he stood, trying to wrap his mind around the events of the previous day and the potential events of the day ahead of him. Despite his concerns and the ever-growing sickness deep in the pit of his stomach, he still was struggling to keep his eyes open. When his eyes started to droop for what felt like the hundredth time, Justin rubbed his eyes and turned the shower off. The hot water stopped abruptly, but for a moment there was some residual heat. Justin shook his head, partly to wake himself up and partly to get the hair out of his eyes.

I need a haircut soon, he thought as he opened the door to the shower, feeling the cold air hit him suddenly. He reached for a towel immediately. He looked into the slightly fogged mirror after drying off, and considered shaving, but decided that it wasn't necessary and put on some clothes.

"I was beginning to think you'd fallen asleep," Susan said when Justin walked into the kitchen and put two slices of bread in the toaster. "You should have some coffee."

"Oh, I planned on it," Justin replied. "Hopefully I'll sleep better tonight."

"If all goes according to plan, you won't be sleeping alone," Susan said with a wink. Justin smiled weakly at her. "In all seriousness, that's pretty much best case scenario."

"Yeah, I know," Justin said. "Worst case is Zach and Daphne are both executed."

"No, worst case is that we're all executed," Susan said seriously. "I think we can trust that bandana guy, but that doesn't mean he's capable of getting them out."

"Would he really offer his help if he didn't think that he could?" Justin asked. "I mean, if he thought it was beyond him, what good does it do to even offer?"

"I guess," Susan said with a shrug. "Who do you think he is?"

"I have no idea," Justin said. "All we have to go off is that he has brown eyes, and that could well be contact lenses to hide his true eye colour."

"And we know that he had the Invisibility Cloak," Susan pointed out. "He must have been the one who gave it to me."

"You don't think he had you memory charmed do you?" Justin asked.

"It's crossed my mind," Susan said and shrugged. "He might have. If he has, it must be for a good reason. Perhaps we should ask him later today. My big question, though, is how I never met him. He was obviously working with Xeno and Augusta, and yet I've never run across him at all. At least, not that I know of. For all I know he could be someone in that group in disguise.

"The problem is that your memory that we recovered, and this has been bugging me since you told us what it was, showed that he was right there with Xeno and Augusta on a mission," Susan continued as Justin buttered a piece of toast. "I don't remember any mission involving a library. I mean, I wasn't exactly being told everything by Xeno, but Augusta was talkative and told me pretty much everything. Nothing about any library or a man who hid his face behind a bandana. He must have shown up after I was caught."

"That was when Augusta never showed up back at her place, right?" Justin asked. Susan nodded.

"That's right," Susan confirmed, looking thoroughly confused. "I never did understand why she didn't come back. I mean, there was no danger of me revealing the location as I wasn't the Secret Keeper, so she was safe there. Pol didn't know, either. According to her, Augusta showed up, got the poor Elf to pack some clothes and she left again."

"Odd," Justin said. "What does this guy have to do with it though?"

"Nothing, really," Susan replied. "At least not that I can tell. When was it your memory was from?"

"December of '99," Justin supplied after a moment.

"I took up residence at Longbottom Manor in April of that year," Susan said. "Looks like there's a few months between then and your memory, which was also when Augusta was caught, that we don't know about. I can't be certain, but this guy must have something to do with it."

"Well, here's hoping he can answer some of our questions," Justin said. "Honestly, though, it doesn't seem like he's going to be very open with us about himself. He wouldn't go to such lengths to hide himself if he wanted people to know all about him."

"I'll get something out of him," Susan said fiercely. "I need to know."

The change in her demeanour was abrupt, but it was something that Justin had become used to since Susan had come back into his life. In fact, Justin was surprised that this was the only change in Susan he had seen. For the most part, she was the same girl he had been friends with since First Year at Hogwarts, and yet she had spent over four years living with only a House Elf for company. At times Justin wondered how she retained her sanity. And whenever he brought it up, she just laughed and told him that she bought a television for a good reason. Whenever he asked how, exactly, she paid for said television, however, she tended to avoid the question.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to wait and see what happens," Justin said, trying to sound casual.

"You still want to go, then?" Susan asked tentatively.

"Of course," Justin replied.

"I know I told you yesterday," Susan began, "but I need to know that you won't do anything if the worst happens. I know you'll want to. I get that, really. But we shouldn't show ourselves just to go with Zach and Daphne."

"I know," Justin said, irritably. "I won't do anything, I promise. If I did and we both got caught, I'm not sure that Zach would ever forgive me."

"I wouldn't go that far," Susan said. "Remember that time in Third Year when Ernie stood up for him in Potions and they both ended up in detention because of it?"

"Zach didn't speak to him for over a week," Justin said with a smile. "I had to be their go-between. Ernie was so upset, it was actually kind of funny. I don't think I remember anyone else other than Zach who managed to get upset with someone for trying to help him."

"Poor Ernie," Susan said with a laugh. "And he kept apologising to Zach, but he would have none of it. And then one morning they just started being friends again like nothing had ever happened."

"Don't worry," Justin said seriously. "I'm not going to do anything. Besides, if we're lucky, this bandana guy will show up and get Zach and Daphne out of there and I won't need to do something brave and stupid."

After that it was just a matter of hours before they set out for the Ministry once again. Susan had her hair coloured differently once again, just in case. They followed exactly the same path as they had the previous day and soon came across the public toilets that were the entrance to the Ministry.

"Why have they never made it something more tasteful?" Justin asked. "I mean, I know you said yesterday it was to keep people humble, but wouldn't a wall like at King's Cross would work fine?"

"You'd think so," Susan replied. "From what I can tell, the Ministry likes this because it's supposed to be private."

"Yeah, so private that people go into the stall and disappear," Justin said sarcastically. "That's not suspicious at all, is it?" Susan laughed.

"Just go," she said, smiling. "It's half-past twelve, so we've only got half an hour. We'll meet where we did yesterday."

Justin nodded and went on his way and into the toilets which were, as they were the previous day, deserted. He entered into a stall, pulled up his hood and stood in the bowl. He shook his head and flushed. He was whirling for a moment, but came out in the Ministry of Magic. It was as deserted as it had been the previous day. Justin turned right and started to walk. He soon came across Susan who, without saying a word, draped the Invisibility Cloak over both of them and pulled Justin in the right direction.

They came to the lift which was, not surprisingly, empty. Susan told it to go to the Courtrooms and off it went. This time, Justin was prepared for the sudden stop and stayed firmly upright. They quickly found the spiral staircase which led down to Courtroom Ten.

Zach and Daphne were both standing outside of Courtroom Ten. While Daphne had her parents there, Zach was on his one, and looking rather worse for wear. Justin regretted telling Susan that he wouldn't do anything.

"Where are his parents?" Susan whispered. "They should be with him."

"They're worried about their place in You-Know-Who's world," Justin whispered back, angrily. "They probably want to ensure that they are seen to have disowned Zach for all intents and purposes."

"That's their son," Susan whispered, scandalised.

"It's the same people who forced him to marry Parkinson in the first place," Justin pointed out, not taking his eyes off of Zach, who seemed to not have slept at all. You're not the only one, Justin thought. "It's all You-Know-Who's fault. They weren't like this before he took over."

After a few minutes, Daphne's parents kissed her and entered into Courtroom Ten, leaving the two on trial alone together. This time, however, neither of them spoke to the other. Justin noticed that Daphne looked at Zach a few times. It was a look of pity and sadness. Is that because of how he looks, because his family were never with him or because she thinks they don't have a chance? Justin wondered. Or is it a mixture of all three?

The doors to the courtroom opened and Justin and Susan moved forward quickly, just in time to follow Zach and Daphne into Courtroom Ten. As the doors closed behind them, Justin realised that something was different this time.

There were more people present. Almost every seat was taken by someone. Justin looked around and spied Zach's parents. They were looking on at the events with disgusted looks. Justin realised that they truly believed that Zach was guilty and had helped the attackers. He wished he could run and hold Zach, but held himself back.

"High Inquisitor Joan Richardson presiding over these events," a voice called from somewhere. "The Dark Lord himself will decide the guilt of the defendants."

Justin's head swivelled to where Richardson had been the day before and he saw, for the first time in his life, the image of the greatest Dark Lord in history, Voldemort, seated next to her, his pale face looking nearly gleeful as he watched Zach and Daphne sit in the very same chairs they had just twenty-four hours before. Justin's heart sank as Joan Richardson, robed once again in scarlet, stood to address to room.

"Yesterday the court bore witness to the divorce trials of two couples which ended in two high profile divorces," she said with a smile. "Today, we shall ascertain the guilt of Daphne Greengrass and Zacharias Smith. They are both accused of aiding rebels in the attack on Magical Britain on the sixth of this month. If they are found guilty, they shall be executed this very day. My Lord, do you have something to say?"

Richardson turned to Voldemort with a simpering smile. Voldemort looked at her and nodded. She sat down and, in turn, he stood and looked at Zach and Daphne.

"It would be a sad day in the history of Magical Britain that two young people would betray us so badly," he began. "I am certain that this trial is fair and just, and I sincerely hope that these two are found innocent. Let us get this over with quickly. I have something more pressing to attend to."

"Thank you, My Lord," Richardson said. "Justice shall be swift this day. I believe that I was about to call someone to testify when we were forced to end yesterday's trial. As such, I would now like to call Pansy Parkinson to give evidence on these matters."

Pansy was sitting where she had been the day before, but this time Zabini had his arm around her and before she left, the two kissed, much to the delight of what seemed to be the entirety of Courtroom Ten. Pansy eventually found her way to the seat next to Richardson.

"Tell me, Miss Parkinson," Richardson began, "did you ever see or hear your ex-husband conspiring with any rebels?"

"No," Pansy said. "Not to the best of my knowledge."

"Did you see any letters that he might have received about such events?" Richardson inquired. Pansy nodded.

"Yes, just the one," she replied. "I found it hidden in his sock drawer."

"What did it say?" Richardson asked.

"I can give it to you, if you would prefer," Pansy suggested and Richardson grinned.

"That would be ever so helpful, Miss Parkinson," she replied as Pansy handed her a piece of parchment. A few seconds later, Richardson shook her head. "I'm afraid that this is irrefutable evidence." She then began to read the letter aloud.

"Zacharias,

We have chosen a date. January the Sixth. We will destroy the Ministry and everyone associated with it. Only a few days now.

Charles Weasley."

There was a collective gasp from the crowd when Richardson was finished. She then handed the parchment to Voldemort.

"Irrefutable, wouldn't you say, My Lord?" Richardson asked.

"It seems so," Voldemort said.

"I refute it," Zach said loudly. Voldemort's red eyes went straight to him, and yet Justin did not see Zach flinch at all. "Why would a rebel use parchment for their letter? If they were a rebel, they wouldn't have access to it. They would use Muggle paper. Also, everybody knows that he goes by 'Charlie', not 'Charles'."

"I would advise you to choose your next words extremely carefully Mr Smith," Richardson said viciously. "If you try to second-guess me again, I shall silence you. If you second-guess the Dark Lord, you will suffer a worse fate."

For a moment Justin was certain that his boyfriend was going to say something else, but he didn't.

"Thank you," Richardson said angrily. "And thank you, Miss Parkinson, for coming forward with this. It must have been difficult to do that."

"It was," Pansy lied. "I'm ashamed to say that I still have strong feelings for Zach. But Blaise convinced me that this needed to come forth."

But she was going to deliver this to the court yesterday, Justin thought angrily. She and Blaise have been working together on this. Not that Richardson will ever admit that.

"Do not feel ashamed," Richardson said consolingly. "It will pass with time. You may go."

"Thank you," Pansy said quietly as she stood up to leave.

"I now call Blaise Zabini," Richardson said. Zabini stood and walked over towards Richardson, but stopped to hug Pansy on the way. Again, the whole Courtroom seemed to swoon at this. They broke apart after a moment and Zabini took his spot next to Richardson. "Mr Zabini, did you ever see or hear your ex-wife conspiring with rebels?"

"No, I did not," Zabini replied simply. "If I had, I would have apprehended them right then and there and turned them over to the authorities."

"Of course," Richardson replied. "Did you ever read any correspondence between Miss Greengrass and any rebels?"

"To my eternal shame, I did not," Zabini said, actually managing to look upset about it. "With Pansy's letter, it is confirmed that Daph must have been in contact with someone, and yet I missed it."

"How does her letter have anything remotely to do with me?" Daphne asked angrily. "My name was not mentioned, and my guilt has not been ascertained."

"If you would allow your ex-husband to speak, you will discover why he says this," Richardson said, her voice raised. "I had enough of you interrupting proceedings yesterday. Do not make me silence you again, Miss Greengrass."

"Well, come on then," Daphne said, annoyed. "Come on Blaise. What made up memory do you have for us today? Was I fucking Charlie Weasley as well?"

"There is no memory," Zabini said quietly.

"What Mr Zabini means to say is that he does not feel comfortable with this particular memory being broadcast as the other memory was in yesterday's trial," Richardson said. "As such, I have viewed the memory in the strictest confidence, and I can confirm that Miss Greengrass attempted to convert Mr Zabini to the side of the rebels one night in November of last year after they had engaged in sexual intercourse. It is my opinion that Miss Greengrass used this action in order to sway Mr Zabini's thoughts to be more amenable to change."

"Merlin knows there was no other reason to have sex with that bastard," Daphne said sarcastically. A few people laughed for a second, but it was cut off very quickly. "You shall be very disappointed, Pansy. Or, perhaps I should say you already are."

"So you admit to the accusations?" Richardson asked quickly, pouncing on Daphne's words. Daphne laughed.

"Nope," she said. "Merely expressing how unsatisfying it was to be with Blaise."

"Silencio!" Richardson yelled. Daphne sat back in her chair, and threw her head back in silent laughter. "Clearly she does not repent her actions in the slightest. "Unless there is anyone else here who has anything else to say, I would turn it over to the Dark Lord."

"I do!" a voice called from high up. Richardson's eyes went straight to them, as though she knew exactly what was coming.

"Mr Smith," she said. "You are the father of one of the defendants. What would you like to say?"

"Only that my wife and I would like to officially sever any and all ties with our son," Zach's father said firmly. "We are ashamed that Zacharias could grow to commit such treason."

"You are convinced of your son's guilt, Mr Smith?" Richardson asked. There was silence for a moment.

"Yes, we are," Mr Smith said. "Completely."

"Thank you, Mr Smith," Richardson said, turning to Zach and smirking. "What do you have to say about that?"

"I – I don't," Zach stammered, and without being able to see his face, Justin could tell that there were tears rolling down his face. "They're my – No. I'm – I'm innocent."

"Lies!" his father roared. "Lies! He is no son of mine!"

The entire courtroom seemed to be murmuring after that, and when Richardson managed to calm them down, Justin heard Zach sobbing.

"My Lord," Richardson said with a broad smile. "What are your thoughts on the issue?"

Voldemort rose from his seat, his robes green in a sea of scarlet.

"I sentence Daphne Greengrass and Zacharias Smith to death immediately," he said. "Rabastan, Rudolphus. Put them on their knees."

That was when something bizarre happened.

There was a loud woosh that seemed to encompass the entirety of Courtroom Ten. The wind that accompanied it almost blew off the Invisibility Cloak, but Justin and Susan both managed to grab hold before it was gone. When they looked back at the room, nearly everyone was gone. Only Justin, Susan, Zach, Daphne, Voldemort and the two hooded guards, who must be Rabastan and Rudolphus Lestrange, remained in the whole room.

Out of nowhere two stunning spells hit each of the Lestranges in succession, and they crumpled to the ground. After they hit, a sole set of footsteps came from behind Justin and Susan as the large doors shut behind them. Justin turned to see the man, hooded and his face hidden by a green bandana, walk calmly into the Courtroom.

"What is the meaning of this?" Voldemort demanded, pointing his wand at the intruder.

"What, can't you work that out for yourself?" the bandana man asked. "Besides, that's your first question? Not, 'Where is everybody?' or 'How did he do that?'?"

"Insolence!" Voldemort yelled. "Tell me what you did, immediately."

"See, that's more like it, Tom," the bandana man said. "It's simple really. I snuck in here earlier, attached pre-made Portkeys to each of the chairs and set them to go off when you said 'knees'. Lo and behold, they're gone!"

Voldemort looked on in utter disbelief, his wand still pointed at the man with the bandana.

"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted. The green curse hurtled towards the man, who stepped to the side, the curse going straight past him and hitting the doors, shattering them into a thousand pieces. In one swift motion, the bandana man pointed his wand at one side of the Courtroom and swiftly flicked it towards Voldemort. A large chunk of one of the dividers came apart and hurtled at Voldemort and hit him in the side.

Using the distraction, the bandana man pointed his wand towards the chairs and wordlessly cast a charm on them, and then pushed them to the back of the room, close to where Justin and Susan were. Daphne got up quickly, and pulled Zach up as well.

"Get them out of here," the bandana man shouted as Voldemort extricated himself from the rubble. "It's only a matter of time until they all get back here."

Susan seemed to know exactly what to do, and took the Invisibility Cloak off and put it in her magically extended bag. Zach was shocked to see them standing there, but Daphne seemed unfazed. Zach ran straight to Justin who hugged him close.

"Enough of that," Susan chided. "It's time to go."

Justin looked at the bandana man who managed to duck out of the way of another killing curse, this time having to do more than simply walk to the side. As he was watching, he saw Voldemort notice them.

"Let's go," Justin said, pushing Zach off him and grabbing his hand. Susan went ahead of them at a run, Daphne trailing her and Justin and Zach following behind. They took the spiral staircase at a run, though it was long and had to slow down about halfway up. When they got to the top, it was a sprint to the lift. When they got there, they were all out of breath.

"Atrium," Susan said, and the grates closed.

"Were you there the whole time?" Zach asked, still holding Justin's hand.

"Yes," Justin said. "Even yesterday. I had to be."

Zach smiled and kissed him quickly.

"Who was that?" Daphne asked.

"A friend," Susan said. "Other than that, we don't really know."

The lift stopped suddenly and the four of them got out quickly. Zach gasped.

"Our wands," he said quickly. "They still have our wands."

"Where are they?" Justin asked.

"I think they're at the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement's office," Daphne said. "Richardson's Office."

"It's my Aunt Amelia's old office," Susan said. "I know where it is."

"We'll go under the Invisibility Cloak," Justin said. "You two get to my place. You have to go back out through the toilets entrance. You know it?"

"Yes," Zach said, and Daphne nodded.

"Good," Justin said. "Apparate away as soon as you can and meet up at my place. We'll meet you there when we have the wands."

"Will do," Daphne said.

"I'll need to take you to his place," Zach said.

"I know the way," Daphne cut in. "We'll explain later. We need to go."

Daphne then took a hold of Zach's arm and started running in the direction of the fireplaces. Susan took out the Invisibility Cloak and threw it over the top of both of them, and got back into the lift.

"Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Susan said, and the lift came alive. Justin let out a breath.

"They got out," he breathed, grinning. "He actually did it."

"It's not over yet," Susan warned. "Let's celebrate when we get back home safely, shall we?"

"Of course," Justin said, though inside he was already celebrating. Zach was safe, and that was all that mattered. When the lift stopped and opened, the two of them stepped into an empty hallway.

"It's just up here," Susan said, pulling Justin to the left. "Unlike most offices, it's very close to the lift. I'm glad of that today."

They came across the door very quickly, and Susan reached out and pushed it open.

"Why was it this easy?" Justin asked quietly.

"They weren't expecting anything, I suppose," Susan said. "Now, I know where Aunt Amelia would have put them, so we'll check there first."

The room was not very big, but cupboards lined the walls, and where there weren't cupboards there were bookcases. Susan walked over to the rather plain looking desk and pulled open the first drawer, finding nothing inside but spare parchment. She opened the next drawers and found only files, parchment and quills.

"Must be one of the cupboards," Justin commented. Susan led him towards a cupboard and opened it. All that was inside was piles of papers, extending further into the cupboard than they should. Susan closed it and moved on to the next one.

They found the wands in the seventh cupboard they tried. Susan opened it, and all the cupboard contained was a solitary wooden box. Inside it were dozens of wands, on the very top of which sat Zach's wand.

"That's Zach's," Justin said quickly. "And that one might be Daphne's. I don't really know."

"Well, we don't have time, so we'll have to take them all," Susan said. She quickly took the Invisibility Cloak off and took out her magically extended beaded bag. "It's not big enough to fit the box in, so we need to get as many wands in there as possible."

"Alright," Justin said, and started grabbing wands and thrusting them into Susan's bag. It took a while, as there were more wands than Justin had first thought there were, but they soon had emptied the entire box and placed it back in the cupboard. Susan threw the Invisibility Cloak back over them and they walked towards the door.

The door slammed open and Joan Richardson walked through, with Lucius Malfoy and another man who had balding blonde hair, but still kept it in a ponytail that extended well past his shoulders.

"Damn it all," Richardson said angrily. "How did that even happen?"

"I don't know," the man with the balding ponytail said. "Whatever it was, we don't have time to think about it. The Dark Lord still wants to go ahead with today's plans."

"I'm aware of that, Yaxley!" Richardson replied. "I just cannot believe that they got away. We had them and now they're gone."

"The Dark Lord said there were three," Malfoy said. "I did not speak to him for very long as he wants to get mobilised and he needed his ribs healed, but he said there was a man who covered his face. He duelled that man, and while doing so he saw two others emerge from under an Invisibility Cloak to help Greengrass and Smith escape. He thinks one of them was Susan Bones, which does make sense, as she was close with Smith, I am given to understand."

"So they really were in contact with rebels?" Yaxley laughed. "Oh, how wonderful."

"What will be wonderful will be the Dark Lord's wrath," Richardson spat. "You know I'm going to take the brunt of it, don't you? I'm the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, after all. I'm supposed to make sure these things don't happen. What did happen to this mystery man?"

"He got away," Malfoy said venomously. "He fought his way back to the door and fled. By the time the Dark Lord was able to catch up, he had disappeared somehow."

"Another thing that will be added to my list of failures," Richardson said, sighing. Just then another person walked into the room. He was young, tall and attractive, with black hair. "What is it, Terrence?"

"The Dark Lord sent me to tell you that he is ready," Terrence said. "He requires your presence in his office. He also said, and I don't understand this, for you to bring 'the other one'."

"Thank you Terrence," Richardson said, sighing again. "Yaxley, Lucius, you're coming today, are you not?"

"We are," Malfoy confirmed.

"Good," she said, fixing her robes. "You two can go and get 'the other one', what a stupid name, and bring him to the Dark Lord's office."

"Of course, Joan," Malfoy said with a bow. "At once."

Malfoy and Yaxley left the office and Joan sat on the edge of her desk with a deep sigh, and massaged her temples. Susan tugged on Justin's arm and then pulled him towards the open door. They exited the room and headed straight for the lift which was, very luckily, vacant. They stepped in.

"The Atrium," Susan whispered and the grates closed. This time, neither Justin nor Susan said a word the entire trip, both reeling from almost being caught by three Death Eaters. When they exited the lift, some people looked at the seemingly empty lift, but no one looked for very long. They walked to the fireplaces, where it was much calmer and emptier. Even so, Susan walked to one of the fireplaces, let Justin out of the Cloak and then left, with Justin immediately walking into the fireplace and getting taken away.

Immediately he exited the toilets and waited on the street for Susan who caught up with him a minute later. They walked together to the alleyway they arrived at and Susan Apparated them away.

They appeared in Justin's house and almost immediately Justin was almost bowled over by Zach, who ran to him and hugged hum so fiercely that Justin feared he might break a rib.

"Did you find the wands?" Daphne asked.

"More than just yours," Susan replied. "There was a box full of them. Dozens. I think they're the wands of the people they've executed over the years."

"Well, I can find mine later," Daphne said. "I don't know how you managed it, but thank you so much."

"Yeah," Zach said. "Thank you. Oh, I thought I was dead."

"But you aren't," Justin said. Zach kissed him passionately.

"Well isn't that just sickening?" Justin heard Daphne say in a joking tone.

"Well, you'll have to get used to it, I'm afraid," Susan said, equally as jokingly. "Unless you would rather live with me."

"Yep," Daphne said. "That sounds like something I'm going to want."

When Zach finally stopped kissing Justin, he looked him right in the eyes.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you, too," Justin replied.

"So when do we get to meet our saviour?" Daphne asked, breaking the silence.

"I don't know," Justin said. "We know he got away."

Justin then went on to tell Daphne and Zach what had happened in Richardson's office.

"Well, you two were very lucky," Daphne said. "At least you got away. And our mystery saviour too."

"I hope he shows up here," Susan said seriously. "I have a lot of questions for him."

They waited all afternoon and well into the night, but the mysterious bandana man never showed up.