Chapter 126 – Strangest Possible Bedfellows

Minister Bones handed the photos she'd gotten from the muggle Prime Minister over to the Aurors, with a request that they study each and determine if there are Death Eaters identifiable in the crowds. That job became easier, in a rather indirect way, two days later when she received a visit from Lucius Malfoy.

Lucius' information had not only been confirmed by his contact, she had provided copies of bills of sale and delivery information, as well as payment records. He thought briefly on what to do with this news. Not that long ago, he might have meted details out to the Dark Lord if there seemed profit to him in that direction, or if there seemed to be no reason to think the Dark Lord would be interested, he would be considering how knowing this might be used to his own political or financial advantage. It truly felt that those days were over, and Lucius had not yet worked out in his mind how to translate this sort of situation for the new path on which he walked.

Might this be something to share with Harry Potter? He relished the chance to speak directly to the young man, although in truth, Severus would be there scowling at him and that made the prospect less enticing for Lucius. Dumbledore? He never really liked Dumbledore. The last thing he wanted to do was to replace the Dark Lord with the old coot. No, the best approach here seemed to be to act in a manner consistent with his role now on the Wizengamot, and tell the Minister of Magic.

Lucius swept from his offices and down the corridors to hers, imperiously informing the assistants sitting outside her office that he needed a word with the Minister immediately, on a most urgent matter. His attitude did not go over well, and the initial reaction of the assistant who managed the Minister's calendar was to suggest that he get an appointment, and the earliest they could squeeze him in was two weeks hence. As she hesitated before actually giving voice to that suggestion, he simply swept past the staff and into the office with a sneer, before any of them could stop him.

Amelia looked up from her desk as the door was thrown open with a bang.

"Lucius, what a surprise," she said flatly, no enthusiasm in her voice. However, she did nod to her assistant to indicate that the disruption should be allowed, as the assistant had followed in after Malfoy. "I assume there is some significant reason for this most unexpected visit."

Granted, Harry Potter trusted Malfoy, and he'd been a model member of the Wizengamot since being seated, but distrust of the man was practically a gut reaction for those with any history with Malfoy. Too many remembered his huddling with Cornelius Fudge, and did not want to allow any vestige of Fudge's administration as Minister to be replicated now.

"Indeed, Madam Minister. I have come across some very disturbing information, and I thought it should be brought to your attention immediately," he said in his most imperious manner. He removed a large sheaf of parchments from his robe, and waved them.

"I learned of some very disturbing purchases of weaponry over at Eastbrooks. I have taken the precaution of having the information verified, and as a consequence, now have details – the bills of sale, financing arrangements, and such. The quantity of weapons purchased is alarming enough, but the additional research suggests that this is one very substantial purchase, rather than many individual purchases that coincidentally occurred at the same time."

Lucius was gratified, indeed, when the Minister put her quill down and stood from her desk to come to him to take the parchments.

Amelia was initially not sure how much to tell Lucius; he was, after all, Lucius Malfoy. She decided that, since he'd come to her with this news, he might be trusted with at least an overview of the information they'd gotten from the muggles. Whatever sources he had, and they were rumored to be extensive indeed, he might be able to get other information they could use if he had an idea of what they saw as the bigger picture.

"Thank you, Lucius," she began, curious as to how he'd react to her use of his first name. "Please take a seat."

Lucius was a bit surprised at the Minister's familiarity, but accepted it as a sign of his own growing acceptance in this new society.

"Thank you, Amelia," he replied in kind as he swept over to one of the chairs across from her desk.

"This is extraordinarily significant information, Lucius, and I appreciate your sharing it with me," the Minister began in her soft voice. "We have gotten word from the muggle government that the anti-wizard movement is beginning to show signs of coalescing, and they are very worried about a growing militancy among them over recent weeks."

Lucius was puzzled. Eastmans was a store in the wizard community, not one to which muggles would have access, and the weapons that were purchased were of the sort that wizards, not muggles, would use. "Amelia, what would the muggles have to do with a massive weapons purchase from Eastmans?"

Amelia really didn't want to provide too many details, as in her gut, she did not trust the man, but then again, he might be more useful to them if he had some broader awareness.

"Actually, we suspect that there might be some wizards in the background of the muggle insurrections," she began, as her guest reacted with surprise. "We've seen some muggle photographs and read the muggle reports about these groups. Actually, I think the greatest surprise was to discover that a substantial number of the people supporting the groups are surnamed 'Riddle.' You no doubt are aware that Voldemort's birth name was Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Amelia had the rare pleasure of taking Lucius completely by surprise; she made a mental note to mention this to Albus one day. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.

She proceeded with barely-disguised glee. "Albus Dumbledore told me the story. Tom Riddle's mother was a witch, but his father was a muggle. A very sad story there, I understand. However, when Riddle decided to pursue his dark agenda, he fashioned a new name for himself. We are very concerned that so many people who identified themselves as Riddle are behind this. We suspect Death Eaters, actually."

Lucius was beyond flabbergasted. The Dark Lord was a half-blood? He felt his world shift on its axis. The man who was so passionate about the purity of blood, and who held himself out as the natural leader of the pure bloods, was not a pure blood? Even though Lucius had shifted his allegiance, he could not believe this deception! To Amelia's amusement, he actually needed a moment to compose himself after that revelation.

Finally, he felt confident enough of his voice to speak. "Death Eaters collaborating with muggles?" was all he could get out. Set aside the Dark Lord's parentage – who in their right mind thought it likely that Death Eaters would be consorting anonymously, seeking to blend in, with muggles?

Amelia could only shrug at that. "We aren't sure, exactly, but the involvement of all those Riddles is certainly suggestive of that. The Aurors are studying the muggle pictures to determine if we recognize wizards among the anti-wizard muggles."

"Well, then, it might be useful for the Aurors to review this new information about weapons purchases," Lucius offered, "and see if there is a correlation between the activity they or the muggles have detected and the purchases documented here. Or perhaps they can trace some of these purchases back to some of the wizards they believe are involved in this anti-wizard movement."

"Thank you, Lucius. Exactly how reliable is this information?" Amelia inquired. She knew that Lucius had "sources" but had no idea if anyone should be comfortable relying on them.

"I spoke to someone who works at Eastmans, who observed the curious pattern of purchases, and mentioned it to me. I had someone else confirm those purchases, and she was able to provide the documentation I just gave you. I've never spoken to the Eastmans employee before, but have asked the woman who confirmed the information I received to perform similar services in the past, always with totally reliable results. This is accurate information, I assure you." He stood from his chair.

"Thank you very much, then, Lucius. This will help us greatly. I appreciate your coming forward with this. Please let me know immediately if you encounter any additional information in the future," Amelia said to the retreating form of her visitor.

As Lucius reached the door, he turned and nodded in that formal way he had, as he replied, "I am at your service."

Amelia immediately summoned Darmut from the Auror office, and provided Lucius' contribution to his investigation. Darmut's eyebrows went up when he learned the source of the parchments he was given. He, like many in the Auror office, had heard of Lucius' remarkable ability to gather information from shadowy sources, and he was actually very excited at the prospect of being on the receiving end of the information he'd collected. This should be very interesting!

The Auror team needed a boost as they studied the muggle pictures. The secretive nature of the Death Eaters meant that they were not sure who they were looking for to begin with, and they did not know what they looked like, anyway. They detected several faces that appeared at more than one meeting, and a few where the muggles had identified someone as a "Riddle" but they were not making much progress toward actually attaching wizard names to most of those faces.

Lucius' information provided a few new and tantalizing names that likely included a few real names, and the information about where shipments went helped narrow down the likely recipients based on locations, but the Aurors were still having a very difficult time with their task. The pictures of interest were enlarged and posted on a wall in the Auror office, so they could be inspected both up close and from a distance. To many in the Auror office, this seemed a fool's errand.

This was the scene Hermione came upon when she got permission from the Headmaster to visit the Ministry the next afternoon. She had informed the Headmaster that she had to follow up on some of her research to refine the article she had written and was near to submitting for publication. Professor Snape had suggested that she needed some additional information about one of the cases she had analyzed in her research, and it was information that originally came from the Aurors.

Hermione sat at an unoccupied desk and tried not to be too obvious in her inspection of the photographs on the wall as she waited for the file she requested to be pulled. She finally could not contain herself.

"May I ask, why do you have muggle photographs on the wall?" she asked of the young Auror with whom she'd been chatting. The young Auror, Piers something-or-other, briefly wondered if this was highly confidential or something he could share with their visitor. Since none of the seniors had bothered covering the pictures when she arrived, he figured he could answer her questions.

"We got those from the muggle government. They are the muggles who are involved in the anti-wizard movement, but we suspect that there might be a wizard or two in there, and we're trying to identify them," he replied.

"This is the anti-wizard movement, you say? What on earth would wizards be doing participating in that? Who do you think might be involved with muggles?" Hermione immediately questioned.

Piers shook his head. "You won't believe it. Someone thinks that supporters of You-Know-Who are riling up the muggles. Of course, the Death Eaters don't publish a membership directory, so it's a bit of a challenge, since we have no idea who might even be involved here."

By then, Hermione's file arrived and she set about reviewing the information and gathering the specific facts that Professor Snape had pointed out seemed to be inadequately supported in her article. She returned the file when she was done and chatted with Piers a few more minutes.

"Have you made any progress on my other request, about the magical history of that man who tried to assassinate Professor Snape?" she asked. Her request that the Aurors look into that had been duly noted as part of her research, but in light of everything else that was going on, it had not been acted upon. It appeared from Piers' expression, nothing had changed.

"Sorry, Miss, but we've been run ragged with things going on right here. Near as we can determine, he was a mercenary, and we don't know who he was working for. The best we have right now, he seemed to be from somewhere in central Europe, based on facial features, what we could assess of what remained of his magic, things like that, although he'd recently traveled to India."

She thanked Piers and headed out to the floos in the lobby to return to Hogwarts, a glum expression on her face. On her way, she ran into Kingsley Shacklebolt, on his way to his own routine meeting with the Minister himself.

"Miss Granger, what brings you to the Ministry?" he asked, curious that Albus Dumbledore was allowing a student to travel by herself to the Ministry while school was in session. Given all that was going on in the world, allowing students to travel alone seemed imprudent. He appreciated that this young woman was a special case, but still….

"I'm working on an article, and Professor Snape pointed out an area where I needed greater clarity, so I just checking in with the Aurors to review their file on that case once again."

"And were you unable to get what you needed?" he asked, observing the sour expression on her face.

She blushed. "Oh, they gave me access to the file, no problem. I was just a bit disappointed that we've made no progress on identifying the man who attacked Professor Snape. I had asked that we try to gather information about his magical history, sort of playing my research forward a bit. I gather that's a very low priority. No, the Aurors were fine, thanks. Actually, you might have records of great help to them in a project on which they are working now. You helped gather up the Death Eaters last year when we were removing Dark Marks – they are trying to identify Death Eaters that the Aurors suspect are in some photographs they got from the muggle authorities. You might recognize some, and maybe the names you have would help."

She headed on the floo and thought no further of it.

When she had edited her article, she brought the rewrite, which she hoped was the final one, down to the dungeons to give to Professor Snape for a final review. He had office hours late this afternoon.

"Professor, I think this is the final draft of my article. I checked those facts again on the Llewellyn case, and have made them as clear as possible. If you think this is ready, I'd like to submit it to Magical Maladies Review," she said as she handed over her stack of parchments.

"You had no difficulty, then, securing access to the files?" the professor asked, still slightly incredulous that a Hogwarts student could gain such unfettered access to the Auror's case files.

"Oh, no problem. I think they welcomed a break, actually." Hermione was tempted to say more, about what the Aurors wanted a break from. Professor Snape was not known for engaging in gossip with students, so she stopped there.

Severus caught that she had more to say. While he truly detested small talk in any form, this was Hermione Granger, and somehow Miss Granger's observations were more likely than most to contain actionable information. He raised his eyebrows at her expectantly, as she hesitated.

Emboldened by the Professor's expression of interest, Hermione proceeded. "I actually saw something quite interesting there. They had muggle pictures on the wall in the Aurors' office – it seems that the muggle anti-wizard movement is heating up, and the muggle government provided the Ministry with photos of some of the gatherings. The Aurors actually think that Death Eaters have infiltrated that movement! They have no idea who the Death Eaters are, so it seems a fool's task to find their faces in the pictures, but they are doing their best. I think they welcomed my request since it gave them a break from studying the pictures."

Severus' mind was racing at that news, and he wondered what Albus knew of it. Albus had said nothing about developments in the muggle world recently, but now it appeared that was not because nothing was happening. He'd deal with Albus, but had no intention of revealing this to a student. Instead, he replied, "I did feel that you needed those few small facts from the Llewellyn case to support your conclusion in that section. I'll read this over once more and return it with any final thoughts, and will send you the name of the editor at the Review to whom I'd suggest that you send your manuscript."

Hermione went away satisfied, while Severus fumed. When no other student appeared within the next five minutes, he decided that his office hours were over. He locked and warded his office door behind him as he strode in long, purposeful steps up to the Headmaster's office. Albus was chatting with a portrait as Severus swept in.

"Ah, Severus, my boy! To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit this fine afternoon?" Albus asked, believing that a warm and genial greeting would soothe whatever anger seemed to be bubbling up in his Potions professor. He gestured for Severus to take a seat.

Severus ignored the chair, and paced, his robes billowing elegantly around him with each turn. "I regret that you no longer seem to feel it necessary or appropriate to share news from the Ministry, Headmaster. For example, I have learned that there is now sufficient concern about those anti-magic gatherings that the muggles are photographing them, and our Auror corps are spending their days studying those photographs to see if we can identify wizards, Death Eaters in particular, among them. I assume that you are aware of this, and yet did not see fit to share this information with me."

Albus sighed. He hated it when Severus got like this, especially when he had a point.

"Severus, don't make such assumptions. I did happen to be at the Ministry on Hogwarts business the other day, and stopped to say hello my old friend Amelia Bones. I happened to arrive shortly after the muggle Prime Minister had given the Minister some information about these increasingly aggressive groups of muggles. I will tell you all that I know, right now," he offered, placatingly.

Severus was clearly still annoyed, but he was listening. He stopped pacing, at least, and was looking at the Headmaster more than glaring. Albus took this as a good sign, and proceeded.

"I had the chance to read through the reports and look at the photographs that she'd been given. I pointed out one person in several photographs who was clearly Vernon Dursley," Albus began, as Severus' eyes narrowed in interest. "And we think that Cornelius Fudge has surfaced, now using the name of Charles Frost. At least, there was someone who looks just like him, if you factor out Charles' snow white hair." Severus' eyebrows rose dramatically at that news.

With a chuckle, encouraged that he had captured Severus' interest, Albus proceeded. "Even more interesting than the sudden reappearance of our missing former Minister of Magic was something I found in the reports. I saw the name "Riddle" appear a number of times. I am also rather certain that some of the men identified as Riddles are really McNairs or Parkinsons; at least they look like some young men of those families who attended Hogwarts years ago. The Aurors are trying to determine if any other Death Eaters are involved."

Severus was now standing stock still, looking at Albus as if he's just sprouted a second head. "Do you honestly believe that Cornelius Fudge is collaborating with Death Eaters, or even more ridiculous, with the Dark Lord himself, Albus?" he spat out, disbelief clear in his voice.

"Ah, no, actually," Albus had to agree. "I suspect neither is aware of the other's involvement." The old man leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers over his chest, a small smile forming on his lips. "I am aware of Cornelius' fear of Voldemort – I truly do not believe he'd have gone anywhere near those muggle groups if he thought the Death Eaters were involved. And I can't imagine that Voldemort would have encouraged his minions to invite Fudge to participate. The Ministry is trying to come up with some sort of timeline for when Charles Frost came on the scene. It might have been as recently as a week or so ago. He seems to have been a catalyst for the groups collaborating, and the rhetoric has become more aggressive. Very much Cornelius' style. Once we know who to look for in terms of possible Death Eaters, which is apparently the process of which you have become aware, I expect the Aurors will try to determine when they got involved. I do suspect they were involved all along, or much longer at least, and that Cornelius is a recent arrival."

Severus' expression had moderated from total disbelief to confusion. Albus decided to keep going, as confusion when confronted with these facts was to be expected.

"The aspect of this that puzzles me, and makes me wonder if we are wrong about our suspicions, is the absence of a clear purpose for Fudge in this activity. I would concede that Voldemort might see this as a chance to destabilize both the muggle and magical governments, maybe generate muggle attacks against us. But Fudge? Even if we factor the involvement of anyone aligned with Voldemort out of this, what does he think to gain from this?" Albus mused, shaking his head.

Severus finally took the offered seat. After a moment's reflection, he nodded at the older man. "Most disquieting. I remain astonished that the Dark Lord would wish to collaborate with muggles in any way, for any purpose. If Death Eaters are involved, they must be the ones who have returned to the Dark Lord's side. I would assume that they are those most aligned with his vision, making them unlikely to wish to join with muggles. Why would they have been ordered to do this? To what end? And Fudge? If he was fortunate enough to escape from the Ministry once, I would have assumed that we'd never see him again. None of this makes any sense."

He leaned back in his chair, a scowl darkening his features.

Severus was just passing the vestibule in front of the Ministry's Annex office heading back to the dungeons to prepare for dinner when Kingsley was returning from his meeting with the Minister. On impulse, he approached the Ministry representative.

"Shacklebolt, I understand that the Aurors are attempting to identify Death Eaters among those in muggle photographs of the anti-magic meetings. If you would care to arrange an invitation for me to visit the Ministry on this matter, I think I might be of assistance, as it has been my misfortune to know many of them personally."

"Thank you, Professor," Kingsley replied, visibly surprised at the offer. "Miss Granger alerted me to that project. She thought that some of my records of our joint efforts to assist those seriously debilitated when You-Know-Who sent us all to sleep might help. I did take a look at the pictures and I shared my notes of the names we gathered. But of course, the people I met were mostly ones happy to be free of that affiliation, especially when you all removed their Marks, so I wasn't able to be of much use to them. Your offer is most generous, and, if I may say so, very brave. I will let them know of your willingness to assist."

Severus nodded curtly, as he turned on his heels and continued on to the dungeons.

Later at supper, Severus' eyes sought out Harry, ensconced with his Gryffindor friends a way down the long table. He'd hoped to have a chance to speak to Harry back in their rooms, but if Harry was studying (or doing whatever Gryffindors did when they said they were studying) in their common room, he often came to supper with his friends directly without stopping in the dungeons first. They looked quite engaged in their conversation down there.

Hermione was regaling her friends with the story of her visit to the Aurors office, mainly with the few details she'd gotten from Piers about the anti-wizard movement and suspected wizard involvement.

"Harry, have you heard anything about this from the muggles when you've gone to do one of those messages with the muggle princes?" Ron asked. Harry was the only wizard he knew who had any contact with things going on in the muggle world outside of what was reported in the Daily Prophet.

"No, nothing. We haven't even taped a new message in weeks now," he answered, although Hermione was eyeing him closely. "The articles about the muggle gatherings are about it right now. I never heard anything about wizards involved in that."

"Not just any wizards, actually," Hermione continued. "The Ministry suspects that Death Eaters are involved."

Ron looked incredulous. "That's mad, Mione! What on earth would Death Eaters, of all people, be doing mingling with muggles?"

All Hermione could do was shrug. Harry was thinking that he needed to speak to Severus about this. If the Ministry was looking for Death Eaters, he might recognize some faces in those photographs.

The group was nearly finished with their puddings when a large brown owl swooped down from the opening in the ceiling and dropped an envelope into Hermione's plate. It was sealed with the blobs of red wax that communications from the Ministry usually had. In typical Hermione fashion, she matter-of-factly fished the letter from her plate, wiped the bits of pudding from it, and opened it. A smile quickly broke across her face.

"Oh, my – excellent news! I was concerned that the Aurors had made no progress in identifying the person who attacked Professor Snape at the Ministry, and it appears that Kingsley Shacklebolt mentioned this to the Minister of Magic. They've made that investigation a priority. This is fantastic."

Neville and Seamus exchanged a look and a shrug. Sometimes, the conversations around the Gryffindor table veered so quickly it was difficult to keep up. Harry and Ron weren't entirely sure what that had to do with anything, either, but they would never question Hermione's quirky pursuits. They'd paid off far too often for that.

When Harry finally returned to the dungeons that evening, he found Severus pacing nervously in front of the fireplace.

"Is everything alright, Severus?" Harry asked with concern. This was not typical Severus behavior in their rooms; pacing was usually reserved for the Headmaster's Office or classrooms.

For his part, Severus looked uncommonly ill at ease. "I am fine, thank you for asking," he replied. "I am expecting guests. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Auror Stark will be here shortly. I offered to assist them in a Ministry matter," Severus continued, not entirely sure how Harry would react to his participation in this investigation.

Harry thought he knew what was going on. "Hermione was telling us about the pictures the Aurors got from the muggles, and the Aurors were trying to figure out if wizards are behind those anti-wizard activities. Is that what you offered to assist with?" he ventured.

Caught out, Severus nodded. "When I heard that the Ministry suspects that there are Death Eaters behind the anti-wizard movement, I realized that there are only a few of us who might be willing to acknowledge having any detailed information about who signed up for that agenda. Shacklebolt told me that he had shared what he knew about Death Eaters based on the ones he helped us gather to recover at Malfoy Manor last year, but he didn't recognize many. Not surprisingly, many of the ones firmly aligned with the Dark Lord were not interested in Lucius' renewed offer of hospitality. I don't know if these are more recent recruits – I don't expect to recognize that lot, of course."

Harry was bursting with pride at Severus' gesture, and it showed on his face. He slowly walked over to his bondmate, and chastely hugged him about the middle. "This is fantastic, Severus, thank you." With a final squeeze, he released the man and stepped back. "When do you expect your guests?"

"Any minute now. I'd offered to go to the Ministry," news that made Harry wince, thinking of some of the unpleasant encounters he'd had there recently, "but Shacklebolt and Stark offered to bring the pictures here to me, tonight."

Just moments later, a knock on the door signaled the arrival of their guests. Severus went to admit them, giving Harry the option of disappearing into their bedroom or the library, if he did not wish to be involved. Not surprisingly, Harry was standing right behind him when he opened the door.

After rather stilted greetings, as Stark in particular was not entirely sure how to approach Harry's role here, Severus took an offered stack of papers and directed the group to chairs and sofa in front of the fireplace. He recalled Albus' comment about one of the muggles being Vernon Dursley and did not want Harry to find that out by looking over his shoulder. He stood leaning against his desk.

"Actually, we have some additional information, now. We have the photographs, and we have the muggle's surveillance reports of the meetings, but Lord Malfoy just brought the Minister some information that he procured about some recent weapons purchases from Eastmans. I have that here, as well," Stark shared.

Severus and Harry shared a look at that. Malfoy could have provided the exact same assistance that Severus had offered. Lucius had gone so far to bring other information to the Minister, but he stopped short of offering to provide this much-needed help. This was exactly what Severus would have expected of Lucius, although it was clear to him that Harry was disappointed.

Severus' first priority was the pictures. He sat at his desk and directed a lumos charm over it to enhance his ability to study the photographs. He picked up the pile, and studied each photograph carefully before putting it at the bottom of the stack. His face clouded several times as he worked his way along. "I will circle the faces I believe I recognize, and note in the margin the name by which I have known them. Will that be acceptable?" he asked.

To the nods that greeted that idea, he readied a quill and ink and then sat for several minutes, circling faces here and there, writing names where he could provide that detail. There were about a dozen individuals known to Severus as Death Eaters in the pictures, never more than two at any one meeting, and quite a few of the pictures had no faces familiar to him. He was aware of, but ignored, Harry chatting quietly with the two Ministry representatives as he went through the photos.

When Severus was done, he looked up. Stark had been watching him closely, with interest. It was clear that the Professor knew quite a few of the people in those muggle photographs. Apparently the suspicion about the involvement Death Eaters was well-founded. Stark spoke first.

"Professor, the information from Lord Malfoy indicates where the shipments of weaponry were sent, and the names to whom the shipments were directed. Might you take a look at this, as well?" he asked, as he handed over the material gotten from Lucius.

Severus accepted the offered documents, and rifled through them. He was impressed, as he always was, with what Lucius was able to gather. "I am quite confident of the names I provided, Auror Stark, but might be able to offer some additional information based on the locations identified here." It turned out that the material from Lucius confirmed Severus' identifications. Several addresses to which weapons were shipped were the addresses of the homes of some of the Death Eaters, places to which Severus had been on occasion. A few pointed to business interests of Death Eaters, and others were presumably to storage places procured for the purpose of receiving the weapons. Severus added notes, in his precise, neat hand, to connect the Eastmans shipments to locations associated with individuals, whether residences or businesses.

When Severus was finished, he casually but very intentionally stacked the Eastmans invoices on top of the photographs and returned to the group seated near the fireplace. He handed the lot over to Stark.

"I recognized several of the addresses to which shipments were directed – a few are the homes of Death Eaters, and others are their business addresses. There are several addresses I don't recognize. It is possible that those are warehouses procured for the purpose of receiving and holding these purchases. Of course, if there are recent recruits in here, I won't recognize them," he added, a bit of regret in his voice.

Stark and Shackelbolt stood, warmly thanking Harry for his hospitality and perhaps a bit less warmly and definitely more warily, thanking Severus for his assistance.

After their guests had left, Harry took the seat at one end of the couch, studying Severus' face as he sat at the other end. Severus was frowning as he stared into the flickering light of the fire, almost as if he was lost in his own thoughts. Harry wanted to ask a question, but instead allowed his hand to move forward along the back of the couch until it touched Severus' hand, resting there already.

The two sat quietly and companionably, their only point of contact Harry's fingers gently intertwining with Severus, for several long moments, until Harry broke the moment and gave voice to his question. "Who did you see in those photographs that upset you so, Severus? I could tell – the look on your face changed at one point. Who was it?"

There was something about the way Harry asked that question, or probably more in the expression that was on his face when he asked it, that caused Severus to realize that Harry likely knew the answer to his question. This was another one of those moments that drove home to Severus how wrong, how very wrong, he'd been about Harry Potter all those years. He knew his own uncle, to whose family Harry had shown great compassion in bringing them to Hogwarts, was a part of the anti-wizard movement.

Rather than answer, Severus heaved a deep, loud sigh, and he moved to stand up. Harry's hand tightened its grip on his wrist and held the larger man in place.

"No, Severus, we will speak here, now. I assume you saw someone that both you and I know in those photographs, and I'd wager a knut it was Uncle Vernon. Am I right?" Harry actually harbored an inner fear that Severus would tell him that he'd seen his aunt in there as well, and was relieved when Severus finally nodded.

Harry sagged just a tiny bit, and patted Severus hand as he considered his words. "I would have been surprised, actually, if Uncle Vernon had not found his way to one of those anti-wizard organizations. It's hard to even say I'm disappointed, because that's his nature. But, you know, Severus, I told you this over the summer – I don't care about him. My path has veered away from his, I can tell. And I feel nothing toward him. This is nothing for you to be concerned about. He's just another bigoted muggle, nothing more. Really."

Harry hated to see Severus distressed, especially over his worthless muggle uncle. They sat for several more minutes, Severus collecting his emotions, and Harry gently stroking and squeezing his hand, trying to give him the comfort Harry had always gotten from his touch.

X X X X X X X X X

The next morning, the Minister dispatched an owl to Lucius Malfoy, and asked that he stop by to see her at her office at his earliest opportunity.

Lucius smiled at the request – this was more like it!

He waited a few minutes, lest he appear overeager, before sauntering down the halls of the Ministry to her office. He noted with a sneer that he was waved through by her minions this time, no one chasing after him as they'd done yesterday. The Minister herself looked up with a smile when he entered her office.

"Oh, thank you for coming so quickly, Lucius," she began, the smile never leaving her face. "Just yesterday, I learned of a matter that the Aurors are working on, but frankly, I suspect that you have resources more suited to this particular inquiry than their skills."

Her visitor preened at the flattery, she noticed. It probably would not do to lay it on too thick right now, but that was useful information for the future.

"We have made minimal progress at unraveling the question of the identity and affiliation of the man who attempted to murder Severus Snape last summer here at the Ministry," she began. "We believe he was a mercenary, and I am told that some suspect that he was in the employ of the Rakshashas of India. We believe he spent some time in India, as well, although he appeared to be of different ancestry, maybe central European. We wish to know his name, his background, and given Mr. Potter's involvement, I think it would be very useful to learn of his magical history – any unusual or unique magical powers or skills of his own or in his family. The Aurors are busy with a number of priorities, and this has not advanced as I'd hoped. It occurred to me, in the wake of our conversation yesterday, that this might be a project better handed over to you, given your very unique resources. Can you help us?"

Lucius' mind was already working on which of his contacts could most quickly cut through that matter. "Of course, Amelia. As I said, I am at your service," he agreed immediately. "I have several contacts who are particularly good at things like this. I will need some details about the man in question, and a personal possession, his wand perhaps?"

He was thinking of Madam Bunswil, a woman who had been a frequent guest at his parents' dinner parties years ago. Lucius' father frequently asked her to assess the people with whom he was contemplating doing business, and he valued her input very highly. Lucius quickly calculated that she must be close to 200 years old now, but he'd heard of her helping someone out in this way (always for a fee, of course) not that long ago.

Madam Bunswil had frightened him as a child to the extent that he actually felt his flesh crawl even all these many years later as he thought about being in her presence again. She was a very ugly woman who disdained any sort of magical enhancement of her haggish appearance, not even to disguise her animal-like eyes. They were her most memorable feature, and not in a good way. She had no visible whites to her eyes – like a dog's, they were solid black. She had a way of looking at you - well, it was better be employ her to provide her services than to be on the receiving end of an appraising stare from those black, menacing, other-worldly eyes.

Amelia brought Lucius back to the present. "I will ask Auror Stark to come by your office in an hour or so with the details we have been able to gather, and the man's wand. Actually, I believe we have his body in stasis, as no one stepped forward to claim it, should your contact have need of that."

Lucius really did not want to think about that, but who knew what Madam Bunswil would require? He nodded his agreement, and stood. "I shall await the arrival of Auror Stark, then, Amelia," he said as he swept from the Minister's office.

What Lucius did want to think about, and where he directed his thoughts as he waited, was the fact that this was an undertaking to deliver information that might help Harry Potter himself. Lucius had heard the whispers, that he seemed to have some ability to pick up bits of magic from others. If this dead assassin had some rare or unusual bit of magic, it might be very meaningful and important for Harry to know of it, and how exceptional if it was Lucius Malfoy himself who presented Harry with this critical piece of information!

X X X X X X X X X X

Petunia had been terrified by the arrival of a big barn owl, which flew right into her kitchen! She immediately ran into the front hall, slamming the door behind her, hoping that the wild creature would find its way out just as it found its way in.

She sat in the lounge for a few minutes, in a chair right in front of the window, watching the sky and attempting to get her pounding heart rate back to normal. When she was suitably calm, she quietly snuck back to the kitchen and cracked the door open. To her horror, the owl had made itself at home, sitting on her formerly-pristine kitchen table, nibbling on the sandwich she had made for her own lunch. There were bits of toast and half-eaten bacon scattered across the table, along with discarded slices of tomato and lettuce leaves.

As Petunia drew in a breath to scream (she'd certainly feel better, and maybe the noise would scare the infernal creature into going back where it belonged), she noticed that there was a large vellum envelope sitting on the table right next to the bird. Momentarily distracted, she let out the breath and tried to make out what was written on the envelope. The owl just looked at her and made no move to fly away as she inched into the kitchen and closer to the table. Even from a distance, she was reasonably sure that was her own name in very elegant script across the front.

The owl, having finished what he saw as his reward for a well-delivered letter and finding nothing interesting in this woman's odd behavior, simply took flight and found its way out of the room. Petunia stood with her back pressed against her stove, almost afraid to move, lest the bird return. When she felt it was safe to assume that it was well and truly gone, she proceeded to inch her way toward the table, and gingerly reached out to the envelope, as if afraid it would somehow attack her.

She inspected the letter for any signs that it had gone through the post, but found no stamps, return address or other evidence of normal delivery. It was the bloody bird then that brought this. But the handwriting was so elegant! And the paper from which the envelope was crafted was so rich and heavy, and it was sealed with beautiful, creamy sealing wax. She once received an invitation to a very fancy (and expensive) wedding on paper like this. Intrigued in spite of herself, she turned the envelope over and carefully opened the flap.

Petunia extracted the sheet of equally rich and heavy parchment that was contained in the envelope, and unfolded it.

To her great surprise, it was a chatty note from Amaranth Savoy, hoping that Petunia was well and settled back at her home, and reporting on the fact that Amaranth and her family, all doing well, were still staying at Hogwarts, hoping that things would settle down soon so they could get back to their home. It went on, as Amaranth herself was prone to do, about all manner on inconsequential nothings, including some fond reminiscences of their times together over the summer.

Petunia's initial reaction was to tear the letter to shreds, burn it in the grate, and pretend this never happened. But she couldn't bring herself to do that. She read the letter through twice, noting the postscript at the bottom:

The owl is Chester and he'll stay in a tree in your garden for a day. You can write back by calling him to you, allowing him to take your letter in his beak, and telling him who to deliver it to. He'll know what to do from there.

Petunia heaved a sigh as she cleaned up the mess on her kitchen table, and made herself another sandwich and cup of tea to enjoy out in the back garden. She tucked the letter into her apron, planning to ignore it. The letter was still there as she washed up her dishes from lunch, and finished some of her tidying-up around the house. She was about to start getting supper ready for Vernon when she got a call from his assistant, Miss Enderlee, informing her that Mr. Dursley was called to an important meeting out-of-town with Mr. Mason and Mr. Riddle and would not be returning home for supper.

That was the third night this week that he accepted an invitation to join those two at one of their anti-magic rallies, and she was getting peeved. Not that Vernon was such a great conversationalist, but she was getting lonely being left by herself every night!

As she fixed a (much smaller) meal just for herself, she decided to take advantage of a warmer-than-usual evening and went back into her garden to eat it. She felt the envelope in her apron pocket, and pulled it out to read it again.

Vernon didn't need to know about this, did he? She needed someone to talk to, just as he had his Mr. Mason and Mr. Riddle. And Amaranth had been such a lovely young woman, after all. After dinner, Petunia sat down at her kitchen table, with one of her nicest note cards and the good fountain pen she'd gotten when she graduated from school, and wrote a reply. After a moment's hesitation, she simply wrote "Mrs. Amaranth Savoy, Hogwarts" on it, and sealed the envelope. She walked into her garden, and without even having to say the bird's name, he was already perched on the back of one of the garden chairs. As she offered her note to the bird and he took it in his beak, she softly said "Amaranth Savoy." The bird seemed to nod in understanding, and took off.

"I must be daft," Petunia muttered, as she went back into her kitchen.

She made sure to stash Amaranth's letter in the travel case where the galleons from Harry were stored. Where no one would ever look. Just in case.

[A/N: Reviews, anyone? Please?]