a/n: Huge thanks to idearlylovealaugh for being such an amazing beta. I'm being completely honest when I say this fic wouldn't be the way it is without her amazing input. As always co-creator credits to jenn582. I'm so happy she allowed me to play with her plotline.
And last but definitely not the least, thanks to each one of you for reading and reviewing. If it wasn't for all you guys, I wouldn't have found the motivation to continue working on this with the kind of workload I have in rl.
Day 7: Back in action
Ron apparated right inside the one-foot-by-one-foot space in his and Harry's office, the only point sans apparition wards in the Auror Department.
He dumped his rucksack on the floor, marching right ahead at his best mate who had already pushed away his chair and was pacing forward hurriedly. They hugged and Harry punched him in the arm in a light-hearted manner, grinning. It was hard to ignore the dark circles behind those glasses and Ron cursed himself silently. The bloke looked worn out and quite expectedly so, while he had been… well...
"How's the leg?" Harry asked, going back to his desk and grabbing the parchments he had pushed away in haste.
"Better than ever before," he grinned. Harry looked up, his brows disappearing behind his unruly fringe, and smirked slightly, but refrained from probing further.
"So, what've you got?" Ron inquired, patting Matt on the shoulder as he perched himself against the desk.
"A major breakthrough, thanks to that tip-off from you," Matt offered.
"Yeah, know that bit, but did you track down the impersonator?"
Harry pulled out a parchment from the pile scattered on the desk and in the only picture on it, Ron noticed a man in his late forties, come out of a run-down shop and turn a corner in one of the dark alleys in Knockturn Alley.
"Billy Finns…" he muttered to himself, reading off the paper. "Sounds vaguely familiar," he pondered aloud, looking up at his teammates.
Yeah, old Billy," provided Harry. "Remember Mundungus tipped us off when we were going to nab him for trading Bellatrix's old furniture?"
"Yeah, petty thefts, right? Was arrested a couple of times for trying to sell cursed objects?"
Harry nodded in agreement. "Tried to sell them off to the Muggles no less."
Ron scratched his arms absentmindedly. "Okay, alright, but how does he fit in here?"
"That bit is tricky, we're not quite sure, but we know he was the man," Matt added before he pulled out a tight bunch of scrolls and unfurled them. The deep red stamp on the top showed off the insignia of the Auror's Autopsy Department.
"Deep gash in the right foot," Ron read aloud. "Sounds like a dark curse," he stated.
"They ignored it initially when we thought the body was Albert's-" began Matt.
"-But we got it rechecked when we knew he was an imposter," Harry cut in. "Back in the day, Billy was cursed by Runcorn. The curse left him with a limp for a lifetime but it also seems to have a lasting effect on his skin-"
"-dark enough to break through a strong Polyjuice." Unconsciously Ron's eyes found his brain scars. He met Harry's gaze, eyes flicking for the briefest moment on the fringe covering Harry's forehead. "But in the end, that's good for us, innit," he mused darkly.
"Yeah," shrugged the other two in unison.
"What about this location?" he asked, "Are we sure this is it? We can't afford to mess things up, mate. One false move and we'll end up showing our hand."
"No, Ron, we got this for sure. There was a tipoff from Madame Billifont," provided Matt, "the hostess of the Dark Horse pub in Knockturn Alley? Some of her customers have been frequently talking about something they refer to as the 'place'. We've got a few of them on our radar for the illegal potion. I asked her to watch these guys and she said has heard them mention some 'mill' recently. We decided to check on all muggle mills in and around London that have been abandoned for a while for magical traces. This seems to fit the bill. "
"And what if there are more?" he asked looking between Matt and Harry. "How do we know they don't have another location as a backup? What if the whole lot is spread out over various locations? We don't fucking know if the maniac leading this is going to be there, do we? One wrong move and the game will be up."
"What do you suggest? We sit back and do nothin'?" barked Harry, fuming, Ron knew, not at him but the situation.
"We've been scanning the country up and down and they know it," Ron insisted. "If they've found one, they'll look out for more such muggle properties. Get in touch with Lillian Brown of Scotland Yard," he instructed Matt. "Ask her for a list of buildings that have been abandoned for years, maybe somewhere far away from the settlement. Then send some boys to check for human movements around those locations. We might not find any magical traces at all. I have a hunch these fuckers are trying to blend in with Muggles. I want the report in two hours."
As Matt hurried away, Harry turned to face him. "Don't you think the longer we wait, the more likely we are to lose Albert, or worse?" he inquired.
"That risk stays, Harry. At least they don't know we've figured out that the man at the hospital was an imposter. I just don't wanna risk losing the wizard who's running the show," he announced grimly.
"Or the witch," added Harry quietly.
...
For the next couple of hours, the two of them drew up a detailed plan for the raid. By the end of the third, Matt returned with his report and they sent in smaller teams to look into two vulnerable spots. From the information they'd gathered Ron couldn't deny that they had scanned well. However, he couldn't push away a nagging doubt that they were missing something crucial still. It was frustrating but he couldn't put a finger on it, although he felt like he ought to know.
They spent the next half hour hand-picking their teams and finalising their plans.
Before they briefed the boys, however, the duo decided to grab a much-needed bite. Ron realised he hadn't eaten anything in hours. But once he was alone with Harry, he voiced out what had been on his mind since he'd arrived. "You made sure all our boys are clean, didn't you?" he asked quietly.
Harry ran his hand through his hair in the familiar fashion, flattening it on his forehead to hide the scar.
"I ran Veritaserum and Patronus tests on our lot after your tipoff. " He met Ron's eyes and removed his glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly before slamming the glasses back on. "So fucking glad to see ya' back, mate," he sighed, slapping Ron on the back.
"Same," he replied, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulder.
"Fucking liar," Harry chuckled. "How's your Healer?" he asked grinning.
Ron tried cutting off his idiotic smile and failed hopelessly. "She's good," he managed, clearing his throat and scratching his stubbled chin, still struggling to hide his smile and realising with annoyance that his ears were probably matching his hair at the moment.
Harry snorted and clapped him on the back again. "About time!" he laughed.
...….
"Hey,"
Hermione turned sharply at the voice and smiled. "Morning, Alice," she replied, turning back to the stove and flipping pancakes.
"Special breakfast, eh?" Alice teased while she grabbed plates for them.
"It's been a while," replied Hermione, pouring another scoop of the batter on the pan.
"Yes, and it's about time, too," chuckled the older witch.
Hermione cleared her throat and pushed back on the lock of hair that fell over her eyes, immediately remembering Ron running his fingers through her curls. She hoped Alice couldn't see her; her sister would not stop teasing, she thought with a nervous chuckle before realising that they had so very few light and carefree moments before in their life.
"Mum's so happy."
Hermione paused midway and turned around with a gasp, "You told her?!"
"It's been a while since something good has happened in this house, sis," Alice replied, patting Hermione on the cheek before she moved away to fill the kettle.
"And … what did she say?" Hermione asked, feeling incredibly conscious. It all seemed surreal, and she gulped down the fear that struggled to surface, the doubts that tried to rear their ugly heads and convince her that she was foolish to dream; that sooner or later it would all come crashing down somehow.
"Told you, she's ecstatic," Alice beamed before wiping a happy tear from the corner of her eye. "I'd almost forgotten how pretty she looked when she smiled."
"Me too," Hermione sighed softly and flipped out the pancakes onto a plate. They worked in silence for a while before Alice chuckled.
"What?" asked Hermione lightheartedly as she carried the plate to the table.
"I found him coming out of your room this morning," she teased again. Hermione groaned and looked away, mortified, but Alice only laughed at her expression. "Auror Weasley is besotted," Alice added as she set the tea tray.
Hermione couldn't help but go crimson as she remembered the previous night. Perhaps twenty-five was too old to be embarrassed about spending a night with a man, she reckoned, but then, it was her first time after all… Everything was so new.
"And so is my little sister, it seems," added Alice.
"Shut up, Alice," she remarked, biting her lip and realising that she couldn't remember the last time she had smiled so much. "Let's have breakfast in Mum's room, shall we?" Hermione suggested. Despite everything, she was anxious about Ron's impending raid and hoped being with the family would help soothe her jittery nerves.
"Mum'll love that," Alice agreed.
They had moved halfway up the stairs carrying the food-laden trays when Hermione stopped abruptly.
"Alice? I'm not rushing into anything, am I?" she asked her sister, quietly. Even as the words escaped her, her heart twisted painfully at the thought of letting Ron go. Hermione's eyes lingered on the steps where the two of them had sat only the previous night and she looked away. It had barely been a few hours and she was already missing him terribly, missing his annoying bickering and that stupid lopsided grin- but most importantly, missing the warmth and security of his hugs and the way those eyes looked at her.
"You've spent twenty-five years living just for your family, Hermione-" Alice's voice broke through her internal musings, "-it's high time you start learning to care for yourself, too," her elder sister admonished her softly.
…...
In the darkest of the dark hours of the night, a sliver of the moon flitted in and out of the band of clouds; its faint rays too weak to clearly illuminate the broken down mill that stood at the edge of the woods.
With the ominous quiet of the forest broken only by the sounds of the creatures of the night, six shapes stealthily moved out from the cover of the trees. Their Disillusionment Charm blended in with the darkness around them, rendering them practically invisible, their footsteps muffled by more spells.
As one group disappeared behind the dilapidated building, another bigger group appeared, shrouded- just like the first one- in shadows. This new group, consisting of ten of the best duelists the Auror division had, broke into pairs of two and surrounded the building, hiding in the shadows of the structure.
The leader of the second group positioned himself at the back entrance of the broken-down mill, looked at his watch, and began waiting.
….
Far away in the lone Granger cottage, Hermione was making preparations to go to bed. It had been a very pleasant day for a change. Alice was right, their mum looked exceptionally pretty when she smiled, and it seemed eons had passed since the three of them had been so happy.
Her thoughts often wandered back to a tall red-haired Auror and more than once she caught herself wondering where he was, and if he was safe. Ron seemed to have brought some kind of good luck charm to their home. Hermione couldn't remember the last time she had seen so much colour on her mother's cheeks. Although it took Jane Granger immense strength to speak, her will power ruled and she communicated enough to let them know how happy she was.
Look, Dad, Mum's smiling, she whispered, looking at the photograph that sat on the bedside table.
Unbeknownst, she started to hope and look forward to the future.
…..
The rusted iron gates opened, creaking on their hinges as Harry unlocked the padlock the muggle way- with the knife Sirius had gifted him years ago.
Tensed, the Aurors grasped their wands firmly as they waited for an alarm to go off somewhere, but none did. Magical security wards on the property seemed to be minimal to keep them from being caught on the radar, and Harry quietly blessed their crazy stroke of luck. As he squeezed in through the partly opened gate, his team of five other Aurors, masked by the darkness and the Disillusionment charm, followed behind him.
The mill was huge.
They broke up in groups of two and fanned out. He had a window of exactly seven minutes for the rescue and escape mission, post that, Ron's team, who Harry knew would have positioned themselves outside the property already, would cast the Anti-Apparition wards and barge their way in to begin phase two.
The place was deathly quiet and dark; had they not managed to get hold of the floor plan in advance, it would have been impossible to scope out the place in under ten minutes.
Harry, along with Smith, hurried their way up the stairs to the upper levels. Hidden under the cloak, he was completely invisible but he could see the faint outline of his partner as they searched each room. There was no doubt that they had got the location right; large crates filled with rats, ravens, bats and other creatures lined the hallway, and there were boxes upon boxes of other potion ingredients stacked in the first two rooms. He shuddered to think how many cauldrons worth of Polyjuice these guys were planning to brew. If perfected, the potion could wreak havoc on their life- security breach would become a cakewalk. With their ears trained for any commotion or rather any noise of protection ward breach, Harry and Smith hastened their steps.
They had only three minutes remaining.
….
Ron glanced at his watch again. He could feel Rick fidget next to him. Harry's team had only three minutes remaining to escape with the hostages. His heart was beating rather fast. The mill was eerily silent and it bothered him greatly.
They had been prepared for a scenario where the wards triggered an alarm as soon as Harry and team entered the premises. Ron's team would've openly attacked to give Harry's guys the much-needed cover. But he guessed they had managed to enter the building without much effort.
Ron's guess had been correct. The gang wanted to avoid the Magical Enforcement's radar and use as few magical enchantments as possible. However, logic dictated that they would be prepared with as much manpower as they could spare to prepare for an eventuality like this.
His wand buzzed in his hand signalling the passing of another minute.
….
The huge bulk of a man was lying across the entrance, just before the closed door, the only one in the entire length of the hallway. Harry reckoned the bloke was certainly supposed to be awake guarding whatever lay beyond this checkpoint. It was sheer dumb luck that he was snoring. Perhaps he had hoped his enormous frame would guard the door effectively, or he was a light sleeper who would wake up if anyone as much as attempted to pass?
Harry pointed his wand at the man's chest and cast a nonverbal Stupify. The man shuddered slightly before falling back on the floor with a thud. In the silence of the night, the sound reverberated loudly.
"Oi Karl, you okay there?" asked someone from beyond the door.
"Hmph," grunted Smith behind him and the two held their breaths, fisting their wands firmly. They were certainly onto something. Unfortunately, time was running out.
They pushed the door open slowly; it was unlocked for some odd reason and as soon as Harry squeezed inside, it was evident why. The room was dark, the windows appeared to have been boarded up and the sole candle in the room was burning inside what appeared to be an old muggle beer can, barely casting any light. It was damp and smelled horrid, not to mention almost stifling hot.
As Harry scanned the room in the dim glow of the candle, he could make out the shapes of the five men who lay on the floor, snoring softly. One guard was sitting on a crate, sharpening what looked like a piece of wood with an old knife. The man looked up at the door and looked right through him; Harry had halted mid-step despite being invisible. For a moment it appeared as if the man would get up to investigate, but then he went back to what he was doing and began chipping off pieces of the woodblock. Carefully, Harry glanced around the room again and it took him a while to register the cage-like structure at the corner. At first sight, it seemed as if it housed an animal but then the shape on the floor shifted a little and he could make out a pale looking face.
Albert.
…
Ron tapped softly on the wall twice and heard his invisible partner suck in a breath. Two minutes remaining. He pressed on the small rubber ball-like-object that sat snugly in his left ear. The tiny device could have been a game-changer. George had modelled it after their famous Extendable Ears, only it was much more efficient. Linked to another identical device, it worked like what Harry called a muggle 'walkie-talkie'. Unfortunately, before he could complete it, George had fallen into one of his spells, the same he had been struggling with since losing Fred. The design was never perfected and now only worked when a pair of them were within a short-range.
So far Ron hadn't heard from Harry at all.
….
Harry took a minute to ponder their options. There was no way he could open the cage without alerting the guard. And precious time was running out.
He could feel Smith's huge form right behind him and making a quick decision, Harry grabbed hold of the bloke's palm to pass on the silent code by tapping on his partner's wrist. There was the faintest movement and he felt Smith walk ahead while Harry retraced his steps to the door.
He paused at the door and pressed his finger on the rubber ball in his ear. "Thirty seconds," he whispered and heard Ron's soft grunt from the other end.
He counted to ten and then pointing his wand out through the tiny gap in the door, muttered a silent 'Diffindo'. The spell hit the crates lined along the walls, ripping them into pieces, letting loose the creatures entrapped in them. They escaped with shrill cries and screeches, shattering the quiet of the night.
As the guards scrambled up to check on the commotion outside, loud voices erupted from other corners of the building. Every soul present in the premises seemed to have woken up. Even in the few seconds that Harry took to push his way out into the corridor and remove the cloak to draw attention to himself, sounds and flashes of spells ricocheted off the dilapidated walls. The gang had realised the presence of the intruders.
And then, as if only after a heartbeat, there were five synchronized and loud blasts from five corners as the second team of Aurors came crashing in to join the fray.
As Harry duelled with three men simultaneously, he hoped the little distraction had helped Smith, and that the bloke had escaped with Albert before Ron's powerful Anti-Apparition wards had locked them all in.
….
Close to midnight, Hermione was woken up by Alice, "You've got to come fast, Hermione!" she urged flustered, picking up and handing Hermione her wand from the bedside table.
The two sisters hurried out of the room, Alice leading the way, Hermione's head reeling with confusion- Were they attacked? Ron said the charms would hold and would know immediately. She looked around expecting Alice to turn towards the stairs and downstairs but was taken aback when Alice turned left instead.
"Wha-"
"It's Mum," Alice interrupted gravely. "I woke up for a sip of water and found- you've... you've got to take a look!"
…..
In the far horizon, the sky had begun to emit hues of pink and blue, waking up the world slowly. However, far away from the city, hidden among the woods, an old forgotten muggle mill was buzzing with activity.
If any muggle ventured to the woods in that early hour, they would've found strangely dressed men and women hurrying in and out of the building. However, no muggle did venture in for strong muggle repelling charms had been activated around the perimeter the previous night.
Ron wiped off the blood from his cheek where a deep gash had appeared, the mark left behind by a spell that had narrowly missed injuring him severely some hours ago. He padded off to where a group of four sat, dabbing Dittany on their arms and faces.
"You guys okay there?" he inquired, clapping the youngest of them, Rick, on the shoulder.
"Yes," beamed the bloke, looking up at the tall Auror, admiration clear in his expression.
"All you guys were great. How are Will and Henry?" he inquired, waving off when they offered him the potion bottle.
"Henry has been taken to the hospital. Was bleeding way too much. Will's just regained consciousness," offered Annett. Ron nodded grimly and turned to Harry who was standing a little distance away, talking to a couple of Aurors from his team.
"We've gotta take these fuckers back," he motioned at the group of forty-odd and tattered men who were bound and sat huddled next to each other. "Get them some food but be careful. Especially that bastard over there."
"We'll deal with that one ourselves," prompted Harry pointing at the man who was currently bound and lay Stunned. "Super proud of all you," he added too. "Any news from Mary and Jones?" he asked Ron, who groaned audibly before running his fingers through his matted hair.
"Carlie is unconscious, seems to have been through hell. Albert is very weak and the Healers have asked us to wait before we try to get information out of him."
"Hmm," responded Harry grimly. "So that bastard needs to start speaking," he gestured at the unconscious man again.
….
It had been one long night for Hermione and Alice; it was almost hard to believe that less than twenty-four hours ago, it had seemed like a fresh new start.
"I don't understand," sighed Alice as she passed Hermione a cup of tea.
Hermione took the cup and collapsed on the chair at the foot of the bed. "I don't know either," she replied in a small voice, not taking her eyes off her mother.
The seizures seemed to have stopped but Hermione couldn't dare hope. Just an hour ago, Hermione had barely managed to pull her out of a heart attack. At this point, Hermione didn't know how their mother was even alive. Perhaps it was all the magic forced into her veins that had kept the heart from failing- but for how long?
Alice had taken her place on the spare bed and the sisters finished their tea in silence, looking at the person lying inert on the next bed.
All her doubts and fears were surfacing again. And although Hermione knew that her thoughts were taking a baseless turn, she couldn't help wonder if she had jinxed her mother's life by being happy. She grabbed the almost empty cup tightly, trying her best to stay sane, concentrating on being a Healer and keeping her mother alive - but the cruel voice inside her had already begun to gain strength.
When would she learn? the voice jeered evilly, Hermione wasn't destined for happiness.
There couldn't possibly be a link, she insisted to herself. Divination was not even actually a branch of magic, but the voice inside kept nudging her towards the edge. If it wasn't, the voice asked, how did her mother fall so gravely ill the very day Hermione had started hoping for a better future?
She had no answer.
She continued to watch her mother's face that looked even paler than usual and sucked in a breath with difficulty. Closing her eyes, Hermione found herself wishing desperately for Ron. She knew their mother had been even more weak of late, and it was perhaps a matter of time anyway. Alice and she both knew it would be hard to keep caring for her health without Albert tweaking her potions carefully to manage her changing symptoms. Quite possibly it was just that. Maybe the recent potions had run their course?
"Hermione?"
She opened her eyes in a snap. Alice was holding a familiar green vial, looking gravely worried.
"Look at this," Alice said with difficulty as she handed Hermione the vial. She took it wordlessly.
Another one of Albert's miracle drugs, the green potion swirled giving off faint blue vapours, just like it was supposed to. It was excruciatingly hard to brew, not just because the ingredients were rare and pricey and mostly illegal but also because it took a month to prepare a single batch.
"I don't-" she began looking at Alice in confusion.
"Check it against the light," Alice replied in a stiff voice.
Hermione lifted it up and gasped. There were fine streaks of white gelatinous mass floating in it.
She looked up at Alice, tears pricking her eyes, guilt choking her airway.
Hermione had forgotten to give it the last and final stir the previous night. The whole batch of the potion was useless.
…..