* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART FOUR
Brave New World
Chapter 88: Do You Still Believe in Love, I Wonder?
A/N: The chapter title is from the song:
Hey Brother by Avicii.
"Hey, midget."
Sadie smiled up at her brother, "Hey, Sorenson."
"You look like crap," Sorenson said, setting down a gift basket on her bedside table.
"She gave birth to twins yesterday, you idiot," Clara said, glaring at her other half.
Sadie chuckled, "And they tried their best to kill me."
"But she's fine now," Theo said, yawning and stretching out his legs.
Sorenson raised an eyebrow at him, "You gone all domestic already?"
"Being a dad changes you," Theo said, he would have shrugged, but Almina was sleeping in his arms.
"It does," Sorenson agreed, his eyes falling on his sister as she rocked Charlus to sleep.
"They are beautiful, Sadie," Clara said with a warm smile, "Now that they are all cleaned up, and I'm not trying to rush you to hospital."
"Thank you, Clara," Sadie said sincerely, "I dread to think what would have happened if it hadn't been for you and Lilly."
"Lilly did all of the hard work. I just helped," Clara said honestly, "You're very lucky to have a friend like her."
"I know," Sadie said, "We would have named Almina after her, but it was important to Theo to name her after his mother, and Sorenson knows why her middle name had to be Tracey."
Sorenson smiled sadly, "Yeah, I get it, Sade."
"Lilly doesn't mind," Clara assured her, "She did it because she cares and because she loves you, not because she wants a kid named after her. She's a Hufflepuff in disguise that girl."
"Oh definitely," Sadie agreed.
Sorenson leant down and kissed his sister on the forehead, "I'm glad you're okay, Sadie, congrats."
"Thanks, Sorenson," Sadie said, stifling a yawn.
"Congrats Theo," Sorenson added, shaking Theo's hand.
"Thanks, bro," Theo said with a grin.
"Don't call me bro, ever again," Sorenson added, raising an eyebrow at him, "Especially now that we work together. I don't ever want anyone to know that we're related."
"Wow, Sorenson, harsh," Clara cut in, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Well, everyone thinks he's shagging Draco," Sorenson said in his defence, "So I don't really want the fact he's my brother-in-law to become common knowledge!"
Sadie snorted then tried to cover it up.
"What?" Theo asked sharply, "People think I'm shagging Draco?"
"Yeah, Wolfe has a big mouth. I don't know how you can work with that arse," Sorenson said with a roll of his eyes, "He was going on about how you named your kid after Draco, and Draco cried."
Theo looked over at Sadie in outrage, then he frowned, "Why are you laughing?"
Sadie couldn't contain herself. She giggled, "Well, because it's you and Draco. You have always had a bit of a…funny relationship, haven't you? I thought you were gay for ages in school!"
"You…you thought I was gay?"
Clara chuckled and hid her mouth behind her hand.
"Well, yes," Sadie admitted, biting her lip, "You were unnaturally close to Draco. Then we grew up, he fell in love with Hermione, and you two still couldn't let go. You put an adjoining door between your houses, and you became Auror partners. You can see why it looks like that to the Aurors, can't you?"
"No, I can't," Theo huffed.
"Either way, at work, we're not related," Sorenson said, clapping Theo on the shoulder rather hard, "I'm a hotshot Auror killing it in Organised Crime, and you are a Junior working for CPS."
Clara rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Ignore him, Theo. He's an idiot."
"Thanks," Sorenson said sarcastically.
"She's right," Sadie said, smiling at her brother in amusement.
"We're going to go," Clara said, smiling at Sadie, "But look after yourself and give me a shout if you need anything, alright?"
Sadie nodded, "Thanks for visiting Clara. See you later, Sorenson."
Sorenson waved at her with a smile, then he pointed at Theo and said, "We. Don't. Know. Each. Other," as Clara dragged him out of the hospital room.
Theo shook his head and muttered, "I can't believe you thought I was gay."
The Auror department was pretty empty after 7 pm most nights. They all finished between 5 and 6 pm, but sometimes people would hang around for an hour to do paperwork. However, nobody stayed later than that unless they had to, and since two Aurors from each team were on call at night, there was no need to hang around the ministry.
On this particular Saturday night, Rob had stayed later than that. He didn't really need to catch up on paperwork, but that was what he had told everyone because the truth was a bit more depressing than that. Nick stayed with Rob's brother for the night, and when Rob didn't have Nick to go home to, he had nothing, so he preferred to stay in the ministry.
He was sure that he was alone in the department because why would anyone else be here at 10 pm on a Saturday? The rest of them had lives beyond their kid.
Rob sighed and reached for his coffee. It had gone cold because he had gotten lost in thought again. He looked up at the clock; he knew that he would have to go home sometime soon.
"Any Aurors on duty?"
The shout from the corridor made him frown. Rob got to his feet and opened the door of the office. At the end of the hall stood a young man in basic Ministry robes.
"Who's asking?" Rob called.
"My names Brian sir," The young man replied, "I'm just a Security Wizard, but a call just came in via one of the old Auror boxes in storage."
"An Auror box?" Rob asked in disbelief. They were like police boxes, but they had a fireplace in them and a direct link to the Auror department, "I didn't think anyone used them anymore."
"Neither did I, sir," Brian said with a shrug, "But the caller said that she was in danger. She said she had killed her husband years ago, but he was coming back to kill her tonight at midnight."
Rob glanced into his office and looked at the clock, "I'll pursue it. I've nothing better to do," he said, grabbing his Auror robes from the chair behind his desk.
The young security wizard nodded and told him the coordinates, then left the department. Rob began to make his way up the corridor when a door opened.
"What are you still doing here?"
Rob gritted his teeth and turned to look at John, "I was doing paperwork, now I'm responding to a call from a batshit insane woman who thinks her dead husband is coming back to kill her."
"On your own?" John asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah, on my own," Rob said irritably, "I'm not going to bother Longbottom when this is both, out of our division and probably a lot of horseshit."
"How do you know it's a lot of horseshit?" John argued
"Because the floo call came in via an Auror box in storage," Rob replied, looking pointedly at John, "It's got to be an old woman. Nobody else would even know how to use one."
"True," John said with a frown, "But it's against regs to go out without a partner, so I'm going with you."
Rob's face fell, "No."
"Yes," John said, grabbing his robes from the back of his office door. He slung them on and stalked out into the corridor, "If you die while you're out in the field on your own then your kid doesn't get the insurance payout, and you don't get your badge of valour."
"Okay, firstly, I don't give a fuck about the badge of valour because I'll be dead, so what use is a bit of metal?" Rob remarked with a raised eyebrow, "And secondly, since when did you give a shit about my kid?"
"I don't hate you, Rob," John said, walking to the end of the corridor, "And I definitely don't want your kid to go without because you were too proud to accept help. You coming?"
Rob rolled his eyes but followed John out of the corridor, into the apparition zone. They exchanged coordinates, and both spun on their heel.
"Theo, do you think she's okay?" Sadie asked tearfully.
"She's fine Sadie, I think she just has trapped wind," Theo replied as he paced the room with Almina, tapping her on the back gently while bouncing her.
"She just won't stop crying though," Sadie said, tears spilling down her cheeks.
"She's a baby Sade, it's what they do," Theo said, yawning and tapping Almina a little harder.
She let out a loud burp and immediately began to settle down. Theo smiled over at his wife, "See?"
This just made Sadie cry more.
Theo lay Almina down in her cot and crossed the room, "Why are you crying, Sadie?"
"I'm just so bad at this," Sadie sobbed, "And you're such a natural. I wasn't made to be a mother, Theo. I'm no good at this."
"It's early days Sadie," Theo soothed her, "You're still learning. You're not a terrible mother."
"Why are you so good at it then?" Sadie cried.
"I just pick things up very fast, I always have done but even more so now that I'm an Auror," Theo said, holding her hand and smiling at her, "You had a traumatic birth, and you're exhausted. Don't be so hard on yourself, okay?"
Sadie nodded tearfully.
"Try to get some sleep," Theo said, kissing her on the forehead gently.
"See? Batshit insane old lady," Rob said, gesturing in the general direction of the thatched cottage with lace curtains.
"Stop jumping to conclusions," John warned him, "Don't you remember what they taught us in Auror training? Always expect the-"
"- unexpected, yeah Sheppard, I know," Rob said irritably, "You don't need to keep up the perfect Auror act with me."
"What, do you think it's all just an act that I put on to piss you off?" John asked in disbelief.
Rob cocked his head, "Sounds like something you'd do."
John scoffed, "Get off your high horse Rob. You hate me, but I don't hate you. We were friends a long time ago, good friends till you decided you were going to question every Senior Auror in the department and throw your career into the fucking bin."
"No, that's not why we stopped being friends, John," Rob said coldly, "And you know it. We stopped being friends when you decided to steal my girlfriend right out from under my feet. Stealing my title as best dueler in the year wasn't good enough for you. Beating me in every single test wasn't enough. You had to have Elizabeth too."
"Wow," John snorted, "You're still bitter about that? It's been bloody years, Rob! We're married, and we have a family together-"
"Oh yeah, I know," Rob said bitterly, "I know all about the life you two have together, and yeah, I'm still bitter about it because that's the life I wanted. She wasn't just a girl I was seeing while I was going through training. She wasn't just my first serious girlfriend, who I forgot all about a couple of years later. She was the love of my life, John, and you knew that. You were my best friend, so you knew that!"
John's eyes widened, and he took a step back.
"What? Shocked by the truth?" Rob scoffed, "I was going to propose to her. You knew that I had the ring-"
John shook his head and raised his wand, "Inferi."
"What?"
"There's a bloody Inferi behind you, Rob!"
Rob spun around and saw it, "Oh fuck."
"Not such an insane old lady," John said, grabbing Rob and pulling him back a few paces, "Any ideas?"
"Kill it with fire?" Rob suggested.
"I don't know about you, but I can't conjure fiendfyre."
"Some big hot shot Auror you are Shep," Rob snorted, "Can't even conjure fiendfyre. My little 19-year-old lad can do it."
"Your little 19-year-old lad killed Lord Voldemort," John said as they edged further back, "He doesn't count!"
"Well, he'd be more useful to me than you right now!"
"Well, I'm all you've got, so suck it up and come up with an idea, or we both die here," John said irritably.
"Fire repels them, any kind of fire," Rob said quickly, "We can't kill it, but we can trap it inside a fire dome which will give us time to think of something more permanent."
"Great plan," John said. He raised his hand and moved it in a circular motion, saying the spell's incantation. A storm of fire began to form overhead, and he sent it towards the Inferi. As the storm swirled around the Inferi, the creature found itself caught in the eye of the storm, unable to leave without passing through the flames.
Rob pointed his wand at the firestorm and cast a spell which made the flames stop flickering.
"What did you do?"
"Froze the flames in place so we can both have our wands at hand," Rob replied, "He's an Inferi, so whose controlling him?"
"Not the old lady," John said, "You said that she killed him, didn't you?"
"Yep," Rob answered, "So who enchanted that Inferi? Because if we find them, we can make them cancel the spell."
A laugh sounded from behind them, "You will have to kill me first."
John and Rob spun around and came face to face with a man in his 40's.
"The son," John said quietly.
Rob gave a minuscule nod.
"Sons," Another voice said.
"Shit," Rob muttered.
"Back to back," John whispered.
Rob turned a little so that his back was against John's, and the second son's face came into view. Both of the men were pointing their wands at the Aurors.
"Backs up against the wall, just me and you, it's like old times," John joked, grinning as he pulled his wand on the man that he was facing.
"You don't have to sound so happy about it," Rob added, pulling his wand on the other man.
They launched into a duel, and Rob was amazed that he did so well because he had spent the last five years working in a much slower-paced department than he was used to. Although they hadn't duelled together in years, they slipped back into it with ease. Spells flew back and forth. On at least two occasions, Rob had saved John's arse by making sure his shield charm covered both of them. In return, John had sent a couple of particularly nasty curses back over his shoulder at Rob's opponent.
By the time they had knocked out both of the brothers, both John and Rob were sweating and breathing raggedly.
"Fuck me, I'm getting old," Rob said, pointing his wand at the man he had been duelling and draining his magical core, thus removing the source of the Inferis life.
John did the same, then wiped his brow, "Yeah, I'm definitely not as young as I used to be," he agreed.
Rob threw himself down on a bench in the old lady's garden and blew out a breath. The front door opened, and he waved at her, "Hey, missus! Just took out your two sons because they re-animated your dead husband's corpse to make him kill you. A cup of tea would be just grand!"
John snorted as the woman disappeared back into the house and a light switched on in the kitchen.
"I missed that, you know," He said, turning his head to look at Rob.
Rob laughed humorlessly.
"I'm serious, Rob," John said sincerely, "You and me, fighting together like that…it took me right back to when we were training together, and you and I were gonna be the best Auror pair the Ministry had ever seen."
"Just stop," Rob said irritably, "We're not having a homoerotic moment, alright? I've spent all week ribbing Draco about his unnatural bond with his Auror partner."
"Yeah, those two are a bit suspect," John admitted, "But Potter and Longbottom. What do you see when you look at those two?"
"The hero and his plucky little sidekick," Rob said, turning to look at John, "Sorry, Shep, but being the sidekick got old. The hero always gets the girl after all, doesn't he?"
John sighed and opened his mouth to say something, but the front door opened before he could. The little old lady stumbled out and placed a tray of tea down in front of them, thanking them profusely and telling them to try her homemade ginger biscuits.
"We should probably arrest her," John said once she had gone back into the house, "She killed her husband."
Rob bit into one of the biscuits, "What's the point? She's old. She'll die soon anyway, and she makes fucking amazing biscuits. Go on, try one."
John chuckled and picked up a mug of tea and a biscuit. They fell silent as he ate it, but then he spoke again, "I'm sorry for what happened back then. I did know you were in love with Elizabeth, I knew you were going to propose to her, but I knew Elizabeth's side of the story too."
Rob frowned, "What do you mean?"
John sighed and leant back against the bench, "She was going to break up with you. While you were talking about proposals, she was whispering to Sam at the back of a classroom about how she really liked you as a friend, but the spark just wasn't quite there for her."
Rob's eyes darkened.
"I'm not being a dick, Rob," John said quickly, "That afternoon was simulation. You and I got paired up with her and Sam, remember?"
"How can I forget?" Rob retorted.
"You obviously don't remember it the same way that I do," John said, looking at a spot in the distance, "It was the very end of first year. The war was raging all around us, and they were talking about letting us go straight into the department if we passed all our exams. There were a lot of parallels to what's happening now, actually."
"I know John, I was there," Rob reminded him.
"That was our last simulation before final exams, remember?" John asked.
Rob just nodded.
"We got given an authentic situation-"
"Death Eater attack on Diagon Alley," Rob said quietly, "Like I said, I remember it."
"Not all of it," John said sharply, "Because my cockiness got you killed in that simulation, Rob. Then my arrogance got everyone else killed, Elizabeth included. You were dead by that point; you didn't see her bleeding out in my arms from a cutting curse that I hadn't been able to save her from. When the illusion faded away, she remembered that, and I remembered it, but you didn't. She broke up with you because I told her to. I told her not to break your heart by stringing you on anymore."
Rob stared at John in disbelief.
"Then we got together at the end of that summer," John finished, "So yes, I can see how it looks like I stole her away from you, but I didn't."
"I can't fucking believe you," Rob said, getting to his feet and staring at John.
"What?" John asked cluelessly.
"Two decades, John," Rob said in disbelief, "This happened almost two decades ago! Why are you just telling me this now?"
"Shit happened, Rob," John said, getting to his own feet, "We got fast-tracked after that, separated as partners after that little duel in the canteen and then we were in a scary world. We were kids, thrown in at the deep end during the last year of a war that was killing off Aurors far more experienced than us."
Rob sighed. He couldn't argue with that.
"When the dust settled, Elizabeth and I were engaged, and you were pretty happy working in Vice with Mitch, so I didn't see the point in reopening old wounds," John said honestly.
"Yeah," Rob said with a sigh, "You're right; there wouldn't have been any point."
"It's different now, though," John added as he left the garden.
Rob jumped the wall and followed him, "Because you're my boss."
"Yeah," John replied, "You work with Elizabeth, and I'm your boss. Don't you reckon it's time that we turn over a new leaf?"
As much as he didn't want to admit that John was right, Rob nodded and said, "Yeah, I reckon two decades is enough time to stew on it."
John laughed and patted him on the back, "You're growing up Rob, I'm so proud of you."
Rob snorted.
"I'll do you a deal. Get rid of the corpse and book those two idiots into the holding cells, and I'll get pizza?" John suggested.
At this, Rob grinned, "You've got yourself a deal."
When Elizabeth came into work on Sunday morning, she expected to be the first in their office. She knew that John had worked through the night because he hadn't come home but had sent a Patronus saying he had things that he needed to get done.
She didn't expect anyone from CPS to appear earlier than 8 am, so she was confused when she heard talking and laughing from within the CPS office. When she approached the office, she peered through the door, which was slightly ajar, and she was astounded by what she saw.
John and Rob were sitting around the briefing table, an empty box of pizza open between them and two abandoned cups of coffee on the desk behind them.
"Yes!" John laughed, "I do remember that one! Mitch fell off the tower into the lake, screaming his head off because he believed Sam's story about the Kelpie."
"It was fucking brilliant," Rob chortled, "He was all sputtering and flailing in the water, and Sam was just pissing herself."
"That was the moment I knew those two were a match made in Heaven," John joked.
"Took them bloody ages to get together, mind," Rob said with an amused shake of his head.
"Tell me about it. I had to listen to far too many of Sam's conversations with Liz," John snorted, "Those two are shit at silencing charms for a couple of Aurors."
Elizabeth stepped into the office, and both men looked up at her.
"Morning, love," John said with a tired smile.
Rob waved, "Looking fresh, Lizzie."
Elizabeth looked between the two of them and frowned, "Have I just walked into a parallel universe or am I still asleep?"
"Asleep?" Rob grinned. He looked over at John, "So she's dreamed about this, huh, Shep?"
"Probably, she talks in her sleep," John replied with an amused smile.
Elizabeth's eyes widened, "Are you both okay? Nobody is imperiused?"
"Nobody is imperiused," John said, pushing himself to his feet, "Rob and I just reconnected last night."
Elizabeth's eyebrows shot up.
"Oh, your mind jumped to dirty way too fast," Rob said, smirking at her, "You have had this dream before, haven't you?"
"Shut up, Rob," Elizabeth retorted, trying to stop the colour as it rose in her cheeks.
John chuckled and looked at his wife, "We defeated an Inferi together and duelled back to back; it was just like old times. We're getting old now, Liz, it made us get sentimental, and we decided to turn over a new leaf."
"There were a lot of 'we's' in that sentence, Shep," Rob said, "You talked, you got sentimental, you wanted to turn over a new leaf. I just agreed for the sake of an easy life."
Elizabeth smiled, "You seem rather happy for a man who just agreed for the sake of an easy life, Rob. I know you two must have been missing each other, you were so close back then, and I was a big part of the reason that friendship broke up-"
"Don't go apologising. We've sorted it all out," Rob said, stopping her before she could continue the sentence.
"And we've not been missing each other that much," John added.
Elizabeth gave him a knowing look, "Oh, please, you two were almost as bad as Draco and Theo back then. Is that what brought this on?"
"Uh no," Rob said, "Because we're two completely straight males."
Elizabeth laughed, "Okay, but now that you're friends again, I expect it to be about," she glanced at the calendar and scrunched her nose up in thought, "Two weeks before you start hanging out every weekend and expressing latent homosexual feelings for each other."
"Nah," Rob said with a shake of his head, "Give it at least a month."
"Six weeks tops," John added with a grin.
"Oh, for the love of the founders," Elizabeth muttered, torn between exasperation and happiness that the two of them had managed to rekindle their friendship.
"Hey, Sadie!"
Sadie smiled weakly when her friend blew into the hospital room, "Hey, Suse."
"Look at these two," Susan said with a grin, "They are beautiful. They must get their looks from you."
"Oi!" Theo objected with a grin as Percy followed his wife into the room, "Hey, Perce."
Percy smiled, "Hey, Theo. How is fatherhood?"
"Tiring," Theo replied.
"Oh, I bet it will be so worth it, though," Susan said as she reached into the cot and smiled at Charlus, who was awake, Almina was fast asleep by his side.
"Sorry it took us so long to visit," Percy said apologetically, "We got the floo call from Harry last week, but we had a few loose ends to tie up in Europe before we could head home."
"We should be back for a while now, though," Susan said, holding Charlus's tiny hand, "Perce is looking around the job market, and I really need to settle on something too."
"Had your fun gap year then?" Theo asked with a chuckle.
"Something like that," Susan said with a smile, "Oh, these two are so adorable, Sadie. Poor little Charlus though, having to be saddled with Draco as a middle name."
Percy chuckled at that comment, "Guess that was your idea?" he asked Theo.
"Yeah," Theo said, his smile gone, "As much as we get ribbed for it, Draco is my best friend, and there's nobody I would rather name him after."
"I get it," Percy said honestly, sitting down next to the younger man, "Bill and Charlie are like that, but nobody would think twice about it because they are brothers. If that's how you and Draco feel about each other, it doesn't matter if it's by blood or not."
Theo nodded, glad that somebody finally understood.
"How much longer do you reckon you'll be in the hospital for?" Percy asked conversationally.
"Another week, but they're kicking me out tonight," Theo replied, "The Healers are happy enough with the twins now that they are over 5 pounds, but it's Sadie's recovery that they are worried about."
"Harry said it was a hard birth," Percy said quietly.
"Yeah," Theo sighed, unsure why he was spilling his heart to Percy. He got on well with the older man, but they weren't that close in comparison to his relationship with Draco, Harry and Neville.
"She can't have any more kids," Theo said, he was talking in an undertone, but Sadie and Susan were talking loudly enough that they didn't have to worry about being overheard anyway.
"Good thing you got two the first time around then," Percy said with a comforting smile.
"I know," Theo said, casting his gaze downwards, "But it's doing something to her. I don't know if it's that knowledge or just the difficult birth, but something is up with her Perce. She's…she's so sad."
"Give it a bit of time, Theo," Percy said gently, "It could just be the baby blues. It happens to everyone. A baby is a big adjustment, and Sadie has just given birth to two. I know that my Mum struggled when she had Fred and George, and that was when she had the experience of looking after babies already."
Theo nodded, his eyes still on Sadie.
"I can tell you're worried about her, but unless it continues or gets worse when you leave the hospital, try not to be," Percy said, clapping Theo on the back, "You have a beautiful family Theo, you're a very lucky man."
Theo nodded and forced a smile onto his face. He wanted to believe that, but he had never seen Sadie like this before, and regardless of what anyone said, he wasn't so convinced that it was harmless.
When the Healers kicked Theo out, he didn't want to go home without his wife and babies, so he went to number 12 instead. It didn't come as a surprise to Draco and Hermione, they just put a bowl of food down to him, and Draco talked to him about work to get his mind off of the fact he wasn't with Sadie.
Hermione went to bed earlier than the two men that first night and when she woke up in the morning, Draco wasn't in bed with her. She realised why when she found the two of them under a blanket on one of the sofas in the drawing-room.
She shook them both awake, told Theo to get back into the hospital and Draco to hurry up if he didn't want to be late for work, then she left for the ministry herself.
On the second night, she had to force them both to go to bed at midnight, but sometime around 3 am, the door opened by a fraction and Draco disappeared. Unsurprisingly, she had to wake them both up on the sofa that morning too.
Which was why, on the third night, Hermione got to her feet and closed her book at 11.30 pm. The other two looked tired as well, but they didn't budge, "Come on, it's bedtime."
"I'll stay with Theo, love," Draco said.
Hermione put her book down on the side table and crossed her arms, "No, it's bedtime for all three of us, come on."
Theo looked at Draco in confusion.
Draco looked at Hermione in confusion.
Hermione raised an eyebrow at them both, "I spoke to Sadie via the two-way mirror last night. She agrees that it's ridiculous that you two are sleeping on sofas. She's fed up with you falling asleep in chairs in the hospital because you haven't slept at night, and Draco, you're on night shift tomorrow. You need a good nights sleep tonight."
The realisation had begun to dawn on the two men.
"So Sadie and I agreed that it's best if Theo just sleeps in our bed until she gets to come home," Hermione concluded.
Draco yawned and got to his feet, "Fine, but he snuggles, just so you know."
"I do not snuggle!"
"You do; you also snore," Draco said with a raised eyebrow at his fiancé, "You know how you described sharing a bed with Harry during the war?"
"What, like sharing a bed with a limpet who won't let go of you?" Hermione asked with a snort.
"That's Theo," Draco said with an amused smile.
"Only when I'm cold," Theo muttered in his defence.
Hermione shook her head in amusement and stifled a yawn, "Come on, I'm tired, and I've got a big case tomorrow morning."
It had been a few days since their visit to the Notts when the floo in the Weasley-Bones household went off in the middle of the night.
"Is that the floo?" Susan murmured, looking up and seeing a green light flashing in the living room.
"Yeah," Percy said, pushing himself out of bed, "It's probably just Charlie or Bill, it's a Saturday night, and one of them is probably out cold."
"It's the middle of the night though, Perce."
"I know, go back to sleep Suse," Percy said, kissing her on the forehead, "I'll get it."
Susan lay back down on the pillow and mumbled something incoherent. Percy grabbed a dressing gown from the back of the door, flung it on and headed for the living room, being sure to shut the door quietly behind him.
"Who is it?" He asked.
"Unknown floo signature."
Percy swallowed then said, "Allow access."
There was a roar as the flames came to life. A masked face appeared in the flames, and a voice, disguised with magic, said, "We need you again."
Before Percy could argue or even respond, the connection was cut, and the fireplace went black.
Percy sat down on the sofa, letting his head drop into his hands. He swore under his breath at himself, then transfigured his clothes and left the apartment he shared with Susan.
"I hate Sumner more than I did before he was Head Auror," Rob remarked irritably one afternoon as he and Elizabeth sat in John's office.
John snorted, "Is that just because he makes you do a monthly self-evaluation?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Rob replied as he rested his head in his hands, "I mean, Shep, some of these questions are fucking stupid. Like, 'Did you exhibit self-control during the course of your duties this month? If so, describe the occasion.' I mean, how do I politely say, I took a kid off a thug, and although I really wanted to smash him in the head with a brick repeatedly, I did not."
Without lifting his quill, John replied, "One wished to acquaint the heinous beings facial structure with a rigidly edged object fundamentally used in the construction of walls repeatedly, but one showed extraordinary restraint by simply incapacitating him through humane means entirely within the realms of the law."
Rob dropped his quill, "That was poetry."
"That was a cry for therapy from both of you," Elizabeth remarked, dipping her quill into an inkpot.
"That was beautiful, Shep," Rob said, "It brought a tear to my eye."
John looked up as Rob began to scribble, "You're not really going to write that, are you?"
"Course I am. Maybe it will make Sumner self-evaluate the stupid-ass questions that he puts in his self-evaluations," Rob said with a grin.
Elizabeth looked at her husband in exasperation, "You see what you've done?"
"He has a point. They are stupid-ass questions-"
"John Sheppard, if you continue that sentence, I am going to silence you," Elizabeth warned him.
John shut his mouth, and Rob whistled, "Whipped, Shep."
"I'm not even going to deny it," John muttered.
Elizabeth just smirked and looked back down at her almost-finished, perfectly neat self-evaluation, "See? It's really not that hard."
Rob rolled his eyes, "You're such a Ravenclaw. Bet you got excited when they gave you homework, eh?"
John snorted in amusement and tried to hide his grin behind his hand, but Elizabeth must have noticed anyway because she smacked him around the back of the head for good measure.
"Rob."
Rob looked up and saw Cameron Mitchell hovering in the doorway, "Yeah, Mitch?"
"Can I borrow you for a job? There's a vulnerable kid involved," Cameron informed him.
"Yeah, you want me to bring a partner?" Rob asked, getting to his feet and grabbing his robes.
"Nah, just you on this one, Rob. It's an undercover job, not a good one to bring a Junior along on," Cameron said. He looked at said Juniors and apologised, "Sorry guys."
They weren't particularly bothered by this. Harry, however, asked, "Does this mean I'm in charge?"
"Uh, no chance, hotshot," Rob said, smirking at him, "Elizabeth is in charge. Do whatever she says, or I'll hex you into the DRCMC when I get back."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at him, "You realise that I trained these three, Rob? I know how to make them do what I say."
Cameron laughed and grabbed Rob's arm, "Come on, Wolfie, I'm in a hurry."
Rob rolled his eyes, "Don't call me Wolfie," he complained as they left the office together.
"You call me Mitch, I call you Wolfie; that was the deal," Cameron said with an amused grin.
The two of them began to walk up the corridor together. Rob sighed, "Fair play. What's the case?"
"Complicated," Cameron replied, "It's an undercover joint I've been working for the last week. There's this prick marketing potions as the real deal when they are all counterfeit. The Fraud team handed it over to us at Vice when they realised that there was a black market involved and illegal importing of potions ingredients."
"Right, sounds very Vice," Rob said sarcastically, "Where do I come in and do I need a pair of cool black sunglasses to fit in with you guys?"
Cameron shot him an amused look, "No, you don't because you're not one of us. Those glasses are ceremonial, you know."
"I genuinely can't tell if you're serious or not right now," Rob admitted with an amused chuckle.
Cameron was about to tell Rob about the role that he would play when a door in front of them opened, "Oh Mitch, you heading out on that case?"
"Yeah, I grabbed Rob like you said," Cameron replied, "I reckon you're right about him coming in handy on this one."
"He's useful occasionally," John said, grinning at Rob.
Rob snorted, "More useful than you, Shep."
John chuckled and held out his fist. Rob fist pumped him then they did something weird with their fingers.
Cameron looked at them in disbelief, "The secret handshake is back? When did that happen? I thought you two hated each other?"
"Nah, that was so last week, Mitch," Rob joked.
"We turned over a new leaf," John elaborated.
"After how many decades?" Cameron asked, shaking his head at his friends.
"Ah well, no time like the present, eh?" Rob shrugged, "Anyway, are you gonna tell me why you need me?"
"The guy who's running the whole op has a three-year-old kid," John replied, "And since Mitch is going to go in there all ablaze, cursing the fuck out of everyone and blowing shit up because he's back in Vice now and that's what they do, I figured someone needs to remember to grab the kid."
"We do not just wear sunglasses and blow shit up," Cameron said defensively.
John raised an eyebrow at him, "You have sunglasses on your head right now."
"It's sunny outside."
"It's March in the UK," Rob deadpanned.
"So why are you really wearing sunglasses?" John asked.
"To protect my eyes when I blow shit up in the raid," Cameron admitted sheepishly.
"Exactly," John said, looking at Rob in amusement, "Grab the kid, don't die, then let them do their thing."
"Alright," Rob chuckled.
Cameron made a face, "I liked it better when you two didn't speak."
John and Rob just grinned in response.
Harry was about to head out to grab some lunch when he was ambushed in the corridor outside the CPS office.
"Harry, thank Merlin!"
Harry looked up in surprise, "Susan!"
"I need your help," Susan said, genuine worry flashing in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, pulling the door of the office shut. Thankfully, the corridor was quiet because most of the Aurors were on their lunch break.
"Percy is missing," Susan whispered, "Two nights ago, we got a floo call in the middle of the night. He said he'd get it, and when I woke up the next morning, he was gone. I thought maybe it had been a work emergency, so I didn't think too much of it. But he was gone all day and night yesterday too. I've sent him a Patronus which he didn't respond to, and my owl just came straight back."
"That's really odd," Harry said with a frown.
Susan nodded, "Do you think you could maybe look into it? He wouldn't have just left like that, Harry, not by choice."
"I know he wouldn't have," Harry assured her, "I'll look into it, okay?"
"Thanks," Susan breathed, kissing him on the cheek, "Floo me if you find out anything, okay?"
"Of course I will, Suse," Harry said.
She smiled gratefully and left the corridor. Harry sighed and decided to forgo his lunch to do a bit of investigating. He headed down the corridor towards the supply closet and reached the office he was after, 'Missing Persons'.
He knocked on the door then opened it.
"Woah, what's the chosen one doing visiting us plebs?" An Auror asked.
Blanche rolled her eyes, "Shut up, Stone, Harry's cool."
Ophelia nodded, "Yeah, we were at training with him," she smiled at Harry, "Ignore Stones; he's a grumpy old man."
"A grumpy old man who is your boss," Stones (who looked to be in his 50's, was slightly overweight and balding) pointed out.
Harry smiled, "I just came here looking for a bit of advice. My friend's husband seems to have disappeared off of the face of the earth after getting a mysterious floo call two nights ago. Do you have any tips on where to start?"
"Try tracing the floo call first," Stones advised him, "9 times out of 10, it works unless you're dealing with a really clever criminal who knows how to encrypt it beyond our abilities. That's when we need to bring in a curse breaker cause they can read code way better than we can."
"I may know a curse breaker," Harry said with a smile, "If I encrypt the call, it will only give me the coordinates that the caller used though, won't it?"
"Yeah, you won't get a name or anything, but it's a start," Blanche said.
"It certainly is," Harry said, "Thanks for your help, and it was nice meeting you, Auror Stones."
"You too, Potter," Stones said, raising a hand to wave goodbye.
Harry did the same then slipped out of the office.
* ~ TBC ~ *