They were well into the second hour of their stake-out when Teddy noticed something off. It was just a faint scent on a chance breeze, but it rang a bell in the back of his head. The trouble was, he couldn't place why it would be familiar and the breeze was gone when he tried to catch it again.
They were waiting for smugglers to meet up with their contact, but Teddy didn't think he had met any of the players in tonight's drama. Still, he scanned the supposed drop point, searching for any sign the smugglers had arrived.
It was easy enough to check the spot itself, just a clearing behind a cramped row of old houses. The tricky bit was the shrubbery along those houses and the thick line of trees where he and his partner hid. Both had too many shadows where a wary smuggler could be hiding.
He glanced towards his Auror partner, Hasan. Hasan sat up a little when Teddy looked at him, but merely had a questioning look, as if wondering what Teddy had noticed. Teddy shook his head and Hasan hunched back into the shadows of the old gardening shed.
If Hasan hadn't noticed the scent then that meant it was Teddy's wolf side that had. As helpful as it would have been to discuss the scent, Teddy couldn't tell Hasan he was a werewolf.
Being a werewolf was still social suicide, no matter how much progress the Wizarding World claimed. His werewolfism had to remain a secret if he wanted to remain an Auror and possibly even Hasan's friend. Teddy wanted to believe that nothing would change between them if he shared his secret, but he had believed that before. He didn't want to ruin another relationship by exposing that he was a monster.
Luckily, this situation didn't require explaining any monster instincts. Teddy just signaled that he was going to check the perimeter. Hasan lazily signaled that he would keep an eye out. It was still early yet and neither of them expected much yet.
Teddy crept along the trees, moving slowly to give his eyes time to adjust to the darker shadows. There was barely a rustle, even from a nocturnal bird or rodent. Nothing seemed to be out of place. The trees weren't that thick and he would have noticed if there had been someone there, no matter how dark it was.
Still, that sense of unease hadn't gone away. The shrubbery behind the house was the most likely spot for someone to be hiding without Teddy noticing. They would have had to cross the clearing to have made it into the trees, and that would be hard to do without being spotted. However, it presented the same problem to Teddy. That was, if he wished to play it safe. Hasan always got on him about blind apparitions, but they had thoroughly checked out for hours yesterday and today. Besides, what Hasan didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
He located a patch of bushes that had an empty spot big enough for a man. The light would have made it clear if someone had been standing there and so it was fairly safe to assume it was still empty. With a quick hope for luck, Teddy apparated. His entrance barely rustled the brush around him and he didn't land on any unsuspecting smuggler. A good jump.
He was congratulating himself on this when he caught the smell again. It was from someone he brushed shoulders with on a regular basis but not so frequently that he had memorized their scent. Who did he know who fit that description and would also be a smuggler?
He scanned the area around him. There was too much light filtering through from the houses and it killed his night vision. Here he had slim chances of seeing anyone in the shadows.
There was a rustle to his right. The source was past the space between this house and the next. There was no way he could cross the space without being lit up by the alleyway's light. Maybe all he had left was surprise. Was Hasan ready to provide backup? He said he would be keeping an eye on Teddy but would he be able to see anything in the dark? If he went back to warn Hasan, would it spook the smuggler into bolting?