A/N: So, here is a new chapter finally! I apologize for taking so long, it was a combination of science, consulting work, and a last minute binge of Game of Thrones just in time for the finale that caused this delay. However, the story is fully outlined and I don't foresee any more lengthy delays like this one.

A couple of things before you dive into this chapter, when I had the inspiration for this series, I went digging through the Death Eaters for a good one to center this first book around. I landed on the one you will read about in a moment. This person immediately captured my attention with the amount of power they have and how little they are mentioned in the actual original texts from our favorite lady. I have since read a story featuring this person and I am even more intrigued by this character. The other thing, I love Michael Jackson's music and chose this song for this chapter because of that. I think he has done some awful things, but I was raised on his music and well, we all live with moral contradictions, don't we?

Shout out to my Beta, Jeannie, for always helping me to make my stories better than I thought was possible!

Quick reminder that I own none of the things, except for a slowly decreasing amount of student loan debt.

"Annie are you okay, you okay, you okay, Annie?

You've been hit by

You've been struck by

A smooth criminal"

- Michael Jackson, Smooth Criminal

Darkness and silence reigned over Hermione's bedroom, it was 4AM, not a time she typically saw short of illness or an emergency. The latter of the two would be responsible for the abrupt call to the land of consciousness the snoozing witch was soon to receive. It was a simple bedroom, a queen sized bed covered with a handmade quilt of red and gold, two bedside tables holding lamps, and a dresser against one wall. A lump of a person sprawled out under the quilt was topped with a mass of hair that covered the young woman's face as it rested on the pillow. A panther Patronus soundlessly leapt through the windowpane into her bedroom before padding over to her sleeping form. The magnificent creature sat at the end of her bed, seeming to study her for a moment before it's mouth opened and Agent Snape's voice rolled forth.

"Agent Granger, there has been an emergency and the NU files have been called out to investigate, as such our presence is required. Please be ready to leave via side-along apparition in 20 minutes, I will be at your door."

The witch in question remained undisturbed in her slumber, the only hint that she may have been reached at some level was a brief twitch. The panther switched its tail in annoyance, raising a furry eyebrow in an uncanny resemblance to its caster. Having gone unacknowledged, the Patronus stood, prowled back to the window, and leapt out, presumably to report her negligence. Crookshanks had been awakened, and was put out by the presence of another feline, albeit an ethereal one, in his domain. He walked over and began pawing at his mistress, knowing she needed to get up. Hermione grunted at him and rolled away from his attempts to wake her.

Already annoyed at being woken up and by a much larger, more elegant animal, Crookshanks daintily descended from the bed and promptly began meowing as loud as he could. After five minutes of making a fuss, a pillow came flying at his furry form. Moving faster than his appearance would seem to allow, the half-kneazle barely made it out of the feathery missile's path. He stood staring maliciously at the pillow intended to silence his helpful cries and twitched his tail in annoyance. His escape had not been dignified and had caused the scrunching of a rug that refused to give his paws proper purchase to scamper away. He looked back up at the bed, seeming to plan his next best attempt to wake his mistress in time for the deep voiced wizard coming for her.

Having exhausted the easiest the routes to gain her attention, Crookshanks settled on the standby that always garnered her focus. He walked over to her dresser and leapt up on top. Reaching out a paw, he began to bat items off her dresser one by one to the floor. First, her hair brush clattered to the floor, then her perfume bottle (thankfully plastic), followed by a deodorant stick, then a box filled with bobby pins fell, cascading and scattering pins across the floor in a multitude of directions. The angry, wild-haired witch growled as she sat up in bed, grabbed her wand and nonverbally turned on the lights. Peering around for the source of her annoyance, her eyes fell on Crookshanks, still standing on her dresser. Her eyes narrowed at him but before she could begin berating him for his appalling behavior, a knock came at her front door. Hermione swung her head in the direction of the door, the knock sounded again, more urgently this time.

Swinging her legs from the bed and summoning a bathrobe to wrap around her pajama-clad body, she hastened to the door. Who on earth would come to my door at this hour?! Hermione looked through the peephole and was startled by the presence of her coworker on the other side. She quickly unlocked and opened the door to his sneering face, a solitary eyebrow lifting as he examined her state of undress.

"What are you doing here, Agent Snape?" Hermione asked, pulling her bathrobe closer to her body as he brought his gaze back up to meet hers.

Snape sneered as he replied, "Don't flatter yourself. I'm here because we have been called in for an urgent matter regarding the case I mentioned a few days ago. I know you haven't been briefed on it yet but we are needed to address an incident the Aurors think is related. I can explain in broad strokes while we walk to…"

Hermione had been glaring at him over the "Don't flatter yourself comment" but this was quickly replaced with concern and curiosity until finally, she interrupted him, "Come in and brief me while I get dressed."

Agent Snape's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and a look of shock wrapped itself around his features as Hermione smirked at him and took a step back to allow him in. He quickly recovered and took a step inside while saying with a smirk of his own, "Are you trying to get me into your bedroom to proposition me, Agent Granger? Prospective bed partners are usually treated to a meal of some kind before one lures them into such a situation. Although I guess you are bit inexperienced..."

"Don't flatter yourself, Agent Snape. I meant brief me through the closed door of my bedroom. You can sit in the living room." Hermione said with a slight blush darkening her pillow-creased face as she hadn't expected him to turn the joke on her. She shut the front door more firmly than necessary behind her former professor.

They moved away from her tiny foyer, past the door to the still dark kitchen and into her living room. Hermione turned on the lights then waved a hand at the sofa and started for her bedroom. Snape began talking to her as he carefully arranged himself and his robes on her sofa, setting his messenger bag down on the floor next to the sofa.

"I sent a Patronus to wake you up some 15 minutes ago. It returned to me and reported that you never even stirred when he was speaking to you."

Hermione paused in the doorway and turned back to him, her cheeks tinged pink again. "Sorry, I'm a heavy sleeper. We should find a better way to communicate if these early morning incidents are going to be a common occurrence."

Turning back towards her bedroom, she stepped inside and pushed the door only partially closed to ease their ability to hear one another.

"Indeed, especially if I am going to have to traipse out here to this Muggle part of town every time something comes up. I don't object to Muggles or their neighborhoods but it does make for tricky, discrete apparition if you aren't very familiar with the area." Snape answered, looking around the room at her bookshelves.

Meanwhile, Hermione was pulling on undergarments and feeling like she was in some sort of dream where it was normal to be nude and talking to the sarcastic man on her sofa. She scowled before she said, "Well you contacting me wouldn't be an issue if they just let me connect my fireplace to the Floo network! The Department could inform me directly and without fear of my receiving their message!"

"Do let me know when you spot the flying pig that should precede this upcoming dramatic shift in Ministry attitudes towards accommodating their employees' needs, won't you? The Department of Transportation is never going to allow a Muggle apartment to be connected to their precious Floo network. Although the true concern behind that is beyond me, the Floo network can't be accessed or activated by non-magical people." Snape said absentmindedly, he slid off the sofa and began reading the titles on her shelves. He found them to be meticulously organized by topic and author name, much to his approval.

The young witch snatched up her Unspeakable robes and pulled them over her head. With her wand in her teeth, she grabbed her messy tresses and began the arduous task of pulling them into a bun on her head. Removing one hand from her head to pull her wand from her teeth and magically stuck her hair in place, Hermione called out to Snape, "Could you tell me about the reason we are discussing means of contact in the first place, please?"

Pulled from his perusal of her literature, Snape turned back for the sofa, a book in hand. He sat and began explaining to his partner. "At 2AM, the Aurors office received a Floo call from the Ministry emergency dispatcher's office about a break-in and assault at Hogwarts. They sent out the Aurors on duty at the time to get a handle on the situation and find the culprit responsible. Upon arrival, they discovered the person who had been attacked was Mr. Filch. Madam Pomfrey had seen to his immediate medical needs and based on what they could get out of him and the portraits, the person responsible was former Death Eater Antonin Dolohov."

This statement was followed immediately by a loud thump from the other side of the bedroom door. Snape's eyes snapped up from the book he was flipping through, he closed it and stood.

"Are you alright in there Miss-Agent Granger?" the concerned wizard asked, furrowing his brow.

The door swung open and Granger came out wearing a false, tight-lipped smile and rubbing her banged shin. "Of course, I'm peachy. So, do we know what he was after and why on Earth this would concern the NU Files?"

"We haven't the foggiest why he was there but it definitely concerns our department. After he escaped custody, the circumstances of which are dodgy since he killed the Aurors responsible for his remaining in custody, his recapture was assigned to the NU Files. This is the priority case I mentioned a few days ago. The higher ups thought a former Death Eater would be the best to catch another former Death Eater, I certainly know Dolohov better than their Aurors do. There is also some concern that Dolohov escaped for a purpose." Snape paused and examined the emotions flickering across Granger's face. "There is a tidbit that I haven't shared with the Department because I feared they would make this case more difficult than it already is, but there were rumors among the Inner Circle of Death Eaters that Dolohov had some secret Dark artifact that allowed him to be immortal."

Hermione felt like her eyes would fall out of her head if they grew any wider, she shuddered involuntarily at the thought of an immortal Dolohov. She wrapped her arms around herself as she asked, "So what is this artifact? Are you thinking it's a horcrux?"

Making a mental note of her reaction, Snape shrugged and walked over to return her book to its appropriate place on her bookshelf. "It might be a horcrux, or something more sinister that doesn't actually allow true immortality. I hope those rumors were unfounded, I have seen some of the horrors that Dark magic can produce."

The dark wizard turned back to his co-worker and flicked his gaze over her person before saying, "Come, Agent Granger, we need to hurry, you seem to be presentable enough to work."

With that, he snatched up his messenger bag, promptly marched back to her front door, threw it open a bit overzealously, and stepped out into the dark. Hermione hesitated for only a moment before quickly following him out of her apartment, warding the door as she left.

The sun was just beginning to rise over the countryside surrounding Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. Birds were stirring in the trees that edged the road up to the gates of Hogwarts from Hogsmeade, Auror Potter was waiting rather impatiently in his new Auror's uniform. The former Chosen One was standing at the gates awaiting the arrival of the Mums. He was still considered a Newt in the Magical Law Enforcement Department having only completed his training six months ago so when it came down to who would get stuck with the task of escorting the Mums, Harry Potter had been the lowest ranking Auror present. His coworkers seemed to take great pleasure in the general harassment of Newts, their nickname for newly cleared Aurors. The messy haired young wizard checked his watch and sighed in frustration. They are late, he thought, maybe this is why everyone seems to hate them in the MLE.

A crack followed by the appearance of two robed figures a few yards down the road caused Potter to lift his gaze from his battered watch. When he spotted them, a mixture of happiness and trepidation crossed his face upon taking in the identity of the witch and wizard walking up to him. The young wizard settled on a small smile and extended his hand to Snape as they approached.

"Good morning, Agent Snape, Hermione." Potter said, shaking Snape's hand. "I didn't realize you two were the Mums they were sending out for this case."

Snape curled his upper lip in a sneer as Hermione looked puzzled at her friend. "What did you just call us?" she asked.

As the young Auror opened his mouth to explain, Snape interceded and explained in a derisive tone, "Auror Potter just called you and I a term the Aurors use to refer to Unspeakables. Mums, I believe is the term of choice these days, as in 'mum's the word.'"

Hermione looked affronted while Harry looked abashed with a slight reddening of his cheeks. "That's rude, why would they do that?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms indignantly across her chest.

"I-I-I, well you see...it's not...not meant to be r-rude really…" Harry stuttered out before Snape broke in again.

"Yes it is, it's based in their own insecurities and inadequacies, of which, the Unspeakables make them keenly aware whenever we are brought in on a case." Snape stated, matter-of-factly, "Hence, a derogatory term to refer to us, it's their attempt to 'put us in our place' as they see it."

Harry sighed and said, "I suppose when you put it like that, it is rather insulting. Sorry, this is my first case where M-...Unspeakables have been brought in."

Still looking mildly annoyed with her friend, Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Just walk us up to the castle, Harry."

With a look of relief, Harry unlocked the gates and led the way through them, then paused, holding the gate open for Snape and Hermione to walk through. As Hermione passed him, her eyes bore into his as she said, "Don't ever call me or Agent Snape 'Mums' again within my hearing."

Walking behind her, Snape looked mildly amused at his partner's annoyance with the Boy Who Lived to Annoy Another Day, especially as said Boy nodded vigorously in response to her reprimand. They began walking briskly up the road to the castle in silence for a minute before Snape voiced a question, "How is Mr. Filch? We were informed he was injured but not much beyond that."

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Harry answered, "He's in St. Mungos, they expect a full recovery. Dolohov apparently Imperiused him and Filch fought it pretty hard. In the end, Dolohov used a crude, forceful Legilimens to find out the password to the Headmistress' office before stunning Filch and leaving him in the corridor. They are using mind restorative potions and monitoring him, those sorts of things usually don't happen to a Squib so they want to ensure there aren't any weird side effects."

"I'm glad he's alright! Who found him?" Hermione asked, looking over at him.

"Well, Peeves is the one who sounded the alarm. He found Mr. Filch lying in the hall after he went looking to find out why the caretaker hadn't come to investigate the mess he was making in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom." Harry said, "I think Peeves is bored with the students away so he was luring Filch out to annoy him."

Nodding in agreement, Snape added, "Indeed, Peeves may cause mayhem but he is fiercely protective of the castle and its occupants."

The castle grounds were relatively quiet with the exception of the now fully awake birds and the occasional splashing from the giant squid in the Black Lake. They continued on in silence until they drew near the doors of the castle, each lost in their own thoughts regarding the case.

"Right! So we haven't touched the Headmistress' office since we were informed Dolohov and his recapture are your responsibility. It didn't look like anything valuable was taken but we haven't done much more than cast Dark spell detection charms from the doorway." Harry said as they neared the front entrance, "I personally didn't see the office, but it's apparently a right mess, I don't envy you two trying to get it sorted."

Upon reaching the doors, Harry took a few running steps to get ahead and open the door for Snape and Hermione. He twitched a small smile at them as he said, "This is where I leave you, I have to report to my supervisor in the Great Hall after I've seen the two of you up to the castle. I suspect we will be searching to ensure he isn't hiding anywhere inside or on the grounds and doesn't have any accomplices hidden away somewhere in the castle."

As Snape and Hermione walked through the doorway, they uttered their thanks to Harry. The young Auror walked off towards the Great Hall, paused, then turned back towards them and said, "Good luck, if anyone can figure this out, it's the pair of you."

With that, the young wizard trotted off, leaving Hermione and Snape looking at each other in the entrance hall.

"Fuck me" Hermione whispered softly to herself as she took in the disaster that Dolohov had made of the enormous office spread out before her and her partner. The abandoned portraits of the former Headmasters and Headmistresses were skewed or knocked from the walls entirely. Parchment was strewn across the floor, ink busted from multiple bottles dripped from several surfaces onto the parchment and floor, and the majority of the books from the shelves were lying about the room as well in various orientations.

"Not now, dear, I have a headache." Snape said, also shifting his eyes about the room to take it all in. He noticed several magical artifacts and devices were broken or smashed, interwoven with the paper debris littering the room. Broken glass was sprinkled across the floor like horrid confetti at a party awry.

Hermione swiveled her head at his reply and scowled at him as she said, "I think the Snoddy women have been a bad influence on you, Agent Snape."

Snape merely turned towards his bag and reached inside of it. He pulled out a camera and looked up to find Agent Ganger glaring at him through narrowed eyes. Feigning innocence, he raised both eyebrows at her before saying, "Perhaps, although it is interesting how much nearly dying and no longer being required to teach dunderheads changes one's appreciation for jokes and just enjoying life overall. Now, I think it's best if we photograph the entire room before we move anything, wouldn't you agree, Agent Granger?"

Still annoyed with him, Hermione huffed and took a couple of steps back as she gestured towards the rest of the room. "Please, feel free. I'll just twiddle my thumbs in the corner."

Smirking at her attitude, Snape took his bag off and handed it to her as he turned towards the scattered contents of the office. "Feel free to pout while you're at it, I have no objection as I won't be looking at you. I will need one of the yoga mats in there once I take enough pictures from this angle. You are welcome to use one of them as well once we start to sift through this lot." Agent Snape said, adjusting various settings on the camera before beginning to snap photographs of the room.

Irritation was replaced with curiosity as Hermione cautiously opened the bag to search for one of the aforementioned yoga mats. Of all the things she would have anticipated Agent Snape owning, a yoga mat was not one of them. She pulled out two mats, assuming if Snape said she could use one, there must be some meaningful application for them in the analysis of the room.

Holding two yoga mats, Hermione was left to watch Agent Snape photograph the room from multiple angles. Under the pretense of observing his photography technique, she studied his overall appearance. He definitely looked better than he ever had as her professor. Snape was no longer rail thin, the lack of life-threatening stress had obviously done his appetite some good as he had filled out a satisfactory amount. His hair was also a bit longer and pulled back at the nape of his neck to prevent it from getting in the way of his work. The lines that used to seem permanently pressed into his face had diminished, leaving him looking much closer to his actual age than he had during his time at Hogwarts. She wondered with amusement whether the secret to his seemingly dramatic aging reversal was related to the yoga mats she was currently holding for him.

After 15 minutes of taking pictures, Snape seemed to be satisfied. He turned with his free hand outstretched to Hermione, who handed him a yoga mat. The silent wizard handed her the camera and pulled out his wand. He swished and flicked his wand at the yoga mat as it unfurled and clearly said "Wingardium Leviosa."

The mat straightened out and hovered at about waist height. Snape climbed on and stretched out flat on his stomach before turning back to Hermione for the camera. He took it and tapped the yoga mat saying, "Exaudi me," this was quickly followed with a firmly stated "Up"

Drifting up and over the mess in the room, Agent Snape began taking pictures again. Hermione watched all of this with a mildly surprised look on her face. She hadn't thought of using such an ordinary item for applications like this. She wondered if this was his own idea or if it was standard procedure in the field. It had certainly never been mentioned in her training for the Department of Mysteries. Snape didn't spend nearly as long taking aerial pictures. He drifted back towards her with the word "Down."

Standing upright again, Snape reached for his bag, which Hermione hastily handed him. He placed the camera carefully back into the bag before pulling out two pairs of dragonskin gloves. The dark haired wizard extended a pair to Agent Granger, who readily accepted them. He began talking to her as he pulled his own gloves on. "These will protect our hands from anything harmful Dolohov may have planted on this crime scene in the hopes of...dissuading any pursuers from the Ministry."

Looking mildly concerned as she pulled on her gloves, Hermione asked, "Do you really think that's possible or are we just proceeding with an abundance of caution?"

Agent Snape glanced up at her briefly before he began digging through his bag for something. "I once saw Dolohov set up an intestine-expelling curse over a hiking path that would trigger on whoever came up the path next, simply for fun. It proved effective and deadly for the Muggle family that stumbled across it. We were only in that park briefly to meet with an informant and there was no reason to suspect we were being followed. Even if he didn't have anyone on his tail, he might plant something exceptionally nasty because it amused him."

Hermione paled slightly but otherwise, gave no indication that this anecdote had any effect on her. Snape continued as if he hadn't just shared a completely horrifying story. "However, the Aurors outside this office assured us there were no hidden hexes, curses, or jinxes in this room. That leaves potions or dangerous substances an undetected possibility."

Nodding, Hermione ensured her hands were well seated in her gloves. Snape pulled a box of plastic bags from his bag and handed it to her. "Now then, if you find something of interest, carefully place it in one of these bags. There are few things in the magical world that can penetrate Muggle plastic. I would recommend hovering over your half of the room on the extra yoga mat as you sort through the debris. I'll take the left half of the room and you can take the right. Give a shout if you find anything you think may be relevant."

With that, Snape took his plastic bags and stretched out on his yoga mat. He tapped it with his wand and muttered, "Exaudi me."

He floated off to the left half of the room, hovering inches above the various items on the floor. Nervously, Hermione unfurled her own yoga mat, copying Snape's phrases and movements with her own wand. Soon enough, silence dominated the room as they carefully examined the aftermath of Dolohov's rampage in the Headmistress' office, gliding slowly over every square inch.

One hour later

The two Ministry employees were becoming increasingly frustrated with combing over the wreck on the floor. There had been a few false hopes of meaningful wreckage, these were punctuated by gasps or sharp intakes of breath followed by a heavy sigh. Hermione had thought she found a spot of blood on the floor but it was really just red ink splatter.

"I think I found something!" exclaimed Hermione as she delicately picked up a massive, aged tome from the floor.

Snape sped his yoga mat over at her exclamation. "Precisely what did you find, Agent Granger?" he asked, trying to keep his eagerness from his voice.

"It appears to be a book of names." Granger said, turning the book over carefully in her gloved hands to allow them both to read the cover. It was titled Breithean draoidheil.

"Ah, this is the book where magical births across the UK are recorded." Snape stated as he gingerly took the book from his co-worker. "It's only a copy, the original resides in the Department of Mysteries, where it is heavily warded. Names appear in the original version shortly after a magical child is born and named then it appears in here as well."

"There is a large portion of the pages torn out of it. None of the other books I've seen so far have been missing any pages. Tossed about and generally abused, sure, but nothing ripped out." Hermione said, her brow furrowing in thought, "What could he be planning to do with those names?"

Agent Snape's eyebrows knitted together in thought as well. "I'm not entirely sure, but I doubt its anything good."

The two Unspeakables were silent in thought for a few minutes before Snape gave his head a quick shake. "Best keep looking, hopefully he left more clues than the absence of a list of magical names." Snape said, his face returning to its usual smooth facade as he gently slid the book into a plastic bag for further analysis away from the crime scene.

"Shouldn't we try to warn the people on the pages he stole?" asked Agent Granger, concern etched on her face.

"We don't know for sure he took the pages with him, look through the loose parchment and make sure those pages are indeed missing. If he did take them, he only has their names, not their locations." Snape said, right before his face mirrored her concern. "Although, that information is present in this room. Let's hope he didn't find that as well."

Translation:

Exaudi me – comply with me – Latin

Breithean draoidheil – magical births – Scottish Gaelic, from Google translate, please don't hate me if it is actually inaccurate!