A/N: I am horrible at following a schedule apparently, but here is the newest chapter!
"Birds of Hell awaiting
With the wings on fire
Insane old Phoenix, baby
It's your death desire
The birds of Hell awaiting
With the wings on fire
Insane old Phoenix, baby
It's your death desire"
-Marilyn Manson, Birds of Hell Awaiting
By lunchtime, they had given the entire room a thorough sweep, repaired all of the broken glass, and begun reassembling the various magical devices and artifacts Dolohov had smashed. There was a stack of loose parchment they had summoned and sorted through, the missing pages from the Magical Births book were not among the stack. Snape had unleashed a flurry of swear words upon this discovery, a few of which Hermione had recognized and several she had not. The room was still in too much disarray to determine if the addresses were also missing. Hermione had insisted they take a break for lunch as Snape had begun acting very...well...very much like the wizard she had remembered as her professor.
"Fine, Agent Granger. If you feel our eating lunch takes precedent over the security of multiple magical children and their families, then let's make an affair of it. I'll put in an order with the house elves to bring out a roast pig for each of us." Snape barked, jerking his dragonskin gloves off.
Hermione rolled her eyes and threw her gloves at him. "Honestly, this is why we need to eat lunch, you are a nightmare when you're hungry!" she exasperatedly exclaimed, "It's only for a quick bite to eat anyway, just some sandwiches or something."
Catching the gloves, he sneered at her and said, "Watch yourself, Granger. You're no walk in the park either, you've been difficult since,...hmmm what year were you born again?"'
Afraid she may hex him if she stayed in the room much longer, Hermione stormed out of the office and down the spiral stairs, nearly running Harry over on the other side of the winged statue. Snape sniffed delicately at her exit and the statement that he was a nightmare when she really was difficult when she was hungry. He followed behind her and watched her nearly flatten the hard-to-kill Harry Potter. Potter smiled at her as she attempted a very stiff apology, the young wizard simply grinned at her.
"It must be your lunchtime, I would recognize the Hermione hangry face anywhere." Potter joked, recovered from his friend nearly plowing him over.
Snape barely contained his amusement at her reaction to Potter, she practically growled at him. If he wasn't so concerned over the missing list of names and whether Dolohov had their addresses, he might have enjoyed it more. Hermione angrily crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Auror Potter as she said, "It is everyone's lunchtime, Harry. And Agent Snape is one of the hangriest people I have ever met."
Potter shifted his gaze to Snape, amusement danced across his features as he said, "So, met your match for intensity then? Well, I asked Winky to bring some sandwiches to you both before I came up here. I thought Agent Snape would appreciate being spared the wrath of a ravenous Hermione."
Completely unperturbed by the glares from the two Unspeakables over the implication that they were alike, Harry cheerfully gestured towards the nearest classroom as he said, "I had her set up in there. Is there anything I can do to help in McGonagall's office while you two are eating?"
They both paused in their steps towards the much needed lunch, Snape seemed to ponder asking the Auror to assist, his desire to move the investigation forward overrode his hesitancy to employ Potter's dubious skills. "Could you manage to return the portraits to the walls? It should be a rather simple task by wand, even for you, we already repaired the glass to the frames." Snape sneered before striding to his lunch.
Hermione scowled after him and turned to Harry, not feeling as bad as she could have since her friend had been jokingly discussing her "hangry" demeanor and compared her to Snape. "Well, don't expect sympathy from me, you've known him just as long as I have." She said with a sniff before following her colleague to her lunch.
Smirking at the reaction of both Unspeakable Agents, Harry turned and ascended the stairs to finally do something that he felt was remotely useful.
The two agents ate their lunch in silence, it was nothing more than a platter of ham and turkey sandwiches with some crisps. Having skipped breakfast, it felt like one of the best meals Hermione had ever consumed.
Eating rather absentmindedly after the first sandwich, she plunged deep into her thoughts concerning the case while eating a second. Dolohov was one of the Death Eaters she knew very little about aside from the fact he was incredibly powerful in his magical abilities, only just ranking below Snape and Bellatrix Lestrange among his fellow Death Eaters. He was also responsible for the scar across her chest and the deaths of multiple Order members during the two Wizarding the war was over, the Ministry had made a large show of carrying out a trial for each Death Eater individually and sentencing them to life in Azkaban, the exceptions being Snape and Draco Malfoy. Snape had been cleared by a memory left by Dumbledore clearly outlining his essential role to the war effort. Draco, on the other hand, was underage when he was forced into Voldemort's service. He was tried as a juvenile and merely given a year of house arrest. Both were viewed as having acted under duress and the direction of powerful individuals neither of them could have openly opposed without risking their lives. Racking her brain, she could not remember any details from Dolohov's trial, granted she had been preparing to studying for her N.E.W.T. exams. The other issue she was puzzling over was how Dolohov had managed to escape Azkaban, it wasn't an easily accomplished feat. He must have given the Aurors the slip somehow, dementors were no longer employed at the wizarding prison. It was ruled inhumane to enhance the depressing atmosphere in which the prison was already submerged.
After two sandwiches and more than enough crisps, she dusted her hands and brought her attention back to her partner. Snape had finished eating as well and looked deep in thought seated on the top of the table across from her. He was sitting with his long legs stretched out before him and his arms thrown behind him for support, his brow was furrowed and his gaze was directed at the ceiling but the focus of his eyes seemed a hundred miles beyond it. She opened her mouth to ask him what he thought Dolohov would want with the list of names when a shout came from the direction of the Headmistress' office.
The haze of deep contemplation was swept from Snape's face as he sprang from his seated position and started out the door. Hermione gathered her wits and followed suit, marveling at how sharp Snape's reflexes remained. She ran up the stairs and found herself slamming into the surprisingly muscular back of Agent Snape who was standing in the doorway to the office, apparently frozen in place. He stood firm against her body weight, bracing against the doorframe as if he had anticipated it.
"Ooofff! What's happening?! Why did Harry yell?!" Hermione asked trying to get past Snape and into the room, his long body blocking her every wriggling attempt.
"He seems to have triggered a rather Dark curse, typically referred to as the Birds of Hell, in a room the Aurors supposedly cleared as being free of such magic. If one of us were to get within reaching distance of Potter right now, Potter would die and so would the unfortunate witch or wizard attempting to help him." Snape said, his eyes darting around the room as he effectively prevented her from entering it.
"Well we have to do something! Why are you just standing there?" she asked, as she ducked down to peer under one of his arms at Harry.
The young wizard was suspended in mid-air, his arms and legs outstretched and a short length of rope around his neck. Sunlight was slanting in through one of the high windows, crossing Harry's body and illuminating the dust swirling around the invisible magical tendrils holding him taut. Hermione couldn't see his face to make out if he was being choked or not.
"I am currently looking for the item Dolohov tied the curse to, I know the counter curse but it must be aimed at the object on which it was initially cast." Snape replied calmly, "If you think you can enter this room and allow me to stay between yourself and Auror Potter, we can both get closer to improve my chances of helping him, before the curse slowly kills him."
"Fine, yes, whatever, let's just help him!" Hermione said in a rush, pulling out her wand.
Nodding curtly, Snape pulled out his wand and cast a Dark magic detection charm. He frowned at his wand tip as it glowed red, even though clearly Dark magic was afoot. He crept across the room, choosing his footing carefully as Hermione followed him with equal care. The pair gave the general area Potter occupied a wide berth as they circled around to his front. The floor was littered solely with books and a few magical devices awaiting repair, they had returned the other items to their rightful states.
On the floor beneath him, lay a wooden box, it was small, possibly initially constructed to hold jewelry or other small items, the box had not been present when they searched the room earlier. Unaware she was even moving, Hermione started to walk towards the box. Snape flung out his arm and pulled her back, scowling darkly at her. She winced and muttered an apology as she blushed, moving back from Harry. He pointed his wand at the box and seemed to nonverbally counteract the curse because the rope unwound itself from Harry's neck and he fell to the floor of the office. Hermione quickly aimed her wand at her falling friend and cushioned his body against the blow to the floor.
Agent Snape cautiously approached the cursed box while Hermione rushed over to her friend who was clutching his throat and taking deep rasping breaths. She pulled his hands from his throat and began inspecting the red, chafed skin of his neck. A quick diagnostic spell revealed no serious injury was done to Harry, much to her relief. Sighing, Hermione asked "Why would you do something so foolish?! Why did you touch that box?!"
Harry winced as he cleared his throat to answer her. "I didn't. I saw a shimmer move from behind a portrait propped against the wall." He rasped, grimaced and continued. "It must have been Disillusioned behind the portrait and when I spelled the portrait back into place it fell over. I lifted the Disillusionment charm and..."
"The curse must have been set to trigger when the Disillusionment was lifted. Auror Potter was within striking distance of the curse when he lifted the Charm." Snape said, holding his wand out as he effortlessly floated the wooden box in front of him. "This box and the curse were intended for whoever had the misfortune of investigating this partially demolished room."
Returning his attention to the box, Agent Snape magically unlocked and lifted the lid. Inside was a folded piece of parchment, on the outside the word "Traitor" was scrawled in a slightly messy hand.
Hermione handed Snape a pair of dragon hide gloves, she had summoned his bag and removed them while Snape's attention was focused on the box and its contents. Silently, he donned the gloves and gingerly reached in for the letter. Tentatively, he unfolded it and began to read, his dark eyes darting across the page as Hermione and Harry looked on. Snape scoffed and folded the letter up, Hermione wondered what it said and was debating asking him when several Aurors charged into the room.
"Dark magic was detected up here! What did the Mums do, newt?" Bellowed the Chief Auror, a broad chested bald man named Octavius Bulstrode. He had a large round head and a cleft chin, his beady eyes peered at them angrily over slightly flushed cheeks. This query was apparently directed at Harry as he blushed at being called "newt" in front of Agent Snape and Hermione as well as the use of the term "Mum."
Snape smoothly answered, "We didn't cast anything, you're incompetent employees missed obvious Dark magic in this room that Auror Potter stumbled across in his attempts to assist our efforts. Agent Granger and I have everything we need from the room, I only require an owl from the Headmistress when she confirms the absence of the student address book."
He made eye contact with Hermione who nodded curtly and began walking towards the door, Chief Bulstrode threw out an arm to block their way. "Hold it right there, Snape!" He growled then turned to address Harry, "Was that what happened, newt?"
Clearing his throat painfully, Harry answered, "Yes sir, Chief Ox. Agent Snape explained everything, he lifted the curse and that was that."
Bulstrode narrowed his eyes at Hermione and Snape before lowering his arm to allow them to pass. "Fine, you're free to go Mums. I'll have McGonagall owl you over the status of this address book. We'll finish up the work here."
Without acknowledging the rude wizard, Agent Snape swept out of the room with Hermione close behind him. At the bottom of the spiral staircase, Hermione attempted to ask Snape about the cursed box but he immediately hissed and growled at her, "Not here, don't mention anything until we are back in our office at the Ministry."
Taken aback by his reaction and a bit annoyed at how rude he was being, she glared at him with an affronted expression as she stomped next to him down the hallway. "Fine." She muttered, "bloody arsehole Aurors and a grumpy git. Woke up in the middle of the night. Not how I wanted to spend my day."
Unable to help himself, Snape smirked out of her line of sight.
The lowest level of the Ministry was generally quiet except when someone was either reporting to the NU Files or one of the Unspeakables assigned to the department came in to work in the office. That silence was shattered as the elevator doors banged open and out strode Agents Snape and Granger. Snape swept out of the elevator and down the hallway ahead of Granger as she stepped out and hurried behind him. It was clear for anyone to see, not that anyone was looking, that she was struggling to keep herself from peppering her partner with a multitude of questions. She was also struggling not to hex him out of frustration, but one of those desires was going to remain unfulfilled.
Pulling out his wand, Snape unlocked the office door and lowered the wards he kept on it whenever he was away. He threw the door open and went straight for his desk, depositing his bag next to it and dropping himself in his chair. Immediately behind him, Hermione hurried in and shut the door, wandlessly warding it against whatever internal threat she assumed Agent Snape feared. Their entrance caused such a commotion, they startled the Snoddy sisters awake in their frame. The witches blinked blearily at them and stretched as the office's occupants ignored the ladies.
"Now would you care to explain what the hell that letter was or why we didn't tell the entire truth to the Aurors?" Hermione asked, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed at the wizard rubbing his forehead at his desk.
Sighing, Snape reached over and pulled out Hermione's desk chair before answering, "You should sit down, Granger. That pose of intimidation may work on Potter or your beau Weasley but it won't work on me. You should sit anyway, we are going to need a bit of break before we dive into our analysis."
Still glaring, she took her hands off of her hips and grudgingly walking over to her chair, really noticing the proximity of their chairs with them pulled out from their respective desks. "I don't have a beau and if I did it certainly wouldn't be Ronald Weasley!" She exclaimed, sitting down a bit harder than she meant to, but tried to act as though she hadn't just potentially bruised her coccyx.
Snape cocked his head at her, as he said, "Really? Well, regardless that sort of behavior is more amusing than anything else. So, there are a few lab spaces on this floor that our department jealously guards as they were developed in house for our use only. However, before I show you those rooms, we need to consult with our charming, painted co-workers on the case."
Celeste grinned at them before saying, "Kind of you to notice we're still here. Barging in and interrupting our beauty sleep like that."
Her sister nodded in agreement, removing her glasses and polishing them on her robes. Caroline added, "Exactly! And they barely ask our opinions on anything these days. Makes a witch feel unappreciated, that does."
"Ladies, forgive us. We were awakened early this morning for the Dolohov case. And really, I believe beauty sleep is completely unnecessary for the pair of you, perfection cannot be improved upon." Snape said.
Hermione couldn't help the smirk that tugged on the corner of her mouth as the Snoddy sisters chuckled at Agent Snape's compliments. She was always blown away at his ability to turn on the charm with them, perhaps it was the lack of any potential for a true relationship for him to cock up? She gave her head a slight shake and decided it was something to ponder another time.
"Alright, we are moderately appeased. So fill us in on what happened and what you need our help with." Celeste said, settling herself more comfortably in her desk chair.
Snape laid out the entirety of the event at Hogwarts and finishing with their rather tense departure. The sisters only response throughout the telling were noises of agreement. When he was finished they were silent in thought.
"Well, lets see this box then. I have a suspicion but we need to see it to confirm it." Caroline finally said, breaking the silence and causing Hermione to jerk slightly in surprise.
"We haven't-" Hermione began as Snape reached into his bag and pulled out a plastic bag containing the shrunken box.
He opened the plastic bag and used his wand to magically remove the box and restore it to its former size. The sisters immediately sat forward to look more closely as the box floated towards their portrait. Celeste reached out of sight and pulled a pair of glasses out to perch upon her nose daintily.
"Rotate it for us, Severus." Caroline said, never taking her eyes off the thing.
He obliged them, spinning it slowly. Caroline finally tore her eyes away as the box completed its spin. "Turn it over, Severus and bring it closer. We need to see the bottom." Celeste said, motioning her hands at Snape.
Snape again obliged, flipping it over and bringing it in closer to the portrait for them. She looked at her sister who was already staring at her. "It's definitely runes carved into the bottom very small, but we don't have any reliable means to fully translate them. They are Sons of Merlin runes, they are derived from Celtic runes, at best we can compare them to old case files." Caroline said, rubbing her forehead.
Snape quickly brought the box back over via magic and peered carefully at the bottom. Hermione leapt up and leaned over his shoulder so she could see them too. In the middle on the bottom she could see three carvings in the wood. She agreed with their assessment that these were similar to the Celtic runes but not exactly the same, they were clearly a derivative set of symbols. Inhaling deeply in contemplation, she also got a lungful of eau de Snape, an incredibly pleasant odor she had not anticipated. He smelled like fresh laundered robes, a hint of coffee, and a smell she usually associated with her father. Does Agent Snape use the Muggle aftershave Brut?! Hermione thought, a bit surprised she remember the name of it. She pulled her thoughts from her dissection of his odor by further speculation regarding the matter at hand on the other side of the room.
"But, my guess is they are part of why the Aurors didn't detect any Dark magic in the room. We encountered similarly hidden Dark curses in our work attempting to track down the SOM. Charms to detect Dark Magic didn't catch those either I always suspected they had some way to hide their Dark Magic using these alphabet." Celeste said, looking thoughtfully at her sister.
"Then it's as we suspected, Dolohov has close enough ties to the Sons of Merlin that he knows the runes." Snape said warily.
"Oh did we suspect that? I need to read this case file, I feel like tits on a bull." Hermione griped.
All three of them turned to look at her and the Snoddy sisters burst into fits of laughter. Snape himself seemed to be struggling to hold back a chuckle. Hermione blushed, realizing she had voiced her thoughts aloud but before she could attempt to assuage some of her embarrassment by claiming a desperate need for caffeine, a timid knock sounded on the door.
Snape cleared his throat, ushered the floating box into his desk drawer and closed it as Hermione quickly dropped the wards she had thrown on the door and sank back down into her chair. Snape voiced a neutral "Come in."
The door opened cautiously as Harry stuck his head in the doorway. "Sorry to intrude but-" he began.
His body soon followed his head into the room as he spoke and a wolf whistle sounded from the Snoddy painting behind him. Harry spun around mid-sentence to the slightly predatory looks on their faces. "Oh he'll do nicely, won't he, Caroline?" Celeste said, bringing her right hand up to rest her forefinger next to her mouth.
"I wouldn't kick him out of bed for eating cockroach clusters. What's your name laddie? Give us another spin, these new Auror uniforms are simply delicious, not much left to imagine, is there?" Caroline said, twirling her hand when she prompted Harry to spin around for her perusal.
Harry blushed a bright crimson, tugged on his collar self-consciously, and managed to say, "I'm Harry Potter."
"Ah yes, the Boy Who Somehow Managed to Live. Well Severus, if he is half as good at being an Auror as he is at filling out that uniform, I'd say your estimates of that department's abilities are inaccurate." Celeste said, she turned to her sister and continued, "Although, he's not one for listening, is he? You did tell him to give us a turn."
Growing up as Harry's friend, Hermione had never really objectively examined whether her best friend was physically attractive. Hearing the Snoddy sisters objectify him, she turned an assessing gaze towards him. He had grown his messy black hair out past his shoulders and was experimenting with varying amounts of facial hair, his latest look was trimmed closed without shaving any off. His facial hair came in fully everywhere except in two parallel lines on either side of his mouth and two patches beneath his lower lip. Auror training also required a lot of physical fitness, the result was a well filled out frame. Hermione found herself agreeing with Caroline and Celeste in their evaluation of her friend.
Apparently, having seen a satisfying amount of embarrassment for Harry today, Snape intervened. "Indeed, he still seems to struggle with following directions, something I had hoped my time as his professor had remedied. Now, Auror Potter, what can I do to get you out of this office?"
Harry turned back to Agent Snape and shot a desperate glance at Hermione for help. "McGonagall wanted me to inform you two as soon as possible that the address book is missing as well as some magical device that belonged to Dumbledore." Harry said, moving his hands seemingly casually behind his back to obscure the view of his backside.
Hermione asked, "What precisely does this magical artifact do? Did anyone ask Dumbledore's portrait?"
"He's been gone from his frame since the break in. We are hoping to ask him about it as soon as he returns." The messy haired wizard replied.
"What's being done about the families whose locations are now compromised? A former Death Eater has the address for every magical child in the U.K." Snape said, looking at Harry rather intensely.
"That's the other reason I'm here, we need to know which pages are missing from the Magical Births book so we know who to prioritize. He is clearly keen on those people for some reason." Harry replied. "Once I have that we will be sending out Aurors to each home to inform them of their safety risk and to cast stronger wards on their homes. I believe they are going to start up a schedule to check up on the targeted families every few days."
Snape forcefully exhaled as he reached into his bag, pulled out the ripped book in its plastic bag, and held it out to Harry. "That won't be sufficient if Dolohov really sets his mind to getting at these people. They need people to guard their homes." The former professor said.
Harry took the offered book but Snape didn't let go. "You will look at it here and make note of the missing pages. We aren't done with it yet." Snape said sternly.
Harry visibly swallowed and replied, "Of course, sir. It'll only take a moment."
Snape relinquished his grip on the book with a curt nod. Harry carefully took it and pulled dragon-hide gloves from his uniform to handle the book.
"Here Harry, you can use my desk for a moment." Hermione said, taking pity on her friend who seemed completely uncomfortable being there.
She stood and allowed Harry to occupy her chair as she leant against her desk and turned back to Snape, who was flipping through a notebook on his desk. He seemed to find the page he needed as he stopped and pulled his reading glasses from the top drawer of his desk. Perching them on his nose, he began to read over the page he had stopped on. Curious, Hermione stepped over and peered over his shoulder to see what had grabbed the dark wizard's attention, careful not to get so close that she was distracted by his appealing aroma.
The top of the page read "SOM Runes" in Snape's handwriting and below was a collection of seven drawings, also completed by Snape, of the known SOM runes. Only two of them were labelled, one was speculated to be a masking rune to hide the presence of a spell and the other was thought to be a shield of some kind. The former matched one of the three carved into the bottom of the box. Hermione stepped back from his person as he sighed. Harry turned towards her and asked, "Could I get a bit of parchment, a quill and some ink?"
Opening the top drawer of her desk she reached in and pulled out the necessary materials for her friend and wordlessly handed them to him. He quickly scratched out the necessary numbers and sprang from her chair. "Thanks, Hermione! I'll be off then, I'm sure we will be seeing each other again for this case." Harry said, walking to the door quick enough that it was nearly rude.
Snape jerked his head up quickly and called out, "Wait, Potter. Take this film up to the photography lab on your way. Tell them it is urgent that we get those images back as soon as possible. Threaten them with the bat of the dungeons if you feel it will speed things along."
The dark wizard reached into his bag and pulled out the film, he extended his arm to hand it to Harry. The young wizard looked slightly amused at Agent Snape as he took the film and replied, "Of course, sir. I'll let them know it's urgent."
Snape nodded curtly at him and Harry flashed a grin at Hermione as he left. Once Harry was gone and they heard the faint sound of the elevator doors clanging shut, Snape stood and turned toward Hermione. "The department's labs are right next door, carefully bring that book with you and we will get started. I know they probably showed you some general forensic techniques and such during your training but I doubt they extended to the handling of Dark objects. So pay close attention, I will be decidedly unimpressed if I have to escort your person to St. Mungo's." Snape said with a sneer as he pointed his wand at the drawer of his desk hiding the cursed box.
The drawer sprang open and the box floated out towards him and stopped just in front of the office door. Hermione stood, scowling at her partner. "When have I ever allowed my attention to wander when learning something new?!" She said, rather annoyed with him.
Snape pulled the door open, smirking out of Hermione's sight before swapping his smirk for a sneer as he turned back towards her to reply, "I am certain I don't know, as surprising as it may be to you, Granger, not everyone's focus is on you and your various idiosyncrasies. I am merely warning you to be vigilant, don't get distracted by sniffing my hair as you did earlier."
Taken aback and feeling slightly embarrassed that he had noticed her inadvertent smelling of his person, Hermione quickly jumped to defend herself as she leapt forward to follow Snape who began walking out of the office down the hallway. "I was not sniffing your hair! Any smelling of your hair or otherwise was completely coincidental with my needing to breath. Perhaps you should try it sometimes, it would give the illusion you are a person rather than the zombie it is rumored you are." She said, firmly closing the door behind her.
Any retort he may have offered her was lost to the listening Snoddy witches in their portrait. "Damn!" exclaimed Caroline, "I wanted to hear what Severus said to that!"
She turned to her sister, who was wearing a similar look of disappointment. "As did I, but I bet it was clever and cutting knowing him. Do you reckon that Potter fellow will be back?" Celeste asked, rather wistfully.
"Oh I hope so, I like our tall, dark, broody Severus but it is nice to get a gander at the other wizards the Ministry employs. Variety and the spice of life, all that sort of thing." Caroline said, sitting delicately back at her desk.
Celeste snorted at her sister and replied, "Well, we are not technically alive. As for variety, Potter is just a younger, less dark version of Severus, Caroline. There is nothing wrong with having a type but don't act like a slight variation on it is variety."
Looking mildly surprised, Caroline laughed and said, "Sweet Circe, you're right! What would I do without your powers of observation?"
Celeste sniffed and took off her reading glasses before she replied, "I expect you would be tragically lost and feel quite alone in this world. And commit the foolish error of thinking you like a variety of men when you really only like two types at best."