The cousins spent most of the day walking around the city, trying to get the attention of the unknown pursuer. Ezekiel didn't had any expectations for their little plan so he wasn't disappointed when nothing came out of it. Dora, was livid and as they walked down the streets surrounded by the night, she made sure he knew.
"Can't believe I let you talk me into this. Look at me, I look ridiculous!"
"You look fine. Why didn't you bring your clothes with you, in a bag or something?"
"Look at me, I can't move like this. How could I do anything if the guy appeared and tried to take me? Carrying a backpack would slow me down even more." She said as she pointed at Harriet's body, as Ezekiel called it. They had walked around all day, from places where someone could have tried to kidnap Harry easely to more difficult ones. She had to pretend to be a shaken little boy for the whole day as Ezekiel pretended to console her or at least Harry.
"Figured you might change into an alley or something." He shrugged.
"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT TO A CHILD!" The scream made both of them jump. A woman that they haven't seen was giving Ezekiel the angriest look that he had ever received with disgust all over her face.
"Wha-No! I meant..."
Ezekiel tried to came up with something, anything to say but his brain bailed on him. Deciding for the next best option, tossing Dora over his shoulder and dodging the traffic. It was an undignified look for a man of his position and Dora laughing at the top of her lungs didn't help. He didn't knew how long he had ran before finally putting her down but at least there was no one around them.
"Oh, Merlin's beard you stink!" She managed to say between laughs.
"I didn't hear you helping." Ezekiel replied while he tried to catch his breath.
"No really, you stink. When was the last time you ran?"
"I've been busy."
"Busy sitting on your arse all day." She teased him.
"Fuck off."
"I'd love to but first...Incarcerous!" Ezekiel barely moved out of the way when the ropes came out of her wand hitting a tree nearby. He looked at Dora but before he could ask the tree started shaking and grunting.
"He ran after us when the lady shouted at you." Dora said as they walked towards it. "And never stopped following us."
"You don't say."
The tree shook again, more violently than before and many leaves and small branches fell from it. Stopping on their tracks, they began circling the tree .
"Is it him?" "Yeah, that's him. Cunt." Dora spatted.
"Harry, you don't know what you're saying." The man pleaded. "You need to come with me, get away from this man. He'll hurt you!"
"Me, hurt a child?" Ezekiel replied insulted. "I'm not the one terrorizing a little boy in broad daylight and trying to kidnap him! I've cared more for him else has on his entire life!"
"YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A-!" The man's screams were silenced as a red flash of light hit him square in the chest, leaving him unconscious.
"What the- Dora!"
"Shut up and help me move him before someone sees us, you moron." She whispered annoyed. "Come on, we need to dispel the ropes. You can have your argument where people can't see us."
"Hang on, there's something else." Ezekiel replied as he started casting a spell around them.
"What else? And why are you casting an invisibility charm?" Dora asked looking around but froze when Ezekiel took out his revolver and shot the man in the head. It was an almost unbelievable sight. He took it out of the holster, took a couple of steps backwards. The revolver was engraved with runes to prevent the gunshots from making any sound. All Dora saw was the head of the mysterious man move violently away from Ezekiel.
"WHAT THE FUCK!"
"It's an invisibility charm Dora, not a silencing one. This is to make sure he's not faking it."
"NOT F" She managed to stop herself and began whispering furiously at him "What the fuck could he be faking?"
"Being unconscious of course." Ezekiel replied nonchalant.
"I hit him point blank, how the hell could he be faking that!" Dora replied enraged. "And even if by some miracle he wasn't affected by it, in what way is putting a bullet through head a good way to prove it!"
"He's fine, the bullet bounced off his skull." Ezekiel dismissed her with a shrug. "Nothing short of an Avada will do much to him around this time of the month, even if he looks like a tramp."
Dora studied the man in front of her. The stranger was wearing an suit that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with grey. Like Harry's when they first met, grew wild across his pale face which had premature lines. She approached to check the wound only to find that there wasn't one, a bloodied mark where the gunshot should be. The man groaned as opened his eyes but Ezekiel shot him again. This time closer and casted another stunning spell on him for good measure.
"See? He's fine."
"What is he?"
"He's my prisoner." Ezekiel replied as he sheathed his revolver. The ropes that bounded the man were replaced them with ones he conjured. Being Dark, his ropes were black and resembled old tree branches with small thorns covering them. "Go home Dora, you've been like that all day. Remember to take the medicine that was on the bag and tell Madam Bones that I'm feeling ill tomorrow."
"Why? What are you going to do to him?"
"Interrogate him Dora, I've got a small window to get everything he knows and then it'll be too dangerous to have him around. Go home Dora, let me deal with this." Ezekiel said as at the distance the unmistakable sound of his car approached them. Despite the charm covering them the vehicle stopped right next to them. He opened the trunk and tossed the man into it, Ezekiel moved to the drivers seat but Dora cut him short.
"Where are you taking him?"
"Home, the wards will siphon his magic. He'll be too tired to do anything."
"Oh, really? And in which room are you going to put him?" Dora replied sarcastically. "This idea is stupid, let's take the guy to the cells in the Ministry and work the guy tomorrow."
"I'm not letting this guy nowhere even near the Ministry, Dora." Ezekiel replied sternly. "You saw the power Dumbledore has there, that place is no longer safe for any prisoners. Madam Bones doesn't run the Aurors he does, and if he's the one that sent this guy, what will stop him from getting him out? Like it or not, until Madam Bones and the Goblin King can purge the place his influence, I will deal with whoever comes for you, Harry or Da-Ted and Andi."
"And what, do you have your own dungeon of horrors? Chains in the walls and torture devices on the walls, rats that chew their feet so they can't sleep?"
"You've given that some thought, he?" Ezekiel replied uncomfortably taken aback. "I have a basement, a clean one mind you, I'll interrogate him there."
"Wha-Since when do you have a basement? I've been to your house and I've never seen that."
"Of course I have a basement, it's the house of a Dark wizard! It'll be weird if I didn't have one..."
"All right, fine then. You take him there but I'm going too."
"Dora, the wards..." Ezekiel began but Dora cut him off.
"You'll lower them. I know that they affect anyone that doesn't have pure Black blood in them. I'm in the middle, you lower them until we're both be fine and he'll be fucked. That way you interrogate him and I'll be the witness."
"Witness of what?"
"Of proper procedure. You want to handle this? You do it as an Auror."
"As an Auror?" Ezekiel repeated .
"As an Auror." Dora repeated, her tone leaving no room for arguments. "It's either this or the Ministry."
"Fine" Ezekiel relented. "Go to Ted and Andi's, get changed and I'll drive him to my place and lower the wards."
"Thank you, Ezekiel. "Dora smiled triumphant, as she apparated away.
Ezekiel cursed the entire way back to the house and even as he levitated the unconscious body trough the living room. He wasn't aware that he wasn't alone until he heard a small gasp.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" Ezekiel asked surprised.
"I... I finished studying but you didn't pick me up, so I asked Kreacher." Harry replied, the elf had apparated next to him at the mention of his name. "To take me home."
"And...how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine."
"That's great... you're wondering what I'm doing right now, aren't you?." Ezekiel gestured at the man.
"You caught him, he's the man from yesterday."
"Yes...yes, he is." None of them knew what to say. No matter how he tried to say it, Ezekiel knew that his explanation would sound fishy. Borderline criminal one might say. Harry was too surprised to react. Ezekiel had walked into the living room with a mean look, saying things that would give aunt Petunia a stroke and carrying a body.
"I...err...I need to go." Ezekiel finally said. "Dora and I are going to interrogate him and..."
"Oh, Dora is coming? Tha... that's good."
"Yes, you know, keeping me honest and all that." Ezekiel smiled. "Come to think of it, I also have to lower the wards for her before she gets here."
"Oookay. I'll... go to bed?" "
Well, I'm not gonna have you around for an interrogation am I?". What's going on today, Ezekiel thought as he laughed nervously, that my brain decided to shut down? " Goodnight then, sleep tight."
"Night." Was all Harry said.
He watched as Harry climbed the stairs to his room for a bit before hurrying to the basement. Tossing the unconscious sod on the floor, Ezekiel proceeded to close the door and ran upstairs. He had barely managed to turn them back to normal when Dora appeared through the fireplace.
"Thanks for the wards." Was the first thing she said when she arrived. "It felt as if a part of me was missing when you raised them. Aren't you gonna get another bunch of owls if you lower them that much?"
"Nah, Ted placed the order to halt any and letters to Harry. Most wizards don't own an owl they just use the ones from the post office, that will take care of it. The official letters and stuff will go to me so he doesn't have to worry about it. Now let's go, I'm running out of time here."
"You keep saying that, but what do you mean?" Dora asked as they entered the basement.
"Do you know why so very few know how to follow an apparation?"
"That I know of? Just you. I mean, you're the one that told me it could be done."
"Would it surprise you to know that it's a somewhat secret in the Ministry? I actually found out by chance while I was chasing someone for the Crown."
"Wh-"
"Doesn't matter who." Ezekiel interrupted her. "The point is that of the very very select few that knows about it, there are even less who are willing to do it."
"But why wouldn't them want to use it?"
"It's because the process is perhaps the most dangerous and painful single thing that one could ever do. You're effectively patching up degrading magic with your own. Apparating feels like being forced through a very tight rubber tube, right'?" Dora nodded as Ezekiel explained. "Try to imagine being shot through a straw, and that's if you get it right. More often than not it feels as if someone is shoving you through the eye of a needle. It's a last resource for when you have to get your target."
"But he did." Dora pointed. "We must've apparated five or seven times. How could he do that?"
"That's because you're used to pain, aren't you wolf? After all, your entire body destroys itself during the duration of the full moon." Ezekiel said as he approached the body.
"Why are you talking to him? You shot him twice in the head and then stunned him. I'm surprised he's not braindead."
"No, not so close to full moon. We have about six more days, give or take a day or two. Isn't that right Spots?" Ezekiel said as he gently kicked the unconcious man in his leg.
"Would you stop that! Look, we need to take him to a hospital or at least call mum!"
"Nah, he woke up during the trip back home and has been trying to reach his wand ever since. It's not like he can apparate with those thorns in your skin, is it?" Ezekiel kneeled besides him and started looking for some identification. "He wouldn't like to risk it, even with the extra adrenaline and testosterone that his body makes in preparation for the change. I guess even mutts have brains..."
He laughed at his own joke, Dora scowling at him. They were distracted by their banter long enough that when the man sat right up and went for Ezekiel's neck. Dora wasn't close enough to stop him and Ezekiel had his guard down, yet his hand had shot towards the man, holding him by the neck. The man tried in vain to release himself from Ezekiel's grip, moving in a way that reminded Dora of a fish being reeled out of the water. Maybe because he had the same chances as one, she thought. The glasses had fallen of Ezekiel's face, becoming clear that while he was surprised, whatever else was with him had taken the attempt on his life rather badly. It was deeply disturbing the fact that his eyes reflected surprise and murderous rage at the same time.
"Well." Ezekiel said after a while. "now that we have established that you're fine, how about we introduce ourselves? You've met my cousin yesterday, may I presume that you already know her name?" All the response he got was a spit on his face. Taking out a handkerchief from the inner pocket of his coat, Ezekiel cleaned his face as he spoke. "We should probably set the record straight here."
Ezekiel released his grip as he on his feet and the man fell back on the floor. The man readied himself for whatever horror the Dark wizard in front of him would cast upon him. To his surprise he felt the piercing rope that imprisoned him disappear. Looking at his chest and arms he could see the marks and small injuries that it had caused him disappear. Black had been right, with the full moon so close he'd heal from anything but the darkest curses. Seeing his captors take a few steps back he jumped into action, taking out his wand and casting a spell at them. They didn't even flinched, both of them just stood looking at him. She was taking notes of his reflexes he realized later, while Black was just smiling. They should've at least tried to protect themselves . Seeing how none of them had been blown to a wall he realized that his magic wasn't responding to him.
"In case you're wondering, Mister Big Bad Wolf. "Ezekiel said as if he was reading his mind. "The reason why you can't use magic is because right now you don't have none. Your body is running far too on adrenaline, which is why you're able to move at such speeds. Once the full moon passes you'll go back to normal and then, you'll die."
The realization hit him almost as hard as the disarming spell that his cousin had casted upon him. He flew back to the wall as his wand slipped from between his fingers. She was able to catch it mid-air and studied it with interest. Black on the other hand had also casted a spell on him, he noticed as he studied the leather wallet that should've been in his pocket with interest.
"Well now that's out of the way, how about we start again mister...Lupin?"