Disciple- apologies, the delay in posting is my fault. Slacked on balancing work, errands and home properly.
SOTM- remember, it's a mystery fic. dont be pissed when you are "missing" something. thats the point. have fun, leave us reviews on what you think is gonna happen.
Colonel Sanders in the library with a lead pipe type of stuff.
sweet dreams are made of reviews.
After apparating to the location, they entered Hermione's flat and Ron summoned the boxes. Almost immediately, Ron was grabbing and packing whatever he saw that was his and expected Harry to do the same. Harry was looking the place over. It definitely did not look like the flat he had just been at four or five months ago. He was both surprised and disgusted by how Ron by himself was able to do that. He brought out of his thoughts when Ron got his attention.
"Harry, whatever doesn't look like it would belong to Hermione is mine unless I say so."
"That doesn't help, Ron. Where do I start?" he gestured his hand to the overall state of the room.
Ron grunted in frustration, "Start in the spare room, grab stuff and put it in a box."
Harry threw up a hand, "Why not just use magic?"
"Because I've tried before and it kept packing Hermione's stuff too," Ron explained with an annoyed tone, and left the room.
Harry rolled his eyes and didn't bother to tell Ron that he knew of another spell that would help the situation. He did not want to be here under the current circumstance. Especially because it was to help bail out Ron. Harry loved his best friend but this was one of those times that he felt Ron should be caught and deal with the consequences. Problem now was that Ron drug him into it so he would be just as guilty for knowing and not saying anything. He told himself that Hermione would forgive him if he was caught there with Ron because it was obvious Ron gave him no choice but to help.
Harry knew how to properly use the packing charm but due to his reluctance and slight desire to get Ron caught, he wasn't going to use it. When he walked into the spare room, instant anger rushed through his body. The room was covered in what appeared to be, all of Ron's belongings from the Burrow. They were strewn throughout the room and the bookshelves had all of his items on them. There were twelve boxes in total of different sizes. Some were still unopened, others only had a few items taken out of them.
Harry realized quickly that this was the room Hermione was using as her study when he saw that the closet was overflowing with just about all of Hermione's books. They had noticeably been carelessly tossed into the closet. Trying to keep composure, he went ahead and used the pack charm on all of Ron's items. Once the boxes were packed and sorted out, Harry couldn't help but to carry the twelve boxes out of the room and stacked them in the front room, one by one. Starting with the lightest one.
A while later he was carrying out the fifth box when Ron emerged from the bedroom. His eyes went wide and his face turned as red as his hair. "What the bloody hell, Harry? Why aren't you using your magic? You trying to get us caught? You're stalling aren't you?"
"What? No! No, I'm not," Harry lied. "Your breakables are in these boxes. With how a big a racket you make about that, I felt I had no choice but to carry them this way."
Ron sighed. "Usually, yes. You're right. Right now, I don't care and I'll use Reparo. We need to hurry up."
"Then you hurry it up, Ron. This is your deal." He shot back and crossed his arms.
Ron pointed his wand and summoned the remaining boxes from the spare room. Harry went back in there when Ron apparated with the first set of boxes. Thankfully, the room and the bookshelves were empty. There was even a desk uncovered. He opened the door to the closet.
He waved his wand between the books and the bookshelves as he chanted, "Locus."
All of the books and many parchments and a quill placed themselves onto the desk. As precaution he also cast Reparo on the books in case any were damaged.
Harry looked at a clock that was on a stand next to the recliner behind him. He was surprised to see that it had been an hour an a half. He didn't want to be there that long. When Ron reappeared, he rolled his eyes seeing Harry standing there.
"Hurry up and move the damn boxes, Harry! Don't just stand there." He ordered angrily as he stomped around him.
"You know what. I helped pack your stuff. You can do the rest. I'll see you at work," Harry shouted and apparated away.
Ron cursed under his breath. "But I'm not done. Bollocks!"
The following morning, Ron found Harry already at his desk going through some paperwork. "You're here early."
Without looking up, Harry responded stiffly, "Shift starts at eight, Ron. Just like yesterday, and the day before that."
Ron took a seat at his desk across from Harry, "Look, I know you're disappointed in me." The hard stare that Harry gave him when he finally looked up made Ron correct himself, "Alright, you're pissed at me. A-and rightfully so." He added quickly.
"Are you just stating the obvious, or are you going somewhere with this? I have work to do."
"I just want to let you know that I've thought about what you said last night. You're right, I've been a ruddy boyfriend and an even worse friend lately." Ron waited for Harry to correct him but he didn't, "Uh… anyway, I decided to take your advice and just come out and ask her to marry me."
Harry nearly go to his feet in outrage, gripping the edge of his desk he leaned forward angrily, "That wasn't my advice at all! I didn't even say that!"
"What advice?" Hermione's voice asked from behind him.
His head whipped around so fast that his glasses nearly fell off his face, "Good morning!"
She leaned back a bit at his sudden loud outburst, "Right… good morning."
Ron stood up and walked around to Harry's desk, sitting on the edge of it closest to Hermione, "So, I bet you missed sleeping in your own bed huh? Glad to be home?" he asked casually.
Harry scowled at his now flattened scrolls that Ron sat on, but listened intently for her answer. Part of him wished she found out about Ron moving in while she was out. That way his idiot friend could leave her alone and stop the constant awkward tension.
Hermione shook her head, "Oh, I still haven't been home yet. I've got so much to do before I turn in my reports."
"You slept at the office? We talked about this, Mione." Ron was concerned that she treated work like she did the library, which was unacceptable to him.
"Of course not, I stayed at Kings' place and came in with him this morning."
Harry stopped rocking back and forth in his chair. Ron's jaw dropped, the flirtatious smirk he bore vanished and his cheeks turned red.
"Potter, Weasley, Mione! My office now!" Kingsley yelled across the bullpen.
Hermione waved at him in acknowledgement, "You better have those reports handy, Ronald. He woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." She started walking over towards Kingsley, leaving them behind.
Ron stood up quickly, unfortunately knocking over Harry's open ink, "Shite- sorry."
"What the hell?!" Harry hissed at him.
"I said I was sorry!" Ron said defensively.
Harry waved his wand to clean the mess, "Not that. I meant- never mind. Let's hurry, he sounds pissed."
"Why doesn't he call her Granger?" Ron mumbled to himself.
It was obvious that both men were on edge and caught off guard. The thought of their best friend shacking up with their boss wasn't comprehendible to them, but only Ron was in denial. Neither knew how to act or what to say when they walked into the office.
"Close the door behind you, Potter." Kingsley ordered before pulling his wand out. As soon as the door closed, he waved it, silencing the room.
Harry and Ron stood on either side of Hermione, both looking from her to each other out of the corner of their eyes. Harry gave him a small shake of the head, telling him this was neither the time nor place to discuss Hermione's love life.
A grumpy yowl and orange ball of fluff ran out from under the large desk. Harry and Ron's Auror instincts kicked in, in spite of knowing the familiar feline for nearly as long as they knew each other. Both drew their wands, immediately clicking their tongues in annoyance when they realized it was Crookshanks.
"How you doing, old man?" Harry asked, reaching up to rub his knuckle under Crookshanks' chin.
"What's the cat doing here?" Ron's disgusted look on his face. He never could warm up to her familiar. Their history at Hogwarts was one thing, but the incident on New Year's Eve a few years back confirmed their hate for each other. Ron had come out of that one with dozen's of scratches on his head and arms when the firecracker he threw into the hearth got too close to the napping cat next to it.
Hermione scowled at him, "Kingsley's been watching him for me while I've been gone. Did you think I took him with me?"
"Yeah Ron, didn't you notice that he wasn't at Hermione's place the whole time?" Harry looked at Ron over the brim of his glasses, channeling his inner Professor McGonagall, causing Ron to snap his jaw shut loudly. "You could have asked us, Mione." Harry continued petting Crooks.
She gave him a sweet smile and put her hands around her middle, "Well, since Ron doesn't have his own place, I didn't want to impose on Molly… and I know Ginny is allergic to him, so I didn't want to put anyone out at your place. Thanks again, Sir."
Kingsley smiled at her brightly and winked, "Anything for my top Auror."
The redhead visibly flinched and pretended to look at the picture on the wall near him. Harry stiffened at her choice of words. No one in the room knew that he and Ginny were no longer together. Nor that he'd moved out several months ago and could have used the company.
After a few moments Ron spoke, "Why's there a picture of Crooks in here? He ain't your cat."
Kingsley smirked, "That's the employee of the month."
"But it's a cat."
"He catches dark wizards." Kingsley said pointedly.
Ron crossed his arms, "And I don't?"
He was smiling at Ron, leaning forward with both hands flat on his desk, "Tell you what, Weasley. You catch more dark wizards than Sir Crookshanks of London-"
"I moved to Cambridge, remember?" Hermione whispered to him with a smile.
"Of course, you're right." He nodded to her before continuing, "Beat Sir Crookshanks of Cambridge, formerly of London, and I'll put your bloody picture on the wall."
Ron wasn't getting the joke, he was getting riled up, "Trippin' 'em while they're coming to turn themselves in doesn't count! You told me so yourself when I booked what's 'is face!"
Kingsley stood up straight and crossed his arms, "Well you'd remember his name if you filed the report wouldn't you? Because 'What's his face' is pending a court hearing. Where's my damn report, Weasley?"
"Sir, you wanted to see us about something?" Harry interrupted.
Kingsley blinked and looked at him, "Oh yes, where was I?" he looked around on his desk and shuffled some papers.
Ron gave Harry a nod in thanks for distracting their boss. Hermione shook her head and gave him a disapproving look and hissed, "I told you."
Once he found what he was looking for, "Alright, we have two cases that are high priority. The Ministry needs their top Aurors on them. I wouldn't trust anyone else except you lot."
"Hear that, we're the best of the best." Ron smirked and nodded to his friends.
"Again, I was talking to the cat." Kingsley said bluntly, "These two cases need to be split between the three of you. I don't care who works what, but I need movement on these today."
"How high priority are we talking here, sir?" Harry's mind was already working on a possible game plan.
Ron spoke over Harry, "Easy 'nuff. Hermione and I will team up on one and Harry will take the other."
"You just want to work with Mione because I won't write your reports like she does." Harry snapped and called him out. He was upset that Ron had beat him at a chance to work with her again. They hadn't been on a case with her since she started in their department.
"Enough." Kingsley's voice boomed at them. "I don't even know why I bother…" he trailed off as he tilted his head back and looked to the ceiling. "You know the law, can't give anymore info than what has already been released to the public until I assign the case, and only to that Auror. We have six professional quidditch players that got popped for performance enhancement."
"Wicked! Which players? Oh wait- let me guess!" Ron was nearly shaking with excitement.
"It's an investigation, Ronald." She said disapprovingly.
"Yes Weasley, in fact it's so wicked that it's considered a high class illegal narcotic." Kingsley said sarcastically. "The players have yet to be questioned, but like I said, I need someone-"
Ron quickly jumped in front of the other two, "I'm your guy!"
Harry chuckled, "Ron, I-" He stopped speaking when Hermione nudged him. He looked down at her, her eyes were wide and she mouthed, 'Shut up.'
"I'll take the case, Kings. I'll catch your dark wizard. Hell, I'll even write the report!" Ron held his hand out to take the file. Once he grabbed it he started to walk out of the office, patting Harry on the back in passing, "Sorry mate too slow, you're stuck with Hermione now. Good luck next time."
Her jaw dropped and her eyes went wide, it was quickly replaced by a hurt look. "Stuck with me?"
"I was going to say, I think this is a good one for you. We finally found a case that's easy enough that you can finally work by yourself." Harry grabbed the edge of the door that Ron left open on his way out and slammed it far harder than necessary before he could reply.
When he turned around, there was no mistaking the watery look in her eyes. Ronald Weasley as lucky the Minister of Magic was in the room when he said that, otherwise Harry wouldn't have been able to stop himself from hexing him.
"I love when a plan goes my way." Kingsley mused. He chuckled when he noticed the look that Harry gave him. "What, you think that case was high priority? I just wanted to keep him busy so I could get my working employees on the real stuff."
Hermione gave him a sad smile, "You don't have to try and cheer me up, Kings. I know I'm a pain to be with."
"No you're not. If I could clone you, I would. Technically, I could, but Polyjuice only works for appearances, not brilliant minds." Kingsley said softly.
Harry couldn't take the sinking feeling in his gut, he didn't know how much more flirting he could take before he pulled his hair out. "What you got for us, sir?"
"Actually Hermione is required to be on this one, I just thought given who the case pertains to, that you would want on board." He explained as he opened the file and pushed it across his desk towards them. "The wizard you just booked had some interesting items on him when they processed him. Hermione and I talked about it at great lengths last night."
Hermione held the file up to cover her blushing cheeks, "Amongst other things."
"And this morning." Kingsley added with a wink.
"Who did you bring in, Mione?" Harry asked while trying to look over her shoulder at the file. He just wanted to get the case and leave.
"Scabior. He was registered as 'missing/deceased' after the battle with the whole bridge thing- you know what I'm talking about. We thought he was dead until recently when he showed face in Germany. He was hiding in a remote forest, terrorizing the young muggle women in a nearby town." Hermione explained smoothly, her work persona now taking over.
He remembered Scabior fondly. He was the lead snatcher who caught them during the war. "What do you mean interesting items? Did he have any intel on him about remaining death eaters?"
"You could say that," Kingsley reached into his inner robe pocket and handed a small envelope to him.
To the naked eye, it was a regular postage envelope that had been handled often but was never opened. What caught Harry's eye were the black inked words on the front in thick spikey handwriting.
'Son of the Morning
-Legal Assassin'
He didn't know who or what that meant, so he passed it to Hermione to examine, "I'm assuming this isn't all of it?"
"Without trying I can tell this letter is magically sealed, we should put him in a room for questioning." She commented while turning it over in her hands.
Kingsley bent down behind his desk, picking up a box that was under it, "Amongst the illegal contraband on his persons, he had Severus Snape's wand and Death Eater mask. As well as that letter in your hands."
Harry's eyes lit up, "Really? Way to go Hermione, now we can finally put something in his grave. I knew it wasn't destroyed in the fire."
"Damn the wand, Potter. That letter is either dark magic or someone trying to bait us." Kingsley pointed to the letter in her hands accusingly.
"You're saying this is a threat?" Hermione placed the letter on the desk, pulled her wand out and started to wave it above the letter.
He ticked off his fingers, "A threat, a warning, a sign of the end of times, for Merlin's sake!" he pushed the sleeves of his robes up to his elbows and rubbed the back of his head, "Those names should never be spoken, let alone seen! Not then, not now, not ever. Especially not after!"
Harry couldn't understand why this was so concerning to the Minister, "Can we get some context clues here, Kings?"
Kingsley took a deep breath and his eyes widened, looking overwhelmed and not knowing where to start. "First, you have to understand that it was a different time back then. The things that happened, the things we did…" Leaning forward on his desk with both hands, a solemn look on his face and a careful voice, "During the first war, Voldemort's name wasn't the only one that was taboo."
"Sir, which name?" Hermione lowered her wand and gave him her full attention.
"Fear of a name increases fear of a thing itself," He started, "When Voldemort rose to power, he had the department backed against a wall. One man took measures the Ministry wasn't willing to." Kingsley looked off into the distance for a brief moment, "Alastor Moody fought fear with fear."
"But the Taboo curse is illegal." Hermione stated.
Harry adjusted his glasses, "You missed the conversation from yesterday. Moody got away with a lot of shit."
"Who was going to stop him? Me? I didn't even have one year under my belt as an Auror." Kingsley shrugged his shoulders, "War changes a man. We all know that from hands on experience, but Moody… he wasn't a man anymore."
Kingsley stood up straight and rubbed the back of his neck again, "Within the first week he had apprehended three high ranking Death Eaters and murdered four. The Ministry and the public said nothing. If no one acknowledged it; if no one spoke of it, then it never happened."
"Murder? I don't think that's the proper term." Hermione corrected.
"You're right. The things he did weren't considered murder. Torture, manslaughter… the things he did made the Ministry fear him, and they were safer if they let him."
"That's why we can't find any files on Moody."
Nodding, "The trail of bodies that follows that name do not put the Ministry in good light. He stroke fear in even the most darkest of Wizards. They took precaution to forbid his name, else they summon the Legal Assassin."
"Legal Assassin? What does that mean?" Harry asked.
"Moody was the judge, jury and executioner. He didn't believe in trials or sentencing. To him, the world was in black and white. He killed on site, with authority that no one gave him, yet no one had the courage to take it away." Kingsley said, remembering the many times the Wizard in question used unforgiveables.
"Then who is 'Son of the Morning?'" Hermione asked after a few moments of silence.
"Severus Snape."
Harry's right hand went to his scar, rubbing it out of a habit he couldn't overcome when agitated, "Hold up, I thought Snape was 'The Half Blood Prince.' Where's this coming from?"
"Never mind that, Harry." Hermione interjected, "Why is Alastor Moody writing Severus Snape a letter?"
"Yeah, you're question is way better, sorry." He chuckled.
"No." Kingsley shook his head and pointed to the letter, "Hermione, tell me that letter's date of origination."
Waving her wand, she cast her usual spells when dealing with evidence at a crime scene. She may not be able to tell who's magic is all over this letter, but she will be able to get a date of when it was placed on the letter. As well as the words written in the thick black ink on the front.
December 22nd 1998
Hermione spoke first, "Moody died in 1997."
"And Snape died at the final battle in '98." Harry added.
"Why is a dead man sending a letter to another dead man?" Kingsley asked seriously.
