Disciple author note: Give it up to Son Of The Mourning for taking the reigns with this chapter. I just became a homeowner and got settled in. During that time I simply advised while she wrote this chapter. Thank you for staying with us so far. Next chapter will be interesting.
SOTM- I'm giving it all shes got captain.
Doing a podcast about our writing and shit. Will post the links in our profile description. Let us know by reviewing what you want to know from us on our writing, plots and ideas and what we have planned next.
Hermione was waiting for him by the elevators, "Well?"
"Well…" he began awkwardly. "It wasn't a no."
"But it also wasn't a yes, I'm assuming?" she cringed as she spoke.
Shaking his head, Harry replied, "We're on a pending status, I would say."
"Pending on what?"
"The Headmistress." He stated, watching her face go through the realization of how serious this became. "You also have to write a letter as well. Explaining the situation without discussing details of the case."
She took a steady breath to try and calm herself, "Okay… wait, me? What do you mean me, Harry? Did Kingsley say that?"
"Well, no. But let's face it, it's the best way to go about this. You're McGonagall's favorite." He shrugged and looked at his boots.
She didn't accept that answer, "I'm her favorite? Seriously? You're Harry Bloody Potter."
"And you're the brightest witch of her age." He countered.
"You're the boy who lived."
"I'm the boy who lived to be a pain in her arse." He corrected her.
She paused in thought, "Perhaps it is best I write the letter. So what do we do in the mean time?"
Harry sensed her bubbling with anticipation, she knew what was coming. Something he wasn't particularly fond of. "I guess we could start with the archives."
"Excellent idea, Harry!" Hermione's smile went from ear to ear. Her happiness from going to familiar territory as well as seeing the discomfort written plainly on Harry's face. Pay back for all of those quidditch practices that could have been spent studying.
He started to slowly back away from her, "Alright then. You go ahead and jump on that and I'll-"
Catching on to his usual attempt at getting out of research, "Harry."
"You're right, it would be rude of me not to at least escort you there." He tried to recover, smirking at her as he played it out.
She crossed her arms, raising a brow at him, "James."
He pointed over his shoulder to the cafeteria, "Okay, well how about I get us something to eat and I'll meet up with you-"
"Potter."
"Yes Hermione." He gave up at the sound of her final warning.
Walking beside her with his head hanging, they both smirked at each other when heir eyes met. Eventually breaking out in full blown laughter as they rubbed arms while walking down the corridor.
"Hey, what's so funny?"
They jumped further apart at the familiar sound of their friend's voice. Ron was walking down another corridor and caught them as they passed. "Oh, good afternoon Ronald." Hermione greeted.
"Hey, Mate." Harry replied. "How's your case coming along?"
He perked up at the question, "It's wicked! I've already gotten to meet with the game commissioners. You know that even though Ludo Bagman is retired from announcing he still holds a chair? Bloke's hauling in tons of bloody royalties!"
"Ron! You can't be giving us case details!" she warned.
He put his hands up, "Oh come on Mione, that's for other Aurors."
Harry rubbed a hand over his mouth before speaking, "Actually Ron, it's for all Aurors."
"Hey where you two headed off to? Reckon we skim off a bit early and hit the pub?" Ron suggested and hit Harry lightly on the bicep.
Both of them awkwardly looked away and thought up of excuses, "It's really not a good idea to be drinking on the case. Nor the clock for that matter."
He nodded at Hermione, "You're right. What was I thinking? I havent spent proper time with my girl. Sorry Harry, can't hang tonight. Gonna take her-"
Sensing Hermione's discomfort, watching her fidget and wrap her arms around herself when Ron moved closer to her, Harry spoke up, "Actually Ron, we can't hand with you. We've gotta go to he archives and get started on our report. Gotta win those quidditch tickets, ya know?"
Not waiting or their oblivious redheaded friend to respond, Harry pulled Hermione with him towards the Hall of Archives.
They sat at the large table in the back of the hall, numerous stacks of books surrounding them. Both had their heads buried in their respective books and worked in comfortable silence. Every so often they would reach for their quill and quickly scribble down notes in their case journals.
"Alright, want to go over what we have so far?" Hermione looked up at Harry.
He started stretching, putting his arms high above his head and leaning back, "Yeah, my eyes are about done for today. You want to start off?"
She pulled out her wand and waved it above the air between them idly, casting a silencing charm for security. "Going off of what Scabior said… he asked us if we knew what the name meant."
"I guess we still don't then. I couldn't find a single thing about the name, 'Son of the Morning.'" Harry rubbed the back of his neck.
"Legal Assassin either," She agreed, "Nothing in any of the reports around the time of that letter or during the first war."
Leaning back in his chair, Harry stretched, "Should we start on prophet articles next then?"
Hermione sighed, "I guess so. I hardly think we'll find anything though."
Pulling a pile towards them, he fought a yawn, "Why's that?"
"Both men were good at what they did." She continued to explain as she pulled one of the papers from the stack, "Snape was a spy for most of his life. He hid his true intentions from Voldemort until the very end. If the man is alive after all this time, he's fooled us all even to this day. Same goes for Moody. He believed in constant vigilance and though the man was brash, he kept his cards close and his secrets closer."
"Secrets?" he quirked a brow.
"The list of what we know about Moody is shorter than the man's temper. You've read his file Harry. There's nothing in there other than 'He's the best we got and he retired this date due to death. Maybe.'" She ranted sarcastically, making Harry snort. "We don't know anything about the man! We've met him but we couldn't even tell what kind of man he was due to Crouch Jr. impersonating him."
"We have to have something, Mione." He rolled his eyes.
She shoved the files over to him, "Look for his date of birth, Harry. What about his wand metrics, Hogwarts house and graduation date? We don't have a hire date listed either. It's like he's always existed and been with the Ministry since the dawn of the department's opening."
Harry flipped the file open, "It's not even redacted. It's just not there. Not even his height's listed for Circe's sake."
"Now you see my frustration? I research, Harry. That's what I do. I don't know where to start with either of them."
A small white envelope with a red Hogwarts seal fluttered into the room and landed on the table between them. Harry's eyes went wide and he scooted back from it, "It's not addressed to anyone. You open it."
She gave him an annoyed look, "Constant Vigilance, really Harry?" She opened the small letter and pulled out a small piece of parchment.
"Well?" he asked curiously.
She passed the parchment over to him, "Well at least now we know where to start."
'My office. Now.'
"It's like I can hear her voice in my head." He cringed.
