Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOTgive permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.
Life settled back to normal and the regrets Hadrian and Tim had about not expecting a new baby started to fade as they took the time to cherish the children they had. Cases came and went, the ex-death-eaters remained in hiding, though Hadrian did manage to flush one out in a small town on the South Island of New Zealand. He'd been found by an accidental run in with a British tourist, which had turned violent when the tourist recognised him. He'd managed to get word out before being hunted down and slaughtered. Hadrian arrived in full disguise to help investigate the death of Michael Corner's little brother.
It didn't take all that long to solve the case after Hadrian recognised the Death Eater as Mulciber Junior but the local police were astounded, the killer had seemed to be a model citizen, volunteering at the local hospital and living a peaceful law-abiding life. There was no evidence to tie him to the current crime and the local New Zealand Aurors protested against extraditing him for trial.
"Just let me question him under veritaserum," Hadrian said frustrated.
"We cannot. There's no evidence that he's done anything wrong," The local Chief Auror declared.
"The mark on his arm is evidence of his belonging to a terrorist organization," Hadrian said.
"Not in this country it isn't," the Auror argued. "James Mullens is a friend of mine and I will not let you ignore due process. If you're right and he's committed a crime before emigrating to my country then you need to prove it legally."
"And your victim's brother is a friend of mine, he deserves justice. What if I told you that we have incontrovertible proof that the only way to earn that mark is the torture and murder of an innocent," Hadrian said scowling.
The Auror looked sick, "Define innocent," he demanded.
"Usually a child under the age of fifteen or a virgin," Hadrian said seriously.
"Can you prove this is not just a tattoo?" the Auror asked sceptically.
"A tattoo of a snake cannot speak, I can wake the snake in the mark to speak to me and follow my orders, it will hurt him but it will provide proof. I could order the snake to make him ill to inflict pain similar to the Cruciatus and to kill the bearer. I could also use it to summon another death eater but considering that they would know it was me and not their leader calling them, they'd probably arrive casting killing curses."
"So, you can prove it by torturing him. That's not acceptable!" The Chief said dismissively.
"If I'm wrong and he isn't a death eater then nothing will happen, he will only feel pain if he's guilty of torture and murder," Hadrian said. "You could offer him the choice between willingly taking Veritaserum and letting me talk to his tattoo."
"Did they all take the mark willingly?" one of the junior Aurors asked.
"He had to agree to take it. The mark connects to the bearer's magical core in a way that it could not do without being accepted freely," Hadrian replied. "That doesn't mean that they didn't have some ulterior motive for wanting the mark but I guarantee he wanted it on some level, otherwise it wouldn't latch onto his magic. If he only took the mark to protect someone else then that will be taken into account during his trial."
"Okay offer the man a choice he takes the Veritaserum or we send in a parselmouth to talk to the tattoo on his arm, see if you can find another Parselmouth to do it," the chief decided.
"You don't trust this Auror Black, Boss?" the probationary auror asked.
"James Mullens is a friend of mine, I don't want him railroaded into an admission for crimes he didn't commit," the Chief replied.
Hadrian winced and pulled out his phone to call Sir Geoffrey.
"Hadrian, what can I do for you?" Sir Geoffrey asked.
"I've located Mulciber Jr in New Zealand, but apparently he's been pretending to be a model citizen for the last five years and is friends with the chief Auror and the Chief's being obstructive," Hadrian replied.
"Keep your calm and keep working on it, make sure he isn't released, and I'll start working along official channels to get Mulciber extradited," Sir Geoffrey replied.
Hadrian waited patiently while another Parselmouth was located and brought to the station, he was quite willing to let the locals waste their time so long as Mulciber remained in custody. They only difference of opinion occurred when he had to insist that Mulciber be accompanied to the toilet. His friend wanted to trust him.
"Chief, we already know that the man you call James Mullens is Jasper Mulciber, a wanted terrorist in the United Kingdom. Aiding or abetting his escape would cause an international incident and you would be charged," Hadrian said calmly.
"That is ridiculous, James Mullens has been a law-abiding citizen, a pillar of our community for years," the local chief Auror objected.
"But before that he was a terrorist and a death eater, if he is truly remorseful for his previous actions, then that will be taken into account during sentencing. And if you're right and I'm making a mistake then he has no reason to try to escape so having him supervised as per the protocol will not matter to him. But failing to do that will matter to your career prospects. I do have the rank to be taken seriously if I write you up for dereliction of duty. If he's truly your friend he wouldn't want that," Hadrian reminded him.
An elderly man arrived and was greeted with respect and relief.
"What do you need a parselmouth for? I'm guessing since you're all still standing calmly on the floor that you haven't got a venomous snake on the loose," the man asked amused.
"Hello sir I'm Senior Auror Black from Britain's MI7. We have identified a former death eater terrorist. However, he's been doing a great job of lying low and the Chief wants proof before he allows me to question him under veritaserum or extradite him. The dark mark on his arm will respond to certain phrases in Parseltongue. The easiest and safest of these would be 'pain'. It would prove that it is a genuine dark mark and not just an extremely poor taste tattoo," Hadrian explained.
The amusement faded quickly and before the local aurors could react he walked into the interrogation room touched the mark and said the word pain. Mulciber collapsed to his knees screaming.
"How do I stop it?" he asked after he took his hand away and the suspect kept screaming.
"Walk away and stop thinking about him. Want it to stop. Your anger is fuelling the reaction," Hadrian said, he turned to the chief. "Do you want us to question him about the death of your tourist so you can close the case, before we extradite him?"
"Yes," Chief Auror said sighing.
Hadrian administered the Veritaserum and quickly obtained a confession for the murder in question and two other deaths in the last few years which had previously been ruled to be accidents along with a long list of crimes committed in the service of Voldemort.
The Chief Auror approached Hadrian, "I'm sorry… I had no idea…"
"It's okay, of course you wanted to believe your friend was innocent and he's a very good actor," Hadrian said.
"Did he really think he could mask his reaction to the pain in his mark?" a junior officer asked.
"No he was probably betting on you not being able to bring in a parselmouth, they're incredibly rare in Britain, or at least people who admit they are parselmouths are extremely rare since Slytherin and Voldemort have given them such a bad reputation," Hadrian explained. "He thought it was an empty threat to convince him to agree to the veritaserum."
He transfigured the man into a chess piece and put him into the set removing and undoing the transfiguration on the piece he replaced before using it as a portkey.
"Is that allowed?" the chief asked, shocked.
"Yes. It's a secure way to transport a prisoner. It doesn't harm him in any way, if fact I'm almost jealous. He isn't going to even notice the portkey ride to Britain. I'd happily pay someone I trusted to transfigure me into an inanimate object for the portkey ride and transfigure me back when we got there."
"Most people catch a plane if their going further than Australia," one of the junior Aurors said.
"With good reason, the trip to London will be almost 40 minutes long," the Chief said shuddering.
"I have the authority to invite you to come and watch the trial. It will be a closed trial and kept out of the media," Hadrian offered.
"No thank you, what sentence is he likely to get?" the chief asked.
Hadrian sighed, "He killed more than a dozen people and was involved in torturing dozens more. And the fact that he killed three people in the last four years makes a mockery of any claims of remorse. If let go he will kill again if it becomes convenient. He will be permanently incarcerated," Hadrian said. In truth the testimony given under veritaserum signed by the four witnesses, the evidence they already had and the active dark mark would be enough for the trial to occur without input from Mulciber and the transfigured chess piece would be destroyed as it was. The man had essentially already taken his last breath unless the courts wanted to question him further.
-o0o-
Hadrian arrived home and collapsed on the bed. "I hate portkeys," he muttered before falling into a deep sleep. He awoke eleven hours later to find Tim sitting on the side of the bed watching him anxiously.
"What is it?" he asked concerned.
"Oh, thank God you're awake. I was starting to worry, I need to get to work."
Hadrian looked at the clock. "I'll apparate you to the Navy yard so you won't be late," he offered getting up. "Do you have everything?"
"If you're going to apparate me then we have time for you to eat breakfast first," Tim said determinedly.
"Or shower, I definitely need a shower," Hadrian said looking down at his worn and rumpled clothes and hurrying to the bathroom.
When he reappeared ten minutes later naked except for the towel drying his hair, Tim had breakfast laid out for him on a tray on the bed.
Hadrian's stomach rumbled and he sat down to eat before getting dressed.
"Rough case?" Tim asked sympathetically.
"No not really, it was just portkeying from New Zealand to London and then London to here an hour later that was a bit much. We caught him easily enough, the problem was convincing the chief auror that his friend could be the monster I was describing," Hadrian replied.
"That's got to be rough," Tim commiserated.
"Yeah, it's hard to have to accept that your friends aren't the friends you always thought they were," Hadrian agreed, thinking of the Weasleys and Tim's friendship with Abby.
"How many more Death eaters are out there?" Tim asked.
"Less than twenty," Hadrian said smiling at the achievement.
"What happens with your job when they're all caught?" Tim asked.
"I have a choice to make, Sir Geoffrey wants me to stay here as the British liaison and Clancy has assured me that he'd hire me directly if Sir Geoffrey changes his mind. Kingsley hoped at first that I'd return to Britain when all the death eaters were caught and help drag the British Aurors into the twenty-first century, but he'll be happy enough if I agree to do some seminars and workshops teaching the Auror corps and the cadets some of the techniques the Americans use and the British don't. Most of those are muggle techniques so you could come and help teach with me."
"It might be fun, if you can get the Director to let me go. I wouldn't want to waste vacation time on it though," Tim replied.
-o0o-
Six months passed rapidly before Hadrian and Tim could organise those classes, and Rosie was about to turn one. The boys had planned a big open house type party for Rosie's first birthday, inviting both their teams, as well as Kingsley, Sir Geoffrey, Neville and Hannah, and Ron and Hermione (warning them that the majority of the party guests would be muggles, and that Kingsley was going to obliviate the location of the party from Hannah, Ron and Hermione when they returned home,) They also invited some of the friends they'd made locally and Teddy's two best friends to keep him company.
Neville and Hannah left Franklin with Hannah's best friend and the child's godmother Susan for the weekend not wanting to risk him accidently giving away Harry's location or having him obliviated. Their new baby was too young for the portkey but Harry sent Neville the name of an elf that knew their location that could pop him to them once they arrived.
The British guests arrived the night before and were taken directly to their rooms to recover from the portkey.
"It's 1700 here, I know you've had dinner at home but there's food under a stasis charm if you feel hungry later. There's also some sleeping draughts to help you sleep through the night and reset your body clock," Hadrian said.
"I'm never going to want to eat again," Hannah moaned.
"I felt like that when we portkeyed to London, it will pass and you will be starving in about an hour," Tim said sympathetically. "I can't believe Hades used to do this at least twice a week."
Hannah literally shuddered, "How on earth? What could be so important that he'd put himself through that?"
"Visiting Teddy when he lived with his grandmother," Hadrian replied.
"I think I'll come the muggle way next time," Neville said.
"Why can't we travel with the elves like Franklin did, he's fine?" Hannah asked.
"Unfortunately, they don't have enough magic to pop an adult that distance, Tollie is already starting to struggle to pop Teddy that far, she told us last time we went that she wasn't sure she could do it again if he grew much more so he's going to have to portkey next time we come. Unless we stop in Hawaii and use a second elf to transport him the rest of the way."
"Hannah and I have decided that we'd like you both to be Ellison's godfathers. We were planning the ceremony for two weeks from tomorrow," Neville said.
"We would be honoured," Hadrian agreed smiling.
"Thank you," Tim replied, surprised and pleased to be included.
"Will you be able to get the time off work to come?" Neville asked.
"We have a time turner, if he can't get the weekend off we'll make time," Hadrian said.
Neville smiled, "Then feel free to stay a week or two," he invited.
Tim showed them how to work the lights and the bathroom taps, toilet and fan. Hadrian told them the name of the elf he'd allocated to look after them and reminded them that unless they recognised them they should assume every person they met was non-magical and didn't know about magic."
"This is much nicer than the beach house?" Hannah said looking around once they were alone and she began to feel better.
"This is the house they live in full time. It is comfortable, I don't think this is where they got married though," Neville agreed going to the window to look out.
"It's warm out" he said reclosing the window, "They must have cooling charms."
"If it's this warm here in the spring, they hardly need a beach house as well," Hannah said.
-o0o-
Ron and Hermione had left Rose at home with Molly, eager for some time away from the baby. Hermione was sure that Molly had a fair suspicion where they were going but because Kingsley and Robbards were in charge of the portkey there was nothing she could do about it and they'd refused to take the care package Molly had made, leaving it in Kingsley's care to be analysed for potions.
Things had got better for Hermione since she and Ron had performed the ritual. She'd gone back to work at the ministry and though she worked long hours sometimes it was doing work she found interesting and was passionate about. Ron wasn't happy with the pay cut the twins had given him when Hermione was no longer making the potions for them and had quit. He had found a job looking after the quidditch pitch of his beloved Chuddleigh Cannons and though it only paid a pittance the perks included tickets to every game played on the pitch. He spent most of the week at home looking after Rosie. Hermione had demanded that if he was going to be home all day while she was working he needed to learn to keep the house tidy and do the laundry and cooking. After much complaining he found that he quite enjoyed cooking and being less distracted than Hermione had been the quality of meals had improved slightly. Of course, Molly was horrified with this idea and frequently popped in with a meal for them, and tried to get Ron to leave Rose with her while he went out and caught up with friends or looked for work. At first, Ron had been thrilled with this, escaping to the Leaky Cauldron to talk quidditch with whoever would listen but Hermione had made it clear that she would not consider having another child while Ron was abandoning the child they did have to hang out in the pub. He resented the fact that he had to turn down his mother's help and had tried to take Rose with him to the pub a couple of times but found people were less willing to while away hours talking to a man with a grizzly baby. Grudgingly he started to look after his daughter properly and soon found ways to have fun with her. He purchased Rose a toddler broom for her birthday and taught her to ride, Rose also loved flying with Ron, strapped to his chest, so they spent hours doing that too, using the Cannon's pitch when it wasn't in use. As a result, the Cannon's manager thought Ron was one of the best pitch caretakers they'd ever had. He was there when things were delivered, he was there to notice when the muggle repelling charms failed and muggle children started to use the pitch to kick a ball on, so they could be repaired before game day caused a major incident for the obliviators.
Ron and Hermione were both happier than they had been before doing the ritual to add more vows to their marriage, it didn't stop Ron from resenting Harry at times for interfering. Seeing the opulent home he lived in also caused some jealousy though the house wasn't grand and formal like a pureblood manor house.
"It's 1700 here, I know you've had dinner at home but there's food under a stasis charm if you feel hungry later. There's also some sleeping draughts to help you sleep through the night and reset your body clock," Hadrian said.
"Wicked, thanks Harry," Ron said, headed eagerly for the food while Hermione frowned in thought trying to use the time difference to work out where they were.
"I'll save you the investigating, Hermione. We are in Maryland USA, about 50 minutes drive from the capitol. This is where we live. Information that I will not allow you to be able to share when returning home," Hadrian told her.
"That's fine Harry. Ginny is still stupidly obsessed, I wouldn't want it to be my fault if she finds you, the other boys and Arthur have woken up to her manipulations and are happy that you've married and made a life for yourself." Hermione admitted.
"And Molly?" Hadrian asked.
"Accepts that you're never coming back to Ginny but doesn't accept your marriage to a man, particularly a man she's never met," Hermione said dryly.
"She was hurt that you didn't invite her to the wedding," Ron added.
"She would have tried to prevent it," Hadrian said bluntly. "I'll see you in the morning."
-o0o-
Kingsley and Sir Geoffrey settled into their rooms without hassle, already knowing how to work the taps and lights. They appreciated the meals in the bedroom idea, it had been a long day and they knew the time differences were going to take some getting used to.
-o0o-
Ziva arrived early next morning eager to help Hadrian with the catering and also secretly curious about the house. She'd never been to visit them for some reason something always came up whenever she decided to snoop.
Hadrian identified her through the wards and went to open the door. "You didn't need to bring anything. Didn't Tim tell you we were getting the party catered?" he said as she handed over an oven tray and a cake carrier.
"He did, but one can never have too much food, and I enjoy baking," Ziva replied.
"Well thank you," Hadrian said smiling gratefully. "Do these need to go into the refrigerator. The party's going to be through here."
"No, they can go straight out on the table," Ziva replied. She looked around the decorated ballroom. "This is amazing, is it set up like this all the time?"
"As a playroom yes, the bouncy castle is hired for the party and it isn't normally so pink but most of the rest of it is the same," Hadrian said. "It's great for letting them burn off some energy when it's too cold or hot to be outdoors."
"It's a great room for a party," Ziva said.
"It's what it was built for but somehow I don't think the designer had a party like this in mind," Hadrian said amused.
Ziva glanced around at the grand old room with its fancy cornicing and pressed tin ceiling and pictured it filled with tuxedos and formal ball gowns. It would've been magnificent in its day, but this suits you and Tim better," she agreed.
He introduced Ziva to his friends and was amused as she immediately gravitated to Kingsley and Sir Geoffrey, fellow law enforcement. Gibbs and Clancy also joined them when they arrived, and were both greeted enthusiastically by the British agents who introduced the two men.
"So you're Tim's team leader? Hadrian has mentioned you," Clancy said.
"Yes, are you Hadrian's team leader?" Gibbs asked.
"No, not really, on paper I am his American department head but Hadrian is a lone agent more based in Washington than actually seconded from Britain with a very specific brief for which he actually still works for MI7. He joins whichever of my teams can use the help most when he has downtime between leads on his own case and in return I lend him agents when needed here in this country. He's developed quite a reputation and most of my teams are very pleased to have him around," Clancy said. "And having an extra agent working on Sir Geoffrey's dime does great things for my budget," he added cheekily, grinning at his counterpart.
Sir Geoffrey just smiled. "I'm grateful that your men have made him welcome, his mission is a lonely one."
-o0o-
Teddy's friends arrived next and their parents happily supervised the children in the bouncy castle. Soon the room was full of people, the only one missing was the birthday girl herself who had apparently decided she needed an extralong nap that day.
Abby hadn't been invited but Tony looked around the house curiously. The wards dissuaded him from trying to go upstairs or access the kitchen area and he was almost surprised by his lack of curiosity in not snooping. He looked around at the guests looking for someone to talk to. He could hear Ziva talking shop but wasn't in the mood to join her. There were a distinct lack of unattached females at the party, he made a mental note to complain to his probie about that later. He tried to talk to Hannah only to have her suddenly jump and tell him she had to go, her baby was awake. Tony who of course hadn't been keyed to the notification charm frowned at what he though was a rather obvious lie until Hannah came down ten minutes later with an infant in her arms and walked over to the group of law enforcement people talking to Ziva. Tony didn't feel comfortable with the idea that she'd think he was following her so headed to grab some food while he looked for someone else to talk to. He talked to Ducky and the autopsy gremlin for a while before chatting up one of the mother's of Teddy's friends. She responded enthusiastically and they moved away from the others a little to talk.
Tim saw this and decided to let it go for now, he could always warn Tony after the party if it looked like becoming more than an idle flirtation.
A/N: Thank you to lilly-flower15, Gime'SS, Kaorilamb, Vladimir Mithrander, sandipi, LunaSunFlowerLily, SpiritBlackPaw, DullReign82, Fallow54 (Guest), Firehedgehog, buterflypuss, acherongoddess, , xDarklightx, knuckles 8, Rori Potter, charm13insomnia, DS2010, Kourtney Uzu Yato, Village-Mystic, Locket1, DarkRavie, Melikalilly, EmeraldDagger, Silvermane1, MintMinYoongi02, Reader Ethiriel, Guest, serenityselena, Serpent91, rell (Guest), starie78, Red Blood Moon, staar (Guest), , Guest, Star-TrekAu09, BrothersBestFriends, TruGemini, BeautifulCherryBlossom, Merlenyn, Beth9891,
Fav – Sanasuke, I REALLY HATE EIRI YUKI, .xX, RyderrRalph, DamiaOfLight, evalhanne, angeelia11, sexyelf, sue-cassandra, anajudy, alaskanwoman25, Sweetpainlover, hprareslashfan, LadyKitsune12, nanabeth, may2524, MargeChaos, Leann1995, regicha, arudhatt, featherflower, Shadowhaunted, Holen-Snape, Jess starcrossed, cassidy-leigh-graham, firefox7389, harry-fan 200, Carl-the-strange, zodiacblue, Apheral, Alexis Rinaldi, Pernicia Hart, Shinigami92, Janahth, Yoanncat9853, Giglz101, magishadow, BreGyrl23, weff, Theias Dream, lovefish101, Solenbum, got addicted to reading, sumizome-hime, LadyJen97, CelestialRyuu, AenisEdlina, Kwanita, Nayia, lil night raven,
Foll – Red Jeanie, Lil-love-neko, SpringCherryBlossom, Rafiz Sterna, Lady-Pea, Road-kitsune, birdkamp, artec997, CheshireWolv, Kathereena, YouSillyKitten, genma-sama, laesin, Shadow fang the black wolf, shepbagel, Lolita-Girl-765, Abisola, CatH1995, Lesdel1998, 311, gustavohiroshi, Falcon's Hyperdrive, ProwlingWhiteTigress, foxy2015, jenjen90, Tegasus, harriettpotter-uzumaki, Tiara Shin, johnsteed, Haheath, sparks87, shananagians, carole58,
