CHAPTER THREE: Shall not tell lies or secrets
Somewhere in the mountains
Hermione arrived at her destination with a pop. Everyone was waiting for her. Blaise and Luna were busy with their heads touching and it made her smile. She was grateful that Blaise took a chance on Luna, but it wasn't hard or so he said. Hermione remembered that Blaise had an interest in Luna since their fifth year. It was only when he became an assassin under her father when he made his move.
"Took you awhile to come back, Hermione," Blaise smirked, "Did he try to guilt trip you again?"
She rolled her eyes as she walked towards one of the chairs and sat down. "I knew the moment that he noticed me that he would try something like that. It happened with the others we've met when Xenophilius decided I should be moving more."
"But the others you didn't kill," Luna looked up at her friend, "Those others happened to be our friends, your friends specifically. The look on Seamus' eyes when he saw you walking into his pub was worth a picture."
"Yes well, I didn't want to do anything like that," Hermione sighed, "Besides, we still have jobs to do. Have we tracked down Dolohov?"
Blaise and Luna's faces changed before Blaise flicked his wand onto an empty wall. A tree appeared on the wall. Some branches were burned with the names on it. Those were the Death Eaters they got rid of.
"His movements have been more secretive since the last time we tracked him," Luna answered, "Scouts have said they've seen him, but every scout who has sent reports were worlds away from each other. His movements are just as concerning as that of Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange."
Hermione nodded, "There are currently 16 Death Eaters we are very well aware of. However, with the current movement we're doing, the ranks might increase."
"You think what Theo said about consequences might come to fruition, don't you?" Blaise asked.
"We can't say he's wrong, Blaise," Hermione frowned, "What we're doing is for the greater good, but he is right about the few that may retaliate."
"That just means we have to do our jobs quicker," Xenophilius said as he entered the room.
"I'll keep an eye on Theo and the rest of the Hidden Six," Tracey explained, "If memory serves me right, that spell Blaise sent to Theo comes with surprises."
Blaise smirked, "The ministry and the aurors won't know what hit them once they find Theo."
Xenophilius smiled and nodded. "Now, let's see if we can do some hunting," he said as he flicked his wand towards the wall.
Everyone looked as a name started to glow. Hermione's eyebrow raised when she saw who it was. "Well isn't that interesting," she said as she flicked her wand to another empty wall to reveal all sorts of gear.
"His schedule and who is with are in this parchment," Xenophilius flicked his wand once more and parchment went flying towards the three who caught their own swiftly. "Let's make it clean this time. No more than the necessary bloodshed and of course if we can get any more information about the few Rogues we are having difficulty finding, a little bit of persuading."
The three nodded as they started to gear up. "Hermione, you're in charge for this one. He's going to be a difficult one to break, but I know you can see past to get the information out."
"That means no unnecessary tortures, Blaise," Hermione said and Blaise pouted. "You're no fun, Miss Granger. I deserve to torture him."
"Be that it may," Hermione shook her head, "We have a mission to do and anything unnecessary could have dire consequences. Absolutely no unnecessary torturing."
Blaise harumped and nodded.
"Be safe, you three," Xenophilius said as he kissed Luna's forehead, "We'll be on a time crunch due to the Aurors more aware of our movements. Get the job done and back into the shadows."
The three agreed before they started disappearing into mist.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Somewhere in Romania
Theo was cursing every living being in whatever is on this world as he apparated to the alley near the hotel he was in. He groaned at his body, whatever spell that Blaise sent his way made him feel like absolute shite. He walked into the hotel and there were gasps around him.
"Nott?" he heard a familiar voice. Theo looked up and saw Weasley.
"Fucking hell," Theo said before blacking out.
Ron ran and caught him before Theo fell to the floor. "McBright, call Malfoy now!" he said as he flicked his wand to levitate Theo. The people around them were whispering. The hotel staff seem to be on autopilot trying to remove people from the situation.
"Ve 'ave a small clinic in ze hotel," the manager explained, "'e doesn't look injured but we must move 'im to zere to stop panic."
Ron nodded as he followed the manager towards the area where the clinic was. When he placed Theo on a bed, Draco came dashing into the clinic. "How is he? Anything bad?" Draco asked, looking at his friend.
Ron shook his head, "None that we see physically," he watched as a mediwitch started running tests on Theo. "Malfoy, I am curious about one thing."
"What is that?" Draco asked not moving his eyes away from Theo.
"That bracelet that you have, do all the members of the Hidden Six have it?"
Draco shook his head. "Theo, Cho, and myself have this specific bracelet to contact each other. We take on the more extreme cases in our group, so Potter had this made for us. Why?"
"I was thinking that they must've known where Nott was if they were able to take him undetected. It shouldn't be a coincidence that he was taken."
"You think someone in the Ministry might be working with whoever took Theo?"
Ron shrugged, "It's a theory. It might be something completely unnecessary, but it just made me think."
"I did have that thought in mind when Potter brought us in about Theo's disappearance," Draco frowned, "But his mission was confidential, only Potter, the Minister, and your father were the ones aware of what his mission entailed."
"It's just not normal for those who have been murdering rogue Death Eaters to take hostages," Ron rubbed his forehead, "the last time this ever happened was when Seamus was found in his pub rambling something. Harry knew he knew something, but something was preventing him from saying it."
"You think the same thing has been done to Theo?" Draco asked.
Ron nodded, "It is possible. Whoever we are dealing with knows what they're doing and if they know some sort of unknown magic that will prevent people from talking about their location or who they are, they're more dangerous than we expected."
Draco pondered Ron's words and agreed with him. This is something that the Ministry does not know how to handle. Whoever took Theo meant business, especially if they were confident enough to steal an auror without anyone noticing.
The mediwitch finished her scans on Theo before turning to Ron and Draco. "Nozin' out of ze ordinary in 'is scans, but 'e must rest. 'is body 'as taken quite a beatin'."
"Anything broken internally?" Draco asked.
The mediwitch shook her head, "Zere 'as been some sort of spell zat 'it 'im, but ozer zan zat I can't find vat is vrong vith 'im."
Draco nodded, "Thank you."
The mediwitch smiled at Draco. "'e will 'eal in no zime. I suggest a good night's rest 'ere in ze clinic. I assume you lot vill remain in ze hotel till 'e wakes?"
Ron and Draco nodded.
"Very vell, I vill be comin' round to see if 'e wakes, but for now, let him rest. I vill call any of you if he does."
The mediwitch shooed the two aurors out of the clinic when they heard someone calling to them. The two looked up to see Harry coming in from the entrance of the hotel. "McBright informed me that Theo has appeared," Harry said.
"He's currently in the clinic. Mediwitch needs him to rest. She'll let us know when he wakes," Draco replied.
Harry nodded, "Let's head up to the room and talk. Arthur is already having a field day back home, because someone here already leaked that Theo had been missing."
The three men headed towards the elevators and went straight up to the room Ron had set up. When they entered the room, Harry flicked his wand and casted silencing charms all over the room. He turned to the men who were waiting for him to speak and sighed. "I am relieved that Theo is back safely, but how safely, do we know?"
"The mediwitch says nothing too bad just needs rest, but she did mention traces of a spell," Draco answered.
"Do you think it is the same spell that was thrown to Seamus?" Harry asked.
"We won't know till Nott wakes up," Ron replied, "Harry, whoever they are, they're getting too confident. If we don't figure out who they are, we might have a rebellion in our hands."
Harry sighed roughly, "Kingsley and Arthur are working on that end back home. However, there has been word that Dolohov is on the move again."
"Dolohov?" Draco asked.
"Yes," Harry clenched his jaw, "At the moment, Dolohov has been number one priority, but with the Lestranges still out as well, this is going to be more difficult."
"Have any of the captured Death Eaters spoken more?"
"No. None of them want to do anything with the rogues at the moment," Harry pulled out a parchment and handed it to Draco, "I've taken some notes from the last time we had to deal with the sort of charm that was placed on Seamus."
Draco took it and examined it. "So it's a form of oblivation?"
"That's the thing. We don't know what it is," Harry frowned, "We even had Flitwick try and see if he could pinpoint what sort of charm or spell it is, but even he had a hard time with it. He suggested that it could be a new spell."
"Spell creation is a difficult line of work," Draco explained, "It takes years to perfect a spell and numerous amounts of testing. Did Finnegan turn out alright after whatever was casted on him?"
Harry shook his head. "Seamus was good for maybe two weeks before we were called to St. Mungo's. The spell sort of backfired on him. It made his sense of balance disappear."
"Did it cure?"
"Yes, but not after months of physical therapy and numerous potions. Because of the amount of potions he took, Seamus has to use crutches to get around. It has been improving though after he finally stopped taking the potions. I check on him every other month to see how he's doing."
"Do you suppose something like that will happen to Nott?" Ron asked.
"I don't think so. If Malfoy is right about the spell needing months to perfect, it's been nearly two years since Seamus was in the middle of whoever we're coming up against."
"Hopefully he comes out alright. I need my second in command," Draco frowned.
"You should contact Astoria and tell her that Theo is alright," Harry said. "Once you've done that, we have another thing to talk about."
Draco nodded before disappearing to the bedroom of the hotel room. He quickly wrote a letter to Theo's fiance and sent it out before walking back to the sitting room where the two aurors sat.
"Now, tell me about Hermione," Harry said.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Running. Running for his life. His breath coming out in puff as he doesn't stop moving. He hears them behind him. He hears the silent movement of their beings. He can't see them anywhere. He can't feel them anywhere, but he knows they are there. Rabastan Lestrange looked behind him as he ran and it was like that of his nightmares. Flying towards him were shadows. Shadows that weren't dark. No, these shadows were different colors. Blues, green, reds, and multiple different colors.
These were no ordinary shadows. These were shadows that other rogues who have gone into hiding warned him about. Rabastan didn't listen of course. He didn't believe Rodolphus when he warned his brother that these shadows were after them. He didn't believe that shadows could harm them.
They were Death Eaters for Salazar's sake. They were the Shadows of the Night. The Darkness of the Wizarding World. People feared them.
It wasn't the other way around.
He was wrong.
Very wrong.
He screamed as he was hit with a spell from behind. He tried to move but the binding spell was quick. Rabastan watched with wide eyes as the shadows transformed into people. Rabastan recognized two of the three faces. He snarled at them.
"You're supposed to be dead," he growled looking at Blaise.
Blaise smirked at the bound man and knelt down, "My father is a foul for hiring you to try and off me."
"I watched you die."
"You watched someone die," Luna spoke, "But it wasn't Blaise. No, Blaise was with me."
"Rotting your pureblood with a lunatic's crazy daughter," Rabastan spat at Blaise, "And a mudblood as well," he said looking up at Hermione who seemed uninterested in him.
Blaise growled and was about to punch him, but Luna stopped him. He sighed roughly before standing up. "My blood now runs in her body, Lestrange," Blaise put his hand on Luna's stomach, "Luna will bear my heir while you and my father will rot."
Rabastan laughed maniacally. "You think we don't know about you and your little group, Blaise?" he smirked up at the young man who pushed Luna behind him. "We may not know your locations, but we know of who you are and what you do. You move quietly while we move loudly. Soon our plans will come into fruition and even your band of vigilantes won't have the power to stop us."
Hermione flicked her wand and Rabastan was floating in front of them. She looked him dead in the eye and flicked her wand once more. Rabastan screamed in agony. He felt like something was being ripped from his body. The pain immediately stopped and he was breathing harshly. When his focus came back, he noticed something white floating in front of him. He watched as the mudblood flicked her wand and the white mist moved into a jar in her other hand.
"What… what did you do to me?" Rabastan growled.
"Confirmation that you will be rid of this world, Lestrange," Hermione said in a monotone voice. "Rabastan Lestrange, you are guilty of the crimes of the Second Wizarding War and by the shadows of the Brotherhood, you have been sentenced to death."
"You will all pay. Every last one of you. The Wizarding World is no longer safe thanks to you!" Rabastan yelled just as Blaise casted the killing curse.
When Lestrange was immobile, Hermione flicked her wand and the binds were released. She made sure that his body did not drop. She laid him on the leaves. Luna laid his mask on his body and with her wand marked a green 'X' on it.
"Do you feel better now that you've killed the man that should've killed you?" Hermione asked Blaise.
"I should feel better, but I don't," Blaise frowned, "Not until I know that the man who gave the order is dead as well."
"Do you think he was right?" Luna looked at the two, "Do you think that the rogue Death Eaters are preparing to face us?"
Hermione shrugged, "Even if they were preparing, we will be ready. Let's not let Theo's words get to us. Time to head back to headquarters and confirm Lestrange's death."
Blaise nodded. He flicked his wand up into the air and a red light flared into the sky. "The aurors in the vicinity will be alerted to this. Any message you wanna leave, Hermione?"
"Yes," Hermione flicked her wand, "Just one," she said as she laid a piece of parchment on Rabastan's body.
Once that was done, the three left in silent pops just as the loud pops of aurors apparting sounded around them.
Xxxxxxxxx
Theo woke up in a soft bed, but somewhere he was unaware of. He started freaking out before he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Draco staring at him. Theo relaxed into the bed when he knew it was really Draco.
"How long have I been asleep?" Theo asked.
"Three days," Draco responded, "The mediwitch had to give you a strong sleeping potion, because you were waking up screaming."
Theo frowned. He didn't remember any of his dreams. Let alone nightmares.
"Theo," Draco frowned, "You have to tell me what happened. How did you end up being imprisoned and what did you mean that Granger was alive?"
"Because she's not," Theo's eyes went wide. He meant to say she was, but his mouth spoke otherwise. "I am telling you right now, Draco. Hermione Granger is the brightest witch of her age," he spoke. Theo was getting annoyed.
"Yes I am aware that she is the brightest witch of our age, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"She and Blaise have no sort of connection to each other and have never met each other other than in Hogwarts," Theo spoke. No that is not what I wanted to say, he said in his mind.
"You're not making any sense Theo."
Theo growled before getting up from his bed. Even though his head was dizzy, Theo walked towards the mediwitch's desk to take out a parchment and a quill. He started writing.
Hermione Granger is part of a group called the Shadow Killers.
He gave the note to Draco who furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you sure this is what you wanted to write, Theo?" Draco asked.
Theo snatched the paper from Draco and his eyes went wide with shock.
I am bored out of my mind and can't stay in this bed any longer
"I didn't want to bloody write this. What the fuck is going on?!" Theo screamed.
Draco sighed just as Harry came into the clinic. "You were right, Potter."
"Harry was right about what?" Theo asked confused.
"A spell has been casted on you to prevent you from telling us anything. We're going to try a few attempts and see if anything works to help you get the word out, okay?" Harry said.
Theo nodded.
The tests ranged from using charades, using sign language, a different language, even using his bracelet once more, but none came out with what Theo was truly trying to say.
"Argh! This is bloody ridiculous!" Theo screamed.
"We can always try Legilimency," Draco offered, "Maybe they wouldn't have boggled his mind with that charm. Hell we can even try a pensieve."
"At this time, I will try anything," Harry said.
Suddenly a toucan patronus appeared in front of them.
Rabastan Lestrange found dead. A forest near Okinawa. A note has been left for Potter.
The patronus disappeared and everyone in the room was silent.
"Japan, what the bloody hell was Lestrange doing in Japan?" Draco asked.
"The rogues have been spotted all over the world, Malfoy," Harry frowned as he sent back another patronus to have them bring the letter to Romania, "Japan has been the farthest out of everyone. That means they're on the move again."
"How are we going to deal with them if we don't even know who they are?" Theo frowned, "I am completely useless at the moment, so I just can't wrap my head around the whole thing."
"Malfoy, I need you to try Legilimency or his memories. I have to head to the Romanian Ministry. I need to send word to Kingsley immediately."
Draco nodded as Harry apparated away from them. He turned to Theo who looked like he was so defeated. It has been hard on him not knowing what he was trying to say.
"Are you ready, Theo?" Draco asked, taking his wand out.
"Ready as I'll ever be, mate."
Draco nodded before pointing his wand to Theo. "Legilimens," he said. He felt the sensation of going into Theo's mind, but once he got to the moment Theo made it into the room in Romania, Draco was pushed out of Theo's mind completely.
He was breathing roughly as he sank to his knees. Theo stood up and rushed towards Draco. "Draco, are you okay?" he asked.
"Whoever did that spell on you really didn't want to be found," Draco said while catching his breath. "I couldn't even get passed after you had arrived here."
Theo frowned, "Do you think my memories will help?"
Draco shook his head. "If Legilimency won't work, I highly doubt that even using a pensieve would work."
"I feel so fucking useless," Theo sat on the bed, "I know what I need to say, but I can't say them. Of course something like this would happen to me. I let my guard down."
"Hey," Draco looked at his friend, "You weren't aware of the situation you were going to get into. This could've happened to any of us. We'll figure it out. It is our job to figure out the unknown."
Theo reluctantly agreed. Draco stood up and sat with his friend. "There's something that is about to go down, Draco. I can feel it and I know you can feel it too."
Draco frowned and nodded. The past few days, he felt it in his bones that they were missing the bigger picture in all of this. He knew that there was something that was brewing up. What it was going to be was anybody's guess.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Somewhere in England
"I am getting impatient, Dolohov," Rodolphus growled as he paced up and down the hideout they were currently at, "I should've heard word from Rabastan by now."
"Your brother is dead," a new voice spoke.
Rodolphus and Antonin looked at the new arrival. "Albert Runcorn, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Dolohov said with a smirk.
"Just here to send the daily updates of course," Runcorn smirked, "There has been confirmation that Rabastan was killed near Okinawa. The Minister has been having fits since he found the news by Weasley."
"I am going to kill them. Every last one of them," Rodolphus growled.
"Patience, Rodolphus," Antonin laughed, "We will have our fun. For now, Runcorn, send out the notices. It's time for us to move."
Runcorn nodded before disappearing with a pop. Dolohov stood from where he was sitting and walked towards a big tree tapestry. "We'll rid the world of those pesky shadow killers," he spoke, "For now, it's time to wreak havoc once again in Wizarding England."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Harry and Ron didn't arrive back to the hotel until later that night. Theo and Draco were in the room looking through notes when they looked up to see that Harry and Ron weren't alone.
"Cho?" Theo asked as they saw their other teammate. "What are you doing here?"
"I've called Cho over, because she sent a patronus to me about what she found in France," Harry said as everyone got settled.
"Please tell me you found something useful," Theo said.
Cho nodded, "Useful, but concerning," she said with a frown.
"How concerning?"
"There's a traitor amongst the six," Harry explained, "We don't know who it is, but we know that it is specifically the Hidden Six."
"How certain are you?" Draco asked.
Cho pulled out something from her cloak. Draco and Theo noticed the item immediately. It was one of their snitches.
"Whoever left this in Paris must've thought that we weren't going to think about going there," Cho explained, "I scanned it for any prints, but no luck. I tried to track all our snitches, but from what I know, everyone who's meant to have one actually still has theirs."
"Who is meant to have a snitch?" Harry asked.
"Myself, Draco, and Marcus."
"Why just the three?" Ron asked.
"Because those three were the only ones actively working during the months of the snitches' completion. Tracey said that I was due to get my snitch last week, but I was pulled into the case that got me into this mess before she could give it to me."
"Are you aware of how many snitches are supposed to be made for the six?" Harry asked.
Cho nodded, "Tracey made me do inventory. There should be a total of fifty silver snitches prepared just in case one malfunctions," she answered, "I've sent word to the Department of Mysteries and they said that all snitches were accounted for."
Draco took the snitch from Cho and looked over it. It definitely was one of their designs, because it had Tracey's signature on it. He tapped it and the wings flapped up. He opened his book and waited, but nothing came out of the snitch.
"If there is a traitor among the six, we have to work cautiously," Harry spoke, "We can not let them know that we are aware of them."
"Where are the other three anyways?" Theo asked even though there was a feeling in his gut that he knew something about this, but he just couldn't remember it.
"Marcus is currently doing some lightwork by patrolling North England with some aurors due a possible sighting of Martino Zabini. Justin is currently in America at the request of MACUSA due to a possible sighting of Corban Yaxley. As for Tracey, she was sent to Scotland due to a possible sighting of Rookwood," Harry answered.
"How are we going to weed out the traitor?" Theo asked.
"Leave it to me," Draco looked at Cho who nodded in agreement, "Cho and I are the ones that no one can read amongst the six of us, so we will work in secret to figure out who is the traitor."
"We'll be leaving back to England in a few hours. Kingsley has set a portkey for us at the Romanian Ministry. Malfoy and Cho, until we figure out who is the traitor amongst our ranks, you two will not be working in your office. Is there a place where either one of you feel safe to do your job without anyone noticing?"
"One of my safehouses will do," Draco answered, "The wards are set so that only I can give permission to anyone who I want to come in."
Cho nodded, "We can work with that."
Harry nodded. "Very well. We'll head back home and continue our hunt for the rogues."
Arthur's weasel patronus appeared with a grave message.
Diagon Alley destroyed. Multiple casualties. The Dark Mark has been casted. All aurors must return.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you guys enjoyed this latest update. Life is still a bit crazy, but I think I have a stable updating schedule I'll be able to stick to. If you guys like to know the temporary update schedule, head on over to my tumblr; fanficsbykae . tumblr . com
NOW TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS (Remember, on every new chapter, I will be answering questions that you leave on the reviews of the previous chapter. So if you have any questions, put them in along with your reviews)
SPUR BOY: I really like where the story is going and I know that to make it believable characters should not be infallible which is why I'm hoping that Draco is NOT smarter than Hermione. If Tracy is one of the assassins, shouldn't she know about the bracelet link between Theo and Draco? I hope that both characters can justify their sides approach to justice. Obviously, the aurors' approach is the common one so I'm really, really interested in how Hermione justifies the frontier justice the assassins engage in. I hope that she has not been brain-washed or something like that. Loved the surprise of Tracy being a double agent. Thanks for sharing.
- AUTHOR: I hope this chapter answered your question, but to further answer it. Only three people were allowed to have that bracelet. Because only three were allowed, the other members were not made aware of its actual uses. The other members think the bracelets have just protection charms on them due to the dangerous missions Cho, Draco, and Theo are sent out on. I am glad that you enjoy the idea of a double agent. In my eyes, double agents are very interesting characters and I look forward to give you more of it.