Chapter 13

Arriving at Harry Potter's place was almost exactly as Daphne had always imagined it would be. The decor was Gryffindor Red, and there were Quidditch posters and memorabilia hung up on the walls, while pictures of his friends, and Godson covered the rest. The furniture seemed high quality, and she detected a woman's touch in the decorations of the large flat.

Hermione and Susan both drew their wands making Daphne stomach clench a little drawing hers as well. She was starting to think she was in over her head. She placed herself in what could be an actively dangerous situation all to ensure Harry would have proper medical treatment IF he was hurt. The fact that Susan and Hermione had allowed the healer to come with them was a testament in itself to the danger they believed that could be in front of them. Knowing she was in the presence of perhaps the two most powerful witches in Britain eased her mind a bit though as she watched them work.

The two ladies waved their wands casting a few charms that seemed to lead to no result. Susan frowned, but then cried out, "Harry are you here?"

Hermione shook her head, "Nothing with any of my detection charms, but Harry doesn't always show up on my usual detectors. We are going to have to take a look around."

Susan and Hermione immediately went in opposite directions towards the two different bedrooms leaving Daphne standing in the living room alone. She could feel the tension rolling off the other two witches. Clearly they thought something was wrong. As Daphne looked around she noticed a few frames had Daily Prophets in them. One of which came from May 3rd, 1998, and it showed Harry surrounded by people from the Battle of Hogwarts standing triumphantly over the Dark Lord. The next two were more recent. One when he was promoted to head auror, and the other came from just over a month ago when he was promoted to the head of DMLE.

As she walked closer to inspect the frames she noticed a small brown parcel sitting on a nearby bar table, it read Captain Bones, and Daphne's insides clenched hard as she picked it up calling out, "Susan!"

The red headed witch bound out of the nearby bedroom with her wand raised as if she was anticipating a fight, but instead she looked at Daphne in concern when the blonde showed her the parcel, "This has your name on it. It's unopened."

Susan looked confused, "Harry left me a note maybe?"

As she took the parcel in her hand her face crinkled, "This is not his hand writing, and even if it was he never calls me Captain Bones unless it's a joke."

She carefully sat the envelope back on the table and waved her hand over it a few times with her eyes closed. Whatever spells she cast it was clear she did not like the results, "Hermione!" The brown haired witch came out of the other room immediately looking the same amount of battle ready that Susan was before, and she asked, "Did Harry leave a note?"

Susan shook her head, "There appears to be some type of muggle recorder in the package. Has he ever left you a message like this? Maybe even during the war?"

Hermione eyed the package clearly running through her memory, "Not to my memory or knowledge. If it's just a recorder it's not dangerous, let's open it."

Susan nodded as she slid her wand across the top and dumped the contents. A small black device came falling out, and Susan picked it up reading the sticky note on the front out loud, "Play me."

A cold feeling settled in Daphne's stomach as the three witches stared at the device. When Susan hit play a sinister voice emitted, "Hello Captain Bones. I want to play a game. You have been a part of a team that relentlessly hunts down those of pure blood, and murders them like animals just because they are willing to fight for a belief system you do not agree with. The people of this country will stand for it no longer."

Hermione paled as the voice talked, and Susan was devoid of any emotion as it continued, "Like in any game there are rules, and unlike the laws of our lands that your aurors have continuously ignored there will be a price if you do not follow them. It is not quite time for your game, but you will play a part in the very first. Listen carefully for if you wish to win you will always have to keep your strongest players readily available. So ask yourself this Captain...When was the last time you saw Harry Potter...Let the games begin."

Daphne's insides were frozen. The voice was so full of hatred that it stunned the group. Precious seconds passed by before Susan said, "Hermione assemble the team. Now! I don't care whose day off it is, and I don't care what excuses they come up with. We need to get to the Minister and inform him of what is happening immediately."

Hermione nodded as she flicked her wand out whispering, "Expecto Patronum."

A silver otter began to take form immediately, and Hermione started rapidly talking in some sort of code, and the otter took off. In this time Susan never took her eyes off the recorder. After only a moment longer her wand was in her hand, and she began quickly waving it around while Hermione and Daphne watched her in silence as if they were awaiting their orders. That was ridiculous of course because Daphne was no auror, but at the same time she wanted to help her friend if she could.

Susan spoke after two possibly even three minutes passed, "The wards are untouched. Somehow someone slipped by some of the best wards in England, and didn't even leave a trace. The recorder left nothing either. This is seriously dark magic we are dealing with."

Hermione spoke next, "We need to secure the Minister Susan."

Susan nodded, turning to Daphne, "Go to Hannah, and Tracey. Tell them what we learned, and stay at my place. We will come to you all to let you know it's safe or give an update on Harry's wearabouts. Right now I fear our wards may be powerless against whatever we are facing. I can't force you to stay, but also know I wouldn't ask if I thought you were completely safe going home. The probe on your home, and now this has to be connected."

"What about Harry?" Daphne asked with obvious concern.

Susan and Hermione both flinched at his name, but Hermione said, "This could all be a trap. Harry has only been gone for a few hours. This may all just be a setup to make us do something stupid. We will make plans at the Ministry, and then inform everyone else of what's going on."

Suddenly a small dog patronus came bounding into the room, and Ron Weasley's voice echoed out of it, "Amanda was under the Imperius Curse. We tracked her back to her home, and she hasn't seen Harry in hours. Myself and Neville will be securing the Minister."

Susan nodded her head, "Daphne go back to my place. Now!"

With that she and Hermione both disapparated, and after one last look around the apartment she followed the Head Aurors orders, and returned to Susan's apartment.

Catching up Tracey and Hannah had been a task. Hannah's face was extremely pale by the time she finished telling her story saying, "Harry's wards are incredibly powerful. The fact that someone breached them undetected and left this package for Susan, and had the foresight that she would be the one to go looking for him is scary as hell."

Tracey asked, "You said the voice was distorted? Is there any way to reverse that?"

Daphne shook her head, "I wouldn't think so. Casting any magic on the device would probably make it short circuit. The only reason what he did worked was because he used the charm on himself while he recorded the message."

Hannah put her hands on her head, "None of us are safe behind the wards. I can see why Susan sent you back her Daphne. If someone has figured out a way to get past Harry and Susan's configurations then we are all in jeopardy."

An hour passed, and then another while the girls all seemingly stared at the clock waiting for news. It was almost midnight when Susan arrived, and all the girls were surprised to see Harry in tow with her looking perfectly fine. Hannah was the first to shoot forward and embrace the man, "Thank Merlin Harry."

The man's arms went around the girl, and Daphne along with Tracey were at his side afterwards. Neither tried to hug the man, but both were very relieved he was okay. Neville stepped through the fire next, "Come on Potter get your own woman to hug."

Hannah coloured deeply at his words as they separated he said, "Calm yourself Longbottom, I'm not trying to steal your woman... Yet."

This was said with a wink towards Hannah, and Neville rolled his eyes, while Harry turned towards the others, "Sorry for keeping you ladies on the wire for so long. It has been a very busy evening. I trust Daphne has told you all of the message she found in my flat."

The girls all nodded and he sighed, "I ask all of you to keep what you learn tonight to yourselves. If this information leaks out I will have no choice but to have you arrested for tampering with an ongoing investigation."

Daphne was the first to ask, "Where were you?"

The man smiled at her but it looked forced, "I was at the Ministry in the Minister's Office."

The girls all looked shocked at his answer, while Susan pulled out some glasses pouring them all drinks, "Get comfortable ladies this is a hell of a story."

Harry glanced at his watch counting the minutes till he would be able to leave the for the day and take his Godson, and friends out to a Quidditch match for the evening. He had been looking forward to the event all week, and was getting ready to close down shop when Amanda peaked her head into his office. The eighteen year old recently graduated Hogwarts student gave him a light smile, "Hey Boss, sorry to disturb you as I know you are trying to leave but Minister Shacklebolt has requested you in his office. Said it was absolutely urgent."

Harry stood up sighing, while Amanda said, "Sorry Boss. Would you like me to give Andromeda a call?"

The man adjusted his robes smartly and nodded as he walked towards the door, "The tickets are in my desk, just go ahead and pass them over to her, and tell them that I will meet them at the game."

"I'll do it. Am I good to go after that?" Amanda asked cheerfully.

The man nodded with a smile, "Go enjoy your weekend. I will see you Monday morning."

"Cheers sir. Have a good weekend." Amanda called out to him.

Walking out of the auror department he bumped into a plain looking man who had a good sized scratch on his face. He was wearing a dark green set of robes, and was about the size of the Head of the DMLE himself. Harry immediately apologized, "Sorry their friend, I didn't see you there."

The man looked startled to be seen by the man, but his blue eyes were expressionless after only a moment. The action was so obviously trying to hide emotion Harry almost drew his wand in his suspicion, "No problems Mr. Potter. Have a good evening."

Harry frowned as the man walked away from him not recognizing him in the slightest but shook his head. Savage would straighten the man out if he was trying to file a report. Harry walked with great haste across the Ministry, and took two elevators to get to Kingsley's Office, and when he arrived Mr. Weasley greeted him, "Hello Harry. Terribly sorry to pull you away, but Kingsley didn't even tell me what was going on. He is waiting in his office."

Harry nodded, giving the man a smile, "It's alright Mr. Weasley, but you get to call Ron if this meeting runs too long."

This made the man chuckle, and Harry walked in after a single knock on the Minister's door. He heard the deep voice of Kingsley bading him entrance, and when he entered he knew something was wrong by the look on the man's face. Harry took a seat immediately, "What is it Kingsley?"

The man held up a brown parcel looking quite disturbed, "I found this in my desk."

He tossed it forward making Harry frown as he leaned over with his wand in hand checking it for any spells. When nothing came up he picked it up and turned it over. In black sharpie was the name 'Minister Shacklebolt'.

Harry already had his first question, "How did this get in here? Who delivered it? What did they look like?"

Kingsley shook his head, "Arthur has been at his desk all day. Even took a working lunch because we both wanted to get out of here on time. When I left for lunch I am almost certain it was not here though, and when I came back there was an orange tab on my top drawer. When I opened it I found this envelope about twenty minutes ago."

"Is it possible it was here before that?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

"No, I don't think so. The orange tab stood out, and I don't believe I would've missed it all day." The large man insisted.

Harry nodded, trusting the man's instincts. He was an auror for a long time, and Harry knew for a fact no one would be able to slip something like this into his desk without him noticing within a few hours, "First guess is some type of invisibility cloak. Arthur can't be staring at your door at all times. It is possible the person slipped in and out undetected and used silencing charms on your door."

Kingsley shrugged, "Let's see what's in the package before we go any further. For all we know it could be a love letter."

"Forever the optimist Shack." Harry said as he swiped the envelope open with his hand, and dumped the contents on the desk. Immediately the head of the DMLE made a sigh of relief. He was certain he had seen movies where people placed muggle explosive devices in small envelopes just like this, but instead a single tape recorder fell out with a small sticky note that said 'play me'.

Harry raised his eyebrows, and neither man said anything when Harry hit the play button, "Hello Minister Shacklebolt. I want to play a game. You have allowed people in your administration to murder, and ruin lives of our nations oldest families without consequence. You justified lethal force against a people that were only fighting for what they believed in. This is something the people of our country will no longer stand for. Here is my first demand. Revoke the aurors right to use lethal force, or I will send you the head of a comrade every twenty four hours until there is nothing left of the Ministry. If you think this is a bluff then perhaps you should check on Captain Finnegan. Will your aurors live or die? The choice is yours. Let the games begin."

When the tape ended Harry stared at the device with a cold look of fury on his face. Kingsley looked incredibly wary, and before either could say a word Harry flicked his wand out and a massive stag appeared, "Seamus I need you to report to the Minister's Office immediately. No delays, no exceptions. Trust me this is incredibly important."

With that the stag took off, and Harry stared at the tape for a few moments longer until he picked up and replayed the message. This time when it finished Kingsley spoke, "What is our first response?"

Harry shook his head, "Nothing until Seamus arrives."

The two sat in silence for a better part of an hour until Ron and Neville burst into the door, "Minister we need to get you- Harry!"

Harry shot to his feet, "What is it?"

Ron spoke and he looked furious, "Where the hell have you been?"

The Man was stunned at his best friend's fury, "Ron I have been here for almost two hours. I told Amanda to get you a message that I would be late."

Neville looked grim at this, "Amanda was under the Imperius Curse when we arrived to check on things. There were no signs of you. We actually had to track her back to her home. Susan called for all hands on deck, because they believed you had been abducted."

This made the head of DMLE look bewildered, "Why in Merlin's name did they think that?"

Ron shook his head, "They went to your apartment and found a recorder, and-"

"Did it look like this?" Kingsley asked, holding up the small device.

Neville shrugged, "It fits the description that Susan gave us, but we haven't seen it in person yet."

"Has Seamus arrived yet?" Harry asked warily.

Both men shook their heads, but Ron held up his galleon, "Susan's message went out to all of us though. We came immediately and she had standing orders for us when we arrived."

Harry frowned at this, "You two need to listen to this message, and then stay with Kingsley. I am going to go gather up a team and find Seamus."

When Harry finished his story he looked tired. Silence followed, but then Tracey asked, "So you found Seamus?"

Susan shook her head, "We went to his house, and his favorite bars we have seen him at, but he has seemingly vanished without a trace. We have tried to track him, but I've got less than nothing right now. In the morning we will put out an APB, but until then we can't really do anything. For all we know he is at some woman's house, and he will turn up tomorrow to be cursed by me for not answering my call to arms."

Daphne asked the next question, "Will Kingsley really take away the Aurors' right to lethal force?"

Harry shook his head, "I don't know. I think a lot of that depends on the condition that Seamus turns up in. If this is all a big trick, which I am seriously doubting then of course not, but if they make good on their promise then...I am glad I am not Minister of Magic."

"Any idea how they got through your wards Harry?" Hannah asked quietly.

Harry sipped at his drink taking a deep breath, "A magical object is my best guess. If this person or these people were using dark magic we would've detected something somewhere, but at every scene there hasn't even been a trace."

"You think someone has a skeleton key or something along those lines?" Daphne asked skeptically.

Harry shook his head, "I don't know about that, but I know certain families possess certain magical objects capable of bypassing wards, doors, anything and everything. My own family possesses such an item, and I have already ensured that it is where I left it, so we can certainly remove that from the suspect list. Another guess I have is blood magic. I certainly spilled enough of it during the War that if anyone had gotten a hold of any and stored it then perhaps they discovered a way to pass through my magic."

"Do you have any suspects?" Tracey asked with clear concern in her voice.

This made the man shrug, "I have ideas, but each of them are less likely than the next. Of course the prime suspect would be Daphne here."

Almost everyone looked surprised at this accusation when Harry turned to face the blonde haired woman whose eyes were wide when he asked, "Daphne I must ask if the Greengrass family possesses such an item as we previously discussed."

The woman swallowed hard, "Not to my knowledge."

"And how was it that you noticed the envelope that had Susan's name on it?" He inquired shortly.

Susan immediately protested, "Now Harry wait a damn minute. Daphne was with us the whole night, and there is no way-"

Neville immediately put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head, silencing her. Harry never even took his eyes off Daphne though as he spoke to Susan, "You said she found the parcel when you and Hermione were searching my apartment. Neither of you actually saw the envelope before she had it right?" Harry said easily.

Daphne frowned at this anger surging through her, "This is the brilliant idea that the head of the DMLE is coming up with? The witch who saved his life has decided to start a little game with the people he cares about? If that were true why the hell would I start with Seamus?"

Harry stepped towards the woman with no emotion edged into his face, "It all just seems suspicious. Why go to my apartment with Hermione, and Susan? It could've been an ambush, yet you walked into it like you knew it wasn't."

Daphne could barely breathe as she took a step back, "I was worried you might have been hurt."

"Why? I could've simply fallen asleep on my couch. The only reason to think there was danger at this time was because you knew something everyone else didn't. Was that your whole goal coming into this group? Trying to figure out how to hurt me?" Harry shot back.

"I-I-I thought we were becoming friends, and all the nice things you have said to me, and you helped me protect my home. I thought I was doing the right thing as your friend."

"The right thing by getting into my apartment to leave the recorder for Susan to find." Harry said accusingly, and the woman recoiled at his accusation.

"Where were you earlier this afternoon?" Harry asked calmly, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I was at home sleeping after shift." Daphne said clearly off balance

"Can anyone confirm that?" Harry asked sharply.

A moment passed, "No of course not, you know I live alone." And then finally realization crossed her face, "Wait, yes! My sister floo called me, and I was home to take the call."

A moment passed and Harry let out a sigh of relief, "Thank Merlin."

Before Harry could say anything else he brought the girl into a hug that she stiffened into not understanding what was going on. Harry spoke softly, "I'm incredibly sorry about all that. If and when this goes to court, and all the details get brought out they would've thrown you to the wolves with enough suspicious circumstances that some idiots might've tried to convict you."

Susan groaned, "You complete ass Harry Potter! I am going to curse you into the next year so help me God."

The red headed witch nailed the boy in his arm as Daphne all but fell over with relief into him, "You didn't really think it was me?"

The man gave her a slight apologetic grin, "Of course not, but I also had to be sure. I could feel it in your aura that you were worried we thought you might have been involved in this, but I had to push you to be sure. Now I can protect you if anyone comes after you legally on this. From an outsider's perspective it would look fishy."

Tracey shook, "Why aren't you questioning me like that then?"

Harry gave the girl a straight faced look, "Simple you arrived here much earlier than Daphne did, and you were at gladrags earlier during the time Kingsley went to lunch. You also never set foot in my apartment so that clears you from even possibly planting either of the tapes. It is also unlikely someone of your descent would have access to an item that could possibly do what this one might. Nor have you displayed an aptitude for blood magic. Something I would've noticed in your magical signature."

Tracey's mouth opened and closed several times as she seemed to realize the head of magical law enforcement had taken no shortcuts, and made sure he could clear his newest friends of any suspicion. He had even gone as far to figure out Tracey's whereabouts throughout the day and made it clear he was taking this threat very seriously.

"Daphne's disadvantage was that she gets off later than you, and obviously would say she had been sleeping. That isn't a very iron tight case if it were presented in court, but if her sister called her, and she answered then it would show up with little effort on our part IF we had to prove it. Also her being from an older family that was a part of the darker factions a few generations back made it possible that a family from the Sacred 28 just might have access to an item to make these things possible." Harry said carefully.

Harry clapped his hands, "But that is quite enough of all the finger pointing. I would very much like it if everyone accompanied us for the evening to Potter Manor. Even if it is only for one night at least we would know everyone is safe. Until Seamus turns up or not tomorrow we have no idea if this threat is anything beyond a crazy prank, but if they can sneak into the Minister's Office, and my apartment then we have to assume they can get through any of our wards, which makes me say lets take our strength in numbers. Even if they made it past the wards at Potter Manor they would also have to slip past all the house elves, and then manage to get after one of us quietly enough that the rest of us wouldn't hear it. Impossible I say."

Harry's eyes went to Daphne, "It goes doubly for you Daphne. Your place may have already been surveillanced. If this is the same person targeting people as a part of the cause then you saving my life and hanging out with us every weekend make you one of us. One night in the safety of Potter Manor is a small price to pay for all of our peace of minds."

A few moments passed of silence until Daphne nodded her head, "Very well. But I will need to get a few things from my flat."

Harry nodded easily, "Simple enough I will go with you. Susan take Tracey to hers, and then lets all meet at Potter Manor in fifteen minutes. If you are not there by then we will sound the alarm."

Susan nodded, throwing an arm around Tracey, "Come on girl let's go get your stuff."

The two disapparated easily, and Harry turned to Neville, "You two grab a few things and meet us there. Ron and Hermione should already be there with Andromeda and Teddy. Heavens knows I am going to have to make it up to the kid. He was really looking forward to tonight."

Neville nodded quickly as the two shuffled towards the corner room. Harry turned back to Daphne as the two were alone, "Sorry to spring all this on you. Seems like this has all been a pretty poor way of repaying you for saving my life."

Daphne's blue eyes met Harry's green, and she could see the remorse in them, "It seems like you are doing all you can to keep us all safe. I should be thanking you."

Harry gave her a small more genuine smile, "Don't thank me yet. I have a feeling this isn't over. Shall we?"

As he offered his arm she nodded, reaching out taking it, and felt the pull on her naval as they both disapparated.

(A/N) The game has begun. Welcome to the latest installment of the Survivors, as we are starting to see our conflict arise. The MAIN villian is not an OC, but most of his minions are, so be prepared to meet some new faces, as our group begins to unwind the mystery of where Seamus has run off too. Until next week! Cheers.

To answer reviewers:

A lot of people were talking about how long this story went on before a real conflict started showing up, but I really wanted to see some serious character development before a rising action. I get tired of reading stories where the whole plot of a 200k story is in the first 3 chapters. This is going to come and go with serious conflicts, and I ask that you guys just hang in there. I have been doing this a long time, and I promise there is a good story behind all this fun I've been having writing about these post time war celebrities.

Someone also said something about this becoming a Susan/Daphne story, and that's ridiculous. Susan is not a lesbian nor will she become one, that is just her character being playful and fun.

This chapter is Beta Approved by my man JamesMarx, shoutout to him for helping bringing this chapter up to standard.

That's all for today guys, and I will see you next Wednesday.