Disclaimers: I don't own anything that has to do with Harry Potter, except for some copies of the book, but those don't really count. I also don't own the song "Wherever You Will Go". None of this is mine. Comprenez-vous? So don't sue me.
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One year after Ron's disappearance
Harry put down his toothbrush and walked down the hall to his room. He pulled the covers back and got into bed – he was bone-tired. He rolled over to flip the bedside lamp off, but paused as he saw the picture that sat beside it.
'It's been a full year already..' he realized, lying back and watching the picture. It was of him, Hermione and Ron, right after they had gotten the apartment. They were all sporting huge smiles, and as he watched, the Harry in the photo leaned down and picked up a shrieking photo-Hermione. Photo- Harry and Ron held her on their shoulders, grinning, as she admonished them to let her down at once. Harry smiled wistfully. He traced the outline of Ron, who grinned at the camera, waving as he held Hermione up.
Ron had been the first one to reach out to Harry; his first real friend. He had meant everything to the Boy Who Lived, But Didn't Know A Thing About The Wizarding World. Harry watched the happy trio in the picture, watching as Hermione chased Harry and Ron around for lifting her up. He closed his eyes, trying to keep the tears from coming. It didn't work, and he sobbed himself to sleep.
In the next room, Hermione bit her lip, knowing that her best friend was in incredible pain, and felt helpless.
She was in her office by eight o'clock the following morning, checking her mail for new reports and any urgent letters. She sorted the surveillance reports out of the pile, and set them aside to look through when she had finished with the urgent business. There was none, so she turned to the reports.
One of the first things she had done after becoming the Minister of Magic was to institute a surveillance system that searched England for any Death Eaters that might have escaped. Many Aurors felt that the Death Eaters would run and hide as they had done so many years before. However, most of the prominent, inner-circle Death Eaters had been captured, with the help of Draco Malfoy, who had acted as a double agent. Teams of two witches or wizards were constantly making their way through Great Britain, investigating anything that seemed to be slightly abnormal.
Most of the reports were the usual, with no new discoveries made. Death Eaters were very rarely found, as most of them had been caught, so Hermione wasn't expecting any major findings. However, she did read with more interest a report from two wizards in a town in northern England. They had gone up there after reading a story in a Muggle newspaper about a dozen bodies, found over the past four months or so, who had exhibited no symptoms of anything that could have killed them. Suspecting Death Eaters, the wizards had done a second search of the town, and had isolated three men that, they reported, had exhibited suspicious and Death Eater-like behaviour. Hermione suppressed a giggle at the phrase "suspicious and Death Eater-like behaviour". Putting on a straight face again, she continued reading, and by the time she was done, she had decided to send a team of Aurors to investigate further.
Turning in her chair, she pulled some paper and a quill out from a drawer behind her. Hastily scribbling three notes, she hurried to owl them to three of the best Aurors in the Ministry. After sending them off, she sat back in her chair, waiting.
Harry arrived five minutes later, and knocked on her office door. Poking his head around it, he gave Hermione a slight smile, and walked in. "Hey, Herm. What's so urgent?"
Hermione indicated that he should sit in the chair in front of her desk, and handed him the report. He sat, and began reading. Hermione explained the case in a nutshell, and expressed suspicions that there may be more than three Death Eaters up there, and that they should proceed with caution.
Harry finished reading and looked up. "We'll be careful. Capture or kill?"
Hermione thought that over quickly. "Capture if you can, kill if you have to."
Harry nodded grimly, and put the report on Hermione's desk. At that moment, a soft knock came on the door.
"Come in," Hermione said, with a good idea of who it was. Neville Longbottom slipped in, closing the door behind him. He looked at Harry, and mumbled a hello. Harry nodded to him in acknowledgment. Neville had worked hard during his last years at Hogwarts, and was one of the best Aurors the Ministry had, partly because of his parents. Hermione smiled at him, and explained the situation as she had with Harry. Neville nodded and sat down to wait for the third Auror.
After ten minutes, a short black-haired man walked into the office. Hermione didn't need to introduce Edward MacRae to Harry, since they had already worked together, but Neville had never met him. She performed an introduction and explained, for the third time, the report. They conferred briefly, and Disapparated. Harry waved to Hermione before vanishing with the other two.
They reappeared in a thick forest, and Neville very nearly Apparated on top of a tree. Muttering a brief spell to point him in the direction of the town, Harry watched as his wand spun around on his fingertip and pointed north-west. MacRae watched as it slowed and stopped, and began to walk in the direction that the wand pointed. Harry pocketed his wand and followed, with Neville close behind.
Before they exited the forest, they changed their clothes to blend in with the Muggles. Harry cast an illusion on his scar to make it appear as smooth skin, and stepped out of the forest, looking around. MacRae and Neville followed immediately, walking across a field toward a town that they could see not far off.
When they reached it, it was nearly deserted. A lone police officer patrolled the streets, and a young girl hurried by with a bag of vegetables. Harry glanced around, puzzled, and finally asked the policeman where the town was.
"Inside. Scared of bein' murdered," came the answer.
Harry nodded mutely. He exchanged a glance with his fellow Aurors, and they split up to search for any evidence. Neville headed south, Harry headed north, and MacRae headed into a nearby tavern, supposedly to "get information from the drunks there".
The town was pretty, but without any sign of human life apart from the occasional child's eyes that could be seen peering through curtains, it was fairly boring. Harry strode down the street, using the spotting skills that it had taken to be a Seeker to look for evidence. His gaze flicked over houses, and for a moment, he slipped into an alleyway to study the file photographs of the suspected Death Eaters. He memorized their features, put away the photo, and cast an invisibility spell on himself. Stepping out of the alley, he continued down the street.