Harry, and Hermione stood across from each other in Moaning Myrtle's
washroom. The Polyjuice Potion was finished, and both of them had a hair
from the person they wanted to change into. Harry's was Dean and Hermione's
was Hannah Abbott. Seamus stood in front of the window, his hands folded
behind his back, is face a mask of contentment. He walked over to where
Harry and Hermione stood. He lifted a glass of something and raised it
towards Harry and Hermione. He smiled slightly. "Bottoms up."
~*~
The three of them walked out onto the grounds, waving at Professor McGonagall as they walked out the door. "Finnegan! What are you up to?" She barked.
"Heading into the Forbidden forest with Harry and Hermione, who are disguised as Hannah and Dean. We're searching for the Dark Lord, and then we're going to kill him, with the aid of a wanted murderer."
"Don't give me lip Finnegan, or you'll have detention until you graduate." She paused. "And with the way your marks look, I might die before that happens."
Seamus smiled brightly. "Of course you won't die before that happens! You look hardly a day over thirty, instead of the fifty that you are." Harry was surprised to see a flicker of a smile on McGonagall's face before she she rolled her eyes at Seamus and turned away.
"Gift of blarney." Seamus said distractedly when Harry and Hermione looked at him with jaws dropped and eyebrows raised.
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked, when they had caught up with him.
"Misha."
"Where's that?"
'Where's he." Seamus corrected.
"Yes, where's he?"
"Dark forest." Seamus said, his voice was still distracted and he was not looking at them when they spoke.
"Is he actually a wanted murderer?" Harry asked.
Seamus finally looked at him. Grinning, he replied, "No, I just tossed that one in, it didn't sound quite unbelievable enough."
They walked into the forest, Seamus barely noticing the transition into the darkness. "Do you see what I see?" He whispered hurredly under his breath. Harry and Hermione looked at each other but said nothing. "A song, a song high above the trees with a voice as big as the sea. There we go. I forgot which line it was." Harry realised suddenly that the trees were illuminated. He looked at Seamus with admiration. The other boy smiled. "Old trick. Learn it well, in case I don't come back with you."
It was the first and last time anyone suggested that they would not all return together. They walked for almost half an hour more before they came upon Misha. He and Seamus spoke rapid Russian for a minute, stopped abruptly and turned to face Harry and Hermione. "I didn't know you could speak Russian." Harry said dumbly.
Seamus raised his eyebrows and didn't say anything. He leaned over and pulled several objects out of his bag. He set them in front of Misha and stood up. "Do we have a deal?" Misha looked at the objects with discomfort, then he scooped them up. "Ve haff a deal."
Seamus smiled and clapped his hands together. "Excellent. Let's carry on shall we?"
~*~
"What did Seamus give him?" Harry asked Hermione as they walked through the forest.
"It looked like blockers."
"Whats?"
"Blockers. When you learn the Unforgivable curses you need to practise them on something, so you use special dummies called blockers, which react to the curses in the same way a person would."
"Why does he need so many of them?"
"I'm not completely sure, but I think Misha uses the alias Alexei Federov."
"So?"
Hermione heaved an exasperated sigh. "Alexei Federov is responsible for some of the worst crimes against government commited in this century. He's known as the people's bandit in Russia. He overthrew the Russian Ministry for Magic, he broke into their files, he killed anyone who got in his way."
"So why is he called the people's bandit?"
"The Russian Ministry was corrupt. They supported death-eaters, and most people think Russia is where Durmstrang Institute is located. They supported the military training of known criminals and had the largest supply of counterfeit money ever made. Alexei came along and changed all that. He exposed the Ministry and now the needs of Russian wizards are seen to by the Swiss Ministry."
"So why isn't Alexei at home in his bed, rolling in cash and credit?"
"Because Harry, the Russian Ministry members who lost their jobs are angry, they aren't going to let him off easy. Besides, he wants to fight for the good side, and help his people. It's all so romantic."
"Sounds stupid to me."
"Harry, don't be such a git. I didn't say I was going to run away with him. Although he IS terribly handsome."
"He looks like the kind of guy who would chop you into little bits and put them in plastic bags and freeze them and stick a frozen finger or toe into a martini every night."
"Harry! That's disgusting."
"It's true." It was true. Misha looked like the kind of guy you would avoid looking at in stores, the kind of person your mother warned you about. If Snape was creepy then Misha was plain scary.
Hermione jumped when Seamus appeared beside them and began to talk. "Now now you two. Don't be talking about other members of our party." He smiled slyly. "We all have feelings."
"He's so scary Seamus." Hermione said.
"Well gee, maybe you shouldn't have insisted on coming Hermione. If you're scared of Misha just wait."
"I'm not scared of him." Hermione said pointedly.
Seamus shrugged. "I am."
~*~
"Are we there YET?" Seamus whined on the second day. "God, why don't we just APPARATE? Now there's an idea, good one Seamus. How come no one else thought of that?"
"Ve do not vant Mr Potter to be splinched."
"Hear that Harry? It's your fault this damn walk is taking so long."
"Maybe if you valked more and talked less the valk vould seem shorter, no?"
"Shut up Misha." Seamus grumbled.
"If you don't mind Misha, when will we be there?" Hermione asked timidly.
"Ven ve get zerr you vill know."
"Oh. Where are we going?" Harry rolled his eyes when Hermione asked another question.
"Ven ve get zerr you vill know." Hermione began to ask another question, but Harry raised his hand over her mouth. She glared at him but didn't continue. Harry wondered where in the forest they were. It hadn't taken him long to reach the centre last time, yet this journey had already gone on three days. The next evening as they were sitting down to eat, Harry slammed his hands down, exasparrated.
"When are we going to get there? We've been walking for four days and I'm starting to think that there's no plan. You're just dragging us around until we die."
Misha looked at Harry darkly. "Ve vill get there ven ve get there." His voice was low and even. Even if the trip lasted six more years, no one would dare ask when they would get there again.
~*~
The three of them walked out onto the grounds, waving at Professor McGonagall as they walked out the door. "Finnegan! What are you up to?" She barked.
"Heading into the Forbidden forest with Harry and Hermione, who are disguised as Hannah and Dean. We're searching for the Dark Lord, and then we're going to kill him, with the aid of a wanted murderer."
"Don't give me lip Finnegan, or you'll have detention until you graduate." She paused. "And with the way your marks look, I might die before that happens."
Seamus smiled brightly. "Of course you won't die before that happens! You look hardly a day over thirty, instead of the fifty that you are." Harry was surprised to see a flicker of a smile on McGonagall's face before she she rolled her eyes at Seamus and turned away.
"Gift of blarney." Seamus said distractedly when Harry and Hermione looked at him with jaws dropped and eyebrows raised.
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked, when they had caught up with him.
"Misha."
"Where's that?"
'Where's he." Seamus corrected.
"Yes, where's he?"
"Dark forest." Seamus said, his voice was still distracted and he was not looking at them when they spoke.
"Is he actually a wanted murderer?" Harry asked.
Seamus finally looked at him. Grinning, he replied, "No, I just tossed that one in, it didn't sound quite unbelievable enough."
They walked into the forest, Seamus barely noticing the transition into the darkness. "Do you see what I see?" He whispered hurredly under his breath. Harry and Hermione looked at each other but said nothing. "A song, a song high above the trees with a voice as big as the sea. There we go. I forgot which line it was." Harry realised suddenly that the trees were illuminated. He looked at Seamus with admiration. The other boy smiled. "Old trick. Learn it well, in case I don't come back with you."
It was the first and last time anyone suggested that they would not all return together. They walked for almost half an hour more before they came upon Misha. He and Seamus spoke rapid Russian for a minute, stopped abruptly and turned to face Harry and Hermione. "I didn't know you could speak Russian." Harry said dumbly.
Seamus raised his eyebrows and didn't say anything. He leaned over and pulled several objects out of his bag. He set them in front of Misha and stood up. "Do we have a deal?" Misha looked at the objects with discomfort, then he scooped them up. "Ve haff a deal."
Seamus smiled and clapped his hands together. "Excellent. Let's carry on shall we?"
~*~
"What did Seamus give him?" Harry asked Hermione as they walked through the forest.
"It looked like blockers."
"Whats?"
"Blockers. When you learn the Unforgivable curses you need to practise them on something, so you use special dummies called blockers, which react to the curses in the same way a person would."
"Why does he need so many of them?"
"I'm not completely sure, but I think Misha uses the alias Alexei Federov."
"So?"
Hermione heaved an exasperated sigh. "Alexei Federov is responsible for some of the worst crimes against government commited in this century. He's known as the people's bandit in Russia. He overthrew the Russian Ministry for Magic, he broke into their files, he killed anyone who got in his way."
"So why is he called the people's bandit?"
"The Russian Ministry was corrupt. They supported death-eaters, and most people think Russia is where Durmstrang Institute is located. They supported the military training of known criminals and had the largest supply of counterfeit money ever made. Alexei came along and changed all that. He exposed the Ministry and now the needs of Russian wizards are seen to by the Swiss Ministry."
"So why isn't Alexei at home in his bed, rolling in cash and credit?"
"Because Harry, the Russian Ministry members who lost their jobs are angry, they aren't going to let him off easy. Besides, he wants to fight for the good side, and help his people. It's all so romantic."
"Sounds stupid to me."
"Harry, don't be such a git. I didn't say I was going to run away with him. Although he IS terribly handsome."
"He looks like the kind of guy who would chop you into little bits and put them in plastic bags and freeze them and stick a frozen finger or toe into a martini every night."
"Harry! That's disgusting."
"It's true." It was true. Misha looked like the kind of guy you would avoid looking at in stores, the kind of person your mother warned you about. If Snape was creepy then Misha was plain scary.
Hermione jumped when Seamus appeared beside them and began to talk. "Now now you two. Don't be talking about other members of our party." He smiled slyly. "We all have feelings."
"He's so scary Seamus." Hermione said.
"Well gee, maybe you shouldn't have insisted on coming Hermione. If you're scared of Misha just wait."
"I'm not scared of him." Hermione said pointedly.
Seamus shrugged. "I am."
~*~
"Are we there YET?" Seamus whined on the second day. "God, why don't we just APPARATE? Now there's an idea, good one Seamus. How come no one else thought of that?"
"Ve do not vant Mr Potter to be splinched."
"Hear that Harry? It's your fault this damn walk is taking so long."
"Maybe if you valked more and talked less the valk vould seem shorter, no?"
"Shut up Misha." Seamus grumbled.
"If you don't mind Misha, when will we be there?" Hermione asked timidly.
"Ven ve get zerr you vill know."
"Oh. Where are we going?" Harry rolled his eyes when Hermione asked another question.
"Ven ve get zerr you vill know." Hermione began to ask another question, but Harry raised his hand over her mouth. She glared at him but didn't continue. Harry wondered where in the forest they were. It hadn't taken him long to reach the centre last time, yet this journey had already gone on three days. The next evening as they were sitting down to eat, Harry slammed his hands down, exasparrated.
"When are we going to get there? We've been walking for four days and I'm starting to think that there's no plan. You're just dragging us around until we die."
Misha looked at Harry darkly. "Ve vill get there ven ve get there." His voice was low and even. Even if the trip lasted six more years, no one would dare ask when they would get there again.