Chapter 12

Scotland

Severus pulled up to the curb in front of a row neatly trimmed houses. Harry grimaced, instantly reminded of Privet Drive. They got out and walked towards the blue ranch on the corner. A little boy with curly hair was drawing in the dirt. Harry gave him a quick smile.

Severus eyed the house. "Very thin."

"Probably nothing," Harry agreed.

They mounted the steps to the walk. The house suddenly exploded.

The two Aurors hit the dirt, Harry sheilding the kid. Severus dived behind a telephone pole, only to have a peice of shrapnel miss his head by inches. As the smoked cleared, he got to his feet, dazed. He looked over at Harry, who was helping the shaken child up.

"Hey," he said suddenly. Harry turned around. "You're on fire."

Harry quickly pulled off his coat and threw it aside. Then, he lit a cigarette and scanned the ruble. "Probably nothing."

"Thin. Very thin."

Later

Back-up Aurors arrived on the scene quickly and a charred body was soon removed from the house.

Severus blanched when he saw it. "Merlin ... "

"We're hoping to find some teeth in there," said the attendent, following the body out of the debris. "Otherwise, could be anybody. Could be a fucking bowl of soup, for all we know."

"I got it." He watched as the body was carted off to a nearby truck. "Bye-bye, Lavender."

Even Later

Severus found Harry sitting on the curb awhile later, examining a twisted hunk of metal.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Part of the device." Harry flipped it over. "Holy shit."

"What?"

"Artwork. This is fucking artwork.:

"Swell. I'm glad you liked it."

"You don't understand. This is real pro stuff. Haven't seen this since ... well, since the war."

"Come again?"

"The Project used to hire mercs who used this same setup."

Before Severus got a chance to respond, another Auror came and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sirs, I think you'd better come with me," the man said. Harry and Severus stood and followed him across the street. "Okay, here it is. The kid says he saw someone working on the meter this morning."

"Where, Thompson?" asked Severus, glancing over at the boy, who was now drawing on paper.

"Across the street at Brown's. He was playing some kind of game, hiding under the stairs. Says he saw the guy pretty good."

"This could be a break."

"You're kidding," Harry interjected. "The kid's six years old."

"If that," said Thompson.

"You call the gas company?" Severus continued, ignoring his partner.

"Sure did. No one is supposed to check that meter for at least another month."

"Let me handle this."

"Be my guest."

"Wanna wear the chicken suit?" said Harry, dryly. "I got some clown makeup."

"Stow it," Severus snapped. He walked over and sat down next to the boy. Harry leaned up against the telephone pole, smirking slightly. "Hi. I'm Captain Snape. What's your name?"

"Arnold."

"How old are you, Arnold?"

"Six." He points to Severus' belt. "Is that a real gun?"

"Yes, it is."

"Do you kill people."

"No. If a guy is hurting someone, I try to shoot him in the arm or something. Just to stop him." He shot a look to Harry, who was sulking.

"Arnold, this man you saw. The meter man. Did you get a good look at him?"

"I saw him."

"Great. The man at the meter. Can you picture him in your head? Think about what he looked like. Got it?" Arnold nodded. "I want you to draw him for me."

As Arnold picked up a crayon, Harry cleared his throat and rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother. This is good. I like this."

"Can it, Harry."

"We're gonna put out an alert on Big Bird." He put a hand to his mouth to muffle the sound. "Attention all units. Large yellow bird. Silly voice."

"You're hilarious," he said sarcastically, before Arnold held out the picture to him. "All done?" He studdied the paper.

Harry looked over Severus' shoulder and snorted at the stick-figure. "Brilliant investigative work? I think so," he managed to get out, before he started cracking up.

Severus scowled at him. "Terrific. Very professional."

"He laughed at my picture," Arnold pouted.

"Shhh, don't mind him. He's crazy."

"I'm a good drawer."

"You bet." He pointed at the drawing. "This is ... the man's arm, right?"

"Yup."

"Okay. Now this mark. Is this ... What is this?"

"He had it on his arm."

Harry stopped laughing abruptly and looked closer at the boy. "Whoa. What was on his arm?" Arnold stayed silent.

"Was it a birthmark?" Severus questioned.

"No," he said hesitantly. "It was pained."

"Pained?" Pause. "It was ... painted?"

Yeah."

"Like a tatto." He slowly pulled the sleeve of his robe up, exposing the Dark Mark. "Was it like this?"

Arnold shook his head. "It was that." He pointed at Harry's arm.

"Just like this?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yeah. Man had the same thing."

"You're sure?" Arnold nodded.

"Special Force tattoo," he whispered as he met Severus' gave. "Every Phoenix took one."

"Harry?"

"Yeah, Sev?"

"What the hell have we gotten into?"