Disclaimer: I don't own much, the plot and a couple of characters. The rest of the wonderful world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K.Rowling.

Discussion

Ron walked into the Auror headquarters just ahead of Harry. He nodded informally at the two guards on duty, Bob and Ben he thought their names were, they acknowledged him back, then their eyes were drawn – as ever – to Harry Potter cruising listlessly behind him.

If anything, Harry had become more of a celebrity since leaving school than he ever was as a heroic baby. It wasn't that the guy tried to prove himself, Ron thought. Just that he couldn't help himself where the courageous circumstances were concerned. The redhead had long since come to terms with his own less-than-famous situation and found that, in their particular line of work, being legendary wasn't always a plus.

There were two men lounging next to their desk, looking decidedly smug.

Ron was about to give them an earful as one of them was sitting in his seat, but then saw they had a rather plentiful supply of donuts.

"Malfoy, Zabini," Harry acknowledged. Both the dark-haired and the blonde man nodded back.

"Lets go for a walk," Malfoy announced calmly. "You can bring the donuts," he replied to Ron's unspoken question.

The courtyard that stretched away outside the dull and insipid-looking building that was the Auror HQ. On their very first job when they'd been thrown unceremoniously together, the four men had adopted a small ditch beneath a magnificent weeping willow as their discussion point. This is where they sat now; Harry and Ron perched on some low-lying boulders, whilst Blaise lolled on the crest of the ditch. Draco paced restlessly in front of them. Never a good sign.

"Well, what did the dark-side have to offer?" prompted Ron, after a prolonged silence.

"We never got there," replied Blaise, speaking first. "Besides, our informant wouldn't have been very helpful – he got arrested this morning."

"What for?" Ron inquired.

"I think he was trying to start a cult," the dark-haired man responded thoughtfully. "They had spandex outfits and everything – "

"Why does Malfoy look like he's about to have an aneurism?" Harry cut the small talk off abruptly. "What did you find?"

Ron and Blaise exchanged looks. On some (completely suppressed) level Ron found he got on quite well with Zabini, whereas the Blonde-wonder still had a wonderful gift for driving him up the wall.

"Fraser turned up," Malfoy finally declared.

"Well, that's good," Ron said slowly. "Isn't it?" He thought of the warm, but completely heart-broken woman they had not long left behind.

"His memory has been wholly wiped. He doesn't even remember his name."

Not as bad as the man being dead, but still quite high up on the list of bad possibilities. Ron bit his lip. "Oh."

"Where was he found?" asked Harry walking to the edge of the curtain of branches that segregated them from the rest of the workers.

"Wandering Knockturn Alley," informed Zabini, pulling absent-mindedly at the grass. "By the time we got to see him he was quite a mental mess. Asking us who he was, why we wanted him, what we were going to do with him..." he trailed off, a haunted look in his eyes. His mother had ended up that way, courtesy of his father who had then proceeded to disown Blaise – losing both parents in a single day was one of his most intense memories.

"They sent him to St Mungo's," Draco took over.

"Damn," muttered Harry. He hated dead-end cases.

Ron munched on a donut somewhat loudly. "Have they worked out where he disappeared yet?"

Blaise shook his head. "Apparently he just went to the loo and never came back. His co-worker, a Mr Blaine I believe, went to look for him to find he wasn't there."

"People don't just disappear," snorted Draco, descending gracefully on the rock Harry had absented.

"I checked the toilet," Harry replied. "Toilets lock from the inside, one window at the top of the west-facing wall – which was seven feet tall," he said quickly, seeing Blaise' mouth opening to ask the predictable question. "The window was circular, twelve inches across; not nearly wide enough to climb out of. Anti-apparition wards up, of course. There was no sign of a struggle, the only sign that he'd been there at all was his pocket watch left on the floor."

"Deliberately or dropped?" Draco inquired, subconsciously trusting Harry's opinion.

The Boy-who-Lived shrugged. "Could be either. The only thing was it was set two hours fast."

The four men lapsed into silence, considering the case and the chance that it could all prove to be a waste of time.

"We should get back," Ron asserted. He'd run out of donuts and they weren't making any headway here.

In silence, they strolled back to their office, a haggled formation that drew looks from everyone passed. Each of them had a claim to fame in their own right, but together they were something to be celebrated.

"Potter, I need to see you now," ordered Macreadie, their boss, as soon as they had arrived. Harry threw a questioning look over his shoulder but Ron just shrugged.

"What's the matter sir?" Harry asked curiously.

"Hoes the Fraser case coming along?" the balding man barked, reclining into his leather armchair.

"Not-so-well," answered the Auror truthfully.

"Mungo's sent this over," Alistair said. Generally called SubstantiAl by his employees in tribute to his rather large frame, or Subby for short.

Harry picked up the sheet of paper; a black snake was emblazoned in the centre of the page in a meandering 's' shape. He looked at his superior questioningly.

"It was found branded in the small of his back," Macreadie responded gravely. "I don't need to tell you the gravity of what this could mean if it got to the press." Harry shook his head, headlines such as 'Snake of Slytherin found on man from Mysteries' flitting across his imagination. "I want to crack this case," continued the balding man, fixing Harry with an appraising look.

The young man whole-heartedly agreed, but it wouldn't be easy. Sensing his senior was done he turned to go. "Oh, and Potter," added Alistair Macreadie quickly. Harry turned to face him. "Tell Malfoy to stop harassing my secretaries."

Harry gave a sharp nod of accord and left the small office, smirking.