A/N Second chapter for the day. There's been four chapters uploaded in 24 hrs, so check your place :) Two more tomorrow will finish this first story. Hope you like it! JCWriter

IX

Aurelius let Harry back into their hotel room with a rather exasperated look on his face, glancing briefly at the bathroom door as they stepped back in.

"Is she still in there?" Harry said.

"Hasn't come out since she got back," Aurelius grumped. "I told you we shouldn't have let her go out alone."

A moment later, Jennifer opened the door, looking pale but a bit less green as she found her way to the chair.

"Aurelius, be a dear and get a nausea potion out of my cloak," Jennifer said. "Remind me next time I go drinking that a sober potion does not necessarily counter the effects of five ports on an empty stomach." Harry fought back a chuckle, but couldn't quite manage to hide a smile.

"Did you find out anything interesting?" Harry asked.

"Oh, yes, quite a bit. You?" Jennifer asked, reaching for a bag of oyster crackers.

"Only that the wizard population is sparse and extremely scattered out. Lots of hermits up here," Harry said. "Oh, and the local prophetess says I'm going to die again."

"Fancy that," Jennifer said unconcernedly, gratefully accepting the potion phial from her son before downing it. "Thank you! I'm sure I'll be right as rain in a moment."

"Then maybe you can tell us what you found out?"

"Give me half a moment, Rel, please!" Jennifer protested, gathering her thoughts. "There were several local fishermen there. They didn't speak about the siren so much, but they did seem to think all the recent wrecks were simply folks that didn't know the area. I also received this," Jennifer said, holding up the ring.

"Received it? You mean someone gave it to you? Then why are you touching it with your bare hand like that?" Aurelius scolded, while Harry simply took it from her.

"Now don't give me that attitude, son. I taught you about item safety instead of the other way around. It's not magical, and even if it were, I got it from your father," Jennifer explained.

"You saw Severus?" Harry said.

"Well, more or less. He seems to have subdued a local and taken over with the help of a polyjuice potion, and if I'm not mistaken, a telepathy potion as well. He was passing something around the place, and then he came over, told me to give you his card, and gave me that ring as well."

"Let's see the card," Harry said, and Jennifer brought it out. "Captain Cates' Charter Service. 35, main dock. Well, that's simple enough, at least."

"And you have no idea what he was passing around at all," Aurelius said, taking the ring from Harry. "Could it have been this?"

"I suppose. He was showing it beforehand…but there's nothing really remarkable about it, and they seemed to think it whatever he found was not only remarkable, it was some sort of threat. They did reference the Vikings…perhaps something archeological?"

"Possibly, but this definitely isn't old…or really worth all that much from the weight of it," Aurelius shrugged, gazing at it. "Wait a minute…"

"What?"

"Mum, why don't you stay here and take it easy for a few minutes while Harry and I go talk to father real quick."

"It's all right, I'm feeling better…"

"We'll need to get the cloaks out until we know what sort of plan Severus has schemed," Harry said. "You did your part, Jennifer, why don't you take it easy and try to get some real food in you? We won't be long. We'll have something sent up for you."

"Yes, Mum, why don't you let us do our jobs for a change?" Aurelius said. Harry frowned at him.

"Fine, if you feel that way about it," Jennifer said angrily. "After all, I'm not the one with the death sentence."

"You know, I'm not sure I'd feel safe if anyone ever predicted I am to live a long life," Harry joked. "We'll be right back."

Jennifer folded her arms in annoyance, watching as they grabbed Invisibility cloaks and headed out the door. She drummed her fingers and leaned back, thinking over the evening and going over everything that happened in her head until the food arrived, testing her stew and gnawing on the hard bread that came with it. It was just as her stomach truly began to settle that a light came to her eyes and she sat up with a wild idea. Taking one more bite she set her food down, pondering her plan for only a moment before she got up and went over to her Chest cloak, taking out her Chameleon Powder. What if the person they were looking for was local? What if they had been there a long time? And what if Severus' clue was meant to be taken quite literally? A gold ring, she thought with excitement, stepping out of her room and quickly making her way out to the dark streets below. What if he meant a ring of criminals?

As she got near the docks, she found a secluded spot to douse on the powder, blending into her surroundings before hurrying to the office. She had little doubt it would be easy enough to get in, and sure enough it was only a set of Muggle locks. A night watchman sat near the front, but she paid him no mind, searching instead for some sort of records office. She frowned when she saw the computer and then stared at the record books along the wall. Time was of the essence, and Jennifer somehow talked herself into facing the dreaded machine on the counter.

"Well, here's hoping those brief lessons with Ben paid off," Jennifer whispered to herself, keeping her wand within easy each as she pushed the power button and then quickly muted the machine with a Sonorous Shield. She was confused at first on the data on the screen, but after making a few random clicks she saw some tabs which led her to what she was looking for. "Gotcha," she grinned, finding a piece of paper and writing down a number, circling it.

She hit the power button, frowning went it wouldn't go off. After several pushes, she shrugged and yanked out the cord before working her way out of the building, quickly glancing at a map of the docks on the wall before leaving.

Jennifer walked with her wand in her hand, pondering whether or not she should get backup. On the other hand, if she were wrong about this, she definitely didn't want to look silly in front of Aurelius, whose lack of confidence of late had been greatly disturbing her, despite her attempts of ignoring it. Still, she wasn't wrong, she told herself as she gazed up at small yacht moored in the berth she had written down. Checking to make sure the powder was still covering her, Jennifer carefully worked her way onto the boat, using a muffling spell to soften her footsteps.

It only took one look at the magically frosted windows of the vessel for her to know she was on the right track. A soft glow could be seen behind it, but nothing else, and Jennifer couldn't help but wonder why the local Muggle authorities hadn't wondered about it. Probably saw something else, she mused, creeping over to the door. But as she peered at it, she frowned with a sigh, then nodded to herself. She should have expected it; a wizard's lock was on the door, and sealed by more than one wizard. Even if she did manage to get it open by herself, she wouldn't be able to do it silently. Well, at least now she knew enough to tell Severus, she thought, turning back around.

But it was as she was getting ready to embark that she heard several voices on the docks; low, but intense, as if they were arguing. Instinctively she crouched down and crept back, waiting for them to pass, but instead the three men boarded. One she recognized, but the others she had never seen before. It was the two she didn't know who pulled out their wands, pointing it at the cabin door. A quick flash and it was open, and Jennifer managed to come up behind them as they entered a large ornate room. But then she couldn't help but blink a few times, barely getting out of the way in time when the man in the back closed the door. For in the center of the room, tied up back-to-back and surrounded by a magic field, was Aurelius and Harry.

"Here they are, Dan, here's the two we surprised on the old man's tub," the taller of the three men said.

"Jesus H Christ, it's Harry Potter! Asterson, you idiot! What the blazes were you thinking bringing them here?"

"No, it can't be!" Asterson said, aghast.

"Surely they wouldn't send him up here!" the man in the back said. "Just what have you been doing lately, Dan Erickson?"

"Perhaps you're mistaking us for someone else," Harry suggested.

"Pole, fetch me the paper off the stand," Dan ordered the last man who came in. "Now which of you was it masqueradin' as the old man?"

"Masquerading?" Harry asked.

"Our man here found the real Beaty Cates with a snootful and an empty whisky bottle and no memory of the last day and a half to show for it, despite the fact I know the boat's been taken out since then," Dan said.

"There's no pictures of Potter here, but the other one is on the front page, right enough," Charlie Pole said, handing it over to Dan who stared at it a moment before his sparkling eyes turned to Aurelius.

"Now I'm beginning to see the light. What we've got us here beside him is a Snape," Dan said, handing it back. "Trying to get his brother off the hook, I'm sure. I suspect he was the one playing the old man today."

"Well, if that's so, you're baiting the wrong hook," Asterson said almost casually. "We had nothing to do with any of that."

"You're denying you knew the siren then?" Aurelius said.

"I'm sayin' that we wouldn't stoop to murder, none of us," Asterson said firmly. "Would we, Dan?" But Dan didn't say anything right away. He was busy looking over the two men before him.

"And just what exactly do you both expect we should do with these two, being that it was you both who kidnapped them?" Dan asked.

"Well, it wasn't our fault! We were after the old man!" Asterson protested. "All I know is, here we were awaitin' by the door and then the door opened as if by itself and we heard 'em step in! We couldn't just stand there, could we? Besides, we'd have brought back a prisoner in any case, were that silly old man responsible for all of this."

"A Muggle we could deal with. A Muggle we could simply Obliviate and send him on his way," Dan pointed out.

"Well, perhaps that's what we should do, just make them forget they saw us and send them on their way," Asterson suggested.

"You don't think anyone would get suspicious of that?" Dan snapped. "It wouldn't take long at all for anyone to figure out something was wrong, being that they're on a case and all, they file reports and things like that, you know. Sending 'em back in any way would be signing our own prison sentence. We've no choice but to find a way to make them disappear. Like to the bottom of the ocean."

"You can't possibly be serious!" Asterson said. "You must be completely insane! You can't just go and kill Harry Potter like that!"

"Not to mention a Snape," said Charlie. "Do you really want one of the most powerful wizards in the world after you if he disappears?"

"Then stick to your bartendin', Pole, and we'll deal with it ourselves."

"I don't know about this we stuff, Dan. I may be no stranger to violence, but think about who we're talking about here. The boy saved us from the Dark Lord himself, we could at least have the courtesy of not killing him," Asterson said.

"Thank you," Harry said sarcastically.

"Are you that willing to go to Azkaban, then?" Dan snapped, and the other two refused to look at him. "Well, I'm not, and unless you got any better ideas…"

"Well, I think if we're going to even discuss this, it should be the whole group," Pole said.

"Pole's right, Erickson. He should know about this before we be bumping anyone off," Asterson said.

"Fine. But don't be surprised at all if he agrees with me!" Dan said with a nod. "Asterson, stay here and guard. Pole, go get the lines, we're heading out."

As the boat slipped away from the dock, Jennifer let out a silent sigh from where she had squeezed herself into a corner next to a cabinet out of the way. Well, there was nothing to do now but wait, she thought to herself. Aurelius and Harry, it seemed, had resigned themselves to the same, wondering what sort of fate awaited them when they arrived at their destination.