Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognise. Characters, places, spells – anything from the Harry Potter books are not mine. I am simply a poor student with a severe lack of money and spare time.

The train to London from Portsmouth is not the cheapest way to get there – James would've been far better off going by coach (he should've asked me before he got the ticket!).

I am sorry for the major delay in getting this chapter done. College work + work just gets in the way. Also, I got a new computer – I had half this chapter done on the other computer, but it's just lying on the floor – I tried to set it up the other day, but it wouldn't co-operate.

James' Duel

Finding Dumbledore: Part I

Hermione sighed and flopped the paper down onto the table.

"There's absolutely nothing about that bloke in here."

Ron grinned to himself.

"Good. That means we can forget about him. Obviously the ministry have sorted him out or – or he's some geezer who just happens to be unlucky enough to look like Harry. If he was dangerous or something, they must've sorted him out. And if they hadn't sorted him out then they would have told Harry something to put him on his guard and he would've been in The Daily Prophet."

Hermione gave Ron a look of disbelief.

"Don't be such an idiot. What with Voldemort and all the dodgy things that have been happening lately – he could be anyone; he could be up to anything."

Ron smiled and then gulped when he saw that Hermione was deadly serious.

"So, er, what do you suggest we do?"

Hermione averted her eyes.

"Look Ron, I know it's dangerous and everything, but I think we should investigate it ourselves. If we tell anyone else they'll tell Harry and then the whole thing could get blown out of proportion – what if he is just someone who happens to look like him? We don't want to hassle everyone for nothing."

Ron was silent for a while, and then he nodded slowly.

"Okay, where do we start?"

James sauntered along with his new wand and new clothes. He was at a loss as to how to find Dumbledore. He couldn't apparate to Hogwarts and it was the summer holidays anyway – where would Dumbledore be?

James had purchased The Daily Prophet earlier on and had seen that the war was still on. After seeing the current news in print, James had felt an urge to know what had been happening for the years that he'd been absent. He had gone to a library and skim read a stack of old newspapers, then he had read a few general modern history books and some books containing spells that had recently been invented. This made him feel more up to date.

Still – where to find Dumbledore? James had thought of Sirius – and then read about his imprisonment and his escape. He would be even harder to find. At least if James could prove who he was he could clear Sirius' name.

The Daily Prophet said nothing about whether Dumbledore was helping the ministry, but James suspected that he was. Reading between the lines, it seemed quite obvious that Dumbledore had had some part in at least a few of the investigations that had been going on.

James twirled a Galleon between his fingers. He either needed to concoct a devious and daring plan to get himself into the ministry unnoticed and unscathed or he needed to send Dumbledore a message somehow. The Order of the Phoenix had ways of communicating, but James was sure that they would've been updated by now. An owl seemed to be a safe bet though – it could be intercepted, but James was pretty sure that any enemy would just laugh and assume that some nutter was writing to Dumbledore. And that was if they even managed to read the letter – James knew many different ways of concealing what was written.

The owl seemed to be the best bet in terms of safety – it was more likely that the owl would actually reach Dumbledore. If James did get into the ministry, Dumbledore might not even be there – from experience James knew that he wasn't the type of person to be in one place for too long and that he wasn't usually where you expected him to be.

But then again, Dumbledore might think that the owl was all a big joke too. If James managed to find him at the ministry he'd be able to talk to him face to face and prove that he was himself.

James flipped the Galleon.

The healers were reluctant to reveal anything about James. Though they didn't have much to reveal, they were bound by patient confidentiality.

Hermione had insisted on inquiring about him without Ron there. She was all sweetness and fake concern for 'the poor man that just collapsed in the street'.

"Look, I just want to know if he's okay – that's all. He just collapsed right in front of me and one of my friends in the street – we got him here. We just want to know whether he's alright now – you know, whether we got him here quick enough and everything." She pleaded, for what seemed to be the thirty fifth time.

The two healers that Hermione was questioning looked at each other.Eventually one of them spoke.

"You can put your mind at rest. The man you bought in picked up his stuff and strode out of here a few days ago. As far as we know, he's fine. I can't tell you any more than that."

Hermione let her face fall into a look of relief.

"Thank goodness. That's so comforting to know. Did you find out who he was?"

The healer shook his head. "No, no we didn't. We have to get back to work."

The healers walked back towards the ward that they both worked on, feeling that somehow they had been conned into giving up information. Hermione grinned.

James stood in the foyer of the ministry of magic, where he had apparated to. Of course he didn't look like himself – he had used his Auror knowledge of disguise to alter his appearance. He looked completely different, but not odd. Just like a regular guy who went about his boring desk job and blended in with the wallpaper on a regular basis.

He shuffled around with the suitcase (he had transfigured his bag) at his feet to avoid suspicion. Getting past the security wizard at the ministry desk was what was worrying him. He couldn't use his real name, but he couldn't risk pretending to be someone else either – if they happened to be at the ministry already, his plan was foiled and he didn't even know the names of many people who worked at the ministry anymore – only those who were mentioned in the paper.

Then a thought struck him. He could just walk past like all the other ministry wizards who worked there were doing. He blended in – why would anyone suspect him? Hopefully he wouldn't be noticed – he was willing to take the chance.

James casually walked down the corridor and through the golden gates. He was careful not to make eye contact with anyone for too long as he carried on walking until he reached the lift.

Exiting on level 2, James went to the men's toilets and went into a cubicle. Luckily, nobody else was there. James left the door of his toilet cubicle half open, quickly shrunk the suitcase and it in his pocket. It weighed him down on one side a bit, but it didn't matter. He performed a Disillusionment Charm on himself, slid out of the half open cubicle, opened the door to the toilets a slit and slid out into the corridor.

And there he stood for a while, just outside the Auror offices, catching whispers and snippets of Auror business. He thought about the lax security and how he would write a report on it and do something about it if he ever got to be an Auror again. Then he heard something of interest.

"…Dumbledore? No, he's gone back to Hogwarts…something about needing to appoint a new Defence against the Dark Arts…interviews…"

A-ha, thought James.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who submitted a review for the chapter 5 - I really do appreciate it. :0) Please review again (I promise to update sooner!).

Tanya