"What's going on, Harry?" Justin asked over the comm.

"Not now," Harry hissed under his breath, hoping that Remus and Sirius didn't notice his discomfort.

"Yes now!" Daphne complained. "You don't get to drop a cliché like that and then not tell us what the hell has you tense! This isn't some bloody sitcom where you get to leave us with a cliffhanger!"

"I call being the lead!" Luna said, rather louder than the rest. Of course this being Luna no one around her even bothered to wonder what she was talking about. In fact everyone was working hard to just ignore her even harder. "Neville, we have to break up. All great couples break up to maintain the will-they-won't-they tension? Ross and Rachel, Penny and Lenard, Sam Malone and Wood. Don't worry though, we'll get back together after a season or two. Unless we do go the Rachel and Ross route and then you'll get me pregnant and we'll live together-"

"Are you two even officially dating?" Ron asked, stuffing his hands in his suit pockets. "I mean, I know about the marriage contract but you don't go out."

"We go out all the time, you just don't notice," Luna said sweetly.

"It's true," Neville stated over the comm..

"What, you sneak around?" Hermione asked, scandalized. "Why? We wouldn't mind."

Neville, clearly nervous, stated, "Trust me, you want us sneaking around-"

"I do the things Jasmine teases Harry about!"

"…say what now?!" Susan exclaimed in a sharp whisper.

"I was saying that I like to stimulate Neville with my-"

"It's Stan," Jasmine said, cutting in before Luna could continue, he voice coming out slightly strangled. "Shunpike. He's shown up for the party."

"…you're shitting me," Neville whispered, grabbing a napkin and pretending she was wiping her mouth as he spoke. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Considering the way he's dressed?" Ron asked. "I'd say that he is here for the party."

Harry tuned out the chatter and instead focused on the Knight's Bus driver as he approached. From a distance it had appeared that Stan was rather finely dressed but as he got closer Harry could see the cracks in his façade. The elbows of his jacket were worn down, not quite threadbare but close to it. The stain on the tie that he'd clearly tried to blot out but had failed to do so. Scuffed up shoes and pants that had been shortened. Hair that he'd cut himself and a face that he'd hastily washed that was now raw. The underside of his chin painfully red from his hastily shaving and giving himself razor burn. Nose red not from burns but from the cheap spirits he'd already begun consuming; the man didn't even try and hide it as he unscrewed a flask and took a shot before pocketing it.

All of it screamed what kind of man Stan Shunpike was and as Harry looked at him with his pimply face and greasy skin he found himself thinking that his clothing was actually too good for the likes of him.

He knew that he shouldn't judge the man. That he was innocent until proven guilty and that he owed it to him to at least try and consider that Stan was being framed. His energy should have been placed proving his innocence rather than trying to confirm his guilt. But when he stared at him with his cocky little swagger (that was more of a drunken lurch if one were honest) and greedy little eyes all Harry could do was fight the dueling urges of punching him in his crooked teeth and going to take a hot shower because the man made him feel sticky just looking at him.

"Okay, what do we do?" Hermione asked. "We call this off?"

"I vote we nab him and just beat the information out of him," Ron growled.

"I like that plan," Justin said; he hadn't been completely sold on the entire scheme but had gone along with it because he knew it was their only option. It wasn't the danger of what they were going to do that bugged him… more having to deal with his parents in order to pull off his part of the plan.

"We could plant a mic on him," Daphne suggested. "See if he slips up. There are at least three Nocturne Agents here… he might let something slip." Harry wasn't surprised that Nocturne had invaded the party; Sirius was counting on it and Daphne had been brought onto the team to identify the Agents.

"Plant it where?" Neville asked. "He'll change out of his clothes and I doubt he'll ever put them on again, if he's wearing a suit."

"He is but it's a crappy one," Ginny said.

Jasmine took control. "We stick to the plan. This does nothing… in fact it might actually help us out." She began to adjust some of the cameras. "Hermione, I want you to sit with Ron when he gets to the tables. He can serve as your lookout. Neville, you still stick with Luna. She'll still be pulling her part but we're shifting Hermione from lookout to intel gathering." She watched as Remus greeted Stan and switching so only Harry could hear her. "This is Uncle Jonas' work. I can just smell it. Probably wants Remus and Sirius to look into him, do some casual info gathering. I'll see if I can spot any of his Hoods posing as guests… no, caterers. He wouldn't risk making them guests and someone dragging them into conversations. You'll need to focus on keeping Stan occupied. If you can do that rub your chin."

Harry did just that before it was his turn to greet Stan. "Welcome to our home, Mr. Shunpike."

"Heh, that makes me sound big and important!" the driver said with a laugh. "I like it! I hear you are gathering a lot of attention at Hogwarts. You know," he puffed out his chest, "I was a big deal at Hogwarts myself!"

As Harry greeted Stan the party continued on in its early stages. The adults mingled, clumping up into groups as they made small talk. For some it was a chance to introduce themselves for the first time and make connections. For others they were able to greet old friends and acquaintances that they hadn't seen in years, finding out how their lives had gone. And for a few it was merely another run in, no different than when they saw them at the Minister; that didn't stop them though from engaging in the standard idle chit-chat.

As for the teens and children they clump together as well and it would take someone paying close attention to realize that a small group of them were sticking far closer to each other than the others. For some of them that makes sense and wasn't seen as too odd, as The Pride was already well known to the parents whose children went to Hogwarts. E-mails and texts had gone back and forth about how Harry Potter had taken his well established group of friends and truly turned them into an inner circle, a Pride no different than a Pride of Arcanines. Of course everyone was rather glad he has taken to using that term rather than 'Pack', as it reminded too much of the foreign invaders who had came to their shores. So when the Weasleys showed up it wasn't that surprising that they soon broke up and the younger two begin chatting with the Granger girl and the Longbottom heir and the mad daughter of Xeno Lovegood.

But if they had been paying a bit more attention they'd have seen that others were sliding into the group. Susan Bones sat with Ron Weasley, the two chatting quietly about a Pokeball Ron had pulled out that was clearly custom-made. Daphne Greengrass and Neville Longbottom mingle together despite the fact that one was a Slytherin and the other a Gryffindor. And yet when Justin Finch-Fletchley ambled over to Ginny Weasley and the two briefly shook hands no one even batted an eye. After all, they were merely teens, children really… it wasn't like they were passing secrets or plotting schemes.

Ginny leaned in and whispered, "Cover me," and then excused herself to go use the bathroom, waiting until she was out of eyesight to pull out her dex and put in the flashdrive that Justin gave her. Like most Ministry approved flashdrives that were given out to their contractors the one that Justin's mother had been given was encoded and can only be opened if one knows the passcode. Though it mattered little to Ginny as she activated some of her favorite little programs and began to crack the security like it was an egg.

"So Harry," Padma said, her family having been the last one to arrive. That was on purpose as she, in her Parvati disguise, had dragged out getting ready until she was sure they'd be one of the last ones to arrive. Looking around with a vapid stare she smiled and took Harry's arm. "You have, like, some interesting people at this party."

"Indeed," he says, watching as Stan makes his way to the buffet and begins to load up his plate even as he told one of the neighbors about how he once saw a shiny Voltorb but it used its electrical powers to make it look like a normal one when he snapped a picture of it. "Do you need to cling to me like that?"

"Why not? You are, like, totes yammers." She let out a giggle and Harry's brow furrowed. "Too much?" she whispered in her normal voice.

"A touch."

"Speaking of touching," Jasmine said into their comms, "remove your hands off my man."

"I thought you'd be into Harry getting pawed by another woman," Daphne said dryly.

"I'm my father's daughter in many ways but not when it comes to tastes. I'm as straight as an arrow."

"Missing out," Daphne said with a slight smirk.

"What , like, are your plans for the party now?" Padma asked as they made their way to a table where Luna was sitting with Daphne and Neville.

"Jasmine is right, we continue with the plan. This is either an obstacle or a benefit for the plan and I plan to make it the later."

"And how are we doing that?" Hermione asked Justin across the way though thanks to the comms it was clear she was addressing Harry. "Jasmine clearly wants me to do the mind reading trick… though I'm not for sure I like being pulled out like a tool to be used whenever you need information."

"Aw, come on Mione…" Ron said with a grin, "we already treated you like that!"

She opened her mouth to complain only to snap her jaw shut. "That… is very true. Huh."

"Stan here actually makes things easier for us," Jasmine stated to all of them, watching as the man chatted (aka flirted aka hit on aka annoyed) Tonks who'd come on her own and Harry had a feeling was supposed to be the one to be spying on the man. Harry reasoned the Pack's plan was to try and get some information out of him or something else from his presence. Too bad for them Harry was already ahead in the game and he wasn't ready to wait and let them play catch-up.

"She's right. We need information and now we can pinpoint it more easily." Harry looked around. "Everyone, brace yourselves." The teens as ones tensed, focusing on their breathing as Harry turned to Luna. "Alright… lets have everyone relaxed and calm and in a festive mood. No one wants to leave early they are enjoying themselves."

The blonde merely smiled before her eyes went pure green, her Veela aura softly emanating from her form. For Harry and his team they felt twinges in their chests, like they had watched a video of a puppy and a baby playing with a ball. Warmed them up and made them smile but nothing more than that. But for those not prepared their worries began to fade away. Amelia Bones, who had been walking around with her lips pursed and eyes narrowed looking for whatever trick Sirius was getting ready to pull suddenly smiled and walked over to Arthur Weasley, greeting him warming and complimenting him on his, ahem, 'festive' outfit. Padma's parents got into a lively discussion concerning books with Neville's gran. A few of the neighbors from Remus' neighborhood walked up to their hosts and complimented them on an amazing party. Those that had been thinking of excuses to duck out early sent texts to babysitters that they would be staying late and those that had already been planning to stay for the entire party felt even more sure of themselves.

And Stanley Shunpike continued to chat with Tonks about how he totally once saw a Mew fighting with a Pikablu.

"Okay Hermione, light surface scan until his defenses are down enough for you to dig," Harry said, craning his neck to watch Ginny as she returned from the bathroom, quietly giving him a nod. As she breezed past their table she dropped the flashdrive into Neville's hands, the teen standing up and hiding it up his sleeve.

"Luna, I'm going to fix us a few plates. You want anything in particular?"

"Everything looks good but skip the Soylent Green, I'm watching my figure."

"Outer Limits?" Justin asked.

"Twilight Zone, but good try."

Neville walked towards the buffet, weaving through tables and moving past chatting groups of people and even the band Sirius had hired to play Solstice music for everyone. Harry didn't actually see him place the flashdrive into Justin's mother's clutch and he didn't know how he could have possible done it as she had it closed up tight and held firmly to her side, but when he reached where all the food was he took a moment to open his hands to show them they were empty before he began to get supper for himself and Luna.

"I think I'm a bit frightened with how easily he did that," Daphne stated.

"How is it going, Jasmine?" Ginny asked. "You get the info?"

Jasmine smacked her lips as she finished off another slice of pizza. "Oh yeah." Far off in Johto the steel-type Gym Leader looked at her monitors as they showed off detailed blueprints and wireframe design plans of the Knight's Bus. "I've got everything we're going to need. Looks like its roughly what you guessed it would be, Harry."

"What about the bus itself?" Justin asked, now much more relaxed with his mother having possession of the flashdrive again. He'd nearly had a heart attack when she'd debated about giving it back to Madame Bones at the party now that she had everything loaded onto her secured drafting and design computer but then she'd changed her mind and hadn't looked for it. With any luck she'd merely believe that she'd dropped it into her clutch herself and think nothing of it when they got back to their home.

"Still on the move. I'd say you guys have about 20 minutes." Jasmine leaned back in her chair. "So feel free to actually enjoy yourselves at the party. Can't do anything until its parked. I'll keep watch."

The teens all shrugged and despite their nerves decided to follow Jasmine's suggestion. Everyone grabbed a plate and began to load up on food and conversations turned to the Battle Club and Winter Break plans and the results of the latest National Gauntlet League match with Ron bitterly complaining that Tor Town Cannons got robbed again and they would have a perfect record if it weren't for the refs constantly screwing them over with phantom 'Illegal Hands To The Face' rulings. He wasn't happy when Ginny needled him that they were perfect… 0-12 so far on the season. Harry took the time to chat with the Twins and a few other people from Hogwarts who'd been invited to the party but weren't part of his plans. It did make him regret for a few moments what he was doing, as it did seem like Remus and Sirius were throwing a lovely party and he was ignoring it, but he reminded himself of all the people who would never have a Solstice again thanks to Team Nocturne and that hardened his heart. The rest of the group also mingled with Hermione being the only one that remained seated, her attention focused solely on skimming the surface thoughts of Stan, looking for information.

"Anything?" Ron asked as he looked over the selection of dipping sauces he'd gathered, trying to decide which one to sample first.

Hermione shook her head, her eyes regaining a bit of focus. "Nothing. I have to be careful not to dig too hard, let him know I am searching. Even with Luna doing her thing if I press too hard then he'll know."

"Can you tell if you are pressing too hard?" Susan asked, the normally timid Hufflepuff warming up to the conservation.

"Yes," Hermione said as Tonks went back to chatting with Stan. It was clear to those that knew her that she was less than thrilled to be anywhere near the greasy braggart. Hermione rolled his hand about, trying to find a way to explain to Ron what mind reading was like. It was so hard to put it into words, as it was like trying to describe to a deaf person what sounds were. He simply didn't have the frame of reference she did now. "Imagine you are on the beach, trying to dig a hole in the sand. You can't just plunge your hands in, as the sand will spill into what you just made. And with a human that sand is their mental awareness. You have to dig slowly, taking small handfuls at a time, and even then if you go too deep the sand will still spill down."

"And what Harry did with Draco?" Ron asked. "That was… what? Adding water to make the sand stay in place?"

Hermione smiled. It wasn't like that at all but trying to describe it to Ron any other way would have left him confused so she nodded her head. "Or close to it."

"Hey guys?" Jasmine said, piping in. "The Knight's Bus just stopped. So unless Ron's tracker fell off-"

"It didn't," Ron said, insulted she would think he'd make something that stopped working that quickly.

"-I'd say we are ready to move to the main event."

Susan, quietly and smoothly, reached into her pocket and pulled out her dex, it already on the contact screen and ready. A quick press of a button and across the way Padma stopped chatting with Ginny as her dex rang. Her parents shoot her a look but, in full Parvati mode, she answered it and lets out a gasp. "OMG! Lav! I told you not to call me… yes, I'm taking pictures! What… no, I can't take one now, we're talking! Duuuuuhhhh! I have to… wait… no! NOOOO!" She began to walk off, her parents shooting daggers at her as she stepped out of the warming area and onto the beach, her voice becoming muted.

"I am sorry, Sirius," Pavan said, looking over at the Lord of Sevii.

Sirius, for his part, waved off his concerns. "No big deal. Kids are kids. She at least wandered off to take the call."

"Still," Aabha, Padma's mother, said with annoyance, "I warned her that she needed to keep that phone off and be respectful. I think her losing her dex privileges for the rest of the Break will teach her to be more respectful towards her hosts."

"Ouch," Hedwig said as Harry entered the Speaker's realm. "Sucks for Padma."

"Except she's pretending to be her sister," Harry pointed out. "So she'll get the punishment."

"…okay, I take it back. That is hilarious!" The Hoothoot cackled.

Leafeon, who had been wandering around lazily amongst the Pokémon hired to keep the party nice and warm, shook his head. "I got the Pokeballs all set. I'll take'em to Padma now."

"Thanks buddy. And good luck." Harry blinked as the world returned to normal. "Jasmine, let Pad know her team is on route."

"Got it," the Johtoian said. "You guys focus on getting Stan to think stray thoughts for Hermione. I'll begin looking to see if anything has come up on the auror scanners but it will go quicker if you can narrow things down."

"Roger," Harry said before weighing how to get in close to Stan.

Meanwhile Padma had long turned off her dex and set about getting changed. Her mum had wondered why she'd chosen a rather simple dress for the party, expecting "Parvati" to go with something more complex and daring, but Padma had informed her that, "Like, simple is totes in and stuff and you're, like, too old ta understand!".

If she were laying that on a bit thick she didn't care, as she'd found out that, in order to maintain the illusion that it was "Padma" who was sick so she could hang out with her boyfriend her sister and him had had sex on Padma's bed. Thus setting her sister up to have the full wrath of her mother come down on her the next morning after they swapped back was pleasant revenge for having to deal with trying to get rid of sheets her sister had been plowed in. That was also why she had zero problem making an ass of herself at the party.

But the real reason she'd chosen the dress was to be able to slip out of it quickly and quietly. Folding it neatly in the bag Harry had stashed for just that reason Padma fought back a shiver from the frigid Avalon temperatures and set about getting on the catsuit Neville had gotten for her. Based on her own measurements the garment was a favorite of the International Police according to Neville and she quickly understood why. Pitch black and designed to hide body heat it kept her insolated and warm, the cold that had been seeping into her skin disappearing as she put on each piece. Upper and lower body sections, strong soled boots that were thick enough for running but flexible enough to afford her agility, full length gloves that barbwire couldn't get though, a full face mask, and goggles that could be switched from regular to nightvision to infrared in seconds. She didn't know how Neville had managed to get them or how much they were but she was hopeful he'd let her keep the goodies as they would absolutely come in handy.

"And Parvati must never know about them," she murmured to herself as Leafeon made his presence known. "Ready?"

"Yeah," the grass type said with a shiver. While it had been odd to deal with a Pokemon that could talk Padma had gotten used to it in Battle Club and now didn't even bat an eye. "Make it quick though, would you? Ice and snow aren't my friends."

"Harry left an insulated blanket for you. Huddle under that and keep watch on my dress." Tossing out Harry's Pokeball Padma watched as Dobby appeared. "Alright Dobby… let's go."

The psychic type nodded and the two of them silently warped away.

Back at the party Harry, after having a quick word with Ron, finally decided to make his way to Stan. Luckily Tonks hanging out with him gave him an excuse to head over. "Hey Tonks! Glad you could make it!"

"Hey Harry," Tonks said, the smile on her face forced as Harry instantly picked up that she wanted to get back to her assignment. Harry though was more than happy to play up the roll of self-centered teen and utterly ignore all the non-verbal hints his cousin was sending his way. Glancing over his shoulder he saw Ron walk up to his brothers and whisper in Fred and George's ears, the two slowly developing massive grins.

"Who's your friend?"

Before Tonks could say a word Stan thrust his hand out, utterly ignoring the fact that he'd already introduced himself to Harry 25 minutes earlier. "Stanley Shunpike! Thrilled to be here, Harry, thrilled to be here!"

It would have been easy to act like he was enthralled with Stan. That would have gotten the man instantly talking. But it would have also clued Tonks in on something being wrong. So instead Harry adopted a look of embarrassment and he glanced over at Tonks and flashed her an awkward, "oops" look. He shook Stan's hand though and politely said, "Glad you could make it and hope you enjoy the party."

Once more Tonks opened her mouth to say something but sure enough, the moment he turned to go Stan grabbed Harry's shoulder and whirled him around. "Hey, where are ya goin'? Got a lot of questions for you! Been a few years since I left Hogwarts and interested how things are going there!"

"Oh, I can-" Tonk said only for George and Fred to swoop in and each grab one of her arms and lift her up. "Hey!"

"Sorry Nymphie but the band is playing our song and you owe us each a slow dance!" Sure enough Daphne had asked the band to play something people could dance to and couples were forming up, young and old. Neville and Luna were dancing while Ron offered his hand to Hermione, the perfect cover for her to get closer to Harry and Stan. Daphne grabbed a startled Susan and pulled her onto the floor while Ginny and Justin shrugged and paired up. A few of the older couples moved to either watch or join in, so all Tonks could do was complain about them using her hated first name as they dragged her away from Harry and Stan.

"Uh… maybe I should…" Harry trailed off but Stan motioned for him to follow him back to his table.

"Come on, I know you're girl isn't here so no one to dance with except me and I don't dance with guys. Not because I'm no-homo but because I'd turn them gay. Happened once. I keep my eyes out for the ladies… you know I dated one of the Sons of Johto? Or Daughters, I guess. We talked strategy and I told her everything she did wrong during that war, really opened her eyes. Anyway…"

Harry merely let Stan drone on, occasionally interjecting to get him on a point Harry wanted him on, and glanced at Hermione as she began to dig deeper.

~MC~MC~MC~

Padma looked at the large building that was part warehouse and part garage that stored the Knight's Buses and smiled. Grayish blue in color with high windows and a large motorized door, the depot wasn't that impressive to look at but it did its job. Originally the Knight's Buses had merely been parked in a lot with a small building serving as a breakroom for the drivers near the entrance. But that had changed. During their research they'd found that about ten years prior some drunk 20-somethings had scaled the fence, stolen a bus, and went on a joyride.

It was only because the timeline didn't match up that they didn't assume it was Sirius.

After that the Avalon Government had ponyed up the cash to build the depot so that the buses were harder to get too. No security guard but the door had an electronic lock that could only be opened with a key card. Something they'd been unable to get (Neville had considered picking Stan's pocket but thought it risky, especially if Stan chose not to bring his card with him to the party, which was likely). But that didn't matter as Padma merely saw the high walls of the building as an interesting challenge.

Recalling Dobby Padma summoned forth Ludwig, the Ghost-Type activating his Invisibility Cloak Ability to hide himself and Padma, just in case any cameras turned their way. Once satisfied the young woman sprinted towards the building and easily leapt up, fingers finding hold in the siding, allowing her to begin to make her ascent. It only took half a minute for her to get to the top and she set to work getting the window open. It was tricky with only one hand but soon she had it wide enough for her to slip inside, Ludwig floating after her as she pushed off from the wall and landed on one of the buses with a dull thud.

"I'm in," Padma said, slinking along the roof of the bus and leaping over to the next one. "Which one did Stan take?"

"Tracking now," Jasmine said, pulling up a satellite image on a screen. "Okay, I've got you and I've got the bus. About 15 yards to your right."

"Got it." Padma quickly moved from bus to bus, Ludwig hurrying along to keeo up, before finally reaching the one Ron had tracked. "What if he didn't use this one to contact Nocturne? You know, what if he took a different bus?"

"I doubt it. Stan is a creature of habit. But even if he did it doesn't matter. Everything is connected; will take longer but we can get the info. You just need to get inside."

Padma nodded before throwing out her own Pokeball and summoning her Shiftry. She pointed to the emergency exit on the roof and the grass type nodded, using a grass blade to slowly open up the seal and pop the top. Motioning for Shiftry to go first her Pokémon dropped down and when he gave the okay she joined him, landing in a crouch as Ludwig floated down. Touching the comm. in her ear through the mask she said, "Heading to the front of the bus. Hermione, have anything for me?"

~MC~MC~MC~

Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"Just, what you are going through is really tough Harry and me? I respect you for what you've done." Stan thumped his chest with his fist. "I know most people wouldn't get it but I do. I totally do. There aren't that many people out there that would get it but I do. And I want to help. I really do. So if you got any plans cooking up... count me in." Stan grinned. "In fact now would be the perfect time to... go over some things?" The man actually had the gall to do an over-exaggerated wink. "You know... Warrior for the Light to Warrior for the Light?"

'Hermione, if you can hear this, please give me a brain aneurism to end this. Please.'

Sadly Hermione proved to be a horrible friend and refused to do as asked.

It was almost physically painful and definitely mentally painful to watch the Knight's Bus driver so heavy-handedly attempt to trick Harry into revealing sensitive information. In fact it was so pathetic that it made him question if Stan was innocent and their entire caper would only prove that he was little more than a blowhard with delusions of grandeur. Of course it could also be Stan playing into the stories about him, pretending to be clumsy to use that as the perfect cover.

Sirius did it all the time, after all. People saw him as a goofball, a crazy man who had no impulse control. And yet the party was proof that he could plan and organize things. It was easy to forget that for nearly 7 years Sirius had run Sevii and even now he was still its Lord. He might not live on the island but there had been times where Harry had walked in on Sirius on the phone going over plans with the guards or studying budgets and security plans, figuring out ways to make the prison better. People always underestimated him… and Stan could be pulling the same trick. Come on overly heavy purely so people didn't realize you were the very thing you were bragging to be.

'Time to test the theory then,' he thought before saying out loud, "Nothing planned at the moment." He gave a little shrug. "I mean, I have a source in Team Nocturne and they're not whispering anything important going on so I can take it easy. Guess the murderous bastards are taking the holiday off… at least that is what my source is saying."

"You… have a source inside Nocturne?" Stan asked. "Who is it? Because I'd love to know. To give them tips and all that. You know, work with them? I know a ton of things and I bet working together we could take the entire group down."

"I've said too much," Harry stated with a shrug. "Supposed to keep it all secret."

"I can keep secrets. You wouldn't believe some of the things people tell me!"

"That so?"

"Yeah!" Stan said before giving Harry a cocky grin. "But I can't tell you." He tapped his nose.

"Fair enough."

Stanley leaned in closer. "So you can totally tell me who your source is. I won't say a word. I swear. And it would be a huge help to you and what you are planning. Like I said… I know thing. Secrets, names, what have you." He leaned in close and cupped his mouth with his hand. "Can't say them here… never know who might be listening in. But you give me a name-"

"Hey Harry! Settle a bet for us, would you?" Ron called out, most of the teens having returned to their tables save for Neville, Luna, Fred and George, and Tonks.

"Sorry… maybe later."

"Harry… " Stan said desperately. "Come on… don't be cruel and keep me hanging! Can't tease like that."

He shrugged. "Okay, fine… but you can't say a word."

"Scouts honor!" Stan said, crossing his heart.

"…Draco Malfoy. He's my source. He pretends to hate me but he's secretly in love with me so I use his desires to get info. The backrubs are awkward but hey, information is information!" With that Harry turned and walked back to the table, Ginny moving to distract Fred and George so they'd release Tonks and let her get back to a perplexed Stan. "Better be worth it because I nearly gagged saying all that," Harry muttered.

Hermione kicked him in the shin.

"OW! What was that-"

"I was scanning his mind when you made him think about you and Draco naked and massaging each other!" Hermione hissed. "The visuals will replace the Wailord in my nightmares!"

Harry began to gag.

"…why were they naked?" Ron asked, tilting his head.

"We aren't focusing on that!" Hermione snapped before touching her comm. "Jasmine? Padma? I have the info."

"If its about Harry and Draco rubbing coco butter on each other just know I've learned my lesson about dirty talk over the comms and I am sorry," Jasmine said with disgust.

"Not that!" Hermione grumbled, switching to the task at hand. "Stan isn't Nocturne but he passes info along to a woman, Poppy Newbar. She's Nocturne and arranges the hits on the passengers. He knows she's with Voldemort and doesn't mind… he's mad he isn't a big shot and blames a lot of us for "keeping him down". He gives her info in hopes he can maybe join and he's trying to keep her interested so she'll date him. He contacted her yesterday about the party and Luna making an appointment…"

There was the sound of glass breaking and Harry turned to see Neville holding half his glass in his hand and a thunderous gaze being directed from his friend towards Stan, who was chatting with Tonks. Neville slowly stood up, Daphne trying to get him to calm down but Neville moved passed her. Luna leapt up and grabbed a hold of him, pumping every bit of calming emotional energy she could into him as she kissed him hard on the lips, drawing him out of his murderous rage.

Harry though couldn't blame his friend as he was debating joining with Hedwig and clawing Stan's eyes out.

Ginny pulled out her dex. "Luna, I'm going to hire an Uber for you and your dad. Tell him that you changed your mind."

"Okay," Jasmine said after a moment, "as scary as it is that I am the voice of calm rationality… let's do this right and not blow everything. Padma? You get that."

Inside the Knight's Bus Padma nodded. "Message from yesterday about Luna to this Poppy woman. Got it." Attaching a device that looked like a silver chap stick bottle that Neville had managed to get (she didn't want to know, it was probably better them all if she didn't…) to the radio equipment near the driver's seat she pulled out a secondary burner dex from her suit's pocket and began to type. "Okay, so according to Justin's plans we know that the Knight's Bus keeps a record of every call made to and from the bus. And they keep it stored for a week before deleting it." Padma located the day in question and, seeing one with Stan's last name attached to it, downloaded the file. "Anything else I should grab?" Before Jasmine could answer Padma let out a curse, ducking down as she heard a noise. "Shit… I think I guard just came in."

"Get out of there now!" Harry commanded.

"I'm invisible, he can't see me!"

"But he might have a Pokémon that can smell you!" Harry argued.

"I can set off the alarms, give you a chance," Ginny said hastily.

"Don't. A few seconds more…" she ignored the panicked calls from the rest of the team and carefully gathered up everything she'd brought with her. That was the mistake so many people made that let them get caught: they panicked the moment things looked dicey. Her and Pavarti had run into Filth many times but had always remained cool and been able to get out of the situation before the old man had realized they were there. Packing up everything and shutting down the radio she quietly made her way back towards the emergency exit and used the seats to boost herself back onto the roof. Sure enough there was a guard walking around, checking to make sure everything looked fine but from the way he lazily swept his flashlight along the rows of buses she knew he wasn't giving it his all. She couldn't move as fast as she wished but soon she was back at the window, climbing out and scaling down the wall before giving the building a cheeky invisible salute.

One teleport later and a few minutes spent getting dressed again (and getting Dobby to teleport the infiltration suit to her house because she wasn't about to let that go to waste) and Padma walked back into the party's warm bubble, a vapid look plastered on her face even as she passed Susan the burner dex, which she would later place on her aunt's desk after the party.

"And now we wait," Harry murmured.

~MC~MC~MC~

December 22nd, 1995

Galahad Gazette

Auror Raid of Knight's Bus!

Early this morning, as the drivers and care crew for the Knight's Bus returned from the holiday break, they were met by a swarm of Aurors who took many into custody. Reports have trickled in that one driver, a Stanley Shunpike, was arrested at the scene….