Only a couple of hours later Tom stood in front of an IMB 650 inside some building complex of a muggle office. With a serious expression he studied the machine while an employee was explaining how it worked.
"We just put the drum memory in place, like this," the muggle said while putting the enlarged cylinder in one of the devices and closed the lid "Now we press the correct sequence in the reader and…" He took a step backwards to give the guests a better view of the amazing device his company owned. It took about a minute before the printer started making a racket and Harold was quick to step closer to it. His eyes slowly followed the movement of the paper and widened in astonishment. The Minister kept reading the Auror's reactions while at the same time keeping the unsuspicious muggle busy with questions. "The 650 truly is the finest of them all!" the employee continued ranting and the Dark Lord nodded at the appropriate times. "If you're planning on buying one; this is the one!"
"That's good to know. We're very lucky to be able to test out yours," Tom charmingly smiled while glancing at the printer. It was still sputtering out paper. When ten minutes had past, the Dark Lord really started to get annoyed by the muggle and had to hold in a sigh of relief when the printer stopped making noise.
"It's done," Harold stated as he glanced at the Minister.
"Great, then we can finally start on our project," Tom smiled at the employee as the Auror slid the papers in a folder before putting the folder in a briefcase. "We really appreciate your help." The Dark Lord kept his smile in place as he got joined by Harold.
"I'm glad to help," the muggle smiled happily. "Come, I'll let you mates out," he continued with a wave of his hand. They made a quick stop at his superior and Tom had never been so glad to be outside.
"There was no stopping him," the Auror chuckled at him and the Minister let a visual shudder run over his back. Harold let out a quiet laugh as they entered a takeaway restaurant. The owner glanced at them before his attention returned to the magazine in his hands. They walked to the door beside the counter, which had 'private' written on it in bold letters. The Auror pulled the door open and let Tom enter before following him. Once the door closed behind them he pulled out his wand and held out his arm for the Minister. With the briefcase between them the Auror Apparated to both of them back to the Ministry.
-THTH-
Stupefied Tom, Harold and Harry were staring at the papers laying on the desk in front of them. "These are…" the youngster said stunned as he re-read the names once more.
"All of the main players," the Dark Lord continued.
"And the entire plan to attack the Hogwarts Express," the older Potter said as his fingers moved over the other pages.
"How the bloody hell did Dern get this?" Harry questioned and the Minister had to admit the squib had past his expectations.
"Even if we book them their underlings will still go on with the plan," Tom mumbled.
"So, we need to stop the leaders and the underlings at the moment of the attack." Harold looked at his grandson with a frown.
"Meaning we can't book the leaders until the plan has been put into action." Harry nodded.
"We can't risk them changing the plan," the Minister added.
"Everything's going to depend on timing," the youngster said with a sigh.
"Make a recap of these papers." The Dark Lord straightened his back. "And contact Doyle. We need to keep this quiet."
"Yes, if people find out about this… Parents won't let their children go to Hogwarts, which I can understand perfectly," Harold agreed with a shake of his head.
"But it would endanger the entire operation," Harry gave his grandfather a pitiful, but understanding look.
-THTH-
Striding through the hallway, Tom stopped at a dungeon and transparent eyes glanced at him before the door opened. Stepping inside, his eyes fell on Elladora who was cleaning her robe with a wave of her wand. Her eyes met his as she seemed to have felt his presence and nodded towards a desk.
"This is everything we found out," she stated as the Dark Lord stopped beside her. "We've linked as much together as we can," the woman continued as brown eyes scanned the information laid open before him. Slowly a smirk appeared on his lips.
'With this we have a clear idea just how much the underlings know and how they'll most likely attack!'
-THTH-
Harry frowned as he looked down at the printed papers.
"What's bothering you?" his grandfather asked as he entered the office again.
"Dern." Green eyes glanced at the other, who was giving him a questioning look. "How did he get this information? We know Azac is really careful in sharing with their underlings. Only the main players probably know everything and there's just no way Dern has become a main player in such a short time." Harold mirrored the youngster's expression.
"You think it's a trap?" Harry shrugged.
"It could be he sneaked around to get this, but somehow I don't think Azac would keep all of its information in one spot." The older Auror took a moment to ponder before responding.
"You're right," he admitted eventually, "they wouldn't."
"We need to figure out what they're really planning."
-THTH-
Harry touched the bandage at the back of his head and a hand grabbed his wrist to stop him. Expecting it to be Harold he looked up and got a shock when he met the Minister's stern brown eyes. They were clearly telling him to not touch it.
"You're back," the youngster stated the obvious.
"Zanal's on his way," Tom said as he released the wrist and turned his attention to Harold.
"So is Doyle," the older Auror said with a nod. "Here's the summary you asked for," the older Potter continued as he handed a paper to the Dark Lord.
"Great, and with this," Tom held out a pile of papers of his own, "we should be able to picture a clear image of the attack." Harold accepted the bundle and went through it with his grandson looking over his shoulder.
"So wait, as they don't know where the others are, they've been ordered to keep their attacks in a radius of ten meters?" Harry said with disbelieve.
"The weapons don't go that far," Harold mumbled.
"A precaution to protect their own," Tom reasoned. "Making that we can expect an attacker every twenty meters." The Aurors nodded.
"But they won't be in underpopulated areas," Harold continued.
"So, we look for persons who don't fit in with the parents," his grandson added as he stepped beside him.
"They'll just start talking about the children with the parents," the Dark Lord burst his bubble.
"Or be waving at their supposed children on the train," Harold sighed.
"Still there will be some who won't be that good at blending in," the youngster decided.
"Yes, I can't imagine parents attacking a train full of children," his grandfather added.
"We'll find them, but I am scared that we won't be able to protect everyone," Harry confessed.
"If we can counter the weapon, there's no reason to doubt," the Minister tried to ease his mind.
"But what if we don't have a counter." Green eyes looked into brown ones.
"Then we have no choice but to warn everyone," the Dark Lord sighed.
"Even with a counter we need a back-up plan in case it doesn't work," the older Auror added and Tom nodded in agreement as the door behind them opened. Glancing backwards the Minister saw Doyle enter together with Abraxas before closing the door behind them. "Doyle, Zanal," the Dark Lord greeted them and got a nod from both of them. They joined their little circle and Harold was quick to explain the situation. Catching up with the conversation, Cornelius directed a frown at the Minister.
"There are too many risks you haven't even taken into account," he sternly stated and made Tom feel like he was being reprimanded like a child. "This whole plan stand on speculations. We can only hope that their upgraded weapon works on the same principle as the one Lemauris' making. Not to forget that we don't know with how many they will attack or if their plan has been altered because of our captives," Zanal summed.
"There are always risks," the Dark Lord defended himself and the two Aurors.
"And this meeting's been called just to figure out how to minimize those risks," Harold added and his Head seemed to calm down as they weren't ignoring the obvious jeopardies.
"What if we get Dern to test our counter?" Harry suddenly suggested and the tension seemed to dissolve a little around them.
"That's a good idea," his grandfather agreed. "And with it cast as some sort of web over the platform we can be certain there won't be any casualties because of the weapons."
"Minimizing the risks," the youngster intentionally pointed out.
"We just need the counter in time," the Minister felt it his responsibility to point out the main problem of the plan that was starting to take shape.
"How far are they?" Doyle questioned and Tom shook his head.
"No news yet."
"Then we need to form a back-up plan," Harold sighed.
"Can't we send out a warning signal to only the parents, telling them to Apparated away as quickly as possible?" Harry suggested.
"It would be noticed if suddenly everyone's wand started to glow," Martin countered. The younger Auror's face fell.
"But it's not that bad of an idea," his team leader continued. "It would just have to be an undetectable signal for anyone except the receiver." A silence fell amongst them until Harry suddenly let out an excited sound.
"What about rings?! Rings that can deliver a short written message," he exclaimed and the Dark Lord's eyebrows rose in surprise.
"They receive the message, Apparate out and we shield the Hogwarts Express at the same time," the older Potter continued excited.
"That could work," Zanal admitted.
"Let's get to work," Tom smiled. "Zanal, Doyle, Harold, work out an attack plan. Marvolo, go see Lemauris. I'll get the rings." The others nodded at the Minister and got to work.
-THTH-
"Do you think we'll have a counter on time?" Harry asked as he glanced at Tom, who was standing beside him in the lift. The other grimaced at his question.
"I hope so, but you never know when Lemauris will have his breakthrough," the Minister answered honestly.
"That's what I'm afraid off," the youngster mumbled as his eyes moved back to the door before him. Next there suddenly was a hand at the nape of his neck.
"This time we'll stop them completely." Tom's voice sounded close to his ear and lips pressed a kiss to the tip of it.
"We better because who knows what they'll do next," the Auror sighed as he leaned into the touch and raised his hand as the lift stopped. "I'll see you soon." He gave a small smile while touching the other's wrist. The Dark Lord released his grip when the youngster stepped forward as the door slid open.
As Harry walked into the Department of Science the sound of a loud explosion suddenly ran through the corridor and green eyes widened in shock. His walk accelerated into a run and he burst through the door leading to one of the labs in the back. Three pair of eyes turned to him in surprise as he blinked at the sight before him. The laboratory technicians were almost completely covered with a purple slime, only the bottom of their lab coats, pants and safety shoes seemed relatively clean.
"Marvolo!" he recognized Alistair's voice and one of the man walked towards him.
"Alistair? What happened?!" White teeth indicated a huge smile.
"We've got a breakthrough!" Stromay called out while stopping in front of him and the Auror leaned backwards a little.
"With purple slime?"
"Yes," a slightly annoyed voice stated from behind Alistair and the youngster stepped sideways to get a look at the speaker. He identified Lemauris, who was already cleaning himself with his wand. "We've succeeded in transforming the deadly beam the weapon creates into jelly," he paused and licked up the last piece if slime from his hand, "grape jelly." Stromay laughed at the other scientist's actions and practically skipped towards him. Lemauris automatically pointed his wand at him and started repeating the cleaning process.
"I've come to check on the progress that clearly has been made," Harry explained his presence and stepped closer. "I have to admit that I suspected a counter that would sabotage the weapon," Lemauris' hard gaze landed on him, "but this is genius, changing the matter of the beam." The gaze softened and a hint of proudness filled his orbs. The youngster had to admit it surprised him a little when their guest walked over to him, leaving Alistair checking his clothes on his own.
"As we don't know if Azac is using the same method we do, it would be unwise to focus on that. What we do know is that they won't change the beam, so changing those properties is our best bet," Lemauris explained with eagerness in his voice.
"Genius, how far along are you?" the Auror questioned after complementing the man once more.
"As you can see we've succeeded in transforming the death beam into jelly. We're trying to transform it in an innocent gas, preferably a substance close to air, but in de worst case we could use the jelly," the scientist explained while the youngster noted the third scientist had cleaned the weapon and the area around it.
"So technically speaking our counter is usable. It just leaves a big mess," Alistair stated as he stepped closer again.
"That's great news!" Harry widely smiled and already took a step backwards. Too late he noted the looks the two scientists were giving someone behind him and suddenly felt a presence behind him. Bumping against a hard chest, hands steadied him.
"Be careful," Tom said in a deep voice beside his ear and a shiver of pleasure ran through the youngster.
'Really not the time!' Harry ordered himself and quickly turned around to the Dark Lord, who gave him a small knowing smirk.
"I guess you've got good news?" he questioned as brown eyes moved over the Auror's face to the scientists behind him.
"Yes!" Alistair was quick to answer and the youngster swiftly turned around again. "This guy's a real catch!" Stromay clasped Lemauris' shoulder and redness coloured their guest's cheeks.
'He didn't blush like that when I was complementing him,' Harry sniggered mentally.
"We've succeeded in changing the properties of the beam," Lemauris explained in a more quiet voice than before. Brown eyes widened impressed. "At the moment we can transform it into jelly and are working to correct it into a gas," their guest seemed to find his confidence again.
"In worst case we can use the jelly counter," Harry piped in.
"The children will love it," Tom smirked to his surprise.
"The parents probably not so much," Alistair added with a chuckle.
"And the personnel even less," Lemauris frowned.
"Which is why you're still working on it," Harry supplied and their guest nodded in agreement.
"Great job, none-the-less," the Minister praised and Lemauris was beaming of proudness. "Alistair," the Dark Lord suddenly fully turned to said man. "I've got a job for you." Taking something from his pocket, the Auror suddenly remembered the rings. "This box contains about five hundred rings. All of them must be possible to get the same message at the same time," the Dark Lord directed. Stromay accepted the box being held out to him and studied it.
"Five hundred, then I guess I better enlarge it at my lab table," he smiled an excited smile before turning to their guest. "If you need me-." Lemauris was quick to wave his words away.
"I know where to find you," he ended the sentence himself.
"We'll let you get back to work," Tom charmingly smiled while laying his hand against the youngster's lower back. He waited for the scientists to nod before turning the Auror and himself around. In a comfortable silence they walked back to the lift and entered it. As the door closed Harry let out a chuckle.
"Grape jelly," he mumbled. "Just imagine Azac when they would suddenly shoot beams of grape jelly." His laughter increased and the Minister patted his head. Green eyes looked up with a smile and his lips got swiftly claimed by the Dark Lord's. The youngster got gently pushed against the wall while his mouth was being ravished. Their tongues fought for dominance until Tom pulled back just as fast as he had started the kiss when the lift came to a stop. Harry just stared at him from his spot against the wall.
"Grape jelly," the minister repeated the Auror's former words as the door opened. "You didn't taste it." A smirk got thrown to the youngster before de Dark Lord strode out of the lift. Green eyes stupidly blinked after him and only when the door started closing Harry remembered they were going to the same place. Rapidly his hand shot out and blocked the door from closing. Detecting an object in its way the door panels stopped before sliding open again and the Auror sprinted after the Minister. Tom just smirked as he fell in step beside him.
"What got you in such a good mood?" the youngster mumbled and the other grabbed his hand. 'The romantic,' Harry rolled his eyes before they widened in understanding. The Dark Lord was slowly twirling the engagement ring around the Auror's finger. "Ah, the rings?" Harry gave a small smile and Tom nodded.
"They made me remember the future we've got ahead of us." The youngster watched their entwined hands rise and lips kiss the ring and his skin around it.
"We've still got so many things to prepare for the wedding– actually we haven't done a thing yet," the Auror corrected himself and the Minister let out a laugh.
"I'm certain Lysandra has started the preparations already."
"You're probably right," the youngster had to admit and his feet stopped walking. Tom gave him a questioning look and the youngster quickly pecked his lips. "I can't wait for this war to be over and be able to call you my husband," he confessed and the Dark Lord's face seemed to open up with emotions. Lips parted to reply but Harold's voice stopped them. The lips slammed shut again and the Minister's face closed off once more.
"There you guys are!" The older Potter jogged towards them and his grandson let out a sigh. Stopping beside them Harold's eyes fell on their entwined hands and suddenly seemed to realize the situation. "I'm interrupting, aren't I?" he said apologizing and the youngster let out another sigh before releasing the Dark Lord's hand.
"The moment's gone now anyway. What did you want?" he asked maybe a little too brusque and his grandfather gave him another apologizing look.
"We need your advice," the older Auror didn't beat around the bush and Tom signalled they would follow him back to the Headquarters of the Aurors.
-THTH-
"The plan?" the Minister questioned when the door had been closed behind him, separating them from the other Aurors.
"We send out the rings in the next two days, which gives us four more days until Hogwarts starts again," Zanal started. "The day before the departure an Auror team will put up a magical web, which will activate with the use of the counter." The Dark Lord nodded for him to continue. "A small group of Aurors will go after the most important leaders and once we're certain we've got the upper hand at the train station we'll send them back up," Cornelius explained and Harold pointed with his finger in the air.
"The Aurors going after the leaders will wait for back up unless they don't have another option," the older Potter clarified.
"At the Hogwarts Express our objective will be to take out Azac's men as quickly as possible and keep them inside the web," Doyle added. "We'll team up our men, so one can attack and the other can protect." Harold nodded at his team leader's words.
"And the muggles?" the Minister questioned.
"They'll be stationed outside and at the entrances of the station," Harold explained.
"We'll cover it up with that we don't want to put them into extra danger," Doyle added.
"And that it's our mess," Harry shrugged.
"And if the counter doesn't work?" Tom asked for the back-up plan.
"We'll warn the parents, which we will do even if the counter works and get them to evacuate at the same time as quickly as possible," Cornelius made certain to emphasize they would use the rings none-the-less. "We'll set up a ward that makes everyone Apparate to one highly secured room."
"What if Azac's men try to Apparate once they figure out their weapons don't work any longer?" the youngster questioned.
"We'll have Aurors in the secured room and make the station impenetrable again once the parents Apparate out."
"The Aurors will be split up a lot," Tom pointed out in a quiet voice.
"Which means we don't have a lot of leverage," Zanal's voice sounded hard to underline the importance.
"With the parents and children gone or inside the train, we'll battle Azac in teams," Martin continued.
"Not much different from the first plan," Harry realized.
"Lessens the chances of mistakes," Harold answered and his grandson nodded in understanding.
"To summarize: we cast the counter, warn the parents, make the station impenetrable once more and fight. Once we've got the upper hand we'll go after the leaders," the Dark Lord summed up and the others nodded.
"That's the plan. Now we just need the rings and the counter to work," Harold sighed.
-THTH-
With steady strides Tom paced from one side of his office to the other only to stop when a knock was heard from the door. With a wave of his wand he made the wood move and Ms Grelyon stepped inside with a stone faced expression.
"I've drawn up the contract for Madam Prince," she started while handing him a paper. She stayed quiet as his eyes moved over the words and he nodded while walking towards his desk. Picking up a quill from its holder he put down his signature before turning back to her. The woman had followed him to his desk, making that he only had to reach out his arm to hand her back the paper.
"Have this delivered to Madam Prince after Marvolo also signs it." She nodded at his order but didn't move.
"Also, the scientist Stromay has asked me to inform you he's done with the task you've giving him." He nodded at her and she turned around to leave his office.
"Tell Stromay to deliver the rings at the Headquarters of the Aurors!" Tom ordered as her hand took hold of the door handle.
"Of course."
-THTH-
"If you cast words on any of the rings, all of them show them," Alistair explained as he pointed his wand at the ring he was holding. Harry looked down at the ring he had been giving and saw characters slowly appear on the golden surface.
"Good job," Doyle said as he handed the ring back to the scientist.
"Thanks, I guess our postmen will be delivering them," Alistair turned to Tom, who nodded.
"Ms Grelyon has already informed the Head. He'll be the one handling it personally."
"Great, then I'll pay him a visit," Stromay smiled and gathered all the rings before shrinking their container once more. Putting the small box in his pocket, he moved towards the door before suddenly stopping and turning around again to Harry.
"That reminds me, I've heard you've been looking for more volunteers to be used as energy source?" Green eyes widened at the suddenness and glanced at the Dark Lord, who rose his eyebrows.
"Yes, we've came to the conclusion it is safer to use a couple of persons instead of only one," he stated and looked at Harold, who admitted his involvement with a nod.
"Your Head hasn't yet completely recovered so he won't be a good source next time," his grandfather added.
"I can believe that," Alistair smirked a little and shared a look with Tom before addressing the two Aurors again. "May I suggest we use persons who have an administrative job? The chance their magic's needed is lesser than other employees, who work in the field."
'He has a point,' Harry had to admit. "Hopefully we get enough of such volunteers," he gave a small smile and the scientist nodded before turning around again and leaving for real this time. The youngster glanced back at the Minister, but the other didn't showed any sign he cared for the subject they had just exchanged. 'The Head's already been punished enough, hasn't he?' Harry wondered and mentally nodded his head in agreement. 'Yes, he has!'
-THTH-
Watching his grandfather move his finger over the printed papers once more, Harry couldn't help but sigh. He knew that if this plan worked they could stop the entire war, but if it didn't so many lives could be lost. Most chance, young lives. "We're assigned to the Hogwarts Express," Harold said as he turned his face towards him. "They expect us to be present before the children arrive."
"Won't it be a dead giveaway if we're there early?" the youngster questioned and his grandfather shook his head.
"With the previous attacks it won't be strange to provide protection for our children." Harry had to give him that.
"As long as we aren't with too many."
"That's why we'll be the only ones. The others will show up with the parents to arouse less suspicion." The older Potter straightened his back. "Come, it's time to go home." The youngster gave his grandfather a disagreeing look.
"We still have plenty to do," he reasoned.
"Yes, we have and we'll be better at them with some sleep," Harold said with a small smile. "And I would suggest you take your fiancé with you, but he'll be even more stubborn as you." A smile also tugged at Harry's lips at those words.
"You know he'll go at least sixteen hours before even thinking of taking a breather."
"Yes, and that's still four more hours," Harold shot back. "But I'm certain he wants you to rest as you're supposed to," the serious tone returned again as the older Auror pointed at the back of his head. Automatically, the youngster's hand rose and touched one of the corners of the bandage. "Didn't the doctor prescribe rest?" Harold said with a teasing voice and got an annoyed look from his grandson.
"Please, don't remind me. Fine, I'll go home," the youngster sighed in defeat and the other Auror smiled in victory.
-THTH-
Brown eyes glanced up as Abraxas walked into the Minister's office.
"I just ran into Marvolo," were the first words out of the blond's mouth and they succeeded in pulling the Dark Lord's attention. "He's going home to rest."
"Good," Tom answered as a flash of the banded head appeared in his mind.
"I've heard that we've got a plan." It was a statement not a question.
"I'm certain Zanal has brought you up to speed," the Minister answered dismissive.
"Yes, he did," Abraxas nodded. "I'm going to bring our Department of Science a little visit and afterwards maybe descend into the dungeons," Malfoy joked a little and Tom gave him a nod as approval. With a twirl of his long blond hair Abraxas turned around and left the Minister alone again. Watching his right hand man leave, the Dark Lord leaned backwards in his chair and blinked as Ms Grelyon entered.
"Miss Black has requested to meet you," she stated and brown eyes narrowed at her. The orbs only disappeared more behind the eyelids as she stopped him from getting up. "She requested to meet you here in your office." Tom sat his weight down again as he wondered what Elladora wanted. Normally she would just show up, but making an appointment with him was something new.
"All right, inform her I'm waiting." The old woman nodded before leaving the office again, closing the door behind her. Ten minutes later a knock was heard and the Minister let the torture specialist enter with the wave of his wand. Miss Black walked inside with a book clustered to her bosom. She waited for the door to close them off from the outside before releasing her hold on the book.
"One of the prisoners revealed an old symbol I remembered seeing during one of our sessions," she started as her fingers moved through the book until she found the page she was looking for. Holding it out for him, the Dark Lord took it from her before laying it down on the papers he had been working on. She pointed at the picture that showed some odd looking Latin figure that looked a little like a sigma.
"The symbol of the organization Caaz," Tom read aloud and frowned when the name seemed to ring a bell but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"An organization created in the Middle Ages, who stood for the preservation of the pure bloodlines." Brown eyes continued moving over the words without reading them aloud. 'Their techniques worsened with the years...' he skipped over all the parts of different tortures that where explained and stopped at the last sentence of the paragraph. "In the last years the group was active they've actively prosecuted muggles, muggleborns and half-bloods to the dead and promoted the act of rape to punish the pureblood muggle supporters."
"What isn't mentioned is that they also kidnapped pureblood children and brainwashed them."
"You think that's part of their plan?" the Dark Lord questioned. Elladora nodded.
"It would be an opportune moment." The minister got a thoughtful look on his face.
"Where did you get this information?" Miss Black's green eyes got a hesitating expression.
"There's a story that gets past down in the Black family about Caaz." Her eyes refused to look at him. Clearly she was embarrassed. "One of our prodigies had joined them and was systematically getting all of the Black children to them." Her eyes finally look at him. "He succeeded with half of the children before the family found him out. As you can guess it isn't something that we're proud of. The story only gets voiced to the new generations as a warning." Tom nodded in understanding.
"This means that the attack could be a show to scare the children into submission for the future."
"Showing off their power," Elladora agreed. "It would do well for their sale of the weapons and make more people want to join them."
"Children are the easiest to brainwashed," the Dark Lord added. 'And it's something they wouldn't put into their written plan,' he continued in his mind. 'You can only read it between the lines.'
"Yes," Miss Black agreed again and Tom got up from his seat.
"I'll have to run this past the Aurors." Elladora stepped sideways as the other walked closer to her. "I'll keep your family's name out of it." The woman smiled relieved and let the Minister pass.
"I'm going to the Auror's Department," Tom stated to Ms Grelyon as he walked past her and she simply nodded while glancing over the top of her glasses at him. Elladora joined him in the lift, but stayed behind when it reached the Auror's temporary level.
R&R