Chapter Two: The Assignment

Zexion was waiting, office door already open, for when Harry came storming down the hallway and flung the folder down onto Zexion's desk.

"What in Merlin's name is this?" he spat, rather than asked.

Zexion looked up at him calmly, not at all surprised by his outburst or anger. "It's your next assignment." Slight curiosity tinged his voice as he opened the folder and leaned over it. "How far did you get before rampaging down here?"

Harry shifted awkwardly. "The first page."

"I thought so. You probably wouldn't be nearly as mad if you had read the assignment all the way through."

Harry refused to be thrown off course. "So who posted the bounty on Draco Malfoy?"

Zexion's mouth quirked at Harry's snide choice of words. "The Head of Aurors."

Harry's stomach did a back flip. Ron? Ron had… but why?

Zexion sighed and motioned for Harry to pull up a chair. "You want to know why, don't you?"

Harry nodded. "Why does-" Ron, "-the Head of Aurors want Malfoy brought in? He hasn't done anything since-"

"That's precisely the point, Harry," Zexion cut him off. "Since he was acquitted a few months after your victory over He-Who-Was-Defeated-" Harry cringed at the name that wizards now used for Lord Voldemort, still too afraid to actually say his name, but not scared enough to call him by his old pseudonym, "-Draco Malfoy has done absolutely nothing. As for all those who had associations with Death Eaters, the Aurors have files on the entire Malfoy family. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy have visibly retired to one of their villas in Rome – they're easy to track. But their son seems to have locked himself up in Malfoy Manor and seems intent on staying there. He hasn't been seen in public since his acquittal, the Floo network has registered no one entering or leaving any of the Malfoy Manor fireplaces, and no owls have gone in or out. It is not suspicious for Draco Malfoy to choose to become a recluse after the war – one might even expect it, considering his part in it – but to such a severity?"

"It's still just conjecture," Harry muttered. It made perfect sense to him.

Zexion rolled his eyes towards the heavens. "Harry, you seem to think that we're against Draco Malfoy, that we want him brought in for another trial, or worse. We don't. We need you to find him for as much his own protection as ours."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"You're familiar with how the Aurors are run these days, aren't you? Ronald Weasley has done a tremendous job in ironing out the old kinks in the system. There has to be a valid reason for Aurors to search for someone, and it can't just be that they happen to have a fondness for Dark Arts. The Aurors need proof that the practice of Dark Arts – or any practice, for that matter – is being used by the person in question to harm others before they can investigate."

"So then investigating Draco Malfoy is illegal," Harry snapped.

"No, you're looking at this assignment from the wrong viewpoint. Who have we been having more and more trouble with lately, Harry? These Neo Death Eater sects have been popping up all over the world. You remember your case in Berlin, correct?"

Harry bristled at the barb, but said nothing.

"For all they use his name scheme, these people aren't followers of He-Who-Was-Defeated. They're terrorists, plain and simple, using his beliefs as an excuse to discriminate against and persecute muggles. They don't always use the Dark Arts to do such, which is one of the reasons why the Aurors are having so much trouble tracking them down. But some of them slipped up a few months ago.- they approached Lucius Malfoy for aid."

Harry started in surprise. He hadn't heard of this.

"The Head of Aurors didn't even bother to send any Aurors first. When Lucius Malfoy discretely contacted the Ministry and tipped us off, the assignment was immediately sent to me, to Fred, and to our closest Spider in Rome. It still wasn't enough; they had disappeared, and we couldn't track them very far. They haven't approached either of the elder Malfoys since, though I believe Mr. Weasley has arranged for a few Aurors check up on them from time to time to make sure."

Harry was still trying to wrap his mind around the concept that Lucius Malfoy had been against these "New" Death Eaters. It said quite a lot about them as a group if Malfoy was against their plans.

"It was Narcissa Malfoy who raised an alarm next. It was a small thing, really. She was worried about her son because she'd written to him after that event and her owl had returned, the letter unopened and untouched. Until then, we had turned a blind eye to Draco Malfoy's withdrawal from society but, if even his parents are unable to reach him, there must be a reason beyond what everyone had assumed. Or, at least, that was the Head of Aurors' thoughts on the matter.

"A letter was sent to Malfoy Manor first, merely requesting that Mr. Malfoy write back stating whether he was well or not, because his mother had requested it. It, too, was returned untouched and unopened. Looking at the bird a bit closer, we – Intel, that is – determined that the bird herself didn't even see Draco Malfoy or even enter the Manor.

"This prompted an investigation, though still very discrete, as it was purely on the whim of two worried parents and a suspicious Head of Aurors. One Auror was sent to figure out what was going on. You'll find his report after the preliminary summary." Zexion gestured to the open folder on his desk.

"What did he find?"

"Nothing. He couldn't even find the house."

"How could he not find the house? It's a Manor! Wouldn't it be rather obvious where it was?" Harry asked, flabbergasted.

"One would think," Zexion replied, amused. "But Malfoy Manor eluded the Auror searching for it, somehow. When the Auror's investigation failed, it was sent here. To you, specifically."

"Why to me?" Harry wondered. He wasn't suited for investigation, as Fred had reminded him repeatedly.

"Three reasons." Zexion lazily raised a hand with three fingers outstretched. "One, Mr. Weasley specifically requested you. Considering his background with you, Fred took that into serious consideration."

One finger went down. "Two," Zexion continued. "Malfoy Manor is like many houses from ancient families. You can only find it if you already know where it is." Harry immediately thought of the House of Black. Well, that at least made sense. "Also, as with old houses which have been in the possession of a single family for centuries, they are extremely loyal to their family. Malfoy Manor is, obviously, echoing its current master's wish to not be found – for better or for worse. You are the only Spider we have who has previously been to Malfoy Manor, which makes you the obvious best candidate for the job, even if the Head of Aurors hadn't specifically requested you."

Another finger went down. "Third, it was your testimony, and your testimony alone, that kept the entire Malfoy family out of Azkaban after the war. I believe Mr. Weasley and a Miss Granger – now Mrs. Weasley – testified on Draco Malfoy's behalf, as you were still de-briefing about the defeat of He-Who-Was-Defeated at the time, but it was you alone who testified for Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. With such a high profile family as the Malfoys, if this goes public, it will not be a pretty scene. However, you are already associated with telling the 'truth'-" Zexion lazily made quotes in the air with his fingers, "-about the Malfoys' side during the war."

Harry glared at him as if daring him to continue that thought, but Zexion merely smiled and went back to his explanation.

"Therefore, if it does go public, you are the only Spider we have that the public would trust." He gestured to the folder which Harry slowly closed and picked up. As Harry headed for the door, Zexion's voice stopped him.

"Close the door, Potter. There's more."

Frowning, Harry closed the door. The room hummed for a bit as a series of privacy spells – Zexion's specialty – settled into place.

"Fred has issues with this case, Potter. He called me into his office to discuss them this morning."

Harry sat down in the chair again, a bit too quickly.

"The Aurors have been having problems with these Neo Death Eaters. We have had problems with them, as well. You have had problems with them. And that is what is driving Fred crazy about this assignment. These Neo Death Eaters aren't organized. They don't have any one leader. They aren't working in any conventional manner. They're popping up around the world, but their pockets don't stay in one place for very long. They're like a rabid beast, swerving its way across the world.

"They don't have support from anyone in the public eye, and that has more than just Fred scared. Fred thinks – and I agree – that these Neo Death Eaters themselves are a bit scared. They have no figurehead – no Dark Lord – to rally under, and they aren't following the former Dark Lord's plan. They're just sick, twisted individuals banning together because they can. They know – and so do we – that they will soon mess up somewhere and, when that happens, they'll be caught in the Spider Web. Fred and other Unspeakable Heads from around the world have been spinning this web for well over two years now, and everyone knows it's only a matter of time before someone gets caught and we'll start hunting these Neo Death Eaters down like they're in season.

"They need support, Potter, from someone high up. From someone with means. Preferably from someone who had connections to the former Dark Lord. Everyone, Potter, every single one of the former Dark Lord's Death Eaters is either dead or in Azkaban – largely because of you. All of his Marked followers are accounted for… except for three. The three you and yours kept out of Azkaban.

"Fred believes that they're not a threat, by the way. He takes your testimony in complete faith. We all do. The memories of your final battles with He-Who-Was-Defeated prove that, even without testimony under Veritaserum, yet you insisted that as well. And the recent actions of both Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy only reinforce that trust."

Zexion leaned across his desk, staring Harry down. "We are worried for Draco Malfoy, Harry. He's the only option left for the Neo Death Eaters. Fred thinks, and I agree, that his enforced solitude may not be completely of his own making. We are worried that he has a reason to hide from these Neo Death Eaters, or that they are making him hide."

Zexion's wand flicked out and the door opened, privacy locks dis-engaging. "There is no time limit for this assignment, Harry, but I'm sure you can see why Fred will be so anxious to have it completed. I will be your contact for this case."

Again at the door, Harry started in surprise. He seemed to be doing that a lot this morning. "You? But you hate the Field!"

Zexion sighed in agreement. "Yes, I do. However, I am a Spider. Fred and I have agreed that you will most likely need information that you do not have in that folder in order to complete this case, but we have no idea what kind of information that may be. Therefore, I will be your contact, so as to supply you with whatever information there is at the Web's disposal."

Harry nodded, but didn't leave the room. "One last question for you, Zexion," he leaned in the doorway. "The Auror who did the first investigation - who was it?"

"Ronald Weasley," Zexion replied with a smile. "Apparently, he wouldn't trust anyone else to do the job in an unbiased manner. It caused quite a stir with his underlings."

Harry grinned, picturing that. The Head of Aurors running off on a wild goose hunt, leaving all the other Aurors waiting for him to come back. It sounded like something Ron would do. "Thanks, Zexion. I'll see you in the Web, then."

"That you will. Now get out of my office, Potter. I have a lot of work to do."

Harry paused at his office long enough to grab his heavy winter cloak. It was January, and it was absolutely frigid in his apartment until someone got the fire going – and, even then, there were places where warming charms were needed.

Axel was waiting for him, pouring himself what must have been around his twentieth cup of coffee for the day. Roxas had once suggested that he just start taking caffeine pills and stop ruining his teeth, but Axel genuinely liked the taste of strong, black coffee when it was scalding hot.

"You're going out, then?" the voice was too calm to be believed; he was worried.

"Yeah."

"Difficult?" Again, the voice's tone would imply that Axel had no care to really know Harry's answer, yet he'd stopped stirring his cup and was gripping the countertop with white-knuckled hands.

"I have no idea," Harry replied truthfully. "Could be as easy as going to see an old friend-" and oh how strange it was to be saying that about an assignment where he was expected to find and retrieve Malfoy alive or dead, "-or about as hard as my assignment in Berlin."

Axel winced. It had gone around the Web that Harry had encountered Neo Death Eaters in Berlin quite quickly. It had, after all, been the first proof they'd had that Neo Death Eaters were a world-wide problem and not merely a pestilence in the British Isles.

"Well," he said at last, "if you need extraction-"

"Zexion's my contact," Harry murmured low, even though they were the only two in the room – never mind the only two in the hall way, or even in this wing of the complex.

Axel sighed in relief. "Good. At least they're not sending you out with some greenhorn. They did that to me once; more trouble than if you didn't have a contact at all."

Harry grinned and nodded. "Anyway, I'll be back before you know it. Perhaps with souvenirs, too."

Axel threw back his head and laughed.

Harry turned and passed by him, heading for the Floo.

"Harry."

Harry paused, one hand full of Floo powder.

"If you need a safe house… well… you know."

Harry smiled. "Harvest Home."

"I better not hear that you went to some other Spider's house for safety, got it?" Axel's tone was playful, but Harry got what he was really trying to say.

"I don't know any other Spiders, Axel," Harry replied flippantly, tossing the powder into the fireplace and stepping in. "Potter apartment," he told the fire and waved good-bye to Axel as green flames whooshed him away.

Hermione had told him that he should come up with a better name for his flat the first time she and Ron had visited. 'Potter apartment' wasn't very original, she'd said, and it would be easy for someone Harry might not want inside his flat to think of it. Harry hadn't been able to explain to her that no one he didn't want getting into his fireplace would be able to get inside – it was another one of those Unspeakable secrets.

Modeled like the old family houses – like the House of Black or, apparently, Malfoy Manor – one could only Floo inside if one knew where the house was. And Floo addresses could easily be changed. Roxas and Axel had changed theirs a few times after Harry had been forced to use their house as a safe house during assignments. So what if their Floo address was different from their house address? It was still safe, and that was what mattered.

Of course, Harry hadn't been able to tell Hermione any of that. When she'd told him he should change it, he'd merely said that anyone who wanted to come into his apartment should feel free to try it. They'd have to deal with-

"The Master is home."

"Good afternoon, Kreacher."

"The Master should have told Kreacher he was coming home for dinner early. Kreacher would have prepared dinner-"

"It's fine, Kreacher. I haven't changed my plans. I won't be here come dinnertime."

"If Master stayed in his rightful house, it would be no problem for Kreacher to-"

Harry nodded absently as he walked past Kreacher and collapsed upon a sofa. Kreacher's newest problem – and he seemed to rotate problems like the seasons – was again that Harry had steadfastly refused to live in the House of Black. After Harry had fixed it up, back to the grandeur that it had once been, Kreacher could not possibly fathom why Harry refused to live in that house.

Because, for all that he owned the House Elf that came with the house, the House of Black would never truly be Harry's home. It would always be Sirius' house, in his mind.

Feet pulled up on the already scuffed coffee table, Harry shrugged off his outer robe – quickly banished to the closet by Kreacher – and opened the folder, pausing as his eyes traced over the name emblazoned upon the front page. He frowned briefly as the now-familiar images flashed across his mind.

Malfoy's eyes peering at him, and the dread that he'd felt. Malfoy would know him. There was no way Malfoy wouldn't recognize him.

Malfoy did recognize him. Not only him. Malfoy knew who they all were. Of course he did. Harry had seen the recognition flash across his eyes, the only thing which changed in Malfoy's fearful expression. And then Malfoy had blinked. Recognition was hidden by false confusion.

Harry didn't understand it now any more than he had back then.

Perhaps this was truly what a wizard's debt felt like, he'd often wondered. Of course, it made no sense. He, Hermione, and Ron had saved Malfoy's life after Malfoy had lied about not knowing who Harry was. When Malfoy had been tried, Harry had to plead with Hermione and Ron to testify on Malfoy's behalf, because they felt as if they had already repaid their debt.

And perhaps they had. But Harry, despite all that had happened during the final battle with Voldemort, had still felt the nagging sensation that he owed Draco Malfoy. He had been scheduled to testify about the final battle with Voldemort the whole day Malfoy's trial had been scheduled for, so he had begged Hermione and Ron to testify because he couldn't.

Surprisingly, they hadn't asked him why he was so set on someone testifying on Draco Malfoy's behalf. They had just agreed. And they still hadn't asked him about it.

It hadn't helped, though. Even if it was indirectly his doings that saved Draco Malfoy from Azkaban, it still did not sate the feeling that he owed Malfoy. So, when Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had been tried for their participation, Draco Malfoy sitting front and center in the thrall who had packed into the chamber to see the trial, Harry had testified for them.

He had been the only one. And they had narrowly escaped Azkaban.

Harry admitted that it was very lucky that Lucius Malfoy's wand had been destroyed long before – another indirect action of Harry's – because if it had still been in existence, then Harry was sure Lucius, at least, would not have walked free that day.

He had seen the confusion on Draco Malfoy's face when Harry had stepped up to defend his parents, but even that did not quell the feeling that he had not yet repaid what was owed.

When Draco Malfoy had disappeared, shutting himself inside Malfoy Manor, Harry had been able to suppress those feelings. After all, if Malfoy didn't get into any trouble, there was nothing Harry could to do.

But now there was something going on, and Harry had a sneaky suspicion as to why Ron specifically had requested him as the Unspeakable for this assignment. He would bet that Ron had been told by Hermione, but it made no difference.

They knew. They must have known. That was why Ron hadn't mentioned to him what had happened to Lucius Malfoy nor what he had done when Narcissa Malfoy had called the Aurors to search out her son. That was why Ron himself had done the investigation. It wasn't that Ron cared about what happened to Draco Malfoy – no, the feud between the Weasleys and Malfoys was still healthy and strong – but because he – or Hermione – had guessed how Harry would react if he had known.

Harry would have taken things into his own hands, if he had known, and that was something he couldn't have done until an assignment had been given to the Unspeakables. Which it had been. And now he had one last chance to repay Draco Malfoy.

status: beta'd by Ayeshah Harvey-Lomas