A/N: Sorry for the wait. No excuses. Without further ado...
CHAPTER 22: The clock's ticking
Interior, St Mungo's - Night
The door opened with a light creak before a figure stepped inside the darkened room. Heels clacked against the floor as the person walked out of the shadows and into the stretch of light that solely covered the single bed and the wooden table beside it. Lily's red hair glowed translucently under the light as she stopped a few feet from the edge of the bed and stared at the form of the pair huddled together on the bed, their arms around each other. Melancholy shone in her eyes as her eyes trained upon their faces. They were facing each other with Hermione's cheek resting above Harry's jaw, her thick curls sprawled obscuring his face.
She took a step forward and reached out a pale hand and for a moment it hovered above Hermione's shoulder before gently coming down. Tentatively, she shook the witch's shoulder and when it didn't seem to work, applied a bit more pressure that had the bushy haired woman rousing from her slumber, a soft whine escaping her lips as her face slid off Harry and she rolled on to her back.
There was movement beneath her eyelids as her lashes fluttered and a small frown disrupted the serene expression on her face.
Her tongue peeked out and swiped across her bottom lip as her eyes came into view and immediately landed caught Lily's gaze as if she knew there was another presence in the room.
"Hey" smiled Lily, filling the empty glass on the bedside table with the water from the jug and handing it to her as Hermione shifted into a sitting position, careful of not to disturb Harry whose loud snores continued to emanate throughout the room.
"Thanks" she drowned the glass in one gulp before placing the glass back on the table and turning her eyes towards the older woman. "What time is it"
"Quarter past ten. I didn't want to wake you up – merlin knows you need all the rest you can get but Neville's here."
"Oh"
"Hmm" Lily's eyes briefly glanced over to Harry. "I'll let you wake him up...less chance of the building burning down in flames"
Hermione snorted, rubbing her hands over her face "That's up for debate. Four years ago, I would've agreed with you" she sighed, tilting her head down towards Harry. "He needs all the rest he can get" she looked back up at Lily "He won't sleep a wink once he talks with Neville and the team."
Lily hesitated for a moment before saying "When are you going to tell him"
A stricken expression came over Hermione's face and she looked away. A beat of silence before she replied "I don't know" her voice just above a whisper and thick with emotion. She removed the blanket from her legs and swung her bare legs off the bed before standing up.
Lily masked her surprise by turning her gaze away as Hermione, clad only in a pair of knickers and a t-shirt, walked over where her jean was lying on the floor next to pair of socks and shoes.
"I-I'll go and fetch Neville" said Lily, scratching the side of her neck and before Hermione even had the chance to response she was already out of the room, the sound of her heels fading away into the distance.
Hermione grabbed the jean and put it on before slipping her feet into the socks and shoes. She walked over to Harry's side of the bed and with one hand pinched his cheek and with the other pinched the bridge of his nose.
Fifteen seconds later Harry was sitting on the bed and cursing like a maniac, the blanket strewn across the floor. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he wheezed, blowing his nose. He rapidly rubbed his palm over his nose while shooting daggers at an amused Hermione. "Do that again and I'll wrangle your throat while you scream like a bitch in heat"
She raised an eyebrow as her smirk grew wider "That's a new one" she let out an obnoxiously loud yawn. "Anyway, Neville's here" she bunched her hair in one hand and tied it into a ponytail.
Harry's head snapped towards the open door as Hermione walked over to the chair placed in the corner of the room next to the table and pulled it next to the bed. She snapped her fingers and the light spread wide till it covered every inch of the surface.
"Where is he" asked Harry, as she sat on the foot of the bed with one knee resting on the bed.
"Lily's gone to fetch him" she let out another yawn, this time covering her mouth with her fist.
"What are you doing here?"
"What do you mean" she was barely keeping her eyes open as tiredness gloomed over her features.
"I mean what are you still doing here" he said slowly, accentuating each word as if speaking to a child who had a hard time grasping simple meaning.
"Oh, I slept next to you"
"That doesn't answer my question"
"It's the only one I got, now shut up. Your voice is making me nauseating" she rubbed the side of her head.
"Then fuck off and go sleep somewhere else, what are you here for. Fuck, is this how it's going to be from now on. What, you're going to clean my shit too and feed me"
"Won't be the first time" she hunched over till her cheek made contact with the bed and she splayed her arms above her head, her eyes closing of their violation.
"It was just once and I was helpless" he growled. "God, I could so easily kill you" he glared at the back of her head.
"Hmm" she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth before sinking deeper into the mattress. "Keep talking, it'll keep me up" she murmured sleepily.
"I'm not your puppeteer. Fuck off before I throw you out"
"That's it. Keep gibbering nonsense" she sighed, shifting her arms till her hands were cushioning her head.
He threw his head back and shut his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth in anger.
However, before something unsavory flew out of his mouth, a knock on the door averted his attention from whatever malicious thought was coursing through his mind.
His eyes snapped open and he shifted his gaze towards the open door and settled on the man standing at the threshold.
"Neville" he greeted with a smile.
"Hey Harry" beamed Neville, walking in before taking a seat on the chair. His eyebrows reached his receding hairline in surprise when they landed on Hermione.
"Don't worry about her" Harry waved his hand.
"Okay" chuckled Neville, getting comfortable in the chair before facing Harry. "So, how are you?"
"I'm fine, listen, I'll appreciate if we forego small talk as get straight to why you are really here"
The smile left Neville's face as his posture turned formal, sitting upright with his hand folded between his knees. "Sure" he nodded. He cleared his throat unnecessarily, sweeping his gaze across the room.
"Neville"
Neville turned his gaze back to him "Yeah?"
Harry tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh right, sorry" Neville's cheeks flushed pink as he opened the first two buttons of his long coat before taking out a file from the inside pocket. "Here"
Harry grabbed it from his hand. It was a thin file, no more than three pages. He flipped through the pages, briefly skimming over the photos and personal details of each person before moving onto the next.
"These are all the wizards you showed in the case file." said Neville, as Harry flipped back to the first page and this time lingered his gaze on the picture. It was a moving photograph of a middle-aged wizard; he had short brown hair with wisps of white and a light stubble. He wore glasses and had a small scar right above his right eye.
Harry moved his gaze down to the address written right under the wizard's name. 7 Scalley St, Sender's Park, London.
Neville waited patiently as he thoroughly checked through the other two wizard's files.
Harry closed the file and put it on the bed next to Hermione's head, soft snores leaving her mouth.
"There's something else you should know" said Neville.
Harry nodded him to continue.
Neville placed his elbows on his knees and leaned slightly forward.
"As you know that the Administration Services office is divided into smaller departments, primarily for practical reasons so there is less mess to sort through." Harry nodded as he continued. "And thus, the directory department was created. Well, recently we went through a bit of renovation and divided the entire department into smaller sections, offices, whatever. It was getting way out of hand."
"To the point, Neville"
"Right, sorry" he murmured embarrassingly. "Well, I found these files under the Azkaban section." Neville pointed at the folder. "It's why it took me twice the time it should've taken because initially I was searching in the general public section but because of the ministry's nonsensical – I don't even know what you would call it – rule, way, whatever – anyway, because the law demands that unless a witch or a wizard have never committed or been affiliated with any sense whatsoever with a crime, and that can include someone giving a statement about witnessing a burglary, only then, their profile details can be filed under the general public section. But, because these three gentlemen played a major part in a court case, their files were shifted under the Azkaban banner after Bruno Demenza was sentenced even though they themselves never served time." Neville shook his head. "Fucked up law if you ask me."
He looked up to see Harry staring at him a dead pan expression.
"Anyway" he cleared his throat, the pink hue taking hold of cheeks once more. "The thing I wanted to tell you about is that these exact files were taken out some six months ago." Harry's burrow furrowed as Neville continued. "Amicia, a young girl who started working last year, straight from Hogwarts, has an eidetic memory – I mean it's scary how good her memory is – anyway, when I couldn't find the files under the general public section, I asked her if she could help me locate them" He took a brief pause. "When she handed me the files some couple of minutes later, I was shocked, so I asked her how she knew where they were, I mean even for her this was ridiculous...she said something that I found very odd, she said that she took these exact files out some six months ago...she said that a young auror came looking for them and that not only that but he also asked to see the files of four other wizards but those were under the general public section"
Harry's face stiffened considerably and he fisted the sheet in a tight grip. Neville leaned back slightly, a worrying expression overtaking his face as he took in his reaction. "Harry..." his voice hesitant.
"Does she recall the names of those four wizards" Harry asked in a strained voice.
"Yeah" Neville fetched out a white parchment sheet from his side coat pocket and handed it to Harry. "It's got their names and address on it" He nodded at the sheet as Harry unfolded it. "I wasn't sure they are connected to all this so I didn't bother with the actual files..." He trailed off as Harry's eyes turned wide and his breathing quickened.
"This is it" Harry gritted out.
He roughly shook Hermione's shoulder.
"Wha-"
Hermione lifted her head disgruntledly, craning her neck with a scowl highlighting her features. Her eyes narrowed when they landed on Harry but before she could attack him, verbally or physically, he pushed thrust the parchment at her face.
She frowned, staring at the sheet in confusion before shifting her gaze towards him.
"Look at it" he motioned towards the sheet.
Swiping her tongue across her dry lips she snatched the sheet from his hand and brought it close to her face. Her eyebrows scrunched together in concentration as she read the names written in big bold letters in the middle.
Thomas Whiting
Harrison Inthrop
Gregory Nolan
Quiceno Lance
A sharp gasp sounded in the room a few seconds later and she snapped her gaze back to Harry. "It's them!"
"He's been ten steps ahead of us." his voice heavy as his nostrils flared in anger.
"What do you mean?"
"He found out about their locations six months ago, not just the three that testified against his father but the other four as well...these other four!" he scrunched the paper into a ball and threw it against the opposite wall.
Hermione ran a hand through her hair as she turned back to him. "B-but it doesn't make sense! Why aren't any of them dead yet..." her cheeks were flushed as she pointed at the ball of parchment littering on the floor. "How come they aren't found hanging from the clocktower with their heads cut off in the wee hours of the morning. Why wait!"
Harry was about to open his mouth when a poorly made attempt at a throat clearance had both of them turning their heads towards Neville.
"I'm lost" he said with a sheepish smile accompanied by a wave of his hand.
"Neville!" Harry pushed Hermione out of the way and swung his legs off the bed before leaning forward and putting his hands on Neville's knees. "Did this girl tell you the name of the auror who asked for these files?"
"Umm, no, I didn't ask her"
Harry let out a frustrated sigh. "For fuck's sake, man!" Neville flinched when Harry shot up and let out an animalistic growl, heading towards the wall adjacent to the door.
"Hey!" Hermione glared at him. "Don't take it out on him. You should be on your knees thanking him for all he's done"
"Hermione, leave it - "
"No Neville" she held up her hand as she stood up just as Harry turned around. "Apologies"
His jaw clenched tightly as he stared at her, thick lines of repressed anger sticking out of his forehead. He turned to Neville "I'm sorry, mate"
"Harry, don't worry about it - "
"I need you to go fetch this girl"
"What-" The words escaped Neville's mouth in a harsh breath as his eyes turned wide.
"I need you to bring this girl – Emily, to me right now"
"Amicia"
"Yes, Amicia"
"Now?"
Harry closed his eyes for a brief moment and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, Neville, now. You're her boss, act like it"
Neville nodded before standing up. "Okay" He cleared his throat. "I'll be back as soon as possible." He started walking towards the door. "Though I don't have her address but I think Clarence, my assistant, does so I'll have to drop by at her place first."
"You do what you have to do"
"Alright" nodded Neville as he walked past him and out of the room.
A few seconds after his departure Harry faced Hermione to find her glaring at him. He snapped his fingers, silencing the room.
"I'm not going to repeat myself so listen very carefully" By now the distance between them was reduced to less than a foot and she had to crane her neck to stare into his eyes. "Disrespect me like that again...it won't be pretty...I don't care what you think of me, keep your opinions to yourself but speak out like that again and don't expect me to not act" He leaned forward till their noses were almost touching. "And we both know the act I'm talking about." He pulled back.
A quick flash of something akin to fear flash through Hermione's eyes and in that very brief moment she looked her most vulnerable self.
He jerked his head back towards the door.
"Fuck off"
Her eyes started to glint in the pale light as she tried to reign in the emotions fighting to break through. "You're an asshole"
She stormed past him and just before she walked out of the room a sniffling whimper reached his ears.
He closed his eyes and stayed like that for a couple of minutes, after which he too walked out of the room, albeit at a much leisurely pace with his hands shoved inside his pockets and in the same vein made his way to the cafeteria in the hospital on the ground floor.
Ten minutes later he was sitting at a bench with a cup of hot chocolate sitting between his folded arms, staring contemplatively at the dark brown liquid.
The entire hall was empty except for the young man working at the café, though at the moment he was sitting at a high stool behind the counter listening to the radio and lazily twirling his wand between his fingers.
"Mind if I join you"
He didn't even bother looking up but simply shook his head.
"Thanks" The man sat down opposite him. "Oh boy" he sighed. "What are you having, smells divine" he leaned across the table and sniffed. "Yup, I'm having one, too"
He snapped his fingers and garnered the young man's attention.
"Same" he pointed towards the cup. "So" he began facing Harry. "You seem to be in a deep thought. Anything you'd like to share. I'd be more than happy to listen, you know. I consider it to be one of my best qualities and plus -"
"Shut up and fuck off" growled Harry, his eyes still locked onto the swirling liquid.
A small chuckle from the man had him scowling.
"Now, that's a bit rude don't you think, Mr. Potter. Especially to someone who's got you by the balls at the moment"
Harry's head snapped up at breakneck speed and he stared into the eyes of Charles Rivia.
"Unh unh" Charles lifted his right hand onto the table holding his two-way mirror as Harry leapt up off his seat.
Harry's eyes dropped to the screen as Charles pushed his hand closer towards him and what he saw made his breathing stop. The color drained from his face as he stared wide eyed at the horrific scene playing on the small screen.
The sight of his daughter stuck to a wall, spread eagle, wearing nothing except for her undergarments, sobbing uncontrollably with tears running down her cheeks had him trembling.
"Sit down Mr. Potter, if you want your daughter to continue breathing"
Harry dropped to his seat as his legs gave out but his eyes didn't waver from his daughter's helpless state.
"One word, that's all it'll take and Rose will be no more, so be wise, be smart, cause now's not the time for action. That'll come later, hopefully"
"Rose" he whispered.
"Yes, Rose" smiled Charles, rather gleefully. "Pretty little thing isn't she" he winked.
A thunderous roar left Harry's mouth that startled the young man working behind the counter so badly that he jumped a foot in the air and in the process the cup of coffee he was carrying crashed to the floor. "If anything - "
"Save it" Charles made of motion of zipping his lips that made Harry clench his fists so tightly that blood started seeping through his fingers. "This" the blonde-haired wizard pointed at the screen. "Is all your doing. No shit, I'm dead serious" he nodded. "If it weren't for you making an ass of yourself at the ministry your precious baby girl would still have been enjoying her vacation. But no, daddy dearest had to create a big scene because he got sick of not being in the limelight for once...and what did that accomplish except getting your ugly mug printed on the front page of every fucking paper the next day?" he said facetiously.
His lips curved into a huge smile as he saw realization dawn on Harry.
"That's right, you worked so hard to keep your daughter away from me, even going so far as to hiring the infamous Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan to look after her and in the end, it was all for nothing. She came back for you, to check on her daddy and lucky for me I just happened to be at the right place at the right moment. Oh, the irony!" he sighed happily, just as young man stopped at their table and placed the cup of coffee.
"Thank you..."
"Kevin, sir" the young man seemed nervous, his right foot was tapping to a rhythm. He kept glancing towards Harry whose eyes were blood red.
"Kevin" smiled Charles, before taking a sip of his coffee and smacking his lips after he put the cup back down. "Mmm, delicious"
Kevin bowed his head before he scrambled away and out of the hall.
Charles brought the cup back to his lips before glancing back at Harry. He peered at him from over the rim before placing the cup back down.
"Actually" he pointed at the now empty café with his thumb. "I was standing right there ordering myself one of these" he indicated towards the cup" when I saw her dash past me. It was so quick I had to do a double take but oh I knew instantly who it was. It was pure luck as I said earlier, I'd just come to check upon you, you know, see how you were doing – I got so scared when I read that you had been rushed to the hospital following your shenanigans at the ministry that I couldn't stop myself from coming to check upon you. It would've broken my heart to know that you left this hell we live in before experiencing what I've planned for you. You're my final act, you see. Without you it's all incomplete and I was so close to losing hope." His eyes wrinkled as a wide grin spread his lips apart. "But I knew that I could always count on you and you did not disappoint, and now your precious baby girl is crying for her daddy to come save her." He chuckled. "Though I will say she's got your spirit, fights back like a caged animal, whoo!" he shook his head.
Harry's fist barreled through the bench, splitting it in half and just like before Charles was lightning quick in thrusting his hand forward holding the mirror, reminding him once more who held all the power.
The rage on Harry's face morphed into pain as he watched his daughter thrashing against invisible bindings holding her in the air. She was screaming but in silent.
"Here's how this is going to work" Charles pulled his hand back as he continued. "We're going to play a little game" His tone no longer cheerful, far from it, such was the turn that one would've been fooled to believe it was a different person altogether and they would've been forgiven for the change in demeanor was such a revolution. His lips were stretched into a thin line, and his eyes were pools of the darkest black, open to the outside but vacant on the inside.
"You have..." he twisted his arm and checked the time on his antique watch. "Exactly two hours and thirty-seven minutes to find out where I've got your daughter locked up. If you are successful in locating her in that time, we'll draw our wands and it'll be glorious but!" he held up his finger and raised an eyebrow. "If you're not" a twisted smile curled at his lips "This" he waved his mirror. "Will start playing across every single two-way mirror in the country...and everyone's going to watch me have my way with your daughter." He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table. "I'm going to rape her, cut her, rape her some more, cut her some more...I think you get the jest of it"
He stood up and lifted his legs over the seat before walking around to the side of the bench.
Harry's head was turned down.
"Better get that big brain of yours working fast, sir, the clock's ticking." He bent down and hovered his mouth right next to Harry's ear. "The thing about time" he whispered. "It doesn't pick favorites, doesn't slow down for anyone, to it we're all even, no one's special...not even you"
He chortled as he stood up straight.
"Adios" and with a snap of his fingers, he was gone.
Harry didn't move an inch, didn't even lift his head and as Charles said, time continued to tick along. It wasn't long before thirty minutes had passed and he still hadn't moved.
Lost.
Fear.
They were written all over his face.
I'm going to rape her, cut her, rape her some more, cut her some more
It's all your fault your daughter is struggling to take her last breaths
These two sentences were playing in his mind on a constant loop and he was incapable of stopping them.
Rose's face flashed through his mind.
You're the best, daddy. I love you
His breathing hitched and he took a gasping breath as he shot up from his seat and barely lifted his legs off the seat before his knees hit the floor and his breathing turned ragged.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god"
"Harry?"
Hermione stood at the edge of the hall along with John, Rebecca, Chris and Damian, all of them staring at him with varying degrees of worry.
Hermione rushed towards him and dropped to the ground before him, clutching his shoulders hard. "Harry!"
She grabbed his face and lifted it up.
"Hermione" he whispered in a broken voice.
"Harry! What's wrong, what happened" Panic laced her words as she stared at his with fear in her eyes.
"He has her"
"Who...who has her" she shook him violently.
"Rose...he has Rose"
Hermione's eyes turned even wider as she dropped backwards.
"No...no, no...tell me it's not true"
He swallowed a lump and turned his gaze down.
"OH GOD!" she wailed. "AAAH!" She put her hand to her mouth as tears filled her eyes.
John and the team stared down at Harry with similar looks of despair.
"I'm sorry..." sniffled Harry, as Hermione's crying reached ear deafening levels.
"NO!"
Thwack
A resounding slap echoed off the walls.
She grabbed his chin and made him look up into her eyes that had fire raging in them.
"I don't want your sorry" she hissed, as tears continued to roll down her cheeks. "I want my daughter back and you're going to bring her back to me, you hear me"
He nodded fervently as his trembling subsided.
"I - I promise..." he took a deep breath as all the emotion left his face and his sparked with determination as he stared deep into her eyes. "I'll bring her back"
He got up and faced the aurors. "We have till midnight" he began in a low voice. "I need to find where he is keeping her. I presume that's where all the other victims are being held as well"
A small frown came over John's face. "So, you think they're still alive, sir"
"I do"
"But where do we start" said Rebecca. "The only thing we're certain of is that he has them. Hammersmith, Cregane and Layport, we searched every inch of their houses, asked their families who have no idea and are beyond hysterical. The only thing we found out is that they have all been missing for a week and that they were all snatched around the same time. Also, their families have also filed a missing person's report but it was sent straight to the lower division since these are not high-profile cases" she rolled her eyes.
"Plus, we're still not sure about the other four you alluded to, it's just their acronyms we've got and I'm afraid sir but that's as good as a dead end." Damian said. "Chris and I even went to Wizengamot offices and searched through their files since they keep their own records of every case but it was the same. Only Hammersmith, Cregane and Layport testified against Charles's father so maybe they are related to something else entirely" he finished, shrugging his shoulder.
"No" Harry shook his head. "They are related to the case which means they are related to his father. Plus, I got their names and address" The aurors eyes turned wide as he continued. "Neville" was all he said and their expressions turned back to normal.
"Then what are we waiting for" said Chris. "Let's get to them before that fucker does. To save time we can we each pick one person and go to him."
"Yeah, I agree with Chris" John said, looking at each auror before facing Harry. "But it has to be a speed mission. We can't linger around and start interrogating them on the spot. Have to apparate them back to the ministry as fast as possible. Maybe lock them in the underground cubicles for extra precaution and them go back to their houses and wait. Take two or three aurors to each property. If sir's right and these guys are related to his father's case and he is after them then he will come and when he does, we attack" he said this all in a single breath.
"No" they all turned towards Harry, including Hermione who was silently crying on the floor. "It's a waste of time. He has them already"
"But sir, how can you be sure that - "Rebecca started to protest but one look from Harry made her snap her mouth shut and involuntarily take a step back. "S-Sorry sir" she stuttered meekly.
Harry turned around and started walking.
"Harry?" Hermione's broken voice reached out to him.
He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her.
"I...need a moment" with that he walked out of the hall and into the adjoining hall before turning left at the corridor. His steps were heavy, barely lifting off the ground, dragging across the floor, and it appeared that he had no particular destination in mind.
He put his hand on the wall as he came into a small clearing before the main entrance and rested his head against it before turning around and sliding down till he was on his haunches with his back resting against the wall and covered his face with both hands.
A muffled sob filled the air before he put his elbows on his knees and rested his head on bis forearms. A few seconds later his shoulder start to shake and a moment later his entire frame was moving back and forth.
Harry potter was crying, though no sound escaped him.
A couple of minutes later the door to the main entrance opened and Neville walked in.
"Harry!"
Harry lifted his tear-stained face as Neville came running towards them. His cheeks were flushed and a bead of sweat were running down his forehead. He came to a skidding halt. "Harry" he wheezed, completely out of breath. "What's wrong" he knelt down and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.
Harry sniffled and wiped his face with his sleeve before standing up. He looked around before looking back at Neville.
"Where's the girl"
"She couldn't come. Her mother is quite sick and she's been taking care of her. She did give me the description of the man and said something rather interesting"
"No name" Harry wiped at his nose before swiping at his eyes.
Neville shook his head. "She said she'd never seen him before. So maybe a new guy who'd only recently joined the force."
"What did she say he looked like?"
"Tall, broad, curly haired, boyish face"
A frown came over Harry's features. "What else did she say"
"That he came with two other wizards and that since it was his first time visiting a patronus sent by Draco informed her to grant him access."
Neville didn't pay any attention to Harry's eyes turning wide in shock.
"She also said that the files he lingered back after the two wizards left and that's when he asked to see the files"
"What were the names of the other two wizards"
"Chris Christakakis and Rebecca Jones "
The words weren't even out of Neville's mouth before Harry turned on his heel and took off.
"I'm not sure we've met," "Roman Kicklighter"
He was dashing at full sprint and the noise of his shoes echoed in the narrow corridor.
"Roman joined the force 6 months ago"
He reached the end of the corridor and nearly crashed into the wall but managed to make a sharp turn right.
"Oh. I presume right after I left
"I think just days after"
"He was selected from a batch of new recruits. His report card was off the charts, one of the best ever and almost rivaled yours."
His breathing was coming in shallow spurts as he yelled at the nurse to move. She shrieked before jumping out of his way.
"Plus, he worked as an unspeakable prior"
"Fuck, fuck, fuck" he slipped at the end of another hallway as he tried to make another sharp turn. His knees hit the ceramic tiles and he grunted in pain before standing up and continuing forward.
"Sir, I can help them since I've nothing to do here."
"Yeah, fine"
"But I would near clearance since I've never been to that department before."
He knocked over a vase as he bumped into a table next to a bench.
"Send your patronus"
"Expecto Patronum"
"Follow him" "He'll inform the receptionist."
He reached the corridor that led to the hall with the cafeteria.
"I don't know it just feels wrong. I mean...those are someone's personal thoughts stored in their personal property and it just feels like we're violating that by abusing our power."
"So, you think I'm abusing my power, huh"
"Yes sir"
"Yes sir"
"Mr. Potter, sir"
"Better get that big brain of yours working fast, sir, the clock's ticking."
He reached the hall and spotted everyone sitting at one of the benches. Rebecca was consoling Hermione who had her resting against her shoulder as tears trailed down her cheeks.
Their heads turned towards him as he ran towards them and skidded to a halt when he reached the table.
John stood up instantly, his eyes wide and expecting, as if he could sense that something very big was about to be revealed.
Harry took two large wheezing breaths before he looked John straight in the eye and said in a gasping voice "Roman"
A/N: Only 1 more chapter left. So excited. We're nearly there. Whatever your thoughts, let me know and I'll catch you on the flip side.