Long time no see!
Man, I feel like that parent that was late to pick their kid up from school… by like 4 hours, it's not a nice feeling (T_T) Also I'm not going to lie, after wiping and reloading my computer I've spent the past three weeks rewriting this chapter almost daily, if there are any mistakes it's because I was simply too irked to groom this particular chapter any further. On that note, I am currently looking for a beta for this story in the hopes of speeding up the writing process, should this peak anyone's interest feel free to send a PM my way or contact me through a review, my only request is that they have a somewhat extensive knowledge of the HP fandom to help not only with grammatical errors but flaws in the setting as well.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Warning: this story is rated M for violent content and graphic scenes, this story will contain graphic violence as well as adult themes.
"Poor bloke, I knew these radicals were desperate but I didn't think they'd escalate that quickly." Ron Weasley said, scratching at the scruff of his neck nervously. "I wonder where they snatched him from, does he identify with anyone on our missing persons list?" The ginger auror pondered aloud.
"No one on mine, and stop referring to him like he's dead, I don't want him waking up to his own eulogy. Do you think he's even a wizard?" Harry stooped down to get a better look at the unconscious man that looked by all accounts to have been pulled from a drain clot. His clothes were too sodden to identify anything, no wallet or pocket book to be spoken of; his shirt was tailored but not necessarily a wizard's garb and the tag of his slacks was too frayed to make anything out. Harry pulled the man's arms into his lap to roll up his sleeves, checking for a wand holster when something dark caught his eye.
"Ron! Ron come here, look at this!" Harry held up the stranger's left arm.
"Oh… oh Merlin, Harry is that what it looks like? It's awful dark, doesn't that mean it's… in use?" Ron blanched considerably when he looked at the Dark Mark etched into the man's arm; the brand was a vivid black, a stark contrast to his sallow skin.
"My scar hasn't hurt in years, I would know if they started meeting again… and I mean even if they could find a way I don't know who he'd be contacting; all the followers who couldn't prove they were under the Imperius Curse were put in Azkaban." Harry was fighting an almost choking sense of dread as he stared at the ghostly brand. "Ron we can't let the others see this. It would be like Fudge all over again…"
"We could always put him in a private cell at Azkaban, for interrogation purposes of course, until we can figure anything out about him." Ron attempted to coax his friend away from the unconscious body of the alleged dark wizard.
"No, we can't do that."
"And why the hell not Harry? This man could be a war criminal; he could be another one of those sick murderers!" Ron was beginning to get noticeably uncomfortable with the turn of the conversation; anything to do with the war was more than a little off-putting for the Weasley clan, for obvious reasons.
"Because Ron, Azkaban has already taken in a fair amount of ex Death Eaters, and if any of them catch wind that this man has evaded the ministry this long they're going to destroy him."
"Yes that would be unfortunate, but if he was a member of his inner circle, for however long, then he deserves it Harry. Imagine how many lives he's ruined, how many people he's killed." Ron's nerves quickly steeled into anger, to believe that his friend was defending a monster like this was infuriating to him. "Harry, these people can't be saved; you saw how the Malfoys treated my da after we personally stuck our necks out for them at the trial. They're all… they're all just… snakes, the whole lot of 'em, a bunch of slimy freaks who just roll over for a chance to feel superior!" Ron's loud exclamations were beginning to attract the attention of the other aurors.
"Ronald." Harry hissed "Stop shouting, I'm serious. We can't let anyone find out what he is before we're absolutely sure which side he's on, he can't be much older than us, he could be like Draco and just following a legacy."
"…"
"If we want a chance to interrogate him, truly interrogate him, we have to do it to our by our own means." Harry reasoned.
"'Kay." Ron mumbled, stepping closer to his friend.
"I need your help to do this, but I think I have plan." Harry laid the man's arms across his chest, a seemingly restful pose, before standing up. "You have to be with me on this, one hundred percent mate."
Ron rubbed at the back of his neck again, blood rising in his cheeks. "I got your back Harry."
Harry placed both hands on the ginger's shoulders conspiratorially. "You're going to go over to the others and you're going to tell them that he was a muggle, that we obliviated his memory after he stopped choking and that he went back to his home, that way." He nodded at the hills to their left. "If they ask, I left because the attack was too much like a Death Eater hit, I'm fine, but I need some time alone to collect myself." With that Harry patted Ron on the shoulder and knelt down next to the man.
"Where are you going to hide him?" Ron asked, eyeing the dark wizard skeptically.
"Not sure yet, I have to take him to a healer first and I can't bloody send him to Mungo's, I think I'm going to take him to a friend of mine, one that can keep quiet if need be." Harry answered cryptically.
"Whatever you say mate, I'll be expecting a firecall from you once this calms down. Mione's going to be so completely pissed at you for this."
"No!" Harry snapped quickly "I mean yes, I'll contact you, but you can't tell anyone about this! If Ginny ever found out… she's looking for any reason not to let James stay with me unsupervised, this would be the icing on the cake. When I said this would be secret I meant it, not even family can know… for now at least." Harry's expression grew dark. He and Ginny had divorced several months ago, shortly after their son James was born; Harry was still an honorary Weasley, and visited quite often, but Ginny (like most new parents) was very nervous about who James was left alone with. After the war Harry had become prone to night terrors, much like in mid school years, and the insomnia that followed left Harry inattentive or frayed at times. She felt that Harry wasn't responsible enough to keep James out of trouble without her there to mother them both, a subject that had contributed to their mutual separation.
"I-I see your point, sorry. But if Mione catches wind of this before we can tell her ourselves she'll hang us both." Ron said with an awkward chuckle.
"I know, I know. You have my complete and utter permission to rat me out to your wife after this is resolved oh-dutiful-husband." Harry joked tensely; glad that Ron was beginning to act like himself again.
"Right, well I better head over there, Kingsley's gonna want a report." Ron walked off to speak with the other aurors.
Right then, now to take care of you. Harry looked at the unconscious man at his feet. Easing the man into a sitting position, Harry looped a pale arm over his shoulder, holding onto him tightly before disapparating.
…
The Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley entrance
Harry swiped his sleeve against his forehead; the humidity of the Longbottom residence's green house was stifling. Harry was standing in an unoccupied corner, amongst creeping vines of some sort, as he watched his friend Neville work over the auburn haired stranger. It had become quite obvious to bring the John Doe here after he decided against St. Mungo's, his friend had a professional knowledge of medicinal herbs, a secluded place to assess the man's injuries, and the young Herbology Professor was-as a Gryffindor-loyal to a fault. So here they were, Harry standing in a corner, Neville bent over a planting table-operating table, and the mystery man-now stripped down to a decrepit pair of wizard-make undergarments-snoozing away on said table.
"Y'know, other schoolmates just drop by for a nip or two, pop in an' say hi to Hannah and me and then head on home." Neville said as he prodded the dark wizard, at the moment he held the man's chin steady with one hand as he examined the man's eyes with the other. Though the comment was serious enough, the man's light expression proved otherwise. In all honesty Neville had been deeply concerned when he answered the door at 3:07 in the morning, the bespectacled Auror draping his cloak around himself and a complete stranger-who appeared to be on not only his doorstep, but death's as well.
"Well I never do the logical thing now do I?" Harry asked with a shaky laugh, the adrenaline rush of smuggling a death eater into a public establishment at the ass-crack of dawn had begun to wear off, leaving the troubled man more than a little worse-for-wear.
"Harry, bringing a cadaver to your friend's pub and asking him to 'see what he can do' isn't illogical it's bloody psychotic." Neville said with a shake of his head.
"I'm not psychotic, he was nearly killed in a raid this evening and evildoer or not he doesn't deserve such medieval treatment as a lynching from Morgana's finest."
"Nearly? Harry this man not only has livor mortis, hence the… disturbing discoloration of his torso and legs, he has no muscle reflex due to a bad case of rigor mortis and," Neville made an agitated movement with his wand, pressing it's tip against the man's sternum forcefully for a moment before pocketing it once more "he has an internal temperature of 12 degrees Celsius, Harry that's colder than the Thames is this time of year." Neville unrolled his sleeves and looked at his friend appraisingly. "I understand if you wanted to identify cause of death, I have enough potions experience to help with that, but otherwise it would be a waste of herbs to do any reviving this long after his passing, just let him be."
"Neville I'm not lying, I came to you because anyone else would send this man to rot in Azkaban, probably without treatment! This man was breathing, hell he was fucking hacking up a lung no more than twenty minutes ago, forget pupil dilation or muscle retraction, listen for a heartbeat, slap 'im around if you have to. I know he's not dead yet, but for Merlin's sake, he will be if you don't do anything soon!" Harry said; he was beyond exasperated at this point, he felt as if he'd heard it all night and the joke wasn't funny.
"Fine, you know what, fine. You want a heartbeat I'll prove it, this man's obviously been stolen from an undertaker's parlor or something, a conduit for some ritual these dark wizard-nutters have thought up." Neville seemed to steel himself before leaning an ear against the man's left pectoral. After a heavy pause his eyes bulged comically. "H-Harry... Harry I hear it." He muttered.
"Come again?" Harry couldn't hear the frightened herbologist from his place in the corner.
"I hear it. There's a beat, but it's weak, Merlin it's weak. I've heard a heart murmur before, at some of Gran's house calls with a healer, but this heart sounds like its pumping concrete." Neville quickly ran over to a small jar labeled Turmeric, emptying it into a mortar before adding several other herbs and grabbing a pestle. "I'll handle this; where are you going to… err… keep him?"
"Shite, I guess I didn't get that far. I can't take him to the flat, I don't have a lock on my bedroom door and George is in and out of there all day." After the divorce Harry had left Ginny the house, for James' sake more than anything, and had moved in to the flat over George's joke shop until something more sustainable came along.
"Keep him here then, we have a suite at the end of the hall, no one rents it 'cause it faces the muggle entrance, not much more reason than that though."
"Are you sure about this? I can't leave him alone, when- if he wakes up, I need to interrogate him before he has time to build up a story." To be honest this was perfect, Harry could finally give George his flat back (they'd been sharing, free of charge), he could keep a close eye on the death eater, and he'd be just that much closer to his friends.
"Don't worry about it. Besides, this way I can keep an eye on him, make sure you don't forget to feed him or something." Neville said with a laugh.
"You kill one gold fish…"
Well that went better than expected, I wrote most of this while listening to the Guardians of the Galaxy 'Awesome tape' playlist on youtube XD I hope this wasn't OOC, I'm trying to make this story funny yet as in character as it can be (even though one of the main characters is someone who wasn't mentioned for more than like a paragraph of book 4).