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Harry could only stand in the back as Angela went forward to identify the body. He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that she knew.

Angela knew her sister was dead long before anyone called in to tell her.

Harry knew the bond between twins was strong, sometimes even going as far as to make one twin feel what the other was feeling even if they were countries apart. But this?

He frowned and his nose twitched. They were in the physical therapy ward. The glass roof was in pieces since Isabel had fallen through it, right into the pool below. He found it strange that all the mirrors were shattered.

There was another thing that bothered him.

It was there again; that smell.

The stench that reminded him of death.

"She-" Angela started but choked up, "She fell from the roof?" Harry looked at Angela and the agent beside her; agent Weiss if he remembered correctly.

"No." He shook his head and Angela looked at him with terror written over her face. "She jumped." The man said and Harry's frown deepened while Angela shook her head.

"No. No, no, no-…"

"I know it's hard to accept but-…" Angela was still shaking her head and Harry took a small step forward.

"No. Isabel would never in a million years take her own life; never." Angela shook her head stubbornly and Weiss sighed.

"Angela, there was a surveillance camera on the roof."

"Bloody hell, man, shut up!" Harry had had enough of his insensitivity and pushed him with his shoulder on his way to get to Angela. He gathered Angela in his arms only to receive a scolding look from Weiss.

"She wouldn't have done it, Harry." Angela whispered and hid her face in Harry's chest as she fisted her hands on his shoulders. "She wouldn't have done it!" Harry hugged her tightly and buried his face in her hair.

"Calm down, Angy. Only you can find out what happened, and you can't do that if you lose it." He spoke warmly; comfortingly. Angela was heaving in his arms and his heart ached for her.

"Show us the surveillance tapes." He looked at Weiss with harsh, accusing eyes with a warning clearly visible in his glare, and Weiss nodded although Harry could see the look of obvious dislike for him in the older man's eyes. Harry gently pushed Angela away and she looked up at him. "You think you can do this?" Harry asked and Angela took a deep, calming breath before she nodded her head.

"Sure, let's go."

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Harry closed his eyes and forced down a swallow while Angela ran out of the room. Weiss cleared his throat, and Harry cast him a sideways glance. His usually warm emerald eyes were cold and Weiss shivered as the raven-haired stranger straightened, fisted his hands by his sides, and his strange, almost glowing emerald eyes filled with determination.

Without another word, Harry spun on his heel and left.

Angela needed a moment to wrap her mind around everything, and he would let her have it. The moment she returned to her apartment, he would talk to her.

Something wasn't right here.

Something was wrong; so very wrong.

And he still couldn't remember what that Merlin-awful stench was!

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Angela came back to her apartment and went straight for the living room. She found Harry in a chair by the window with Ducky in his lap, and his eyes focused on something only he could see.

She stood in the doorway, quietly observing his still form draped in shadows. The air was full of something she couldn't name; something dark and heavy. She could almost hear the wheels turning in his head, but his expression betrayed nothing.

"I contacted Hermione." Angela jumped in her place, not expecting him to talk. "Sadly, she won't be able to leave St. Mungo's for at least a week. They are short on staff members this time of the year." He had yet to look at her and Angela found that strange, since Harry always made an effort to look people in the eyes when he was addressing them.

"Thank you. Did you tell her how-...?"

"No." Harry cut her off and Angela exhaled and closed her eyes. "Not until we find out what happened exactly." Angela's head snapped up and she looked at Harry with an expression of confusion, only to see him still absentmindedly petting Ducky with his eyes focused on the dark sky outside.

"You mean-…"

"Something is off here. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel right at all." He muttered. "I don't like it and I plan on getting to the bottom of it." Angela sighed and a small smile tilted her lips. Her eyes were still filled with sadness, but specks of hope appeared in them.

"Mione is right. You do have a hero complex." She murmured and Harry turned his head to look at her. There was a sad smile on his face and his eyes were shrouded in shadows.

"Hermione is family and you are a friend. If you say your sister wouldn't kill herself, then I believe you." Angela sighed and rubbed her face with her hands.

"I don't know, Harry. The surveillance camera-…"

"Angela." Harry interrupted her and she looked at him, shivering when she saw the ironic smile on his face. "Your cousin is a witch, and I am a wizard. Surely you don't believe that what you see is all there is to this world." His words made her frown.

"You think-…" Harry shook his head.

"I don't know what to think right now. I hadn't felt any magic residue in the air, so it wasn't witchcraft, but something happened, something unnatural, and I'll do my best to find out what." Angela gifted him with a weak smile as her eyes filled with tears.

"Thank you, Harry. It feels nice to have an expert on the job." Harry sighed and looked at Ducky. The cat mewled up at him and he rubbed his head between his ears.

"I'm not the youngest Unspeakable for nothing, Angy." Harry murmured and tired blues met sharp emeralds. "I'll find out what happened. I promise." He swore and Angela nodded.

"Thank you, Harry. Thank you."

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Harry looked up at the building of the Theological Society; a foreboding structure that looked out of place in a city such as L.A. He agreed to accompany Angela for her talk with a priest, but he felt awfully out of place as they entered the building. Angela gifted him with a smile, and Harry resisted the urge to make himself invisible.

This was no place for an atheist. He felt uneasy as they entered through the huge door and the smell of old paper and dust tickled his nose.

He couldn't stop the sneeze in time, and Angela smirked at him smugly.

"Allergies?" she drawled.

"Ha, ha. Funny." Harry bit out sarcastically and Angela giggled.

She led him through the huge library and the first thing he noticed were the two men by the huge fireplace. He stopped when Angela tugged on his right sleeve with her left hand, and Harry saw an attendant approach a tall man who stood a little to the side, several feet away from them.

His stance was a bit hunched, and his hands were tucked deep in the pockets of his coat, but Harry could tell the man easily topped him by a few inches. There was something dark about the man, dark and mysterious, and he carried around himself a scent Harry knew very well.

The scent of death.

"Can I take your coat, Mr. Constantine?" the man - Constantine - looked down at the attendant with a disinterested expression on his quite handsome face.

"No. I'm not staying long." He answered dryly and the attendant nodded. He turned towards Harry and Angela, and Angela spoke before the attendant could repeat his question.

"We're not staying long either." Constantine looked over at them, and Harry frowned when the man sneered at Angela. Harry saw her stand to her full height, and she looked at Constantine with a defiant stance.

"My business with him is urgent." She spoke firmly, and Harry suppressed the urge to smirk. He could see how she was related to Hermione. She had that same well-controlled defiant streak.

"First come, first served." Constantine drawled and Angela huffed, and this time Harry had to smile.

"So you're rude no matter where you are." She bit out, and turned her back on Constantine to look at the two men in front of the fireplace. Harry looked at her and she nodded when their eyes met.

The two men shook hands and started to part. Harry stood back and smiled when he saw that Constantine went for the snobbish looking man while Angela went for the priest. Harry took a better look at the blond snob and frowned.

There was something strange about the man. He looked far too delicate for a man and yet there was something distinguishingly male about him. He frowned when he caught sight of the man's shadow and saw… wings?

Harry's legs moved on their own, and he hid in the shadows close enough to hear what the two were talking about, but far enough as not to be detected.

"I know what you want, son." The man with the winged shadow said, and Constantine huffed when he took a seat in an armchair across from him. Harry pulled back a bit more so that the shadows completely covered him, and focused his magic on his ears to hear everything clearly.

"Been keeping your all-seeing eye on me, have you, Gabriel?" Constantine muttered, and Harry detected a note of obvious dislike in Constantine's voice.

"I could offer how a shepherd leads even the most wayward of his flock, but it might sound disingenuous." Gabriel stated calmly, and Constantine rolled his eyes as he turned his head to the side to look at the fire burning in the huge fireplace.

"So, you're going to make me beg." Constantine pressed out through his teeth with his right hand fisted over his mouth, and his eyes focused on the fire.

"It wouldn't help. You've already wasted your chance at redemption." Harry frowned before he cast a glance in Angela's direction. She saw him and nodded, only to turn around and disappear between bookshelves.

"What about the minions I've sent back, the souls that I've saved?" Constantine growled and Harry's frown deepened. What was the man talking about? "That should guarantee my passage across."

"No." Gabriel stopped Constantine from speaking any further. "Passage requires faith, and faith by definition is belief without proof." Harry listened intently. He understood little, but instinct told him to stay and listen carefully. "You have proof. And that means you're not playing by the same rules as everyone else. Your work has mostly been for selfish reasons. I'm sorry."

"This is bullshit. Bullshit!" Constantine snapped and stood up, "It's like you've got some cosmic scale weighing everything we do! Help an old lady across the street - put in a nickel; kick a dog, take out a dime - you're fucking nickel and diming us to death down here!" Constantine's voice rose with every word.

"Keep your voice down!" Gabriel hissed, but Constantine only glared at Gabriel harder.

"And you know what; you're the ones with the problem, not us." Constantine growled in the snob's face. "You make these impossible rules to decide who goes up, who goes down, and you don't even understand us." Harry's frown deepened even more as he tried to understand what the two were talking about.

Up?

Down?

Faith?

Their discussion made no sense.

"Each of you is born with the promise of salvation preordained." Gabriel spoke slowly, in a leveled tone as though he was explaining something to a child. "The cost of your redemption is simple belief. And yet you whine about impossible rules. Sometimes I imagine you hardly deserve the gift you have been given." Constantine growled and fisted his hands by his sides as though he was holding himself back from hitting the man.

"Gift? More like a curse the way you manage things." He spat out and walked over to the fireplace.

Gabriel stood up and it seemed like he was towering over Constantine even though physically he was somewhat shorter than the other man.

"I am taking your situation into account, John, but don't push me." He warned.

"Why me, Gabriel? It's personal, isn't it?" Constantine suddenly sounded so tired and hopeless. He sat down in an armchair and looked up at Gabriel like a man begging for guidance. "I didn't go to church enough? I didn't pray enough? I was five bucks short in the collection plate? Why?"

Harry could clearly hear the desperation in Constantine's voice. The desperation he heard many times before.

Gabriel moved to Constantine and kneeled in front of him, and Harry impulsively leaned forward.

"You're going to die because you smoked 30 cigarettes a day since you were 15." Harry winced at that.

'30 a day? Is that man insane?'

"And you're going to Hell because of the life you took."

'Hell? What the bloody-…'

"Or to put it in a way that your kind would understand." Gabriel almost purred. "You're fucked." Harry decided he heard enough and left his hideout. He moved directly for the door and found Angela there standing at the edge of the porch. The downpour made the city seem so much darker; almost weary.

"What did you hear?" she asked, but before Harry could answer the door behind them opened and John Constantine walked out practically coughing up his lungs. He looked up and cursed, and started fishing through his pockets looking for something when his eyes lifted to meet Harry's.

Harry felt a shiver go down his spine. After what he heard he could somewhat understand the man's rough exterior. He frowned when he saw Constantine fish out a cigarette pack only to find it empty. Constantine huffed and smiled in irony.

"He has a rotten sense of humor." He growled and Harry felt a shiver run down his spine. Constantine looked out on the street and fixed his coat. "And his punch lines are killers." He spat, tossed the pack away and walked right into the rain. Harry looked at Angela and saw her follow the man with her eyes. A guy in a taxi shouted after Constantine but the man just kept on walking.

"Did you finish your work here?" Harry asked Angela after a moment of silence, his eyes following John until the man disappeared from sight.

"Father will talk to the bishop." Angela answered with her eyes focused on Harry's frowning face. "I only hope he'll convince him to give Isabel a proper burial." Harry nodded and Angela frowned at his distracted countenance. "What did you find out?"

Harry looked around and then motioned for her to follow him into a shadowy corner.

"I'll tell you when we're back at your apartment." He murmured and offered his hand to her. "I don't think it would be good if anyone overheard us." Angela took his right hand in her left, and he wrapped his left arm around her tightly, holding her close to himself. "Hold tight and no matter what don't let go." She wrapped her right arm around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck, and a moment later they disappeared with a hardly audible 'pop'.

Their disappearance was noted by a pair of golden eyes and a scowl on the androgynous face those eyes belonged to. A moment later the person vanished into shadows with a flutter of invisible wings.

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Harry sighed while the water from the shower cascaded down his scar covered back. He had retreated into the bathroom after he related what he heard to Angela. She told him she had to go to the station for something, but that was almost an hour ago.

The water was still warm and it felt great to just stand under it and let it wash away his worries, his thoughts, and his pain.

Constantine.

John Constantine.

The look in that man's eyes; he'd seen it before.

Last time he saw it was in the eyes of a young woman. A woman much too young to die from poisoning.

The pain was still fresh and he was almost choking from it.

Ginny never told anyone she was poisoned. She never told anyone she was dying. Not like they could do anything. It still hurt though.

Harry felt tears prickle behind his closed eyelids. He swallowed over the ball of guilt in his throat. When he found out Ginny was dying all he could do was watch her fade away.

All he could do was watch as the light dimmed in her eyes.

All he could keep were memories and the empty place in his heart which once belonged to her.

His friend, his confidant, his shield.

Dear, dear Ginny who only smiled at him and held him when he told her he was in love with Cedric Diggory and not Cho Chang.

Ginny, who covered for him when girls all around him wished to be with him for no other reason than him being famous.

Ginny, who he helped hide her relationship with Draco Malfoy from the rest of the world, ever since her 4th year.

Ginny, who he held when Draco was forced to join Voldemort's ranks by his parents, who he held when Draco was murdered by Voldemort at the battle of Hogwarts when he refused to fire the Killing Curse at Neville.

Ginny, who he held while she took in her last breath.

A lone tear mixed with water which cascaded down his face, a second before hesitant knocking pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?" he answered and cleared his throat when his voice broke.

"I'm back, Harry. Everything alright?" Angela asked when she heard how strained Harry's voice was. Harry sighed and turned off the water with a flick of his wrist.

"Yeah, just lost in thought." He could almost see her frown in worry.

"Alright. I have some pastries in the kitchen if you're hungry. I'll be in the living room."

"'Kay." Harry answered and got out of the tub. With another flick of his wrist he was dry, and one more had him dressed in sandy colored cotton pants. He left the steamy bathroom and went straight for the kitchen. On his way he passed beside the living room and caught sight of Angela watching the surveillance tape. His heart ached for her and he was about to move forward when Angela's sorrow filled whisper made him stop.

"I'm sorry, Isabel." Harry saw her bow her head and closed his eyes in pain when all of a sudden the air filled with that scent Harry couldn't place and a wave of heat passed over his skin.

"Constantine."

Harry's eyes snapped back to the TV and his breath hitched in his throat. Isabel's head was turned directly towards them and her eyes were filled with sorrow and desperation. Angela quickly rewound the tape but this time there was no anomaly. For a moment both of them stared at the screen in stunned silence.

"Harry-…"

"I saw that." Harry said before Angela had a chance to finish her question.

"Do you think-…"

"A message? Yes." Angela looked at him over her left shoulder.

"That man-…"

"You think you can find him; in the Database?" Harry asked and Angela nodded minutely.

"Yes." Harry gave one last flick with his wrist and was dressed in faded jeans and a long sleeved black turtleneck with white trainers on his feet.

"Change. We're going immediately." Angela immediately switched to work-mode and stood up with a determined countenance.

"Let's go."

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A-ha!

The plot thickens….. *evil cackling*