October 2008
Wizarding London, England
Ministry of Magic of Great Britain
Office of Magical Law Enforcement, Auror Department
Monday

Lyra went into work with Harry on Monday. She spent the majority of her morning on the phone with Patrick and her superiors in New York arranging a transfer for official business so she could continue on in London without using all of her personal leave. Harry had spent his morning justifying her transfer to his own superiors. They were then hauled in together in front of the Head Auror of the Department to discuss why she should be allowed to work a case involving British subjects on British soil. Ah, the old British stuffiness, I did not miss you. Lyra thought.

She and Harry had discussed that morning, over coffee and buns, that she would take the lead and divulge as much information as she saw fit to earn her transfer and get a team and resources to work the case.

The Head Auror, Harry's ultimate supervisor within the department, was a wizard named Kingsley Shacklebolt. Harry told her that he had been retired from field work for several years but that he had been an important member of the resistance during the Second War and worked closely with her father to subvert Voldemort and his cause. He was a favorite pick for Minister of Magic in the upcoming election and held a lot of power within the government. He looked, to Lyra, like he had definitely been battle tested. Despite presently being kind of a thorn in her side, he struck her as a good leader. Fair, but skeptical. At present, she found herself standing next to Harry in front of the Head Auror's desk while he eyed her suspiciously through a set of bifocals.

"Auror Black, I've dealt personally with the Malfoy family in the past. It does not seem out of the realm of possibility to me that the young Mr. Malfoy is experiencing some kind of psychosis, fixating his emotions on a childhood acquaintance as a form of escape. If our file on him is correct, he is somewhat recently divorced, his ex-wife newly remarried and has had several negative encounters with both the wizarding and muggle justice systems stemming from his issues with substance abuse." Shaklebolt fired in her direction.

"Sir I understand that. I understand that a typical case of stalking is about human psychology and not dark magic, but I truly do not believe that is the case here. I believe this is...atypical." She replied evenly.

"Atypical how?" He asked.

"The timing. The target. The methods." She argued. She was trying to find a way to get this done without having to tell them that she was a Snape or that she had maybe broken international law by using wandless legilimency on an unsuspecting citizen, even if that citizen was a total bastard.

Shacklebolt sighed. "Auror, I can't justify a transfer and use of this office on what is, in all probability, a rather unfortunate case of a profoundly troubled wizard needing mental health services and to spend a turn in a cell contemplating how to properly treat women." He replied.

She glanced over at Harry and he gave her a small nod. Frick. Fine. Let's tell everybody. Put it in the Times too for a laugh. It was at moments like this that she was unspeakably grateful for her department at MCUSA. Pat had approved her transfer in like two seconds. Brits and their red tape…

"Auror Shacklebolt, there's more." She offered.

"I figured."

"Draco's father." She began.

"Terrible man. Unbelievable coward." He replied without hesitation.

"Yes, I know. I ran into him several days ago and I...he doesn't know me. I've only met him once but I'm a highly skilled Legilimens and I can practice successfully without a conduit and I…"

"You read his mind without his knowledge and you learned something that makes you think he's culpable for the strange behavior of his son?" He interjected, as a mock question.

Lyra stood, stunned. She looked over to Harry who had his jaw on the floor before she turned back to the man in front of her.

"Um...yes. I...is that illegal here?" She asked, trying sound innocent.

"It most certainly is." He replied, emotionless.

"Yeah. I was worried about that." She could feel Harry rolling his eyes next to her.

"My next questions are very important, Auror. So consider them carefully because your responses may mean the difference between you earning a spot here or you being put in ropes and sent back to the States." He paused. "What reasons, before your weekend excursion into unauthorized mind reading, did you have to believe that Lucius Malfoy was concealing the activities of his son and what indications do you have that Draco is in real danger here from dark magic? Give me reasons to believe you." Shacklebolt said, eyes narrowed.

"The abridged version?" She asked.

"Preferably."

"Ok. I've known Draco since I was eleven. My birth father was British and tutored us in Legilimency/Occlumency together periodically for seven years. I've spent hours inside Draco's head and he in mine. I haven't seen him in ten years but I know him inside and out, or I mean...I knew him. I knew that he was afraid of his father as a child. Lucius would bully him, hit him and threaten his mother. One of the things that I learned about that man from the mind of his own son is that there is nothing NOTHING he wouldn't do for power. Now, if the reading up that I've done on the Second War is any indication, my Legilimency proved me right."

"But that was ages ago. Mr. Malfoy has been tried and served time in prison. He was secured with a trace to ensure no further use of Unforgivable Curses and has legally paid his debt to society. He's been mostly an afterthought or a punchline for years now." Shaklebolt retorted.

"We also made a...I don't know what you call it here, but back home we call it a Wellness Check. When I arrived in England we reached out to the Malfoys to see if anything was amiss with Draco. I was concerned for his safety." She stated.

"Citizens Inquiry." Harry offered.

"And?" questioned Shacklebolt.

"And we got two different stories. From Lucius Malfoy, we got that nothing was wrong. Everything was pansies, pleasant and pureblood. From the ex-wife, however, we got that Draco had been out of touch for several weeks and was missing visitation time with his son, which he had never willingly done before. She was worried. Also, when I saw the Malfoys this weekend, I overheard Narcissa Malfoy saying that she hadn't heard from him in a similar amount of time and she was concerned as well. She was also aware that Malfoy had blown off the inquiry and she didn't like it," Lyra explained. "To clarify...um...that information I heard with my ears, not my mind. And you can't arrest me for frequenting overpriced markets and having ears, so…" She dropped off nervously after her embarrassing ramble.

"Ok, there is an element of suspicion there, I'll give you that." He replied, looking amused.

"So, that's when I read him. Heard him flat out, in his own mind that he was going to fabricate a letter from Draco to placate his wife. Heard him thinking in terms of hunting. Heard him mention that whoever was being hunted, it's not Astoria Nott and I think he was surprised that that was the case. I also heard him, again with my ears this time, tell his wife that he thinks she's keeping their grandson away from them out of spite. Which sounds like motive to me," Lyra explained.

"Out with it then, Auror," Shacklebolt fired flatly.

"I think Lucius Malfoy has found an outside way to compel Draco to hunt someone down and destroy them. I think whatever he did isn't affecting Draco the way he planned. I think he was hoping that he would pursue the ex-wife, with the motive being to punish her for keeping him away from his grandson," She replied. "Why do your own dirty work when you can brainwash your own son to do it for you. It's terrible. It's cowardly. It's been his MO in the past. Problem is, Draco isn't hunting her. He's hunting me."

Shacklebolt's face didn't change, but he leaned forward in his chair before questioning, "Why you?"

"Simple mix up? Bad cast?"She offered, half-heartedly.

Harry cleared his throat suggestively and it was Lyra's turn to roll her eyes.

She sighed heavily and tried to suppress her blush. "Draco and I were together, for a time...before the war." She replied, looking with unwavering devotion at the clock on the wall behind the head Auror's desk.

"Ah. That clears that up," the old Auror answered before continuing. "So, forgive me, but I have to ask, what on earth makes you think that it's remotely appropriate to have you working a stalking case in which you're actively a victim? Seems...odd."

"Because I'm trying to tell you that this isn't a stalking case! It's an unlawful compulsion case. That is dark magic. I am an Auror and the last time I checked, fighting dark magic is sort of the job. I am uniquely qualified for this case because of my singular insight into the mind of the person who is actually being victimized here!" She said, exasperation bleeding into her tone.

He paused, sizing her up. She hoped she hadn't lost her cool so much that she lost the point.

"So Draco is our victim. Do you think his father is going to compel him to hurt himself if he is unsuccessful in his task?"

"I have no idea. I don't know how it's being done. I'm mostly worried that Draco is going to escalate what he's doing and I'm going to have to seriously hurt him or worse to protect myself. That worry applies regardless if this is dark magic or garden-variety psychosis. I don't want to do that to him," she replied with conviction.

"Point made." Shacklebolt replied. "I spoke this morning with Patrick McMillan in your office in New York. He told us that you'd taken measures to ensure you weren't being surveilled there and you weren't. That being the case, if you had some kind of sick admirer across the Atlantic, why bring yourself nearer to danger by closing the gap yourself?"

"That...is a very good question, actually." She replied.

"It's sort of the job, as you say." He retorted.

"Right. Well, I don't think it's good practice to just let stalking go unaddressed." She stalled. "Brave new world for a young, professional witch and all that."

"Try again." He said.

Ok, you got me. That was pretty bad, she thought before giving a long, defeated sigh. "I was instructed to come by a source that I trust." She admitted, feeling embarrassed.

"A source," Shacklebolt replied with a raised eyebrow.

Lyra huffed. "So you've read the letters. You know they make mention of some huge secret that I have, yes?"

"Yes." He replied expectantly.

"Well I only have one secret and that is my birth father, who tutored me and Draco all those years is Severus Snape. He warned me that Draco and I were both in trouble and told me to come to England to find Harry." She blurted out quickly. She produced the scroll she'd received from Severus the week prior and Harry laid his next to hers on the desk in front of the wizard seated before them.

"That's….that's not possible." Shacklebolt stated pensively as he looked at the scrolls in front of him.

"I believe her, Sir. It's his hand. It's his tone. It's even his bloody style. Cryptic and weird, but matter-of-fact," Harry offered in her defense.

Shacklebolt huffed a noiseless laugh. He spent several more moments reviewing the scrolls in silent contemplation when there was a knock at the door and a young secretarial witch entered.

"Excuse me, Sir. This just came for you by express owl." She said extending a small scroll out to him which he took in his hand hesitantly.

"Thank you, Hilde." He replied as the witch retreated from the room. He looked down warily at the scroll in his hand and opened it…

Kingsley,
To answer your questions in order,
Yes she is.
Yes I am still, regrettably, quite dead.
Yes. It is included in this scroll. When she is safe again feel free to share it with her. It contains information that she does not know and has a right to.
Regards,
Severus Snape

The old Auror picked up the smaller piece of parchment that had been rolled up with Snape's message. He opened it reluctantly. He scanned it, took a moment to compose his face and tone before looking up at the young wizard and witch in front of him. He eyed the young witch with her dark hair, hazel eyes and natural frown. She was a good mix of her parents, aesthetically. That lucky son of a bitch, he thought.

"Auror Black, on behalf of the Auror Department of the Office of Magical Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Magic of Great Britain, welcome aboard." He stood and extended her hand to her.

Lyra blinked twice, hard, before extending her hand to shake his. "Th...Thank you, sir." She looked over at Harry who looked just as confused as she was.

"To avoid a mountain of diplomatic paperwork and unnecessary attention, the case belongs to you, Potter. Black, you will have full access to the team and tools assigned and will co-direct the operation as a consultant specialist for your Legilimency skills...Potter, make sure you run her by Simpkins before this is all over. Maybe she can teach him something." Shacklebolt said with an air of finality.

"Yes sir." He replied.

"Then you're dismissed. Good luck and let me know if you need anything." He stated.

They turned to leave.

"Auror Black." Shacklebolt called to her just prior to her reaching the door.

"Sir?"

"Your father was a complicated man, but deeply brave. A great wizard. He was a loss to all of us and I'm sure no one more so than you." He said plainly.

Lyra smiled. "Well, I'm not so sure, to be honest." She replied glancing at Harry who was just out of earshot walking back towards his office. She turned back to see Shacklebolt's puzzled look. "I mean, he had a lot of important relationships, but kept everything so hidden and compartmentalized. I may be his daughter and a helluva Legilimens, but that doesn't mean I knew him the best, or vice versa." She thought a moment before adding, "he was, as you say, a complicated man."

"There he is." Shacklebolt smiled at her. "Insightful and dispassionately realistic."

"Well, I'm just happy I didn't get the nose." She replied with a smile before turning out the door as Shacklebolt braced himself on his desk for a laugh.


Thank you for reading and thank you to stacygrrl2002 for the reviews! A question has been raised about the involvement of the Dumbledores. I'm not sure if I will include more backstory about it in the fic due to pacing, but I'll say that, in my mind, Snape trusted Albus Dumbledore more than anybody, save for maybe Lily Potter and went to him to hide and protect his daughter. In my mental timeline, Lyra was born very close to the time the Potters were killed and he went to Albus in the aftermaths of their deaths asking him to hide his daughter. I mean, Albus was hiding one kid, why not 2! I included Aberforth really just to give plausibility to the idea that Lyra could have been kept for 8 months around Hogwarts before being placed with the Blacks. Aberforth, based on Deathly Hallows, was the kind of guy who would put aside the animosity between him and his brother to help a child, and I think Albus trusted him enought to share the information with him. So, that's what I got. Also, I'm going to be doing some housekeeping on this story. Changing headings and a tiny few hole patches. They will not significantly change the story in any way. Thanks! -MM