Chapter 18 – The Village
Harry, Ron and Williamson landed in a small clearing on the outskirts of a village. They looked around. It was obviously a Muggle village. That's what they had expected, since Mr Prewett had been so intent on distancing himself from the Wizarding world. According to his list, there was a house here that Mr Prewett used to rent every summer during Mafalda's childhood, and she had loved being here. The village was small enough so that they could clearly see a lake on one side and a forest on the other.
"Okay, we need to get to the other end. There's only one street leading through this village and we're looking for the last house on the left side," Harry told them.
They walked slowly through the village, trying to act as inconspicuous as they could, but a man of Ron's height and build with flaming red hair is about as conspicuous as they come. He drew stares from people on the street, especially women, but he pretended not to notice. It was a bright morning, almost cloudless, and quite warm for the time of year. Muggles all up and down the main street kissed their significant other goodbye and hugged their children as they left their porches and climbed into their cars to leave for work, and see their children off at school. The trio of wizards stopped in front of the last house on the left. "There's a light on." Ron said.
"Yes, it might be a Muggle living there, but it might be a DE, too," Williamson speculated.
"There are probably wards if it's a hideout. We'd better be careful," Harry warned, approaching with caution.
A Muggle neighbour two houses away, with a slight spring in his step and a whistle strode down the front walk to his car parked on the street. Ron approached him. "Good morning, sir," he greeted the Muggle politely.
The man was at first a bit intimidated by Ron's stature, but his polite demeanour set the neighbour at ease. "Good morning, young man," the Muggle replied. "What can I do for you?"
"My mum's cousin used to live in that house over there," Ron said, pointing to the target house. "Would you happen to know anything about the current owner?"
The Muggle looked over at the house Ron pointed at. "Hmph. Shady lot, if you ask me. I don't know them. They keep to themselves," the Muggle said darkly. "If you'll excuse me," he grunted, stooping to slide into his car.
"Oh. Right. Thank you," Ron said, smiling. "Good day, sir." He watched as the man drove away and then returned to his teammates.
Harry and Williamson looked at Ron. "That was bloody brilliant, Ron," Harry exclaimed, although not too loudly.
"Mum's cousin did use to live there," Ron shrugged. "What do we do?"
"Let's stay for a while and see if we can identify who's inside," Harry decided. "Muggle policemen call it a stakeout."
"So where're the steaks," Ron snickered. "I'm starved."
"Git," Harry snickered back. "You're always starved."
"Blimey, Weasley," Williamson mused. "You're always stuffing yourself. How come you're not as big as that ruddy house?"
"Weights, punching bags, duelling practice, running..." Harry said, ticking each item off on his fingers.
"Damn! No wonder you eat so much," Williamson laughed. "Remind me not to hack you off."
"Yeah, well don't hack Potter off either," Ron said, winking at Harry. "He's been at it longer than I have."
"All right, you prats," Harry urged under his breath. "Shut it."
"Sorry, Dad," Ron snorted. When did Harry become so authoritarian?
The Ravenclaw team, led by Cho Chang, moved in on the neighbourhood where their target address was located. It was a small flat in a London suburb. According to Mr Prewett, they had lived there for a couple of years. His job at that time was dead-end and low-paying, but it's where Mafalda lived when she was old enough to understand she was a witch. Most certainly that place could be important to her.
"Merlin's beard," Goldstein whispered after less than twenty minutes waiting.
"What is it Tony," Cho asked.
"Mafalda has left the building," he said, pointing toward a little person, obviously female, in a cloak. Cho and Boot followed his finger with their eyes. It was Mafalda. They started to tail her, but she quickly turned into an alley and Disapparated. "What do we do," Goldstein asked.
"Our orders are to report back to the Ministry," Cho said. "Tony, you go back and report to Thompson. Terry and I will remain here in case she returns."
"Right, Cho," he said. "See you later." Tony Goldstein strode into the same alley and Disapparted to the Ministry.
Harry, Ron and Williamson hadn't waited long before someone approached the house. It was a young woman in a cloak. "Mafalda," Ron said nodding.
"Are you sure," Harry asked, still watching her.
"Wizarding robes, teenage girl, at this very location. If we arrest her and it's not Mafalda, I'll personally apologise to her, but who else would it be," Ron said as if explaining that Pig was an owl and not a Kneazle.
Hermione's had a positive influence on him. "All right. Let's move quickly. Williamson, prepare an anti-Apparition charm around that house. Ron, send a Patronus to teams A and B. I'll send one to the Auror office and team D. Tell them to get here immediately. We move in five minutes."
"But Harry..." Ron began.
"Do it! We've got a shot right now," Harry insisted.
Within minutes, the other eight Aurors gathered at Harry's location. They had a chance and by Merlin, they were going to take it. "Here's the situation. In that house are an unknown number of DEs. One of them is Mafalda Prewett herself. We have the element of surprise. Williamson is preparing an anti-Apparition charm, so no one can escape. Try only to stun your targets; we want them taken alive and brought to justice," Harry commanded. The Aurors nodded and got their orders which entrance to take. They attacked immediately after everyone was in place and with a perfect coordination.
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Mafalda glared at her disobedient team; four very frightened masked wizards stared at her. "So, can any of you explain why you acted without orders," Mafalda demanded sharply.
"Uh... he was leaving..." one stammered.
"Do any of you dimwitted Bludger brains speak and understand English," she sneered, scoffing at their nods "Do any of you think Attack only if given the order has the same meaning as Attack if we think the target is leaving?"
They all shook their heads.
"So why in the name of Merlin is that Muggle boffer player tied up in this house and not tucked safely in his home?"
One of the wizards raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"Football player... he's a football player... not a boffer player," he corrected her, shaking in fear.
Mafalda pulled her wand. "I guess I'll have to punish you, and then adjust his and his family's memories..."
Crash! Bang! Slam! The house shook as every door on the house flew open. Mafalda reacted immediately. "Guard the door," Mafalda ordered, realising that her situation was bad in the back room with only one door in or out. She tried to Disapparate but couldn't. "Bloody hell! Wards! Freaking Aurors," she screeched.
Harry crept into the house, followed by Cho's team, Seamus, and Ron. Goldstein had only just returned. He cast Homenum revelio to locate any potentially disillusioned DEs. He signalled Seamus to open the door to the back room. Seamus opened the door and then turned and stood next to the door in case anyone cast a Reducto or other unhealthy spell on it. Harry pulled three Stunning bombs from his robes and threw into the room, they went off.
"Bombarda!" Ron blew the door and frame out of the wall. They found four men in the room, all shaking their heads and beating at their temples, disorientated. Behind them stood Mafalda, protected by a shield. It had clearly been strong enough, since the stunning bombs Ron and George had invented couldn't penetrate it. In fact, they weren't very strong at all. Three of them like this gave the Aurors the upper hand against the four men, which was a good start. They were in no condition to duel.
"You are all under arrest," Dawlish declared. "Slowly put your wands on the floor." The four men all obeyed, but Mafalda threw herself out of the window. On instinct, Harry caught her with a Levicorpus, suspending her mid-jump. He could hear her swearing, but there was very little time before she could free herself and escape. Cho and Seamus dove after her and a duel ensued.
"Potter," Dawlish called. "We'll take care of these men. You and Weasley assist Chang and Finnegan! Boot! Goldstein! Check the cellar."
Harry and Ron rushed out of the house. Seamus stood alone against Mafalda. Harry rushed to his assistance and Ron noticed a body on the ground close to the window and hurried over to it.
"So, if it isn't the famous Harry Potter. Finally we meet," Mafalda drawled as she shot off a curse at Seamus.
"Give it up Mafalda," Harry warned, raising his wand.
She focused for a second and Seamus collapsed. "Now it's you and me," she said dangerously.
Harry focused on Mafalda. He was worried about Seamus and Cho, but he had to stay focused. Williamson, who had stayed behind, approached to assist when he saw Seamus fall to the ground.
"No," Harry yelled. "Williamson, stay put! Stay safe!" The next second, Harry realised that call was a mistake.
"Avada Kedavra," Mafalda hissed and struck Williamson in the hip as he tried to parry. The next moment, Mafalda Disapparated just a millisecond before Harry's stunner would have connected.
Harry ran to Seamus, who had sat up shaking his head. "What happened? Little wench could've killed me!"
"I think she took you off guard and broke into your mind," Harry said.
"Where is she," Seamus asked as Harry pulled him to his feet.
"Mafalda killed Williamson and left as soon as the anti-Apparition ward lifted," Harry told him. Harry then hurried toward Ron and Cho. "How is she, mate," Harry asked breathlessly.
"She's alive, just knocked out. But we'd better get her to St Mungo's. Looks like she took a Reducto to the chest, but judging from the damage—or lack of it, she must have had a shield in front of her. Still, there might be internal bleeding and I suspect a few broken ribs," Ron replied, applying pressure to her bleeding chest.
Harry fought the urge to be sick. His heart and mind raced at breakneck speed. At this point, all he could think of was that his choice to move in cost him one man dead, one woman seriously injured. Damn! Harry stepped over to where Williamson had fallen. He lay sprawled on his back, surprised eyes open, seeing nothing. It's my fault. I should have stuck with the original plan. If I hadn't shouted at him, he'd be going home to his wife tonight. Damn! Damn! Damn! Suddenly, he felt something warm spread into his chest. Ginny.
Mafalda had realised that the one left outside had cast the wards. Kill that one and the wards lift. He could just as well have told Mafalda that Williamson was the one keeping the wards up. Damn it all!
Inside, the four men they'd apprehended were bound and shipped off to the Ministry for interrogation. No one inside had been hurt. After an initial report to Dawlish, Harry and Ron Apparated Cho to St Mungo's. Ron carried her unconscious form to the fourth floor. "Casualty! Auror down," Harry barked.
Three Healers appeared instantly with a gurney. "What do you got?"
"She had a shield charm up but took a Reducto to the chest," Ron grunted, laying her on it.
"All right. We'll take care of her immediately. Take a seat and we will give you a report after our first examination.
Ron and Harry sat in silence, contemplating their thumbs. They slouched in a couple of chairs waiting for their adrenaline levels to even out and return to normal. Harry turned the morning's events over and over in his mind. Williamson dead, Cho busted up. Seamus knocked out. Four minor Death Eaters arrested, but Mafalda got away. I should've have stuck to the plan! Another warm wave coursed through his body. He let his head fall backward onto the cushion and let Ginny's love consume him. He was going to need all the strength he could get to make it through this day and it wasn't nine o'clock yet.
Ron tried to figure out what they might have done wrong, but couldn't come up with a single flaw in their execution of their altered plan. Bloody hell. Harry's blaming himself. There's a full-scale brood written all over his face. Ginny's got her work cut out for her tonight. But he remained silent, not wanting to set off his best mate and partner right there in the hospital.
By the time the Healer returned, they still hadn't said a word because they were both too lost in their thoughts. "Miss Chang has five broken ribs, one of them punctured her right lung." The two young Aurors started at the sound of the Healer's voice.
"Will she be all right," Harry asked insistently.
"There's some minor bleeding and a dislocated shoulder. We managed to stop the bleeding so we could mend her ribs and reset her shoulder, but she'll fully healed within a few days. Auror Chang is on a series of potions to restore the blood she lost. We'd like to keep her here—for now—just for observation. We've put off sedating her so you may have a word if you need to. We will allow you a few minutes in case she has anything she needs to tell you."
Harry and Ron were led into a private room. "Thank you, Healer..."
"Wyatt, Leonard Wyatt. My friends call me Leo," he replied, shaking both their hands.
"Harry Potter. And this is my partner, Ron Weasley," Harry told him.
"Ah yes. I've heard of you two, of course. Fine work you did last year," Wyatt said genuinely. "And please let me congratulate you on your engagements."
"Thanks, Leo," Harry and Ron said in unison. Ron went pink about the ears at the mention of his fortuitous engagement to such a smart, beautiful, and talented witch such as Hermione Granger. Harry had long-since come to the point where he took most of that in stride, but he was still proud of his Ginny, Witch Weekly's Most Beautiful Witch honouree for the zillionth week in a row.
"Not at all. I'll leave you to it, then. But please don't keep her long. She needs to rest," Healer Wyatt turned to leave them alone with their wounded comrade.
"Right. Of course. Thanks," Ron said, as he and Harry approached her bedside.
Cho moved her head slowly. "Harry? Ron? What happened?"
"You took a Reducto to the chest. Good thing you had a shield up; it saved your life," Harry told her.
Cho smiled but it was obviously painful trying to laugh. "It was a stupid thing to do. I should have covered Seamus better."
"Don't worry, Cho. Mafalda is just good at what she does and she got away. But you just rest and get well. Do you want us to tell your family anything," Harry asked her, taking her hand.
Cho nodded. "Please tell them I'm okay and that I'd like them to come to St Mungo's," she said with a wince.
"We will, Cho," Harry said, giving her hand a squeeze. "We're going to go now, so you can get some well-deserved sleep." They left her room and the Healers entered to sedate her.
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David was confused to say the least. He had been kidnapped, and then his kidnappers were attacked and he was kidnapped again. No one even cared to explain what was going on. The oddest thing to him was that no one seemed to know who he was, despite the fact he was one of the most famous football players in the country, playing for a team that had been riding the crest of a pretty good season with hopes of winning a Treble. Did they want money? He looked up, blinking, as a young black haired man entered his room.
"Mr... Beckham," Harry asked, checking a parchment to be sure about his name.
"Yes. What do you want? Money," David asked back.
"No, we just wanted to check you over to make sure you weren't injured or cursed. I'm happy to tell you that our team arrested the four men who kidnapped you. Could you follow me please? We'd like you to identify the men if you can."
Beckham looked quizzically at the young man in the strange uniform. He acted like some kind of police officer. "Just who are you?"
"Oh sorry. I'm Harry Potter, Assistant Head of the Auror Office. After you've identified the four men we'll return you to your home."
Beckham was surprised. Mighty damned young to be Assistant Head of anything beyond a student organisation, if you ask me." All right, then." He followed Harry into another room, where the four suspects had been quarantined. "Yes. These are them," David told Harry. "What happens now. Do I need an attorney?"
"No, that won't be necessary. They'll be tried according to Wizarding law before the Wizengamot. They were caught red-handed, so your positive identification and oral deposition will be quite enough."
Harry escorted him out of the room. Wizarding law? What was that all about? The Assistant Head Order—or whatever this kid was—took something from another man in a like uniform. A hammer? Strange.
"Mr Beckham, Please hold this hammer." Too confused to protest he automatically grasped the hammer, as Harry held it out to him. Next thing David knew, he stood safely outside his own house. Harry pulled his wand and waved it. David didn't know Harry had just done the very same thing the kidnappers had. He put up one of the many spells for a ward, effectively making any kind of electronics useless, including any alarm. Next he opened the door, without having a key. "Are your fiancée and son at home?"
"I believe so," David replied tentatively. What the hell did this kid just do with the stick? This is a dream. It's bloody got to be a dream. I'm going to wake up with Vicky in bed next to me and this will all have been a very bizarre dream. He remembered that he had been about to leave his house last evening to meet some friends. His fiancée would not have been surprised that he didn't come home until now.
"I would like to ask her a few routine questions, if I may," Harry said politely.
"Uh, could we..." David started, meaning to ask Harry if they might avoid telling his fiancée about the kidnapping.
"David, Love, you're back," a woman carrying an infant said. "Who's your friend?"
"I'm Harry Potter, Miss Adams." Harry introduced himself, grateful to the Muggleworthy Excuse Office that, for some reason, seemed to know all about this particular Muggle couple and were able to tell him her name. He pulled his wand and muttered, "Obliviate," twice in very rapid succession. He still thought Hermione was much better at it, but it seemed to work. He cast another spell and altered David's memory to recall his having been at home the whole time. He altered Miss Adams' memory to match. Harry dismantled the ward and Disapparated before the couple regained consciousness.
Harry had two more visits to make before heading back to the Auror Office for debriefing. The first was to meet up with Dawlish and visit Williamson's family. I am not looking forward to this. Two missions, two fatalities. Damn.
"I've never done this before," Dawlish admitted. "Kingsley took care of visiting Mrs Robards." It was a fairly short and simple procedure. They knocked on Mrs Williamson's door and nervously introduced themselves."Mrs Williamson," Dawlish asked.
"Yes? I'm Mrs Williamson. Is something wrong," she asked, bringing her right hand to her heart. "Is my husband hurt?"
"I'm Head Auror John Dawlish. This is Assistant Head Auror Harry Potter," Dawlish said, humbly.
"May we come in?"
"Of course. Please. Come in and sit down," she said, ushering them into a tidy little bungalow. "Can I get you something to drink? Tea, perhaps?"
"Oh no, thank you. We won't be long." Dawlish and Harry looked at each other and tried to put on brave faces. Since neither had ever really done anything like this before, they weren't quite sure how to go about it. For Harry, it was like going to all of those funerals last summer and trying to make sense of all the deaths. For Dawlish, he was just at a loss. He decided to just forge ahead and let the tears fall where they may.
"Mrs Williamson, I'm bringing some very bad news, your husband has been...killed." Very smooth, Johnny-boy.
"No! Oh my, no," she said, raising both hands to cover her mouth. "What...what happened?" Her eyes brimmed over with tears as she began to cry.
"We raided a nest of Death Eaters this morning, ma'am," Harry continued. "One of them struck him with the killing curse before she escaped."
"Oh no! Oh my poor..." Mrs Williamson began to sob in earnest. Harry conjured a handkerchief for her and gave it to her. It was the least he could do. For a moment, he imagined Ginny in her place learning about his unfortunate demise. It broke his heart.
"I really appreciate that you came to tell me personally. My husband spoke very highly of both of you," she sobbed. "I know he put himself in danger. He thrived on it. Was he in any pain?"
Harry shook his head. "The killing curse is painless."
"Are you sure," she asked him.
"Yes, I'm very sure," Harry assured her. "It was thrown at me less than a year ago. I caught it in the chest. There's no pain at all... unless you survive it. It left a painful bruise. Your husband died painlessly, I promise."
Mrs Williamson gasped at Harry, suddenly realising who she was talking to. "Sorry, Mr Potter, that was a stupid question to ask you."
"Don't be sorry. We're sorry to have to meet like this," Harry replied kindly.
"Is there someone we should contact," Dawlish asked lamely. "Another family member, perhaps?"
"No, thank you. He...he has a brother in Essex, but I can owl him myself. You must have loads of reports to make. I'm all right, really," she sniffed.
"If there's anything we can do, anything we can help with, please don't hesitate to contact us," Dawlish offered. "He will, of course, be buried with the full honours worthy of a Senior Auror such as your husband."
"Again, Mrs Williamson. We're very sorry," Harry said, as he rose to leave.
The left Mrs Williamson with her thoughts and her grief and prepared to Apparate to the Chang home. Harry felt a little awkward about meeting Cho's parents. After all, he was an ex-boyfriend. Cho told him once that her parents were proud that their daughter had actually been in a relationship with him, however brief it may have been. Now he had to tell her she was lying in a St Mungo's hospital bed with an ugly wound in her chest, broken ribs, and a dislocated shoulder.
They knocked on the door and an Asian man, obviously Cho's father, opened it. He jumped back with a fearful look on his face when he found his daughter's superiors on his doorstep.
"Please, may we come in," Harry asked softly. Harry and Dawlish had agreed that Harry should do the talking with the Changs, since he knew Cho best.
"Is Cho all right?" Mr Chang's voice took on a slight waver. "Is she hurt?"
"Cho's all right, but on restorative potions at St Mungo's," Harry told him. "She was injured on a mission this morning. There were a few broken ribs, a punctured a lung, and had some minor bleeding. The Healers have done a fine job of patching her up and resetting her dislocated shoulder."
Cho's father seemed to relax, for the most part. "For a moment I was afraid... that she was dead."
Harry repeated the information for Mrs Chang as soon as she appeared from the kitchen. "Cho covered Auror Finnegan while they tried to catch a Death Eater. But don't worry, she's been busted up worse playing Quidditch at Hogwarts," Harry chuckled lightly. "Comes with being a Seeker."
"I'm glad you came to tell us, Mr Potter, and that you came too, Mr Dawlish," Mr Chang said and turned to Harry, "Can you promise me one thing?"
"What? Sure, I guess," Harry asked.
"I know about your history with Cho. If anything happens to her, will you please tell me in person—and what really happened?"
Harry nodded. "Before they sedated her, she told us she covered Auror Finnegan in a stupid way. It will probably be a couple of hours before she's awake."
"That's our Cho." her father answered with a pasted-on grin.
"She also asked for you to visit her. She's on Level Four at St Mungo's, but they've got her sedated right now."
"Harry, we need to go back to the Ministry. There's a mountain of parchment waiting for us, you know," Dawlish reminded him. "And the debriefing."
"Right, then. We'll just go," Harry said, rising from the sofa. "We'll check in with her later."
"Thank you again. And we shall go to St Mungo's right away. Thank you for coming here in person."
"No problem. Good day, Mr and Mrs Chang."
Harry and Chief Dawlish left the house and Apparated to the Ministry. "That went well," Harry said with a heavy sigh. They stood waiting for the lift to take them to their floor, little parchment airplanes floating over their heads. "At least as well as could be expected."
"I hope I never have to do that again," Dawlish said. "I just don't have the nerves for that kind of thing. I'm a ruddy bachelor! I can't imagine what it might be like for a married man to do this job."
Their lift arrived and the female voice said, "Atrium." Harry and Dawlish stepped in followed by the little parchment air planes, and pressed the button for their floor.
"Well, I'm an almost-married man and I can tell you that Ginny is a very brave girl. She handles this pretty well," Harry said. "It takes a very special kind of woman to be an Auror's wife."
"Auror Office, Magical Law Enforcement, Muggleworthy Excuse Office, Accidental Magic Reversal Office," the female voice said. The lift door opened and the little parchment airplanes darted out ahead of them, scattering in all directions.
"More power to her," Dawlish said, slapping Harry on the back. "Let's get this over with."
At the debriefing, each team leader gave his report as Thompson handed hard copies on parchment to Dawlish and Harry. Terry Boot represented Team A in Cho's absence with his report about having spotted Mafalda without being seen. That hideout would be kept under guard in case she returned.
"Team B," Dawlish called.
Seamus stood. "We got nothin', sir. We were called ta Harry's location before we could move in."
"Very good, Finnegan. Team C," Dawlish called again as Seamus sat down with his team.
Harry summarised their investigation and how they'd seen Mafalda arrive. They pieced together the events during the battle, as each team arrived. Finally, Harry reported that the Muggle hostage had been rescued and returned to his family after having identified his kidnappers and then he and his fiancée were obliviated.
"How did we end up with one dead and one in St Mungo's," Dawlish asked.
"I exposed Auror Williamson," Harry admitted. "I shouted for him to take cover, which helped Mafalda figure out that he'd cast the wards."
"I think she knows enough about Ministry operations to know there's someone stationed outside keeping the wards up," Ron said so as to defend his partner. "She knew that if she killed him, she could escape."
"You tried to save him, Harry," Smith agreed. "Williamson should have known better than to step out into the open like that."
Dawlish agreed with Smith. It was a difficult thing to be the one keeping the wards on a mission. The ward-keeper had to stay under cover and was not to risk exposure to save another Auror.
"Our main task now is to learn what we can from our suspects. However, I doubt they know very much," Dawlish speculated.
"One thing we learned is that Mafalda is definitely after Muggles," Ron concluded.
Harry and Ron joined Arthur and Percy in the Ministry restaurant for lunch. Harry and Ron were still a bit awkward eating there because many people still looked at the two celebrity employees. Having a chocolate frog with the coffee was also embarrassing, especially if they got their own cards. They walked into the restaurant to find Arthur and Percy waving them to their table.
"Hello, how is work at the Auror Office," Arthur asked them. "You two look rather grim."
"We had an operation this morning. It started out simple enough, but then it got...messy. Four arrests, one Muggle hostage returned home, Cho injured, but all right," Harry said, staring at his hands.
"Williamson took the killing curse, Dad," Ron continued. "He was the ward-keeper, but he exposed himself. Mafalda got him."
"First Mr Robards, now Mr Williamson. Soon, the old Aurors will be gone entirely," Percy said with a sigh.
Arthur just shook his head slowly. "I'd known them both for years."
Harry and Ron nodded. There were not many of the old ones left. "What are you doing today," Ron asked them.
"I'm going through the Wizengamot archive," Percy revealed enthusiastically.
"That sounds... boring," Ron replied with a snort.
"There are a lot of interesting parchments stuffed in there," Percy protested. "It's loaded with history, precedence, all kinds of useful information."
"Well, have your...fun," Ron said ironically and looked up at his father.
"With the war over and most of the Death Eaters taken into custody, my office might have outlived its purpose. I just finished and posted a report to Kingsley. I suggested that we allow the staff to be transferred to the Magical Law Enforcements Squads, where they can continue this work, but also do a lot of other work."
"What will you do, Dad?"
"I'll let Kingsley worry about that. I'll gladly return to my old office."
"Dad, I think Kingsley will need you for a better job. He does need everyone he can trust," Percy claimed.
Lunch continued with talk about the wedding. It was now only just over two months away. Harry asked Arthur how Molly was coming along with the arrangements.
"She's like a general planning her greatest campaign. She's coordinating everything. By the way, you have to decide on either Hogwarts or the Burrow. Molly has been promised every ward and protective spell there is around the Burrow by Kingsley himself. She and Lee have also taken care of an exclusive press contract with Mr Lovegood for you. She and Kreacher are finished with the menu," Arthur said proudly and not a little amused.
"Isn't this a bit much for one woman and a house-elf? Isn't there something we can do," Harry asked a little alarmed. "She's going to do herself in at this rate!"
"Not at all, son! Not at all! She loves every minute of it," Arthur smiled. "Don't feel bad about Molly doing a lot of work on your wedding. Ever since our Ginny was born, arranging her wedding has been her dream. It keeps her busy, what with an empty nest and all."
Lunch hour passed quickly as Harry capped it off with a cup of coffee and chocolate frog. Luncheon of champions, Harry! "Another Hermione..." Harry sighed as he picture grinned and waved at him before she left the card.
"Do you want it," he asked Ron.
"I prefer the live version," Ron grinned. "And I do have twenty of her cards already."
"Why do you have twenty," Percy asked incredulously.
"I can't ruddy well throw away my own fiancée's card, can I," Ron said defensively.
Harry blushed. "I know what you mean. I have eighteen of Ginny's...so far."
"You two eat far too many chocolate frogs," Percy said with a huff.
Arthur blushed.
"Dad?"
"I have twelve Harry, fifteen Ginny, eight Hermione and ten Ron...I can't bring myself to throw any of them away... it'd be like chucking out my children."
After lunch, Harry and Ron returned to the Auror Office. They still had paperwork to finish and they had to start with the interrogations. Seamus, Lavender, and Susan were already away taking the first shift at the London flat. The rest were at the office drowning in their own paperwork.
Harry and Ron took one prisoner in one holding cell, Boot and Goldstein the second, Dawlish and Smith the third and Richards and Thompson handled the fourth. Initial interrogations were scheduled for this afternoon. A summary was to be turned in at the day's end, with further questioning tomorrow. Harry and Ron entered the cell where their prisoner was kept and imperturbed it.
"Potty an' 'is Weasel," the Death Eater sneered.
Harry wasn't provoked. "Ron, don't you appreciate the rare occurrence when someone who doesn't know who we are?"
"Oh yes, it's very nice," Ron answered sarcastically, turning to the prisoner. "I'm Ronald Weasley."
"And I'm Harry Potter."
The prisoner looked at them and spat at their feet. "I know 'oo you are."
"And who might you be," Ron asked in an even tone.
"Bugger off. You, Weasel, go and taint yourself by shaggin' that filthy Mudblood of yours. Couldn't get a decent shag, could you? Bet you Imperiused that wench of yours." Ron turned red and made a move for his wand. Harry stopped him.
"And you, Potty, son of a Mudblood 'ore. Yer daddy was just as disgustin' as yer Weasel friend," the prisoner continued to rant.
"You..." Harry started, "... should be very happy that we have to follow Auror procedure. But don't imagine that'll be pleasant, unless you tell us what we want to know. The Magical Law Enforcement Squads hold very limited authority. We Aurors hold nearly-unlimited authority to get the answers we need," Harry warned him with a fixed glare.
"Veritaserum, the Cruciatus curse, Legilimency... we won't hesitate for a second to get it approved. You were apprehended while guarding a kidnapped Muggle and are under arrest for crimes against the Statute of Secrecy. As you know, that is one of the constitutional laws of our community and the punishment for breaking it is very harsh.
If you cooperate, you might get out of it with a lighter sentence and won't spend the rest of your life in prison. And if you're really lucky, Minister Shacklebolt might have the Dementor's Kiss outlawed. But as you know, proceedings in the Wizengamot can take years to work out."
The prisoner paled whiter by a second. "I don't know anything."
"I wish I could believe you," Harry said coldly.
"I won't tell you anything." The man tried to maintain his mask of false bravado, but neither Harry nor Ron were buying it.
"Ron," Harry said. "We'd better take a break in order to have that Cruciatus curse approved."
Harry and Ron didn't listen to the prisoner's pleas for mercy and left. Outside the cell, Ron turned to Harry. "You're Assistant Head. You can authorize anything."
"I know. I just want to make him nervous enough to spill his guts. Hopefully we won't have to use anything on him. You know how I feel about that."
"Yeah, but he doesn't," Ron chuckled conspiratorially.
"Precisely."
After half an hour, a spot of tea, and a good laugh, they returned. The prisoner was a lot more cooperative this time. Harry had a parchment that the prisoner thought was the permission to torture him. In reality, it was the first internal memo Harry had gotten his hands on, simply alerting Ministry personnel that Funny Floo Powder had been found in several of the Floo powder pots near the fireplaces in the Atrium.
"Puh-please... don't 'urt me," the prisoner begged.
"What? No more insults? Whether we hurt you or not is entirely up to you," Ron growled into the man's face.
The prisoner sighed, sweat pouring off his pasty brow. "I...I didn't even want to work for 'er!"
Harry and Ron sat down and looked at him with raised eyebrows, ready to listen. "Go on," Harry said emotionless.
"Look, I 'ad this friend who got me in with a lot o' Snatchers during the war, see. I didn't care too much about the Death Eaters, but as the war went on, I was forced to do more and more of their...stuff...and it just ruddy snowballed," the man claimed, his voice taking on a higher pitch. He darted his eyes back and forth between Harry and Ron, subliminally begging them to believe him.
"After the war, I couldn't ruddy well quit, so I ended up with 'er. At...at first I was proud to be called a Death Eater, but after a while, I got nervous. I wanted out, but I stayed out o' fear. That mad bint is bleedin' vicious!" He'd begun to shake, wild-eyed and sweating.
Harry looked at the man. He seemed to be telling the truth. How many other lesser DEs hung on for the same reason?
"What was your function in the organization," Ron asked.
"I was with them three other blokes you got when you got me. We watched that Muggle's 'ouse, and we moved in to snatch 'im, see. She got all bent out o' shape, because she 'adn't ordered it." The man sneered at the thought.
"Why were you watching his home," Ron asked, his voice even and devoid of sympathy.
"Well, I 'onestly don't know that, do I? She wanted us to take 'im if she ordered us, but for what, I'm sure I don't know." The man slumped down in the chair he'd been magically bound to and hung his shaggy head.
Harry considered him and then handed him a quill and a parchment. "Please, write down everything you know. I can't make you any promises, but your cooperation so far will certainly influence your trial in a positive way."
The prisoner shakily accepted the quill and parchment, giving the two young Aurors a baleful look. He understood he stood at the mercy of the two men at whom he'd just hurled epithets less than an hour before. He would end up in prison, that much he knew. Staying loyal to her wouldn't help him, but on the other hand he didn't know very much at all. She had used him and involved him in severe crimes. The thanks would be to spend perhaps the rest of his life in prison. All he could do was to cooperate and hope these two Aurors stand up for him at his trial. That way, he might be out in twenty or thirty years.
Dawlish gathered the Aurors to collect their reports. All of them had learned just as much as Harry and Ron. The four arrested were former Snatchers. They didn't know anything but the order to guard the Muggle home and move in if ordered to. At least that confirmed their suspicion that Mafalda was targeting Muggles, and at least this one was famous among the Muggles.
"Why would she be interested in famous Muggles," Smith asked.
"She obviously doesn't care about them as celebrities, but she must think she can make some use of them," Ron said, examining his fingernails, his feet propped on a table.
Ron Weasley cut quite a figure among the other Aurors. At six-feet five-inches tall and weighing in at nearly seventeen stone, he towered above all of them and outweighed them handily. Even though he held no official authority over any of them, he had a way of commanding their respect with a single flash of his blue eyes, but he could just as easily disarm them with a lopsided grin and a joke.
"I think we need to bring in a Muggle on this case," Harry said abruptly.
"Are you mental," Ron roared, dropping his feet from the table and sitting up straight in his chair, his fingernails promptly forgotten. The other Aurors jumped as their huge colleague reacted to their Assistant Chief's statement. They were further awed that Ron had the stones to talk to Harry Potter that way.
"I was thinking about Dudley, you prat," Harry said, rolling his eyes. "He could give us a Muggle perspective. We also need to keep Hermione up-to-date on this case. If we miss anything, she'll find it."
"Oh. Right. Cousin Dudders." Ron felt very proud that Harry had spoken so highly of his Hermione in front of the other Aurors. Harry spoke the truth, but it didn't stop him from sticking his barrel-size chest out with pride.
"All right," Dawlish decided. " Potter, you get that Muggle perspective. Weasley, I assume you can talk to that brilliant fiancée of yours. Smith and Richards, you're the lucky bastards who get to take the graveyard shift at the flat." Smith and Richards moaned, but nodded their assent. "Dismissed, people." Dawlish had adopted Harry's term for the Aurors as a group. It was intimate, but casual at the same time and really gave the Aurors a sense of belonging—almost like a family.
Harry and Ron felt very tired when they got back to Hogwarts that evening. He and Ron parted at the top of the stone staircase, each heading for his own room and fiancée. Harry stumbled into their room, exhausted and on the verge of a healthy brood. Ginny was at Quidditch practice, so he thought he'd get some rest before she returned.
A very dirty Ginny returned an hour later only to find a snoring Harry sprawled out on the bed. Even though he was asleep, she could tell something bothered him because his arm was thrown over his forehead. She knew something ugly had happened that morning when she felt his surge of alarm and then worry. Still, she didn't have the heart to wake him yet, so she just took a shower and cuddled up next to him.
"Ginny love," he mumbled.
"Yes. I'm here," she whispered.
Harry opened his eyes and beheld a dream. He was amazed how after all this time, he still could feel as though he'd been struck by her beauty for the very first time. Her warm chocolate eyes and beautiful red hair dazzled him.
She leaned down and kissed him tenderly, allowing her love to flow into him. He was troubled and she knew it. She could feel it coursing through their bond like a river.
Reluctantly, she broke the kiss and gazed into his darkened emerald eyes. "I saw that man die this morning, Harry. Who was he?"
He noticed she was fresh from the shower and her flowery strawberry scent was stronger than usual and it invigorated him while it intoxicated him. "You saw that," Harry asked snapping out of his reverie.
"Yes. I felt a despair from you and then the image flashed before my eyes," Ginny said stroking his cheek with her soft hand.
"His name was Williamson. He was one of the senior Aurors. In fact, he was on the panel that tested me. He kept our anti-Apparition ward up, but Mafalda killed him and escaped," Harry said as his eyes darkened some more. "Cho was hurt too. No worse than in a Quidditch match, but she has to stay at St Mungo's for observation. But she probably saved Seamus from ending up there. I don't think he had a shield charm up."
"She might saved his life," Ginny asked.
Harry nodded. "We got four former Snatchers. They didn't know too much about Mafalda's plans, only their little part in it. Ron'll talk to Hermione and I am going to see Dudley tomorrow, to get a Muggle perspective. You see, they had kidnapped a famous Muggle."
"I'm sorry I can't be of much help there. I don't know much about the Muggles," Ginny said.
"Let's hope Hermione can help us. After all she knows the Muggle world pretty well. By the way, Ron and I had lunch with your dad and Percy today."
"Did you? What did you talk about," she asked. I'll let him prattle on until he prattles himself into his ruddy brood. Then I'll get him to talk about what's really bothering him.
The mission, the wedding...Chocolate Frog cards. He has fifteen of you, you know," Harry said with a half-smile. "They're the limited-editions, too. He'll make a fortune on them...if he can ever bring himself to part with them."
"Dad really has fifteen of my cards," Ginny giggled. "Unbe-freakin-lievable!"
"He's so proud of you, you know," Harry said, sobering. "He asked us to settle the location for the wedding. He says Kingsley's promised the Burrow all the wards the Ministry can provide."
"I really would love to get married at the Burrow," Ginny confessed.
"Me too," Harry agreed, running his fingers through her soft and slightly-damp mane.
"It's the one place I've always been happy. Hogwarts means a lot to me, but there're too many bad memories here," Ginny sighed. "I want to get married at home."
"Mmm...sounds like a wonderful idea to me," Harry agreed, pulling her into a kiss. "I'm so glad you're marrying me, Gin." Though his kiss was passionate and full of his love, there was melancholy in it. She could feel it and it nearly broke her heart.
"Harry."
"Yes, Gin."
"What's troubling you?"
"Shows, does it?"
"I'm afraid so. Your heartache is flowing through me like bad mead," she said. "You're blaming yourself, aren't you? About Cho and Williamson."
"Gin, it was my fault Williamson was killed. I exposed him," Harry said as tears began to trickle from his eyes down the side of his face.
"Tell me why you think you exposed him," she said, stroking his messy hair.
"I don't know how to explain this to you," he moaned.
"Try."
"This was supposed to just be a snooping mission, like I told you last night. Cho's team spotted Mafalda leaving one of their assigned locations. Tony Goldstein reported it," Harry explained.
"Okay, so far, so good," Ginny said. "Go on."
"At the same time, Ron, Williamson, and I were watching a house in a Muggle village Mafalda and her father used to summer in. She Apparated right in the yard," he said.
"And...?"
"I notified Dawlish's team and they came. Then he called in the others to our location. We changed the plan," Harry said guiltily. "We changed the bloody plan and went in. They had a hostage, Gin. Some Muggle footballer called Beckham."
"And then what?"
"We sneaked up on the house. Williamson put up the wards, like I told you, and then we blasted our way into the place." Harry began to shake. Ginny pulled him up to rest his head on her breast as she continued to stroke his hair and place little kisses on his furrowed brow. Harry shuddered.
"Okay. Go on."
"There were only two doors on the house, front and back and we had them covered. Nobody could get in or out magically. Williamson was the ward-keeper, so he was to remain outside and mind the wards, but stay out of sight. Ron, Cho, Seamus, Tony Goldstein, and I found Mafalda and four DEs in a back room with the hostage. Seamus opened the door a little and I tossed in a few of the stunning bombs George and Ron invented, then Ron blew the damned door out of the wall, frame and all. He throws one helluva Bombarda," Harry chuckled.
"He's at least enthusiastic, yeah?" Ginny giggled and then said, "go on, then."
"The stunners dazed the four DEs, but they weren't strong enough to penetrate Mafalda's shield. She threw herself out a window, but I caught her with a quick Levicorpus mid-flight. Seamus and Cho dove out after her. Dawlish tended to the prisoners and sent Ron and me to help them," Harry said, his voice beginning to quiver as he shook.
"Take a few deep breaths, love. Calm down. I'm not going anywhere," Ginny cooed, kissing his sweating forehead and holding him close.
"By the time Ron and I got out there, Cho was already down. Ron said she'd taken a Reducto to the chest, but must've had a shield up because the damage was nothing like it could have been. Seamus had been duelling her alone and not having an easy time of it," he told her. "Seamus went down with Legilimency from Mafalda. I turned on Mafalda and gave her the chance to surrender. I was about to stun her. Then, the next thing I knew, Williamson stepped out of his cover, I'm guessing to help Seamus, so I... I shouted at him to get back and stay safe." Harry began to sob.
Ginny continued to hold him and kiss him and stroke his hair. "Shh, Harry, love. Shhh." She sent a gentle wave of her love through their bond to calm him and mend his breaking heart.
"Then...then she fired the killing curse at Williamson. It caught him in the hip. I tried to stop her, Gin, I tried! But once she'd taken out Williamson, the wards fell and she Disapparated. Williamson's dead, Cho's busted up and the little bitch got away! And it's all my fault," Harry wailed. "First Robards and now Williamson!"
"Harry, my sweet, sweet Harry. This wasn't your fault. Williamson didn't follow procedure by stepping out into the open like that. He made himself vulnerable. You gave him an order, nothing more. She must've known..."
"She knew. Too right, she knew. That's why she killed him. But if we hadn't changed the plan. If I'd kept my mouth shut..." He turned his face into her breast and cried, soaking her shirt. He held on to her waist like a frightened child.
There, there, my darling raven boy. "Whose idea was it to move in," Ginny asked, holding him tightly to her breast. "Who decided to take a golden opportunity to trap Mafalda and bring her in?"
"Mine, but Dawlish went along with it. We had a shot, Gin. I felt like we had to...we had to..."
"You had to try, Harry. The odds were in your favour. You had to try and you set it up beautifully," she reminded him. "But all it takes is one mistake, one deviation, and accidents can happen. Harry, Williamson's death was an accident, an unfortunate twist of fate, just like Robards'. Mafalda killed Williamson and a DE killed Robards, not you."
"But if I hadn't shouted at him..."
"Harry, if he hadn't stepped out of his cover—an act contrary to solid procedure—you wouldn't have needed to shout at him."
"But..."
"But nothing, Harry. Williamson was murdered by my third cousin because he didn't do what he was supposed to. Am I saying Williamson's death is his own fault? Partially, yes. Mafalda still made the choice to murder him rather than surrender. You tried to prevent that by shouting him back to his cover. Unfortunately, she knew the rules too and used them to her advantage," Ginny explained.
"I suppose. Dawlish and the rest said the same thing," Harry admitted. "Even Ron..."
"Ron's a smart man...sometimes. Harry, if Dawlish and the others agree it's not your fault, then you need to stop blaming yourself right now! If you go on like this and torture yourself, she's won. She's achieved her goal to make you suffer because she knows you have a noble heart and that you love so intensely, so desperately..." Ginny's own voice began to falter as tears coursed down her cheeks. "Harry, please don't do this to yourself. You're a good man, a good Auror. Mourn Robards. Mourn Williamson. But please stop blaming yourself."
Harry turned and sat up. He propped himself against the pillows and the headboard and pulled her into his lap. "Ginny, baby, please don't cry. I'm sorry. I...I love you and I hate to see you cry. I promise I'll try harder not to blame myself for stuff, but old habits die hard." He placed tearful kisses into her hair.
"Just don't just let them win, Harry," Ginny said between clenched teeth. "Don't let her win!"
"We'll beat them. Together," Harry promised, tears still flowing down his face and into her hair. They lay there for several moments, passing the unspoken thing between them. "Gin?"
"Yes?" There was still a hint of tears in her voice.
"Have I told you how lucky I am that you're marrying me?"
"At least a dozen times. Can you believe it's less than three months away," Ginny asked him rubbing her face into his shirt to dry her tears.
"I can't wait until you're really my wife," Harry said, stroking her soft tresses. "Shall I see if Kreacher'll bring us some supper right here?"
"I'd like that. I really don't want to be with a load of people right now. I just want to lay here in your arms tonight," Ginny said, raising her face to kiss him. "No people...no homework...mmm, that's nice." Harry drew his tongue across her throat and began to nip at her pulse point, gently stroking her neck.
"Is this nice, too," he whispered into her ear, nibbling at her ear lobe.
"Mmm...yes...no Quidditch...no Ministry. Just you and me and...chocolate-dipped...mmm... strawberries." She raised up and crushed her lips to his, wrapping her arms around his neck. He slipped his hands under her shirt and pulled her in closer to his chest.
Chocolate-dipped strawberries? Potter, you're a very lucky man. He tore his lips away from hers. "Kreacher!"
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Her quill danced furiously across the parchment while she concentrated. Ron had been standing there watching her for several minutes. She hadn't heard him come in. She was so beautiful with her head bent over her work as she bit her bottom lip. She's so hot when she does that lip thing. He had to do it. He had to interrupt her, so he strode over behind her and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
"Dear," Ron asked quietly, in case it was an important essay Hermione was writing. Any essay is important to her.
"Yes," Hermione said without looking at him.
"Whenever you're ready," Ron said.
He let go of her, crossed the room, and stretched out on their bed, next to a sleeping Crookshanks, with his hands clasped behind his shaggy red head. He lay there and just watched her. His eyes danced as he grinned at her. Merlin, she's gorgeous. She was sitting at their desk, or rather her desk, still concentrating, still writing. Ron had a desk at the Ministry now, and he hardly used that one. So far, he worked with Harry all the time, and since he had his own office, it was far more practical to dump everything there rather on his own desk.
Hermione was focused and concentrating. In Ron's eyes, she could hardly be more beautiful than she was right there, right now. It was so much Hermione sitting like that; he knew she absolutely loved studying and writing and he loved to watch her do it. She's so intense. Lucky for him, she also had a complete mental side. It was the only explanation, as least for Ron, as to why she had fallen in love with him. A quarter of an hour later, Ron still stared with a Cheshire grin across his freckled face, feeling like the luckiest bloke in the world. Hermione put the quill away and turned to Ron.
"What are you looking at," she asked.
"You," Ron answered. "You look so beautiful when you sit there like that and write."
Hermione blushed. She appreciated that Ron considered her beautiful, and even though she knew he meant it, she would never think of herself as beautiful—not even cute or good-looking. The fact that she was number three on Witch Weekly's 'Most Beautiful Witch' list was something she completely disregarded. Ginny was Number One on that list, and Hermione had supported that, despite Ron's vomiting grimace.
Cho was number two. Hermione understood completely that Ron wouldn't think of his own sister as the country's most beautiful witch, but she had fruitlessly tried to get him to admit that Cho looked better than her and deserved the Number Two spot. The four of them had often talked about it, but Ginny only sighed about being Number One.
Harry had agreed wholeheartedly with Witch Weekly, however, he blushed when Cho was mentioned, something both Ginny and Hermione had a lot of fun with him about. Harry had commented Hermione being Number Three. "Hermione, you're a girl..." he started imitating Ron from fourth year.
"Yeah, 'Mione. You're a girl," Ron said, pulling her up from her chair at the desk. "How about we let that go for now, yeah?"
"Ronald, what are you..."
"This," Ron whispered as he pressed his lips to hers and unclasped her robes. "Only this, love." Her robes fell to the floor and he began to run his hands up under her jumper to fumble with the buttons of her blouse underneath.
"Ron, I've got this essay for..." Hermione protested weakly. "I..."
"What's an essay," he murmured into her neck. "I want to study you." Ron finished with the buttons and set to pulling the blouse free from the waistband of her skirt.
Hermione began to sigh and keen, raising her arms over her head so Ron could pull her jumper off. "Umm...Ron." She plucked at the clasp on his maroon and gold Auror's robes and let it fall free. She slipped it off and let it drop to the floor. His well-developed biceps rippled under his tight tee shirt.
"Who is this god standing before me?" She pulled the shirt from the waistband of his khaki trousers and drew it over his muscular chest. He pulled back enough to help her pull it over his head. She began to plant kisses across his chest as he released the clasps holding her bra together.
Ron found the zipper on the left side of her skirt and slowly eased it down as she kissed his chest. "'Mione," he moaned. Her skirt fell to the floor, leaving her standing there in nothing but her lace knickers and her knee-socks. "My goddess, my love," he growled as he attacked her pulse point. "So beautiful."
She pressed up against him and felt the full force of his arousal straining against the metal zipper holding it back against its will. She eased the zipper down and reached inside. "Ron, it's magnificent," she moaned, and knelt before him. He threw his head back and closed his eyes.
"Ronald Weasley! What on earth are you doing?"
"What? 'Mione? Bloody hell," Ron dropped his eyes to his lap and then looked up into the horrified, but amused face of his fiancée.
"I just told you I was finished with my essay. You didn't answer, so I thought you'd fallen asleep. I guess not." She began to giggle seductively at his predicament.
There he sat, having taken matters in hand. His mind had wandered as he watched her work. He wanted the floor to open up and swallow him—no, not swallow. Bloody hell!
"Crookshanks got your tongue, Ronald?" Hermione crawled up on the bed, her eyes glued to his lap. "Or are you just...happy to see me?"
"'Mione, I..."
"Shhh. Let me help," she said quietly as she took his hand away and kissed it. "Was it something like this?"
"Uh...yeah...no! Oh gods..." Whatever it was Ron had wanted to talk to Hermione about had escaped him entirely. He was too caught up in this moment for any coherent thought to worm its way through. "Merlin, but I love you," he sighed.
"I know," she said and he was gone again.
They lay in one another's arms, completely spent. "Ron?"
"Yes, 'Mione?"
"What did you want to talk to me about before...you know," she asked playing with the fine ginger hairs around his navel.
He jumped. "That tickles, Love," he snickered. "I can't tell you if you keep doing that." His hypnotising blue eyes danced as he laughed. Hermione loved to hear him laugh.
"Okay," she said, sliding her hand up to his chest to draw little circles. "This better?" His eyes. His glorious blue eyes. She lay her head down on his chest and snuggled under his chin.
Ron tightened his grip around her shoulders and ran his hand up and down her arm. "Much. We lost another of the older ones today," Ron said.
"What? How," Hermione asked, looking up into his face. "Who?"
"Williamson. He took a killing curse from Mafalda. Harry's blaming himself, but it was an accident. Cho took a Reducto to the chest, but her shield kept the damage to a minimum. Seamus duelled Mafalda alone after Cho went down and got knocked out too, but he's all right. None of it was Harry's fault," Ron explained.
"But...I thought there wasn't supposed to be a fight. You and Harry told us this was just snooping," Hermione said, now shaking.
"Shh, Love. It was supposed to be that way, but we had an opportunity and we had to try. Dawlish went along with it." Ron held her close and told her the whole story. "So Harry's brooding again and Ginny's got her work cut out for her."
"She'll bring him round, Ron. She has a way with him we never had," Hermione assured him, snuggling into his neck.
"Merlin's pants," Ron cried.
"What? What is it, Ron?" Hermione sat up with a start, reaching for her wand.
"We're missing supper!" He threw himself off the bed and began to dress, nearly tripping over his trousers as he hopped around the room trying to pull them on as he hunted for a shirt.
"You ravenous git," she laughed. "Slow down before you hurt yourself!" She had pulled a shirt and a pair of jeans out of the closet.
Soon they were both dressed. They extinguished the fireplace and sprinted out the door hand-in-hand, laughing all the way to the staircase that led to the Great Hall.
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Mafalda swore. She was so angry that she did unintentional magic. She had Apparated to a location no one but she knew of. The Aurors had invaded one of her safe houses. And what lousy timing, too. Fortunately the four men they took didn't know anything important, but they had escaped their punishment.
First of all, she had to do damage control. How would this incident affect her plan? Secondly, she had to Imperius Malfoy. He was the only one she could get to that could reach Potter and learn something about what was going on at the Ministry and in the Auror Office. She also needed to check her other teams and remind them to act only on her orders.
This had been a major setback. She was lucky to have escaped. If that Auror who was keeping the wards had followed procedure and stayed hidden, she would probably have been caught. There had been three Aurors and two of them were Potter and Weasley. She didn't overestimate her powers, or dare to underestimate theirs. In a duel one on one, she might win, but against the two of them, not a chance.
After a damage control and a close evaluation of her situation, she would have to decide when to go ahead with her plan. If she acted now, the Aurors might have more attention on the Muggles than usual. But if she waited, they could learn about her plan. If they could get to one safe house, there was a risk they could get to the others. If they took her servant while he was doing her bidding... Mafalda thought about it for a while and called for him.
He opened the door. "Yes, my lady," he said bowing.
"You have been a loyal servant. Unfortunately there is something I need you to do right now and it will be you final task as my servant. Petrificus Totalis!"
He looked in surprise at her as she caught him in a full body bind hex. "You know too much and I can't afford having anyone with your knowledge wandering about waiting to be captured by that damnable Harry Potter and my equally damnable third cousin." Mafalda growled, as she pointed her wand at him again.
He stared back at her, his eyes filled with terror. Yes, he had promised to serve her until he died doing so, he never imagined that being killed by her would be necessary. "Avada Kedavra," Mafalda snarled and a green bolt hit the servant square in the sternum. She sighed, thinking about how hard it would be to find a new servant.
