In the end the plan to capture Cerbus and any death eaters he had hidden on Spinalonga turned out to be quite basic. Now that they felt certain about where Cerbus was hiding the death eaters they felt safe in capturing him at their first opportunity. Once they had him in their custody they could use some of his hair with Polyjuice Potion to look like him and infiltrate the island to capture the death eaters hiding there.
On day four of the mission Harry was out on patrol with Katherine and Fletcher. Cerbus was proving difficult to capture. They needed to capture him in a less populated area when he was alone to avoid his capture being noticed, but since that first day neither condition was achieved simultaneously. Harry was watching the coffee kiosk again, waiting to tail Cerbus to a quieter area. He wanted badly to be the one who captured Cerbus. Partly he wanted to have more reason to wipe the look of doubt off Noah's face but he also desperately wanted to get back home to Ginny. Her messages via the dog tags hadn't indicated that anything was the matter but knowing that she was the only one home with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley made him regret the timing of this first mission. Ginny had felt alone and neglected last year, he could only imagine that being home alone now was bringing back some of those old feelings.
Harry stared at the coffee kiosk and willed Cerbus to appear. He had been uncomfortably crouched behind a large potted plant for the last two hours. The sun was beating down from overhead and Harry would return to the Burrow several shades darker than when he had left. Harry ran his hand over the rough stubble along his jaw line; he'd discovered early on that he'd forgotten his razor. Harry closed his eyes and rolled his neck, trying to alleviate some of the stiffness. His neck popped and for a moment he leaned his head back against the stucco wall behind him. When he opened his eyes again Cerbus had appeared and was waiting in a short line for coffee.
Excitement buzzed through him, finally, this was it. He quickly sent his patronus to his fellow Aurors alerting them that he had Cerbus in his sights and was prepared to give chase. Cerbus sipped his coffee lazily and idly wandered down a narrow side street. Harry followed, leaving nearly fifty feet of space between them. While he was invisible he didn't want any sounds to give him away. As he followed Harry cautiously scanned the street for people still within view. Harry followed him for a full five minutes wondering the entire time if Cerbus was onto them and leading Harry into a trap. When finally Harry spotted no one in immediate view he pointed his wand at Cerbus's back and nonverbally performed Petrificus Totalus. Cerbus dropped his coffee as his arms snapped to his sides and his legs snapped together. Harry ran the fifty yards between them and as soon as he had a hand around Cerbus's shoulder he disapparated for the base house.
Harry apparated into the sitting room and yelled for assistance. After casting a spell that would keep Cerbus from disapparating he unfroze him and said, 'Incarcerous,' binding him with ropes to a chair. His fellow aurors ran into the room and as they saw the target bound to a chair in their sitting room sprang to action. Reed and Kingsley apparated into the base house within an hour to assist with the questioning. They adminstered Veritaserum but it appeared to have no effect. More than likely Cerbus had been using a counteractive potion or had built up a resistance to the potion.
At first Cerbus said nothing. He met every question they threw at him with nothing more than a blazing hateful glare and utter silence. A large amount of Cerbus's hair was cut and collected for later use in Polyjuice Potion. For hours the questioning continued, but the results didn't change.
"Cerbus," Kingsley finally said, "Do you want to spend the rest of your miserable life in Azkaban?" Cerbus said nothing but shifted his gaze to Kingsley's face to show that he was listening. "We will consider a shortened sentence if you cooperate and answer our questions. If you continue to say nothing you can guarantee that we will throw you into Azkaban and lose the key to your cell."
"Who is financing the work you are doing on behalf of the death eaters?" Reed asked again.
Cerbus sat quiet for a moment, obviously contemplating his options. In Harry experience death eaters were basically selfish people who worked to protect themselves above all else so he was not surprised when Cerbus said, "The Malfoys."
Reed looked triumphant and began pelting Cerbus with all the questions he'd been trying to get him to answer for the last several hours. "How many death eaters are you hiding on Spinalonga?"
"Three death eaters and their families," Cerbus said.
"Have you relocated any off of Spinalonga yet?" Reed asked.
"No, these three were to be the first," Cerbus replied.
"Who are the death eaters?" Reed asked.
"Yaxley, Mulciber and Goyle," Cerbus listed.
"Where were you going to send them?" Reed asked.
"That hadn't been established yet," Cerbus said.
"What sorts of protection are on the island besides anit-apparition charms?" Reed asked.
"There are intruder alerts, anyone that enters the boundary of the island besides me will set off an alarm," Cerbus said.
"I assume questions have been arranged to discover if you are really you when you arrive," Reed said.
"Of course," Cerbus replied.
"And they are?" Reed asked, before adding, "And do not lie to me, we will know if we are lied to and we will make sure you stay in Azkaban until your dying day."
"My mother's middle name is Alastrina," Cerbus said, "And my favorite brand of Ouzo is Giannatsi."
"That is all?" Reed pressed.
"Yes," Cerbus whispered.
"Do you have any other information we should have?" Reed asked, "Keep in mind that we'll leave you in Azkaban forever if we discover you were holding out on us."
"Lucius Malfoy is supposed to be arriving to visit the occupants of the island in two days time," Cerbus confessed.
When Cerbus had run out of things to tell them he was left alone in the sitting room until the handlers arrived to escort him to Azkaban. Reed and Kingsley led a meeting in the dining room to strategize about infiltrating the island before Lucius arrived in two days.
Harry volunteered to be the one who transformed into Cerbus to infiltrate the island but Reed wanted Noah to do it. Noah might be the most cocky and self-assured of the group that Harry had arrived with, but it was with good reason. Noah had been an Auror longer than the rest of then, he had more cases under his belt and he had gotten nearly perfect scores at everything while in training. They could not afford for the mission to fail and as a new Auror with no training Harry was a liability they couldn't risk.
Harry and the other four team members would wait offshore in a boat and come ashore only when Noah had given the signal. At this time Noah should have already rounded up and immobilized the death eaters and their families. They would be coming ashore simply to gather evidence and bring the death eaters back to the base house.
The next evening Harry found himself along with Katherine, Linus, Tilly and Fletcher sitting aboard a large creaky rowboat just off the shore of Spinalonga. They had been waiting for over an hour for Noah's signal, but it didn't seem to be coming. Noah had gone ashore Spinalonga disguised as Cerbus late in the afternoon. Once he was ashore the others had followed in the boat. Within the first hour Noah should have sent the signal that he was ready for them. When an hour and a half had passed Harry insisted that something must have gone wrong and they needed to go in after Noah.
"That would go against protocol," Katherine told him sharply, "We need to contact Reed and tell him that the mission has failed."
"We're not allowed to go in after Noah simply because it was not part of the plan?" Harry asked.
"Exactly," Linus said.
"That is ridiculous," Harry nearly shouted, "He's our teammate, what if something has happened to him. We have to go in after him."
"We can't," Katherine insisted, "It could put the mission in further danger."
"I thought you said it had already failed," Harry reminded her, "So, what is the difference?" Harry stood and said, "If anyone wants to help me, you're welcome to." With that said he jumped out of the boat into the sea and began swimming toward the island. When he reached water shallow enough to stand in he pulled his invisibility cloak out and pulled it over his head and waded out of the water to shore. Making sure that no part of him was visible he walked further ashore. Cerbus had said that there were alarms that would sound when anyone but himself entered the island's boundaries, he had to make sure that they couldn't find him, even if they knew he was there.
Harry followed a rough dirt track from the shore inland. Eventually he arrived at what looked like the main street of a village. There appeared to be both abandoned houses and businesses along this main road. Harry remembered that the inhabitants of this island long ago had been forced to accept that they'd live out the remainder of their days here and they'd adapted as best they could. They'd built homes and opened businesses and an economy of sorts had boomed here. He wondered which of the buildings the death eaters were using while here. He glanced up and down the street a few times before noticing a larger, grander looking white house up on a hill at the end of the street. As soon as he laid eyes on it he knew that this was the house they would choose. He could see light in many of the windows, confirming what he suspected. Harry crept toward the house and carefully peered in one of the first floor windows. The room was empty besides Noah, still disguised as Cerbus, tied to a chair. Cautiously Harry slid open the window and climbed in. Noah appeared too distraught to have noticed. Harry moved until his mouth was right beside Noah's ear before whispering, "It's me, Harry."
Noah jumped slightly but managed to refrain from making any sort of noise, "Potter," Noah whispered, "I'm glad you're here. Cerbus lied, they asked me a question I didn't know the answer to. They are waiting for the Polyjuice Potion to wear off so they can see who I really am."
Harry made quick work of untying Noah from the chair and casting a disillusionment charm upon him. Rather than seeking out the death eaters within the house and possibly falling into another of their traps Harry and Noah backed into the far corner of the room where Noah had been tied to the chair and waited for the death eaters to return. When they did they would attack.
After a half an hour Yaxley appeared in the doorway and yelled, "He's gone!" This sent Goyle and Mulciber scurrying into the room after him. They stared at the chair and ropes, they studied the window and finally they yelled for the rest of the house's occupants. Yaxley had begun to detail plans to scour the house and island in search of whoever it was inpersonating Cerbus. Harry nonverbally closed the room's door and Noah cast a spell that had the same effects as Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. Harry and Noah then quickly began casting Incarcerous spells upon everyone in the room while they were impaired by the sudden darkness. When the darkness cleared everyone besides Harry and Noah were lying on the floor bound tightly with ropes.
"I'm going to go outside and send a patornus to Reed and Kingsley," Noah said, "Can you keep an eye on this lot?"
Harry nodded, he wondered if it would be worth them sending the signal to the rowboat on the sea or if their teammates would have already returned to the base house. Harry also wondered with a sinking heart if his inability to follow the rules would land him in trouble this time. Sure, what he had chosen to do was reckless but he couldn't just leave Noah behind knowing that he was most likely in trouble. Wouldn't the mission be a larger failure had they left one of their own to be tortured or killed at the hands of death eaters. Harry decided that if he ever held a position of authority in the Auror department that would be one of the first things to change; leave no man behind.
When Noah returned to the room he told Harry, "Reed and Kingsley will be here shortly and they are coming with our teammates." Harry nodded and Noah continued, "Potter, I'm sorry I underestimated you. It takes a lot of guts to disobey rules and risk your own neck for a teammate. I'm hoping that Reed and Kingsley don't go too hard on you. I'm certainly planning on backing you up. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Harry said, "I couldn't believe it when the others were just giving up and calling the mission a failure. How could they not even try to come and get you out safely?"
"You haven't spent a lot of time with the rule books yet have you?" Noah asked.
"No, but as you'll discover I tend to like to break the rules," Harry admitted.
"Maybe if Reed and Kingsley can see that the outcome today was still good despite some broken rules they'll change their minds," Noah said, "Thanks again," Noah held out a hand to Harry and Harry accepted it, shaking it with a grin.
Reed, Kingsley, the rest of their team as well as a dozen handlers arrived in Spinalonga twenty minutes later. The handlers got to work escorting the occupants of the house either to Azkaban or back to the ministry. The death eaters, Yaxley, Mulciber and Goyle were headed directly to Azkaban but their families would be taken to the ministry for questioning. It was possible that some of them would also end up in Azkaban, but the ministry had to determine their crimes, if any, first. Katherine, Linus, Fletcher and Tilly were sent into the house to collect evidence while Reed and Kingsley spoke with Harry and Noah.
"Harry," Kingsley said in an ominous tone, "Still a rule breaker at heart I see."
"Yes sir," Harry said quietly.
"Sir," Noah interrupted, "If I may…Harry saved my life tonight and because of him the mission was a success. I know that he broke the rules but sometimes the rules were meant to be broken, don't you think?"
"I agree," Kingsley said with a grin, "Harry has always had an unorthodox method of doing things and often it has paid off for him. Perhaps we will have to revisit this rule in the handbooks. Well done Harry."
"I'm not sure that I'm ready to rewrite the rules," Reed said, "But this time it did pay off. The two of you can help the others gather evidence. Tonight everyone can write up their final reports about the mission then everyone can portkey back to the ministry in the morning."
A smile spread across Harry's face at their words. It was a wonderful feeling that he'd saved the mission and Noah's life and hadn't gotten into trouble for breaking the rules. Even better though was the knowledge that he would get back to Ginny tomorrow, a day ahead of schedule. He missed her and couldn't wait to get back home to her.
It was still somewhat early in the evening when the team apparated back to the base house. Harry decided that before he set to work on his report he wanted to take care of a little shopping. He wanted to bring Ginny back a gift from Greece. He liked the idea of starting a tradition in which he brought her a gift from his travels, it might be one of the few fun parts of his dangerous job for her. He cleaned himself up a bit before pulling on his sneakers by the kitchen door.
"Heading out?" Noah asked from where he was seated at the kitchen table.
"Is that allowed?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, that's fine. I'm just curious," Noah said, "I'm a little too keyed up to write my report yet, care if I join you?"
"Sure," Harry said, surprised.
Together they left the house and walked in silence down the street.
"Where are we headed?" Noah asked curiously.
"There is a jewelry shop I noticed by the coffee kisok I watched all week. I want to buy my girlfriend a gift," Harry explained, "She has had a rough time with me going into this line of work and I want to show her how grateful I am for her support."
"Being who you are didn't she kind of expect this?" Noah asked.
"She did, but it doesn't keep her from worrying. She was at the Hogwart's battle too. One of her brother's was killed there; she has a healthy fear of what my job entails," Harry said, "And had she asked me not to become an Auror I probably would have very seriously considered it."
"She means that much to you, at seventeen?" Noah asked with a whistle.
"Yeah, well," Harry said somewhat bashfully, "She's the one."
"Wow, I'm nearly five years older than you and I haven't found the one yet," Noah said.
"I hope you do," Harry said, "She's amazing."
Noah decided not to accompany Harry into the jewelry store but instead visited the coffe kiosk and waited at one of the tables. It didn't take Harry long to find what he was looking for, he had been able to see it in his head all week. He chose a 14K gold Greek Key Meander necklace. It was distinctly Greek and the gold would look lovely on her. Harry paid for the necklace and slipped the box into his pocket. When he appeared back by the coffee kisok Noah waved him over to the table he sat at. He'd bought coffee and baklava for each of them.
"Get what you needed?" Noah asked.
"Yeah," Harry said.
"So, can I ask you a question?" Noah asked. When Harry nodded Noah continued, "What was it like to kill Voldemort?" Harry reminaed silent for long enough that Noah said, "You don't have to talk about it, I just couldn't resist asking."
"No, it's not like I won't or can't talk about it, I was just trying to find the words," Harry explained, "I wouldn't say that I killed him. In a way I guess I did but it was more like his own curse rebounded to kill him."
"What do you mean?" Noah asked.
"I just have to set this up a bit so you understand. Three of my friends were duelling Bellatrix Lestrange and two of my professors and Kingsley were duelling Voldemort while I was, er, indisposed. I don't want to go into that right now as it is very personal. After Bellatrix just missed killing one of my friends by an inch with the killing curse, my friend's mum waived the three girls back and duelled Bellatrix by herself. As soon as Voldemort saw Bellatrix get defeated by my friend's mum, he waived his wand and blasted back all three who were still duelling him. He then aimed his wand at my friend's mum and I knew I had to step back into the fight. After casting Protego to protect everyone from Voldemort, Voldemort and I started circling each other as everyone else created a ring around us. I talked to Voldemort as we circled and told him that his great plan had royally backfired on himself. He didn't know that the wand he was using had me as its master because I disarmed its previous master gaining its allegiance. As the sunrise burst through the Great Hall, he shrieked Avada Kedavra as I yelled Expelliarmus. Since I was its master, the wand Voldemort had couldn't kill me and instead of hitting me with the Killing Curse, rebounded about halfway between us and hit Voldemort who was disarmed because of my spell and couldn't dodge," Harry explained, "When I finally realized that he was fully dead and never coming back it was a tremendous relief. He has more or less been responsible for the course of my life since I was one year old."
"So now you're free to do what you want and you are still chasing death eaters?" Noah asked, "If I was you I think I'd want to be done with all of that."
"It is so engrained in me and it feels like it is my responsibility somehow," Harry said, "I can't just walk away from it."
Noah and Harry talked until they arrived back at the base house. They both needed to write their reports so that they were free to return home in the morning. Harry smiled as he settled himself on his bed, he prepared to write. He thought maybe he'd made a new friend tonight.
The next morning Harry let himself into the Burrow's kitchen quietly. It was only a quarter past seven in the morning. Thanks to the time difference he was arriving back before Ginny even got out of bed. He left his bag in the sitting room and silently ascended the stairs to Ginny's room. Quietly he climbed onto the bed with her. In sleep she slung an arm across his chest and pulled herself closer to him. It was as if her subconscious could sense his presence even in sleep. He studied her beautiful, peaceful face and waited for her to realize he was there with her. He allowed his eyes to drift shut, perhaps he'd get a bit more sleep himself. Ginny's hands pulled him closer and his eyes snapped open as her head found its way to his chest. Her beautiful brown eyes fluttered open and stared dazedly into his green ones before understanding sank in and she said, "You're back! Or are you a dream?"
Harry lowered his lips to hers and laid a scorching kiss on her that left her breathless. When he pulled away he said, "Can a dream do that?"
"Pinch me," Ginny demanded.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Pinch me, I have to know that I'm awake," Ginny said.
Harry wrapped an arm around her waist and pinched her bottom firmly before giving it a loving caress. Grinning as her eyes lit up and her lips moved quickly back toward his, he pulled her toward him. It felt so good to kiss her and hold her in his arms, how he had missed her. Their hands roamed each other's bodies, covering the same ground they had before he'd left. Harry massaged her naked breasts through her nightgown and she rubbed him through his jeans. He longed to slid his hands under her nightgown but knew that if he did there would be no turning back this time. It was too sweet to kiss, hold and touch her like this: he had missed her too much and he was far too tempted to take things further.
As he slowed his kisses and moved his hands to safer parts of her anatomy like her hips and her bottom she whimpered, "Why are you stopping?"
"If we keep going I won't be able to stop and I guarantee you we'd be caught by your mother when she goes down to make breakfast in a few minutes," Harry said, "Besides, I brought you a present."
"You did?" Ginny asked.
"I did," Harry said, "I decided that from now on I will bring you a present after every mission I have to go away on. Then maybe there will be one good part about my missions for you."
"The best part of any mission will always be having you back home when they are over," Ginny said.
"Okay, but it will make me feel good to bring you something," Harry said, "Like a thank you, for putting up with me and my dangerous job."
Ginny smiled and said, "Okay."
Harry handed her the jewelry box and said, "This is from Greece."
"You were in Greece?" Ginny asked, amazed.
"Yes, now open it," Harry said excitedly.
Ginny opened the box and gasped at the sight of it, "Harry, this is lovely. Thank you."
"Nothing could ever be as lovely as you," Harry said, "Let me help you put it on."
"Thank you," Ginny said giving him a chaste kiss. Harry leaned in for a deeper kiss but Ginny put a hand on his chest and said, "You need to shave, my face is stinging with whisker burn."
Harry laughed and said, "I'm sorry, I forgot that I looked like this. I didn't remember to pack my razor."
"I like how it looks," Ginny mused, "You look rather rugged and sexy, but it is painful to kiss that."
"Give me five minutes," Harry said as he jumped off the bed.
Ginny chuckled at his hurry and lie back on her bed waiting for him to return. It was so good to have him back home.
Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and assured me that I was doing fine. I still insist that I'm better at writing the fluff that the more technial details. I hope that I wrapped up the mission sucessfully in everyone's opinion. I have several things on the schedule for their summer before returning to Hogwart's but if anyone would like to see anything in particular let me know…it may be something I haven't thought of. Please review!! Thanks!
If you want to see a picture of the necklace that Harry bought for ginny please see the link in my profile. Just copy and paste it into your browser and you can see it.
Someone figured out where I got the name Cerbus from….I shortened Cerberus down to Cerbus. Cerberus is the name of the three headed dog that guardes the gates to Hades in Greek methology. I thought the three headed dog part was rather appropriate.