Chapter Seven: I Open At the Close
"How do we start at the end?" asked Dean.
Ron rolled his eyes. "We start at the last place Draco was supposed to be and work back to the last place he made it to. Go one meeting back until we find a hitch."
"That could take weeks!" said Carlton who was a recent graduate of 'Terry Boots School of Failures'.
"I'm sorry," hissed Harry. "Do you have a charmed trash bin that needs attending? Because if Boot forgot to mention the cardinal rule of taking care of our own, then neither of you need to be here. Blaise was right. Kaelyn is this department's glue. There is nothing she wouldn't do for any of us. She and Ginny helped wash our ruined image away. It wasn't anything us Aurors did to make ourselves look good. It was our researchers working behind the scenes. We owe her this."
"We don't negotiate with hostiles," purred Boot.
There will be no negotiating." Harry had gone cold. "We will find these fools, and they will die, and I will get my sister back. And then we will find Draco. He has been like a brother to me for many years."
"Harry, you shouldn't be working this. Auror Code states that we must remove ourselves from any case personal in nature," simpered Boot.
"Shack," shook Harry, "I'm gonna hurt him if you don't shut him up."
"You'll have to take over training then," was all Shacklebolt said.
"You can't be serious!" scoffed Boot. "Just because he's Harry-Bloody-Potter he still gets to do whatever he wants? The rules still don't apply to him!"
Before anyone could move Terry was on the floor, jaw broken, nose bleeding. Surprisingly, Harry hadn't moved.
"Harry 'Bloody' Potter," sneered Sirius, "gets to do whatever he wants, because he is damn good at what he does. Every case is personal to him. That's why he is here. If you had half the talent in your entire body, that he possesses in just one finger, we may have a competent force. Instead it's five Aurors, outside liaisons, and a bunch of babies."
"And the girls," offered Ron, to which everyone nodded. "We need to pull 'Mione. She'll be our best researcher."
"What are we gonna research?" asked Shacklebolt.
"'The Master'. Draco's contacts. Blaise's whereabouts the last six months. Missing persons," said Sirius.
"I can leave for the clans Monday, see if they've heard anything," offered Remus.
"I'll stop by Kaelyns flat and box up all their papers, see if anything's there," said Harry.
"Thomas, Finnegan, you take Draco's office, see what you can find," said Snape. "I'll contact some associates for Blaise's' actions."
"We'll need Veritaserum," said Shacklebolt.
"I have 25 vials ready," said Snape.
"Ron, you take the Missing Persons," said Arthur.
"I'm getting drunk," stated Sirius. "I do my best research amongst loose tongues."
"I must finalize the Gala for Sunday. Can you still spare security?" asked Arthur.
"Seeing as how Harry is the guest of honor, and the esteemed attendees include half the people in this room, security shant be an issue," snorted Snape.
"Very well. Break off and get started. I want my people found," said Shack.
The anniversary celebrations went off without a hitch, and no one else had been reported missing. The Auror Department was in overdrive and had split up into Alpha-Bravo shifts; 12 hours on, 12 hours off. For a week now they had been carefully reviewing information, even sending stacks of paperwork to Ginny for review.
Shacklebolt started at a knock on his door. "It'd better be good!" he bellowed.
"I'm always good," laughed Tonks.
"Please tell me you're not a mirage, that Teddy has started Primary, and that you're ready to whip these babies into shape."
"How bad is it? Remus doesn't bring work home."
"Draco Malfoy is missing, and is assumed dead. His fiancée, Severus' daughter, has been taken by someone called 'The master'. Blaise Zabini and his 4 year old sister are being held hostage. Everyone is pulling Alpha-Bravo. I've even had to pull Harry and Ginny off leave. I have a department full of babies, 6 competent personnel, 2 which are missing, one of them an Auror, and three remaining Aurors that are any count, those being Harry, Ron, and Sirius."
"When do I start?" smiled Tonks ruefully.
"You started six minutes ago. I have Remus and Sirius on assignments. Snape is contacting some of his people. Ron is working missing persons. Hermione is neck deep in research. I have 13 graduates that need re-training, and the academy has been suspended til further notice. I'll set up a mandatory 72 hour marathon academy for everyone, and well start lockdown at 0800 tomorrow morning. I'll send everyone home until then."
"Sounds good. I'll get to work on curriculum," said Tonks.
Kaelyn sat in her room looking for ways out. Although she had been confined to the same room for a week, she felt more like a guest of honor than a prisoner.
"The Master requests your presence at dinner, Miss Kaelyn," squeaked the elf. "He be saying it is formal. Shall I be pressing the green dress?"
"Did you ask 'The Master' why I should grace him with my presence, when he has not had the decency to grace me with his?" she sneered. "And the green dress is horrid. I am a lady, not some common whore. I should like something pale blue. Silk. I wish to be covered…make it long."
"As you wish Miss Kaelyn." The house elf bowed low and disappeared from the room.
Half an hour later it returned with the most exquisite blue dress she had ever seen. 'The Master' must have money. Her room was done in high fashion, but her window was charmed to reveal nothing of the outside other than the rolling countryside.
"Dinner is to be served promptly at seven. Don't be late," the note read.
"Where do we stand?" asked Shacklebolt, head in his hands.
"Half dead! Tonks is brutal!" moaned Harry, face in his arms on the table.
Tonks just snorted. "Babies. The lot of you. Be thankful I only borrowed Mad-Eyes lesson plans and didn't actually bring him along to teach them."
They all laughed.
"Sirius," asked Shack.
"Nothing. No one's heard of this 'Master', or any new faction rising. Ron?"
"Nothing really. Just normal missing people. 'Mione?"
"'The Master' has several references, although I don't believe they pertain to our case. There is 'the master' of the home, 'the master' of the death, and 'the master' can refer to the foremost expert in their field. I'll keep checking."
"I got squat," said Ginny.
"Draco's paperwork is crazy! He has notes on everything. He has a whole folder on possible 'dangers' and a list of werewolves we just found, and something about the effects of dementors on evil souls. Oh! And a lot of research on the dark mark," said Thomas handing it all over.
"Snape, would you mind looking over Draco's research on The Mark? Hermione, I'll leave you the dementors, and when Lupin gets here, he can look over this," Shacklebolt said patting the 'dangers' and 'werewolf' folders.
"Blaise has kept mum about his activities these last several months. The best my contacts can tell he has settled on the Greek Isle of Vouvalos in his private villa manor with his sister," sighed Snape.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Draco just didn't show up to his last meeting," said Harry dejectedly.
The others simply shook their heads. After a few minutes of silence, Remus came rushing in, eyes wide, and face flushed,
"There is a faction in the south that is gaining momentum. They are headed by Renoir Greyback, Fenrir's son. He is every bit as evil as his sire. They have sent a letter to the remaining packs signed L.M. 'Le Master'."
"So it was werewolves! Any idea on the next attack?" asked Tonks.
"No. None of the packs I spoke to will budge. While they are loyal to no one, they will not go against the Ministry because of the recent equality laws passed."
"So back to square one?" asked Sirius.
"Do you have the missive?" purred Snape.
"I do," said Remus handing it over.
Severus studied it for several long moments, his eyes finally closing in defeat. "Are we sure Draco is missing against his will?" he asked, voice pained.
"What makes you say that?" asked Harry confused.
"This is Malfoy parchment. It is an expensive blend that is unique to the family," returned Snape.
"But the seal is different. It is like the Malfoys, but not the same," pointed out Harry.
"Either way, we have our next lead," sighed Ron.