Chapter 8 - Photos
A couple of days later, Squalo forced Levi into a chair in front of Harry, just as he was finishing his breakfast.
"Voi! Do the asshole's hair. Whatever you want," he snarled viciously. Harry guessed that the unfortunate Lightning Officer had laughed at Squalo's bright pink hair, and the short-tempered man had finally gotten tired of the disrespect.
The poor Rain Officer had decided that the best way to deal with his new look was to ignore it, and beat anyone who mentioned it into the ground. He had already sent a dozen minions to the infirmary. Harry had survived by staying out of his way, which wasn't hard when Bel seemed determined to monopolise his attention. It was embarrassing to realise that the twelve year old was ahead of him in pretty much every academic subject, but it didn't mean he let Bel out of doing his homework. The creepy baby, Mammon, who Harry had only met in passing, had told Squalo that he would be fined severely if he interrupted while Harry was actually convincing Bel to do something productive. That seemed to be enough of a threat to keep Harry safe. Still, as a precaution Harry had made sure he had his wand on him at all times, and an Emergency Kit, full of potions and WWW products, in every pocket.
Bel, the fearless brat, was giggling at Squalo as he ate his way steadily through the mountain of toast in front of him. It turned out that he had never made toast before, and he found a great deal of pleasure in experimenting with the right setting for the perfect toast. He had gone through every shade from barely even warm to charcoal before finding the right temperature for golden brown. Once he had that sorted, he had toasted an entire loaf, so that he could see what he liked on his toast. It was a strangely child-like and innocent thing for the crazy Prince to do, so Harry had just sat back and watched, pouring the boy a glass of milk when he asked.
Levi's hair wasn't really very hard to do. He didn't want it dying, or really much other than a trim doing to it at all. Pouting at the boring job, he got to work on giving the man interesting sideburns just to entertain himself.
"Boss! Reporting in as ordered!" the lightning squad member declared, just as Harry was putting the finishing touches on Levi's newly shaped sideburns. Lightning bolts wasn't the strangest request Harry had ever had, but it was an interesting challenge.
Because Levi was stuck in the chair until Harry finished, Bel took the stack of paper from the minion. He had insisted on being in the room while Harry dealt with Levi, even after he had finished his toast, and Squalo had left to do something more interesting. The prince had got bored after five minutes and entertained himself by throwing knives into a wall. One day, Harry would figure out where he kept them; there were over a hundred embedded in the wall, forming a picture of a cat. It was adorable, in a twisted kind of way. That described most of what Bel did, actually.
"Ushishishi! Stalking children, Levi? Not very Quality, is it? Did Squalo decide he couldn't trust you with the grown up missions?" Bel flicked through the papers. "What's so special about the kid, anyway? Other than his hair changing colour. Harry, how do you get hair to be this blue?"
Harry put the razor down slowly as Bel shoved a photo under his nose. A photo of his four year old Godson.
For a second he was very still. Hermione had called it 'running cold'. Everything came into crystal focus. It had been a game. Nothing very threatening, nothing he couldn't deal with. Cooking and pranks, just having fun. He had gotten complacent. He had forgotten that just because they acted like some of his crazier friends, didn't mean that they were. They had crossed a line today. Teddy was off-limits.
Before Bel or Levi even started reaching for a weapon, Harry had them frozen and pinned to the walls, each on opposite sides of the kitchen. Bel, he left hanging there. His whole body was supported, so it wasn't dangerous for the boy. He had been with Harry for all of the last three days, there had been no time for him to do anything, even if he had been informed. But Levi? The Lightning Officer was clearly responsible for this, and he wasn't protected by Harry's dislike of harming children. He wanted answers from Levi, and depending on what he was told, the Officer might not make it out of the room alive.
"Where, exactly, did you get these from?" he asked coldly. As Levi opened his mouth, Harry waved his wand behind him, locking and sealing the door. Screw the Statute of Secrecy.
"Classified," the man growled.
"Not good enough," Harry told him. He reached into his charmed pocket, and pulled out a vial.
"This is a truth serum. One drop of this and you will answer every question I have, about anything. Unless you want to betray every secret the Varia have, I would suggest you answer honestly."
Harry had never been so grateful for the emergency kit he had in a pocket of every item of clothing he owned. Ron had called him paranoid for including Veritaserum in his pack of 'vital potions'. But you only had to need it once.
"Ushishishi! Do tell why you were stalking little boys, Levi," Bel said, sounding unbothered by both the fact that he was stuck to a wall, and that Harry was threatening his comrade. Harry didn't know whether it was confidence, arrogance, or simply underestimating the lengths to which Harry would go to protect his family.
"I won't tell you anything," Levi ground out from between clenched teeth. Harry heard Bel giggle behind him.
"Alright then," Harry said. A quick spell reinforced the door and the wall around it. A simple lock wouldn't deter Squalo or Lussuria if they got suspicious, and he didn't want interruptions. Another spell opened Levi's mouth. Harry could see the man start to panic as Harry mixed the drop of Veritaserum into a glass of water, and he knew Levi wanted to spit the water out, as Harry poured it down his throat. Luckily, Madam Pomfrey had taught him the spells needed to immobilise a patient and make them swallow a liquid safely. He didn't think that she'd had quite this use in mind though.
After fifteen seconds, Levi's eyes had glazed over.
"What's your name?" Harry asked. He needed to ensure the potion was working.
"Leviathan," the man told him in a monotone.
"What is your birth name?" Harry clarified. The potion didn't allow lies, but it didn't force you to tell the whole truth either.
"Dieter Trumbauer." German. That was a surprise.
"Why were you watching the child?"
"I wasn't."
Right. He needed to be very specific here. Levi was a Varia Officer, and not a stupid man.
"Why did you order your men to watch the child?"
"Mammon told me that it was necessary."
"What reason..." Harry was cut off by Bel shouting.
"What did we have for dinner last night? What colour is grass? How many uniforms has Lussuria designed?" His voice was urgent for once, rather than mocking or excited. Smart boy, figuring out a way to avoid revealing sensitive information. But Harry was working on a time limit. Every second he wasted here was a second Teddy was in danger.
He silenced Bel with a flick of his wand, and turned back to Levi as he finished with "and an average of twenty different variations for each style."
"What were the complete orders you gave to the men who were watching the child?"
"They were to watch and take photos. They were not to be seen. They were to prevent the child from coming to fatal harm. They were to report back after two days." His eyes were starting to lose their glazed blankness. Harry rushed ahead.
"Why did you believe that watching the child and taking photos was necessary?"
"In case you ever became a threat, we needed control of your only known…weak…" Levi ground his teeth together. The Veritaserum had worn off enough to allow him to resist answering questions. The man must have exceptional will power; even Harry himself struggled to resist Veritaserum.
Teddy wasn't in immediate danger, but that could change at any moment. Once Levi and Bel were free, the whole Varia would categorise him as a threat. He need to get out, get to Teddy, and plan from there. There wasn't any time left. The coldness that had allowed him to plan so calmly had fled, and he could feel panic beating at the back of his mind.
He could hear footsteps in the hall. Once they realised that the kitchen was locked, they would try to break through, and Harry had no doubts that they would manage. Seeing Levi open his mouth, he stunned the man, before casting another half dozen spells in quick succession. Finally, he turned to Bel, who was flexing his muscles, trying to find a weak point in the bindings. He couldn't see, but he knew the boy was glaring at him.
"I would have liked to spend more time with you, Prince Bel," Harry told the boy. He had grown fond of the brat, but Teddy came first, always. Just like Bel would always choose the Varia.
He threw a handful of Instant Darkness Powder into the air and Disapparated from the mansion.
Sorry for the wait on this one. I'm really not happy with it, but I decided to put it up instead of staring at it any longer.
5/6/15 - I edited this, because somehow Harry managed to lock the same door twice. Thanks to everyone who pointed it out!