"At least you're on the right track," Kingsley Shackelbolt spoke through the flames of Charlie's fireplace, where he had been summoned to discuss the dangerous turn in the Davis case, "Though I should certainly expect some manner of retaliation."

"Our thoughts as well," Harry agreed. "We're debating the best course of action now. We need to make sure everyone involved is protected."

"I will contact Saul Croaker and the Smiths myself," the Minister informed, "I trust the Malfoys to be aware of the situation, but I suppose it is my duty to speak with them as well," the man seemed to want to roll his eyes, but he resisted the urge. "I will leave you on that note, then. I understand the hardship with Rookwood's resurfacing. However, I expect each of you to remain focused on the task at hand," he raised a brow as his eyes scanned the aurors, their wives, and their brother, "Finding Gerald Davis and his captors...keeping everyone safe from attack is the priority here."

"With all due respect, Minister," Charlie responded, "I am not your employee, nor am I under your jurisdiction."

Shackelbolt paused, looking the dragon-keeper up and down, "That may be so, but you are lending yourself to the aurors' aid. If you wish to be an asset to the case, you'll follow the same rules."

The elder Weasely said nothing. He kept his gaze locked with the wizard in the fire, refusing to be told where his attention should be and yet, at the same time, understanding the Minister's point. If he were to seek the murderer above helping his brothers with their job, he may end up a liability rather than an assistant. Rookwood had been in hiding and it appeared that he hadn't been causing any problems, but Charlie couldn't just ignore that the deatheater was still around. Not after everything he had done...the pain he had caused his family specifically. It was difficult enough being around George in his sorrow over losing Fred... How could Charlie face him knowing he had let the twin's murderer slip away? Moreover, Ron was feeling the same way, but he was bound to obey the instructions. Charlie wouldn't let his younger brother put his career and livelihood on the line to find Rookwood either...

The Minister of Magic finally tore his vision away, aware that argument would do no good. Charlie would do what he would; Shackelbolt merely had to state his say. "Keep me updated immediately," he nodded at Harry, "We're in perilous waters now." The fires flashed with a sudden spurt of intensity and then died down, showing that the wizard's form was gone.

Harry twisted around, ignoring his boss' dialogue with Charlie, "I think we need to do more than be on the defensive...I think we should use this opportunity to strike back."

"An ambush is actually a good idea," Ioana smiled for the first time, clearly pleased by the auror's decision.

"It would be disappointing then, if they didn't plan on attacking us," Ginny mused. "Though it wouldn't seem smart for them to just let this go. I mean...unless Vasile is not part of the clan that kidnapped Gerald."

"It's possible," Hermione joined in, "We don't know how many there are, if they're all here in Romania, and if not, where the ones involved are. However..." she looked off to the side as a thought struck her, "I don't feel it's too likely that there are too many of them. They have to have rules to keep themselves safe, so surely they know that increasing their numbers also increases their likelihood of being discovered...which is definitely not something they want. So the probability that Vasile Agorici is connected to the others is quite high, I would say."

"That leaves us with figuring out how to fight them efficiently," the lead auror nodded. "They're extremely fast and strong, but they can't cast spells at us."

"They can control others through their bites, though," his wife reminded, "That also gives the chance that the vampires themselves wont attack us and that they'll send drones instead...possibly wizards who can use magic."

"Ioana," Hermione turned to the older witch, "Do you have any thoughts on this?"

"Hm... They would attack directly," she hummed, "With secrecy being threatened, I would think that they'd want to ensure the job is done correctly. Assuming vampiric bites do work like the imperius curse as I've been led to believe, then there is room for those affected to prevail against it if they are wizards, and muggles would not do well in a fight against magical folk especially when such a fight is anticipated. As well, if said victims of the curse were identified, it could lead to more being learned about the vampires. No," the witch ended determinedly, "You should expect a direct attack."

"If that's the case," Harry picked up, "We can also expect it to happen during the night. There's been nothing that steered us to believe any of the creatures can withstand sunlight."

"Except Gerald," Ron, who had joined his oldest brother in silence since the Minister's presence, finally spoke. "What if Gerald is the one sent to kill us?"

Charlie breathed and chimed in, "Gerald is only one person. That doesn't seem efficient either. They may as well do nothing. Not with as many people presuming to be targeted."

"That's not to say he wouldn't be part of it," the red-headed auror countered.

"Maybe it does," his partner considered, "Gerald is with them to learn how to regain authority over his own body, right? Why would they risk sending in someone so clearly and dangerously out of control?"

"So we've all but deciphered that the vampires will be the ones to attack, during the night, without Gerald's aid or the aid of other humans," Charlie recapped. "Now, how are you going to defeat them?"

Harry stopped, stilled briefly in contemplation, "Sunlight is a certainty, but...we have to do more than just fight them. If we just kill or let them get away, we've made no progress. We need to subdue them so we can arrest Gerald and bring him to justice."

"Setting traps for vampires," Hermione chuckled, "That's interesting..."

"If staying hidden is so important to them, what makes you think that if we did accomplish that, that the vampire would help us?" Ron interjected, "Wouldn't it be better to let one escape and track it? Maybe use the dog-collar charm again."

"That..." Harry considered, "It may be...but how would we place the trace on one of them without their knowledge? It's a fairly intricate spell that would take more than a simple shot. He would need to be still long enough for us to enchant him and during such a time, only an idiot wouldn't realize something is going on."

The group fell silent, each deep in thought, trying to come up with a solution to their problem.

"You could always force it to help," Ioana stated plainly after some time.

All eyes turned to her. Was she suggesting...?

"Not the imperius curse," she added quickly, understanding the way it had sounded, "I only meant that the Ministry for Magic does make allowances for the use of veritaserum on unwilling parties."

Harry let out an audible sigh, "That's true, though the more such a tactic is pushed for, the less faith in the Ministry people will have. At present, the only murder has been Lucius. Not really such an extreme case to warrant forcing the serum on somebody."

The woman shrugged her shoulders in obvious disagreement yet she didn't press the idea any further. Instead, she simply found the cup of tea she had prepared when they returned to the home and began sipping it, "How many people are you expecting to be targeted?"

"Well, you," Harry stumbled at first, seeing as the question had already been answered, "Everyone else in the room, Draco and maybe his mother and Astoria, my in-laws, George, and possibly the Smiths, Saul Croaker, and the Minister. Why?"

"Seems like a pretty big attack...and on a lot of Ministry employees too...the Minister himself, even..." Ioana spoke coyly before taking another sip of tea.

There was another brief quiet as the wizards looked at the female dragon keeper and then returned to their individual thoughts.

"Actually, she's right, Harry," Hermione nodded. "If this is how it happens...that is serious enough to rightfully warrant use of the serum...especially if, heaven forbid, anyone else comes to harm."

"I agree," Charlie said softly, putting attention on his brother-in-law.

Harry exhaled, "If..." he repeated. "Hopefully we are wrong about the attack. I would much rather just never hear about any of this again... Let them remain hidden if there is no harm coming from it, but," he abruptly changed his depressive thought upon realizing something, "Vampires drink blood...that means they have a running body count. We just don't know what it is or who the victims are."

Another pause.

"Right," lead investigator Potter settled, "We'll go forward with this assault in mind. The goal is to keep everyone safe while trapping one of the creatures. Afterward, proof of the attempts on these lives and of the beings' feeding habits in addition to assisting a dark wizard, should all make the one we capture fair game."

Ioana grinned, feeling quite appreciated as she enjoyed her tea.

"This is our arsenal, as far as I can tell," Hermione informed, "Lumos solem to cast sunlight, Petrificus totalus will render them unable to move and stupefy should knock them unconscious."

"Then we should aim to use the last two," Harry said. "Lumos solem cast strongly enough may kill them so don't use it unless the others are not affective. Also, we will do best if there are more of us together. We should stick together until this is over with."

"Don't you think they'll think the same thing?" Ron asked, "If we do that, they might not attack at all."

"They might not at first," Charlie corrected, "But I think we've established that inaction is not an option for them."

"Even if these aren't the vampires that have Gerald," Ioana pointed, "I'm sure they won't take kindly to the idea of wizards poking around their feeding grounds or their home."

"We should talk to Dad," Charlie agreed. "There's room enough for us at the Burrow. Ioana, that means you too."

"Wait," Harry halted, "Ioana, do you have any family around?"

"Not here, no," she replied flatly, "Moldova, but we have not been in contact for many years."

"OK," Harry breathed, standing from his seat. "I suppose we should head out then. Ron and I will stop by the office and speak to the Minister again. We will meet all of you at the Burrow."

The others agreed in silent unison. Ginny jumped onto her husband, pulling him tightly against her and whispering in his ear, "Please be careful."

The auror clasped his arms around her, "You too. I love you. I don't know what I'd do if-"

He was cut short by the witch pulling away into a looser embrace and pressing her fingers against his lips, "I love you too. Everything will be alright."

Harry tried to take comfort in her sweet smile, but it was hard to ignore the looming danger. He managed a grin back before pulling her hand gently away and planting his lips forcefully onto hers. His wife pushed back and the two exchanged a quick yet passionate kiss.