Harry stepped out of the lift and was immediately met by Neville. He raised an eyebrow at the serious look on his soon-to-be ex partner's face. Neville was on desk duty, so he shouldn't be working on anything that was worrisome.
"Something happened?" he asked.
Neville jerked his head towards the opposite side of the room.
"James called an emergency meeting, just been waiting for you. Let's go."
Harry followed Neville through the department and into the large meeting room that was next to his dad's office. He tensed as he realized they were heading into what was unofficially called "The War Room." It was the location they planned all raids. Stepping in, Neville closed the door behind them, tapping his wand against the oak surface, activating the privacy wards built into the walls.
Harry looked around and saw that nearly every senior Auror was there. Frank and Alice sat at one end of the long table in the middle of the room, talking quietly with James and Sirius. At the other end of the table were Dawlish, Tonks, Seamus, Proudfoot and, surprisingly, Draco Malfoy. None of the junior Aurors were there, which told him this was likely big. They all looked up as Harry entered, his father nodding at the sight.
"Good, you're here, we can get started," James stated before looking at Dawlish and Tonks. "You two want to give everyone the rundown?"
Dawlish shrugged but nodded before looking at Tonks. She rolled her eyes and stood, flicking her wand at the large board that covered half of the back wall. Instantly, a large amount of writing and pinned documents appeared, and Harry tried to take it all in. The information was vast, and nearly every spot of the board was covered with some bits of it.
"There is a lot up there," Tonks said, pointing at the board, "So I'll try to summarize. Feel free to ask questions as needed."
"Over the last few months," she started, tapping the picture stuck to the middle of the board. Harry took a seat and leaned forward to get a better look. It appeared to be an idol of some sort. "We've been getting reports of increased activity in the black market. Initially we didn't think much of it, but then this piece was recovered in a raid in Northern France by their Auror team. This artifact had been stolen from the archives of a private citizen here in the UK, which was concerning, but not as concerning as what we found within the idol."
She reached down and grabbed something from below the board before turning around and placing it on the table. It was a small jar filled with silver liquid.
"Unicorn blood," she said and Harry widened his eyes.
Trading in unicorn blood was highly illegal worldwide and being caught in such activities carried a steep cost. That included death in some countries. It was one of the few things that the ICW universally agreed on. Finding it within a stolen artifact was bad news.
"Dawlish and I were charged with investigating who was trading in unicorn blood and what it had to do with our jurisdiction," Tonks continued, pointing back at the picture of the idol. "This was supposed to be in the UK, but was found in France. So either this was just a coincidence and was a French problem, or we had someone running a ring through our country."
She smirked at Harry and he shook his head. Tonks did like to be dramatic.
"As you can see from the board, this became its own cage of pixies." She gestured towards Sirius. "Smart Guy over there had a hunch that this was bigger than we thought, so we decided not to involve the French Ministry or the Minister's department here to prevent leaks."
"You're welcome," Sirius said with a wink.
"I can give you a full rundown if you want, but the short version is that a small group of witches and wizards appear to have started a cult," revealed Tonks. "Their operation spans multiple countries but they're based here. We think they may be using the smuggling to hide the unicorn blood and using it for rituals."
Something nagged in the back of Harry's mind. He turned towards James with a raised eyebrow.
"Does this involve Burke somehow?"
James smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, we think he's been running artifacts here for this group," he confirmed. "In fact, we think he's been the main runner for stolen goods for the operation everywhere."
"How did you figure this out?" Neville asked.
Tonks smiled.
"I followed him for almost three weeks and was just about to give up when he met with Gregory Goyle Sr," she said, laughing as she sat down. "Goyle doesn't have a subtle bone in his body and doesn't know how to keep his voice down. I overheard him talking about a shipment they had waiting to be cleared of potential nasty surprises. Seems they stole some stuff from a paranoid type."
She thumbed towards the board.
"There's some pictures up there. I followed Goyle back to his place and did some sleuthing. He is really not bright and had left some pretty detailed information out in the open. We were able to seize the items about a month ago."
Frank raised an eyebrow.
"So, why haven't we arrested the lot?"
James sighed.
"They've been careful, incredibly careful. Outside of Burke and Goyle we didn't know who all were in the group except for the ones that the French Ministry picked up in their initial raid, and they were all lackeys," James said. "It wasn't until Dawlish started leaning on some of his contacts that we got another name."
"Nott," Dawlish spat in disgust, tightening his hand into a fist with anger.
From what Harry understood, Nott had been a thorn in Dawlish's side since the older man had started in the department, including being responsible for him getting badly injured at one point. Nott got off with a small fine and a slap on the wrist, owing to his pureblood status, and Dawlish had taken it personally.
"So, we've got Burke running a smuggling ring, which isn't surprising. We know he's been doing that for years, we just haven't been able to pin anything on him legally. Nott and Goyle running some cult-" Harry started but was cut off by Dawlish.
"They're not running it," Dawlish said with a shake of his head. "They report to someone else but my contact doesn't know who."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Who is your contact?" he asked.
Dawlish looked at James for approval. The Head Auror stood up and placed both hands on the table.
"We've been approved for a raid," he explained, "before I have Dawlish reveal his source I need to know if anyone wants off this boat. If you don't want to participate you can go back to your desk and there will be other work assigned to you over the next few days that keeps you away from this. Know that nothing will be held against you and I won't be upset if you don't want to be part of this."
Nobody moved.
James nodded and sat back down, indicating for Dawlish to continue.
"The younger Nott kid," he finished with a rare smile.
Theo? That little shitty Slytherin he'd gone to school with?
"You're telling me your inside source is the man's son?" Harry asked in disbelief. "What makes you think you can trust him? From what I remember, he was a little arsehole in school."
"Because," Draco interrupted, speaking up for the first time. "There is nobody on the planet Theo hates more than his father."
Neville raised an eyebrow.
"Not to derail the conversation," he added, looking at the younger Malfoy, "but why are you here Draco?"
Malfoy shrugged.
"The Minister approved this raid but wanted someone outside of your department in on it. I was thrown to the wolves, though my legal expertise ended up working out. Plus, my father is probably involved and nobody hates my father more than I do."
"Lot of daddy issues in Slytherin, eh?" Sirius joked.
Tonks chuckled and looked over at Draco.
"Don't worry cousin, we don't bite."
Harry turned back towards Dawlish.
"Alright, so Theo hates his dad and is giving him up to us because…why? What's the motive here?"
"Politics," Sirius offered with a smile, "Purebloods love their politics, and it's the whole reason we needed to get approval from the Minister for this raid. Nott holds a Wizengamot seat and a fair bit of influence. A sizable amount of influence, actually, if you combine his ties to Malfoy. If we're going to arrest him for illegal activities we have to be certain of this, otherwise the political shitstorm that will follow will be astronomical. Draco is making sure all of our arrests are air tight and by the book."
"The kid stands to gain by seeing his father fall," Frank pondered out loud. "And he's willing to risk his father's wrath to make it happen."
"Theo assures us that there are several illegal items on the property," Tonks said, "and he told us they're holding a meeting to discuss business soon."
"How soon?" asked Seamus.
"Tomorrow night," James said. "So, there's not a lot of time here."
He flicked his wand and a representation of the Nott manor appeared floating above the large table they sat around.
"Dawlish, Tonks, Frank and Harry will approach from the rear entrance here," he jabbed his wand and a single door at the rear of the property lit up in blue. "Sirius, Seamus, and I will approach from the main entrance." Another flick of his wand and the large front door lit up in blue as well. "Proudfoot, you'll stick around the perimeter to alert us of any reinforcements they might have."
"We'll breach at the same time, though I guess this will be less of a breach and more of just opening the doors," he said with a smirk, waving his wand to dispel the floating manor.
"I assume we have a way to get past the wards undetected?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. "Those are blood wards around the Nott manor. The head of house will know when visitors cross the threshold."
"That's where Theo comes in," Tonks said with a smile. "He's going to let us in. Apparently his father adjusts the wards whenever they have these little meetings and he knows how to invite people onto the property without triggering the wards."
"And the doors will just be unlocked?" Neville asked.
"Theo will handle that too," Tonks replied with a nod of her head.
"Awful lot of this plan requires trusting an informant," Frank mused. "Experience says that's a big roll of the gobstone."
A tense silence was his only answer. They all knew he was right, but there wasn't enough time to do anything else.
"Do we have an internal layout?" Harry questioned, attempting to move past the unfortunate truth.
Tonks nodded her head and looked over at Dawlish. The gruff man reached into his robes and pulled out a nonstandard sized piece of rolled parchment, tossing it to Tonks. She unrolled it on the table and used several tea cups to hold each end down. The team got up to crowd around the page. Tonks stepped aside so that James could get a better look before he pointed down at the map.
"Front entrance is pretty easy," he said, pointing at the landing area and running his finger down a hallway directly in front of the door. "This hall dumps you into the main seating area pretty quickly, so that team has a pretty direct entry."
"Nott says the hallway upstairs overlooks that room," Dawlish chimed in.
James nodded.
"I'll head up the stairs then," he confirmed before moving his eyes to the back entrance. "Looks like that entrance is for the kitchen. Or a wine room."
Harry studied the map, noting two exits from the back room. He leaned down and pointed them out.
"Exits from the room on the left and right," he said. "Both of them are pretty quick to bring you to the seating area, though the exit on the left looks like it runs into a bar. Right side will have less cover. Split the team to approach from both directions."
"Agreed," James said as they all studied the map for a bit longer, attempting to memorize the layout, though Harry would prefer to take it back to his desk to study it in detail.
"Not to be rude," Alice interrupted as they all sat back down, Tonks rolling up the map and handing it to James, "but I noticed a distinct lack of Neville and I in this plan."
"Right," James confirmed, looking between the two. "You two will be running things from here because we're testing some new magic from our Unspeakable friends."
"James…" Alice started with a frown but he shook his head.
"Alice, not now. You said you were done with field work outside of emergencies years ago so we're sticking with this." He smiled at Neville. "Hannah might murder me if I let you go out without a better reason."
"That's fair," Neville said with a good natured laugh.
"Just before we leave," James continued, "we'll all take a small potion prepared by Croaker. It'll allow limited tracking of our status from here."
"Explain," Harry said with narrowed eyes.
He didn't like the idea of being tracked. The mirrors were bad enough, but this sounded like the mirrors turned up to an extreme level.
"Relax, son, it's nothing like the mirror." James smirked as if he knew exactly what Harry was thinking.
"It just tracks our heartbeats. I don't have the details on what all will be happening, I've just been told that a board will be delivered this evening that will make things clear. Apparently, blinking green is good, blinking yellow is a spike above normal, and blinking red is bad. Whatever that means."
"That's truly encouraging," Harry said sarcastically.
"Creepy Unspeakables," Sirius muttered.
James looked at Proudfoot.
"You'll be given a new version of the earpieces, also courtesy of Croaker's bunch. It'll allow you to communicate with Alice and Neville here. If they see anything odd they'll report it to you and you can sound off with us."
He turned towards Draco.
"Anything else we should know?"
Draco tensed as a stern expression formed on his face.
"Nott's father is a terrible man, so don't let your guard down. Whenever you take them down, whoever it is, you need to bring them directly to the holding area here. We do not want this leaking before we're ready. Especially before we recover anything. So don't bind them and then ransack the place. Bind them and bring them here immediately. We have time to look through the manor, the Minister has signed off on that personally."
James nodded and looked around the room.
"We're expecting less than six to be there, but plan for more. We've executed bigger raids before, some with less of us. Just remember to work together and we'll be fine. Let's try to get any paperwork done that we can today for outstanding cases." He tossed the map to Harry with a smirk. "Figured you'd want to learn every centimeter of it. Dismissed."
.
.
Fleur stepped out of the lift and froze. It was well into the evening hours, yet the department was buzzing with activity. Most of the Auror desks were occupied, all of them writing or looking over documents. A woman with bright pink hair stood up and walked to another desk, showing an older man something before lightly punching him in the shoulder.
She looked around and saw Harry standing over his desk, a look of deep concentration on his face. She smiled and began to cross the room just as the pink haired woman turned to head back to her desk. They locked eyes, and the woman gave her a stern look before breaking out into a wide smile.
"Harry," the woman called, though he didn't look up, "You've got a very pretty visitor."
As Fleur closed the distance to his desk Harry looked up and smiled. She looked down at the desk as he moved a stack of papers over the parchment he had been studying. It appeared to be a map of some sort, but she couldn't get a good look at it. She mentally dismissed the thought. She wasn't here to snoop on his work and she didn't want him to think that she was.
The pink haired woman approached, a wide smile still on her face as she stuck out her hand.
"The name's Tonks. You must be Fleur," she said.
Fleur nodded and shook the woman's hand.
"That's me, though I didn't realize Harry spoke about me while at work." She smirked up at Harry as he rolled his eyes. "He talks about you all quite often though."
"Does he now?" Tonks drawled in a teasing tone, turning towards Harry. "All good things, I hope?"
"I guess you'll never know, Nymphadora," he replied.
Tonks glared at him.
"That's a low blow, Potter," she said before walking back towards her desk.
Harry moved out from behind his desk and leaned down, kissing her lightly on the cheek. A catcall sounded from across the room. Harry growled.
"Mind your own business, Sirius. Just because you don't have anyone in your life doesn't mean the rest of us aren't more gifted."
"Your words hurt me in a way that I shall never recover from, godson," the dark haired man said, clutching at his heart dramatically.
Fleur covered her mouth as she giggled. Harry smiled at her before looking over at the clock on the wall, scratching the back of his head as he noticed the time.
"I was supposed to cook dinner tonight," he remembered out loud, "I'm so sorry. We've got…a lot going on and not long to get it done, so I kind of lost track of time."
She shook her head.
"No need to apologize," she said, placing a calming hand on his forearm, noticing that he visibly relaxed at the contact. "I figured it was something important when I went by your flat and you weren't there, though I got back late anyway. I've been having trouble with a new artifact."
"Already keyed into each other's wards, are we?" Tonks called.
Harry rolled his eyes before raising an eyebrow at Fleur.
"Anything I can do?"
She shook her head.
"Not unless you know how to untangle complex runes from curses," she said with a frown.
"No, can't help you there," he confirmed before he brightened. "You should owl my mum again though. She's brilliant with runes. I think you two would get along great regardless. Even though she's got a charms mastery she's also a runes nerd."
"I might have to do that," Fleur replied with a smile. "I'm pretty stuck as it is so any help would be great."
She looked around the room.
"Is the whole team here?" she asked.
Harry nodded.
"Yeah, most of the senior group. The newbies have gone home for the night, but we've got something going on." He looked a bit guilty. "I can't really talk about it."
Idly, she wondered what they were planning, likely a raid if she had to guess. She'd seen the French Ministry during raid preparations and it had looked quite similar, desk filled as they all tried to finish up any paperwork that had been put off so that they could concentrate on the task at hand. The curious part of her yearned to know what they were doing, but she reminded herself once again that she wasn't there to snoop.
"It's terribly rude not to introduce us to your girlfriend," Sirius called from across the room without looking up.
Fleur smiled at Harry's apprehensive look. They'd been dating for a while now, yet she'd not met any of his co-workers in person before. Not that she could say much, Harry hadn't met any of her coworkers either, though that was more a product of how the bank worked as opposed to effort.
Harry nodded towards the man sitting at the desk pushed against his.
"This is Neville Longbottom, my partner."
Neville stood and shook her hands, giving her a kind smile.
"Nice to meet you," he said, "Harry's told me a lot about you."
Fleur's stomach fluttered at his words, touched by the idea that Harry spoke of her when she wasn't around. It had been a while since she'd had anyone outside of her family become an important part of her life. She'd almost forgotten how good it felt.
Harry looked at her.
"Neville will be leaving us at some point to pursue his true passion: weird plants."
She raised her eyebrow.
"Herbology mastery?" she asked.
Neville nodded.
"Yes, followed by taking a post at Hogwarts."
"Congratulations," she said with a nod.
Harry gestured to the desk to their right that had a couple sitting at it.
"Frank and Alice Longbottom," Harry said.
"Hello," they said in unison.
Harry turned to the left and pointed at Tonks.
"You've already had the misfortune of meeting Tonks." He stuck his tongue out at the woman who was now sporting green hair.
A metamorphmagus. Fleur made a note of that as Harry pointed to the back of the room.
"The tall, grumpy looking ones are Dawlish and Proudfoot. The black haired one with the shit-eating grin on his face is Sirius Black." He turned towards her with a solemn look. "Don't talk to him, he'll try to tell you something embarrassing about my childhood."
She laughed as Sirius huffed.
"Seamus and my dad are out at the moment."
Harry's stomach growled loudly, causing him to blush lightly.
"Hungry?" she asked teasingly.
He nodded. "Yeah. They got food while I was out chasing something else down earlier."
"Would you like me to bring you something?" Fleur asked, untroubled by the fact that they wouldn't be spending much time together today. Clearly something big was going on and she knew he wouldn't be able to get away.
It was surprisingly easy to think of her time with Harry in a long term sense, something she hadn't done since Gabby's death. Relationships had largely been for convenience since that day, started and dropped when the person could no longer provide her help towards her goals.
Harry was different.
They could have dinner another night. They could spend time together another day, and she didn't have any issues with that. There were no time constraints on their relationship, no looming deadlines or ticking clocks. It was a refreshing change of pace from the rest of her life.
"Would you mind?" he asked sincerely. "Maybe that sandwich place in the Alley? Something simple would be wonderful."
She nodded and leaned up, kissing him on the cheek before turning to leave.
"It's rude to stare as she leaves, Harry," she heard Frank say with amusement.
"Shut up you old geezer," Harry shot back, causing Fleur to laugh as she made it to the lift.
She quickly found herself in line at the small shop, waiting to place Harry's order. It was surprisingly busy, though they had only been in the establishment for lunch, never for dinner. As she looked around she felt someone slide into line behind her.
"What's got you back out here?" Luc said quietly.
She sighed but didn't turn around. She'd forgotten he lived in the area, so he'd probably been at the Leaky Cauldron when she'd passed through.
"Grabbing dinner for Harry," she replied.
"Should you be relaxing the day before we're set to make our next move?" he asked.
She almost turned around but resisted the urge as irritation sparked in her.
"I have to put down roots, Luc. For appearance sake, if nothing else. Though I intend to stay here after this is done, so for me this is not just a show."
"What's he working on?" Luc questioned as the line moved up a bit.
"What?"
"Your boyfriend," he clarified, "anything we can use?"
She huffed.
"No, it seems like they're planning a raid, though that's not why I visited him."
"So you've said, but is that really the whole truth?" She half turned and caught him giving her a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps you're subconsciously looking to see if you can glimpse something in their department that will help?"
"Enough," she whispered firmly, "I'll be ready tomorrow. That's all that matters."
As she got to the counter and placed her order, Luc's words weighed on her, sending doubt into her stomach. Was she unintentionally using Harry to help herself? Taking his kindness, his generosity, and twisting it for her own gain? She'd done so with Burke, and had been quick to look at his desk at the Ministry, so did Luc's words have merit?
As she grabbed the order and left the shop, not giving Luc a second glance, she shook her head. No, she wouldn't do that to Harry, at least not in the way Luc was insinuating. He wasn't part of this, and she would keep it that way as much as possible.
She couldn't stop the small part of her mind from questioning if that was a lie she was telling herself.
.
.
With a faint pop Harry appeared at the tree line just outside of the Nott family property. He quickly scanned the area and spotted the rest of the group a short distance away. They were all dressed in their dark Auror robes, though they, like him, had donned their traditional field robes. Far less flowing and more maneuverability to allow them to participate in battle without worrying if they're going to catch their outfit on something.
"How am I always the last to arrive?" he asked as he caught up with the group. Sirius clapped him on the back.
"Because you need to look dashing, kid."
Harry rolled his eyes.
"You're the one who's always worried about your hair, asking uncle Moony if it looks alright," he pointed out.
"Cut the chatter," James said with a commanding voice. Harry immediately dropped his smile and looked up at his dad, unable to not notice the lines of worry around the man's eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
James tried to brush off the question but Harry gave him a look, one they both knew well. They'd shared it many times over the years, when one of them knew the other wasn't being fully up front. His father was worried about something and he wasn't going to let him try to ease his concern as if it were nothing. He wasn't a child anymore, so that wouldn't work on him.
"I have a feeling in my gut, but it might just be me getting old," James said with a sigh.
Harry grabbed his dad's shoulder and squeezed it, nodding at him.
"We've got this."
A noise to the left caused them all to draw their wands in an instant. Theodore Nott stood there with his hands held up.
"Easy, it's just me," he said nervously, looking to Dawlish for support. The gruff Auror lowered his wand and grumbled before striding over towards the young pureblood.
"Good way to get your arse blown off, kid," he growled. "Are we all set?"
Theo nodded.
"Yes, my father and his associates are all inside."
"Do you know who they are?" James asked.
Theo gave an uncertain look.
"Crabb and Goyle were the first to show up, followed quickly by Edgar Parkinson. Sue Li arrived about a half hour ago alongside Corban Yaxley. There's also an unknown male, but he doesn't speak and I can't place him. He's tall with brown hair. At least I believe his hair is brown. He hasn't lowered his hood."
"Lucious Malfoy wasn't among them?" asked Sirius.
Theo shook his head.
"He didn't show up while I was there, though I had to sneak out to meet you, so he could have arrived after I left." He looked at Dawlish. "Is that all?"
Dawlish shrugged and looked at the group.
"Anything else we should look out for?" Harry chimed in.
Theo turned to Harry with a look that shouted "Pureblooded arsehole" from the top of the Hogwarts astronomy tower.
"I think you'll have to make due with what I've given you, Potter," he said before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He reopened his eyes as the tension left his face. He turned back towards James. "The artifacts will be in the basement and the paperwork will be upstairs in the study. You'll need either my mother or I to get into the basement. She won't help you, but I will."
He took a few steps back towards the house before turning on his heels and giving a mock bow.
"I greet you, Auror's of the British Ministry and bid you welcome to the ancestral land of the House of Nott. I invite you into our home and hope that your stay is both comforting and exceeds your expectations. Do let us know if there is anything we can do to make your time within our walls more enjoyable."
With that he stepped back towards the group and looked up at Dawlish.
"Where do you want me to wait for word?"
"Leaky Cauldron," Dawlish grunted. "Password is…"
"Temporary alliance," Harry provided.
With a curt nod of his head Nott popped away, leaving the Aurors to their devices. James gave them all a serious look.
"Does any of this change anything?" he asked, looking around at the group.
Harry scratched the back of his neck.
"It's curious that Sue is here," he said, more to himself than anything. "She was my regular partner for charms our sixth and seventh years. Never got the sense she would be caught up in something like this."
"Perhaps it's her family?" Frank mused with a shrug. "If I remember correctly, her family has a sizable business in Asia. Perhaps they're being used for entry into those black markets? A lot more unicorn blood trading there."
James instructed Proudfoot to contact Alice and Neville.
"Alice, Neville. Are you there?" the tall man asked.
"Hear you loud and clear PF," Alice responded.
"Crabb, Goyle, Parkinson, Li, Yaxley, Nott, and an unknown male. Send a note to Draco."
"Got a description of that unknown male?" Neville asked.
"Not yet," Proudfoot said. "Just tall with brown hair. We'll know more once the team is inside. We'll be breaching the house soon. How are the potions looking?"
The board had, just as James said, been delivered the previous night to the meeting room. It was an unassuming thing, but it was brimming with magical energy in a way Harry hadn't ever felt before. He didn't know if it had been constructed using magic or if they had stuffed the magical energy into an existing board, but it bled from it in pulsing waves, like a heartbeat. Eerie, given its function. On the board were simple numbers one through eight spaced evenly on it. After they drank the potions, each bottle with a matching number, the numbers on the board had begun to pulse green.
"Everyone is showing green," Alice confirmed.
"Good," James replied after Proudfoot relayed the message, though Harry could tell he was still worried. "Tell them to keep us informed of any changes."
James looked at Harry.
"How do you want to handle the breach?"
"Not going to be much cover in there, but we knew that already," Harry said as he scratched his chin.
He ran a hand through his hair as he replayed the information Theo had given them. It was all rather clear cut, a typical raid that they'd done a dozen times, but something was tugging at the back of his mind. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something. Something important.
"He's got that look on his face," Tonks said, looking over at James. "Something is bothering him."
Harry looked back up at James.
"Swap with me," he said before turning to Seamus, "you swap earpieces with Proudfoot and take his place."
Seamus frowned.
"What? Why?"
James held up a hand, cutting off the protest.
"Let him finish," he commanded before turning back to Harry. "What's the thinking here?"
Harry shrugged.
"Remember that raid on the potions lab in Cornwall?" Harry asked.
James nodded.
"Same feeling," Harry continued.
"The kids got good instincts," Sirius reminded the group. "His last minute changes in that raid saved Proudfoot and Dawlish from long stints in St. Mungos. Or worse, trips to the cemetery."
"That, and his dueling has always had some bite to it. I've got the scars to prove it," Tonks chimed in with a smirk. "Doubly so when he's angry."
"Give me the rundown," James said to Harry.
Again Harry shrugged. He looked over at Frank.
"I don't mean any offense," he said sincerely.
Frank smiled that gentle smile of his.
"No offense will be taken, kid. Just let us hear it."
Harry took a deep breath and nodded.
"Seamus is our least skilled duelist," Harry started.
"Excuse me?" Seamus exclaimed.
"Agreed," James said, sending a steely look towards Seamus, effectively shutting him up.
"Frank has been out of the field for a long time and, outside of Alice, works best with you or Sirius. So, I need you with Frank and Sirius with Proudfoot, since those two have worked together several times."
James nodded and looked between Proudfoot and Seamus.
"Make the swap," he said quickly.
James nodded again as Seamus inserted the earpiece in and did a check with Neville and Alice, informing them of the changes being made.
"How are we getting through the wards?" Seamus asked. Tonks clapped him on the back.
"Theo did that for us before he left." Seamus looked confused. "That fancy greeting was a pureblood way of magically inviting people into their home. The wards won't trigger when we pass them now."
James nodded.
"Let's move."
They approached the house quickly under the cover of darkness, the crescent moon not providing much light to illuminate the grounds, which Harry was thankful for. He, Proudfood, and Sirius made it to the front door and squatted down, waiting for the word from James. Sirius tapped his shoulder.
"How do you want to play this?" his godfather asked.
"You two take the hallway, I'll creep up the stairs. If the plans are correct, there should be a hallway overlooking the dining area. I'll have a good vantage point to cover you if needed."
Sirius nodded. "Good thinking."
"Everyone ready?" James' voice came through their earpieces. "We're ready back here."
"Ready up front," Harry replied.
"Sirius, you do the talking, see if they'll simply give us what we want," James replied.
"Unlikely, but okay," Sirius said.
"Execute," James commanded.
Harry opened the door quietly and let the other two in before closing it behind him. They entered the hallway and, with a single nod to Sirius, he made his way up the right staircase. When he reached the top it broke off into three directions. He kept moving forward and, as expected, the wall to the right dropped away, revealing the dining area below. He crouched low as he saw movement from the far hallway, signaling the other team was getting into position. Scanning the room, he saw the bar set into the far wall, which would give James and Frank some added room for cover.
"Gentlemen," Sirius said in a booming voice, stopping the chatter below. Instantly the temperature seemed to drop as everyone rose. He inclined his head towards Sue. "And lady."
Harry scanned them all, but his eyes got fixated on the unknown male who hadn't been sitting down. He was facing the fire along the wall, features still partially obscured by his hood. He was facing away from the front entrance so he didn't expect anyone on their team had seen him.
"Anyone get a good look at the guy by the fire?" he whispered.
"Negative," James and Tonks said.
"What is the meaning of this?" Nott said furiously. "How did you get into my house, Black? Get the fuck out now!"
"Temper, temper Mr. Nott," Sirius said. Harry didn't have a look at him but he was sure Sirius was still partially in the hallway. Harry noted the long, decorative table on the right wall. Would be good for cover. "The Minister is concerned about certain elements of the community and we've been sent to investigate."
Nott scowled.
"Theo, that damn boy."
He looked back at Sirius with fire in his eyes. Quickly he drew his wand. The remaining occupants did the same, though the man by the fire didn't move.
"I wouldn't do that, Nott," James said from the far side of the room, wand peeking out from behind cover. "This doesn't have to get messy. Everyone put your wands down and step into the center of the room."
Nobody moved, though Harry was still fixed on the man by the fire. There was something almost familiar about him, like he'd seen him before, but he couldn't place it. He needed to get a better look.
"Tonks," he whispered, "how good are you with precision cutting curses?"
"Pretty good," she whispered back, "Why?"
"Come on Nott, think this through," Sirius said, drawing out his conversation to allow them time to work, "we're all adults here."
"Cut the hood on the man by the fire. I need to see him," whispered Harry.
"Got it," Tonks confirmed.
The magic of the room shifted as the hood split and fell. Time seemed to stand still as the man's face was revealed, though Harry could only get a partial look, he recognized the profile.
"Augustus Rookwood?" he said out loud.
The man looked up at him and hate burned in his features before he turned back to his companions.
"Kill them all!"
Chaos descended upon the room.
Nott went down quickly, Sirius bound him before summoning his body as a rain of spells pushed him back into the hallway. Proudfoot summoned the large table on the right wall into the entrance to the dining area for he and Sirius to take cover behind.
Parkinson sent a series of nasty hexes towards the hallway that James and Frank were in, effectively pinning them down. Li and Yaxley did the same to Dawlish and Tonks, though Harry noticed a significant amount of green in their spell fire.
He rained down blasting spells from the second floor, catching Crabb and Goyle by surprise, sending them both crashing into the wall. Rookwood sent several blasting spells of his own in Harry's direction, obliterating the railing, giving the two full view of each other. Harry let his training take over as they dueled in earnest.
Attack, shield, attack, sidestep, repeat.
Harry sidestepped a dark purple beam, hearing the sizzle behind him as the wall was eaten away by acid. He fired a stunner, followed by a binding spell. Rookwood blocked the first and summoned a piece of stone in front of the second, launching a killing curse back. Harry dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding the green light as he heard a cry from below.
"Frank's hit," James said.
"Protego Maxima," Harry whispered, a golden shield appearing in front of him, just in time to block a bone crushing hex.
"Get him back to the kitchen!" Harry yelled before lowering his voice. "Sirius, provide cover. Tonks, Dawlish, give Li and Yaxley something to do!"
Sirius sent a mist of fog to the other side of the room, covering the room for a brief moment before Parkinson dispelled it.
"Got him out!" James said as he got back into position. "Li and Yaxley fight well together."
Harry's shield broke and he dove again to avoid another killing curse. He continued to roll to the right, sending a tripping hex that hit Rookwood, giving a brief moment of respite. Quickly, he followed it up with a binding spell, magical vines bursting from the floor to trap the man's legs. Harry made a zigzag motion with his wand before stabbing it towards the fireplace. Two whips of fire encircled Rookwood's upper body. The fire didn't burn, but it held his arms in place, giving Harry time to work.
He looked down and could see another table in the room. With a flick of his wand he overturned it and moved it towards the hallway at the back of the room.
"Tonks, Dawlish, when I distract Parkinson you get into the room and give him hell."
"Got it," they said in unison.
"Proudfoot, can you give me a hand with Li and Yaxley?" James asked.
"Yes sir."
Harry sent a series of stunners and disarming spells at Parkinson, who he had to admit was a fantastic duelist. The older man reacted instantly, shielding and moving to avoid them all, sending back a barrage of dark black beams, but providing just enough time for the rest of the team to act. Tonks and Dawlish pushed into the room, causing Parkinson to refocus on them, opening up a full duel with the man while James and Proudfoot did the same to their own targets. The room had become a series of lights and feats of strength.
It was then that he saw it.
A flash of movement to his left and he caught the hood moving into the study at the other side of the hallway.
She was here.
Why was she here?
An explosion of stone near him rocked him back into the present. Rookwood had recovered.
"Fuck!" Harry yelled. "Sirius, can you keep Rookwood busy?"
"Sure?" Sirius said, though it was a questioning response, he jumped into the fray nonetheless.
Harry took the opportunity to sprint down the hall and around to the other side, blasting the door to the study from its hinges. She was inside, rifling through the large desk at the other side of the room. She looked up at him and though her face was covered in shadow, he heard her gasp.
"Shouldn't you be fighting?" she asked teasingly.
"Why are you here?" he asked.
She shrugged.
"I was in the neighborhood and thought I would drop by," she said as she twirled her wand, pointing it to the ground as magic flowed from it.
He knew what she was doing, or more accurately, what she was attempting to do. He smirked. Not this time. This time he was ready.
"I don't think so, darling."
He stepped back and waved his wand, muttered the counter and placed the tip of his wand on the ground. The yellow light extended from his wand until it hit the edge of the ward. The entire thing glowed bright orange before shattering.
He stepped into the room, noting that it was rather large for a study as the Shadow tilted her head.
"Clever, clever," she said and he could hear the smile in her voice.
"Why are you here?" He repeated.
"Perhaps I'm not the big bad you think I am?" she teased.
Without warning she sent a spell at him, hitting him in the chest. Instantly his chest burned, spreading up to his left shoulder before he ripped off his outer robe and countered the burning spell, extinguishing the flames on his skin. The heat remained in his shoulder. That would hurt badly until he could get it looked at.
He raised an eyebrow.
"You say that and then burn me? Not off to a good start." He smiled. "And here I thought there was a connection."
"Oh, I'd love to connect with you, lover."
Something jumped in his stomach and his heart beat faster as his eyes sparkled with mirth.
"Let's dance," he said, shooting a stunner at her.
She side-stepped it easily before a decanter rose from the desk. It was shaped like a wolf and filled with whiskey, but it soon morphed and changed, growing until it was the size and shape of an actual wolf. She made a small motion with her wand and the wolf opened its mouth, fire coming from the wide opening.
He dodged, left and then right, before hitting the wolf with a gust of wind, slamming it against the wall where it shattered. Before he could recover, he felt the magic in the air shift again and he summoned a hasty shield. Several pieces of wood slammed harmlessly into the bright light.
Looking over, he saw that the chairs had come to life, both tossing sharp pieces of wood at him. He smiled, an impressive bit of charms work. He danced, blasting one of the chairs to pieces, breaking the charm on it. He stole a glance over at the Shadow, sending a series of hexes at her as he did.
"I think you need a lesson on how to treat a lady," she said.
"Promise to teach me?" he asked as he hit the second chair, shattering it into pieces.
"Come on," he said, "show me what you got."
They launched spells at each other in rapid succession, fast and furious, though Harry's shoulder was still burning. Despite the pain, despite the uncertainty of what was going on downstairs, he couldn't keep the smile off his face and he could tell from her laughs that she was having just as much fun. She shot a rope teeming with electricity at him, but he saw through the feint and rolled under it, binding her with his own rope just as she was preparing the real attack. He stood in front of her.
"A wonderful display of a feint," he commented, casually swatting aside the spike of ice that had shot at his back. She must have set that up before they started their duel. "Your magic is fantastic."
"I love a man who knows what he's doing with his wand," she shot back and he swore that he could hear the wink she must have sent him.
"Honey, this is just a warmup. Let me know when you really want to play."
He could end it now, he was sure of it. She was his match in hand-to-hand combat, and she was skilled with a wand, but he knew he was better in a straight duel. He could see it in the way she moved, how she fired spells, it was all there. She was providing some challenge, at least.
He shouldn't be flirting. He shouldn't be bantering. He shouldn't be having fun. He shouldn't be attracted to her.
But he was, and he couldn't understand why. All he knew was that there was something there, something familiar about her, and he knew she felt it too.
Suddenly, her outfit glowed gold and the ropes binding her tore, dropping to the ground. She sent a gust of wind at him, blasting him back, though he recovered before redirecting the wind up and away.
A ball of fire raced towards him and he swatted it away.
"No!" she cried, looking behind her.
He briefly looked away and saw that the papers on the desk had been lit on fire by the ball. She turned back towards him. She was shaking, though with rage or something else, he couldn't tell.
"You think you know what's going on. You think I'm a bad person, but I'm not. I'm here for the same reason as you. I'm here to right a wrong."
A stream of fire shot from her wand and he blocked it, though she kept pouring more magic into the fire, strengthening the heat. He needed to end things and fast, otherwise they'd burn the house down.
"This isn't working," he said before rolling under the fire.
Quickly he cast a series of spells, she blocked or dodged the first round, but he kept going, faster and faster, until his arm was simply a blur of motion and light emerging from his wand. No more games, no more smiles. He heard the voice of Mad Eye Moody in his head, taunting him as he knocked Harry on his arse for the hundredth time, fueling his barrage. She faltered, and her grunt as she was thrown back against the wall signaled the end of the duel.
She knelt to catch her breath.
Quiet reigned in the room, though idly he noted that he could still hear fighting from downstairs.
She looked at the desk, still ablaze, before looking back at him.
"You've ruined it. This was all I had to go on," she said.
"Explain it to me then."
She shook her head before tapping her wand against the ground. His feet stuck to the ground and he couldn't pull them away. A trap, he realized too late. Before he could move to counter it there were four of the Shadow standing in front of him. He fired at one but his spell just passed through it. She flicked her wrist towards the ground and smoke filled the room.
He banished the smoke but found himself alone, though he noticed the fire was now out. With a sigh he tapped his wand against his feet, unsticking them from the floor. He fell onto his backside, exhausted at the events of the entire night.
"Harry, are you there?" His dad's voice chirped in his ear.
"Yeah, I'm here," he said as he dropped his head. "What's the team's status?"
"Frank and Tonks took hits, so I've sent them to St. Mungo's," James said. "Rookwood is dead. He refused to be taken alive. Sirius and Seamus are taking the rest to the Ministry."
"Going to need to remove the body," Harry said. "Croaker is going to have a fit when he finds out his department had a potential leak."
"Already on it," James confirmed. "Where are you?"
"Upstairs," replied Harry.
"Why did you leave the team?"
He didn't mean to, but Harry could hear the undertone of accusation in his father's words. He couldn't blame him, not really. Harry had run from the battle. Abandoned the team without explanation right when they needed him. Any leader would question such an act.
"The Shadow was here," he said.
"What?" James exclaimed. "Seriously? Why?"
Harry sighed and stood up, going over to the burned desk, most of the papers either a total loss or in some form of burnt.
"No idea, but she said it wasn't what it looked like. Said we're on the same side."
"Harry," his father said, the former accusation being replaced with concern. "Are you alright?"
His shoulder still burned, and the question reignited the pain.
"My chest and shoulder are burned, but I'll be fine."
He looked down at the desk and grabbed a half burnt sheet of parchment, a partial message on it catching his eye.
Lord Riddle is getting impatient and, we believe, suspicious of Rabastan and Regulus. We'll decide on surveillance at the-
The remainder of the note was burnt, but Harry raised an eyebrow. That sounded like a lead. He slipped the piece of parchment into his pocket and turned to leave the study. Time to help the team sort through the mess downstairs. It would do him some good, if nothing else, and help him ignore the pain of the burns. As he left the room, the Shadow's words echoed in his mind. Despite the distortion in her voice, he felt that he could hear the anguish in her words.
"You've ruined it. This was all I had to go on."
.
.
.
AN: Thanks for reading!