Harry rubbed his eyes as the lift opened and he stepped out. Exhaustion was beginning to take its toll, but years of long nights and raids had trained him to push back against it, if only for a time. He'd crash soon, but there was work to be done. Fleur had owled his mother to meet her in Hogsmeade and Harry had the unenviable task of bringing his father up to speed.
As he walked through the department he received several strange looks and double takes. An expected reaction. Technically, he wasn't even allowed to be on this level for the duration of his suspension, at least not unless he'd been summoned. He swiftly made his way towards the Head Auror office, catching the eye of Tonks as he passed.
"Harry?" she questioned as she walked next to him, her task forgotten. "What are you doing here?"
"Is my dad here?" he asked sharply, ignoring her question.
She frowned but shook her head.
"Conference room," she revealed, "Harry, I-"
"Not now," he interrupted rudely, stopping the bubbly woman in her tracks.
He felt bad, he truly did, and he'd make it up to her later, perhaps with a butterbeer and her favorite fish and chips. For now, however, there were more important matters to attend to. He changed his direction and headed for the conference room. Muffled voices could be heard from within, but that didn't matter. He grabbed the handle and forcefully pushed open the door. James was standing at the board, pointing at something with a pencil. Sirius, Frank, Alice, Hermione, and Draco were seated around the table.
All of the occupants froze and looked at him.
"Uh, son?" James said, "You're not supposed to be here."
"Everyone out," Harry commanded, looking directly at those seated.
Draco turned up his lip.
"Piss off Potter," he said with a disgusted look. "You're not allowed to be here until your suspension is lifted or they get rid of you for good. I was ambivalent regarding which was preferable, but I'm leaning towards the latter now."
"Leave or you're waking up in a bed at St. Mungos," Harry said, an edge to his voice.
With some degree of satisfaction he noted that Draco paled. Or at the very least, paled slightly more than his usual shade. Harry looked at Sirius and held his gaze for several moments. His godfather nodded, seemingly understanding the message Harry was trying to send. He stood and nodded to the others.
"Let's give them the room," Sirius said.
Harry stepped aside as everyone began to file out of the room. Before he turned from the table, Sirius gave James a knowing look.
"I told you," he whispered before turning around.
He gave Harry's shoulder a squeeze and nodded before walking out, pulling the door shut behind him. Harry's shoulders sagged as silence descended upon the room and some of the tension left him. He drew his wand and tapped it against the door, sighing in relief as the privacy wards activated. He nodded to himself before turning around and walking towards the table, dropping down into a chair with another sigh.
James hadn't moved.
Harry ran a hand through his hair and looked up at his father.
"We need help."
James raised an eyebrow.
"We?" he asked. "Whose 'we' and what do you need help with?"
Harry sighed again. Might as well get the big one out of the way.
"We found Riddle."
Harry had seen James Potter angry before, both as his child and as his subordinate. His anger could match that of his mother's as he ranted about whatever Harry had done wrong. More often than not, Harry knew that he deserved the scolding as it had been preceded by doing something incredibly stupid. Not waiting for backup to arrive and going into a hostile environment by himself. Getting smart with the Minister. Telling his professors to kiss his arse. They'd all led to legendary James Potter anger.
He was prepared for it. Expecting it even.
What he was supremely unprepared for was his dad to simply sigh and sit down at the table before rubbing his eyes. The previous tension that had left him returned, heightened by the lack of raised voices. Harry could handle the yelling, he'd yell right back, but the silence was deafening.
"Harry," James said, and he could hear the weariness in his voice, "I specifically said you were not allowed to investigate while you were suspended and I thought you understood that. When you left London with Fleur, it seemed like you were taking my advice to get away."
Harry opened his mouth but James held up a hand to stop him.
"I've spent every day since you left here trying to get you back. Every damn day. Called in every favor I had and even some that Sirius was owed. First you withhold evidence and now this? Do you not trust me to be able to handle the situation?"
"I trust you," Harry started before James interrupted.
"Then why can't you trust me enough to know what's best?"
"Because I couldn't just sit on my hands and do nothing!" Harry threw his hands into the air before taking a deep breath. He couldn't get upset when the man before him had every reason to be angry. "What I did? Killing Bellatrix like that? It haunts me. Part of me wishes I'd have been fired or condemned, because I lost control. I lost control, dad, no one else. So I needed to make sure it wasn't for nothing."
James took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Son, everyone here knows you did what you had to do. We all understand."
"Yeah, well maybe they shouldn't understand," said Harry. "Because I don't. Not fully, and finding Riddle was the best way for me to work through it."
James sighed again, placing his glasses back on his face. He closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. The restraint he was showing was clearly taking great effort, of that Harry could tell.
"You said we," James pointed out. "Who are you working with?"
Harry rubbed the back of his neck and looked down. This was something he'd gone back and forth on since he stepped into the fire at Luc's flat. He'd tried to think of any way to speak with James without revealing Fleur's involvement, but that would be damn near impossible. Her quest and his offer of help to her were directly linked to Riddle. There was no way to separate the two.
"I, ah, have to go a bit further back to explain that fully," he said.
"I'm not going to like this," James muttered to himself. "Well go on then. Might as well twist the knife while it's still in."
Harry ran a hand through his hair again.
"Fleur is the Shadow," he said before pausing, letting that information settle in the air.
The elder Potter blinked at him several times in disbelief, but still the anger didn't surface. He frowned, and his confused expression was replaced with disbelief before that too was replaced with disappointment. Harry lowered his head in shame.
"Is that why you hid the evidence at the Nott manor?" James asked.
Harry shook his head.
"I didn't know until the night the four of us were supposed to have dinner," he explained. "I was investigating on my own before then. That night something made me put the pieces together and I confronted her."
James raised an eyebrow.
"How is she connected to Riddle?"
Harry looked up and was relieved to see the disappointment had been brushed aside for curiosity.
"Fleur stole something from Tom Riddle in France a few years ago. Something important to him." He paused. "In retaliation, he arranged to have Fleur's sister killed."
"Merlin," James whispered, rubbing his hand on his forehead. "So, she's been looking to get revenge ever since?"
Harry shrugged.
"Justice. Revenge. I think they've kind of blurred together for her and Luc."
"Luc?" James asked.
"Luc Bennet," clarified Harry. "He was engaged to Fleur's sister when she was murdered. He's been helping her ever since."
James nodded.
"So Fleur and Luc are wronged by Tom Riddle and they start hunting for him. That leads them here, where they link up with you," James said, laying out the information for himself aloud before looking back at Harry. "With no resources you're able to locate Tom Riddle. How? We've found nothing since you were suspended outside of Ministry records confirming he took his OWLs and NEWTs."
"Because you were looking in the wrong place," Harry said with a sigh. "I'm guessing you're focusing on the smuggling aspect?"
James nodded.
"The man was the most important part," Harry revealed. "Regulus said he was English, so we wagered that he went to Hogwarts. I spoke with Professor Dumbledore while I was there, and he was incredibly shaken when I asked him about Tom Riddle."
James widened his eyes at the idea that Albus Dumbledore had been shaken by anything.
"Tom Riddle was radicalized by a combination of his family and the writings of Grindelwald," Harry continued. "Dumbledore said he was remarkably brilliant, but had been attached to Grindelwald's manifesto. He disappeared after school, but he's been working to complete a plan for decades."
"Plan?" James asked.
"He wants to kill all muggleborns, and we think he might have found a way to do it." Harry bounced his leg up and down nervously. "Or at the very least, found a way to kill a lot of them at one time."
"Wow, okay, that's a big jump from smuggling to murder," whistled James. "What makes you think this?"
"We confronted him last night and found a rune circle. One that's more advanced than anything we've ever seen."
"You let him go?" asked James with a raised eyebrow.
Harry shook his head.
"He beat us, dad. Badly. One man took down the three of us, and two of us have formal training. Regardless, Luc did some digging and we found more rune circles in the area. We think he's going to link them all together to complete his plan, and we think it's going to happen soon."
James scratched his head.
"What sort of runes are we talking about?"
Harry shrugged. "Fleur is meeting with mum today to try and see if she can tell us exactly what we're looking at. Or bring it to Dumbledore so they can figure out a way to disrupt the circle if it's activated."
"We need to move on this," James said, his voice turning from weariness to conviction. "We need to bring the Minister up to speed."
He made to stand but Harry held up his hands.
"No," he said. James looked at him, confused. "Riddle said he's got people everywhere, and I don't trust anyone outside of our team. We need to bring the Auror's in and take him down. Together, without any outside knowledge."
"You just said he was able to defeat three of you," James pointed out.
"Luc and Fleur were still processing the fact that they were finally face-to-face with Gabby's killer. Neither was in the right state of mind. With a full team, and a good plan, I think we can take him down."
Harry looked up at his dad with a pleading expression, willing him to understand how important this was. His instincts told him they had days, not weeks or months, so he needed the full team to act fast. After a long pause James nodded as he straightened up.
"Let me call the team into-"
"No," Harry said again. "We do this blind. I'll make portkeys and provide them an hour or so before we're ready. We gather everyone, give them the plan, and then go in. Nobody but us knows before that meeting what's happening."
"You just said you trust the team."
"I do, but we can't take any chances," Harry replied. "Sirius and I can spot if someone is acting oddly. I don't think anyone here is dirty but I'd rather spring this on them at the last minute instead of letting them stew in it. Or worse, they're dirty and tell Riddle we're coming."
James sighed and rubbed his face once more.
"Fine." He looked down at Harry with a caring eye. "You need to get some rest. You look like hell and shit. We need you at your best. Go home, sleep, eat, and come back with the portkeys tomorrow evening. Where are we headed?"
"Muggle London," Harry said as he stood. The exhaustion was starting to creep back into his body and he knew it wouldn't be long before he crashed.
James approached and hugged him.
"I'm proud of you, Harry," he said before stepping back. "Even when you break the rules, you do so for a good reason. Now go get some rest, tomorrow will be busy. I'll make sure the entire team is ready."
.
.
Fleur bounced her leg up and down, looking towards the door and frowning as another local entered the establishment. She sipped the drink in her hands to try and calm herself down, but that had been proving to be a futile effort. She was tired, and knew she needed to sleep, but Lily had responded to confirm she would be at the Three Broomsticks in the early evening.
She'd spent the day at the bank rummaging through every book on runes she had, trying to find something that might help, but she'd come up empty. It hadn't surprised her. In the curse breaking line of work, runes were largely used to keep something contained, a feedback loop designed to keep the curse from deteriorating. The illogical part of her was upset that she'd gotten her mastery in charm and not runes.
The door opened again. She looked up and smiled as the short redhead she'd been waiting for walked in. Lily scanned the floor and smiled when she spotted Fleur. As she reached the table she pulled Fleur into a quick hug before settling into the open seat.
"Oi, Mrs. Potter, I didn't know you'd be stopping by today," Madam Rosmerta said with a smile as she approached. She placed a butterbeer on the table.
"I didn't expect to be here," Lily responded, nodding towards Fleur, "but it seems my assistance was required." She sipped on the drink and nodded towards the taller woman. "Thanks Rosmerta. You always have the best drinks."
"Let me know if you want anything to eat, dear," she said with a wave as she made her way back to the bar.
Lily turned towards Fleur and frowned.
"What's wrong?"
Fleur raised an eyebrow.
"Why would something be wrong?" she asked.
Lily rolled her eyes.
"You look as if you're going to pass out soon and your hair is a mess," she pointed out, causing Fleur to brush at her hair. "So tell me what's wrong."
Fleur reached into her robes and pulled out the parchment piece containing the drawing. She straightened it out on the table and passed it to Lily, pointing at the more detailed picture.
"I need to know everything about this."
Lily looked down at the page, scanning it, eyes growing wider the longer she looked at it. When she looked back up at Fleur there was concern mixed with fear in her eyes. Fleur's stomach clenched at the sight, knowing that if Lily didn't like what she saw then Riddle may actually be telling the truth.
"This is blood magic," she whispered, scooting closer to Fleur and pulling the page away from the center of the table. "What the hell are you doing with a diagram of a blood magic circle?"
"We found it," Fleur explained, "carved into the foundation of a building in muggle London."
"Muggle London?" Lily whispered, growing paler.
Fleur nodded.
"Fleur, this isn't just any old blood magic," the redhead explained, tapping the runes on the outside of the circles. "These are blood runes for death. They don't serve any purpose other than to end life. These runes have been outlawed worldwide. Even possessing this page could land you in prison. What's this about Fleur?"
"It's tied to the case I'm helping Harry with." She ducked her head, breaking eye contact with Lily. "I'm…I'm also involved in it."
Fleur felt a gentle hand rest on her own and give it a squeeze. She looked up and gone was the fear in Lily's eyes. The concern had washed it away and taken over completely. Fleur smiled as the emotions of the previous night threatened to bubble to the surface. She frowned, fighting back the tears that wanted to make themselves known but she refused to let fall.
"The person who drew this," she whispered, gripping Lily's hand tightly. "He…he killed my sister."
"Oh, sweetheart," Lily whispered, though there was no pity in her voice. For that Fleur was grateful. "I'm so sorry."
Fleur smiled and a single tear escaped, but she didn't try to wipe it away. People had been telling her how sorry they were since the day of the explosion. How much of a tragedy it was. Telling her to let them know if there was anything they could do. Very few had meant it, instead, they were simply going through the motions with empty platitudes.
Lily Potter was different, she could tell.
She could tell that the woman next to her felt a real pang of sadness at the thought that Gabby hadn't just died, but had actually been murdered. That her murderer was still out there, not behind bars or buried in an unmarked grave. She knew because it was the same feeling she got when Harry had told her how sorry he was and the genuine emotion she felt rolling off him when he said it.
"I've been searching for them for years, and Harry's investigation intersected with mine. When he found out, he…"
"Did exactly what Harry would do," Lily finished with a smile.
Fleur nodded and pointed to the page.
"I've never seen so many linking runes on one circle, and the ones outside of the circles are completely unfamiliar to me," she explained. "You're the most knowledgeable person I know on runes, and I knew I could trust you. That's why I asked you to meet me here."
Lily nodded and traced her hand on one of the linking runes.
"Why are there so many linking runes?" she wondered. "The most I've seen is two on one circle."
Fleur nodded.
"That's what I told Harry, but we discovered six other circles that are identical to this one."
Lily's brow furrowed as she bit her thumbnail.
"The number seven is a powerful magical number. Linking together seven rune circles would, in theory, make the entire thing incredibly potent." She looked at Fleur. "Where are they getting the power to keep this active? If they've got seven circles then they'd need to have the ability to feed a drastic amount of power into them all."
"The smuggling operation Harry has been investigating? The one they thought was a cult? Our best guess is that those objects have the ability to store large quantities of magic," Fleur explained. "We think they've been pulling stray magic from muggles for years."
Lily nodded, her eyes going back to the drawing. She pulled it closer, leaning forward to inspect it.
"Pulling magic from muggles is…that's actually really advanced. And very outside the box. They've got so little, but what's there is constantly replenishing itself, just like ours." She moved her head from side to side. "Given enough time and patience, yeah, in theory that could be used to power the circle. We're talking over the course of many, many years."
"The timeline we're working in has been decades," Fleur said. She placed her index finger on the blood runes. "What can you tell me about these? You said they were death runes?"
Lily nodded.
"Yeah, a very illegal branch of blood magic that was common centuries ago," she said. "It fell out of favor once the general opinion on death magic turned against its practitioners. Over the course of several decades, more and more countries started outlawing its practice. After that they started declaring that even texts on the subject were too dangerous to remain and a long campaign of destruction was started. Today, we only know about this through history books."
Fleur frowned. Riddle had said that he'd gone to great lengths to find the magic that he needed. Perhaps he'd found one of the few remaining texts on the subject? That raised another question.
"How do you recognize it then?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "If all the texts have been destroyed, then how do you know it?"
"Albus is, as far as I'm aware, the only person in the world with a copy of some of those texts." She paused as if contemplating her words carefully. "Albus Dumbledore is, at his core, a scholar. Power doesn't drive him, knowledge does. In his early years, before Grindelwald, he traveled far and wide to learn as many obscure and lesser-known disciplines as he could."
"And he found this death magic?" Fleur asked.
Lily nodded.
"Among other things, yes. We were working on a project during my charms mastery when he allowed me to study it from the confines of his office. This magic is evil, pure and simple."
She pointed at the runes around one half of the circles.
"See these? These are meant to make the blood ready. These?" she pointed to the ones around the other half of the circles. "These are meant to carry death. I don't recognize the third set of runes mixed in, but this circle's sole purpose is to kill."
She looked at Fleur and the fear had returned to her eyes.
"Is this being used to kill muggles?"
Fleur shook her head.
"No. We believe it's going to be used to kill muggleborns."
Lily paled and sat back in her seat. She didn't say anything as she picked up her glass and took several large gulps. Fleur wouldn't have blamed the woman if she'd downed the entire drink, ordered another, and repeated the process. Knowing what the runes were, knowing that Riddle had been telling the truth, it chilled her to her very essence. Death on the scale that this thing could unleash was unfathomable, and they had to stop it.
"Lily," she said, "If this were to be activated, how could it be stopped?"
Lily shrugged and frowned down at the page.
"It's blood magic at its core. Death magic gets its power from, ironically enough, the life that is contained within blood. Once it's fed into the circle and the magic is activated, not even destroying the circle would stop the desired result."
Fleur's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
"There's no way to stop it once it's begun?"
Once again, Lily shrugged, but she furrowed her brow.
"Despite being death magic, it would still be bound by the rules of blood magic. In theory, and I say this as a guess considering all of this," she gestured at the page, "is so far beyond anything I've ever seen. If you performed your own blood magic and added it to the circle then that would disrupt it. This is magic on an enormous scale, so any deviation in the intended method of producing the results would likely render the entire thing inert."
Lily grabbed Fleur's arm and the concern once again pushed aside the fear.
"Fleur, you and Harry have to go to James. You have to tell him about this."
Fleur nodded and smiled, placing a placating hand over Lily's.
"That was Harry's job today," she said reassuringly. Her smile widened as Lily visibly relaxed. "We knew we were in over our heads last night. We need help to stop this from happening."
Lily nodded and a silence settled between them. Lily finished off her drink, but Fleur couldn't help but notice that she hadn't taken her eyes off the page. It was as if she were trying to get it to tell her some other, certain, way to counteract the evil that could spew forth from it. Fleur grabbed the page and rolled it back up, tucking it in her robes.
"Promise me something, Fleur," Lily said, looking at her. "Promise me you'll keep Harry safe."
Fleur nodded.
"I intend to do everything I can to protect your son."
.
.
The door to his bedroom squeaked and he was up in an instant, wand drawn from beneath his pillow. He exhaled and lowered his wand when he saw Fleur frozen in the doorway.
"Fleur? What are you doing here?" He checked the time. It was just past midnight.
"I couldn't sleep," she said quietly.
He smiled and moved over to make room for her. They'd met briefly at Luc's in the evening to give each other updates, Luc confirming there had been no change in any of the circles he visited, before heading their separate ways. Harry had lingered, almost asked her to come with him, but decided against it. He needed time to mentally prepare for the upcoming fight, and he suspected she did as well. Perhaps even more so than he did. He'd meditated for an hour after returning, once again going back to the well that was his training, before slipping into bed and entering a fitful sleep.
As she slid into bed next to him he caught a whiff of her scent. Buttercream and cinnamon. He smiled as she snuggled into him. She gripped him tightly and he wrapped his hand around hers.
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" he asked softly.
"Yes. No. I don't know," she admitted. "It'll be tough, seeing him again, but I know I have to be better. More mentally prepared. The shock yesterday made me lose focus. I can't let that happen again."
"You'll have to go as the Shadow," he said as he began to run a hand through her long silver-blonde locks.
She nodded.
"I know. One last appearance and then she'll be gone forever. She'll fade from memory until she's nothing more than a box of files for long forgotten cases."
He hummed in agreement as she traced her finger up and down his bare chest. Her fingers traced a line to his side, settling on a small scar. Only a few centimeters in length, but she'd found it.
"What's this one?" she asked.
"That was one I got at Hogwarts. I was dueling with professor Flickwick for extra practice and he nicked me. I didn't notice it until it had healed on its own."
Her finger moved again, this time from his side to the right of his stomach where the skin had a slight bump in it. It ran nearly the length of his stomach vertically.
"This one?" she asked.
"From my first raid. We got the drop on about six idiots who were trying to create a more deadly version of the draught of the living death. I made a mistake and Tonks got injured. I refused the healer until she was taken care of. By the time they saw me it was too late to prevent scarring."
He shuddered as her fingertip traced along the large scar that ran the length of his waistline.
"This?" she asked.
"We'd gotten a tip that someone out in the countryside was trying to breed basilisk hybrids. When we got there the guy freaked out and attacked us. He sent all his snakes after us. He got the drop on me while I was taking out the last of the snakes. I woke up a day later in St. Mungos."
There was a certain intimacy to telling her about his scars. They'd been intimate on many occasions, but she'd never mentioned or asked about the scars that littered his body. There was a short lifetime of danger and stupidity marking his flesh, and while he'd never been ashamed of anything he'd done to receive them, the stories behind them were personal. They marked events in his life that had shaped him into the man he was today. He hadn't even told Ginny about any of them, brushing off the questions anytime they came up.
Telling these stories made him feel vulnerable, but Fleur's warmth made him feel safe. As she drew her finger across his bare chest, hunting for another story, it felt like she was drawing a warm blanket over him.
"Do they make you uncomfortable?" he asked, his voice quiet. "My scars? I've got more on my back and legs."
He felt her shake her head.
"No. I love your scars."
"And I love you."
His words floated in the air, but nothing changed. No shift in the air, no uncomfortable silence. She just continued to draw shapes on his chest and stomach. He smiled as he understood that they didn't need grand declarations of love or romantic gestures. They didn't need to sweep the other off their feet and carry them away to a fairy tale ending. That wasn't them.
They were messy and different. They were chocolate croissants and s'mores on a beach somewhere in France. They were flirting and dueling. They were ice cream shops and walks through the Burrow.
She shifted, moving on top of him and straddling his hips. Her smile was infectious as he sat up to kiss her. A tender, short kiss, enough to sate her momentarily. He pulled her shirt over her head and dropped it onto the floor just as she pushed him back onto the bed. He marveled up at her, letting his hands roam.
As she leaned down to kiss him, less tender, less gently, realization hit him. He hadn't known where their relationship would go after the graveyard. After everything that had happened, he'd been left without certainty. Tomorrow would bring a whole new level of challenge and life threatening danger.
But for now? Now he knew where they were at.
They were good.
.
.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?" Luc asked.
Again.
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"Yes, Luc, it's fine," he repeated as the lift opened and they stepped out. "We'll meet our…mutual friend at the portkey site. She knows the plan. We've got to give the briefing to our reinforcements."
The department was empty save for the voices coming from the war room at the back.
"And you trust them?" Luc asked as they made their way through the rows of desks.
"I trust most of them," he replied before stopping and turning towards Luc. "I've given my dad and godfather clear instructions. Anyone seems like they're acting oddly or pulling their punches then they get stunned. I think we've got enough skilled people to keep one man busy while we disrupt his plan."
Harry turned and continued walking, Luc hot on his heels. As they stepped through the door all talk ceased and they all looked at them. Harry motioned for Luc to enter and closed the door before activating the wards.
"This is Luc Bennet, he's been helping me," he explained to the room.
Looking around, Sirius was standing with James at the board while the remaining occupants were all seated at the large table. Neville, Frank, Alice, Tonks, Dawlish, Proudfoot, Seamus, and Terry were all present, just as he'd expected.
"Didn't you quit being an Auror?" Seamus asked.
"I did, yes," Luc replied with a curt nod.
"So, why are you here?" asked Terry.
"Yesterday, Harry brought something to my attention that needed to be acted on, so we've brought him back in to deal with it. Mr. Bennet has been working with Harry since his suspension," James explained.
He reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of paper, tapping his wand to it. Duplicates levitated themselves to each person seated at the table.
"This is Tom Riddle," said James. "Or rather, what he looked like the year he was Head Boy at Hogwarts."
"He looks basically the same now, just older," Luc added.
"You know that because…?" asked Tonks.
"Because myself, Luc, and a third individual confronted him yesterday and got our arses kicked," said Harry.
"Third individual?" Tonks asked with a raised eyebrow.
Harry sighed.
"The Shadow."
"I'm sorry, I think I misheard you," Frank said, his voice laced with disbelief. "It sounded like you said you, Mr. Bennet there, and an international thief were working together."
"You heard correctly," Harry confirmed with a nod.
Frank sighed.
"I think I speak for everyone when I ask this. What the fuck, Harry?"
"It's a long, drawn out story that's not mine to tell," he defended. "She wants him taken down as much as we do, and that's good enough for me right now."
"Okay, putting that aside for now," Alice cut in, stopping Frank from voicing his reply, "why are we here after dark for a smuggling operation?"
"It's not a smuggling operation anymore," James said. All eyes turned back towards him. "Tom Riddle has created a rune circle that, if activated, will kill muggleborns. We believe he intends to use it soon. We're going to stop him."
The weight of his words settled over the room and Harry could see everyone processing it. Terry and Seamus both looked as if they would be sick. Frank and Alice looked horrified. Dawlish scowled, though he knew that was the man's usual expression, there seemed to be deeper concern in the lines on his face. Even Sirius had widened his eyes.
"Well that's some heavy stuff," Sirius said. "You're sure about this kid?"
Harry nodded
"Riddle is crazy, but he's also incredibly talented. We spent only a small amount of time with him, but we could all see it. That's not even taking into account his skill with a wand. He's dangerous."
"Dangerous enough to need all of us?" asked Dawlish. "Just how much resistance are we looking at? Wouldn't he just move operations now that you've compromised his base?"
"If our expectations match reality," Luc chimed in, "there will be little resistance outside of Riddle himself."
"Is there a language barrier in place here?" Dawlish wondered. "Is that some sort of French humour I'm not getting?"
Luc shook his head with a smile.
"Riddle is confident and doesn't believe anyone can stop him. I'd say he's arrogant, but his skills back up his confidence. We suspect he needs the location to complete his plan, so he won't find a rabbit hole to hide in. I don't tink we'll find much more than a token amount of security, though he has at least put up anti portkey and apparition wards."
"What's the plan?" asked Tonks, turning back to James.
Harry pulled a map from his robes and enlarged it before unrolling it onto the table. Everyone gathered around. It was hand drawn, an unfortunate necessity as neither he nor Luc had managed to find any detailed architectural diagrams of the building in any muggle government office. They'd spent the better part of the day searching, but in the end simply decided to draw one as best they could.
"There are ten levels to the building, not including the basement," he explained before pointing to a small square just to the left of the building. "We'll portkey here, just across the street. From there we walk across and go in through a service entrance."
"If we meet any resistance," Luc picked up, "we deal with what's there and then split into two teams" He pointed at the two lines running up the center of the drawing. "There are staircases on either side of the elevators in the middle. We suspect Riddle will have killed elevator access."
"James, Sirius, Proudfoot, Frank, Alice, and Luc are one team," said Harry. "Myself, the Shadow, Tonks, Dawlish, Seamus, and Terry are the other. Each team takes a staircase and moves up to the next level. If we meet any resistance, we deal with it as we go."
He pointed to the eighth level.
"On the eighth level is the security office. It was empty last time, but Riddle may have several wizards watching the security cameras for intruders. We won't know until we get there."
"Won't they see us as soon as we come in?" Alice asked.
Harry nodded.
"They will, though we'll enter disillusioned. If they spot us, we'll either see them on the way up or they'll run to Riddle and prepare defenses. In either scenario, we've got a plan."
Tonks looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"We just take them out if they come our way?"
"Now you're getting it," Luc said with a smile.
"And if they prepare defenses instead?" Sirius chimed in.
"Then we take down the defenses," answered Harry.
"Just like that?" Seamus asked with a shake of his head. "That seems too easy."
"That's because our main goal isn't capturing Riddle," continued Harry. He pointed to the left side of the top level. "On this side of the top level is where the rune circle is. Our goal is to keep him distracted long enough for the Shadow to either destroy it or, if it's activated, disrupt it."
"Okay, say this goes the way you say it does," Proudfoot said, leaning back in his chair, "what's the plan once we're at the top?"
"Alice, Seamus, Terry, and Luc are on support," Harry said as he began pacing. "Keep the rest of us shielded and protected as best you can. You're also there if Riddle has any surprises that try to ambush us once we're in. There's a single set of double doors that lead into the penthouse, so there's not a lot of room for movement once we're there."
"The rest of us," he continued, "are on attack. Riddle used the environment to his advantage. We keep him busy, try to get something past his shields, and anything he conjures we put down hard."
He pointed to the right side of the top level.
"There's a large desk on this side of the room we can probably use as cover, though if he gets creative that might not matter much."
"We've also got a contingency if things go sideways and he calls for additional help," Luc said, reaching into his robe and pulling out two crystal squares. "Stick these against the frame of the stairwells on the top level and hit them with a couple spells."
"You're going to blow up the entrance to the stairs?" Neville asked with a raised eyebrow. Harry had to give it to his partner for recognizing the devices. "Where did you get those? We aren't even allowed to have them."
"You want me to tell you where I acquired not one but two highly controlled explosive devices?" asked Luc. "While I'm standing in the middle of the primary office for your law enforcement division?"
"Yes?" Neville replied, though his response came as more of a question.
"Think I'm going to pass on that one." He looked around the room as he reached into his robes, pulling out two lengths of rope, tossing one to Harry. "Look, we've got this planned out. We got beat last time because we didn't have numbers, but Harry says you all work well together, so this shouldn't be anything more than a standard job for your team. We're activating these portkeys soon. Are you all in or out?"
Nobody complained or voiced concern. They didn't grumble at the thought of having to execute a raid in the middle of the night on such short notice. Harry smiled as everyone simply began splitting off into their assigned groups. He was proud of the team he worked with, the absolute best professionals ever assembled, if you were to ask him. He felt himself slipping into a familiar rhythm as Tonk slid up beside him and sent him a wink.
"Danger, uncertainty, and a muggleborn-hating dark wizard," Sirius said as he grabbed the rope and looked up at Luc. "Just another day at the office."
"Exactly," the taller Frenchman replied. "What could possibly go wrong?"
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"Duck!"
Luc crouched quickly at the words as another blast of fire shot out from behind him. The fire ended and he moved forward, taking aim at the next group and firing several quick fireballs, catching their attention. The stairwell was sweltering hot and he'd long since shed his outer robe somewhere around level four. It had all become a haze of smoke and fire rather quickly.
Another lunged at him and he sent a blasting hex, ripping into the rotting torso, causing it to fall over the railing and down the shaft.
"Hey Bennet!"
Luc looked down the stairs at Sirius as the older man sent a jet of oil down. He whistled and James lit it on fire. Nodding, Sirius looked up at Luc.
"Remember that time you said, quote, 'What could possibly go wrong?,' end quote. You remember that?"
"Yes, Black, I do," Luc yelled as another jumped towards him. He ducked down and, using its own momentum, redirected it towards the wall. It hit with a crash, and he quickly lit it on fire.
"Do you remember if that was before or after there was a fucking army of Inferi in the building?" asked Sirius with a grunt.
More of the creatures were coming from below, and they could all hear them from above. The door to the stairwell continued to rattle as more inferi tried to claw their way in. They'd been set upon as soon as they'd entered the first stairwell. As if from nowhere the Inferi swarmed from every office, hall, and level.
Chaos was the name of the game, though after three levels of fighting Alice and Fleur had been able to seal all the doors to each level. That still left them with all the monsters in each wide stairwell, but it was far more manageable than it had been.
A gust of wind blew past Luc and caught nearly ten of the creatures in its vortex.
"Go!" yelled Fleur, the robotic voice of the Shadow ringing out.
The group moved up as Fleur shifted the vortex behind them, blocking more creatures from following. With a quick flick of his wrist, Harry lit the wind on fire, the shrieking of the beings caught in the flames nearly deafening. A howl sounded from below as they saw more of them returning, moving faster, as if with purpose.
"How are they getting back up?" yelled Frank. "Fire is supposed to put these things down for good."
"Don't you feel it?" asked Fleur. "As soon as we opened the door to the stairs, new wards activated. They're built into the structure. I think they're feeding magic back into the creatures to keep them going."
She turned around and took out a piece of chalk, drawing several runes on the ground. Harry was above her, firing down at the approaching creatures while she worked. Just as the inferi reached the bottom step she tapped Harry on the shin twice and he retreated. She placed her wand at the center of the string of runes and, with a soft blue glow, fire whips shot from each of them, striking the creatures down in rapid succession.
"How long is that going to hold?" James asked as he levitated the group of creatures in front of them, sending them flying down the shaft.
"Long enough, now move!" she shouted.
They moved into the open door to the top level, as the last of them made it Harry tapped the door twice just as the creatures started to follow. He looked back at Fleur and she quickly began drawing runes on the frame of the door. After scribbling for several minutes they glowed red before fading. She nodded and bent over, hands on her knees to catch her breath.
Luc surveyed the group and was shocked they'd all made it, though none had made it unscathed. James had a long scratch along his forearm. Sirius was sporting matching cuts along his chin and chest.
"Tonks, how are we doing?" James asked as he caught his breath.
"Alice is in no shape to fight and Neville's limping pretty badly. I can probably patch him up, but Dawlish got his right hand bit so he's using his off hand. You're gonna need me in there."
James looked to Harry and Luc could see the silent conversation playing out between father and son. Nearly three decades of mutual trust existed between the two men, far greater than the trust between a father and son. It ran deeper than that, Luc suspected, and he understood how difficult it must be for both of them. They were here to do a job, but neither wanted to see the other hurt, yet they pressed on, because the alternative was the lives of innocents.
Harry nodded and James turned towards Dawlish.
"You hang back here with Neville and Alice. Guard our backs."
The gruff man opened his mouth to protest, but James held up a hand.
"That's an order, Auror Dawlish."
The man nodded.
"See if you can't patch Neville's leg," added James before turning back to the rest of the group. "Sirius, Harry, Tonks, Frank, you're up front with me. Proudfoot, Seamus, Terry, keep us clean, got it?"
"Yes sir!" they all replied.
James turned back to Harry and Fleur.
"You two ready?"
Harry turned towards the door and nodded.
"Fast and loud," he said.
In what Luc would have thought was a carefully coordinated effort, Harry and James moved forward as one, sending matching blasting hexes at the set of wide double doors, blowing them off their hinges. They moved into the room and, in an instant, the dark night sky was filled with red.
"He's activated the rune circle!" cried Fleur.
Riddle was waiting for them, not in his tailored robes, but in his best battle robes. Still form-fitting, but cut loose to allow for a greater range of motion. He moved fast, sending a barrage of hexes their way as he dodged and blocked everything they had.
"It's too late!" he yelled as he caught Proudfoot in the stomach with a jet of deep orange light. "My vision will finally be realized tonight! I succeed where Grindlewald failed!"
A tiger charged at them, and before Luc could process it, a giant dog leaped from behind him, latching onto the tiger's throat and tumbling with it to the ground. The two broke apart and the tiger swiped, catching the dog in the face. The dog dodged a second swipe and charged, catching the tiger in the chin with its head. The beast staggered and the dog pressed the advantage, slapping a massive paw into the jaw of the larger animal, sending it flying to the ground.
Its jaws once again tightened around the striped creature's throat, tearing and sending a geyser of black goop spraying. The creature, with the last of its strength, sunk its claws into the underside of the dog, surprising the large beast.
As the dog stumbled Luc was sent backwards, slamming into the wall. The air was pushed out of his lungs and his vision blurred. A familiar sensation, he realized. It would seem he had a knack for getting the wind knocked out of him in this place. If he'd had any air to laugh he would have. He saw James, Harry, Tonks, and Frank trading spells with Riddle just as a massive suit of armor joined the fray, distracting the latter two.
Fleur skidded to a stop next to him and pressed her hand to his chest. Air returned and he gasped, gulping in air as if parched from days in the desert without water. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him.
"Luc!" she called, causing him to look up at her. "We need to disrupt the rune circle."
He nodded and got to his feet, bringing up a shield as two arrows sailed in his direction. He turned as he backed towards the rune circle, now pulsing red, and saw two wooden figures with bows and arrows approaching. He dipped his wand low and a sheet of ice blasted from the end of his wand, catching one of the figures in the leg, sending it tumbling over. Luc pulled the marble bust that had been left untouched in the fray and sent it flying at the figure. Once. Twice. On the third time the figure broke apart, the magic too damaged to continue animating it.
He was spun around towards the rune circle as an arrow embedded itself into his left shoulder.
"Fuck!"
Fleur looked up and stepped between him and the figure. A jet of hot fire shot from her wand. The figure tried to knock another arrow but the fire burned too hot and it was quickly overwhelmed. Luc broke the arrow sticking out of his shoulder in half, grunting as the pain made his vision wobble. He looked down at the rune circle just as Fleur made it back to him.
"Luc-"
"Less concern, more rune breaking," he hissed.
She nodded and reached behind her, withdrawing a small knife. It was a ritual dagger, he realized as he glimpsed the ornate handle and ruby crystal. The blade was made of what appeared to be bone.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
"It can only be disrupted with more blood magic," she said as she began to roll up her sleeve. "This knife is made of Veela bones and the handle is embedded with Veela hair. It'll do nicely. You'll need to help me."
"INFERI!" they heard, whipping their heads around.
Several of the creatures were now in the hallway beyond the doors, and Luc could see that Alice had been dragged within. Neville and Dawlish sent fire and blasting hexes at the creatures as quickly as possible.
"Proudfoot, Seamus, Terry, keep those damn things back!" yelled James as he ducked another spell. "Frank, stop fucking about with that suit of armor and check on Sirius." A jet of green light missed the man by mere centimeters and he returned the favor by sending the downed tiger back at its creator. "Harry, you go low, I go high?"
"Got it, old man!" yelled Harry as he blasted one of the inferi back into the hallway.
Harry and James moved in sync, timing their spells to give Riddle no room to maneuver, yet the man was still pressing the attack, somehow launching his own assault in between spellfire. A flock of birds erupted from James' wand and a whip from Harry's caught Riddle in the leg long enough to stop his movements. Water erupted from James' wand, but it hit hot air, dissipating into steam as Riddle broke free from the whip, tugging it hard, sending Harry off balance.
Riddle pushed Harry away with a gust of wind and pivoted, catching a cutting curse from James in the shoulder. He ignored it, or the effects didn't register, and hit James in the knee with a light of pure black. The smell of burnt flesh entered the air as James cried out. Riddle smiled and, with a flourish of his wand, the floor in front of James shifted, made a fist, and stretched itself up to punch him in the gut.
Pain in his forearm turned Luc back to Fleur as she withdrew the dagger from his skin. She repeated the process on her own before looking at him.
"Rub your blood along that side of the hexagon. We have to disrupt the foundation of the circle, not the elements. Break the foundation, break the magic," she said.
They worked quickly, and Luc resisted the urge to turn around when a cry from Frank and a roar from Harry sounded, but he kept working. Kept to his task. So long as they distracted Riddle, they could do what needed to be done. His fingertip, smeared in his blood, touched Fleur's blood and he leaned back.
"What now?" he asked.
"This is going to hurt," she said, dropping the voice modulation and pouring regret into her words. "This is only supposed to be done with another Veela."
"For Gabby," he said with determination.
She nodded.
"For Gabby," she whispered as she placed her palms into the blood, one in hers and the other his.
"Blood of my family, bathed in fire," she said, lifting her left hand and flicking it into the circle.
Fire shot through his veins and he nearly gasped, but gritted his teeth before the cry could escape his lips.
"The bones of my ancestors, shaped and sharpened."
She lifted her right hand and smeared it across the entire diameter of the hexagon.
The fire spread from his veins and engulfed his whole body. He cried out as tears leaked from his eyes. He clenched his fists into balls, digging his fingernails into his palms until he drew blood. His body felt as if it were being squeezed, crushed under a massive weight while simultaneously being run over a bed of knives.
"Body of my kin, provide for me as I give unto thee."
A brilliant light erupted from Fleur just as the pain overtook him and he shut his eyes. Sound disappeared and all that was left was a horrified scream that wouldn't stop.
It took him a moment to realize the scream was his own.
"Dearest Gabby…" he thought, fighting through the pain as he fell onto his side.
"NO, STOP IT!" he heard and then everything went still as the sound of breaking glass and the rush of wind swept through the room.
The pain stopped. The fire subsided and his body was no longer being crushed and stabbed. He opened his eyes and saw the broken circle, a jagged crack running through it and its light gone, a simple carving that held no more power. Fleur turned to him, and even though she remained hooded, he could see her smile as the light continued to emanate from her.
"You, insolent little half-breed!" roared Riddle.
Fleur darted forward and fire flew from her wand as she rolled next to Harry, crouching down as he continued to rain his own spells down upon the furious Riddle. Her light engulfed Harry, fed into his own aura, and their magic mixed, completing and feeding off the other. The two said nothing, Fleur continuing to box Riddle into position while Harry sent shards of broken glass shooting at the man from every direction.
He blocked some, but others got through, cutting into his arms and face. Fleur moved, rolling to the left, twirling her wand upward as the desk launched itself into the air and directly at Riddle's feet. He put up a shield, but her aim hadn't been to hit him. Instead, it crashed into the space before him, shattering. Harry stepped back, gathering up broken pieces and sending them quickly at the man from the side. Faster and faster he moved, until every piece of the desk was flying, each one a sharp blade or blunt hammer in its own right.
Riddle would have been able to survive the barrage but he was tiring, and the three of them knew it. Just as the barrage ended, Riddle's wand flew from his hand and landed in Fleur's open palm. In one swift motion she broke it in half. Harry followed it up with another set of whips, wrapping them around Riddle's body as his momentary shock left him open. The whips coiled around him tightly but his sheer rage cut them and he lunged for Fleur.
She stepped back but the blood magic faded and she staggered. As she fell, Luc flicked his wand and sent the discarded knife flying across the room, watching as it embedded itself into Riddle's stomach.
.
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Harry saw her fall and brought his wand up, intent on pushing her further back and out of the reach of the desperate man, but an unseen knife sailed through the room. After a brief flight it pushed into Riddle's stomach, stopping his momentum and he fell to the ground. He clutched at the knife and gasped from the pain.
Riddle looked around wildly, and Harry could see the panic in his eyes, the complete loss of composure. Gone was the well dressed aristocrat, replaced by a man who clearly believed he'd lost everything. At that moment, he looked like just another criminal who had finally realized he'd lost.
Fleur stood back up and dusted herself off. The hood mostly hid her face, but he could see the conflict in her eyes as she turned towards the man. She took a few steps and raised her wand, pointing it directly at him. Riddle's eyes went wide for just a moment before he smiled.
"Do it," he challenged before hissing at the pain in his stomach. "End my life you dirty, useless half-breed!"
"Don't do it," Harry said softly, walking up to her and placing a hand on her forearm. She didn't lower her wand but she did turn towards him.
"Why not?" she whispered. "Why should he get to live while my sister is dead? Why shouldn't he suffer the same fate?"
"Because you're better than he is."
"Maybe I don't want to be better," she hissed. There were tears in her voice as her arm began to shake.
Harry couldn't imagine what she was going through. At least not fully. Here she was, face to face with her sister's killer, in a position to get revenge, and all she had to do was take it. All the pain he'd inflicted upon her family could be paid back in kind with just a whisper.
It wouldn't give her peace though.
"Even so, would you be able to look in the mirror?" he asked. "Would you be able to live with yourself, knowing that your quest for justice was actually just a crusade for revenge? Would you be able to sit at her grave and think that she was proud of what you'd done?"
"You don't know what my sister would have wanted. You didn't know her."
He couldn't deny the sting in her words. Or the truth.
"You're right, I don't and I didn't," he agreed, removing his hand from her forearm. "but I don't think she'd have wanted this. If you do this, it's because it's what you want. It's for you, not her. Nobody here will stop you, and I'll not think less of you for it, but if you go through with it then you need to be honest with yourself about why."
A hand fell on her shoulder and she looked over to see Luc smiling down at her.
"She wouldn't want this," he said. "She'd want you to move forward. I know it's difficult, Merlin do I know, but you…we've got to stop at some point. We got justice. Let that be the end of it."
Her arm dropped and she turned away in frustration. Harry sighed in relief. She could have killed Riddle and none of them would have blamed her. They'd have reported that he'd been killed in the fight under completely normal circumstances. It would have made the world a safer place and everyone would have taken that secret to their graves.
But she'd have killed a part of herself in the process.
Harry looked at Luc.
"You two go to the remaining circles and make sure they're dormant. And destroy the artifacts." He paused briefly, looking at the man's shoulder. He'd been injured and had done a decent job of patching himself up. "Get that shoulder looked at soon."
Luc nodded and led Fleur from the room. The wards had fallen when the circle had been destroyed, but there was power in walking out of the door. In leaving behind this part of their lives, it allowed them to look to the future. Whatever that may bring. Harry hoped that today had closed a dark chapter in both their lives but opened a new, better one.
The two popped away and Harry sighed as he surveyed the room. Frank was tending to Sirius, who had transformed back but was still unconscious. James was nursing his knee, still black and burnt. Tonks was with Dawlish and Proudfoot, the latter of whom was still unconscious. Alice would need medical attention. Neville and Seamus were missing, likely sent to get more manpower, while Terry guarded the entrance.
Harry was tired, exhausted. And hungry. So hungry. Nothing to do but wait for the cleanup crew now, though. He looked down at Riddle, still holding the knife in pain.
"Such a waste of potential," he muttered. "So brilliant, but led astray by a madman. You could have been a force for good."
He sighed and looked around with tired eyes. They'd gotten lucky, he knew that. The team hadn't bested Riddle. It hadn't been a lack of skill or knowledge that had been the downfall of Tom Riddle, either. His plan had been sound, nearly flawless. Yet for everything the evil man had done correctly, every step he'd taken to ensure success, there had been one fatal flaw.
His ego and pride hadn't allowed him to believe he'd ever be stopped or found out, and that had made him arrogant. That arrogance had been his downfall.
Riddle struggled to his knees and looked up with hate-fueled defiance. Harry shook his head in pity, angering the man further. In one motion, faster than expected and with the last of his energy, Riddle pulled the knife from his stomach before standing and plunging it directly into Harry's chest.
Harry's eyes widened.
Exhaustion led to mistakes. Those were the words of Mad Eye Moody.
Such a shame he'd picked this moment to forget that lesson.
Muffled screams were the last thing Harry heard before he fell backwards and was thrown into darkness.
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AN: Thanks for reading!