Chapter 6 Old Habits Die Hard

They were at the YPG headquarters, a building similar to the YPJ training compound but bigger. It was a 20 minute drive from the city, in a small village in the desert. Training grounds, gym, rooms that served as barracks. The commander's office on the top floor.

There were foldable tables and chairs on the roof where the Aurors and the YPG were currently celebrating their victory over Daesh. A metal barrel was lit up at the center of a circle of chairs. It was a cool desert night. Beer was going around.

Bill had somehow found a rare muggle microbrew smuggled in from Turkey, much to the chagrin of the Texan among them. Now that they have earned her trust, she revealed her real name: Jessica, Jessy for short.

"Now see," she said, "I was under the impression Englishmen were gents. But what I find here is a veritable jackass."

The boys laughed with Bill shooting back something stupid as usual. Harry smiled, and took this opportunity to sneak away from the celebration. He found a hearth in a bottom floor room which was completely vacant at the moment due to the festivities.

He threw in some floo powder and reported in to Ron's office. He wished the DMLE would adopt some of the muggles more efficient methods of communication but unfortunately most of those methods required technology which didn't mix well with magic. Harry and his team brought some cell phones, but that is it. This mission was an irregular one.

Ron's face appeared in the fire. "Good to hear from you, Harry. How are the boys?"

"Good, all things considered. We engaged ISIS today, no choice. Enemy attacked a local city and the YPG responded. We helped them achieve victory. The boys are celebrating with them now."

"That's good. Warms you up to the locals. They'll be more willing to help you in return."

"They already have. One of the women of the YPJ captured a member of ISIS for us. Young, freshly recruited, didn't know much. But he did confirm the intel. Tessa's in the camp, got her exact location. Trouble is, by what he said, she seems to control the muggles with some kind of ritual she performs on them. He mentioned feeling as if he wasn't in control of his body. Matches what I saw today. ISIS attacked us as if in a frenzy, especially when they heard Westerners were in our position. Like a hive mind, whatever their poz and original intent, they came for us. According to the intel, Tessa attacked the city in order to capture Westerners inside YPG's ranks for the purpose of trafficking. Now refresh my memory, but that's not their usual modus operandi."

Ron nodded, "Not the M.O. of most Islamic extremists, no. Some deal in human trafficking to fund their operations, but it's usually just selling prisoners among themselves to torture and execute for propaganda. A lot like dark wizards and witches. They wouldn't waste so much resources and man power on a large scale op for the sake of slave trade. That sounds like our HVT. Good work."

"Yeah now the only problem is how to lure her out. She's got to have wards up. What if the area around her camp is booby trapped to trigger a warning when there are magical people close by?"

Ron shook his head. "That kind of powerful magic would interfere like crazy with all of the muggles' weapons and communications systems. She doesn't need to anyway. No magical government is tracking anything in Syria. She's there because that's the best hiding spot, and since she doesn't need to use magic, she's harder to track. Only reason we got a whiff of her scent is pure luck. Muggle intel just happened to be in the right place at the right time, caught a rare picture of her with her burka pulled back while she was out in the open. A small, careless mistake that will cost her. Just keep a low profile. Do everything the muggle way. Keep spells at a minimum - only if it's an emergency. Got it?"

"Yessir."

"Knock it off, mate."

Harry laughed, then grew serious. "One other thing. There's an American mercenary working for the YPG. Former Navy SEAL." He paused here, unsure of how to proceed. Ron had always been critical of Harry's obsession with his first flopped case. Might not be easy to convince.

"Yeah? What about him?" Ron prodded impatiently.

Licking his lips, Harry said, "I suspect he's Draco Malfoy."

Ron stared, mouth opening slightly, blinking slowly and narrowing his eyes. Harry thought he had shocked him. Then, Ron burst out laughing. Harry watched his best mate wryly.

When Ron finally composed himself enough to speak, he wiped his tears and said, "Oh…good one, mate! You almost had me for a minute."

Harry stared seriously. "No. Not a joke. He bears a striking resemblance, and he reacted to Tessa's picture."

Ron's grin slowly reduced into a quirk of the lips that barely hid his amusement. "So? Harry, that could be for any number of reasons. Tessa is very active in the muggle world and this guy's an operator. He probably knows about tons of terrorists and elusive high value targets. I wouldn't be surprise if Tessa left a trail for the muggles to pick up. In fact, it was inevitable since she persists on targeting Westerners."

"But he looks just like him! They're identical…I mean he definitely works out now but…"

"Harry, Harry, listen to yourself! It's been years - fifteen years - since you've seen Malfoy. I'm sure this bloke has some resemblance, enough to make you think it's him - as far as you recall what Malfoy looked like. That case was your first, it was a disaster and it still haunts you that you couldn't save the pointy git, I know. But there is no way Draco Malfoy…and Navy SEAL can ever go in a sentence together." At that, Ron rolled to his side in another fit of laughter.

Harry sighed. "Fine. Look, can you do me a favor you big twat - stop laughing!"

"Yeah…yeah, what?…oh Merlin…Haven't laughed like that in years." Ron said, wiping more tears of laughter.

"Yes, I'm happy for you. Can you get me information on someone?"

"The Malfoy look-alike, I presume."

"They call him V. Derived from his nickname Speen Vakh, translated as White Venom, given to him by the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan 2002. All I know is that he was in the SEAL teams and now works as a contractor. Can you find me information on him?"

"Bloody hell, mate. As the Yanks say, old habits die hard. Fine. I've got you. But promise you'll finally bury Malfoy after? He's gone, brother."

Harry sighed but nodded. "Yeah…yeah. I will."

"Alright. Good work out there. If you need to notify me of something, send a text. I'm regularly checking the celly in a magic vacant room. This mission is a pain in the ass. Stay safe, Harry.

"You too. Give 'Mione and the kids a big hug from me."

"Sure will."

Harry stood up, put out the fire, and left the room. Just as he opened the door, he encountered V in the hall, stopping in front of him. He seemed to come from the direction of the stairway.

The mercenary was without his helmet, gear or shemagh, so Harry could see more of him. He definitely lifted and took his protein. Both arms were tattooed. His platinum blond hair lay flattened on his head from the helmet. It was slightly wavy, and Harry was pretty sure Malfoy's hair had been straight. And unlike Malfoy, V's chin was round, gave him a walnut shaped face.

After his conversation with Ron, Harry could see how there were things about V he might have been exaggerating to tell himself he had found Malfoy. Then V smirked and Harry had to look away.

"Take a picture. It'll last you longer," V teased. "I look that much like your old pal, huh?"

"He wasn't my pal," Harry replied, using a Yankee accent for the word. "How long were you there?"

"Just got here. Rozerin sent me to fetch you. They want to toast you in honor of today. On a call?"

As Harry had quickly, learned, it was impossible to read V. Was he pretending to be clueless or was it genuine? "Yeah. Boss. Gave him the Sitrep."

V nodded. "Well, now that duty is done, let's get you a beer." With that, he slapped Harry on the shoulder and led him towards the stairs.

As they climbed them, Harry asked, "The picture of our HVT today…you seem to know her."

V was silent as they went up. This time, Harry could definitely catch the tension in the other man. This conversation made him uncomfortable.

"…yeah…"

Harry thought he might say more but V just trailed off, so he prodded, "How do you know her?"

"Wouldn't say I know her - know of her. Black op, long ago. Can't say more."

"Any light you can shed on her?"

"Not really."

V was closing himself up. He was a good soldier but Harry was an investigator, trained to catch the telltale signs of lies. And V was lying through his teeth. He was on edge.

Harry pushed him further, hoping he'd break. "We've been looking for her a long time. She's one evil bitch. Any information you can give me will help make sure she never hurts anyone ever again. She's trafficking kids from my country, V."

If he indeed was Malfoy, he would know what that meant. The man was silent as stone as they reached the landing with the door that led to the rooftop. He stopped, as if contemplating something. Just then, the door flew open and Thomas almost crashed into them.

The young, usually calm and quiet Auror looked frazzled. "Trouble, boss. Bill and Gary pissed off the locals."

Cursing beneath his breath at the shitty timing, Harry burst out and came upon the circle where some of the YPG guys stood looking disgruntled near the fire. Gary and Bill had sheepish expressions. A black, torn ISIS flag was on the ground.

Aryan came up to him and said. "I handled it. It was a misunderstanding."

Harry stopped beside his men who looked at him worriedly. Gary winced, being older and probably blasting himself for a rookie mistake.

"What happened?" Asked Harry.

"Uh…" Gary started. "We were stepping on the ISIS flag shouting 'Fuck Daesh!'"

Bill added, "We thought they would appreciate it but it pissed them off instead."

Aryan stepped between Harry and his Aurors and explained, "The word Allah is written on the flag. Many of my warriors are Muslims and to step on the name of God is highly offensive. They did not realize your men meant no harm. I cleared it up with them."

Harry addressed his Aurors, "Alright, listen up. From now on, before you do anything like this, run it by Aryan or Rozerin. Make sure you are up to date with local customs. We don't want to piss off our new friends."

"We're sorry boss," said Bill.

"Don't apologize to me."

Gary and Bill exchanged looks. That was when V butted in and told them, "Ana asef. Means I am sorry."

Immediately, the Aurors turned to the disgruntled men and, bowing their heads, repeated "Ana asef! Ana asef!"

The offended Muslims started chuckling, along with everyone else, except for Harry's team.

With an amused smile, V told the Aurors, "They think you look funny, bowing your head like that. That's an Asian thing, by the way."

Gary and Bill now looked a little embarrassed which only seemed to endear them further. One of the Muslim guys that had taken offense prior, came up to Bill and offered him a beer in reconciliation.

"Hey, I thought Muslims didn't drink," said Kareem, who went to sit on a chair near the fire.

Aryan shrugged. Here, some do, some don't. We're not very strict in the YPG. Whether we do or don't drink we can still offer one in friendship," he finished with a wink.

The American woman raised her big tattooed arm and said, "Now that's something ya'll and Texans have in common. Praise the Lord for this nectar."

Culture clash averted, Harry took Aryan and Rozerin aside and discussed a program for a little culture training for his men, to avoid such incidences in the future. As they conversed, Harry peered over to V who sat himself between Kareem and Mariah, the girl who took out ISIS with their own machine gun. In the firelight, under the stars, V looked a little softer, friendlier.

The alcohol probably helped. Not a look he would have associated with Malfoy, but it wasn't exactly a look he would have associated with his first impression of V on the battlefield, either. Human beings were complex with many layers to them. V most notably of all.

A cough and Harry looked away, back towards the YPG leaders to find that Aryan seemed uncomfortable and Rozerin awkwardly didn't meet their eyes. "Well, if that's all…" said Aryan, and he went to sit next to V, Mariah giving up her seat.

Rozerin drew close to Harry and said, "Those two are close. V was originally contracted as a sniper and recon specialist some months ago. Now he took some time away from the company he works for to help Aryan. His time here will soon be up though. He explained it was his vacation time. Otherwise he would have been discharged."

"What company does he work for," Harry asked, excited to finally get a nugget of info.

"Sentinel Security."

"You can afford a PMC sniper?"

"Not us. The Americans. Helps keep black ops, black. He seemed to know them well actually. Apparently he was in their team when he was a SEAL."

"It was Bravo team, right? My intel says that they were the ones that discovered our target."

"That's right."

"And V was with them at the time they took Ramlah's picture?"

Rozerin looked at him suspiciously. She said, "This is starting to sound like an interrogation, Master Chief."

Harry had a solid working knowledge of how Royal Marines organized themselves. If he recalled correctly, he was told his rank was the same as an Auror team leader. "It's Captain," he said. "You're thinking about the SEAL leader."

"Ah. Right. It is difficult to keep track. You all act and sound the same, in the end," she smiled good-naturedly.

Harry laughed. "We often train together, so…" He added, "Apologies for the hounding. I've been told old habits die hard."

Rozerin shrugged. "It's fine. I think I understand why," she said with a wink that Harry didn't like one bit.

"Uh…if it's what you're thinking…nevermind."

Rozerin gave out a giggle that made her sound younger and lighter. "Okay. Whether it is what I am thinking or not, just know…V did not stay behind just because he felt a special connection for our cause. He stayed because Aryan asked him to."

That surprised Harry. He looked over at the two men. Indeed they seemed very close. Both were leaning over their knees, V with a beer in hand, heads close to one another engaged in a private conversation. Smiling.

At first glance, they could just be close friends. But, who used up their vacation time in a private military company to fight a war for months for someone you just met? Harry assumed Aryan and V met during that original operation with the SEALs. Perhaps they knew each other from before?

Harry asked Rozerin.

"No," she answered. "Actually they didn't get along very well at first. But the Master Chief ordered him to go with Aryan as a body guard for a negotiation meeting with representatives of the Free Syrian Army. When they returned, they were like this."

He could only imagine what went on between them during that mission.

"If you will excuse me, Captain, I must have words with young Mariah."

Harry chuckled. "Go easy on her. She saved our hides."

Rozerin nodded and walked away. Bill passed her, coming towards Harry and shouted, "Hey, Hey…time for that toast!"

"You just want to make Aryan drink!" Cried the Texan.

"No one other than myself can make me drink," answered the man himself. "And I'll drink for my new friends."

"Devout Muslims drink," asked Bill.

"This seems to surprise Westerners often. Strict Muslims as well as secular are in the minority. Most of us may be devoted to our faith, but we know how to have some fun once in a while."

"If I'm not mistaken," chimed in V, "Aren't Christians forbidden by God to get drunk? Hasn't stopped Jessy here from hogging the specialty beer she so hates."

The woman in question, was standing. She held her bottle of Gara Guzu close to her chest with one hand, pointed at V with the other, leaning a little to the side, and said, "Now, listen here Blonde Judas, I dunno what God yerrr on about-"

"She's right pissed," muttered Bill, rousing more laughter.

"-but The Lord in all His great wisdom knowzz he can't never part a Texan from-"

"Their fancy microbrew," piped in V.

"Shut up, Tinker Bell. Beer…is beer."

"Amen to that," cried Kareem. And they all toasted. Not to Harry as was the original plan, but to Turkish microbrew.

"That was not, as you say, the song she was singing five of those bottles ago," said one of the YPJ.

The ones that understood English laughed. The bilinguals translated the conversation in Arabic to the rest, as Mariah did for Fatima, who nodded with a chuckle. This camaraderie was good.

V leaned back on his chair, holding his own bottle loosely between his legs, grinning at the antics of his fellow American. Harry had dropped the habit of lying to himself long ago. He was well aware of his bisexuality and his currently growing attraction to the mercenary. What worried him was the intensity of that attraction only a few hours after meeting him, and his fascination with the Malfoy case resurfacing along with it.