A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome back to another new series and thank you all so much for the continuous support!

For those of you interested in my other works, I've got a wealth of one-shots available as well as multiple other fics in progress and original stories available only through Discord means! - PoL is also one chapter ahead for those users who help support all of the stories continue, as will all other stories be!

A big thanks to my Betas and Discord Staff - Alec, Fox, Hindu Hari, Knight, Letus, Metzger, NerdDragonVoid, Post Mortem and Weather Report

Special thanks to Discord users: LegendaryShadowWolf, Echoh, SendThighs, Greengrass Kiss, Mr_Mole, 5Firehawk, Post-Mortem, Kovacs, Elizabeth Wilbrooke, DenDuck, Slim Wulfy, R3, Kryn_Womble, Mr. E and MJC4845 Without them, we would be a lesser community thanks to the contributions they provide!

Feel free to join my Discord for updates, early access, original stories and information, link on my profile. Without any more rambling from me, I hope you enjoy the story!

(Sorry if you don't like the chapter!)

Bold = Parseltongue

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE KIND REVIEWS. We now get so many that it's impossible to respond to all of them, but each and every one of you taking the time to speak your support mean the world to me. Please, by all means, speak with me in Discord or private message me here if you'd like a response! Sorry!

Tales of 'The Power of Love'

Urban Maxis

"Everything alright like always?" McMacson asked as he entered the office and made towards his private room thanks to his fairly recent promotion.

"You know it," Maxis responded with a stiff nod, the only sign of their friendship the slight grin on his face.

"Great," McMacson said back to him, "We've been assigned a new task, bit like the old times when we were partners — miss those days a bit too much, but how else do we clean everything up, eh? Anyhow, I'll be out in a few minutes, have to speak with the boss before we can get headed out."

Maxis nodded again and leaned forward in his chair; much was left that needed doing today, and if the pair of them were given yet another assignment thanks to the lack of Aurors, he'd more than likely have to pull another double shift. He supposed it wasn't all that horrible, not since it kept his mind busy here rather than on the homefront.

Truly, it was only thanks to his job in the Auror Corps that he hadn't run off to Poland as soon as the news of its fall made it back to him. Even then, it was a close, very close thing. McMacson, his then partner at the time, had helped convince him to stay. From that point on, the pair had become close friends despite their opposite personalities.

Maxis nearly chuckled to himself as he thought of their vast differences. McMacson was very energetic, not overly tall or muscular, practically scarless and seemed to have a certain youthfulness to him. Maxis, on the other hand, was taller with darker features thanks to his Eastern European heritage, he also had a broader build despite his overall thinness. As could be expected, both of them were very pale.

"Almost ready," McMacson yelled out from his office, ignoring the few annoyed grunts that sounded off from the other Aurors nearby Maxis' spot.

Urban nodded a few times to himself before he started putting what remained of his work away. Whilst he did so, he once more went back to thinking about their differences and how well they worked together because of them. It hadn't been a mistake that the two of them had been paired together, though he doubted the higher up that'd done that had expected the pair of them to become as close as they now were.

McMacson was practically his brother, and when holidays came around, he was treated as such by the other man's family.

Maxis favoured puns and darker jokes whilst McMacson was light-hearted in his. McMacson had a positive outlook on the world, whilst Maxis was more serious with his… he had to commend his friend for wanting to change everything, though he didn't understand how the other man wasn't nearly as stressed as he was. He supposed his Polish heritage was the root cause, as unlike himself, McMacson didn't have any family that lived outside of Magical Britain. All that remained of Maxis' family in his new country was his mother, and she was often isolated due to her accent in addition to the lack of a husband figure; Urban didn't have the same issue, though there were the occasional jest from Hogwarts' bullies thanks to his not knowing his father.

He credited them with his thick skin, and in a way, with how hard he'd work himself. Maxis and McMacson both wanted to prove themselves to the rest of the Ministry. By themselves, they could accomplish wonderful deeds, but together… together, they were a force to be reckoned with in nearly every task an Auror could be assigned. The only thing that McMacson had that Maxis lacked were contacts, and lots of them. Maxis wasn't fond of nepotism, and he'd seldom been shown anything close to it. He was fine with that though, he'd rather be in the field than stuck behind a desk like his mate had recently been.

"Finally, I think I'm set." McMacson said, a slight pant in his voice as he appeared over Maxis' shoulder.

"Right, lead on, boss," Maxis couldn't resist adding that last word, as he knew it annoyed McMacson in a friendly sort of way.

Sure enough, McMacson's clap on his shoulder was a touch harder than normal — though not hard enough to bother him thanks to his thick leather coat — as he led the two of them into his office for a quick briefing of their assignment.

"Here it is mate," McMacson started as soon as the door was closed behind them. "We've got a string of disappearances on our hands. Three so far, likely more that we haven't connected yet. I don't know why we in particular were assigned this one, though it could be thanks to those tracking charms of yours. Still, we've not been put together with how you're soon to move up and I already have. Anyhow, regardless of the reason, I reckon we could get this done in the next few days."

"Sooner." Maxis said confidently.

"Sooner it is then," McMacson said with a grin forming on his face. "All three people taken or otherwise vanished were on the same side-alley in Knockturn. If I were to guess, I'd say it's a debt-collector who's finally calling in what he's owed."

Maxis furrowed his brows. "Why's that?"

"There's no consistency in targets. Two were men, one was a woman, all three were ten years apart in age and they didn't look very alike," McMacson put down a few photos of the missing persons for Maxis to look at. "See what I mean? There's no resemblance, and we both know if it were trafficking or a killer, there'd be one — especially in the former. I'd say it helps to think it's a debt collector too on account of a former report we've had from that area."

"Old Grandpa, wasn't it?" Maxis asked. "Taller, older man with a salt and pepper beard that was accused of ordering a hit on somebody who owed him a thousand galleons?"

"Ding ding ding," McMacson said, clapping his hands together before he pointed at his partner. "Struck gold on your first try, and these missing people of ours are in that exact area. Too bad we weren't assigned that prior case, isn't it?"

Maxis nodded with a sour look about him. "If we had been, these people wouldn't be as dead or hurt as they likely are."

If there was one thing the both of them hated, it was a failed assignment by themselves or their peers. Nothing was worse than knowing you could've done something, but failed to.

"You specialise in your explosive spells still, right? Haven't let that skill of yours get rusty?" McMacson asked him as he picked up his coat and collected the documents related to their new case.

"Explosive spells are my favourite as they always were," Maxis said as he followed his friend out of his personal office and into the larger one meant for line Aurors.

McMacson smiled widely at him and spoke once the pair of them were alone in the hallway just outside the Auror Corps office. "Perfect. That means my stupid plan isn't nearly so stupid anymore."

"Don't tell me you're going to play dre—" Maxis' disapproving tone was cut off as McMacson held up a bottle, one that was very easily identifiable.

If only my baseball bat was closer…

"Wait a minute or two," Maxis said after that thought. "I need to put all my belongings away."

McMacson sighed and rubbed at his temples as Maxis went off towards his desk again. "Nobody's going to steal those signed Muggle relics of yours, they're a simple card with a picture of a bloke with a bat, mate."

McMacson and Maxis found themselves in an abandoned building right inside the border of Knockturn Alley as well as its sub-domains. It was one they'd used many a time, and in addition to them, the occasional other Auror duos would use too. Whenever any of them did so, it was dressed up in rougher looking clothing with cosmetic spells heavily covering their real identities.

One of them, Maxis, seldom needed to change his clothing considering how he typically dressed. Most would call him a scoundrel or a ruffian based on appearance alone, but once he'd built up a name for himself, he was found to be noble and just by all save for those he imprisoned. Even a couple of them didn't necessarily hate him considering how differently he could've dealt with the issues they'd caused. McMacson, on the other hand, would often need heavy artificial changes thanks to his easily-recognisable face and his fanciful dress code.

It was why the latter of the two so often used Polyjuice potions… as he was currently about to do.

Thanks to the inherent corruption of portions of the Ministry and the tendency to turn a blind-eye on iffy matters such as using the potion, the pair were allowed to do so as long as the results were positive. Then again, they'd never been seen using the potion by higher-ups, else there could be a problem despite it not being officially against the law — they would know too, they enforced the rules, regardless of how stupid some of them could be.

"Still don't like this plan," Maxis said as he finished adjusting his partial face concealment in addition to the large forehead wart he'd given himself. "Feels like it could go wrong fast if the old man hired himself a decent or better hitman."

"I think he's holding them for ransom and the families aren't coming clean," McMacson said, his voice and appearance that of a much older man thanks to the bait he'd decided to act as.

"You better play it careful, and I hope your hunch is right. We've only got one shot at this," Maxis grumbled as the pair of them made their way to the door, his voice quieter because of that.

McMacson grinned, the vision noticeably creepier thanks to his old man disguise. "I'll be fine, 'specially with you watching my back."

Maxis shook his head, and when the two left the building, they broke off into different directions.

The plan was on.

Maxis was watching from a second-floor balcony with blankets hung all about it. He could very clearly see the disguised McMacson walking around the Knockturn side-alley with a believable confused expression on his face, one that looked both sour and pitiful. Evidently, he'd learned the role of the person he was impersonating very well.

It didn't take long for a couple of sharks to smell blood in the water, so to speak, as a couple of youths with predatory looks made their way over to see if they could steal anything from the older man McMacson was portraying. All it took was a snappy tone and threats of violence for the hooligans to be sent off; that had the side effect of drawing attention, however, and not soon after did a man exit a building near him. Unsurprisingly, it was the building owned by the old man, one that was meant to sell various services but was blatantly a money-loaning gig.

Maxis couldn't hear the words that were shared by the undercover McMacson and the man, but it didn't take long for their voices to raise. Quickly and clearly, an argument was unfolding. One that eventually led to the tall, tough-looking man drawing his wand.

That was all the pair of them needed, especially with the smug-looking old owner standing in the door.

To think I didn't need any explosive spells and that my tracking spell on McMacson wasn't needed, Maxis sighed as he fired a stunner from the balcony, instantly ending the fight before it could begin.

What a shame.

"Another easy assignment handled, wouldn't you say?" McMacson asked, his feet on his desk as he lounged in his chair with a victorious look about him.

Maxis rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, have your fun. You were right with your plan, and I was cautious. One of these days it'll be the other way around and you'll be recovering at Saint Mungo's."

McMacson shrugged. "I like our chances against anything. Oh right, speaking of liking chances, you're getting promoted from Auror to Senior Auror here shortly — you can guess who'll be taking Head Auror before too long too," McMacson winked at him before he delved back into Maxis' own promotion. "As it turns out, knowing all the languages that you do and having your high marks at Hogwarts had you picked above a couple of others with more experience. Guess that means we'll be working together just like before, huh?"

Based on McMacson's tone, Maxis knew that his friend had pulled a couple of strings — if not more — for him. He rolled his eyes again and nodded towards the door.

"Let's go get a round of drinks, it'll be our way of celebrating that nobody was harmed," Maxis said.

"And that we got promoted. Again," McMacson tacked on.

Him and his ambitions, Maxis thought with an inward roll of his eyes this time.

Still, he was happy, they both were. They'd solved a rather easy crime that others couldn't be bothered to do and together, they were another step closer to reorganising things the way they wanted them.

It was a good… great day… except for the fact that he hadn't gotten to blow anything up.