Malfoy Manor (June 30, Midnight)-
The snake-like, red-eyed Dark Wizard sat idly on his throne, slowly rotating his Yew Wand in between his hands. A throne more than a seat, made of stone, polished and dark, placed at the end of the long wooden table that held enough chairs on either of its sides to accommodate all the Inner Circle members of the Death Eater Corps.
The attacks were largely a success, the Dark Lord was absolutely certain that soon enough the Ministry would fall, a feat that he had failed to accomplish last time around. Most of his loyal followers in Azkaban prison were already rescued, many key Ministry officials who stood against his cause were eliminated, and finally, his most dangerous adversary Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was dead, all in one day. It was a glorious day, with only one almost insignificant hiccup, the keyword being 'almost'.
The Dark Lord watched as his followers slowly stood up and left the room without anyone even daring to meet his gaze. As his terrifying eyes wandered around the room, it finally landed on the family standing a little away to his left. And then, the terrifying red eyes of the Dark wizard drifted again and landed on the blonde-haired boy who was kneeling in front of him with his head down in tears and shivering as if he was cold.
Hitches and small setbacks were natural, nothing was ever fully smooth, after this many years of conquest, he was very much aware of the fact. But when small setbacks like this are dealt with by forceful consequences, such events lived to serve as examples.
These examples often served a purpose, it was a good way to inspire both fear and terror it also made things a lot smoother with his subordinates, made them more loyal. And at this present moment, his most trusted followers were very few, as such, he was in need of the unwavering loyalty of those he had handpicked to be the Inner Circle all those years ago. And it was time, time to renew their fear, to remind them of the cost of failure.
Lucius slowly approached the monster, shivering in fear, "My Lord…please…, I beg of you, my son he…"
"Your son…!" Voldemort coldly repeated the concerned man's words.
"Your son…"
"Your son has caused the death of seven of my most faithful men. Having seen the boy's mind, your son had Dumbledore disarmed and cornered, and yet, he couldn't bring himself to finish the task. I find his lack of conviction to be most troubling. Most of all, his lack of conviction has cost me the life of the most valuable spy in my ranks, the life of his own godfather. Tell me Lucius, is your son's life worth the price that I've paid?"
Lucius was at a loss of words, he couldn't lie to the Dark Lord saying that his son was more valuable than the people they have lost, but he couldn't bring himself to convicting his own son with his own words.
Narcissa stepped forward, tears rolling down her cheeks, "My Lord, have mercy. I beg of you, please permit my son his life."
Voldemort turned to the crying mother and spoke like a cruel snake, "My dear, life is a gift. Life is my mercy. And you…"
His gaze turned to his longtime friend, "Lucius, my slippery friend, your family still expects my mercy?" Voldemort stared down at Lucius Malfoy, "You lost the possession I entrusted you with, you lost me the prophecy, members of your wife's family have made the bloodline impure by marrying a known Lycan, and now your son has lost me, my valuable men. He has failed the task I set upon him."
And there was silence in the room for the next several seconds, palpable silence of fear.
"You've failed me FOR THE LAST TIME." Voldemort's words grew into anger as they've never felt before.
Lucius dared to speak even in the lowest of tones, but he did, in a tone that was barely audible enough, "My Lord… Please…" But he never finished.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" A jet of green light left his wand and struck the Malfoy boy right in the chest, killing him instantly. With a burst of noise the curse landed, it was followed by a dull 'thud', as the blonde-haired boy fell to the floor dead.
"NOOOO…!!!" Narcissa screamed as loud as her lung could handle, as she collapsed on the floor in tears. Lucius followed suit behind his wife and fell on his knees, as a single tear rolled down his cheek and he wordlessly mourned his son.
"Let this serve as an example of those who fail me!" The slithering cold voice of the Dark Lord echoed around the entire castle, which was followed by Narcissa's cries of sorrow.
The Dark Lord walked past the mourning parents without another glance, as the large snake followed slowly, slithering past the mourning Narcissa, Lucius and past Draco's corpse going behind its master.
London (July 2nd)-
Robert Granger was driving his car to Hatton Cross tube station with a hidden guest in the back seat.
"Why do they have to take the tube? I don't think anyone's following us." Bob asked in question.
"Someone would have been following us, if not for that!" The unseen guest replied immediately, "It's easier and safer to sneak Hermione and Missus Granger into another train than escorting them out to the car. I was able to make sure that they were hidden among the crowd. Missus Granger did just as agreed; Hermione accepted the answer and didn't ponder much. It's necessary that she doesn't find out about me or the plan until it becomes obvious. The Death Eaters and Aurors are monitoring everything, but they don't know much about the particulars behind our transportation systems above the obvious. It's easier and less conspicuous to travel that way."
"How exactly do we know that they aren't monitoring us?" Bob asked logically.
"Anyone that's looking for us won't be expecting me to stick my neck out like this and they certainly won't recognize you or Missus Granger. They will rather be looking for Hermione, and anyone with her will become an obvious target. If she's not in the car, they're not watching the car."
Bob looked at the rear-view mirror and asked, "Speaking of the car, what should I do with mine?"
"Leave it somewhere and walk away and I'll dispose of it!"
"Good…"
"Do you have the new passport, ids and all the documents that I arranged?"
"Yes, Liv packed it all, the passports are with me, but the other documentations are all with Liv."
Bob continued after a moment's pause, "Explain something to me, Harry! Why do you care so much about my daughter?"
"Is that a trick question, Bob?" Harry responded with another question.
"Maybe…" The concerned father gave a nod at him via the mirror.
"I'll be blunt. I care about your daughter; she's my best friend, one of the very few people who care about me without really expecting much from me. Actually, there was a time when I thought that I was attracted to her, but not anymore. At the moment, I just want her out of harm's way, somewhere safe, away from all this…madness." He eased the concerned man.
"So…, you two are not involved in any way?" The man asked just to make things clear.
His answer was blunt, "No." He thought he heard a sigh of relief for a fleeting moment.
"I'm glad to hear that, I really am. But I'm curious, is there any particular reason?" Bob's curiosity got ahead of him.
"Several compelling reasons, actually, but it's rather a long story!" He tried to avoid the question.
Bob immediately checked his wristwatch and replied, "We seem to have some time on our hands."
He wanted to snap at the man in annoyance, but he held his temper, "First of all, I'm a murderer." He started and Bob simply looked at him in the mirror, giving him a blank stare.
He simply continued without waiting for the man to digest the news, "I'm also a branded terrorist, decreed by the Ministry of Magic. Secondly, Hermione can do so much better than me. And third, she'll never be safe if she's with me. Fourth, I'm on a suicide mission. And finally, I don't see a future."
And there was silence. Ten minutes of silence that passed by slowly, the awkwardness was palpable. Finally, Robert mustered up enough courage and asked him, "As far as long stories go, it's not a very long one, is it?"
"…" He simply kept quiet at the man's forced optimism.
Robert realized that the boy in the back seat wasn't joking, so he asked seriously just to make sure, "You weren't joking were you, Harry?"
"No."
"Ignoring the parts about murder, terrorism and suicide, for which I have quite a few questions for, why exactly can't you see a future with my daughter?" Bob's joking tone and his optimistic question threw him off. He was expecting awkward silence from the dentist until the end of the ride; his answer would have dissuaded any other father, but clearly not this man.
"Well, you misunderstood. I didn't say that I'm not seeing a future with your daughter. I meant that I don't see a future at all, period. As I said, I'm on a suicide mission to save what I can from Voldemort. As such, I don't see myself living past this year. I'm 93 per cent sure that I have guaranteed my certain death." Bob's mouth hung agape, he gave him a dead stare via the mirror.
"Stop the car!"
"Wh-what…?"
"Stop the car, here." He insisted and Bob slowly sided over to the side of the road as the traffic cleared, a hundred yards away in a miraculous open space.
Harry opened the door and slid out; he walked to Bob's window and continued, "I'll be around until you're all safely aboard the plane and until it goes out of the country. There's absolutely nothing to worry about. I've covered every possible scenario. You're safe. Now all you have to do is drive to the station, pick Hermione and Missus Granger and make it to Heathrow on check-in time."
"I'm assuming that you have some work to do?" Bob asked him carefully.
"Yes, just a precaution task… There are a few magical sensors in the area that needs to be dulled down for the next few hours."
"I'll pretend as if I understood that…" Bob joked with a sombre smirk.
Robert held his hand out to him, and he took it as they shook on it, "Thank you for everything, Harry."
"Thank you, for listening to me. Most people wouldn't have. I appreciate that. Hopefully, you'll never see me again."
"I wish that we do." Bob gave him a sombre look and spoke as he meant it, "Until next time."
He understood that the older man meant what he said; he nodded at him thankfully as he replied to him with a cheeky smirk, "I doubt it. This is goodbye."
With that, he turned and walked as he disappeared into thin air, while Robert noticed the boy disappearing away on his rearview mirror.
The man sat in his car for the next few minutes in silence as he finally came to terms with the fact that he was leaving the country for the sake of his family's safety, and then he whispered to himself in all his optimism, "I will see you again boy." He started the car and drove away with determination in his eyes.
London Heathrow-
Ever since that fateful day in school, her life was a mess. Death Eaters infiltrating the castle, Dumbledore being murdered, Harry murdering those Death Eaters, personally she was in a state of depression. The aftermath was even worse, she was depressed and she had no one to lean on. With Dumbledore's death, Ron was latched to Lavender's side all the time, it was sickening to watch, Ginny and Luna were both with her, but she needed Harry. But Harry wasn't there; he was now what people claiming as the next Dark Lord. Without Harry, Cormac was suddenly too brave, he was always circling around her, grabbing her hand in public, his overfriendliness disgusted her. She was actually thankful when she left school, in the train Luna, Ginny and herself had jinxed Cormac with the 'Curse of Misfortune', it was her idea, it would last for the next month and she was hoping that would be a good lesson.
"Mum, why are we here?" Hermione asked in a panic.
Olivia Granger answered back having rehearsed the answer very well, "I told you, sweetie. We're going on a vacation."
"But why the hurry…?" She clenched her jaws and shot back. She had been slowly probing her mother for answers on the train, but surprisingly her mum was very tight-lipped.
She was sure that this was no vacation, something was up, and having had enough of the lies she decided that she had to find out why. After another few minutes of silence from her parents, she stopped walking and stood her ground until both Robert and Olivia noticed that their daughter wasn't following them.
"Daddy, tell me why we're in such a hurry?" She asked as sternly as she could, realising that asserting authority over her very determined parents was no easy task.
Olivia came closer to her daughter, circled her arm around her and slowly guided her towards the check-in, "I'll tell you, just keep walking."
Olivia then began explaining as Robert started walking in front of them with the luggage, "Honey, your friend Harry Potter came to see us. He explained everything that's been happening in your world. He insisted that we leave the country as soon as possible."
"MUM…!"
Hermione was about to begin ranting, but Olivia shushed her, "Shhhhh…"
"Harry gave me a letter that he wanted me to give you, he said that it'll explain everything. He wished that he could tell you in person, but insisted that you two can't meet from now on."
"Mum, do you know what Harry has done? He did something unspeakable in school." Hermione asked with tears welling up in her eyes.
"I know dear, I know. I read the letter, I know what it contains. I know, I know, I shouldn't have read it, but I had to and I'm sorry about that. Harry just wanted to explain himself to you for why he did what he did."
She didn't know what to do, she wanted to believe her mother, but more importantly, she wanted to speak to Harry, but at present, she just wanted to read Harry's letter. "Where's the letter, mum?"
"I'll give it to you on the plane."
"Mummy…!" She whined at her mother.
"No sweetie, your friend's instructions were very clear, he wanted me to give it to you only when we've boarded the plane, not before. I've promised him that I would."
Olivia Granger was one who always kept her promises, Hermione knew that was one of the many things that her mother was serious about, so she conceded, "Fine…!" Hermione almost stomped her feet in anger, "You still haven't told me where we're going."
Olivia checked inside her handbag and took out her daughter's ticket and handed it to her. Hermione snatched the ticket and checked the destination, as her eyes followed the lines, she found the words she was looking for, and immediately she gasped. She immediately gave her mother a look of shock. Olivia smiled softly and nodded reassuringly as she hugged her daughter tightly before guiding her through the crowd and towards the queue.
The Burrow (At the same time)-
All the remaining Order members were gathered in their new headquarters. Bill Weasley's disfigurement at the hands of Fenrir Greyback had made the house sombre. With Dumbledore's death, the possibility of using the Grimmauld Place was now forever closed. Even during the last year, Dumbledore had not once convened the meeting at that location, not after Sirius's death.
The door swung open and Alastor Moody walked in limping with a grim look on his face.
"What's the news, Alastor?" Minerva was the first one to ask.
"Our suspicions were right. Rufus confided in with me that a 'Priori Incantatem' on Severus's wand revealed that he was the one who killed Albus. It was a Killing Curse." Moody removed the cloak with a swing and magically suspended it by the door.
He sat down with the others in silence. The news was as shocking to them as the death of Albus was, "It seems Hagrid's story was right. Potter himself was with Dumbledore when it had happened. It explains Potter's killing spree and his sudden turn towards the Dark Arts. The boy must have snapped under the pressure."
"How can we be sure?" Arthur asked, hoping that the news could be wrong.
"They are sure, Arthur. Greyback managed to survive the fire that Potter put him under; at least for a short while, he was taken to St Mungo's for treatment. The injury was far too severe to heal, it was a dark curse, remedies apparently didn't work, but before he died, he was questioned by the investigators under the influence of Veritaserum, he was at the tower with Snape and he confirmed it, all of it." Moody replied to the devastated man.
"Snape…" Minerva repeated faintly, falling into the chair, "We all wondered...but he trusted...always... Snape... I can't believe it..."
"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens." Lupin spoke, his voice uncharacteristically harsh, "We always knew that."
"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side." Tonks almost whispered, "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't..."
"He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape…" Molly muttered, now dabbing at the corners of her teary eyes with her apron.
"I mean...with Snape's history...of course people were bound to wonder but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was absolutely genuine. He wouldn't hear a word against him." Minerva added somberly.
Alastor was the only one composed, he almost roared, "Enough, all of you. This is the Order, Albus's Order of the Phoenix; it's our duty to carry on Albus's legacy. Do not falter now, pull yourself together. We have to be the strongest when we're the most vulnerable."
Everyone in the room nodded in agreement with Alastor's words. Even Moody himself was surprised that he had it in him to rally the Order members together.
"What do we do now?" Kingsley asked the obvious question.
"We must search for Potter, we have the best chance at finding him, but we must be discreet. Also, be very careful, he may not be the Harry Potter you once knew, he may even attack you. Trauma does disastrous things to one's mind." Podmore suggested rigidly.
Everyone agreed with the reasoning, without proper leadership, it was merely a group of people with ideas, but they made do with what they had.
Minerva who managed to compose herself spoke seriously, "While we're at it, we have to secure all of our safe locations and stock it with supplies. I'll personally put all the locations under Fidelius."
"I'll help you, Minerva..." Filius agreed and so did everyone else.
Alastor began gruffly, "We have to be prepared. The coming conflict will test us all, preparation and vigilance are all that we can do."
Everyone in the room chorused in their agreement.
Lupin Household (One Week Later)-
Harry walked in through the protective shield. The shield allowed him to enter into the property because he was a mage and he truly meant no ill will to the occupants inside. If any of the two conditions hadn't been met, he would have been disintegrated. If it had been a muggle trying to enter in, then he or she would have been expelled off and they would have nightmares about ghostly presence at night.
It was actually very clever, the protective wards around the house weren't particularly fancy, but it did the trick. And in the end, that's all that mattered. He admired the land as he walked up to the small house that looked almost like it was in ruins. He knocked twice on the wooden door of the house.
The door slowly swung open and he could see two people in the narrow doorway, about three yards away from the door. Both of them had their wands lit and aimed at him, ready for a fight. He raised his hand above his head in response. The tall man standing closer tightened his grip as soon as he raised his hands up.
He smirked at the two occupants and asked, "Are you going to kill me, Remus?"
"I should…!" An uncertain shout came about.
"I won't blame you. If you want, please get it over with, I'm tired of all this anyway." Remus heard Harry's voice and remembered Podmore's warning, but he still couldn't bring himself to do it. Meanwhile, Tonks slowly downed her wand and Remus followed suit.
"Can I come in?" He asked fully expecting them not to welcome him in.
Tonks instead walked over to the door and hugged him tightly. For a moment, the emptiness he didn't even realise that he was feeling passed, and he felt wanted again, he breathed out in relief. Remus slowly walked over and hugged him and Tonks together.
He pulled apart for a moment, "I heard that you two got married?"
"We did…" Remus replied with a small grin.
"How was it?"
"It was quiet!" Both Remus and Tonks chorused at the same time. It was followed by a series of laughter through the tears.
Remus invited him in and they started discussing all that has happened and was happening. They were all in the dining room each drinking a goblet of Firewhiskey. They both decided that they won't talk about his recent crimes. While he also managed to convince Remus and Tonks not to alert any of the other Order members, a dose of Liquid Luck may have had something to do with it.
"I'd love to know what Snape told him to convince him..." Tonks said and Remus agreed.
"Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore that he hadn't realized what he was doing and that he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry that they were dead."
They both stared at him as if he was stupid.
"And Dumbledore believed that?" Lupin asked incredulously, "Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry that Lily and James were dead? Snape hated James…"
"I know… But Snape owed Dad a life debt, Dumbledore must have believed that must be the reason pushing Snape to repent." He spoke and gulped down the goblet, so did Remus.
Tonks poured him and Remus another goblet. Remus knew which life debt Harry was referring to, but he couldn't bring himself to accepting the answer, "Even so…I can't believe Albus was convinced by that."
And then there was silence, comfortable silence in the room. However, the topic was begging for a change and Remus thankfully had a question.
Remus asked curiously, "How is it that you're using magic without being 'traced, Harry?"
"Uhhh…, I broke the trace."
Tonks asked in surprise, "But how? I thought 'the trace' was failsafe."
"No, it's not! We're given the impression that it is, but actually, it has a few flaws that the ministry wouldn't want us knowing about it."
"Like what?" Tonks pressed for an answer.
He hesitated but decided to confide in, "I broke it via an ageing potion."
"Ageing potion?" Remus wondered, "But those are only temporary and it only ages the person physically. The magic that self-sustains on your wand would never accept it."
"The ageing potion that's widely known is derived from the original one created centuries ago. The original one, however, is permanent. The recipe for the original potion is forbidden because it has some known side-effects like inducing certain death if prepared incorrectly by even the smallest of factors."
Remus and Tonks were instantly alarmed by his offhanded explanation. Remus looked appalled as he started berating him, "What were you thinking using a risky potion like that just to break the trace? And how did you even find out about such a method?"
"I thought it was worth the risk."
Tonks asked in tandem to her husband's train of thoughts, "Was it, Harry?"
"Look, I needed a little freedom to act. The trace basically is induced on you when you first use the wand that suits you, the wand that is authorized in its creation by the Ministry. It exists both on you and on the wand, but mainly on the wand. Hence, if you use magic that violates the statute of secrecy without your wand, then it would be considered accidental magic, but if magic is used via the wand, then it's considered intentional. The only way that the trace is broken is if your mind, body and magic all reach full maturity. My magic reached full maturity long ago, and with the potion, my body and mind too were aged to break the trace." He paused for a moment and then continued again, "And Remus, I re-engineered the potion from scratch, the version I used has no side-effects, as long you use a mild dose of it, and you can only use it once every three years, and the physical and mental age cannot be increased past the limit of 390 days, that's 6 days short of 13 months."
"Does that mean you're almost 13 months older now?" Tonks asked curiously.
"No, as I said, I used a mild dose; I'm 6 months older…"
"Speaking of potions…" He dragged on as he opened his jacket and Accio-ed a small purse, he opened the purse and took a tiny vial filled with a clear liquid through which a wisp of blue smoke kept bouncing on about without mixing. He handed the vial to Remus. Remus knew exactly what it was, but wondered how a small amount such as that would help him, but was thankful to Harry nonetheless, as it was the thought that mattered most.
"Don't worry; the vial is under a powerful 'refilling charm', as long as you have it, you don't have to worry about full moon nights anymore."
Tonks was happy; she was in tears, "Thank you, Harry." She was happy that her husband will finally be relieved that he can't hurt her unknowingly.
He nodded at Tonks as he handed her the purse. She took the purse but wondered why he was handing her a purse. She opened it and reached her hand in and pulled out a handful of Galleons.
"Harry, what is this?" Remus asked a little insulted by the gesture.
"There are new identities, new wands, a couple of brooms, two invisibility cloaks, two international Portkeys, a deed for a new unplottable and untraceable house in the Netherlands and enough money in it for a family of ten for two decades. You two are leaving the country today." In one word, both of them looked startled.
"Harry, why?" Tonks asked him and Remus stared at him in question.
He sighed heavily and spoke, "I have reason to believe that the Ministry is about to fall very soon. The Death Eaters have planned a coup and there is nothing that we can do to stop it."
"We have to warn everyone…" Remus suggested a sensible course of action.
"I'm afraid it won't amount to much. Every level of the Ministry has been infiltrated by Death Eaters, Dark Lord's supporters, officials under the Imperius curse. We can't stop this, Remus. We can only prevent the cost of life. Warning the Order and everyone you can think of is good, but in the end, you'll have to leave the country to be safe. And I suggest that you do it now."
"Harry, this is our home, we have to fight for it…"
"And we will Remus, but at the moment there isn't much we can do, so we hide."
"That's nonsense and you know it." Remus chided him, "We can always do something. We always have a choice."
He retaliated equally, "Remus, think it through, this is out of our control. It's not the time to be brave; it's time to be smart." He paused for a moment, "In time, we can plan a counteroffensive, but now, hiding is the best strategy, this for your safety, if not for you, do it for Tonks and the child."
The moment he mentioned the child, Remus's eyes widened and he immediately looked at Tonks and she looked back at Remus, then they both turned in shock only to stare at him, Tonks inquired, "How did you know? We were keeping it as a secret."
"I didn't…, until right now." He gave Tonks an obvious look with a smirk, and they both realised that they were the ones who gave it away.
Harry began with an explanation, "Remus reluctantly poured you a glass of Firewhiskey when he offered me one and poured one for himself. His reluctance was curious. And then you didn't even touch the glass that he poured you, which was even more unusual. And so, I probed your surface thoughts, and as I handed the Wolfsbane, you thought about a child, which leads me to believe that you're pregnant." He surmised the entire thought process and finished, "Congratulations, by the way."
And that's when he noticed Remus's dark look, he said, "Remus, it'll be alright."
"I've doomed the life of an innocent child, Harry. How is that alright?"
"Because you'll be a good father, that's why. That's what's important above all else. I promise you, it won't matter as long as you're here to watch over your family." Tonks gave him an appreciative look as he tried to lift Remus's spirit, to which he nodded in recognition.
Finally, Remus too nodded at him and he continued, "Can I expect you both to leave today?"
There was a long minute of silence in the room as soon as he asked the question, but finally, after a look of deep thought Tonks slowly offered an answer, "We'll both start packing." Remus looked as if he was conflicted, but after staring at his wife for another couple of seconds, the man too nodded at his wife's decision.
The dose of Liquid Luck helped, he was actually planning to stop by a week from now, but as soon as he drank the dose of the potion, something told him to visit as soon as possible, and he did.
With that, he stood up, Remus too stood up and walked with him and whispered, "What are you going to do, Harry?"
"My most immediate plan is to infiltrate the Death Eater Corps."
Remus closed his eye and breathed heavily, and then he opened his eyes and spoke softly, "I know I can't stop you, but please promise me that you'll be careful."
"I promise…"
He hugged the older man one last time and separated, "I'm leaving Winky with you to help you pack, move and get settled."
Remus opened the door and he stepped out, "Good luck, Remus…! I'll see you soon!" And then he simply vanished on the spot just as Winky appeared before Remus.
Black Manor (Swinley Forest)-
Harry was sitting half-naked on the master bed reviewing the list of names he had compiled from all the memories, events and information.
A few days ago, upon closer inspection, he had found out that the locket he had retrieved from the cave with Dumbledore was indeed a fake, a letter was hidden inside the locket, and in the letter, in the end, it was initialled as R.A.B.
The acronym was most likely a name, abbreviated for the sake of mystery. Whoever it was, it must have been someone close to Voldemort, close enough to know about the Horcruxes. To his knowledge, Voldemort only entrusted his Horcruxes to two of his followers, Bellatrix and Malfoy, and even they had no idea of what it was that they were protecting. So it brought about the question, who was this RAB.
He was looking at all the possibilities of who it could be. There were several within the Corps with names initialling to RAB, but he needed to think harder. He decided to start with the Malfoy lineage.
Speaking of Malfoy, Narcissa was beside him sound asleep curled within the curls. Narcissa was a mess, he couldn't blame her though, losing a child was hardly a normal thing it was something even 'he' could never imagine. Until he came here today to ease her, she hadn't slept in four days, she was beyond exhausted from all the crying and her thoughts were suicidal. Her miseries, sorrow, rage and pain was unimaginable.
It took him three hours of tender love-making followed by multiple mind-melting orgasms and verbal reassurance in between to finally make her forget for the time being and get her to go to sleep. When he was done, she finally slept serenely without dreams or sorrow. And for once, he liked the tenderness in bed, it was a welcome change. However, something was very much appreciable, Narcissa's emotional ties to the Death Eater Corps was now all but gone. He didn't even have to convince her that it was Voldemort's fault; she was already on that course, dead set on vengeance.
He heard a knock on the door; he looked up and spoke, "Come in…"
Erin opened the door and walked in, and just as she did, he gently pulled the sheets up to cover Narcissa's nakedness.
Erin was wearing a neatly pressed dress that fully covered her body from her wrist, neck and ankles; there wasn't an ounce of skin that could be seen. From the way she was dressed it was very much transparent that she was still traumatized by what had happened in her life.
"What is it, Miss Clarkson?"
"It's ready, Mister Potter." She handed him a neatly folded parchment which looked official; he opened it and understood what it was. It was an ID he had asked from Narcissa, she had friends who worked in the Ministry archive who could get her access to the files in it.
"How far did you go back to?" He asked carefully.
"Remote, but possible familial connections leading back up to four generations of less popular members in various families…, if in case anyone tried to verify…"
"That's good enough. Well done!" He dismissed her.
But she stood there in place unmoving, "Umm…" She began but hesitated.
He got curious as he asked her, "Yes, Miss Clarkson. Is there something you have in mind?"
"How is she?" Erin asked out loud, he could feel the concern in her tone.
He looked at a sleeping Narcissa, "She will be fine, you don't have to worry." He replied reassuringly.
Erin smiled gratefully, "Thank you for everything."
"What exactly is it you're thanking me for?" He asked still looking at the ID while paying half attention to her.
She hesitated but spoke softly under his gaze, "I never thanked you for rescuing me. And Mistress Malfoy said that you ordered her to take care of me. I also heard that you killed Thorfinn Rowle."
"I see…this isn't just you being thankful, you feel like you owe me a Life Debt, don't you?"
"I do owe you a debt that I can't repay. I can sleep a little better knowing that…, that monster is no longer alive in this world." She replied thankfully.
"Don't be thankful and don't go about saying such things, magic has a way of acting independently and often times it takes your words too literally. Besides, what I did was nothing commendable." He started but paused for a moment before continuing, "You remind me of someone I knew. You are a strong woman. Believe that about yourself. You don't owe me anything; you're free of your debt!" He released her from any amount of life debt her magic may have built.
"Thank you." She replied in relief and in respect, her response was heartfelt, to which he nodded in acknowledgement.
Erin turned and walked to the door but stopped when she heard him speak, "One last thing, get a new wand and start training in the defensive arts, we'll all need it."
"Yes, sir…"
"Good, you can leave." She gave a firm nod in resolve and walked out of the room, while he went back to reviewing the documents at hand.
Parkinson Cottage-
Harry stood at the door of the Cottage. According to the latest Intel, the attack on the Ministry was scheduled to take place on 1st of August, which was merely weeks away. He was actually in disguise, his unruly jet-black hair was now fully matted down and long enough that it covered his eyes entirely, parting by the bridge of his nose in the front and almost came up to his shoulder in the back. His new beard was very thick across his jaw, and his moustache dipped down and connected to his beard. His emerald green eyes were now brown, contact lenses were amazing. And he no longer had the famous z-shaped scar on his forehead.
Overall, he looked like a different person; he almost didn't recognize himself in the mirror. He was sure that this would be enough to keep him unsuspicious to others.
He got the idea of changing his look after catching a glimpse of his wanted posters; his picture in the poster was the one they had taken last year after the Battle in the Department of Mysteries. With Draco dead, the only people within the Inner circle of the Death Eater Corps who knew how he recently looked like, was Yaxley. Yaxley and Bellatrix were the only two that escaped that day, and Bellatrix never faced him, only Yaxley did, if only briefly. The pictures in the posters were taken before his growth spurt before he became very masculine. With the new disguise, he looked nothing like himself in the posters; as such he was largely concealed.
He knocked on the door thrice and someone opened the door, it was Dolly, the eldest twin of the two squib maids. He stepped into the luxurious castle-like home and walked straight to the Study.
He stood at the door and knocked twice, and then he heard, "Come in…!"
He twisted the knob and opened the door as he walked inside. He saw Quintus Parkinson sitting there with a friend. From Quintus's memories, he slowly deduced the name of the other man, it was Atticus.
Quintus looked at him and began gruffly, "Boy…, this is Lord Atticus Slughorn." He gave the other man a very respectful slight nod, as he wasn't allowed to shake hands with the man, for the sake of his cover.
"I've spoken with him about your initiation into the Corps. He is the one in-charge of new recruits. He will take care of your preparation and initiation." Quintus finished out loud.
"Yes, sir…!" He replied impassively.
Quintus then turned towards the Death Eater recruiter and spoke softly, "Atticus, my friend, he's the one I told you about."
"He's Matilda's distant relative, eh?" The man named Atticus asked curiously, "I wasn't aware that she had any extended family. I mean, given his age, if he's a Brown, then I would have known about it."
Quintus calmly corrected his friend, "No, he's no Brown; he has no family name or inheritance, no legitimacy to his blood."
"He's a half-blood?" Atticus asked Quintus.
"Yes." Quintus answered bluntly.
Atticus asked crudely, "If so, why do you want him in the Corps?"
"Half-bloods serving in the Corps aren't anything new Atticus. Besides, I knew his father well; he was a friend who shared our beliefs. His only mistake was that he took pity and spared the life of the enslaved mudblood whore he was fucking. If only had he been more careful, the boy's parturition could have been prevented. In any case, serving in the Corps would give him the chance to earn his purity." Quintus almost snarled. Harry said nothing; he simply stood there impassively while listening to everything.
"Very well put, my friend… The purity of the bloodline is of paramount importance, the boy might be useful." Atticus commented on Quintus's view. The man named Atticus turned to face him and asked, "What's your name, boy?"
"It's Henry Collin Adams, sir." It was his alias; Erin had picked the name and made him the fake identity with the proper family history carefully assembled from real people who were loners within the society when they were indeed alive.
The recruiter stood up from his armchair and slowly walked in circles around him, inspecting him carefully. And then, he spoke to the Parkinson Patriarch rather bluntly, "Are you sure, you want him as a planner? He's well-built, with enough training; he could very well be one of our finest hit wizards."
"The boy's smart, but it's your choice, place him wherever you feel he would do well." Quintus offered neutrally, almost sounding uncaring.
"Well, my friend, for you, I'll give this one a chance to prove himself…" Atticus agreed to give him a chance.
Atticus took his seat facing Quintus and took the Daily Prophet on the coffee table. He flipped to the article on page 3 and handed it to him, and asked, "Read the article on Potter's latest actions against the organisation and tell me what you think."
He looked at Atticus and began, "The article is false, sir. I'm assuming that Undersecretary Umbridge is working for the Dark Lord. Word on the street is that the Minister wasn't aware of any arrest warrants being authorised for the arrest of Harry Potter despite his signature being on the forms that authorised it, which leads us to believe that Madam Umbridge went on with the arrest without consulting the Minister. Currently, the warrant issued for the arrest of Harry Potter is in account regarding the death of the Lead Auror whom he murdered in Hogwarts, but not on the men he murdered just hours prior to that incident. And it's obvious that Potter is unhinged, verging on madness, his exact words had gotten out to multiple papers and articles. And it's very much likely that Potter might attack the Corps at some point. The Ministry's stand on the matter is a bit troubling; they have branded him as a criminal under investigation, but not as a murderer...yet."
Atticus looked at him unimpressed, the man stayed silent for over a minute, just staring at him, and then began, "The boy isn't a halfwit, however, he's certainly not as smart as he would like to think he is, but still…, he's got a good head on his shoulders. He'll do…"
Atticus paused for a moment and asked Quintus, "Do you have a specific preference?"
The Parkinson Patriarch spoke evenly, "No! All I ask is that he be put to good use for the benefit of the Corps, or he must die trying. Let's see if this will make him a man?"
"That's fair." Atticus smirked at his friend.
With that, the man turned to face him and scowled, "Listen here, boy, and listen well. Come and meet me at Eclipse Tower tomorrow at 10. Now, piss off!"
The moment he heard the name 'Eclipse Tower', information about the location automatically appeared within his mind. He realized that the place was under Fidelius protection and that he was just made a secondary keeper of the location. He impassively gazed at Quintus for a moment and then at the man, with that he turned around and left the room without another word.
Safe House 4 -
Harry was sitting on the sofa in deep thought. He had come to rest for the night, but he wasn't ready to sleep just yet. He was thinking back on what he had heard, all the while wondering how he could use the information he had learned to his advantage.
Atticus Slughorn and Quintus had discussed several matters of the Death Eater Corps. He had spied into the conversation via the 'monitoring charm' he had placed on the door on his way out. Atticus was looking for more funds for running the Tower he was in charge of, which was the main reason why he came here to visit Quintus. Quintus had promised Atticus that he would find a way to get him more funds.
Tomorrow morning, he would be going into Eclipse Tower to join the Death Eater ranks. He initially considered massacring the tower and everyone in it, but a saner head prevailed. The more he thought about it, the more the complications came about. Fidelius protection was a safety for him, but a problem too.
Every mind he read, every mind he corrupted, if those people had valuable information protected under the extension of a Fidelius Charm, he would never have found them. Unless those secret keepers and secondary keepers willingly revealed the information to him on their own volition, he could never extract it out of their heads using Legilimency alone. And brainwashing them too was a problem, to the Fidelius safety, it would be presented as coercion, which means there could still be valuable information hidden in their minds, but he would have no way of knowing it even existed.
This was obvious to him now because both Quintus and Narcissa apparently knew about Eclipse Tower, but when he extracted information from their minds early on, he couldn't find any mention about the tower. The only way he could get the information protected under Fidelius was if the keeper revealed it to him willingly. Eclipse Tower and Lestrange Manor was proof that there are still many secrets hidden away. The more he mused, the more he saw the problem.
For now, infiltration was the only way he could see to tackle this, he would have to play the part and make the keepers trust him and reveal the locations to him, and when he's found all the locations, all the bases, he would strike. It was the logical thing to do. The only problem was that this endeavour would take time, a lot of it, but sadly he couldn't see any other way around it.
Eclipse Tower-
The recruiter Atticus told him ten o'clock, but he didn't say when, so he just spent the last thirteen hours standing outside the man's office. He patiently waited without a single word, which did seem to impress the man a little.
The idea that he, Harry Potter, was standing in a random hallway in his disguise, outside the door of some recruiter for thirteen hours inside a castle full of Death Eaters was amusing. None of the passersby even glanced at him; they merely assumed him as a foot soldier on guard duty.
And now, he stood before the man in question, the man stared at him as if he was gauging him, and then he began, "I don't fancy the habit of mincing words. I'll be blunt."
"I've decided that you should be trained. Make no mistake, boy, Lord Parkinson has vouched for you, that's the only reason you're here. As far as I'm concerned, you should be in one of the underground cells awaiting proper conditioning like every other half-blood filth here. I only have two rules that you should concern yourself with, one, obey the hierarchy, and two, do your fucking job. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir…!" He replied curtly.
"Go to the dungeons, meet with Spencer, he's your squad leader. Dismissed…" The man finished and started read through the parchments on his desk, while he swiftly turned around and stepped outside.
The Dungeons-
He was glad that Quintus Parkinson pulled through with the favour. He wasn't one of the average Death Eater lackeys who would do what they are told, no, soon he would be the one going on missions to gain Intel for the organisation. His plan was simple, infiltrate and spread disinformation.
The Dungeons were the place where most thugs serving in the DE army spent their time drinking, whoring and fighting.
He walked down the stairs into the darker room and he saw the tunnels going as far as he can see, he saw men in different corners, around different pillars, in small groups. Some were drinking, some were gambling, some were both drinking and gambling. But most people were resting their eyes. The light was minimal inside the dungeons but it was fairly furnished with fireplaces and shelves.
He felt over two hundred magical presence in the dungeon; most of them were spread far apart. None of them even noticed him, many different faces came through the castle every day, and soldiers pulled a number of shifts. So, a new face was a very common occurrence.
He slowly read the men's minds one by one as he passed by, many had strong Occulumency barriers, strong at least for normal standard; he avoided them and stuck to the less skilled ones, each mind he touched, the more names he learned until he got a good picture of this Spencer character that he was supposed to meet.
Considering the fact that Atticus didn't know of his Legilimency skills, and judging by the amount of time it took him to find Spencer Tarleton even with all the tools to find him in this swamp of lowlifes. That wanker Atticus was clearly hoping to make his job difficult by not introducing him to this Spencer bloke.
And he found his squad, around a pillar, there were eleven cloaked figures resting around the pillar. He was sure that one of them was Spencer, but in the dim light, among the crowd of black-clad men, he was unsure of which one it was. So he did the normal thing, he walked towards them and stood facing them, as all of them simultaneously turned to look at him.
Before he could introduce himself, he heard a voice; it came from the man third on his left, "You must be the new one. Lord Atticus mentioned you would be coming, Henry, is it?"
"Yes, sir…!"
"Get yourself a place to rest, we'll be moving out at half-past three tomorrow…"
Somehow, it didn't feel like it was right to ask more questions, so he simply did as told and he found himself a chair and took a seat beside them to rest. He had no idea how things were about to go, but he was just beginning his plans, so he just hoped to be careful.