Hermione, with Ron trailing in her wake, headed briskly for the back stairs of the inn. She cautiously pushed open the door to the alley and then nodded, indicating none of Caige's goons were around. Once they were a safe distance away Ron grabbed her arm and pulled her into the deeper shadows of a doorway and out of the harsh glare of the streetlights.
"Hermione! Stop for just a moment. What do you plan on doing once we get there? This isn't like you, usually you're the one stopping me and Harry from making the potentially hasty decisions." Ron whispered fervently hoping she would calm down and allow her normally logical side to take over.
Hermione impatiently blew some bangs out of her face and leveled him with a scathing look. "You honestly think I would go barreling into that shop without a plan? Really Ronald, you do know me better than that."
Ron had enough sense of self-preservation to look appropriately reprimanded "Ok, so then what's this plan of yours and when exactly were you going to let me in on it."
"When you needed to be let in." she retorted, but with a grin "I noticed when we were there last time there didn't seem to be a flat attached to the shop so it should be empty this time of night. I've brought Harry's invisibility cloak, I'm assuming you have yours on you." She gestured towards his auror robes and its many magically concealing pockets. "I also picked up several of the twins' specialties and a few other things that I had that may come in handy."
Ron looked at her incredulously. "Do you always travel like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like we're still in the middle of a war." He said softly
She took a long breath before meeting his eyes "Old habits you know." She said shrugging "Besides, you know how much I like to be prepared for anything. Now come on, we won't be there long but hopefully we'll find out what their connection is to Donnegan."
Hermione stepped out of the door way and then abruptly spun around grabbed Ron by his arms and shoved him back against the stone and for the second time in his life Ron Weasley felt Hermione Granger's lips on his. Well, maybe not directly on his lips, more like the corner of his mouth and part of his cheek. And in a split second about five minutes worth of dialogue flew through his head "Harry is gonna KILL me! Harry is gonna KILL me! Harry is gonna KILL me! I wonder how many different ways Harry can kill me? Dear Merlin, Harry is gonna KILL me!!"
The approaching footsteps didn't slow near their hiding spot and once they couldn't be heard anymore Hermione stepped back. "Come on, its clear now. Caige's man is gone." but Ron hadn't moved from his spot.
"Ron!" she hissed "Oh, for Merlin's sake! You are an auror and you have kissed me before, don't act like such an arse! And Harry is not going to kill you! Now let's go!"
Ron shook himself out of his daze and went to follow her, silently hoping that this little aspect of their mission could be left off the report.
It only took a few minutes to reach the area near the shop and once again they ducked into a dark nook, this time to don their cloaks and for Hermione to fill Ron in on their next move.
"Everything looks quiet but I think we should approach from the back. Make sure you check for security wards, they're probably low level and easily passed, but I'll double check for any secondary protections that might not immediately be noticeable. Once we're inside we should split up."
Ron began to protest at this suggestion but she silenced him with a look. "We need to be quick and once we've insured its safe to enter there should not be a problem, but if there is we'll just apparate back to the inn."
The alley behind the shop was littered with torn paper and broken bottles and seemed out of place for this tidy part of town. Hermione had been right Ron noted, there were only the bare minimum of security wards set and it didn't take much to bring them down. He was about to open the door when Hermione stopped him. "Wait! There's more, and it's well hidden. A very complicated charm. I wonder why they would need something this advanced?" She muttered a long counter spell and then finally nodded to Ron that it was all right to enter.
This back entrance opened into what seemed to be a storeroom and workshop. Several cauldrons had potions brewing in them, set to be magically stirred when necessary. There were shelves upon shelves of bottled potions and ingredients as well as several large potions books. A door straight in front of them led to the main area of the shop and there seemed to be a small office to their right, the doorway covered with a thin curtain.
"You take the office, I'll check out what's brewing and see what sort of spells have been used here." Hermione delegated and then turned towards her task.
Although she couldn't see Ron she could here him shuffling in the direction of the office. The first thing she did was approach the cauldrons to see if she could detect what was in them. She was surprised by what she saw. None of these potions were what one would typically find in an apothecary shop. These potions were definitely intended for a nefarious purpose. An open spell book lay on a nearby table and it was no shock that it was for dark magics. The shelf behind her held more books, some of them benign and expected but most would only be used by the darkest of wizards. A cold shiver went up her spine as their suspicions were confirmed about the shop owner.
She was about to go get Ron when a slim volume, tucked on the very end of the shelf caught her attention. It was too thin to be a potions book and looked out of place. The book was almost entirely filled with writing, although it was extremely hard to make out. The script was a mess and looked as if it had been written manically. She was able to make out some words like `must pay' and `death' but in the dim light it was impossible to decipher more. She briefly thought about pocketing the book to look at later but decided against it and was putting it back in its place when a photograph fell out.
It was a wizarding picture, but old as the people in it were hardly moving. She recognized the shop owner, much younger and what she assumed passed as happy for her, there was also a young boy and an older man. She guessed that the boy was the owner's son and the man her husband and the boy's father, but there was something about the man that seemed familiar to her. The back of the picture offered no clues and she was about to replace it when the man sneered which made her feeling of recognition even stronger.
There seemed to be nothing else in this area of the storeroom and with the telling potions books Hermione was more than curious to discover what type of spells had been used here. She drew her wand and began with a cursory, basic check and found what she expected. Hundreds of instances of typical spells such as levitation and shrinking. When she went deeper however she was stunned. The cleansing spell had been used here, many many times. It took all her concentration to get behind those and see what they had been covering. She kept pushing and finally broke through, only to be met by some of the most horrendous spells the wizarding world had. It was not only Imperious, which had been used repeatedly, but also spells whose only purpose were for torture and destruction. And it seemed that some of those spells had been used that very day.
Hermione jerked herself out of her work and grabbed the nearest table for support, her head was spinning and she could feel the bile rising in her throat. She took several deep breaths to push it back down and regain her composure as much as possible. They needed to get out of here, Ron had been right to want to wait for Harry. She didn't want to think on the danger they were in right now if they were to be found out.
With her wand still out she turned towards the office to get Ron but suddenly found herself sprawled on the floor. She scrambled quickly to her feet and looked down to see what had tripped her and noticed a small area rug had become bunched. She bent down to straighten it and realized it had been covering a small door. This was where those terrible spells been cast, she could feel the darkness coming from it, that door did not lead to a storage cellar the way it seemed. They needed to leave immediately.
Hermione ripped back the curtain to the office, not trying to be quiet. "Ron! Ron! We've got to leave, right now!"
But there was no response, she tore off her cloak and pocketed it quickly and then felt around the small room for Ron. Where was he? He wouldn't have left without telling her and she hadn't heard anything out of the ordinary. Although she had to admit that when she was concentrating on digging through hidden spells she was mostly oblivious to what was going on around her. She took a step further in and her foot hit something solid. Dropping to her knees she reached out until she had fabric in her hand and then frantically pulled, revealing Ron. He was bound at the hands and feet and appeared to have either been stupefied or knocked out with a blow.
"Enervate!" she said quickly but got no response "Ron! Wake up! Please!"
Hermione decided that this had gone to far and grabbed Ron by his arm, intending to apparate them out of there but nothing happened. She tried again and then a third time before the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she felt the presence of someone behind her. Before she could react however, they struck and then there was nothing but blackness.
Harry had to admit, he wasn't sure what his plan had been when he had baited the Inspector. He knew that veritaserum would have no affect on him, but he didn't know how she would react to having it fail.
Caige had commandeered the manager's office again and one of her lackey's had laid out the potion on the desk.
"Have a seat Potter." She demanded, now that she thought she had the upper hand she seemed to have calmed down some. "Cooperation is expected, or I will have to use force."
Harry smirked inwardly, knowing that there was no way Caige or any amount of her officers would stand a chance if he were to really fight back, but he decided to placate her for appearances sake. "Of course Inspector, force will not be necessary." He said evenly before he reached for the vial of potion, tilted it towards her in a bit of a mock salute and then downed it in one gulp.
Caige appeared surprised that he would take the potion so easily but recovered quickly and crossed her arms waiting for it to take affect.
Harry shut his eyes, knowing from experience that how he was able to counter the veritaserum was by quickly allowing it to work before the questioner had a chance to start and then suppressing it with his magics. When he opened his eyes, he adopted the glazed over expression of someone under the potion and waited for Caige to begin.
"What is your name?"
"Harry James Potter" he replied, slow and monotone.
"Why did you come to this country?"
"To find Hermione."
"Why were you in the Green Goose today."
"I was not in the Green Goose today."
Caige's eyes flashed dangerously and she leaned in closer to Harry
"Why were you in the Green Goose today!"
"I was not in the Green Goose today." He answered, enjoying Caige's confusion
"You were! I have a witness!"she screeched "Are you trying to become the next dark lord?"
"No"
"Did you make those Dark Marks?"
"No"
"Did you kill the desk clerk at the Green Goose?"
"No"
Caige slammed her fist down on the desk in frustration before striding to the door and throwing it open forecefully. "Get me more veritaserum!"
An officer quickly came running up, another vial of potion in his hand.
"Maybe we need a bit more encouragement Potter." She thrust the vial towards him "Drink!"
Harry dutifully took the potion, only hesitating slightly. He had never been given more than one dose at a time. Hoping that two wouldn't be much more difficult he drank the potion and waited for it to work.
Caige didn't give him much of a head start and immediately began with the questions again. This time it was definitely harder to keep the potion from working. With only one dose he was able to lock down the affects and keep them there, with two he could feel the constant push of the veritaserum in him and he had to concentrate to prevent them from gaining control.
The questions were the same and she became more and more infuriated the more Harry did not give her the answers she wanted. Another thirty minutes of questioning went by before Caige called for another bottle.
Harry was worried now. He really didn't know if he was going to be able to beat this. While Caige's back was turned he surreptitiously found the auror badge in his pocket and activated it. Ron and Lupin would both be notified that he was in need of assistance and hopefully one of them would be able to do something to get him out of this. He couldn't confront Caige without giving up his cover.
The next dose, Harry was barely able to bring to his mouth. The affects were immediate and intense, he could feel himself almost bursting with the desire to scream the truths to all of Caige's previous questions. Where was Ron? He should have been down here immediately when the badge activated.
Caige's questioning was relentless and it was a constant struggle for Harry to control the potion. Sweat was pouring off of him and he was shaking with the effort. A typical wizard could be killed if given too much, he had no idea how much it would take to do him in but he had an idea it wasn't much more than three.
Harry was having a hard time keeping his concentration now, and found himself almost slipping up not from the veritaserum but rather from exhaustion.
Suddenly a head appeared in the fireplace behind Caige and he could hear a familiar voice "Inspector Caige! You're a difficult woman to find, your commander told me you could be found here, I'm trying to track down one of my aur…" but Lupin's voice cut off as he caught sight of Harry. "Harry! What is going on? Harry, are you all right?"
Harry felt relief wash over him as he realized this was going to end now. He still had enough of his wits about him though to recognize that Lupin had asked him a question and he was supposed to be under veritaserum. "No…no I'm not Remus."he weezed out painfully, fighting to stay upright in his chair.
Lupin's head turned towards someone on his side of the fireplace "Get Shacklebot and have emergency portkey's prepared on Harry's location!" when his head whipped back, Harry could see that a bit of the wolf was present."I don't know what you're playing at Inspector but unless you want an international incident on your hands you will stop what you're doing to Special Auror Potter and you will remove yourself from that room immediately!" Lupin had never sounded more ferocious.
Caige glowered at both Lupin and Harry before whirling around in anger and marching out the door, making sure it slammed shut behind her.
Harry slumped forward, his magics had never had this amount of intense strain put on them for such an extended period of time. He wasn't sure he could float a pillow right then if he had to.
"Harry! What did she do?" Lupin was terribly worried, he knew what Harry was capable of, so to see him this affected by something was troubling.
"Ver…veritaserum." Harry gasped out
This confused Lupin even more, he knew Harry could easily brush off the effects of the potion and couldn't imagine why it would do this to him. "Veritaserum? But Harry….is it some different type? Why would you.."
Harry cut him off "Three….three doses. Too much." and then he finally gave in and allowed gravity to do its job.
Lupin watched helplessly as Harry fell to the floor before he yanked himself out of the fireplace and turned to Tonks who had been waiting anxiously behind him. "Get Poppy as well, we're going to need her."
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