Author Note:- Another update after a month or so, it seems every time I say I'm going to be faster I actually get slower. I'm still working away at it but real life has been rearing it's ugly head. I just finished a month worth of work at a minimum of 10 hrs a day 4 /7 days and 2/3 of the remaining was anything from 5hrs+. I know, excuses excuses *grins* Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the latest update, should be some action in the next chapter and I write that faster than anything else ^_^
Harry checked his appearance in the mirror, he wondered if he had chosen the best way to do Paul's hair. He had decided on a little gel to make the short brown hair stand up in little spikes. He also slipped on casual wizard robes, he decided against the muggle wear earlier in the evening. He wanted to ask Hermione's opinion but she had locked herself into the bathroom for the last hour as she tried to sort herself out for that evening.
They had chatted about the previous encounter and Hermione had suggested that Bellatrix might have been flirting with him. Thus she had decided that Suzette wouldn't have liked that and would want to look her best for the meeting. She also decided that she'd have to act protective without provoking the other witch. By this point Harry was just nodding and agreeing considering Hermione had been reasoning and explaining her thoughts for about two hours already.
He checked that his wand was in the holster and could easily be brought to hand and then let his fingers run over the supplies of polyjuice. One vial for each of them was sitting at the doorway for when they left to give them maximum time before needing to slip to the bathroom.
They had been hoping the meeting would last less than an hour but they couldn't be sure, nor could they guarantee that they'd have chance to return home immediately after the meeting, so each of them were taking enough vials for six hours. If they needed more than that then someone was going to have to sneak back to the cauldron for supplies.
"Suze, we're going in about ten minutes, aren't you done yet?" Harry called.
"Almost ready! Don't worry I'll be out in a moment." Hermione replied.
The bathroom door opened and she stepped out. Unlike Harry she had chosen muggle wear as it was difficult to glam up wizard robes. Tight jeans and a smart black shirt with a plunging neckline. Luckily she still looked like Suzette so Harry was able to keep his eyes from her cleavage.
"Nice look," Harry commented.
"Thanks, don't usually get dressed up so I wasn't sure if it looked right." Hermione smiled.
"Well if I were really Paul I'd be drooling I'm sure," Harry grinned, "Shall we get going then?"
"Sure,"
They took their top up vials and drank quickly, still twitching at the foul taste even if they had mastered the urge not to vomit. Locking up the room they headed for the Pickled Troll, picking the same booth that the meeting took place in. Knowing they were in a sound proof booth Hermione took the time before Bellatrix arrived to remind Harry of their mission.
"Just remember Paul, we're not to try and capture Bellatrix unless it is certain we are not going to get a chance to get more."
"Really? So I should cancel the plan to start the meeting by saying 'Hi, you're under arrest' then?" Harry replied sarcastically.
"Harry!" Hermione hissed, "I know you hate Bellatrix, you have every right to after what that bitch has done. But there is more at stake than your vengeance. We need to find out as much as we can about the Death Eaters and we need to somehow stop this plot against the Ministry."
"I know Suze, I'm in control, I handled the last meeting well didn't I?" he retorted.
"Before or after you tripped Bellatrix for spite? Or when you lost count of your potion and almost got caught?" Hermione shot back, "I need your attention where it needs to be or this is going to blow up in our faces."
Harry was about to reply when he noticed a few cloaked figures entering the bar. The one in front looked around and headed straight for them while the others took a few tables nearby. The figure stepped into their bubble and flipped out a Magical Law Enforcement badge. Hermione's tongue caught in her throat as she panicked but Harry squeezed her hand under the table as the cloaked figure spoke.
"We've received a tip off that you two are involved with Death Eater activity, you'll have to come with me."
Harry grabbed Hermione's hand as it went to pull her Auror badge and held it still. She looked to him with a questioning gaze, her previous panic under control.
"Nice try, you can tell Bellatrix to come in now," he replied to the cloaked figure, pointing over to the bar, "One of your fellow officers over at the bar ordered a beer and is drinking on duty, even for illusion I know MLE isn't allowed to do that. Not sure of what the point of this farce was but get it over with or we're leaving."
The cloaked figure looked over to his fellow at the door and gave a signal as he left. Another three cloaked figures entered the bar. The one in the middle with her hood down and a playful grin on her face was Bellatrix. She walked over and sat with the pair of undercover Aurors.
"My husband insisted on the little show to see if you were undercover." She grinned at them, "Rather pointless I thought, as you noticed our little troops are rather useless at acting, I suppose I'll have someone else to practice my Cruciatus curse upon tonight."
"I am rather curious though," Bella continued, "As to how you saw through them so easily."
"Though I'm not from this country cops act the same all over the world," Harry replied, taking a sip from his drink, "If you like to tread along the line of what is considered right and wrong you learn to keep yourself out of trouble."
"Not one to follow the rules on all occasions?" she replied with a purr.
"I don't think the governing bodies are always correct on some matters, like I told you the other night, we're fans of your work." Harry replied smoothly.
"We're? I believe you said that 'I am' last time," she retorted,
"I'm not one to put words into my other half's mouth, that tends to be her job," he chuckled as Hermione half-heartedly elbowed him for the jibe, "But a discussion later that night showed us to be of a similar mind on the matter."
"Is that so?" Bellatrix turned her gaze to Hermione who coughed nervously and slipped her arm around Harry's.
"Quite true, I've always been rather shy about it all, so many of my co-workers are pro-muggle and what with our new muggle loving minister it's becoming harder to find worthy people to spend time with."
"You are English?" Bellatrix asked with a raised brow.
"We met on the Worldwide Wizarding Network, it's my first time to the British Isles. I was only coming for a week or two so it's hard to believe I've been able to meet you twice already." Harry commented, his American accent flawless.
"I see, so what do you do my dear?" Bella inquired.
"By day I sort and file paperwork for the ministry, by night I sell whatever I can steal to those in need of a form with no questions asked." Hermione gave a shy smile.
"You have access to a lot of paperwork?" a sinister looking smile appeared on Bella's face as she processed the new information.
"I have level five access at the moment, occasionally I can obtain up to seven when my boss is too lazy to get the forms himself." Hermione replied.
"Indeed? Well perhaps we could persuade you to get some forms for our little organization, most of our active members wouldn't get away even with the right forms, but we have a few people under our employee," Bellatrix smirked, "We have our contacts in the ministry, but none above level three to date."
Harry and Hermione made mental note of this. It was already suspected since they had discovered the location of secret storage facilities but now it was confirmed.
"Your … boyfriend here has some qualities I like in my new recruits and with this new information I'm sure my husband would approve of my next comments. We've suffered a set back of late, we have lost a significant amount of troops in the recent attacks. I'm sure you've heard of them by now. So my offer is quite simple, you can join us, or my flunkies here will insure you mysteriously vanish before the night is over."
"Put like that how could we refuse you offer," Harry smirked, "Do we get the masks as a joining prize or do we have to purchase them later?"
Bellatrix laughed and slid a piece of paper over the table, Harry picked it up and read the address written upon it. He noted instantly it was different to the address Yaxley was given but he kept the surprise from his face as he handed it to Hermione to memorize.
"Be there, tomorrow morning, you'll be told what you need to know, when you need to know it. Show us loyalty and you'll be rewarded. Betray us and I promise you, you will regret ever being born." Bellatrix spoke softly with an evil glint in her eyes.
"That's it? No tests or anything?" Harry was suspicious of her rather aloof attitude to the whole meeting.
"If I was suspicious, you'd be dead my dears," Bella gave them a smile devoid of humour, "I've been free from Azkaban for nearly a decade, I've no intentions of returning unless my act will restore the Dark Lord."
"Until he can be brought back to command us once again it is my duty to keep his armies as strong as they can be. I know who is made out to be a Death Eater and who isn't, you have the power, the strength and the rage needed to be one of our finest. While your little hussy here lacks those things, she can be useful to us. As long as she is, you may keep her for your amusement."
Hermione reacted quickly and clamped her hand over Harry's as he flicked his wand out. The anger was coursing through his veins and it was sheer determination that kept the candles on the table from melting. Hermione's hand helped, he couldn't cool the anger so he locked it away inside for now, promising it later release.
"Well, I will have to keep myself useful until I can prove myself worthy," Hermione smiled, ignoring the blatant insults for now.
"Indeed," Bella replied with a sneer. With that she turned and left the bar, the various cloaked figures vanished one by one until they had all left. Hermione waited in silence, just watching Harry, for five minutes he did nothing then he closed his eyes, shaking gently.
"Are they all gone?" she nodded and told him they had in reply, "Good, do me a favour please? Duck."
Hermione's eyes widened and she dropped down under the table as Harry shook from the rage. Like a stone dropped into a pond a ripple fired from the wizard throughout the room. Candle's exploded into puddles of wax, glasses shattered spilling their contents over tables and hands, a few chairs fell apart and pictures fell from the walls to smash on the floor. Chaos erupted from the bar as everyone tried to run at the same time.
Reacting quickly Hermione reached over and pressed her thumb onto the button on his watch. She dropped a few Galleons onto the table and quickly counted to three, with a pull at their navels they slammed back into their room landing in a pile on the floor. Hermione wrapped herself around Harry and hugged him tight as he trembled in her arms.
"I'm going to kill her! I will throttle the life from her with my bare hands if I must but I will avenge Sirius!" Harry growled, "Merlin, I can't do this anymore Mione, I can't be in the same room as her even once more I will kill her!"
"It's okay Harry," Hermione said soothingly, ignoring Paul's weight as he lies atop her, refusing to let him go.
"It's not okay! It will never be okay until I see that bitch dead! I have no idea how I didn't just grab the nearest object and beat her to death with it. I smiled and joked with the woman who killed the closest person I have ever had to a parent." Harry was switching between shaking with rage and holding back the tears. He didn't have a clue if he was upset or furious but through the storm of emotion his subconscious mind was enjoying the position they were in.
"I can't blame you Harry, I know how much Bellatrix has put you through, put all of us through, she is one of the very few I would have wanted to see put through a dementor's kiss. I will jump for joy when I see her marched into the veil and gone for good." Hermione ran her hand through his hair while the other arm held him tight.
"You can't let the rage control you Harry," she continued, "You have to be strong, I'm asking you to try for me, we can call up Kingsley and see if he'll have you switched but it won't work. No-one but you can do this from now on, if we switch Paul then she'll know it."
Harry stopped shaking at this point, letting her words sink in. He knew she was right, Bellatrix judged him as worthy by the rage in his eyes. The rage he was suppressing purely because he was in her presence still danced in his eyes, he couldn't mask them if he wanted to. Though she was blissfully unaware that she was the cause of the look it had been what appealed to her.
His mind accepted that she would notice a replacement, but what was he to do about it. He was certain if he saw her again he'd draw his wand and curse her into little bits. Surely that would be more obvious than the look in his eyes. They were in the ideal position to capture all the Death Eaters now, all that work would be for nought if he blew it.
Maybe he could convince Hermione not to go tomorrow, he'd apparate there and start cursing. He could probably get quite a few before they caught him. He could … get smacked upside the head with a bat for suggesting such a thing. He had to think of something, some way of proceeding without attacking the bitch.
The rage within demanded had her blood, her life, but it was starting to cool now she was gone from his sight. Hermione's soft sounds and gentle touches helping force it back into the darkness of Harry's mind.
"Wait a minute, Hermione's soft sounds?" He thought, he then refocused on the present, unaware of how long he had been thinking but he noticed it was now Hermione's bushy hair beneath him and he was Harry again.
"Sorry Hermione, been miles away, have I crushed you to death yet?" He smiled apologetically.
"Not at all, Paul might have but you changed back on the set of the hour, about ten minutes ago." She replied.
"How long have we been back?" he asked.
"Twenty, maybe twenty five, minutes?" she guessed.
"Merlin! Sorry again, I'll get up right away" Harry flinched when he released he had been laying atop her for nearly half an hour almost completely unaware.
"Thanks, would be nice to have some feeling back," she teased as he tried to get up.
"Mione?" he asked softly.
"Yes?"
"Could you do me a small favour first?"
"Of course"
"Could you let go? I can't get up with your arms and legs locked around me"
"Ooh! Sorry!" she blushed slightly as she started to unwind herself from him.
What had been an innocent grapple to ensure he didn't go on a blind rampage was now turning a bit awkward. Her arms and legs were a bit slow to respond to her commands to release. Their eyes met for a moment and for Harry at least, everything else suddenly didn't matter. There was no fighting, no Death Eaters, no Bellatrix, just him and her.
Then she blinked and let go, which allowed Harry to clamber to his feet and off of her. He reached down and pulled her onto her unstable legs. He had to help her to a chair so she could start to rub the pins and needles from her limbs.
"We should contact Kingsley." Hermione said into the silence.
"Yeah, not looking forward to it thought," Harry sighed as he took out his mirror, "Kingsley Shacklebolt"
"Ah Potter," Kingsley's deep voice replied after a few moments, "It would appear I have a report of the Pickled Troll suffering a large amount of damage from an unusual magical outburst. It would seem no-one was killed but there were a few minor injuries from flying glass. We couldn't seem to get any idea of the culprit however from interviews, expectedly everyone was rather tight lipped."
"We expected as much from the nature of the bar so I've been eagerly awaiting your call to see if you were present at the time. Perhaps you could shed some light upon the strange occurrence?" Harry's mind was already spinning up a story to tell when Hermione stole the mirror from him.
"Rather than let you try and decipher Harry's fairy tale I thought I'd intervene, Sir," Hermione commented, earning a rude gesture from Harry, "For the quick blunt version, we've met with Bellatrix and been recruited by the Death Eaters. We were given a slip of paper to their headquarters, presumably under a Fidelius Charm since I can't seem to say it."
"But it's not the same one they sent Yaxley to," Harry commented, earning a raised eyebrow from Hermione, "It's different from the address they gave him Thursday, unless they moved already I suspect they have him off separately for his work which could cause trouble."
"Indeed, should your infiltration be successful we still can't guarantee success on removing the majority of the Death Eaters." Kingsley replied.
"So how do we proceed?" Harry asked, hoping that the topic had been brought off his little incident, "We have completed the first and secondary objectives. The third objective was to capture or eliminate as many Death Eaters as possible with priorities to Bellatrix and Rodolphus."
"I think we'll need to reconsider your objectives. Since the update in information, new primary objective is foil the potion attempt somehow. Secondary objective is to bring in evidence of Yaxley and the Lestranges elimination, alive or dead. Third objective is to cripple the Death Eaters." Kingsley ordered in his deep voice.
"Elimination? Yaxley has been upgraded to death sentence then?" Hermione asked.
"Indeed," he replied, "Unfortunate, he was an excellent potions master, but his decision to align with the TLDEs has sealed his fate."
"Sir, I'm not sure I can continue with the assignment," Harry sighed.
"Potter?"
"I've stretched my restraint as far as I can, I have very little faith in my ability to control myself in Bellatrix's presence once more." He answered.
"That is unfortunate and understandable. However at this time based upon current information it might not be an issue." Kingsley looked thoughtful for some time, "Paul and Suzette have no access to the second location where Yaxley is working do they?"
"No, they were in a silenced booth, were it not for the twin's toys we wouldn't know about it either." Harry replied.
"Well, we can only assume that Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Yaxley have access to this location. It might be the headquarters or simply a lab they've charmed for Yaxley to work in. It will be worth investigating." Shacklebolt continued.
"But only Harry can go there, I never saw the location, what if it's filled with dozens of Death Eaters?" Hermione asked instantly.
"Then I apparate or use a Portkey immediately, my Metamorphmagus skills should earn me enough time to use either if I appears as Rodolphus," Harry replied, catching onto Kingsley's idea, "If possible I might be able to take out Yaxley and satisfy the primary objective, if I can do so I don't have to worry about going ballistic around Bellatrix."
"Potter, I must say for the record that I am opposed to you going on this mission alone. It is far too risky." Kingsley stated
"And with all do respect sir, get your black marker ready for my file because I'm going anyway. You'll hopefully have Yaxley or his corpse in the cells within the hour."
"We have a secondary plan ready to go Potter, I have managed to get approval for Severus Snape's release into my custody. Exclusively for the reason of bringing in the Lestranges."
"With Yaxley gone they'll need a new potions master, but if he's released immediately that will raise their shackles." Harry added, "Arrange a prison transfer, we'll bust him out, it won't look as suspicious then hopefully. But that will only work if Yaxley is removed, they won't risk attacking the Aurors if they have someone able already."
"You intend to carry on then?" Shacklebolt asked.
"I intend to bring you Bellatrix's head, if I can sort out the problem with Yaxley now then I can happily go berserk when we go tomorrow." Harry replied with a bit more venom than he intended as he stood and started grabbing his gear.
"I don't think letting Harry go off alone is wise, Sir?" Hermione persisted.
"At this point I don't believe I will be able to stop him." Kingsley replied with a passive expression.
"You intended this, just gave him a nudge in the direction you wanted and let him go storming off alone into enemy territory!" she accused.
"Granger, I'm not happy with the situation anymore than you are however it is necessary," Kingsley sighed, "At the current time Potter is the only one with the knowledge of where Yaxley is. We can't afford the risk that he presents at the current time, his research and efforts need to be eliminated. I have to hope that Harry is capable of doing such."
"Then why didn't you just order him to partake in this suicidal mission!"
"You know I can't do that Granger, I can't justify such a mission." Kingsley replied.
"Easier to just give Harry another black mark for doing something against orders?" Hermione replied, her voice dripping sarcasm.
"Unfortunately yes, I don't feel any better about it than you Granger."
"So what do you do when you are the cause of Harry getting into a situation he can't control or survive?!"
"I go to my grave with the knowledge that I caused the death of one of the best people I could have the honour of knowing," Shacklebolt replied without pause, "I go to rest every night with the guilt of knowing I may or have sent decent people to their death to keep the masses alive Granger. I have to make decisions that might get my men killed every day Granger. It does not get any easier, maybe you'll understand when you take my place some day."
"Me? What about Ron or Harry? Or any of the dozens of others?" she replied.
"Ron is a good tactician, but he couldn't handle the rest of the duties a department head does. There are many good candidates for the position, however I believe you will succeed, if you can learn to make decisions that will hurt people that you care about."
"What about Harry?"
"Do I really need to answer why he would be unsuitable?" Kingsley replied with a raised eyebrow, "If nothing else, how could he disobey orders when he is the one giving them."
"I know, Harry could lead a demoralized group of a hundred against ten thousand and would be at the front of the charge, but if he had to do the paperwork for it afterwards he'd run away before you could blink," She sighed, "But don't change the point, you have to stop Harry until we can send more men!"
"You heard him Granger, I don't stand a chance at convincing him to change his mind. If you don't want him to go, I recommend you try." Kingsley replied evenly.
"And if I succeed?" she replied cautiously.
"Then we'll work up a new plan, you'll receive my gratitude and probably a medal for actually being able to change his mind."
"I think I'll skip the medal, Ginny is already annoyed I'm on this case because I am the only one able to cool down his temper. If only rarely and fractionally." She sighed thinking over the explosion she had no control over.
"I shall leave you to your attempt, if you have any need of my council I will stay in the office late tonight and finish off some paperwork." Kingsley informed her before the mirror changed back to a reflective surface.
Hermione rose quickly and looked around the room just as Harry left the bathroom looking just like Rodolphus Lestrange. First reaction was to try and draw her wand but she calmed herself swiftly.
"Harry, you can't do this!" she pleaded, "It's too dangerous."
"I have to Hermione, removing Yaxley is going to put them in a very sticky situation, they'll rise to the bait without flinching if we let them catch wind of Snape, but if they still have Yaxley they'll ignore it."
"Wait it out Harry, we might be able to get access to Yaxley for everyone tomorrow."
"You know how unlikely that is, they put Yaxley separate for a reason, they aren't about to introduce us to him on our first day. Nor will they give us a nice little slip of paper with the address we can go and show everyone back at the headquarters."
"They might go after Snape anyways, you know Yaxley is second best compared to him."
"If they didn't think he was up to the job they wouldn't have bothered, yes there is a chance they'll want Snape anyways, but would they really risk it for the chance? We need to make the desperate enough to attack to get him."
"Then aren't you risking the lives of our men to Bellatrix?" Hermione accused.
"I'm hoping I'll be sent as an initiation, then I can make some influence, but if I can remove Yaxley tonight what we do with Snape doesn't matter, they'll be screwed if they loose another potion master especially if they've started the potion already."
"I don't like it Harry." Hermione replied honestly.
"I know, I don't either, but I'm going anyways, there's every chance it will be deserted at this time. If it's too dangerous I'll press my watch and be back here in a second flat, promise!"
Hermione sighed and nodded, realising there was nothing she could do at this time. She closed her eyes and prayed as Harry vanished with a crack of sound.