Disclaimer: Nope I don't own Harry Potter. Which is a shame, because it'd have gone Harmony if I did…
A/N: An idea I had just after reading DH to make right things after the crapilogue. Hope you'll like the story, and please if you read, review, thanks.
After The Night, Sun Shines
Chapter Three: Alert
Things were hectic at the Auror Department. It seemed that lately lots of little dark wizards had woke up, making a mess. Teams were continuously on leave to go and get these little buggers, which wasn't usually difficult, but was rather annoying.
As he was the Head of the Department, Harry was the one who needed to coordinate all the teams' activities, thus his time at home was definitely cut low. He spent more than usual in his office, going over reports of the captures and programming the next actions, then he came home barely on time for dinner, the days he wasn't late for it, and it wasn't enough.
He could be called at any minute for a new emergency to address, so he would often leave in the middle of the night, leaving nothing more than a scribbled note to his wife Ginny.
Who, of course, wasn't really happy at how things were turning out. She missed her husband, and more than once she addressed the matter with him.
"Harry, you need to decide what your priority is, your job or your family" she attacked him again, after dinner.
"Ginny, I'm doing all of this for my family! If I keep the dark wizards at the minimum, there are less risks for you and the kids!" he spat back, he was already tired after a long day at work and this was not what he needed at all.
Ginny looked at him softly. "I know, Harry, but I and the kids, well, Lily since Al and James are at Hogwarts, miss you"
Harry's gaze softened too. "I know, Gin. It's just…I feel like if I don't address some matters immediately, I'll feel guilty of leaving someone free and then this someone might attack you or Lily or the boys when they are not at school"
She nodded. "I see" she said. Although not agreeing, she could see his point. But she wasn't happy about it, that was sure.
As Lily's bedtime arrived, Harry went and scooped her up from the couch where she was watching the television, a gift of Ron and Hermione on last Christmas, along with the spells to make it work in a magical environment.
"It's time for my little princess to go to bed" he said softly to her, and then he brought the little girl to her room, although she complained a bit. She always did, but then she would fall asleep if he read her a story, and that's what he did.
He then went downstairs to relax a bit before going to bed, hoping he wouldn't be woken up that night. He definitely needed some sleep and rest.
Some days later, he was working in his office, going over some paperwork, when a knock on the door startled him.
"Come in" he gruffly said.
As the door opened and then closed, he found himself facing no one else than his godson, Teddy Lupin. The boy had just joined the Auror ranks after having passed the exam at the end of the training with flying colours. Harry was so proud of him, but after all the boy was son of Auror Tonks and one of the most valuable men of the Order of the Phoenix, Remus Lupin, so it wasn't really a surprise to him that he was so good at this. Chasing bad guys must run into the kid's veins.
"What brings you here, Auror Lupin?" Harry said, business-like, but the young man knew his godfather was just joking. What he had come to speak with him about, though, was no joke.
"Harry, there are bad news" he gravely said.
The other man frowned. "What's this about?"
Teddy sat in front of Harry, giving him the sheets he had brought.
"Intelligence says there's a new group of Dark Wizards roaming the country. They have called themselves Voldemort's Avengers. I bet you can understand from the name that they have serious intentions"
Harry nodded, studying the information in the sheets in front of him.
"As far as we know they haven't started killing Muggle-borns yet, but I'm sure they will start soon. And, the name of the group makes me think you might be one of their first targets, Harry" Teddy said gravely. Although he was one of the youngest Aurors, Harry valued his opinions much, as he had inherited his father's wisdom.
Harry nodded. "I see. Thanks for the information, Teddy. I'll start to work on this immediately"
The young man recognized the dismissal, and with a curt nod stood up and left the room. Harry took a sip of his coffee, which was by now almost cold, thoughtfully.
Voldemort's Avengers.
Exactly what he had feared since the day he had killed Tom Riddle, and sure enough they were going to try something against him or his family. Well, if they thought he would let them, they were sorely mistaken.
"Ron, I need you here immediately" he said tapping the mirror on his desk. He had managed to get all Aurors to have one mirror like the one Sirius had given him, as a quick way to communicate with each other.
"Coming" came the reply from his red haired best friend, and moments later the door opened to let Ron Weasley enter.
Harry briefly updated him on what he knew about this new group of Death Eaters. Harry wondered if it was right to call them that, but if they followed Voldemort's ideas, they were Death Eaters even if they didn't call themselves that.
"I need you and your team to find out all you can on this group. Be careful though, intelligence says us they have many ruthless wizards amongst their ranks, much worse than Dolohov or McNair" he said to get his point across that this was of the maximum importance and it was also dangerous. "And send some Aurors to both our houses too, for surveillance"
Ron nodded his understanding, his own face shadowed with worry for his family.
Then Harry tapped his wand on the sheets, copying them, and left his friend go his own way while he went to see Minister Shacklebolt to inform him of the new peril.
As he reached the Minister's office, however, he was told he was not there, and that he would be ready to see him the next day, so Harry had to go back to his office, although the matter was of the maximum importance, he couldn't risk information being leaked on it. He wanted to tell the Minister personally. The less that knew they were working on this, the better their chances to swipe that evil without letting any of these new Death Eaters escape.
"Well, we might as well get some work done on this" he mused once he was back at his desk, and started taking notes on what they knew of the organisation.
He never looked at the watch till a knock was heard on his door. He looked up then and noticed it was already nine p.m.
"Bugger, Ginny's going to have my head" he thought, while inviting whoever had come to his door in.
He was mildly surprised to see Hermione there.
"Hey" he said softly, his green eyes flaring with a spark that had not been there in days due to his increasing tiredness.
"Hey" she greeted back, warmth in her brown orbs too. She graciously sat in front of him.
"Ron told me the latest news" she started, and Harry chuckled.
"What's so funny?" she asked, confused.
"Nothing, it's just that you always go straight to the point. Yes, we are going to have our hands full, Hermione" he honestly said to her. "I cannot say I didn't expect something like this to come up, though" he continued, and she nodded.
"I know. I've always thought someone was going to try and bring Voldemort's ideas up again too" she reasoned, not even noticing she was placing her hand on his own on the table now. It was a gesture so normal for them that Harry didn't really notice too.
"We will get them, Hermione. I won't let them put my family in peril" he said, determination in his eyes. "I won't let them put you in peril" he added then, looking at her straight in the eye, and she blushed.
"I know" she reassured him. "I just wanted to let you know, if you need anything, anything at all, I'm here"
He nodded, smiling to her. Then, after a kiss on the cheek, he shooed her away to her family, and she left giggling. It was amazing how even in tense moments like that one, she could make him laugh and he could do the same to her, he wondered, his lips still curved into a sincere smile.
He never got home that night, he was too busy with making theories about where this group might be hiding and what their first move would be. He alerted Ginny with his Patronus that he wasn't going home, and prepared himself for a long night of no sleep, a jug of coffee on his table to help him go through it.
Finally, his eyes closed around five in the morning, and he awoke with a start when he heard the door next to his office slam shut. Ron had arrived.
He poured himself some more coffee, went to the bathroom to wash his face, and then paid his friend a visit.
"Good morning, Ron. I heard you delicately closing your door" he teased him.
"Oh, Harry" the redheaded man said, looking up. "Sorry about that, just had a little fight with Hermione at breakfast" he said sheepishly.
"I see. Well, I'm off to the Minister to inform him of this matter" he said, motioning to the file under his arm.
Ron nodded, and so few minutes later Harry was face to face with Kingsley, who was still Minister.
"So you tell me there's a group out there trying to bring Voldemort's pureblood non-sense up again?" he worriedly said.
Harry nodded and let him read the information they had managed to gather. Teddy Lupin had just added some to him on his way up to the Minister's office, and they now had a more or less precise idea of where the Voldemort's Avengers headquarters were.
"I say we go and raid their headquarters" Harry suggested.
"Now, let's not jump to conclusions. We might need more information before we do that, Harry, and we must not act on instinct. You can't put your fellow Aurors' lives on the line because of an hasty decision"
"I know, sir" Harry said, understanding. He knew Kingsley was right, and he knew Hermione would have given him the same advice. He had a knack for acting on instinct though.
"However, Harry, when we are going to make this operation, I want you to lead it" the Minister said, looking at him in his green eyes.
It had been a long time since he was on field, and the idea kind of excited him. "I will, sir"
"Very well, you may leave now, then" the Minister said with a nod, and shaking Harry's hand.
And with that, Harry stood up, took his sheets and walked out of the room, back to his own office. It was now almost lunch time, he never really noticed how long he had stayed to the Minister's before. They had been so wrapped up in their discussion that time flew.
He had barely closed the door and sat at his desk when a very distraught Luna Lovegood slammed it open.
The sight per se was unsettling, as he had never seen Luna this worried, nor he had ever seen her without her typical serene and airy composure.
"Harry!" she cried. "Ginny's gone!"
Harry's stomach plummeted. "What do you mean, gone?"
"I had to meet with her half an hour ago, we were to have shopping together to celebrate my coming back into town from my naturalist trip to Egypt. When I arrived at your house to pick her up so that we could bring Lily over to the Burrow, the house was open, and signs of a fight were everywhere. There was no one inside" Luna told him, stopping now and then to hiccup, as tears started to flow on her face.
Then she handed him a piece of parchment.
"This was on the kitchen's table"
Harry read it, and his heart froze.
Potter,
We got your wife and daughter.
If you ever wish to see them again, come alone to
Slytherin's Nest tomorrow.
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