An: A new chapter! Hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Chapter 7 - The Return of an Old Friend
Ron walked up to the short balding man in front of him and greeted him with a firm handshake and hug.
"Been a long time Uncle Peter. How were your travels? Meet any nice girls?" Ron said winking at him.
"Ah Ron, ever the wondering eye." Peter said as he observed the tall red head in front of him.
"I can't help it if I'm attracted to women!" Ron responded to which Peter laughed.
"Have you been by to see Uncle James yet?" Ron asked curiously.
"Nah not yet, thought I might check out this shop first before I headed out to the Auror office. I heard a lot about this joke shop on the road." Peter said lightly.
"Really, that's great. The twins would love that. It's in keeping with their goal to become the number one joke shop in the country." Ron elaborated eagerly.
"So is there any lady love in your life?" Peter asked with a cocky smirk.
"Not yet, but I'm working on it. Lavender Brown seems very willing for a quick snog behind the bushes." Ron replied with a slight blush.
"Well take your time young man. You still have a lot of your life left to live." Peter advised.
"That's what I keep telling my mom, but she insists that I get a proper young lady to settle down with." Ron whined.
"That's how mothers are. So how is Harry doing? Any young ladies in his life?" Peter asked slyly.
"As a matter of fact uncle, there is. He's courting the lovely Ms. Chang. He's head over heels for her!" Ron blabbed to his uncle.
"That's great." Peter said as his interest on the subject picked up.
"Definitely, he's acting all lovey dovey. It's disgusting." Ron said making a face to throw up.
"Sounds just like James when he finally convinced Lilly that he was worth the effort." Peter said with a smile.
The bell sounded and another customer emerged through the door.
"It looks like it's getting busy Ron. I'll see you later." Peter said as he shook his hand again and left the store.
Ron watched as Peter Pettigrew left the store and headed in the direction of the Auror office. He knew Uncle James would be very happy to see him. Uncle Peter had left a few years ago to search the globe. What he was searching for Ron didn't know. He only remembered him leaving. He wrote letters occasionally letting everyone know that he was still alive and all was well. Ron wondered if Uncle Peter had found what he was looking for or if he was just passing through town. A customer asked Ron for something suitable for his son's eighth birthday and Ron busied himself with the store again temporarily forgetting all thoughts about Peter Petirgrew.
-*-
Lunch at the Grangers had been served late to give their guests time to unpack and have a little nap. The conversation during lunch was light and filled with descriptions of the Bulgarian landscape. Mr. Krum inquired if there were any young available suitors that he could marry his daughters to as he was anxious to be relieved of them. He went on to discuss the benefits of having his daughters marry an Englishman and explained that a good marriage could raise his social status. After lunch, his daughters returned to their rooms and Mr. Krum, Victor and the Grangers retired to the study to discuss the reason for Mr. Krum's visit to England.
Hermione had been allowed to stay with her father and she was trying to pretend that she was interested in Mr. Krum's horrible business but it was extremely difficult to ignore that voice in her head telling her to throw the insufferable man out immediately. He was actively involved in the capture and sale of exotic creatures and he was boasting that some creatures could fetch a very handsome price. She was absolutely horrified at the thought of getting involved in a business such as his.
Mr. Krum was offering Mr. Granger 15% of the profit if he would assist him in selling his creatures to the English market. Hermione had to contain a snort of disgust when she heard his initial proposal. She was firmly against the capture and sale of these creatures but from a business standpoint 15% of the profit was not acceptable either, considering that her father would have the risk of handling some of these creatures. She strongly disagreed with this proposition and hoped her father would say no. It was at times like this she wished she could express her opinion openly but her father had only let her into the study on the condition, she would not be allowed to express her opinion.
Hermione searched for an excuse to exit the room. Tonight, after the Krums were asleep, Hermione would discuss this matter with her father. The stout man requested some tea and Hermione took advantage of the situation to make an early departure. Her father, knowing his beautiful daughter was upset, agreed to her departure.
The brunette quickly made her way to the kitchen and notified Ms. McGonagall about the request for tea. She half thought of drugging the man and shipping him back to Bulgaria. She needed to relax and made a beeline for the stables. She quickly mounted Comet and rode through the open fields. Her horse didn't complain as Comet had always been able to sense what she needed. She wondered how she would have survived without the comfort of her horse.
They rode steadily and visited her spot by the lake. A part of her was disappointed that Harry wasn't there but she quickly dismissed that emotion and took her usual seat on the rock, under the tree, that overlooked the lake. Peace and quiet was always preferable to a stranger's companionship but she wondered if Harry was a stranger still. She had spent the previous day in his company and had thoroughly enjoyed herself. She didn't quite like Cho and she didn't think that Aunt Lilly liked her very much either. She couldn't see what Harry saw in her. She was self absorbed, attention seeking spoiled brat. Her own goal in life appeared to be stalking Harry. The girl had tried to hold on to Harry for the entire day.
Her mind wondered to the Gryffindor Manor and she remembered Harry's interest in the building. She was curious if he was drawn to it the way she was or if he was simply admiring the architecture of the building. A nudge from Comet brought her out of her thoughts and she realised that the sun was setting.
"Yes girl, it's time to head home." She agreed with her.
Half an hour later Comet was safely tucked away in her stall while Hermione was up in deliberating about the discussion she needed to have with her father.
-*-
Ginny and Luna were stuck at the Burrow listening to Mrs. Weasley rant on about the benefits of marriage. Lunch had started off smoothly, with just the two of them talking about life and what they wanted to do. They both wanted to be more than just a wife to someone. They wanted adventure, drama, passion and most of all love. It was the common ground that brought them even closer together.
Luna's father never pushed her to marry quickly but Ginny had a different problem. She had a mother hell bent on marrying her off as soon as possible. Just after they started their lunch the older red head had joined them at the table. She sat down and started asking Luna questions about who her father was planning on marrying her to. Luna politely told Mrs. Weasley that her father hadn't started looking for a husband as yet and she couldn't believe it. She promptly started listing off all the available bachelors to Luna. Both girls quickly raced through their food in an effort to remove themselves from the older Weasley's company but Mrs. Weasley was not to be outmanoeuvred and rejoined them again a little later for tea.
"The Diggory's are having a ball this weekend. Rumour has it they are looking for a bride for their eldest son Cedric. I think you would do nicely Ginny." Mrs. Weasley insisted.
Ginny leaned close to Luna and whispered softly "I think that the tenth man she's tried to marry me off to since you got here."
Luna nodded.
"What was that Ginerva? How many times do I have to emphasize that you should be looking for a husband instead of wondering around with those silly dreams in your head!" She criticized.
"Mother! Can you please excuse us; we would like to have tea outside?" Ginny said as she abruptly stood with the tea tray and left the room. She had had enough of the marriage talk and she wanted some peace and quiet.
Luna not wanting to be stuck in the same room as a ranting Mrs. Weasley promptly followed her friend out the door. Ginny lead the way out into the garden to a small table under an Oak Tree. She dropped the tea table and sat down in a huff.
"Can you believe I have to live with that every day?" Ginny complained.
Luna looked longingly into the Burrow.
"Please don't tell me you actually want that." The red head said sarcastically.
"I don't remember much of my mother. It would be nice to have some one to love me the way your mom loves you." Luna said sadly.
"But what about your dad?" Ginny queried
"My dad does love me but he's a man. He can't understand some of the issues I face." The blonde explained to her friend.
"Oh," Ginny had never thought about what life would be like with just her father and brothers. She took her mother's presence in her life for granted.
"So what are you going to wear to the ball?" Luna asked moving the conversation away from depressing topics.
Ginny's face instantly lit up with all sorts of ideas for the ball and the two girls continued talking under the Oak Tree until Mr. Lovegood came to escort his daughter back home.
-*-
Draco's stomach still didn't let up on the grumbling. He was beginning to think the small amount of time he spent with the Weasley's yesterday had rubbed off on him. He felt like he could eat a hippogriff right now. This was the second tunnel that Draco had tried and he hadn't found Harry yet. He hoped that Harry wasn't looking for him because then they might be going round in circles.
It was hot in this section of the cave and Draco leaned against the wall in exhaustion. He conjured a fan, with another spell that Hermione had taught him and used it to cool him self a bit. His knees slowly gave out and he slid down the cave wall. Maybe if he just sat there, Harry might wonder on by. He didn't know how long he sat there for but after a while he saw this bright silvery object headed towards him. He stood quickly and drew his wand. As it got closer he realised that it was in the shape of a stag.
It was Harry's Patronus and Draco slapped his head. How could he be so stupid! The easiest way to have found Harry would have been to send his Patronous with a message that he was back in the main cavern. He hated being outsmarted by someone else. He was a Malfoy! He was supposed to be the best of the best and shouldn't be inferior to anyone. It should be his partronous talking to Harry not the other way around. He gathered from the stag that Harry had made his way back to the main cavern and was waiting there for him.
Draco jumped on his broom and zoomed back to the main cavern. In a matter of minutes he emerged through the tunnel to find Harry scanning the remains of the campsite.
"I thought we did that?" Draco said as he came to rest next to Harry.
"We did but we were interrupted remember?" The raven head said as he looked up at his partner.
Draco dismounted his broom and handed Harry his. "Find anything new then?" he drawled.
"As a matter of fact I did." Harry said proudly as he walked over to the remains of the extinguished fire and encouraged the platinum blonde to scan it.
Draco grudgingly walked across and passed his wand over the area carefully. There was a faint trace of an alert spell. Alert spells were usually used to secure property to protect against intruders.
"Why is there an alert spell here?" he asked his partner who had a cocky smirk on his face.
"Scan closer." Harry instructed.
Draco focused harder on the spot in front of him.
"Deeper," Harry said as he casually leaned up against a boulder near by.
"What the hell!" Draco suddenly exclaimed. He had finally found what Harry had been trying to show him.
"So you found it." Harry said smugly.
"Don't act so smug." Draco spat at him.
"There is a reason I'm top of the class." Harry boasted while his partner scowled at him.
"Why would Moody put an alert spell there?" Draco asked
"I think he wanted to alert the giants to our presence here." Harry said thoughtfully. He had had a while to ponder this while he waited for Draco to join him.
"Why?" Draco demanded.
"To test us." was Harry's simple response.
"You mean this was all a test." Draco asked incredulously.
"Yeah."
Draco punched and kicked the air madly to let out his anger.
"Lets get back. I'm starved." Harry said as his stomach grumbled loudly.
Food sounded like a very good idea and they both mounted their brooms and headed back to the Auror office.
-*-
A disgruntled James Potter sat at his desk in the Auror office surrounded by mounds of paper work. He was itching for some sort of disturbance to call him out in the field. Anything would be fine as long as it got him as far away from the mountain of paperwork. His mind wondered to his wife and children and he wondered if he could pay them to complete the tedious task of reading and approving the reports. Harry was out on a training mission and William was in class with Kingsley. Charles and Anna would be too young and Lilly would probably lecture him about responsibility. He glanced back at the pile on the right of his desk. It was almost as high as the pile on the left. Maybe he could go visit Sirius.
James rose from his chair and summoned his coat when the voice of his assistant chief floated through the door informing him he had a visitor. The senior auror cursed his wretched timing. He had almost made it out of the office. James banished his coat back to the rack and prepared to greet whoever it was that wanted to bother him with what was likely to be more paperwork.
James exited his office and headed down the corridor to the visitor's room. He opened the door and found his assistant chief laughing with a short bald man that faintly reminded him of someone.
"What's going on in here?" James demanded.
"Prongs, why so serious? What happened to the care free James I knew at Hogwarts?"
"Wormtail?" He asked surprised
"Of course it's me, Prongs! Who else do you know that looks like this?" Peter queried light heartedly
"No one, I was just surprised to see you. Your last letter never indicated that you would be coming for a visit." James said as he patted his friend on the back in a friendly hug.
"Actually, I'm back for good." Peter said with a large smile.
"That's great!" James said as the reality of what Peter said was sinking in.
"Yes it'll be just like it was in Hogwarts! The Marauders have returned." He said as he slapped James on the back.
"Where are you staying?" James inquired. He knew that Peter's house had been mysteriously destroyed years ago and that had caused him to set out on a soul searching mission. He never expected Peter to come back. He had always been different to them.
Peter stared him straight in the eye and James got the hint. "I guess you can stay with me then." He offered knowing Lilly was going to kill him. Out of his three friends, Peter and Lilly never got along. She never quite trusted him.
"Great, I'll get my bags. I would love to see how big the kids have gotten." Peter said cheerfully as he exited the room.
James stared at the blank wall across from him and wondered what he had gotten himself into. If he had only known that Peter's visit would be the beginning of a long list of troubles to befall the Potter family he would have hexed him out of his life right there and then.
Harry and Draco trudged into the empty Auror reception area. The room was large and oval with many seats provided. At the top of the oval was a large desk and a single doorway that lead to the offices in the back. Usually, when one wizard was arrested his entire family would turn up and the room would be quite crowded. There were obviously no arrests today and Harry and Draco moved easily through the room to the door. They performed the necessary spells to enter the offices and were soon moving through the maze of desks to the training room. As they moved through the room they soon realised that Moody was not in the training room and was in fact sitting quietly at his desk in the back of the room and none of their fellow trainees were with him.
"Just our luck, we're either the last to complete the mission or the first, either way we have a less than pleasant Moody." Draco grumbled as he led the way towards Moody.
"When is Moody ever pleasant?" Harry replied sarcastically
"Good point Potter." Draco said as he suddenly stopped causing Harry to bounce into him.
"Why did you stop?" He exclaimed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Potter you just said it. When is Moody ever pleasant?" Draco said as he indicated to the quiet Moody sitting at his desk.
Moody was sitting at his desk patiently scribbling away on some parchment. His different instruments on his desk were whizzing and whirling and they could see one showing their approach but the Moody at the desk hadn't even looked at his instruments yet. The Moody they knew was a paranoid wizard who constantly checked his instruments. Furthermore, Moody never kept his head down when writing. He constantly flicked his eyes up to scan his surroundings in case of an ambush attack. Harry could only conclude that that was not Moody and this was part of the training exercise. He glanced at hid partner and realised that he was scanning the room.
"Do you see him?" Harry asked softly.
"No but you do realise that we are in the middle of all these desks and an attack could come from anywhere?" Draco said as his eyes continued to scan the room.
Harry took a quick glance around and realised that his partner was right. Anyone could be hiding under the desks.
"Let's go to the kitchen." Harry said
"Now isn't the time for food." Draco snapped.
"The kitchen is the closest exit out of here and it won't be too suspicious if we head their first. We are starving!" Harry said through gritted teeth.
Draco was about to reply when they saw two figures emerge from the visitors room about five meters away from where they stood. They immediately reacted and fired stunners at their targets before ducking behind the desk in front of them for cover. No spells were returned but they didn't assume that they had hit their targets until they could confirm that their targets had in fact been stunned. Draco crawled around the desk and took a quick peek. Both targets were on the ground and unconscious. Draco silently signalled to Harry that their targets appeared to be down.
Harry crawled in the opposite direction to take a peak at the fake Moody. He hadn't budged and he was still scribbling away on the parchment. This just confirmed that that was not the real Moody. The real Mad Eye would have most definitely noticed two stunners being fired in the office. Harry indicated to Draco that he was going to move closer to the fake Moody. Draco crawled over to him and indicated he would cover him from there. He silently crawled down the empty corridor closer to his intended target.
As Harry reached about a meter away, he stood and trained his wand on the target. He announced himself as an Auror and stated in a firm voice that he should surrender as they had enough evidence to send him to Azkaban. Harry was fudging the Azkaban part but he thought it sounded good. There was no response from the imposter. Harry repeated his statement and there was still no response. A stunner spell flew past Harry and hit the target causing him to slump on his desk. Harry spun around to find Draco approaching cautiously from behind.
"What did you do that for?" Harry asked.
"He wasn't responding. You announced yourself twice and he refused to cooperate so I took action. We can tie him up and enervate him. It'll be easier to question him then." Draco said smugly.
"We aren't supposed to treat people like that!" Harry protested.
"We don't know what he was capable of. We took preventative measures now let's tie him up." Draco argued as he moved towards the target and muttered a spell causing ropes to shoot out the end of his wand and bind the stunned man.
"Don't just stand there Potter. Go do the others." Draco ordered.
Harry didn't like it but he moved across the room to the two they had previously stunned. "Bloody Hell!" Harry exclaimed as he reached the other end of the room.
Draco turned his head sharply towards him. "What's the matter now? Can't remember the proper spell?"
"Ahhh, I think we're in big trouble." Harry said as he stared at one of the stunned individuals on the ground.
Draco secured his prisoner and levitated him over to Harry. He looked at the individuals and paused. "He could be a fake" Draco said thoughtfully.
"I don't think so." Harry said. "A fake, couldn't frown that well."
"Well let's tie them up and enervate them in the interrogation room." Draco said as he again went about tying up the prisoners.
When Draco was finished they levitated the three prisoners to interrogation room number three. Once they were securely fastened to their chairs Harry enervated the first one.
As the prisoner came through, he examined his surroundings before yelling "Harry, what the hell are you doing!"
"Told you he wasn't fake." Harry said to Draco.
"What is this about?" James Potter shouted at the two trainees.
"Sir, you see," Draco started
"No I don't see. All I see are two boys standing in front of me!" The head auror shouted angrily at them "What am I doing here?"
"Sir, we were on a training exercise." Harry began
"Training exercises are not done in the office." James pointed out roughly.
"But you see." Harry tried to say.
"Didn't we cover this already? I don't see anything but two kids!" James reiterated angrily.
"Sir, would you shut up and let us explain!" Draco yelled angrily. Chief Auror Potter's interruptions were getting on his nerves. The arrogant man never gave them enough time to explain the situation.
"Don't you talk to your supervisor that way! As soon as I get out of these binds I'm going to" James said before he slumped back into his chair.
"Why did you stun him?" asked a horrified Harry.
"You heard him. He wouldn't let us explain. The best thing to do is find the real Moody and have him explain it to him. He wouldn't take that attitude with him." Draco said angrily.
"We can't just leave him here." Harry said as he enervated his father again and prepared for the new onslaught.
James glared at the two trainees and demanded and immediate release. Eventually, Frank Longbottom entered the room and relieved the two trainees. He revived the other two individuals and attempted to calm a very irate James Potter.
Harry and Draco headed to the training room where a very angry Moody was waiting for them with the rest of their classmates. There was a big F written across the board and as soon as Harry and Draco took their seats Moody began his lecture. They soon discovered that the rest of their class mates hadn't even made it back to the office and most had received several injuries in the field.
Moody wasted no time in embarrassing each pair in front of the class. Dean Thomas had apparently been knocked out by a Troll while Gregory Goyle hid behind a huge rock. Neville had apparently tripped over a tree stump in the forest alerting the centaurs to his and Seamus's presence. They had been shamelessly run out of the forest. Blaise Zambini refused to crawl through the marsh to get to his assignment and both he and Jordan failed immediately. Crabbe and MacMillian apparently lost their maps and couldn't even find their target at all.
Moody then came to Draco and Harry.
"This was the biggest embarrassment of all!" Moody declared. "Basic training teaches you to look before you fire and most importantly of all, do not stun your supervising officers. Somehow, Potter and Malfoy managed to stun the Auror chief and an innocent civilian!" Moody declared.
The entire class gasped and everyone knew how temperamental Chief Auror Potter could get.
"I thought I taught this class to pay attention to your surroundings and always be prepared." Moody yelled. He then turned his attention towards Harry and Draco.
"You should have observed the situation and realised that the chief and his visitor were just innocent bystanders. In the field there will be many innocent bystanders. What are you going to do stun them all?" Moody asked.
"Sir," Draco made the mistake of saying.
"Don't sir me. There will be no sir in the field when you have to make a decision in a split second. There will only be your gut and your experience. Everyone is assigned to assist Magical Law Enforcement with traffic violations and you Mr. Malfoy can clean all of my instruments before joining the rest of the class tomorrow!"
There was a collective groan before Moody indicated that class was dismissed. Everyone stood in silence and slowly walked out of the room. As they exited the room the Auror Longbottom gave Harry a sympathetic smile and handed him a note left for him by his father. Harry unfolded the note and groaned.
Dear Son,
I have taken Firebolt home as well as your broom. Enjoy your walk!
James Potter
Harry crumpled the note and tossed it in the nearest bin. Most of his class had already mounted their horses and left. It would be a long walk to Godric's Hollow. Harry decided to cut through the forest as it would cut the time in half.
The sun was slowly setting but Harry wasn't worried. He could handle the forest at night. He had come through here several times with Ron before. Harry soon came to the clearing where Draco had ambushed him the day before and he thought fondly of Hermione. She had a very gentle touch and he briefly wondered how she spent her day. He remembered the girls were supposed to meet for lunch. He hoped they enjoyed it. He hadn't had time to have lunch but Harry had a nagging feeling that there was something important connected to lunch that he had forgotten.
CHO! Harry had just remembered that he was supposed to meet Cho for lunch. Now, he more than likely, had another person mad at him. He thought quickly and picked some of her favourite flowers from nearby. He would send them to her with Hedwig and apologize profusely for missing lunch. He would probably have to invite her across for dinner and he should probably pick up something expensive for her in town tomorrow. Harry's tummy started to grumble reminding him yet again that he had missed lunch. Harry picked up his pace in an effort to reach home in time as he didn't want to miss dinner.
-*-
Somewhere in the cellar below Slytherin Manor two wizards were reviewing the progress on their plan.
"Master, the first phase of the plan has been successful." Said the figure bowed before the elaborate throne.
"Excellent," Said a snake like voice. "Don't fail me now or there will be deadly consequences."
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