Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
Author's Note: Apologies for how long it's taken to update this! Finals ate my brain and my life and so I haven't had much time at all to write or even think about writing fic. That said, I have every intention of finishing this fic; I'm just not sure when that will be. Thank you, everyone, who's read and reviewed Chapter 1. I hope this chapter is worth the wait!
What We Do
Chapter 2
Harry jolted awake to the ringing sound of the charm which he had set to go off whenever there was a Floo call.
A Floo call in the middle of the night was never a good thing and he felt his heart rate picking up as he grabbed his wand and stumbled out the door, throwing on a robe over his pyjamas as he went.
Gage's head was floating in the fireplace, his expression grim.
"What is it?" Harry demanded even before he'd come to a stop before the fireplace.
"Jasper Traynor's missing," Gage announced with no preamble.
"What the hell do you mean he's missing?" Harry's voice rose.
"The guards just raised the alarm when they couldn't see him in his cell on their last round. They've searched all through the gaol but he's gone, vanished, and the only thing he left behind is the dead body of one of the guards on duty on his floor."
"That's impossible," Harry stated, more as if he wanted to convince himself of it than as if it were a fact.
"Maybe, but the fact remains that Traynor's escaped and we have no idea where he is."
Oh my God.
"Hermione," Harry just managed to articulate her name through lips that had suddenly gone numb with horror. Hermione was the Enforcer assigned to Traynor's case; Hermione had admitted that Traynor had frightened her and he knew Hermione too well to think that she'd been frightened solely by Traynor's demeanor. Hermione, who was Muggle-born and represented everything Traynor most detested. Hermione, who was alone in her flat…
"Mr. Potter! Sir!"
Harry blinked out of his increasingly panicked thoughts to see Gage staring at him.
"Sir, what do you want us to do?"
He- he-he had no idea, couldn't think. How could he possibly think of what the Aurors should do?! "Go-wait-get everyone in and wait for me at the gaol," he finally managed to get out.
Harry didn't even wait to hear Gage's "Yes, sir," before he turned, running back into his room to throw on his official Auror robes over his pyjamas. He managed-somehow-to put on his shoes while running out of his flat and barely managed to Apparate without splinching himself. He took the steps three at a time as he sprinted up the stairs to Hermione's flat, gripping his wand so tightly he would later find that his hand physically ached from it, but at the moment, he didn't care. The only thing he was conscious of, the only thing he cared about, was to get to Hermione and make sure that Traynor had not-had not-
He stopped so suddenly he almost fell over as he reached Hermione's door, testing it and then feeling somewhat relieved to find that it was still locked and secure. He quickly managed to unlock Hermione's door, the hand holding his wand trembling slightly as he waved it at the lock, and then he was inside her flat.
Everything was still, silent, and he paused, relief hitting him like a tidal wave, his knees almost giving way. Everything was fine. He knew that; after all these years, his instincts were finely honed, especially when it came to something like Hermione's safety, and all he could sense was peace.
He made his way quickly through Hermione's dark flat, pushing open the closed door to her bedroom to see that she was sleeping soundly.
Oh, thank God.
For all that he'd been fairly sure from the moment he entered Hermione's flat that she was fine, the sight of her, safe, still hit him in the chest with all the impact of a blow. He almost fell to his knees beside her bed, too relieved to do anything but stare at her sleeping face for a moment.
She was safe. She was fine.
And it was only then, as the reality of Hermione's safety sank into his mind, that he realized the true magnitude of what was happening, his mind finally beginning to function.
Traynor's escape was a disaster to the Aurors. They were facing widespread panic and hysteria. The security at the holding cells in Attica and at Azkaban and all the other prisons would need to be increased. And he needed to get to the Gaol to coordinate the search for Traynor and then find out how Traynor had managed to escape.
He let out a deep breath, steadying himself for what lay ahead, before he lifted his hand to touch Hermione's shoulder lightly.
"Hermione, wake up."
As always, Hermione was a light sleeper-he was actually surprised that he'd managed to enter her bedroom without waking her up-and so she blinked her eyes open immediately, her gaze finding his and sharpening as she sat up.
"Harry, what's wrong? Are you okay? What's happened?"
Amazingly, given everything, he somehow managed to feel a warmth in his chest at how her first thought was concern for him. Before anything else, before asking what had happened, she asked after him.
"I'm fine," he reassured her quickly. "But you have to get up. Jasper Traynor's escaped."
"Escaped!"
"Yes. I'm just on my way to Attica to try to figure out how it happened and organize the response, but you need to come with me." He pushed himself to his feet, holding out a hand which she ignored as she slid out of bed on her own.
"Why do I--"
"Because, if I know anything at all about Traynor, he's going to come after you. It's not safe for you, so I'm not about to leave you alone."
"I can take care of myself, Harry. You go on; you have to take charge of the Aurors."
"No," Harry stated flatly, his tone one he rarely used with Hermione, one that brooked no disagreement. "Pack some things, if you must, but then you're coming with me." He realized his mistake when Hermione responded by giving him a distinctly mutinous look, a look he recognized all too well.
"I appreciate your concern, Harry," Hermione said in a tone that almost belied her words, "but I know how to defend myself. You taught me, remember?"
He promptly switched tactics-just as she knew him, he knew her too-and softened his tone, resting his hands on her shoulders briefly so she met his eyes fully. "If you won't do it for your own sake, will you do it for me? I won't be able to think straight if I'm worrying about you."
Her expression softened and she nodded, giving in as he'd known she would. Because she knew that it was true, he would worry about her if she didn't come with him now and it would interfere with his concentration.
Being Hermione, from the moment she gave in, she was in motion, hurrying into the restroom to change quickly out of her pyjamas and then haphazardly throwing some spare changes of clothes into a bag. He left her to it, moving to check all the windows and then using his wand to make the windows doubly-secure and unbreakable. He might have no intention of allowing Hermione to stay at her flat alone until Traynor was safely locked up again but there was no point in giving Traynor any easier access to Hermione's flat. As it was, he was aware that Traynor was not likely to have much difficulty in breaking into Hermione's flat; there were limits to the effectiveness of wards that could be put up for flats in buildings such as this one where a fair number of tenants were Muggles.
They Apparated straight to the Ministry and he headed for the Auror offices only to have Hermione balk.
"Harry, where are you meeting the Aurors?"
"At the Gaol," he answered briefly, grasping her arm with his hand in an attempt to keep on walking.
"Then why don't we head straight there?"
Now, he stopped, turning to face her. "We aren't going anywhere near Attica. You can wait in my office; it's probably the safest place in the building right now."
"Oh, no, Harry, you're not just going to send me off to wait for you while you play hero."
He opened his mouth to argue but then noted the expression on her face-and closed his mouth, swallowing back his protest. "Alright," he half-sighed, even as he changed direction and began walking again, this time heading back to the elevators to where they could get the Floo network to the Gaol. "Come on."
"Don't look like that, Harry. I know you're not mad at me."
He couldn't help but throw a slightly incredulous smile in her direction. "I don't know how you can sound so calm."
She gave him a quick half-smile even as she kept pace with his quick steps. "I'm with you so I know I'm not in danger right now."
She said it lightly, but he took it seriously, making a silent promise to himself that he would live up to her words. Traynor wasn't going to so much as harm one hair on her head, not if Harry had anything to say about it-and the thought was a vow.
They didn't speak the rest of the way to the Gaol, more to preserve their breath while walking so fast than from any other reason.
Attica had exactly one meeting room, of sorts, just off the front hall and Harry headed straight for it, cutting through the Aurors and security guards who had been on duty and were, therefore, already present, and members of the Hit Squad, knowing perfectly well they would all follow him. He noticed a few curious glances at Hermione, who was well-known in her own right as an Enforcer and, therefore, not exactly necessary personnel at this meeting, but he ignored them.
The room had a raised dais at one end but Harry didn't bother to stand up on it. He simply walked to the center of the room and waited. He let out his breath, drawing on his reserves of energy, trying to become the hero everyone expected him to be, the automatic leader in times like these, never mind the fact that in usual times, there were many more senior Aurors around. It was something he had finally accepted, not happily, but accepted nonetheless, that in emergencies, he became the de facto leader of the Aurors. Automatically, in that moment, he found himself seeking out Hermione, meeting her eyes as she stood off to one side, let her steady gaze ground him.
"Simeon and the Hit Squad," he began, facing Simeon Lacdamant, the senior member of the Hit Squad present, "you all know what Traynor looks like and you know how dangerous he is. Split up into groups of four-and no less than four-and scatter. Create a net around London, starting from here and going outwards. Focus on the more predominantly Muggle neighborhoods, Shepherd's Bush, Mayfair, St. James. That's where Traynor's next victims are more likely to be. But I want at least one group in every neighborhood going through it with a fine-tooth comb."
Simeon nodded. "Yes, sir."
Members of the Hit Squad began to leave but Harry stopped them. "One last thing-remember you're trying to capture him, not kill him. Now, go and be careful." He hoped the reminder that killing should only be the very last resort wasn't necessary, but they were not that many years removed from the War years when the Hit Squad had been given unchecked discretion to kill instead of capture. It was the one thing that he'd insisted on changing when he had joined the Ministry.
Members of the Hit Squad began filing out, and Harry focused on the guards. "Warden, choose a skeleton crew of guards to remain here to keep the Gaol secure, but we need the rest of the guards joining the Aurors. It's all hands on deck right now."
Warden Hal Bruce nodded. "Yes, sir, understood. 5 guards, excluding myself, should be enough to secure the Gaol, sir."
Harry nodded. "Thank you, Hal."
Warden Bruce collected the guards with little more than a jerk of his head and then left the room.
Now for the Aurors.
"Gage, first alert all the district offices around the country-and I do mean everywhere. Not just the cities like Manchester and York, but everywhere, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, even the Isle of Man and Guernsey. Everyone needs to be put on alert about Traynor. And contact--"
"Don't forget Scotland Yard." Hermione's voice interrupted him and he stopped, glancing at her.
"Right, Scotland Yard," Harry agreed, focusing on Gage again. "The Yard will need to get the alert out to the newspapers and other news on the telly so people will be on the lookout for Traynor too. And then contact all the International Apparition and Floo network stations in case Traynor decides to make a run for it. I don't want this to turn into an international incident."
Gage nodded and left the room almost at a run.
"Jack," Harry turned to face Jack Hardesty, the team leader who was on duty tonight. "You'll be in charge of organizing the rest of the Aurors into teams of again no smaller than four, to go out and find Traynor. All other Auror business will be suspended as much as possible because we need to focus on recapturing Traynor before the bastard kills again. Understood?"
Jack Hardesty nodded. "Right."
"Gage and I will remain here to take care of whatever immediate business comes up and coordinate the search. Report back to me of any news the teams might hear so I can let the other teams know." He paused, giving Jack a rather grim smile. "It's time to start waking everyone else up." Jack would have the unenviable duty of notifying all the other Aurors operating out of headquarters of this new emergency.
Jack threw a quick salute. "On it, sir." He left with a speed that was in contrast to his almost perpetually easygoing expression that often caused people to underestimate him. But Harry knew from experience that Jack was one of the most capable Aurors out there. He was followed by the rest of the Aurors present, all members of Jack's team.
Harry turned to Hermione. "Did I forget anything?"
"No, I think you thought of it all."
"Thanks for reminding me of Scotland Yard. It had slipped my mind."
She gave him a fleeting, solemn smile. "Just doing my part to help."
"You always do. Now we need to figure out how Traynor managed to escape."
"Actually, I had a thought about that already."
Harry turned to give her an inquiring look.
"Who was the only person who's managed to escape from Azkaban?" was Hermione's almost incomprehensible response.
"Sirius," he answered automatically, "but what does--" He broke off, as his thoughts caught up to Hermione's. "You think he's an unregistered Animagus." It wasn't a question.
Harry took off at a run for Traynor's cell, knowing Hermione would follow.
Traynor's cell was the only one whose door was open, making it easy to identify, as he slowed his steps to a walk as he neared.
He frowned at the door. There was no way for Traynor to have opened the door from the inside; the doors had been specially made to prevent that, with good reason. There was one barred window that permitted a guard to look inside and check on each prisoner. Aside from that one window, the door was impenetrable except for one small area at the bottom of the door that had been charmed to permit guards to create a temporary window, through which the prisoners were given their meals. Traynor could have managed to escape by somehow managing to harness wandless magic powerful enough to recreate a larger version of that meal window from within, but that would have taken an immense amount of power. Harry was fairly certain Headmaster Dumbledore and Voldemort himself would have been able to do so, but doubted whether any other wizard would have been able to. Which made Hermione's animagus theory much more likely, although the space between the bars severely limited the number of different animals Traynor's animagus form could take.
"He had to turn into a very small animal," Hermione said, as she studied the bars of the window, visually measuring the space between the bars.
He wasn't surprised to have Hermione voice his very thought.
"The only possibilities I can think of are an insect or spider of some kind, a rodent, or a snake."
"A small bird could also fit," Hermione supplemented his list. "Or a bat. Some kinds of sea animals, fish or small crabs or something-but those are less likely because most of them are generally not able to function on land."
He sighed. "It's too many possibilities still. I can't tell Jack and Simeon to tell their teams to capture all suspicious small animals, and somehow I don't think Traynor would be a crab or something that would make his Animagus form very easy to pinpoint as being suspicious."
"Mm," Hermione's answer was absent and he turned to look at her.
"I know that tone. You've thought of something. What is it?"
"It may not end up helping," Hermione began, more diffidently than he was used to from her.
"Well, it's still one more idea than I've had so tell me."
"It's a new charm that I read about in the latest issue of the Charms Institute magazine. It's something like a way to find out what the last work of magic was performed. You know that all magic leaves behind a sort of trace that's invisible to the human eye. This charm was created to somehow put a shadowy form to that trace so it allows the caster to see something like a holographic image of what the last magic that was used did."
"Will it work for an Animagus transformation?"
Hermione wrinkled her nose in the familiar way she had when she was unsure of something. "I'm not sure. The charm has only been used for actual spells that have been cast and those have all involved wands and an incantation, but an Animagus transformation, obviously, doesn't require either a wand or an incantation."
"Hmm. Well, we can try it. What do we need to do?"
"I'll do it, since I know more about the charm."
Harry nodded. "Okay." She was also better at advanced Charms than he was, so if anyone was going to succeed at this charm on the first try, it would be her. It was the simple truth-but he also knew that if he ever said as much, she would deny it quite adamantly. But then, for all her confidence, Hermione also never seemed willing to believe that she would be the best at something; she could admit that she was clever and fairly skillful, but never that she was the most clever or the most skillful.
"I'll need to be alone in the cell, because sometimes having another person around acts as something like a conduit to direct the charm away from the room itself," Hermione explained.
"Okay. I'll wait out here. Knock when you're done and need me to open the door," Harry agreed, but then stopped her with a hand on her arm before she could actually go into the cell. "One more thing, the charm isn't dangerous to the caster in any way, is it?"
"No, of course not," Hermione answered quickly. Too quickly. And she didn't quite meet his eyes as she said it.
He lifted his hand to touch her chin until she had to meet his gaze. "Hermione," was all he said, softly, but he knew she understood, heard the thread of steel in his tone.
"It can be a little dangerous," Hermione admitted, "but only if the caster is inexperienced or not advanced enough magically to do it." She tried for a quick, reassuring smile. "So I should be fine."
He wasn't quite comforted. "What do you mean, if the caster is inexperienced? You're inexperienced because you've never done this charm before, right?"
"No, I haven't, but really, I read all about it and it's not inexperience as in not having cast this particular charm before but general inexperience with casting advanced charms like this one. Honestly, Harry, I'll be fine. I'm not some 5th year student trying to cast a N.E.W.T. level spell for the first time."
He finally relaxed a little, reassured. "If I remember correctly, you were casting N.E.W.T. level spells when you were in 5th year."
She smiled slightly. "See? So I'll be fine."
He stepped back, dropping his hand from her arm. "Okay, but be careful."
"Aren't I always?" she rallied, gaining a full-on smile from him before she went inside the cell, pulling the door closed behind her.
Harry peered through the barred window to watch Hermione as she paced rather absently through the cell. She was, he guessed, recalling all she had read about the charm and trying to determine where in the cell Traynor would have chosen to transform into his Animagus form.
She glanced up, meeting his eyes through the window. "Harry, stop watching me. You're making me nervous."
"Alright, alright," he relented and deliberately stepped back three paces, although he didn't look away from the window.
He heard the faint murmur of Hermione's voice and then saw a faint glow that slowly faded and then he heard Hermione give a soft cry of surprise and he tensed, until he heard Hermione's voice again.
"Harry, it worked!"
He made it to the cell door in one bound, almost yanking the door open, his eyes focusing on Hermione's face, noting that she looked a little pale.
"He turned into a snake, Harry. Traynor's Animagus form is a snake."
He ignored that for a moment. "Are you okay?"
She managed a slight smile. "I'll be fine; the spell just made me a little dizzy for a moment." She made a motion with her hand. "Go, Harry. You need to tell everyone else. I'll be okay."
He hesitated but then, when she gave him a look, finally acceded to her order and took off at a run, hoping to find Jack or Warden Bruce before they left on their respective searches, and then to tell Gage so he could get the word out to the district offices.
He found Warden Bruce quickly enough and managed to catch one team of guards before they left to tell them of Traynor's Animagus form and then took the Floo back to the Ministry building. Jack Hardesty had already left, so Harry interrupted Gage as he was about to pick up the telephone to ring up Scotland Yard-it was the one working Muggle device in the building, meant exclusively to ring up Scotland Yard and, on occasion, the Prime Minister's office at 10 Downing Street.
"Gage, have you contacted the district offices yet?"
Gage straightened, his hand dropping from the telephone. "Yes, sir, just now. They are alerting their local Aurors as we speak."
"Contact them all again. Traynor is an unregistered Animagus, who turns into a snake. That's how he escaped his cell."
Gage swore but cut off the oath, quickly recovering himself. "Yes, sir, right away."
"Oh, and you said that a security guard was found dead. Where is the guard's body now?"
"He's in Warden Bruce's office at the Gaol, sir."
"Right." Harry took off again to return to the Gaol and rushed into the Warden's office to stop at the sight of Hermione, kneeling beside the body, and spared a moment to wonder at his very lack of surprise to find her here. Of course, she would think of the guard.
She looked up as he rushed in and he noted, with some relief, that her pallor was gone now. "Traynor bit him."
He knelt beside her. "He died of a snake bite?"
Hermione nodded. "I figured that was the most likely thing; he wouldn't have been looking for a snake so it would be easy for Traynor to surprise him and bite him before he could raise an alarm." She reached out a hand, moving the guard's robe aside and pushing down his sock to reveal two small puncture wounds on his ankle.
Harry sighed, his gaze moving up to the guard's still, white face, the closed eyes. He looked… almost peaceful.
Harry had seen so many dead bodies over the years, more than Harry cared to remember, but it was something he could never become accustomed to, didn't want to become accustomed to. Every body struck him anew. "You closed his eyes," he murmured to Hermione. It wasn't a question. He knew her. It was something that amazed him about her. She was, as no one knew better than him, able to keep calm and rational in almost every situation, could be amazingly dispassionate when she needed to be. But she never forgot her compassion, was never so focused on the exigencies of an emergency as to forget the humanity of its victims.
He heard her let out a half-shuddering breath and glanced at her, moving to grasp her hand in his.
"He looks so young, Harry," she said softly. "Did you know him?"
Harry tightened his grip on her hand. "His name's Scott Hotchkiss. He is-was-young, just 21 this year." He paused and then went on, quietly. "I met him a few times. The first time I met him, he could barely speak, kept tripping over his words, he was so in awe of me. But after that, he was better, treated me normally. He was in Hufflepuff, I think."
"We would have been at Hogwarts together for at least a couple years, but I don't think I ever met him."
Harry sighed. "I'll have Warden Bruce contact his family," he said as he pushed himself to his feet, pulling her up with him. "Come on. You've helped all you can, so you should try to get some rest."
"At your flat?"
"No, we're going to Grimmauld Place." He had considered-briefly-and rejected the idea of sending a message to Ron, who was away on a road trip with the Cannons until this weekend, so that Ron could provide another level of defense, so to speak, in their flat. But that was hardly feasible, because, as Harry had to admit, Hermione had always been better at dueling than Ron was so Ron would be no match for Traynor and was more likely to end up injured himself. And their flat, while about as protected as any flat in the city, was still nowhere near as safe as Grimmauld Place.
She stopped walking and he glanced back at her. "But, Harry, you hate Grimmauld Place."
"So?"
"So why don't we just go to your flat?"
"Because Grimmauld Place is safer."
"Honestly, Harry, you don't need to--"
He turned to face her. "Hermione, Jasper Traynor is out there somewhere and you're a target, not just because you were about to prosecute his trial but because you're living proof that his precious purity of blood doesn't matter at all. Given all that, if I had my way, you'd be going into hiding with a Secret Keeper, but since I know you'd never agree to that, I'm settling for what's possibly the safest private residence in the city. And the fact that I hate it is irrelevant!" He stopped, forcibly moderating his tone. "You don't really think that I care more about not liking Grimmauld Place than I do about keeping you safe."
It wasn't a question.
"Okay, Harry, Grimmauld Place it is," she agreed, putting her hand on his arm.
He glanced down at her hand on his arm, reaching up with his free hand to grasp her fingers with his. He didn't know how, but she could calm him with just a touch. "Okay," he repeated, his tone moderated.
She gave him a slight smile. "Let's go, then."
He gave her hand a last squeeze before releasing it as he turned to leave the Gaol.
He would keep her safe. He had to keep her safe. He didn't think to question why it was so vitally important to him that Hermione be safe, why he was so certain that he could not go on if anything happened to her-but then, why question something that he simply knew? It would be like questioning why the sun rose in the east. It was just a fact.
He needed Hermione to be safe. It was as simple-and as complicated-as that.
~To be continued…~