Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Unstoppable	By : Thunderbird Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 14476 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any affiliated characters. I make no profit from this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
A/N: Thanks so much to those who reviewed!
Not much to say here except that we're about to spend a little more time with Vesper, plus get a glimpse into how Harry and Teddy are getting on. Enjoy!
Chapter 10: I Don’t Want to Want You
(Vesper)

I really should get up.
She’d been thinking it to herself for the past half hour, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. She knew she had work soon, that it was an important day, with a classroom portion that was actually going to be practical, Ron had promised. She was, in actuality, pretty excited at the prospect.
Plus she needed a few extra minutes, on top of her usual routine, because she wasn’t even in her own bed. She needed to get up, go home, grab her trainee uniform, and scarf down some breakfast. She had to.
But there were fingers brushing over her skin: agile, deft, familiar, and the bed was warm, and soft, and smelled like home.
Smelled like Blaise.
It had been an interesting, if not confusing, couple of weeks. After that night, when she’d slept with Blaise immediately following the drinks with Declan, something had shifted. It was something neither of them had outright acknowledged or bothered to name, but it was undeniable.
Before, they’d only had the occasional tryst in moments of desperation, and Blaise had always come to her and had always snuck out before the morning. Vesper read that message loud and clear: this was sex and nothing more. This was two people who simply craved connection and were taking it where they were most comfortable getting it. This did not mean anything about the rekindling of their relationship.
But after that night, when he’d told her that he missed her, things didn’t unfold as usual. Blaise didn’t sneak out at four in the morning when he thought Vesper was still asleep. They had woken up together, much to her surprise, and she’d had to kick him out in order to get to work on time. And then, only a few days later, he had returned, and not on any pretense, either. He hadn’t shown up because she’d just been on a date or there was something he “had to ask her.” He’d just shown up, and, to her own amazement, Vesper had simply let him in.
She didn’t know what had changed. She didn’t know what it meant. She just knew it was an easy routine to fall into. Every few days he’d come to her house, usually in the late evening, after she’d returned from work and had already made and eaten dinner. They’d talk, fall into bed, have incredible sex, and then, surprisingly, talk some more. Not about their relationship or their feelings about one another, never that. But other things: work, their friends, politics, gossip. It was easy, and safe, and comforting, and she took solace in knowing he was there, with her, simply because he wanted to be.
And then, last night, she’d done something she never thought she’d do. She came to him.
She didn’t mean to. But it had been a long day. Dempsey was being a real dick as usual, and she hadn’t done great on her most recent quiz. She just wanted a place to go, somewhere she didn’t have to think, somewhere she could be free, and Blaise’s was the most natural choice.
What the hell is happening here?
“I really should get up,” she said aloud, her voice coming out soft and sleepy.
Blaise hummed but otherwise didn’t respond, his fingers still lightly playing across her abdomen.
“No, really,” she said, opening her eyes and turning to glance at the clock on the far wall. “I have to be at work in an hour.”
Still, though, she didn’t move. She only lay there, blinking slowly, trying not to think about the fact that the movements of Blaise’s fingers were turning her on, slowly but surely.
“Can I ask you something?” Blaise’s voice was as soft as his touch.
Vesper opened her eyes again, turning to look at him. He was lying propped up on one elbow, watching her calmly.
“Sure. What is it?”
“Why did you leave dueling to become an Auror?”
Vesper tensed automatically at the question, but then tried to moderate her reaction. The answer was complicated, more complicated than Blaise could understand, at this point, but she did her best.
“I just needed a new challenge, I suppose.”
“Mmm,” Blaise said, thinking that over. “Being one of the best duelists in the world wasn’t satisfying for you anymore?”
Vesper fought a smile. “Something like that. Plus, you know… I want to – to do something good, to make a mark on the world.”
Blaise absorbed that silently.
“Just about everyone I know is out there doing something good,” Vesper went on. “Harry’s uniting Britain’s youth, Draco and Hannah are healing people, Hermione’s fighting for the rights of the disenfranchised, Ron’s keeping the wizarding world safe, Neville is teaching the next generation… Shall I go on?”
Blaise gave her a small, wry smile. “No, you’ve made your point.”
“So… I guess I just realized I should be doing my part. And dueling wasn’t really helping anyone but myself.”
Blaise was quiet, and Vesper resisted the urge to ask him what he was thinking. Instead she closed her eyes, working on summoning the wherewithal to get herself out of bed.
“You were a role model,” he said suddenly. “For young women. You were modeling strength, and hard work, and perseverance. And bravery.”
She stared at him. Was that how he saw it? Really?
“Maybe,” she said. “But I could do that even more as an Auror.”
“Yes, but…”
She raised her eyebrows. “But…?” she asked, her voice taking on an edge.
“It’s dangerous,” he said.
She stared at him some more. “So?”
“So… that isn’t a concern for you?”
She narrowed her eyes. She didn’t like where this was going, not at all. “There’s a reason we get trained the way we do. There are measures and protocols in place that help keep us safe. The Auror Corps knows what it’s doing. And it’s a lot of office work, actually. A lot more than you’d expect.”
“That may be true,” Blaise said mildly. “But even so Ron Weasley still nearly had his arm blown off, and he’s supposed to be one of the best they have.”
“Well, yeah, things happen. Risk is part of the job.”
“So why would you do it?”
“Because I would be risking my life to help people.”
He simply looked at her, and Vesper felt a surge of irritation. No, more than irritation. It was outright anger.
“You don’t think I can handle it?”
“I didn’t say that,” Blaise said in that obnoxiously calm voice of his. “But I would be lying if I said I approved.”
Approved???
And, just like that, Vesper was wide awake and ready to go. She tossed the covers aside and scrambled out of the bed, unconcerned that she was stark naked. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
Blaise seemed to finally realize that he had said exactly the wrong thing. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he said as Vesper searched the floor for her underwear. She found them, thankfully, along with the t-shirt she had worn the night before. She hurried to put them on. “But I am concerned. It was all just so sudden.”
“It’s not your job to be concerned,” Vesper said stubbornly, pulling the t-shirt on over her head. “You’re not my boyfriend. You have no say in this at all.”
His jaw clenched. “No,” he said. “But I am your friend.”
“Oh, you are, are you?” She was searching for her jeans now, refusing to look at him.
“Yes. And friends share their concerns with each other.”
“You have nothing to be concerned about. I needed a career change. End of story.”
“I don’t think that’s true. I think there’s more to it than that.”
“Well, there isn’t,” she said, aware that the defensiveness in her voice belied everything she said. “You can sit here and think about it all you want, but it won’t do you any good, and it won’t change my mind.”
He watched her silently as she fastened her jeans and threw her hair into a ponytail with help from the Muggle hair tie she had been wearing on her wrist.
“It wasn’t my intention to make you angry,” he said finally, when it was clear she was about to go.
“It never is,” she countered. “But you do it anyway. I never let you be high-handed when we were together. I don’t know why you’d think I’d start now.”
He sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Truly, I am.”
She felt herself deflate a little. “Thank you,” she said.
“I just want you to… to be safe.”
“I’m very safe,” she said. “I’m one of the best duelists in the world. I’m even better than Ron Weasley. And I’ll do everything in my power to keep my limbs intact, I promise.”
He looked for a moment like he wanted to argue, but then thought better of it. “Very well,” he said.
“I really do have to go,” she said.
“I know. But are you… can I…” He licked his lips. “Can I see you tonight?”
In way too deep, said a voice in her head.
“No, sorry. I’m having dinner at Harry’s tonight,” she replied, not meeting his eyes. She was glad, at least, that she didn’t have to lie.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, Draco’s on shift until tomorrow and it’s nice for Harry to have company now and then, since it’s just him and Teddy a lot of the time, you know.” She wasn’t sure why she felt a need to explain this, but then again, Blaise often brought that feeling out in her.
“Of course,” he said. “I hope you enjoy yourself.”
“I’m sure I will.” Merlin, why did she feel so guilty? She hated this. This was all just… not good. “You’re going to Hermione’s party tomorrow, right?”
“Naturally,” he replied.
“So I’ll see you there.”
“Yes, you will.”
“Ok, well…” What did she do? Did she kiss him goodbye? Or would that send the wrong message? Yes, it probably would. “See you then. Bye. Have a good day at work.”
“You too,” he said softly as she turned, making for the door. “Goodbye, Vesper.”
***
She arrived at the Ministry with only a few minutes to spare, her heart hammering. She hated being rushed, and she hated being late. She used to be up by 5 or 5:30 every morning, so she’d always have time for her full morning routine. Being with Blaise had taught her to enjoy the occasional “lie-in,” as the Brits called it. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
When she arrived at the classroom she saw that Ron was already there, not a good sign, but at least he hadn’t started the lesson yet. She snuck in quietly, happy to find a desk next to Declan free.
“Cutting it close, aren’t you?” Declan murmured to her.
“It’s been an interesting morning,” she said.
Declan raised his eyebrows in curiosity but didn’t get the chance to ask, as Ron called for everyone’s attention and the chatter quieted down.
“Good morning, everyone.” Ron looked around the room, waiting for everyone to get settled in their seats. “It’s been a full week and I’ve thrown a lot of information at you regarding interviewing techniques and taking witness statements. You all have done well, but it’s time to take it to the next level and talk about one of the most important tools that we Aurors have at our disposal: pensieve memories. As you know from reading your handbooks it is standard protocol now to request pensieve memories from all witnesses after we interview them. Can anyone tell me why we do this? Why are pensieve memories so much more valuable than witness statements?”
A number of trainees raised their hands, including Declan and Vesper.
“Abernathy,” Ron called.
“Pensieve memories are more detailed and accurate than memories recalled verbally,” Abernathy said.
“Yes, that’s correct. And why is that?”
Abernathy frowned, seeming stumped. Ron looked around the room. “Can anyone tell me?”
He was met with silence as all the trainees considered the question. Vesper furrowed her brow in concentration, but she couldn’t for the life of her remember.
“You all should know this,” Ron said impatiently, “considering you all received Charms NEWTs. I know you learned it.” More silence. Ron sighed, shaking his head. “The charm used to create a pensieve memory draws not only details from our active memories, but also from our subconscious. We take in a lot more knowledge and detail than we realize, but not all of it is readily accessible to us when we try to recall an event. The Pensieve Charm lets us access those buried details, resulting in a richer, more realistic memory than what we can see in our mind’s eye. Now, why is this important? How does it help us?”
This time, many more hands shot up, obviously wanting to prove that they weren’t complete dunces, as Ron seemed to think they were at the moment.
“Ross,” said Ron, looking at Declan.
“A witness may remember more than they realize, subconsciously,” Declan answered. “There may be details pertinent to the case in the pensieve memory that don’t appear in the witness’ original statement.”
“Precisely,” Ron said. “It is very common for a witness to have left out something of significance without realizing it. A pensieve memory can fill in some of those gaps. It is also very useful in determining if a witness is being honest. There will almost always be small differences between the statement and the memory, but if there’s anything glaring or major, it gives us reason to be suspicious.”
Vesper raised her hand.
“Yes, Kemp?” Ron asked.
“But can’t pensieve memories be altered, if someone knows what they’re doing? Wouldn’t a witness who isn’t being honest try to then give you a false memory so they don’t get caught in the lie?”
Ron smiled. “An excellent point,” he said, and Vesper suppressed a pleased smile. “And one that leads to our next set of notes, in fact. Yes, sometimes you may receive pensieve memories that have been tampered with. There are many ways to try and alter a memory, but there are also signs that point to such a thing being done. Some are obvious, some more subtle. Write this down.” He waved his wand and a set of notes appeared on the chalk board behind him, detailing the ways to determine if a pensieve memory is genuine or if it has been tampered with. The trainees scrambled for ink and parchment and began scribbling notes furiously.
After those notes came more, talking about the protocols for analyzing a pensieve memory and what to look for. I thought this lesson was going to be practical, Vesper thought, a little disappointed, as her wrist started to cramp up from writing.
But, to her delight, when the initial notes were done, Ron announced that they were going to practice memory analysis firsthand.
“Usually it’s been standard practice to teach you the basics and to discuss analysis in a theoretical way. But, frankly, it ends up being a load of rubbish, in my opinion,” he told the class. “You cannot become good at this sort of thing through theory alone. You need actual experience. So, I’ve designed a little class activity for you.”
All the trainees exchanged excited looks with each other. They, like Vesper, all preferred to do something interesting rather than sit there and take notes.
“It will be completed in pairs, which I will assign in a moment,” Ron went on. “Each team will receive a case file,” his hand fell onto a stack of files next to him on the desk, “which will contain case notes, witness accounts, and a pensieve memory from a key witness, all from real cases that Aurors have solved in the past using pensieve memories. You will familiarize yourself with the details of your assigned case, then analyze the provided memory. It is not your goal to solve the case outright, however I do expect you to use your analysis of the memory to find new lines of inquiry that haven’t been explored yet. Your marks will be based on the lines of inquiry you come up with, so be both creative and meticulous. Now, to the teams.” He conjured a piece of parchment and looked it over. “Abernathy and Fischer,” he started to read off, “Morgan and Dempsey, Green and Rothschild, Kemp and Ross…”
Vesper turned to Declan with a grin to find him already smiling at her. “A nice thing about being friends with the teacher, eh?” he said, and Vesper had to agree. Ron knew there were only certain trainees she would want to work with. She’d have been fine with Fischer or Green also, but Declan was definitely the best.
“All right, now you’re all paired up, come get a file,” Ron said. “Start reading. When you’re ready to begin analyzing the memory you can retrieve one of the pensieves from the back of the room. Levitation charms only!” he barked, making sure they heard him. “They’re heavy buggers. Don’t go trying to show off by carrying it yourself, or we’ll be taking you to St. Mungo’s to get your arms put back in your sockets.”
Vesper and Declan both chuckled at that. Vesper would not have put it past Dempsey to try such a thing.
“All right, what have we got?” Declan asked her, looking over her shoulder as she opened the file.
“Looks like an abduction,” Vesper said, focusing on the notes in front of her instead of the way Declan’s presence behind her made her feel warm. She could feel his breath ever so lightly on her shoulder, and it was distracting. “Here,” she said, casting a Duplication Charm to make copies of all the notes. “That way we both can read.”
“Good thinking,” he said, taking the copies from her.
For the next half hour they read over the notes, occasionally making a comment when something came up that they found interesting. Declan starting taking notes on his copy, keeping track of details and questions they might want to return to later, which Vesper thought was prudent of him, and not something she would have thought to do.
The case seemed pretty straightforward. Two masked men had arrived at the home of Eamon and Eloise Parrish in the middle of the night. Having heard a noise downstairs, the couple went to investigate, where they confronted the men in the living room. Wands were drawn and a standoff ensued, at least until another man came in through the back and grabbed Eloise. Eamon engaged the men in a duel but was quickly overtaken and knocked unconscious. When he came to, his wife and her abductors were gone, and there was a ransom demand waiting for him on his kitchen table.
Eamon, who had a great deal of money thanks to a recent inheritance, considered simply paying the ransom, but ended up contacting the Aurors instead. It was the right call, but unfortunately their investigation hadn’t turned up anything of significance, at least according to the case notes so far. Of course, this case was actually an old one, and had already been solved. But they were only receiving case notes for part way through, to see if they could figure out the rest on their own.
“It had to be someone who knew about the inheritance,” said Declan. “That can’t be a coincidence. A man comes into a load of money and only a couple of weeks later, his wife is abducted?”
“I agree,” said Vesper. “So it’s likely someone he knows, at least peripherally.”
“Or someone she knows.”
“Maybe…” But Vesper was skeptical. Eloise Parrish lived a fairly insular life. She didn’t work, only kept the house, socialized with her friends, cooked, tended the garden… everything you’d expect from a housewife. It was hardly a life where she’d make a lot of enemies. “It’s more likely a connection to him, I think.” He was a lawyer, a prosecutor of dangerous criminals. It was likely someone was doing this to him out of revenge, with a nice payday in it for them as a bonus.
“Either way, I’m ready to see the memory whenever you are.”
“Sure, let’s do it.”
Declan levitated one of the pensieves over and put it on the desk.
“So, we’re looking for discrepancies between Parrish’s memory and his account of what happened, right?” Vesper said as Declan opened the vial and poured the memory into the stone basin.
“Right,” Declan agreed. “Plus any details that Parrish may not have thought to mention. We may have to watch it a few times though.”
She nodded, and they both bent over the swirling, misty liquid of the pensieve, plunging their faces in and immediately getting sucked into the memory.
They found themselves in a darkened bedroom in the middle of the night. Vesper could just make out two figures asleep in the bed. She longed to cast lumos so she could see better, but knew it would be pointless. Such magic didn’t work inside a pensieve memory. She would only be able to see as well as Eamon Parrish himself did, which meant the room would remain dark, at least for now.
There was a sound downstairs, a crash of sorts. Eloise sat up immediately, followed not long after by Eamon.
“Did you hear that?” Eloise asked into the dark, her voice shaking with nerves.
“Yes, I did,” came Eamon’s deep drawl.
“I think someone’s downstairs.”
They sat quietly for a moment, listening. The sound of very faint footsteps could be heard, as well as the creak of a floorboard. It wasn’t as loud as the crash had been, but it was unmistakable.
Eamon lit his wand, much to Vesper’s satisfaction. She could see the room much more clearly now, and make out the lines of worry etched into Eamon Parrish’s face.
“Stay here,” he told his wife as he got out of bed. “I’ll have a look.”
But Eloise didn’t take obediently to that, just as Eamon had mentioned in his account. She grabbed her own wand off her bedside table and followed him out. Vesper and Declan followed as well.
“Don’t even bother to argue,” she told him in the quietest of murmurs, which Vesper could barely make out. “Two is safer than one.”
Eamon looked irritated but said nothing as the two made their way downstairs, wands drawn, stepping very carefully so as not to make a sound. Vesper and Declan both found themselves doing the same, even though they could be neither seen nor heard by anyone in the memory, of course. But it was just so quiet, they couldn’t help it.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs Eamon waved his wand to light the lamps, and that’s when the first spell was fired, coming from one of the two men dressed head to toe in black, face covered, who was standing in the sitting room, as if waiting for them.
Luckily Eamon was able to block the jinx, firing back a Disarming Charm, which was dodged.
“Get behind me!” Eamon said to his wife as he threw up a powerful shield in front of both of them.
“He’s a decent duelist,” Vesper remarked aloud. “Good reflexes.”
“And a strong shield,” Declan agreed. “That’s why there was a standoff. The abductors must have realized it was pointless to try and penetrate it.”
“Still,” Vesper said, watching the body language of the two men in black closely. “You think they would have tried something.”
“They’re stalling. Don’t forget, they’ve got their third man coming around the back.”
“That’s right.” Vesper turned just in time to see the third man in question come into view before making a beeline right for Eloise. She knew it was just a memory, but in that moment Vesper felt her heart start pounding as she watched the man seize Eloise around the waist and drag her, with her thrashing and screaming, out through the back door of the house. The screams especially sent chills right down her spine, and she had to force herself to stay in place and not try and help. She couldn’t do anything for Eloise. She had to stay and watch what happened next.
The action had already started by the time she turned back. Eamon had dropped his shield and was going after Eloise, shrieking her name. But a number of jinxes were thrown his way, and he turned momentarily to fire back, missing on both counts. Before he could make it to the back door, he was hit with a stunner from behind and was knocked out.
With this, the memory immediately began to swirl and Vesper felt a tugging sensation as she and Declan were lifted up and out of the memory. They landed feet first back in the classroom.
“Well, that happened fast,” Vesper said. “Thoughts so far?”
“It’s pretty in line with Eamon’s account,” Declan said. “I don’t think he was lying.”
“And there were no signs of memory tampering.”
“No, it seemed pretty clear. Still, there was something sort of odd about it.”
“I agree. It was… off, somehow.” She thought about it some more. “It was like… like they knew that Eamon and Eloise would both come downstairs, and were just waiting to ambush them.”
“You’re right. And that initial crash was loud, louder than I would have expected. Either they’re bumbling and incompetent, or they were that loud on purpose, to wake the couple up.”
“But why would they do that?” Vesper asked. “Why deliberately alert someone that you’ve broken into their house?”
“To draw them downstairs?”
“Yeah, but they only wanted Eloise, right? How could they have guaranteed that she would have followed her husband? What if she had stayed upstairs? It would have been a lot harder to get to her, and Eamon might have been effectively able to block them.”
Declan sighed. “You’re right.”
Vesper thought about it some more. “I think we need to watch it again.”
“I agree.”
They dove back in and were soon in the dark bedroom again. Vesper suggested that they try to listen more closely to what was happening downstairs, in case Eamon picked up on some conversation by the abductors that he hadn’t realized. But it was for naught. There was a light buzz of murmuring, but nothing intelligible.
The rest of the memory proceeded as it had before. Vesper did her best to try and pay attention to things she hadn’t been before, but didn’t catch anything new. Before she knew it Eamon was getting knocked unconscious again and they were being kicked out of the memory once more.
They stood together in the classroom, both of them lost in thought for a moment as the other teams worked around them.
“There’s just something…” Vesper said. “It was just too easy. It all went too smoothly for the abductors. So many things could have gone wrong with the plan, but they didn’t. It went perfectly.”
“I keep thinking about that third man,” said Declan. “How did he know it would be best to come through the back of the house? How did he know Eloise would be right there, within snatching distance?”
“The other two positioned them that way, set it up so Eamon was defending from the front.”
“So why wasn’t Eloise guarding from the back, then? She insisted on coming downstairs with him, but then she never fired a single spell.”
“Maybe she didn’t think to put a shield up. Maybe she was too scared, wasn’t thinking straight.” But Vesper found herself immediately rethinking that. “It doesn’t really track, though, does it? According to the notes, Eamon and Eloise met in a dueling club at Hogwarts. They were both competent duelists. She may have been a housewife but that didn’t make her useless. She should have at least attempted to defend herself with magic.”
“Did the third man take her wand when he grabbed her? Maybe that’s why she couldn’t defend herself.”
Vesper thought back, trying to remember what she had seen. But she couldn’t recall. “I don’t know. Maybe he did.”
“Well, let’s have a look then, shall we?”
So they went back in. This time, they agreed to both keep a watchful eye on Eloise. She seemed genuinely scared, although Vesper couldn’t help but note how quickly she reacted to the initial crash, almost like she had been expecting it. Still, Vesper couldn’t see anything amiss in her behavior as they made their way downstairs. She stuck close to her husband, looking around with wide, wary eyes. Her wand hand, Vesper noticed, was quite steady, though.
When the first jinx was fired she ducked rather than tried to block it, which Vesper thought an odd choice. But maybe it was automatic, instinctual. Maybe even with all of her dueling training her fight or flight response was still geared towards flight.
Eamon had thrown up his shield by now, while Eloise stood behind him, wand pointed at the abductors. But then, suddenly, as if she had heard a noise, her head turned, and she looked behind her. It was brief, only a second, but she had done it.
“Wait a second,” Vesper said aloud, her suspicions mounting. Because only a few seconds later the third man came into view and Eloise did it again, looked behind her, very briefly. When he was close she suddenly tensed, like she was waiting for an impact, before she was grabbed around the waist. And then, like a switch had been flicked, she started to scream and fight, her wand now easily captured in her abductor’s hand.
Eamon was calling after her now and jinxes were flying, but Vesper’s brain was already whirring into high gear, putting the pieces together.
She knew. Eloise Parrish had known all along.
When they were out of the memory, she immediately turned to Declan. “Did you see what I saw?”
“She looked behind her,” Declan said. “Twice.”
“Like she knew it was coming.”
“She had to have seen him that second time.”
Their collective excitement was mounting.
“She was in on it,” Vesper said, pacing a little. “She had to be. She knew the plan, knew to ‘wake up’ at the sound of the crash, knew to follow her husband downstairs, knew to position herself where the third man could grab her easily.”
“It makes sense,” Declan said. “I have to say, though, that she’s a damn good actress. I could see why Eamon didn’t suspect for a moment, at least not consciously.”
“So, where do we go from here?’ Vesper said, remembering the rest of the assignment. “I think it’s safe to assume she staged the abduction to get her hands on her husband’s inheritance. Why else would she have done it?”
“Yes, but I want to know what part the abductors played in all of this. Were they just hired muscle? Was she the mastermind of the whole thing, and she just paid them off? And where would she find people who would be willing to do it?”
“More importantly, I think, is the fact that she obviously trusted them. The third man, at least. She let him grab her, take her wand. I don’t think it could have been someone she hired off the street. It would have to be someone she felt safe with.”
“A lover, perhaps?”
“She was having an affair? That would make sense.”
“Maybe she was sick of playing housewife, wanted out. So she took a lover and then manipulated him into helping him fake an abduction.”
Vesper grinned. “How very femme fatale of her.”
Declan laughed. “Maybe, but do you have a better explanation?”
Vesper shook her head. “I sure don’t.”
“So, to your question, where do we go from here? What new lines of inquiry should we open?”
“Well, we need to establish motive. This is a very elaborate scheme, so there has to be a reason that she couldn’t get to his money by simpler means. I’d want to take a look at the couple’s financials, find out if there was any documentation in place protecting Eamon’s wealth, keeping her from accessing too much of it.”
“Good, good,” Declan said, nodding as he wrote that down.
“And I’d want to dig into her social life. Not the superficial, housewife stuff the Aurors had already looked at. I’d look into old connections, anything seedy. I’d check her datebook, see if there were any times where she wasn’t where she claimed to be. If she did have a lover I’d want to find out where they met up and how often, and what excuses she made to keep it from her husband.”
“So we would interview Eamon Parrish again, tell him what we’ve discovered, make him realize the truth, then hope he can give us more details of his wife’s comings and goings, see if there’s anything suspicious that he hadn’t thought of before.”
“Maybe get more pensieve memories of their previous interactions,” Vesper added, “watch her body language more closely, try to figure out what she’s hiding.”
“And try to find the identity of the lover, of course.”
“Of course.”
They kept brainstorming, and by the time they were done they’d filled an entire roll of parchment.
“This is a solid morning’s work,” Declan said with satisfaction as he looked at all they had come up with. “We make a good team.”
“Yes, we do.”
“Shall we turn it in, then?”
Vesper nodded, and they made their way to the front of the classroom, where Ron sat, watching things unfold.
“It looked promising over there, you two,” Ron said as he took the parchment and looked it over. A slow smile spread across his face as he read. “Well, this is quite thorough,” he said. “Well done. Full marks.”
Vesper and Declan both cheered in celebration. Vesper even did a little victory dance right there, making the two men laugh.
“All right, don’t get cocky,” Ron said, giving her a look.
Vesper simply grinned at him. “So, we were right? She had a lover who helped her stage an abduction?”
“Your theory matches very closely the ones the Aurors on the case had, and they followed many of these lines of inquiry,” he replied, indicating the parchment. “But no, it turned out that she did not have a lover. It was her brother who helped her, along with two old friends of theirs from childhood, who were… not exactly law-abiding citizens, we could say. Either way, by digging deeper into Eloise Parrish’s personal life, they discovered the one she kept hidden, found where she as secretly meeting her brother to plan the abduction, and used that to track down her and the brother. I imagine if you were on the case, you would have gotten similar results.”
Vesper, though disappointed they hadn’t guessed exactly right, was gratified to know they had gotten close. It made her feel better about her own investigative skills and the prospect of using them once she was on the job.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
Ron looked at his watch. “Take lunch, I suppose. Field training begins at 1, as you know.” He was interrupted as Morgan and Dempsey approached to turn in their parchment and get graded. Both men threw Vesper dirty looks, and she rolled her eyes.
That’s right, jerk-offs, I beat you here. Live with it.
“So, you’re off for now,” Ron was saying, getting Vesper’s attention again. “Just be ready at 1.”
Vesper and Declan thanked Ron for the lesson and left to grab some lunch, feeling elated.
“That was awesome,” Vesper said. “I wish we could do that again. I’d like to practice with a new case, see what the differences are.”
Declan smiled. “Yeah, I can see why pensieve memories are so useful. How would we have figured out the truth otherwise?”
“I bet if I asked Ron he’d give us new cases to practice with in our free time.”
Declan chuckled. “You never do things by halves, do you?”
Vesper merely shrugged. No, she didn’t. If she was going to work to be good at something, she was never actually going to stop at good. She was going to be exceptional. She was going to be the best.
“What do you say to a celebration tonight?” Declan asked her. “Drinks, just you and me?”
Her heart fluttered a little at the invitation before remembering that she’d already made plans. “I’d love to, but I can’t tonight,” she said, genuinely sorry. “I’m having dinner with Harry and his godson.”
“I see how it is,” Declan said with a grin. “Blowing me off to go hang out with the Savior of the wizarding world? You’re just that cool.”
She gave him a playful nudge with her elbow. “It’s not like that, and you know it.”
He laughed. “I know.”
“But I do want to hang out this weekend.” She had a sudden idea. “Do you like parties?”
“It depends on who’s attending.”
“Well this one would be a birthday party for the fiancée of a certain Auror Weasley, and would be attended by a hell of a lot of Gryffindors, who you likely know, as well as some Slytherins, I’m sure, from Draco Malfoy’s cohort. Plus some other random folks, like me. But all good people.”
Declan raised his eyebrows. “You’re inviting me to Hermione Granger’s birthday party?”
“Sure, do you want to go? It’s kind of on the earlier side… starts at five, I think, so the people with kids can come without having to get a sitter. We’d be done by eight and could grab drinks together afterwards.”
Declan was smiling widely now, a smile that made Vesper’s insides lurch pleasantly. “I’d love that. It sounds like fun.”
“Great,” Vesper said, realizing she sounded a little breathy. “I’ll give you my address and you can come over around… what do you think? 5:30? And we can go together.”
“Sounds perfect.”
They both bought sandwiches at the lunch cart and then made their way to the rec room to eat. They chatted pleasantly, and Vesper outwardly enjoyed the conversation. On the inside though, there was a bit of a war going on. Inviting Declan to the party had been a bit impulsive. She wasn’t really sorry she had; she did genuinely want to spend time with him. But she’d also just talked to Blaise about how she’d see him there as well.
Was she unconsciously playing the two men? That certainly wasn’t what she wanted to be doing. In actuality, she knew she liked Declan but was still not sure what she wanted from him. And when it came to Blaise, well… she supposed in the end she was just trying to find some way to separate herself from him, get out of this relationship limbo they both seemed to be dancing in. And maybe Declan was her way out. Maybe he could be just the distraction she needed.
And then she felt guilty all over again. Declan deserved better than that. On the other hand, she knew, as he smiled at her and laughed at her jokes, she wasn’t about to rescind the invitation either.
***
The moment Vesper left the floo and landed on her feet in Harry’s sitting room, she was besieged by a tiny human who squealed and immediately wrapped his limbs around her leg.
“Oh no! A Ted-monster!” she cried, as she always did when Teddy did this. “How will I ever escape?”
She shook her leg out, trying (half-heartedly) to dislodge him, but he only held on tighter, giggling madly.
“I’m done for!” she said, throwing her head back dramatically. “This is the end! He’s just too strong!”
"Teddy, are you attacking Vesper again?” came Harry’s voice from the kitchen. The man himself appeared a moment later, wiping his hands on a dishrag.
“Yes,” said Teddy, and he smiled up at Vesper.
“It’s all right, don’t even worry about it,” Vesper said. She started to try and walk, picking up her leg with the five-year-old on it and taking a step. Teddy started giggling again. “I’ll just walk around like this for the rest of my life. No big deal.”
She knew she must look ridiculous, as Harry was starting to laugh now, too, but she didn’t mind. Not at all. She lumbered over to Harry and he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“I was just about to start dinner,” he said.
“Perfect, I’ll help.”
“Me too!” cried Teddy, finally letting go of Vesper’s leg. “I wash all the vegetables!”
“That’s right,” said Harry. “That’s your job. And to set the table, remember?”
Teddy nodded and got to work, and Harry looked at Vesper again, who grinned.
“How’s it going, Papa?” she asked him.
“It’s going,” he said. Vesper took a moment to study his face, noticing the subtle bags under his eyes. “It’s good, actually.”
“Harry!” Teddy called from the kitchen. “Can we play music please?”
Harry sighed. “Of course, of course.” He indicated for Vesper to follow him, and they made their way into Harry’s shiny modern kitchen. It was Vesper’s dream kitchen, actually, and she had decided, when she one day had enough money saved to hire some magical renovators, she would turn her own kitchen into something similar. “Do you want to help Teddy pick something out?” Harry asked her, indicating the stereo.
“Sure, happy to.” She crossed the room to join Teddy. “What do you think, Ted? What’s your favorite?”
“The mix!” he said.
She heard Harry laugh from the range. “I should have guessed.”
“What’s the mix?”
“It’s a CD I put together with some of his favorite songs. I noticed he would get tired of listening to a whole album all the way through so I made something that has a little bit of everything.”
“What’s on it?”
Teddy handed her the case and she looked at the track list, written out in Harry’s masculine scrawl. “Fell in Love with a Girl” by the White Stripes, “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin, “Obvious Child” by Paul Simon…
“This looks good,” she said. “Let’s do it.”
She helped him put the CD in the stereo, and after a few seconds the raw sounds of Jack White’s guitar could be heard, followed not long after by Meg on the drums. Teddy immediately jumped around excitedly, (sort of) dancing along to the music. Vesper decided to play along, banging her head and doing her best air-guitar. Teddy giggled at her. “You’re silly,” he said.
“Yes, I am well aware,” she replied. She put a hand on his head. “Come on, rock star, let’s help Harry.”
Teddy went to sink, climbing up on a little step stool so he could reach inside, and started washing the tomatoes and cucumbers, just as he’d promised. Vesper joined Harry at the range.
“He’s got a lot of energy,” she said to him quietly.
“Yes, he does.” Harry gave her a wry smile. “He’s often like this right before dinner. He’s just had his quiet time so he’s reenergized.”
“Well I’ll do my best to wear him out, I promise.”
“It is much appreciated,” said Harry.
With the vegetables washed Vesper started prepping them for the salad while Harry seasoned a pork tenderloin and then set to pan searing it. “I was going to make an orange sauce,” he told her. “What do you think?”
“Sounds great,” she said. “Much more gourmet than I usually do.”
“I’m trying to keep my skills up. I modify things for Teddy, of course. He’ll probably just eat his with brown sauce. But I don’t want to lose everything I’ve learned over the years. Plus, Draco has a more sophisticated palate, and I’m trying to keep him happy as well.”
“You are just too good, Harry Potter,” she told him. “No one would blame you if you took the easier route.”
Harry shrugged. “If it makes my boys happy, why not? It’s not that much more work, honestly.”
She gave Harry’s back an appreciative rub as she handed him off the shallot she had chopped for him the sauce. Draco and Teddy were two very lucky guys.
“So, how’s work?” she asked him.
They continued to cook as he told her about what was going on at the Foundation and how smoothly the after school program was running.
“I think I’ll enroll Teddy in it next year,” Harry said. “He’ll be old enough then and I think he’d like it.”
“That’s a great idea.”
Eventually Teddy was done setting the table and wanted to be entertained, so Vesper left Harry to go dance around with the boy some more, as the stereo was now playing “Love You Madly” by Cake, one of Vesper’s favorites. It had the added bonus of (hopefully) getting a lot of Teddy’s energy out, so he could sit still for dinner and start winding down for the day.
Luckily it seemed to work, as by the time Harry declared dinner ready Teddy was all danced out and came willingly. They all enjoyed their meal as they listened to Teddy talk about his day, especially his friends. Teddy was very focused on other people, what they were doing, what they were feeling, more than he was on himself. Vesper found that very impressive. She wondered if it was an inherent trait or if he learned it from being raised by Andromeda and Harry, two very generous, selfless people.
Dinner was delicious as well, cooked perfectly, complete with the glass of red wine that Harry had poured her without even asking. Of course, he knew what she liked. He was just that kind of guy.
Still, she had to admit she was a little relieved when Harry announced that it was time for Teddy’s bath, signaling the start of his nighttime routine. The boy was wonderful, what any parent would want, but he still required a lot of energy. Vesper wondered how Harry managed it day in and day out without keeling over. Although, come to think of it, he did look a little worse for wear.
“Do you want any help?” she asked him.
“Thanks, but I’ve got it well in hand. Maybe you want to read Teddy a story before he goes to bed?”
“Yes!” said Teddy. “Please Vesper, read me a story?”
“I’d be happy to,” Vesper said.
She joined Harry in the bathroom while Teddy took his bath, chatting about this and that while the boy played with his toy ships in the water. When he was all clean Harry wrapped him in a towel and rubbed him down, then set to coercing him into his pajamas. By the time all was said and done, Teddy was yawning, and Vesper wondered if they would even make it through a whole story before he drifted off to sleep.
She’d underestimated Teddy’s love of books, however, and after she had finished a story from Tales of Beedle the Bard and one of Teddy’s favorite Muggle stories about Winnie the Pooh, she had to put her foot down and tell him to go to sleep.
“You’ve got a big day tomorrow,” she reminded him. “You’re going to Hermione’s party and there will be lots of people you know there. You don’t want to be too tired for that, do you?”
Teddy shook his head. “No.”
“So, best to get plenty of sleep now, don’t you think?”
Teddy considered that. “All right,” he said finally.
She and Harry both kissed Teddy goodnight and tucked him in, which was an important part of the ritual as well. Then they went downstairs for some well-earned grown-up time.
Harry settled them on the sofa in the sitting room with a beer each, and they both sat there for a bit, enjoying the quiet.
“You seem tired,” she told Harry finally, hoping he would open up to her about it a bit.
Harry snorted before taking a sip of his beer. “That’s because I am,” he said.
“Teddy?”
He nodded. “Parenting is exhausting. I mean, I knew it would be. But I will readily admit I wasn’t fully prepared for what a full-time job it is. And with Draco at the hospital so much, it falls on me a lot of the time to do everything. That’s why it was so great to have you here tonight, honestly.”
Vesper smiled warmly. “I was happy to come over. Though I don’t feel like I really did all that much.”
“You did more than you know. Really.”
“Well, I can see how much work it is, but you’re doing a really good job with him. He seems really happy.”
“He’s adjusting well,” Harry agreed. “I can tell he misses Andromeda, though, and I think that will only get worse and worse until he gets to see her.”
“And that won’t be for a while, right?”
“Yeah. The first round of treatment took a lot out of her. So we all agreed it would be best to wait until she bounces back a bit. She’s looking pretty sickly right now, and she doesn’t want Teddy to see her that way, understandably. She wants to protect him.”
Vesper nodded. “Yeah, I get that.”
“So…” Harry sighed. “We wait. Teddy waits. We’ll see how long he can hold out before it really starts to affect him.”
“It might not be as bad as you think,” Vesper said, trying to reassure him. “He has you, and sometimes Draco, and it’s obvious he sees you as his dad. It’s really sweet, actually.”
Harry smiled. “I hope he feels that way. Because I certainly see him as my son, that’s for sure.”
Vesper felt a strong surge of affection overtake her. “You are just too freaking adorable sometimes,” she told him with a playful shove. “If you weren’t a happily committed man I’d totally make out with you right now.”
Harry laughed. “And incur Draco’s wrath for making a move on me? Trust me, it wouldn’t be worth it.”
“That big softie? I can take him.”
Harry raised his eyebrows skeptically. “You’ve only seen his good side. But believe me when I say, when he’s angry, he’s a force to be reckoned with.”
Vesper grinned, but in truth, she believed it. She believed it of all of her friends here in the UK. They had been through a war. They had been through things she couldn’t imagine. They were all wonderful, generous, warm people on the outside. But on the inside, buried under all that humanity, they were strong, hard, and unforgiving. Trauma did that to you. She knew all too well.
“Even so, I bet you are worth it,” she said with a wink, and Harry rolled his eyes.
Of course, he knew she was kidding. This was just one of the ways she showed her affection. She would never do anything to jeopardize her friendship with Harry or Draco, or their relationship with each other. Both men were way too important to her.
Still, she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t at least internally acknowledge that she’d thought about it. Harry was a catch by any measure: honest, loyal, kind, selfless, and with a sex appeal that was hard to pinpoint. He was nice to look at, sure, but it was more than that. Maybe it was the lack of concern, the lack of vanity. Or his quiet strength and confidence, like he had nothing to prove to anyone. Whatever it was, it made him incredibly sexy.
In another life, one where Harry wasn’t already madly in love with Draco by the time he and Vesper had first met, one where she hadn’t fallen hard for Blaise not long after, she could imagine them getting together. But that wasn’t the life they were living, and she was content, in this one, to have her friendship with Harry. That was enough.
“What about you?” Harry asked her, characteristically steering the conversation away from himself. “How are things going?”
“Auror training is great,” she told him honestly. ”I mean, it’s kicking my ass, but in a good way. And Ron’s an awesome teacher.”
“That’s good to hear,” said Harry. “I know he was nervous when he accepted the post. He’s so used to being in the field, he wasn’t sure how he’d do in the classroom.”
“He could do it on a permanent basis,” Vesper said. “The Auror Corps would be better off for it, honestly. We did this great practical lesson today on pensieve memories… apparently Ron designed it himself, said the classroom portion used to be too traditional on that subject, so he changed it. It was amazing. I learned so much.”
“So you’re happy with your decision?”
Vesper nodded. “Yeah. Really happy. I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
“Good. I’m glad.” He took another sip of his beer. “And what about that bloke, Declan? You still hanging around with him?”
Vesper felt her stomach give a lurch. “Yeah, I am. I invited him to Hermione’s party, actually.”
“Really? Like, as a date?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. But I…” She bit her lip. “I think I might have done it for the wrong reasons.”
“What do you mean?”
She glanced at her friend, wondering if she wanted to get into this. But Harry wouldn’t judge. He would be honest, sure, but he wouldn’t tell her what to do.
“I don’t know how to get over Blaise,” she said.
“Ah,” he said in a knowing tone.
“I try and I try, and every time I think I’m making progress it just… I don’t know. I get sucked back in. I guess I thought… I hoped that spending more time with Declan might make me stop thinking about Blaise. Because I like Declan a lot. I could actually see something happening with him. But then I think about Blaise and about how I’m not really over him yet and I feel guilty. I don’t want to use Declan or anything.”
Harry nodded. “Of course not. But are you sure that’s what you’re doing?”
“I don’t know,” Vesper replied. “Sometimes I think it is, sometimes I think it isn’t.” She looked at him. “Have you ever done anything like that? Pursued someone just to get over an ex?”
Harry took a moment to think about it. “Not really,” he said. “Although…” His cheeks turned pink. “Well, it’s not exactly the same situation...”
“What?” Vesper asked, her mouth breaking out into an involuntary grin. She loved Harry’s rare moments of self-consciousness. “Tell me.”
He looked at her sideways. “Not a lot of people know this. Draco does, of course, but not Ron or Hermione. I think they would be a bit upset with me, if they knew. Ron especially.”
“I won’t tell,” Vesper promised, now eager for the information. “What is it?”
“I sort of… well… I wouldn’t acknowledge it to myself at the time, but I sort of had a bit of a crush on Draco before I broke up with Ginny.”
“Really…” Vesper said, thinking that over. She’d always understood that Harry’s relationship with Ginny and the one with Draco had been completely separate.
“Yeah. I mean, it wasn’t as simple as all that. I was attracted to him, but there was all this history and animosity and I didn’t think for a moment… well, suffice it to say that the attraction was there, but he wasn’t the reason I broke up with Ginny. We just weren’t compatible, in the end. But immediately following the breakup I’d turned my attention to Draco pretty fixedly, looking back on it. Again, I couldn’t acknowledge what I really wanted, not then, but the feelings were there.”
“Do you think it helped you get over Ginny?”
“Honestly, yeah, I think it did. I would have gotten over her anyway, because I felt good about my decision to end it from the beginning. But thinking about Draco, having even just the slightest prospect of something in the future, it helped take my mind off her. I never really gave myself the chance to wonder if it was a mistake or to have regrets.”
“And it was better that way, to not have regrets?”
“For me, yeah. Not for Ginny so much,” he added, looking sheepish. “We never really found our way back to a strong friendship, as you well know, and I think the fact that I moved on so quickly had a lot to do with it.”
Vesper nodded. She didn’t know Ginny as well as she knew the rest of Harry’s cohort, and that was because she very much had her own separate life now. She was on good terms with Harry and Draco, and still close with her family, of course. But her main social circle was the British Quidditch league, particularly her teammates on the Hollyhead Harpies. Sports was her world, and she didn’t step out of it all that much.
Would that happen to her with Blaise, if she started dating someone else right now? Would it ruin any chance they could have at a real friendship?
“I don’t want to lose Blaise,” she admitted. “That’s part of the problem. I don’t want to let him go. I want him to be in my life somehow. But we were never really friends, before we got together, so I don’t know what a friendship with him would look like. I don’t know how to separate my romantic feelings for him from my other feelings.”
Harry nodded. “Sure, that makes sense.”
“On the other hand, though, part of me obviously does want to get over him, because I keep pushing myself towards Declan, so…” She sighed heavily. “I don’t know.”
“Do you want to know what I think?”
“Yes. Very much.”
“I think there’s nothing wrong with hanging around with Declan, even getting close to him, so long as you don’t rush into anything.”
“You mean, don’t rush into anything physical?”
“Exactly. Just leave the sex out of it for a while. Sex can confuse everything, trust me.”
“You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”
“I am.” His cheeks had turned pink again. “When Draco and I… well, our first physical encounter, you might say… it was mostly lust-driven. It wasn’t until afterward, when Draco made us take a step back, that I could start to see that I was actually in love with him. I think if we had kept fooling around from the beginning, I wouldn’t have seen things so clearly. But we kept it as a friendship for a few weeks, and it made me realize, when we finally did get together, that I wanted something real with him, something serious. It’s possible the same thing could happen with you and Declan.”
“You think? We could have potential?”
“Well, I haven’t seen you two together, so I can’t say for sure. But it has been about five months now, hasn’t it? And Declan is the first guy you’ve shown any interest in. I think that says something. Maybe you’re drawn to him because you could really genuinely like him, but it’s all clouded because of Blaise right now. But if you gave yourself time… who knows what could happen?”
Vesper thought that over, realizing Harry was right. Declan was the first man she’d even looked at twice since the breakup. She’d been so closed off, unwilling to let anyone new into her life, but she suddenly found herself drawn to someone. That had to mean something, right? Maybe things could unfold with Declan the way they did for Harry and Draco, if she gave it the chance. Maybe she was finally healing from everything that had happened.
And wouldn’t that be nice? To be free?
However, there was still one thing that she had to do. She had to stay away from Blaise. She had to put an end to these little trysts that felt good in the moment but so confusing afterward. She could never find her way to clarity if she kept seeing him, so she had to stay away.
But the question remained, was she strong enough?
Up Next: Hermione gets an update on her parents and celebrates her birthday.
Book_addict_89: Yeah, they are really cute together aren’t they? I feel for Teddy, too, though. But he’s a resilient kid. He’ll get through it.
LadyShire: Congratulations! That’s really exciting. I will try to update as quickly as I can to keep you entertained.
I love that you are always trying to predict things that will happen down the road. I don’t want to give anything away, of course, but you have been right about some things so far (and wrong about some others), but I’m not going to tell you what. You’ll just have to find out for yourself!
Serpensangel: Thanks! Your wish is my command.
- 9
- 10
- 11
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Unstoppable