A Different Kind of Magic--UNDERGOING EDIT

There is some icky with Malfoy in this chapter but nothing extremely horrible compared to what I've written before. So if you get to the scene with Malfoy and Auror Kisklove and want to skip that feel free. It's a short bit anyway. Don't skip the whole chappy though it's got a lot of important info in it. Posting this now cause I love ya'll so much!



Chapter 67- Conundrum

“You’re fired. Pack it up Harry; I don’t want to see your face around here anymore. Shacklebolt’s orders.” Auror Kisklove tried to act nonchalant and walk away, but Harry’s grip was strong as he was grabbed from behind and whirled to face the stunned young man.

“What are you talking about? I haven’t done anything wrong! I’m the only one that volunteers for the crappy shifts, I never complain, I work all the overtime you can throw at me. What the hell do you want from me?” Harry braced himself. Since finding out Malfoy was running the show, he wasn’t all that surprised something like this was in the works, but he couldn’t let that show to his boss.

“I want you to leave,” he said simply, shrugging Harry’s hand off his shoulder.

“Are you going to tell me why?” Harry’s vivid green eyes beseeched the newest head Auror. He was thoroughly pissed, but entirely sure this man was different from the others that had headed the department in the recent past. Had he been wrong about Kisklove? What had changed? For fuck’s sake the man had just taken him out for drinks the night before!

“Ministry’s losing money. We have to downsize.”

“Why fire me, sir? There are loads of guys that slack off and bone the whores on their beat. You can’t seriously tell me you think I’m worse than the lot you stick on patrol down in London! Those blokes practically give you the two finger salute every time your back is turned! I’m the best employee you’ve got!”

Kisklove remained calm, cool. He was under orders and had to follow them, much as he liked the kid. It was a shame such a talented young man was being put out to pasture, but it couldn’t be helped. The security risk was too great. “Sorry Potter, you’re the highest paid and we needed more staff for the Inquisitorial prisons.”

Harry laughed. “What a fucking joke that is. What good have they ever served? Ever since Shacklebolt ever put those into effect not one person has been brought forward and convicted of anything concrete! There certainly hasn’t been any sort of punishment brought about that I can see.”

The brat was getting too nosy and a little bold. It was a good thing they were getting rid of him now. “Who ever said the people we bring to the prison were never punished?” The statement slipped passed his lips before he had fully thought it through. The other man’s eyes narrowed dangerously and he could see Harry begin to finger his wand through the sleeve of his robe.

“Get out, before I throw you out Potter!”

“Fine, but this isn’t over Kisklove. You have no right to fire me and I’m not going to rest until I bring you down.”

Kisklove sneered in return. “I’d like to see you try it. You have no ground to stand on. It’s nothing personal boy, just business as usual.”

With a derisive snort, Harry took off his Ministry badge and robe, throwing them down onto the floor at his boss’s feet. He turned on heel and stalked out of the Ministry, Disapparating with a loud ‘crack’ the minute he was outside the door.

The Head Auror went directly to Shacklebolt’s office, bursting in without knocking. “He’s gone, Minister. I fired him not five minutes ago.” When his gaze came to rest on the Minister’s chair, his heart stopped beating momentarily when he saw not Kingsley Shacklebolt, but Lucius Malfoy in the plush swivel chair.

“Very good Auror Kisklove. I trust there will be no more slips in security now that Potter has been removed.” Lucius coolly arched a haughty brow, tapping the snake’s head cane on the desk.

“No, My Lord. There is no one left on staff that has a significant history with the war or the Ministry of any importance besides the senior staff.”

“Very good. You know what will happen if I find out your staff is responsible for fucking with my plans.”

“Yes, My Lord. There will be no more mistakes Lord Malfoy.”

“Kneel, scum.”

Kisklove hit the floor with a dull thud, his knees cracking in protest. He tried desperately not to show his extreme fear as Lucius slowly rose from the desk and walked around to stand in front of him. There was no telling what the powerful man would make him do. All he could do was pray he walked out of the room alive each time he came face to face with the monster. Kisklove had been brought onboard to help fill the Inquisitorial prison for some scheme of his Lord’s. He didn’t know what for; just that no one that got brought in came out alive. He never saw the bodies again.
Lucius smirked down at the pathetic excuse for a human being in front of him. The fear practically rolled off the man in a tidal wave. Disgusting, but the man gave the best blow jobs of anyone on his staff. Long, elegant fingers had his cock out and shoved into the Aurors’ face before the man knew what had hit him.

“Well!” Lucius raged. “What are you waiting for? Suck my cock, and if you satisfy me, I will let you live.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Closing his eyes in revulsion, the terrified man opened his mouth and took the fanatic’s massive organ into his mouth for the umpteenth time, the salt of his tears mixing with his saliva as he worked it in and out. Lucius shoved himself brutally down his throat, coming within a few minutes. After finishing, he shoved Kisklove’s head away from him and excused the humiliated man with the jerk of his head.

Right outside the door, Sterling Kisklove strode quickly to the loo and vomited into the urinal, desperate to get rid of the nasty seed that he had been forced to swallow. Rinsing his mouth and washing his face in cold water brought back a measure of composure to the shaken man. It was never easy to be forced into the homosexual act he detested so much just to keep his fucking job. Sterling smirked into the mirror. That was the trick though, wasn’t it? He knew how to play the game, and the old bastard didn’t know that he had one up on him.

A quick jaunt and he was back in his office. He shut the door quietly, placing heavy locking and silencing wards over the entire area. He turned around and grinned at Narcissa Malfoy.

“I’m back, love.”

“Did he treat you alright?”

Kisklove frowned. “You knew he was here?”

“Of course I did. If I’d of told you he was in the office, would you have stopped by to check in with Shacklebolt?”

“No, probably not.” He pulled the beautiful witch to him when she approached, gripping her arse through the striking evening gown she had on.

“And if you’d have skipped that visit, he’d have suspected something and come right up to your office. That would not have been conducive to our little tryst, now would it?”

“No my love, of course not. As always, you are far more intelligent than I.”

“I know,” the self-assured witch stated, reaching up to run her fingers through her lover’s hair. Sterling was everything Lucius was not. He was a younger man, loved her not for her money or status, her jewels or favors, but simply for her. No one had ever loved her for who she was. It had been a lot easier than she had thought to get him the position as Head Auror when the other bloke had failed the appointment. A few well placed situations, documents and sexual favors had put him in the right place at the right time. Being a Slytherin paid off when you got what you wanted, and needed.

“Are you sure he’s not going to come up here? It’s pretty risky to have you here love.”

“Where else do you suggest we meet, Sterling? We can’t exactly make love on my husband’s bed now can we?”

“You know what I mean, witch,” he growled into her hair, both hands kneading her Pureblood breasts through the dress.

“Don’t worry darling, Lucius has an appointment at another of his establishments. He won’t be bothering us tonight.”

Sterling gasped when he pulled down the strap of her dress. A violent series of bruises cascaded down her arm and over her chest and belly. “He’s been beating you again! I’ll kill the bastard!”

“Stop being so dramatic darling! It was only a matter of time before this happened, and you knew that when you first started seeing me!” She pushed away from him, turning away in tears to stare out his office window to the street below, assured that no one could see the disillusioned building.

“Yes, but he’s hurting you, love. How can I turn my back on that?” He pleaded with her, insane with worry. “Come away with me Cissy. I can still get us out of here. We’ll go to the States. I have connections there and we never have to worry about that monster ever again!”

“I can’t do that. There are lives at stake. I’ve always stood by and let their lives be snuffed out. I must do what I can to at least save the children.”

“What, Shacklebolt’s kids? They’re beyond help and you know it! When our supply of bodies runs out for whatever little operation he’s running, they’re going to be the first ones he grabs to supplement the demand!”

“No, they will not! I will get them out of there, even if I have to die trying.” She turned to face him, her face contorted with grief and anger. “You have no idea what it’s like to be the wife of a sadistic monster. I keep thinking he is going to change into the man who used to love me, but now I can see he’s possessed. He carries a ring with him. I wasn’t supposed to see it, but he passed out with it hanging out of his shirt on his desk. It glowed with a light unlike I’ve ever seen. I could feel the blackness rolling off of it. I am all those children have. I need to make a difference, and if the lives of a few Mudblood children is all my life is worth at this point, I will give it up willingly as a sacrifice for all the evils that I have let just slip through my fingers. Please try and understand. This is my choice and I need you to stand by me, darling. I can’t do it without your love.”

“Oh Cissy.” How could he live with himself, hearing her selfless proclamation to save others when he sent them to their deaths at her husband’s bequest? He was a selfish bastard to take her love and betray her confidence with his actions.

He went to her then, grasping her tightly in his arms. Narcissa was like a ragdoll in his grip, pliant and yielding to his ministrations. Sterling quickly transfigured a plush rug underneath them, spelling off their clothing to make sweet, passionate love to this woman who surely would survive this madness and run away with him. If he could only convince her she was better off with him. There was still a chance.

Sterling and Narcissa made love deep into the night. No one questioned his office light being on as he often worked deep into the night on special assignments. Sated and exhausted, they collapsed into each other’s arms. Cissy dreamt of a world with Sterling and the impoverished children, orphaned by her husband’s madness, all under their care. Sterling dreamt of taking his Cissy away from England to the States where he could make love to her night and day, away from the horror that had become his life.

--

Lucius Malfoy got back from Snape Manor early after the delivery of the latest batch of prisoners he secured in the deep dungeons. The absence of his wife put another nail into the coffin of suspicion that she was having an affair. He put it on his mental to-do list to extract the truth from her when he next saw her. For her sake, she had better hope she had been faithful, or he would kill her. No one crossed Lucius Malfoy, not even his wife, and lived.

--

Remus looked up in surprise as Harry ate up the distance to his desk with his long stride. The young man looked very grim and determined; troubled.

“Harry! It’s good to see you, please, join me in my office.”

Harry nodded tersely and followed Lupin into the DADA office above and behind the classroom. There were stacks of parchment and files on the man’s desk which were placed into neat piles on the floor.

“Cuppa?”

“Sure.”

The two sat in companionable silence while Harry caught his breath. He felt kind of bad for disturbing the professor the day before classes started for the new school year, but he had to talk to somebody about his concerns before the next Order meeting. There was too much at stake not to, and he hadn’t been able to find Minerva.

The tea was delicious, hot and fragrant. It was the only comfort Harry had had all day. The plush chair under him and the roaring fire nearly made him fall asleep from the emotional exhaustion of the day. The voice of his old friend woke him up from his momentary lapse.

“Tell me what brings you here, Harry. I thought you had to work?” Remus looked at him quizzically, never one to miss a beat.

“I got fired.”

Lupin managed to choke on his tea, coughing roughly before widening his eyes and sitting forward in his chair. “What the hell happened?”

“I don’t know what to tell you. Auror Kisklove just walked up to me in the hall and told me it was over. Said they needed the money they were spending on my salary to augment that of the Inquisitorial prison staff.”

“Shit Harry, I thought you told me Kisklove was different and was on your side. I know Rabastan said none of them could be trusted but bloody hell, Harry. You took an awfully big risk going behind Minerva’s back and putting that kind of faith in him. I hope you didn’t tell him anything important.”

“Are you nuts? Of course I didn’t.” Harry pushed back his already wind tousled hair, his scar prominent against the dark light in the room. “I just don’t get it, unless they’re onto me somehow. I’ve worked my ass off for them. I have always covered my tracks. Hell, Sterling even took me out for drinks last night. I thought we were friends.”

“Harry, you should know that there is no one in the Ministry we can trust right now. You can’t let your guard down, even for a minute. What if one of them had decided to try and get you on board?”

“God, do you think they suspect we’re on to them or what?”

“Tell me something. Have you actually seen Shacklebolt lately?”

Harry rested his elbows on his knees, his mug clasped in both hands while he sipped and thought. “Now that I think of it, I haven’t seen him for a good couple of months.”

“Have you seen Umbridge?”

“Yeah, I see her all the time.”

“What about Rabastan? Is he ever around?”

“Yeah, I see him once in awhile. Why? You don’t think he’s doing anything shady do you?” Harry’s voice rose with alarm, panicked at the thought Remus was suspicious or aware of something that he wasn’t.

“No, no, not at all, just wondering.” Having calmed Harry, Remus stared off into the fire.

“I know a couple of other folks that normally see Kingsley around several Ministry functions, or out with his family. No one has seen the man. Not since this past May, shortly before we got Severus and Hermione out of the Manor.”

“Do you thing something happened to him besides being under the Imperious?”

“I’m not sure. This certainly doesn’t bode well though. Weren’t you on Kingsley’s security detail at his home?”

“Yeah, for a week or so. I never saw the family coming or going. Usually they Floo or Apparate wherever they need to go but even the kids used to play outside before all this started. Even after we figure Kingsley was under Malfoy’s influence, we would still see him out in the yard sometimes with his wife. They never said anything to anyone but would sit there and look at books and stuff. The regular traffic seemed to come and go at the house but that all stopped before I got there on duty. We confirmed we had seen Draco there. Hell, we know Lucius Malfoy’s there, but what’s all this got to do with me being fired?”

“I don’t know Harry.” Remus gave a big sigh. There were too many unanswered questions. Nothing was adding up. The only person they had left at the Ministry was Rabastan, but all of his time was now caught up with Lucius. He had thought Lucius was always one to keep his enemies close to the breast so he could keep an eye on them. To let the young man go meant they thought he was too close to something, and that didn’t bode well for the Order.

“Tell you what; I’ll let Minerva know what’s going on when she gets back. We don’t have a lot of time to deal with this minor detail right now. Rabastan will let us know if he finds out anything else.”

“Minor detail for you maybe. How else am I going to earn any money? A man’s got bills to pay.”
Remus grinned at him. “You want a job Harry?”

“Seriously? What’d you have in mind?” Harry bit down into a biscuit, letting half of it drop into his tea.

“Don’t know yet, but we’ll find a place for you I’m sure.”

Harry snorted, kicking back in his seat. “I’m kind of tired of being the odd guy out. I thought being an Auror was right up my alley, but there’s nothing now that’s going to pay decent in that line of work unless I go bow down to Malfoy.”

Remus sputtered again. “You’re not going to-“

“Course not! I was just pulling your chain.”

“Good, you had me scared for a minute there.”

“Like I’d ever even consider it. Say, how’s Fishwick doing with his assignment?”

Remus was silent then. He hadn’t told Harry the exact nature of the assignment, just that it wasn’t a pleasant one. “He’s done what he needed to do.”

“You don’t sound very happy about that.”

“I’m not.”

“Are you going to tell me what it is he had to do?”

Remus let some anger break through his usually calm demeanor. “What do you want me to tell you? The truth? Don’t you have enough nightmares about what’s happened in your past? Why add one more to the mix?”

“That bad huh.”

“Yeah kid, it was that bad. I don’t want to think about it.”

“What’s Minerva think about it.” Harry tried lowering his voice to calm his friend. He hadn’t meant to rile him up. He knew Remus had enough on his shoulders with the coming term and the full moon, plus being Head of House.

“Minerva will turn a blind eye to anything that helps her plans along.” His unhappy frown was not lost on Harry.

“Hey mate, you know she’s doing her best.” Harry rose from his chair, setting aside his empty tea cup. He rested his hand on his friend’s shoulder, meeting his eye when he looked up.

“I’m worried about her Harry. She hasn’t been the same since Rabastan came back from Snape Manor. I think she’s having a nervous breakdown.”

“Do you think the school’s in danger with her acting that way?”


Lupin threw another log on the fire, watching it pop and crackle with the bit of pitch on the bark. “There’s too much I don’t know. She’s trying to model herself after Albus. I don’t think she trusts herself to handle everything and doubts the way things are headed. It’s almost like she’s taken the news of Lucius masterminding everything as a personal dig. I don’t know that anyone could have stopped it. The situation is what it is, and we have to muddle along until we figure out a solution. I’d appreciate it if you could stick around and keep an eye on her. Maybe you can offer to help her out with some of her duties so she can concentrate on other things. Hell, you may even end up helping cover for Colin or Rabastan from time to time. She can’t turn down the help if they’re going to be gone so much.”

“Sure mate, you know I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks Harry. I appreciate it. You can stay with me if you want. It’d be nice if you could stop in during the term and check on my boy and Hermione, too. She seemed a bit lonely when I went by the other day.”

Harry’s eyes brightened at the suggestion. “Say, why don’t we stop in now and say hi.”

“I honestly haven’t got time, Harry.” Remus gestured helplessly to the stacks of papers around the desk. “I’m swamped. Tomorrow is the first day and with the train coming in I need to be at the welcoming feast. There’s going to be a lot of stuff to square away before I can spare the time to get back there.”

“Tell you what. We’ll just pop in for a minute; you can see Teddy and I’ll fill Hermione and Snape in on what’s going on. Then we’ll pop back over here and I’ll help you get sorted for tomorrow.”

Remus rose from his chair and clasped Harry on the opposite shoulder. “You’re a good friend Harry, thanks. That would cheer me up.”

The pair of them pitched some Floo powder into the fireplace and intoned their destination.

The sight that met their eyes made them both stagger into each other with shock. The cottage had been almost completely destroyed. Beams hung from the ceiling at odd angles over the downstairs loo. The destruction extended partway into the kitchen. An indent that looked suspiciously like a human body was prominent on the opposite wall. The furniture, in most places, was smashed beyond recognition with fluff from the sofa spread everywhere.

In unison the pair pulled out their wands and began circling the room opposite from one another. They made a quick circuit of the downstairs and shook their heads at one another, indicating neither had found anyone. They carefully ascended the stairway, kicking open doors, holding their breath at what they thought they might find. Both to their relief and horror, no one was there. The place was completely deserted.

A search of the outside had similar disheartening results. The trio was nowhere to be found on the property.

“Jesus Christ Remus, what the hell do you think happened?”

Remus’ eyes were dark with anger and grief. His son had been ripped away from him for a second time, and he had been helpless to prevent it.

“I’ve got my money on Malfoy.”

“But there’s no way he’d have known about this place!”

“I wouldn’t put anything past him. He’s a dangerous man Harry.”

“Where the hell could they have gone?” A panicked Potter spun around in useless circles, praying to every power that ever was his friends were safe.

“There’s nothing we can do here. Let’s get back to the castle.”

On their way back into the ruined building, something on the ground caught Harry’s attention.

“Remus, wait!” Harry bent down next to an odd looking animal track. It looked almost like a human footprint with the exception of the toe marks. It appeared as if there were gashes that indented the ground where the toes would be.

“What’d you find?” Remus bent down next to Harry and inhaled sharply. “Harry, we have to get out of here.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I can smell the dark magic on these tracks. These aren’t like anything I’ve ever seen, and I lived in the forest and hills for a long time. Whatever made these destroyed the house and either took our friends or chased them out. The scent is similar all over the cottage.”

Remus followed his nose to a nearby bush underneath the kitchen window. A patch of fur clung to the edge, having rubbed off of whatever smashed its way through it. Minute bits of blood droplets had dried and crusted to the glass. Harry helped him collect samples. The grim pair Floo’ed back to Remus’ quarters and then placed additional ward protections on the connection. They wanted to leave it open in case their friends needed to come back through, but would be warned if anything else tried to do the same.

“I’ll go tell Rabastan, you work on your class work.”

“Buggar the work, I’ll go with you!”

Remus didn’t feel quite as horrid as he did the first time Teddy had disappeared. He was still panicked, but the boy’s scent had been strongest in his bedroom along with Hermione’s. He was betting she had Apparated out of there with Teddy. It worried him that she hadn’t contacted anyone at the castle though. If she had Apparated blind, they could be anywhere, and the chances of splinching were extremely high.

Rabastan swore under his breath when an urgent knock sounded on his office door. Would there be no end to the blasted distractions? Teaching wasn’t his forte’, and Fishwick had asked him to handle some of his class prep as well as Filius asking him for some potions to be used in Charms the first week. It was extremely tiresome to be in such demand. And he missed Hermione. Terribly.

“Come!” he thundered with irritation. That irritation grew in proportion when the wolf and boy wonder walked through the door. “What do you want? I’m very busy; as I’m sure you can see.” He gestured to the paperwork on his desk that was even a bigger pile than Remus’.

“This is important Rabastan.”

“Everything is important when it’s on your agenda, isn’t it Lupin.” Rabastan rose from his desk, towering over Potter with his bulk, even from behind his desk. “Well?” he demanded.

“Severus, Hermione and Teddy are missing. We went to check on them and the entire cottage has been destroyed with no trace of them.”

Holy fuck. Of all the things to have happened and it had to go down the night before the brats were due to arrive. “Did you find anything?”

Remus held out the samples they had collected. “This is all we could find. I was hoping you could analyze them and see what you came up with.”

“What’s this?”

“Some kind of animal fur and blood. There was a very strange animal print and scent at the site. I put it in the vial so you could take a look at it.”

He nodded. Lupin was thorough so he was sure it was more than enough to work with. “Did you find anything else of interest?”

“The place was torn apart something fierce,” Harry interjected. “There wasn’t anything left that was recognizable. Every book, piece of furniture, you name it was destroyed.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yes, and there was one other thing. The scent of Teddy and Hermione was strongest in my son’s bedroom. I believe she Apparated with him from that location. I couldn’t tell for sure if they had Apparated for sure though; it has been too long since it happened. I was there a couple of days ago and from the smell, I’d guess the incident happened shortly after I left.”

“Gods.” Rabastan leaned against the cool stone wall of his office. This could not be happening. For whatever reason, the thought of the beautiful witch out there, gods knew where, frightened and alone left a cold hand squeezing the life out of his heart.

Harry wondered what the hell Rabastan’s problem was. The man looked absolutely knackered. He wanted to ask but he wisely refrained. They were all under a lot of stress and he didn’t pretend to know what kind of pressure he had to endure with Lucius on his back in addition to his teaching duties. Instead, he turned to Remus with a frown. “Did you get a scent on Snape?”

Remus wrung his hands, cracking the knuckles in consternation. “That’s what confuses me. I did get a faint whiff, but it’s almost like he hadn’t been there around the same time. There was no trace of him upstairs, and the potions lab was almost nonexistent. Hermione had told me he had been working on some potions but there was no evidence of anything having been brewed for longer than that. I wonder why she would have lied to me.”

“You’re scaring me Remus. Do you think he’d do anything to her?”

Remus shook his head adamantly to the negative. “Absolutely not. He’s proven that he cares for her and that Lucius was behind the abduction before. Severus is a changed man. Something important had to have come up or else he wouldn’t have left. Severus doesn’t do anything lightly.”

Harry looked uncomfortably at Rabastan whose lips had thinned considerably. The scar on his face was pulsing noticeably at the thought of Snape’s intimacy with Hermione. He gathered it was time for him and Remus to move on.

“I think we oughtta be going Professor. You have a lot of work to do and I’m sure Professor Lestrange does too.” He nudged Remus and indicated the door. Thankfully, his friend got the hint.

“Ah, well then. Let me know what you find out Rabastan. Harry and I are going to fill in Minerva right away. If you hear anything from Malfoy specifically, please let me know. I’m sure Teddy is fine if he’s with Hermione but they could be anywhere at this point.”

“Fine. Until tomorrow Lupin. Potter.”

“Goodnight Professor.”

After they left, Rabastan knew he wasn’t going to get much else done. There was so much to be done and so little time to do it all. He wasn’t going to be getting much sleep in the coming days and there certainly wouldn’t be any time to see Rosmerta to unleash some of the frustration. He had a new grudging respect for what Severus had gone through spying for the Dark Lord and Dumbledore while teaching a bunch of ungrateful whelps simultaneously.

He roared and brought his fist into the stone wall with a sickening crack. The pain sharpened his intellect even as the bones shattered. Rabastan grunted, feeling better at having released some of his frustration. He walked calmly to the infirmary to see Poppy, even as a tentative plan fell into place in his mind at how to go about finding the woman who still haunted his dreams.