Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

The Master of Assassins	By : fantasyra Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female Views: 10267 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I dont own anything Harry Potter, just the story idea and plot.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Ye Old Disclaimer: Harry Potter and associated milieu,
characters, and situations are owned by J.K. Rowling and her licensees. This is
a work of fan fiction, produced solely for enjoyment. No infringement of rights
is intended. J.K. Rowling owns it all, I am just playing with the Story.

Chapter 7

�� When he
walked through the shadow�s into his flat he had two things on his mind, a
shower and some peace and quite. Draco�s voice could hit some seriously high
pitches. It felt like someone had taken a rusty nail, drove it into his skull,
mucked around a bit then pissed through the hole. If he hadn�t seen for himself
that Draco was indeed a man he would never have believed it from his screams.
His headache was throbbing just behind his eyes when he entered the flat and
was immediately crushed by a sobbing woman.

�� She was
muttering into his chest incoherently but between her sobs, plea�s, and mumbled
explanation he got the jist that something had upset his lover. He was
not able to understand what exactly but by the fearful looks on the other three
women in the room he had an idea they had something to do with it.

�� Hey, calm
down. I can�t understand you when you�re like this. Take a deep breath and
start again.� In all their time together he had never seen her so distraught.

�� You said
no one was to know about me, I didn�t tell them but they know Master� Please
don�t make me go away� I didn�t tell them� please�� Her hands held him vice
like while she mumbled into his bloody chest.

�� The others
could not see it but he raised his eyebrow in surprise. He was not sure which
surprised him more, that she thought he would send her away or her reaction to
others finding out. It was true he told her that he did not want anyone knowing
her true identity, mostly to spare her the looks and attention it would bring,
but he did not expect that if it got out it would affect her this way. It
must be her forms emotions coming out. He could tell by her shaking body
and the way she clutched to him she was badly afraid he would send her away. He
slowly took a deep breath to calm his frayed nerves. He would deal with the
others in a moment. He had to think fast or this was going to go badly.

�� Shhhh,
calm down. I�m not going to send you away. With others living here it was bound
to happen sooner or later.� Her head moved from his chest to look up at him, he
took that moment to remove his mask so she could look into his eyes and know he
was telling her the truth. Half her face was covered in the blood that soaked
his bare chest but she didn�t care, she looked deep into his eyes with a
mixture of disbelief and hope.

�� He lowered
his voice a bit and tried to make it as tender as he could. It had been ages
since tender was something his voice produced. �Its alright Hedwig. I was just
trying to spare you the looks some people would give you for who you are now.
I�ll talk to them and straiten this all out alright?�

�� Her half
broken voice answered him, �You�re not angry with me? You wont send me away?�

�� Harry
raised one of his clawed hands and rubbed the side of her face. Despite the
blood he was smearing over her cheek or the cold feel of steal on her human
flesh she leaned into him. �Of course not, never with you. Why don�t you go
hunting for a while? It always calms you down, I�ll join you in a bit okay?�
Hedwig smiled a bit and nodded. He led her over to the balcony where, after a
light kiss, she transformed and flew off into the night. He stood watching her
until he lost her in the late night sky�s.

�� He had yet
to turn around. �You know, in the last few months we have been together she has
never cried. Not since the day I was rescued from Dumbledore. That type of
emotion is foreign to Owls and it�s only our connection and her human form that
it is even possible for her. I have seen her hurt, our first couple of
contracts went badly and both of us had gotten hurt pretty badly. She never
cried, but she was crying today. Seeing her cry today puts me in a foul mood. A
mood that I usually reserve to skin people for. Skin them slowly. Explain.� His
voice was cold.

�� Luna was
the first to answer him. �Hanna was looking thorough one of your books on
familiar magics and mentioned that if Hedwig was still around some of the
magics in the book could help you. Hedwig heard her name and reacted. Susan
figured it out then, I�ve known for a while. You call her name at night.�

�� Harry
nodded. He didn�t know about calling Hedwig�s name during there mating but he
usually had other things on his mind at the time so it was reasonable. He would
need to put up silencing charms and hope they held from now on. He was still
learning runes and had no idea how to set those types yet. Thankfully the
boosts to his magic core meant he could afford a few moderate spells like
silencing charms now. He turned his mind to the book of familiar magics she
mentioned and nodded again.

�� He had
acquired over a dozen tomes on familiar magics when he realized whom she was
trying to find out how it happened. It was not like there was much else for him
to do while recovering but read. The whole thing was bizarre, even for him and
he wanted answers. So, after channeling his long lost bushy haired friend, he
started researching.

The bond, connection, whatever it
was they shared was forged back in his third year. He had come across a book in
the restricted section on familiar�s and ways they could be useful to a wizard.
He knew his connection with Hedwig was strong enough at that time to use them
so he read the book. The ritual he used was called �The Sharing�. It made it so
she could find him no matter where she was, increased her intelligence (not
that she really needed that) and would allow a small portion of his magic core
to pass into her. It prevented things like sickness, disease, and increased her
lifespan.

�� At the time
he was very concerned with the idea of losing her. Ron�s loss of Scabbers hit
him hard, though not as hard as Ron losing his rat. Harry did not think he
could lose Hedwig to something stupid like a fever or something. She spent most
of her time away from him and if something would happen to her he would never
get there in time. An unintended side affect was they learned to sort of
communicate with each other. They could sense each other�s emotions as time
passed. It was a good benefit as far as he was concerned. They had always read
each other well, and it just got stronger as time passed. That was how it all
started anyways. What he did not know until later was that the ritual he used
had other side affects.

�� The
following summer after he helped Sirius escape Azkaban they had met up in an
empty house in Little Whinging. The owners where selling the house and had
moved off somewhere and Sirius was using it to stay close to Harry but not be
seen. During that time he heard lots of stories about the Marauders and the
pranks they had played as an Animagus.
It didn�t take long before Sirius had talked him into undergoing the ritual to
become an Animagus himself. Useful but things
had gotten complicated later. It seemed that the two rituals where not to be
mixed. There was a warning in the old book Sirius dug up. The ritual was Native
American in origin and was written on an old piece of deer hide in glyphs like
images. The warning was a small footnote that neither noticed when they reread
what they needed to do.

�� It had
warned that the wizard who preformed the ritual if he already possessed a
familiar and was bonded they would unknowingly give roughly a fourth of his or
her magic core to his or her familiar. Normally this would not be a bad thing
but it was not something he or she could control, it was at the familiar�s
discretion to use. It did not mean they could use wands or cast spells but if
the familiar was fairly intelligent they could use that power in a number of
passive ways. Hedwig once she saw him transform into a Goshawk decided to try
becoming human. She had explained that it took the better of the following two
years to master human form. At first she could only hold it for a few minutes a
day. Over the years of dedicated practice she learned to hold it for hours. She
spent time she was with him trying to understand and learn his speech or
cuddling with him at night trying to help him with his nightmares the way he
had seen other humans do.

By the time he got out of Azkaban
she was able to hold it for most of the day. It was only part of the reason his
core was so weak, she needed quite a bit of him to keep the connection open and
to hold her form.

�� There where
other effects as well. Their bond was stronger once she attained� what should
he call it? Humanmagus form? Whatever, the bond was stronger between them now.
They could communicate with their minds through the bond, they could both sense
where the other was no matter the distance. He realized that having an avian
form, even with those animalistic instincts mostly repressed, had done more to
strengthen their connection. They understood each other in ways only they
understood. This type of connection was a first as far as he knew from all the
books he scoured. He treasured it, like he treasured her. After Azkaban it was
the only thing keeping him sane. Well, at the level of sanity he was currently
at. Not even he wanted to know what he would be like without her in his life.
He might be a sick fuck like Robert said, but he kept his sickness firmly
focused on those who deserved it and not on the innocent. He still had that.

�� Harry
sighed. Nothing is ever easy. �Alright. I can see that. I will only say this
once though so listen well. You will treat her with respect. You will not look
down on her for being� what she is. If you have a problem with who she is, what
she is, or our relationship, deal with it, privately. Either that or I will
personally deliver you to Voldemort to do with as he wills. This is none
negotiable.�

�� Of course
Harry. Which name would you like us to use�now that it is out.� Luna asked.

�� Ishtar.
She likes who she is human. Hedwig is a�privet name now. When she calms down
you can ask her which she prefers in privet. Susan, Hanna, do either of you
have a problem with this?� Both girls very quickly said no. Harry nodded again.
�I am going hunting then. Luna knows how to order take away. Muggle money is in
the desk by the door.� He transformed and flew away using their bond to find
her.

xxxxxx

�� The three
girls sat in cushy chairs watching the fire burn merrily in the fireplace.
Merry however was not an expression on any of their faces as each where lost in
their own thoughts. Harry had been gone for just about half an hour now before
Luna spoke breaking the blanket of silence that each had wrapped themselves in.

�� Well, it
could have gone a lot worse.�

�� Hanna kept
her eyes on the dancing flames before her. �I had no idea, it never occurred to
me it was even possible. For a moment I thought she was going to kill us. If I
had known I would not have even mentioned it. I was just trying to help.
Familiars have always been powerful tools for channeling magics. There are
dangers in having a too much power invested in a familiar because of the
backlash if they ever are lost but their bond over the years would have been
strong enough to work if he was careful. I just didn�t know it was this
strong.�

�� It�s
unnatural.� Susan�s voice like the others was low and half whispered. The other
two looked over to her but she kept her eyes on the flames though she seemed
aware of the looks and just shrugged. �I wont say anything but that does not
mean I have to agree with it. She�s an Owl, no matter the form she can now take
or how well she talks.�

�� Luna raised
her eyebrow at Susan�s remarks. �Its Harry�s choice whom he beds, not that it
is any of our concern. She has always been nice to us. All Harry has asked of
us is to not make an issue of who she is, he never asked us to like it. We have
other things thought we need to work out before things get too far along.� Her
last sentence brought the attention of the other two girls.

�� I have
talked Harry into helping with the war. Sort of.�

�� Hanna took
in the dreamy expression on Luna�s face while she considered her words which
where delivered in contrast to her appearance. �Sort of?�

�� Luna tucked
a strand of blond hair behind her ear while she gathered her thoughts. �Harry
does not want to fight in the war, he has no reason to. I have given him a
reason he understands to fight. A reason for him to go to war and hopefully end
the war before things get to far. Harry is our only hope. If Voldemort is not
checked it will not matter where we go, he will eventually find us.�

�� Hanna
nodded. She knew it too. �How?�

�� Harry
wants revenge. The war gives him his chance. As much as he does not want to
fight in the war to punish Wizarding Britain, he wants revenge more. However,
we have the problem of what we are going to do if either side wins.

�� If
Voldemort wins, our best bet is to go into hiding in another country and hope
someone else halts him from ever getting to us or expanding where we hide. If
Harry wins we have to deal with him.�

�� Neither
outcome really appeals to me. Your talking about a choice in which Dark Lord we
want around when the smoke clears. I don�t think anyone but You-Know-Who can
take Harry in a fight right now, and it could go either way though
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has the odds in his favor right now. Its only a matter
of time before Harry goes completely dark and where will that leave us?� Susan
was torn. Logically she knew she was right but there would always be a small
part of her that did not think Harry would actually do that.

�� Hanna
nodded. �Okay, so are we agreed then that we hedge our bets for Harry to win?�
the other two nodded though Susan paused for a moment before she did. �Okay, we
help Harry. We know what we will do if we survive but Harry doesn�t, what do we
do if Harry does win and lives?�

�� The dreamy
look on Luna�s face was replaced by a look of such clarity that both other
girls blinked at the change. She leaned forward. �I have an idea. Its risky, it
may not even be possible, but it�s our only hope. If we succeed, we not only
save ourselves, we can save Harry from the path he is on. After everything that
he has done for us we owe it to him to save him from himself as much as from
his enemies. However, if we fail or it�s not possible, then nothing else will
matter, our fates are the same.� Luna tilted her head to the side a bit while
she considered her next words. �If we are discovered before it plays out by
Harry or Hedwig though, he will most likely kill us.�

�� Susan
lowered her head into her hands. In a tiered voice she spoke thorough her
fingers, �So far that is not very reassuring Luna. Go on the run and hope the
war can�t find us, death by You-Know-Who, an uncertain future with Dark Lord
Potter, or certain death if your weak plan fails. These are not very appealing
choices.�

�� If my plan
works there will be no Dark Lord Potter, Voldemort will be dead, Harry will be
happy, and our lives can go on as we wish with no one able to interfere.�

�� What
exactly is your plan Luna?� Hanna had followed the conversation and with all
things considered would take any glimmer of hope over none.

�� A small
smile graced her face. �Like everything else involving Harry, its starts with
the impossible��

xxxxxx

�� Within the
dark confines of #12 Grimmauld Place over twenty members of the Order of the Phoenix
prepared for another meeting. Things where going pear shaped and people needed
answers.

�� Albus
Dumbledore was currently sitting at the head of the long table sucking on a
lemon drop going over the events of the last few months. Nothing had gone right.
After he lost Harry the day he retrieved him from Azkaban everything had gone
down the pipes. It had taken him weeks to recover from his injuries. Not since
his battle with Grindelwald had he sustained injuries anywhere near as life
threatening. The muggle who stuck him in the face had dislocated his jaw. Most
of his ribs where broken in many places. Madam Pomfrey had stretched herself to
her considerable limits in putting him back together properly, at his age such
injuries did not heal well and he was long past the age where the usual potions
would work for him. His own life meant little to him in the greater scheme of
things, losing Harry though put all his plans in jeopardy. Harry was proving to
be impossible to find.

�� With Ms.
Granger gone and the Harry�s estrangement from the Weasleys he had nothing to
tie him to Britain. No one had seen him anywhere since that day in the Alley
when he was coming out of Gringotts. In this area his plan to keep Harry
isolated had backfired spectacularly. Without Harry, they had little chance to
win in this war. Add to that the current complication with this �Assassin� who
arose out of nowhere and was picking apart both sides and the entire situation
was becoming uncontrollable. He allowed his aged eyes to roam about the table
witnessing the last of the Order members to taking seats. And now his own
people where starting to question him.

�� Now that
we are all here we can get to the first order of business. Has anyone any leads
on the location of Harry Potter?�

�� Forget
Potter Albus. He may have beaten He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named but in all reality it
is too far fetched to expect he could do it twice. Really, It was a fluke the
first time as young Potter is lacking over 50 years of magical warfare
experience of his adversary. Potter being gone is to our benefit if you ask me.
You-Know-Who will be looking for him and be distracted, we should take
advantage of this and strike!� Mad-Eye slammed his fist on the table to make
his point.

�� The aged
headmaster sighed. Half the table advocated this direction. They just did not
understand Harry�s importance, and worse he could not tell them or risk the
tattered remains of his plans form failing all together. �Alastor��

�� Kinsley
Shacklebolt cut him off. �No, I agree with Moody. The boy was nothing more than
a symbol of the cause, one we lost when you insisted he be thrown in Azkaban
for use of an unforgivable. Since then the populous has become fractured.
Potter is a topic that generates too much debate now a day with the masses. Half
believe he was railroaded and falsely accused. A respectable block believes he
was justified in his actions, as they would have done the same. That article
that came out in the Quibbler that got Lovegood killed further fanned the
flames. The Ministry has lost huge support over it and has been scrambling ever
since. Don�t get me started on the block that still holds with the smear
campaign Fudge ran and are screaming for his head. The whole situation is
explosive.

�� We managed
to recoup some favor with our raids but even I have heard whispers and we all
have read the papers that talked about how even those victories where not due
to our effectiveness but from the �Assassin� who we vilify as a vigilante and
up and coming Dark Lord. If our world becomes any more fractured there will be
nothing to SAVE!�

�� Shack�s
right, he�s an office head so he doesn�t hear as much as I do in the lower
ranks.� Tonk�s serious face nodded to the others. �When he appeared at Hogwarts
under contract with Lovegood and took Bones and Abbot with him people hit the
roof. No matter how hard you screened the post going from the castle word still
got out over those events.

From what I hear there are a lot of
purebloods on our side trying to contact him to see if they could get him to
shelter their heirs just in case. A lot of people are talking about him as if
he some kind of mercenary for hire and all his deeds must have been for
contracts. One of the rookie�s did some research in the archives and came up
with an interesting fact. Those names you said he wanted Mad-Eye, you where
right they had a connection.�

�� I thought
as much. What was it?�

�� If you
look at some of the information we got from the Death Eaters we caught and the
archives of the last war the connection becomes clear. Peter Pettigrew, if you are in the know,
is responsible for the death of James and Lily Potter not to mention Cedric
Diggory. The three Lestrange�s
are wanted for the attacks on Alice and Franklin Longbottom. Martin Breach,
Jason Wells, and Greggory Tryna are all wanted for the murders and near
decimation of the House of Bones. It was rumored Breach got Edgar. Wells is the
last member of the squad that got young Susans parents. Greggory had
connections to those deaths as well but we also think he was in on the Abbott
murders.

�� I know you
think the sun rose out of Snape�s arse Dumbledore, but we recently got
information that he may have been the one to leak the location of Amelia�s safe
house to the Death Eaters. If he wasn�t missing right now, I would be
questioning him over it. That tip came from Stockhelm whom we captured in the
last raid. Said he heard two inner circle members discussing it a week back.

�� Its all
speculation, but those are the ties that where found involving those names.
Word got around quickly and a lot of the younger Aurors are of the opinion that
you screwed up by not giving the Assassin his due. We even had to post extra
guards on the prisoners to make sure people in our own ranks did not try to
break them out to curry favor with him. I will admit, this guy makes my skin
crawl but his choice in targets has even me thinking. Whoever he his he has
obviously been contracted by someone who has loads of money and has a reason to
kill those particular Death Eaters. Someone with connections to the
Longbottomes, Potters, Diggorys, Bones, and Abbots.�

�� Kinsley
directed his piercing blue eyes about the table. �Tonks is right on that one. I
have had several of my own men tell me we should be focusing on trying to
recruit the Assassin instead of hunting him. Jarrod, a muggle born, good Auror
and has been briefing me on his exploits in his world. It appears the Muggles
that have been killed by him are all criminals. People who have committed
murder and people who sell something he calls �drugs�. Some kind of muggle
thing that is poisonous and illegal but makes the user feel good. He described
it as a cheering charm for muggles but it harms the body and will eventually
kill the user. I didn�t understand it all but he said it was very bad and a problem
for the muggle government. He has a cousin that does something for the Muggle
Aurors in London and heard a rumor that one of the top Aurors received a cake
in his bedchamber with one of the Assassins daggers sticking out of it. No one
was harmed in his house and no one knows how he got in there but he did. He
also left without killing anyone.

�� Rumor had
it that it was a warning, and it is the only one he has ever givin to anyone.
Among the Muggles his reputation as an honest man and good person soared after
the event. The Assassin is becoming a legend. People are starting to just
assume that if he kills you, you earned it by hurting others. If he spares you
he saw goodness worth saving. These rumors have even gotten to our Minister.
Word, unofficial mind you, has come down to find out as much about him and if
possible see if he really is a Mercenary for hire. Minister Scrimgeour wants this war over
now, and if that means hiring this Assassin, so be it.�

�� Arthur
Weasley leaned forward looking thoughtful. He rarely spoke during these
meetings and when he did people looked to him paying attention. �Are you
suggesting that young Miss. Lovegood hired him that far back? If I remember
correctly her father would have still been alive at the time and though they
are not a poor clan, Clan Lovegood is not exactly considered to be very well
off either. I knew Xeno very well and I can�t see him hiring a professional
killer, it was just not his way.�

�� Augusta
might have. I cant see her doing it for the Abbots however, not since the
falling out between their Houses when she was contracted to Longbottoms. She
never forgave Juliet for trying to break her up her contract with Benjamin when
they where back in Hogwarts.� Several of the older ones nodded at Molly�s words.

�� Damn it!
None of this matters! This Assassin is DARK! It does not make a bit of bleeding
difference if he spared one, he�s killed dozens! I�ve seen the bodies of the
guards from Azkaban he left behind, I saw what he did to Dolohov! You can�t
trust someone like that! Whoever hired him doesn�t matter either. We should
just treat this Assassin as we would any other Death Eater and kill him on
sight!� Moody made his points by smashing his fist against the table. A few
about the table, mostly from the older crowd who had fought in the last war
nodded with him. Most simply sat thinking.

�� Kinsley
leaned his large frame back in his chair with his hands up. �I am just telling
you which way the Ministry is bending. We�re getting a lot of pressure and this
Assassin is swaying public opinion despite his methods. The Prophet has been
vilifying him greatly but that is not stopping the tide of support he is
getting for being effective. People are scared and You-Now-Who is a threat they
understand will kill them. This Assassin is an unknown. Caught between the
threat they understand and one they don�t, they will go with the one they don�t
and hope for the best.�

�� True
enough.� Was spoken by Justin Cartwell. The mousy haired man was one of the
more recent acquisitions to the Order, Mundungus had fallen off the face of the
earth a few weeks ago and they needed the information from the underground
circles. Justin was a lot more reliable than old Mundungus, but far more the
career criminal. He fully admitted when they took him on he worked for one of
the families in lower London and his loyalty was to them first and he was on
loan as a courier. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was a threat even to the criminal
circles as his idea of change upset far too much of the balance that the families
maintained. They could not be directly involved but they where not going to sit
back and do nothing either.

�� Albus
steeped his fingers while regarding the non descript man who had spoken. �Mr.
Cartwell, I take it you know something of this Assassin?�

�� He took a
long pull from the pipe he was smoking while going over what he knew about the
figure. �Aye.� Dumbledore motioned for him to continue as Justin slowly blew
out the smoke from his lungs.

�� He�s a
Button man for one of the Families.� Some of the looks where confusing around
the table. �Err� Respected man who has earned his place. No one knows what he
looks like but Rumor has it he works for Logan. Deals in Loans and Goods. Came
on scene about six months ago or so. Got noticed by the other Families after
putting quite a few people in the Mission.�

�� A young
woman not much past her late twenties leaned forward with a confused look on
her face. �The Mission?�

�� The old
Morgues on Mission street Ma�am. If you�re looking to put a name to your man,
he�s been called Cloud. After a spree of dead bodies things settled down right
quick. He started doing odd jobs later for the Muggles. Mostly charity work,
word had it he was trying to bring closure to families who had lost loved ones
to blowback, you know, deals gone pear shaped where there was some collateral
damage. He�s even targeted a few of Logans own men. Logan though gives him his
leash not trying to reign him in.�

�� Kingsley
leaned forward and asked. �Do you know if he is commonly found anywhere specific?�

�� It took a
while for the man to answer as he was taking a long thoughtful drag from his
pipe. �Only the dead ever see him. Though if he�s apart of Logan�s Family, he
most likely can be found at a Nightclub called Club Three in lower London.�
- 8
- 9
- 10
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

The Master of Assassins