Harry chuckled slightly as he read over the message. The handwriting was clear and he rubbed at the back of his neck as he tucked it away into his desk. He'd need to see and hear whatever it was he could immediately and he knew that. He pulled out a fresh quill and a spare piece of parchment as he thought of what to write. Then-
11AM tomorrow. WWW. -HP
Then, he sent it off with one of the Ministry owls. He still hadn't had the heart to find a new owl since Hedwig had gone.
There was an unseasonable lull in the morning's patronage, giving Fred a chance to tidy up the shelves. He hadn't had a chance to speak to Angelina about taking up a position in the shop, but it would be nice to have another body about the place.
The Jump Clock alerted him it was 11:00, he should be expecting his visitor any minute. He watched the clock hop across the floor nine -- ten --- eleven times... and there was the wail from the door. Fred looked up and saw the familiar figure of Harry Potter.
"Alright mate?" he waved in greeting from behind a pile of Ten-Inch Tremor Dice.
It had been one of the longest nights Harry had in a while that didn't include pints of ale, a couple of shots of firewhiskey and a foreign girl in his bed. He would have preferred that over the nightmare that was his night at St. Mungo's. But now, more than ever, those bugs needed to come up with something good. He only hoped that there was some crossover between the pub Lavender and Marlow had been in and the ones the twins had bugged.
He offered his friend a weary smile.
"How are you," he shot back. "You all get back alright after the hospital?"
Harry looked like he had seen better days... which, of course, he had. "I'll live," Fred said. He'd gotten back to his flat around three in the morning, and he and George had stayed up drinking.
"Any word on Lav?" He stood up and gestured for Harry to follow him to the back of the shop. Pulling aside the magenta curtain, the two entered the 'employee's only' section.
He followed Fred through the curtain, grateful to away from any prying eyes. He'd already had a hell of a time that morning shooing the Prophet away from the Ministry offices. He'd need to have a word with the Minister about keeping the media at bay.
He shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"She's stable, as far as I last heard," he said. "They're still trying to figure out just what it was that got her. Jacobs mentioned something about it not being from our world.. but she's not sure."
Fred shook his head as he led Harry back to the workshop. That was where he and George had set up a wall of Ear pieces. "This is really messed up," he said, "I really did think we'd move past this."
Indicating the Ears on the wall, he explained, "We've only the bugs here, all the eyes are still in the pubs. We'd have to go to the pubs to retrieve the data."
As Harry took in the sight of all the Ears pinned to the wall, he let out a low whistle. He looked to Fred appreciatively, throwing him a grateful look.
"This is brilliant, mate," he said, rubbing at the back of his neck briefly before taking a step back and crossing his arms over his chest. "Audio is better than anything right now. How do we go about listening in?"
"If you want to listen to what's going on right now, just pick an Ear and fit it into your own," Fred explained, gesturing to the labelled Ears.
He turned to what looked like vintage record players. "To hear what was going on since we've put them in place, we've got the recordings. All the pubs, all the times, down to one record." It was with a sense of self-satisfaction that Fred explained all the ins and outs to Harry.
Harry racked his brain trying to remember what the pub was called that Marlow and Lavender had been at. The Speckled- The Spotted- He let out a gruff breath before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small notepad.
"The Spotted Hen," he recited, an odd look forming on his face. "This is a Muggle pub, right outside of Diagon Alley - apparently Marlow and Lavender have made it a bit of a haunt. Do we have intel on that?"
A frown formed on his face as he glanced over the labels. "Shit, mate, don't have The Spotted Hen," he responded, disappointment wracking his voice. If only they'd gone to that particular Muggle pub. If only Lavender had gone to a pub they had bugged.
"Bugger all," Fred swore and punched the wall beside the Ears. "I'm sorry, Harry," he apologised, guilt pouring over him. "We didn't get the right one."
Harry let out a low sigh. There were dozens of Ears on the wall and somehow they'd all managed to miss one. The one that mattered. Merlin, if he had half a brain he would have tried to stop all his friends from heading out late at night. But then he knew that was likely to be impossible as it was.
He shook his head, 'It's alright, mate. We can still go over bits from the rest. This monster's been making his rounds all over the bloody place. We'll get him."
Fred nodded, the wave of guilt still crashing over him. How could they have missed that pub when it was so close to Diagon Alley? He vowed he would redouble the bugging efforts and there wouldn't be a pub in London without at least one Ear in it. He would drink a pint in every pub, just for this cause!
"Hopefully we got something," he agreed, flicking his wand towards the gramophone. Snatches of conversation began to fill the air.
"Come on love, cook us up a meat sandwich or something!" "Fuck off, it's 11pm!" "Oi, I've got connections!" "Then use them to cook you some fucking food!"
"So who did you get off with?" "I'll give you a clue. His name ends in a D." "Gerald!" "Gerald doesn't have a D in it, you moron." "...Oh yeah..."
Fred began chewing his lip while listening to the toss coming on loud.
“Bye bye darling.” “I haven’t gone yet.” “Don’t come back, piss off.” "Buy a round and I’ll stay.” “Ta da, see you tomorrow.” "Are you on a promise tonight or something?”
A pause in the noise...“Oh fuck it, you’re back again.
( ... )
Harry listened on keenly, trying to find something, anything that would give them a clue as to who's been behind the attacks. He leaned dumbly against the wall behind him, his ears trying to pick up on something out of the ordinary. He looked back to Fred and shook his head.
"I can't figure this out," he admitted. "This keeps happening the same way - but somehow last night was different. If Marlow was the only reason the attack didn't continue - who on Earth was around when Oliver and Parvati were killed? Not a single bloody person has come forward."
Fred ran his hand through the ginger locks on his head, struggling to take hold of anything. "Sure they can't have been alone..." He argued, "look at Vati, she was in a roomful of people all night."
He turned away from the useless gramophone and it's pratter. "What if.... What if Lavender wasn't meant to be killed," Fred thought out loud, "but it was some kind of fucked up warning." Then he shook his head.
"Oh fuck it, that doesn't make sense. He's been so public before, why would he want to give the press a warning."
Harry had briefly thought of this. It had crossed his mind when he realized the bloke had left the bar before Lavender even had a sip of her drink. According to the bartender, anyway. But then, Marlow showed up and Harry had a strong feeling the attacker fled before anyone would realize what he had done.
He exhaled slowly.
"He's speeding up attacks," Harry said slowly. "First it was seven days, now it's been five. We're just bloody lucky that Lavender lived through this."
"Sooner or later there's not gonna be a Gryffindor from our era left," Fred sighed at the heavy thought. "It's not random, Harry. Someone is targeting us." He knew the auror would know this, but he had to say it out loud.
"And with you as my witness, I swear...." He really didn't know what he swore. That he would kill whoever it was? Main? Badly injure? Single handedly apprehend? Fred lifted his arms and interlocked his fingers behind his head, frustration evident in his movement. As he did this, his loose sleeves slid up, revealing the mottled skin on his right forearm. It had been itching again lately.
"I swear I will take up residence in the pubs and stare down every blonde figure that enters," he concluded.
11AM tomorrow. WWW. -HP
Then, he sent it off with one of the Ministry owls. He still hadn't had the heart to find a new owl since Hedwig had gone.
Reply
There was an unseasonable lull in the morning's patronage, giving Fred a chance to tidy up the shelves. He hadn't had a chance to speak to Angelina about taking up a position in the shop, but it would be nice to have another body about the place.
The Jump Clock alerted him it was 11:00, he should be expecting his visitor any minute. He watched the clock hop across the floor nine -- ten --- eleven times... and there was the wail from the door. Fred looked up and saw the familiar figure of Harry Potter.
"Alright mate?" he waved in greeting from behind a pile of Ten-Inch Tremor Dice.
Reply
He offered his friend a weary smile.
"How are you," he shot back. "You all get back alright after the hospital?"
Reply
"Any word on Lav?" He stood up and gestured for Harry to follow him to the back of the shop. Pulling aside the magenta curtain, the two entered the 'employee's only' section.
Reply
He shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"She's stable, as far as I last heard," he said. "They're still trying to figure out just what it was that got her. Jacobs mentioned something about it not being from our world.. but she's not sure."
Reply
Indicating the Ears on the wall, he explained, "We've only the bugs here, all the eyes are still in the pubs. We'd have to go to the pubs to retrieve the data."
Reply
As Harry took in the sight of all the Ears pinned to the wall, he let out a low whistle. He looked to Fred appreciatively, throwing him a grateful look.
"This is brilliant, mate," he said, rubbing at the back of his neck briefly before taking a step back and crossing his arms over his chest. "Audio is better than anything right now. How do we go about listening in?"
Reply
He turned to what looked like vintage record players. "To hear what was going on since we've put them in place, we've got the recordings. All the pubs, all the times, down to one record." It was with a sense of self-satisfaction that Fred explained all the ins and outs to Harry.
Reply
"The Spotted Hen," he recited, an odd look forming on his face. "This is a Muggle pub, right outside of Diagon Alley - apparently Marlow and Lavender have made it a bit of a haunt. Do we have intel on that?"
Reply
"Bugger all," Fred swore and punched the wall beside the Ears. "I'm sorry, Harry," he apologised, guilt pouring over him. "We didn't get the right one."
Reply
He shook his head, 'It's alright, mate. We can still go over bits from the rest. This monster's been making his rounds all over the bloody place. We'll get him."
Reply
"Hopefully we got something," he agreed, flicking his wand towards the gramophone. Snatches of conversation began to fill the air.
"Come on love, cook us up a meat sandwich or something!"
"Fuck off, it's 11pm!"
"Oi, I've got connections!"
"Then use them to cook you some fucking food!"
"So who did you get off with?"
"I'll give you a clue. His name ends in a D."
"Gerald!"
"Gerald doesn't have a D in it, you moron."
"...Oh yeah..."
Fred began chewing his lip while listening to the toss coming on loud.
“Bye bye darling.”
“I haven’t gone yet.”
“Don’t come back, piss off.”
"Buy a round and I’ll stay.”
“Ta da, see you tomorrow.”
"Are you on a promise tonight or something?”
A pause in the noise...“Oh fuck it, you’re back again. ( ... )
Reply
"I can't figure this out," he admitted. "This keeps happening the same way - but somehow last night was different. If Marlow was the only reason the attack didn't continue - who on Earth was around when Oliver and Parvati were killed? Not a single bloody person has come forward."
Reply
He turned away from the useless gramophone and it's pratter. "What if.... What if Lavender wasn't meant to be killed," Fred thought out loud, "but it was some kind of fucked up warning." Then he shook his head.
"Oh fuck it, that doesn't make sense. He's been so public before, why would he want to give the press a warning."
Reply
Harry had briefly thought of this. It had crossed his mind when he realized the bloke had left the bar before Lavender even had a sip of her drink. According to the bartender, anyway. But then, Marlow showed up and Harry had a strong feeling the attacker fled before anyone would realize what he had done.
He exhaled slowly.
"He's speeding up attacks," Harry said slowly. "First it was seven days, now it's been five. We're just bloody lucky that Lavender lived through this."
Reply
"And with you as my witness, I swear...." He really didn't know what he swore. That he would kill whoever it was? Main? Badly injure? Single handedly apprehend? Fred lifted his arms and interlocked his fingers behind his head, frustration evident in his movement. As he did this, his loose sleeves slid up, revealing the mottled skin on his right forearm. It had been itching again lately.
"I swear I will take up residence in the pubs and stare down every blonde figure that enters," he concluded.
Reply
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