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The Case of the Escaped Death Eater, Chapter 5
Title: The Case of the Escaped Death Eater
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom/Hannah Abbott, various others
Fandom: Harry Potter
Summary: Five years after the end of the war, Aurors Weasley and Longbottom find themselves working together to capture an escaped prisoner on a tight deadline: before the full moon. However, the case is not as straightforward as it seems, especially when the witches in their lives appear to be involved as well ...
Chapter Listing
In this chapter
Chapter Title: Lupus Propinta
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, Fenrir Greyback
Word Count: 2,124
Chapter Summary: Neville's Herbology knowledge helps in tracking down Greyback ... but he slips through their fingers.
There were two weeks to the full moon. Ron had never paid much attention to the details of the lunar cycle since Astronomy back during his O.W.L. year but it was impossible not to know it now, with lunar calendars tacked up and marked up in red ink all over the Auror Office.
While no one was under any illusion that Fenrir Greyback was any less dangerous on an ordinary night, the impending roundness of the moon was still a grave concern. An unfettered, savage werewolf directed at anybody a Death Eater chose to target ...
But precious few people actually believed in the existence of the Death Eater. No, they'd all prefer to conclude that Greyback was operating alone, now that his 'assistant' was dead.
'They don't want to think that Death Eaters are back in the country,' was Hermione's explanation. 'It's like the Ministry not wanting to believe Voldemort was back.'
Too right it was. Sometimes Ron wondered if it was just the handful of them who had been through the war. Was this how Mad-Eye Moody had felt when they all joked about him and his paranoia?
Moody. He'd said something once, the summer before he'd died, at The Burrow, when they were planning to go liberate Harry from the Dursleys.
'Evil isn't something you get rid of once and for all. Always gotta be on the lookout.'
Too bad Moody couldn't be here to tell Martin Savage that.
Anyway, Ron was clear enough on the matter, which was why he and Neville were currently scouting out the forest where they'd found Alexander MacKay, even though they were technically off-duty. Harry would have come, too, but he was in charge of security on any major targets, and as Teddy Lupin was included in that category, Harry didn't seem to want any off time.
'What d'you reckon?' said Neville, lighting his wand as they stepped under a dense patch of foliage. Ron glanced about, not really seeing anything that looked like a potential clue.
'Dunno,' he said. 'How are we supposed to pick up anything from this? Trust me, it's not easy to track people down in a forest.'
To his surprise, Neville was smiling. 'Yes, but in this case ... it's a good thing they picked this particular forest.'
'We don't know that they did, Neville.'
'Look.' Neville pointed at a row of pale green plants. They didn't look terribly unusual to Ron: a bit like ferns, but shaped more like little crescent-moons, curved more on one side. He looked back at Neville, dumbfounded.
'Those are Lupus Propintas,' said Neville. 'The Wolf Flower.'
'Er ...'
'They bloom in the presence of wolves ... and werewolves. These are flowering. See?' He lifted the fern leaf -- Lupus whatever -- and showed Ron the underside, where a tiny golden flower was nestled in the joint where the leaf attached to the stem.
Ron raised his eyebrows. 'So you're saying that this plant is telling us Greyback is near.'
'The flowers shrink after a while -- in a few hours they'll disappear. I'd say Greyback probably passed here within the hour.'
'Whew.' Ron let out a low whistle. 'Reckon I should have paid more attention to Professor Sprout.'
'Oh, it's not on the N.E.W.T. syllabus or anything. I wouldn't know about it either -- just chanced on the information a couple of months ago. They've been known to exist around these parts for a while, but the effect of werewolves was more recently discovered -- er, well, I don't suppose you really want to know the details.'
Ron couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. 'You sound like Hermione. Next thing you'll be telling me it was in some obscure book.'
'Er -- no, not quite. It was the Western Herbologist's Journal, if you really want to know.'
As far as Ron was concerned, that didn't make any difference. 'Blimey, Neville, you ought to have just stuck with Herbology after school.'
Neville shrugged. 'It seemed more important at the time to help the Aurors. Still, I'm glad plants can still come in useful.'
'You're absolutely certain we can nail him, then?'
'The blooming Lupuses should lead us to him ...'
'Then we'd better call for back-up in case. Expecto Patronum!' Ron sent his silvery Jack Terrier off to Harry with the message, Tracked Greyback, staking him out now. 'All right. Let's get Disillusioned. And then you lead the way.'
---
It was almost too simple. Follow the growing yellow flower trail and find Greyback's forest hide-out. Ron and Neville did their best to keep the noise of their movements low as well. After about fifteen minutes, Neville grabbed Ron's neck -- he must have been aiming for his shoulder -- and pointed to a flower the size of a baby's fist.
'Trail's hot,' he said almost inaudibly.
There was a stream not far from where they stood. They could hear the splashing as it ran merrily along.
A bit too much splashing, thought Ron. He raised his wand and inched nearer to the sound of the running water. To his right, a vague distortion of the tree trunks told him Neville was doing the same.
Greyback was in the stream. He stood in a shallow part of the bank, knee-deep in the water. He crouched over slightly and slammed his hand into the water. It came up with a something wriggling in it, which he slammed against a rock. Ron grimaced, slightly nauseated as he saw Greyback dip the bloody fish in the water and hold it up to his mouth. Then he focused his mind back to the task at hand.
All they had to do was Stun him. Get in close enough that they wouldn't miss and give their position away, and they'd have him. Ron shifted and took aim ...
Greyback moved very suddenly, jerking as though he'd noticed something. He leapt up out of the water and stared at a spot way too close to Ron and Neville for comfort.
To Ron's horror, a voice called out to Greyback.
'What's the matter?' The Death Eater that masterminded the escape, Ron thought in alarm. I was right ... And he wished he wasn't, because this added a complication.
'Smelt somethin',' growled Greyback, who was now sniffing the air. How much like a wolf was he when he wasn't transformed?
The owner of the other voice sidled halfway into view. He wore a nondescript black cloak and a hood covered his head so that his face remained unknown.
'Neville,' Ron said as softly as he could. 'I'll take Greyback, you take the other, Stunners at the count of three. One ...'
He'd only started counting when Neville hissed, 'Duck!'
Ron sensed it too, then -- the tingling feeling that something barely tangible was in the air. He dropped to his knees, certain the unknown Death Eater had cast a spell. A moment later, bolts of light started flying at them.
A spell hit a low-hanging tree branch above them. Several birds took flight with loud squawks; Ron had to dive aside to avoid being hit by the branch. A breeze shuddered over him, seeming to suck his hairs upwards. Neville cast a Shield Charm to ward off the next spell that was batted their way, which unfortunately gave them away for sure. Greyback started to run ...
'Go after him, I'll hold this guy off!' said Neville. Ron didn't need a second prompting. He barely registered that he could see Neville properly as he took off after Greyback.
It was crazily difficult to run in the forest. Leaves and branches whipped at his face and arms, roots seemed to spring up in an attempt to trip him. Greyback didn't appear to have the same problem, which made things worse. Within seconds, Ron's lungs burned in his effort to keep Greyback in sight. They passed a less dense patch of forest, allowing Ron to gain a bit, and then Greyback was slowing near a rocky overhang. Ron could see that an area had been cleared and littered. It looked like he'd reached Greyback and the other Death Eater's hide-out.
'You're cornered,' he called. 'You're not going anywhere, Greyback.'
'Think so?' The other Death Eater must have managed to undo the Disillusionment because Greyback leered directly at him. 'I know you. One of 'em Weasleys.' Ron tried to Stun him but the spell hit a tree he ducked behind. 'Not the one I had a bite of, 'course.' He swung himself out of Ron's next spell using a branch overhead. 'I remember that pretty Mudblood of yours. Wouldn't she taste lovely.'
Ron's blood ran cold. 'Stupefy!' he shouted.
But Greyback only laughed and before the jet of light from Ron's wand could touch him, he vanished into thin air, leaving a scrap of cloth falling to the ground where he had been.
'Merlin's blasted baggy balls!' Ron darted forward and snatched up the cloth. It was shaped like a drawstring bag, but it had been ripped. Something had fallen out of it, Ron thought, before Greyback had disappeared.
A Portkey. Ron swore even louder. He had a Portkey -- that other Death Eater must have made it.
That reminded him that Neville still had a duel ongoing with the Death Eater. Ron turned and started to run again.
---
If he were inclined to look on the bright side at all, Ron might think that at least they had the other Aurors now convinced that Greyback wasn't alone. The other wizard had been identified as Augustus Rookwood, one of the handful who had disappeared after the war. But the way things were going, that was hardly something to be cheerful about.
He'd got back to Neville to find him sprawled on the ground. Harry and a few other Aurors had just arrived, and the Death Eater was nowhere to be seen.
'Disapparated!' fumed Neville. 'I almost had him and then I tripped and my Stunner went wide and he Disapparated the moment I went down.'
Reporting to the Auror Headquarters wasn't exactly a picnic after all that. Proudfoot lit into them for half an hour, berating their carelessness and going on about giving away the element of surprise (as if Greyback couldn't guess that the Aurors would be after him) and taking unnecessary risks. He grudgingly admitted that they'd done some good work finding Greyback. Nevertheless, he ended with a sharp, 'But don't think that because you're technically off today, you can foist the paperwork off on someone else. You choose to go out in the field, you follow it up properly.'
By the time they'd waded through the mountain of paperwork for their earlier fiasco, it was dark out. Ron and Neville muttered their goodbyes and headed their separate ways. Exhausted, Ron decided he'd take the Floo home.
Hermione was curled up in an armchair over a thick book when Ron stumbled out of the fireplace. She looked up as he brushed the soot from his robes onto the carpet and opened her mouth, a scold on her lips: 'Ron,' but stopped abruptly.
'Evanesco,' Ron said irritably, getting rid of the mess. 'There, it's gone, happy?' He meant to stalk out of the room but Hermione jumped up quickly, her book falling to the ground with a thump, and caught his hand.
'No, Ron, I didn't mean to nag. Sit down and tell me what happened. Please.'
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shrugged off his cloak. Hermione led him to the couch and they sank onto it together.
'Greyback,' he said heavily. 'I had him and he -- there was another wizard. Damn it, Hermione, it was a mess.'
Hermione put her arms around him. Ron let his head droop against her shoulders and allowed her to pat his back comfortingly.
'He talked about you.'
He could feel her stiffen slightly, but her arms continued to rub against him gently. 'It's okay,' she said steadily. 'Don't let it get to you.'
'He talked about how you'd taste. That bastard, I don't want him anywhere near you!'
'Shh, nothing's going to happen. I'm here.'
She held him for a while, filthy as he undoubtedly was. He really ought to go take a bath, but he couldn't bear to move at the moment. All he wanted to do right now was cuddle with his wife and let her make him forget all the crap that had happened earlier. He pressed his nose against her neck, inhaling the soothing, fresh scent of her. 'Hermione,' he breathed.
'I'm here,' she said, kissing him.
As his hands reached for the edges of her robes and hers slid tantalisingly against his bare skin, his last coherent thought was, I'll never let them touch Hermione.
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom/Hannah Abbott, various others
Fandom: Harry Potter
Summary: Five years after the end of the war, Aurors Weasley and Longbottom find themselves working together to capture an escaped prisoner on a tight deadline: before the full moon. However, the case is not as straightforward as it seems, especially when the witches in their lives appear to be involved as well ...
Chapter Listing
In this chapter
Chapter Title: Lupus Propinta
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, Fenrir Greyback
Word Count: 2,124
Chapter Summary: Neville's Herbology knowledge helps in tracking down Greyback ... but he slips through their fingers.
There were two weeks to the full moon. Ron had never paid much attention to the details of the lunar cycle since Astronomy back during his O.W.L. year but it was impossible not to know it now, with lunar calendars tacked up and marked up in red ink all over the Auror Office.
While no one was under any illusion that Fenrir Greyback was any less dangerous on an ordinary night, the impending roundness of the moon was still a grave concern. An unfettered, savage werewolf directed at anybody a Death Eater chose to target ...
But precious few people actually believed in the existence of the Death Eater. No, they'd all prefer to conclude that Greyback was operating alone, now that his 'assistant' was dead.
'They don't want to think that Death Eaters are back in the country,' was Hermione's explanation. 'It's like the Ministry not wanting to believe Voldemort was back.'
Too right it was. Sometimes Ron wondered if it was just the handful of them who had been through the war. Was this how Mad-Eye Moody had felt when they all joked about him and his paranoia?
Moody. He'd said something once, the summer before he'd died, at The Burrow, when they were planning to go liberate Harry from the Dursleys.
'Evil isn't something you get rid of once and for all. Always gotta be on the lookout.'
Too bad Moody couldn't be here to tell Martin Savage that.
Anyway, Ron was clear enough on the matter, which was why he and Neville were currently scouting out the forest where they'd found Alexander MacKay, even though they were technically off-duty. Harry would have come, too, but he was in charge of security on any major targets, and as Teddy Lupin was included in that category, Harry didn't seem to want any off time.
'What d'you reckon?' said Neville, lighting his wand as they stepped under a dense patch of foliage. Ron glanced about, not really seeing anything that looked like a potential clue.
'Dunno,' he said. 'How are we supposed to pick up anything from this? Trust me, it's not easy to track people down in a forest.'
To his surprise, Neville was smiling. 'Yes, but in this case ... it's a good thing they picked this particular forest.'
'We don't know that they did, Neville.'
'Look.' Neville pointed at a row of pale green plants. They didn't look terribly unusual to Ron: a bit like ferns, but shaped more like little crescent-moons, curved more on one side. He looked back at Neville, dumbfounded.
'Those are Lupus Propintas,' said Neville. 'The Wolf Flower.'
'Er ...'
'They bloom in the presence of wolves ... and werewolves. These are flowering. See?' He lifted the fern leaf -- Lupus whatever -- and showed Ron the underside, where a tiny golden flower was nestled in the joint where the leaf attached to the stem.
Ron raised his eyebrows. 'So you're saying that this plant is telling us Greyback is near.'
'The flowers shrink after a while -- in a few hours they'll disappear. I'd say Greyback probably passed here within the hour.'
'Whew.' Ron let out a low whistle. 'Reckon I should have paid more attention to Professor Sprout.'
'Oh, it's not on the N.E.W.T. syllabus or anything. I wouldn't know about it either -- just chanced on the information a couple of months ago. They've been known to exist around these parts for a while, but the effect of werewolves was more recently discovered -- er, well, I don't suppose you really want to know the details.'
Ron couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. 'You sound like Hermione. Next thing you'll be telling me it was in some obscure book.'
'Er -- no, not quite. It was the Western Herbologist's Journal, if you really want to know.'
As far as Ron was concerned, that didn't make any difference. 'Blimey, Neville, you ought to have just stuck with Herbology after school.'
Neville shrugged. 'It seemed more important at the time to help the Aurors. Still, I'm glad plants can still come in useful.'
'You're absolutely certain we can nail him, then?'
'The blooming Lupuses should lead us to him ...'
'Then we'd better call for back-up in case. Expecto Patronum!' Ron sent his silvery Jack Terrier off to Harry with the message, Tracked Greyback, staking him out now. 'All right. Let's get Disillusioned. And then you lead the way.'
---
It was almost too simple. Follow the growing yellow flower trail and find Greyback's forest hide-out. Ron and Neville did their best to keep the noise of their movements low as well. After about fifteen minutes, Neville grabbed Ron's neck -- he must have been aiming for his shoulder -- and pointed to a flower the size of a baby's fist.
'Trail's hot,' he said almost inaudibly.
There was a stream not far from where they stood. They could hear the splashing as it ran merrily along.
A bit too much splashing, thought Ron. He raised his wand and inched nearer to the sound of the running water. To his right, a vague distortion of the tree trunks told him Neville was doing the same.
Greyback was in the stream. He stood in a shallow part of the bank, knee-deep in the water. He crouched over slightly and slammed his hand into the water. It came up with a something wriggling in it, which he slammed against a rock. Ron grimaced, slightly nauseated as he saw Greyback dip the bloody fish in the water and hold it up to his mouth. Then he focused his mind back to the task at hand.
All they had to do was Stun him. Get in close enough that they wouldn't miss and give their position away, and they'd have him. Ron shifted and took aim ...
Greyback moved very suddenly, jerking as though he'd noticed something. He leapt up out of the water and stared at a spot way too close to Ron and Neville for comfort.
To Ron's horror, a voice called out to Greyback.
'What's the matter?' The Death Eater that masterminded the escape, Ron thought in alarm. I was right ... And he wished he wasn't, because this added a complication.
'Smelt somethin',' growled Greyback, who was now sniffing the air. How much like a wolf was he when he wasn't transformed?
The owner of the other voice sidled halfway into view. He wore a nondescript black cloak and a hood covered his head so that his face remained unknown.
'Neville,' Ron said as softly as he could. 'I'll take Greyback, you take the other, Stunners at the count of three. One ...'
He'd only started counting when Neville hissed, 'Duck!'
Ron sensed it too, then -- the tingling feeling that something barely tangible was in the air. He dropped to his knees, certain the unknown Death Eater had cast a spell. A moment later, bolts of light started flying at them.
A spell hit a low-hanging tree branch above them. Several birds took flight with loud squawks; Ron had to dive aside to avoid being hit by the branch. A breeze shuddered over him, seeming to suck his hairs upwards. Neville cast a Shield Charm to ward off the next spell that was batted their way, which unfortunately gave them away for sure. Greyback started to run ...
'Go after him, I'll hold this guy off!' said Neville. Ron didn't need a second prompting. He barely registered that he could see Neville properly as he took off after Greyback.
It was crazily difficult to run in the forest. Leaves and branches whipped at his face and arms, roots seemed to spring up in an attempt to trip him. Greyback didn't appear to have the same problem, which made things worse. Within seconds, Ron's lungs burned in his effort to keep Greyback in sight. They passed a less dense patch of forest, allowing Ron to gain a bit, and then Greyback was slowing near a rocky overhang. Ron could see that an area had been cleared and littered. It looked like he'd reached Greyback and the other Death Eater's hide-out.
'You're cornered,' he called. 'You're not going anywhere, Greyback.'
'Think so?' The other Death Eater must have managed to undo the Disillusionment because Greyback leered directly at him. 'I know you. One of 'em Weasleys.' Ron tried to Stun him but the spell hit a tree he ducked behind. 'Not the one I had a bite of, 'course.' He swung himself out of Ron's next spell using a branch overhead. 'I remember that pretty Mudblood of yours. Wouldn't she taste lovely.'
Ron's blood ran cold. 'Stupefy!' he shouted.
But Greyback only laughed and before the jet of light from Ron's wand could touch him, he vanished into thin air, leaving a scrap of cloth falling to the ground where he had been.
'Merlin's blasted baggy balls!' Ron darted forward and snatched up the cloth. It was shaped like a drawstring bag, but it had been ripped. Something had fallen out of it, Ron thought, before Greyback had disappeared.
A Portkey. Ron swore even louder. He had a Portkey -- that other Death Eater must have made it.
That reminded him that Neville still had a duel ongoing with the Death Eater. Ron turned and started to run again.
---
If he were inclined to look on the bright side at all, Ron might think that at least they had the other Aurors now convinced that Greyback wasn't alone. The other wizard had been identified as Augustus Rookwood, one of the handful who had disappeared after the war. But the way things were going, that was hardly something to be cheerful about.
He'd got back to Neville to find him sprawled on the ground. Harry and a few other Aurors had just arrived, and the Death Eater was nowhere to be seen.
'Disapparated!' fumed Neville. 'I almost had him and then I tripped and my Stunner went wide and he Disapparated the moment I went down.'
Reporting to the Auror Headquarters wasn't exactly a picnic after all that. Proudfoot lit into them for half an hour, berating their carelessness and going on about giving away the element of surprise (as if Greyback couldn't guess that the Aurors would be after him) and taking unnecessary risks. He grudgingly admitted that they'd done some good work finding Greyback. Nevertheless, he ended with a sharp, 'But don't think that because you're technically off today, you can foist the paperwork off on someone else. You choose to go out in the field, you follow it up properly.'
By the time they'd waded through the mountain of paperwork for their earlier fiasco, it was dark out. Ron and Neville muttered their goodbyes and headed their separate ways. Exhausted, Ron decided he'd take the Floo home.
Hermione was curled up in an armchair over a thick book when Ron stumbled out of the fireplace. She looked up as he brushed the soot from his robes onto the carpet and opened her mouth, a scold on her lips: 'Ron,' but stopped abruptly.
'Evanesco,' Ron said irritably, getting rid of the mess. 'There, it's gone, happy?' He meant to stalk out of the room but Hermione jumped up quickly, her book falling to the ground with a thump, and caught his hand.
'No, Ron, I didn't mean to nag. Sit down and tell me what happened. Please.'
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shrugged off his cloak. Hermione led him to the couch and they sank onto it together.
'Greyback,' he said heavily. 'I had him and he -- there was another wizard. Damn it, Hermione, it was a mess.'
Hermione put her arms around him. Ron let his head droop against her shoulders and allowed her to pat his back comfortingly.
'He talked about you.'
He could feel her stiffen slightly, but her arms continued to rub against him gently. 'It's okay,' she said steadily. 'Don't let it get to you.'
'He talked about how you'd taste. That bastard, I don't want him anywhere near you!'
'Shh, nothing's going to happen. I'm here.'
She held him for a while, filthy as he undoubtedly was. He really ought to go take a bath, but he couldn't bear to move at the moment. All he wanted to do right now was cuddle with his wife and let her make him forget all the crap that had happened earlier. He pressed his nose against her neck, inhaling the soothing, fresh scent of her. 'Hermione,' he breathed.
'I'm here,' she said, kissing him.
As his hands reached for the edges of her robes and hers slid tantalisingly against his bare skin, his last coherent thought was, I'll never let them touch Hermione.