Questions and Answers

'You're not really supposed to do this,' Percy told Harry.

'Bugger off, Percy,' Harry said tiredly. 'I'm not going to actually do the surveillance on my cousin, just oversee it like I did with you and Hermione when Skeeter was stalking you.'

Percy adjusted his glasses and pressed his lips together in a gesture Harry knew Percy made when he was about to agree with something he disagreed with greatly. 'Fine,' he said tightly.

Harry leaned back in his chair, attempting to stretch the kinks in his back. 'It's perfectly legal, Perce,' he sighed. 'And you know it.'

Percy shoved his hands into his pockets. 'I know it's legal,' he sniffed. 'However, I also don't think you're up to starting the investigation just now.'

Harry's head cocked to one side and he gazed at Percy with the expression of one examining a particularly large and hairy spider. 'I'm not going to start it today,' he said gruffly. He reached for Kathleen's file and began to page through it. 'First class, Percy,' he said softly, pointedly changing the subject. 'She threw herself in front of Killing curse.' Harry scrubbed his hands through his hair. 'Fat lot of good a bloody Order of Merlin will do for her now,' he muttered.

Percy didn't say anything.

'I'm going to start the investigation as soon as her funeral is over,' Harry stated. 'Does that fall within my time limits?'

'When is the funeral?'

'I don't know,' Harry ground out. 'She hasn't been dead twelve hours.'

'You have to start it within a week of the arrest,' Percy said stiffly. 'It's the -'

Harry pushed himself to his feet, bracing his hands on his desk. 'I know it's the effing law!' he nearly shouted. 'I know the laws and the rules and all the damned regulations! I also know the Minister isn't allowed to override those particular laws and rules! He was using a fucking Unforgivable, Percy! He was attempting to murder Muggles!' His voice throttled down to a low rumble. 'Or don't you remember how that used to be?' he lashed out.

Percy recoiled slightly. 'Of course I do.'

Harry's eyes closed briefly. When he opened them, he kept them trained on his outspread hands. 'There has to be a loophole somewhere,' he said quietly. 'I can not do this in one week. I need a little time, all right?' He allowed himself to glance up at Percy over the rims of his glasses. 'I'll enlist Hermione's help, if I have to,' he threatened.

Percy's shoulders stiffened. 'I'm sure you won't feel the need to do that.' He began to turn toward the door. 'I'll have an answer for you before you leave for the day.'

'Thank you.'

Percy paused, with one hand on the doorknob. 'I don't doubt your ability to remain neutral,' he began, with none of his usual pompousness. 'Under normal circumstances, that is... These aren't exactly normal.'

'I wanted her to replace me,' Harry said. 'When I was ready to retire. I wanted her to replace me.' His voice thickened slightly, but he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. 'Just find a loophole for me. Just a few more days.' He slowly dropped back into the chair. 'Please.'

Percy nodded and slipped out of Harry's office.

XxXxXxX

Ginny slowly woke up and stretched, keeping her eyes shut as she arched her back. They flew open when she realized she hadn't stretched into Harry's body. She sat up rubbing her eyes and mentally shrugged. It wasn't uncommon for him to not come home after being woken up in the middle of the night like that. Ginny slid out of the bed and headed for the kitchen. Four owls were lined up on the windowsill, glaring at her impatiently. She opened the window, shivering slightly at the cold air, taking the letters from each owl in turn, exchanging it for an Owl Treat. Three of them were articles she needed to edit for the paper and one was a terse note from Harry that he'd be home later.

Ginny dropped the articles on the table. It would be easier to work on the articles at the Prophet offices than here. She could have edited them at home and owled them back to the paper, but the writers were fairly new reporters and tended to fall into hysterics at the amount of red ink Ginny could use on their articles, despite the fact all three of them could write a decent story. It was much better for Ginny to deal with them in person than receive a barrage of owls or frantic calls through the Floo. And ironically, despite all the bustle at the paper, she found it less distracting than the overwhelming silence of the house, waiting for Harry to come home. She started to leave the kitchen when she heard another owl tap on the window. She turned and went to the window again to open it and accept the rolled-up newspaper, exchanging a handful of Knuts for it. Ginny opened the paper and scanned the headlines. Her eyes widened. 'Oh no...'

Auror Killed In Attempted Murder Plot

Last night in the Barkingside neighborhood of east London, Kathleen MacBeth was killed protecting a Muggle family outside their home. The unnamed couple and their child were returning home when an unidentified wizard attempted to murder them using the Killing curse. Miss MacBeth appears to have thrown herself in front of the Muggles. The assailant was captured later, when he tried once again to perform the Killing curse and was Stunned by an Auror before the entire incantation could be said. An investigation in pending.

Miss MacBeth joined the Auror training program soon after finishing school, where she completed the training with distinction. She spent the past ten years working in the Auror department. Miss MacBeth has no surviving family. Funeral services are pending.

The article was nearly as terse as Harry's note to her had been. Ginny always found it highly interesting that no names were ever mentioned in a story about a pending investigation. She supposed it was Harry's doing, as much as it had been Ministry policy. He hated for investigations to descend into rumor and innuendo if details were published in the paper like so much gossip. Ginny knew from past experience that only when the investigation was complete would any details be made public. Not that it would be conducted in complete secrecy, but Harry flatly refused to allow any of his Aurors to be put at undue risk, because some reporter had to have all the juicy details. Once an investigation began, it was under the oversight of MLE, and Hermione would sooner break her wand in half, than permit anything illegal to occur. There had been numerous attempts by the reporters who covered the Ministry to persuade Ginny to reveal some of the details, trying to play on her reporter's sympathies to actually report the news and her obvious connections to Harry Potter. Ginny firmly rebuffed them every time. They generally left her alone now.

She dropped the paper next to the articles and ran lightly up the stairs. Instead of turning into her bedroom, she went to the end of the corridor and reached into the back of the airing cupboard and pulled out a set of sheets for their bed. She went into the bedroom and set the sheets in the small armchair before ducking into the bathroom for a hasty wash. Ginny threw on some clothes from the "work" section of her wardrobe, then tugged the sheets off the bed, swiftly making it up again, tucking the sheets in tightly, the way Harry liked it. She reckoned she could have bounced a Knut off the mattress, had she so desired. Ginny bundled the sheets she'd removed from the bed into the basket in the corner of the bedroom, and placed a clean set of pajamas on the foot of the bed. She was about to put fresh towels in the bathroom when she heard the back door open and slam shut. 'Ginny!' Teddy's voice carried from the kitchen. 'Ginny! Are you here?'

'I'm up here!' she replied.

Teddy pounded up the stairs and poked his head in the doorway. 'Do you have a tablecloth?'

Ginny blinked at Teddy's cheerful attitude. 'Whatever for?'

'I'm having Vic over for dinner tonight.'

Ginny blanched. 'Are you cooking?' she asked fearfully.

Teddy sighed. 'No. I'm getting takeaway from Vic's favorite Chinese place.'

'What do you need the tablecloth for, then?'

Teddy's hair briefly flashed pink, giving him a startling resemblance to his mother before it returned to its blazing turquoise. 'We're just having dinner,' he mumbled.

'Just dinner?' Ginny said dryly.

'Dessert, too,' Teddy admitted, finding something of great interest on the toes of his shoes.

'It sounds like you're planning a nice evening,' Ginny said softly, looking down at her hands. She didn't want to tell him about Kathleen. He'd worked with her from time to time, and while they weren't necessarily close, he'd known her most of his life.

'Yeah...' Teddy said cautiously.

Ginny drew a deep breath. 'Have you had breakfast yet?'

Teddy shook his head. 'Not yet.'

'Are you hungry?'

'I could eat...' he said cautiously.

'I'll get you that tablecloth, too,' Ginny told him.

Teddy began to walk down the stairs. 'Ginny?'

'Yes?'

'Vic's going to spend the night,' he said softly.

'I see.' Ginny kept her face smoothly neutral, trying not to goggle at Teddy in surprise. She was frankly startled it had taken them this long.

'Erm... I've got everything covered,' Teddy coughed. When Ginny stared at him blankly, he added with more emphasis. 'I've got everything covered.'

'Ah.' Ginny followed Teddy into the kitchen, and began to take eggs from the refrigerator.

'It's just you're sort of like my mum,' Teddy began. 'I... erm... I didn't want you to worry,' he gulped, dropping into a chair at the table.

Ginny set the eggs on the counter, and jabbed her wand at the cupboard. Two pans flew out and landed on top of the stove. She didn't quite know what to say. She ran a hand over Teddy's hair, gently brushing it out of his eyes. 'Thanks, Teddy,' she said at length. She turned to the stove, waving her wand at the eggs. 'I'm glad to hear that all those safe sex discussions we had with you managed to stick.'

Teddy traced a pattern on the table top. 'I'm a little nervous...' he confessed.

Ginny pulled a tin of tea leaves down from the cupboard. 'I'm not sure I should be the one telling you this, but...' She heaved a sigh. 'Take your time. It's better for... her...' She could feel a flush creep up her neck and cheeks. She swallowed heavily. 'Tea?'

XxXxXxX

Hermione flicked her wand absently at a towering bookcase behind her desk. Two large, heavy tomes floated weightlessly to her desk, landing soundlessly at her elbow. Even in his increasing weariness, Harry still marveled at her seemingly effortless spellwork. 'So you don't quite trust Percy to find a loophole for you?' she said, smirking slightly.

'Not especially,' Harry murmured. 'He seemed reluctant to even try earlier.'

Hermione's smirk grew wider. 'So I'm your insurance, then?'

'Yeah, I suppose.' Harry set the tip of his wand on the cover on the nearest book. 'Juris expiscor.' The cover flew open and several pages ruffled before the book came to a rest on a page midway through. He squinted at the tiny, squiggly print, rubbing his burning eyes. 'According to this, I can file each charge separately, and combine the grace period before the investigation has to start.'

'That's a little unethical, don't you think?' Hermione asked.

'A bit. But let's put it down, anyway.'

Hermione scribbled on a piece of parchment. 'Is it still legal?'

'I thought that was your job,' Harry sighed.

'There's a notation at the end,' she muttered. 'When it gets superseded or amended. Check to see if one is there.'

Harry trailed a finger down the endless tiny lines of print until he came to the end of entry for the law. 'Don't see one. What would it look like?'

Hermione stretched her arms over her head. 'Usually, it'll say something like "Law negated by the Auror Abuse Prevention Law of 1932," or something like that. Are you sure it's not there?'

Harry shook his head. 'Yes. Nothing here.'

'Fine...' Hermione paged through the book in front of her. 'I could have sworn attempted murder was automatically granted an additional grace period.'

'Wasn't that changed?' Harry asked, confused. 'After the war, I thought that was changed, so it was aligned with the laws regarding other crimes so investigations didn't get dragged on and on. Speedy trials and all that.' Harry's lip curled slightly in distaste. 'Merlin, we were bloodthirsty then...'

'Damn,' Hermione breathed. 'I forgot about that.'

Harry picked up the roll of parchment and tore off the end of it, containing the one law he and Hermione had been able to find after searching most of the morning. 'I think this is my best hope.'

'What's he charged with?'

'Attempted murder, murder, use of an Unforgivable...' Harry slumped in the chair. 'And that's just from last night.'

'Ouch.' Hermione whistled softly. 'He's going to be in for a good long time, then.'

'Barring something we don't know about.'

Hermione's eyes narrowed. She'd heard Harry use that musing tone for too many years. 'You think he was Imperiused or something?'

Harry stuffed the parchment into his pocket and spread his hands wide. 'This is magic. Anything's possible.' He managed to get to his feet and shuffled toward the door. 'Thanks, Hermione...'

XxXxXxX

Harry stood on the street outside the Oxford Circus Tube station in the brisk November wind. It seemed to cut through the wool of his coat, making him shiver slightly. He bent his head against the wind and trudged down the sidewalk, heading for Teddy's flat. The last thing he wanted to do today was ruin Teddy's day, but he had to ask Teddy about the man they'd captured last night. Harry couldn't remember how much he'd told Teddy about the case, but he had discussed parts of it with him, and Teddy had been involved with quite a few of the late-night Muggle-baiting clean-ups. But he didn't think Teddy would actively put an on-going investigation in jeopardy.

He pulled open the door of the building and stood in the foyer, contemplating the twisting stairs that led up to the fifth floor and Teddy's flat. They never looked longer. Harry grasped the banister and hauled himself up the narrow stairs until he found himself in front of Teddy's door. He raised a fist and knocked softly on the door.

Teddy's head flew up as he looked down at his watch. 'Buggering hell!' he muttered. Victoire was early, and he wasn't even close to being ready for her. He staggered to the door, clutching a handful of candles to his chest. He yanked open the door and felt his mouth drop open. 'You're not Vic,' he said accusingly.

'No...' Harry tilted his head toward the inside of the flat. 'Can I come in for a bit?'

'Sure...' Teddy stepped back and let Harry step through the door. 'What's going on?'

Harry stood on the threshold of the sitting room and turned back to Teddy. 'Is this a bad time?' Small candles were clustered around the sitting room, a new rug was rolled up in front of the fireplace, and the room itself was redolent of furniture polish and Mrs. Scower's Magical Mess Remover. He could see a bouquet of flowers, still wrapped in paper on the kitchen table. The flat itself was unnaturally clean - almost painfully so.

Teddy shrugged. 'I've got some time.'

Harry shook his head. 'No, it's all right. I mean Vic's coming over and how long has it been since you two had a nice evening together?'

'A while,' Teddy admitted. 'But she's not supposed to be here for a few more hours.' Teddy dropped the candles into small glass holders lined up on the mantle and turned to Harry. 'Go, sit. Can I get you anything?'

'No, I'm fine...' Harry gingerly lowered himself into one of Teddy's battered armchairs. 'Thanks.'

Teddy kicked the rug, making it unfurl over the polished floor. It lay there, almost uneasily in its surroundings. 'So...?'

Harry laced his fingers together. 'Have you seen the paper today?'

'No. I don't subscribe to it, since there's usually a copy lying around in the Obliviators' office. And it's been my off week.'

Harry leaned back into the cushions of the chair and soberly took in his godson. 'Kathleen died last night.'

Teddy inhaled sharply. 'How...?'

'She threw herself in front of a Killing curse.' Harry rubbed his gritty eyes. 'Protecting Dudley and Aaron.'

'Oh...' Teddy moved to the sofa and dropped down on it. 'Did you find who did it?'

Harry sighed and pulled a creased photograph from the pocket of his coat. 'Do you know him?'

Teddy took the photograph and flipped it between his fingers so it was upright. 'He works on my shift... It's Joel Anderson. He was in my year at school. We play chess together while we're waiting around the office for an incident.'

Harry leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. 'Have you ever told him anything that you and I have discussed privately about the Muggle-baiting case?' he asked harshly.

Teddy recoiled slightly. 'Of course not,' he said, a flash of hurt in his eyes.

'Nothing about the discussions we've had about memory modification?'

'I said I didn't say anything!' Teddy pushed himself to his feet and began to pace, nudging the rug into place. 'I'm not one of your bloody probation interviews,' he muttered.

'Has he ever mentioned this to you?' Harry continued. 'Any of it? Any of his involvement in this group?'

Teddy stopped in front of Harry. 'Don't you think if he had, I would have said something to you?'

'I suppose...'

Teddy strode to the door and yanked it open. 'I think you need to leave.'

'Teddy...'

'Damn it, Harry! You're practically my father, for Godric's sake! You're supposed to trust me. And you're sitting here, acting like I've been withholding information!'

'I just need to make sure,' Harry said, feeling every second of the past fifteen hours. He was beyond tired. 'I've been working on this case for more than three years. I've run into nothing but dead ends until last night. And I lost one of my best Aurors in the process. And damn near lost yet another family member. I cannot leave anything unexamined.'

'So you're just going to assume I might have slipped and told Joel about a couple of conversations we've had? That's just brilliant,' Teddy snarled.

'I never said you were an accomplice,' Harry stated flatly.

'You might as well have,' Teddy muttered mutinously. 'Could you go now, please? I have things I need to do.' He waited by the open door until Harry painfully managed to stand up and stumble out into the corridor, then slammed it shut.

XxXxXxX

Harry opened the door of the house, half-hoping Ginny was home. His stomach burned with something he couldn't identify and he didn't want to be alone just now. He closed the door behind him quietly. 'Ginny?' The sound of silence greeted him. 'Gin, are you home?' he called, dragging himself toward the office just enough to discover it was empty. Nodding to himself, Harry grasped the banister of the stairs and hauled himself up to his bedroom. The sight of the pajamas perched on the foot of the bed made him stop. The bed itself was made and turned back invitingly. Am I that predictable? he thought ruefully.

Harry toed off his trainers and began to slowly peel off his clothing. Dimly, he realized this had nothing of the frantic necessity to rid himself of the memory of dealing with Death Eaters. But he still needed the enforced solitude so he could grieve. It wasn't something he would do publicly. He made his way into the bathroom, and turned on the taps in the bathtub, waiting for the water to heat up. As he stepped into the tub, his foot caught on the edge, and he pitched forward, landing awkwardly on his hands and knees, cursing loudly at the pain. Harry eased the rest of his leg into the tub, and sat, leaning against the side, letting the water pour over him.

There were too many things to process - seeing the look of fear in Aaron's eyes, as Harry explained what had happened and why; Kathleen's unnaturally still face and Iain's grief-stricken one; the blistering row with Teddy.

There wasn't much he could do about Aaron and Dudley. Not until they made a decision one way or another to have their memories modified. At least they were being watched, and were safe for now.

As for Teddy, Harry supposed he would also have to wait until both of them were more settled. Harry hadn't meant to attack Teddy so harshly, but he needed to make sure Teddy hadn't inadvertently let something slip. He imagined this Joel Anderson would have managed to glean information on his own, given he was often present after an incident. He hadn't been thinking clearly when he knocked on Teddy's door.

He pulled his knees up into his chest and buried his face in them. Oh, Kathleen... He felt a tremor run through his body and gave up trying to suppress it any longer. Hot tears trickled down his cheeks, mingling with the water that dripped off his hair. He'd first noticed Kathleen during the first few rounds of various obstacle courses they did with the seventh year students at Hogwarts who were interested in becoming Aurors. It tended to weed out the merely hopeful from the ones who were serious. It wasn't her skill that tipped Harry's interest. It had been the way she completed each task, absorbing her failures with a fierce concentration as she analyzed what had gone wrong precisely, then proceeded to integrate it into her next go. The aloof reserve that had gradually ebbed, the longer she worked with the other Aurors to the point where she had been visibly moved when Iain and Brianna asked her to be their first child's godmother.

Harry had to convince the Head Auror at the time to allow Kathleen to join them. Christianne Gibson hadn't liked Slytherins, and the mere fact that Kathleen had been Sorted into that house at school was a black mark on her record as far as Gibson was concerned. Harry had argued loudly and repeatedly at length about how good Kathleen could be, until he finally enlisted the help of the other Aurors who had observed Kathleen at school to help persuade Gibson she would be an asset. That was the year Harry had been put in charge of the trainee program. He'd been so proud of Kathleen when she finished it, and he was able to walk her through the process of joining the Ministry as a formal employee. She could hardly contain her glee when he pinned the small silver badge on her collar, smiling widely at him.

He lifted his face toward the spray from the shower, letting it flow over his swollen eyes and sore cheeks. Tears welled up again before Harry could collect himself. He let his head rest against the cool tile of the wall behind him and allowed himself weep. His eyes closed against the trickle of hot water cascading over his face, and he sat there, arms still tightly wrapped around his knees, mourning the loss of a person who was a colleague, protégé, and friend.

XxXxXxX

Time slowed to a standstill when he was in the shower, Harry reflected as he reached up with one hand and twisted the taps off, the sudden silence deafeningly loud after the rush of water against the porcelain. He never realized how long he'd been hiding until he looked at his hands. They were shriveled into deep, painful ridges - the kind he'd gotten as a child when Petunia had made him wash every dish, saucepan, or skillet in the kitchen. He wrapped his hands around the edge of the tub and pulled himself to his feet, swaying slightly as he carefully stepped out of the tub, clinging to the wall. He reached for a towel and wrapped it around his hips before shuffling back into the bedroom.

Ginny was sprawled in the armchair, a book in her hands. 'Hi...'

Harry dropped the towel and pulled the t-shirt she had left on the bed over his head, inhaling the clean, crisp scent of the laundry soap they used as it slithered over his head. He picked up the worn pajama bottoms and perched on the edge of the bed to work them over his feet and up his legs. 'I take it you saw the paper this morning,' he said softly.

Ginny nodded, closing her book. 'Brianna sent an owl while you were in there,' she told him, tracing the embossed cover with a fingertip. 'The funeral's Friday.'

'All right.' Harry fell back and crawled under the bedding, pulling it up around his ears. 'It was Dudley and Aaron. They had Sarah with them,' he said dully. 'And Kathleen...' His voice trailed off, hitching slightly. He peeped at Ginny over the edge of the quilt. 'And I went behind Percy's back to make Hermione help me find a law to circumvent the one week time limit I have before I can start investigating the git that did it.'

'Did you find one?'

Harry smirked mirthlessly. 'Yes. And I don't really care at this moment that it isn't quite ethical...'

Ginny set her book down and walked over to the bed, clambering onto it next to Harry. 'How unethical is it? A little bit or so far over the line, you crossed it ten miles ago?'

Harry sighed. 'Does it really matter? It's still unethical. It's like being a little bit pregnant, isn't it? You're still pregnant in the end.'

Ginny glanced down at Harry and pulled her wand from her pocket. She waved it over his head, and dried most of the water from his hair. It had been sopping wet. 'Depends on you, doesn't it? What your intent is.'

'I'm not looking to make him suffer,' Harry sighed. 'I just can't do it yet. I just needed a couple of extra days.' He wrapped his hand around Ginny's wrist, feeling the pulse bump steadily under his fingers. 'I've never lost anyone I've trained...'

Ginny's free hand began to stroke Harry's slightly damp hair. 'I know.'

'And just before I came home, I had an awful row with Teddy...'

Ginny's hand stilled in Harry's hair. 'About what? You didn't try to talk him out of his evening, did you?'

'No... Teddy and I have talked about things I've used to try and solve this. I wanted to see if he'd said anything...'

'And you were your usual subtle self, eh?' Ginny drawled, a hint of sarcasm creeping into her voice.

'Yeah. About as subtle as sledgehammer...' Harry's eyes closed. 'I made him think I didn't trust him...'

'But you do,' Ginny said.

'It didn't sound that way,' Harry admitted. 'I all but accused him of yakking about it to everyone in the Obliviator department.'

'You didn't...' Ginny breathed.

'I did.' Harry burrowed into his pillow. 'Do you think he'll be able to forgive me...?'

Ginny slid down so she faced Harry. 'Probably. It's not as if the two of you haven't gotten into it before.'

Harry snorted. 'But that was when he was young and stupid.'

'Look, for all intents and purposes, you're Teddy's father, all right? Children get into spats with their parents. It happens. It happens with James all the time. And you don't get quite so bothered by it. Neither of you were quite thinking clearly. When things settle, so will the two of you...'

'I hope you're right...' Harry yawned.

'You know I am,' Ginny murmured. 'Go on and go to sleep. Tomorrow will be...' She hesitated. "Better" wasn't the word she wanted to use. 'Another day...'