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The Hunter | ||||||
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Category: Post-DH/AB Characters:All, Harry/Ginny Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, Romance Warnings: Death, Violence Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 53 Summary: All was well in the Wizarding World. When murders started occurring- seemingly at random, Auror Potter was given the job to solve it. How would he solve it with his new skills and a new life? Hitcount: Story Total: 20283; Chapter Total: 1758 Awards: View Trophy Room |
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"So, the fingerprints on the wand are his own?" Harry asked. The chilly air, the death, the cold grey metal walls radiating off the gloom, everything in that room did not help Harry's uneasiness. A lady dressed in white down to the gloves held the wand in her hands. She answered him from behind her face-mask, "Yes, in fact, his fingerprints are the only ones found on it, that is, except yours," He smiled sheepishly before realising she probably couldn't see it, "Sorry, Emily, does the body show any signs of any curses other than this one? Anything unusual?" She shook her head, "It looks like it's self-inflicted. His abdomen is the only part which is in bad condition; they performed it with precision- and power, it cut right through most of his internal organs, no curses, no potions. Nothing." "But I have evidence to suggest a murder, are you positively convinced?" He knew that he was annoying her, but it all seemed so absurd. "Yes, Harry, I've dealt with quite a few bodies before, I am certain." "Alright, thank you, Emily, I'll be back if I need anything else," Harry said finally, taking Barton's wand from her. She gave him a sharp nod before returning to her work. OoOo Harry's office, or cubicle, was a small well-lit room, with creamy walls, his desk, and a giant notice board- littered with newspaper articles of interest, deadlines and a few sketches that Teddy made. "So, looks like we're off this case for a while," Ron said, leaning back into Harry's chair, crossing his hands behind his head, as Harry finished reciting the report. "No, Ron, there's something else. Who's this Hunter character? And is the person who wrote the letter still alive? Doesn't this whole scenario seem sketchy?" Harry replied, momentarily stopping his pacing. "I've sent some trainees to look up the birth and death records, figured we might get to know his family name-" Ron paused abruptly. "Harry!" "What?" Harry looked up, Ron bent forward, "The old lady, the one Proudfoot found in the Highlands? She apparently died of old-age?" "Yes?" "You think it could be related?" Ron raised an eyebrow. Harry rubbed his chin, "I think we best check that out again, I think Proudfoot got his report only yesterday, but we need the records first," Ron nodded and sat back, "But it could also be that he performed the curse himself, out of fear? You know- better die on your own than have someone kill you," "Could be," Harry said distractedly, resuming his pacing. The Hunter, he could not think of any Death-Eater, any news reports- anything "Think Harry, think," He muttered, raking his fingers through his hair. There was a sharp knock on the door, "Come in," Ron said. "Here are the files, sir," A trainee said, his head went back and forth between the two, eyes full of awe, and curiosity, Harry barely registered being called 'sir'. Ron gestured at Harry's table, the trainee put them there and quietly slipped out of the room. "Barton Edmund Audalix. Aged forty-seven." Harry skimmed through the file until he found something of interest. "He was involved in the First Wizarding War, a ministry spy for Voldemort," Ron was twirling his quill with a thoughtful look on his face, "Audalix sounds familiar, I think I had a great-grand-aunt who was Audalix," "They are a pureblood family," Harry looked at him curiously, Ron shrugged, "Any illness?" "None at all," Somebody knocked on the door again, "Come in," said Harry. Ron smirked, "You've set yourself quite a reputation if no one comes in without knocking," Ignoring him, Harry looked inquiringly at their new addition. "I interviewed the people at Leaky's- they're innocent and clueless," said Cassie, as she dropped another file on Harry's table, tying her dark hair. She was only a year older than Harry, and the two had gone on many of the early missions together. Cassandra had a particular talent of getting information out of people. She casually sat on the edge of Harry's desk. Harry nodded and resumed his pacing, "Alright, so this is what we know: He was from a pureblood family. Aged forty-seven. He was involved in the First War from the dark side; he had no siblings, no family except his aunt, Aurora Audalix." Cassie nodded, "Aurora Audalix is the body we discovered not far from Hogsmeade," "Great, that's our first link, did the Audalix have any enemies?" Harry asked, scribbling the name on a blank parchment. "Not that I know of, from what Proudfoot researched on Aurora; they had been laying low in the Second War. Her nephew got out of Azkaban by pleading innocence and claiming to be under the Imperius curse in the First War," Cassie finished with a scowl. Ron nodded, "We have to look at any family links they have, any friends or social circles, maybe it was because of some internal feuds," Cassie shook her head yet again, "As I said, they were lying low and living off the family wealth, but if you want, I can ask the lads working under Proudfoot's investigation to give any other connections that they might've found," Harry looked at Barton's wand on the table and sighed, "I'll talk to Proudfoot, we have to merge these cases, and yes, that would be brilliant, Cassie. Could you also check where their wealth and properties will go now?" She jumped off the desk, "I'll see to it. You.. continue!" She gestured at the piles of papers on Harry's desk and smirked. "Very funny, you're just happy you're done with yours," Harry grumbled as she exited the cubicle. "So what do you think?" He asked, turning to Ron who was still lounging and reading the post-mortem report, Ron's face peaked from behind it, "I think we need more evidence because right now, it really does look like this Hunter character might not be a big threat," Harry resumed his pacing, "Audalix was clearly running away from him," Ron sighed and stretched his arms as he got up. Placing a hand on Harry's shoulder, he gave a small smile, "I'll look at the files for people named Hunter," "Thanks, Cassie should be here any minute," Harry said, Ron shook his head. "You're going home, mate,- you'll be no help if you don't rest after a night-shift, " Ron said firmly, Harry tried to protest, but Ron's gaze stopped him. Knowing that it was futile; Harry nodded meekly, "Fine, but you're sending me the details as soon as you find them," "Done," said Ron, pushing Harry out of his own office. OoOoOoOo Harry stumbled out of the Floo into the drawing-room, which looked better than the condition he'd left it in. Feeling eternally grateful for Kreacher, who had prepared Harry a warm breakfast, he passed the rouge room to take a hot shower. Hunter. His stomach twisted in knots. Aurors mostly had to finish up the paperwork these days. They'd all worked hard to capture all the Death Eaters, and the Wizarding World had not seen anything eviler than a couple of common-thieves for over a year. All that changes now, he thought, feeling apprehensive. Once he'd finished eating, he flopped onto the bed with Mrs Audalix's file. His parents' wedding day photograph sat right next to Ginny's and Teddy's photo frame on his bedside. He smiled as he looked at their beaming faces. Teddy had ridden his first toy-broomstick that day; Harry had taken a photograph immediately. Aurora Audalix. He sighed and opened the file. The Healers had written that she had been suffering from numerous organ problems due to excessive alcohol and potions. There were no last wishes to follow. All her property came under Barton's name. He rubbed his face, the only thing he could think was a personal feud, they did not have much wealth- compared to other 'esteemed' Pureblood families- there was no evidence of murder, but why would she mention 'Hunter', was this only a set-up? He put the file down when he noticed that he'd read the same line four times. A yawn escaped his mouth, reminding him of how exhausted he was; promising to wake up soon, he closed his eyes wearily, falling asleep immediately, dreaming of murders and broomsticks. OoOoOoOo He was rudely awoken by the sound of sharp tapping on his window. He tried to snuggle deeper into the blanket before realising that he'd slept over it. "Go away," He said, whining. The tapping did not obey him, and as if to mock him, grew louder. Forcing himself off the warm bed, he opened the curtains, and unlocked the window, a tawny owl flew in and sat on Hedwig's old perch- he'd insisted on using it to allow the frequent ministry owls, and to keep Hedwig's memory alive. He stroked the owl and handed him a treat, "Hey, Apollo, Ginny sent something?" Curious as to why Ginny hadn't merely used the Floo, he took the letter from Apollo- Ginny's eighteenth birthday gift from him. Though short, the letter bought a smile to his face immediately, previous annoyance forgotten. Harry, Meet me at seven o'clock, our favourite dinner spot. Ginny x He looked out of the window at the magnificent red sky and realised he'd slept well past through the alarm, and lunch. He checked the clock, six-fifteen. OoOo She was leaning against the lamp-post and looking stunning in her Navy sweater- with a G in gold on it- and black leggings. He grinned as he checked his battered wristwatch, he was ten minutes early. "My lady," He said, offering Ginny his hand. "My good sir, it has been so long since I've seen you, I must say, love does grow stronger with time," Ginny fanned herself in a sophisticated manner, but the effort was ruined by the grin that crept up her face. "Why, I believe I agree wholeheartedly. Twenty-four hours is indeed quite a long time," He said with a grin of his own. OoOo "So I tried to come by Floo, but you didn't answer me, I figured you were probably out," Ginny said, as she ate the chocolate fondue for dessert. He took a sip of water before answering, "Yeah, I was asleep, I was supposed to be up by lunch, looks like I over-slept," Ginny shook her head, "You work too much, and those new techniques you're trying are, well, draining," Harry bowed his head as she mentioned work, "The new techniques are bringing me a step closer to wandless magic! They aren't all that draining, Gin," He finished with a small smile. She didn't look satisfied, eyeing him in a way much like her mother, but she didn't say anything. "Fancy a walk?" Harry asked. Ginny raised an eyebrow and gestured at the snowflakes which he swore weren't there moments ago, "In this weather?" "Good point." Ginny smiled at him, "How about a cosy evening with hot chocolate at your flat?" "You're making the hot-chocolate," He said decidedly, folding his hands. His stubborn face melted at her laughter; they paid the bill and decided to walk to the nearest empty spot. Shivering, he realised that he should've dressed better. "It is cold!" Harry said, brushing off the snow from his jacket. Ginny nodded sympathetically. "Shall we go through the Leaky's? It's not far from here," Ginny said, rubbing her hands together. He stopped, Ginny stopped with him and looked at him inquiringly, "No. We don't need to go to Leaky's. We can Apparate from the next alley," His tone must have conveyed that something was wrong, because the next moment, Ginny had pulled his chin up, "Everything alright?" "I'll tell you at home," He said shortly, leaving a surprised Ginny behind. They passed the rest of the short trip hand-in-hand, while Ginny told him about her practice session and how Maren was almost knocked off the broom by Gwenog's Bludger. He offered his inputs wholeheartedly. He wrapped her arms around her as they Apparated to the alley not far from his flat. OoOo "So what's that about Leaky's?" Ginny asked, setting their hot chocolate mugs on the table. Harry sat in the maroon armchair opposite to Ginny. He and Ron had tried their best to make his drawing-room similar to the Gryffindor Common Room. They had lived together until three months ago, when Ron had decided to help George with the shop in his free-time, shifting to the Diagon Alley flat. Harry decided he needed some more time and Grimmauld Place some more renovation before he would move out of this flat. "There's been a murder at the Leaky Cauldron," Harry began. They'd moved well past the 'confidentiality rule'. Unless it was something which was sworn to be private or something very critical, Ginny usually got the information out of him, at least the general picture. Besides, he knew that Hannah would tell Ginny anyway, they'd become quite good friends. "A murder?" Ginny said. Her face paled considerably. He ran a hand through his hair, "Well, I shouldn't classify it as murder, because the evidence suggests that it's self-inflicted, but I don't think it is, I could be wrong though," Ginny frowned. "There's a difference between suicide and murder, Harry," "I know, I don't have much information right now, but we'll find out tomorrow, I don't know Gin- I feel as if there's more to it," He said, gripping his mug tighter. Ginny acknowledged him with a nod while staring at the fire. Her hair reflected the fire's glow; they lapsed into a comfortable silence until Ginny's watch beeped. "I have to go," Ginny began with a regretful sigh. Harry nodded and smiled thinly, "I'll see you soon?" Ginny placed her hands on his shoulder and kissed him passionately, "Just four more days," "Mmmm," He was still dazed from the kiss, blinking owlishly for a second, he threw her a lopsided grin, "Train well, don't let Gwenog scare you, you're Ginny Weasley- Harpy's star Chaser," She smirked, "Don't you worry, Gwenog uses me as one of her scary tools," She took some Floo Powder in her fist, "Be careful, don't over-exert yourself, and if you need me, you can drop in anytime- Gwenog knows you have quite the habit of rule-breaking, and you understand Quidditch, so you're not a total bore, oh- and keep me updated!" He nodded, "I'll write to you," The flames turned green as she threw the Powder and with a last smile, said in a clear voice, "Holyhead Cottage," She disappeared in an instant and Harry could feel his good mood evaporate with her. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing. He could do the paperwork, or he could read and practice from the books on wandless magic he found at the Black Library. There was no point on working on the murder- the case- until he had more information. Feeling guilty, he decided to spend an hour on paperwork and the rest of the time for his practice. OoOo He cracked his knuckles as he signed the last file- for today. Summoned his book, and sat cross-legged on the rug. Though he did not need the book- he'd already read it twice- he kept in around for confidence. He exhaled deeply and focused on emptying his mind. He had finally learned Occulumency- it was necessary as an Auror. Next, he focused on the book which he had placed it on the table and raised his hand gently, the book gave a small shake but stayed unmoving. That was alright; he had realised by now that his first tries never worked. Relaxing deeper; he closed his eyes and tried to listen, or rather, feel, the ever-present hum of magic. He raised his hand again, pointing it directly at the book and felt a tug in his gut- causing him to peek an eye open, the book was hovering over the table. He probably shouldn't have cheered, for his concentration was broken, and the book fell with a resounding crash. He spent the next few hours Summoning objects wandlessly and performing basic spells such as Lumos and Alohomora. Though drained, he was satisfied by the time he pulled the covers, the room's lamps dimmed softly, the sole source of light was the moon which glimmered from behind the clouds. Hunter. OoOoOoOo Author's note: I hope you liked it! This one is longer than most because I think I had to put it all out there. Your reviews are so encouraging and they really do inspire me to write something which would keep you interested! They're my only way of knowing your opinions, and I always reply! |
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