The Protocol
“We must follow protocol.”
Ron has had enough of protocol. He is willing to bet money that waiting for a full team is the reason they keep finding people dead.
This time, he was going to jump on the opportunity to save somebody.
The warehouse that was used to kill Pansy Parkinson went off. This is now the second time the killer repeats a location, albeit not the same location as the last one he repeated.
Thank Merlin he had the idea to throw up detection and alarm wards over all of the sites so long ago.
He stumbled out of bed, holding an outstretched hand to his wardrobe. His Auror uniform flew to him. He put it on in record time.
“Love?” A groggy voice, a shuffle of bedsheets.
“Go back to sleep, ‘Mione.”
“What are you doing?” He could hear her moving to sit up in bed now.
“The detection wards went off. I need to go.”
“To the Ministry? I’ll call Harry for you.”
“To the site. Go ahead and call Harry. I’ll call over for Mordecai. They should be there soon.”
The soft glow of a Lumos appeared.
“Ron, you could get in trouble for this.”
“They’ll let me off if it saves somebody’s life.” Ron adjusted his belt and put his wand in-holster. “Call Harry for me, and go back to bed. Tell him to go to the site where Pansy Parkinson was murdered.” Ron made for his bedroom door.
“Hey,”
Ron turned back at the sound of Hermione’s voice, making out her figure in the dim glow of light.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He pursed his lips, holding her words of affection close, and braced himself for what he was about to witness at the site.
As soon as he landed, the first thing he was able to perceive was the smell of copper. However, the shock of that smell wore off almost immediately as his eyes settled over a black-cloaked figure. Behind the figure, Ron saw a body shackled to the floor. His wand was out in an instant.
The dark figure had their wand out just as quickly, and a jet of red shot straight towards Ron. In one swift motion, a blue shield came up as Ron deflected the spell.
Ron hurtled a binding spell towards his enemy, and just as he watched it bounce off another shield, the loud crack of apparation stole his attention. Mordecai appeared, and just as quickly, spells were being cast at them both. Mordecai threw up a chield before retaliating with what Ron guessed was a disarming spell. Ron made eye contact with him, subtly motioning towards the body on the floor. The figure shot spells in rapid-fire succession, and it was all they could do to deflect, unable to get an attack of their own in. Then, Mordecai took the opportunity to duck towards the floor.
Suddenly, a loud boom sounded and smoke filled the area. Ron immediately made to shield his eyes with his arm, and just barely saw blue lights appear near the floor. He raised his wand with his other hand to cast a finite, and the smoke cleared.
The figure and victim were gone. Mordecai could be seen standing up from a previous crouching position near some of the shackles. He was panting, looking at Ron with an expression of shock.
A crack made the two men jump. Harry appeared on the scene, looking dishevelled and a bit confused.
“What happened?” Harry was studying the area, looking at his two partners.
"He has Blaise Zabini."
“Shit,” muttered Ron.
“You saw them?”
“We fought with him,” replied Ron. “As soon as Mordecai showed up I told him to try and figure out something about the body chained to the floor, but then the guy threw up a ton of smoke and vanished with… well, I guess with Zabini.”
Ron huffed a breath, frustrated. He looked around the room and at his partners, taking in his surroundings properly now. Mordecai was still looking at the floor where Zabini had been. Harry looked as though he was desperately trying to catch up with the situation. He walked up to an old wooden standing desk.
“He left in a rush,” Harry commented. “Left a bag.”
Ron’s head snapped in Harry’s direction. Sure enough, there was a simple, sleek, black tool roll. Harry used his wand to open it up. The roll had various tools: knives, a spoon-like device, pliers, and several vials of liquid, as well as a syringe. Ron cringed.
Mordecai walked up behind them. “Wouldn’t like to hazard a guess what those have been used for.”
“These tools are Muggle,” Harry began. We need to start investigating Muggle Hardware stores and asking for receipts. We need to get the department to make us Muggle permits.”
“Good thinking,” said Mordecai. “We need to take this back to the Ministry.”
“We need to find Zabini and the killer,” continued Ron.
Mordecai stepped out to the middle of the room, wand out. “Appare Vestigium.”
Golden and green lights blasted themselves across the room, illuminating magical traces of both Zabini and the killer. As the traces settled, Ron, Harry, and Mordecai inspected it.
"Zabini didn't put up a lot of fight, it seems," commented Harry.
"Was probably knocked out like all the others. who knows if he'd even come to by the time we showed up."
Mordecai stepped in, looking closely at the golden tracks. "It all ends at the apparation point."
Ron tried not to swear, but his frustration with having been so close to the killer was evident on his face, he was sure of it. He turned to Mordecai.
"Get these tools to the ministry. See if it gives us any information. Harry and I will start tracking with the Four-Point charm."
"On it."
"Thanks."
Just as Mordecai left, Harry and Ron made their way out of the warehouse. As they stepped out into the rain- it had been raining quite a bit over the past week, now- Ron threw up an impervious charm for him and Harry.
"Let's use our brooms, we'll cover more ground faster," said Harry. Ron nodded. The two summoned their brooms, which took a moment to reach them. They then mounted. before taking off, Harry held out his wand.
"Point me." Harry's wand swung him around, pointing due north. He turned to Ron, and they both nodded, kicking off the ground and taking flight. In the sky, it was a bit hard to see anything besides the sheets of rain and darkness. Ron stayed close to Harry, occasionally glancing down at the wand mounted onto the front of his broom. As the night dragged on, and the wand continued to point north, Ron couldn't help but notice the fact that they were getting further and further from the more well-known Wizarding areas.
"Do you think he already had a location in mind? Or might he be bouncing around?" asked Harry, shouting over the white noise of the rain. Seems he noticed the same thing.
"Dunno," Ron replied, "But we should assume the worst, that he's already at another location. That means the clock is ticking if we're going to save Zabini!" Just as he said that, Harry's wand twitched, then spun to a hard right turn.
"Wand's turned," he shouted, and the two changed directions.
"Say, Harry," Ron began, trying his best not to shout too loud, though the rain wasn't affording him that opportunity, "Why'd you arrive so late?" Ron was wondering if, perhaps, something was wrong with Malfoy, or if temporary protection arrangements couldn't be made.
"It was a bit of a mission to get out of the falt, sorry."
"Were you able to get another Auror to take your station?"
"I just asked Dawlish to do it again, since he'd already done it once before, and I don't reckon Draco would take too kindly to being woken in the middle of the night and left with a stranger," The wand tilted towards the left, then. Ron was able to see it before Harry signalled, so they turned without speaking.
Draco, now? Interesting. The idea of saying his first name felt foreign on Ron's tongue. He wondered how Harry had gotten to saying it so casually.
"Well, hopefully we catch the bastard today and this doesn't happen again. But if it does, I think the protocol of waiting for a full team is stupid. I'm sure that's how we've kept losing victims."
Harry looked back at Ron, nodding his head, and they continued.
"You're a better person than me, then. I'm about half sure that if I were the head of the case, I would have broken protocol about three murders ago."
"You broke protocol when you started stalking Malfoy," Ron said, one eyebrow raised. He couldn't help the slightest of smirks going over his expression. Harry gave a full-belly laugh.
"I guess you're right. Oh, the wand's going to the right, now. Let's turn."
Ron felt a dull ache in his chest. When was the last time Harry and I had a half-normal conversation?
Not since Harry accused George of murder. Ron soured.
He had to admit, though, he missed his best mate. Yes, he was stupid and forgot to use his brain when matters were close to him, but he was still his best mate. Ron knew that Harry didn't ever mean anything with malice. Ron would take him back in a heartbeat.
"Hey," Ron began, "Have you been able to get any info out of Malfoy?"
Harry looked concentrated. "Yes, but no.... he's a lot more shaken up from everything than we anticipated, I think. Have you gotten to listen to our interview on Rookwood?"
"Yeah, bloke's scared to go to church. He's not the only one. Hermione is still looking to see if we can use the interviews to override his sanctuary."
"Good. Hopefully, we find something quick. Rookwood might be up to something. Anyway, Draco's, he's... a bit messed up in the head, I think. From the attack. He's got this thing about security, and it's obsessive. auror protection isn't enough for him, not in his mind."
"Only Malfoy would see the saviour of the Wizarding World as 'not enough protection'."
"Yeah," Harry responded, letting out a weak chuckle. He bore a face of concern. "I worry about him."
Ron thought about Harry's words, remembering some of what was going on in his own life. He wondered if it was alright to mention what he thought to Harry.
"Hermione's worried about you." So am I, I just don't get a lot of time to think on it.
Harry's eyes met Ron's. "She is?"
"She's just worried about how detached you've been for so long. She thinks that You protecting Malfoy is just another excuse to stay distant."
Harry's brows furrowed. Ron wasn't quite sure what that look meant.
"She's not the only one," Ron continued.
"Oh." Harry didn't say more. The white noise of the rain became more prominent. They continued to fly for a bit.
Soon, Harry's wand spun to the right. Harry called it out, and they turned. But very quickly, Harry stopped. Ron slowed to a stop beside him, and before he could ask what had happened, he caught a glance of his wand, which was now spinning quite rapidly, unable to find its way anymore.
"Bugger," said Harry. "Let me cast the charm again." He held his wand out, a wordless summoning charm allowing his wand to fly to him.
"Point me," he shouted. The wand began to whirl him around, at first, slowly, then more rapidly. If Harry didn't dispel the charm soon, Ron thought he might get flung from his broom. "Finite!"
Quickly, Harry's broom came to a stop. He held his head to combat dizziness.
"He's put up anti-tracking wards," Ron concluded.
"I don't suppose we can try to disable it? We must be close, no?"
"Haven't the slightest," Ron replied. "But we can disable it." Ron and Harry didn't often take to using the magic that only they were licenced to use as aurors, when there was so much other perfectly good magic out there, but in a situation like this, he didn't find he much cared. Typically, aurors needed advance permission to let off certain magic.
Ron found that he'd be fine with asking for forgiveness, in this case. He held his wand up. "Intrico, Dissolvum."
Harry took the incantation as cue to cast the four-point spell again.
"Point me." His wand whirled him over to his left, and then wobbled in a general direction. "It's not perfect, but he's definitely somewhere this way."
"Let's go, then."
The two took off, heading straight for wherever the killer and Zabini were.
And they flew and flew.
The rain never let up and despite the impervious keeping them both dry, Ron knew that, for him as well as Harry, the spellwork wasn't doing much for the cold. eventually, though, Harry's wand began to point downwards, though still uneasy.
"Is that it?" Harry shouted, pointing downwards.
"It must be." Harry put his wand away, and they made to land.
They descended, the wind hitting their faces with increased intensity as they approached the ground.
As soon as his feet hit the floor, Ron felt an overwhelming sense of unease. This place, it seemed, was abandoned. The rain was pouring heavily, and it was difficult to see through the dark.
"Lumos," they both cast. Far in the distance, a wooden structure could be spotted, slightly obscured by fog and trees.
"Must be that," Harry said. The two approached with caution. The air was chilly, and the impervious over them was still holding strong.
Slowly, they made their way over. A large, wooden, run-down house emerged into view. The closer they got, the more it appeared that this place had seen its better days. The wood was rotting and the windows were dusty. Ron wondered if anybody had ever lived here. it seemed unlikely.
Ron was the first to walk up to the door. It was closed and seemed heavy, but he wasn't sure he wanted to risk making noise by pushing it open. He turned to Harry, motioning for him to be ready. Harry nodded. Ron held up his wand.
"Alohomora." The lock clicked open. Slowly, and without sound, Ron pushed the door open.
A foul smell hit his nose, and his face contorted. He heard a small gasp come from Harry and knew that he, too, had caught the scent.
He began scanning his surroundings, wand ready to strike.
The room was empty, save for a shackled Blaise Zabini, naked, bloody, and wounded.
"Fuck," Ron cursed loudly. They were too late. He stepped through the threshold of the front door.
"What if he's still alive?”
Ron took in the sight of his body, feeling sick. Zabini’s abdomen had a long vertical slash down its middle from where his intestines were spilling, and his skin looked severely damaged by burns and boils.
"He might be."
"The killer might have been in a rush, knowing we were on his tail. I'll check."
"Okay," Ron said. He watched Harry kneel by Zabini's head, his wand running over his body, the purple light of a diagnostic spell shimmering across.
"Oh, my God!"
"Is he alive?" Ron asked, his heart leaping to his throat.
Just then, Zabini gasped, eyes opening wide as he looked around frantically. Harry was quick to address.
"Blase Zabini, you're safe now. My name is Harry Potter. I'm here with Ronald Weasley. We are aurors. You're safe now. We are going to transport you to St. Mungo's hospital."