Reunions

Harry let the warmth of a well spent evening fill him as the taxi took him back to the room he had claimed as his own. He held the journal he had completely forgotten to share during dinner still though that was one of the best nights he had had in ages. Catching up with Anita was as easy as it had been all those years ago, they just clicked. Merlin, he had missed her. He would always regret having to go silent on her, not being able to tell her what was really going on in his life not wanting to put her at risk like that but he was an adult now and Anita was one of the strongest magic users this side of the States. She also had her own guards… Things were safer now, so he didn’t have to worry about her. Well not quite as much. He was always going to worry about Anita. She was all the family he would claim.

Still he had the journal. It was one of his most prized possessions, they had planned their whole life together inside. From the wedding to the three kids to the absolute army of dogs. It made him grin unrepentantly just thinking about it. They’d only picked dogs because Anita used to be absolutely terrified of cats and now she was a lover and future spouse to so many. Funny how it worked out like that. All things considered though Micah and Nathaniel were good men and they made Anita smile like a love drunk fool. It was a good look for her. He was going to do anything he could for her to keep that look too.

The drive to the hotel was fast, the city alight with activities. Harry had a feeling he could find all kinds of trouble to get into at this hour. The night scene was just coming alive after all. Dropped off at his hotel just off the Riverfront gave him front row seats to the life of the party. A whole strip of shops, bars and other entertainment just a hive of people waiting to get in. He was tempted but he also had an early day meeting with the local MACUSA representative. Becoming a dual citizen and working in the States ment all sorts of paperwork. It was going to be a hassle but being who he was with his work history would grease the wheels for certain.

He didn’t remember the walk up to his room but he did know he was out before he could even press his face to the pillow. It was the best rest he’d had in a long time. He could count the amount of times he’d gone to sleep smiling on one hand at least in recent years. His summers with Anita didn’t factor into that equation. Unfortunately dawn was a blinding mistress and woke him up bright and early. It’s what he deserved for not closing the curtains the night before. Luckily, he had hours until he was scheduled to be anywhere. Thank Merlin. He didn’t want his first showing with the locals to be more zombie than trained official.

The meeting went about how he expected. Boring, drawn out and just on this side of productive. He got a new handler, a shiny graduate fresh from Ilvermorny. He looked very green and a bit like a yes man but he would hold out hope. This fresh off the presses boy would be his go between for MACUSA and the muggle government  apparently all those years as an Auror and then a top of the line Hit Wizard were paying off and he was being allowed to earn his citizenship through the Preternatural Marshal services, specializing in witches. He wasn't one to question things going right for him for once so he accepted his new federal status with grace. He had learned a while back the people in power hated when you whined in front of them so he'd save it for the privacy of his own home. Speaking of homes they tried to set him up in an apartment owned and funded by them. He turned that down as fast as he could politely manage. There was one thing about working for the man but letting the man control him at home too? Yea he wasn't born yesterday. He would look into private properties at a later date maybe with Anita's help.

Without plans to meet Anita he didn't have much to do, moving to the States had been a sudden decision on his part but leaving the wizarding world behind, predominantly, had been on the books for a while. Maybe he would look into getting that bike while the sun was still up. He impulsively asked his cabbie if he knew anything about it and turns out the man knew a guy, and he got a red and gold cruiser just because it'd make Sirius happy. She rode like a dream and he dubbed her 'Firebolt 2.0'. She'd never replace the original bike Hagrid eventually returned to him but she got as close as a modern version ever could. Feeling fresh and accomplished he spent the day doing the tourist thing, seeing the sights St. Louis boasted. From the Arch to the Art district he saw it all. St. Louis was beautiful but dinner was quickly approaching and he was exhausted. 

The trip back to his hotel room was a leisurely one, with every moment closer he debated as to what to do next. If he was honest with himself for once he was sorely tempted to call Anita, but he didn’t want to be too clingy. It had been too many years apart for her to excuse his need to be so close to her again. They would build up to that. He hoped anyway. For now though he needed a good meal and a nap. The true secrets of Saint Luis were calling but it was his first full day in town and unless he wanted to push it with a pepper up he should probably call it a day. Even if the Vampire District was just across the way. Even if he had driven past that Circus of the Damned more than once while he was exploring. He had experience traveling, he knew what he needed to do to fight the coming jet lag. Though honestly the idea of going out tonight made a deep part of him super excited. He'd never been to the circus before. A Vampire one or otherwise.

Still he decided to be a good boy for once and not to press his luck just yet. Besides maybe he could con Anita into taking him? He chuckled to himself and prepared for a safe night inside either way. He was halfway through brushing his teeth the muggle way, dental magic had an odd taste to him, when his phone started ringing. The only person who had that number was Anita, her men, for emergencies, the local police who his handler was to introduce him to or his handler. A feeling in his chest told him it wasn’t any of the first three options.

A murder. He had been in town less than two days and there was already a murder. So far his luck was working just right. Wonderful, and entirely predictable. Sometimes he hated that about himself but now? What better way to get to know the local police force than hounding in on a case he can’t have been invited to in the first place. It was only the fact that they couldn't know who he was going to be to them at this time of day that kept him from being pissy about stepping on their toes like he was going to do. But needs must and he had yet to fail a mission over something as minor as this.

He aggressively pressed the answer button, “Potter.” Short sweet and lets whoever called him get to the point. Time was blood and there was never a valid reason to waste that. At least not to him.

“I contacted Lieutenant Store. He will be your point of contact. He knows you have feet on the ground and that we are calling you in on this case. He will direct you from there, we trust you can handle this going forward.” The MACUSA grunt told him as if this was new to him. His newest minder was very green. What can you do in this case? As far as he knew, nothing. This was unfortunately one of those, time will tell situations.

When Harry didn't immediately supply him with some kind of affirmation, the man proving he was just out of training more than likely just scoffed and hung up. It was ridiculous to think he was once again stuck with a minder but even more so to think the one they chose for him was so mind numbingly inexperienced. He put it out of his mind for now. He had other things to focus on, like how he was going to get to the crime scene to begin with.

Turns out travel wasn’t his peak concern after all. No, that turned out to be the man staring him down from the other side of the tape with a shorter man who looked like he got dressed in the dark. They made quite the pair and they were both looking him up and down like he was some kind of fly in their coffee. Meanwhile he was on hold with the green minder MACUSA was forcing on him because none of these officers had any idea he was coming. Nor did they trust his credentials paired with his obvious foreign accent. He knew it would have been something he’d question had he been in charge of the scene so he didn’t begrudge them this but he did wish he didn't have to jump through these hoops everytime he worked in a new country.

Just as he was about to give up and call the Auror Head to clear up this… misunderstanding a vaguely familiar jeep pulled into the dirt that crunched under its tires just behind them. He was only slightly surprised to see a much more familiar face pop out from the driver side. Anita was giving him a look that clearly said what the fuck are you doing here.

In her support he hadn't gotten around to explain his side of things yet. He gave her a sheepish look, a younger him would have looked anywhere but her and scratched the back of his head while he tried to answer her unasked questions. Taking in the deeply contemplative expression on her face almost made him regret the fact that such actions had been trained out of him ages ago. Instead he stepped back letting her talk to Lieutenant Storr and his Sergeant Zerbrowski. He watched her relax in their presence for the most part. He could tell just from the look on her face and how it pinched just a little around her eyes while she talked to the lieutenant that she was unhappy with him whether that was him or the conversation wasn't something he was going to debate just yet. He had a strong suspicion though.

The Officers moved away in a not so clear ‘come in but we don't like you’ move. It was pretty funny how often he’d gotten that from local police, no matter what country you're in no one likes having their toes stepped on. Anita was waiting for him by the line with a look on her face he remembered well from childhood. That was refreshing, being able to remember something pleasant… ish from back then.

“What- How- Harry!” Oh -oh she was so mad at him and had too many questions she couldn't keep them in order. Crap, the last time this happened Dudley had given him a black eye and Vernon told everyone in the neighborhood Harry had started the fight and Dudley had finished it. Not that many of that neighborhood believed him. Still she’d gotten into quite the screaming match with his Uncle for the bold lie and half the neighborhood took to avoiding all of them afterwards. It was the first time the Dursleys had their brown noser pinnacle member of society status questioned.

“Anita,” Harry tried, ready to explain. Heart racing in his chest, he knew he’d have to tell her rather that he wanted to tell her more than anyone else what he had been up to since they were kids but her pointed side eye cut him off. Right, now wasn’t the time. He took a deep breath. After they investigate the murder. Here hoping it's nothing requiring their expertise but even he knew the government was prone to wait on sending him in until the last minute. For most people he was, overkill as it was. He gave her a pointed nod and swallowed back his inherent need to over share with her. They had been separated for years but some habits were bone deep. After all, six year old Anita standing up to the Dursleys while literally standing in front of him has powered his patronus for years.

The two of them walked up to the house silently, both of them were thinking about something hard but what was on Anitas mind wasn’t in his realm of abilities to guess. Once upon a time he could read her like a book, now? Well legilimency was an option but he wasn’t that kind of monster. She wasn’t a mark. She was his oldest friend. The most important person in his life. The door and the American cops in its opening were suddenly right before them. He had gotten entirely too lost in thought, right there in the middle of the walkway. He fought the urge to rub between his eyes. A rookie mistake, when he really needed to show he wasn’t a paper pushing weasel.

He pulled some gloves from his expanded pocket and asked, “Anything we need to know before we go in?”

Dolph and Zerbrowski gave him a stern look before turning to Anita, they were ignoring him. The new Fed on the block. He wanted to sigh. He had played this part enough times that he should have expected this reaction but it still stunned him every time. He’d have to prove himself and he couldn't do that if he went in there and just repeated what Anita said but from how they blocked the doorway they also weren’t going to let him in without her. Merlin, why was everything a pissing contest with some people?

“Still not going to tell me anything before we go in, Dolph?” Anita teased while she pulled on the gloves Zerbrowski handed her. The man in question looked at Harry first before shaking his head at her, he clutched a tiny notebook in hand.

“Now now Anita, you know we wouldn’t want to spoil your fresh perspective.” Zerbrowski grinned at her as he stepped aside to let her through. Harry could hear him teasing her all the way in while he stood on the porch being stared down by one of the biggest men he’d seen that pinged as so clearly human.

Dolph didn't say anything nor did his expression change as he stared at Harry but after a moment he stepped aside. The message was clear, ‘You walk, I’ll follow you’. Harry squeezed by and did his best to head in the general direction of Zerbrowski’s voice. He let his magic out to feel the house, to see what his eyes couldn’t. It wouldn’t have been the first time one of the governments he worked had sent him to help with a case that had nothing to do with magic but his gut told him that wasn’t the case with this one. 

Anita pinged off his radar immediately, a wave of familiar magic brushed against him like a warm breeze on a cold night with just a hint of something dangerous. It was very nearly enough to distract him from the brewing cold deeper in the house.

Harry could hear Anita asking questions in the room at the end of the hall but he turned, going towards what he assumed was the kitchen. He would bet money she was looking at one body but there was another in the house, and from the feel of it they were above it. If he had been paying attention to the other man following him he would have seen the way his eyes widen or the step back taken to let him past. Harry slipped quickly towards a door propped open just by the fridge. Good he wasn’t going to be ‘discovering’ a new body, he thought faintly.

He was just standing in the doorway when the smell of rot, wet mold, and ash hit him. Dolph didn’t stop him or offer any booties so he could only assume that meant it was safe for him to walk down. Getting closer his eyes adjusted to the dimmer lights. The basement was broken into two halves. One a potions lab he had seen advertised in catalogs. Magical catalogs. While the other was a bastardized ritual circle. Just standing there he knew he was going to have to proceed carefully. If he minded his steps they could finish this case without having to employ the Obliviator Squad but that all depended on him. 

He skirted the ritual circle taking in the bland scratched lines. He gained nothing on what possible rituals happened here from the faintly scratched in runes, it looked like they used a rusty old nail to carve them if he had to speculate. Even still he made no move to enter the circle taking in the scene as a whole instead. There was no dead body in this room but he could feel there had been death magic done here before. He took his time noting the potion set up and what ingredients were out. He was both pleased and perplexed to note there weren’t anything of magical origins so he could hold off on the Oblivators for now.

Dolph watched him angrily from the doorway, “Do all foreign officers waste time looking at the surroundings before the body?”

Harry hummed a noncommittal tune, “They did death magic in the room before, nothing fresh but sacrifices have been made before.” By way of answer. There was nothing else he could note without speculating more than he wanted to on a fresh case so he turned to go back up. Anita and Zerbrowski met them at the stairs. The two of them stepped aside to let them up, Zerbrowski and Dolph shared a look with the smaller man giving a sharp nod. He didn’t know them well enough to determine if that was a good thing so he looked to Anita who possibly did. She was annoyed but pleased.

Not what he was expecting but at least that meant it wasn’t about him. For now. He moved out of the way on the landing, he could have headed down the hall in the direction he had heard Anita and Zerbrowski’s voice before but decided it was better to wait for the Lieutenant. It was worth it just from the contemplative look he got from the generally morose man. A small nod and he followed the hulking man down the hall to the door he stopped outside of. Inside was something tame when compared to cases he was called in on. A body was slumped against the wall between the bed and the window seat. Small, broken. 

The longer he looked the more details came to him. He knew in the back of his mind that meant this scene was going to stick with him far longer than he wanted it too but still he looked and still the details came. Blood matte hair lay stuck to their face and neck. If the few clean strands were anything to credit it had once been a stark bright near white blonde. They were naked except for the blood and a blanket. He let his eyes roam from the girl who stayed right where she was. There wasn’t a large puddle of blood beneath her telling him the attack hadn’t started here.

The bed was mused, pulled in one direction likely from her dragging the blanket off in a hurry. There were scattered blood droplets falling directionally from her path, the door to the bed to the corner she chose. Harry looked back into the hall but there was nothing to see. It's as if she just appeared in the room, bleeding.

He turned another circle in the room noting the fine layer of dust on everything. Something wasn’t right here. He let his magic feel around the room more, actively searching over the feel of old death magic from the basement. Only… there wasn’t anything to feel. Harry frowned in thought.

“She was familiar with this room but hadn’t been here in a long time.” Harry turned and left the room. He took in the rest of the house as he walked out, he made passive observations when they entered but now the picture was becoming clearer as he took in those details with the right mindset.

“This was her house once upon a time but something happened. She hasn’t lived here in a while if the dust in her room was any judge but the rest of the house shows signs that there were still inhabitants. The lack of blood makes me think she didn’t come back on her own accord.” In truth he thought she'd apparated back with accidental magic but that would be saved for his report to MACUSA. “There's more to this scene but there was no fresh magic used here, the residual ritual magic from the basement was months old. If I had to guess, I'd say as far back as the beginning of the year, perhaps even the end of the last harvest season.” His gut told him it was a Samhain ritual but his muggle paperwork wouldn’t be enough to explain where that reason came from. 

Anita and Zerbrowski came around the corner to hear Harry finishing up his speculated time zone for the feel of the basement. Anita nodded, “The ritual circle in the basement looked ornamental at best, none of that chicken scratch matches to anything I’ve read about. I couldn’t feel anything new used in the room. What I want to know is why we were called here when this doesn’t look like a preternatural case at all?” She looked expectantly up at Dolph who only frowned at her.

Zerbrowski was standing off to the side quietly, and even from the short time he’d known the man he found that strange. Harry mentally struggled to find the words to fill the void here. Anything to make his mere presence here worth the hassle it was about to be. At least to this crowd. He was sure MACUSA was going to be highly interested in whoever was out there killing magical children but to these muggles? He was just some foreigner who horned his way into an American government position and was now honing his way into their case. Oh yea, they assuredly had a good opinion on him now since he brought such stunning revolutionary discoveries to their case.

Dolph finally got over whatever was holding him back and gruffly said, “This is the third child we’ve found like this.”

The room grew cold at the utterance. A serial killer focused on kids. Magical kids who as far as he could tell ‘escaped’. Fuck, there was more going on and he had questions that needed answers. Especially if he was going to be reporting this to MACUSA. No, best to see what this muggle group has put together before he runs over everyone's toes calling in the Aurors to take over. 

Anita nodded once, distaste on her face. “I need to see the files.” 

“As do I.” Harry stepped up next to her so they could both give Dolph a determined look.