Without a Trace

Author's note--Here's a LONG chapter for you! Enjoy! Apologies in advance for all of the drama and angst that appears in this chapter, and it's not meaning to be a cliff-hanger, so if it feels like one, I'm sorry for that, too!

I realized that I made a rather serious mathematical calculation from earlier, but I have already fixed it without further ado. Basically, when I started planning this fic, I had a couple of the dates wrong, and after I went back over my notes and fixed them, I forgot to alter one "teensy-weensy-but-ever-so-crucial-little-tiny detail"...(Yes, that is a quote from the Disney movie "Hercules")

The twins were born in January 1999, and it is now July 2005. That would make them SIX years old, not five as previously stated. Any specific references to them as five year olds has been changed to six now (so if you saw that Chapter 23 was already up and the fic was at the top of the list again and wondered...that's why...I was changing those details).

Apologies again for the mistakes! I'm tryin not to make 'em! Enjoy the chapter!

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Without a Trace

Episode 2

THIRTEEN HOURS MISSING

Harry careened out of the elevator, heading straight for Jack’s office. He banged the glass doors open, wincing as he realized they nearly cracked. Jack was already rising from his desk, a look of fury twisted on his face. Harry faced him across the desk, cringing. He hoped that Jack wouldn’t fire him before he had a chance to explain, but Jack looked pretty angry. Harry had watched his teammates cross Jack before, and the result was never pretty. This was the first time Harry had ever actually defied his boss, but it seemed worse than what he had seen before.

“Where do you get off undermining and disregarding my orders, and then challenging me about it? I don’t know what’s going on with you lately, HJ, but you are this close—do you hear me? THIS CLOSE—to being pulled off of this case! Right now, the ONLY reason you are still here is because you have answers that I need to catch these bastards, so get it together. Now!” Jack fumed, pointing to the chair that Hermione had been sitting in a couple of hours ago. Harry sat, hanging his head, knowing that he had crossed the line. He waited, but the only sound in the room was Jack’s heavy breathing as he finished his tirade. He was taken aback by the wetness in HJ’s green eyes when the younger agent made eye contact. Jack felt an unwelcome surge of fatherly affection for the younger man who looked like a teenager being chastised. He struggled not to let it show on his face when HJ opened his mouth.

“I am so sorry, Jack,” he said in a low voice. “I messed up, and I know it. Please don’t put me off the case. There are things from my past that I’ve never talked about or dealt with before, and everything is suddenly being forced on me now. I’m trying to ‘keep it together’ and catch up, but I’m sorry that my temper got the better of me. Do you trust me?” Jack blinked, not expecting HJ to say all of the ‘right things’ so succinctly. He had had fights with every member of his team before, and while they had all defied him at some point, none of them had been able to admit so shamelessly that they had been wrong. He respected that about HJ, and his final question threw the older agent off.

“Yes, HJ,” Jack wiped a hand over his face, unsure of whether to show grudging admiration for HJ’s courage or keep his ‘angry face’. “Of course, I trust you. You’re a good agent, and you have great instincts. You’ve proven yourself time and again, and I’d trust you with my life.”

“Okay, Jack, then please listen to me,” Harry pushed his glasses up, sitting forward on the edge of his chair. He folded his hands and held them out as if pleading, which he, essentially, was. “You know that I’m not usually given to rash outbursts, but I know the people we are dealing with. You’ve been there on the cases I’ve worked with you, and we’ve seen some pretty horrendous things and dealt with some dangerous thugs, but please, please trust me when I say that Zabini and Snape are unlike any of the criminals we have encountered thus far. They are far more deadly, and I am absolutely certain that you are sending Elena and Samantha into harm’s way by putting them on a plane to England. Please call them and tell them not to go.”

He sighed and blinked, glancing down. Jack exhaled, shivering a little. Ever since HJ started talking, he had locked those piercing green eyes onto Jack’s brown ones, and Jack caught his breath, not able to look away. He idly wondered if HJ knew how hypnotic his gaze could be, but his words had pierced Jack’s brain, just as his eyes had stared Jack down. The older agent prided himself on keeping the upper hand in difficult situations, but he never expected to have been trapped by nothing more than a look…and by one of his own agents thirty years his junior, no less!

“HJ, Sam and Elena have both been doing this job a lot longer than you have, and while you ARE very good at what you do, so are they,” he countered logically. It was Harry’s turn to take a deep breath.

“I know, Jack, I know, but they’ve never dealt with the likes of these guys. Jack, these guys make Spaulding look like Mr. Bean! Their connections are better than the mafia, Jack!”

“HJ, the mafia is a product of Hollywood—”

“No, Jack, you’re not listening to me! I know it sounds like something out of a Mug-um, out of an American movie, but this is SERIOUS!” Harry stood up and leaned on Jack’s desk, willing him to understand and trust the black-haired agent. “Snape was my professor for seven years, Jack. He has a grudge against me that stems from before I was born. He went out of his way to insult me and make my life hell. He killed my mentor, the Headmaster of my school, and then he hurt the boy he was supposed to be protecting…” Harry’s voice faltered and cracked. “He hurt his godson tremendously. Zabini is not much better. They both belonged to the same cult. They won’t just kill Samantha and Elena, Jack. They will keep them and torture them. And not just rape, Jack. Oh no. That is way low on the list of degradation that Snape and Zabini will submit them to if you send them to England. Only after they’ve broken the women will they leave them for dead.” He bit his lip, trying to repress all of the ugly memories that were racing through his mind.

“HJ, we’re talking about fully trained and capable FBI agents—”

“But they’re not invincible, Jack!” Harry cried. He was dangerously close to using Legilimency to influence his boss, and he wasn’t sure which scared him more: the fact that he was even considering using magic again or the fact that using Legilimency, even for purposes such as this, was something that Voldemort or Snape would have done. Harry knew that Dumbledore would be very disappointed if he knew what Harry was thinking, and that made the black-haired agent blush with shame, as well as drove him towards desperation.

“The leader of the cult that Snape and Zabini are a part of killed my parents! His followers have killed nearly everyone I cared about my entire life! I was given a war to fight when I was eleven years old, Jack! Eleven fucking years old, and I fought him for six and a half years before I finally took him down! I came to America to escape all of that unhappiness, and I’ve dared to be happy! I’ve tried so fucking hard to put it behind me and move on, but I know I’m a fool for thinking I could have done that.” Harry ran a shaky hand through his hair as tears began to stream down his cheeks. “I’ve made friends here, Jack, and for six years, I’ve felt relatively safe. But now, suddenly and inexplicably, my past has reared its ugly head again, and two of my friends are being threatened again! Jack, if you send Samantha and Elena to England, they will be coming home in body bags, assuming that we even FIND their bodies! Please don’t submit me to that again! I’ve had enough of people dying around me, and I can’t go back to that! Please, please don’t let that happen.” Harry sank back into the chair, very close to breaking down completely. “Please call Samantha and Elena and get them off that plane.”

He covered his face with both of his hands, feeling like he was fifteen again as Sirius’ face flashed in his memory. His cell phone rang, and he reached for it blindly, silencing it. He was yanked from his thoughts as Jack swore, and he looked up, his tearstained face hopeful as he watched the boss dial another number.

“Sam’s phone is already off,” Jack said. “I’m trying Elena now—Elena, hey. It’s Jack. Where are you guys? Uh-huh. Yeah, change of plans. I need you and Sam to stay here…Elena, you’re FBI. Use your badge and tell them to stop the plane. If they want to argue about it, have them call me. That plane is NOT to take off with you and Samantha on it, and that’s an order.” Jack glanced at HJ and smirked. The wet-eyed agent swiped his cheeks with his cuff and smiled back tentatively. Jack hung up and held the phone up. “Apparently they were just pulling back from the gate, and Elena was about to turn her phone off.” Jack’s phone rang again almost immediately.

“Malone. Yes, I am the lead agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Captain, I apologize for the inconvenience, but I need my agents here. I don’t care what your protocol is; my agents will not hesitate to arrest you for ‘obstruction of justice’, and then all of those other passengers will be more inconvenienced than if you just open the doors now and let them off. I thought you might see it my way. Thank you, Captain; could you please hand the phone to one of my agents? Thank you. Hey, Sam. Yeah, lucky that Elena hadn’t turned her phone off yet. Just get off the damn plane and head back here. I’ll explain later. No, I have to go. Bye.” Jack sounded slightly sheepish, since Samantha was fairly indignant and huffy on the phone. He regarded HJ seriously.

“I believe you, HJ, but you’ve got to level with me,” he said, sitting at his desk again. He had just confirmed one of Jack’s questions; Jack was now reasonably certain that the twins had been the intended targets due to Snape’s intense dislike of HJ.

Suddenly Danny shoved Jack’s office door open, panic written all over his face.

“The wife and mother are gone! I’ve got to get to Ashleigh!” He hollered and then disappeared. Harry and Jack both sat, stunned for a second. Harry reached for his phone and saw that the missed call was from Danny’s girlfriend—the woman who was watching his girls—and his blood ran cold.

* * * * *

Both Jack and Harry sprang up from their seats. Danny ran for the elevator with Vivian behind him. Harry was fumbling for his phone and dialing Ashleigh’s number, wondering what was going on.

“Hello?” Harry was caught off-guard by the child’s voice that answered.

“Molly? Lily?” He asked, surprised. “It’s Daddy!”

“Daddy! Lily’s being bad! She’s hurting Ashleigh!” Molly’s voice was panicky. Harry could hear Ashleigh screaming in the background; he recognized those screams. He hadn’t heard them since the war, but Harry would recognize the sounds of someone under the Cruciatus Curse anywhere. They were indelibly burned into his brain; but then, as if someone flicked a light switch, the screaming stopped.

“Molly! Molly, where are you?” Harry stopped short, running a hand through his hair. He knew that if he got on the elevator, he would lose the signal. It was clear that Danny already knew what was going on and where they were, so Harry opted to stay on the phone with his daughter. He might be able to help the situation until Danny and Vivian got there. He saw Jack running towards the holding cells, followed by an unknown brunette who looked vaguely familiar from the back, but he turned away, focusing on calming Molly.

“Daddy, we’re at Central Park! Ashleigh took us for ice cream again, and Lily…” Molly wailed, breaking off into tears.

“Molly, Molly, honey, listen to me. Listen to Daddy. Uncle Danny’s on his way, okay? He will be there soon, but right now, I want you to take a big breath for me. You’re being so brave, but I need you to tell me what’s going on right now. That’s it, breathe deep; in and out. Good girl, Molly, sweetheart. Where is Ashleigh right now?”

“Laying on the ground beside me,” was the shaky reply.

“And is she breathing? Is she looking at you?”

“Yeah, Daddy. She’s holding onto Lily really tight, but now Lily’s crying, Daddy! She was being bad and not listening to Ashleigh, but now she’s crying!”

“Okay, so Ashleigh’s awake and breathing. You’re sure?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And where is Lily right now? What is she doing?”

“She’s laying on Ashleigh. Lily’s crying too; only now, I’m holding her hand, Daddy. She was trying to run away from Ashleigh, and Ashleigh was trying to stop her. Then she hurt Ashleigh, but Ashleigh wouldn’t let go of her, and then it just stopped. Ashleigh was on the phone with Uncle Danny, and I grabbed it when Lily started hurting her. I told Uncle Danny, and he said for me to stay right here until he got here. Are you coming, Daddy?” Molly finished in a small voice.

“Baby, I think Uncle Danny will bring you up here to the office, okay? I’ll be waiting for you when you get here, though. I’m up in my office, and if I get on an elevator, it means I have to hang up the phone with you. Uncle Danny’s on his way, so I’m going to stay on the phone with you, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

“Angel, I need you to tell me some more things, okay? How did Lily hurt Ashleigh? Did she punch or kick Ashleigh?” Harry sucked in a ragged breath, pacing.

“Nope. She had a funny look on her face, and all she did was point at Ashleigh and whisper a strange word. Ashleigh dropped the phone and started screaming, but she didn’t let go of Lily.”

“Why was she holding onto Lily, baby?”

“Lily was walking away from her, and she wouldn’t stop. Even when Ashleigh and I called to her, she wouldn’t come back, so Ashleigh ran after her and grabbed her. Then Ashleigh looked up and said a bad word. She grabbed Lily and me and started pulling us away. Lily was fighting her, so Ashleigh grabbed her up, and that’s when Lily pointed at Ashleigh,” Molly started crying again.

“Angel, you’re doing so good. Be a brave girl for me now, okay? Breathe, baby, and don’t cry. Why did Ashleigh say a bad word?”

“I’m not sure, but there were two women who were hiding in a bush that Lily was walking towards. They stood up, and it looked like they were arguing while I was talking to Uncle Danny. Then you called, and Ashleigh stopped screaming, and they ran away.” Harry’s heart stopped. Now Danny’s words made sense. He was proud of Molly for remembering such detail; they had both heard many times over how important it was to remember as much detail as possible. If someone looked suspicious or acted funny, the girls knew to observe and remember as much as they could. It had even been a game when they were younger; Harry would test them on how much they could remember from hearing a story or sometimes he would show them a collection of objects, and then they would have to name as many things as possible from memory.

“Molly, what did these women look like?”

“One of them had blonde hair and the other had dark hair, Daddy.” Harry exhaled, his worst fears confirmed. He kicked himself mentally for not thinking of this all last night. Of course Pansy and Narcissa escaped from the holding cells! Wands or no, they were still witches, and he should have known!

“Baby, I’m so proud of you. Is Ashleigh still awake? Can she talk on the phone, sweetie?”

“Hold on, Daddy,” he could hear Molly asking Ashleigh if she wanted to talk to him. “I have to hold the phone for her, Daddy, but here she is. I love you!”

“I love you, too, Molly!”

“H-H-HJ?” Ashleigh’s voice was croaked and hoarse, punctuated by gasps. Harry knew that every muscle in her body was probably twitching; it was one of the side effects of Crucio, and she had difficulty speaking.

“Ashleigh, I’m so sorry,” he began, breaking off as she coughed violently.

“N-no, HJ, m-m-my fault. It—it was the gr-grandmother and an-nother woman. I d-don’t know what happened, ex-xactly, but they almost-almost got Lily. I’m sorry…”

“Ashleigh, no! Molly told me that Lily is right there with you, so you did great. Listen, Danny’s on his way, okay? Bring the girls up to the office. You’ll be okay, I promise,” Harry was relieved that the ordeal seemed to be over.

“What was th-that, HJ?” Ashleigh sensed that HJ somehow knew what had happened.

“Ashleigh, listen. I know it hurt really badly, and you should have Danny take you to the hospital just in case, but you’ll be fine. You should rest, though, and the pain and soreness will wear off,” Harry advised, knowing that the hospital wouldn’t find anything wrong with her or be able to help her in any way, save for prescribing pain medication. If they had been in England, he would have taken her to St. Mungo’s, but they weren’t there, and there was no American equivalent that Harry knew of. He suddenly heard shouting in the background; Danny’s voice, screaming for Ashleigh.

“D-Danny’s here now, HJ,” Ashleigh said weakly.

“I can hear,” he replied, smiling a little. “I’ll sign off then. See you soon, Ash, and I’m so sorry again.”

“B-bye, HJ,” she said. He snapped his phone shut, swearing under his breath. He headed to the holding cells.

* * * * *

Jack skidded to a stop at the desk of the detention center. One of the young guys sat, hunched over and head down. He jumped, looking up and glaring as Jack banged his hand in front of him as he passed by.

“Where are the suspects?” Jack growled, swiping his identification badge.

“There are none, sir,” the guy at the desk stammered, looking at Jack in confusion. The senior agent stopped, turned, and walked back to the desk, leaning down until he was nose-to-nose with the surprised agent.

“There should be two women in custody. They were brought here last night, so where are they now?” Jack’s voice didn’t carry, but he noticed the young British woman shift nervously a little ways away. “What the hell are YOU doing here? You don’t belong here!”

“Sir, there was no one this morning, and there is no record of anyone being checked in,” the young agent got up from the desk and swiped the lock, opening the door for Jack. He held it open, smiling at Hermione as she stepped in behind Jack.

Jack stalked into the cell area, stopping so quickly that Hermione bumped him from behind. He stared in horror down at the night guard, Pete, who was sprawled out on the floor. The guard was on his side, his weapon untouched, but the most striking feature was the way his gut was neatly sliced open, and his entrails had slid out, coating the floor. There was a rather large pool of blood that seeped through the guard’s clothing and spread out in a three-foot radius around his body. Jack blanched and choked at seeing one of his comrades felled so heinously. He turned away, dry heaving, accidentally turning into the woman behind him. He went to pull away, but her arms came up and around his back almost automatically. He jerked out of her grip, staggering away towards the glass door. The guard saw his reaction and immediately yanked the door open.

“Sir? Are you okay?” Jack motioned for him to come closer. Once the young man was within arm’s reach, Jack grabbed him by the lapel and thrust him into view of Pete’s body.

“No one here this morning? So Pete did this to himself? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?” Jack roared, his voice breaking even as he screamed. The other guard was not so lucky as to have a tolerance built up for gore, and he promptly wrenched out of Jack’s grasp, stumbled back to his desk, and heaved into his trash can. Jack followed, angry tears glinting in his eyes, and he was screaming when HJ came around the corner.

“THERE WERE TWO WOMEN HERE, AND NOW THEY’RE GONE AND A GUARD IS DEAD! ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU DIDN’T NOTICE ANYTHING ‘OUT OF THE ORDINARY’ WHEN YOU MADE YOUR ROUNDS THIS MORNING?” Jack’s voice brought people running. Harry pushed past him, not caring about the answer, and he stepped through the glass door, coming to a stop beside Hermione without noticing who she was, horrified.

“Oh, shit!” He mumbled softly. “Entrail-Expelling Curse…” A swift movement to his left caught his eye, and he reached for his gun on instinct, turning towards the threat. His eyes widened as he stared at his long-ago best friend Hermione Granger, who had drawn her wand upon hearing his words. “Oh my god! ‘Mione?”

“Harry? Is it really you?” Hermione was gobsmacked to actually see her former best friend in the flesh. She had known exactly what happened to the man called Pete as soon as she saw the body; no Muggle could sever flesh so neatly as a curse, but of course, she couldn’t tell the FBI agents that. It was clear that the two witches in custody had escaped sometime between last night and this morning. She used her wand to cast a quick Prior Incantato, which was normally used only on other wands, but with enough practice, the caster could aim it at an abstract area.

“Disillusionment Charm,” she reported. Harry looked at her in surprise. “I suspect they got him with an Entrail-Expelling Curse, and they cast a Disillusionment Charm to cover it up.” With a flick of her wand, she cast Deletrius to remove any traces of the former magic, even if the Muggles wouldn’t notice anyway. She put her wand away and turned to Harry. He opened his arms, and she threw herself into them in a fierce but brief bear hug. She stepped back quickly, knowing that they didn’t have much time before the Muggle agents came back.

“Harry, I might have to Obliviate them,” she said seriously.

“No, they don’t have to know!” He said, his brain racing. “So far, Draco and I have been able to keep the wizarding part of our history under wraps.” He hastily realized his error as Hermione’s eyebrows shot off her face.

“Draco? As in, Malfoy? Since when are the two of you on a first-name basis?” She asked skeptically.

“Since his son was taken and I helped get him back,” Harry retorted. “That’s not important right now. There are cameras back here,” he pointed to the nearly-invisible one mounted near the ceiling. “I’ll get the footage to see if we can get it and alter it.” Suddenly Harry clutched her arm, his face pale. “Oh shit, ‘Mione! I Apparated in the elevator yesterday! I need to get that footage before they find it! Shit, shit, shit!”

“Harry, calm down!” Hermione put her hand over his, feeling as if she had been blasted into the past, before Harry killed Voldemort, as she reassured him. “Listen, that’s why I’m here. Don’t worry about the tapes; the Ministry of Magic has contacts all over the world, and luckily, we have a few who keep tabs on strange happenings. My contact informed me that he has already altered the tape, and he’ll take care of this as well. I’ll get on to him and see if he can tell us anything about what happened, but you Apparating was what tipped me off to you being here in the first place. I’ll explain more later, but right now, we need to find Narcissa and Pansy before they do any more damage.”

“Too late, ‘Mione,” Harry said gruffly. “I’m not exactly sure yet, but they were in Central Park, and they tried to take my daughter. Luckily Ashleigh, the woman who is watching them, stopped her, but they cast Crucio on her. I don’t know who else saw, and it wasn’t very long, but they got her with it. I heard her screams.” Hermione drew in a breath. This was quickly escalating out of hand. Suddenly Jack reappeared with the forensics team and a coroner. Harry swung into action, taking Hermione by the elbow.

“Oh, um, Ms. Granger, if you’ll come with me, please; you’re not supposed to be here, and we need to let these men get everything cleaned up,” he said, escorting her back to the desk. Jack nodded to him, focusing on the team cleaning Pete’s body up. They paused at the desk where the day worker sat, looking pale and shaking.

“Say, buddy, what time did you do your rounds this morning?” Harry leaned over, offering a sympathetic smile.

“S-seven, just like always,” the young man said hollowly. “I didn’t see Pete around, but I figured he had taken off already. He does that sometimes when it’s quiet. There was nothing in the log books about any prisoners, and his body wasn’t there this morning. It wasn’t. I would’ve seen it. I don’t know what happened.” Hermione drew her wand, but Harry pushed it back down.

“What time did Pete go on last night?” He shook his head slightly at her, knowing that she was probably about to Obliviate the young man.

“Seven. We work in twelve hour shifts,” he replied rotely. Harry frowned, thanked the man, and led Hermione down the hall.

* * * * *

Harry pulled out his cell phone, leading Hermione into the conference room and motioning for her to sit at the large table while he made a quick phone call.

“Martin, hey, it’s HJ. Hey, what time did you lock the wife and mother up last night? Eleven-thirty? Was Pete working last night? Did he note it in the log book? Uh-huh…really…okay. Yeah, bad news. He’s dead, and Pansy and Narcissa are missing. What? What the hell do you mean you’re in the cafeteria? Well, are Draco and Parker with you? YOU LEFT THEM ALONE IN THE HOSPITAL ROOM WHILE THE PSYCHO BITCHES WHO ARE OUT TO GET THEM ARE ON THE LOOSE????” Harry exploded from the table, tugging on his hair again. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Hermione’s frown at his language. “GET BACK UP THERE! You can’t let her get Parker again! Don’t let either of them near Draco either! He doesn’t need this shit right now! Fuck-all, Martin! I have shit to take care of here…do you want me to come back? Yeah, call me when you’re in their room.” Harry snapped his phone shut, glancing around the room distractedly. Hermione reached out for him.

“Harry?”

“Martin left them alone to go get a fucking sandwich…fuck, Draco! What if they’re there, Hermione? They’ve both already hurt them enough; I can’t let them hurt Draco or Parker again!” Harry was ready to punch something.

“Harry, what about the log book?” Hermione tried to sidetrack him from playing the ‘what-if’ game.

“Martin said that Pete didn’t enter them into it, since they were only supposed to be there for about nine hours. Just overnight, according to Martin. Fucking Pete…he’s been working that shift for longer than I’ve been here; he bends and breaks the rules all the time, and no one says a damn thing. And now he’s dead,” Harry’s voice cracked on the last word. Hermione stood and pulled Harry into a comforting hug, just like she had always done. His phone rang again, and he smiled at her gratefully, already feeling better.

“Yeah. Oh, thank god. They’re okay? Fuck, that’s great news! Keep an eye on them, okay, Martin? I’m sorry I yelled at you, mate. I’m just…really stressed out right now, and it’s just one piece of bad news after the other. Narcissa and Pansy escaped out of here sometime during the night, and apparently they went after Ashleigh and my girls in Central Park just a bit ago. No, they’re all okay, and Danny and Viv are getting them. Bringing them back up here. Yeah, I’ll keep you posted. Sam and Elena should be showing up here…oh, hey, gotta run, Martin! Sorry again and thanks!” Harry hung up and ran back to the holding area where Jack still stood.

“Jack, should we have Sam and Elena check the airports for Pansy and Narcissa?” Harry gasped out, shaking Jack’s shoulder to get his attention. The senior agent shook off his grief.

“Good idea, Potter,” he said quietly. “That woman from the British government was quite insistent about speaking with you.”

“Yeah, we’re just about to talk,” he replied. “I’ll fax their pictures over to the security office at the airport for Sam and Elena.” Jack nodded, calling Samantha. The two women were just about to leave the airport, having used their badges to make the captain stop the plane, even though he did call Jack about it, and he pulled the plane back into the gate. The airport crew opened the luggage compartment and began to rifle through it, searching for the FBI agents’ bags while the ground crew set up the tunnel from the plane’s door to the airport terminal. Samantha and Elena both apologized to and thanked the crew profusely, waiting at the baggage claim for their luggage. Samantha was incredulous by the time she got off the phone with Jack, but they made their way to the security office to wait for the picture faxes from HJ.
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Chapter notes:

1. These guys make Spaulding look like Mr. Bean! Alright, so I was going to use "Mr. Rogers" but then I decided that it was too old-school AND Harry, being British, probably wouldn't know who that was, anyway. But Mr. Bean is relatively recent and appropriately used in this context, since both American and British worlds would know who he is, even if he's more popular in Britain. If you don't know who he is, I'd recommend Googling him or looking him up on youtube to get the full effect of this line.

2. Entrail-Expelling Curse I have been DYING to use this in a fic! (Ever since reading about it on the HP Lexicon...and pun intended, by the way.) And now it finally fits the context, so yay!

3. Disillusionment Charm According to the HP Lexicon, this spell hides the true, magical nature of something. Pansy (or perhaps Narcissa) would have cast this over Pete's body after killing him to ensure that he wasn't discovered right away in the morning. In my mind, it would have covered up the "true, magical nature" of his death by curse, which would have made his entire body 'disappear' as long as no one stepped near enough to touch it, which no one did until the charm wore off, the body appeared, and Jack found it.

4. Deletrius According to the HP Lexicon, this spell is used after Prior Incantato to get rid of the remnants of the previously-casted spells. Hermione (for obvious reasons) has gotten quite good at this during her career.

5. My contact informed me that he has already altered the tape This is not a huge plot point and will not likely be explored further. It's an American Muggle who has been briefed on the wizarding world (probably someone who has an American witch or wizard for a sibling) so they were already aware of it. But this neatly takes care of the problem of Harry having to go to security to try to get the tape, or have to explain anything to any of his higher-ups, since right now, our focus should be elsewhere as the episode continues.

Author's note--Hermione's here, Pansy and Narcissa are on the loose...that means we HAVE to have at least a small increase in magic, so for those of you who were asking about whether there would be magic in this fic...I thought not, but here you have it! Obviously Harry's not going to pull out a wand all of a sudden, but I hope this satisfies you.

AND now we know who is missing! *gasp* Did you expect that? haha Bring on the questions! They'll be answered in the next chapter (or definitely by the end of the episode!)

thrnbrooke--Thanks! Hermione's always good for the craic! ;) (For anyone who isn't familiar with that term, it's pronounced "crack" and it means "fun" in Irish!)

Draca--I'm glad that the audience enjoyed! (And I'm sure that the 9-11 year olds enjoyed the "falling" off of the stage as well! At that age, "it's only funny until someone gets hurt...then it's HILARIOUS!" Go figure...) And now you're starting to sound like Parker! *wink wink* HAHAHAAHA I'll let you be the judge on just when the shit starts/stops hitting the fan! LMAO *accepts hugs with pleasure and shares cookies with all* Thank you!

chantalmalfoy--I will send the email as soon as this is posted. And thank you so much for your kind words. That makes me feel really good...and now I'm sort of nervous as to what you think about the "trueness" to WOaT after this chapter, but in my defense, this IS supposed to be a HP fic, so I'm trying to find a nice balance between the two!

WeasleyWench--Thank you so much! I enjoy getting creative, and somehow, this is all just falling together beautifully! I know what you mean...but Hermione is there to help! (Of course, that also brings in the added danger of more magic, but you have to take risks!)

HPDMkawii--Oh no! I hope everything is okay! *hugs* I'll be thinking about you! Thanks for reviewing (as always)!

Kalinx--Hiya and welcome! I know what you mean! (I said that EXACT same thing when I first started reading on here, and then I swore that I'd never post a WIP! And then I realized that having a love/hate relationship with WIPs is part of the Harry/Draco process...right?) And Salazar's breath, wow, I'm glad to hear you say that! Thank you!

OMG I LOVE the electric slide! (Oh wait, you're NOT talking about the line dance? haha I actually did the electric slide the other day, and even taught it to a couple of people here in Ireland! Since they've never heard of it and all...I bring joyous dance to the leprechauns! Speaking of being awake too long...haha)

Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you'll be back! ;)


Night--haha This is the real 'Mione! But it makes my little heart glad to know that you're on your toes :P

And I'm not quite sure I understand your question about the lab report...can you rephrase, please? I'll try to answer it anyway, but if I leave something out, let me know. The hospital drew some blood from Parker the night they arrived at the hospital (hospital protocol) but since it was late, they waited until the FBI lab opened the next morning to send it over for processing. The lab was expecting the blood to match the underwear and all, so that was no surprise, hence one of the reasons it came through so fast first thing in the morning. Also, Jack told Danny to get it at the 9am team meeting, but he didn't actually get it until 11am while Vivian was giving the first part of the press conference.

The hospital has just finished the rape kit, and the evidence has been sent to the hospital's lab for processing. Since the hospital is nowhere near as informed as the FBI's lab, it is going to take longer. Normally, processing can take anywhere from days to weeks, but since the doctor marked it "urgent", our team is going to get the results in hours. Vivian knows as much as the rest about what Parker's been through...but there are still a few surprises in store!

And now, (it's 7am local time) good night all! Thank you for reading (and reviewing)!