The Auror and the Fountain

Chapter Six: Jungle


Harry had chased Stan for several days, off and on, following leads that came from every direction and many different areas of the wizarding community. Teddy and his team were working one of the most recent and Harry had some time to see his kids.
Ginny was at her father’s house, taking her turn with the ailing old man and giving Percy a needed break. Her brother had been the only one to stay behind when they had all moved on, even remaining at the burrow after Molly had passed. He stayed when his own wife, Audrey had died, and he had remarried, his schooltime girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater and they now had three more children with her, to add to the two he'd had with Audrey. The others always took some time to see the man, cheerfully feeding him like a baby as they told him stories about their lives and the children that Arthur loved.
The eldest Weasley had been struck dumb by a massive stroke that had crippled the left half of his body, confining him to a magic chair and the care of his family. None of the Weasleys had wanted to leave him in the special ward of St. Mungo’s where Neville’s parents had lain until they had slowly faded away.
As James did his summer work, Albus practiced on his broom and Lily was working on her potions assignment. The twins were playing with an old stuffed witch toy from Albus’ babyhood. Harry sat on the back yard lounger and watched his son fly as he made the little witch fly over the babys' heads. It would dodge around, looping and turning in much the same way that his older boy was, just out of Maggie’s reach before climbing over Fred’s hands and zipping straight up as the boy giggled happily. Harry’s arm didn’t even tire as his wand hand directed the toy in its undulating flight. His mind was not on the activity, as he remembered old quidditch games from his schooling and the mad chases he had gone through with the Slytherin seeker.
An owl, a large old eagle owl, flew over the trees and landed on the table near the wizard, extending his claw and waiting patiently. Harry sighed as he landed the toy and put down his wand. He reached over the plate of cookies he had brought out for the children and extracted the note from the owl’s hold.

“Potter,

My father’s arm is bothering him, again. Come immediately.

Draco Malfoy.” It said.

Harry looked around him, his children looking back in curiosity as they waited for an explanation. He stood and waved them back to the ground and his position.
“We need to go to Hogwarts. I’ll have to ask you to watch your brother and sister, but I think it would be better for you to be there. Come on, put your things away, quickly.” he said as he gathered the babies and went inside. Time was of the essence and this time he had no intention of letting the man escape.
He wrote a quick note to Ginny, explaining where the children were, then waited at the floo for them. They came as one, carrying with them necessary items for the little ones and something to keep themselves busy with. Since their mother had withdrawn, they had become very good at adapting to these sorts of emergencies. Within minutes, they were arriving at the school, dropping into the floo of the headmaster’s office after a fast explanation. The man was prepared and as Harry rushed to Malfoy’s quarters, he escorted them to the Gryffindor common room. James and Lily took care of the twins while Albus rushed off to see his best mate, Scorpius. Harry found Draco holding onto his father who rocked in the magic chair and moaned piteously. Narcissa was curled in a corner of their main room, looking frightened and wary.
“You’re late. He’s been here, done this damage and run off again. Hurry, Auror. Catch him so he will stop tormenting my family.” Draco growled as Harry took out his wand.
The trace was vague and Harry hurried after it, sending a message as he left. “I’ll get him this time, Malfoy. I promise you, he won’t be back here.”
The blond family watched him, frustration, grief and an odd look on respective faces. Narcissa was the only one to speak, “Wasn’t that Harry Potter? He looks older.” Draco stared at her in shock.

Harry followed the path left by the convict, through the castle and out of the gates. He traveled through Hogsmeade, and into the woods behind it. There he found an abandoned cabin, with a working floo. Its door was left open and there were footprints in the dust around the fireplace, and Harry wondered why a floo was available in such a remote place. He lifted his wand and cast the locating spell on the grate. With this spell, he could retrieve the next location from the remaining dust on the floor.
Harry followed the path left behind by the man and this went on for the rest of the day. At one point, he paused long enough to send a quick owl to Teddy, informing him of the chase and his most recent location. Teddy would do his best to follow, backing him up as he hurried after the running man.
Harry soon found himself in a strange place. It was an arid land, covered in sand and dry as the inside of his mouth. He hadn’t had much to drink, saving his canteen full for emergencies, and this seemed to be one. He took it out and swallowed just enough to quench his thirst as he followed the trail again. It led to a camp, amid the only trees in the area, but the small flow of water there was drying up. The camp had been abandoned, leaving only a tattered tent and a cold fire pit. The pit was tinted in grey ash, and the auror knew that his prey had again traveled by some sort of floo. He cast his spell, listened to the response and rushed after.
Next he found himself in a small hut, in a jungle clearing, and alone once more. He stepped out of the door to see the world covered in shades of dark green.
Harry had never been in a jungle so dense. He felt trapped, claustrophobic in the middle of the clearing. He was nearly balked by the prospect of going into the foliage, but his desire to catch the missing convict outweighed this and he cast his tracing spell, watching the line form for what seemed the hundredth time this day. The path led into the trees and he followed carefully.
The jungle continued dauntingly, leaving him tired and thirsty all over, even though the air here was not the same as the desert he had just left. He wondered if Stan had access to any water, and kept pushing through the leaves and branches as the trace became stronger. He was catching up, at last.
The brush became tighter, as if by magic, halting him for a minute as he forced his way through. It opened out into a clear area, the grass was soft and trimmed and the trees seemed less oppressive, more inviting. At the center of the clearing was a beautiful, ornate fountain. It looked as if it had been built by artisans from the romantic era, but it seemed to be nearly new. It flowed with the clearest water Harry had ever seen and that too seemed very inviting. His thirst called to him to drink a long and refreshing amount. He took out his canteen, magically spelled to keep its contents cool and clean, and drained it. He wasn’t really thirsty now, but the fountain’s water still looked so good that he dipped his canteen into it and filled it full, then he splashed the water onto his face and hair, cooling himself and rubbing away the dirt from the trail and the sweat from the jungle travel.
His trace ended at the edge of the clearing, indicating to him that either Stan had port-keyed again, or that the area was enchanted somehow. He decided to test for the latter, before assuming his quarry was lost again. He explored the clearing, looking at the jungle edge first, for signs of the trace beginning anew. There was nothing, so he turned back toward the fountain. How could Stan have entered here and not stopped to drink, he had to have been thirsting as well, and that was what he was thinking when he noticed the pile of clothing laying near the oposite edge of the fountain’s base. He wouldn’t have seen this as he splashed on the other side, but now he went to investigate it. The pile began to move as he closed on it.
An awful, and familiar, sound rose throughout the clearing and Harry hurried for it. No father could ignore the cries of an infant and Harry was a good father. He pulled away the rags and lifted out the tiny naked baby.
'Who would abandon a baby in a place like this?' He wondered, his mind now considering that perhaps Stan had kidnapped this little one and left it behind in his hurry to get away. Harry was forced to abandon his chase, because the welfare of the baby was tantamount as a first priority. He sighed as he took out his extra shirt and wrapped it around the infant, assuming that Stan had once more ported to a death eater and was still free, for now.
Harry cradled the baby in his arm, collected his canteen and his pack and lifted his wand. He apparated to the closest place he could think of, thinking he must be somewhere is South America, and that was Trinidad. The small island nation was equipped with a very good hospital for wizards and their league of aurors was on friendly terms with his office. He dropped the baby off at the ward for foundlings, asked them to inform him if it was claimed, and went to meet with their head auror.
The man was named Hector Avilla and he and Harry went way back. They had met when Harry had followed Rabastan LeStrange here months after he first became an auror and had formed a quick friendship. When Hector became the head of his department, six months after Harry’s promotion, they became known as the competing overacheivers. It was all in fun, and Harry never took it serious.
“You look good, Harry. Have you been playing with immortality potions?” Hector teased him and Harry shook his head with a wry smile.
“I’ve been working, Hector. I haven’t had time to play with anything.” he returned. “Now, about this case . . .” and he went on to explain about the redrawn dark mark and its strange side use.
Hector promised to keep an eye out for the missing Shunpike, and to keep him informed on the status of the baby, as a professional courtesy. They parted with friendly handshakes and promises to meet again soon, on more casual terms. Harry left through the international floo and headed home.
Ginny had retrieved the children and they were now sleeping in their own beds, other than Albus who had begged to be allowed to stay with Scorpius for the night, and Ginny had conceded. The babies were gurgling in their shared crib as Harry looked in on them before heading for a quick shower. His hair felt heavy with the filth of the jungle and the sweat that had stuck it to his scalp.
He let the water run over his tired body, soaking it into his stiff joints and sore muscles. He hated to admit that age had been creeping up on him and he seemed to be getting older faster with this case. Soon, he was wrinkling so he turned off his shower and grabbed a towel. He wrapped it around himself and went to the kitchen for a bit of dinner.
Ginny watched him, her mother’s old bathrobe hiding what there was of her figure, the same she claimed to have been ruined by the birth of the twins, but as Harry rarely saw it anymore, he couldn’t have said for certain if that was even true. Ginny looked angry, and he closed his eyes, sending up a silent prayer that his terrible sin of leaving the children in the care of others wouldn’t end up in an all out brawl this time.
“Where did you really go, Harry? What have you done to yourself?” Ginny asked with a tone of voice that indicated the calm before the storm. Harry looked at her in wonder.
“I was on a case, Gin. You know that I have to catch Stan Shunpike as soon as possible. The eyes of the public are focused on my department, right now. I don’t have time to worry about your silly rule about the children not being with strangers, and they weren’t. They were at Hogwarts, the safest place on the planet right now, with their teachers.” he argued hoping to head off her complaints before they were voiced.
“I know that. I want to know where you went. I don’t believe you could have that done while on the chase. Are you having an affair, Harry? Tell me the truth!” she shouted, raising the babies from their sleep and causing them to cry.
“Great! Shouting doesn’t solve anything, Gin. Now, I’ve got to go to them.” he said as he stormed through the house.
Ginny stood in the kitchen, arms across her chest and her eyes radiating her anger. She looked at the table where a brand new canteen lay amid Harry’s gear and she growled. “A gift from your lover, no doubt!” she lifted it and opened it, seeing the most refreshing looking water she had ever seen in its depths. Ginny took a quick sip, maybe a gulp, and closed the lid.
The world began to spin and that was the last thing she saw.

Harry managed to get the children to sleep again, rocking them as he hummed a soothing lullaby, and saying soft comforting words. He looked down at the now slumbering twins and smiled. They were one of the high points of his life and this was when he most appreciated their presence. When he could enjoy it without interference. He closed their door and spelled it for silence, turning on the warnings for his own security of mind. He took a deep breath and returned to Ginny and the argument that he was due. He entered the kitchen and looked around.
Ginny’s robe was piled on the floor, and it was moving all on its own. The cries started a few minutes later and Harry got a jolt of déjà vu.


I know, "WTF?" I love cliff-hangers. It's the frosting on my cake, the chocolate topping on my sundae, the cream in my coffee, the milk on my Chex, Etc.

So, what do you think happened here? Who are these mysterious babies and what is Harry going to do? And what does all this have to do with Draco????
Stay tuned for all of your answers.
Oh, and please review.