The Assignment

The Assignment

Hermione Granger used the Ministry connections to locate wealthy mundanes with medical problems. She asked for interviews and explained she was hunting a fugitive who was a wizard at chemistry. She thought that was a clever way to phrase it. The people she met were friendly and gracious to her. 'Not at all like the Malfoys,' she thought.

She paid no attention to the distinguished gentleman carrying his briefcase in his left hand as he walked by her on her left. Nor did she see his distinguished pivot that whipped the edge of his right hand to the base of her neck. She was not conscious when the distinguished gentleman helped a damsel in distress into the back of a distinguished automobile.

She woke to find two masked men holding her and a third in front of her.

"Smart girls don't bother their betters," said the one in front of her, and then he applied his truncheon fast enough and hard enough that she could not form a spell in her head...only scream until she passed out. She woke in an alley to find her pockets empty and her purse and wand ("What in the hell is this?") gone. They hadn't said it, but she knew the next time they would not stop until she was dead.

She made it to hospital and told them that she had suffered a bad broom accident.

* * *

'What a mess,' thought Jack Higgins. 'My wife and daughter are living with my wife's parents, the divorce is final the day after Christmas, Narcissa will never speak to me again, and now some Ministry supervisors want to see me.'

"Have a chair, Jack. Harry Potter ... you know Harry Potter, don't you? Mrs. Malfoy ... you know Mrs. Malfoy, don't you? You should. They teach at school, too. Potter has been watching Mrs. Malfoy, but he wants to quit...watching Malfoy that is...says he'll quit his job before he'll watch her anymore."

"I'm acquainted with them both," said Jack.

"Just acquainted? That's good. You've been doing splendid work, Jack, really splendid. We thought we would detail you to another department and you could watch Mrs. Malfoy...look for any signs of her husband, son, or sister. Actually, it's her sister that we really want. We think you can handle this. You've been doing splendid work ... splendid. We wouldn't offer this assignment to anyone. Will you accept it?"

"Okay," said Jack.

'Why the hell not? Let's make a total mess of my life,' thought Jack.

"When do I start?" asked Jack.

"Splendid ... splendid, we knew you were our man. What's today?"

"It's the first of December," said Jack.

"Splendid ... splendid, it's a good day to start. Here are the papers. They'll let you confiscate any property of the Malfoys, and they'll let you place any of the Malfoys or Lestranges in custody. And good luck, Jack"

* * *

"Would you like some fresh air?" asked Parvati.

"Would you?" asked Harry.

Harry had been talking and dancing with the two sisters. After working the cash register and observing the store operation one afternoon, he could relate to the ordinary events of their day. Now, Parvati was taking him to a balcony with a breeze and a view of the stars. She was still holding his hand even though they were no longer dancing.

"Your blonde lost her companion," said Parvati.

Even Harry had noticed. He had even figured out who her companion was. "Something happened. He's a fellow professor at school. They're cool towards each other now."

"A lovers' quarrel," sighed Parvati.

"Do you think so?" asked Harry. Then he noticed Parvati was looking at him as though he were dense. "Something's upsetting her," he said, remembering the evening rages that, one night, had ended with a pile of broken dishes.

"They'll get back together, I hope," said Parvati.

"I'm in favor of it if it calms her down. I've told the people at work that I'm not going to watch her anymore. Five months of that woman is enough."

Harry thought Parvati would chide him for dereliction of duty, but she softened and smiled.

"What will you do next year?" she asked.

"I don't know. The person teaching the first three years of Defense wants to leave. She says she's had enough of unruly students and 12 hour days. Teaching doesn't pay much, but I have room and board, and I'm tired of the Ministry." Parvati simply listened and nodded. Harry had an attack of conscience. "It's nice out here, but we can't neglect your sister."

Harry went to the bar for more iced fruit drinks while Parvati, with mixed feelings about his chivalry, joined her sister. He danced with Padma, and she wanted some fresh air. She rested her hand on his shoulder as she limped to the balcony.

"Are you going to leave the Ministry and go into teaching?" she asked him.

'If you tell one sister something, you tell them both,' he reminded himself. They were sitting on a bench. Somehow, Padma's knee was touching his. 'Oh, well,' he thought, but the contact had its effect. He felt close enough to Padma to talk to her. "I've lived my life thinking it was about facing the Dark Lord, but that's over, and I'm directionless."

Padma gave him an encouraging nod. 'Talk to me,' she thought.

"Maybe school just gives me a routine. It's easy to fill the day with lectures and grading papers." He paused. "And I can always tell myself that I'm doing something useful."

"But you are," she said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Harry remembered Professor Higgins' observations on the downside of teaching. 'Where do those Ravenclaws get that stuff?' he wondered.

Padma interrupted his musings. "Tell me more," she said.

"I'm not certain about anything," he said. "Some professors are looking at other schools and revising our courses. Maybe I should do that for our Defense courses."

"Teaching is a challenge," said Padma sadly, "not like the routine of a store."

"Running a store looks complicated enough to me," said Harry. But Padma's friendliness had emboldened him, and she sounded wistful. "Have you thought about teaching?"

"We both have. But we didn't get a chance to try it. Maybe we wouldn't like it."

"Am I interrupting anything?" Padma and Harry looked up to see Parvati standing beside them.

"We were talking about teaching," said Harry, feeling a twinge at having neglected Parvati. 'Poor show, old chap,' he thought. 'They want to teach but can't.'

Parvati sat down beside Harry. "I think teaching Divination would be fun."

"I never could get the hang of that," he said.

"It's part intuition and part pattern-recognition, the arrangement of the cards or the planets," said Parvati.

"I hadn't thought about pattern-recognition," said Harry, thinking that Parvati may have been a social butterfly but that didn't mean she wasn't smart.

"Plus a lot of practice," said Padma. Padma was looking at Parvati. "It's pleasant out here, but it's a little cool. Some tea would be nice."

"Yes," said Parvati, looking at Padma, "some tea would be nice."

'Have I upset them?' wondered Harry, thinking they sounded a bit annoyed.

"I'll get some tea," he said. "You both like sugar but no cream, right?"

The organizers of the masked ball were eager for it to be a success. They provided complimentary tea, coffee, and sweet biscuits. 'I wish Parvati would just wear an eye mask,' thought Harry, pouring the tea. 'I'm used to her scar, and she's attractive. Padma's limp isn't that bad. I don't know why both of them believe they're ruined for life. Are high-caste Indians that finicky? They're missing out. The girls are good company.' He arranged three cups of tea and three biscuits on a small tray. 'I miss them when I'm not with them. I wouldn't mind spending tomorrow in their store, but I don't know how to ask.' He sighed. 'I wish I knew what they were thinking.'

The few minutes getting tea had given him some perspective. "I've been thinking about the store and teaching," he said as he handed out the tea and biscuits.

Padma and Parvati looked interested.

"The Ministry is nearly broke; the pay for teaching is abysmal. The older instructors are hanging on, waiting for it to get better. The new instructors have their regular jobs and are teaching part-time as a community service."

"You're saying we wouldn't be able to live on a teacher's salary," said Padma.

"You would have room and board, but you would have to wear old clothes, and you wouldn't have a social life," said Harry.

"You think we would have to quit and go back to work at the apothecary and potion shop," said Parvati. "But then the goblins would own it, and we would be slaving away for the goblins."

"We're slaving away now, but it's for our own store," said Padma.

"That's what I've been thinking," said Harry to two happier girls.

"Speaking of slaving away in the store, we have a big favor to ask you," they said.

"Okay."

"Our relatives have told us that the Holiday season will be very busy and we'll need help in the store," said Padma.

"But we don't know anyone who could help us, who we could trust," said Parvati, "except you."

"Would you?" asked Padma.

"I'll be glad to," said Harry.

* * *

"They tell me you'll be out of here tomorrow morning, but I brought you some stuff anyway," Jack told Hermione. "Here are some magazines, a book of puzzles, and a deck of cards."

"Thank you, Jack. Can you stay? No one else has visited." She immediately regretted complaining. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"You're injured and full of potions," he said, sitting down. "You're not yourself."

Jack had an hour before he had to return to school. They worked a few puzzles and played several hands of cards. He promised to return for afternoon tea.

He returned for tea, bringing gourmet chocolate-chip cookies. He thought Hermione was isolated but decided not to mention that. They played cards while Jack talked about teaching Charms, described a few strange artifacts, and mentioned his latest assignment.

"That's marvelous," said Hermione. "Perhaps you can catch Lucius or Bellatrix. I'm glad they assigned someone capable. I mean, Harry is capable enough, but his heart isn't in it." She spoke confidentially to a fellow enthusiast. "No one's heart seems to be in it."

"Isn't your department dedicated to finding fugitives?" he asked.

"They're playing at catching Dark Lord sympathizers," she said. "The prisoners supply us with lots of names, almost all of them innocent. People at work shadow some of them...mostly the pretty witches or handsome wizards. They gather enough information to chat them up. Any lack of progress is explained by the heavy workload of investigating all the suspects."

"Are you the only one who's serious?" he asked. He was beginning to doubt the broom-accident story and beginning to think she was hurt because she was acting as a lone agent.

She nodded yes.

"Can't you let it go?" he asked.

"Let it go?" she asked. "They tortured and killed people for sport. We catch and punish petty thieves who hardly do any harm at all. We let the high and mighty get away with murder."

"Yes, you're right," he said. "But I was thinking that your acting alone was dangerous for you."

"That's not the point," she replied.

"Your courage is admirable. It's more courage than I have," he said.

"You might surprise yourself," she said.

At that, she relaxed. She asked for his help on some difficult cross-word puzzles; and finally she became comfortable enough to talk about growing up in a mundane household and her adventures at school. He left to resume his second job of watching Mrs. Malfoy. She was thinking that perhaps the arrogant bastard had some redeeming features.

She pulled out her wand and banished the gourmet chocolate-chip cookie crumbs.

* * *

It was after lunch when Parvati stepped out of the back room and said, "Padma, can you watch the store? I need Harry to help me move some stuff."

Parvati took him to an aisle in the storeroom where an amorphous bag was wedged between some boxes on the top shelf. "I don't know what's in the bag, and when I try to get it, the boxes start to fall down. Can you hold the boxes in place while I wiggle the bag out?"

Harry pointed his wand at the boxes in turn while Parvati waved her wand, extracted the bag, and levitated it over to a table.

She was standing at the entrance to the aisle. She smiled and said, "I have you trapped now, Harry"

"What?" Incredible thoughts raced through his head.

"You're not going to escape," she said.

"Huh?" Those incredible thoughts couldn't be possible, could they?

"Jiminy Cricket, Mr. Potter, what do you come to the store for? Do you get off on retailing? Is it just Padma?"

"No ... no ... I ... I'm ... I'm in shock at being trapped."

She smiled and stepped toward him. "How shocked?"

"A lot," he said. 'What warm eyes she has,' he thought. He hadn't thought about it before, but he noticed Parvati was as tall as he was. He liked that.

She was as close to him as when they were dancing, but there was no music, only Parvati putting her arms around him.

More time than they realized slipped past.

Parvati stepped back from his embrace. "Thanks for helping me," she said.

"Did you get everything moved?" asked Padma when Harry returned to the cash register.

Harry was tending the register and remembering Parvati. He was also admiring Padma. He wasn't sure it was right to do so, but he wanted to hold Padma the way he had held her sister. Was Padma interested? Padma had always been the more aloof and serious of the two. Holding Parvati had made him more confident. He let himself watch Padma and nod at her whenever she noticed. She smiled back.

"It's tea time," announced Padma at four o'clock. She locked the store door, told her sister she was going to prepare tea, and turned to Harry. "Would you like to help?" she asked.

He followed Padma upstairs. Once upstairs, she put the tea water on with quick, jerky movements, seemed hesitant when she asked what kind of biscuit he would like, and stood fidgeting when she said she would like some yogurt and asked if he would. She flung open a cupboard door, tapped her fingernails on the counter, and said, "Could you help me choose a tea?"

He had to stand close to her to see into the cupboard. "What's your favorite?" he asked.

'I want to calm her down,' he thought. 'I want her to be relaxed and happy. Can I tell her that?'

"I'm not used to a variety of tea," he said. "I'm sure I'll like whatever you pick for us. You've always made good choices."

She turned to face him. "Do you think so?"

"I've always admired you," he said. 'Wow, I actually said that,' he thought.

"Really?" she asked, gripping his elbows.

"Yes," he said as her arms went around him. 'She's as tall as her sister,' he thought. He felt her warm breath on his neck. He felt her breathing become slower and deeper.

All too soon, they heard Parvati come up the stairs.

The sisters parceled out the tea, sweet biscuits and yogurt, and asked a favor, "Can you watch the store for us the rest of the day, love?" The two of them needed to brew more 'Calm Repose,' a popular potion over the holidays for kids excited by visiting relatives and returning older siblings, wives driven to distraction by company and holiday demands, and husbands weary of irritated wives and bickering in-laws. The two sisters knew they were saving life, limb, sanity, and marriages.

* * *

On the morning Hermione Granger was to leave hospital, she woke to find a priest by her bed.

"Am I going to die?" she asked.

"No, my child." He paused. "Not this time."

Hermione tried to cry out but couldn't. She was lying relaxed, peaceful and silent. 'Has he grown this powerful?' she wondered. It seemed natural for her to reach out and hold his hand. When she touched him, an electric shock ran through her.

"Do you hate me so much?" he asked.

She shook her head no. She couldn't even dislike someone at the moment.

"You do realize that I find you admirable," he said.

She turned her head to show her scar.

"That would not bother any one who knows you and admires you." He leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss on her forehead...a chaste kiss that expressed all the nonsexual love and admiration a wizard could have for a witch. "You now realize how careful you must be. You need a team. If you are careful and persistent, you are talented enough that your team will eventually catch me."

Hermione Granger found that she could speak. "Will you come see me again?"

Hermione Granger was thunderstruck. 'What am I saying?'

"A kind invitation," he said. "But soon after I leave, your head will begin to speak. It will tell you about duty. It will remind you of what is right." He paused. "It will feed you nonsense that you are disfigured and unfit for a companion."

For a fatal moment, the accuracy of his accusations left her speechless.

Then he was gone, leaving her feeling empty.

* * *

He could ignore Narcissa's hypothetical lament. "If my sister is still alive and hiding somewhere, then I'm going to go crazy pretty soon if I can't see her."

He could ignore her hypothetical threat. "If my sister is still alive and hiding somewhere, then she's going to go crazy pretty soon and hurt a lot of people."

It was the, "Jack, I love my sister," that touched him.

They would bring Bellatrix Lestrange to the Manor during the hubbub of the Holidays. On the Saturday morning before Christmas, Jack and Narcissa arrived at a mundane flat in Birmingham.

When they entered, Bellatrix stood. She and Jack looked at each other. Narcissa felt a sudden emptiness inside her.

"You killed the Dark Lord," said Bellatrix.

"I was among the group of people that killed him, yes," replied Jack.

Bellatrix sank to her knees in front of Jack. "I pledge you my fealty."

'Bloody hell,' thought Jack. 'Narcissa, you pillock, you didn't warn me about this.' He looked at Narcissa. She had a desperate, pleading look. 'Bloody hell,' he thought.

Jack looked Bellatrix in the eye. "I accept, Bellatrix Lestrange. I accept your fealty." He held out his hand and helped her to her feet.

"Do you want my wand?" she asked, holding it out to him.

He found it easy to look into her eyes. "No. You have pledged not to harm me."

She met his gaze lightly. "I have pledged to defend you with it."

"Bella," cried Narcissa, looking around. "You're not packed. You're not ready to go."

"I ...," began Bellatrix, still looking at Jack.

"You've been under stress and strain," said Jack. Bella nodded.

"We've time," said Jack to the fuming Narcissa. "We'll pack your sister's belongings, and we'll all go back to the Manor."

"It shouldn't take too long," said Narcissa.

'Relax,' thought Narcissa. 'It's over. He's accepted my sister. Everything else is incidental. Why do I feel as if I've been gutted?'

The two sisters embraced each other. Then Jack watched as they packed like any two women: pausing to admire the garments and arranging them carefully, remembering the sources of the knickknacks and wrapping them safely...two evil, deadly, dangerous women engaged in the sisterly completion of a domestic routine. How easy it was to accept their humanity and wonder how things had gone so tragically wrong.

'What's the charge, old bean?' he mused. 'Harboring a fugitive, old chap,' he answered.

He escorted Narcissa and Bellatrix back to the Manor and returned to school to give them a chance to settle. When he arrived for tea the next morning, he discovered the two of them had prepared a broom route that wound from the ground floor to the cellar to the attic back to the ground floor and that ran through all the halls. They insisted he join them, and the three swooped and whooped their way through the rooms, stairways, and halls for the next hour.

"Oh, Jack, you're such a good sport," said Bellatrix.

They would retire to their rooms and shower before having a late tea.

"And why isn't Jack in the master bedroom?" asked Bellatrix.

Jack stepped out of the shower to discover Narcissa in his room.

"You'll visit us often, won't you?" she said. "After all, you're now my sister's liege lord. She needs you."

"I haven't thanked you enough for trapping me like that," he replied. "I'll gladly set her free."

"Please don't," pleaded Narcissa. "She's more fragile than she looks. This is helping her cope." Narcissa offered inducement. "She asked me what you wanted. I told her you wanted her to recover and to be on her good behavior."

"That's not fair," said Jack.

Narcissa smiled the smile of the cunning.

Early Christmas morning, Jack, Narcissa, and Bellatrix, all in disguise, visited the grave of Andromeda Black Tonks. The headstone honored her for having fallen in the battle. Bellatrix fell to the ground and wept. Narcissa soon joined her. The sisters held each other as Jack fought to keep his composure.

* * *

New Year's Eve passed quietly at the Manor. Jack had left the office party early, having avoided the spiked punch. He arrived at the Manor two hours before midnight to discover Bellatrix and Narcissa waiting for him, the champagne unopened. They had time for a breakneck broom ride through the mansion. That was followed by a shower and changing into silk robes. They started a fire in the fireplace and opened the champagne.

Jack had told the sisters about the papers the Ministry had given him. They had agreed the papers were 'Letters of Marque and Reprisal.' He was a land pirate.

"Galleons on the port bow. Give them a shot of grape, me hearties," he said as he handed glasses of champagne to Bellatrix and Narcissa.

"Jolly good joke, love. Let's raise the Black flag," said Narcissa.

"Should we heave-to for boarding?" asked Bellatrix.

He thought fast. "No, we're impoverished pirates. We'd prefer your finest silver."

"Bought off with a few trinkets," declared Narcissa.

"What have pirates come to?" lamented Bellatrix.

They put on the music and danced. When the clock struck midnight, they toasted each other and the New Year. A few minutes after midnight, Jack was resting in front of the fireplace.

Bellatrix stretched out beside him and asked, "Are you tired, love?"

"I think all the new instructors are sleeping through the Holidays," he replied.

Bellatrix curled up around Jack; Narcissa curled up on the couch; and the flames curled up around the logs.

Jack woke briefly in the early hours. He stroked Bellatrix's hair. 'How can a witch look so peaceful and innocent and radiate so much power? It's raw, reckless power with no place to go, unless it's serving me, which it may very well be doing.' He looked at Narcissa on the couch. 'She looks peaceful and powerful, but it's power controlled by a calculating mind.'

He sighed. 'Bellatrix wanted to serve a reigning lord. Narcissa wanted to establish an influential family. Both plans came to nothing. Most plans do. Better than my plans though. I set out to fight for right and justice; I destroyed my life; and now I'm harboring the two deadliest witches on the other side. I was in love with the calculating one, and I'm falling in love with the reckless one. Sometimes, I think I'm still in love with the calculating one.'

The ashes of the consumed logs stirred as the currents of air moved them.

New Year's Day began bright and brisk as they made the pilgrimage to Andromeda's grave. The two sisters placed flowers by the headstone, spread a blanket, and motioned for Jack to sit between them while they passed the time in remembrance. As subtly as only women can, they shifted until they were close to him, until their fingers were intertwined with his, until they were resting their heads on his shoulders.

The strands of their hair stirred as the currents of air moved them.

'I'm giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and I want to,' thought Jack.

Back at the Manor, Narcissa cleaned and put away the blanket. When she approached the reading-room door, she heard Jack and Bellatrix.

"Jack, promise me you won't be here when they take me."

"What?"

"The wizard world will never stop hunting me. Never. My staying at the Manor means they'll find me sooner rather than later."

"We could go to the continent," he said.

"I could go to the continent and be alone. If you went to the continent, you would leave behind your job, your livelihood. I won't ask that. They would find me on the continent, and I'm not going to spend the last days of my life alone."

"There has to be something," he said.

"There's your promising not to be here when they take me. They're not going to let me live. I hope to die fighting. I'll put the wand to my head if I must. If they take me alive, they'll truss me like a chicken and slowly slaughter me while I squirm."

"Bellatrix!"

"However it happens, I don't want you to watch me die."

"I want you to remember me like this. And visit my grave."