Chase the Morning

By Ammie Hawk

Disclaimer: Happy Halloween!

AN: So this chapter pretty much wrote itself and we finally move on to the plot of the story. Anyway, Happy Halloween, and I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 4: First Mission

Harry sat at his desk in the new office he currently shared with his partner, going through a box of cold cases and inputting the data into a computer system. It had been over a week since he'd been reassigned and all he had done was go through box after box. He was sure his new partner was punishing him as he was just sitting at his own desk, typing away at his laptop and not a box in sight.

He had toyed with the idea of going to Scott, his old boss, and asking for his old job back. But that would be admitting defeat, and he wasn't willing to do that. He was nothing if not stubborn after all and he refused to give the higher ups the satisfaction of seeing him break.

With that thought in mind, he let out a quiet sigh and reached for the next box. He pulled out the first folder and opened it, prepared to put the information into his computer. He frowned, however, as he began to input the information.

"Uh, Capricorn," it irritated him slightly that he didn't know his partner's actual name, but he waited for the Prussian gaze to leave the laptop, "I thought I was working on cold cases."

"Hn," the other acknowledged.

"Then why am I looking at a file dated two months ago?"

A frown marred the usually stoic features as the shaggy haired brunet pulled his laptop closer and began typing again. Harry was sure he wasn't going to get any more of a response, as his partner hadn't spoken more than five words to him since their first encounter, so he turned back to the file silently fuming.

"Kidnapping ring," his head shot up as the other finally spoke. "Started six years ago, children between the ages of eleven and seventeen. Even with new cases cropping up, no new evidence has presented itself to a perpetrator, or led to an arrest. Thus the cold case status."

"The Preventers have had this case for six years?" a dark brow rose incredulously. "And it's still ongoing? Are we even trying to stop it?"

"Gemini," blue eyes narrowed dangerously, "if the likes of myself, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Aquarius, and Virgo were unable to crack it in the year it's been on our desks, it's unlikely to be solved any time soon."

"Just because you gave up," Harry practically growled, "doesn't mean we should give up on these kids."

"Lady Une declared it a cold case," the senior agent answered coldly. "Unless new evidence can be found that produces a lead, it will remain such. No active agent is allowed to pursue it on company time."

"Well, good thing I'm working on cold cases then," green eyes snapped irritably. "When I find a lead, I expect you to go to Lady Une."

Without waiting for a response, he went back to the file. When he was finished with that one, he decided to go to the oldest one and see if there wasn't something there that the others had missed. His eyes widened behind his spectacles as he read through this one. Almost of its own volition, his hand reached for the next one. Before he realized what was happening, he had five more opened in front of him. On autopilot, he snapped them all closed and pushed to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Agent Capricorn gave him a suspicious look.

"Coffee," he snapped, not caring about the lie as he gathered up the files.

He was in no mood to deal with his stuck up partner at the moment. Not with what he had just found out. He made his way out of the office and down to the forensics lab, where he knew his best friend would be. Without bothering to knock, he slammed the door open and dropped the files loudly on the nearest available surface.

"Har—Agent Gemini, what is the meaning of this?" the bushy haired witch asked indignantly.

"Hermione, you've been kidnapped," he grabbed the bottom folder and handed it to her. "Oh, and so have Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Colin and Denis Creevey."

He picked up and dropped each file as he said the names. His tirade obviously caught the attention of the other occupant of the lab, as he came out of the back to see what the commotion was about.

"No active agents are allowed to work on that case during company time," the Chinese agent snapped.

"Yeah, well, you can take that up with my asshole of a partner," he sneered, "who assigned me to the cold cases."

"What did he mean, you were kidnapped?" dark eyes narrowed, choosing to ignore the breech in protocol by his former partner and focus on the topic at hand.

"I'm not sure," she opened the file and scanned over it quickly. "I guess I could see why he would think that. The first and last names are the same, but that's where the similarities end," she cast a meaningful look in Harry's direction. "My full name is Hermione Eileen Granger, I was born in Marseille, France to Charles Granger and Madeline Potter on August 22, A.C. 181, along with my fraternal twin, Harold Maxwell Potter," she indicated Harry. "We were adopted at birth by Severus Snape and Remus Lupin of Cokeworth, England. You can look it up, it's in both our Preventer files."

"And why are your surnames different?" he countered. "If you were adopted, why did you not take on your adopted parents' last names?"

"Our fathers wanted to honor our birth parents," she shrugged. "But as I said, I am not Hermione Jean Granger, born September 19, A.C. 179."

"I see," her partner nodded, but his tone was still skeptical.

"Whatever," Harry interjected. "Mione, let me see your cell."

"Why?" she countered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Where's yours?"

"I want to call Lucius," he rolled his eyes. "And mine's in my office, but I don't want to deal with that asshole at the moment. So, can I borrow your phone?"

Before she could answer, one way or the other, the door opened behind them and Harry's partner entered the room. His gaze swept over them all before locking with the Chinese Agent's.

"Une just called," he said briskly. "Gather your gear, we have a mission."

"I thought we were suspended?" a dark brow rose incredulously.

The other two agents shared a scandalized look at this revelation. They had been partnered with suspended agents? No wonder the last week had been hell for them.

"Change of plans," Agent Capricorn shrugged. "Fire's been killed. She needs the best. I've already contacted Scorpio, Aquarius, and Virgo. They'll meet us at the shuttle port."

"What about these two?"

"They're coming, too," his gaze shifted to the other two. "You have forty-five minutes to gather your gear and be at the shuttle port."

"Right," Harry nodded, he'd get to the bottom of the suspended issue later. "Mione, gather what you need from here, I'll head to the house and grab our bags. Anything in particular you want me to get?"

"The beaded hand bag in the top of my closet," she answered absently as she began moving around the lab, gathering things as she went.

"You don't have time to go home," his partner scowled darkly. "A good agent keeps his things ready and on hand at all times."

"You let me worry about me and mine," green eyes snapped dangerously. "I will be at the shuttle port in forty-five minutes, you just make sure you're there on time."

With that, he turned and stormed out of the lab. He went back to his office and grabbed his phone and keys off his desk. He then made his way to the car park, but as soon as he was in one of the camera's blind spots, Apparated straight to his house.

"Hey, Dray, you home?" he called as he pulled out the duffle from under his bed.

"Yeah, what's up?" the blond answered from the direction of the living room.

"Mione and I have a mission, don't know how long we'll be gone," he called back as he threw things into the bag. "And while we're gone, I need you to do me a favor."

"Oh?" Draco asked, leaning against the doorframe. "The great Harry Potter's asking me for a favor, should I stop the presses?"

"Don't be an ass," the former Gryffindor gave him a look.

"Okay, fine," he held up his hands in surrender. "What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to go home," Harry said, unable to meet the other's eye.

"Harry, I am home," the blond frowned. "That's how we're talking right now."

"No," he shook his head. "I need you to go home, to England."

"Excuse me?" Draco tensed. "I can't. We can't. None of us can go back to England right now. I'm not suicidal, thank you very much."

"Please, Draco," green eyes finally locked with gray. "I'd do it myself, but I have this mission. But I really need you to talk to your dad and Severus, and see if they know what's going on with the Muggleborns. They've been disappearing since we left, Draco, and it's reached the Preventers, but they've given up. Please, Draco?"

"Why don't you just call?" the blond ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Or I can. But we don't have to risk going back to England for answers."

"I have this mission," Harry shook his head. "And I was going to call, but the more I think about it, it's probably not the safest option for them or us. Phones can be tapped. Conversations overheard too easily. If you go in person, you can personally make sure those two things won't happen. As I said, I'd do it myself, but I can't."

"Fine," the former Slytherin sighed in resignation. "But, Harry, I can't just waltz into England, I'm just as much of a pariah as you are right now."

"Then use the Polyjuice potion I know you and Hermione always keep on hand," the raven shook his head. "Go as Howard, or even Hilde, I don't care. I just have to know what's going on."

"You know, I don't know why we bother to hide anything in this house," Draco threw up his hands. "All right, I'll be on the next available shuttle. And just so we're clear, I'm only doing this so I can see my parents."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Harry shook his head. "Anyway, I've gotta grab Mione's stuff and go. If I'm late, my partner will never let me live it down, if he lets me live at all."

With that being said, he darted into the witch's room and grabbed her bag, making sure not to forget the handbag from the closet. Once that was done, he held both bags tightly in his hands and Apparated to an isolated janitor's closet in the car park of the Preventers shuttle port.

He arrived at the gate with ten minutes to spare and saw his partner and Hermione waiting. He made his way over to them and wordlessly handed his best friend her bag. She nodded her thanks and the three of them made their way onto the shuttle. There were four men already on board, who he assumed were the other agents assigned to the case. That was until he heard Hermione gasp and he followed her line of sight to a vaguely familiar blond.

"Qu-Quatre?" the brunette stuttered slightly.

"Hermione," her fiancé gave her a soft smile. "Um, why don't we have a seat? I promise I'll explain everything once we're underway."

"Right," she huffed and made her way to a seat at the front of the shuttle.

"You're in for it," Harry gave the blond a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he passed.

"Oh, you're not in for a pleasant ride either," Quatre shook his head. "You get to sit with Capricorn and discuss the particulars of the case."

"Ugh, great," the raven groaned as he took a seat in the back.

A few minutes later, the rest of the men found their own seats, with the shaggy haired brunet taking the seat right next to Harry.

"So?" he prodded once they had taken off.

"The case we're working is a strange string of murders," Capricorn explained. "They are centralized in Great Britain. They started up about seven years ago."

"Did it ever occur to you that these might be connected to the kidnappings happening in Great Britain?" the former Gryffindor interrupted.

"There is no connection," the brunet shook his head. "We explored that angle. The missing children and the murder victims have no commonalities, except the country."

"If you say so," he frowned.

"Anyway, at first the deaths seemed random, natural causes," he continued. "But as they continued, the Preventers got involved and noticed an anomaly. A mark on all the victim's hearts and brains."

He pulled up a photo on his laptop and showed it to his partner. Green eyes narrowed as he studied the images presented.

"Is… is that a lightning bolt?" he frowned, a thought niggling at the back of his conscious.

'Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh.'

"Hn," the other nodded. "We are not sure how they got there as the victims were not physically maimed in any way. The most recent victim was one of our own, Agent Fire, and a friend. We are going to pick up where she left off, with one difference."

"Okay," he pursed his lips, he knew he wasn't getting all the information, and it pissed him off as much as it did when he was fifteen. "What was she doing, and how are we going to do it differently?"

"The victims before Fire, had a son," he scowled. "Her mission was to fine and question him, and take him into protective custody. The difference this time is that I will be going in undercover."

"As what?" Harry scoffed. "An insurance actuary?"

"His estranged cousin," he answered evenly, choosing to ignore the slight.

"And what am I going as?" the raven frowned. "Or am I supposed to sit this one out? Just like I've been sitting out on everything else?"

"Unfortunately, you are my partner, and you are going to be my backup," blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "I don't like, but there it is. You will go in as my business partner."

"I don't think so," Harry scoffed.

"Excuse me?" the other growled.

"Look," green eyes rolled in annoyance, "if I just found out my aunt and uncle were dead and was going to meet my cousin after how many years, I would not be taking a 'business partner,'" he made air quotes. "Trust me, I would not take you anywhere near my family. Best friend, maybe, but even that's a stretch, I wouldn't take Hermione and Draco with me to that meeting. The best option would be another family member, but I'm assuming that's out of the question, or a significant other, someone I would allow close enough to me to know the most intimate details of my life, and who would be there to provide emotional support."

"Hn," Capricorn conceded. "Fine, you will be my boyfriend. What name will you be going by?"

"Max," Harry thought about it for a moment, it'd be easy enough to remember. "Max Snape. And what about you, love," he snarked, "what's your name going to be?"

"Harry."

"Nasty common name, that," green eyes rolled as he shook his head.

Ammie: Okay, so there it is. Please don't kill me for everything going on. I didn't do it, not really... Okay, maybe I'm just an evil author. Anyway, please let me know what you think.