Confrontation

Scorpius lay on the floor, when suddenly, the door EXPLODED! That was not what he had expected at all. A silhouette he instantly recognised as Rose framed the doorway. Tom sent a spell her way at once, but of course she deflected it. Another Stunner came from behind her, though from Dawson's standpoint, it could have been her that sent it. It hit Tom, and he fell on the floor straight away. 

How had Rose found him so quickly? Dawson had thought it would take them hours yet. No matter, she was here now. He had wanted to witness this, and through a series of misunderstandings, he was here. 

Dawson didn't move, merely gave a flick of his wand, and Scorpius was tossed backwards towards the wall, hanging by a chain from his arm. It was slightly uncomfortable, but not life-threatening. He would rather have that than some other ways he had seen people hanging. Like how Rose had been chained when Voldemort tortured her after Hermione's rescue. That had looked very uncomfortable. The main thing about this position was that his Dark Mark was very visible. Rose had barely been able to make herself look at that a few days ago, but she didn't look his way. Her eyes were firmly on Dawson, wand at the ready. 

"I didn't expect you so quickly," Dawson said, voice still calm. "I didn't even have time to place the final clues yet. I must say, I am surprised that you managed to follow us even after we left the café. I didn't even see you. You almost beat me to the café as well. I would accuse you of cheating, but the way you are looking at me right now suggests you do take this rather seriously."

"What are you talking about? You knew we were at the café?"

"Of course. Why else would I speak so openly? I needed you to think the stakes were high, and to make you feel the panic and the adrenaline a real situation would cause."

Suddenly, a flash of red light came from the right. Dawsons wand came out of his hand, and Albus, appearing almost out of nowhere, grabbed it. Dawson looked surprised, but then smiled again. 

"Ah, you learnt how to work together. I wondered why you insisted on such a dramatic entrance. A distraction. Very good. At least you listened to some of my training. I do wonder though, why sneak through the window when the doors were both open?"

Rose was confused. He seemed awfully calm, for a man who was basically defeated, a man who could be arrested for treason if what they suspected was true. 

"It seems you forgot one thing though," he said. "You forgot to check whether the person you are arresting has more than one wand." 

He quickly got another wand out from his robes and sent a spell towards Albus. Rose sent a Stunning Spell towards Dawson at the same time, but he deflected it. He quickly found himself fighting both of them, but he held them off, if barely. That is, until Rose felt someone dragging her back. Scorpius? How had he gotten down from the wall? That moment's distraction was all Dawson needed. Two quick bursts, and both of them had lost their wands. Rose tried to run towards him, but Scorpius held her back. Albus however, didn't hesitate. Dawson quickly had him against the wall though. 

"Scorpius, let GO of me!" Rose shouted. Scorpius looked at Dawson. 

"I don't think they ever went to the shop," he said in the same quiet tone as Dawson had. 

"I think you're right. That certainly explains a few things." 

Before Scorpius could say anything else though, Rose had tackled him to the ground, recovered her wand and now tried to get to Dawson again. But she stopped when another voice sounded in the basement.

"Rose, stop! That is enough." It was Harry Potter's voice. Rose turned around, gaping. Harry, Sam and a few other senior Aurors were suddenly standing in the room, the wall that Scorpius had just been chained to was gone. 

"Uncle Harry? What are you doing here?"

"I will explain that as soon as we all stop struggling. This is not what it looks like Rose." Rose looked even more confused but stopped struggling against Scorpius. Dawson let Albus drop down on the floor, he too looked stunned. 

"It seems your deductive skills are faster than we all counted on," Harry said. "You managed to find this place even faster than we thought, but in the process, you missed the part where none of this is real. If you had gone to the shop, the one lead you had, you would have found the letter that said that this is all part of the Auror test. I am sorry that you seemed to think this was real, but at least we know even better what you can do now."

Albus looked relieved, but Rose just looked angrier. 

"What do you mean it is not real? You let us worry so much for nothing?" 

"As I said, you were supposed to know it was not real. But you skipped parts of the process and came here without knowing it. I am impressed though. Most people wouldn't have been able to follow Dawson from the café or sneak up on the house without at least some of us seeing it. If we had seen you, we would have found a way to tell you. We only knew of your presence when you broke the window, and by then it was too late."

"So, what was it we saw in the window then?" Albus asked accusingly. 

"We were going through preparations for the final scene," Harry explained. "It was just luck or bad luck, depending on how you look at it, that you saw it when you did, and not when more of us were in your line of sight."

Rose now rounded on Scorpius. "Did you know about this?"

"Only since this morning. Harry told me when I made my report. It wasn't part of the plan that I was to be involved, but since Albus had unknowingly involved me, it was an added twist. I agreed to play along, especially since it meant I could witness your final test like I wanted to." He gave her a smile, but Rose still looked annoyed. She would get over it, Scorpius knew. She just didn't like being hoodwinked. 

"Anyway, let us all put our wands down and do what we came here for." Harry said. Rose hadn't realised that she still had her wand in a fighting position. She quickly let it drop, trying to not look embarrassed. Harry then turned to the senior Aurors that stood behind him. "For obvious reasons, I am recusing myself from this judgement. Just keep in mind that these two truly believed that their best friend and husband was in mortal danger, and that they dealt with an actual traitor as you assess them."

Rose wasn't sure she liked the sound of that. Had they done anything wrong? The three other Aurors discussed among themselves for a few minutes. None of the others dared to say anything. 

One of the senior Aurors stepped forward and coughed before starting. "Taking the recent discoveries into account, this is the ruling of the committee. You were supposed to sneak into the house alone and then proceed to the basement for the final test one by one. Considering the circumstances, we have decided not to penalise the two of you for not adhering to that stipulation. You also showed the great effect of teamwork, though it was because Dawson only expected one of you, as the letter clearly stipulated. As Dawson also pointed out, you forgot to secure your prisoner the moment you Disarmed him, letting him get to his spare wand. You were able to hold him off for a while, but that was only because there were two of you. Alone, you would probably have been defeated."

Neither Rose nor Albus disputed that. They had sometimes managed to beat Dawson in a training duel, but not in a situation like this. Rose hoped this wouldn't mean an instant Fail. 

"However, the way you managed to enter the building without being noticed, not going for the rash decision of just jumping through the basement window when seeing your friend in active peril, shows a great character. It is rare that the participants manage to approach the house without being spotted. You both get top grades in Stealth and Tracking, and Concealment and Disguise."

Rose's heart soared. That also probably meant that they hadn't completely failed by not defeating Dawson. Albus barely managed to hide a grin as well. But as she glanced over at Dawson and Harry, she knew that this was just a formality. They still had some explaining to do. 

As the Auror went on, it seemed they had generally done well in almost all the parts they were being tested on. But she was still worried about the fact that they hadn't managed to actually defeat the "bad guy", even when technically cheating by working together. 

"In conclusion," the Auror said at last "Whilst some of your methods were… unorthodox, to say the least, we cannot fault your overall strategy or technique. It is with great pleasure that I give both of you a passing grade on the final Auror Proficiency test." The Auror said with a smile. 

"Welcome as full members of our team." the other Aurors said, almost as a ritual. Then they all surged forward and shook hands, congratulating them. Rose accepted their congratulations, still fearing a little bit what Uncle Harry and Dawson would say when they were alone. 

The committee members finally left. Scorpius ran over to Rose, hugging her and congratulating her. He had gotten rid of the chain and costume and was back as himself. Rose hugged him back, but he sensed that she was still a little on edge. A glance at Harry and Dawson made him understand why.