Hunting

James was back in Knockturn Alley. Not because he was in one of his moods, he was working. Harry and Scorpius were looking for this one individual, he hadn't really paid attention to why, and he needed to place the right rumours. 

He was surprised at how effective this tactic was. It seemed most of these people knew that giving small favours to the Ministry could benefit them in the long run. He enjoyed it the most however, when Scorpius went into scary Death Eater mode and went hunting for the person the Ministry wanted. They couldn't do that too often, but sometimes it was the only option left. Scorpius really could be scary when he wanted to. He knew Albus could be too, but he had seen more of Scorpius' scary mode. Albus had become a lot more boring after he became an Auror. 

James got a bit distracted from his target of the night when he saw a familiar face enter the pub. Wasn't that Sam Crickey? He hadn't known his name until Rose had pointed him out to him. Sam hadn't been very interested in staying in touch with Rose, and she had respected his decision, though James could see that she was a bit bothered by it. Rose was the kind of person that wanted to be friendly to everyone. How that meshed with her being an Auror, he didn't really comprehend, but it hadn't hindered her at all so far. 

Rose may wish to be friendly to everyone, but down here she was seen as a "pretend Malfoy" and whenever she tried to go down here to seek information, she was attacked by people that resented her for marrying Scorpius. Scorpius never really explained what that was about, but the result was that Rose had to avoid being seen in Knockturn Alley as herself. Even Potters were more welcome than her. Very strange. It was hard to remember who Scorpius' family was sometimes, since he was so likeable. He was glad that Albus had a friend like him. He knew he had not been a good brother for Albus, especially after he was Sorted into Slytherin. But at least he had Scorpius. And Scorpius had Albus. And Rose. That was perhaps more of a surprise.

He was thrown out of his random thoughts by one of the men around the table. 

"I know who you are," he said with a hint of hostility.

"Congratulations," James replied in a bored tone. "Do you expect a price?"

"You're Potter. What're you doing down here? Haven't you caused enough trouble for us yet?"

"Why would you assume that I am here to make trouble? I've always been a fan of avoiding trouble. I have more than enough of that at home, thank you. I'm here to escape trouble. Just like you."

"Why do you think I am here to avoid trouble?" the other man asked suspiciously. Good. He had him interested. 

"Because that is what this pub is for. Everyone minding their own business, no one wanting any trouble."

"You assume a lot, being who you are."

"See, that is exactly the kind of trouble I am interested in avoiding. I know something about someone my father's after, and I don't want to be dragged into it. So, I came here, to avoid having to lie to him. And my brother, or the rest of my family."

"Who're they after?"

"Why do you care? They're after many people. It was just chance I overheard that they were looking for this man. The fact that I know who the guy is, is also accidental. I didn't want to know that either. I can't help people saying things where I can hear them."

"Why don't you just tell him? I mean, wouldn't that make your father love you again?" another man chimed in. 

James tried not to flinch at that. He knew that it wasn't true, but it still stung. He didn't correct the man either, this assumption was something they could use. 

"See, that could be an option, but then I would have to explain how I know that. My general policy is to be as little involved in anything as possible. I have no wish to have my father begin to wonder how I spend my days."

The man seemed to be relieved to hear this, but James' next sentence made him tense up again. He was, of course, the man they were targeting, but James pretended not to know that. 

"No, if I were to give some random information to anyone, it would be to my brother. He is much less likely to ask stupid questions, and he knows the company I keep. Not that I do that very often. Only when I have to, to stay out of trouble."

There was an awkward silence. No one seemed to want to ask the next question. James used the temporary silence to steal a glance over to the other table. Sam seemed to be waiting for someone. He was nervous. What was he up to? He had an Extendable Ear in his pocket, was it worth trying to overhear his conversation? No, he needed to focus on this man first. He took another sip of mead.

"You never said who it was they were looking for." 

"No."

"You want me to guess?"

"No. Why do you want to know so badly? Are you thinking of using my information to cash in a reward yourself?"

"There's a reward?"

James sighed. "Yes. I don't need it. I doubt my father would let me cash it anyway and as I said, I would have to explain how I found the guy. I'm not even sure if I could find him again. From what I heard, the Aurors have been looking for him for some time now. I don't know what the guy has done, but they seemed to make it a priority."

"I've noticed more Aurors lurking around lately," one of the other men agreed. "Makes it harder to do anything. Who're they looking for?" The promise of a reward often made some people consider handing someone in whom they would normally have helped hide. Greed was a powerful motivator.

James sighed and gave a name. He pretended not to notice all the eyes suddenly going towards the man sitting right across him. 

"You do with it what you want," he said "I want no part of it, and I have better things to do than to sit here being cross-examined by you lot. Good night." 

He emptied his glass and got up, then sat down on a table much closer to where Sam was still waiting. 

James considered sitting down with Sam, pretending to not notice his nervousness and try to engage him in conversation. But the expression on Sam's face made him decide against it. He wasn't just nervous, he was scared. Better to wait and see what might have him so on edge. Besides, it wasn't like they had talked on the other occasions he had been here. Sam would probably not respond well to a virtual stranger sitting down with him, whether he recognised James or not.

A man in a hood entered. This was not unusual; it was a general aesthetic in Knockturn Alley after all. The unusual part was how almost everyone grew quiet as he entered. Sam looked even more nervous. The man did not sit down next to him, however. He went to the counter and ordered a drink. Eventually, the conversations started up again, once people realised this man had no business with them tonight. Who was he? He seemed vaguely familiar to James, but he couldn't quite place him. He wasn't a regular here. Scorpius might know. He wished he could see the man's face properly. There had to be a reason he kept it hidden. 

Eventually, the man made his way over to Sam's table. They both made sure to make it look like happenstance. They did NOT want to be seen together, that was clear. 

The man at first seemed to barely acknowledge Sam's presence. Sam tried to convince him of something, but the man didn't seem interested. Finally, he leaned over the table, looked very threatening, then said a few words. Sam shied backwards, then nodded. The defeated look on his face told James that he had agreed to whatever the man had threatened him to do. He just hoped it wasn't anything too horrible. 

The man left. James only hesitated for a moment before following him. He needed to know who the man in the hood was. He doubted Sam would tell him anything at any rate. Maybe Rose could try to talk to him tomorrow.

James was glad that he had thought to bring his Invisibility Cloak with him. That made it a lot easier to follow the man down the Alley. He seemed to take extra care not to be seen. Was his face that recognisable? James worried if he would know him, even if he saw it. He wasn't the best with faces, even less so after his incident. But he had to at least try. 

The man finally seemed to think he was far enough away from the pub to be safe. He let his hood fall. James froze. He knew that face.

If only he could remember the name.

***

Scorpius waited for James at home as he usually did when he sent him out to plant information. He couldn't always be in the pub with him, though they had interacted more openly after Lehrer had supposedly been arrested for taking him back home. James had made it a point of apologising for it and insisted on buying Lehrer drinks on several occasions.

Albus and Rose had come home from work as well. They were debating whether they needed to go look for him, when they finally heard him at the door. He came running excitedly into the living room. 

"You need to hear this." 

"Did you see the guy?" Scorpius asked. It had been a while since he'd seen James this excited about anything. 

"What? Oh, yes, he will probably turn himself in, or be turned in within a few days, but that isn't important right now."

The other three exchanged glances as James told them what he had seen. 

"And you don't know who the man is?" Scorpius asked when he was done.

"I don't know. There was something familiar about him. I think I have seen him before, but I can't remember where."

"He seems to be a Dark wizard anyway, from how you describe him and how people reacted. Can he be a Death Eater that escaped capture?" Scorpius suggested.

"Can he have been one of the guards in the dungeon when we were captured the first time?" Rose asked.

"No, I don't think so. I doubt I would recognise those faces. I barely remember those dungeons, other than as a black, dreary place."

Albus had been quiet during all of this. He dreaded having to ask what he needed to ask. 

"James," he eventually said. "Are you sure about this?"

Everyone stopped in their tracks, now looking at Albus.

"What do you mean?"

"Listen, I know you have been doing better, but this seems like a lot. Are you sure that this happened, that it is not just another dark vision of yours?"

"Why would I imagine something like this? This doesn't involve me personally. This is something different."

"No, you're right. This sounds very similar to what Rose, and I heard when we had our Auror exam. A hooded man having a conversation with Sam. Would that happen to be this man?" Albus held out a photograph, a newspaper clipping. James took one look at it and exclaimed "That's him! I knew I had seen him somewhere. Who is that?"

"That is Dawson, the Auror who personally trained Rose and me," Albus said. His voice was barely under control. "The man who had the staged "hostile" conversation we overheard."

Rose and Scorpius looked confused. 

"What are you saying?" James sounded a little angry now.

"Do I really need to spell it out for you?"

The two brothers stared at each other. A lot of things went unsaid between them in those moments.

"Fine," James eventually said. "It's not my problem anyway. I don't even get any pay for any of this. I'll leave it to you professionals then." He stormed back out the door.

"James, wait…" Rose said, but he didn't stop. She rounded on Albus instead. "What was that?" 

Albus actually looked surprised. "Why are you angry with me? James is the one spouting nonsense!"

"You don't know that!"

"Oh, come on, you can't honestly believe that story? That Dawson met Sam in Knockturn Alley and threatened him to do something?"

Rose had to pause. That did sound a little too farfetched. It was Scorpius that spoke up next. 

"Perhaps not that exactly, but you didn't need to dismiss his story so savagely. There are probably some grains of truth in it."

"How can you think that? This is pretty much exactly what Rose and I heard during our test."

"And then you believed it."

"I didn't have time to think about it!" 

"You should still apologise to him."

Albus refused to listen to them and left the house as well. Rose sighed. She hoped this wouldn't make James spiral again. He really had been doing a lot better and often managed to lock himself in when he felt the darkness come.

"Don't worry," Scorpius said. "They're brothers. I'm sure they'll work it out."

Rose sure hoped so. Why had Albus reacted that way when James said what he had heard? It wasn't like James had ever given them bad information before. But Scorpius was right. This was something the two of them had to work out themselves. She would look into James' story tomorrow anyway.