Riddle Manor, Little Hangelton, 9/5/1992, 21:59
Voldemort watched as Dolohov and his men entered the study that he was currently occupying. The dark lord was quite pleased to see Merula among them letting him know that his servants were successful in their task. Dolohov stepped forward while his men stood at attention on either side of the door with their eyes looking straight ahead putting Voldemort in mind of the royal guard.
Rising from his seat, Voldemort walked around his desk to examine the new arrivals, particularly the four death eaters that Antonin had personally trained. He had never actually seen these servants but from what he could tell at first glance, they looked to be in peak physical fitness. They were all in their late teens tall and powerfully built and dressed in stolen Bulgarian auror robes.
The two on the right side of the door looked to be of Scandinavian descent with high-cheek bones, striking blue eyes, and blonde hair. They looked to be related brothers or perhaps cousins.
The two on the right side of the door had darker hair that was cut very short looking almost shaven. The dark-haired man on the left was the shortest of the four but was still quite tall and had a white scar running diagonally across his face from his left eye to his right cheek. The last man was much more muscular than the others looking like a muggle bodybuilder. The borrowed robes he wore were obviously too small for him and stretched at the seams as he stood at attention but his face didn't show any discomfort.
These four men looked every bit the part of soldiers and made Voldemort lament that his other servants didn't have such discipline.
Turning his gaze from Dolohov's men, Voldemort focused on Merula who stood behind Antonin with her head bowed in deference. Her hair was unkempt and she appeared to have lost weight but she looked otherwise healthy.
Pulling himself from his musings he turned to Dolohov who was standing in front of him with his head bowed waiting to be acknowledged.
"So Antonin, how did things go at the ministry?" Voldemort questioned as looked at his highest-ranking death eater expectantly.
"The plan you came up with worked wonderfully, my lord. I may have succeeded in killing Lady Black as a bonus," Dolohov answered sounding very pleased with himself.
"May have?" Voldemort questioned.
"I hit her with an old family spell that shreds organs but she was able to raise a shield. The spell still overpowered her shield but I imagine that it took some of the bite out of the spell, my lord," Dolohov explained.
"Regardless of the result, I am sure she will be inconsiderable pain for the foreseeable future," Voldemort mused.
"Without a doubt, my lord," Antonin agreed.
"Very well, I took the liberty of having Mister Rowle acquire you some entertainment as a reward for a job well done. She should be awaiting you in your suite," Voldemort said graciously.
"Thank you, my lord," Antonin beamed.
"Now, I wish to speak with Miss Snyde alone. There is communal entertainment in the dungeons if your men wish to partake. Please come and see me before you depart for Durmstrang, Antonin," Voldemort instructed as he gestured to the door in a clear sign that he wanted them to leave.
As Voldemort watched the five men walk out the door he would have to say that he was very impressed with the team that Dolohov had created. From what his servant had told him, they were intelligent, well-trained and worked together as effectively as any auror team.
These four death eaters had graduated two years ago from Durmstrang and were hand-picked by Dolohov as students that showed great potential. They had stayed on at the school as 'tutors' while Antonin continued their training in the magical arts.
Idly Voldemort wondered what it would take to get the rest of his servants up to this level of competence. Suddenly a mental picture of Crabbe and Goyle flashed through his mind and he realized with some distaste that it would take nothing short of a miracle.
Pushing those thoughts from his mind, Voldemort focused on the dark-haired girl standing with her head bowed waiting for him to acknowledge her.
"What happened Merula?" Voldemort questioned.
"My lord?" Merula asked nervously.
"What happened at Thomas' summer home?" Voldemort clarified.
"They came about midnite as we were waiting for the ship, they did something to the wards we couldn't flee. Avery sent a few of the recruits to intercept them while the rest took up defensible positions. The recruits we sent outside were overpowered with ease and then the one calling himself Reaper blasted the wall open and took all but me and Avery out in the blast. We tried to fight them but they were so... so fast, my lord," Merula explained.
"They?" Voldemort questioned.
"There were three of them. The one I fought called himself, Reaper, the one who broke into Avery's mind was a woman and Reaper called her Ch-Chimera. I only saw the third one outside fighting the recruits but he never came inside as far as I know," Merula said as she scrunched her face up in concentration as if trying to remember any detail she could.
What she was telling him matched up with the reports he had gotten from the inhabitants of the Durmstrang ship. They reported three fighters attacking from the bank of the pond but he had thought that maybe they were mistaken. Now he was almost certain that the Reaper was building a strike team of his own.
"Look into my eyes Merula," Voldemort instructed and was instantly obeyed as the girl met his gaze.
Voldemort stared into her violet eyes before he entered get mind taking great care to not overpower the spell and risk damaging her mind.
Voldemort saw the events through her eyes as the man in grey hooded robes lay siege to the Avery summer home. He saw the intense power this man used, a single blasting hex completely demolishing that side of the home and instantly killed a few of the recruits in the process. He tried to get a look at Reaper's face but it was obscured by a charm on his cowl. Seconds after the explosion the Reaper and his partner entered, Avery tried to hit them with the killing curse but Reaper easily avoided it and exploded the table Thomas was using for cover before Chimera hit Thomas with a body-bind.
The Reaper's partner was definitely a woman and wore a silver mask of tragedy obscuring her face but Voldemort was almost certain that this was Bellatrix Peverell. He recognized the way she moved stalking towards Thomas Avery with a gracefulness that few could replicate.
Voldemort focused back on Reaper noting that he moved like a predator as well and had unbelievably fast reflexes easily parrying Merula's spells before quickly overpowering her.
Voldemort pulled out of his servant's mind feeling very pensieve after seeing the Reaper for the first time.
"So this is the Reaper," Voldemort mused aloud.
"He spared me, my lord. I have no idea why," Merula admitted.
"He was only there for Thomas, he spared most of the recruits as well," Voldemort explained.
"I heard that he also sank the Durmstrang ship, my lord?" Merula questioned.
"He did which is why the method for your escape had to be so convoluted since a travel ban has been placed over the British Isles," Voldemort explained.
"Oh," Merula said dumbly.
"Now that you're back among us, I have a task for you," Voldemort said after a moment of contemplation.
"Anything, my lord," Merula said at once.
"I need you to meet with Daciana, her vampires are getting out of hand in the village," Voldemort said sounding irritated.
"Of course my lord," Merula agreed.
"Excellent, I wish for you to go tomorrow at dusk and take two of the recruits with you," Voldemort instructed.
"I will be ready, my lord," Merula promised.
"Very well, you may leave," Voldemort said waving his hand toward the door.
Voldemort watched the girl bow herself out of the room as he pondered what he had just learned. It was worth breaking her out of ministry custody just for this information alone.
He realized how fortunate it was that he hadn't gone with his other plan for Merula or he would never have learned what the Reaper looked like. Tonight had been most enlightening, he had finally gotten a glimpse of the man that had been causing him so many headaches of late.
From what he had seen, none of his people with the exception of perhaps Dolohov were a match for this man or his partner. The only way he could see his death eaters winning in a battle against them would be with overwhelming numbers. Even then he would expect to lose forty per cent of his force in the confrontation. No, it was becoming apparent that he would have to personally deal with the Reaper. As the muggle saying went, if you want something done right you have to do it yourself.
As Voldemort pondered ways to lure the Reaper to him, he couldn't help but wonder just how powerful the man really was.
'I will think more on this," Voldemort mused to himself as he walked to the door deciding it was time to turn in for the night.
He felt quite pleased with the progress his death eaters made today but now the issue of this new threat was weighing heavy on his mind.
Transfiguration Classroom, Hogwarts 9/6/1992, 09:47
Harry and Susan were sharing a desk towards the back of the transfiguration classroom practicing a spell to turn beetles into coat buttons. The spell was fairly easy and he already had a pile of multi-coloured coat buttons on the desk in front of him that he had successfully transfigured.
The first week back at Hogwarts had been uneventful for the most part. The only thing unusual that had happened was the revelation that Justin Finch-Fletchley had been bitten by a vampire which had quickly circulated between the houses courtesy of Lavender Brown and her counterparts in the other houses.
Harry didn't think that Justin looked much different than he had last year other than his very pale complexion. Still, Justin had been shunned by most of his housemates with the exception of Ernie and Hannah. Justin could often be seen drinking large goblets of blood at mealtimes causing those closest to him to look disgustedly at the second-year boy.
From what Harry had gleaned, Justin was taking an aggressive course of potions that would cure him over time but he had developed certain vampire traits due to the infection.
This Friday Gryffindor was holding tryouts for a new seeker though from what Harry gathered, the rest of the team had already had their first practice the previous weekend.
"You're out of beetles," Susan said with an envious note pulling Harry back to the present.
"Yeah, maybe I should become a tailor," Harry said as he placed the buttons into the cardboard box that had recently housed the live beetles.
"Can you imagine how someone would react when the buttons on their clothes turned back to insects when the transfigurations wore off," Susan giggled.
"True, I wonder if the spell works on spiders," Harry mused thoughtfully.
"As a matter of fact, the spell works on most invertebrates," Professor McGonagall's voice said coming from directly behind them, making both students start and look back at her in surprise.
"Professor?" Harry asked his voice a bit higher than usual.
"I thought I would check on two of my trouble-makers," McGonagall smirked as she picked up Harry's box of buttons and began inspecting them.
Harry sighed internally at her words. At breakfast on the first day back, Professor McGonagall had informed him that he would be serving detention with her every evening after dinner for the rest of September for his prank last year. She had been keeping a very close eye on him and Susan ever since school had started back which meant setting up pranks would be much more difficult this term.
"These are very well done, Potter," McGonagall said as she inspected the buttons with a critical eye.
"I got the hang of spell last year, Professor," Harry said feeling a touch of pride at the compliment.
"You definitely inherited James' knack for transfiguration," McGonagall beamed as she began inspecting Susan's coat buttons.
"Sirius said Dad was a transfiguration prodigy, Professor," Harry said giving her a questioning look.
"He was but he was also a troublemaker much like you and Miss Bones," Minerva said, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly as if she was fighting not to smile.
"I know, Sirius told me all about it, ma'am," Harry grinned.
"Sirius was a nuisance himself," McGonagall sighed before turning to Susan.
"These are very good as well Miss Bones, you have a gift for detail," McGonagall said as she inspected Susan's scarlet buttons with tiny rampant gold lions patterned on them.
"Thank you, Professor," Susan smiled looking pleased at the compliment.
"Since you two have run out of beetles, you can start on your essays. If you work quickly you can finish before the end of the lesson," Professor McGonagall suggested.
"Yes, ma'am," Harry and Susan said in unison before McGonagall moved on to another group of students.
"She is watching every move we make," Harry mumbled as he watched McGonagall make her way over to where Ron, Seamus, and Dean were huddled.
"She was pretty hacked off about that shower prank of yours," Susan pointed out.
"I noticed," Harry sighed as a small explosion sounded from across the room.
They both turned to see grey smoke partially obscuring Seamus and heard McGonagall reprimanding the boy.
Harry couldn't help but snigger as he got a good look at the Irishman. Seamus' sandy-blonde hair was lightly singed and he had black smudges of soot on his face which was quickly reddening in embarrassment.
"Poor Seamus," Susan giggled.
"The kid has a gift for destruction," Harry said.
Before Susan could comment, there was a knock on the door and the headmaster entered the classroom looking very troubled.
"I am sorry to interrupt your class Minerva but I must speak with Miss Bones and Mister Potter," Dumbledore said.
"Of course," McGonagall said as she gestured for the two students to go with the headmaster.
Feeling very nervous Harry approached the headmaster with Susan walking a few steps behind him looking just as nervous as he felt. Dumbledore didn't say a word and led them at a brisk pace down the hall in the direction of the main staircase.
"Sir, are we in trouble?" Harry asked when the silence became too uncomfortable.
"No Mister Potter, you are not in any trouble. There has been an incident but it is not my place to tell you. Your godfather will fill you in very shortly," Dumbledore said in a kind tone as they began descending the stairs toward the entrance hall.
The three of them walked in silence as Harry processed what Dumbledore had said or more importantly what he had not said. His mind began to race at what could possibly be so bad that Sirius would come to Hogwarts and pull him and Susan out of their classes and he could only think of one reason, somebody they knew was in trouble.
Harry spotted Sirius pacing the entrance hall as Dumbledore led them down the staircase to the ground floor. Immediately Harry could tell that his godfather hadn't slept, the man was a ball of nerves and his hair was sticking up in odd places as if he had been nervously running his hands through it.
Sirius looked up when they approached and hurriedly made his way over to them.
"Sirius, I will be in touch shortly. I want to wish your family the best of luck," Dumbledore said giving the other man a sympathetic look.
"Thanks Albus, I'll have them back by dinnertime," Sirius promised.
"Take all the time you need, Sirius. I must leave you as there are other matters I must look into," Dumbledore said and quickly excused himself to give the three of them some privacy.
"Sirius, what's the matter?" Harry asked as soon as Dumbledore was climbing the stairs.
"There was an attack at the ministry last night," Sirius said as he guided his godson and niece towards the castle doors.
"Is Auntie okay?" Susan demanded quickly putting the pieces together as to why Sirius was here.
"She was cursed... she's at St Mungo's," Sirius answered in a hollow voice.
"Is she... is she going to be okay?" Harry his voice cracking a bit.
"The healers aren't sure, they have stabilized her but she is still extremely weak. She woke up for a bit this morning and she is showing signs of improvement," Sirius answered as they stepped out of the castle doors.
"What happened to her?" Harry demanded looking at Sirius in alarm.
At his godfather's words, Harry felt fear gripping his chest so tightly it was almost suffocating. Amelia was the closest thing to a mother he'd ever known and he didn't know what he would do if he lost her like he'd lost his birth mother.
"She was hit by an organ-rupturing curse, it missed her heart but it did a lot of damage to her left lung and her stomach," Sirius answered meeting Harry's gaze.
"Will... will she be okay?" Susan asked in a small voice.
"The healers say she has a fifty-fifty chance... she woke up an hour ago and I wanted you to see her in case..." Sirius trailed off as tears began to well up in his eyes and he shook his head like a dog with water in its ear.
Sirius didn't need to finish his sentence, Harry knew what he left unsaid and that only worried him more.
Before Harry realizes it, the three of them had made it to the main gates.
"Take my arm," Sirius instructed the two children as they stepped onto the road that led down to the village.
Harry gripped Sirius"s arm tightly having experienced this form of travel before and waited for Susan.
Susan stood beside him and Harry idly notice that he was just a bit taller than her now. He didn't know why he noticed this now but this fact intrigued him since Susan had always been a few inches taller than him.
"Alright, we are going to apparate into St Mungo's lobby," Sirius said and got nods of understanding from Harry and Susan.
As Sirius spun on his heel, Harry felt that suffocating feeling as if he were being squeezed into a rubber tube making it impossible for Harry to draw breath
St Mungo's, London, 9/6/1992, 10:17
Harry took a deep gasping breath of air as they appeared off to one side of the lobby at the magical hospital.
Off to Harry's right, he could see the reception area where a witch in lime green robes sat behind a desk and greeted new arrivals. Near the reception desk were a few dozen witches and wizards seated in rows of uncomfortable-looking chairs. Some of them looked perfectly normal and were perusing magazines or reading the morning paper, others were sporting strange or obviously magical ailments. The most notable of which was an old man who Harry strongly suspected was suffering from dragon pox, the man was covered in large oozing sores, his skin had taken on a greenish hue and had taken on a scaly appearance. Harry involuntarily shuddered at the sight and quickly looked back over at Susan feeling very grateful that Sirius had made him get inoculated for dragon pox.
"I hate apparition," Susan said in a breathless voice as she dabbed at her watering eyes.
"Sorry Susie, it isn't as bad if you do it yourself," Sirius apologized as he led them over to a staircase on the other side of the receptionist's desk.
The three of them walked in silence as they made their way up the stairs and stepped off on the fourth floor. They walked down a narrow corridor and came to a stop in front of a door with a brass placard affixed to it.
Ward 49: Janus Thickey Ward for Long-Term Spell Damage
On either side of the door, two red-robed aurors stood guard and looked at the three of them suspiciously.
"Lord Black what is the password?" the auror on the left asked in a flat tone as he subtly drew his wand.
"Watching over our wounded warrior," Sirius said making eye contact with the auror who had spoken.
"Who are your guests?" The other auror asked as he took a notepad and a self-inking quill out of his robe pocket.
"Susan Amelia Bones her niece and Harry James Potter her ward," Sirius answered at once.
"Proceed Lord Black, the first auror said while the other auror made a note in his notepad.
As the three of them stepped into the room beyond Harry noticed that only three of the beds were occupied. The room was very clean with floating clear orbs of light that cast the room in shifting light as the orbs floated aimlessly around the ceiling. Large windows were letting in light from outside but the sun was obscured by dark grey clouds making Harry think it was going to rain soon. The ward was rectangular in shape and had a row of hospital beds on either side of the door.
Harry spotted Edward Bones standing next to Amelia's bed, he looked up when he heard them enter.
"Daddy?" Susan said as she made her way over to her father and allowed him to pull her into a hug.
"Hey Susie," Edward said in a subdued voice.
"Any changes?" Sirius asked looking at his brother-in-law.
"She took her potion and dozed off a few minutes ago," Edward said as he looked down at his older sister worriedly.
"She's a fighter, Amy is too bloody stubborn to let this finish her off," Sirius said forcing confidence into his voice though his eyes betrayed the worry he really felt.
Harry looked at Amelia and felt his stomach clench, her face was very pale making her look almost ghostly and her breathing sounded irregular and rattled deep in her chest.
"She"s been roughed up pretty good before and pulled through," Edward said as he looked over at Sirius.
"Who did this to her?" Harry asked as he touched Amelia's arm noticing her skin was cold to the touch.
"We don't know, Shack believes they were under the influence of polyjuice," Sirius answered.
"Sarah said she would bring Edgar by after lunch," Edward said when the silence that settled over the room became too oppressive.
Harry was looking at Amelia's face and was a bit surprised when her eyes flickered open and she looked up at him.
"Auntie Amy," Harry whispered causing her to smile.
"Harry, it's good to see you, dear," Amelia said in a weak raspy voice.
"You too, though I wish it wasn't like this," Harry said as Susan came to stand beside him and looked worriedly down at her aunt.
"Don't look at me like that Susie, I'm going to be fine," Amelia assured her niece.
"You had me worried," Susan said as she took her aunt's hand.
"I've had worse injuries than this," Amelia said giving Susan's hand a comforting squeeze.
"The healer says you're showing improvement with the potion," Edward said softly.
"I hope so, otherwise I'm drinking that foul-tasting stuff for no reason," Amy said with a weak chuckle and grimaced in pain from the movement.
"Try not to laugh, Amy," Sirius said as he ran his fingers through her hair.
"I thought taking a desk meant I didn't have to worry about ending up here anymore," Amelia sighed.
"The ministry is going mad after this attack, I can imagine the headlines won't be pretty when the papers get wind of this," Edward said shooting his sister a look of amusement.
"No, this will make the ministry look like a bunch of bumbling baboons. I've been on Rufus since I took over the DMLE to let me implement better security but he wants to focus all our resources on the vampires," Anelia said her voice still sounding very weak.
Before Sirius could reply, the door opened and a blonde woman in healer's robes entered the ward carrying a vial of smoking green potion and had a clipboard tucked under her arm. The healer who wore a nametag that read Helga Macavoy Senior Healer looked to be in her early thirties and was very pretty in Harry's opinion.
Healer Macavoy quickly bustled over to them giving Amelia a wide smile.
"Lady Black, I have another dose of potion that I need you to take. This should help take the edge off of the pain and let you get some more rest," the woman said kindly.
Harry watched as the healer cast a spell that made Amelia's bed levitate a few inches into the air before tilting so the foot of the bed touched the floor putting Amelia in a slightly inclined position so that she didn't have to sit up and risk aggravating her injuries. Harry thought the bed must have charms on it that prevented her from sliding onto the floor.
"I hope this tastes better than that last batch," Amelia said before allowing the healer to tip the vial into her mouth.
"Unfortunately all potions taste terrible. If you make something containing eye of newt and bat spleen you can't very well expect it to taste like butterbeer," the healer chuckled as she slowly poured the liquid into Amelia's mouth.
"Which is why I won't drink an invigoration potion or anything else with pixie testicles as an ingredient," Sirius muttered causing Edward to snort.
"Don't make me laugh, Black," Amelia said after swallowing down the potion.
Harry watched as the healer set the bed right again before she began waving her wand over Amelia and making notes on her clipboard.
"Your vitals are coming up to where they are supposed to and your blood oxygen is still low but it is moving towards an optimum level," the healer said after she had finished casting diagnostic spells.
"Healer Strout said that she may need to take a potion to repair her stomach lining?" Sirius said giving Healer Macavoy an inquiring look.
"She will but we have to wait until the potion to repair her lungs has run its course. Those two potions do not react well together and could cause complications," the healer explained.
"The potion I just gave you will repair tears and haemorrhages so it will begin repairing all of the areas affected by the curse but after it has run its course we will begin a more specified regimen of potions for the area around your stomach," Healer Macavoy added.
"As long as you get me back on my feet, I won't complain too much," Amelia said sounding drowsy.
"We'll have you up and about in no time, dear," the healer promised before she moved over to another patient on the ward.
"I'm going to take the kids upstairs to get some tea. Try and get some rest, Luv," Sirius said as he saw Amelia's eyes starting to drift closed.
"I think I'll join you," Edward said as he gave Amelia's hand a gentle squeeze.
"I would ask you to bring me some coffee but I don't think my stomach could handle it," Amelia muttered.
"You need sleep, coffee would just keep you up," Sirius chuckled.
"True," Amelia mumbled sounding very groggy.
"We'll be back in a bit, I love you, Amy," Sirius whispered before leaning down and placing a kiss on Amelia's lips.
"Come on, let's go get a cuppa so she can rest up a bit," Edward said as Susan placed a kiss on Amelia's forehead.
As Sirius led the group out of the room, Harry couldn't be sure but he thought he heard Amelia snoring before they even made it to the door.
Peverell Beach House, Cornwall, 9/8/1992, 17:59
Harry stepped through the door and into the sitting room to find his children playing a board game on the floor.
"Ha, go directly to jail do not pass go, do not collect two hundred pounds!" Carina crowed as she snatched the chance card out of Iggy's hand and read it aloud.
"My son, in trouble with the law?" Harry said dramatically announcing his presence.
"He is almost broke anyway," Carina beamed as she sorted through the deeds of properties she owned.
"This game is boring," Iggy muttered as he moved his token to the corner space.
"Only because you're losing," Carina shrugged.
"Are you two ever not arguing?" Harry asked as he hung his robes up on the coat rack.
"When we go flying but mum says we can't go flying because of the rain," Iggy sighed.
"I'm sure she doesn't want you getting struck by lightning or something," Harry chuckled.
"Can you imagine? They were cursed with their father's hair, imagine what their hair would look like after a few thousand volts," Bella said as she strolled into the sitting room.
"My hair is like yours, Mum," Carina protested sounding scandalized.
"It wouldn't be if you got hit by lightning," Harry pointed out as Jangles appeared with a soft 'pop'.
"Dinners be ready, Masters," Jangles said before Carina could reply.
"Excellent, what is on the menu tonight?" Harry asked with interest.
"Blackened salmon, roast potatoes and steamed asparagus, sir," Jangles answered happily.
"Sounds wonderful," Harry beamed as he offered Bella his arm while the twins scrambled to their feet.
"So have you heard any word about Amelia?" Bella asked as they walked toward the dining room.
"She's stable and the potions are working the way they're supposed to," Harry sighed.
Harry had been shocked to learn that Amelia had very nearly been killed two nights ago. After hearing the curse she was hit with, Harry had a sneaking suspicion as to the identity of the caster.
In his fifth year, he remembered Hermione getting hit with a similar curse but the caster had been under duress which had weakened its effectiveness considerably. Hermione had still been lucky to survive the encounter and Neville had been forced to carry her until backup arrived.
Harry pulled himself from his thoughts as they arrived in the dining room and he was unsurprised to see the twins already seated and tucking into their salmon with enthusiasm.
"Cissa and I are planning on visiting her tomorrow," Bella admitted as Harry pulled her chair out for her.
"I think she would like that. The way Sirius tells it, she's going bonkers being confined to her bed," Harry said as he took his own seat.
"I can't say that I blame her," Bella said before taking a bite of her salmon.
"No, I just hope Robards is up to running her post while she's on the mend," Harry shrugged.
"We can only hope," Bella agreed.
"So does Cissa have any information on new... Targets?" Harry asked giving the kids a look to make sure they weren't eavesdropping.
"As a matter of fact, she does have a line on an inner circle member," Bella whispered so the twins couldn't hear her.
"Oh, who?" Harry asked having to struggle to contain his excitement.
"Thorfinn Rowle," Bella smirked.
"Oh that's a good one," Harry beamed.
"Yes well from what Cissa intimated, he has a bunch of house guests so this could be the big strike you've been hoping for," Bella said.
"You'll never guess what we're doing for our anniversary this year," Harry said after thinking it over for a moment.
"Even after all these years you know how to keep the romance alive," Bella giggled.
Harry let the subject drop knowing they could talk more about this later after the kids went to bed. If Narcissa's information checked out this could be a very big blow to Voldemort. True Rowle was not a very talented wizard by any stretch of the imagination but he was one of a handful of wealthy wizards that Voldemort still had under his command which meant that Voldemort would feel the loss. This was especially true after losing Avery who had been Voldemort's major financial backer since his return.
Harry thought that after the attack on Amelia, this would be a nice way to get a bit of payback. And if he was lucky, there would be quite a death eaters at Rowle's property as well.
Harry ate his dinner and chatted with the twins while he pondered the possibilities of taking out yet another inner circle death eater and hopefully figuring out a way to finish out this war for good.