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Quiet footsteps echoed through a deep, dark expanse, gently bouncing off the unseen walls like small waves on a sandy shore. Every so often, the footsteps would pause - as if the listener was hearing something that could not be perceived by normal human hearing. Harry Potter didn’t know how long he had been in this void, but he had already learned that he felt neither hunger nor thirst - nor did he have the need to relieve himself. And though it was slightly warm, there was a slight breeze to keep him comfortable.
When it seemed that he had been here for hours, a quiet whisper on the breeze made him freeze in his tracks. He concentrated on the words to see if he could make them out, but sniffed in irritation when the words failed to properly form. When the whispers once again receded, he continued walking, though he honestly had no idea where he was walking to. If Harry had been a bit more aware, he would have realized that he was stuck in the innermost part of his mind - and that the almost inaudible whispers he was hearing were his friends and his lover trying to reach him.
§•—•§ §•—•§ §•—•§
“Any change?” A quiet voice came from behind him, startling Hermione Granger out of her reverie.
“No, none,” she replied sadly, as she turned to face Anthony “Tony” Paddington DiNozzo, Harry’s husband of three years. She was still in awe that Harry and Tony had wed, especially considering how Tony used to be, but the more she had seen them together, the more she understood it. “It’s been two years, Tony. You don’t think…”
“I have to stay positive, Mya,” Tony said thickly, though he felt anything but. “If I don’t, I’m almost sure that I’ll spiral into depression so deep that I may not be able to climb out of it.” He started pacing back and forth, a trait Hermione noticed he did when he was trying to come up with a solution.
“We’re missing something; I know we’re missing something,” he whispered to himself, seemingly forgetting about Hermione for the moment. “Think Tony!”
Hermione watched with watery eyes as Tony continued berating himself trying to come up with a solution that had eluded them for two years. Moments later, a slamming door brought both of them to their feet and their wands to their hands.
“Tony! Mya! I think…” Draco Malfoy panted, as he slightly bent over to try and catch his breath. “I think I know what happened!”
“What?” Tony demanded quietly, though cautiously. He had heard this many times before, so he didn’t want to get his hopes up.
“ Abscondere meam mentem, ” Draco replied.
“That - that spell is ancient!” Hermione gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. “Where would he have even found it? And why would he have used it? What’s the counterspell to it?”
“He found it in a book in the Black library,” Draco flashed a small grin before frowning again. “As for why he used it, I have no idea.”
“Is there a counterspell?” Tony asked, his voice raw with emotion.
“There wasn’t one in the book that I found,” Draco’s voice was full of disappointment. “However, there may be one in the books in the Black vault…”
“But isn’t Harry the only one who can enter the Black vault?” Hermione asked, confused. She gasped when Tony clapped himself on the head.
“Yep,” Draco smirked, his eyes now twinkling in amusement. “We all forgot that even though Tony didn’t take the name of Black, he can still enter all the vaults that Harry has…since Tony is Harry’s husband.”
Hermione’s jaw dropped in surprise, then her head dropped in shame.
“How in the world did we never think of this before?” she grouched.
“Because we were too busy looking for simple and/or well known spells, counterspells, and potions,” Tony answered, shaking his head. “Not one of us thought that he would use a spell that’s well over a thousand years old and hasn’t been used in well over five hundred years.”
“Did he use it as a last resort?” Draco wondered.
“He had to have,” Hermione frowned. “There’s no way he would have used it in normal circumstances.”
"You're right, Miss Granger," an unknown voice chipped in. "The circumstances were indeed quite dire."
Hermione, Draco, and Tony pointed their wands at the intruder.
"Who are you?" Draco demanded.
"What are you doing here?" Tony asked in the same demanding tone, though he knew the person now standing in front of him.
Hermione, however, had an entirely different reaction to their surprise visitor.
“Dammit, Timothy!” she snapped irritably before standing up and giving him a hug. “Why didn't you tell me you were coming?”
“What? And ruin surprising my favorite cousin?” Tim laughed as he hugged her back. “That would require planning.”
“And we both know how impulsive you are,” Hermione chuckled. “Draco, meet my second cousin, Timothy McGee, Hit Wizard for the ICW and Special Agent of NCIS out of Washington DC. Tim, may I introduce Draco Malfoy, senior auror for the Ministry for Magic and you already know Tony from working with him at NCIS. The man lying unconscious on the table over there is Harry Potter-Paddington, Tony’s husband of three years - though he’s been in a coma for just over two years.”
“I just found the spell that was used on him - or what I believe is the spell - about an hour ago,” Draco explained, relaxing now that he knew the newcomer wasn’t one to trifle with. “However, there was no mention of a counterspell.”
“And it just dawned on us that even though Tony didn’t take ‘Black’ as part of his last name, he has had access to the Black vaults at Gringott’s since the day they got married,” Hermione sighed and rubbed her temples in frustration. “We’re hoping that one of the books in those vaults might hold a clue to the counterspell, or even the spell itself.”
"Spells have been released with their counterspell for over three hundred years," Tim frowned. "Just how old is the spell?"
"Over a thousand years old," Tony replied, picking up the latest text he had been researching. "According to various history books, it fell out of style because people found a less drastic and safer way to look inside their own minds."
“ Legilimens internus ,” Hermione confirmed. “Same effect as Abscondere meam mentem , but a ninety-eight percent chance of not harming the mind, unlike its predecessor.”
“And an almost zero chance of reversing it unless the counterspell is known,” Draco finished Hermione’s thought with disappointment.
“Would Harry have used the spell without knowing the counterspell?” Tim asked, glancing over at the aforementioned young man again.
“Definitely not,” Tony replied emphatically. “However, he would have left it difficult to be discovered by just anyone.”
“Or to be found by just one person,” Hermione mused, letting her eyes drift over to Tony.
“The Black Vaults,” Draco and Tim said simultaneously.
“But which one?” Draco asked. “I know there are about twenty of them just from the discussions that Harry and I have had over the years.”
“Isn’t it the higher the number, the deeper the vault, and the more security there is for it?” Tim asked.
“Yes,” Hermione said slowly before her face lit up. She turned to Tony, her face glowing with excitement. “Do you have access to the vault statements? And do they break down the contents by the vault?”
“Yes, and I’m not entirely sure,” Tony replied. “I can pop home and bring them here, though…if they’re not under a password.”
“See if you can,” Hermione smiled. “While you’re gone, I can interrogate my wonderful cousin here on how his relationship with his former co-worker is going.”
Tony gulped at the look that was in Hermione’s eye. Whatever she was going to be…discussing…with her cousin was not going to be pleasant, so he decided to give Draco an out.
“Draco, how about you come with me to help me look?” Tony asked with a little too much innocence in his voice.
“Sure, not a problem,” Draco replied quickly, understanding the look on his friend’s face. Draco placed his hand on Tony’s arm and they apparated away. With a smirk, Hermione turned to face Tim.
“Uh, whatever you heard, it wasn’t my fault!” Tim stammered.
“Oh?” Hermione raised an eyebrow. “Why do you assume that whatever I’ve heard is bad news?”
“Because it normally is?” Tim answered, unable to remember what he may have done to upset Hermione. He sighed in resignation, knowing that it was better to just get it over with. “What have you heard?”
“Oh, nothing much,” Hermione a small grin slowly lit Hermione’s face. “Only that you and a certain Miss Emily Bishop were almost caught en flagrant while on a stakeout. If Gibbs hadn’t shown up when he did, would the two of you have gone all the way?”
“We - ah - we did…once we got back to my place after Gibbs and Torres took our places,” Tim’s face flamed red after his confession.
“Ha! I knew it!” Hermione exclaimed gleefully. “Torres owes me lunch the next time I see him!”
“Wait? You and Torres bet that me and Bishop would have sex?” Tim gasped.
“Oh, not just us,” Hermione giggled. “Abby, Jimmy, and Ducky were in on it, too.”
“As was I,” A familiar voice came from behind them.
“Director Vance!” Hermione exclaimed, rushing over to give her old mentor a hug.
“It’s Leon, Hermione,” he chuckled, hugging her back. “Remember?”
“Of course,” she grinned. A pop of apparition made the group turn around.
“You were right, Hermione,” Tony sighed, handing her the vault statements. “Everything is broken down by vault.”
“And it looks like the most promising one is vault 1980 - the year he was born,” Draco continued, leaning against one of the chairs in the room.
Hermione rapidly shuffled through the parchments until she got to the statement for vault number 1980. She read through the information as quickly as she could, gasping when she found the information she was looking for.
“I think you’re right,” she replied, looking up at Tony. “One of the texts in the vault is ‘Ancient Mind Spells.’ I have a feeling that text will hold the answer we’ve been looking for.”
“I’ll be back,” Tony said, his voice thick with unshed tears. In an instant, he had disapparated again.