Fic: Spider Legs

[gin_tonic]

A while ago I participated in that charity thing at help_japan and offered to write 2k of fic in exchange for a donation to an organisation to help japan. I finally finished the fic and hereby I give it to avana96 and you!


Title: Spider Legs - Part 1
Author: me_midget (LJ) / gin_tonic (IJ)
Written for: avana96 in the course of help_japan
Fandoms: Harry Potter and NCIS
Pairings Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs
Rating: NC-17
Word count: about 17,500 (in total)
Warning(s): cross-over & some murders on the side
Summary: A crime committed in the US disrupts Harry's quiet life in Scotland. Tony and Gibbs come all the way to Edinburgh to catch the killer, but will Harry and his newfound companions find a way to save them all?
A/N: A huge thank you (with a bow on top) to angela_snape for being brilliant and for the speedy and thorough beta-reading of this monster! Thank you so much for your hard work!
And to the recipient, avana96: I hope you like the HP/NCIS crossover. As you can see, I wrote a bit more than just the promised 2k. ;)



"Grab your gear!" Gibbs' bellow had Tony jerking into action as usual. His lunch, he thought wistfully, would have to wait. He didn't even have time to grab a chocolate bar.

The crime scene had a different feel to it than any other Tony had ever seen. Something was tickling him uncomfortably, made the hair on his neck stand up. Kept him from making movie references. Ziva and McGee seemed subdued as well.

The house the victim was found in had once been an apartment building, but was run down and empty now. Not even squatters had considered it worth their while, so why would anybody actually set up shop in here? Two people at least had entered the building – and one of them lay dead on his back, eyes open. There was no blood, not even a mark on the body, save for the terrible expression of fear etched into the victim's face.

Tony walked around the body, taking measurements and doing the sketch. Something clearly wasn't right here. He looked up and found Gibbs standing right in front of him, staring at the body with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

"Boss?" Tony swallowed thickly.

Gibbs turned towards Ziva and McGee. "You two are in charge." As he turned back, Tony's protest got stuck in his throat. "DiNozzo, you and I are going to Scotland."


******


Harry levitated the sign that announced freshly baked muffins outside of his shop and smiled up at the clear blue sky. A rare sight as it had been during the last few months, Harry welcomed it gladly, for it announced that spring was slowly, but surely arriving. The air was still brisk, though, as it was still early in the morning. He liked opening his little shop early. There weren't many customers early in the morning, but it gave him time to drink his morning coffee in peace.

Walking back into the shop he checked up on the bread rolls in the oven. The muffins were already lying in a basket, secure under a charm that would keep them warm and fresh for a couple of hours.

The little bells on his door chimed and Harry looked up, smiling at Malfoy who had just entered the shop.

"I don't understand how you can be this cheerful in the morning, Potter," Malfoy said and yawned. He must've been awake for a while though, since his hair was perfectly in place and smelled of that lovely shampoo he produced and sold in the potions store across the street.

"It's my second coffee." Harry grinned broadly and started the coffee machine. "The usual?"

"Yes. Severus told me to instruct you that he wants his tea brewed precisely four and a half minutes and not just four." Gingerly, Malfoy sat down on the chair next to the window and looked at 'Ensnaring Potions'. Harry followed Malfoy's eyes and found himself looking at Snape, who was taking stock in the store.

"I'll never get it right, anyway," Harry mumbled wryly. He steamed Malfoy's milk, added some extra foam to the cup so it nearly flowed over because Malfoy liked foamed milk so much and occasionally liked licking the excess off of the cup.

"Shouldn't keep you from trying." Malfoy took the paper bag with two muffins and the two cups from Harry, levitating everything but his own cup out of the shop. "See ya," he called and Harry saw a tongue flick out and lick the foam before Malfoy closed the door.


******

Tony tried not to stare at Gibbs during the flight. He would have liked to get some answers as to why they were going to Scotland in the first place, but that would have to wait. The man slept like a log the entire time they were in the air. It reminded him of the time Gibbs and McGee had gone to California and he'd told McGee that Gibbs would want to be entertained. Tony grinned at the thought.

He wondered what McGee and the others were doing, how they were reacting to them rushing off without Gibbs telling anyone a thing. Tony knew he himself should maybe feel more disconcerted than he did, but this was Gibbs and he had known the man and his strange ways for years now. Gibbs would tell him what he needed to know in his own time. Not that this would stop Tony from pushing and probing, but he trusted Gibbs.


******


Tony scrambled to follow Gibbs through the packed city of Edinburgh. They were in the Old Town, this much Tony had gathered and a glance to the right as they hurried past told him that they were somewhere called Grassmarket. Trying not to lose hold on his bag, Tony checked the map he'd snatched at the airport. Yes, there it was. Though what Gibbs might be looking for in the Old Town still was a riddle to Tony.

"Boss! Where are we going?" he asked for the umpteenth time and got no reply like the times before. Tony saw Gibbs close his eyes briefly, and then Gibbs stepped to his right. Tony followed him automatically and only realized afterwards that he hadn't noticed the small alley before. An old looking sign pronounced it to be Velveteen Close, but as Tony checked his map again he couldn't find any alleys leaving from Grassmarket.

"What the hell…" he breathed, but followed Gibbs nevertheless. Gibbs turned left, then right again and suddenly they were standing in a street that, by all means, should not have existed. Because Tony's map told him that, following the way they had walked, they should be inside the fucking hill and under Edinburgh Castle now. Yet he could see the sky and the sun and they were in a street with people milling around them. Granted, the street looked slightly… off, as did the people. But they certainly weren't in a hill.

"This way, DiNozzo."

Gibbs' voice snapped Tony out of his reverie and he hurried to catch up with his boss. He'd follow the man anywhere, even to hell and back. He just hoped that this street wouldn't be the place to prove that.


******


Tony nearly immediately jumped out of the shop they had entered. Curses stuck to the roof of his mouth and would have been joined by bile if all the years on the job hadn't made Tony practically immune to physical reactions to the completely icky shit. Icky shit like dead rats in jars, leeches in others (crawling, crawling, sticking to the glass), and weird-ass liquids of different colors. There seemed to be a weird smell about the shop, something that Tony could not and would not define, but Gibbs seemed completely indifferent to all of that. Tony swallowed and decided to go with the flow and ignore what he saw. Instead, he focussed on the man behind the counter. His blond hair looked unnaturally silver-bright, but it certainly wasn't a dye-job since the eyebrows were in exactly the same shade. The man was in his mid-twenties, had a sombre look in his eyes and – when he noticed Gibbs and Tony – a frown on his face.

Gibbs didn't give him a chance to speak. "Fetch Snape."

"I'm sorry, what? How did you get in here?" The confusion in the man's voice was genuine, but it seemed off to Tony how clutching a little wooden stick would help him with that.

"By foot. I need to speak to Snape." Gibbs' growl bore witness to his impatience and Tony was about to advise the man to give Gibbs what he wants or to duck really quickly, when another guy joined them.

"I thought I'd never hear the dulcet sound of your voice again, Gibbs." The way Gibbs' stance shifted this had to be Snape. Tony looked the man up and down – bad teeth, lanky dark hair and a sallow complexion that would have made Tony run to the next beach to tan, but eyes so dark and intense that it sent a little shiver down Tony's spine. This was a man who had seen things, done things, that Tony would not like to dream of, he was sure. An impressive man, creepy, intelligent and not easy to pin down and put a label on.

"Yeah, I hoped I'd never have to see your face again, either, but here we are." Gibbs nodded at the man.

Snape turned to Blondie. "Put that away, Draco."

"But –"

"Yes, they are Muggles. Put your wand away."

Tony blinked – he hadn't understood a word of what Snape had just said and he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to, either. Draco – so nice to put a name to the blond hair – put away his stick and frowned.

Gibbs chose that moment to speak again. "He's back, Snape." Tony bit his tongue and swallowed his questions. Snape's reaction was more visible – he startled and jerked around to stare at Gibbs with that fathomless stare of his.

"Impossible."

"He dropped a body practically in my lap. Same MO, same everything. He even left his calling card."

Listening attentively, Tony turned to look at some of the jars next to him. Curiosity triumphed over disgust and he stepped closer to a bottle holding what looked like an armadillo with two heads. Gibbs described the scene of crime to Snape, leaving out no detail, and Tony wondered how it came that Gibbs, who usually didn't even tell the Director all details, was so open with Snape off all people. He reached out to touch the bottle, when Snape's voice jerked him back.

"Don't you even think about touching anything in here! With your blundering you'd set off an explosion or turn yourself into a spoon. And I do not plan on cleaning that up." Snape whipped out a stick (why did everybody here have fucking wooden sticks?!) and whirled it around. Something banged and clicked and Snape nodded. "We're going over to Potter's place. There are less things to be destroyed in a café."

******


Harry looked up with a smile when he heard the chime of his door that announced a new customer. His smile faltered a little at the weird procession and serious faces that he saw – Snape and Malfoy with two Muggles in two – but he greeted them friendly never the less. He mentally patted himself on the back when he barely flinched as Snape shut the door to Harry's café and locked and warded it.

"Alright, before we get into whatever the bloody hell is going on here, how about a cup of coffee?" Harry asked. The older Muggle looked particularly grateful at that suggestion, but Snape, naturally, started to object. "I know, tea for you. You'd think you knew that I knew your order by heart now. After all you're getting the same every day."

Snape sniffed. "I don't presume, Potter. Besides, who knows what you are capable of remembering."

Harry chose to ignore the insult and turned to the Muggles instead. "What can I get you?"

"Black," the older one grunted. Harry decided to make the coffee a strong one – that usually did the trick with the grumpiness. Worked the same way with tea for Snape.

"A latte, please," said the other Muggle with a broad smile. "And do you have hazelnut flavour?"

Harry pointed at a shelf to his right with a grin. "That and many more."

The Muggle squinted his eyes at the bottle. "Earwax?!"

Harry shrugged. "It's from the product line of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans. Not my cup of tea, but I know some blokes who like it." He thought of Dumbledore at that – the memory of the man was the only reason why he'd taken on the flavour. Oddly enough there were customers who ordered their coffee with a dash of earwax flavour. Harry shuddered at the thought.

Coffees made, Harry came out from behind his counter and wiped his hands on his apron. "Maybe we should get the introductions out of the way? My name's Harry Potter." Harry shook their hands as they introduced themselves and was momentarily thrown at how they showed no reaction to his name. He hadn't been in contact with Muggles for years now and it was a pleasant surprise not to have someone stare at his forehead or ask if it was true that he had a Horntail tattoo. How that rumour was still going around was a question he hadn't yet managed to answer.

"Now, what is this all about?" Harry asked and took a sip from his cappuccino.

Snape turned to face Gibbs, who explained how they found a body in Washington. Even DiNozzo seemed to be hanging on Gibbs' every word. Though Harry thought it wasn't the story that had captured the man's attention. "The reason we're here, though, is that about twenty years ago there were similar cases – same MO down to the last detail."

"Boss," DiNozzo cleared his throat. "How do you even know that it's the same guy? Ducky hasn't even done the autopsy – maybe it just looks the same, but is in fact a copy cat."

Gibbs shook his head, but it was Snape who answered. "We don't need an autopsy. They were killed by a spell. By the Killing Curse." Harry flinched at that. It had been years since he had been confronted with that particular spell, years since its use had been popular. Surely people still killed each other these days, not that Harry knew much about that, but they used different spells.

"What? What the hell are you talking about? Spells –"

"DiNozzo. Shut up."

DiNozzo stared long and hard at his boss before he eventually muttered, "Shutting up, Boss."


******


"So you're like the Witches of Eastwick?" Tony asked and took a sip of the coffee he hadn't thought he'd manage to find in Great Britain. Scotland. Whatever.

It took Harry a while until recognition bloomed on his face. And here Tony had been thinking his movie references were wasted on the kid. "Well, you got the part with magic right, though we traditionally use wands. But one thing's for sure, Voldemort certainly didn't knock me up." Harry gulped down his tea. "There was a piece of him inside of me, though."

"What?" Tony blinked.

"Oh, no!" Harry jumped up and looked kind of queasy. "It's not what you think, it's just… Oh never mind." He grabbed a plate of shortbread and began stuffing himself with that. Tony could remember a time when he could still eat what and how much he wanted and it wouldn't show. Harry clearly was in that phase still, the way his scrawny body looked. Tony uncomfortably shifted in his seat and tried not to think of his love handles. Not that anyone was really handling them – or him, for that matter – with love.

"How long have you been together?" Harry nodded at Gibbs, who was having a staring contest with Snape.

Tony was taken aback by that question and shook his head. "We're not together." He cleared his throat. A good investigator never let other people handle the questions. "How about you and Blondie?"

Harry rubbed the back of his head. "Can't say that I wouldn't be interested, but Draco doesn't give me the time of the day. Personally, I think he's got the hots for Snape."

Tony shuddered at the thought. He got the thing with older men – though the age difference between Malfoy and Snape really was a bit too great for comfort – but he didn't know how anybody could find Snape attractive. The man's complexion looked like he lived six-feet under (and wouldn't that be a fun image to share with Abby?), his expressions only seemed to vary between scowling and sneering, and his style of clothes was abysmal. Granted, Gibbs would never belong to the Care Bear fraction of the population either, but at least Gibbs knew how to smile.


******


"You can stay with Potter," Snape said and Harry looked up. He thought about protesting, but a) it wouldn't make a difference because when Snape decided on something he stubbornly stayed with that decision whether it was good or not and b) the alternative was that Gibbs and DiNozzo would stay with Snape and Harry really couldn't be that cruel to them. Besides, DiNozzo would be completely creeped out by the things Snape kept in the jars in his kitchen.

"With a baker?! How will that help with our protection?!" Gibbs crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Snape snorted. "Potter was the Undesirable No. 1 during the war. He was the one to vanquish the Dark Lord." Harry ignored that Snape looked slightly pained at that admission, and blushed.

"I didn't do it without help. If it hadn't been for –"

"Oh, shut up, Potter," Draco chipped in. "You have to accept what we've all known for ages now."

Harry turned towards Draco. "And what would that be?"

"That you're one of the most powerful wizards of our time."

"And who are the others?" DiNozzo asked in between bites of muffin.

"Why, Snape and me, of course."

The smirk on Draco's face made Harry laugh and he shook his head in amusement. "Of course." Draco bumped his shoulder.

Gibbs was studying him, Harry noticed. He wasn't quite sure whether he liked being looked at like that, wasn't even quite sure what that look meant. Did he doubt Harry's abilities? Harry could easily show him his magical powers, could tell him what he'd done during the war and after, when he'd joined the Auror ranks for a while. But to be honest, Harry just couldn't be bothered. He'd done his duty. He'd fought, done things he wasn't too proud of, he'd lost friends. And he had had enough, which was precisely why he owned his little bakery now. If what he knew wasn't enough for Gibbs, then so be it.

"Alright then," Gibbs grumbled. "DiNozzo, grab your gear."


******


Harry woke up with just a barely suppressed scream. And here he'd thought the nightmares were a thing of the past. He'd have to talk to Hermione about that the next time he saw her and Ron. Knowing sleep would elude him, Harry made his way to the kitchen. Unlike every other night, he found it occupied. DiNozzo was already there, a mug of coffee in his hands.

"Hope you don't mind," DiNozzo said and nodded at the cup. "There's more in the can."

"You're up early," Harry noted as he poured himself a cup. Usually he'd stick to tea at this hour, but the coffee was there, after all, and smelling quite heavenly. He added sugar and milk to it, both of which were standing on the table in front of DiNozzo.

DINozzo shrugged. "Yeah, well. Couldn't sleep. Too much going around in my head."

"Lots to wrap your head around, isn't there?"

DiNozzo snorted. "You could say that."

"At least when I was told I was still a child. In that age you accept things easier, you know?"

"So you weren't… I don't know. Born into this?"

"Not quite. My parents were a witch and a wizard. Grew up with my aunt and uncle, though. They weren't exactly fans of magic. Or me."

DiNozzo looked up sharply at that. "Crappy childhood?" Harry shrugged. Didn't matter so much now. Compared to what he'd been through the years spent at Privet Drive shrunk to insignificance. "Barely know anyone whose childhood was nice. Well. Abby and McGee – my co-workers. Abby'd like you, by the way – they had good childhoods. But the rest of us…" DiNozzo shook his head. "Here's to crappy childhoods."

Harry raised his cup and clinked it with DiNozzo's. The bloke was quite alright, Harry found. Talked a bit much, made movie references that nobody got (especially not around here), but he had his heart in the right place.

"So is there any chance you can go all Julia Roberts' Tinkerbell on me and give me some of your fairy dust so I can do magic too?"

Harry laughed at that. "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that, mate."

They drank in silence and only looked up again when Gibbs slunk into the room, not quite looking awake. DiNozzo jumped up and quickly poured the man a cup, pressing it into his hands. After downing the coffee, Gibbs was able to get himself a refill. Knowing better than to try and engage the man in conversation, Harry went to have a shower.

There had been that time he'd allowed Snape to stay over. It had been after the war and Snape had decided to relocate. He'd stayed with Malfoy, until Malfoy had claimed something like his magical plumber had to fix one or the other imaginary thing, just to get out of putting up with Snape's crazy. Harry had made the mistake of speaking to him before Snape had had breakfast and a third cup of tea. Harry had been green for a week.


******


Tony followed in Gibbs's and Snape's wake through streets that seemed rather shady. Normally, it would be up to Gibbs and him to go talk to suspects, potential witnesses and the like, but here they had no intell on anyone, nor did they have McGee or Abby to point them in the right direction. Here, they had Snape, who apparently knew Edinburgh's underbelly of society quite well, whatever that said about the man. Gibbs trusted him, so that was alright and Tony would trust him as well.

First thing in the morning (well, after coffee and some hastily eaten breakfast in the café) Snape had suggested that Harry should go round with them. Gibbs had frowned and Harry had shaken his head, saying that despite having been an Auror, he was no longer hunting down criminals. Tony had since learned that 'Auror' was equivalent to some kind of law enforcement. Hard to believe with someone as young as Harry, but then they had said a great deal about him being a hero and whatnot. Tony had known quite a couple of colleagues who had decided to get out of the force and do one thing or another. Security guard. Private contractor or whatever. Bar owner. Hell, one even wrote a movie. But none had ever opened a café. Not that Tony was looking down on that – after all, Harry's coffee kept Gibbs content and what made Gibbs happy also made Tony happy. It was as easy as that.

What didn't make Tony happy was trailing behind Gibbs and Snape like he was their watchdog or worse – a probie. He had tried asking questions during their first interview, but Gibbs had given him a look and Tony had shut his mouth. There was nothing for it, for the first time in… well… ever he had to admit that he didn't know jack about something. Unfortunately that something was the whole fucking world around him and that really was a bad thing for a special agent.

Even worse, they hadn't made much headway so far. That first guy hadn't heard of any murders at all and when Tony had asked whether he'd seen someone suspicious lately, the guy had given a throaty laugh and had asked him if he'd taken a look around.

They were still in the same area and yes, the guy had been right, the area was pretty damn shady, reeked of suspicion, danger, deceit and – most of all – crime. There were things that he knew he should have seen, but didn't, and things that he saw that shouldn't be there. People popping into existence and out of it. Flashes of light, smells he couldn't pinpoint, people too big, too small, too… not-human to be there. But he took it in a stride, or at least as well as he could, because he was Very Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, even though he was fucking useless out here.

"Boss."

Gibbs didn't turn around at first, but Tony waited, didn't pull on Gibbs' jacket like he wanted to. "What?"

"I'm going back to the café. See if Harry," The use of first names got him another look. He never used first names with guys, especially not when he met them while working. "Has any input on what has happened back in DC."

Gibbs grunted, probably knew Tony was just holding them back. Snape looked… satisfied in a way. Tony still wasn't sure if he liked the guy, but there was nothing he could do about it. He gave Gibbs a look that asked whether he would be alright alone with Snape, but Gibbs didn't even bat an eye, gave no reaction whatsoever.

******


The walk back was even worse than following in Gibbs' and Snape's wake. People were watching Tony. He could feel their eyes on him, following him. He tried taking in everything around him, movements, quick movements of their hands, grins. But truth was that he was inferior in every way around here and they knew it. They had wands; they could do whatever they wanted, if they wanted.

Tony swallowed and try to ignore how uncomfortable he felt, how wrong-footed. They left him alone; nobody even said a word, but it barely got better when he came back to the street where Harry, Snape and Draco had their businesses. People were still following him, staring at him as if he was a freak. And maybe he was, here.

He was glad when he spotted Harry leaning against the door of his café, raising his hand in a greeting. He could practically feel his followers slinking away, as if he'd been given a blessing, an allowance to stay, at least temporary.

"You alright?" Harry asked and Tony nodded hastily.

"Have been better."

"Coffee?"

Tony nodded gratefully. "Something to eat would be great as well."


******


Harry took foamy lattes and a plate of sandwiches outside, where he transformed a couple of stones into chairs and a table. DiNozzo looked like he could use a little break, but Harry couldn't begrudge him that. After all, he knew more pleasant pastimes than running around in places like Gravewood Alley. Especially when one was a Muggle.

As per usual, Harry looked over to the Potions store and briefly saw Draco's blond head near a window before he vanished. "Did you find anything?"

"Can't say that we did," DiNozzo said and took a sip from his latte. Harry let his cool for a while; he had a talent for burning his tongue with hot beverages. "Though I suppose Gibbs and Snape will be more successful without me."

Harry frowned at that. "You strike me as a good detective."

"Very good detective." DiNozzo flashed him a grin. Harry wasn't sure if there was flirtation in it, but if there was he found that he wouldn't quite mind. DiNozzo was a good-looking bloke, after all, and it never hurt to… make new friends. "But I don't think I'll be much good here."

"Why do you say that?"

"Usually I rely on my knowledge of the world around me. I know DC, Baltimore and even Philly like my back-pocket. I know my way around abbreviations and particularities of the Navy. I know this shit." DiNozzo shook his head. "But not around here."

Harry rubbed his hand over his lips, caught a crumb from the sandwich and wiped it away. He remembered how he'd come into the wizarding world and had been puzzled, but he'd taken things in stride, like children did when faced with stuff they'd always wished for. Well. He hadn't wished for everything, but the magic. Oh the magic had made good light of so many things. And Hogwarts and his friends. And – well. Anyway. "Maybe your perspective as an outsider can be helpful."

DiNozzo gave him a look that was completely and utterly disbelieving. "Don't take me wrong, but –"

"No, honestly. You may question some stuff that we wouldn't think twice about and you might give us some new ideas that way. And besides –"

DiNozzo grinned at him. "We?"

It was only then that Harry noted that he had included himself in the whole shebang. He should have known he would never keep out of it, no matter how much he claimed that he wanted to keep out of the mess. Harry always got involved. Hermione would have claimed that it was his thing, but thankfully Hermione wasn't here, but at work in London and couldn't rub into his face that Harry had a saviour complex.

Harry blushed and ruffled his hair in embarrassment. The steady grin that DiNozzo have him made him snort and soon the two of them were laughing.

"Care to share the joke?" Malfoy's voice, so suddenly next to him, made Harry jump and he turned to give Malfoy a smile. How had he not noticed that Malfoy had closed the store and come over?

"Would you like a coffee?"

"About time you asked." Malfoy sat down on the chair that Harry vacated to go brew the coffee and crossed his legs.


******


'Why, look at that', Tony thought and grinned to himself. 'Blondie is jealous.' He would have rubbed his hands together and would have cackled maniacally, if it hadn't been a little bit too obvious. He was going to have some fun with this one, that much he knew.

"You taking a break, Malfoy?"

Blondie sniffed and looked at him like he'd just crawled out from under a rock. "I don't see why I shouldn't. After all, I have already done some work." Yes, he would definitely have some fun with this one. From the looks of Blondie it would be dangerous, but then again that had never kept Tony from doing something, not even when he had known it was stupid. After all, he kept on squabbling with Ziva, and Ziva had some bad-ass ninja-skills that she was only too happy to use on Tony.

Harry came back with Malfoy's coffee, who took it with his hands lingering a little to long for someone who just wanted his coffee. This was shit that Tony noticed – and apparently something that Harry was utterly clueless about. Probably as clueless as Malfoy was regarding Harry having the hots for him. Despite his own… infatuation with Gibbs (and what good would ever come from that? None, that's what.), Tony decided that if Malfoy wouldn't be quick enough he'd snatch Harry away from him, if only for a little while. There was nothing wrong, after all (at least in his mind) with having some fun in between catching a killer.

"Harry," Tony deliberately used Harry's first name, just to see if it would rile Malfoy up. It did. "I was just thinking, maybe you could show me round a bit tonight? I would love to go to a real wizards' pub!"

Harry raised his eyebrows at that, but seemed pleased enough. "Sure, sounds good."

"Maybe I should come, too." Malfoy coughed. "Just to make sure that Potter doesn't take you to some dive."


******


That night Harry took more time than usual to get ready. When he went out with his mates he usually just threw on clean clothes and was off, but for some reason he found that would hardly be enough for tonight. One, both DiNozzo and Malfoy were stylish, both in their own right. Harry could see that, though he'd never manage to be as stylish and had – truthfully – never bothered. But tonight he didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb. Two, he wanted to look good. Though he wasn't quite sure anymore if that was because of DiNozzo or because of Malfoy. Maybe because of both, as well.

He threw the grey t-shirt back into the wardrobe and let out a frustrated sigh. Now he could use Hermione's advice – or even Ginny's, but he'd never hear the end of it if he fire-called them now. Besides, he'd have to explain everything and by the time he'd be done it would be morning. No, this one he had to do on his own.

Harry scowled at his wardrobe and closed his eyes. Slowly he raised his wand and said: "Accio Good Looking Evening Outfit." He hadn't really expect anything to happen, really, but when a jeans and a black shirt smacked him right in the face he couldn't help grinning and mumbling an astonished "Magic!"


******


Tony scratched the back of his head and looked contrite. Telling your boss that you would go out with two other guys shouldn't feel weird. But there he was, feeling completely wrong and guilty and whatnot, just because he wouldn't be spending the evening with Gibbs. Which, in essence, meant that he was truly and utterly fucked.

Gibbs grunted and for once Tony couldn't make out whether that grunt was disapproval and displeasure or if it meant that he didn't care. Tony didn't even know which of those reactions he wanted more. Since Gibbs stayed mute, Tony tried with a desperate attempt to start up a conversation: "You gonna be doing anything tonight, Boss?" He usually avoided asking Gibbs about his evening plans out of fear those might involve buxom redheads. Gibbs looked up at him and Tony thought that there should be a head slap coming, like it always did when Tony was too nosy, too obnoxious, too him. He'd come to like those head slaps (though he did like it even better when Gibbs stroked the back of his head, but that was a different matter), and felt disappointed when none came.

"You could go visit Snape or whatever. I mean, he doesn't have a boat – might not even have a proper basement in which he could build boats," Tony feared that Snape's basement was filled with the same icky stuff that was displayed in his shop. "But maybe the two of you could be silent at each other over a glass of bourbon –" Now the head slap came. Tony beamed, no matter that he probably shouldn't.

"Gonna figure out what to do about our guns."

"The lack of them?" Tony frowned. He'd been worried about that from the start. Usually there were tons of paperwork to fill out and the inviting police force had to vouch for you to keep your weapon. But since there was no inviting police force in this case and everything had gone rather quickly in DC, they were unarmed. Unarmed in a strange area with strange people. "You're getting new guns for us, Boss?"

Gibbs shook his head. "Wouldn't do us much good, anyway. I don't think they work on wizards.Or at least my bullets never managed to hurt anyone."

Tony didn't like to hear that, but there wasn't much he could do but to swallow uneasily. If Gibbs with his sniper abilities couldn't injure a wizard, how could he hope to? Gibbs stood up and stretched. Tony could hear the muscles snapping and barely managed not to wince. It wasn't that Gibbs was old, it was only that he'd used his body a lot to catch bullets and stuff like that. Just like Tony had, but Gibbs had had an explosion or two on him.

"Snape's gonna help us with this one." It took a bit until Tony understood that Gibbs was talking about the weapons. "You have fun. Just not too much." Gibbs gave Tony a look that could only be described as feral. He stretched; lightly smacked the back of Tony's head, but his hand remained for some brief moments, as if Gibbs wanted to pull him closer. He didn't.


******


He was slightly tipsy as they left the pub, more or less hanging on to each other and laughing loudly. Malfoy was there, right by his side, and DiNozzo on the other. The night had begun quiet, even DiNozzo had seemed to be more lost in his thoughts until he'd washed the second pint down his throat. Maybe it was true what they said, Harry thought, and the Americans really didn't know how to stomach their alcohol. He laughed again at that and was just about to share his wisdom with the others when a streak of red rushed past him. He sobered up even before the spell flung DiNozzo backwards.

Harry dove for cover and saw Malfoy do the same, both of them pointing their wands at someone they couldn't see. He didn't hear anyone cast the spell, but could feel the force and the raw anger coming from further down the street.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted and immediately knew that the spell wouldn't hit its aim. Malfoy put shields up, but Harry knew they wouldn't do much good against their attacker. He heard DiNozzo groan. "Get behind me!"

"What?"

"Behind me!"

DiNozzo must have heard the urgency in Harry's voice as he began to crawl towards him. Harry saw how DiNozzo's hand reached for where he would usually find his gun. He turned around, only to see a green flash coming towards them. "DUCK!"

The flash whizzed past, just inches over DiNozzo's head. DiNozzo didn't move for a second and Harry thought something might have gone wrong, that he'd been hit by remnants of the spell, but then DiNozzo flung himself towards Harry and under cover. Swallowing down his relief, Harry turned back towards their attacker. This was no good; they would never make it out of there if they let themselves be cornered like that.

Harry jumped up. "If you think you're the man you should prove it! Duel me, you bastard!"

"Potter, are you mad?!" Malfoy shouted, but didn't abandon his cover, even though he twitched to get up. Harry silenced him with a motion of his hand.

"Well?! Are you scared?"

And out of the shadows stepped a hooded figure that looked so very much like a Death Eater, save for the lack of a mask – the lack of a face. The figure gave a hollow laugh and raised his wand – ebony, gnarly, made to kill.

Harry turned to avoid the first curse. He had trained for this. Hadn't his instructors always told him that you could never leave the bad guys behind? That they always found you, no matter what you did? "Confringo!" Harry's blasting curse bounced off of the figure as if it had been nothing but a bit of flung dirt.

The attacker raised his wand. Sparks were flying and the hairs on the back of Harry's head were standing on end. Harry felt the spell coming more than he saw it. He ducked, fired a hex of his own. His ears were ringing and he heard someone shout, but couldn't turn, couldn't look because if he tore his eyes away from his enemy he was sure he'd die. They started duelling in earnest, curses flying from their wands, exploding against their shields, against the walls. The night was lit by red and terrible green, their yells barely audible under the crackle of their spells. Pebbles flew through the air like Harry and his attacker were in the eye of the storm and it was one of them, cutting Harry's cheek, that broke his concentration. He saw the curse coming and jerked up his wand yelling and casting "Expelliarmus!" with all he had. Part of the curse broke lose and Harry flew back while his own spell hit his attacker hard.

Harry blinked. The silence nearly hurt, so sudden had it come. The malevolent magic was gone and so was the shadowy figure, but Harry didn't dare to be relieved. He looked to his left and found DiNozzo, eyes wide and clutching his arm. At a loss how to comfort the man, Harry nodded at him to let him know that everything would be alright and turned to his right. Then he spotted Draco, lying motionless on the ground.

"No!" Harry threw himself down next to Draco and hesitantly felt for a pulse. "Please be alright, please be alive," he breathed and nearly sobbed in relief when he felt the dull, but steady thumpa, thumpa. He pulled his wand again and concentrated. The smell of coffee and freshly baked goods came to his mind, the chime of his door early in the morning and Draco's smiling face – "Expecto Patronum!" He told his stag to fetch Snape and it was only seconds later that the familiar crack of Apparition announced Snape's presence. There was a second pair of footsteps coming towards them – Gibbs, Harry's brain supplied – but Harry only focussed on Draco and Snape.

"He must've been hit by a curse. I don't know –"

"Tell me what happened. Everything, Potter," Snape interrupted him and bend over Draco. Slowly, as Harry told him what happened, Snape ran his wand over Draco and nodded eventually.

"Will he be alright?" Harry asked and bit his lip.

"Don't strain your small Gryffindor-brain with worry, Potter. Draco will be alright after a healthy dose of pepper-up and quite a lot of head-ache countering potions." Snape looked at him and Harry could see that he was just as relieved as Harry was. "He was only grazed by a blasting hex – a shock to his system, but he's out cold because he hit his head."

"Snape! Get over here, for fuck's sake!" Gibbs yelled at that moment and with a sigh Snape did as told. Well, Harry thought dazedly, there was a first time for everything. Absentmindedly he put his hand on Draco's and squeezed it. Its warmth reassured him, helped him not to freak out about what had happened.

He sat in silence as he watched Snape tend to the wounds of an unusually quiet DiNozzo, who kept throwing Harry looks. Harry didn't know whether those bode well or not, but he was too exhausted to care.

******


Tony watched in fascination how the wound on his arm closed and noted that the pain slowly faded as well. He had always been a miraculously good healer, but this… this was too weird. Gibbs looked at him strangely, worried, but Tony couldn't do anything but watch. He blinked, slowly, and tried to grasp what had happened tonight. Fighting he got. No matter how strange that had been, how helpless he had felt, he could understand that. But what went beyond all comprehension was the fear that he had felt when he'd seen the light fizz through the night.

A hand shook his shoulder and Tony jerked back, expecting it to hurt. It didn't, and Tony was pleased to note that the hand belonged to Gibbs.

"You alright?"

Tony shook his head. "Yes, Boss."

Gibbs sighed and sat down next to him on the couch. On the other side of the room Harry was still holding Blondie's hand. Snape poured something that looked utterly disgusting down Blondie's throat and – weirdly enough – that seemed to bring back some color into Blondie's cheeks. Not that he'd been anything but pale since day one.

"I know what you're thinking, Boss," Tony said eventually.

"That so?"

"You're thinking you shouldn't have brought me here." Tony had been thinking about that himself. Maybe he shouldn't have come. Maybe he would have been better off not seeing all of this, not experiencing for the first time how utterly helpless he could be. It was one thing to get Y. pestis and not be able to do anything about it or to see his team-mate get shot. In the first case it was do or die, in the latter thirst for revenge and the knowledge that you'd get the bastard someday kept you going. But to know that you couldn't do a single thing to help yourself or other – mainly others – that was a new, terrible, different thing altogether.

Gibbs gave an affirmative grunt and Tony shook his head. "You're wrong." Maybe Tony needed to convince himself, or maybe it just needed to be said out loud. "You'd be bored without me." He'd never say that he needed to watch out for Gibbs, that he needed to have Gibbs' six. That he wanted to be with him, no matter what.

Tony turned to look at Gibbs. Gibbs' eyes said that he'd understood, that both of them knew what hadn't been said.


******


Still refusing to let go of Draco's hand, Harry sat on the floor next to the transfigured bed that Draco was lying on. His living room had been transformed in a temporary base for their operations – or a hide-out, though Harry was sure that every single one of the men in the room – including him – would refuse to admit that they were hiding.

DiNozzo looked dazed still and Gibbs protective. The way he sat close to DiNozzo, his stance as well as the tension of his body basically screamed that no-one was to touch DiNozzo unless they wanted their throat to be ripped apart. Harry believed him, even.

And Snape… Snape had a look on his face that ranged between furious and worried. It was a look that stole the last bits of Harry's confidence, but then again most of it was gone since the duel anyway. After Voldemort he hadn't expected anyone to be this strong. Why had nobody heard anything about this wizard that could cast Killing Curses without hesitating even in the slightest? Or… No. Of course. Harry looked up at Gibbs and Snape. Of course someone had already heard – had already known – about this wizard.

"Who is he? I could feel his strength and you two know who he is."

Snape shook his head. "We don't know his name."

"But you have dealt with him before." Harry frowned. He had known that they hadn't been telling the whole truth, but this couldn't go on. Had they known what they would be up against… Harry didn't know if they would have been able to defend themselves any better, but they wouldn't have walked around like they had tonight. "The time for playing games is over. Tell us now. Tell us everything you know."

But it wasn't Snape who replied. "It started about 24 years ago. I was deployed to Europe doing… I was working. Stumbled right into this whole mess, just like I stumbled over the body of a person I was supposed to meet. Had to investigate, ran into Snape."

"It was after the Dark Lord vanished. I was already working for Dumbledore, but wasn't teaching at that time." Snape turned towards Gibbs. "You thought I was a suspect."

Gibbs huffed at that. "Yeah, well, my gut told me that something about you was off. And I was right about that."

"What about the murder?" DiNozzo butted in before Snape and Gibbs could go off in a rant. "You didn't catch him, did you?"

"No. He managed to get away. But we did put an end to his spree."

"And you were okay with leaving it at that?"

"Of course I wasn't okay with it!" Gibbs bellowed. He stood up and paced around the room, then went to pour himself a drink. A look at the others made him pour three more. "I wanted to nail the bastard, but the trail got cold and SECNAV decided I should focus on my mission."

Harry looked back and forth between Snape and Gibbs and realised only then that Gibbs had worked as a spy, just like Snape had. Maybe that was why the whole investigation hadn't really gone through any official channels and why Harry and Draco were now involved in the whole bloody business.

"Don't you know anything about the guy? Didn't you have any leads?" Harry ran a hand through his hair in frustration. How were they supposed to fight against someone when they didn't even know who it was?

"He leaves a calling card."

"What?" DiNozzo jumped up, nearly spilling his drink all over Snape's pristine floor. "Don't tell me you found something on his body and didn't tell me." Gibbs' silence was answer enough. "Thank you so much for your vote of confidence! What do I have to do for you to realise that I am actually trustworthy enough?! I thought the last 10 years had been proof for that!"

"Calm down."

"I will not calm down! You do this every single fucking time! You go off on something without telling us, you vanish… and you don't tell us all we need to know to solve the case!"

"Tony, I –" The use of his first name clearly startled DiNozzo and he flopped back down on his chair, watching Gibbs with an undecipherable look in his eyes. Gibbs cleared his throat and took a sip and whatever they had shared was over. "What identifies the dirt-bag isn't only the use of the spell and how he poses the bodies, but he also always leaves a dead spider on the bodies."

"A well prepared spider, one that potion masters would pay a fortune for. And it was always a species of the Latrodectus genus," Snape added.

"The what?"

"A black widow, Potter. He uses black widows that are native to the regions where he kills his victims."

Well. Harry ran a hand over his face. That didn't help much in their investigation, but at least now he knew that whoever was their killer, he would know his way around spiders. Maybe even potions. "Have you checked with other potion stores if someone tried to sell first rate spider ingredients?"

Snape scoffed at that. "My shop is the only place were you would find ingredients like that and there surely hasn't been anyone to try and sell spiders that good to me."

DiNozzo cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, he'd be stupid to do that, wouldn't he? I mean, he probably knew that you were after him back then, so why would he try to sell you something that might give him away? We really should check with other potion stores."

"Snape checked when we started this thing back then." Gibbs stretched and yawned. "But you're right, we should check it again. Rule #3 – Never believe what you're told. Always double check."

Harry noted the small smile that played around DiNozzo's lips at that. He turned around to check on Draco, wanting to give DiNozzo at least a bit of a private moment with that. Draco was still out cold, but colour was slowly coming back to his face and his breathing was even.

"He just needs to sleep, Potter." Snape's equivalent to 'He'll be fine'. Harry took it gratefully, but didn't comment. There were other things they needed to discuss first.

"If Draco is up to it tomorrow, he could make some inquiries with other potion shops," he suggested. They really had landed themselves in a huge mess here. What surprised him, though, was that both Gibbs and Snape let him ask his questions, let DiNozzo rant and question. It clearly was more serious than he'd expected when they'd arrived in Edinburgh. "Do you reckon he followed you to the UK or was he already here?" Harry asked.

Gibbs shook his head slowly. "He was here alright. The body hadn't left rigor yet, but my gut told me that he was already back here in the UK. I didn't know he'd be here in Edinburgh, but I figured he'd follow us here. He has a knack for knowing when he's being followed."

"So this is your idea of a trap?"

"Hardly." It wasn't Gibbs who'd answered that one, but DiNozzo. "If Gibbs lays a trap he actually catches something." DiNozzo turned to Gibbs who looked faintly embarrassed. "My guess is that you wanted him to follow us here, because you thought that working with Snape would give you an advantage."

"And it does." Snape uncrossed his legs. "If you hadn't come here and hadn't met Potter, Draco and me, you'd already be dead."


******


Tony gave Harry's shoulder a brief, but heartfelt squeeze before he trailed after Gibbs into the room they shared. Gibbs seemed to become grumpier with every passing minute, which was probably not helped by the fact that despite them having a room of their own the apartment felt cramped. Snape and Blondie were staying as well – Blondie on the sofa and Snape in Harry's room, which Harry had kind of offered. Tony doubted that Harry would want to leave Blondie's side anyway.

Tony flopped down on the bed only to have a shirt smacked into his face. "What –"

"You're filthy," Gibbs snapped and pointed at the clothes that Tony was still wearing. Tony looked down and found his shirt blood-soaked, his arm still stained red. "Shower. Dress. Now."

Tony blinked at the shortness of his boss' orders – Gibbs tended to snap, but usually not like that – but got up slowly and did what he was told anyway. Gibbs accompanied him to the bathroom, where he alternated between brushing his teeth and telling Tony what an idiot he was.

"What did you think, going to some pub without checking the surroundings first?!"

Tony didn't point out that he rarely checked the environment when going out in D.C. or that checking wouldn't even be of any use here, where people could just materialize out of thin air. He didn't point out that being attacked and not having his weapon with him was hardly his fault. Well, he had had the knife, but that would probably do as much good as a gun. He just let Gibbs rant as he washed the blood away, let him glower as Tony dried his hair and brushed his teeth.

He knew his boss didn't mean what he said. Gibbs was probably blaming himself more for this than he was blaming Tony, just like Tony blamed himself for the stupidity of thinking he could walk around in a world like this and go away unharmed. He knew exactly that Gibbs just needed an outlet for everything and let it roll over him. But, for the life of him, he didn't understand what Gibbs actually wanted to say. Gibbs finally stopped when Tony switched off the light and he lay there in darkness, listening to Gibbs breathe. He fell asleep soon after, lulled to sleep by security.


******


Tony woke in the middle of the night. The dim glow of a lamp lightened up the darkness that he remembered falling asleep in and he blinked, trying to assess the situation. Slowly he turned his head to his right and found Gibbs sitting on the other bed, looking at Tony's legs but not noticing that he was awake. Gibbs' face was unguarded and Tony could see worry etched in there. Gibbs was close, close enough to touch, but Tony doesn't. He wanted to smooth away the worry, but didn't know whether he was allowed to, whether touching Gibbs like he wanted to would destroy what they had.

And that was really what he was afraid about. The rejection he might be able to take, maybe, with time. But losing what he and Gibbs had – that feeling of belonging, their weird-ass friendship, their trust – that was what he wouldn't be able to survive. So he just watched Gibbs beat himself up about something that he couldn't have changed.

Slowly Tony eyes drifted shut again. Then there was the sound of bed-springs squeaking as Gibbs got up, followed by a click and the room was dark again. Tony heard Gibbs rustling around and moving towards Tony's bed. The warmth radiating from Gibbs' hand was what clued Tony in or he would have jerked back in shock as Gibbs' touched his head gently and smoothed his mussed up hair. Then the hand was gone again, leaving Tony stunned and missing the warmth.

He swallowed and wondered if he'd read his boss wrong for all these years. He knew that Gibbs cared for him, but this… this touch went further than he had dared to hope.


******


"He's not going to let this go, you know?" DiNozzo said and stared at his latte. "I don't know much about the way you fight, but I do know about perps. And that one has his eye set on you, because you got away."

"You got away, too. So did Malfoy." Malfoy had been better that morning, cranky, but otherwise fine. Harry knew, because Malfoy had complained about his hair being mussed up – and that Harry, who had stayed by his side the whole night, reeked. The fact that they had been holding hands when they had woken up was not mentioned by either of them.

DiNozzo inclined his head. "True. But you were the one who fought him off. You challenged him. And if I'm right that dirtbag will not take that lightly."

The Timer Charm that Harry had set beeped and Harry got up to check up on his muffins. "Then we'll have to be quicker than him. We have to beat him to the attack that he's likely to plan."

DiNozzo nodded. "If we can figure out what his next move is. Or where he might be hiding."

Harry threw DiNozzo a muffin, which the man caught easily and with a grin, took one for himself and placed the rest of them in a basket on the counter. He nodded at them as he joined DiNozzo at the table again. "Soon enough the smell will waft over and Malfoy will come for his fix."

DiNozzo squinted his eyes at Harry with something like amusement playing with his features. "You know, you really should ask him out."

Harry sputtered and nearly spit his muffin all over the table. "What?!"

"You've got the hots for him, don't you? You should ask him out."

Harry snorted and shook his head. "Yeah right, I'll take advice from you on this."

"Why not?"

Harry gave DiNozzo a look. It was more than obvious – hell, DiNozzo had basically said it himself – that he was head over heels with Gibbs and clearly was getting nowhere with that. DiNozzo looked out of the window, and Harry wondered how that man could be any good at undercover work if he wore his heart on his sleeve like this. "Besides, this is not the right time. A killer is loose and we just got attacked –"

"That, actually, is the best reason to ask him out. Celebrate life, man! Live a little! Seems to me you haven't done too much of that."

"Well." DiNozzo wasn't far off the mark with that one. "But –"

"Oh," DiNozzo drew out the sound as long as he possibly could. "You're scared!"

"What? No!" Harry jumped up and busied himself with putting their dishes away even though he could have done that easily enough with a swish of his wand. "I'm not scared!"

DiNozzo snorted. "The lady doth protest too much."

"I'm not a bloody lady and I sure as hell am not scared!" Though maybe he was. Just a little bit. After all, why should Malfoy want to go out on a date with him? Sure, they didn't hate each other anymore and got along fine, but Malfoy couldn't possibly be attracted to Harry now, could he? Harry looked at his reflection in the shop's window. Messy hair – and not in a stylish way. He had never managed to pull that one off. His eyesight was still shit, his clothing style (according to Malfoy) 'abominable' and he was, as Snape liked to point out, still a runt.

"I dare you to."

Harry whirled around and started at DiNozzo, who was sitting there, wearing a bloody smirk. "What?"

"I dare you to ask Blondie out. If you don't manage it, I'll get coffee and muffins for free as long as I'm here. And possibly after, once I figure out how to do the shipping."

Harry blinked and dazedly replied: "Not a problem, I'll just put a charm on – Hey! Wait a minute! What if I'm gonna win?"

"Well. You get a date with Blondie, of course."

Harry put his hands on his hips and tried to look stern. By the laughter playing around the corners of DiNozzo's mouth he didn't quite manage to pull it off, but DiNozzo offered additional payment anyway. "And I'll get Gibbs and Snape off your back for one evening so the two of you will have time for yourselves."

"You'll entertain them as long as I want?"

DiNozzo cleared his throat. "Depends on what you mean with 'entertain', but yeah, they won't hassle you that night."

It sounded like a good enough deal. Besides, his pride and honour were on the line here. How could he – how could any Gryffindor say no to a dare like this? He shook hands with DiNozzo – and promptly realised that DiNozzo had played him like a fiddle. "So," Harry cleared his throat and tried to will himself to stop blushing. "What do we know about the killer? What do we know that might help us find him?"

"Well, we know about his MO and his calling card."

"Which hasn't helped us much so far."

DiNozzo nodded his assent. "Well, you fought with him. What do you recall about him? Anything striking?"

"No," Harry shook his head. "I barely remember more than a black-hooded figure. I was too busy dodging his curses and trying to come up with something to overpower him to notice anything about his looks."

"Something else then?"

Harry bit his lip and tried to remember the night, what he had seen, heard and felt. Mostly he remembered the panic he'd felt, how terrible it had been seeing Malfoy and DiNozzo lying there on the ground. He could still smell the stink in the air – stink that hadn't come from the street! "A smell! I remember a smell!" Then he frowned. "But I can't pinpoint it. Sorry."

"That's alright." DiNozzo polished off his muffin and took out a notepad. He jotted down some of the things they had talked about and added 'smell' in bold letters. "Anything else?"

"You were there. What do you remember?"

"Besides trying not to pee my pants?" DiNozzo rubbed the back of his head, then quickly remembered that he didn't want to destroy his hairstyle and smoothed his hair back into place. "He was tall, maybe as tall as me or Snape. He was a kinda wiry dude, but I couldn't tell more what with his robe."

"Is that all you remember?"

DiNozzo closed his eyes and tried to concentrate, just like had advised so many witnesses and victims to do. Harry tried reminding himself of the night again, too. There was the crackle of energy in the air and the crashes of stones and empty boxes in the alley smashing into pieces. He tried focusing on the attacker, but his memory was too hazy, all the details blurred. His concentration was gone completely as DiNozzo made a sound that sounded too close to a whimper to be mentioned.

"You got something?"

"I –" DiNozzo gulped and stuffed the last bit of the muffin in his mouth. The sugar seemed to get him back on track and through remnants of the muffin he said: "He wore a key on a chain around his neck."

"A key? But he's a wizard! What would he need a key for? They are used in riddles and games," Harry thought of his first year at Hogwarts and the flying keys at that, "and by Squibs, mainly. But he's clearly powerful enough to lock things with spells and top that off with a couple of wards that even Snape would have problems breaking!"

DiNozzo furrowed his brow. "Maybe he likes keys. Maybe the key has some emotional value for him."

"It could have been a key for a box of some sort," Harry suggested. "He could like things classic as that."

DiNozzo shook his head slowly and leaned forward in his chair, bringing himself closer to Harry. "I don't think so. It was a big key, old fashioned in style, like you'd use for a door. He was carrying it around his neck as well, meaning that he wants and needs it close by."

At that point Malfoy sauntered into the café, looking for muffins. DiNozzo gave Harry a look and left the café to go look for Gibbs over in the potions shop.


******


Harry busied himself with fixing Malfoy's coffee as he pondered how to approach the topic of going on a date.

"You're quiet today," Malfoy noted with interest and surveyed the muffins, trying to pick out the best (and largest) like he did every time Harry had baked some. "Been so busy talking to the American that you don't have any words left for me?"

"What? No!" Had he heard jealousy in Malfoy's words or was that just wishful thinking on Harry's part? "No, I was just… thinking."

That got a snort from Malfoy. "That can't be good. Is your head hurting already?"

"Arse."

"Well, I'm sure we have a potion for that as well." Malfoy grinned broadly, picked out a muffin and waved it in front of Harry's face, until realisation dawned on Harry and he shot Malfoy a dark look. The coffee machine sputtered to a stop, but Harry made no move to get the cup for Malfoy. Once Malfoy had it, he'd leave and Harry's chance would be gone.

"Potter? Did you fall asleep over there?" Malfoy was waving the muffin again.

"Yeah. No. What?" Harry shook himself and rubbed his neck self-consciously. Now or never, he told himself. After all, Malfoy probably thought he was an idiot already, so things couldn't get any worse. "I was wondering… would you like get something to drink or something?"

"Potter." Malfoy sighed. "It might have slipped your notice, but I already ordered coffee."

"No, what I mean is," Harry cleared his throat. "Would you like to go for a drink with me." Malfoy blinked at that, the muffin nearly slipping from his hand. "Or dinner?" Harry added somewhat desperately.

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

Harry blushed, hard. "Well, I'm trying."

"Huh." Malfoy blinked again, then stared at his muffin and moved it like he was weighing it. "Alright."

"Is that a yes?" Harry beamed so much that his grin threatened to break free from his face.

"Are you deaf now, Potter? Or is that 'thinking' bothering you again? Of course I said yes." Malfoy huffed, grabbed his muffin tightly and walked behind the counter. "And you better make it a good date. I'll be at your place at eight." He grabbed his coffee cup from the machine and marched out of the shop, leaving Harry flustered, but still grinning, in his wake.


******

Follow me to Part 2!