Lightning and War

On Jonquil's Trail

"There is going to be an effort made to find Harry's cousin."

Tom watched the flicker of awareness travel around the faces of his Knights, and suppressed a smile. They knew what he was saying in a way that Harry didn't. Yes, they would make the effort, but if they couldn't succeed, then Tom was saying that was fine. And if they did find Jonquil and would encounter too much resistance from Order of the Phoenix members to rescue her, then they would retreat and try again later.

"Why are they all smirking?" Harry muttered to him out of the corner of his mouth.

"I'll explain later, dear," Tom murmured, something that always stilled Harry, and this time let his smile widen across his face. "You have my permission to use any spells that you need to find Jonquil Potter and keep Harry safe in the meantime."

"Including blood tracking, my lord?" That was Roland, his body hunching a little forwards. He did love his blood magic, and he didn't always get to practice it when Tom's people worked on normal maneuvers like attempted conversion of Minsitry officials.

"Yes. You may do that."

Roland turned his head like a compass needle to Harry. "Then may we have some of his blood? Since he does have a relation of sorts to the young woman we're seeking. Potter blood ought to work even across different dimensions, the similarity of the blood combined with affection."

Tom heard the pause around "young woman," not that Harry would. Harry only looked coolly back at Roland and held out his arm.

"Are you sure you want to do that, Potter?" That was Shara, who had accepted Harry's defeat of her in good grace and wanted to work with him, exactly as Tom had predicted. "Avery's methods of extracting blood and using it aren't what everyone would agree to."

"I would do anything to find Jonquil."

Tom rested a heavy hand on Harry's shoulder as he saw a different kind of glance exchanged among his Knights. They would regard such attachment to anyone, even a family member, as a weakness to be exploited. Tom caught a few important glances and held them long enough to be certain that people would understand the price if they moved against Harry.

"Then give me your blood, Potter." Roland came forwards eagerly, holding out his hands. In one was his wand, in the other the long silvery dagger that he preferred to use for these operations. Harry faced him unflinchingly.

From the way Roland paused and blinked, Harry must at least have earned some points with him for his demeanor. He nodded a little as he cut delicately at Harry's wrist with the dagger and carefully tilted it so that the resulting drops of blood stayed on the blade instead of falling. He also seemed to respect the way that Harry refused to flinch or moan with the pain.

Roland stepped back with the blood after a moment, his mouth moving in the involuntary smile he always used at these times. He caught Tom's eye and the smile dropped away quickly, but he did nod. Tom relaxed. Good, he had understood the implied message about what would happen if he tried to use Harry's blood for anything other than tracking Jonquil.

Proving he wasn't completely oblivious of the undercurrents, Harry reached back and squeezed Tom's hand, moving it back and forth a little. Tom ignored that. Harry was saying he could protect himself. Well, yes, he could, but Tom was still going to protect him anyway.

Roland was an artist with blood magic, and it was a pleasure to watch him work. He moved the dagger back and forth, chanting swiftly under his breath, words practiced so many times they sound almost like the humming of a beehive instead of Latin. Then he spun the dagger precisely, hurling the blood droplets into the air.