He shifted in his corner as he strained to listen, plucking at his collar and tucking his lapels further in to accentuate the look of complete neatness that he upheld. This was a major breakthrough in the area of his career, and he sure as hell couldn't risk buggering it up. The shadows of the two figures he was tailing stiffened, and their voices died down for a beat as they intently listened into the corners of the room which they occupied, some instinct causing a prickle in their awareness that caused them to feel as though they were being watched. But Albus Severus knew they would never know he was there, and so simply waited for their conversation to resume.
The suspects were responsible for the incarceration of his primary partner, and he had to figure out the reason for which they'd shut away Rose Hermione Weasley before he could go about setting her free. Tipping his broad fedora hat lower over his brow to shield his eyes, he peered directly at the figures of the two crims, then ducked back against the doorway behind which he hid, his trench coat brushing soundlessly against his trouser knees. The one on the left with crimson coloured hair spoke to the one on the right, whose strangely coarse locks grew out tightly from his scalp, contrasting with his more anglo features.
"Did you manage to grab the…" Albus only heard the first part of the hushed question, as the ginger lowered his voice further in caution. His dark companion nodded nervously, slipping his hand out of his pocket hastily to show whatever it was he'd stolen to the ginger, a flash of brown and foil being all Albus caught of the package before it was once again stowed out of sight. He felt his eyes narrow in contemplation.
"Yeah, but it wasn't easy…had to…she's locked…won't cause any more trouble…how she found out." The man with the dark curls kept his voice at a constant hiss, and it was only thanks to his numerous reconnaissance activities in the past that Albus was able to make out any of what was said. He felt his jaw tighten at the understanding he gained that the two had framed his partner for their crime, because clearly that's what they'd done. Now he only needed to watch and see where they stashed the goods, before he could take the story up to the big guns and have the real culprits put away, and his partner's dignity restored. He pulled up his collar around his face, just in case someone happened to glance at him and make out his face. He was rather well-known around these parts, his likeness to his famous father a clear heads up to all who so much as glanced at him. That was why he had to wear this musty get up, and act all suss-like.
The two criminals were coming closer now, whispering to each other in low tones, and Albus shrunk back against one of the slightly open doorways in the hall in which he stood, waiting for them to pass him before following after the pair at a distance to see where they went.
They ducked out of the building into the sunshine, the other occupants of the place never sparing them a look, for they too were well known around these parts, though not so much for their starry reputations. People were preparing for some big event, and Albus knew the criminals in front of him had stolen something crucial to the holding of the event, which was why his partner was so harshly punished after she was framed.
Albus ducked behind a bush and crouched as he watched the two traipse off towards a run-down structure in the distance, their route away from the building behind him unbroken and confident. Ignoring the eyes he felt boring into his back, Albus carefully watched until the two had checked that the coast was clear then ducked into the doorway of their destination, before he rushed as fast as he could to stand under the window at the back of the new building, desperately listening to the shuffles, then the distinct sound of a heavy lid squeaking open. His eyes widening, he listened with bated breath as s crinkling as of foil rung out, a thump as though something heavy was dropped into an enclosed space, then a squeaking followed by a slight snap that told him the lid had been shut on the thing they'd opened. Sniggers sounded out, the two crims congratulating each other on a crime well done. Well, not if Albus Severus had anything to say about it.
"Muuuuum! Mum! MUM! James and Fred stole something! MUM!" Albus let out his caterwauling yells as the two criminals rushed out at him, grabbing the blanket he'd been using as a coat, and pulling the pot he'd substituted as a fedora from his head in their efforts to silence him. But six year old Albus would not be silenced. Here was an injustice, and Rose was suffering.
"DAD! Albus was spying on us! Didn't do it, he's a liar!" his older brother James had slapped a hand over his mouth, and Fred was looking at the sibling's in panic. If he was found out, there would be no Christmas pudding for him later on.
All the Weasley and Potter adult's rushed out of the Burrow from where they'd been stringing up Christmas decorations, and baking Christmassy goodness, at the screaming and crying coming from the chicken shed. Albus was red-faced from lack of breath as James suffocated the sound from his throat, and Fred was nowhere to be seen. (He'd thought it prudent to act like he'd been playing with Molly and Louis in order to avoid the punishment likely to befall James, the mastermind of plan "Steal the Christmas Fudge and blame Rose the Sweet-tooth".)
"JAMES SIRIUS POTTER! YOU UNHAND YOUR BROTHER THIS INSTANT!" Molly Weasley's dulcet tones shook the very foundations of the Burrow, and drew a sullen Rose to the window of Ginny's old bedroom, where she'd been sent after getting blamed for eating the fudge. Her face lit into a smile as she saw the remnants of Albus' "crime solving" getup strewn in the yard and a James about to be cooked alive for his antics. Her Hero!
And so it was that Private Albus Severus saved his partner from an unfair imprisonment, and landed two deserving crims in the jail-house (attic) for their dastardly plans to ruin Christmas. He and Rose even got to eat the stolen fudge, because the adults never asked where the goods had been put.
A/N Hello, dear readers. I hope you liked this initial chapter, and look forward to the next random spiel which I am liable to summon from the random depths of my mind. Any and all comments are welcome, so long as you keep the language of the comments in sync with the stories – this means conscientious bleeping of impolite words please.
Gosh, I sound like a stuffy prude, but hey! This is what's coming out of me 6 DAYS BEFORE HSC! I MUST BE CRAZY TO BE ON HERE! I do apologise, but I must now fly. Ciao and Arigatou! Auf Wiedersehen! Good Bye!