Chapter II

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Lucifer. They belong to J.K. Rowling and Fox.

"So, Draco, where did you live before you were transferred to LA?" Chloe asked from the front seat, craning her head so she could see Draco who was sitting in the back as Lucifer had 'dibs-ed' shotgun.

Draco turned his gaze away from the window to look at Chloe. "I was in Denver for a couple years, but I was born in England."

"Did you ever live anywhere else?" Chloe asked.

"No, but I did go to a boarding school somewhere in Scotland for seven years," he answered.

Lucifer hummed. "So, then, Draco, why did you run?" He too turned around. He fixed Draco with a piercing stare and cocked his head.

"Excuse me?" Draco scoffed. A hint of his oh so familiar snear upon his lips.

Lucifer chuckled at his defensive reply weakly veiled with pride. "Oh please, look at you. You ran from something." He smiled aggressively and continued. "Daddy issues perhaps?"

Draco's expression hardened. "I left England because I wanted to independent from my family. I'm not running from anything."

Chloe quickly intervened before Lucifer could interrogate Draco any further. "Lucifer, cut it out." She turned into a gravel driveway. "This is his sister's home. She's his closest living relative."

The house was small and painted a soft sort of yellow, the yard was overrun with weeds and everywhere the paint was peeling off the house, revealing the rotted wood beneath. Instinctively Draco sneered at the unkempt nature of the house. However, he quickly caught himself and schooled his expression.

Chloe, Lucifer and Draco picked their way through the stray twigs and vines covering the lawn and Chloe knocked smartly on the door. "Mrs. Vernon?" She called through the door when there was no answer. "Mrs. Vernon are you home?"

There was a loud shriek from the hinges of the door as someone on the other side forced it open. Eventually the stubborn door had moved enough to reveal a young man peering out at the group from the space behind the door. He was moderately good looking with tanned skin and lean muscles. "Can I help you?" he asked the group.

"Detective, I think your Mrs. Vernon is a Mr." Lucifer observed.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Hi, we're from the LAPD. We're here to ask Mrs. Vernon a few questions." She took out her badge to prove what she said. "May we come in?" she asked politely.

The young man looked hesitant for a moment, but he moved aside and allowed Draco, Chloe and Lucifer to move past him. "Come this way. We were just having tea." He lead the trio through a dark narrow hallway and into a bright sunroom where there was a woman sitting in a chair, facing the entrance.

"Mrs. Vernon?" the man crouched at her chair. "These are some detectives here to ask you some questions. Ok?" He spoke to her in a slow gentle tone as if he was afraid of upsetting her.

"Yes, Tommy. It's fine." The woman responded quietly. "I'm Laura Vernon, but I guess you already know that." She laughed softly and sweetly. "Please take a seat." She gestured to the various seats around the room. "Would you all like some tea while we chat?"

"I'm Detective Draco Malfoy and I would love some tea. Thank you," Draco responded. He knew it would be bagged tea, but he was willing to try it anyway.

Lucifer raised his hand. "Lucifer Morningstar. I'll have some as well." The detective looked at him with confusion. "What? I like tea," he defended himself.

Chloe smiled at her partner and turned back to Laura. "I'm all set, thanks. Mrs. Vernon, I'm detective Chloe Decker."

"Please, call me Laura." Laura smiled, and beconded to Tommy. "Tommy darling, would you mind getting some tea for these young men?" Tommy nodded and left for the kitchen. Laura lowered her voice. "Tommy helps me out around here. He reads, cleans, cooks and in general takes care of little old me. You will not meet a more devoted young man." She gently grabbed Chloe's arm and turned to her. "Now what did you want to ask me about, nothing serious I hope."

Chloe took a deep breath and began. "Mrs. Vernon-"

"Laura" Mrs. Vernon interrupted.

Chloe gave a strained smile. "Laura" she corrected. "Have you had any contact with your brother recently?"

Laura made a confused face. "Not for the past twenty years or so. Why? Do you think he did something?"

"Laura, your brother was found dead today," Draco answered, not wanting to drag out the reveal as suspense only made things more painful in his experience.

Laura's quiet cheerful expression immediately morphed into one of shock and horror. "Dead?" her voice was soft and full of disbelief as if she did not quite trust her ears to tell her the truth. "What- I mean- -" her voice cracked as she spoke. She looked around at the detectives. Her face falling further as she saw that they were indeed speaking truly. "Oh, Henry! Oh my dear, dear brother." She began to sob quietly and rock back and forth clutching her arms. "But who? Who would have done this? Who would ever want to hurt dear, dear, Henry, sweet Henry. Who?" She trailed off as she began to sob once again.

Tommy, who had been standing with a tea tray in his arms, quickly put the tray down on a coffee table and ran to comfort Mrs. Vernon. Crouching down next to her, he put his arm around her, and began to quietly whisper calmly words in her ear. Turning to the detectives, he apologized, speaking so that Mrs. Vernon could not hear him. "You'll have to forgive Mrs. . She's very sensitive. She loves her brother very much even if they did not always get along." The detectives looked at one another in discomfort, but simply nodded in response to Tommy's apologies.

Chloe winced as she heard Laura's sobs. She hated telling people their loved ones were dead. She looked to her right and saw that even Lucifer was affected by the woman's cries, his eyebrows furrowing and the corners of his couth tilted down. However, it was Draco's reaction that surprised Chloe more. His eyes were downcast and his usually upright and confident posture had become slumped and curled as he subconsciously rubbed his left forearm. As Draco rubbed his sleeve, it pulled up briefly, and Chloe saw a flash of black and what looked like the head of a snake. However, she could not be sure because Draco immediately pulled his sleeve back down.

After a few more minutes of Laura sobbing and Tommy attempting to console her, Mrs. Vernon had gathered herself enough to be able to speak with the detectives once again. "I suppose you came here to ask me about my brother." She offered in a weak voice. She rubbed her eyes which were red from crying.

Chloe cleared her throat. "Uh, yeah. We were. Do you know of anyone who could have wanted to hurt your brother? Anyone who would have wanted to do him harm?" She spoke softly, but her voice was insistent.

Laura shook her head. "No, everyone liked him."

Tommy moved from Laura's side and busied himself with the tea. He put a dash of milk and a pinch of sugar in one cup, and then offered both the sugar and the milk to Lucifer and Draco. As the two brits fixed their respective cups of tea to their liking, Tommy gave the cup he had fixed to Mrs. Vernon.

Chloe sighed. She had hoped the sister would provide some insight into the case, but she was clearly too distraught to really be of any help. While Chloe understood the feeling of losing someone you love, a small part of her wished that Laura had been slightly less affected by her brother's death so that she may have been more of a help to the case. "Alright, well thank you, Laura for the tea and for tolerating our questions. If you think of anything about your brother that you think could help the case, here is my card." Chloe rose and shook Mrs. Vernon's hand. Then as Chloe was about to walk out of the room, she turned back to Tommy and Mrs. Vernon. "I'm very sorry for your loss, Laura, truly."

-—-—

"Well that was a monumental waste of time!" Draco exclaimed, frustration permeating his voice. Slamming his car door as they arrived at the precinct.

Chloe sighed. "I agree that Laura Vernon was not the most helpful, but at least we got some insight into Henry Vernon's personal life. But since his sister didn't seem to know anything useful for the case, we should go check out the preschool he worked at."

Lucifer's face lit up at the suggestion. "That's a brilliant idea, detective!" He beamed at her in excitement. "With the way the parents at these private institutions behave, surely one of them is the killer. They probably raised their child to be rebellious and then blamed our poor rotting corpse when the child disobeyed them and then killed the poor sop, chopping him up and everything."

Draco looked at Lucifer with confusion and Chloe pursed her lips. "Ok, Lucifer, please do not start making this case about you . . . again"

Lucifer looked at the detective, offended. "I would never. I'm just predicting the outcome of this case based on my vast knowledge of the human psyche." The Chloe raised her eyebrows at her partner, and he continued. "All that I am saying, detective, is that parents always make mistakes with their children and then pretend it is not their fault."

Chloe nodded sarcastically. "Yeah, ok, Lucifer. Just . . . get in the car. You can explain your totally unfounded theory more while we drive to the preschool that Henry Vernon worked at. Oh, and by the way, when I mess up Trixie, I will make sure to blame you and Maze."

"I'm sorry, who?" Draco interjected, no longer able to just stay silent and observe the clearly close relationship between the detective and Lucifer, which was strange because as he remembered, Pierce and Chloe were dating.

Chloe looked a little awkwardly at Draco. "Umm, sorry about that. Trixie is my daughter and Maze is my roommate who I met with Lucifer."

-—-—

AN: Wow! When I published the first chapter of this story, I prepared myself for the fact that not many people read crossover so this story would most likely not do that well, but I was pleasantly surprised. Thank you so much to everyone who favorited, followed, and gave Kudos. Thank you especially to Zerum (Guest), I (Guest), Guest , Pompsity, and BlushingRojas for reviewing and commenting. All of your support really means a lot to me. I'm sorry this chapter is so short, but I really wanted to just get it out. I promise the next one will be longer.