A week passed and he still hadn't seen the girl in the blush dress. Not in person at least. She was plastered all over the news now. Her bright smiling face, in her blush dress, a picture of beautiful perfection on the tv screen, while some news anchor rambled on about her mysterious disappearance, days after the 'Barn Ball'. She had been last seen leaving the ball with a strange looking gentlemen nobody recognized, just a nameless, faceless stranger.
His alarm went off, and he rolled to slam his fist down on the snooze button forcefully. He fumbled blindly for his pack of Wild Horse reds that he kept on the nightstand. He flipped open the top, pinched a thin white cylinder and pulled it out of the cardboard package. He placed it delicately between his lips and opened his eyes. He blinked a few times before fumbling for the t.v. remote. He clicked the small red button and the local news station blared back at him.
"Local librarian Hermione Granger has been missing for nine days. No one has seen or heard from her since Granger Falls' annual Barn Ball. Miss Granger, is the only daughter of Richard and Jean Granger and great great great granddaughter of Walpurgis Heathcoathe Granger, a wealthy Englishmen who came to America in its infancy and established our town back in the late 1800's. She is also heir to the Granger dental fortune. Before becoming the town librarian, Miss Granger graduated from…" the woman's monotone voice bellowed as he crawled out of bed, wrapping the sheet around his lower half.
He walked to his mini-fridge, and grabbed his lighter off the top of it. He clicked it, and lit his cigarette absently. He put his glasses on, and adjusted them before staring back at the tv. There were flashes of her mother's tear stained face and grief stricken expression as she pleaded with her daughter's captor to release her. They didn't care about money, they had plenty and would pay any price for her safe return… yada yada yada. He continued to watch as pictures flashed on the screen of her in her second home, the Granger Falls library, her senior picture, and a myriad of other pictures from the course of her twenty nine years.
He was startled from his focus by the loud instrumental ringtone from his cell phone. He walked over to it and hit the power button so that the screen would light up.
Staring back at him was a picture of his boss, Harry James Potter, the town sheriff and cop extraordinaire. He was an underachiever who had a small town claim to fame for saving their town from some distant relative of his as a teenager. He groaned and picked it up, sliding the green call icon across his screen to answer the call.
"What is it?" He asked, taking a long drag from the cigarette still between his lips. He reached for an ashtray and knocked the ashes off its end elegantly.
"Malfoy. I need you in the office. Today. No more of this nattering ninny attitude about you're too hungover. That is a bullshit excuse and we both know it. Get your lazy ass out of bed and get here. We need your help on the Granger case." He answered shortly, his temper evident in his voice.
Draco's eyes flickered back towards his bed where Mrs. Potter laid, face down in the pillows. He dragged off the cigarette again and nodded to himself.
"You got it Boss, let me just get around and I'll be there as soon as I can ok?" he responded sarcastically, his eyes roving down the slope of her back, covered by her fiery hair to the rounds of her ass cheeks.
"I'm giving you an hour Malfoy. Get. In. Here. If you're not here by then I'll consider it your resignation." Harry replied, anger still tainting his words.
"One hour, got it. See you soon." he answered, ending the call. He strode to the bed where he raised a hand and brought it down hard on Mrs. Potter's right ass cheek.
She jumped off the bed and rolled over. He bent down, and kissed her pouty lips delicately, as his hand trailed down the left side of her naked body lovingly.
"Time to get up my blazoned beauty." he whispered, kissing her cheek and moving outwards towards her ear. She stirred slightly.
"I don't want to go home Draco." she whispered, grasping blindly at the sheets for what she had enjoyed for hours the night before. He chuckled and pinned her hands above her head. He kissed her forehead, her nose and lastly her lips.
"I know Love. But I've got to go solve this case for your husband and you need to get home to the boys. They've been with your mom long enough." he answered. She yawned and rolled over again.
"I know. But I still don't want to. My kids, yes, but him… no. I don't want to go back to him."she whispered, looking out his bedroom window towards the town square.
"Trust me Love I don't want you going back to him either." He said, grabbing her cheek and kissing her gently. She reached underneath the sheets and stroked him.
"You awake enough for one more round?" she asked. He pushed up off the bed.
"I have to go down to the station. Go on. Get dressed." He said, pulling his pants up his legs. She crawled across the bed and watched him, letting her breasts spill from beneath the sheet. Draco let his eyes wander down to her peach colored nipples but he still put his pants on and fastened them.
"Draco, please, one more round?" she begged, reaching out to try and touch him.
He picked up a tank top shirt and pulled it over his head and tousled his platinum locks. Then he picked up a grey button down shirt and fingered the buttons gently. He slipped into his shoes and adjusted his glasses again.
"Ginny, your sons need you. Go home." He stated firmly, moving to walk towards the door. She clambered out of bed and stumbled after him.
"You're more faithful to my husband than you are to me. Whenever he calls, you go running. When I ask for just ten more minutes of your time you run away. I can't keep going on this way Draco." Ginny demanded, stamping her foot for good measure. Draco took in every inch before meeting her face.
"Ginny. I can't help that. I work for him. And I need my job. Astoria has Scorpius in the next town over and I have to have money to go visit and support my son. You have two boys too. If you would just divorce him we could be together and be happy." Draco replied, keeping his gaze trained on her face.
"Draco, You know i can't." she muttered dejectedly.
"You keep saying that but you never give an explanation. Why? Tell me why can't you leave him and be with me? You're so upset by our time apart but you won't make it easier." Draco spat back, anger building. Ginny broke eye contact and her gaze hit the floor.
"Draco, I…. I'm pregnant." she whispered, not meeting his gaze.
"Excuse me?" he asked. She began to cry.
"I'm pregnant by him and I can't leave." she whispered again.
"How are you so sure It's his?" Draco asked, his grey turning nearly black as rage inside him.
"Draco," She began, his name almost catching in her throat as she cried. Tears tracked down her face as she stared at the man she loved, while pregnant with her husband's child.
"Ginny tell me. How sure are you?" he asked, gritting his teeth against his anger.
"I'm positive. It could be no one else's, not even yours. I so wish it was though. I wish this was a Malfoy baby, but it's just not." She whimpered, watching his love for her turn to hatred in his eyes.
They had sworn off any other lovers when they'd started the affair two months ago. Draco grabbed the crystal ash tray and pitched it across the room, letting it crash against the far wall. It shattered and splintered into pieces.
"I thought you loved me." was all he said, walking to the door of his bedroom and opening it.
"I do. You have no idea how much Draco. I didn't do this to hurt you, I promise." she said, tears still falling.
"I want you gone by the time I get home." He replied, ignoring her declaration of love almost completely.
She nodded her understanding and winced as the door slammed shut signalling his departure. She crumpled into a ball on the floor and sobbed.
Draco made it to the police station twenty minutes later, his anger still ebbing as he walked past the front desk entirely. He walked straight into the main room of the station and he looked up. He ignored his partner and former sister in law, Detective Greengrass, as his eyes fell onto that unmistakable blush dress again. It was in the photos from the night of the Barn Ball, that littered the evidence board.
"Daph, are there any new leads?" Draco asked, not letting his eyes leave the picture. His partner shook her head, though the gesture was missed on her counterpart.
"No. Other than a general description. Male, approximately thirty to thirty five years old, brown hair, green eyes… nobody can recall anything else. He was like a ghost no one noticed. They were both gone in the snap of a finger." Daphne voiced, staring at the back of Draco's head. He stared at the picture still.
"I saw her that night, did you interview the chap in the argyle and plaid shirt? What's his… we went to school with him, all of us." Draco said, his fingers rubbing his chin. Daphne nodded, again.
"That's Neville Longbottom. We interviewed him at length the second day. He spoke briefly with Hermione at the Ball, bid her adieu and went home with his roommate…. uhm, oh what was the name…" Daphne answered, struggling to finish her thought.
"Pansy. Pansy Parkinson, the oil heiress. That's right she was my date but she ended up going home with Neville because I was hungover." Draco finished for her. Daphne nodded.
"You're always hungover." She replied. Draco smirked and shook his head.
"Are there any abandoned places he could be keeping Hermione captive?" Draco asked. Daphne gave him a skeptic look as he moved his eyes silently over the pictures of suspects.
"In a town this size? Plenty. Granger Falls wasn't tiny when we were in school but it's nearly quadrupled in size since. There's caverns all across the westside of town. The hill country to the east and north, and then of course the falls to the south. The falls that caused Walpurgis Granger to give the town its name." Daphne replied, watching her partner with a calculated eye.
"What about in town? Abandoned warehouses, abandoned barns or properties… anything?" He proposed, running his finger across the map pinned to the board.
"There's several abandoned farms towards the south. Uhm, the Selwyn Settlement, Riddle Stables, Macmillan Mills, Crabbe's Crossing, Goyle's, Malfoy Manor, uhmmmm… then there's the boss's family property, Potter's landing. And one last one, Nott's… hmm. It just says Nott's. What is going on in your head?" Daphne questioned, as her partner came towards her desk, leaving the picture.
"Nott? I recognize that name. It's been years but wasn't there a Nott in our graduating class?" Draco asked. Daphne nodded.
"He left for New York years ago. I checked local airfield activity and he hasn't been home. Do you remember anything suspicious from that night?" Daphne asked. Draco thought hard as he looked at the map.
"Have any of the people we questioned had red hair? Towards the end of the ball I went to get some of Mister McNassis' pie and she was with a red haired man." Draco remembered. Daphne pulled out a picture. It was of the redheaded man he had seen Hermione with.
"Ronald Weasley; ex boyfriend of our beloved librarian, all around good guy. He pays taxes, he works for the newspaper as a sports reporter. They had a amicable break up seven weeks ago, and he says he was trying to rekindle it the night of the ball." Daphne provided, watching as her partner stared at the picture.
"Trying?" Draco asked, looking into the bespectacled eyes of the only regular woman in his life.
"She told him the night of the ball she was seeing someone new. He said she described him as exotic, eccentric, intelligent, intellectual and intoxicating. Who do you know around here that fits that description?" Daphne presented, leaning back and folding her fingers across her stomach.
"Well, counting myself maybe five men." Draco smirked sarcastically. Daphne rolled her eyes.
"Did you kidnap her?" Daphne joked. Draco shook his head.
"No but I had my eyes on her that night. Let's see….Blaise Zabini, Ernie Macmillan, Dean Thomas, maybe Ronald's older brother Bill." Draco answered. Daphne nodded.
"I agree, slim pickings. So...out of those few men, how many fit the physical description we have of our suspect?" Daphne retorted.
"Well, they didn't specify skin color in the witness affidavit, but Blaise is an intelligent and eccentric and if you consider his lineage a tad exotic. Macmillan's smart but his hair is fair…. Thomas, I doubt it considering he's been shacking up with Finnegan for twelve years. They think they're keeping a secret. Pfft." Draco thought out loud. Daphne didn't flinch at the new information.
Draco was the son of one of the biggest mouths in all of Granger Falls. Whether he participated in the lifestyles of his class or not he had a pulse on the happenings of the small town thanks to her. Narcissa Malfoy was the cultured wife and daughter of nobility, and a shameless gossip if you should provide the correct libations.
"Mummy divulge that did she?" Daphne smiled teasing. Draco shook his head.
"Shut up." Draco replied, smiling. It was a running joke around the station that Draco was a spoiled, pretty Mummy's boy. He neither confirmed nor denied this notion, knowing it would drive the townsfolk mad.
At that precise moment, their boss came out of his office.
"Ah, Malfoy, I see you managed to tear yourself away from the firewhiskey and what I'm sure was a very pretty bedmate to come in and work, excellent. Any ideas?" Harry asked, waltzing towards the two blonde partners. Draco nodded.
"We have a few potential locations to scout, as well as a few potential suspects." Draco replied, looking at the husband of the woman he wanted to make his own with hate masked as due diligence.
"Well imagine that, Malfoy. You actually helped. I told you we needed you on this case. But we have already checked the caverns, And the foothills. There are no makeshift camps, no nothing. I do rather enjoy this idea of abandoned properties. Nice catch. Brilliant work Malfoy." Harry observed, looking over the map Daphne was holding.
"Did I hear the name Zabini?" he looked at Draco, who nodded.
"He fits the description the ex boyfriend gave us of the new boyfriend and he fits the physical description given by old lady McGonagall." Draco answered. Harry nodded.
"Very well, go on, get investigating. I expect to find Miss Granger before the end of the fourteenth day. I'll have George Weasley search VICAP for anything else on the surname Nott. Finnegan, do me a favor, look into Miss Granger's past and family history thanks." Harry said, waltzing from the main room back into his office.
Draco and Daphne pulled up to Blaise Zabini's jewelry store, and walked inside. It was an opulent establishment for such a budding metropolis. The displays were made of glass and green velvet, causing the gems to shine with a regality that made them seem alive.
Blaise stood behind a counter, patiently waiting for a customer.
"Blaise, can we talk?" Draco asked as he approached the counter. Blaise nodded.
"I always have time for a childhood friend. What's up Draco?" he asked. Draco nodded.
"Tell me about your relationship with Hermione Granger." Draco stared, his eyes leveling on the other man.
"The librarian? Oh hell you don't really think…" He started, eyeing Daphne who wandered the store.
"She was seeing someone new. She described him as intelligent, exotic, and eccentric. Now I know you Blaise, you're no simpleton, your heritage is more than enough to make you even mildly 'exotic', and your wardrobe is not the only eccentric thing about you. Pair that with our physical description, you look mighty guilty Mister Zabini." Draco answered. Blaise looked at Draco incredulously.
"Oh Salazar's shorts. Yes we were dating, Ok, but I didn't kidnap her. I'm not you Draco, I don't have to force women to like me. I loved her, I wouldn't kidnap her. She came to my bed willingly." Blaise confessed. Draco ignored the jesting stab and looked at Daphne.
"Then who did Blaise? Tell us about the last time you saw her." Daphne interjected. Blaise's face fell.
"It was at the Barn Ball, just like everyone else. We were having a great old time behind the barn, and we were just about to have a quickie when her ex discovered us. Her panties were around her ankles and my fingers were, well you get the idea. Anyway he had a huge fit about it and she kissed me goodbye before going after him to tell him off." His gaze stayed at the counter beneath his hands.
"Why were you hiding your love?" she asked, looking at their suspect.
"She was worried about her father's opinion. He is a purist and she was afraid he wouldn't accept her being with me." Blaise's face told a story of itself. Anguish, anger and worry intermingled across it.
"All right thanks for your time and information." he waved as they walked out.
As they got into their car the two detectives shared a look.
"Looks like we need to pay Mister Weasley a visit." Daphne's eyes held a very serious look.
"Definitely." he murmured as he slumped into the driver's seat.