Disclaimer: Not mine if you recognize it from somewhere else.

A Little Theft (in the Family)

Before they could reply to his impulsive offer, two men came into the room in a hurry.

"Any word...?"

The rising hope was dashed at once: "No, sir, but we have the preliminary forensic results."

They did not look like Aurors, their high quality suits and almost invisible wand holsters and gun holsters speaking of private security, and Harry inwardly pursed his lips, annoyed that the local law enforcement hadn't been called.

They motioned for the Conte to follow them and the women went with him.

Harry tagged along. No-one seemed to mind; or else they'd just forgotten him entirely.

The two men were relating details in a hurried but precise manner: "Ward records show two subsequent accesses to the safe. The first one forty-two minutes after midnight; it did not trigger any alert, as the blood check confirmed Miss Giorgia's authentication. The Rooks were taken from the safe for a total of 6.34 minutes, well below the ten-minutes limit. They were then replaced and the safe closed."

By this point they'd reached the Conte's study, a spacious room with bookshelves-covered walls and a big, imposing desk right in the middle. The furniture was in slight disarray and two more people in the same private security uniform were waving their wands about, still finishing up their checks.

One of them nodded to the two who were leading the family and took over briskly: "Fingertips analysis confirms Miss Giorgia's presence and integrating the information from the ward records, we are reasonably sure that she took the Rooks from the safe, but also put them back."

The Conte sighed in relief: "She's not completely lost, then."

"Sir, might I ask...?" the stiff security expert frowned at the assemblage of people in the room, disapproving.

"Lorena, go back..." ordered the Conte distractedly.

"What? No! I want to hear!"

"Cristina, take her-"

"No! I'm not some little doll you have to protect!" The young woman pushed herself forward, a forbidding scowl on her beautiful face. "Go on with your report!" she ordered to the frowning security guard.

Certami sighed despondently. His daughter had a stubborn tilt of her chin that he obviously recognized. He glanced at his wife and didn't even try there – a mere narrowing of her eyes told him clearly that she wouldn't budge.

Harry, who'd hung back on the doorstep, was ignored. So was Mrs. Degli Espositi, who was keeping carefully quiet and out of the way. It lowered his opinion of the security firm even more.

At least they were going about processing the scene properly; he'd done enough forensic prelims during training to follow what spells had been used and approve of their thoroughness.

He was intrigued to see they were mixing in muggle methods too. No one in England had ever thought of using fingertips dusting and collecting samples for later analysis; or at least, no one he knew.

The investigators were still reporting: "The safe was accessed again at thirteen past one a.m. The ward was once again bypassed, however there is no clear record of who crossed the ward – the trace seems to indicate Miss Giorgia once more, but it is fainter than it should be, had she been the one to offer her blood for authentication."

"We hypothesize that a sample of her blood was used, but that she was not in presence," interjected a very thin man in a clinical tone. "Most likely it's a variation of the Sanguiniar Potion. We shall know more once this has been analysed and identified."

He held up a vial containing a pinkish, viscous liquid which, Harry gathered, he'd scoped up from the surface of the safe – a way of fooling the wards he'd never heard of before, but that they seemed to consider fairly expected.

"How could she be so stupid as to give her blood away?" asked Lorena incredulously. "It wouldn't have worked if he'd taken it by force, would it?"

"No," confirmed the Conte with clenched teeth.

"Oh, Carlo, haven't we taught her the dangers of such foolishness?" bemoaned the Contessa.

"Why didn't the alarm start blaring, though?" demanded to know Lorena. "Shouldn't it have been triggered as soon as the Rooks were missing for longer than ten minutes?"

The security experts fidgeted, looking embarrassed. "It... did," one of them admitted sheepishly. "The thief used a Silencing Charm to render it useless."

"An oversight that will be dealt with at once," assured another hurriedly.

Lorena and Lady Certami were both staring incredulously.

"I'll find a better security service when this is over," the Conte said impatiently, brushing off the careless mistake. "Right now, Giorgia is the only thing that matters. We must find her," he said with force, his face a dark thunderstorm of emotions. "I will start the Liberinvenire Ritual at once."

He made to march off and found himself face to face with Harry.

"What are you doing here?" demanded the Conte once more, looking shocked and furious.

Harry met his eyes calmly: "I told you, I wish to help. She's just a kid... another wand can't be too much."

Lady Certami pressed her hand on her husband's arm; he quieted, but fumed silently.

"We're very grateful for your support, Mr. Potter, however I hope you will not be offended if I doubt you can be of much assistance in the search..." she said with graceful dignity.

Harry smiled slightly: "I did train as an Auror, madam. Speaking of which, I notice they haven't been notified?"

Lorena snorted: "What good would it do?"

"The police has enough to concern itself with. We have, of course, denounced her disappearance, and as she's a minor, it will be a priority, however when a priority is just one of a far too long list... I doubt they will have much success."

"Well, all the more reason to accept my help," insisted Harry stubbornly.

"No."

The Conte rebuffed him curtly and stalked away, like a menacing cloud of fury; his wife gave Harry an apologetic, but tight smile: "Please accept our thanks, Mr. Potter, and our well-wishes for your safe return to England."

And she swept away after her husband.

Lorena was ignoring him, pestering the investigators instead; Mrs. Degli Espositi simply regarded him with well-concealed, but nevertheless evident, impatience.

Obviously dismissed, Harry set his jaw firmly and walked away.

He was tempted, he really was, to leave them to their own devices. But there was a girl in danger and his saving-people-thing had never really gone away. He could excuse their shortness, in any case, they had to be under a lot of stress.

Plus, his own goal was with the girl, was it not? Either her or her paramour had taken the Rooks he was after.

And he had a lead, courtesy of the Vampire Lady.

Should he have insisted that they listen to him? But he had no proof, and he wasn't really a friend of the family: their distrust wasn't entirely unwarranted. No, better he track down the runaway on his own – and then he'd call her family.

Decided, he set off to figure out how to get to Milano.