Disclaimer: I own none of this Harry Potter stuff, anything you recognize from the books or the movies is not mine. I can only claim the spell, the club, and Tric (and her family).
AN: None of this is Betaed, I'm the only one who's edited it so sorry for any mistakes.
Chapter 11: Pity Card Playing
"That was… enlightening?"
"Weasley, we just learned that the guy we all thought was my best friend actually hates all things Malfoy and is glad they're all gone and all you can say is it was enlightening!" Blaise snapped out, losing his temper in the face of this seeming defeat.
"Blaise calm down. Let's just take time to think things through. We've still got to hear from Pansy and Harry. We can't give up yet. There may be an explanation for this," soothed Hermione.
"Yeah, and now we know for sure that these two are connected to Malfoy somehow and since they're Muggles they might have met him after he disappeared," pointed out Ron. "Despite Mark's hate for Malfoy we've still made progress towards finding him."
"But he said there were no more Malfoys besides Narcissia. He just about told us Draco's dead. Gone for good! And he had something to do with it, he knows what happened to Draco."
"Most murderers don't talk about their victim like that after the fact. If he had killed Malfoy he wouldn't just casually express open hatred towards Malfoy even in the relative safety of his own home. Unless he's as crazy as Bellatrix was his guilt would make him too paranoid." Ron explained, drawing on his recent Auror training 'criminal psychology' courses.
"It's my fault he's missing; I left him out there alone without any defense against the muggles. He was a pureblood for Merlin's sake. None of his friends were even Halfblood, he had no clue how to live like a muggle and I just let him walk out there with nothing but a duffle bag. No wonder we can't find him, he was probably robbed and killed the minute he left his hotel in New York. We-"
Hermione quietly rattled off a calming charm at Blaise to stop his frantic monologue. Once he had gotten his breath back he thanked her while looking quite sheepish.
"You can ask the goblins." Blaise and Hermione both turned to Ron with identical expressions of 'sadly-you've-just-lost-your-mind-and-I'm-trying-to-find-a-way-to-tell-you-nicely' covering their faces.
"Really, they have some special magic that can tell them exactly when and if anyone who's made a will through any Gringotts branch dies. It makes sure they don't hand out someone's money while they're still alive. The Auror department has some special top secret deal with them where they tell us whenever a witch or wizard dies unexpectedly so we can check for foul play. And sometimes we can use their records to check for an accurate time of death," he quickly explained when he saw their expressions. "I'm sure if you explain the case and your worries, and possibly pay them as well, they'll check his will for you."
"It can't be that easy. Besides why wouldn't anyone else have tried that earlier? We've been searching for him for years," Blaise skeptically replied.
"Well, the Ministry's still a bit incompetent, your private detective bloke probably doesn't have that kind of deal with the goblins and Harry, 'Mione, and I only really started looking for Malfoy after Harry dealt with Voldemort and the rest of the Death Eaters. Which was only a few months ago, so it's possible nobody's checked yet."
"Are they able to track the whereabouts of their customers as well?" Hermione asked. "Because you know that would probably be a violation of their privacy rights unless they gave prior consent."
"No, they don't track you, but we'll know for sure that he's still alive. Blaise here could stop worrying about what might have happened to Malfoy."
"Well alright then let's go," Hermione declared as she all but shoved the two wizards into the floo and called out "Diagon Alley" as she tossed a handful of glittery green powder into the flames. The three shortly stumbled out into the Leaky Cauldron practically on top of one another.
"Really, Granger, if you wanted me out of you flat all you had to do was ask," stated a sooty Blaise as he stood back up and held out a hand to Ron. She rolled her eyes, starting towards the back door while Ron finished dusting himself off. "I hope you realized how bossy she is before you proposed Weasley." Ron grinned at Blaise and nodded in response as they followed her out.
Although it took them a while, Ron and Hermione were war heroes and Harry Potter's best friends after all, they eventually made it to Gringotts. With a little persuasion, i.e. money, they arranged a meeting with one of the head goblins in records. Blaise started to explain his story to the stony faced official but as soon as he mentioned Draco Malfoy the goblin perked up and interrupted.
"Name?" he demanded.
"Er, Draco Malfoy is the name of the person we're looking for."
"No. Yours."
"My name?"
"Yes."
"Blaise Zabini."
"I'll check." Turning around he abruptly ended the short conversation as he left the three of them sitting in his office.
"Wow Zabini, all you needed was your name," declared Ron.
"I think it's quite unethical of them to hand out information on their clients to people based on who they are."
"Hermione! We came here prepared to pay him for the information. How is that any more ethical than this?"
"Well, just because we were going to do it doesn't mean it isn't unethical. At least this was for a good cause."
Their conversation was interrupted by the goblin's re-entrance into the office carrying a large stack of papers. He sat back down behind the desk and pushed the top piece of parchment across the table towards Blaise.
"This lists all those Mr. Malfoy requested be allowed access to his financial records upon the advent of his departure from the Wizarding World. I require a drop of your blood next to your name to verify the validity of your request." He cleared his throat audibly and took a deep breath before launching into a clearly prepared spiel.
"If you are Mr. Zabini your name will turn a golden color when your blood hits it. You may then pursue these records at your leisure as long as they remain in the bank and aren't duplicated. If you aren't Mr. Zabini the name will turn red and your real name will write itself on the page. Should this happen we reserve the right to both deny you access to these records and fine you an amount of up to fifty percent of the net value of all Mr. Malfoy's current holdings and finances. If you are under the influence of any mind altering and/or controlling spells or potions such as the Imperious curse your name will turn black. In such a case we reserve the right to deny you access. Once we hunt down the perpetrator we then reserve the right to fine them the above mentioned amount and withdraw restitution for attempted fraud of a goblin in blood payment up to and including the loss of a maximum of one limb, excluding their wand arm, in accordance with the goblin-wizard peace treaty of 1763, section 24, sub-section d, clause iii," the goblin rattled off. After pausing for breath he laid a small dagger on the parchment and gave them a rather sinister leer. "Do you still wish to attempt to access Mr. Malfoy's records?"
"How's that for ethical 'Mione? Paranoid much?" Ron muttered as Blaise nodded and pricked himself with the dagger. They watched as he carefully dripped his blood over his name on the list that also included Pansy, Harry, Snape, Ron, Hermione, and Narcissa with a note stating that the last three had to be accompanied by at least one of the first four to be allowed access unless all four were dead. Cleaning the dagger between each person the goblin passed it over to Ron and Hermione in turn. All their names turned golden for a few minutes and he allowed them to look through the files.
"Bloody Hell Malfoy is rich," blurted Ron after a few moments of scanning through the financial records. Hermione and Blaise burst into giggles and snickers respectively in response.
"He only lorded it over your head for around seven years," Blaise pointed out a bit sarcastically.
"Yeah, but, I didn't realize how rich he was."
"Mr. Malfoy is our second most wealthy patron," interjected the still observing goblin with more than just a hint of smug pride. "The Blacks and the Malfoys had always been two of the most wealthy families we serve. It was only the addition of the Potter fortune to the Black fortune that managed to push the Malfoy holdings into second."
"Wow."
"Alright boys, if you could stop gossiping about how much money your friends have, I've found Malfoy's will." Both boys quickly crowded around to read the document over her shoulders. Skipping down to the end of the lengthy document they all stared at the 'client status' section. The line read 'The current life status of the client Draco Malfoy is Non-Existent.' As Blaise went pale and sank back into his chair Hermione turned towards the goblin and practically demanded he explain exactly what 'non-existent' meant.
"Simply that Draco Malfoy is no longer in existence. If he had been alive it would have read alive, similarly if he was ill or close to dying it would have read declining or something along those lines," the goblin calmly explained without even batting an eyelash over the fact that his second most wealthy patron was no longer able to conduct business with the bank.
"How long have you known about this?" Hermione narrowed her eyes as she observed how unconcerned the goblin was.
"We have a system in place that alerts us immediately of any change in a client's status. Mr. Malfoy's status changed from 'alive' to 'non-existent' almost two years ago on the third of September."
"Why was no one alerted? What about carrying out his will?"
"We are, in the first paragraph of his will he specifically requests that there be a delayed notification period of ten years. As it has only been slightly less than two years we will not be announcing either the status change or holding a reading of the will for the next eight years. You will also be bound to secrecy on this matter unless the person you wish to share with is also included in Mr. Malfoy's will. They, in turn, will also be unable to discuss the matter with those not in his will." He haughtily directed her to the beginning of Draco's will where an in depth paragraph restated what he had just told them. Slightly placated Hermione proceeded to read the entire will in silence. Once she finished the three humans returned the files to their guardian goblin before quickly leaving the bank.
Before Blaise could wander, or more accurately stagger, off in his stunned, grief stricken state Hermione dragged both him and Ron back to her flat. Settling them down in her living room she made tea before rejoining the two wizards to start a conversation.
"This may not be the best time but I've found a relation between Tric and Draco Malfoy." Her statement seemed to cut through Blaise's daze and he focused on it as if it was a broom she had thrown to him as he fell from a quidditch stand.
"What? How did she know him?"
"It might be more accurate for us to ask how he knew her. After all, she and her sister are two of the main benefactors in his will. Tric's sister introduced herself to Harry that night Tric brought her to the Dragon's Den. She was a second year Ravenclaw when we were seventh years. Her name is Rose Hill, and she has an older non-magical sister named Patricia Hill. Both of them were in Draco's will."
"Why were they in his will? I don't even know how or when Draco would have really met either one of them. Especially the Muggle one. He only had one pen-pal and they sent their letters by owl, why would he have been writing to some second year Ravenclaw?"
"Well the reasons stated in the will were odd as well. Rose gets a pretty decent sized sum of money with the message that it's to thank her for introducing him to a true soul mate and that he wishes her luck with her dreams. He left Patricia even more money than Rose as well as a house in Paris with a note stating the house is so she'll never be homeless again and that since she's such a rebel if she ever needs a real campaign to fight for she can have his."
"That girl must be really good at playing the pity card," mused Ron.
"What? Why?"
"Well not only did she get Malfoy to leave her a house because she was homeless but she got Mark to take her in off the streets as well. I'd say she's really good at playing to her audience. Can you really see Malfoy just falling over to help some homeless Muggle girl he hears about or even bumps into."
"No, he always made you earn his respect before he was willing to even consider what he called 'making nice' to you. It was a way to make sure that your interaction would benefit him somehow before he wasted any effort."
"Did he ever do anything without calculating out all its benefits?" Hermione asked with a look that said she was both skeptical of and in awe of Draco's mind.
"I've never seen or heard of him ever doing anything that didn't benefit himself in some way. But sometimes his plots were so subtle you didn't really notice what was happening until after the fact. For example I think he had been subtly pushing Pansy and I together before, but when he left he only told the two of us ahead of time and it really pushed us together. Looking back he didn't need to include Pansy, he only needed one witness to see him leave the dorms. But he could tell that we both sort of liked each other, and that we'd make a good couple, so he helped us along."
"And how did that benefit him?"
"I like to think that he wanted his friends to be happy, but it could also have been his way of tying up loose ends and trying to ensure we were distracted while he made good on his escape."
"So if he was only being your friend because it helped him then maybe he wasn't really your friend."
"Ron!"
"It's alright, I've already considered that multiple times before. I've come to the conclusion that while he was using us for some things he also wanted friends and choose us."
"Well, getting back on topic what do we do about Tric now?"
"Simple 'Mione, we wait until Harry and Pansy come back before staking-out the suspect. First we wait for Harry's information and let them think we've left them alone. Then we'll strike."
"You might be getting a little too into this Ron."
AN: Okay, sorry this took so long but I've been a college dropout and thus homeless for a while and I just had to move back across the country to mooch off my parents and my computer was in storage. Funnily enough my best friend since like forever also dropped out and moved back in with her parents, but she wasn't actually homeless for any amount of time. I've been storing stuff all over with friends and bumming it since January.
BlackAsDay It really looks like it'll be your way or no way. Thanks for the review.
P.S. Please review in any way shape or form. This is my first fanfic ever and my first piece of fiction this long so I need all the advice and critic I can get.