I tried to leave then, to investigate. It was the only way to find Narcissa Malfoy. But then Draco Malfoy broke down in sobs and begged me not to leave him. He tugged on my heartstrings, showing me that vulnerable side of his that I hadn't seen since the bathroom.
I was still trying to convince him that I had to go, when a pair of Aurors showed up at the front door. I recognized them as Aurors Smith and Kelton.
"Oi, Potter's already investigating," Smith said to Kelton.
"Figures." Kelton snorted.
"What's going on? How were you alerted to the kidnapping?" I asked.
"What kidnapping? Has Draco Malfoy been kidnapped?" Kelton asked.
"No, Draco Malfoy alerted me to the kidnapping of Narcissa Malfoy," I answered.
"Narcissa Malfoy is at Headquarters. She alerted us that you interrupted a burglary in progress," Smith answered.
"My mother is safe! Oh thank Merlin!" Draco exclaimed and hugged me as he sobbed in relief. My heart melted a bit at the display of emotion.
I patted Draco's shoulder and asked, "How did she get away from the thief?"
"According to her story, the thief apparated away after sending her son down to deal with you. The moment she was alone, she apparated to us to fetch help. We didn't believe her story, because why would you be here at the exact moment the Malfoys are being robbed? Far-fetched, isn't it?" Smith asked.
"But we verified your location using the locator spell and you were here, so we had to come out," Kelton finished.
"Right, so let's get to work. I have a lead," I informed them, before launching into what I knew about Dennis Creevey and why I thought it was him.
But before we could investigate, I still had to deal with a very emotional Draco Malfoy, who I dropped off at headquarters, reuniting him with his mother. Then Kelton, Smith, and I went to Dennis Creevey's house.
Dennis Creevey was home, organizing all of Draco Malfoy's original paintings in his garage, like he had done nothing wrong; like he had a right to barge in the Malfoy home and take the paintings by wand-point.
"Dennis, what have you done?" I asked, Smith and Kelton flanking me and covering me with their wands.
"Putting my new paintings in a safe place. I don't want them to get damaged," Creevey answered.
"About those paintings: I need you to come into headquarters with me to discuss it," I said.
"Whatever for?" Creevey asked.
"You know what for. You can't just take Malfoy's originals and get away with it. We need to question you," I answered.
"Take them? Malfoy gave them to me, to repay me for the loss of my brother during the war," Creevey replied.
That made no sense. In the pile of stolen paintings, I could see the small one of the dead fetus Draco had named Kyara. There was absolutely no way Draco had given away his Kyara painting. He didn't even sell reprints of that one.
"That's not what he said," I retorted.
"Well he's a liar. Everyone knows that. He's a Death Eater and a liar. I thought you were sleeping with him, but when I confronted him, he didn't know what I was talking about. Then he started lying to me, trying to tell me that you are sleeping together after all. I'm not that stupid," he said.
I rolled my eyes. He wasn't that stupid to be fooled by Draco's acting, but he was stupid enough to return home with priceless stolen paintings and think he could get away with it?
"Narcissa Malfoy said you had her at wand-point," I stated.
"She's a liar too. They probably discussed it; worked out their story," Creevey retorted.
"Either way, you have to come in with me. Will you go willingly?" I asked.
"Am I being charge with a crime?" Creevey asked.
I looked to Smith and Kelton.
"We don't have enough evidence yet to charge him with anything. We just need his side of the story," Kelton said.
"It will just be the questioning for now," I added. We'd make the decision on what to charge him with after the interview.
"Alright, just let me lock up my new paintings," Creevey said, moving towards the painting he had been fiddling with when we arrived.
"Don't move! Hands up!" Smith yelled.
"You can't touch those, Dennis," I added.
"Why not? They're mine. It's like I said: Malfoy gave them to me in reparation for his crimes," Creevey said, freezing in place.
"Do you have a receipt or certificate of ownership, signed by Malfoy?" I asked.
"No. Why would I have a receipt, when he gave them to me?" Creevey asked in return.
"You know as well as I do that those paintings are worth a fortune. You can't just transfer ownership without reporting the transaction to the Ministry. Someone still has to pay the taxes," I fibbed. If I could get him to think we bought his story, he might be more willing to come in without a fight.
"Oh, taxes? Is that what this is about? I wasn't trying to cheat the Ministry out of the taxes; I just acquired these today. I'll pay the taxes, no problem," Creevey replied.
"Yes, the taxes need to be dealt with. We have to take custody of the paintings until the matter is settled," I confirmed.
"You won't give them back to Malfoy, will you? They're mine," Creevey said.
"I thought you said Malfoy gave them to you?" I asked.
"He did give them to me. But you said he told you that I stole them. He has no honor; probably trying to take them back, so that he can make more money off of you," Creevey answered. "Aren't you angry that he paints all of these portraits of you and then keeps all of the money for himself?"
"We can discuss this at the Ministry, Dennis. We have paperwork to file and I have to get back before my boss sends the hit wizards out after me," I replied.
"Don't damage my paintings and don't give them back to Malfoy. I'll take this matter to the courts if I have to," Creevey said, sounding like he was conceding to being taken in.
I moved in and secured Creevey and then transported him to the Ministry. Once there, I led him to an empty interrogation room and turned on the magical recorder to capture the interview.
"If I didn't know better, Harry, I would say you are treating me like a criminal. You know, I'm not the criminal here; Malfoy is," Creevey said.
"Is that why you arranged for Malfoy to give you war reparations?" I asked.
"Yes. He is responsible for Colin's death. He owed me," Creevey answered.
"Draco Malfoy didn't kill Colin, Dennis. Draco Malfoy didn't kill anyone. None of the Malfoys killed anyone that day. None of them were even there when he died," I said.
"It was still Lucius Malfoy that was in control of it all; number one Death Eater and second in charge of the whole lot of them, answerable only to Voldemort himself. Draco took over when his father went to Azkaban," Creevey said, sounding like he believed it.
More questioning followed, with more of the same nonsensical answers from Creevey. He stuck to his story that the Malfoys were responsible for Colin's death and would not be persuaded otherwise. He insisted that he'd gone to Malfoy Manor to discuss reparations and Draco Malfoy had agreed to his terms, handing over all of the paintings for payment. He tried to gain my sympathy by mentioning multiple times that it was unfair that the paintings were not at least partially mine; he even offered to split the paintings with me. He refused to admit he had stolen them and insisted on taking the matter of ownership to court, saying that the warlocks would believe him over the Malfoys.
I was left with no choice but to arrest Creevey. And since he wasn't making sense, I ordered a psyche evaluation.
Then I tracked down Smith and Kelton, who were filing paperwork, for an update.
"We sent in the spell geeks to check Malfoy Manor over. Trace magic shows that Creevey was there when Malfoy said he was and apparated away seconds before Narcissa Malfoy apparated to headquarters. The elf whisperer said the elves confirm the Malfoys' story and that they saw Creevey hold a wand to Narcissa Malfoy's throat. We have unaltered memories from Draco and Narcissa Malfoy showing Creevey breaking in, threatening them, and stealing the paintings. We're still waiting on the report on the wards, but already I think we have enough evidence to convict. Bloke is guilty as fuck," Smith said.
"Caught him red-handed too," Kelton added.
Later, the psyche evaluation revealed that Creevey was on a mind-altering potion called Slush, because it turned one's reasoning ability to slush. The part of his brain responsible for logic was dead, so in his mind, his actions made perfect sense. That didn't make him innocent, but it did give his solicitor something to play with at trial. He still insisted he wanted to take the case to trial, wanting to rely on the public's poor opinion of the Malfoys to justify his insanity. I vowed that I wouldn't let him get away with it: I was going to be at that trial, take the stand, and defend Draco.
Author's note: Did you like the twist, or was it anticlimactic? Going all out with an evil sadistic villain just didn't feel right. Next chapter Harry will finally get his chance to ask Draco to stop with the paintings…