Chapter 4: The First Lead
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Hermione had requested a meeting with Blaise Zabini via owl the day after her talk with Draco. It was a little over a week later and she sat at her desk, preparing her questions when Chantel walked into her office, "Mr. Zabini is here for you, Ms. Granger."
"Great, you can send him in," she told her, moving a stack of papers from her desk onto the shelf behind her.
"Nice to see you again, Granger," Blaise drawled as he walked in, closing the door and taking a seat.
"Thanks for taking the time to meet with me today, Blaise," she returned to her seat, "Have you talked to Draco Malfoy since I contacted you?"
"I did, indeed," he said, "I stopped over to Malfoy Manor a couple of days ago to get an idea of what's been going on."
"Great, makes this easier," she smiled, she didn't know Blaise, but he had always come off as a decent person, a bit of a smooth talker, but not ill-intentioned, "So I wanted to try and build a character profile of Malfoy from someone who knows him personally and I'm hoping to corroborate his story of where he's been since the battle."
"Well you've got me here so I'll answer whatever I can," his tone became serious for a moment, "Just for the record, Draco's not the guy everyone makes him out to be. He's not even the guy I knew at Hogwarts that was kind of an arse. He's changed a lot in the last few years. He's been impacted by the war like everyone else was and I fully believe he's innocent."
"That'll be a good statement to have," she jotted down some notes.
"I'm guessing you'll leave out the 'He was kind of an arse part,'" Blaise grinned.
"I will certainly be leaving that out," she said without hesitation, looking back up from her parchment, "So I just have a few questions. First, if you could tell me a little about yourself for my notes, where do you currently reside?"
"I have an apartment in Surrey."
"And what is your current occupation."
"I run our family's store in Diagon Alley. We own Quality Quidditch Supplies. Probably a reason Draco wanted to be friends."
"How long have you known Mr. Malfoy?
"Since we met at Hogwarts when we were 11, so about 9 years."
"How often do you see Mr. Malfoy?"
"For a weekend every couple of months since he finished up at Durmstrang."
"And how would you describe Mr. Malfoy's demeanor these last couple of years compared to how you knew him at Hogwarts?"
Blaise sat back, thinking, "Wish I'd had these questions ahead of time," he joked before answering, "Draco's always been very outspoken, popular, proud. Proud of his upbringing, his status, all of that. He's a decently powerful wizard too, smart and hardworking, but he'd never tell you that. That was the Draco I knew at Hogwarts. We got on because I called him out when he was being a prat and he respected that. I was the only one who could really reel him back in when he got a big head. Maybe Pansy as well. The other goons, Crabbe and Goyle, they just fed into him, knew his family was powerful, stroked his ego, ya know."
"So you wouldn't describe him that way anymore, I'm guessing?" Hermione asked.
"No," the answer was firm, "Draco's retreated a bit from the world. Not sure if he sees many people besides myself and his parents. He never wanted the future that caught up to him. The Death Eaters and all that, he thought it was cool when it was a symbol of power, but once it came time for him to be a part of that life, it ripped him apart inside. 6th year he was tormented with a task from the Dark Lord and it changed him. He was committed to seeing it through because he saw no other options. He feared for his family. Then he took off with the Death Eaters after that year. He was scared. He'd never openly admit it, but I saw it in him.
"Draco's… subdued now," he nodded at the word as he said it, "I think that's the best way to describe it. He just wants to stay low and find a way to move forward with his life. I think he holds a lot of regret for not walking away sooner. But if we're being honest here, he'd probably be dead if he had. There was never going to be a 'right' choice for him. Now he just wants to find some calling in life that will marginally make a dent in how far down his family has come. That calling is certainly not going to be with the Death Eaters."
Hermione sat back, tapping her quill to parchment, "What if he thought bringing the Malfoy name back to the Death Eaters was a form of redemption at least of their status and pride?"
"I won't even entertain that," Blaise said, looking annoyed, "Draco was under the impression that you were on his side here, trying to help him prepare a defense."
"I'm simply playing devil's advocate," she said, "I want to believe Malfoy, but I have to look at the case from all angles. We have to look at it how others will. The Malfoy name was destroyed on both sides. If he doesn't feel society will accept him, people may wonder if he'll try to restore the Malfoy name to the Death Eaters."
"The only testimony that I can give you is that he's not the Draco Malfoy that he was at Hogwarts. There's not a bone in him that would go back to that life."
"Okay," Hermione conceded, not wanting to agitate him further, "Did he ever mention anyone else from the Death Eaters that we haven't already brought in?"
"I think most that I knew of were rounded up or exonerated," Blaise told her, "Him and Pansy Parkinson would talk about it sometimes since their fathers were involved, but her father was exonerated for walking away like Lucius was. He was never high in rank, just friends with the wrong people. He's actually a potions master. He makes potions for the apothecaries around London."
"Is Draco still close with the Parkinsons?" Hermione asked, jotting the name down.
"Pansy and Draco were always close; that girl loved him for years. I think he kind of pushed everyone away after the war, her included. But I ran into her once after Hogwarst in a coffee shop and she said when she heard Draco walked away from it, she distanced herself from her father, hoped Draco would at least always respect her for that. She had finished Hogwarts with me and I think she's working now somewhere in London.
"Goyle and Nott, Theodore Nott, they always seemed like toss-ups to me," Blaise furrowed his brows, "Not sure what they're up to these days but they were never directly involved in the Death Eaters, just their fathers were. They could be stupid enough to try and get involved, but I wouldn't call them ring-leader material. Might be good to talk to them though."
Hermione wrote down Gregory Goyle and Theodore Nott below Parkinson with a little note that they may have more names or be indirectly involved. She felt an odd sensation in her stomach knowing that Vincent Crabbe should also be on that list if he hadn't died in the Fiendfyre he set loose during the Battle of Hogwarts.
"So you've already confirmed that Malfoy attended Durmstrang to do his 7th year," she noted, getting back to her list.
"Yes. He had a friend there he told me about. The Karkaroff boy. Thought he'd feel more comfortable away from Hogwarts. I don't totally blame him."
Hermione wrote down Adrian Karkaroff, "Forgot about him" she said, "He's probably someone I should talk to as well."
"Seemed like a nice bloke," Blaise mentioned, "Think he just got an unlucky name."
Hermione nodded, "Okay, I think this is some good stuff to go on. This has been really helpful, Blaise, I appreciate you taking time to come down and talk with us," Hermione said, looking over everything one last time.
"Did I really have a choice?"
She looked up and saw a wry smile on his face and she chuckled, "I'll let you get back to your day, but I do appreciate it."
They both stood and walked to the door, Hermione holding it open for Blaise.
"Not a problem, Granger. Happy to help Draco out. He's a good guy just trying to start over."
They parted ways at the door and Hermione went back to write up some follow-up notes for herself. It felt like a productive meeting but didn't really give her any answers.
She wrote a quick inter-office memo for the Auror department, requesting files on Nott and Goyle to see if they were in the system. They seemed like a good place to start.
As Hermione finished up a summary document, her door creaked open and a head popped around.
"Afternoon, Detective Granger," she looked up from her work to see Harry's grin shining back at her.
"Harry!" She exclaimed, jumping up and pulling him into a hug.
"Saw your memo on Garrett's desk downstairs, figured you must be in so I wanted to stop by."
"Oh, yes, I've got some leads I'm looking into for this Death Eater case so I just wanted to see if you had anything down there on Nott and Goyle."
"Garrett's pulling the files together. There's not much, but maybe it'll help! We're still getting briefed on it downstairs."
"How's Ginny?" Hermione asked, she hadn't seen everyone in a couple of months since she'd been given this crazy case.
"Doing great," Harry beamed, "She tries out for a spot on Puddlemere United next month!"
"So exciting," Hermione smiled, "I'm sure she'll do great."
"Well I actually wanted to run into you anyway, Hagrid is coming for dinner Friday and I was hoping you'd join us! Ron will be there as well."
"Of course!" She said. Being around Ron was still difficult, but she couldn't pass up a visit with Hagrid.
"Great! Dinner is at 6, we'll see you then!"
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Friday arrived quickly that week, with busy work days making the time fly by. Hermione packed up her bag for the evening, turning off the lights to her office and heading for the door.
"Granger?" Alden's voice caught up to her.
"Yes, Mr. Northcott?" She stepped into his office.
"How's that Death Eater case coming?" He asked, "I haven't seen the Malfoy boy in here again yet."
"No, sir, I'm chasing down some other leads first. I have a couple files I'm bringing home to read over this weekend and I should have some more interviews next week. Would you like to be more involved?" She hoped he didn't feel like she was keeping him in the dark on the progress.
"No, sounds like you're on it," he waved a hand, "Could you just give me a brief summary early next week on who you're interviewing and where your leads are? I'll read it over and just see if I can provide any insight."
"Of course, Mr. Northcott! I'll drop it on your desk Monday morning."
"And Granger," he said as she started to leave, "I mean a brief summary."
She gave him an embarrassed smile, the last time he had asked for a brief summary, she had provided him what he had called a dissertation, "Yes, sir."
"Have a good weekend!" He called as she left the office.
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Hermione knocked on Harry's door that evening, excited, but nervous as always to see Ron.
"Hi, Hermione!" Ginny answered the door, "So happy you could make it," she ushered her in, "Everyone's in the dining room."
Hermione walked through to the dining room, she could hear Hagrid's story from the hallway.
"So I says to him, I say, 'where d'ya think yer goin' with that skrewt!' and wouldn't ya believe, it blasted right outta his arms! Couldn'ta planned 'er better myself."
Everyone was laughing as she walked in, and her heart lifted seeing all of their faces.
"Hermione!" Hagrid was the first to see her, standing up and bumping the table a little too hard in the process, "Get o'er here! Been too long!"
"Hi Hagrid," she flashed him a big smile, "So good to see you! Sorry I'm a little late, took me longer to finish up at work than I'd hoped!"
"Not a problem at all," Harry said, leaning back in his chair, full glass of butterbeer in one hand, wand twirling in the other, "We could listen to Hagrid's stories all night."
Ron walked in from the kitchen, setting his glass down and pulling Hermione in for a strong hug. She melted into him, squeezing tight, "Good to see you, Ron," she smiled up at him.
"Always good to see you, Hermione," he smiled back.
"Alright, alright it's dinner time!" Ginny said, levitating the food dishes from the kitchen to the table.
Everyone took their seats and started catching up on the last couple of months while they dug into the delicious dinner that Ginny had prepared.
As they finished up, Ron leaned back and stretched, "You learned a good thing or two from mum!" he said to Ginny.
"Cooking was hard to avoid when you were all out of the house," Ginny rolled her eyes, "I didn't enjoy it then, but it's much easier being able to use magic to do it."
"Well we're always happy to fill your seats!" Hermione praised her.
"So Hermione," Harry scooped up the last bite of his mince pie, "I just looked a little more into the case you've got on your hands, after that request for files you sent down."
"Well, it's still an ongoing investigation," Hermione said, looking sharply at Harry.
"Seems open and close," Ron commented, "That Death Eater gave a name to save his own skin, he's probably guilty."
"I don't think so at all," she shook her head, "I mean Harry testified at his trial. Harry, you must feel like it's not true as well."
"I'd like to believe I helped someone who deserved redemption," Harry nodded, "But why name him at all if it's not true? I don't think I have enough of the facts to weigh in yet."
Hermione looked at them incredulously, "Not that this is the place to discuss this, but I believe he's innocent. I think they have a lot of reason to name him. Namely, to protect whoever is still out there."
"Hard to imagine him much different than the git he was at Hogwarts. Doesn't make it hard to think it's true, not saying it is, just saying it makes sense," Ron said with a shrug.
"This really is invigorating," Ginny said dryly, "But a few of us have no idea what you're all on about."
"Sorry, Gin," Harry said, "Hermione's just got an interesting case on her hands."
"Well they got the righ' person on it then," Hagrid raised his glass to her before downing the remains.
"The last thing I'll say," she eyed the boys, "Is that I think there's still a lot of legwork to go before there's a clear answer."
They dropped it, Harry switching subjects to tell them about an exciting chase Ron had ended up in against an enchanted vacuum.
"He got it in the end though, had to jump onto it 20 feet in the air from his broom, but he got it back down to the ground safely."
"Dad would have loved to see that," Ginny laughed, "Are we sure he's not the one who enchanted it?"
Harry shook his head, "No, no, just some young wizard playing a prank on his muggle neighbor. Had to go in and do a quick memory charm, but that's about it!
The evening ended late after glasses of butterbeer were drained and stories of their adventures in the real world were shared.
"I really must be going," Hermione finally said as the clock ticked to midnight, "I've got to do some work tomorrow."
Ron groaned, "On a Saturday, Hermione?"
She sighed, "On a Saturday, Ronald."
They all said their goodbyes, promising to have another dinner sooner rather than later, and took off to their respective homes.
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