Chapter 5
Delton Dawlish quickly paced through the maze of hall ways. Mary, heels rapidly clicked on the stone floors and the knot in her hair bounced as she almost had to run in order to keep up with the man. They passed the floor of destination and it made Mary look slightly confused but she didn't comment on it. Instead she followed Delton down the rickety stairs into the Department of Mysteries.
Mary felt a little nauseous when the doors in the circular entry room began to spin but Delton who came down here often enough, just held out his wand and waited patiently for the right door to appear in front of him.
"Well, well well.." Sounded happily when they stepped into a poorly lit room which housed just one high desk with bar stools up front. The walls were decorated with obscure posters and paintings of magical beings trapped and bound in various devices. Mary took them in one by one in horrid fascination.
"Hector!" Delton responded, arms wide to give the man a hug.
"If that isn't my lil' ol' Dee!" The men shared a brief hug and Hector stepped back behind the desk. "Hows the wife, the daughter?"
"Ethel is fine, loves to be a full time mum but truthfully? I know she misses her job," He admitted as he sat on one of the stools, leaning his elbow on the desk to fold a hand under his chin. "Sweet Helen just turned six and is already becoming quite the Lady."
Delton pulled a picture out of his breast pocket and slid it over to Hector. It showed a strawberry blond girl, wearing a pink princess dress with frills and flowers. She looked up at the camera with huge brown eyes and gave a bright smile that rivalled her mothers. A wave and toothy laugh when she showed of her dress, twirling gracefully.
"Beautiful," Hector tapped the photo with a chubby finger. "Hows the sons?"
Mary had only been listening to the conversation with half an ear, intrigued by her surroundings until Hector mentioned sons. She was under the impression the head Auror only had one. She went to ask but Delton raised his hand, the universal sign to keep quiet. Staring for a moment at her boss, she felt somewhat stepped on her toes. Nobody liked to be silenced that way.
"John is doing great, loves Hogwarts." Delton flipped the photo around. A boy of thirteen, clad in Gryffindor robes winked and smoothed the tie around his neck.
"He looks just like you," Hector said instantly. "Up to the sharp features, the hair and brown eyes. You must be proud."
"That I am."
"And the other son?" Hector asked when Delton put the photo back into his pocket.
"Missing."
Mary saw the sad looks and her curiosity peaked again, maybe now he would let her ask but as soon as she voiced half of the question Delton held up his hand again, throwing a quick glare at her before his attention went back to Hector. She huffed, irritated. She worked so close with the man, yet, she figured, she didn't knew much about him and apparently, he wasn't willing to share either. At least not now. It did hurt a little, or maybe it was her jealousy at the familiarity that seemed to be between the two men in front of her. She turned away, showing her displeasure with a glare from herself and instead opted to look around the room once more. However, her eyes landed on Hector and the rest of the conversation was lost to her.
Mary studied the man, even boldly so tilting her head to the side. She refrained from scratching her chin, but only just.
Rich brown skin, curly black hair and, maybe a little puffy; bordering overweight but that was just how she liked her men. He had sounded friendly enough and sported a mischievous smile that reached his brown - almost black eyes. She had to stop herself from reaching out to map the tiny laugh wrinkles on his face. All in all, he may not be considered hot and steamy but he perfectly well fit her requirements in a man.
Evaluating her thoughts, she belatedly realised both men had stopped talking and were watching her instead. Hector smirked knowingly and winked at her when their eyes met. Mortified, she knew he knew and blushed heavily, chastising herself. Her mother had taught her better than to check out a man so obvious!
Delton shook his head, facing away to stifle a laugh. The woman usually was so well composed in her manners if not in her speech and to see her blush cherry red and twiddle her fingers was hilarious to him.
Mary stuttered intelligible when Hector too, had trouble not to laugh. She did not liked to be poked fun at. Her hands twitched, trying not to raise them up and cover her face but she wanted too. Never had she felt this embarrassed during work. Luckily for her or maybe not, Delton took pity, showing it in his own unique way. He clapped her on the shoulder and murmured in her ear not to worry. "He's interested too."
If possible, her blush grew brighter and she let out a silent groan. "Thanks Boss."
Delton smiled, squeezed her shoulder and cleared his throat. "Why don't you follow Hector, hmm? I'll see you in the entrance hall."
"Okay." Mary said unsure.
"I'll have to make a quick stop elsewhere," Delton told her and moved towards the exit. "Later Hector!"
"Friday at five," The man nodded. "I expect Meatloaf for dinner, Lil' Ol' Dee!"
"Yes, yes. Don't forget to invite your brother, Croaker!" And with that, Delton was gone.
Within half an hour Mary met up with Delton, she still had a slight blush on her face thanks to Hector and his cheesy goodbye.
"And?" He asked, looking at her, wiggling his eyebrows. She, with all her might avoided looking at Delton and wordlessly pushed a pair of silver cuffs in his hands.
"That was not what I meant," He said in turn, watching the room spin until the exit came to a slow stop in front of them. "Do you have a date?"
Mary groaned, this time she did hid her face in her hands.
"I'll take that as a yes." He grinned, nudging her for a reaction but she refused to react. Delton sighed and ruffled her hair, letting it at that and neither spoke while they made their way towards their meeting with Mr. Lestrange.
"Wait!" She almost cried out when Delton made his way past security with ease while she was being held back and checked over twice.
Delton's stern glare at the guard had Mary as good as instantly released. She murmured a thank you and Delton shrugged. "Let's get this over with, I've got more important things to do."
Mere minutes later, stood beside the iron gate of Mr. Lestrange's cell. Delton leaned against the wall, one foot hooked over the other and arms crossed. "You called for me?"
Inside the cell, in the corner sat the man poised on a crappy crate; his legs stretched - ankles hooked, with one shoulder leaning against a bar and the other against the wall. He looked, to Delton's surprise, quite good and healthy for someone who had been on the run for a good seven years. A thin build and pale skin seemed to match the man well with his black hair done in stylish spikes and the expensive, form fitted robes he wore were a slight surprise. He didn't had his attention on his surroundings, too busy with cleaning non existent dirt from under his nails. When he heard Delton's rough voice, he reacted by glancing up his dark grey eyes, seemingly uninterested until he realised they obeyed his want. A grin spread wide and he chuckled lightly. "That I did, how nice of you to join me."
Delton cocked an eyebrow and the man stood up, popping knees and cracking his shoulders. He stuck his hands through vertical opening in the bars. "Shackle me, Dear."
"Turn around."
Rodolphus Lestrange obediently did, this time with his hands behind his back he stuck them through the opening. Delton slipped the magic restraining cuffs he picked up at Hector's around the man's wrists and followed them with regular bindings. Delton then moved his keycard through the slot and the door creaked open.
"Who's she?" Rodolphus asked, pointing to Mary who stood a few steps away from the cell. He looked over his shoulder where Delton stood, having a tight grip on the shackles. "I'm not talking with her too - just you."
"Are you?" Mary said, looking displeased.
"Yes." The prisoner responded haughtily. Delton rolled his eyes, giving the man a small push to start walking. He didn't move though and Mary felt uneasy under his stare. It felt as if he was checking her out.
"Not interested." She said eventually.
He stretched out his arm and looked at his hand in a grande gesture. He then moved it up just below eye level, taking great interest in his nails again. For a moment he didn't move, then clucked his tongue and dropped his hand again. "Neither am I." Finally, he started walking, to Delton's relieve.
"Snob." Mary whispered when they passed her, earning a disapproving sound of her boss. Delton didn't appreciate immature behavior in any of his Aurors pointed at their charge. He was of opinion that if they felt the need to be, at least not in front of a captive.
"I prefer posh." He replied and stuck his nose in the air. Another push from Delton and the two made their way to the interrogation room. Delton forbade Mary to follow, punishment for her being out of line and she knew it. Without another word she hastily passed them and went the other way.
"Care to explain why you wished to speak only with me?" Delton asked once they were settled in the interrogation room. "It's not like it'll change the outcome. After your trial you'll be shipped of to Azkaban, no matter what you'll say."
"I know.." Rodolphus dragged out the words wistfully. He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head. He looked utterly relaxed. "I know."
"Then what?"
"There are certain.. Hmm." For a moment he kept silent as if trying to find words even though he wasn't. Just away to build up tension, Delton recognized. "Ah. Matters - Matters to discuss and you will find yourself quite interested in the information I have for you."
"Is that so?" Delton leaned forward. He entwined his fingers and put his elbows on the table, leaning his chin on his hands. "And you'll give it up.. Freely?"
"I have one condition. I want my brothers' case reevaluated."
"Rabastan Lestrange?"
"That'll be the one, yes." He drawled.
"It's a large request you're making, how do you know your," Dawlish made rabbit ears in the air. "Your information will merit such a drastic reward?"
"I know," Rodolphus mirrored Delton's stance. "It'll be," He grinned and whispered. "After all, I know about a certain bright green eyed kid with a pretty scar on it's forehead that's about, say, give or take, eight years old?"
Delton stared.
"Grace us with a privacy bubble, will ya?"
The head Auror stayed seated for a moment longer, mind whirling. Only to jump up, give an distrustful glance at the man across of him and retreated. Moments later he came back with his wand. A muttered indication and the silver shimmer fell around them. Another spell had the spy mirror covered with a cloth. Delton put his wand back in its holster on his arm and grabbed the recording quill; crushing it with his fist. "Speak."
"Right, where to start.." Rodolphus mused, leaning back in his previous position. "Where to start."
"At the beginning." Delton snapped.
"Right-O," Rodolphus gave a nod, studied his nails for a moment and then scratched the back of his head. "Iguess the end is the beginning.
"You see, the Dark Lord didn't kill the Potters," Rodolphus said smugly and sensed that the head Auror wanted to butt in, Rodolphus raised his hands to stop him. "I was there. He truly didn't kill the Potters. I'm aware it's common belief, as well as them all being dead including the son - which isn't true either. Their son survived and for the last.. What? Seven years? I think. Time gets blurry when you're on the run and in hiding.
"Either way, the child didn't die and before I could take the boy-"
"What?" Delton cut in. He was buzzing, did the man just told him what he thought he said?
"I just needed the child for one little thing, don't sweat-" Rodolphus sighed at Delton's murderous glare. "I swear I wasn't going to hurt it or anything and afterwards, I don't know, probably dump him at an orphanage or something.. Alas.." He pouted. "Before I had the chance a full force of Aurors came out of nowhere! I escaped just in time but you," this time it was Rodolphus turn to glare. "You did arrest my brother and put him away for thing he hasn't even done! The brat's innocent!"
Delton didn't gave any reaction to the outburst except to raise an eyebrow. He needed to hear more, know more. He was given a finger but he needed, wanted, demanded the hand and struggled to not fire of questions or get angry at the man in front of him for leaving him without details, for telling just half and babbling about his brother. Delton unconsciously gripped the side of his chair, crushing the wood and failed to notice his hand was to scrambles and bleeding.
"Fine, fine." Rodolphus said wide-eyed, fairly impressed by the man's show of strength. He took a deep breath, composed himself and continued. "Upon escaping from the Aurors laying chase around the house after the other Death Eaters were making escape, I skulked around the premise and saw that the child was taken by Dumbledore unseen. I'm just a little short of one hundred percent saying nobody saw, knew he took the child away and even if they did, memory charms are one of Dumbledore's best tricks. I followed them when they left though, Dumbledore dropped him off here, so, he's been at the ministry since. I kept track of the child's whereabout because, I still need that child, you know? Anyhow. Recently, he's been moved. I tried to follow but apparition is a bitch. I couldn't fully track it but right now, just like you, I'm well aware the minister is uncatchable and further only Dumbledore knows where the child went as the old coot took him from here. So. This morning, I located Dumbledore and threatened him a tiny bit but, ah, I miscalculated," Rodolphus looked positively devastated. "The man had a second wand and before I knew it, I found myself being dragged of to this place."
Delton gaped and Rodolphus nodded. "So, simple and short; the child is Harry Potter and I can even tell you why they imprisoned him and I can tell you what truly happened that night the Potters died." He sat up and leaned over the table again, coming a little too close for comfort and whispered daringly. "How about that deal?"
