Desperate Measures
Part 2
~~~London, England~~~
31 September 2016
The Leaky Cauldron was filled to capacity with Ministry hit wizards, and for once they were not there on "official" business. The men present were celebrating, a celebration long over due in many of their opinions. The only person missing was the one that had organized the get together. Marcus Flint asked Tom if he knew what was keeping Draco. Tom shrugged his shoulders and simply informed the hit wizard that he had received an owl from young Malfoy requesting he close the Cauldron early for this little social gathering. Tom then went on to say that Draco paid him handsomely in advance for services rendered and that the festivities would commence precisely at 9:00 pm sharp. Marcus found this a little odd but thought nothing more of it when one of his compatriots handed him a goblet of fire whiskey. The man simply took the goblet, toasted his friends and former Quidditch teammates and downed the drink to the hoots and hollers of the men gathered. When he finished he slammed the goblet down and yelled for another. One of the men slid a large bottle down the counter to Marcus who caught the bottle in his left hand and began drinking it straight from the bottle to the continued cheers of his friends.
"Tom? Tom?" One of the former Slytherins called out as he began looking for the barkeep.
Everyone in the room looked around for the old barkeep but he was nowhere to be seen. Not to be kept waiting two of the men quickly hopped over the counter and began distributing liquor to their friends. Since anyone was capable of handing out bottles and pouring from the tap no one thought anymore of the man's disappearance.
About ten minutes later Tom was warmly greeted upon his reappearance. He had come from the back storeroom with a case of fire whiskey. Tom placed it on the counter then proceeded to walk past all the men gathered for the celebration towards one of the doors. He closed the door to leading to muggle London and sealed it shut both manually and magically.
"Good thinking Tom, don't want anyone coming in and spoiling our party now do we?" Marcus said in a drunken tone.
Tom chanted something briefly, and then turned to the man who'd spoken to him. Marcus Flint's eyes flew open in shock. The buzz he was feeling suddenly departed, unfortunately for him it didn't depart quickly enough.
"No Marcus. we don't want any interruptions at all."
**~~** **~~** **~~**
When Tom the bartender awoke he found himself lying on the floor, bound and gagged in the back of his own storeroom. Upon gaining complete coherence he tried to think about how he ended up in this very situation. The last thing he could vividly recall was entering the storeroom to get some more fire whiskey. He had grabbed a case and then he remembered feeling light headed then his eyes suddenly becoming heavy. Tom tried to roll but he was crammed between several large and heavy wooden barrels so it was impossible to move much. Suddenly Tom heard a low murmur. Tom thrashed about and mumbled into his gag. He was trying to make as much noise as possible to attract attention.
"Sir. I hear something." A voice called out.
"Break it down." Another voice called out.
The wooden door splintered as the door was kicked in with such a terrible force. Tom looked on to see an Auror enter, wand drawn and ready to curse anything and everything. Draco Malfoy was next to enter the room. The pair easily spotted the bound barkeep and the Auror proceeded to free Tom.
"Thank you. I don't know what has happened, I just awoke and found myself here." Tom informed the two men.
"Do you know what was going on here?" Draco asked.
"Of course sir, you were having some sort of celebration with your friends." Tom replied.
"What do you mean, I was having a celebration?" Draco inquired.
"I received a parchment from you several days ago asking me to close the Cauldron early so you and your mates could have a celebration." Tom stated.
"Would you be so kind as to get that parchment Tom?" The Auror requested.
"Of course sir."
"This is not good sir."
"That is an understatement Mr. Homes." Draco replied. The two men returned to the main part of the pub.
Tom soon followed with the parchment. He was checking the message to ensure he had not been mistaken in assuming it was from Draco Malfoy. As he looked up he suddenly felt lightheaded again, this time from what he saw, not from someone. The Leaky Cauldron was in shambles. The floor littered with bodies, blood and metal objects. The walls were damaged and drenched with blood; the tables were nothing more than oversized firewood. The smell coming from the pub was repugnant. It was a mixture of dead bodies, and some kind of sulfurous smoke.
The aurors on hand were picking up large amounts of little metal objects. Tom could not believe his eyes. The sheer devastation to his establishment, no to mention the loss of life. it made him sick. He reflexively felt himself gag, about to throw up his dinner. Covering his mouth, he fought back the urge to regurgitate. He then noticed on of the aurors lifting a shiny metal object.
"What are those?" Tom asked trying to keep his evening meal inside himself.
"They're called shell casings." One of the aurors informed the owner. He then placed the object in Tom's hand so that he could see what it was for himself. "Muggles use weapons called guns that fire bullets. These are the casings that surround the bullets."
"Wha. what would muggle weapons be doing in my pub. More importantly how did a muggle even enter the Leaky Cauldron?" Tom asked handing the man back the brass casing.
"I don't think it was a muggle Tom. Personally I believe it was a muggle- born wizard." Draco stated. Everyone knew how the Malfoy's despised muggle-born wizards. The thought them scum, second-class wizards and witches. Unfit to know magic.
"There's no proof of that Mr. Malfoy." Homes, the senior Auror on the scene informed the young hit-wizard.
"Proving things is your job Mr. Homes, mine is dealing with security risks to the ministry and the Minister of Magic himself." Draco surveyed the scene one last time then apparated out of the pub.
**~~** **~~** **~~**
"Mr. Malfoy the Minister of Magic will see you now." The minister's assistant informed Draco. The young man strolled into the office and closed the door behind him.
"Two entire hit teams are dead father." Draco reported to Lucius Malfoy.
"The cause of death?"
"Gun shot wounds at close range." Draco replied.
"Gun shots. Two entire teams of the ministries best hit-wizards taken out by muggle weapons?" Lucius asked to clarify what his son had reported.
"That is my and Auror Holmes' assessment of the scene father."
Lucius stood up and paced for a moment. "Do you realize how hard it was for us to no only avoid persecution but ascend to this kind of power Draco?"
Draco rolled his eyes when his father turned from him, "yes father."
"I didn't not bribe, blackmail and kill all those that stood in our way to get this post only to have some muggle or muggleborn be the reason behind me getting tossed out on my bum. I want you to find out who is responsible for this. We cannot cover up this many deaths. However if we catch the criminal responsible we may not only become heroes in the people's eyes. but finally have the means to legally ban mudbloods from our society."
"I will see to it personally that one way or another someone will be caught father."
"Unfortunately Draco that won't do this time. No. we need to actually catch the right person. If they turn out not to be a mudblood. then we can find a way to change that." Lucius stated.
"Yes father." Draco said and made for the door to Lucius' office.
"Oh and Draco." Lucius called out. "How is our house guest?"
Draco frowned at the man. "Our. you mean my house guest. She is creating a ruckus, as I knew she would. She has destroyed three whole rooms, wreaked furniture, torn good linen, broken windows and ruined fine china. We are forced to feed her liquids so she stays somewhat nurished. She can't have anything in her room and has been a holy terror."
"Well. what did you expect from the daughter of Harry and Ginny Potter Draco?"
Draco smirked at his response. "I expected her to die. just like they did."
Part 2
~~~London, England~~~
31 September 2016
The Leaky Cauldron was filled to capacity with Ministry hit wizards, and for once they were not there on "official" business. The men present were celebrating, a celebration long over due in many of their opinions. The only person missing was the one that had organized the get together. Marcus Flint asked Tom if he knew what was keeping Draco. Tom shrugged his shoulders and simply informed the hit wizard that he had received an owl from young Malfoy requesting he close the Cauldron early for this little social gathering. Tom then went on to say that Draco paid him handsomely in advance for services rendered and that the festivities would commence precisely at 9:00 pm sharp. Marcus found this a little odd but thought nothing more of it when one of his compatriots handed him a goblet of fire whiskey. The man simply took the goblet, toasted his friends and former Quidditch teammates and downed the drink to the hoots and hollers of the men gathered. When he finished he slammed the goblet down and yelled for another. One of the men slid a large bottle down the counter to Marcus who caught the bottle in his left hand and began drinking it straight from the bottle to the continued cheers of his friends.
"Tom? Tom?" One of the former Slytherins called out as he began looking for the barkeep.
Everyone in the room looked around for the old barkeep but he was nowhere to be seen. Not to be kept waiting two of the men quickly hopped over the counter and began distributing liquor to their friends. Since anyone was capable of handing out bottles and pouring from the tap no one thought anymore of the man's disappearance.
About ten minutes later Tom was warmly greeted upon his reappearance. He had come from the back storeroom with a case of fire whiskey. Tom placed it on the counter then proceeded to walk past all the men gathered for the celebration towards one of the doors. He closed the door to leading to muggle London and sealed it shut both manually and magically.
"Good thinking Tom, don't want anyone coming in and spoiling our party now do we?" Marcus said in a drunken tone.
Tom chanted something briefly, and then turned to the man who'd spoken to him. Marcus Flint's eyes flew open in shock. The buzz he was feeling suddenly departed, unfortunately for him it didn't depart quickly enough.
"No Marcus. we don't want any interruptions at all."
**~~** **~~** **~~**
When Tom the bartender awoke he found himself lying on the floor, bound and gagged in the back of his own storeroom. Upon gaining complete coherence he tried to think about how he ended up in this very situation. The last thing he could vividly recall was entering the storeroom to get some more fire whiskey. He had grabbed a case and then he remembered feeling light headed then his eyes suddenly becoming heavy. Tom tried to roll but he was crammed between several large and heavy wooden barrels so it was impossible to move much. Suddenly Tom heard a low murmur. Tom thrashed about and mumbled into his gag. He was trying to make as much noise as possible to attract attention.
"Sir. I hear something." A voice called out.
"Break it down." Another voice called out.
The wooden door splintered as the door was kicked in with such a terrible force. Tom looked on to see an Auror enter, wand drawn and ready to curse anything and everything. Draco Malfoy was next to enter the room. The pair easily spotted the bound barkeep and the Auror proceeded to free Tom.
"Thank you. I don't know what has happened, I just awoke and found myself here." Tom informed the two men.
"Do you know what was going on here?" Draco asked.
"Of course sir, you were having some sort of celebration with your friends." Tom replied.
"What do you mean, I was having a celebration?" Draco inquired.
"I received a parchment from you several days ago asking me to close the Cauldron early so you and your mates could have a celebration." Tom stated.
"Would you be so kind as to get that parchment Tom?" The Auror requested.
"Of course sir."
"This is not good sir."
"That is an understatement Mr. Homes." Draco replied. The two men returned to the main part of the pub.
Tom soon followed with the parchment. He was checking the message to ensure he had not been mistaken in assuming it was from Draco Malfoy. As he looked up he suddenly felt lightheaded again, this time from what he saw, not from someone. The Leaky Cauldron was in shambles. The floor littered with bodies, blood and metal objects. The walls were damaged and drenched with blood; the tables were nothing more than oversized firewood. The smell coming from the pub was repugnant. It was a mixture of dead bodies, and some kind of sulfurous smoke.
The aurors on hand were picking up large amounts of little metal objects. Tom could not believe his eyes. The sheer devastation to his establishment, no to mention the loss of life. it made him sick. He reflexively felt himself gag, about to throw up his dinner. Covering his mouth, he fought back the urge to regurgitate. He then noticed on of the aurors lifting a shiny metal object.
"What are those?" Tom asked trying to keep his evening meal inside himself.
"They're called shell casings." One of the aurors informed the owner. He then placed the object in Tom's hand so that he could see what it was for himself. "Muggles use weapons called guns that fire bullets. These are the casings that surround the bullets."
"Wha. what would muggle weapons be doing in my pub. More importantly how did a muggle even enter the Leaky Cauldron?" Tom asked handing the man back the brass casing.
"I don't think it was a muggle Tom. Personally I believe it was a muggle- born wizard." Draco stated. Everyone knew how the Malfoy's despised muggle-born wizards. The thought them scum, second-class wizards and witches. Unfit to know magic.
"There's no proof of that Mr. Malfoy." Homes, the senior Auror on the scene informed the young hit-wizard.
"Proving things is your job Mr. Homes, mine is dealing with security risks to the ministry and the Minister of Magic himself." Draco surveyed the scene one last time then apparated out of the pub.
**~~** **~~** **~~**
"Mr. Malfoy the Minister of Magic will see you now." The minister's assistant informed Draco. The young man strolled into the office and closed the door behind him.
"Two entire hit teams are dead father." Draco reported to Lucius Malfoy.
"The cause of death?"
"Gun shot wounds at close range." Draco replied.
"Gun shots. Two entire teams of the ministries best hit-wizards taken out by muggle weapons?" Lucius asked to clarify what his son had reported.
"That is my and Auror Holmes' assessment of the scene father."
Lucius stood up and paced for a moment. "Do you realize how hard it was for us to no only avoid persecution but ascend to this kind of power Draco?"
Draco rolled his eyes when his father turned from him, "yes father."
"I didn't not bribe, blackmail and kill all those that stood in our way to get this post only to have some muggle or muggleborn be the reason behind me getting tossed out on my bum. I want you to find out who is responsible for this. We cannot cover up this many deaths. However if we catch the criminal responsible we may not only become heroes in the people's eyes. but finally have the means to legally ban mudbloods from our society."
"I will see to it personally that one way or another someone will be caught father."
"Unfortunately Draco that won't do this time. No. we need to actually catch the right person. If they turn out not to be a mudblood. then we can find a way to change that." Lucius stated.
"Yes father." Draco said and made for the door to Lucius' office.
"Oh and Draco." Lucius called out. "How is our house guest?"
Draco frowned at the man. "Our. you mean my house guest. She is creating a ruckus, as I knew she would. She has destroyed three whole rooms, wreaked furniture, torn good linen, broken windows and ruined fine china. We are forced to feed her liquids so she stays somewhat nurished. She can't have anything in her room and has been a holy terror."
"Well. what did you expect from the daughter of Harry and Ginny Potter Draco?"
Draco smirked at his response. "I expected her to die. just like they did."