Disclaimer: Look! Look! *points gleefully* It's the official document saying that I own them all! Look, it's right there! That pig with wings has it in his mouth!

Warnings: Still nothing much really. :)

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Smoke & Mirrors.

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Part Six. Love Of God

Draco was sitting cross-legged on his bed, sifting through some papers with his foot and leaning over slightly to put his cigarette out in the ashtray when the phone rang. He practically had to roll on to his back in order to reach the nightstand from where he was but he managed it.

"Hello?"

No voice, just a little background noise from what sounded like a television.

"Hello?" Draco tried again.

Nothing.

He took the phone away from his ear to check the caller id and then sighed softly. Placing it back to his ear, it wasn't a questioning tone that he used this time. "Hello."

Still no response.

Draco didn't care how pathetic he sounded, he just knew it had to be said. "Why are you doing this to me, Harry?"

A loud click and Draco listened to the soft beeps of the now dead line for a few seconds before returning the handset to the base. "Wish he'd make his bloody mind up. Talking to me, not talking to me, not talking to me but calls anyway. Honestly, that boy needs help."

Cujo, who was playing with her ball on the floor, didn't even look over to him when he spoke.

Draco returned to sorting through his papers, actually bothering to use his hands this time, but was interrupted only moments later by a loud thump on the wall. He closed his eyes and tried not to yell, but this was the sixth time in the last hour. "MORGAN! What the hell are you doing in there?"

"This fucking wardrobe won't open!"

"Did you unlock it?"

"Of course I bloody unlocked it! I've been trying to open it ever since I moved in."

Sick of yelling through the wall and deciding to give his paperwork a break anyway, Draco stood up and made his way to Morgan's door. "Just give it a whack, that usually works."

"What the hell do you think I've been doing?"

"Trying to knock down my wall?"

"Oh, sorry, but seriously, I've tried everything and it won't budge."

Draco crossed his arms and walked over to the offending piece of furniture. "Morgan's going to be staying here for awhile, so no more funny stuff." He smacked it on its side. "Or I'll go get the axe." He tested the door and it swung open obediently. "That usually works too."

"Thanks. I got sick of my clothes staying in my trunk." Morgan picked up said trunk and merely poured the clothes into the new acquired space.

Draco rolled his eyes and headed out. "I'm off to see Severus, few things to get some advice on. If I'm not back in time, do me a favour and feed the bottomless pit that's masquerading as a dog."

"Will do. Be careful."

"Aren't I always?" Draco smiled and headed towards the stairs.

"No!" Morgan called after him.

Smiling, Draco headed towards the fireplace and disarmed the ward that was placed there to stop anyone from Flooing in. He made sure to be quick as it wasn't really disabled, just shut down for a short period of time. When he reached the end of his journey, he gave a yelp when he bounced off the exit he was supposed to emerge from. Startled at this, he wasn't prepared for when he was dumped out at the next exit along.

Fortunately it was still a grate in Hogwarts, he'd landed in Professor McGonagall's old office. He brushed himself off, giving the room a quick glance. He could never be sure of the name of new Transfiguration teacher. He knew it was something like Simpson or Simmons but he could never grasp it. He found that rather strange considering he had attended some classes with the man only the year before, when a few years of his memory had gone missing.

He headed for the door but it opened before he reached it and the teacher in question walked in, wiping his hands on a wash cloth. The man was understandably surprised to find someone in his office.

"Mister Malfoy?"

"Good evening, professor. I'm very sorry about this but it appears Professor Snape has warded his fireplace. I bounced off and landed here."

"Oh, I see. Yes, well Severus has been acting rather strange lately. More so than usual, I mean."

"Really? In what way?"

The professor walked to stand behind his desk and removed his cloak, placing it over his chair. "Well, if you're asking for what I think, I think he's paranoid."

"Severus has always been paranoid about something."

"I'm not talking about how he locks everything and checks four times every night to make sure it's still locked. I'm talking about how he doesn't eat at meals anymore, stays in his rooms when he's not in class. Except of course when he disappears for hours on end at night."

"Disappears?"

"We had a staff meeting a few nights ago … not even Dumbledore knew where he might be, he just wasn't here."

Draco shrugged. "I'm sure he has his reasons for all of this. Well, sorry again for my intrusion. It was nice seeing you."

"Good night, Mister Malfoy."

Draco hummed a tuneless song as he strode down to the dungeons. He hadn't lied to Morgan, he did have a couple of things in which he wanted some advice but mostly he just wanted to get out of the house. He was getting really sick of being so cooped up. He didn't care if it was the safest place for him to be. He didn't care that The Boss had 'strongly suggested' he spend every possible moment at home. He didn't care if the Shadow World had been offered a disgusting amount of money to try to kill him.

What he did care about was getting bored. And sitting at home, getting left out of things was a perfect way of boring him. He hated being kept out of the loop and he hadn't missed the fact that his work load intake was growing smaller and smaller every week. Something he was definitely going to take up with the appropriate people.

And the recent death of his father had only made things worse. He wanted that case and he wanted it now. But he kept his mouth shut, knowing he would manage it so long as he didn't rush things. He had a fair idea of how to go about convincing The Boss that he was the best Auror for the job.

He arrived at Severus' door and knocked, fully intending the first words out of his mouth to be 'What the bloody hell did you do to your fireplace?' but the door did not open. He knocked again. He sighed, thinking it typical that Severus would choose tonight to go on one of his mysterious 'disappearances'.

He shifted his weight from foot to foot and waited.

**********

The woman scratched at her throat, desperate for air but receiving none, merely adding to her anguish by covering the delicate skin with tiny cuts that slowly expelled her blood. At least until the red liquid reversed its direction, seeming to be sucked back into her body.

It was only a few more twitches before her corpse fell to the floor. A cloud of blue smoke slid out from between the already cooling lips. Once it was safely secured in its container, the shadowy intruder walked to the desk, rummaging through the many papers that littered its surface. Finding what was sought the move to leave was made before something caught the killer's attention.

The second cloud of smoke exited the body and drifted towards its home. Disturbed, the intruder reopened the container and watched in silence as the two parts became one again, flexing and billowing slightly before settling down, allowing the lid to be shut.

The killer's hands shook forcefully as the box was closed again, nearly causing the container to slip to the floor. After a few deep breaths the intruder continued to the door.

**********

Draco sighed and gave up on his former teacher returning anytime soon. After checking his watch he saw that it was well past midnight and he berated himself for bothering to stand there as long as he did. A sentiment his feet, legs and back agreed on after only the first step that he took. He evaluated his options of how to get home from Hogwarts. He could either check to see if any of the teachers were still in the lounge and enquire if he could use their fireplace. He decided for his second option which was to go to Dumbledore, knowing full well that the headmaster would still be up and was probably even waiting for him.

When he rounded the appropriate corner and saw that the old wizard was indeed standing outside, clearly waiting for him, he sighed, wishing that Dumbledore would at least pretend to not know what was going on.

But Draco didn't consider himself lucky enough to slip two things past the cunning old man in only one lifetime. He had already managed it once, so he supposed that was his limit.

"Good morning, Draco."

"Don't old men need to sleep?"

"Bearing in mind that you have come here to ask a favour of me, one would think you might show a little manners."

Draco could see he hadn't really offended him though, so had no concerns in pressing his luck. "Would one? So what would two think?"

Dumbledore smiled, but hid it quickly. "Why don't you come up, we could have a little chat before you go." His tone implied that it was not a request.

"Oh goody." Draco muttered with little enthusiasm. He obligingly followed behind and accepted the offered chair politely.

"So how have you been faring?" It held an accusing tone, as if certain matters of late were to be blamed upon the blonde.

Draco matched it with his own. "I missed you at my father's funeral." He could tell from Dumbledore's eyes that he'd won that round and smiled pleasantly.

"Yes. I thought perhaps I shouldn't attend. Your father and I were never close."

"Except of course when you had your hands around each other's necks."

"That was only the one time, and I did not participate in that. I was only trying to get him to let go of me." Dumbledore lifted the teapot and inclined it towards his guest. "Tea?"

"No, thank you. You know I don't like your tea. It tastes terrible."

"It's only a little lemon juice."

"Dumbledore, as fun as this is considering I'm in pain and in need of some sleep, I'm sure you didn't bring me up here to force hot water mixed with plant extract down my throat."

"Peculiar description, where ever did you hear it?"

"From you."

"Ahh." Dumbledore removed his glasses and placed them on the desk. "Well, I did want to talk to you about Severus."

Draco was actually surprised at this. "Really? You don't want to rant and rave to me about how I clearly mistreated Harry and that I should be ashamed of what ever it was that I did? Or you don't want to see if about to collapse into insanity by the sudden, mysterious, unexplainable death of my father?"

"While those are both excellent topics and probably should be discussed, they are not the main concern of mine right now, no."

Draco gave a genuine smile. "Well, this should at least by a nice change. Did you know that The Boss has suggested I go into counseling for what happen to Lucius?"

"I had heard, yes."

"I mean honestly, I'm not about to fall apart, collapsing to the floor in tears and screaming for the pain to stop. If anyone needs counseling, that would be my mother. I'm really starting to worry about her. But, you were saying something about Severus."

"I'm concerned with all these nights he's been disappearing. Especially now with you father's death only last week. I fear he may have taken it harder than it appears."

Draco snorted, nearly dropping the biscuit he was helping himself to. "I don't think Severus is about to burst into tears either."

"Well, perhaps not. But they were good friends and worked very closely together. Even Severus must have his moments of softness."

"Not necessarily. And please don't say it like that, it makes it sound as if they were lovers. Which I know for a fact they weren't … thank the heavens."

"My point is, Severus doesn't have many friends. Losing one might not be good for his state of mind."

"Dumbledore, have you been slipping a little something extra into your tea or something? Losing a friend is never what anyone would consider good for the state of a mind, whether you have one or one hundred. I'm sure he's doing fine."

"I'm not so sure. After all the things he's seen over the years. Everything he's been through."

"Rubbish. I did much of the same so I would know. Severus will not be thrown into the pits of despair by all these goings on. If anything he'd probably out there trying to work out who did it for himself."

"Then how do you explain that he started before Lucius' death?"

"Well, it hasn't been completely confirmed to me, but I'm sure that there was something more … something happened before my father died, something connected."

"Even so, I was wondering if you could do me a small favour?"

Draco scowled, crossing his arms in a defensive manner. "I never like what you say after that."

Dumbledore continued on unabated. "I was wondering if you could drop by every now and then? More frequently than you have been."

Draco just at the headmaster in shock. "You want me to spy on him? On Severus?"

"Not exactly, just try to keep him company. Find out why he's so restless."

"I don't think I'd be comfortable with that. My days as a spy are well and truly over and I intend to do everything I can to ensure it stays that way."

"I told you, it's not spying. I don't care where he goes at night, or why. I just want to make sure that there's someone looking out for him."

Draco sat up as straight as possible and looked the older man in the eye. "Unlike some people, I have always looked out for him. If you really want someone to look out for him more than what I already can and do, I suggest you do it yourself." Draco stood, his body language clearly indicating that this conversation was over. "Or perhaps he doesn't have as much faith in you to keep him safe. Certainly not as much as he used to, I'm sure." He nodded his head in a goodbye gesture and walked to Dumbledore's fireplace.

"I'm only looking out for him, Draco. I know that even I have made some mistakes in the past, and  don't want to do it again." Dumbledore returned his glasses to his face. "At least think it over."

Draco threw the powder in, making sure to send the disarming spell before stepping into the fire.

Morgan was asleep in one of the chairs, waiting for Draco to come home. The blonde gave a small smile and gently shook him awake. "That can't be comfortable."

"Wanted to make sure you came back in one piece."

"Honestly, I only went to Hogwarts. Don't you trust me?"

"No."

"Clever boy." Draco helped him to his feet and pointed him in the direction of the stairs. "Well, I think we could both do with some sleep. I'm going to be dragging you out of bed very early so that we can go into Headquarters."

"What do you consider early?"

"About noon."

"You're a sick freak, Draco."

"Well, I try."

Morgan snickered and allowed himself to be pushed along until he reached his room. "Night."

Draco went to his own room and looked at all the paperwork that was strewn out across his bed. One good shove and it all hit the floor, where he decided it could stay until tomorrow. He pulled his shirt off and threw it to a nearby chair, not caring when it missed and joined some of his papers.

He slid into bed and was almost asleep instantly except for the phone ringing, startling him violently as it rang loudly in the otherwise quiet house. He fumbled with the phone for a second but managed it in the end. "Hello?"

Total silence. No breathing, no background noise, nothing.

"Hello?"

Again, silence.

Draco checked the caller id, but it didn't tell him anything useful. Just a number that he'd never seen before. "Who is this?"

The other person hung up and Draco gave the phone a wary look.

To Be Continued.         Don't forget to vote in the poll for who you think the killer is at: