Part II
"How're we getting back there, d'ya think?" Dean squinted at his companions, waiting for someone to respond. They were all heaped in the corner booth of the Barmy Badger. Dusk had brought another wave of customers into the pub. The Saturday night vibe was starting to take hold and the barkeeper kept flicking impatient glances over at their table. Their rounds were getting less and less frequent, and the staff kept asking whether there'd be anything else.
"Did you want to go already, Dean?" asked Neville, looking like he'd set down roots. He lounged comfortably against the seat, his deeply shadowed eyes betraying recent troubles even if his sturdy frame did not. They'd spent the better part of the afternoon avoiding discussion of his tattered love life, and he was happy to keep it that way.
"Already? We've been here all bloody day, mate." Dean got to his feet, swayed slightly, sat back down. "Anyway, I'm getting hungry, and I want more than salted nuts."
"Oi, Ron, check out that chick over there!" Seamus was leaning across Ron with a gape-mouthed stare, making no effort to keep his voice low. "Legs forever and a rack like-"
"Will there be anything else, gents?" An authoritative voice cut in and the figure of the barkeeper loomed large.
"Er, anything else, lads?" Neville glanced around. Ron's head was lolling back against the seat. Seamus had subsided into a hunched pose, his eyes half shut. Dean was starting to push the others out of the way so he could get out.
"I think we're on our way out," said Neville, following Dean's lead and shuffling from the table.
The barkeeper grunted and immediately waved a new group to take over the booth. He shepherded the old school friends out the door without ceremony.
"Yeah, cheers to you too, mate!" Seamus called at the shut door.
The four of them stood around outside for a moment, blinking in the clear, chilly air.
"How did we get here again?" Ron scratched his cheek and looked around. "Did we drive?"
"Are you daft? Of course we didn't drive. Though, if we had, I would've made Neville bring that flash new car of his." Dean had sobered up significantly now they were out in the brisk air. "We walked. Er, I think it was this way."
"That goes to the motorway. I think it's this way." Neville started off without a backward glance and only a slight lurch in his step. "And it's not my 'flash new car,' it's only on loan."
Impressed by Neville's confidence, and having given up thinking for themselves already, the others followed.
"You sure we can't just Apparate back to Pansy's?" Seamus was concentrating very hard on the road, trying to stay out of the ditches.
The other three looked at him with varying levels of raised brow.
"That's a recipe for splinching if ever I heard one," Ron chuckled.
"And not just any recipe, that's 'Splinching l'Orange,' that is," Neville said.
"Or a 'Splinch double soufflé' maybe?" offered Dean.
"Yeah, all right. I get it, yeah?" Seamus stumbled sideways as he scowled at his friends.
They trudged on as the air became more frosty, and darkness cloaked the countryside. Dean pulled out his wand and muttered, "Lumos." The small wash of light lit the road up to a few metres ahead.
"Could you make it any smaller, Dean? I think I can see the tips of my shoes," Seamus remarked dryly.
Muttering under his breath about ungrateful gits, Dean re-cast the spell, adding "maxima" for good measure. The circle of light around the group swelled, revealing the lightly wooded lands on either side of the road. It was as if an attentive spotlight was moving with them.
"Er, I don't mean to be a stick in the mud, but that's going to get us seen from here to the next county," said Neville, glancing at the false daylight in their vicinity.
"He's right, Dean. Can you imagine what we'd be in for if Hermione heard about this through the Improper Use of Magic Office?" Ron squinted. "I'd be on the couch for a very long time."
"Too little, too much. I'm starting to feel like I'm still going out with what's-her-name," Dean said, giving his wand a slow wave and toning the spell down slightly.
"Hang on!" Seamus shouted, pointing ahead of them and to the left. "Over there! Did you see that?"
He hurried ahead and the others jogged to keep up. Over his shoulder, he yelled, "Black VW. Ron, isn't that Justin's car?"
And so it was. They saw the back end of the car jutting out from the ditch. There was a neat arc of tyre rubber on the road, indicating a very sudden and violent turn. Skidding and frantic, they clambered over the side of the road to get to the front of the car. The VW's nose was crumpled and the windshield smashed. Holding his wand closer, Dean examined the driver's side. The door hung open crookedly.
"No-one's in the car," he called to the others, before spotting some darker smears around the dashboard. "But we need to find Justin, er, if it was Justin driving, that is. Someone's hurt."
"I've got to get back and let them know what we've found. You three fan out and try to track the driver down." Ron was suddenly very sober. Where was Justin going anyway, and was Ginny with him? What if it was Ginny driving? Why were they even heading out today?
Neville paused and looked at him carefully. "You sure you're right to pop back? I could-"
Ron shook his head, a panicky look on his face. "I'll be fine. I need to get back there and find out what's happened."
Barely a second later, Ron was gone.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
The moment he was back in the mansion, Ron dashed to find Hermione. Various groups were still returning from the lake, drowsy from a day of sunshine and indulgence. None of the people he approached had any idea where Hermione or Ginny were.
"Looking for another pint, Weasley?" Draco's face sported a gentle flush from an afternoon spent outdoors. He'd just entered the foyer.
"Have you seen Hermione or Ginny? It's urgent. We've just found Justin's car in a ditch."
Murmurs of concern from other classmates surrounded him, but Ron's focus was on Draco's sharp intake of breath.
"Follow me." Draco swept down a nearby corridor.
Ron hurried in his wake. "Is Ginny here?"
Draco nodded, not breaking his stride. He stopped at a door and knocked, opening it when Ginny called them to enter. Ron's relief at knowing his sister was safe twisted into fresh anxiety for Justin as he remembered the wreck of the car, the smears of blood on the dashboard. He shook his head to clear the clamouring thoughts.
The moment Draco crossed the threshold, Hermione Apparated beside Ginny's bed. "What are you doing in here, Draco? I knew you'd try something like this. It's just as well I warded the door-"
"Hermione!" Ron cut in. "Whatever else is going on here, it's got to wait." His gaze flicked between Draco's tense stillness and Hermione's bristling anger.
Pushing all his questions aside, Ron filled them in on what they'd found down the road from the pub.
Ginny paled even more. Hermione wanted to Apparate immediately to help with the search.
"You can't, Granger. You don't know exactly where you're going, and I don't know if we can trust Weasley in his condition." Draco sniffed in Ron's direction, and ducked out the door.
"Where are you going, Malfoy?" Ron called.
Draco returned for a moment. "The Rolls will be out the front in a few moments. I suggest we all head to the site. If Finch-Fletchley's hurt, we won't be Apparating back with him, will we?" He was gone again.
"Before we head out, and now Ferret's out of the way, what the blazes is going on with you two, Hermione?" demanded Ron.
"It's nothing, Ron. Draco's just been a bit too much, er, like he usually is," Ginny broke in, giving Hermione a cautious look.
Hermione held the other girl's gaze for a long moment before stashing her wand and starting to wave Ginny and Ron out of the room. "Let's get going and find Justin," Hermione said. "We'll sort this out after we know he's ok."
Still bewildered, Ron allowed himself to be ushered from the room and into Draco's sleek car. Once inside the Rolls, he tried his best not to enjoy the plush, spacious seats. Draco sat opposite him. Ron found his steady gaze perplexing as always. Tense silence prevailed, and Ginny peered anxiously out the window the whole way back to the accident site.
Once there, they found Seamus waiting beside the crashed car.
"Have you found him?" Ginny rushed straight over.
Seamus looked taken aback as the group that spilled out of the car. "Er, Ginny, hang back a sec, right?" He gently stopped her from climbing down into the ditch.
"Let me go, Seamus!" Ginny tried in vain to move on, starting to sob.
"Could one of you stay with her? We've found Justin. I don't know if she should-"
"Oh, no! What's happened to him? I said let me go!" Ginny's voice had climbed hysterically when she saw Seamus' closed expression. She was now sobbing in earnest, with big hiccuping breaths.
Draco stepped up behind Ginny and lightly tapped her with his wand. She slumped backwards into his arms, and he put her in the back of the car. The others were staring at him in shock when he returned.
"I didn't see any need for her to panic herself sick. We've got better things to do than deal with that." Draco looked at Seamus. "Are you going to lead the way, Finnigan, or stand there catching moths with that open mouth?"
After a short tramp past the ditch, they found Neville and Dean near a sprawled body. They both looked peaky. Hermione suppressed a cry as she saw how much blood covered Justin's clothes. He was unconscious and a jagged cut marred his forehead.
"We didn't move him. He is alive but we just weren't sure what the best-" Dean began.
Hermione pushed past him, as did Draco. They crouched beside Justin and started casting the same preliminary diagnostic spells. Partway through, they caught each other's eye and exchanged grim smiles. Hermione had never known the details of Draco's war-time activities. She knew it would've been in the field and probably dangerous, but the Ministry kept the details in closed archives. If there was ever a person who had to keep proving which side he was on, it was a defecting Malfoy. She would never have picked him as a field medic, however, given what she knew of his temperament from school. He seemed to be a very good one at that. She was used to seeing his face projecting disdain or casual arrogance. Right now, it was focused and vigilant. She watched the elegant, precise sweep of his fingers as he murmured spells to check for broken bones and internal bleeding.
She staunched the wound on Justin's forehead and continued examining his upper body for injuries.
"Broken left leg, two places. Femur," said Draco. He muttered 'Circum pedes' to create a temporary splint and deployed it with an efficient flick of his wand.
"Good chance he'll be concussed," Hermione said, moving a firm but careful hand across Justin's brow.
"We should get him back to the house and get a proper Healer in," Draco said, his pale hair falling forward as he transfigured a fallen branch into a stretcher. "He's going to need more than we know how to give."
"Can we do anything to help?" Dean asked tentatively.
Draco and Hermione looked up in unison, suddenly remembering they had an audience.
"Bring the stretcher," Draco said, moving to the car without a backward glance. The others followed in silence. With a few murmured words, Draco expanded the interior of the Rolls to accommodate both the stretcher and Ginny's prone form. He turned briefly to the rest of them. "Granger, could you get Pansy to call her Healer? He's meant to be the best around here."
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
It was late by the time Pansy managed to clear the corridors of knots of curious schoolmates. Her arch comments about Draco's concern for Justin were pitched for his ears only. The Healer had come and gone, settling Justin in one of the more spacious guest-rooms (which meant swapping with Neville, who'd managed to score one of the largest) and leaving a cache of potions for the next few days. Ginny maintained a vigil by his bedside.
The main sitting room was lit only by the fireplace, its flames dappling the faces about the room.
"You're welcome to stay as long as Justin's here." Pansy glanced at the small group, gesturing for tea and port to be served. Most of the cups remained untouched.
"Thanks, Pansy. Appreciate it." Ron was crouched by the grate.
"We'll be out of your hair in a few days," Hermione assured her. "The Healer said none of his injuries were serious."
Pansy nodded and bid them goodnight. They heard her heels echoing in the loud silence of the sleeping house.
"Is he conscious?" Neville asked. He was in a nearby armchair, Pansy's dog dozing on his lap.
"Not yet." Hermione sounded tired.
Ron stood and touched her shoulder. "I think I'll turn in."
"Would be good to know what happened out there," Neville said, after Ron had gone.
"Are Seamus and Dean leaving tomorrow?"
He nodded. "Both have work and, er, they weren't exactly close with Justin."
"And you?" Hermione asked, knowing full well that Neville had never been mates with Justin either.
Neville shrugged. The dimness of the room and the fact it was just him and Hermione made him drop his defences. "I've taken some time off work. After…well, you know."
She sat up and looked at him. Neville's eyes danced away from hers, preferring to focus on the flames in the grate. Yet his tone invited questions.
They talked for a while about what his plans were, where he would be living. Her voice was gentle, his initially cautious. Hermione had always had a soft spot for Neville, ever since school and certainly since they started working together in the Ministry. After losing his parents to madness so long ago, it was anticlimactic when they actually died. They'd been caught in the crossfire of a hospital raid when Death Eaters tried to snatch Harry from the locked ward where he was recuperating from a bloody ambush. Neville was out in the field and didn't arrive in time to attend their hastily organised funerals. His grandmother told him about the service at length. She kept repeating that at least they'd gone at the same time.
"Jane and I were only together for two and half years," said Neville, "but, after Recent Events, even a few months of stability was a bonus for me."
Hermione asked what she'd been wondering for weeks now. "So, what happened, Neville?"
After a deep sigh, he sat forward and told her everything. Later, they sat in companionable silence. Hermione had her hand over his. She could tell that he felt better now that he'd told someone about it.
"Glad somebody's still up." A voice made them both start.
"Harry!" Hermione rushed to hug him. Neville pulled another chair closer and waved Harry into it.
Harry still wore his travel cloak. The work satchel he carried bulged with files and his clothes smelt of the outdoors and stale smoke. He shrugged off his gear and spoke softly to an elf who had followed him in.
"Haven't even eaten tea yet," he said by way of explanation as a heavily laden tray appeared on a side-table. Harry dropped into the chair near Neville and applied himself to the steaming dishes.
"So, how's it been going here?" He talked through a mouthful of stew. "I'm counting on you to unearth the juiciest goss, Hermione."
Hermione and Neville exchange glances, neither saying a word.
"What? Has Malfoy misbehaved already?" Harry asked, eyebrows raised.
" . . . have to tell you about it later." As if summoned, Draco walked into the sitting room, mid-conversation with someone behind him. He swept to a halt when he saw the threesome in front of the fireplace. "Ah, the Musketeers."
The flickering light caught Draco's expression as he registered Harry's presence. "Potter. You made it."
"Sorry to disappoint, Malfoy." Harry laughed and stood to face him.
"But you can't tell a story like that and-" Harvey came striding into the room close behind Draco, stopping abruptly when he saw the others.
Harry's eyes widened momentarily. "Harvey."
"Harry." A welcoming smile accompanied Harvey's brief nod.
Draco's gaze flicked between the two, a small frown furrowing his brow. "You know each other?"
Harry nodded, offering nothing else.
"How've you been, Harry? It's been a while since," Harvey paused, "I saw you."
"You know how it is, Harvey." Harry looked slightly pained. "Busy, as usual. Too many projects, not enough time. Speaking of which-" He pulled a thick wad of parchment and a quill from his satchel, holding them towards Draco. "The reason why I'm here at all."
"I'm not signing something I haven't read, Potter."
"You brokered the arrangement, Malfoy. It's the standard paperwork for a memorandum of understanding with international schools."
"So you say." Draco took the scroll and settled at a desk nearby, flicking his wand to shed more light on its densely scripted surface.
Harry sighed as Draco began poring over the documents.
"You don't have to read it all tonight, Malfoy. I'll be here till tomorrow afternoon."
"They've told you about Finch-Fletchley I take it?" Draco murmured, still reading.
Harry looked at Hermione and Neville.
"We were just about to tell him when you came in," Hermione said, somewhat defensively. "Harry, Justin's been in an accident." She and Neville proceeded to tell him the whole story. Well, all the story that could be told with Draco and Harvey nearby.
"Pansy told me that a police officer will be around once Justin's regained consciousness. To get a statement," Neville continued. "Apparently, someone saw Draco's car leaving the scene of the accident. I'm assuming they didn't also see us Apparating back here or we'd have a lot more attention than this."
"Now, tell me again why Justin was driving away while Ginny was still here?" Harry spoke carefully.
Hermione hesitated. Draco's gaze was on her.
"They had a fight. A fairly big one." She left it at that.
"Really?" Harry's voice was light with surprise. "They were inseparable, weren't they?"
Harvey cleared his throat. Several sets of eyes swung towards him.
"It wasn't the fight with Ginny that caused Justin to leave, Harry." He looked steadily at Draco. "We might have had something to do with it."
"'We'?" Harry asked.
"We." Draco murmured. "Harvey and I."
"Harvey and you?"
"Yes." Draco's voice was sharply edged. "What of it, Potter?"
"It's late. I think this can wait till tomorrow," Hermione interrupted, standing and starting to gather Harry's things. She stopped after a moment, disconcerted. "Except I don't know where you'll be sleeping, which of the rooms are free."
Draco rolled up the parchment and had a short, whispered conversation with Harvey, who nodded and wished everyone good night.
"Pansy left instructions with me." Draco stood and waited by the doorway, exuding impatience. "Whenever you're ready, Potter."
Promising Neville and Hermione that they'd catch up over breakfast, Harry followed Draco down one of the darkened corridors. They finally stopped at a corner room. Draco opened the door and gestured, standing back to let Harry pass.
Harry paused as he drew level. "I wasn't having a go at you back there, Malfoy."
"What would you call it, then?" Draco asked, watching Harry blush.
"It's just that Harvey and I, well, it was a while back and I hadn't, er, didn't know that you and he-" Harry stopped.
"Well, that explains everything," Draco said, leaning against the doorjamb.
"You never make things easy for me, do you?" Harry sighed.
"Not my job, Potter, and nor should it be anyone else's."
"Yeah, well, doesn't mean things have to be quite as difficult as you seem to make them," Harry retorted. "Especially at work. Don't think I haven't noticed who keeps sending my reports back for revision and yet another sign-off."
Harry had been wooed with all kinds of positions after Recent Events. They were an embarrassment of high-profile opportunities, ones that he turned down after barely cracking the seals on the parchments of offer. Instead, he sought out a lower-level job that allowed him to live without touching his inheritance, away from the spotlight, and involved heaps of travel. Hence sporting the title "Project research officer - Education" on his door at the Department of International Magic Cooperation. Ron and Hermione complained that they hardly ever saw him. He could never tell them it was a purposeful absence, one which allowed him to escape their daunting domesticity. What he hadn't counted on, though, was Malfoy's appointment as a Senior Advisor a few months ago. Everyone was abuzz about why Draco would still work, considering the fortune he was making on the Muggle stock market (from means not entirely above-board, so the story went).
Harry dropped his things near the bed and sank down on the covers to pull off his shoes. Noticing that Draco wasn't leaving, Harry shrugged and kept talking.
"What did Harvey mean when he said you might've had something to do with Justin leaving?" He kept his voice neutral.
"Finch-Fletchley took exception to my liaison with Harvey." Draco's lips thinned. "Much like yourself, except with even more righteousness."
Harry grinned, refusing to rise to the bait. "I'm not sure if it's to do with righteousness in that way, Malfoy. I've never found Justin hostile to my habits. Perhaps he took exception to, er, Harvey's preference?"
"Meaning me, of course?"
"Let's just say your reputation wouldn't get you invited to a Finch-Fletchley Christmas. But you already know that." Harry suppressed a yawn and pushed his errant hair out of his eyes. "Much as I always enjoy our conversations, Malfoy, I'm going to crash for the night."
When he looked up, he realised Draco was gone.
"Odd little ferret," Harry muttered as he shut the door, pushing images of Harvey and Draco from his mind.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Mr Finch-Fletchley?" The earnest young bobby had his notebook at the ready. "Name's Constable Thurbot, sir. Yes, sir, like the fish."
Ginny, Hermione, Pansy, and Harry were ranged around the room. Justin was conscious and slowly spooning porridge into his mouth. His speech and coordination were sub-par but most of that was due to the Ache-be-gone potions the Healer had prescribed. Pansy had decided that it might be the best time to get Muggle formalities out of the way.
The police officer had arrived within a few minutes of Pansy's call to the station. Draco had shown Thurbot into the room and excused himself after Justin's groggy declaration ("What's he doing in here?") freshened everyone's memory about the debacle at breakfast the previous day.
"I'm here to get a statement from you, Mr Finch-Fletchley. It's ok, sir, you can keep eating," the officer said. "Now, what can you tell me about the recent events?"
Justin's eyes widened in consternation.
"Yesterday's accident, love," Ginny intercepted quickly. "What caused the car accident?"
"Oh, the accident." Justin frowned as he thought about it. When he spoke, he sounded slightly dazed. "Well, I wasn't travelling that fast. My wand angle-"
"Your what, sir?" Thurbot looked up from scribbling in his notebook.
"The accelerator pedal," Hermione quickly said.
The questioning continued in stops and starts, with Justin's answers causing Thurbot confusion and increasing suspicion. Apparently, he'd swerved to avoid someone who suddenly appeared in a flash of light. Someone who had pointed a wand - "A hand," Ginny clarified for Thurbot - at him and wore black robes. Pansy excused herself and came back into the room moments later with Neville.
"The doctor's advised that he needs to check Justin's dosages," Pansy stated, nudging Neville towards the bed and immediately ushering Thurbot to the nearest sitting room. She played the role of the perfect hostess and left him there with a loaded tray of scones and tea.
Back in Justin's room, she shut the door and cast a locking ward before turning to the others. "We've got to do something about this. I can't have the local police nosing around my estate and the way things are going, this is turning into more than just a statement. The cause of Justin's accident is sounding like our territory, not Thurbot's. I was hoping it was something straightforward and we'd be done by now."
"You're saying we need to get rid of Thurbot?" asked Ginny. "But how?"
"Justin tells him exactly what's required for a statement about swerving to avoid a hedgehog on the road."
"But wasn't a hedgehog," Justin slurred, his eyes half closing. "Was a person. Wand pointed."
"What about the flash of light and robe stuff that he's already said?" Harry said, gesturing at Justin, who was now lightly dozing. "It'll be sounding pretty serious to Thurbot."
"No doubt," Pansy said. "But it's not something the Muggles need to know about."
"Pansy's right," Hermione said, sounding reluctant to agree with her. "It sounds more serious than we first thought, and it's definitely not something that we need Muggles involved in."
"But how?" Ginny asked again.
At that moment, a sharp knock sounded. Pansy looked as if she'd expected the interruption as she unwarded the door.
"The house-elf told me you wanted to see me," Draco said, stepping into the room.
"We need you to get Justin through this statement with Thurbot." Pansy filled him in on the situation and briefed him on the story that Justin should give.
"You can't be planning what it sounds like you're planning!" Ginny said.
"It's not that big a thing, and we need to do it now!" Pansy glowered at Ginny.
"That's the first time I've heard anyone describe Imperio as 'not that big a thing'," Ginny hissed.
"Can't we just Obliviate Thurbot's time here?" asked Neville.
"Then someone else will be sent for the statement if Thurbot returns without one." Pansy sounded exasperated. "Could we get on with it?"
"Can't someone else do it, at least?" Ginny said pointedly.
"I hate to say it, Ginny, but Malfoy's probably the best at it out of all of us," Harry said.
"Praise from Potter. Hell will freeze over next," Draco muttered, an eyebrow raised. "Though I'd be interested in knowing whether you're making that assumption based on my pedigree, or actual facts. Now, are we doing this, or can I get back to more amusing pursuits?"
"Please, just cast it!" Pansy said as she left to fetch Thurbot.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Sounds confusing to me." Harry shook his head and looked over the notes that Hermione had taken after Thurbot left. "You think someone was deliberately trying to hurt Justin?"
Hermione, Harry, and Draco were sitting in the library. After seeing Thurbot off with the confirmed hedgehog story ("Ignore Justin's earlier comments, Constable, he's very dosed up right now."), Pansy had swivelled on her heel and immediately arranged to take the masses out for another full-day activity. "Could you see what you can find out about Justin's accident?" she'd whispered to Draco before she left. "It sounds a bit too much like a professional was involved."
Draco watched Hermione and Harry as they discussed Justin's real story, one they finally elicited from him after the Imperius curse was lifted. Draco had stayed quiet for most of the proceedings, and the duration of the current conversation. He let the others think it was because he was there at Pansy's behest, and under sufferance. In truth, maintaining the spell over Justin had knocked him around more than he liked to let on. It had been a long while since he needed to practice that kind of discipline.
"Draco, what do you make of this?" Hermione fixed him with a look. She'd been giving him piercing looks for almost a whole day now. "Any ideas why someone would harm Justin?"
Draco drank some of the neat scotch before him, willing his hand not to shake. "I can think of a whole host of reasons why someone would want to harm Finch-Fletchley."
"Draco!"
"Come now, Granger, would you expect anything else from me?" He paused, feeling a light sweat sheen his forehead as he focused on putting the tumbler down smoothly. "Where's Weasley this morning?"
"Ginny's still with Justin, of course," Harry said. "We just left them."
"Yes, Potter, thanks again for thinking I need you to state the obvious. I meant the other one. Yours, Granger."
"Ron's gone to see about Justin's car, with Dean. Dean knows how to deal with Muggles, so I'm hoping they don't attract any attention," Hermione said, leafing through sheets of scribbled parchment. She looked up. "Why?"
"He does work at a newspaper, such as it is, and this is very much in the headlines. But you're a better bet to know what's going on, given comparative levels of savvy," Draco said, watching Hermione's mouth open to protest on Ron's behalf, then shut as she knew he was right. "What do you know about the Gilligan clan?"
"Aren't they a bunch of crims? Getting their comeuppance over the next few weeks when they appear before the Wizengamot," Harry said, then grimaced, "if what the Daily Prophet says is true."
"I've heard a lot about them. There's a whole squad of Aurors devoted to these cases. We've lost a few of them over the months. And Justin's office-," Hermione put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my. Justin's been working on the cases."
"I heard him mention the big case when he arrived. I think he was trying to impress our hostess." Draco flexed his fingers and was gratified to find them steadier. He even chanced picking up a parchment from the pile on the table. It was a fragment of Finch-Fletchley's story, detailing the blinding flash that caused him to swerve. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's attracted the attention of the Gilligans. Nothing like making an example of the enemy. The story he's just told us sounds very much like a professional hit."
"So professional that they left him alive?" Harry asked.
"Yes, well, let's just say they don't make them like they used to, Potter." Draco flashed a signature smirk.
"Anyway," Hermione interrupted, "I'll check with my office and see what the unofficial word is on which clan member would do something like this. Harry, could you talk to Ginny - get her away from Justin first, though - and see whether she knows anything more about the case?"
Harry nodded. "Sure. I was thinking we could talk to Harvey, too? He's been working with Justin, after all."
"Draco, do you think you could have a chat with Harvey? Preferably without letting on too much about what we think really went on. Not just yet, anyway."
"I can do discretion, Granger. Really. Though Potter can talk to Harvey, if he'd like. I can forego the pleasure." Draco looked at Harry in a predatory fashion reminiscent of their Hogwarts encounters.
"No, I'd prefer you talk with Harvey, and Harry sticks to Ginny." Hermione's voice was sharp.
"I'd be ok to talk to Harvey, you know, Hermione. I wouldn't let, er, things get in the way of something important like this." Harry frowned at her.
"Yes, Granger, I'd trust Potter with Harvey," Draco said softly, his steady gaze meeting Harry's. "We're all adults, aren't we?"
"It's not Harry and Harvey I'm worried about, Draco, and you know it." Hermione flashed him another one of those looks, this one loaded with something more. "Would you like me to fill Harry in on the other set of recent events?"
A pale flush crept over Draco's still face. "There's nothing to tell, Granger. Unless you're planning to get creative."
"What other events?" Harry asked, looking at the tense stand-off between other two.
The silence was finally broken by Hermione's sigh. "I'll tell you another time, Harry. Right now, let's get on with things here."
Draco left the room without another word.
"He keeps doing that." Harry's eyes were still on the empty doorway through which Malfoy had swept.
"What? Annoying me?" Hermione's smile was wry as she gathered all the bits of parchment and put them in a neat pile.
"No, not that. That's par for the course with Malfoy." Harry stood. "It bothers me that he doesn't seem to go for the last word any more."
- end Part II -