CHAPTER 5 : Greengrass
Daphne Greengrass was a very, very pretty young woman. Just eighteen, her long blond hair was descending all the way to her thighs, her blue eyes were truly and deeply mesmerizing, her red-painted lips made by the gods for the sole purpose of haunting young men's dreams.
But that day, with the worries painted on her traits, her sunglasses, her make-up poorly applied in haste, her hair hidden a large black hat, she looked like another person. But then again, that was the intended point. Standing outside a café, she was looking around in search of something, or someone. After a few second, a young man at the terrace slightly raised his hand, so she could spot him. When she saw him, she froze and hesitated a few seconds. She finally drew a long breath, straightened her back, and went to sit at his table.
"Good morning, Miss Greengrass. Did you sleep well?"
"Cut the crap, Flint! What do you want?"
Harry Potter, impersonating Marcus Flint, looked at her with a smile and leaned back.
On the previous afternoon, two days after meeting Ginny at Hogwarts, Harry made his way to her house, looking like Marcus Flint. When he crashed his head at the bar, everybody was way to focused on the fight to notice that he used the occasion to tear some of his hair. It was swift, it was lucky, but it was very much intentional.
Pumped with Polyjuice, he hid himself under his Invisibility Cloak. It was, after all, the absolute and most perfect tool for a thief. Or an assassin… He stayed outside the house 5pm to 7.30pm, when Sir Greengrass came back from work. It was hard to wait this much, and he even had to drink a sip of potion once more, but he managed to time it perfectly so he would come in at the same time as the old man, still invisible. Then, he looked for Daphne's bedroom, careful not to make any noise while the family was gathering in the living room before eating, and when he finally found it, he searched her place for jewels. Rings, Necklaces, anything he could use as a "memory". It was not hard to find, and when he finally did, he grabbed a lovely golden necklace with three green stones. He then sat patiently in a corner, relying on his father's cloak to keep him well hidden.
When Daphne finally came in, around 11pm, he was almost asleep against the wall. She started to undress, and while she sure was attracting enough, Harry closed his eyes. Deep down, he knew that stalking like a creep just for the some naked flesh was not worthy of him, and besides, he really wanted Ginny to be the first woman he'd see with no clothes on. When he dared opened them back, she was dressed in her white night gown, and sitting in front of her mirror, brushing her impressively long hair. He swore silently, how long was she going to brush those? He started to turn back to his own skin, and took another sip of Polyjuice, using all his force of will to kill the shivers of pain running through his body, so he would not betray his presence.
By midnight, she was finally in bed, but he had to wait for the whole house to fall silent, and for her to be asleep . He knew that a hunter had to be patient, but as a Gryffindor, it was never his strong suit. But he was getting better at it. After all, his plans required lots of thinking, planning, forecasting, so he quickly learned to use all these mandatory waiting times to prepare in his mind.. When her breath became slow and steady, he got up and stretched his legs. He had been here for so many hours, drank so much of Polyjuice that his flask was almost empty. He listened around, making sure no one was awake in the house, and hearing the father's snores even through the walls, he proceed forward, reassured. He opened the door to prepare his way out, and went back to the bed.
Standing above Daphne, he took a deep breath, aimed carefully in the dark, and then pressed his hand hard against her mouth. She woke up instantly, but took two a three seconds to realize that she was in danger. When she finally tried to move and fight back, unable to scream and barely able to breathe, she was stopped in her tracks by Harry's wand under her throat.
"Don't move" he said with the Slytherin's voice. "Don't scream, don't fight back, just relax and listen. I'm not here to hurt you, but I need you to hear me out."
Looking through the darkness, Daphne finally recognize her attacker. She'd seen him while she was a lot younger, at Hogwarts, sharing the same Common Room. Vaguely reassured by this familiar face, she stopped moving, and nodded silently. Marcus Flint, however, did not take his hand of her mouth. She had troubles breathing, but she managed.
"You see this?" he said showing her a little necklace she immediately recognized, "this is the proof that I can get to you, unseen, whenever and wherever I want, so no funny business."
The fear came rushing back through her veins like a tidal wave.
"Now hear me carefully", he said. "Tomorrow, at , you will meet me at the café right next to Gringotts, and you will tell me everything you know about Pansy Parkinson. If you don't, I will come back and hunt you down. If you try anything against me, if you tell anyone that you saw me, I do have a few friends at Hogsmeade ready to take care of your little sister next time she shows up."
Daphne's eyes opened wide in terror. She had no idea what was going on, but the very thought of the freak hurting her little sister turned her stomach upside down.
"I'm giving you a few hours to think about it. Astoria, or Mrs Parkinson. Your choice. Don't screw this up. "
And just like that, he vanished. Not as if he apparated away, he just ceased to exist. Overwhelmed by panic and confused, she did not hear the sounds of Harry's footsteps, rushing downstairs, hidden under his cloak, her necklace in her hands.
At exactly, she saw Marcus Flint sitting at the table, like it was nothing. As if he did not scare the living hell out of her the previous night.
"Good morning, Miss Greengrass. Did you sleep well?"
"Cut the crap, Flint! What do you want?"
He leaned back, and instead of answering her question, he offered her to seat with a gesture.
"You made the right choice." he finally said. "I hope you did not mention last night's... dreams to anyone."
"I did not. Not yet at least. So stop playing games, and tell me what the fuck you want, you sick bastard".
A few heads turned towards them, as Marcus Flint's smile disappeared. He leaned forward, his elbows against the table.
"Watch your tone, Miss. Trust me, you do not want to attract attention. That would be very bad for little Astoria's health. Now, about what I want, it's rather simple. I want you to tell me where Mrs Parkinson is hiding. Simple as that."
Crossing her arms against her chest, her anger overcoming her fear, she looked at him with an icy stare.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because she stole something from me before going into hiding. Something very, very valuable, that I need to recover at all cost. Do you hear me, Miss Greengrass? All cost."
"And what makes you think that I know where she is? She hasn't been seen since the Dark Lord passed away."
"And I know you helped her disappear. Her father was among the dead Death Eaters they found after the Battle. Her mother was long dead as well, and I'm pretty sure no one amongst her cousins would take that little bitch under their wings."
Daphne lowered her head. She didn't know how he knew, but he was hundred percent right. Almost nobody knew that, when they were escorted out of Hogwarts before the Dark Lord's attack, she was one of the few to go back and fight by his side. She was terrified of him, but, Daphne thought, she would rather be on his sides when he would win the battle. It's only after the word got out that Sir Parkinson was also a Death Eater that she understood. She went back for her father. After his death, she found herself alone, and on the wrong side of the story, so she turned towards one of the only person in the world she used to trust, at least as much as she was able to : her "gang-sister" from Slytherin. It might have been her only choice, but it was going to be a really bad one, in the end.
"Yes", admitted Daphne after a few seconds, "she did asked me to help her. It was a few weeks after the Battle, when the dust had settled and people were starting to ask for answers. But she just asked me for some money, I swear!"
"Did you give her any?"
"Yes I did. I mean, what was I supposed to do? She's my friend. I could not just give up on her."
"I figure." said Flint with a smile. "This is why I'm pretty sure that you're lying to me. You're a good person, and as you just said, she's your friend. What kind of a friend would you be if you would just give her up to the first stranger coming in with a threat? Now, I understand, believe me, and I respect that. I really do. Loyalty is not the most common trait amongst us Slytherins. However, intelligence is supposed to be, this is why I really need you to realize that I am not kidding here. I was really hoping that my little demonstration of last night was enough to convince you. But if I need to take this a level higher and, let's say, involve your little Astoria, I, will, not, hesitate."
Daphne's already pale skin turned to white, almost transparent, and her right hand started shaking, no matter how hard her left hand was trying to prevent that. Harry noticed the cracks in her armor quite easily, and forced his way in.
"Since the old Headmaster passed away, since the war and half of the walls broke down, Hogwarts is not the safe place it used to be. And as I said, even though I do have the means and the contacts to reach her at school, I don't even need to. I can just wait for her to come to Hogsmeade. Or even easier, just wait for her to come back home, sneak into her room like I did last night, and slit her throat. You see? It would not be harder than sealing your necklace."
She tried to keep a straight face as much as possible, but she could not prevent the tears from gathering at the corners of her eyes. She never felt such fear, even when she had to escort her sister out of the school before the Dark Lord's attack. She looked into the blue eyes of the treat and saw nothing but ice.
"You have one minute" he finally said.
Daphne thought as quick as she could, but came up with nothing. Maybe he was bluffing, after all Hogwarts was still one of the safest place in Great Britain, but a little voice in her head kept telling her that he was not kidding. The clear image of Astoria, blood pouring out of her opened throat, was making her way into her mind every two seconds.
"Okay. Okay." She breathed deep and addressed an mental apology to Pansy Parkinson. "Her mother's family used to own a small cabin near a lake in northern Scotland. Loch Badanloch is the name, a few miles from a place called Achentoul. Or Achnfoul? I don't know, something like that. She thought it was safe enough, at least until she found someplace else to go, but she needed me to provide some provisions and some basic stuff. She could not go back to Gringotts to get her money, and she was afraid someone would pick up her trail if she went shopping herself."
Marcus Flint nodded, understanding the trail of thoughts. It made sense, it was smart, it was cautious. By a small gesture of his hand, he invited her to keep talking, but she was pretty much done.
"And that's the last time I saw her. I brought her a few old clothes of mine, and enough food for a month, maybe a month and a half, but that's all. I figured she might have moved to some other place, because she never contacted me again, and neither did I. Maybe she's still there, maybe she's not, but that's all I know, I swear!"
Marcus Flint got up, and buttoned his coat. It was, after all, mid-december, and the air was freezing.
"Thank you, Miss Greengrass. I believe you, but I don't need to tell you what would happen to you and your sister if it turned out that trusting your word was a mistake."
Without another word, and without giving her the possibility to answer, he left her to pay for his drink, and disappeared in the Christmas shopping crowd.
A/N : Hey guys ! Sorry it took this long to combe back, new home and new job can take a bit of time. This is a short chapter, i Don't know yet if the next one will be longer or not, but this Harry going into full Hunter's mode and his prey doesn't even know what's coming...