Chapter 6

For Severus the journey to Berlin was more relaxed than the previous one. He was still travelling as someone else but this time as part of a legitimate investigation and the train was certainly more leisurely than floo. Harry was clearly loving every minute of it. He had never travelled far and he peered out of the windows with the earnestness of a young Magellan. They had discussed aparating but Harry was determined "to see something of the country".

As Severus watched him bouncing around on his seat and pointing out passing forests, villages and animals, Severus reflected on the transformative nature of fatherhood. There would have been a time when Potter's behaviour would have precipitated a stream of sneers from Snape, now Severus, separated from him for months, merely basked in his company.

Once they got to Berlin, Severus took the lead, guiding Harry out of the railway station though the streets to the bank.

"Come along Potter, "urged Severus for the fifth time as Harry paused to gaze at yet another grand building.

"Do we have time for a coffee?" asked Harry wistfully as they passed "Kronner" with a red stripped awing over a rooftop restaurant.

"Not if you want to be there for opening time," Severus paused. "It's your call Harry."

Harry groaned. "No, lets push on, I should have had more breakfast."

Severus shrugged and continued, he paused a few doors down from the bank.

"It is two minutes to 9am. You are prepared?"

Harry nodded. "Maybe they will offer us coffee?"

Severus rolled his eyes and gestured for them to proceed as they followed the green lights to the side entrance of the Deutsche Bank. He was three paces behind Harry when they reached the steps to the bank. As Harry ascended, Severus saw his game face slid into place, his step became more assured and quickened as he pushed open the door and entered.

Harry strode purposefully towards reception. If he was surprised that the Goblins wore sharp blue business suits, he gave no sign of it.

"Good morning. I'm with the Gottingen aurors. I need access to one of your client's accounts."

The goblin scowled. "You have a warrant?"

Surely we have not come all this way in vain, thought Severus. But seconds later Harry pulled a small roll of parchment out of his pocket and handed it over. The goblin's scowl intensified as he perused the warrant carefully. Harry was the picture of calm authority.

"Wait here, " snapped the golbin, disappearing through a door behind the reception desk. Harry turned slightly and gave a ghost of a wink and then leant back against the desk as if he was studying the ceiling.

"Mr Potter?" A goblin in dark grey suit appeared through the door followed by his disgruntled colleague.

Harry swung round and held out his hand.

"I'm Cobalus, head cashier," said the goblin giving Harry's hand the briefest of shakes. He was tall for a goblin and had unexpectedly large shoulders. "Will you come this way?" he gestured for them to go through the door behind the reception desk.

The room was very different to the one in which Severus and viewed the safe deposit box. It was an ornate, traditional office, oak desk, oak panelling, gold chandeliers, and leather backed chairs.

Cobalus gestured to two chairs in front of his desk.

"The warrant appears to be in order," he admitted grudgingly, rubbing his chin. "Can I ask what this is about?"

"Mr Lubricus has been found dead," said Harry succinctly. "Murdered."

The goblin's lip curled. "You would hardly be here otherwise."

Harry remained silent.

"I will have his accounts and safe deposit box brought to this room."

"You do not have vault?"

The goblin's lips almost disappeared. "You are English of course. Gringotts, how shall I put this, is a very traditional bank? We have adopted more streamline methods, we keep up to date accounts of everyone's holdings and people let us know how much they need. We do not leave all our gold festering in stone vaults."

Cobalus stood up nodded sharply and stepped out of the room.

"Arrogant git," muttered Harry.

"I assume the Harry Potter legend usually smooths the way,?" said Severus with the minimum of sarcasm.

"Normally," admitted Harry honestly.

"It will not do so here, Harry," said Severus gently. "They will have heard all about Gryffindor's sword and your attempt to mislead Griphook."

"Really! They are bearing a grudge, even after I killed Voldemort?"

"Always," said Severus firmly. "That is their nature."

"Well I don't need them to like me, just respect what I say."

"Exactly," agreed Severus. "That is what being in charge is all about."

Harry grinned "You would certainly know."

Severus was prevented from cuffing him by the door opening and two goblins entering with Lubricus safe depoist box and a tray piled high with rolls of parchment. These they placed upon the desk.

"Ring the bell, when you have finished," instructed the goblin carrying the box. He pointed to a small gold bell on the table.

"Thank you, "said Harry politely. "Box or rolls?" he asked once they were alone again.

"Rolls, "said Severus. "What do you want me to look for?"

"Patterns," said Harry. "Regular incoming payments, or large lumps sums. Plus any unusual expenditure. "

"Define unusual," demanded Severus.

"Anything that could be business related. My trainer always said you'd know when you saw it."

"Hum," muttered Severus, unrolling the first scrolls.

They worked in silence for around 15 minutes. Severus concentrated on the six months since Lubricus had retired. As an auror he had been paid £3000 a month. Since then, he appeared to have recived £1500 from his pension. In addition, there were three other streams of revenue. He was receiving a weekly payments of £100, and monthly payments of £500 and £1000. There were also a couple of lump sums which Severus assumed were for one off jobs. He made a careful note of all the sums and dates. In terms of expenditure, there was a monthly payment of £1000 which Severus assumed was to his ex-wife. There was another to a university in Moscow which was no dount his son's tuition fees. More complex to analyse was what appeared to be a myriad of expenses including a flight to the Cayman Islands.

When Severus finally looked up he saw that Harry gazing down at the contents of the safe depoist box which he laid down on the desk and appeared to be photographing. He was surprised that the process was taking so long given Harry had studied his memory of Severus' examination of the strong box.

Harry raised his eyes, appearing troubled.

"Problem?" inquired Severus.

"There are no passports in the box," Harry said in a low voice.

Following Harry's announcement, they had both double-checked the contents of the strong box and questioned the chief Cashier closely about the last time Lubricus had accessed his box. This had proved to be a couple of days after Severus' visit. Upon receiving this information they had packed up their notes and bade Cobalus farewell. Harry had warned the chief cashier that follow-up questions or a further visit might be necessary.

Severus had been keen to get back to Gottingen but Harry was desperate to sample the local Kaffee. They had comprised: they would stop for coffee and pastry but would forgo the rail journey home and apparate instead. As a result, they were now seated at the Krunner under the large red awning that had attracted Harry's attention. Severus had opted for an expresso, Harry on the hand had indulged in a hot chocolate monstrosity with cream, sprinkles and other exciting objects. It served to remind Severus of the boy's youth.

"So, "said Harry wiping his mouth with a napkin. "You were not the only one to use polyjuice potion."

Severus nodded.

"But why take the passports? Are they going to use them?"

Severus shrugged, "Maybe, or maybe those travel cards and identities reveal something about the murder."

"Yeah, we are going to need to examine any trips abroad very carefully." Harry paused. "So what did the accounts show?"

Severus retrieved his notebook from his robes. "There were three sets of regular payments and a few lumps sums. The latter were probably for one-off jobs. I have taken all the details done carefully."

"Were all the regular payements for about the same amount of money? "

"No one set of payments was much larger than the others. £1000 per month. "

"That looks like his main contract."

Severus nodded.

"What about his expenditure?"

Severus handed Harry his notebook. Harry had a sip of chocolate and then studied it carefully.

"Lots of interesting purchases that might prove important. But given the removal of the passports, the trip to the Cayman Islands looks significant. Although I am not sure how…"

Severus nodded in agreement. "So what's next?"

"I need to check in with the office and write up my report when I get back to Gottingen. "

"If you can do without me, I ought to check in with the warehouse. "

Harry nodded, "We can plan our next moves over dinner tonight."

Severus nodded. "My turn to cook."

By the time Severus had spent three hours at the warehouse, he did not feel like cooking so he picked up a Chinese take away and cast a warming spell on it. When he reached the apartment, he opened the door and then paused hearing voices in the living room.

"Yes well. I decided not to stay in the hotel. This is an air bnb so it's quite a lot cheaper."

"Good, we can spend what you save on redecorating the kitchen. I am picking out some new units and tiles."

A Mrs Potter firecall, realised Severus. Hence the white lie about an air bnb. He moved further back into the hallway.

"Hermione sends her love."

"Great," said Harry.

Severus could tell from his tone that Harry had realised that he (Severus) had entered the flat and Harry was desperate to end the call.

"She seems to be picking up at last, she even smiled when we had Sunday lunch at the Burrow at the weekend."

Severus clamped down on his thoughts.

"Great," said Harry again. He sounded strained even to Severus' ears. "Look Ginny I need to go a patronus has just arrived from the office."

"Really, I can't see anything."

"It's invisible, "improved Harry. "It's a special invisible one."

Severus rolled his eyes. On the believability scale that was 2 out of ten.

"I have go anyway. I need to wash my hair before the morning."

Severus shut his ears tightly to the final goodbyes.

After couple of minutes he poked his head round the door. Potter was sat on the sofa staring at the empty fireplace.

"Invisible Patronus?"

Harry roused himself. "Yeah, that was pretty lame. I am amazed she didn't spot that."

"You will be in trouble if she mentions it to someone else... Mr Wesley or...,"

"Hermione," added Harry quietly.

"Yes Miss Granger," agreed Severus calmly. "You do not need to treat me with kid gloves."

Harry looked at the fire. "At first, you know last summer, I thought it was just her that was really hurt. It was only later, you know when we were talking on the phones and you were settling here that I realised…"

"That I had cared as well?"

"Yeah, I didn't know whether you wanted to talk about it or just ignore it," Harry looked straight at him.

Severus put down the bag and took off his cloak.

"I did care, I do care but not as I did for your mother. And I am old and tough enough to put it behind me and make a new life as I truly hope Miss Granger is doing."

"She is," confirmed Harry. "It was a while and Ron showed much more tact and patience than I would have ever thought possible."

"He loves her, "observed Severus simply.

"Yes he does," agreed Harry quietly.

"Come, I have brought a Chinese take away, let's eat and discuss the case. Unless we solve this, I will have no new life to pursue."

"Do you want that prawn cracker?" asked Harry.

Severus shook his head and polished off his last spoonful of rice. He sat back and sipped his wine.

"I will cook a proper meal tomorrow."

"Take-aways are great, "said Harry enthusiastically. "The Dursleys never had them and Ginny really disapproves of them. "

"I don't suppose Mrs Weasley would ever have approved."

"No. Home cooking all the way," agreed Harry. "But you might have thought that Ginny would have wanted to experiment a bit."

Severus shrugged.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?"

"Searching his flat," said Harry promptly. "A search warrant should be ready by 10am. Are you available to help or are you busy at the warehouse?"

"I can accompany you, "said Severus. "That is the beauty of being the boss."

Harry poured himself some more pumpkin juice. "I talked to Peck after I had written up my report."

"Do you want some pudding?"

"Is there any ice-cream?"

"There is but I bought an apple tart. "

"Fanatstic. I'll have that with some ice cream."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Continue with your story while I serve up."

"Yeah, well I went to his office to hand in my report. He agreed to authorise the warrant and then I asked him why he and Lubricus didn't get on."

"You did not beat about the bush I see," observed Severus neutrally.

"Yeah, I might have been a bit more subtle if it had been my boss back in London."

Severus nodded but doubted that was true.

"Anyway, he hummed and ahed a bit. It was bit like getting the truth out of Slughorn, but anyway after a while he caved in. I can see why he didn't want to tell me."

"Embarrassing?" asked Severus.

"Very, he and Lubricus had a duel after Lubricus had made a pass at Peck's wife at the Christmas party."

"So we can add womaniser to the list of Lubricus' traits."

"Would seem so."

"So," concluded Severus "That means that his death might not have been related to his work."

Harry nodded. "Yep, much wider circle."

"Wonderful," said Severus gloomily.