A/N: So I've been staring at this chapter for awhile, decided to just post it and move on! Please remember this story is a WIP! Like my life!
oOo
"You absolute gobshite!" Alcina pushed Sirius, hands on his chest, and the wizard stumbled back. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry, I-I'm sorry," Sirius apologized, not looking at his partner. Instead he watched the cleanup crew as they worked to fix the bedroom by removing magical residue and mending the damage from the fight earlier.
It was, at times, a gruesome job.
"Where's the suspect?" Sirius asked, looking away from the white clothed figure on the floor. At least there had been no blood, no body parts severed, no flesh torn as was Bellatrix's usual modus operandi.
"Oh now you care?" Alcina growled, arms across her chest. "I patronused for back-up, since my partner was fucking gone, and we took her in. She's being questioned by Kingsley now, I assume."
"She's at the department? We've got her?" Sirius asked, breathless.
Alcina glared. "Yes, we've got her, no thanks to you-"
Sirius rushed at his partner, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her into the air.
"We've got her! Holy shite, we've got her!" Sirius cried, bouncing Alcina.
"Sirius Black, you will fucking put me down or I will make this a double homicide scene, you arse!"
Sirius should've been terrified, a threat from Alcina was usually followed through with, but he was too elated. He had her. He finally fucking had that goddamn cousin of his.
Not only was Bellatrix going to Azkaban, but Sirius would finally have the opportunity to question her regarding the whereabouts of his brother. It wasn't something Sirius spoke of often, normally he tried not to mention Regulus, but that didn't mean he wasn't thinking about him. Growing up it had been just the two of them and in a sense Hogwarts had spoiled that; spoiled their comradery. Once the Hat had sorted Sirius into Gryffindor any assumptions that had remained within the minds of his parents that Sirius would inherit the role of patriarch of the Black Family dissipated and in many ways Sirius had never forgiven himself for what the following years had done to his brother.
"This is the most excellent news I've received since- well, possibly ever honestly." Sirius thought for a moment. "Actually, my parents dying, that was pretty fabulous news."
"Thor fucking Odinson, Sirius," Alcina sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Get it together."
"So, they've got it basically under control here," Sirius noted, gesturing to the cleanup crew. One of the crew, a gangly blond with a scar down his cheek, snorted. "Shut it, Scott!" Sirius yelled. Scott glared. Over time Sirius had gained a reputation for results, albeit messy results, which, unsurprisingly, had not landed him many friends amongst the cleanup crews.
"We need to get out of here before someone hexes me, anyway," Sirius whispered, not taking his eyes off Scott.
The wicked little grin that crept to Alcina's perfectly shaped lips should have been an indication of what was to come, but Sirius didn't notice until it was too late.
"Yes," Alcina nodded, "we do need to get back to the Ministry."
oOo
"I CANNOT DO THIS PAPERWORK," Sirius bellowed, pulling his hair at the roots. "Al, please, why are you doing this to me?" he pleaded as his partner slipped off towards the interrogation rooms.
"This is what you get for abandoning me at a crime scene, Black!" Alcina called over her shoulder.
"Al! Please! You beautiful, goddess!" Sirius' hands were clasped together, begging.
"Your report better be perfect!" He heard her yell before turning a corner and disappearing.
"Queen of the harpies!"
Sirius sighed and stared down at the parchment on his desk; he supposed it served him right. Even if he hadn't intended to abandon Alcina mid criminal apprehension, that was precisely what had occurred.
"Perfect," he muttered. "It's as if she doesn't know me at all."
How could Sirius be expected to work, when in this very building his cousin was being questioned? How could he be expected to focus on anything besides answers. There was, admittedly, a pit in his stomach, filled with dread at the thought of seeing her crazed eyes, but there was a much larger hole in his heart that had been reserved, he assumed, for his biological family. In their absence he craved only answers. The answers to Regulus' whereabouts or, gods forbid, the whereabouts of his body. Answers to questions pertaining to why Bellatrix was doing this. Why was she hunting down muggle-born witches?
But Sirius knew no questions would be answered until this bloody report was written and signed. Twisting his face into a grimace, Sirius dipped his quill into the ink pot and set to work.
Minutes floated by surprisingly quickly as he scratched away at the parchment, scribbling down the events of the night. When Sirius reached the point in the timeline in which he had been pulled by the Host Bond to Grimmauld Place he paused, quill hovering above the paper.
What should Sirius say? A part of him considered honesty. Kingsley was a member of the Order and Alcina could be trusted, of course, but someone had been feeding information to the Death Eaters. There was a spy amongst them. Was his report safe from prying eyes? Even with the extra measures Kingsley had alluded to earlier, was anything really protected?
Sirius chewed on the end of his quill absently and then coughed, sticking his tongue out in disgust. "Fuck, get it together, Black," he muttered, echoing Alcina's earlier sentiment.
Sirius glanced back down at his report as he wiped feather residue from his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
No, now's not the time for honesty.
But he had to explain his absence, his sudden apparation from the crime scene. His quill remained in the air.
"Hmph."
At approximately 2200 hours, Sirius began scratching away, a ward was tripped at the Black family residence. Due to the ancient nature of such blood wards, Auror Black was forced to apparate from the crime scene. Upon a quick but thorough inspection of 12 Grimmauld Place, Auror Black then immediately returned to Brixton.
Sirius frowned, rereading the paragraph a few times. Alcina would have to add her version of events following his apparation, so for now this was truly the best he could do. He bit his lower lip. Would Kingsley believe this? It honestly didn't really matter what Kingsley would believe, this was the best he could do.
Sorry, Kings.
Sirius stood, shoving the report under his arm. All that was left was Alcina's approval and co-signature.
And then he would have his moment to question Bella.
Sirius could think of little else as he quickly shuffled around desks, heading to the interrogation rooms.
Finally there would be answers, finally he could rest knowing she would be rotting in Azkaban, finally he could ask someone who might know what had happened to Regulus, what had become of his brother, finally-
"Mreow"
Sirius stopped, foot in the air, poised to take the next step. "What?" he mumbled aloud.
"Mreow," something responded.
Sirius looked down and slowly placed his foot back on the floor as his path was blocked by a rather large, rather smooshed face cat.
Possibly a kneazle? Though a bit small for a kneazle.
"Hello there," Sirius greeted the peculiar creature, dropping to a crouch. "What're you doing here?"
The cat did not answer, instead it simply stared back at Sirius, eyes wide with a sort of intelligence Sirius had come to expect from felines.
Sirius knew better than to attempt to pet a strange cat, so instead he glanced about the empty hallway. "Are you someone's familiar?" he asked, but he couldn't think of anyone with a cat within the Aurors. Perhaps the creature had wandered in from a neighboring department? "Who do you belong to, love?"
The cat did not answer.
"Mums the word then, hmm?" Sirius sighed, he didn't have time to locate the witch or wizard missing their familiar, the unfortunate looking thing would have to make its own way home. "Sorry, little one, I've got somewhere to be." He began to stand but as he did, the folder slipped from under his arm, falling to the floor.
Sirius reached down, but the apparently much quicker cat, suddenly lunged forward and picked up the folder between its sharp teeth. Sirius stopped for a moment, taken aback by the cat's sudden interest in his report.
He chuckled softly to himself, a bit nervously. What an odd creature. "Alright then, I'll be needing that back." Sirius reached to get his folder, but the cat began backing away.
"Oh no," Sirius said, hands out in a placating gesture,"no, no, nice kitty, give Sirius back his very important report."
The cat turned tail, racing down the hall.
What the absolute fuck! Sirius took off after the beastly creature, maroon robes billowing behind him.
"Come back here, you little shite!" he yelled, cursing further under his breath. The cat was surprisingly fast considering it was dragging a folder along with it. Sirius found himself struggling to keep up. Briefly he considered shifting as his canine legs would allow for a more effective pursuit, but as he remained an unregistered animagi he opted to remain human for the time being.
The Grim was ill-pleased.
Sirius rounded a corner, huffing to a halt before lest he slam into a wall. Frantically he looked around and caught the fluff of a tail as it curled around an open door. Sirius rushed at the door but as he did, it suddenly shut. Sirius grabbed at the handle, but it would not move. He shook the door, but it remained locked.
"Are you a wizard or not?" Sirius mumbled to himself, pulling out his wand. "Alohamora!"
Nothing.
"Open sesame!"
Nothing.
He thought for a moment.
"Alohamora duo!"
Still nothing.
"What the absolute bloody fuck?" Sirius said again. What door was this? He took a step back, studying it carefully. It looked like a normal door. He placed his hand on the door. It felt like a normal door. He tried the handle again.
Why was it locked? Sirius leaned his ear against the door, listening carefully, but there was nothing to hear. Then, he tried knocking both softly and forcefully, but no one came to open it.
Come to think, had he seen this door before?
He looked around the hallway. Where was he?
"Sirius!" Alcina's voice was unmistakable. "Sirius!" she called again, now striding down the hall towards him. "What're you doing? I saw you tearing down the hallways."
"I was just-"
Alcina placed both hands on her hips. "Did you finish the report?"
The color drained from Sirius' already pale face. "I-I-!" He turned to Alcina, eyes wide.
"Are you kidding me, Sirius Black?" Alcina growled. "You haven't finished the report yet?"
"I did!" he began desperately."I was bringing it to you, but then this bloody cat-"
"A cat?" Alcina raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
"Yes a cat, you Ravenclaw harpy!"
"Alright," Alcina shifted and now placed her arms across her chest, "I'll bite. What cat?"
"This smooshed face monstrosity that stole the report I had spent the last hour working on!"
Both of Alcina's eyebrows had migrated towards her hairline.
"Don't stare at me like that, it's true! I was coming to find you so you could co-sign the report when there was this, this cat! In the hallway! I leaned down to get a better look and the report slipped out of my arms and onto the floor and the bloody beast picked it up and ran down the hall!"
Oh my gods, I sound daft as fuck.
"And then!" Sirius continued, despite how insane he knew he sounded. "Then I chased it down the hallway and it went into this door! And when I try to open the bloody door it wont open!"
"Sirius-"
"I tried every goddamn spell I know!"
"Sirius-"
"I even knocked!"
"Sirius-"
"What!"
"What door?"
Sirius, who had been gesticulating madly as he spoke, froze. "What do you mean, what door, this-"
Oh what the absolute fuck now?
"Listen," Sirius began, staring down at the now empty wall, "I swear to every god there was a door here."
Alcina's dark eyebrows dropped in concern. "Maybe you need to go home, Black, get some rest."
"No! I do not need to go home! I need- I need-" Sirius looked about desperately. "No, I'm not going to miss this, Al! I need to see her handcuffed, I need to question her myself."
Alcina closed the distance between them and placed a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "She'll still be here tomorrow," Alcina pointed out gently.
"I know," Sirius ran a hand down the side of his face. "I just- we've been tracking her for so long. You know how hard I've been working for this."
Alcina nodded. "Sirius, I'll be honest, you've been acting weird as fuck tonight. Are you really in the right place to be interrogating Bellatrix Lestrange?"
Sirius waited a long moment before replying, "No, no I suppose I'm not."
"Go home, mate."
oOo
Draco heaved a long suffering sigh, exhausted as he was by the pile of paperwork on his desk which was literally growing taller by the minute. Growing taller as new floating paper planes zoomed in to his office, unfolded themselves and dropped amongst stacks that threatened to tumble to the ground.
"Perhaps I should just accept my inheritance," he mumbled to himself. "I could be the good pureblood heir Mother wants. No more paperwork, no more goddamned bloody memos."
Whatever was left of his inheritance that is. The Ministry had taken a good chunk of the Malfoy fortunes; reparations for their part in the war or a bribe to stay out of Azkaban depending on who you asked. Either way, there was gold in the places the Ministry could never touch or even ever know to touch, so though damaged, Draco's inheritance was still enough to live off comfortably for the next few lifetimes.
He, however, did not want his parent's money.
"It's your money, dear," he could all but hear his mother cooing.
No, it was not his money. It was his ancestor's money maybe, but he didn't earn it and he didn't want any part in it. The Malfoy legacy had cost him enough already, bad enough he had the name and the hair and the brand on his arm, he didn't need to be on the financial leash as well.
Doesn't matter though. They all look at me like I've got the bloody plague. Forgiveness. What a load of absolute shite. Doesn't matter if I distance myself, if I make my own way, earn my own way. They all look at me like I'm scum, like I had any control over anything that happened, like I was more than a bloody pawn the whole time. They all-
Except not her.
Were they friends? Absolutely not. Hermione Granger didn't have friends, she had projects and Draco wasn't anyone's project.
Not even Mother.
And Draco Malfoy didn't have friends, he had alliances and Granger was someone who baked you awful homemade pies and knit you hats even if you told her you don't need a bloody hat. Hermione Granger didn't know how to be calculated and distant, she didn't know how to politely nod in the hallway without making eye contact. All she knew was being warm and friendly and understanding and forgiving.
Draco hated Hermione Granger.
Except of course he didn't. Hating her was just comfortable and what made it worse was that she seemed to understand that.
Hermione Granger was the only human in the whole of the Ministry that smiled at him. Even if the smile didn't quite meet her eyes. Amber eyes that sparkled with an intelligence that had always intimidated him, uncanny eyes almost like a cat.
Almost like that bloody cat that won't leave me the fuck alone.
Draco ran a pale hand down the length of his face and leaned back. He didn't have time to be thinking about Granger or her half-kneazl. He had documents to file and reports to analyze and the goddamn Magical Creatures Department was over budget again.
"I've already given them an extension," Draco mumbled angrily, pulling papers from stacks. "Three bloody extensions. Wankers. Oh fuck my life!" he exclaimed as a tower of precariously stacked papers tumbled to the ground.
"Just what this day needs, what a bloody mess." He slammed his fist on the table and more papers tumbled. "FUUUUUCK!"
He then slammed his forehead down with enough force that he was sure he would be sporting a unicorn style bruise in a few minutes.
"Get it under control, Malfoy." Draco sighed and gingerly lifted his head from his desk but when he did, he found a manilla folder stuck to his forehead. "What the fuck is this then?" He asked no one as he peeled the folder from his forehead.