Chapter 2: The Malfoys
I was debriefed on all the information that the Department had, and honestly it wasn't much. They also gave me a brief lesson on potential methods of finding a missing person. It was actually a rather pathetic lesson. It seemed remarkably easy to disappear in the eyes of the Ministry, which was… interesting.
The file on Malfoy's disappearance was abysmal. The people who had "investigated" the event had barely even entered the room he had last been seen in.
After collecting what information I could from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, I went to Harry to get some pointers that would actually be useful. With a head swimming in half-baked theories and ideas I went home, where my life was still packed in boxes cluttering the floor.
Knee-deep in boxes, I sighed. I was already more than exhausted. I had just moved into a Muggle apartment building, so I was determined not to use magic as much as possible, but enough was enough. Locking the door and closing the blinds, I pulled out my wand.
In minutes everything was unpacked, and I even had the kettle on, my favorite tea waiting to be brewed. My apartment was cheerey, decorated with various framed pictures, and my potted plants (both for aesthetic and potions). I checked my bookcase for a second time to make sure my books were organized correctly.
Nodding in satisfaction, I moved to the kitchen when the kettle whistled. Tea was exactly what I needed to begin puzzling over the disappearance of Draco Malfoy.
I studied everything I could think of until the late hours of the night; the case file, Muggle investigation methods, wizard investigation methods… I made plans to assemble several tracking potions and charms tomorrow.
And so I spent my second night in my new apartment falling asleep slumped over my desk, the light still on.
The next morning I was woken by sunlight streaming onto the desk… and directly into my face. My half-full cup of tea was sitting on the desk, almost standing as an accusation. I hadn't gotten so engrossed in a project to this degree since my Hogwarts days.
Rubbing sleep from my eyes I trooped to the bathroom to make myself presentable for the day.
With my curls mostly managed, it only took me a few moments to don some respectable robes and apparate to my destination: Malfoy Manor. Or rather, I apparated to the closest area possible and began walking. The Malfoys didn't joke around with their wards.
Once the foreboding black manor came into view, I felt sick. Every muscle in my body screamed for me to stop walking and run in the other direction. It had been roughly six years since I had last set eyes on Malfoy Manor, since Voldemort had met his end.
Admittedly, since then I had rarely thought about any member of the Malfoy family. There was the occasional article that would mention Draco in the Prophet, and I had seen evidence of some charitable donations in the name of one Malfoy or the other.
Now I found the same Prophet journalists that had hounded me on and off through the years crowding around the gate, each shouting their own questions about Draco. As I watched the journalists shoving and telling over each other, my anger grew. I wanted nothing more than to hex each and every one of them.
I controlled myself and instead cast a silencing charm over them. With wide eyes and gaping mouths they turned to me.
"Where Draco Malfoy is and what he is doing is confidential Ministry information," I said in a frosty voice. "I would suggest all of you leave with only that information, lest you become suspect."
A few attempted to protest, but when I met them with an icy glare, they scurried away like mice.
As soon as the last reporter fled, the heavy gate creaked open. None other than Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy stood there.
Lucius was not the formidable figure he had once been, or perhaps he just didn't terrify me anymore. That aside, I almost retched when the manor fully came into view.
"Come in dear," Narcissa said, ushering me in. "Come in before the next wave of reporters come."
I swallowed, but my shaking legs followed the Malfoys into their house.
Narcissa directed me to a parlour far away from the room of my nightmares, although it looked too much like the rest of the Manor.
My lips tightened when a house-elf brought me tea and refreshments, but that was a battle for another day. A social justice rampage was the last thing I needed to hoist upon a couple worried about their missing son.
Lucius was the one to break the silence with his frosty voice. "What brings you here, Miss Granger?"
Sitting a little straighter, I met his eyes. "I was chosen to help Draco go into hiding initially. In light of his disappearance, I convinced the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to allow me to search for him."
Narcissa had to fight for her composure. "Did you know that Draco was the person you would be protecting?"
"Not until yesterday," I said truthfully. "Yesterday was when I was scheduled to aid him to go into hiding. The Department Head was eventually persuaded to allow me to search for Draco."
Silence stretched between the three of us until Lucius asked, "Why? I know fully that you must view our family as bigoted monsters, and there is certainly no love lost between you and my son, Miss Granger. Why would the war heroine that was tortured in this very house fight to find my son?"
I breathed deeply, attempting to find an answer to the questions I had posed to myself the day before. "Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, I have seen too much fighting and war, and it is past time all of it was put behind us. None of us came out of the war unaffected and because of that we need to protect each other, regardless of the past. I am going to search for Draco the same way that I hope someone would search for me."
Now Narcissa did start crying. "Please find him, Miss Granger. I can't lose my son to Death Eaters."
Lucius' face was impassive, but his eyes echoed his wife. After an awkward pause, I asked, "Do you mind if I take a look at Draco's room and maybe a few other places around the manor?"
"Look as you wish. Merlin knows that those Aurors were completely useless when they searched," Lucius said flippantly, which I loosely interpreted as his form of thanks. He swept out of the room with what I had mentally dubbed as the Malfoy flare. Upon both entering and exiting a room, it seemed that all Malfoys had that way of pivoting through the doorway in just the right way so that their roves flipped out with the perfect dramatic effect.
With her husband out of the room, Narcissa broke down finally and wept quietly. "Thank you. Thank you."
