Sandy did as she was told. She went back to her desk and filed some paperwork from other cases. She would find a way to help Draco, with or without support from her boss. She didn't know how she could do it, but she would find a way. She couldn't do it now. Now she would file paperwork. But first she had a few questions for her partner.

"Psst," Sandy whispered across her desk, "Levine, did you find anything back there? Anything suspicious?"

"Nope. Cabot suggested that I stop looking as soon as he discovered the misunderstanding."

"So you agree with me that Lucius is probably abusing his son?"

"Of course I do. It was fairly obvious. But, what can you do? It's Lucius Malfoy."

"What did Lucius give you?"

Sandy's partner lifted up a beautiful bracelet. "For my wife."

"You're pathetic, Levine."

"Pathetic or an opportunist? I didn't want to back down, but if Cabot is forcing us to, I might as well get a gift for my wife out of it. Her birthday is coming up. I know you, Aleksia. I know you're not going to quit. I'll have your back even if Cabot won't."

"Thanks, Levine."

"What are partners for?"

Sandy left work that evening feeling worried. What would happen to Draco? She thought about the stories her parents had told her when she was a girl. The good witch or wizard would always defeat the bad one. She wished life were that easy. She wished she could go to Malfoy Manor, fight Lucius, win, and save Draco. The good witches and wizards in her stories never had to go through layers of red tape. They never had to "play the game" or "work the system." They could just do the right thing and then everything worked out. Sadly, that's not the way the world worked.

Sandy apparated to her home. She walked through the door. Her husband, Gabriel, was already home.

"Good to see you, Sandy. How was your day?" Gabriel asked as he kissed her on the cheek.

"Hello, Gabriel. I've actually had a terrible day."

"Tough case?"

"You could say that."

"How young this time?" Gabriel asked with concern in his voice.

"Sorry?"

"How young was your victim today? Whenever you have a tough day, it's usually a victim younger than what you're used to. How young was the kid?"

"Nine. But that's not what bothers me."

"Then what is it?"

"Cabot wants me to sweep this one under the rug. He wants me to look the other way while this child is abused."

"Is he not convinced there's a case?"

"He knows the kid's being abused. The parents are powerful people. He doesn't want the parents to come after us."

"He's letting them abuse their child to save his own skin? That's terrible."

"It is."

"I know you, Sandy. You'll find a way to help this kid."

"I'm not so sure I can. I mean, we don't have any solid evidence. Nothing that will hold up in court."

"What do you have?"

"The child's testimony. He confessed the abuse to me. We also have the testimony of a House Elf who works for the family."

"The kid and the Elf have the same story? Isn't that enough to at least investigate?"

"It should be. If it were anyone else in the world it would be."

"Who is it? Who are these powerful people that are, in Cabot's view, untouchable?"

"You know I can't tell you details about an ongoing investigation."

"Well, I guess I'm in luck. This isn't an ongoing investigation. Cabot shut it down."

"Gabriel, you know I can't."

"Well, whoever it is, you have to get them. Working at St. Mungo's I've seen far too many children suffer at their parents' hands."

"I'll bet you two to one you see this kid there someday. Or, worse, he'll be in the morgue."

"You don't think this family would go so far as killing, do you? Abuse is one thing, but murdering a child?"

"The father's been using the Cruciatus Curse on the boy. How far off is the Killing Curse? Even if he's not killed, the Cruciatus Curse has terrible effects, doesn't it? You're a Healer. Weren't you just telling me about those two patients, Alice and Frank Longbottom? They've been at St. Mungo's since the war against You-Know-Who, right?"

Gabriel cringed when Sandy mentioned the Cruciatus Curse. He had treated several patients who had fallen victim to the Cruciatus Curse, with Frank and Alice being two of the saddest cases he had dealt with. The thought of a child being subjected to torture like that was horrible.

"Yes. It is possible for the Cruciatus Curse to make people lose their minds. With a child, though, he or she would probably die before that point. Sandrine, you need to help this kid."

"I know. I just don't know how I can do this. I mean, not only do I not have support from Cabot, I don't have any hard evidence. Because Cabot stopped the investigation, we didn't have the child looked at, so we have no medical evidence. Terrible as it is, when you investigate cases like these, you sort of hope to find bruises and scars on the victim's body so you have evidence. Levine didn't have time to search the house and find any physical evidence of fighting or dark magic in the home. The father tried to bribe the three of us, which I take as further evidence, but he'll say it wasn't really a bribe, and Cabot will side with him. If anyone could hear the child crying and begging for help from the abuse, they'd know it was real. They'd know the kid desperately needed help. Oh, Gabriel, you should have been there. You should have heard the kid cry. It broke my heart. If I had evidence of the kid begging for help, we could take this guy down. His wife too. She may not be abusive, but she's neglectful. She's allowing it to happen. She's just as guilty as the father is, in my opinion. Not in the eyes of the law, of course, but she's guilty of neglect. I swear, Gabriel, I'll have the two of them locked in Azkaban for the rest of their lives. I'll take this all the way to Fudge if I have to!"

Just then, as if in response to her plea for evidence, an owl came flying through her window with a note. Gabriel picked it up and read it.

"Sandy, it's for you. It looks like it's from the kid you met today. He says his father beat him after you left and he wants your help. Draco Malfoy? Sandy, the person you're going after is Lucius Malfoy?"