A/N Well here we go chapter two, thanks to all those who put this story on alert and once again to my Beta, because this was a difficult chapter to write.
Harry stood at one of the workers entrances to the ministry waiting for Dudley. Eventually a police car stopped at the end of the road and Dudley approached.
"Good morning. So where are we off to then?" it was obvious that Dudley was trying to be professional, and polite, something that Harry was failing miserably with.
"We are already here come with me." Harry led Dudley to a small solicitors office with a dusty sign and a grafitied door.
"Are you sure you know where we are going?" asked Dudley obviously worried about their location.
"Come and look, this dusty exterior is just a facade." As Dudley entered the small building it opened out into a large office complex. Harry led Dudley to one of the offices.
"We can talk freely here. It's the place where our office interviews muggles, and it can act as a medical facility for us and the Obliviators." Harry kicked his shoes off and made himself comfortable behind the desk. The whole room was fairly anonymous there was no family photographs, or any sort of personalisation. Chairs were stacked in one corner of the room and several broken items were stored in a large cardboard box in the other corner. The room felt as if it were used infrequently and generally neglected. Dudley took the leather binder that he had been carrying and removed all of his case notes and photographs of the scene. For hours Harry filed Dudley in on what his Aurors new, Dudley briefed Harry and both men sat looking at the photographs.
"This is tiresome and I need food." said Dudley
"Not everything has changed then has it Big D." Smirked Harry "There's a good fish and chip Shop round the corner." Dudley left to fetch lunch. The Door opened again to soon for it to be Dudley and a large thickset man entered the office.
"Morning Sir, this that mystery case."
"Sure is." The man, whose name incidentally is Ethan Roberts, picked up three of the photographs and looked at them for a while.
"Harry, Do all muggles have cars?"
"No why?"
"Most do though right?"
"Yes. Why what you thinking?"
"There aint no cars parked out side their 'ouses." Harry leaned over and looked at the pictures again. The Front door clattered open and Dudley walked in with the fish and chips.
"Been down the chippy, should have had one o'their steak pies, lovely they are." Ethan continued his introduction oblivious to Harry who was now thinking furiously.
"Dudley do any of the victims have driving licences?"
"What? Er yeah" Said Dudley
"Have you found their cars?"
"No hardly a priority was it."
"Tis now, get your lot onto it!" Harry did not know what it meant but it was a connection. "Right Ethan what case you working on at the moment? Doesn't matter pull up a chair and work out family trees for this lot particularly any wizarding blood. Im off to the Wizigenealogy office, I think I have something" Harry left in a flurry of orders before any one could raise a protest.
Dudley sat there for the next three hours with Ethan working on the dead victims relations fortunately Dudley had done most of this with surrey police, apart from the inexplicable endings to parts of the family tree. Ethan thought he recognised some of the names but neither men could finish their task.
"Well tell Harry I had to leave, if he needs me there's my contact details." Dudley hesitated briefly before throwing a business card down on the table "Well good night."
--
Dudley sat in his flat alone, listening to the Radio, quietly contemplating the case. He sat with a glass of red wine half empty, held loosely in one hand, and balanced on the slightly threadbare armchair. The burnt red colours on the walls matched the wine; and the stacks of faded news papers from old cases, stacked on the radiator, gave the room a smell of hot ink, and scorched paper. The thick piled carpet stifled the sounds of any movement he made in the 19th century apartment block. The entire Block was down a smoky old back alley of a once affluent neighbourhood, only the name of the streets still held some semblance of the areas wealth. The entire area was being slowly ground down by vandalism and the spray-paint covering the decaying shop frontages that had been boarded up many years before. No matter how hard the vandals tried though, they had never been able to paint away the feeling of faded splendour that still clung to the air around closed down businesses.
Dudley was about to drift off to sleep in his chair when a large crack sounded outside. Immediately he got up and made for the door.
"If that's you again I can still arrest you!" thinking it was the small gang of youths that liked to gather down the alleyway, He flung The door open.
"Harry?"
"Well if you really want to arrest me go ahead but you've got no evidence." Harry held out his arms as if he was going to be hand cuffed.
"Come in." huffed Dudley, more at his own stupidity than Harry's mockery.
"Can't stop long just wanted to let you know. I've got a breakthrough, they are all distantly related to Wizards, believe me that's an unusual situation."
"Don't suppose we could have found that out for ourselves could we." Dudley asked not really expecting an answer, for a moment Harry hesitated
"We need your help interviewing the wizarding families, the ministry of magic wont let you into the ministry for this or at least not in to the Auror department. Im trying to get the minister to swing things for me but..."
"Politics, I can only sympathise, if its half as bad as our lot then you don't stand much chance, just let me know where you need me."
"Thanks. Any way I will let you know tomorrow, bye." Harry let himself out of the flat and disapparated home. Dudley stood quietly in his living room pondering on the reason why he would be needed at the interviews.
A/N Well hope you enjoyed it, I would just like to ask has it become illegal to review? joking aside I would appreciate feedback good and bad so that I know where I'm doing right and wrong. Thanks