Two years ago
"Mr. Leimen, please. Ich spreche sehr armes Deutsch. Bitte sprechen Sie auf Englisch. I know you know how to speak English Mr. Leimen. I need to know where you were on the third of July. It is extremely important that you tell me everything you know about this case.
The man smiled at her and ignored her pleas, even when issued in his own language. "Aber ich erzähle Sie schön Ein. Ich war zu Hause mit meiner Ehefrau. Sie bereitete unser Abendessen vor und ich las das Papier. Ich weiß, dass nichts um irgendeinen Drachen eiert. Ich habe nie sogar einen Drachen gesehen"
Hermione frowned with frustration and drank deeply of the pumpkin juice in front of her. She was getting nowhere. The man obviously wasn't going to speak English to her, and her German was quite frankly abysmal. She was convinced that the man was guilty of smuggling dragon eggs, but until she could communicate appropriately with him there was a very slim chance of exonerating her own client, Hagrid. Honestly, anybody who knew Hagrid should know that he wouldn't actually smuggle them. Keep them and attempt to raise them and even possibly expose children to them yes, but never smuggle them.
"Mr. Leimen, why do you insist on continuing this? The sooner you tell me what I need to know the sooner I can get out of your hair…"
"Well, by Merlin's beard…I never thought I would live to see the day when Granger wouldn't know something. Couldn't find any books on German I take it?"
Hermione's mouth hung open as she tried desperately to find words. There was no way that the voice belonged to whom she believed it did. What in the world would he be doing in Heidelberg of all places? Wasn't he supposed to be teaching at Durmstrang now? Turning her head and willing it not to be so, she was not surprised to see Draco Malfoy standing next to her table. He had aged obviously, resembling his mother more than his father with his pointed chin, his hair kept only at his shoulders rather than the longer style favored by his father. But those blue eyes could only claim to be Draco's himself. As clear as cold water and as piercing as she remembered.
"Reading and writing in German are entirely separate from speaking and listening to German. Not to mention his dialect. I don't understand his slang. What are you doing here anyway?" she asked finally giving up explaining herself, unsure why she had done so in the first place.
"In town on business," he said briefly. "I speak fluent German if you would like a translator. I have some free time, and I can see you are about to curse this poor gentleman. While I would find such a show entertaining, I don't imagine it would do much for your career."
Hermione took a deep breath and gestured for him to sit. While she didn't particularly want to take this route, neither did she want to continue playing games with Mr. Leimen. They had already been at it for far too long and Draco's assessment of her mood was more accurate than he could know.
"I thank you. If you could kindly introduce yourself to Mr. Leimen and let him know that you will be translating despite his knowledge of English, and that I would prefer he stop playing games and just answer the questions."
"Herr Leimen, Mein Name ist Draco Malfoy. Ich bin ein Kollege der Frau des Weasley. Ich werde als ein Übersetzer von diesem Punkt auf handeln. Selbstverständlich sollte Sie wählen, weiter wenig hilfsbereit zu sein, bin ich ängstlich ich muss warnen Sie, dass Frau Weasley ziemlich mächtig ist, und hat ein ziemlich ekelhaftes Gemüt. Deshalb wenn Sie ziemlich in etwas besonders schändlich nicht verklärt werden würden, würde ich vorschlagen, dass Sie ihre Fragen gründlich und ehrlich beantworten." Draco's eyes danced as he spoke to Mr. Leimen, and a small twist at the corners of his mouth belied his amusement as Mr. Leimen paled considerably. He gestured nervously for Hermione to ask her questions and glanced back over at Draco.
"Mr. Leimen, where were you on the night of July the Third?"
"Ich habe Sie erzählt! Ich war zu Hause mit meiner Ehefrau. Wir haben eine kleine Mahlzeit zu Hause gehabt, haben wir eine Kartenspiele gespielt, und haben dann früh pensioniert." Mr. Leimen said quickly, his voice quavering slightly as though he were pleading with her.
"He says that he was at home with his wife. They had dinner and went to bed. Sounds like his wife is the most boring person on earth, or he is making it up to me," Draco laughed.
"Shut up Draco. I don't need your commentary, just the translation. "Then why is it that my client claims that he had dinner with you in Hogsmeade that evening Mr. Leimen? It is a considerable distance from here to Hogsmeade, hardly a trip one could make between courses? Would your wife be willing to give her testimony on your whereabouts?"
"Ich war nicht in England im Juli. Ich bin nie nach England gewesen. Vielleicht haben Sie den falschen Herrn Leimen. Ich habe einen Bruder Reinhart, der ein Exporteur ist. Er reist nach England die ganze Zeit. Und ja wäre meine Ehefrau mehr als bereit, Sie zu erzählen, dass ich zu Hause war. Wir waren in eine riesige Reihe angekommen, weil ich mit einem der hübschen Amerikaner im Dorf hinunter früheren jenen Tag flirtete. Ich neige dazu, ein kleines zu erhalten das kokett ist während der Weinefeiern. Ich kann ihm nicht helfen..." Mr. Leimen giggled sheepishly and Draco laughed outright.
"Hermione," he snorted. "He says he's never been to England and that you're probably looking for his brother Reinhart. Reinhart is apparently an exporter and does a lot of trade with Britain. He also says that his wife will tell you that he was home that evening. Apparently they got into a row over his drinking too much wine at one of the festivals and flirting with some strange girl."
Hermione sighed deeply and closed her eyes. "So you aren't Reinhart Leimen?" she asked not even bothering to open them. This time, Mr. Leimen chose to answer her himself in thickly accented English.
"I am Romulus Leimen," he guffawed. "Reinhart is my twin brother. He is away on business, but will be home tomorrow evening." Hermione's eyes flew open as she glared at Romulus. Draco burst into outright laughter at the thunderous look on her face.
"Passen Sie meinen Freund auf! Sie wird Sie in eine Ratte drehen!" he laughed. Romulus quickly began drinking what was left of his krystalweissen and looking towards the exit, as though he wanted to escape but was afraid to.
"Why didn't you just answer the stupid questions in English you prat!" Hermione asked, frustration clearly showing on her face.
"Because," Romulus replied between gulps. "You are pretty. I like spending time with pretty women…." Then he dropped his glass onto the table, tossing a few Euros next to it and fleeing from the pub so fast he forgot his jacket. Hermione stared at him in confusion as he bolted. "What in the world?"
"I may," Draco chortled, "Have told him you were going to transfigure him into a rat…" Hermione looked at Draco out of the corner of her eyes and smiled slightly.
"You are incorrigible. Has anyone ever told you that?"
"Quite a few actually. Do you mind if I sat here with you for a while anyway? It's been a long time since I've seen a familiar face. Or spoke in English for that matter…" Hermione hesitated, but then waved her acceptance. It had been a long day for her, and it would help to have someone fluent with German help her when it came time to pay the bill…