January 3rd, 2025
London, Grimould 12
16:26
.
Harry didn't take a photo of Trey Donovan to Jessy that day. His colleagues did not hesitate even for a second to take this job upon themselves and help him out when he asked for it. Harry himself tried to keep some semblance of normality in his life, and visiting Crenshaw household at this moment would unnecessarily complicate the matter. Like most other parents at the Auror department, he spent the holidays with his children, his work almost forgotten, and most importantly, he couldn't remember when he had had more fun. He was getting to know them as young individuals that they were instead of the childish teenagers he supposed they would be, and was surprised to notice the fulfillment that came along with that knowledge.
This particular afternoon continued in the same fashion, with the added fact that Ron and Hermione were also joining for dinner. Harry and Albus were in the kitchen preparing the meal while James and Lily were satisfied just watching them work. Both were leaning on counters, discreetly observing the growing assortment of food. Occasionally one would sneak a finger towards it and snatch another bite, while the other distracts their brother with good-natured teasing.
"Lils, does it need more salt?" Harry asked the redhead, offering her a spoon of hot stew.
Lily murmured a spell to cool the offered sauce and opened her mouth. As soon as Harry tipped the spoon so the stew touched her tongue her eyes closed on their own and purring sound she made made her brothers laugh. This reaction told Harry all he needed to know.
"Dad, would it be ok if I invited a friend over for lunch next week?" Albus asked, seemingly focusing on mixing the salad.
Harry looked at him with unreadable expression. Usually Albus would not ask permission to ask someone over."Sure, do I know him?"
Albus left the salad aside and crouched to check the bread in the oven, but Harry caught the blush that tinged his cheeks.
" His name is Leo. I don't think you've met before."
Harry smiled, as did James and Lily. When Lily looked like she was about to start teasing her older brother again Harry skillfully interrupted.
"So, where do you know him from?"
"Two months ago I had this job interview at the apothecary, remember? " Harry nodded "Well, he works there…"
"Is it the guy I saw you with at Diagon Alley?" James asked frowning.
Albus nodded, avoiding everyone's eyes. This made Harry all the more curious. " James?" he pushed his eldest, thoroughly interested in his sons' reaction.
James looked at his brother who seemed preoccupied with cooking. Harry figured he didn't want to say something that would potentially hurt Albus. The boy was too shy even without adding constant teasing from his family.
"He looked ok I guess. He seemed to be a bit… mature."
"Mature?" Harry cocked his eyebrow at James.
"He means old, Dad." Albus answered nonplussed.
"Oh." Harry stopped steering for a moment. "Exactly how old are we talking about?" He really didn't have the right to preach about the age difference, but if this guy was his age he was pretty sure he would react the same way as Jessy's dad.
"He is eight years older, but I like him." Albus said, still avoiding the interested looks he was receiving and going back to the salad... like it needed any more mixing.
Two things registered in Harry's brain at the same time, admittedly one of those with a huge delay. One: Albus liked boys. Two: Albus and James both thought that eight year age difference borders with unacceptable for a relationship. Harry didn't know if he should cheer for the first discovery or be depressed about the second.
"Well, I would really like to meet him then." Harry smiled at his son, and almost laughed when Albus nearly dropped a fork he was using to poke the salad with.
Now Harry was the one that had undivided attention from the whole family.
"You are ok with it?" Albus asked incredulously.
Harry shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be? Lils, pass the garlic please. "
Nobody seemed to move. However James was the first to gather the courage to speak, as usual.
"So you don't mind that Al is gay?"
Since all his kids seemed to be rooted to their spots, Harry took the garlic himself and put it in the pot.
"The only thing that bothers me is that Albus never mentioned it before. " but of course he could hardly blame him for that when he was doing the same thing himself…
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January 4th, 2025
London, Ministry of Magic
Auror Headquarters
11:29
.
Ron was laughing so hard that Harry thought he would fall off of his chair. Harry still didn't quite know where the redhead got the idea that it would be acceptable to invade his space this morning. Especially after that horrifying sally last night at dinner. Harry had no idea how the whole conversation went so off the desired course. Encouraged by Harry's acceptance, Albus felt no need to hide his boyfriend anymore, so he timidly announced his relationship to his Aunt and Uncle, being particularly giddy when he mentioned his dad's easy acceptance of his older partner. And then it all went to hell when said Uncle decided to open his big mouth: 'Well Al, wouldn't you understand it if your old man started shagging younger guys? ' And to make matters worse, Harry blushed! His stupid cheeks betrayed him at the worst possible moment! It was only his luck that everyone believed he was blushing from the thought and not the truth of it. But still… the nerve of the man! And it didn't help that Ron unknowingly hit straight to the center of Harry's fears.
When a few minutes prior they dropped Lily and Hugo off at Kings Cross, Harry systematically avoided any conversation with Ron ('Be nice to Uncle Ron, Dad!' Lily scolded), and he was just about to start working at his desk when Ron rudely dragged himself the chair nearby and made himself comfortable right next to him.
"You should have seen the look on your face mate!" Ron managed between two particularly hard bouts of laughter.
"You had no right to mention it in front of my kids, Ron." Harry scowled.
"But I didn't, Al did! Come on, mate, relax… they still don't know a thing about you!" and again Ron was in hysterics.
"Al wasn't the one who brought up the image of his own father having sex with a kid! I swear, you traumatized my kids for life Ron!"
"I'd say you were the only one traumatized there, mate… Now at least you know they would be accepting of you buggering men…" Ron shrugged finally calming down.
"That's not the point, you git!" Harry swung the large envelope at Ron's head.
"Mature, mate, real mature…" Ron teased.
"Ok, fine… I don't want to talk about it anymore… ever! Now will you let me focus on my job?" Harry accentuated his point by slamming the envelope down on his desk " Jessy Crenshaw identified Trey Donovan as the guy sitting in the corner boot. So, either Donovan was there to warn Crenshaw or he came with Louviere to finish him off, which doesn't make sense in my mind…"
"Donovan was the one who built the case against Louviere, so he was in the same pile of poop as Crenshaw." Ron frowned looking at the file "I'd say he was trying to warn Crenshaw that Donovan is at large. But why don't you ask Donovan, he should be in his office today?"
"Pile of poop!?" Harry looked like Christmas had come again.
"Oh... Hermione doesn't want me to swear in front of the kids." Ron answered, hoping Harry would forget about it. Harry's smile however only got larger and more devilish. "You won't let this go any time soon, right?" Ron asked subdued. Harry's smile was still in place, freaking Ron out a bit, while he slowly shook his head. "Well, shit."
"Don't you mean poop, Ronnikins?" Harry asked, his grin almost splitting his face in half.
The small pink memo in shape of an airplane came flying in front of Harry and he swiftly snatched it from the air. He opened it and frowned at the note. While Ron was still sulking in his chair, Harry got up and walked to the elevator.
"Hey, what's going on?" Ron yelled after him.
"I'll be right back."
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January 4th, 2025
London, Ministry of Magic
Atrium
08:45
.
Harry walked to the front desk, where the young ministry worker was sitting, waiting for him to take the small Muggle cell phone.
"It will work better if you leave the building, Auror." she stated, just like every time he got the call from Muggles before. Usually it was only London PD calling, but this time, knowing who it was on the other end, Harry was more than a bit apprehensive about this call.
He left the Ministry through the telephone boot and walked a few more steps away before taking a deep breath and answering the phone.
"Jessy?"
"Hi Harry. May I call you Harry?" the nervous voice answered.
Harry was not really sure how to proceed. Why was Jessy calling anyway? And while, yes, he wanted Jessy to call him by his name, he also knew if he did not keep his distance then terrible things could and probably would happen, like taking a bullet from Jessy's dad...
"Detective will do for now. Is this about the case?"
There was a short silence at the other end. "It's about us. I wanted to see you again." shaky voice answered "Please?"
Harry took a deep breath. He really had no idea what to do. His heart was telling him one thing, and his mind completely the opposite. For once he decided to follow his wits.
"I am afraid I am quite busy, Mr. Crenshaw. Unless you have any important information for us…"
"Please… I just want to talk… I understand if…"
"Look, how about we talk after I find your Uncle's killer? Would that be ok for you?" he asked haughtily but regretted his sharp tone right away.
Short pause again where Harry could hear hitched breathing on the other end. "Thank you."
Just as Harry was about to say goodbye Jessy spoke again. "I thought you found him? The murderer? The guy on the that picture the officer showed me? Trey?"
Harry sighed. " No, we have reasons to believe that's not the guy who killed Steven Crenshaw."
"But I saw him!" Jessy shouted surprised "Dad kept asking over and over if I made a mistake, he said Uncle Trey would never kill Uncle Steve! "
"Don't worry Jessy, you didn't make a mista…" Harry stopped mid sentence "Wait a minute! Uncle Trey? Trey Donovan is your uncle?"
"Yeah, he is mum's brother. We haven't heard from him since I was born. I've never seen him before." Jessy replied in a subdued tone of voice.
Harry wondered why Jessy's father kept this piece of information from him. "Oh… May I talk to your mother then? We can not find him anywhere and she might know where he is. He might be in danger."
"Uh… mum died… at childbirth… I think that's why Uncle Trey left." Jessy said quietly.
Harry let his eyes close in exasperation. Everything he found out brought more questions and more dead ends. But at least this explained why Jessy's father was so sure his brother didn't keep in touch with Trey Donovan. "I am sorry, Jessy."
"Who killed Uncle Steve then? " Jessy asked, obviously thinking quite fast "Was it Darius Louviere? Dad said that he was released from prison. But how, I didn't see anyone else there?"
"We can only assume it was him, but so far we can't find Donovan or Louviere to confirm our suspicions." Harry answered calmly. He wondered if Jessy new about magic if Trey Donovan was his uncle… on the other hand his other uncle also knew about the existence of magic even if he was not a wizard…
"Have you talked to Louviere's parole officer? I am assuming he has to still check in regularly with him. "
Harry's eyes widened thinking of that. Of course, what were they thinking! The parole officer would have to know at any time where Louviere was.
His silence must have been interpreted in the wrong way since Jessy spoke quickly "I'm sorry… Of course you did… who am I to teach you how to do you jo…"
"Actually, Jessy, no we didn't. Thank you for this suggestion. I will look into it right away. I hope to talk to you soon."
Harry ended the connection eager to follow the new lead. He ran back to the headquarters, for the first time daring to hope this case will be closed soon.