Chapter Four
London
Hermione had marched into her office at quarter after eight Sunday morning fueled by a pepper up potion, a cup of coffee and the renewed fervor of a new lead.
Her exuberance lasted all of exactly twenty seven minutes and forty two seconds, which is how long it took her to discover that her new angle of getting to Nott by someone close to him wasn't going to work.
It should have worked and it probably would have worked except Nott was a recluse. She supposed she should have expected as much considering what happened during the war, but other Slytherins had bounced back into society remarkably well. Pansy was probably the most public of the Slytherins of her year and she was doing well for herself according to the tabloids. She had become a fashion designer and was wildly popular especially in the Americas and kept the gossip columns busy with her string of celebrity lovers.
But Nott didn't date, didn't party, or travel abroad. His meagre social presence was relegated to coffee outings with Pansy and a handful of dinner parties or charity functions a year (mainly with high ranking ministry officials where large amounts of money changed pockets.) He never put a toe out of line and he had spontaneous raids done regularly by the Auror department on his flat and the small office he held above Burkleys Boots and Buckles shoe store in Diagon Alley which never yielded anything.
When she had discovered weeks ago that this office was where he ran his private consulting business, it initially seemed to be another possible lead into why he would be involved with a potion supply store. However upon further digging Hermione discovered that Nott worked with the curse breakers at Gringotts and consulted exclusively on rare and valuable coins.
In a fit of desperation Hermione looked into the connection of Ginny's classmate Jeremy. He was another dead end. He didn't work with Nott, rather he worked for Gringots as a clerk for their Cursebteakers. So even if she had been desperate enough to try and wheedle information out of him she doubted he would be of any use.
For all of the hope she had for today being productive she found herself wishing she had stayed cuddled up with Crookshanks under her covers instead. Disappointment never sat well with Hermione. It stuck in her throat like dry cake and made her irritable.
At eleven, with not so much of a scrap more of information than what she had already found, Hermione decided to admit defeat, at least for the day.
She decided to grab lunch instead of making it at home and to pick up something fun for Crookshanks from the pet store. He probably wouldn't actually play with anything she bought but she would have fun shopping for it anyhow.
It was a beautiful day in Diagon Alley when she stepped out of the ministry and onto the sunny cobblestones. There was the usual Saturday bustle of families out for the weekly shopping and the air tingled with magic and life. Hermione let herself linger, peeking into stores and window shopping before she made her way to her favourite noodle shop.
As she waited on a bench she watched the flow of people passing by, she knew many of them from the ministry or school and they nodded pleasant hellos as they went past or tipped their hats to her. The smell of the food and the warmth of the sun lulled her to relax, just a little.
It was by chance, or maybe the gentle hand of fate, that Hermione looked up the street towards Gringotts when she did. Among the throng of shoppers her eyes snagged on a man walking quickly down the road. He wasn't paying attention but was glancing at a pocket watch in his hand as he fumbled in his coat for something, he clearly hadn't seen her but even still she ducked behind the ornamental kumquat tree next to her.
Theodore Nott was not at all like she remembered him. Or what she had pictured from the obscure and half focused photos from the tabloids. While at school Nott had been slight and wiry, much like Harry had been as a child, all spindly arms and knobby knees with a pale pinched face. When she had first seen him at school she remembered being shocked at how thin he had been.
He had grown up a lot in the last eight years. His wavy brown hair was neat and tidy and he was dressed in a pristine tailored blue suit that would have made Malfoy proud. He had filled out slightly, becoming less skeletal and more lean and had grown into the length of his limbs.
She tore her eyes away from him to accept the box of noodles from the shop attendant and when she looked back he had disappeared inside his office building.
Hermione chewed her lip and watched the door to see if he'd reappear.
He didn't, so she was left with a choice. She could march into his office and demand some answers and finally put this issue to rest or she could go home, curl up with Crookshanks and then face this mess properly on Monday.
At the prospect of wasting another week or months trying to corner Nott, Hermione stood up and marched across the street with a lot more confidence than she felt.
Standing in front of his door she read his onyx and gold plaque just below the street address.
Mr. T. Nott Consulting
By appointment only
No Soliciting
There was no knocker and no bell pull so Hermione stood awkwardly on the stoop before reaching up to rap her knuckles against the polished wood.
The door swung silently open at the first knock. In his rush Nott must have forgotten to check that it latched behind him. Gingerly she stepped into the hall beyond as she reflexively took out her wand. A small empty reception desk sat next to a very large staircase going up. Judging from the dust on the desk Nott did not employ either a secretary or a maid regularly.
Poking around a known dark wizard's sketchy business during her weekend for answers was a testament to how desperate she'd become. She gingerly made her way past the desk and up the polished stairs.
A thick green rug covered the second floor muffling the sound of her shoes across the floor as she made her way down the hall. There were three doors all with beautifully etched glass but Hermione would put money that Nott's office was the one at the very end of the hall. Slytherin dramatic presentation and all that.
As she crept closer to the door she could hear muffled voices and at least two people moving about. She crept closer and leaned gingerly against the door frame trying to press her ear as close as she could.
"-didn't need to come all the way here. I've got it under control." Nott's voice was deeper than she remembered and he sounded annoyed.
"Porca puttana! It certainly seems like you have things well in hand. What on earth have you done to get the import licences under investigation?" She didn't recognize the Italian voice.
"Nothing! I've double checked every paper, every holding. I don't know what that bloody office has found but I'm handling it! You are being over dramatic, as usual, there is no reason to be dragging him and mum back here because you want to strut about and stick your nose in things that aren't your jurisdiction" Nott again. There was the sound of someone moving furniture about roughly.
"Sei un rompicoglioni!" The Italian growled. "You cannot expect us to sit idly by as there are delays. You know what's at stake. You know-"
"Do you think I don't? Oh it's fine for you to prance around Florence sending owls when you feel like remembering anyone but yourself but I never ran away." Nott interrupted with a hiss. "I stayed. I've been slogging through this mess alone-"
"Enough. Stop bickering like children." A third voice, one she recognized and made Hermione's blood run cold. Lucius Malfoy's voice sliced from the other side of the door.
A small rational part of her panic-filled brain whispered that he was serving a life sentence in Azkaban. That he was safely locked away, that Harry and Ron would have told her if there was a breakout. So it couldn't be him…could it?
"We aren't here to take over or get involved in any official capacity. You're doing fine Theo, Blaise is tired from our journey, ignore him." Hermione was trying to calm her breathing behind her cupped hands, terrified they might hear her. "We are here to sort this mess out and help, in whatever capacity we can. No more squabbling, we need to work together or we might as well throw the last four years of work out the window."
So Blaise Zabini was the Italian, and if the Malfoy, Nott and Zabini were working together on this potion supply store it was probably for a far worse reason than she initially imagined. And somehow they were communicating with Lucius or had helped him escape in some way… she had to tell Harry. She had to get help.
Hermione was so preoccupied with trying to untangle her thoughts from the adrenaline, she didn't notice the voices moving closer until the door had been pulled open and she fell forward into the room. Arms reached out to break her fall and a pair of silver eyes, wide with horror and shock met hers in the heartbeat before two voices in unison cried "Stupify!" and her world turned black.
A/N: Blaise only had a couple Italian expressions so I figured I'd pop them down at the bottom of the page.
Porca Puttana: goddamnit or fuck it.| Sei un rompicoglion- Pain in the ass|
