Full show
The cramped interrogation room was stifling, the dim lighting casting harsh shadows over the suspect’s pale face. Draco leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his cold, calculating gaze fixed on the trembling man seated at the table. The wizard—wiry, disheveled, and twitching nervously—seemed on the verge of breaking under the scrutiny of the two men before him.
Across the table, Orion stood like a statue, his imposing frame radiating an unnerving calm. His wand hand rested casually at his side, but his piercing gaze did all the heavy lifting. It was the kind of silence that could make even the strongest-willed crack.
“I told you,” the suspect stammered, his voice thin and brittle. “I don’t know anything about the shipment. I was just hired to deliver a package, I swear!”
Draco raised an eyebrow but remained silent, content to let Orion take the lead. There was a method to his partner’s style, one Draco had grown to appreciate.
“You expect me to believe,” Orion said, his voice smooth but laced with steel, “that you stumbled into a cursed object smuggling ring without asking any questions? That you had no idea what you were transporting?”
“I didn’t ask!” the man pleaded, his wide eyes darting between the two wizards. “I—I don’t get involved in that kind of stuff. I just do the deliveries.”
Orion stepped forward, his presence swallowing the already small room. “And you think that absolves you? One of those cursed objects could have killed someone. A child. A family. You carry death in your hands, and you think ignorance is a defense?”
The suspect’s bravado crumbled entirely. He tried to speak but faltered, his lips trembling. Then his gaze fixed on Orion’s eyes—and whatever shred of composure he had left shattered.
Draco noticed it too. The faint, otherworldly glow in Orion’s purple eyes had intensified, spilling light into the dim room. It wasn’t just a glow anymore; it was a searing fire, unnatural and alive, casting ghostly shadows that danced on the walls.
The suspect recoiled, gripping the edges of the table as if it were the only thing tethering him to reality. “I—I’ll tell you!” he blurted out, words tumbling over one another. “It’s in Knockturn Alley—an old shop called Spirewood! It’s run by Grover! He’s the one you want, not me! Please, just stop looking at me like that!”
Orion held the man’s gaze for a beat longer before stepping back. The fiery intensity in his eyes dimmed to its usual subdued shimmer, though the tension in the room lingered like smoke. “Good choice,” he said, his voice steady and cold.
Draco straightened from his spot against the wall, casting Orion a brief glance before signaling the guards to escort the suspect out. The moment the door clicked shut, Draco turned to Orion with a wry smirk.
“Well, that was dramatic,” he said lightly.
Orion chuckled, running a hand through his dark hair. “It got the job done, didn’t it?”
“You do have a knack for scaring the truth out of people,” Draco admitted, brushing a speck of dust from his sleeve. “Though I have to say, the whole ‘glowing eyes of doom’ bit was a nice touch. Intimidation spell, or is that just a Veyne thing?”
Orion smirked, his gaze flicking to Draco. “Let’s call it a natural talent.”
Draco raised a skeptical eyebrow but didn’t press further. He’d learned not to question the quirks of Orion’s magic too closely—it was powerful, unorthodox, and far beyond the realm of standard spellwork.
“You sure you don’t want to write a book about it?” Draco teased as they stepped into the corridor. “Intimidation 101: Stare Them into Submission.”
Orion laughed softly, the tension of the interrogation easing. “Only if you write the foreword. Something like, ‘How to Look Aloof While Doing Absolutely Nothing.’”
Draco smirked. “Touché.”
As they walked away from the interrogation room, the lingering unease of the suspect’s words drifted into the back of Draco’s mind. Whatever secrets Orion carried about his magic, Draco wasn’t particularly interested in prying them open—not tonight, at least. They had bigger problems to handle, starting with a smuggling ring in Knockturn Alley.
But as they rounded the corner, Draco couldn’t resist one last remark. “Just make sure you save the glowing eyes trick for the bad guys. I’d hate to have to explain it to the Ministry.”
“Don’t worry,” Orion replied, his smirk returning. “I’m saving the full show for someone who really deserves it.”