Chapter 2
“Ms. Granger, we have a bit of a problem.”
A man around five foot two stopped at Hermione’s desk, his hands clenched. Hermione glanced up from an article she’d been reading about the long term effects of overutilization of polyjuice potion–a very interesting read she might have added had she not been interrupted.
“Yes, Finswick?” She answered only half listening. She almost expected Clarence Finswick to tell her that he’d lost his quick writing quill again and that he needed her to declare a ministry emergency until it was found.
“Edmund Fawley hasn’t shown up for his shift. He was supposed to be here hours ago.” Clarence said worriedly.
Hermione sighed, her attention still focused on the same line of the paper she’d re-read over fifty times now. “I’m sure he’s just ill, Clarence. There’s an influx in dragon pox cases. It’s particularly bad this time of year.”
“But I checked the absentee call in records.” Clarence shook his head furiously and wrung his hands together. “He didn’t call Ms. Granger. In fact, he clocked in at 7:57AM and hasn’t been seen since.”
Hermione could not deny the behavior seemed odd, but she also knew it was not unlike Clarence to bring in the calvary for a minor error. He reminded her much of Neville and because of his likely resemblance, she felt the need to indulge him.
"Alright. I’ll check with Shacklebolt. It’s possible he’s sent Edmund off on a wild goose chase. He’s been doing that frequently lately”, Hermione reassured him. “Focus on those wizarding genetic studies and I’ll let you know if we find anything.”
Clarence nodded and took his leave, much to Hermione’s relief. As much as she would have loved to finish her reading on polyjuice potion and its effects, she wasted no time in getting out of the research department. She enjoyed research, but being the new head of the department had taken quite a toll on her. There were many responsibilities including payroll, ascertaining new topics of study, overseeing the labs; The list was endless. The pressure, most of all, of directing the other employees while still maintaining her head above water was beginning to feel like suffocation.
She made her way to Shackelbolt’s office slowly. The more time away from Clarence’s panicked pleas for help, the better. Besides, she was sure Mr. Fawley was busy with the paperwork she’d assigned to him just last week or possibly busy with Ms. Jamison in the broom closet. Honestly, Hermione did not care to know which.
She had been enjoying the much needed silence when a familiar voice reverberating from Shacklebolt’s office disrupted her thoughts.
“Why would I have anything to do with this?”
“Are you seriously asking me that question, Mr. Malfoy?”
“Yes, I am Shacklebolt. I feel this is absurd. And quite frankly feels a bit like profiling.”
The conversation between the two men ceased as Hermione appeared in the doorway of Shacklebolt’s office.
“Miss Granger," Shacklebolt smiled. “Just the person I wanted to speak with. Please, come in.”
“I hope I’m not interrupting, minister, I just had a quick concern to discuss with you.” Hermione sidestepped Draco to stand before the minister’s cherry wood desk.
“Well look what the kneazle dragged in..” Draco Malfoy, in a plain and pressed white button down and slacks, slipped his hands casually into his pockets. “Surprised you were able to pull that big, heavy head from your precious research.”
Hermione glared. She quickly forgot what she had come to Shackelbolt’s office for in the first place. “Research that benefits you.”
“Oh, Granger, I am deeply flattered. I bow down to thee. Forgive me.” Draco added with a mock curtsy. Hermione, now seething, parted her lips to speak, but was interrupted by Shackelbolt who clearly had no patience for their antics.
“Miss Granger," he said. “I’m glad you’re here. I was actually just about to send for you.”
Hermione interrupted him before he could continue feeling as if her missing employee was increasingly more important than whatever was going on between Draco and the minister. “Clarence is concerned about Edmund Fawley. Have you seen or heard from him?”
“I was just speaking to Mr. Malfoy here about the very issue.” Shackelbolt’s eyes darted accusingly from Hermione to Draco. “I sent Mr. Fawley to the basement level. As you know, we’ve had some electrical issues and it’s been affecting the ministry power reserves.”
“Where is Fawley now?” She asked.
“Edmund Fawley is gone. Missing, presumably dead.”
“What do you mean, missing and presumably dead?!”
Draco, seeing it as the perfect time to insert himself, chimed in. “What he means, Granger, is not here. Not alive. Nada. Zilch.”
“Yes, thank you, Malfoy. I’ve no idea how we’d all survive without your intelligence to keep us going.” Hermione scowled at Draco before shaking her head and turning her attention back to Shacklebolt. “What’s happened to him?”
Shacklebolt eyed Draco again before Hermione. “There’s a vanishing cabinet in the basement. Very similar to the one that was used in your sixth year to allow death eaters entry into Hogwarts.”
“And you think Malfoy had something to do with it.” Hermione stated.
“Now you see my concern clearly.”
“I worked for the dark lord one time as a teenager and all of a sudden every vanishing cabinet murder is now on me?” Draco rolled his eyes, shifting his weight to his other leg. “This is ridiculous. I work in the unspeakable department for merlin’s sake. Highest security clearance next to an auror. If I’d been fiddling with another vanishing cabinet you would have known. Besides, cabinets are rare nowadays. The chances of anyone, much less me, having access to one is near impossible.”
As much as Hermione would have loved to dispute Draco’s statements, she was annoyingly aware that he was right. The last two cabinets in existence that anyone in the wizarding world had been aware of, had been the two from sixth year that Shacklebolt had described.
“He’s telling the truth”, Hermione said begrudgingly. “If he’d been anywhere on the basement level, there’d be a record of it. Anyone going off the usual levels of the ministry or dealing with ministry infrastructure is automatically tracked.”
“Correct. However, Mr. Malfoy here has been known to bend the rules and sneak around. I’d not put it past him to find a way around something like this”, Shackelbolt responded.
“I may be many things, but I am not stupid, Shacklebolt. I have more self respect than to throw away everything I’ve worked towards for the last 6 years”, Draco said.
“He’s right, Kingsley”, Hermione corroborated reluctantly. “He’s got too much to lose to do something like this. Besides, the only two cabinets left that had known whereabouts were destroyed.”
Shacklebolt sighed deeply, reluctant to admit defeat, before showing his hands in surrender. “Alright”, He said. “Mr. Malfoy didn't do this. Who did?”
“Minister.”
A wizard Hermione had seen a time or two around the office, popped into the door halfway.
“Now is not a good time, Mitzi.” Shacklebolt appeared frustrated.
“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt minister, but we really need-“
“Mitzi, I will be there in a moment.” Shacklebolt said.
“But sir”, Mitzi persisted. “It’s Edmund Fawley. They’ve found a body in the basement.”
Shacklebolt, clearly caught off guard, glanced at Draco and then Hermione. His silence without immediate response indicated he was thinking harder than usual, something Hermione had learned of him during her time throughout the war.
“You two are being given emergency clearance to work this case.” Shacklebolt stated swiftly. He pointed his want towards the two with authority, a glowing golden aura surrounding them before either of them could protest.
“Kingsley, we’re not even aurors. We are not authorized to work a crime scene.” Hermione argued.
“You are starting today”, Kingsley said. “I need both of your expertise on this.”
Kingsley wasted no time in speaking the incantation. “Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister for Magic, now granting auror clearance and authorization to Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, to work the case of Edmund Fawley.”
The glow of gold around them dissipated as the incantation finished and Shacklebolt pocketed his wand before exiting swiftly.
“I guess this makes us partners then, Granger.” Draco produced his wand, swinging it through his fingers playfully as he walked towards the door.
Hermione simply scoffed before shoving past him at the door, following quickly behind Shacklebolt. Draco lingered momentarily in the doorway, a boyish smirk plastered on his face. Hermione Granger hadn’t disagreed with him about being partners and he was mildly enjoying it.
The trio made their descent towards the basement by foot, as Shacklebolt had advised the elevators were now down due to whatever conundrum Fawley had found himself in.
Draco followed in suit behind Hermione and Shacklebolt as he sorted through his own thoughts. He considered how he’d not interacted with Granger much since his school days. Many of their dealings nowadays occurred in a secure ministry room, surrounded by the minister and many of the ministry employees, to discuss business to which Draco was almost always pulled to sit in on for his business-like mind. But, now, with Granger walking ahead of him and neither of them being restrained by the shackles of ministry chatter, he couldn’t help but wonder many mundane things about her. For his own research of course.
“Enjoying your time in research, Granger?”
Hermione, who had already advised herself not to engage with Draco more than she needed to, let out a huff of air, but successfully held her tongue.
Draco continued on, his hands clasped behind his back, as the two of them followed Kingsley down into the basement. “Kneazle got your tongue? Or wait, isn’t that hairball you call a cat named Banks?”
Hermione shook her head, willing herself not to give in to what she knew was Draco making an attempt at riling her up. He’d always known how to push her buttons, though nowadays, his motives seemed much different, and far less malicious, than those he pursued in school. Nevertheless, she refused to grant him any satisfaction in his endeavors to annoy her.
The trio rounded a corner, then continued on their descent to the ministry basement where Edmund Fawley had presumably been found.
“You know, I had a cat once. Nimbus. Of course, he was not as fond of me as I was of him.”
Hermione scoffed internally. She tried to imagine Draco Malfoy owning a pet, much less a cat. To no avail, the only image her brain could muster was of Draco frustratingly torturing the supposed cat.
“And then of course there were always the peacocks.”
“Do you ever shut up?”
A sly smirk, once again, spread across Draco’s face. One of triumph that he would relish in for getting a reaction from Granger.
“Maybe. If you ask really nicely”, He said. “Although, I’m quite okay with a woman who demands what she wants.”
“You disgust me.” Even though Draco couldn’t see them, Hermione rolled her eyes. She could sense his slick smile and cocky attitude, even from behind her.
“I’m just making small talk, Granger. Trying to lighten the mood, one might say.” Draco flipped his wand between his fingers, his steps now in tune with hers as he moved to make strides beside her. “We are partners now, after all. Figured that means we should get on more of a friendly basis.”
“I dread to inform you, I am more of a need-to-know basis type of girl.”
“Bollocks. I’ve heard more about you in the last two years than I ever needed to know. Besides, I’ve seen how friendly you are with Potter and Weaslebee. You’re not fooling me, Granger.”
Hermione swore. “Is that so? And just who are you speaking of that provided you with this information?”
“And that ”, Draco said, as he cut her off to walk in front of her. He turned over his shoulder to finish his sentence, and for good measure, added a wink, “is a real need-to-know basis.”
“Are you two finished tantalizing one another? Or need I let Edmund Fawley’s family know this may take a bit longer due to the Granger-Malfoy complexes that are obstructing the investigation?” Shacklebolt’s voice reminded Hermione that the two of them were not alone. She shook the conversation from her mind and focused her wand at a lock by Shacklebolt where he stood waiting.
“ Alohamora .”
Hermione unlocked the large padlock keeping what was now being deemed a crime scene, contained. Shacklebolt, with a wave of his own wand, swung open the metal door, allowing the three of them entrance to the room. No longer in darkness, the room was now bright, as tens of industrial lamps shone onto the floor of the ministry basement. Aurors and crime scene technicians worked hastily to gather evidence and take notes to piece together what had happened to Edmund Fawley.
The three of them approached the body that lay face down on the cold concrete flooring. Edmund Fawley looked as if he had been swallowed by the cabinet and then spit back up. His head was turned to the side at an odd angle, indicating to Hermione it had been broken.
“No initial marks on the body”, Draco’s voice was now more serious. Hermione had to complete a double take to ensure that she and Shacklebolt were still in the presence of the same man. “Looks as if he’s just sleeping. If you asked me, I wouldn’t have even assumed him dead upon the first look. There’s nothing that indicates there was even a struggle.”
Hermione nodded in agreement as she checked Edmund’s body for any traces of poison. “No poison either and there’s no sign of the usual dark magic associated with the unforgivable curses.”
Draco bent down to a squatting position and reached into the dead man’s pockets.
Hermione cringed. “Is that really necessary?”
Draco cocked his head over his shoulder, his digging paused. “We need to know if his wand is on him.” He continued his search, much to Hermione’s reluctance. “No wand.” He turned to Shacklebolt. “Do we have it in evidence already?”
“No,” Shacklebolt said. “No wand found on him or the surrounding scene.”
“No wizard in this day and age goes without their wand. I would suggest we get them to double check the basement for any sign of it.” Draco commanded.
He moved with the knowledge of someone who’d been in this position before and for a moment, Hermione had forgotten how involved in murderous activities he’d been when in sixth and seventh year. It made sense why the ministry had hired him if she thought deep enough. Draco’s knowledge of death and the dark arts was a guide book for the ministry in these types of situations. Draco had been made a monster to many but, to the ministry he was a goldmine.
Draco stopped alongside the vanishing cabinet that rested in the corner before him. Hermione and Shacklebolt tailed the platinum blonde, watching as he worked diligently to mentally catalogue information about the piece of furniture.
“Hello old friend”, Draco murmured, just low enough for himself and the cabinet to hear.
Hermione felt the air in the room shift and she looked to Shacklebolt searching for his recognition of the change too. She became cognizant of Draco’s sudden displeasure with the wooden cabinet before him, made visibly evident as he paused momentarily before touching his calloused hand against it. The magic of the cabinet embraced him.
“This isn’t possible”, He whispered, fear lacing his now hesitant voice. His shoulders slumped, his head bowing as the all too familiar dark magic he’d once been so entangled with connected with his own magic once more.
“What is it, Malfoy?” Shacklebolt questioned. He too had picked up on Draco’s change in body language.
Draco didn’t have to answer or respond to Shacklebolt’s question in any way for Hermione to understand what realization he had come to. The discontented manner in which Draco intrinsically remembered the cabinet shook him. Even in the many times he had tried and tried to forget its magic, the cabinet had not forgotten him.
Hermione took one last survey of Draco as he stood before the cabinet, resentment and dread filling him all the same.
“It’s the vanishing cabinet.”