Chapter 12
Harry checked the guest suite in the morning but no one was there and the bed was nicely made. He headed to the kitchen to find Malfoy sitting at the table eating breakfast. The sight put Harry in a good mood. He felt stupid for feeling that way but he couldn’t help it. Sitting down on the other side of the table Harry stole a pastry.
“Your head looks better.” Harry couldn’t see any traces of the mark he saw last night.
“Yes, well, I’m an excellent healer.” Draco sneered.
“So can I ask why you were breaking and entering last night?”
“I came to give you that.” Malfoy pointed to the box still on the foyer floor.
“What is it?”
“You asked if I had contact with anyone and while the answer is technically no I felt… guilty… because I did find this with my father’s things and I’ve never turned it over.” Draco’s mouth couldn’t quite form itself around the word ‘father’ as he spoke.
“What’s in it?”
“I don’t know. The lock is enchanted and I’ve never tried to break it.” Draco paused. “Do you have to reinstate my parole?”
“Well it’s not really a crime. We don’t even know what’s in it.” Harry shrugged.
“It’s something valuable… and bad.”
“How do you know?”
“I know him…” Draco was tense.
“Well let’s just settle it then.” Harry stood and grabbed the box from the floor.
“Wait! You have no idea what sort of spell or charm he used!” Draco followed Harry up the stairs in a slight panic.
Harry stopped in the hallway and felt the box. It was smooth and sturdy but the wood itself was soft. It was cedar and untreated. Harry held his wand above it. The lock was enchanted and the lid was charmed. He ran his hand across the sides and bottom.
Instead of going into his office he opened a door on the opposite wall. He stepped into his workshop, followed by a stunned Malfoy.
“What is all this?” Draco ran his hand across the back of a half finished chair.
“I enjoy carpentry.” Harry said without paying him much mind. He set the box on a workbench and riffled through a drawer for the correct sized attachment for his hole saw.
“You built all this?” Harry looked over at Draco who was admiring a coffee table. He bit his lip and watched as Malfoy swept the tips of his fingers over the stained wood. Somewhere along the way of renovating the house Harry had found a love for working with his hands.
“I enjoy creating things without magic. I like the work.” Harry replied before returning to the parts before him. At last he found the correct size and fitted it to the drill. Carefully he flipped the box over and pressed the power button.
“What are you doing!?” Draco shouted as Harry pushed the drill through the wood. He drilled three holes creating a long oval opening.
“Wizards almost never consider the simplest solutions.” Harry smiled. With a quick flip Harry turned the box over and shook out its contents.
“I don’t understand.” Draco’s eyebrows knitted in confusion. Harry said nothing, he understood exactly what he was looking at.
From the box had fallen several passports, maybe a ten thousand Rand, and other documents. For someone who despised muggles Lucius Malfoy sure had all the required paperwork to pass as one. Draco reached for one of the passports.
“Don’t!” Harry grabbed his hand. “We can’t have anyone thinking you knew anything about this.”
“Oh…. What is it?”
“It’s everything he’d need to start over in the muggle world.”
“The muggle world?” Draco couldn’t assimilate the information.
“It’s the best way to hide.”
“I should go.” Malfoy’s tone was hard.
“Alright. ” Harry was still looking down at the documents.
“Harry?”
“Yeah?” He looked over to Draco who motioned with his eyes to their hands. Harry hadn’t realized he’d never let Draco go.
“Sorry.” Harry released his hand and tried not to blush. Neither one said anything as Malfoy exited.
Once his head had cleared Harry carefully picked up the passports. Each one was for Lucius. The paperwork was also for one person. Harry could tell by their language that they weren’t made recently. Lucius had always planned to run away, and had never planned to take his family.
He collected all the evidence and took it in. Grimble wasn’t pleased Harry had opened it without supervision but a review of the items showed that only Harry and Lucius himself had touched the documents.
“He had half of an escape plan set before he even went to prison.”
“But can you prove he’s even trying to escape? Maybe this was for a different situation.”
“All I know Sir, is that he never planned to stay caught.”
“You’ve been looking at this long enough now. I’m not sure what you’ve found adds up to much of anything.”
Harry knew Grimble was right. He hadn’t found anything worth investigating, just a series of somewhat odd choices by a very smart woman. He thought of Malfoy and of what might happen if his father did escape.
“Two weeks. Give me two weeks and if I don’t find anything, we’ll close it.”
“You can have till next Friday.” Grimble decided and turned his attention to a stack of papers on his desk. Harry knew he was being dismissed. It was already Thursday and he only had until next Friday to prove his gut was right.
Harry went home that night feeling defeated. He went to the wood shop to put the tools away. It was a wonderful room. He had taken all of the second floor bedrooms and turned them into one long room. Hermione enchanted it so all the dust and fumes would disappear in the air in little shimmers.
He built it after the scare with his physical. Harry didn’t want to be in the position again where he could lose his identity. He needed more than his job and his reputation. He found part of what he needed working in here.
He began working on the unfinished rocking chair. It was a good distraction. The sunlight began dissipating from the windows as he worked.
At seven Kreacher laid a cold plated dinner on the finished coffee table.
“Thank you Kreacher.”
Kreacher opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a knock on the front door. He left to answer it. Harry had little doubt who it could be.
“Knocking again? Getting beat up by a house elf must have gotten to you.” Harry said as he heard the visitor enter the room.
“I’m sorry sir?” An unfamiliar voice answered.
“Oh.” Harry turned around to see a ministry messenger waiting. “I thought you were someone else.”
“I have a delivery.” The messenger extended a small envelope. Harry signed for it and sent the messenger away, apologizing once more.
It was the report he had ordered on the post box. He hadn’t expected it to return so soon. The envelope was so light Harry expected it hadn’t yielded any results. Before he could open it he heard another knock at the door. This time he answered it himself. Draco stepped in, soaked from the rain. His eyes were red and his cheeks wet.
“Can I stay here tonight?” Draco said not looking up from the floor.
“What’s wrong?” Harry asked but Draco didn’t answer. “Did you have another nightmare?”
“Can I stay here or not?” Draco looked up, angry.
“Of course.” Harry answered. He wanted to ask again what was the matter but Draco disappeared up the stairs before he got the chance.
“Kreacher?” Harry called into the kitchen.
“Yes Master Harry?”
“Will you please take our guest some dinner? Something warm.” Kreacher nodded at Harry’s request.
Quietly Harry climbed the stairs and stared down the hall to where the hidden stairs sat. He wanted to walk down the corridor and climb them. He wanted to knock on the door. He wanted to….
Harry shook his head and turned around towards his own room. Not tonight he thought.