Harvest Moon

Sorry all, this week has been horribly exhausting. I\'ll post individual replies next time.

***



Hermione spent hours the next day digging through volumes of legal documents at the Ministry. She had found the corporation that partially owned the Gilded Lily easily enough. She had also found out fairly easily it was a dummy corporation linked to several others. She was tracing down a lead when a voice interrupted her research. She turned her head to find Draco standing in the doorway of the records room, looking amused.



“You look as though you’ve been attacked by dust bunnies, Granger,” he laughed, noting she was seated on the floor and surrounded by several heavy tomes of information.



“I have been. Ones of the Monty Python variety. If my partner would consent to help me go through these then he’d look much the same,” she said, glaring up at him from her spot on the floor.



“Hey, this is your obsession, not mine. You don’t even know if it will have anything to do with this case or not.”



“No. But it will satisfy my curiosity.”



***



Tazura frowned and backed up the security DVD, not sure of what she had seen and wanting to get a better look at it. She took it frame by frame, searching for an anomaly she wasn’t sure she’d actually seen. Her eyebrows went up in surprise when she realized she wasn’t imagining things. This was not good and she could think of someone who would be most unhappy about it. She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck before standing up and going over to the fireplace. She took a handful of powder from the jar on the mantle and tossed it onto the flames. When the fire turned green she immediately stuck her head into it and called “Malfoy Manor Library”, knowing Lucius would be there at this time of the day.



“Luc, are you there?”



“Yes,” a voice said from somewhere in the bookshelves. “Just a moment.”



She waited patiently and saw him emerge from behind one of the larger cases.



“What is it, Taz?” he said, holding an open book in one hand and peering at her head curiously.



“I found something in the security DVDs I think you need to see.”



He nodded. “I’ll be there shortly,” he said, going over to his desk and closing several ledgers.



Tazura backed her head out of the fireplace and took a couple of steps back. She stepped over to the monitor where she’d been viewing the DVDs and didn’t turn as she heard the initial whoosh of Lucius arriving in her office via the flu network. She felt him come up beside her and look over her shoulder.



“What have you found?”



“An anomaly,” she said, playing the DVD frame by frame.



Lucius’ pale brows drew down in a frown. “Could you run that again, please?” he said.



Tazura rewound and ran it several times. Lucius watched the images on screen intently; completely unfazed by the fact it happened to be of him in the middle of a “scene”. He was searching the shadows in the corners of the already dark room. “Can’t be,” he murmured, more to himself than to her.



“Luc?” she asked, looking up at him worriedly.



He sighed heavily and raked both hands through his hair. “Look when the door opens again and tell me if you see a shadow.”



She watched the DVD again, looking specifically for a shadow in the doorway but found nothing. She shook her head. “No. Not at all.”



Lucius nodded, feeling very strange.



“Luc, what is it? Has to have just been someone in an invisibility cloak or something.”



“Or something,” he said. “Someone in an invisibility cloak would still cast a shadow. Because the person is technically invisible doesn’t mean they’re not solid. A person still casts a shadow even in the cloak but as they’re usually skulking around in dark places it isn’t noticed. I only know of one thing that would render someone invisible without noticeable shadow but still solid enough to open a heavy door. Non corpus potion.”



“I’ve never heard of it.”



“You’ll probably not either. The Ministry outlawed it ages ago because of its effects and the fact it’s damn near impossible to brew correctly. The contents alone are volatile. But together in the wrong proportions they’re explosive to say the least. In fact, I only know of two people in the whole of the wizarding world who could do it properly without at least losing their eyebrows and both of them are dead. Severus Snape and my brother, Liren.”



“I never knew you had a brother, Luc,” Tazura said.



He nodded. “Identical twin in fact,” he said, his eyes taking on a far away look.



“What happened?”



He shrugged, not really wanting to relive the memory. “A bout of teenage stupidity happened. We were sixteen and playing chicken on brooms. Narcissa was watching and being boys we were showing off. There had always been a competition between us. Even though he was the one who was supposed to marry her initially.”



Tazura smiled a little. “Boys are like that. I know, I have three brothers.”



“At any rate, I pulled up before hitting the castle wall and he didn’t. His neck was broken and they say he died instantly. It was ruled death by misadventure and no more was said of it.”



She put a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry, Luc.”



He shrugged and rolled his shoulders. “It was ages ago. We were never terribly close. Our father saw to that. Back to this, though,” he said, tapping the screen. “I suppose you’ll have to hand this over to the aurors.”



She sighed. “I did promise I’d give them anything that might be construed as a lead. Whatever might help them get answers.”



“This might serve to only bring more questions. It’s fine. I’ve no qualms with what I am. Or anything I’ve been. Guilt serves no purpose unless properly directed. I’ll check through my private stores. I’d like to know if I’ve been being watched for a considerable amount of time or if it’s recent.”



“Do you want me to run through your scenes as well? Two sets of eyes on the same thing couldn’t hurt.”



“If you would.”



Tazura shrugged. “You’re the boss. Do you want me to owl the aurors now or wait?”



“I’d advise doing it now. Simply to get it over with. That way they can’t say we withheld information.”