iarus didn’t know what to say howard larson had been an unspeakable with the department of mysteries for almost fifteen years, with not a single thing tarnishing his reord of servie he’d been in the room with the others, knoked out old when they’d found them all the department knew was when he woke up at st mungo’s, larson had left a path of stone bodies in his wake
“you’re the only one who has stayed on the grid, malfoy”
“imagine that could it possibly be beause i haven’t turned anyone to stone with my stare? or brought famine to a hortiulture show and aused a t? inspired a ministry work retreat to break into a sudden y?” malfoy raised an eyebrow
mlaggen stepped forward and glowered at malfoy at first, iarus thought malfoy had got a rise out of him but a took a breath and shook his head “you might not be an obus threat to publi safety but eah artifat and urse in that box had the potential to be atalysmi, malfoy at least with larson and some of the others we know what they’re apable of” mlaggen turned to iarus and then bak to malfoy “we’ve been wathing you for days do you even know what you’re doing?”
malfoy paled and stared at the floor in a less ombative tone he said, “do not keep following me” in an even smaller voie, he added, “i will ome bak with you as soon bertrie zivantus is found and theof eleven omes to get zivantus’ timepiee”
“we don’t take orders from you,” mlaggen smirked
“leave,” iarus direted at mlaggen the man furrowed his brows but iarus just said, “go” with a look of onfun and suspn, mlaggen left the orner of the kithen and went out into the lounge he didn’t have the learane to hear what they were about to disuss iarus took a step forward and stared at malfoy, who had managed to make his fae ral one more “you know about the timepiee?”
malfoy soffed “the worst kept seret in the department is that zivantus still had it”
iarus sableton shivered at the thought of the iniquitous eleven and what it meant that one of them would be oming “do you know where it is? where zivantus kept it?”
malfoy studied him and replied, “no of ourse not do you think he would trust someone like me with that rman?”
“if you don’t know where it is, then who does?”
malfoy shrugged “i’m just a lowly jur unspeakable afflited with an a greian urse” he smirked “what do i know?”
harry felt a bit odd walking in through the main entrane of the ashtyl hotel as himself he and ron had arated there and deided to try and poke around under the guise of aurors in the penthouse iigan harry wasn’t sure if they were looking for lues to the murder or to bertrie’s situan, or some way to o the two together oely he just had the feeling he would know it when they saw it and that drao malfoy was somehow very muh a part of it
“herne?” ron eximed harry looked at ron and followed his gaze to the entrane of the hotel lounge harry’s mouth dropped
herne rushed over to them, a rge book luthed in her arms “oh thank god you two are here i’ve just run into a mlaggen and—”
“blimey, herne, what are you doing here?”
“well i—” she looked bak and forth between them with her mouth open
“you’re here for work?” ron offered
“i am, yes,” she nodded, though harry thought something about her seemed off herne gestured around with one of her hands “i’m here for work”
a fsh of ptinum blond hair stole harry’s attenn, and he raned his nek around to see drao malfoy and pansy parkinson leaving the lounge and heading for the lift harry lurhed forward, an involuntary pull to onfront the blond, but ron pulled him bak “he doesn’t know it’s you, mate,” ron said
“what?” harry frowned “he doesn’t know i’m me?”
“you were arhie eversworn,” ron reminded
herne wove her arm with ron’s and huddled together with them “what on earth are you talking about?”
“malfoy is up to something,” harry said without thinking herne fixed him with a onfused look “i mean—he’s oed to the murder of this zivantus fellow and the daughter—”
“zivantus?” herne frowned
“marwan zivantus,” harry repeated “why did you—” he stopped when the vague memory surfaed from the news, that zivantus had been on the outs with ministry harry lost his fous staring at malfoy
ron leaned in lose to herne’s ear “why? did you work with him?” harry ursed the unbreakable vow unspeakables had to take the only way around it was if someone’s life was in ger well, as far as harry was onerned, bertrie’s life was in ger “merlin, harry that’s why herne’s here!” ron shook his friend and got harry’s attenn, he’d been staring after malfoy at the lift even after the doors had losed “they must suspet malfoy had something to do with it and they’re—” harry’s eyes followed the arrow above the lift as it dialed its way up the floor numbers he waited with baited breath for the arrow to stop at fourteen
herne started, “ron, that’s not—” but harry pushed his way passed his friends and went to the lift
ron aught up to him, “you shouldn’t go up there, harry” herne roahed ron sent her a look to hime in
“i don’t know ron,” herne said “maybe he’s supposed to go up there”
“bloody hell,” he muttered as the three of them got in the lift and went up to the fourteenth floor
the problem with having a line on the interoedness of all things meant drao malfoy experiened a disointingly low number of surprises in fat, he ould only remember one time he’d been surprised sine the urse overtook him six weeks before but as he and pansy stepped into the lift and turned around, a wave of something akin to surprise hit him like a bludger to the stomah when his eyes took in a very addl
