blamebrampton | Fathers, part 3bii

Bloody LJ word limits ...

part 3bi

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The door of Abercrombie's Astronomy Market jingles merrily as it opens, thanks to a string of bells looped across its back. Scorpius is standing in the middle of the shop comparing two telescopes, and explaining to Hugo why bigger is not always better and how that joke wasn't even accurately smutty, let alone funny. Draco assumes Albus is somewhere among the shelves.

"Can I help you Mr Malfoy?"

The owner, Euan Abercrombie, appears from the back of the shop, books in hand.

"Just here to pick up the boys," Draco says. "We're off to St Mungo's to see Hugo's father."

Abercrombie nods. "Please pass on my best wishes to Mr Weasley."

"I will," Draco says with a polite smile. He knows that Abercrombie does not really like him, hasn't since school, but the man has been polite to him in recent years. Whether because of Draco's position at the Ministry or because of the amount of money Malfoys have spent in his shop, it may never be clear. Since the feeling is mutual, Draco does not care.

"Dad, can we come back next week?" Scorpius asks. "I want to talk with Grandmother before I make up my mind."

"Yes, of course we can. Hugo, pleased to see you haven't done anything appalling. Where's your cousin hiding?"

Hugo looks about vaguely. "He was right here a minute ago …"

Scorpius wanders through the maze of shelving that lines the back half of the shop. Draco pops his head into the storeroom at the back, and Abercrombie, showing willing, goes through into the private parts of the shop. After a minute, they begin to call out Albus's name. There is no answer.

Draco is not panicking. At least, he is not letting Scorpius and Hugo see that he is panicking. Let alone Big Ears Abercrombie.

Scorpius, on the other hand, is looking decidedly worried. "I wasn't paying attention, I was focussed on the telescopes …"

"Deep breaths," Draco tells him. "It's Albus, he probably saw something fantastically interesting, went off in pursuit, and is even now rushing back to tell us about it."

"I'll keep an eye out here," Abercrombie says. "Which way are you headed if he shows up?"

"Back to Fortescue's," says Draco. "We're meeting the others there, he's probably just gone on ahead, grew tired of waiting."

"Very probably," Abercrombie agrees. "My daughter Cressida gave me a heart attack last week, just like the one you're having, I found her having a nap under the blackout curtains after a quarter-hour of looking. I'm sure he'll turn up."

"Thank you, Euan," says Draco, not disliking the man in that instant.

Hugo and Scorpius run ahead as they make their way back up Diagon Alley. Draco looks about with more care, into every shop, every corner and every shadow. He is beginning to fear that he has lied earlier, and that someone is targetting them, or at least targetting Harry, through the cruellest method possible. He forces himself to take deep breaths.

"Albus!" Scorpius shouts ahead of him. And, thank you Merlin, the lad appears, bright-cheeked and bubbling with news.

"I was just coming to get you! I saw Aurors, so I followed them. There's been a break-in at Uncle George's!"

"Mr Malfoy thought you'd been kidnapped," Hugo tells him.

Before Draco can say anything, Scorpius has punched his boyfriend in the arm. "I thought you'd wandered off without saying a word to me like an inconsiderate bastard."

"Sorry." Albus takes Scorpius's arm. "But Uncle George is furious and the place is crawling with MLE. Come and see!"

Draco nods his assent, and the two boys run off. Hugo looks after them, then back to Draco, who waves him off in pursuit. Alone for a moment, Draco leans against a streetlamp and sighs with relief. He rummages in his pockets and pulls out a notebook and pencil. There was a time, not long ago, when he carried nothing in his pockets out of respect for the lines of his clothes. Now they are authentically cluttered. He cannot remember if he picked this habit up from Harry or Ron. Both, probably.

He scrawls two quick notes, then calls over a passing boy he vaguely recognises as the son of some Ministry employee or other. "What's your name?" he asks the child.

"Bradley. Why?"

"Can I hire you for five minutes to run a couple of errands?"

The boy smiles. "If it's only five minutes, I can help you out for free."

Draco smiles back at him and hands over the notes. "Can you deliver this one to Mr Abercrombie at Abercrombie's Astronomy Market, and do you know James Potter?"

"Of course I do."

"Excellent. He should be at Fortescue's. Can you give this note to him? And do take a few Galleons, not as payment but just to make my pockets lighter."

"There's no need, really."

"I insist."

"Cheers. One for Abercrombie and one for James, yeah?"

"That's right, James first if you don't mind."

"You're right!" The boy has already run off in the direction of the ice-creamery. And if he delays there to spend some of the money Draco has just given him, it will not cause a problem as the note to Abercrombie merely sends thanks, and news that Albus has been found.

In fact, the lad is so fast that James, Rose and Lily are running into view just as Draco arrives at Weasley's. Albus has not exaggerated, the premises are filled with MLE personnel. George himself is standing out the front, in a fury, a dark bruise covering one side of his forehead and a red flush of anger working its way up his cheeks.

His look turns to relief when he sees Draco. "Thank Merlin you're here!" he shouts. "Come and take some samples before these numbskulls wipe away all traces of the thieves."

Draco hurries down the street. "What happened? Are you all right?"

"I was in the labs out the back when I was jumped. They didn't hear a thing in the shop. When I came to, thousands of Galleons worth of new products were missing." George closes the remaining distance between them and lowers his voice to a whisper. "Including some on order from the Ministry. Your designs, I'm afraid."

"Bloody hell," Draco mutters. "All right." He raises his voice so he can be heard above the officials and the crowd who have gathered for the show. "If everyone could leave the premises immediately, that includes all MLE personnel. We'll need to run a few tests and see if we can find any traces left behind by the perpetrators. Won't be long. Give you a chance to interview this lot and see if there are any witnesses. And if someone could run up to the Leaky and order a few urns of tea and trays of pies, I'll settle the bill later."

George mutters some words of thanks and Draco pats his shoulder gently. "Have someone look at that bump on your head. Radford's over there, he's good at Healing."

Scorpius and Albus are up near the window, talking to the two young wizards who work in the shop. No one, it seems, heard or saw a thing. Draco apologises and pulls Albus aside. "I think we need your father here," he says. "Some of the things that have been taken are highly classified. If you could ask him to pick up Speke, Peters and Stansersley from my department, too, and tell them to bring testing kits with them."

Albus looks at him questioningly. Too much like his father, this one.

"It's a crime, Albus," says Draco. "That's all I know at the moment. Don't make it into a conspiracy before you have to."

"I'll be quick," says Albus.

"Thank you." Draco watches the boy Disapparate then turns to look at the shopfront. So much for being on holiday.

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Part 3c