Snatched, part two

[blamebrampton]

part one

Lily was faffing. Scorpius suspected she was doing it for him, and after the third Muggle shop to look at hats, he called her on it.

“We can go back to your parents’, it’s all right. Your mum isn’t that bad,” Scorpius told her.

“You don’t have her hugging you,” Lily replied, with mock grimace. “Can we just take another ten minutes? It’s nice to pretend.”

Scorpius knew what she meant. People had called his father a fashion plate when he had returned to England, citing the Muggle clothes that he favoured for himself and his son as an affectation. Draco had been pleased by that. It was much easier to be thought vain than recognised as a coward. Nineteen years had been just long enough for him to shop on Diagon Alley again.

As Lily chatted with the salesgirls, none of them knew. None of them gave her the pitying look that had been worn by everyone at the Ministry. There were no murmurs of encouragement, no whispering as they walked past. She was just a girl in a shop, trying on an absurd number of hats.

“So, did you see Al before he went to work this morning?” she asked, all innocence.

“Yes, I did. We drank a cup of coffee and had a perfectly normal conversation.” Scorpius noticed the salesgirls’ chatter declining at that.

“Did he ask you to sleep with him again?”

The salesgirls weren’t even trying to hide their interest now.

“I will miss you when I have killed you and disposed of your body,” Scorpius told her.

“You love me,” Lily reminded him.

“Not as much as Albus thinks I do.”

“Tell him.” Lily looked out from underneath a straw and peony construction at him. “If you don’t tell him, I will.”

“You promised,” Scorpius reminded her. “You’re not about to break that now.”

“Yes, well at this rate I’ll be breaking somebody’s neck before soon. What about this one?”

Lily posed coquettishly in a green and white canvas hat.

Scorpius could not help laughing at her. “Yes, you should definitely buy that one.” He avoided the eyes of the shopgirls and wandered outside while Lily paid for her purchase. It was a beautiful day, maybe they should spend a few more hours out and about. They’d done all they could for James.

His phone rang. He flipped it open and answered on Muggle setting. A shakier image and tinnier voice appeared. It was Albus. Scorpius stared, unable to say a word. Al started, instead.

“Are you with Lily?” he asked, agitated.

“Yeah, she’s just inside the shop.”

“Can you take her home? Right now? We’re getting news out of Finland. Something big is happening. I don’t think it’s good.”

Scorpius nodded. “We’ll be a minute, maybe two.”

“Thanks. Keep Mum away from the Unwired, yeah?”

“I will. Let me know what’s happening?”

“I will.”

The grainy image of Albus looked at him, Scorpius cursed Muggle interference. In a crisp Wizarding transmission he’d be able to read that expression. The image flickered and was gone. Scorpius snapped his phone shut just as Lily appeared beside him.

“What’s wrong?” She didn’t protest as he grabbed her arm and dragged her towards a dark corner where they could Apparate.

“Albus thinks something’s about to break. He wants us at your house, and your mum away from the news for now.”

“But she’ll want to know! I want to know!” Lily finished her sentence as they dived into the alleyway.

“Al will tell you when he should,” Scorpius promised. And it was an easy promise to make. Al had always made sure the news got out when and where it should. With everyone but him.

“You don’t think …” Lily’s knees were suddenly uncooperative and she stumbled.

Scorpius swung her up in his arms. “No. He’d have told me. He’d have told you. Hold on, here we go.”


****************************


“FUCK!”

“Al, stop shouting, you’re scaring the engineers.” Hugo looked as though Al was starting to scare him, too.

“Is there anyone actually in this building or has the entire staff gone for an early lunch?” Albus spotted the work experience girl filing in one corner. “You, what’s your name?”

“Elizabeth, sir,” she replied, eyes wide.

“Can you read an autocue?”

“Leave her alone,” Catherine Worthing’s elocuted tones cut through the air. “What do we have?”

Albus rounded on her. “Rumours coming out of Finland that Mannerheim is dead, killed in a prison brawl. I need someone from the Finnish Ministry to confirm or deny. I need you to get a bulletin together, deploring the breakdown in prison safety at any time, let alone during such delicate negotiations.”

“Should we wait for the confirmation before I start on that?”

“Of course not.” Al tapped on his earpiece, listened for a moment and grunted an agreement. “Right, I’ve got the head of Wizards for a Muggle-free Britain coming in, you’re to give him three minutes to put his case. Only argue errors of fact.”

Catherine stared at him. “Max Mitford is a raving nutter and you want me to interview him?”

Albus turned on her. “Yes. And you will be courteous and delightful. And you will do whatever it takes to convince those fuckers who have my brother that Britain had nothing to do with this.”

“Albus,” Catherine’s voice was genuinely gentle. “They won’t be watching British news.”

He took a breath. “Not now, no. But they’ll be downloading it soon enough. Please, Catherine.”

“Of course. We should talk to the Minister about the implications for our negotiations with the hostage takers.”

“He’s about to be swamped by diplomats. We’ll get the Deputy Minister. You’ll need to ring her, secure her involvement, and brief her if we’re ahead of them as the situation unfolds.”

“She’s your aunt. Can’t Hugo? She’s his mum!”

“That’s why it has to be you.”

“Pay rise,” Catherine shouted after him as he walked away.

“Week in Greece with a bar tab,” Albus countered.

“Done!”

“You’d have done cheaper with the pay rise,” Hugo muttered as they walked back towards Al’s office. “I have my source from the Finnish Aurors on the phone, he says it’s true.”

“Fuck.”

“Yes.”

They shut the door behind them and put Hugo’s phone onto the desk. He switched off the mute. A nervous man in red uniform appeared.

“Mika,” said Hugo, “this is my cousin, Albus. James is his brother.”

“Good to meet you,” said the Finn. “I need to be quick, I have to be back in a few minutes.”

“Was it really a murder?” Albus asked.

“Yes. His head has been crushed by a rock, there is nothing magical about it. It’s been done by someone without a wand, but with a great deal of strength. It was a large rock.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Albus began. “But was it …”

“One of us?” Mika shook his head. “The guards are all accounted for. There were no visitors in the jail at that time. In fact, he has his own personal guard made up of other prisoners. We believe it was one of them. You need to know, that guard was made up of Vapaaehtoiset Battaillon.”

That doesn’t make sense!” Hugo protested.

“Or it makes a frightening amount of sense,” Mika said soberly. “I have to go.”

“Thank you,” Albus looked the image in the eyes. “I won’t forget this.”

“Eh, maybe you can do a story on us when we get your brother back. Make me popular with the girls.”

“Maybe.”

“Goodbye.”

“See you Mika, cheers mate.” Hugo reached forward and switched off the phone. “Fuck,” he breathed.


~~~~


Albus was halfway to the set when his phone rang. It was his father. He ducked behind a scrim, this was not a conversation he wanted anyone to see.

He opened the phone.

“We have her, Al.”

“What?” His father wasn’t making any sense. Had who?

“The interpreter. They picked her up as she was packing. They’re bringing her here, along with their two best interrogators.”

“Dad–”

“Hang on, I have another call coming in; it’s Hermione, I’ll conference us.”

The small figure of his aunt appeared beside Harry on Al’s phone. “Don’t conference m– ah. Albus.” She looked anxiously between the two figures and didn’t speak.

“You’ve just heard from Finland,” Al guessed.

“You know?”

“Know what?”

“Mannerheim’s just been killed in a prison attack,” Hermione told him gently. “They’re keeping it as quiet as they can, but the news is seeping out. It’s going to break soon.”

Harry’s image whirled to face Albus. “You knew? When were you going to tell me?”

“Dad, I had to start putting things in place straight away,” Al tried to explain.

“Yes, because Merlin forbid you put your family before the news!” Harry was working his way up into a rant.

“I tried to tell you a minute ago!”

“When I called you!”

“Harry. Harry!” Hermione spoke over them. “Now’s not the time. Al, are you the reason I have a message from Catherine Worthing asking for an urgent interview to assure the Battalion of the British Ministry’s continuing good faith?”

Al nodded.

“Good thinking. I’ll tell my Finnish counterpart to do the same.”

“Dad, our source says he thinks the other Vapaaehtoiset prisoners were behind the attack.”

Harry nodded, a deep frown creasing his face. “I’ll tell our teams. Do the Finns know?”

“Our source has connections within the Aurors,” Albus caged.

“When are you going to air? I’ll make sure I get home in time to be with your mother.”

“Stay there, I’ve sent Scorpius and Lily to her. I’ve got to go. Aunt Hermione, can you do the interview?”

“Already messaged a yes, I’ll be at the studio in five.”

Al snapped his phone shut and took a deep shaking breath. Then he strode out from behind the scrim. “Right, Granger’s on her way, can we have make-up ready for her? Catherine, how goes that confirmation? Work Experience Girl, Elizabeth, come down here and sit with Catherine while she does her prep. Learn something. Make her cups of tea if she wants them. Come on, people, we need to be on air in seven minutes!”


****************************


“He said he’d call you back,” Lily whispered, scared, as they walked up the drive to her family home.

“It’s been sixty seconds, Lils. He’ll be dealing with the actual crisis,” Scorpius reassured her.

“I need to know!”

Scorpius paused and turned the news ticker on along the bottom edge of his glasses. “There. It’s a private read. Nothing yet. If your mother notices the flickering, I’ll tell her it’s stock updates.”

Lily squeezed his hand.

The front door opened. “You two are back early,” Molly Weasley greeted them. “Everything all right?”

“We identified the plant they found with James’s stuff,” Lily told her with a hug. “Dad and Mr Malfoy think it’s going to help them narrow the search area.”

“Clever girl!” Molly patted Lily’s hair as Scorpius slipped past them inside the house.

He looked for Ginny. She was not in the sitting room, nor in the dining room, nor in the study. He’d looked through the kitchen, the conservatory, the good drawing room, the playroom … then he kicked himself. He knocked on the door of James’s old room.

“Come in,” Ginny’s voice called out.

She was making James’s bed.

“Harry never puts fresh sheets on after the children have visited. He’s convinced they ought to do it for themselves now, but I like taking care of them still,” she told him, not looking up.

Scorpius smiled. He didn’t think James Potter knew how to make his bed. Around the walls were the standard detritus of childhood; Quidditch posters, a few band images, a board of photos filled with waving schoolmates and family. There was a shelf full of cups and trophies, one of James’s Flooeys was perched precariously on the edge. There was even a photo of him – with Al – propped up at the back of James’s desk.

“So does your being back before lunch suggest good news?” Ginny asked quietly.

“Lily and I were able to identify the plant samples,” Scorpius told her. “It’s an unusual variety of sedge, it only grows in a limited area. Harry and … Ron think that it was caught up in the clothing of one of the hostage takers; they think it might come from where they’re holding James.”

Ginny stopped her work, but still did not look up. “That is good news.”

Scorpius decided that there was one easy way to keep her busy. “Have you had lunch?” he asked.

“Not yet. Have you and Lily?”

“No, why don’t I put some on?”

She looked up then, and smiled at him. “You’re surprisingly useful, Scorpius. Where did you learn that?”

He shrugged. “My parents always taught me that I should learn as much as I could, because I never knew where life would lead me.”

Ginny gave him a measured look, then patted his arm as she walked by him to the door. “Come on, Mum and I will do lunch, you and Lily can keep us company and tell us what the young people are up to these days.”

Molly and Ginny had chops frying and a salad under construction before Scorpius’s phone rang again. He stepped out of the kitchen to take it in the quiet of the hall.

“Are they all with you?” Albus asked, looking harried.

“In the kitchen,” Scorpius answered.

“Can you take me back in?”

Scorpius turned without a word and went back into the room, placing the phone and its small projection on the table. “Albus has news,” he announced.

Ginny sat heavily in a chair, with Lily and Molly taking up positions behind her.

“Mum, don’t panic, James is still fine as far as we know. But something’s happened that touches on the case and I wanted you to hear it from me. Marti Mannereim has been murdered, we have every reason to suspect that it was by the Vapaaehtoiset Battaillon, but we are running the news as though it was a terrible conspiracy against them, as are the Finns. We think they want us to feel as though we are on the back foot, so that’s what we’re doing. Aunt Hermione is coming in to speak for the Ministry. My contacts in Finland all say they have heard nothing from the battalion. This is a negotiating step by them, we’re letting them think they’ve won on it.”

Ginny looked stricken. “How can you be sure?”

“Dad thinks the same!” Albus blurted.

It seemed to work. Ginny nodded acceptance. “All right. Should I watch the news or will it just upset me?”

“It’ll upset you. Have some lunch. Go for a walk. I’ll call Scorpius the minute I learn anything.”

“Good boy, Al,” Ginny smiled softly, but he was already gone.

Scorpius closed his phone. “He seems confident,” he ventured in the silence.

“It’s like that Italian journalist that was kidnapped for ransom last year,” Lily offered. “Once they’d paid over the money and the two new wands, he was released totally unharmed. They just want more money, that’s all.”

Scorpius nodded. “You hear about journalists being kidnapped all the time, then they come home and write award-winning books about it.”

Ginny shook her head at him. “Albus says that’s just the way things are, but it’s not true, Scorpius. I was with The Daily Prophet for years. None of our journalists ever disappeared.”

Scorpius bit his tongue. The Prophet had been one of the first casualties of streamed Wizarding media, its old-fashioned reliance on Ministry press releases and gossip no match for the instant news of the Network, nor the professional standards of the Unwired.

“Ooh, the chops!” Molly sprang over to the frypan and turned them. As though it were a signal, Ginny returned to the salad and Lily went off to find a tablecloth. Scorpius suddenly remembered that yesterday had been June the fourth and went running after Lily.

“Can you make my excuses?”

“Aren’t you hungry? I’m starving after this morning, and you ate breakfast hours before me.”

He shook his head “It’s Dad’s birthday. I didn’t say a word this morning – forgot what day it was until just now.”

Lily laughed. “Go. I’ll tell Mum and Gran that Gringotts called, or that you had a sudden hair crisis.”

“It’s so sweet you think you’re funny.”

He was halfway up the hall when she called his name softly. He stopped and turned around. “What?”

“Al rang you.”

“I’ve not been thinking about that.”

“Twice.”

“Because I always answer my phone and don’t keep it in the bottom of my bag where no one can hear it.”

“Because he can rely on you.”

“Shut up, Lils.”

“Give your dad a kiss for me.”

“Will do.”


~~~~


Charlie Weasley was walking out of Draco Malfoy’s office as Scorpius arrived. He smiled and waved when he saw the young man, but Scorpius could see that he looked exhausted.

“I hear that you’re the hero of the hour,” Charlie greeted him. “You’ve cut back my search area to something manageable.”

“Hey Charlie,” Scorpius hugged him briefly. “You just in?”

“Portkeyed over half an hour ago. I’m going to sleep for a few hours and then head back.”

“Ask the house-elves to make Dad a cake when you get to the Manor?’

“Will do. Good to see you, I’ll catch up with you when we’ve found James, yeah?”

“Yeah, that’d be great.”

Scorpius rarely saw Charlie these days. The longstanding on-again off-again relationship between him and Draco was meant to be a deep secret, but, as Harry put it, if they didn’t want people to know, then Charlie should not give gifts of – and Draco should not wear – dragon-hide boots.

Scorpius paused at his father’s door until Draco looked up and saw him. “Back again?” he asked with a broad smile.

“I forgot to wish you happy birthday,” Scorpius confessed.

Draco grinned. “I’d forgotten it myself until Charlie reminded me.”

“Well, for once I actually have a present ready.”

Draco laughed. “Shame, I was rather fond of the trays of chocolates.”

Scorpius reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, which he handed to his father.

Draco opened it carefully. It was a small glass paperweight, inside was a delicate blue flower with light green, white-spotted leaves. “It’s lovely,” he said, smiling. “What type of flower is it?”

“It’s a new type of lungwort. I discovered it last year on our trip to Latvia.”

“That’s brilliant, Scorpius.”

“I was the first to name it in the literature: Pulmonaria draconii.”

Draco’s hand barely shook, but it was a moment before he spoke again. “Thank you, son.”

Scorpius’s phone rang. “Sorry.” He looked at it, and flipped it open. “Al?”

The image of Albus looked about. “You’re at the Ministry? Mr Malfoy? Oh thank Merlin, I can’t get my Dad. You have to. It’s bad.”

Draco placed the paperweight carefully on his desk, then ran from his office.

Albus bit his lip so hard that Scorpius could see the purple bruising forming underneath his teeth. “I’m coming over,” he decided.

Albus looked at him in surprise. “No, you should be with Lily, and Mum, I don’t want them alone when they … I think he’s dead, S. They’re saying there’s a file … that shows … I need to be here, I need to see it.”

“Send Hugo to your house, I’m coming over now. Tell your security to let me through or I’ll hex them.”

Albus nodded, and ended the call.

Scorpius took a deep breath. Then he, too, turned and ran from his father’s office.


****************************


“I do not give a flying fuck who you think you need approval from, you will send us a copy of that file now or I will Apparate to Helsinki and … good. That’s what I want to hear. Thank you very much. I’ll call you when all this is done and apologise. Thank you, yes, my cousin. Thanks.” Hugo tapped his earpiece and leant forward to hold onto his desk.

“Are they sending the file?” Albus asked from behind him.

Hugo nodded, his shoulders slumping.

“Go home. Or go to my parents’. You don’t need to be here.”

Hugo looked up at him. “I need to see if it’s true.”

Albus reached out and squeezed his shoulder. Hugo clasped his hand.

“I’ll go and sit with Aunt Ginny, Gran and Lily if it is,” he offered.

“Thanks. Mr Malfoy has gone to find Dad, Scorpius is coming here. I think Dad will come here, too, probably with your mum and dad, unless they already have the file at the Ministry.”

“Do you think it’s true?”

Albus was silent. Mika had phoned Hugo five minutes ago. There was a rumour, a file showing an execution, it looked like James, they said. He didn’t know if it was true that there was a file, he didn’t know if the file was real or not. Hugo had immediately begun haranguing the Finnish Minister’s senior secretary, Al knew that later this year he would be running a special on why Eeva Räikkönen was the next big thing in European Wizarding politics, and he would be happy to.

There were tentative steps behind him. Scorpius Malfoy was standing in the doorway. Funny how he looked so out of place indoors these days. Al remembered stealing his glasses one afternoon to make him stop reading. Now he wore hiking boots.

“Al?”

“We’re still waiting on the file.”

“Oh.” Scorpius came in and sat on the corner of Hugo’s desk. He tapped his glasses with his wand. “Text,” he read. “Dad’s on the way with your dad, and your parents, too, Hugo.”

There was a knock at the door, it was George Weasley, who looked frankly ill. “Catherine just found me. Do you have anything yet?”

“Not yet.” Hugo tapped his Network display irritably.

“It could be a hoax,” George muttered.

No one could look up at him. All eyes stayed on Hugo’s display. A small beep indicated the arrival of a new file. Hugo looked up at his cousin.

“Should I wait till your dad gets here?”

Al shook his head, but then raised a hand to stop him pressing play. “Give him a minute,” he whispered.

“They’re here.” Scorpius pointed out the four adults walking swiftly down the hallway through Hugo’s glass door.

“Dad,” Albus went to him. He looked scared. Beside him, Mr Malfoy looked angry.

“We have the file in now, we’re about to watch it.”

Harry nodded. “Press play, Hugo.”

Al stood with his father, and held his hand. His Uncle and Aunt went to stand with their son, and Hugo leaned back against them.

The Unwired here was a conference set-up, so the figures appeared nearly life-sized in the middle of the room. There were two masked men, and James, with his wrists bound. One of the men began to speak in Finnish. Hugo leaned forward and tapped the Network with his wand. The language switched to English.

“ … flagrant disregard for our demands. The outrage perpetrated by the authorities in allowing the death of the battalion’s founder cannot go unanswered. We execute James Potter in the name of the future of Wizarding Europe, and rest assured he will not be the last victim of this conflict.”

James had been glaring at his captors until the word ‘unanswered’. Al knew that he spoke enough Finnish to know what was being said. Understanding swept across his face in the time it took for a breath. He closed his lips and gave a small nod to himself. Then he looked directly at the cameraman. And he smiled.

Al realised his own face was wet. His brother pulled his smile further up on one side, in that way he had always had when he was being encouraging. Don’t worry about being a Slytherin, Al, you’ll win at Quidditch next year, Lily has not stolen your friend, you idiot. That was his big-brother smile.

“Oh god!”

Albus heard his Aunt’s sob, and felt his father’s hand crushing his, and these were both more real than the figure who had just stepped forward and felled his brother with the killing curse. That smile stayed on James’s face, even as he dropped.

Albus blinked.

Scorpius was looking at him, questioning with those grey, serious eyes.

“It’s fake.”

Scorpius nodded.

“Albus,” his father’s whisper was soft, broken.

“No, Dad,” he took both of Harry’s hands, then dropped one to wipe his father’s tears with his cuff. “Dad it’s a fake, it really is, I can prove it.”

He stopped looking at his father then, because he couldn’t afford to break down now.

“Hugo, back it up four seconds. Thanks. See here? The angle of the face is wrong as he starts to fall. The expression has been superimposed onto a figure.”

Ron shook his head. “It’s James’s body, Al, look at the scar on his knuckles.”

Al nodded. “That’s what’s so clever about it, it’s all James.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and accessed his remote Network, then scrolled through his files. With each tap of his wand another image of James appeared on the Unwired, each tiled to make room for the others.

“Okay,” Al pointed to the front left figure, which was dressed in a short-sleeved shirt. “Here’s the fall.”

He tapped play, and James waved expansively off to his left. “Of course, as the Muggles have been telling us for years, life in the Middle East is full of the unexpected.” At which point he dropped suddenly to the ground.

“Heatstroke,” Al said quickly. “He didn’t want to wear a hat. Now look …”

He deleted that image and moved to the next. James’s hands were bound and he stood still. Al hit play. “… forced to spend up to twenty hours in restraints at a time. After four minutes I can tell you that my shoulders are aching and my hands are going numb …”

“It was our special on Russian prisons.”

He could look at his father now. “They’ve spliced together elements from all this footage to make something new. You see?”

“Are you sure?” Harry whispered.

Albus nodded. “Look.”

He flicked away a few of the images and went to one of James wearing dress robes and holding an award. He played it. “But above all, I have to thank my little brother. Who is an appalling know-it-all, and astonishingly hard to please. Worst of all he’s in Coventry with the flu instead of being here with us tonight. So, Albus, this one’s for you.” James looked straight at the camera and smiled.

“Al!” His father was hugging him tightly, and suddenly he was lifted up and swung around.

They were laughing around him, wild gulps of relief.

George’s phone rang and he sent the signal to his earpiece. “Weasley. What? No, it’s a fake. Tell them to pull it. Right, on the floor, we’ll be with you in a minute.”

He looked up at his family and the Malfoys. “It’s already gone out on the Network straight from Finland. The commercial Unwired is starting to run it. We need to get this out. Al, give me your phone.”

Albus tossed the phone to his uncle. “The files are all on the front menu, go in reverse order of the displays for what I’ve just shown you.”

“Good boy. Harry …”

“I’ll go straight to Ginny. With a bit of luck she doesn’t have the news on.”

“We’ll come, too,” Hermione and Ron stood up.

“I’m with George,” Hugo ran after his uncle down the hallway.

Harry kissed Al’s forehead. “That’s my brilliant boy. See you at home later?”

Albus nodded.

“I’m back to the Ministry, I’ll hose things down there, get the search back on track. Find out why they’ve done this,” Draco offered. The four of them left together.

“Al?”

He had forgotten Scorpius was still there.

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah, good, fine.”

“You’re shaking like a leaf.”

“I had coffee for lunch. And breakfast. And morning tea.”

Scorpius walked over to him and put his arms around him. “It’s all right. You did well.”

Al gave himself one moment where he could rest his head on that square shoulder and feel that lean muscle.

“I have to get back to work,” he said, stepping back.

“Of course.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m just happy he’s all right.”

Albus nodded. And meant to walk straight out towards the studio. Leaning over and kissing Scorpius’s lips fleetingly was completely unplanned. As he strode down the hallway, away from his stunned former friend, he decided that he was quite probably in shock.

And if he hadn’t been a moment ago, he certainly was now.


****************************


Scorpius Flooed back to the Potters, since Apparating would not have been a good idea.

Lily was pacing the sitting room anxiously, she startled when he came in through the unlit fire. In the distance, he could hear raised voices.

“Is it true? What Dad says?”

“Yes,” Scorpius assured her. “Al had clear-cut proof. And there’s a flaw in the manipulation; if you look very closely, even if you don’t know the original files, you can see that it’s faked.”

Lily stopped pacing, and her body relaxed a degree. “We’d better stop Mum, she’s working herself up into a fit.”

Scorpius smiled, and flung an arm around her shoulders for a quick hug as she led him through the house.

Ginny was indeed halfway to some sort of conniption. “But Dad and Percy said, and it’s all over the Network!”

“Gin, it’s a fake.” That was Harry’s voice.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW?”

“Ginny, when you look at the file, you can see mistakes, you can see that it’s been made up of other files. They have all the originals it’s been compiled from at the studio. The Network reports are based on rumour. George, Hugo and Al are putting together a broadcast now.” Scorpius and Lily came into the kitchen as Hermione finished talking.

“But how do you know they’re right? You can’t trust Albus! He’s not reliable!”

There was a sudden hush.

“Ginevra Weasley!” Molly was outraged.

Scorpius steered Lily out of the kitchen.

She waited until they were out by the henhouse before she looked up at him. “Sometimes, when she says Albus, she really means Dad.”

“I guessed.”

Percy and Arthur Weasley were walking quickly up the kitchen path. Percy’s glasses showed the tell-tale flicker of an Unwired feed, and he was narrating the updates to his father.

“Is it true?” Arthur called out when he saw them. “It’s a fake?”

Scorpius and Lily both nodded.

“Yes Gramps,” Lily called back to him, and ran down the path to tuck herself under his arm, subtly offering support. “Al figured it out. They don’t know why yet, Dad and Aunt Hermione are inside with Mum.”

“Who’s working on the case?” Percy’s voice was cranky, but his face was worried.

“My Dad is liaising with the other departments at the Ministry,” Scorpius replied. “While your brother Charlie is running the search.”

“That’s good. Malfoy is smart, he’ll stay on top of it.”

“What are you two doing out hiding with the chickens, poppet?”

“Mum’s having a moment, Gramps. Hiding out with the chickens was a tactical withdrawal.”

“Do I need to go in there and yell at her, or should we just wait a minute?”

“Gran’s handling the yelling, I think giving it a minute will do the trick.”

Arthur mussed Lily’s hair. “She loves you all, you know that.”

“I know,” Lily sighed.

Scorpius stepped away a little. He had been jealous of Lily and Al’s hands-on mother when they were young, but as an adult, his affectionate but vague maternal figure had her charms.

It was Ron Weasley who stuck his head out a few minutes later. “It’s safe, you two. Oh, hello Dad, hi Percy.”

There was a call from further down the path, Luna and Neville were walking up it with boxes of groceries, oblivious to the afternoon’s dramas.

~~~~

With a kitchen full of Weasleys and associates, Lily weaved through the crowd and led Scorpius up the hall to her old room. “This,” she explained, “is neither hiding nor a tactical withdrawal. It is the voice of experience that says more than four members of my family at once should not be endured by outsiders. Not even you.”

She switched on the small desk Unwired as they entered the room, it was showing the deconstruction of the faked footage. “So, my question for the day is: what were you doing in Hugo’s office when Dad got there?”

“What?”

Lily grinned. “Dad told me, he and your dad met up with Aunt Hermione and Ron just as they were returning from the studios. The four of them went straight back to the studios, were told where Al was, and there you were with him.”

Scorpius shrugged. “Al rang me at the Ministry.”

Lily grinned at him.

“Your family is congenitally unable to leave their phones on,” he replied with a glare.

Lily shuddered, looking at the footage. “Who do you think would do this?”

“I really don’t know. My Dad thought the more important question was why.”

There was a gentle knock at Lily’s door. Harry poked his head in. “Scared the two of you off, have we?”

“You survived!”

Harry shook his head. “Don’t be sarcastic, Lil. Your mother is finding all of this incredibly difficult.”

Lily went over and hugged her father. “We all are, Dad. But she’s just …”

“She’s just a mother who loves her son and is frantic with worry. And she doesn’t work in an area where she can help to find him. So let her be. Now.” He let go of Lily and looked at her and Scorpius. “I am headed back to the office with Hermione and Ron. Scorpius, your father suggested that you and Lily might like to come back in and put yourself to further use on some of the fibre traces they found on James’s kit. I know it’s not your main field, but he says that you can prepare the samples as well as any of his staff, and it will give you something to do.”

“Yes.” Lily agreed immediately for the two of them.

“We’d like to be useful, thanks,” Scorpius replied more formally. He strongly suspected that his father’s invitation had come in response to a suggestion that he and Lily be kept out of the house for a while.

“Come on then. Lil, you need to give your mother a kiss and let her know you might be out all night.”

“Righto,” said Lily, grabbing her backpack. “I’ll take a change in case I get a chance to shower or kip.”

“That’s my girl.”

Molly Weasley had restored order to the kitchen when they walked back in. Lily gave her grandmother a hug, then turned to her mother. “Mum, Dad says they have science that I can help with at the Ministry. I’m going in to do what I can. I’ll let you know if we hear anything, or come straight home if you want me. Okay?”

Her mother held her tightly. “You’re a good girl, Lily. And you promise to send me word?”

“The minute we know.”

Scorpius was already waiting at the kitchen door for her. Once the older three had finished their goodbyes, they walked past the Wards and Apparated back to the Ministry.


****************************


“Hugo!”

“Yes, Al?” Albus jumped as Hugo’s voice piped up behind him.

“Don’t do that today. It’s been an hour, do we have any response from the Vapaaehtoiset Battaillon? Anything from the Finns on who they think the hoaxers are? Anything?”

“Not yet. Though Mum’s just asked for a high-res display so she can review last night’s file of James.”

“Send it to her.”

“Already have.”

Albus perched on the corner of his desk. He’d not heard anything on the interpreter, which meant either that she hadn’t cracked, or that his father was keeping the news quiet for procedural reasons. None of their Finnish sources were providing any fresh details, though Isaac Gamp was out working his shadier contacts even now.

“Get Max Mitford back in. See if you can convince Charles Marron to sit down with him and have a serious discussion about Wizarding Separatism. Steer him away from anti-Muggle prejudice, if he can keep it all to the pro-case for magical protection we’ll screen it uncut.”

“Albus …”

Al raised a finger to silence his cousin. “Once this is done we will have your mum present a very eloquent argument for peaceful co-existence. But not today, okay?”

“Okay. Al?”

“Yep?”

“It’s going to be all right.”

“Yeah, Huge, I’m sure it is.”

“I’ll go and talk to Charles.”

“Cheers.”

Al leaned back and looked at his ceiling. If James were here, he’d have a plan. Of course, James’s plans had usually been for James to go in and Do Something, but even that had to be better than sitting on the wrong side of the North Sea and Waiting For Something.

Al wondered if his Uncle Charlie had found anything. Then he wondered how his Uncle Charlie was flying a dragon around Finland when there were only about three hours of darkness a day. Then he wondered if four hours of sleep was really enough. And why he had kissed Scorpius. And really, wasn’t it time one of his highly paid journalists reported something?

“Catherine!”

His anchor stuck her head into his office. “You bellowed?”

“What am I missing?”

Catherine came in and sat in Albus’s vacant chair. “Your brother, Al, you’re missing your brother. Aside from that you are doing everything possible. We’ve offered the money, the Ministry has several credible offers of land, Mannerheim is off the table. Our people can’t do anything until they hear from the Battalion.”

Al sighed deeply. “Should I go and show the work experience girl how to file archive tapes?”

Catherine laughed. “I have Elizabeth helping Charles out with background research, you’ll have to find other ways to kill time. Like telling me who the tasty blond who came running in looking for you was.”

Albus looked at her blankly for a moment. “Oh,” he realised. “Scorpius. Scorpius Malfoy.”

“Ah.” Catherine nodded.

“Not you, too.” Albus dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his eyes for a moment. “All right, I’m getting back on the phone to Finland. You go and make yourself look pretty, I want us to have something to take out there at four.”

“Yes boss.” Catherine patted his knee and grinned at him. Then she paused. “You’re doing everything right, Al.”

“I just wish I knew if it was doing anything.”

Catherine kissed his cheek. “I’ll tell him how much he owes you when he comes back.”

Hugo appeared at the door. He had his phone in his hand. “Mika,” he announced. “There’s news.”

Albus flipped open his phone and tapped it three times. “Dad, Hermione, Scorpius,” he ordered. When the figures appeared he spoke without preamble. “Are you getting anything in?”

“No,” said his father.

“Go,” Al gestured for Hugo to continue his conversation.

Mika’s voice came through tinnily, as though he was speaking in the wind. “Eeva asked me to tell you that the Minister has been told he will receive a new file at six. That’s six o’clock our time. The transmission came from the same source as the first one.”

“Thanks, Mika. Tell Eeva and the Minister we owe you, yeah?”

“Tell your Minister he should be employing you.”

Hugo laughed. “Can’t afford me, mate!”

Albus turned back to the three figures on his phone. “About half an hour. I’ll have my Finnish team liaise with the Ministry to track the transmission as far as they can. Dad, is there anything else we can do?”

“I’ll let you know if we think of anything. Come here when you finish up tonight?”

“Sure.”

“Al?” Scorpius had a hand raised and was listening to someone out of range of the phone.

“Yeah?”

“Dad says to ask the Finns to capture the file at as high a resolution as possible. He has an idea about something, but needs more information.”

“Mika?” Al sang out in Hugo’s direction. “Did you hear that?”

“Yes, I will make sure they do.”

Hermione’s signal blipped. “I have an incoming, this will be official channels. Talk later.” She blinked out.

“See you, son.” Harry followed.

Scorpius’s figure looked at Albus for a moment. “Bye.” He, too, was gone.

Catherine looked at Albus. “Ah,” she repeated.

He was horrified to realise he was blushing. “Out. Let everyone know major bulletin just after four. You can anchor it because I like you. Don’t make me change my mind.”

Catherine grinned and rushed out.

Hugo was grinning, too, but schooled his face to seriousness. “Do you still want Mitford?”

“If he can get here in the next ten minutes, we’ll run it, otherwise he’ll have to wait till the next news cycle.”

“Al?”

“Yes?”

“It’s good news. If James was dead, they wouldn’t need to make an appointment.”

Albus smiled. For the first time in a day, he took a deep breath.


****************************


Harry Potter ran into the laboratory. “Draco!”

Scorpius made large shushing gestures, but it was too late. His father looked up blearily from his sofa in the corner.

“Ah, Harry. Of course. No one else has quite the level of Erumpent that you manage.”

“Get up, I have good news. The interpreter has spoken.”

Draco leapt from his bed at that and hugged Harry. “Good work. Did you have to break all her fingers?”

“Only the one.”

Scorpius was not entirely sure that Harry was joking.

“She only knew two names, but one of them is in the Finnish Ministry, and he is still at work. I’m heading over after the new file comes in. Want to come?”

Draco laughed. “You can’t speak Finnish.”

“No, nor can I do the lab analysis on the spot if we come up with anything, so you’re doubly useful.”

“Are we staying or coming straight back?”

“Coming back.”

“All right.” Draco turned to Scorpius. “When the file comes in, I want you and Lily to play it on the central display. It will render up to three-hundred per cent without loss of image quality. I am looking for three things: any natural light and the angle it is shining at; any plant or insect life and an identification; any background noise and a sound analysis.”

“They shot him in a white-tiled room last time,” Scorpius reminded his father.

“I know. But I’m counting on them being too lazy to clean it out after the last time they were in there. It’s not a big chance, but it’s one I’d like to exhaust. Can you run that analysis? I want my team to stay on the fibre traces. I can do the actual interpretation of the results when I get back, unless you find something obvious.”

Scorpius nodded, grinning. It was like being a boy again and mixing reagents for the lab, except this time it mattered immediately.

“Dad?” Lily came over nervously. “It’s five to four.”

Harry nodded at them. “Al tells me he expects to have the file a few minutes after it comes in. Do you want to watch it here, or in my office?”

“Office,” she replied decisively.

Scorpius added the reagent to his last sample and handed it to his father’s lab manager. The older wizard smiled at him, that same reassuring smile they were all using today. Scorpius mirrored it. Then he turned and walked after the others.


****************************


“This is James Potter, it’s the fifth of June and I have now been held hostage for approximately thirty hours. I am reading a prepared statement from the members of the Vapaaehtoiset Battaillon, who are my captors.

“Firstly, they wish to state that today’s tragic events are an outrage that they suspect to have been orchestrated by the Finnish government in an attempt to undermine the Battaillon.

“Both the despicable murder of Marti Mannerheim, and the crude ersatz execution of James Potter show clear signs of hailing from the Ministry.

“This transparent effort to discredit a legitimate political organisation with aims that are reflected under the international Wizarding Statutes is doomed to failure and will work against you as a negotiating tool.

“Accordingly, the time available to meet the Battaillon’s demands has been shortened by twenty-four hours. If, by midnight June six, those demands have not been satisfied, I will be executed.

“Due to the state-sponsored murder of Marti Mannerheim, the Battaillon now require a sum of one-hundred-and-fifty-thousand Galleons, in addition to the key demand of a Muggle-free homeland in a state that does not have an extradition arrangement with the European Wizarding Union.

“Senior members of the Battaillon will contact the Finnish Minister tomorrow, at 2pm Helsinki time to finalise negotiations.

“This is the end of the prepared statement. I have asked my captors for the opportunity to say a few words.

“Up to this point I have been well-treated and my living conditions are good. However, I have no reason to believe that my captors are bluffing, and they certainly possess the personnel to carry out their threat. I am being held in a well-guarded and secure location that has excellent sight lines in all directions. An attack on this instillation would result in my death.

“That said, the demands as they stand are patently outrageous—”

The studio erupted in applause, even as the transmission was suddenly cut off.

“You always tell him not to grandstand,” Hugo muttered.

Albus sighed. “With a bit of luck, he’ll live long enough to listen one day. Do you have the high-res recording? Give it to me, I’ll take it over to Dad. Can you run the studio until I get back?”

“Long as you need. Tell him good luck from me.”

“I will.”

Albus uploaded the file and strode out of the mixing room away from the more sensitive instrumentation. Apparating and signals were not a good combination. A few minutes later he was walking down a familiar hall in the Ministry, and was genuinely surprised when his father wasn’t in the tearoom.

He kept walking, and was surprised to find Lily, Scorpius and Mr Malfoy in the hallway outside his father’s office.

“Dad?” he asked.

“On the phone to Mum,” Lily answered.

“Oh.” Albus sighed. “So who’s she mad at this time? Me or Dad?

“I’m not sure she’s making a distinction at the moment.”

“I’ll sleep at the flat tonight.”

“Good idea.”

The door opened. “You can come back in, it’s safe. Al! Do you have it?”

Albus walked in and held his phone beside Harry’s Network. “It’s the file we received, the highest res, same as they received at the Ministry. I’ve uploaded it globally here, so you can all work on it at the same time.”

“Good boy. Are you busy at the moment?”

“Why?”

“You have contacts in Finland, and in the Finnish Ministry?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Care to join us on a short trip?”

Albus knew he should say no, should stay behind and do his job, but he knew he wasn’t going to. He flipped open his phone. “Hugo? I’m going to be a little while.”


****************************


“So are you going to tell me what’s going on with you and Al?” Lily asked as they ran back down the hallways to Draco’s lab.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, small delusional one,” Scorpius replied, rounding the corner on her outside.

“Last night he kept looking at you, just now he wouldn’t meet your eyes.”

“He’s preoccupied.”

“Right.”

“There’s your aunt.”

The Deputy Minister joined them at the run. “I’m coming down to use the display,” she panted. “I have a theory.”

The other witches and wizards had left all the Unwired-related equipment clear for them. Although Scorpius was certain that many had watched it on personal feeds, they were all still and quiet to watch James’s figure speak again.

“There!” Hermione shouted. “Come around the back, you’ll see.”

As he read, James three times combed back his messy hair. Each time he did it with both hands, his left hand using his three central fingers to tame the locks and leaving his thumb and pinky up, with his right hand he used his forefinger and middle finger, leaving three digits above the red-brown tangles.

Hermione wheeled on Lily. “Have you ever seen him do that before?”

“He plays with his hair all the time, but not like that, no.”

“It’s a sign. Play the first file.”

Scorpius queued up the original ransom file and pressed play. They all watched, silently, until James raised his hands to his head again.

“Yes!” Hermione jumped in the air. “Now does he mean twenty-three or thirty-two? And what’s he referring to?”

“Men!” Lily exclaimed, catching her aunt’s enthusiasm. “See how he pats the back of his head at the end of the gesture? That many of these, that many men! Or possibly humans.”

“I think you’re right.” They hugged each other.

Scorpius thought for a moment. “Ring Hugo. He’ll know whether James means twenty-three or thirty-two.”

“Good idea.” Hermione pulled out her phone and called her son.

“Let me see,” Hugo’s small figure commanded. “Right, James loves being on-camera. He knows you’ll be looking at this from a natural angle, so read it left to right, twenty-three. Good work, Mum!”

Hermione shook her head. “We’re no closer to finding him, it’s just a bit more information for when we do.”

Scorpius watched as the Deputy Minister’s enthusiasm left her with the words. Lily, too, flagged. Around the laboratory, witches and wizards went back to work.

Scorpius pulled up the latest file again. “Frame one, three hundred per cent, full display, frame-by-frame pause,” he commanded the Network. He smiled at Lily, and the two of them began their search.


****************************


Helsinki was a surprisingly attractive city. Albus realised that for all his many friends in Finland, his entire experiences there totalled three hours in the airport and a two-day conference that had been spent almost wholly inside a hotel. Mr Malfoy did not appear to share this limitation.

“The Ministry is off Senate Square,” Draco announced, leading the way.

“Mika said he’ll meet us outside, since you can’t Apparate in or out. Eeva Räikkönen has Hästesko in for a performance review, so he will still be there,” Albus was repeating himself; he had forgotten how nervous Mr Malfoy made him.

“What do we know about him?” Draco’s question was addressed to Harry.

“Good family, travelled a great deal, may have been radicalised on a posting to Russia three years ago. Policy maker within the Ministry, specialising in health. Nothing suspicious that we could find.”

“Do they have a watch on the family?”

“The parents and sister. Low-key at the moment until he’s apprehended. We do think of these things.”

“Just checking.”

“How’s your lab without you?”

“I believe your daughter is working there.”

“Should be fine, then.”

Albus smiled. He remembered how infuriated his Mum had been when Draco Malfoy would drop by to pick up Scorpius, but every year, Harry would be more relaxed around him. He’d asked his father about it once. They had a lot in common, had been the reply. Mum had always snorted at that, but Al could see it.

They walked quickly, and were soon crossing the huge expanse of the Square, with the imposing, angular buildings on all sides. Draco strode ahead, and nodded at the red-clad figure who was watching them approach.

The figure was squinting at Albus. He looked familiar. “Mika?”

“I thought it was you.” The Finnish Auror grinned. “This is your father? Our statue of you is not very flattering, I am afraid.”

Al smothered a smile as Harry blushed.

“Is Fredrik Hästesko still inside?” Harry asked briskly.

“I saw him in Eeva’s office not quarter of an hour ago. Two of my colleagues are guarding the doors to the Ministry.”

“Good work.”

There was a mutter that waved ahead of them as they walked into the Finnish Ministry. Albus realised that many had actually read biographies of his father, with accurate photographs, and more than a few knew Draco from his appearances in the scientific journals, and the social pages. Some small part of his brain filed away the possibility of a special on each of them.

Mika walked quickly through the corridors, then suddenly broke into a run. It took Albus a moment to see why. There was a door flung open, and a shattered window at the end of the corridor. Draco followed Mika into the office, Harry ran to the window.

Al looked into the office. A woman was prone on the floor, but her colour was good, and Mr Malfoy was rolling her gently onto her side. “She’s just Stunned,” he told Mika.

“Draco! I can see him!” Harry yelled from the end of the corridor.

“I can do basic healing spells,” Albus offered.

Draco nodded, and ran after Harry.

Mika pointed at the desk phone. “Vastaanotto will get you reception. I’ll call for backup, you call for help.” He, too, ran after Harry.

Albus checked Eeva’s pulse. It was strong and steady, as was her breathing. Relieved, he went to the phone. “Vastaanotto,” he ordered. A small figure appeared. “Hei. Minun nimeni on Albus Potter. Puhutteko englantia?”

“Yes, how can I help?” asked the young man on the other end.

“Oh thank Merlin. I’m in Eeva Räikkönen’s office, she’s been Stunned. She’s doing well, but can you please send a medic?”

The figure barked an order out of range of the phone, then turned back to Albus. “Do you know who Stunned her?”

Albus was about to give a name when he realised he had no idea who this man was. “My father and Mr Malfoy have gone after the assailant with Mika Rosberg. Mika said he was calling for backup.”

“Do we need to shut down the Ministry?”

“No, he fled through a window.”

“Thank you, your mediwitch will be with you in a moment. Aurors will join you shortly for further questions. Please do not touch anything on Secretary Räikkönen’s desk aside from the phone.”

“I haven’t.”

“Thank you. Do you require tea?”

Albus nodded. “Yes please.”

He ended the transmission and went back to sit beside Eeva. The Finns would be courteous in the middle of apocalypse, he decided. He patted her shoulder gently. “I will do your political adverts when you decide you want to run for Minister,” he promised the still woman. “For free.” It seemed the least he could do.

~~~~

In the half-hour it took Mika, Harry and Draco to return, Albus had three cups of tea and a slice of omenakakku. Eeva had joined him for the apple cake, completely recovered.

“It’s my fault,” she told him. “I was running out of questions and he noticed. He panicked. The next thing I knew, the mediwitch was helping me drink a tonic.”

“It’s all right, Eeva,” Albus reassured her. “He left with two Aurors and an unprincipled Unspeakable on his tail. He won’t get far.”

Al had been right. Ten minutes ago, his father had called to let him know that they were on their way back with Hästesko.

Eeva patted his knee. “Would you like to go and watch our interrogation?” she offered.

Albus was surprised to find himself saying yes. The inner workings of law enforcement had never really appealed to him, but this was James.

“Come on.” Eeva led the way down below the light and airy main level of the Ministry into the bowels of law enforcement.

She opened the door to a viewing gallery, below, on the other side of presumably one-way glass, was a room with a long table and four chairs. Mika entered it, escorting a man who Albus assumed was Hästesko.

Harry and Draco followed, and took up station on opposite sides of the far wall. Two unknown Finnish Aurors joined them.

“How’s your Finnish?” Eeva asked Al.

“Poor,” he answered honestly.

“Here.” She cast a translating spell. “They will have in-ear translators down there.”

“Fredrik Hästesko?” Mika asked.

“Haista vittu saatanan mulkku!”

Al looked at Eeva, who was blushing. “Er, that’s not particularly translatable.”

“Ah.” Al nodded.

“You were seen fleeing the Ministry earlier today, having Stunned Eeva Räikkönen. The senior secretary identified you. You were also named by a witness to the kidnapping of James Potter as a member of the Volunteers Battalion, and implicated in the conspiracy behind that kidnapping.”

“I have nothing to say.”

“I should warn you that the Ministry has deemed these to be terrorist offences, and therefore there is no obligation to provide you with legal representation at this time.”

“I have nothing to say.”

“I am obliged to formally instruct you that we are entitled to hold you for a period of two-hundred-and-forty hours without laying charge. In addition to not being obliged to provide you with representation, we are not obliged to inform your family of your whereabouts, nor your place of employment.”

“I work here.”

“You worked here, Fredrik. I would not count on a future in the Ministry.”

“I have nothing to say.”

Mika took a deep breath. He stood up from the chair opposite the prisoner and sat on the table beside him.

“Did you study modern history at school, Fredrik?”

Hästesko looked up at him, surprise making him shake his head before he could stop himself. “I have nothing to say,” he muttered crossly.

“I did not think you had. Do you know who the two men who caught you are?”

“English.” The word was grunted, as though it were an insult.

“Very good. You could tell from their clothes, couldn’t you? The way you can barely tell they’re Wizards. You didn’t need this one bellowing at you in his outdated Finnish and this one shouting at you in English to guess they weren’t from here. You could see it already. They are too Muggle-loving on their little island, too cosy with the commoners.”

Hästesko said nothing, but Albus noted that most of the hostility had left his posture.

“You must have been wondering why they were here. What they were doing inside our Ministry. Who they were that I would let them take the lead in a chase through my city. Did you not think that as you ran? Did you not wonder how they knew to track you when you Apparated? Did you not wonder why the dark one could disarm you so easily?”

Fear was creeping into the prisoner’s body now, Al saw. He was staring at Draco, who had that otherworldly Malfoy expression perfected at the moment. He looked away quickly, but that brought his eyes to Harry.

Albus watched Hästesko’s face closely. The eyes widened. He saw the tell-tale flicker upwards. There it was. He had seen the scar. Hästesko began to pant slightly.

Mika was silent for a long moment.

He jumped elegantly from the desk. “I am tired,” he announced. “Running is very thirsty work. Mr Malfoy, you must be very tired after those tracking spells, can I offer you a drink?”

Draco inclined his head graciously. “That would be delightful.”

“Nico, Heikki, would you like a drink?”

“Very much,” the two Aurors grinned.

“We will go and have a drink for a little while. Harry, can you guard the prisoner while we are gone?”

Albus watched his father carefully. He was still leaning against the wall, body casual, arms crossed. He did not shift a muscle, save that he opened his mouth in a grin.

Al shuddered.

“They paid me,” Hästesko blurted. “The Battalion had lost sight of its goals, so they paid me to make the file!”

Mika glanced up at Harry, and Albus was the only one who could see the confusion on their faces.

“Slow down, Fredrik.” Mika patted his arm. “Who paid you?”

~~~~