Rating:
R
House:
The Dark Arts
Characters:
Draco Malfoy Harry Potter
Genres:
Mystery Slash
Era:
Multiple Eras
Spoilers:
Order of the Phoenix
Stats:
Published: 11/04/2003
Updated: 01/06/2004
Words: 40,796
Chapters: 17
Hits: 231,087

The Goodness of Their Hearts

Taratext

Story Summary:
Malfoy Security Inc. is hired when Chudley Cannons' star Seeker Harry Potter starts receiving disturbing letters.

Chapter 15

Chapter Summary:
Malfoy Security Inc. is hired when Chudley Cannons' star Seeker Harry Potter receives threatening letters.
Posted:
12/23/2003
Hits:
11,245


Draco, Harry and Zimmer were taken to a small interview room, a long narrow room with a long narrow table and a few chairs scattered about. The actor fellow, who had started spouting the moment they were at the station, had been hustled away to his own room. Which was just fine, in Draco's opinion. He didn't matter much, right then.

Zimmer mattered the most right then. Not just because Draco had him, with the cooked books, the testimony they'd be able to screw out of the private investigator and the actor, the recording of his movements, and the access he'd had to the players, the letters and the equipment. This wasn't going to be about what could be proven in court.

"I volunteer to take Veritaserum," Draco announced.

Harry glanced quickly at him.

"We rarely use Veritaserum anymore, Mr. Malfoy," the Auror said. "It's too often ruled a violation of a suspect's rights."

"Not if the suspect volunteers to take it, with full knowledge of what he is taking, and I do. You have it, don't you?"

"Yes."

Draco settled himself into a hard uncomfortable chair at the far end of the room. "Let's have it then." He looked at Zimmer in challenge.

Zimmer glowered back, crossing his arms.

Zimmer, apparently, didn't easily rise to challenges.

"Let's make this clear," the Auror said. "You agree, without coercion or promise, to take Veritaserum for the purposes of questioning?"

"I do."

"With the full notice that what you say under the influence of Veritaserum will be taken as of under oath and used as evidence against you?"

"I do. Yes. Bring it on. Some extra water, too. That stuff parches."

The Auror looked at him suspiciously, but knocked on the door to order the Veritaserum and some water.

"What kind of stunt are you trying to pull, Malfoy?" Zimmer snarled. "Prepared for this, were you? Taken some potion or other that counteracts the Veritaserum?"

"The only such agent is Serinilas. Unfortunately, the two react to each other in a most fatal manner, and while many would rather face death than Azkaban, I know the latter isn't going to happen so I feel no need to risk the former."

"You've planned this all out, Malfoy. Everyone knows how devious you are. Just like your father."

What a low, clumsy blow. Though Draco supposed he couldn't expect much better from the likes of Zimmer. "Believe me, Zimmer, I had no idea you would try to pin this on me."

A young man brought a tray with a jug of water, three glasses, and a small vial that obviously held the Veritaserum. He set it on the table at the end closest to the door. "If everyone would take a seat."

Harry sat right beside the tray. Zimmer sat at the other end of the table, near Draco, with the air of one who planned to keep a good eye on the crazy unreliable suspect. Harry poured water into the glasses and took an immediate sip. "Sorry," he said to the Auror. "After the game, I'm thirsty."

"Quite alright, Mr. Potter." The Auror placed another glass in front of Zimmer absently, then carefully opened the vial, spilling three small drops into the third glass.

Draco downed it, and immediately held it out again. "Can I have some more?" he asked. "I'll be doing a lot of talking." The Auror filled the glass again, and Draco took a sip.

Harry took a sip of his water.

Zimmer took a sip of his water.

"What's your name?" the Auror asked.

"Draco Lucius Narcissus Malfoy." How would Weasley have reacted to that handle, all those years ago?

"What is your age?"

"Twenty-eight."

"What is your occupation?"

"I'm a personal security professional."

"Were you coerced into taking Veritaserum?"

"No."

"Were you tricked into taking Veritaserum?"

"No."

"Were you aware that the substance you were drinking was Veritaserum, as you were drinking it?"

"Yes."

"Did you drink it willingly?"

"Yes."

"Did you waive your right to refuse to take Veritaserum?"

"Yes?"

"Did you volunteer to take the Veritaserum?"

"Yes."

"Alright, alright, we get the point!" Zimmer snapped.

The Auror shot him a look and continued. "Did I suggest you take Veritaserum?"

"No."

"Who was the first person to suggest the use of Veritaserum in this room for the purpose of your interview?"

"I did."

"Very good, sir. Now, did you send any threatening letters to Harry Potter, Harry Potter who is at this moment sitting in this room?"

Oh, shit. "Yes."

"Ah ha!" Zimmer shouted.

Draco took a long sip of water.

After a brief hesitation, Harry took a sip of water.

Zimmer absently took a sip of water.

"Approximately when did you send threatening letters to Harry Potter?"

"Approximately two years ago."

"How many threatening letters did you send to Harry Potter?"

"One."

"With what did you threaten Harry Potter?"

Ah hell. "Death."

"Did you want to kill Harry Potter?"

"No."

"Why did you threaten to kill Harry Potter?"

"It was a prank." A stupid childish prank that he should have been too mature to perform. And like all of his pranks, it was blowing up in his face.

"See?" said Zimmer. "I told you it was all him."

"You said you sent one letter, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes."

"What further action did you take to threaten Harry Potter?"

"None."

"Did you attempt to contact Harry Potter?"

"No." Draco sipped at his water.

Harry took a sip of water.

Zimmer took a sip of water.

"Other than that one letter, did you ever contact Harry Potter between graduating from Hogwarts and being hired by the Chudley Cannons?"

"No."

"How did you come to be hired by the Chudley Cannons?"

"The owner and the general management contacted my office. It was decided that I should handle the case myself."

"Why?"

"It would be a high profile case. It was wise to have the person in highest authority take the case." That was true. It wasn't, unfortunately, the whole truth. "And I wanted to."

"Why?"

"Perona, one of my managers, challenged me to. And I wanted to see what he was like, after all this time. And, it appealed to my sense of irony."

"This is a waste of time!" Zimmer complained to the Auror. "He is lying!"

Draco jumped to his feet. Veritaserum forced him to tell the truth. It didn't control any of his other behaviour. "Rich, coming from an attempted murderer, and a thief!"

Predictably, Zimmer leapt to his feet as well. "A thief? What the hell does that mean, you filthy little Death Eater!"

"So that's the charge you choose to challenge? But I was talking about your fancy footwork with the team's accounts."

"Gentlemen!" the Auror snapped.

"What do you know about my books?"

"That you've been ripping off money from your own team!"

"How dare you accuse me of anything? How dare you try to take some moral high ground? We all know about you. Learning dark spells. Worshipping at the feet of Voldemort with your depraved, twisted father. And you're just like him, aren't you? The same hair, the same face, the same unnatural appetites."

"You're telling me about unnatural appetites? You with this freakish little obsession with my father? Have a thing for him, do you?"

Zimmer went brilliantly red and charged, shoving Draco hard against the wall. Draco couldn't help wincing, though didn't really need to indulge in the shrill yip he let out for effect.

"That's enough!" the Auror roared, leaping in between them.

Harry snatched up the vial, slipped to Zimmer's glass of water, and tapped in three drops before returning to his own chair.

"Sit down, both of you! And if you can't control yourself, Mr. Zimmer, I'll have you placed in another room."

Zimmer, his fists curled into the front of Draco's shirt, glared at him for a few more tense moments. He crushed Draco against the wall in one last show of strength and then backed off.

"Sit down," the Auror ordered.

Zimmer sat down. Draco followed suit, smoothing back his hair.

"Now, Mr. Malfoy," the Auror said, her voice returning to its normal moderate tones. "Do you want to kill Harry Potter?"

"No."

"Do you want to cause any physical injury to Harry Potter?"

"Not against his will." Oops. He hadn't known that was in there.

The Auror hesitated for a moment, just looking at him. Then she smiled, just a little.

Draco took a sip of water.

Harry took a sip of water.

Zimmer took a sip of water, followed by a large gulp.

"Do you want to cause any mental injury to Harry Potter?"

"No."

"Do you want to cause any emotional injury to Harry Potter?"

"No."

"Do you want to sabotage his Quidditch matches?"

"No."

"Do you want to drive him out of professional Quidditch?"

"No."

He took a sip of water.

Harry took a sip of water.

Zimmer took a sip of water.

"Were you attempting to fix the matches in any way?"

"No."

"Were you gambling pursuant to the Quidditch matches?"

"No."

"Do you know the man who came onto the pitch this afternoon dressed as a Dementor?"

"No."

"Then why did you keep calling him an actor?"

"Because Zimmer contacted an actor yesterday."

"That's a - !" Zimmer's sentence was cut off.

"What was that, Zimmer?" Harry asked. "Did you hire the actor?"

"Yes!" Zimmer answered automatically, then his eyes bulged out.

"What's going on?" the Auror demanded, but no one chose to answer.

"Did you write threatening letters that were sent to Harry?" Draco asked swiftly.

"Yes!" Zimmer answered helplessly. Then he bolted for the door.

Harry stood in front of it, settling into a fighting stance. His face was expressionless, but his eyes glinted.

Zimmer stopped.

The Auror glanced from Harry to the vial, returned to its place on the tray, to Zimmer. She looked at Draco. He stared back silently, willing her to show some common sense.

"Sit down, Mr. Zimmer," she ordered.

There was a moment when Draco didn't know what Zimmer would do. He stood there, tense, staring at Harry, who stared back stoically.

Zimmer resumed his seat. Everyone else remained standing.

"Did you hex Harry Potter's broom?" the Auror asked.

"Yes," he snapped, then said, "I want counsel."

"You'll get it. Did you hex the Bludger that went after Harry Potter?"

"Yes. This isn't legal."

"You let me worry about what's legal. Did you hire the young man who posed as a Dementor at the game today?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Harry asked in a soft, soft voice.

Zimmer looked at him, an expression of disgust coming over his face. "You wouldn't leave," he snapped. "All those other teams were handing you Gringhott's on a plate, and you wouldn't take it. But you kept asking for more money from us, and Weaver kept telling me to give you what you wanted, to keep you. Because Merlin forbid you leave for another team, and take those fans with you. But then she was always bitching about rising costs, always trying to cut back on everything else. Stupid wench didn't get it that money had to be spent on everything, on all the players and the marketing and the equipment for everyone. Takes more than a Seeker to make a team, especially a Seeker with delusions of grandeur and a history of mental instability."

"Why didn't you just fire him?" Draco asked him.

"Weaver wouldn't let me," he spat. "She bought into all the Boy Who Lived crap. She didn't care that he was slowing down, losing his fire. He sold tickets. He sold papers, too. She could tell reporters anything and they'd print it up, and the more scandalous the stories were the more people were prepared to shell out on season tickets. Meanwhile his insurance rates were sailing through the ceiling and he needed all sorts of medical shoring. He was draining too much from our resources and it was only going to get worse. Well, think how many tickets it sold to have him attacked right on the pitch. With the grand finale two games before the World Cup. That would have really driven up sales."

No one needed to ask what the grand finale was.

Draco looked at Harry. The Seeker had just shut down. He was watching, he was listening, but there was a distance in his eyes.

"Why did you hire me to protect him?"

"Do you know how much personal protection costs? Even the cheapest of the lot rob you blind, and Weaver wouldn't take the cheapest. But we hire Malfoy Security, headed by Potter's lifelong rival, use incidents from their childhood, and there we have the perfect suspect for the murders. I have that letter you sent. I took it out of the pile when you came on board. And even if that weren't enough to get you charged, no one would expect us to pay the most likely suspect of the death of our beloved Boy Who Lived Seeker. It would have all worked out so neatly."

Draco heard a lot of horrific stories in his line of work. This was by far the most cold, calculating disposal of a human life he'd ever come across. Harry was right there. He had had day-to-day contact with Zimmer. He was a living, breathing human being. And Zimmer wanted to throw him away, like rubbish, for the sake of a wider profit margin.

He wanted to beat the hell out of him.

From the looks of it, so did the Auror.

"I think that's enough for now," she said. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, you're free to go. Mr. Zimmer, make yourself comfortable."

"Hey, I was tricked into taking Veritaserum! You can't use anything I said."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Mr. Zimmer."

"Come on, Harry." Draco took his arm. "I'll take you home."

Harry seemed to snap out of whatever dimension he'd sunk into. "No," he said faintly. "I'll go home. I'm fine."

"You're not fine. I'll just - "

"No!" he snapped loudly, the glint back in his eyes. "I want to be by myself. I want to be alone. Without people hovering over me and staring at me and making stupid snarky comments. Is that so fucking hard to understand?" And he pulled out of Draco's grasp, threw open the door and ran off down the corridor.

Draco rubbed his face. He suddenly felt very tired.

Zimmer snickered. "What did you expect? He'd throw his arms around you in gratitude? Kid's a spoiled brat."

Draco looked at him. "Oh, fuck off."

Then he went home for some much needed scotch.