Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Charles was sitting in the pub, getting a bit irritated. He checked his watch...Malfoy was now twenty minutes late. Oh, well. At least he was paying an obscene amount of money for this investigation. As Charles took another swig of his butterbeer, he finally saw a flash of blonde hair coming up the sidewalk.

"Pendington," Draco greeted, holding out his hand when he approached the table.

"Mr. Malfoy."

Sitting at opposite sides of the table, the men looked at one another without a trace of humor.

"Charles, I know you want to fill me in on your plans, but I also have another possible find."

"So do I. Actually it may be unrelated, but it's worth mentioning. Your mother isn't the only person associated with the Death Eaters who has gone missing recently. Another woman's disappearance was reported by her boss over three months ago. She has no family, so the only evidence was the state of her home. Everything had been left behind."

Draco thought for a second, trying to put any pieces together. "I don't see how this is connected, though. That woman had no relatives, and I have been sent evidence which the kidnapper presumes will lure me or coerce me into meeting some sort of demand."

"Like I said, it could mean nothing at all, but if this is about more than money or revenge against you personally, her disappearance could be a clue. All I'm saying is that I will be watching the Missing Witches and Wizards List at the Ministry for any other relations of Death Eaters."

"All right, then. What else do you have for me? I need to fill you in on my new discovery."

"I can keep this brief. I only wanted to meet in person to avoid anyone intercepting our communication. Basically, I have placed a young woman named Wendy as Parkinson's new receptionist. The other one, er, quit suddenly." He paused to smile up at Draco, although he was a little disappointed by the lack of an approving expression. "Er, anyway, I am simply having her observe for now."

"Sounds good. I can't see the Parkinsons being responsible for this, but we need to be sure."

Charles merely nodded. "And the other development?"

"Well, it may be nothing at all, but I have been researching curses which result in a white sheen, and I did find one possibility. Have you ever heard of Death Faeries?"

A bit of color drained from Charles's face, and Draco immediately knew his detective was familiar with the creatures.

"I am not sure Death Faeries even exist, Draco. That is an old legend," Charles quickly replied.

"Then why do you look as if you've seen a ghost? I demand that you tell me what you know."

Charles looked at his hands and sighed. "Please do not make me recount this tale. I do not know if I can bear it."

Draco could see the pain written all over Charles's face, but no sympathy came. If this man knew something that could help his mother, then he had better be out with it.

"Charles, I don't give a damn about anything but my mum. Now, tell me before I hex you!" he whispered harshly.

"Please, Draco..."

"Now!" Draco nearly shouted at full voice.

"Oh, very well." Charles closed his eyes and attempted to calm himself, and then he began. "When I was a young lad, my grandmother was my favorite person in this world. She lived with us and cared for me most of the time, and she would sing to me, read stories, take me to pick berries, and bring me to our lakeside to fish."

Draco nearly exploded with impatience. He had no desire to sit and hear this man's gushy life story, but he knew he had to control himself or risk not finding out what he needed to know.

"I loved her, and I couldn't imagine my world without her. One day when we were playing chase in our back garden, though, she suddenly grabbed her chest and collapsed. I ran to her, but I was too young to know what to do. I just kept screaming her name and shaking her, and by the time my mother was at my side, my grandmother was dead.

"Naturally, I didn't feel I could let her go, so after her funeral, I decided I would sneak out in the middle of the night with my blanket and pillow so I could sleep next to her in our cemetery." Charles paused, taking a shaky breath. Draco found it strange to see such an intimidating man so overcome by fear.

"As soon as my mum put me to bed, I ran to my window, slipped through it, and began climbing down the tree next to my room. A quick "Accio" brought me my pillow and blanket, and I tiptoed in the shadows all the way to her grave."

Charles stopped to take another deep breath, and Draco nearly shouted at him to be on with it.

"You cannot imagine what I saw upon entering our graveyard. Instead of finding a fresh mound of earth scattered with flower petals, I encountered the most terrifying sight of my life. The earth around my grandmother had been peeled back like a sinkhole, and her shroud no longer covered her body. She was hovering a few inches above her grave, and she was surrounded by a shining white mist. I stepped closer, only to find grotesque grayish creatures who...who were feasting on her flesh!" Charles let his head fall forward and rubbed his temples, trying to resume breathing evenly.

Draco had seen plenty of horrifying acts during the time when the Dark Lord occupied Malfoy Manor, but even he nearly gagged at this. He tried to shove the image of his mother being torn apart from his mind as Charles finished his tale.

"I will never be able to describe what I felt in that moment, but I was too stricken to even scream. I finally turned and ran as fast as my legs would carry me, and the next morning, I didn't even want to go with my parents when they went to the cemetery for a visit. When they returned, I knew nothing was amiss because they were behaving normally, but I could not convince myself that what I saw had been a mere nightmare. I spent three hours in our library that day searching for anything I could find about these creatures. For some reason, I felt it might help me retain my sanity if I could just know what had happened. I did not find much, Mr. Malfoy, but in an ancient volume of curses passed through the generations of my family, I found all I will ever need to know. They were Death Faeries, and their purpose was to decay human bodies upon their deaths. They were also evil creatures who could be summoned by black magic to perform heinous tasks."

Charles looked quite relieved to be finished recounting his disturbing memories, but Draco was feeling frustrated. He and Granger had already found all of this. "So, how do we free my mother?"

"Mr. Malfoy, if Death Faeries have been summoned to imprison your mother, we have more than revenge or ransom to fear. Even if we find the culprit and the motive, releasing your mother before she is harmed could be next to impossible."

"That is not acceptable!" shouted Draco, jumping to his feet. "You cannot tell me that there is no hope!"

"Sir, pardon the disrespect, but you need to sit down and be quiet. We do not want anyone listening to this."

Draco took a breath and sat slowly, fuming and dismayed. "All right, but I want it understood by you and your team that we will not be giving up unless she is gone." He felt an intense pang of emptiness in his chest at the thought, but he continued. "Why can't these abominations be destroyed?"

"Oh, they can, Mr. Malfoy, but the moment they are released from their duties, they will begin to feed."

Draco felt himself grabbing the edge of the table to remain steady, but he was beginning to feel panic. "How are they released?"

"They are released by the one who summoned them or by that person's death."

"Well, then, there is plenty of hope. If we can get past the captor without killing him, we can destroy the faeries before their release and take my mother."

"I agree, Mr. Malfoy, but we must also consider that your mother is the payment and may not even be alive at this point. Her kidnappers may be luring you into a trap. Furthermore, they may be planning to simply kill her upon your arrival and release the faeries before you have a chance to find her." He paused, knowing this was a terrible load for Draco to bear. "Even if we get to her, these beings are very powerful. The more evil the humans they consume, the more powerful they are."

"I don't care! There is no choice but to try. How do we destroy them?"

"That is one thing I do not know. I also have no idea what consequences come from removing Death Faeries from their burial grounds."

"We'll simply have to take the chance, Charles."

"Alright, Mr. Malfoy," Charles replied, finally beginning to gain his professional composure, "but first we must find suspects and possible locations. We would also be wise to continue researching curses. Death Faeries may have nothing to do with this at all."

Draco looked at his lap, trying to contain his terror. He knew Charles was right. They really weren't any better off than yesterday. What good would it be to know what would kill his mother if he knew no way to find her and no way to kill the damned things?

"Very well. Thank you, Mr. Pendington."

"Of course."

With that, both men exited the restaurant, heading their separate ways.