Hide and Seek

Chapter 3

Harry's heart began to beat faster but he kept his expression impassive. "You know something about what happened to Mundungus Fletcher?"

Draco nodded.

"Well? Tell me what you know."

"I'd feel more comfortable speaking if you didn't have your wand pointed at me."

"Well, I'd feel more comfortable if I did keep it pointed at you," Harry countered, although after a moment he lowered his wand and rested it on his lap instead. Some of the tension in Draco's shoulders eased then and he began to speak.

"I suppose I better start from the beginning..."

"That often tends to be the best place to start," Harry quipped.

Draco drew Harry a sharp look before he began to describe in detail what had happened. He told Harry how he and Mundungus had arranged to meet the previous evening at eleven-thirty, but Draco was running a few minutes late and was worried that Mundungus would leave before they could make their exchange. Draco bowed his head and spoke quietly as he described what he saw next. Mundungus was on the roof of the betting shop, as he had expected, but he was not alone. Draco's voice began to shake as he described seeing Mundungus get into an altercation with a hooded stranger before tumbling over the side of the building out of sight, and finally, how the killer had heard Draco then and had proceeded to attack him.

"You didn't fight back?" asked Harry.

Draco shook his head. "I panicked, I didn't even think to grab my wand. I did the only thing that I could think of at the time—I tossed myself headfirst over the edge of the building and hoped I'd Apparate before hitting the ground."

"Did you get a look at the killer?" asked Harry keenly.

"Not really. They had their back turned to me when they were arguing with Mundungus. And once they realised I was there, they started firing at me and—well, I was more concerned with getting as far away from them as possible at that point, so I wasn't really taking note of what they looked like. I'm fairly certain it was a man, though. They knew me by name, and if they know my name, then there's a high chance that they know where I live."

Draco hugged himself tightly and Harry flopped back in his chair, disappointed. "What kind of business arrangement did you have with Mundungus that involved you meeting in the middle of the night on the roof of a betting shop?"

Draco sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Is that really any of your concern?"

"This is a murder investigation, Mr Malfoy. So yes, it is my business, actually."

Draco huffed out an amused laugh. "Mr Malfoy, is it now? Well, I never thought I'd live to see the day—"

"What kind of business arrangement did you have with Mundungus Fletcher?" Harry cut in.

Any trace of amusement from Draco's face vanished. "Very well. Fletcher approached me a few months ago with some items to sell. I wasn't particularly interested at first, but when he showed me what he had, I was surprised to find that they were of considerable value—to me, at least."

"What kind of items?"

"Fletcher had managed to procure several of my family's stolen heirlooms." Seeing the confused look on Harry's face, Draco explained, "After the war, the Ministry treated the Manor like it was a crime scene—"

"It was," Harry reminded him. "You played house with Voldemort for over a year in that place."

Although Draco flinched when Harry said the Dark Lord's name, his voice remained even when he spoke. "Even so, the Ministry was overzealous when it came to collecting evidence for the trial against us. First thing they did was free all of our house-elves. Some of them had worked at the Manor for centuries; it cost a fortune to replace them all. They pilfered the family vaults, too, practically emptied them of valuables."