The Silver Envelope

The Missing Motive

Chapter Notes

TW: emotional abuse

CRACK.
Diagon Alley stretched before Hermione, as frozen and gray as she felt.
Numbly, she walked forward, her arms full of the freshly copied leaflets she'd made for Midgen.
Draco was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he was already at the shop.
She kept her head bent against the icy wind as she walked, clutching the leaflets hard in her gloved hands. They listed the names of the elves who had been reported missing, along with their descriptions and who to contact with information about them. Hermione had to hope that they would help somehow.
When she arrived at the shop, she spotted Draco waiting for her outside, the intimidating silhouette of his dark robes easily identifying him from a distance. He greeted her with a small nod, then followed her down the stone steps and into the shop. A few shoppers around the store looked around at them, perplexed at the sight of them there.
"Midgen?" Hermione called.
The elf popped into existence right in front of them, startling her. Today she was wearing a blue dress with ruffled sleeves and pearl earrings. She looked glad to see Hermione and Draco, bobbing a curtsy to them both.
"Madam. Sir," she greeted them. "Tis nice to see you again."
"I have those leaflets for you," Hermione said. "Would you like me to leave them anywhere in particular?"
Midgen reached forward and managed to take the several large stacks into her tiny arms without dropping any.
"Midgen will keep them by the register," she squeaked, walking to the register of the shop in the back. "She will hand them out to every customer!"
"Glad to hear it," Hermione said.
"Any news about Ignoma?" Draco asked when she returned.
Midgen looked nervously up at him.
"Midgen has written to everyone she knows, sir," she said. "She has not heard anything about Ignoma's whereabouts yet."
"What about Millie?" Hermione asked.
Midgen shook her head sadly, her ears drooping a bit further.
"I'm sorry to hear it," Hermione said.
"Midgen is keeping her hopes up, Ms. Granger," Midgen said, tilting her chin up. "She is not giving up on her Millie! And if Midgen hears anything about the other missing elves, she will write to Ms. Granger at once."
Hermione smiled weakly, feeling a weight settle in her stomach.
"I would appreciate that, Midgen," she said. Taking a deep breath, she added, "But you should actually contact the Ministry. I've been...removed from the case."
Draco's head whipped around to look at her.
"What do you mean?" he demanded.

Hermione licked her lips nervously, looking at Midgen instead.
"But please write to us if you hear anything about Ignoma, anything at all. We're very worried about her," Hermione told the elf.
Midgen nodded, looking unsure, her eyes darting from Hermione to Draco.
"Midgen will write to you," she promised.
"Thank you," Hermione said.
As they left the shop, she felt Draco's eyes boring into her. The second they were outside, he repeated his question.
"Not here," Hermione whispered.
Draco's expression clouded. He looked around them, took her arm forcefully, and twisted, pulling her back to his home.
"What do you mean, you were removed from the case?" he snarled once they were inside. His
hands came around her shoulders, holding her in place.
Hermione took a shaky breath.
"I've been placed on suspension," she said numbly. "That was what my meeting was about, apparently. I'm not allowed back at work until the Magical Law Enforcement Office clears the threat to my safety, in their words."
Draco's expression was hard, but he didn't say anything.
"They've handed my missing elf investigation to Rolph Delamare." Hermione said his name with clear derision. "He's going to botch everything, I'm sure of it."
Delamare was alright most of the time, she supposed. But, like most of her coworkers, he didn't give a flying frog about elves. People usually left elf issues to Hermione, since they knew she was the head of S.P.E.W. He would probably let her carefully organized paperwork rot on a shelf until she returned, while he spent all his time going after that rogue dragon breeder. Meanwhile, elves
were still going missing. The thought made her want to scream with frustration.
Draco scowled at her.
"So what?" he snarled. "Are you just going to give up on Ignoma and the others then?"
Hermione blinked.
"N-no, of course not," she said. "I'm still going to be looking for them. I just can't interfere with the official investigation."
Draco let go of her shoulders, taking a step back.
"Fine then," he said, and she couldn't read what he was thinking.
Tentatively, Hermione asked him, "Did you follow up on the leads I gave you today?"
He nodded.
"Nothing useful," was all he said.
He walked away, disappearing down the hall without another word.
Hermione felt like crying. She stood there for a moment, just inside the door, breathing deeply.
Crookshanks walked up to her, wrapping himself sinuously around her ankles.
Before she could fully collect herself, Draco had returned. He'd changed out of his robes and into a thin gray jumper with dark trousers. He glanced at her briefly before heading into his office.
Hermione wasn't certain what to do, so she picked up Crookshanks and brought him to the sofa with her. If she were at home right now, she would have made herself a cup of tea. The thought made her want to cry again.
"I had a thought today," Draco said as he returned, a stack of papers in his hands. "I think it's possible that Johanna is connected to the missing elves somehow."
Hermione was shocked out of her melancholy.