Shadow Walks |h.p/h.g|

ch. 12

"Harry, what the hell is going on?" Kingsley Shacklebolt strode into the Level Four Detention facility, with an incredulous look on his face.

"Bellatrix Lestrange is alive," Harry said quietly, not looking at all triumphant or superior, despite his mocking words to Malfoy. "And she's over there in cell B." He cocked his head toward the room in question. "Malfoy's in C."

"Draco Malfoy?" Kingsley echoed. "Harry, I - "

"She was living in his house, Kingsley," Harry said, raising his voice momentarily, but striving to drag it back under control. "They were working together. The French group is tossing the place as we speak. There's bound to be evidence."

"There's bound to be? Harry, you were supposed to have that before you went in."

"I thought... in light of the circumstances - "

"What circumstances?" Kingsley asked, gently, but intently. "Under whose authority did you go into Malfoy's villa?"

"Mine," a voice piped up from behind him, and they both looked up in astonishment. Luna was standing there, looking as serene as she always did, with her butterbeer cork necklace double-stranded around her head like a garland. Ron was hovering protectively at her elbow.

"And mine," said another, as Calpurnia Wilcott appeared from around the corner just behind his two flatmates. Kingsley Shacklebolt's eyes flicked from one to the other in turn.

"Explain," he said in a terse voice.

Together, Luna and Calpurnia began to tell their tale to the Head Auror, and Harry found himself not really listening until they got to the part about finding fibers from a modified invisibility cloak, and doing a black market trace on who owned such an item. Harry did his best not to look surprised, wondering if they'd actually found such evidence, or were making it all up.

"What is the meaning of this?" came a new voice, trampling over the last half of Calpurnia's sentence. Harry recognized it instantly. Ron said,

"Bloody sodding hell."

Percy Weasley strode around the corner, still dressed in his crispest black Ministry robes, despite the fact that it was after-hours, and all but the on-duty Aurors who'd been called in were in street clothes. His eyes tripped over the scene, lingering with superior disdain over his brother and his best friend. Righteous indignation rose up in Harry, and he elbowed his way past Kingsley.

"I'll tell you what the meaning of this is," Harry offered. "The meaning of this is that Bellatrix Lestrange is not dead. Your little Ministry pet, Malfoy, has been hiding her from the government for five years. There were key facts in evidence that were overlooked or not examined at all, because the Minister was so eager to brush everything under the rug and close the case."

"Your long enmity with Draco Malfoy is obviously clouding your judgment," Percy said superciliously. "It is lucky for the Auror Department that an agent with such flagrant prejudices will not remain on staff for much longer." The threat was unmistakable. Percy and Harry stared at each other with evident loathing, and the tension snaked thickly throughout the corridor.

"Your position up the Minister's arse is obviously clouding your judgment," Harry said, pulling a transparent, wafer-thin object from the pocket of his cloak. "I have a recording of everything that happened in the Malfoy villa tonight." He tossed it to Percy, who caught it, looking flustered. "I trust that the recording, together with the testimonies of these Unspeakables, will shed a little light on the actual facts of the investigation."