With you in my Arms

44. Fathers are very protective of their daughters

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Henri Shaw was sitting in his office with the fourth cup of extra strong tea in his hands. Parchments, folders, notes and photos were covering the whole of the desk's surface. Only the small area directly in front of him had been spared. He sighed. He should have been in a fantastic mood, but he was anything but. He scrambled about for a fresh piece of parchment, located his quill and ink well at the bottom of a layer of files and started to try and order his wildly dancing thoughts.

1. Rita Skeeter was pregnant and hadn't got a clue as to who the father was. She hadn't got a clue as to when it had happened either. This woman was not the type to have random one night stands all over the place, rendering her incapable to remember the details.

2. Pansy Parkinson had confessed, that Lucius Malfoy had been plotting the coma of his wife and the installation of her as new mistress at Malfoy Manor. Be it at the side of Malfoy junior or senior.

Insanity didn't come any more obvious than this. Lucius Malfoy walking about free, plotting the demise of his wife. Maybe even his son? Why would he want to do that? The man was a dangerous lunatic, but killing his own son? Then again, what would happen, if Draco died? The House of Malfoy would be left without an heir which would cause all kinds of complications, but if he died after having fathered a child...

The head Auror pursed his lips. If ex-Death Eater Lucius Malfoy really had been planning the disposal of his family, everything would suddenly make sense. In a really warped way, but still. In that case he would have got Hanker and Notorious to co-operate with Rita Skeeter and the Parkinson girl. Pansy had been Plan A to get a new, untainted heir for his house, but somehow everything had gone pear shaped seemingly. She had been sobbing more or less constantly while Longbottom had interrogated her. She had failed to win Draco.

He frowned. Was it possible that he, Lucius Malfoy, had actually... Rita Skeeter? He rummaged through the parchment assortment to his left. After having found the one he had been looking for he quickly read through the information on the sheet. A frown was growing with every word he was absorbing. He would have never guessed. Amazing! Rita Skeeter was a far relation of the Longbottoms and Parkinsons. She was a pureblood and her heritage was just about good enough for... He exhaled heavily.

Who in their right mind would be pursuing... He stopped himself. This man wasn't in his right mind. Something seemed to have seriously unhinged him in Azkaban. Not surprising really considering the conditions in the place. He put the parchment down and stared at the door leading into his office. He had pinned photos of all the participants in this bizarre affair to it. There were Granger, Potter, Weasley, Patil, Parkinson, Skeeter, Zabini, Rockwood, the complete Malfoy family, Hanker, Notorious and an empty piece of parchment with a large question mark on it.

That just left the question as to why Malfoy senior had taken care of assigning his wife to St,. Mungo's. What was he gaining by that? It didn't have the hoped for effect in any case. His son hadn't been distressed enough to feel the need to... Distressed... Maybe he had been too distressed as that he was thinking about talking to a former house mate, a female house mate.

Another shuffling of parchments ensued. This time it took him quite some time until he found what he was looking for. He scanned the frantic looking scribbling quickly, let the sheet sink and drummed his fingers on the desk. According to this Granger and the young Malfoy had got together around the time of their Graduation. Henri checked who had provided this information. Ronald Weasley. Hm. More finger drumming. Then he searched for the account of events Potter had given him. Skimming over another parchment his suspicion was confirmed. The girl had been staying with him after them leaving school. She had started training as a healer, but hadn't been looking for her own flat. There was no mention of Lucius' offspring.

Ergo, something had happened between them two around the time of leaving Hogwarts, which would have been a couple of days after the big party. She had been pregnant, but not talking to to the father of her child any longer. He sighed. Youngsters nowadays! Though this would explain why the whole plan had failed. It didn't have a chance to get off the ground as Draco had been emotionally involved with Hermione and having his mother cursed wouldn't have helped his mood in any case. Another glance at Potter's sheet followed. Young Malfoy had ended up in the hospital himself. He turned the sheet over, scanned the text again and frowned. Why had that been? There was no reason for it mentioned or he couldn't find any. Strange.

He got up, opened the door and shouted, "Mulligan!". There was no answer. He blinked. That had never ever happened before. "MULLIGAN!" Again no answer. A few other aurors had started to poke their heads out off their offices though.

"Where the flipping heck is Mulligan?" The Head Auror roared.

"Hasn't shown up yet." Dawlish could be heard from the meeting table.

"What do you mean, he hasn't shown up yet? It's half past ten! Where the hell is he?"

"Presumably needing a break." All heads in the room turned. A young female filing clerk had just entered the inner section of the department. "I've got an urgent request from St. Mungo's here to investigate a strange appearance there late last night."

She approached Henri Shaw who glared at her, handed him a letter and then turned to leave. Dawlish looked at her disbelievingly. Moments before she could leave the room he got hold of her arm. She froze. Her eyes conveyed uneasiness. He scowled at her as he pulled her into his office. His boss looked at the now closed door with raised eyebrows, but didn't comment on it. He turned while reading the parchment in his hands.