The offices of PuMa Enterprises are located in what appears to be an abandoned warehouse in Greenwich, but is really a modern office building. Hermione’s glad they have a public Floo because she’s never been to Greenwich before and might not have found the building easily. The interior is tasteful and welcoming, and it seems to be pretty busy, with people arriving via Floo and using the lifts. She checks the clock and sees that she’s ten minutes early. She’ll probably have to wait, but it will take time to reach her destination.
The receptionist in the lobby tells her to go to the second floor and gives her directions. It’s tempting to take the stairs for a spot of exercise since she’s early, but she doesn’t want to risk looking rumpled for her meeting. It’s something that would likely be noticed and commented upon, so she takes one of the two lifts upstairs. It doesn’t take very long before one arrives on the ground floor and opens its doors. The trip up to the second floor is short, so she steps off the lift and looks around.
There are offices up here, and she sees large windows at either end of the corridor that she assumes have nice views of the nearby river or neighborhood. She doesn’t go to look since she isn’t here for the scenery. She turns to the right and walks until she sees the corridor that the receptionist mentioned. There, she turns left and walks a short distance until she reaches her destination.
She enters the office and smiles at the secretary. “I have an appointment at two,” she says as she approaches the woman’s desk. “The name is Hermione Granger-Weasley.”
“Yes, Madam. I’ll let Mr. Malfoy know that you’ve arrived. Please, sit. Would you like tea while you wait?”
“No, thank you.” She sits down and browses through her file. It’s little surprise that Malfoy makes her wait. It’s a basic power play that she adapted to during her training. Ogden made sure of that, since part of their job is being in control and not letting emotions guide their reactions. If anything, she’s slightly disappointed that Malfoy has to resort to such common practices.
When she enters his office at fifteen minutes after two, she looks around instead of focusing immediately on him. The office is similar to the one in his home, only with fewer books and a large window overlooking the river. After she deliberately takes time surveying her surroundings, she looks at him and can see the nerve twitching in his cheek. Being ignored is usually more annoying than being forced to wait.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Malfoy.”
“Granger.” He motions to the chair opposite his desk. “Sit or stand. I don’t really care which as long as you tell me why you demanded this meeting.”
“Demand is such a harsh word. I prefer request,” she decides as she sits down.
“Most requests don’t say ‘schedule a meeting for us or I’ll make an investigation into your business public’,” he says dryly.
“I never threatened to make the investigation public. I simply said that it would be in your best interests to meet with me today.”
“My best interests generally don’t involve having to meet with the Deputy Head of Magical Law. What’s this about, Granger?”
“Air Swift,” she says, watching his face closely. A lot of the information that led her here comes from intuition instead of fact so she has to play this carefully. If he gets demanding, her efforts might fail, which isn’t an option.
He purses his lips and leans back in his chair. “They make brooms, don’t they?”
“They do. Including a new model that hasn’t yet been released. You’re familiar with it, I’m sure, since I saw it in your home office on Saturday.”
The tic in his cheek is back, and he glances at his desk before looking back at her. “Perhaps you’re mistaken. You never were one for brooms, after all.”
“See, what I’m trying to understand is why PuMa Enterprises bought Air Swift privately and has taken such extreme measures to ensure that the general public isn’t aware of the buy-out. I assumed it would be best to ask you directly before I begin to ask questions around the community,” she says casually.
“I would think that the legal purchase of a company in financial difficulty wasn’t any of your concern, Granger. It isn’t exactly your area of expertise, after all.”
“It concerns me when it involves the accused in a murder case. When I’m establishing a history for someone that I’ll face in court, then all of their life becomes my business. In this case, I discovered an unsound business that had been solid for nearly a century before it was bought quickly by an unnamed source. Shortly thereafter, the previous owner has an empty vault and no family business remaining.”
“There’s more than a broom to this,” he says after a moment. “You wouldn’t have come to my own office to confront me if it were just about a broom.”
“You’re right. There’s also the matter of Astoria Greengrass.” She sees his eyes widen briefly before he presses his lips together. She’s made a hit, so she continues to pursue it. “Your partner’s sister-in-law and the woman that you were betrothed to in your youth.”
“I’m familiar with her, Granger. What I fail to see is what she has to do with a broom company,” he challenges, not looking away.
And therein lies the problem. She isn’t sure what Astoria Greengrass has to do with this. She connected the dots based on what information Kevin gave her, which led back to Malfoy and Pucey, but she doesn’t know why they’d have gone after Warrington and ruined him.
“You don’t know.” He smirks and leans back again. “I’ll give you credit for even getting as far as you did. Someone must have given you her name.”
“It came to me in a dream,” she says simply. “Do you plan to answer my questions or will I have to go through all the tedious paperwork to bring you and your partner in for formal questioning? I daresay that someone might leak word of it to the press, and I do hate when my work is interrupted by controversy.”
The frown is back as he studies her. “You’d actually do it, you crazy bint,” he mutters. He looks at a frame on his desk before he looks at her. “These questions of yours need to be answered for the Warrington case? You don’t have enough on him without all this?”
“We have evidence, but I want to ensure that there’s enough to put him away for the rest of his life,” she tells him honestly.
“I read about the case. The children they found.” He drifts for a moment before he nods once. “I’ll answer your questions, but I reserve the right to refuse to reply to any that I dislike.”
“With the nature of the case, the court will be closed. I can’t promise that no one will find out whatever you tell me, of course, but I can take the necessary security measures to make it very difficult for anyone to speak with the press.” She’s not foolish enough to make promises that aren’t completely within her power to keep, but she’s not had any leaks in major cases since she fired someone years ago.
“PuMa Enterprises does own Air Swift,” Malfoy tells her. “Pucey and I decided one evening that we wanted to own a broom company because it’s a profitable business. We chose Air Swift for personal reasons.”
“Because it was owned by Warrington.”
“We had an enlightening discussion that led us to realize that we had both been working towards ruining the same man. By combining forces, we were able to strike hard and fast.”
“So, you deliberately weakened his business and then came in to buy it when he was in too much debt to repay the bank?” she asks for confirmation.
“Something like that.” He arches a brow. “I presume that someone like you might have involved the courts or made public claims against Warrington, but we don’t work the same way as most people.”
“Why did you want to ruin him?” She isn’t entirely certain that he’ll answer, but she’ll ask until he does. She needs to know any information that might impact the case against Warrington.
“Two years ago I saw Warrington looking at my son during a holiday party.” Malfoy tightens his grip on the arm of his chair. “I did not approve of the look or of the way that he attempted to charm my son.” He looks again at the photograph frame. “I was suspicious of Warrington back when I was a student, and my suspicions had only strengthened in time. I wanted to destroy him for looking at my child in that way.” He looks back at her. “I’m sure that you can understand the feeling, Granger. You’re a parent, after all.”
It isn’t what she expects to hear. In a twisted way, she can understand his motivation. He’s wrong, though, about how she'd respond, because if anyone ever attempted to abuse her children, she’d make sure that they paid in ways that the courts would never approve. “Did he do anything more than look?”
“No,” he says sharply. “I never allowed Scorpius to be around the man again. I questioned my son afterwards, and I’m confident that nothing happened prior to that occasion.”
“How does Astoria Greengrass fit into this?” She glances at her notes. “According to my sources, she passed away three years ago.”
“Did your sources say how she died?”
“There was no other information. Just a date of death and a statement that a private funeral service had been conducted in France.” She arches a brow. “How did she die?”
Malfoy shifts in his chair and glances out the window. “You’ll give me your word that the conversation we’re about to have will not be put into your notes or shared at the trial. If necessary, you can place the full responsibility of my company for buying Air Swift on me and leave Adrian out of it.”
“I can’t make that kind of promise, Malfoy. Not without knowing the information and making an informed decision.” She doesn’t want to resort to threats of asking Adrian and Daphne Pucey themselves because she isn’t entirely sure that threats would be taken seriously. He seems to have made the decision to assist with the case, even if he’s barely given her anything more than his own justification, so he might be willing to tell her more if she doesn’t become hostile.
He curses under his breath and glares at her. “I’m not supposed to know the facts. Daphne has no idea that I’ve been told, and I’d like to keep it that way.” After a moment of silence, he frowns. “Bloody Gryffindors and their bloody ethics.”
“We haven’t been identified by our houses in twenty years, Malfoy. Once I hear what you have to tell me, then I’ll know if the information might be useful in the case against Warrington or not. Until then, though, I can’t make a choice.”
“Astoria committed suicide. In a way, it was a welcome relief for her family. She hadn’t ever been quite right since school, so she had been sent away when she was eighteen. It was suspected that she inherited a mental condition from a great-aunt who had been mad. It wasn’t until after her death that Daphne learned the truth.” He taps his fingers against the arm of his chair.
“The truth?” she prompts. Suicide is certainly something that most Pureblood families would keep secret, but mental illness is even more scandalous. She tries to remember a face to match the name Astoria, but it’s been too long for her to remember someone she never met.
“Warrington.” Malfoy sneers as he says the name and glances at the photograph before he continues. “Daphne found Astoria’s journals, and she learned that Warrington had abused her during her first year at school. From what her journals say, he told her that he chose a new student every year to be his pet, though she didn’t know if it was true or not. I have my own suspicions about that, but that’s neither here nor there. The important thing is that Warrington abused his fellow Slytherins and scared them into keeping quiet. Not even Astoria’s own sister was aware of the abuse.”
Had Snape known? Had Dumbledore? Hermione can’t imagine a student being able to get away with physically abusing younger students for years. It set a history for Warrington, certainly, and could explain the origins of behavior that escalated as he got older, but Astoria is dead, and it’s unlikely that journals would be admissible to the court. It’s just hearsay without her alive to confirm what she wrote. At least, that’s how Hermione figures the Wizengamot will see it. If Warrington had managed to keep the cycle of abuse a secret during school, as he apparently claimed to Astoria, then it’s also unlikely that any other victims were named in the diary. Bugger it.
“Well, now you have your answers.” Malfoy arches a brow. “Satisfied?”
“Not at all,” she admits as she rubs the back of her neck. “I won’t be able to use the information about Astoria, so you’re safe there. With her dead, there’s no way to prove that she actually endured abuse at his hands. The journal isn’t admissible as evidence. We’ve been working under the presumption based on the known facts that he had targeted Muggle children, like the victims, but you're suggesting he abused people in our world when he was young and hadn’t yet advanced to the torturous acts recently committed.”
“I don’t feel responsible for those children’s deaths,” Malfoy says suddenly. “I didn’t have proof that Warrington was the monster that I suspected, so I couldn’t have said anything even if I were the type. I ruined his business and emptied his vault, so he couldn’t have bought any children for nearly a year now.”
“I never blamed you for the acts that he committed,” she points out. “He’s responsible for the deaths, no one else. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that he doesn’t have the opportunity to do that to anyone else, though. It’s my job.”
She organizes her file and stands up. “I appreciate you meeting with me, Malfoy. This has helped rule out two leads, at least, so now we can focus on other areas that might prove more useful.”
He frowns as he gets to his feet. “As much as you annoy me, I can’t argue against the fact that you’re good at your job.” He hesitates before he reluctantly says, “Thank you for keeping Astoria’s history private. She was a sweet child before she began to change and, as you said, I was supposed to marry her once upon a time. Your respect in the matter is noted.”
“If what you say is true, it seems that she suffered enough in life. She doesn’t have to suffer more now in death.” Hermione shrugs a shoulder and has to bite her tongue not to get into a discussion about her thoughts regarding arranged marriages, especially with children.
“Good day, Granger,” he says as he walks her to the door, “and good luck.”
“Thank you, Malfoy. Always a pleasure,” she says with a nod before she leaves his office. Instead of walking straight to the lift, she turns and walks to the large window nearby. Looking out, she watches a boat drift past and starts to contemplate the information that she’s just learned.
End
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