The first thing Albus realised as he stepped through the doors of the exhibition was that it was extremely cold. Rubbing the sides of his arms, he looked around. The room was very large with a very high ceiling. The walls were a light shade of blue with white crowning, and they were lined with various portraits that all seemed to be from different eras. The windows were tall, and the curtains lining them were parted, allowing the afternoon sunlight to stream in through the glass. The carpet was a light shade of grey, and filling up the whole room were tables, on top of which rested around fifty sculptures that seemed to sparkle in the light. From far away, it seemed they were made of diamond.
“Excuse me?”
Albus turned around and came face to face with an old man. His first impression was that this man looked like a pillar; he was tall, around six and a half feet, and was very thin, as though he hadn’t eaten for days. He had a large, bushy moustache and a bald patch on his head. He was looking at Albus with a quizzical look on his face.
“Good evening, sir,” Albus said in his official voice. “I’m a detective, here to investigate a murder.” He showed up his Auror ID. The IDs that the Aurors had had a special charm on them “ to Muggles, they looked like police badges.
“Oh.” The man frowned. “I’m George Willis, and I’m in charge of the exhibition. How may I help you?”
“I need to know if Cheryl Lee was here between nine and eleven pm last night. Do you remember seeing her?”
“Cheryl Lee?” he asked in surprise, his tiny eyes lighting up. “Of course I remember seeing her! Very talented young woman, I tell you! Made the finest sculpture we’ve seen in a long time!”
Albus nodded. “Did she leave any time between ten and ten thirty?”
Willis pondered over the question for a while. Then he replied, “I don’t remember seeing her leave, but I wouldn’t know for sure. I had other sculptures to look after as well. I just know that I saw Cheryl come in at around eight last night when the exhibition started, and she left with the other sculptors at eleven pm. They all left their sculptures behind as the judging started today.”
“Thank you so much,” Albus said, smiling at the man. “I’ll come back if I need anything else.”
“It was my pleasure, detective!”
Once out of the exhibition, Albus ran to a dark alleyway and Apparated to the Ministry.
“Found anything?” Scorpius asked when Albus plopped down on a chair in his office.
“Nah. Cheryl’s alibi checks out. The in-charge remembers seeing her there.”
“There goes your wife-murderer theory.”
“Yeah, well.” Albus shrugged. “Let’s check his workplace. I’m sure he must have had tiffs with someone or the other, even though he didn’t tell his wife.”
“The last time I heard, he was working in Gringotts, right?” Scorpius said. “We can ask your Uncle Bill; he’s the head of the Gringotts’ curse breakers.”
Nodding, Albus got up and walked to his fireplace. Being the Assistant Head of the Auror Office had its advantages; he got his own fireplace. Taking a handful of the Floo powder from the grate, he threw it into the orange flames. With a hiss, they immediately turned bright emerald.
“Let’s go,” he said to Scorpius, and he stepped into the dancing green flames. As the flames licked his trousers, he announced clearly and loudly, “Gringotts!” Slowly, the fire engulfed him and he started whizzing around. He caught a few glimpses of other living rooms through the grates he flew past, until finally, he stopped. Stumbling out, slightly disoriented, he found himself standing in the lobby of the Wizarding bank.
A few seconds later, Scorpius staggered out of the grate and clutched onto him for support. “I still prefer Apparating, or better, brooms,” he muttered.
Albus sniggered, earning himself a blow to the head. “Git,” he muttered ruefully, massaging his head.
Scorpius, meanwhile, walked towards the reception. Sitting behind the marble counter, hunched over some parchment, was a goblin with tall, pointy ears. Tufts of white hair sprouted out of his matted, wrinkled skin.
“Excuse me,” Scorpius said. “I’m here to meet William Weasley, the Head curse breaker. Where can I find him?”
The goblin looked up. His small, beady eyes were narrowed suspiciously in Scorpius’ direction. “Do you have an appointment with Mr Weasley?”
Scorpius flashed his badge, putting on an authoritative expression. “I am an Auror. I need to speak to Mr Weasley now, please.”
Baring his sharp, pointed teeth, he stepped out from behind the counter. “Right this way.” He started walking towards a long, narrow corridor to the left. Scorpius and Albus followed suit.
“How’d you do that?” Albus whispered to Scorpius as they trudged down the corridor. Their footsteps reverberated off the walls.
“Do what?”
“You know, command everyone around.”
Scorpius smirked. “Why? Is the Deputy Head thinking that I am a much better choice than himself?”
“No,” Albus replied irritably. “I was just asking.”
However, that smug look refused to vanish off of Scorpius’ face for the rest of their walk.
They came to a long series of doors. They seemed to be at an office of some sort. This, Albus thought, was probably the curse breakers’ offices.
The goblin and the Aurors stopped in front of the door at the very end of the corridor. “This is the office of Mr Weasley, the Head of the Gringotts’ curse breakers,” he said in a raspy voice. Without another word, he walked back the same way they had come.
Shrugging, Scorpius knocked on the door.
“Come in,” came the voice of Albus’ uncle.
Scorpius turned the doorknob and entered the office.
Compared to the rest of Gringotts, Bill’s office was much more homely and cosy. There was a plush red carpet covering the stone floors, and the furniture was all made of a coffee-coloured wood. The walls were covered in bookshelves full of fat volumes of books and an occasional photo frame or ornament. A warm fire crackled in the grate. Bill Weasley sat at a desk towards the back of the room, poring through a stack of paperwork. His long, greying hair was, as usual, tied in a ponytail. When the newcomers entered, he looked up.
“Albus, Scorpius!” he said happily, standing up to greet them. They walked forwards and shook hands. “What brings you here?”
“Uncle Bill, I assume you’ve heard about Kenny Lee?” Albus said, getting straight to the point.
A grim look flashed across Bill’s lined face. “Yeah, I heard. It was a great loss; he was one of our best curse breakers.”
“We were wondering, did he have any enemies at work?” Scorpius asked. “Anyone he had any fights with or anything?”
Bill shook his head. “I believe not. He was on good terms with everyone here.” He paused, thinking hard. “Though, now that you mention it, I think there was someone.”
“Who?” Albus asked, edging forwards in his seat. Was this the person they were looking for?
“Jeremiah Rufflesius. They had a very big... confrontation last week. In the end, I had to pull Rufflesius off. When I was dragging him away, he was yelling at Lee. He said, ‘Watch yourself, you two-faced bastard. The next time I get my hands on you, I’ll break your head open.’”
A Touch of Ice by majestic_ginny
Chapter Notes: Thanks a lot to Soraya(babewithbrains) for the awesome betawork!