Draco had barely made it through the entrance hall that day when he heard his mother's cries coming from somewhere upstairs in the manor
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George was in the middle of the sales floor, wrangling up a few stray Pigmy Puffs that had gleefully been set loose by a few troublemaking kids (and by troublemaking, he really meant brilliant and clever and hilarious) when Cecilia's owl quite literally ran into him, knocking against his shoulder before fluttering itself back into a semblance of composure and perching itself on top of the Puffs case. He snatched the offered letter, unfolding it with a mildly confused frown-
-Which quickly turned into a much more concerned, displeased sort of frown as he read over her words.
He didn't bother to announce himself to any of the other employees on the clock before storming up the stairs and through the curtains that led into his and Fred's office and promptly Disapparating out to land on Ronald's doorstep.
His fist heavily connected with the door, all manner of questions and concerns reeling through his mind as relentlessly and obnoxiously pounded away, Cecilia's letter still clutched in his hand.
This had to stop happening. Didn't people ever come visit for tea or a nice chat? No, they had to come over and pound on the door like they were in the middle of the worst event of their lives - to be fair, that had been happening a lot in Harry's life recently - when Ron was tying to sleep before taking on what was likely to be the most boring and tedious 12 hours of his life.
His hair was still half flat and ridiculous on one side when he pulled the door open. "What?" His face sobered, though, when he saw the look on his brother's face and he asked again a little less snottily. "What?"
"Malfoy was fucking released?" he spit out as a form of greeting, completely past the point of pleasantries the further his mind ran with the possibilities of what that fact could possibly mean as far as Cecilia's well-being was concerned.
Whether the Imperius Curse had been involved or not (and, as much as he wanted to pin that prat as the bad guy, if Cecilia was convinced, then hell, despite everything, so was he), he found no comfort in knowing that Malfoy was no longer under strict guard in an isolated location when the person that was supposedly behind his wretched actions had yet to be figured out, much less stopped or captured. The idea of Cecilia being in his presence even now was genuinely unnerving, especially considering the fact that she had apparently felt the need to send a message just for the sake of alerting him as to her whereabouts-
"Okay, about that - " Ron took a step back and shoved a hand through his hair. He was hoping to give Cecilia another day before he dragged her in and updated her on everything.
But of course, George had found out and was in a rage. Ron couldn't blame him.
"I can't get a lead on who's had him under the Imperius Curse if he's locked up. What's the point of using it when he's in a controlled environment? I needed him out. He's being watched."
For a moment, he had tried to give Ron the benefit of the doubt - paperwork error, subordinate mistake, intern flub, whatever, there was a chance that it hadn't been intentional-
"Are you fucking kidding me? You actually let him out on purpose?" he practically growled, eyes narrowed at Ron as he shoved his way past him and the door to pace into the living room, then back towards his brother.
"Okay, so he's being watched? By whom, another half-wit member of your fucked up task force? You do realize you're essentially using her as fucking bait, right?" he snapped sharply, holding up the crumpled letter in his hand.
"I have everyone on it that I can get." It was essentially a weak explanation because Ron hadn't been able to get hardly anyone.
This had been a shot in the dark to make happen.
"I did this for her, you know. She asked me. And I made it happen because it made sense." There were flaws - huge, gaping, glaring flaws - but there was no way to figure anything out without having Draco on the outside.
When Ron noticed the letter, he reached out to snatch it. He read it three times just to make sure. "Mother fucker." Ron muttered, thrusting the letter back to George and shoving a hand through his hair. "Why in the hell would she do that? Whoever in bloody hell has control of Malfoy is specifically fixated on her in a creeptastic fetish kind of way."
"Yeah, no fucking kidding," George violently snatched the piece of parchment back, glaring daggers back at his brother.
"I don't suppose your man on the case is actually bothering to keep an actual physical eye on him, is he? Or is he just, y'know, hovering around outside, uselessly racking in Ministry payroll?" He ran his own hand through his hair in motion entirely too similar to Ron's, his stomach firmly lodging itself in his throat, squirming with unsettled worry.
Eyes closing and scrunching together, Ron tilted his head to the side and down. Cecilia had absolutely gone over there - George was holding the proof - and Ron should have been notified of anyone coming or going. Bloody idiot. Couldn't do anything right.
"Outside. They always stay outside and never pay attention to right things."
He paced - stalked, stomped - across the room to snatch his wand from its place on the table. Suddenly, Harry dragging people into situations they had no business being in without back up all the time made a lot more sense.
George followed Ron's movements, the swift and stern way with which he snatched up his wand.
"For once I really fucking hope we're on the same page," he muttered, his own wand pressing woodworked patterns into his palm given how tightly and desperately he was gripping it, seconds away as he was from taking off on his own to trample his way into Malfoy Manor.
"If you're thinking we're paying the Malfoys a visit, yeah. Same bloody page." Ron's blood was pounding in his ears, worst case scenarios racing through his head already.
If an Imperiused Draco could do what he did last time he had her at his disposal, Ron didn't want to know how far he'd go this time.
Though it looked like they were about to find out.
"Great. Brilliant," George nodded, his words clipped and sharp. He didn't bother to say anything else before Disapparating.
Warded as the grounds of the Malfoy estate were against unwanted intruders (and George imagined that there was quite a lineup of people who would fall in that category), the closest he managed to land was still a good way away from the house, just outside the gates that closed off the property.
Ron wasn't far behind him, but he had the perk of knowing exactly where he could pop up without getting repelled by the copious charms protecting the place.
He didn't pause to wait for George to catch up, going instead, straight for the entrance and the Auror stationed outside.
"What part of I want to be bloody notified of every fucking person coming or going was unclear to you?" He snapped, wand gripped tightly in his fingers. It took everything he had not to hex the man for being an idiot.
Ron didn't stop long enough to listen to any explanation.
-Which quickly turned into a much more concerned, displeased sort of frown as he read over her words.
He didn't bother to announce himself to any of the other employees on the clock before storming up the stairs and through the curtains that led into his and Fred's office and promptly Disapparating out to land on Ronald's doorstep.
His fist heavily connected with the door, all manner of questions and concerns reeling through his mind as relentlessly and obnoxiously pounded away, Cecilia's letter still clutched in his hand.
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His hair was still half flat and ridiculous on one side when he pulled the door open. "What?" His face sobered, though, when he saw the look on his brother's face and he asked again a little less snottily. "What?"
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Whether the Imperius Curse had been involved or not (and, as much as he wanted to pin that prat as the bad guy, if Cecilia was convinced, then hell, despite everything, so was he), he found no comfort in knowing that Malfoy was no longer under strict guard in an isolated location when the person that was supposedly behind his wretched actions had yet to be figured out, much less stopped or captured. The idea of Cecilia being in his presence even now was genuinely unnerving, especially considering the fact that she had apparently felt the need to send a message just for the sake of alerting him as to her whereabouts-
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But of course, George had found out and was in a rage. Ron couldn't blame him.
"I can't get a lead on who's had him under the Imperius Curse if he's locked up. What's the point of using it when he's in a controlled environment? I needed him out. He's being watched."
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"Are you fucking kidding me? You actually let him out on purpose?" he practically growled, eyes narrowed at Ron as he shoved his way past him and the door to pace into the living room, then back towards his brother.
"Okay, so he's being watched? By whom, another half-wit member of your fucked up task force? You do realize you're essentially using her as fucking bait, right?" he snapped sharply, holding up the crumpled letter in his hand.
Reply
This had been a shot in the dark to make happen.
"I did this for her, you know. She asked me. And I made it happen because it made sense." There were flaws - huge, gaping, glaring flaws - but there was no way to figure anything out without having Draco on the outside.
When Ron noticed the letter, he reached out to snatch it. He read it three times just to make sure. "Mother fucker." Ron muttered, thrusting the letter back to George and shoving a hand through his hair. "Why in the hell would she do that? Whoever in bloody hell has control of Malfoy is specifically fixated on her in a creeptastic fetish kind of way."
Reply
"I don't suppose your man on the case is actually bothering to keep an actual physical eye on him, is he? Or is he just, y'know, hovering around outside, uselessly racking in Ministry payroll?" He ran his own hand through his hair in motion entirely too similar to Ron's, his stomach firmly lodging itself in his throat, squirming with unsettled worry.
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"Outside. They always stay outside and never pay attention to right things."
He paced - stalked, stomped - across the room to snatch his wand from its place on the table. Suddenly, Harry dragging people into situations they had no business being in without back up all the time made a lot more sense.
Reply
"For once I really fucking hope we're on the same page," he muttered, his own wand pressing woodworked patterns into his palm given how tightly and desperately he was gripping it, seconds away as he was from taking off on his own to trample his way into Malfoy Manor.
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If an Imperiused Draco could do what he did last time he had her at his disposal, Ron didn't want to know how far he'd go this time.
Though it looked like they were about to find out.
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Warded as the grounds of the Malfoy estate were against unwanted intruders (and George imagined that there was quite a lineup of people who would fall in that category), the closest he managed to land was still a good way away from the house, just outside the gates that closed off the property.
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He didn't pause to wait for George to catch up, going instead, straight for the entrance and the Auror stationed outside.
"What part of I want to be bloody notified of every fucking person coming or going was unclear to you?" He snapped, wand gripped tightly in his fingers. It took everything he had not to hex the man for being an idiot.
Ron didn't stop long enough to listen to any explanation.
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