Heaven Through a Window • Drarry •

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Missing Sister

Draco visited Ronald and Hermione that evening.

"Ariana?" Hermione said, scratching her chin. "I suppose it could fit."

"I reckon we should look into it," Ronald said. "We wouldn't have found that Horcrux without her."

"Dumbledore's sister," Draco repeated flatly.

One of their offspring started zooming around on a toy broomstick, and he only had half of the couple's attention.

"Have you told Harry?" she asked.

"No. I didn't want to upset him."

"It's best to be honest with each other," she advised. "Can I tell him about the malpractice case?"

"I suppose so."

There was an uncomfortable silence that followed, and Ronald hid a grin behind his hand.

"You could speak to Aberforth," Ronald suggested.

"You don't visit 'shady pubs', though," she said to Draco. "Mr Dumbledore owns the Hog's Head."

"Not if I can help it," Draco said. "And I didn't know that."

"That's because you don't spend enough time in shady pubs," Ronald said with a wink.

"Of course, we could speak to Professor Dumbledore himself by visiting his portrait. It's a bit suspicious to go marching on up to the castle, but I suppose you could use the Vanishing Cabinet if you still have access to it."

Draco flinched. "I'd rather not. There is a portrait of Professor Dumbledore in the Wizengamot Administration Services, however."

"Is there? That's on Level Two," Hermione said.

Ronald got up to fetch his toddler. "Same floor as Dad."

"I'll speak to him tomorrow, if you like. I'm at the Ministry anyway." Hermione fished out a notebook from a bulging bookshelf. "Let's make a list of questions!"

****

Hermione's report, though detailed, didn't help.

Dumbledore had a little sister who was sheltered from the public eye for fear of being detained as a Ward of Court. She was worse in the mornings, sometimes didn't know her own name, and her magic was unstable when she was upset. She died in a tragic accident.

Although Ariana Dumbledore was in all likelihood this mystery patient, Harry's situation wasn't similar at all.

Draco was glad to scratch it off the list of ideas and wrote his thanks to Luna.

Meanwhile, Pansy, Theo and Hermione looked through numerous discharge summaries he'd smuggled out of St Mungo's as he just didn't have time to read them all on his own. He'd kept Greg out of this so far, because he was frankly a liability.

Greg was the only soul he'd told about his job situation. Over a beer, Greg nodded and took it in his stride that Draco had quit his job and might leave the country. That's what Draco loved about him: he just accepted things. Greg trusted that he'd thought through all eventualities and chosen the correct course.

If only Draco himself could be so sure.

Now that he'd handed in his notice at work, Draco found that he just did not care. He had sympathy for his patients, but everything else? It was all a pointless waste of time. Draco scowled at the Ministry's inspection results, scrunched it up and tossed it into the wastepaper basket.

He didn't talk to Harry about Ariana. There was no point.

By an unspoken agreement, they quit whatever they were trying to achieve in Legilimency. If it was working, it wasn't a miracle cure.