And Sir Briar was a bitter old man with nothing in his life but his job. His son had passed away in the Blitz back in World War Two, and his wife had died in the seventies. Unfortunately, he was one of my 'sponsors,' so I had to put up with him, but he was often trying to uncover the secrets behind my medicines. Several times he'd tried to slip spies into my factories, but the wards and employment contracts caught them all. He also wasn't a Squib as I'd first assumed based on his enchanted rings, but I still didn't know how he'd gotten them, or what they did.
Thankfully, his industrial espionage was laughable thanks to my magical defenses courtesy of Inky and Remus Lupin, but it was growing annoying. Also, he'd been the one behind my kidnapping a while back, and I had my suspicions he'd also been responsible for Delilah's kidnapping as well two Christmases ago.
But I would continue to put up with the decrepit ghoul until I'd gotten what I wanted out of him. And Sir Briar couldn't possibly live for much longer, right? He was in his eighties, after all!
Yet as Delilah and I tried to continue having a nice date, those four men following us was starting to grate on our nerves. They'd also gotten bolder, trying to sneak closer to us.
"Inky," I whispered under my breath. "Take Delilah and I to the Interrogation Room."
Delilah and I vanished with a pop, appearing inside a seemingly rundown storage room inside a warehouse. But it was a lot more than just that. Runes had been carved into the walls and wards had been erected all over the building, turning what seemed to be a run-down, abandoned site into a secret, hidden facility for more clandestine endeavors I didn't want the public to see. Such as interrogating wannabe kidnappers.
We walked a couple feet away from where we'd appeared, then turned back to face the center of the warehouse.
"Inky, please bring those four men who were trailing us here as well," I requested, and a second later four very confused gentlemen appeared where we'd initially first stood.
I took advantage of their bewildered state and flung a few Paralysis Ofuda that acted the same as the Petrificus Totalusspell, completely immobilizing the target. The slips of paper zipped through the air, slamming into the four men and knocking them down while their bodies seized up and went deathly still. They looked very uncomfortable lying there, but I didn't really care.
I approached the group, then looked down at the men who'd been tailing us with an annoyed expression.
"You bastards tried to ruin our date," I hissed, squatting down in front of one of them.
He couldn't speak, just stare fearfully up at me. The talisman removing all outward ability to move his body, including that of his tongue, though he could still breath through his nose.
"Now, then," I said, folding my arms as Delilah joined me at my side in glaring at them. "You're going to tell me what you were doing, and who hired you."
I took out a new Ofuda and slapped it onto the man's face. It undid the paralysis on his head and he let out a gasp as he was finally able to move his jaw again.
"Y-you bastard! What did you do?!" he shrieked.
"Buddy, you're not the person asking the questions, here," I said with a chuckle.
"Up yours!" the rather vocal man hissed. He then tried a new tactic. "Hey! Help! Somebody!"
"No one is going to hear you," I tutted.
"Let me try," Delilah asked. "Can I have one of you Confounding talismans?"
I nodded and passed the request item over. This Ofuda had the power of the Confunduscharm, which was essentially akin to getting somebody super drunk. They'd be confused and disoriented for a bit, and during that time, their lips were a lot looser.
Delilah slapped the Ofuda onto the man's face, where it began to glow. I smiled as I watched that. As a fellow Squib, Delilah was able to use runes and talismans as well, and I'd made sure to provide her with plenty of both to protect her.
"Tell me why you were after me," she demanded.
"W-we were hired to kidnap you two…"
"By whom?" Delilah asked.
"I-it was Marky Fetters…"
"Who's Marky Fetters?" I wondered. That sounded like a fake name. Or the name of somebody from the Wizarding World.
"C-crime boss… big name in London," the goon sputtered out, eyes glazed.
We asked a few more questions, but there wasn't much else to discover. They were thugs, but weren't even part of Marky's gang, just a couple of street toughs who were used for smash and grab jobs by the various criminals in town who didn't want their names associated with themselves.
Marky Fetters was also, contrary to initial claims, actually a small timer, but he worked for bigger, meaner names as an intermediately and third-party.
"Seems we'll have to pay this fellow a visit in the future," I grumbled while slapping ObliviateOfuda onto the mens' heads. "And impress on him the folly of messing with me and my own."
"Agreed," Delilah nodded.
I stepped back and activated the Ofuda, wiping the last hour from their minds. When they woke in a few minutes, the paralysis would be gone and they'd have no clue they'd been interrogated.
I ordered Inky to take them to a random alleyway in London, and when the four were popped away I grunted in annoyance.
"Well, that was frustrating," Delilah sighed, before hooking her arm around mine. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"Sure. Inky, could you please take us back to my apartment?" I requested. There was a pop, we blinked, and voila, we were standing in my living room.
"Thank you, Inky," Delilah said, smiling at the elderly House Elf. "I love your new uniform, by the way."
I nodded in agreement, causing the diminutive figure to blush. He'd gotten the uniform whipped up in record speed, and he looked like a little butler with that tuxedo of his!
"Young Master and Young Mistress be too kind," he said, ducking his head. I just grinned.
"Glad you like it," I said. "I hope you and Dobby – as well as any other House Elves we recruit in the future – enjoy wearing them. They look a lot better compared to the old rags you used."
Inky vanished, too embarrassed to stick around and keep listening to our praise, and Delilah and I chuckled sorrowfully at that. Inky and Dobby were so unused to genuine compliments that is was honestly sad.
"Well, that wasn't the Valentine's Day I wanted for us to have, but I still have a box of chocolate strawberries I was going to give you if you want to just veg out on the couch for a little bit," I offered. "I also have your favorite Pistachio ice cream."
"That sounds lovely," Delilah said, giving me a peck on the cheek.
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