Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Theodore had been back home for a few days now, he was dejected, he did not know what to do or where to look to find Abiageal. She had never disappeared for so long. No, correction, she had never disappeared, period. The worry was eating away at him from the inside, he wanted to find her, he wanted to save her and keep her safe and promise her that he would never let anyone hurt her again, but how to do it since he did not even know where she was? He also did not know if he should tell Abiageal's parents, with the luck he had, Mr. Raglan would accuse him of being responsible for his daughter's disappearance.

Theodore decided to leave his room. He had not done it since he got back. He did not have the motivation, his friends had sent him a bunch of letters but he did not want to answer them. They all asked him if he had found Abiageal, the answer was 'no' and he did not want to waste his letter paper giving them negative news. He would write to them when he had reassuring news to give them.

He passed by the door of his father's office, unsurprisingly, it was closed; his father worked from morning until night, even when he was at the Ministry of Magic, the only time Theodore saw his father was in the evening during dinner. It was a rule that Mrs. Nott had established and after the latter's death, the two men had not had the heart to break this rule.

Theodore debated with himself, should he bother his father and ask him if he had seen anything during the mission they had done together. If something bad had happened to Abiageal during the mission, his father would have definitely witnessed the whole scene. His father could not give him more than a 'yes' or a 'no'. If he said no, at least Theodore would know that the incident had happened after the mission. If he said 'yes', then Theodore would go back outside, and he would search once again all the places where the Death Eaters had been and he would go around the hospitals again.

However, before knocking on the door, Theodore had to find the best way to ask his father the question, he knew him like the back of his hand, if he did not phrase his question correctly, his father would take it the wrong way and he would still be able to believe that Theodore was accusing him of hurting Abiageal. But that was impossible. Theodore Senior would never hurt Abiageal, he had known her since she was a baby, she had spent as much time at the Nott Manor as she had at the Raglan Manor. Abiagel was practically part of the family.

Did you see anyone hurting Abby? Or maybe you saw someone forcing her to follow him against her will?

Normally it should be fine, the questions were well formulated, there should be no ambiguity. Key word, "normally".

Theodore knocked on the door, he waited several minutes but he got no answer from his father. He knocked again, thinking that he had not knocked hard enough on the door the first time, he was again greeted by silence. He tried to open the door, maybe Senoir was so absorbed in his work that he had not heard him, but the office door was locked. So his father was not home. It was strange, he was not supposed to go to the Ministry that day.

Frowning, Theodore walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where the house-elves were busy preparing lunch. One of the elves was missing, that was strange, too.

"Where's Meesey?"

"We don't know, Mister Nott," answered one of the house elfs, Hoody.

"And my father?"

"We don't know, either, Mister Nott."

"Great! That's just great!"

This was not normal; besides, he had seen that Hoody was lying to him, that meant only one thing, Senior had asked him to do it. But why? Why did he need to lie? What did he have to hide?

He left again. There was definitely something strange going on in this house. The house elves had stopped talking when he entered the kitchen, they had almost looked at him as if he had no business being there; the fact that one of them had openly dared to lie to him and his father who was nowhere to be found. Theodore's mind forced him to think of something improbable. He did not even know why it was the first thing he had thought of because really, it was impossible that his father was involved in Abiageal's disappearance.

Senior knew how important Abiageal was in Theodore's life, he knew that she was the most important person in his life and he would never dare to take it out on her. Theodore refused to believe that his father could be so cruel. It was simply impossible! Theodore could understand and forgive when his father had dared to take the life of the wild animal that he had adopted and that lived in the garden at the back of the manor when he was between seven and eight years old to toughen him up and teach him that life was not always fair and that the nicer you were, the more life could screw you over. But he would never stoop so low as to deprive him of Abiageal because then Theodore would refuse to understand or even forgive his father.

( The wild animal in question was a small hedgehog whose left leg was injured and Theodore had spent a good part of the summer caring for it and feeding it and just taking care of it, he had even built it a small shelter to make sure that no predator could attack it during its convalescence. )

Theodore had waited in the foyer for his father to come home. The foyer was quite dark, the walls were painted with a very dark blue, in the back there was a large black fireplace that looked very modern, a meter and a half from the fireplace there was a wooden coffee table with black steel legs, around the coffee table there were three black leather sofas with small dark blue cushions that matched the color of the walls. There were several large windows to let in as much light as possible and in the back of the room, near the fireplace there was a small wooden table with only four chairs. This was the place where Theodore's mother spent the most time, she used to sit there with a book and a cup of tea and spend the evening in peace, when he was younger, it was on this same table that his mother had taught him to read and write, she had also taught him to play chess ( the chessboard was always placed in the same place with an unfinished game ). On the wall was a portrait of Mr and Mrs Nott on their wedding day, a portrait of Theodore when he was five, and a family portrait that had been painted a few weeks before Mrs Nott's death. The ceiling boards were painted black, too, ( hanging from the ceiling were three large chandeliers to be able to illuminate the room as much as possible once the sun had set to make way for the moon) and the flooring was wood ( the same wood had been used for both the tables and the flooring ). Then, at the other end of the room, which was actually the entrance to the foyer, there was a gigantic wooden staircase with a black steel railing that led to the first floor.

Theodore Nott Senior came home just as the sun was minutes away from setting. Theodore Junior tried to look natural, but it was no use, he was far too nervous, far too anxious to be "cool and natural."

"Father, we need to talk," Theodore tried to sound firm but not authoritarian, he did not want his father to feel like his son was bossing him around in his own house, he would not be able to get a response if that were the case.

"Tomorrow, not now! I'm exhausted," Senior grumbled.

"No, it cannot wait!"

Senior stopped walking abruptly, he was not sure if he had heard correctly, but his son's look told him that he had not dreamed and that his son was very serious. For the sake of his nerves, Senior sighed before going to sit on one of the other two sofas, he definitely did not want to be too close to his son. Theodore took his original place again.

"Well! Come on! Speak, boy!"

"Where's Abby?"

There was a long silence, father and son staring into each other's eyes. Senior was a very good liar, but Theodore knew him like the back of his hand, if his father lied to him, he would know. Senior had a tic when he lied, he always scratched the little patch of skin where the end of the bridge of his nose met his upper lip. It was subtle for most people, but certainly not for Theodore.

Theodore did not take his eyes off his father's face, he did not even blink for fear of missing that little telltale sign. He really hoped he would not see it, he would not know how to react if his father had any connection to Abiageal's disappearance.

Senior brought his hand up to his face before changing his mind and running it through his hair. Theodore seethed inside, he mustered all his strength not to jump on his father and hit him with all his might.

"Why would I know where the Raglan girl is? She's your friend, not mine."

Senior stood up before walking towards the stairs to his room. Theodore also stood up before speaking. Rage and fury could be heard in the voice of the only heir of the Nott family.

"How about you stop lying for once in your life?" Theodore spat.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I know you're lying. I know you know where Abby is, so stop lying. Tell me where she is."

"I'll tell you for the last time, son, I don't know where your retarded friend is."

Theodore saw red. No one had the right to insult Abiageal like that. She was different from the others, it was obvious to everyone who knew her, but no one had the right to make such comments about her. If Theodore had had anyone else in front of him, his hands would already be covered in the blood of his interlocutor; unfortunately, he could not hit his father Senior would have already cast the worst of the unforgivable curses on him.

"What have you done, father? I swear to Merlin that you will pay if you have done him any harm," Theodore threatened.

"She only got what she deserved and nothing more."

Theodore saw the hesitation on his father's face. Senior knew he had already said too much but at the same time not enough. He didn't have much left to lose, either.

"She got what she deserved? What is that supposed to mean, exactly?"

"She humiliated us in front of Lord Voldemort! She deprived you of the greatest honor the Dark Lord could bestow upon you just because she couldn't stand the fact that everyone's attention wasn't entirely on her and her alone. She and her good-for-nothing family do everything they can to ingratiate themselves with Voldemort and put themselves forward all the time! We were supposed to be rising up the ladder, not them!" Mr. Nott shouted.

Theodore was shocked and speechless. He really did not know what to say. Abiageal was somewhere, all alone, scared, and probably hurt and all that for what? All that because she had decided to save Theodore's life. She found herself in trouble because of him...

"She didn't do it because she wanted all the attention or to ingratiate her family with Lord Voldemort. She did it because she knew I didn't want to be like you. I never wanted to be a Death Eater and follow in your footsteps."

Theodore had not taken his eyes off his father, he retrieved his wand that was in his pants pocket and pointed it at the man who had helped give him life. He did not want to come to this, but he would not hesitate. There were no more feelings, the man in front of him was no longer his father, he was a stranger.

"Now tell me where she is."

Mr. Nott was about to speak but the doorbell rang throughout the foyer, interrupting the two men. Theodore put his wand away before going to open the door, wanting to get rid of the person who had come to disturb them as quickly as possible.

Mr. Raglan was on the other side of the door, Theodore tried his best not to turn pale.

"Good evening, Mr. Raglan," Theodore greeted, his voice quavering.

"Good evening, Theo. Have you seen Abby?" the man asked simply. "She hasn't been home in three days and her mother and I are really worried. That's not like her."

"I am truly sorry, but no, I don't know where she is," he lied like a tooth-puller.

"Okay, thanks anyway."

Theodore closed the door before facing his father again. The young wizard was determined to make his father spill the beans; he would not let go until he knew where Abiageal was.