Story name: Lost all reason
Author: ChimeraTm
Disclaimer (for the whole story): I do not own anything related to Harry Potter's world. Nor will I ever.
Sequel: No.
Summary: when everything seemed at peace after the war, Hogwarts faces a mysterious serial killer. Unravel the mystery with me
A/N: as I have already mentioned in my other stories, English is not my first language.
Chapter 1
'Another one, Albus?'
'I'm afraid so, Minerva. It is as I've feared: Hogwarts is no longer safe.'
o!o
"You never did get me, did you? You were so caught up in all those girls you 'dated', that you simply didn't have anytime left for me. I get it…I always get it.
Someone once said that love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. I didn't understand it, until I met you. Once I put you in the equation, it all made sense.
Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired…by you."
o!o
'Crookshanks! You leave Pigwidgeon alone! Did you hear me, you bloody cat! Why when I get my hands on that fur ball I'll….'
'Ron! Language! That is my cat you're speaking to!'
'Well if it is your cat, then how about taking care of it! Nasty beast that is! Kitty cat my arse! Did you see the claws on that thing? He's a bloody murderer I tell you!'
'Ronald Weasly! I will not tolerate such language being aimed at my cat!'
'Well it is, isn't it? Isn't it Harry. Come on mate! You tell her! Murderer, that's what it is!'
'RONALD!'
'Here we go again…' whispered Harry while eyeing his two best friends. How in the world did they ever think they could end up together? They were worst than the proverbial water and oil mixed together. Always bantering, always yelling and clawing at each other. It was exhausting being in their presence lately. He was grateful he had Ginny. Sure, she was a Weasly herself, and had the short fuse that came with the red hair, but he loved that about her. He learned how to be calm near her. Whenever she would turn red with anger, he would just marvel at the sight and plaster a small smile on his face. After a few shouts and waves she would calm down and start laughing. He really was lucky.
'Thinking about Ginny again, aren't you?' Harry turned to look at his best female friend. He frowned…
'What did you do to Ron?'
Hermione smirked 'let's just say he's hanging in there.'
Harry followed her eyes as she looked up. 'HERMIONE! You can't just do that!'
Ron was tied to a branch, upside-down, lips sealed with a hex, supporting a murderous gaze.
'I can and I will! Please inform him not to mess with me! The hex should wear off after 10 minutes or so.' She said while getting up and leaving with a low huff!
As she made her way to the castle, Hermione couldn't help feeling a sting in her heart. Sometimes she wondered if her feelings for Ron had even been true at that time. But the more she thought about it, the more logical it seemed that her crush had only been a figment of her imagination. She had been young and stupid at that time. She had grown up leaving with Lavender and Parvarti as her roommates, both very pretty girls that, unlike her, held great interest for boys and dating. Hearing them talk about boys made her feel unsure of herself. She hadn't been in love. She hadn't thought about kissing a boy at that age. She hadn't felt her feet get weak from just the sight of a boy. She had felt misplaced and, as the logical person that Hermione Granger was, she had tried to fix it, by finding someone to love. She had somehow talked herself into liking Ron. It would have probably been Harry, had it not been for Ginny liking him.
So there it was: the truth behind her affection for Ron.
'And here I thought you did us a favor and left the school, Mudblood.'
And then there was Malfoy. Hermione was ashamed to admit, even if it was only in her head, that she found Malfoy attractive. Of course, a girl like her could never love him, and a boy like him could never make a girl like her feel weak in the knees, or want to kiss him, although she did dream of it once. But she did find him attractive. Malfoy thought he was God's gift to women. Some might call it arrogance. Some might be right. But after seeing him, "some" would feel compelled to admit that though he was an arrogant son of a bitch, he was indeed the most beautiful man to ever lay eyes on. But he was a Slytherin through and through, and she was a Gryffindor through and through, and even though it wasn't unheard of a Slytherin and Gryffindor dating, Malfoy would never take a liking to Hermione's type, the inexperienced girl that spent most of her nights reading books and patting her cat and furthermore, Hermione would never look at Malfoy as someone more than her enemy.
'Shouldn't that be you, Malfoy? I hear that now that Voldemort is dead and your father is rotting in Azkaban, your popularity has gone down a few points.'
He smirked. Her insults didn't seem to sting him that much lately.
'We both know that isn't true, Mudblood. I might have been related to the losing side, my father may have been sentenced to prison, but I don't see how that should affect my popularity, especially among the ladies.'
Hermione found herself at an impasse. He really was that confident! Maybe he was right. Still she didn't care. The name calling, the back and forth insults…they were all part of a routine they had put together those past few years. Even if Malfoy were to be right she would never tell him that. And neither would he if the tables were reversed. It was all in a day's work. Hell would freeze over otherwise.
'You keep telling yourself that, Malfoy.' she told him as she made her way into the great hall.
o!o
'Did you hear?'
'Yes, again'
'Dumbledore has to do something'
'This is not normal'
'Just after the war…'
'Things must be going bad'
'What is everyone talking about?' asked Hermione as she sat down at the Gryffindor table for lunch.
'Haven't you heard?'
'No, I was outside…with Ron and H…what's wrong?' she mumbled beginning to panic.
'They found another one.'
The brunette covered her mouth, but not before a squeal found its way out of it.
'This can't be! It's Hogwarts we're talking about. Things like this just don't happen!'
'Well they keep happening. It's the 3rd girl this year.'
Hermione watched as Ginny kept biting her nails. She had never seen the girl so disturbed, but then again, they were talking about a murderer that had killed 3 girls in just a month. So far, they hadn't been able to find the connection between the girls. Two of them were from Hermione's year, and one had been in 6th year, same as Ginny. Their hair color, eye color and shape, though beautiful, varied. The families had been ruled out, seeing as no one from the outside had had access to Hogwarts during the days the girls had been killed, plus, their parents didn't seem to know each other, or have any common friends. One of the girls was halfblood and two were pureblood. It seemed that the muggleborns were safe…for now.
o!o
The noise in the Great Hall died the moment Dumbledore stood up.
'As I am sure most of you have heard.' He said eyeing them over his glasses. 'There have been rumors regarding the safety of this school.' He paused, the way he always did in moments of great pressure. 'I am sad to inform you that those rumors are true. Though Lord Voldamort's age has passed, a dark cloud still seems to darken our school. The girl that was missing on Friday night has finally been found. I regret to say that, as we've feared, she has suffered the same faith as have Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Blacksmith before her.' Gasps were heard from each and every one of the students 'The supposition that Hogwarts faces a murderer is now a fact. As of yet, certain measures will be taken. Students are not allowed out of their dorms after dinner. You will be asked to wander in groups of three or more. No student will be allowed to exit a class unless he or she has a pass signed and registered by a teacher. Passwords will be modified daily and the prefect's bathroom will be off limits. In the library you will study in groups of two or more. Further information will be given to you if we deem necessary.' He made another pause 'I assure you that, even though you might doubt it at the moment, Hogwarts is still the safest place to be. We believe that the said murderer is choosing his victims specifically. The reasons for which he or she does it is still unknown, but it is my strong belief that the death of these 3 girls is related, therefore I do not think the culprit will stop killing if the school closes, but for those of you that wish to leave, I welcome you to come and speak to me, though I advise you to believe in the safety of this school.' And with that the Headmaster took his seat.
The silence in the Great Hall was deafening. No one dared say a word. Things weren't going the right way.
As the days passed, so did the students. The schedules were modified so all the students from a specific year would have common classes, given the fact that they were decreasing in number. The first to take their leave were the Hufflepuffs, everyone knew that courage wasn't their main feature, and then came the Ravenclaws, Slytheins and finally the Gryffindors. Shocking order one might say, seeing as the Slytherins were known for their shameful lack of courage, but the explanation is quite simple actually: in their proud ways, they thought they were immune to the threat, stating that they were purebloods of the most decent kind and no one in their rightful mind would think of ever diminishing the number of said purebloods in the world. Oh how wrong they were. Their lack of intelligence and abundance of pride only made them more susceptible to being believed to be behind the crimes. However Dumbledore was not one to point fingers…sadly Harry Potter was.
'I'm sure it's Malfoy!' people would hear him say hour on the hour.
'You are paranoid!' would be the immediate response given by Hermione Granger.
'How can you say that? You know how he is! What he stands for!'
'Yes, and I also know that 2 of the victims so far were pureblood women.'
'They're trying to mislead us.'
'No, Harry!'
'How can you be so sure Hermione? It's not like Voldemort didn't kill his own followers.'
'Yes, Harry I know, but if you would, for at least one moment, get your head out of that vengeful paradise you've been knitting up there in your little brain, you would realize that if they wanted to mislead us they wouldn't of killed pureblood WOMEN.'
'I would never think that you of all people, Hermione, would discriminate based on gender.'
The ones around them stood patiently as the girl rolled her eyes, awaiting the deep cutting reply and the impeccable knowledge behind it.
'Pureblood families are the last category in the magical world, their number is decreasing rapidly, if they did think of such a master plan to distract our attention from their selves by killing purebloods, they wouldn't have killed women, they would have killed men.' She said as a matter of fact.
'And why is that oh so wise one.'
Another roll of her eyes. 'Don't you know anything about Purebloods?'
Harry gave her the "are you kidding me" look, which brought forth another roll of the eyes.
'Seriously, Harry. With so many books out there, I was expecting you to have read at least one. Purebloods have to marry as soon as they are of age, to ensure that they keep the family blood line growing. Given the fact that the majority of Purebloods marrying are to some degree related, getting pregnant is really difficult for their kind. If the wife is incapable to provide a child, they divorce and the husband must marry again. So, as you can see, it is vital for them that the number of pureblood women be at its peak.'
The image of Harry scratching his unruly hair, reminded Hermione of a monkey she once saw at the zoo.
'It's not Malfoy, Harry.' And with that the subject was closed…for the day.
Disclaimer: I found this sign "o!o" in another story on fanfic, called Disaster's Sweet Seduction (it's a Tom/Hermione story). I really liked it, for some reason I think of an owl when seeing it. Anyway, I liked the story and the sign so it didn't feel right not to put a disclaimer up for it. *giggles* I feel so silly, but that's just how I am.
a/n: knut for your thoughts?
