A note- I had to write something for the eighteenth anniversary of the battle of a Hogwarts but I hadn't expected this. I don't own much.
"Who killed Hermione Granger?"
Ron Weasley paused as he wrote the aurors report for his last mission.
The words still rang out in his head, as if someone had screamed them in his ear. The same words, over and over. The same image, of Hermione. His Hermione, how beautiful she'd looked in that little red dress of hers, with her sleek-charmed hair and bubbling laugh.
How her features had contorted to shock as the spell struck her. The way she slowly coughed out the blood, collapsing on the ground with his name on her lips.
"R-Ron?"
The auror force had come. The area was carefully enclosed. The once deserted alley was now crammed with people trying to get a look at the body. Ron stood in a corner, his gaze transfixed on the body of the woman who was once his fiancée.
And then his best friend Harry Potter had stormed into the crime scene, yelling-
"Who killed Hermione Granger?"
"McLaggen," Ron remembered saying, "it was Cormac McLaggen."
McLaggen had been trying to ruin the harmony of their relationship. He'd corner Hermione at work, asking her whether she was happy with Ron. And his beautiful stubborn to-be wife would try to shake him off. They'd been in a few disagreements over this.
Cormac was just not ready to give up. One second he'd ruined their date and then he was shouting, curses flew and the next thing Ron saw was Hermione clutching her chest in fear, blood coating her arm.
"R-Ron?"
And Harry had married his sister, he had a life. But somehow Hermione's death had caused him to isolate himself from his numerous nieces and nephews. Ginny was concerned for him.
He'd asked George for help. He was gong to join Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Everyone had supported his decision. He was going to officially retire and live in the flat above the shop. The world was short of a few laughs anyway.
The reporters had a field day with it. Rita Skeeter and her quick quotes quill had done their work.
It was a chess game now and he was the lone king. Every move was too close. He was a king with no rook, no queen (not anymore), no knights and no pawns, playing against an army.
The office door banged open, revealing Harry and Neville. There was a comfortable silence as Harry stared at him. They were probably here to tell him about his retirement or something of that sort.
"Seen your wand anywhere Ron?" Neville said tersely.
Horrified, Ron patted himself down and checked his holster. His wand was gone. He wasn't careless enough to lose it. This only meant one thing- checkmate.
"A simple priori inacantatem spell revealed all we needed to know." Harry was in full on head auror mode.
"What?" Ron asked, sweat building up in his brow.
"Mister Ronald Weasley you are charged for the murder of Hermione Granger using the hicker curse to the heart. You have also been charge for false statements and forging of evidence. You may stand and be accompanied by a guard to a containment cell till your sentence is announced."
Harry sighed and gestured him to raise his arms above his head. Neville shook his head and said that he was quitting after this. Once again, he was back to the cramped dingy alley; with McLaggen screaming and Hermione in his way and the curse hitting her.
"Who killed Hermione Granger?"
"R-Ron?"