A/N: This is my story for Round 6 of QLFC! We had to write about lesser used genres, and I chose 'mystery'. I also need to use the words 'fantastical' and 'history'.

I still don't own anything JKR has written. Nope…not even an 'e' or an 's'. Rats.

This story is 2962 words if you remove this author's note!

Hermione stood looking out of the kitchen window as the dish she had been wiping dry dripped water onto the floor. The morning sun shone upon the back garden, highlighting something particularly unusual.

She was used to seeing the occasional owl or raven, sipping from the bird bath or finishing off a treat before flying away to their respective owners. However, those birds tended to be alive. After several moments of looking, she determined that these birds weren't alive.

"What are you looking at, Hermione?" a deep voice asked, startling her and causing her to drop the dish.

"Dammit, Severus! How many times have I asked you not to sneak up on me! And look, I've broken the dish!"

Severus chuckled. "Not to worry, love. Reparo." The dish repaired itself, and he bent to pick it up, placing it on the nearby counter. "What you were looking at so intently?"

"You haven't used any weed killing potions in the garden that might be harmful to the birds, have you?"

Severus mockingly placed a hand over his heart. "You wound me, wife, with your lack of confidence in my skills."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Such a drama queen," she mumbled, and then more clearly, "There are dead birds in the grass, Severus. What do you think happened?"

"I've used nothing on the garden recently," he answered and moved to look out of the kitchen door. He opened it and carefully stepped into the garden, wand at the ready. "Perhaps the owl treats have gone off?"

Hermione joined him. "They're not owls or ravens, though. Just regular birds…wrens, sparrows, and look," she bent down toward a reddish brown bird, "bullfinches."

"That is odd," Severus replied, squatting to perform a diagnostic spell on a nearby bird.

"Do you think there was some sort of weather phenomenon caused them all to die…a mini tornado or something? I could check the newscasts."

Severus 'mmm'd' in consideration as he continued to cast diagnostic runes over the dead birds. When he was done, he used the tip of his wand to carefully turn one of the birds over. He heard Hermione gasp behind him.

"Its eyes are gone!"

"Yes and its neck has been wrung as well." Severus turned over a few more birds. "These too, and I suspect we'd find the same with the others. Let's look around for anything suspicious. You take that side of the garden, I'll take this side."

"I don't recall hearing or seeing anything in garden last night, and we were up pretty late," Hermione called as she walked the perimeter.

"Neither did I," Severus replied. "Potter hasn't mentioned anything, has he? Nothing about people finding dead birds in their gardens?"

Hermione and Harry both worked in the Ministry; she in the Ministry Library and he as an Auror, and they usually ate lunch together. "No; although to be honest, we haven't had lunch together in at least week. Maybe I'd better contact him. Severus, come look at this."

Severus hurried over. "What is it?"

"Here," she said, pointing to the backside of the stone fence marking their property line. "Look at these symbols; they look like runes."

Hermione began to climb over the wall, but Severus stopped her. "No, don't! There could be evidence of who did this that you'll trample into oblivion if you just climb over willy nilly." Severus cast a preservation charm on an area one hundred square yards in every direction from the wall. "There, now we can climb over."

"Like I can climb willy or nilly with this," she laughed and pointed her to belly. "Six months gone does not make for ease of climbing."

Severus reached over and patted her stomach. "No, perhaps it doesn't. I, however, shall act the perfect gentleman and guide his lady love as she lumbers over."

"You are a complete git!" But she was smiling as she said it and with Severus' help, was soon on the other side. "You know," she said, "I could have walked the twenty feet to the gate over there." She pointed to the gate that led from their property to the field beyond.

"I know, but I wanted to practise my gallantry before it rusticated into oblivion."

"Was that gallantry you were practising last night?" She smiled coyly up at him.

"Of course; it's the gallant man who ensures his woman is satisfied beyond measure." He pecked her on the forehead. "Now, let's get serious. I really am concerned about these runes and the birds."

The pair studied the runes for a moment. "They're Nordic," said Hermione. "I remember a few of them from Ancient Runes class."

"I'm also familiar with a few of them," said Severus, "but I'm not sure about the others. Look here," he pointed, "this is Thurisaz; danger or suffering. And this one is Kaunan, meaning mortality and pain."

"Merlin," Hermione swore. "Why would anyone write these on our wall?" She moved carefully along to read the other symbols. "Oh, Severus!" she gasped. "Look, it's Frigg! The goddess of birth and fertility, only she's been drawn with her head off. It's lying beside her." She turned to look at her husband, a stricken look on her face. "You don't suppose anyone wants to hurt the baby?" She put her hands on her stomach.

Severus pulled her to him. "No, love, I don't. I'm not sure what's going on here. My immediate thought is that someone is sending us a message, hoping to scare us; someone who is not right in their head." He hugged Hermione in comfort and then moved away. "I want you to copy the runes while I look around for any other clues. Then, we will go back to the house, call Potter and get to the bottom of this."

As soon as they finished, they walked back to the house, but by the time they got there, Hermione, her hormone driven thought processes having made fantastical leaps of conjecture, was shaking like a leaf.

Severus looked at her. "You've worked yourself into a fine state, haven't you?"

Hermione burst into tears. "Well, I was remembering the stories associated with some of the Norse gods and then the symbols and, and," by now she was barely coherent. "It took me so long to fall pregnant, what if something happens to the baby? The doctors said this would more than likely be our only chance!" She flung herself into Severus' arms, her tears soaking his shirt.

Only allowing her a moment or two of panic, he gave her a little shake and spoke firmly. "Look, you are not going to lose the baby. You know that I've laid every protective charm on the house and you that I know of. We also know that Potter—dunderhead though he is—has also laid protective charms on the property. For some reason he thinks that will move him up on the 'who'll be godfather' list." That statement produced the result he hoped for; Hermione snorted and gave him a weak smack on the back.

"Now come along," he continued, pulling a now exhausted Hermione away from him. "Let's get you into bed with some tea; you need to take a nap. While you are doing that, I will call Potter and have him come and look things over. I'll even get him to tidy up the garden." He wore a smug look at that.

"You're impossible, you know that?" Hermione said and then sniffed rather wetly. Severus wrinkled his nose and conjured a handkerchief, which she took gratefully. "I'm sorry to go all hormonal on you. It's just…"

"I know it's just 'just', Hermione, but I'm also sure there's a logical, if bizarre, answer. Take your nap, and I'll let you know what Potter and I find out."

"I love you, husband."

"And I love you, wife. Take yourself to bed and tell our son to let you sleep a bit." He caressed her stomach and then gently steered her toward the stairs that led to their bedroom. "Sleep well, love."

Severus and Harry stood in the middle of the garden. "So what do you think?" asked Severus.

Harry shrugged. "Alfred Hitchcock's ghost wasn't visiting last night, was it?" A slap at the back of his head prompted him to answer his own question. Rubbing the spot, he said, "Do you know how long they've been here?"

"Hermione found them two hours ago. We spent the evening outdoors last night, and went to bed around ten. We didn't notice them until she was doing the breakfast dishes."

"Neither of you heard anything suspicious?"

"No."

Harry bent over to look at the birds. "Are you using any potions—?"

Severus growled and answered, "Hermione asked me that, and no, I've used nothing on the weeds or grass. As I told you, they've had their necks wrung and eyes poked out. The runes are on the other side of the wall."

Harry walked to the stone wall and looked over the edge. "Runes were never my strong point."

"What a surprise," Severus murmured. "Hermione copied them down; you can take the copy to the Ministry and have an expert look at them. Have you had any reports of anything involving birds? Travellers leaving runes on fences?"

Harry laughed heartily. "Travellers, Severus? In the magical world? Hardly. Young kids on a lark, yes, but none that have inscribed runes. But to be honest, my department doesn't do this stuff. But, I'll take this along and see what we can come up with. Did you find anything else?"

"We checked the area outside of the fence, but then Hermione got a bit…"

Harry smiled. "Let me guess; she went all scared, started rubbing her hands together, then her stomach, and then burst into tears at which point you could no longer understand a single thing she was saying, not that it made sense in the first place?"

Severus nodded.

"Then she flung herself into your arms, sobbed some more, leaving a trail of tears and snot all over your shirt?"

"How did you know?"

"Ginny was the same way when she was pregnant with James," he laughed and then turned serious once again. "If you've not found anything here, what about at your Apparition point?" Harry walked to the gate, which stood open, and went into the field, Severus following him.

The pair cast a few charms hoping to reveal any magical signatures, but they were fuzzy at best. The grass at the Apparition point was trampled, but that was to be expected. Severus and Harry began to slowly pace the small path among the grass that led back to the gate.

"Look there; in the grass," Harry said, pointing.

Severus bent to look. Nestled in the grass was a small hair clip. He went to pick it up, but Harry stopped him. "Use your wand," Harry instructed. "We want to make sure we don't muck up any magical signature the clip may have or remove any other material that may identify the culprit."

"You mean like this hair?" Severus asked, floating the clip in front of Harry's face and pointing to a single, long, black hair that was caught in the clip's fastener.

"Exactly." Harry conjured a small envelope, and Severus dropped the clip into it. "We can rule out any Death Eaters then."

"How so?" asked Severus.

"Well, Bellatrix is dead, and we know there are no remaining female Death Eaters on the run. There's been no Death Eater activity in this area for almost a year, so unless one of the men has polyjuiced themselves, I am pretty confident it's a female witch, maybe Muggleborn. I'm off to the Ministry now; we can easily find out who this belongs to. Care to go along?"

"Of course. Just let me make sure Hermione is okay; she'll want to go along, you know."

"That'll be all right. She'll go all Gryffindor on you if you don't let her," Harry laughed.

"And given that she is rather emotional these days, 'going all Gryffindor' is something I'd like to avoid!" Severus deadpanned.

The three of them Flooed to the Ministry and made their way to Harry's office. Once there, they decided they'd first concentrate on identifying the culprit by using the hair they found. The runes were really secondary at this point; hopefully the perpetrator would give them all the information they'd need.

Harry obtained the potion—coincidentally brewed by Severus—that would name the hair's owner. It was a tense five minutes of waiting while the potion worked and when the colour finally changed, indicating the magic had finished, he cast the incantation to produce the results.

"I don't believe it," Hermione gasped when the name Marietta Edgecombe appeared in the air. "After all these years?"

"What do you mean?" asked Severus.

"Do you remember the DA from our fifth year?" Hermione asked.

"You all were a pain in our arses," Severus scoffed.

"Well in order to keep it from Umbridge, I charmed the parchment with our names to hex anyone who spilled our secret."

"I remember that," said Harry. "She was in Dumbledore's office the night he disappeared. You charmed the word 'sneak' on her forehead."

"Surely it would have worn off by now," said Severus.

"It wouldn't," Hermione whispered.

"What?'

"I was really angry at Umbridge at the time, and I sort of overdid the charm."

"Well, it seems she is really angry now. Harry, can we be present when you question her?"

"Yeah. You can sit in the viewing room. We have one way looking glass now like the Muggles do. It's one of the enhancements the Aurors have started, at my suggestion, to help victims identify Death Eaters without fear of reprisal. We'll give her Veritaserum, too."

Twenty minutes later, Severus and Hermione sat in the room opposite the interrogation room, looking through the glass. They watched Harry supervise the dosing of Veritaserum and begin the questioning.

"What is your name?"

"Marietta Edgecome."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-six."

"Are you employed?"

"No."

"Have you ever been to the Snape residence?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Last night."

"Why?"

"To get her back," Marietta snapped.

"Who?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Why?"

"She hexed me. I haven't been able to get rid of the hex. Not even with cosmetics!"

"What do the birds and runes mean?"

"It's a curse. It's meant to make her miscarry the baby."

Hermione gasped and covered her hand with her. Severus curled her into him protectively.

"Why?"

"Because of this stupid curse! I can't get a job, find a boyfriend, or go out in public without being heavily covered. Why should she have happiness when I can't?"

"Where did you get the curse?"

"Last year I went to America, to New Orleans. They have a lot of magic there. A witch gave it to me."

"Our charms expert reviewed the runes; they mean nothing. It's just gibberish, so all you've done is scare the Snapes."

"I don't care. I hope they lose the baby. I hope it works. I want them to feel as badly as I have done every single day since the hex appeared. I'll keep trying you know." Marietta's face took on a demented quality. "I'll keep finding ways to make her pay. I will, you know. I have lots of money, even if I have nothing else!"

Harry signalled to the Aurors. "Take her back down to holding. I believe we'll need to get a Healer in here; she may need to go to St. Mungo's. I don't think she's mentally stable." He left the room and motioned to Hermione and Severus to follow him to his office.

"What do you think?"

Hermione, crying, answered, "I didn't mean for that to happen. I only wanted her to realise what her snitching would do. I didn't mean for the hex to stick all this time."

"Hermione," said Severus, "you know that the more emotion behind a spell there is, the stronger it is, and you do have a history of casting some pretty nasty hexes when emotional."

"I know," she said dejectedly. "What will happen now?" she asked Harry.

"We'll just make sure that her so called curse is not legitimate, as I highly doubt it is. I suspect that voodoo witch was looking to make a quick buck from a desperate person. Marietta will probably go to the Janus Thickney ward for a while; they've made great strides in mental health since the war."

"What can I do to help?" asked Hermione.

Harry shrugged and Severus said, "Nothing until the baby is born and both of you are safe. If you wish to do the Gryffindor thing and research a cure after that, you may."

"I can at least begin to look for books that might help. If I can't find a cure, perhaps we can find a Muggle doctor to do it cosmetically?"

"Perhaps. Let's go home Hermione; it's been an exhausting day. Thank you, Harry for helping us out."

The men shook hands and Harry hugged Hermione, saying, "You're welcome. Get some rest Hermione. We'll take it from here."

Several hours later, as Hermione and Severus lay in bed, he caressing her stomach to help soothe her, Hermione, asked, "Do you think I'll be able to find a cure?"

"If I know you, yes."

"But it won't give her those years back."

"Magical folk live a long time and she's still quite young. If you can help her now, she'll have a very long and hopefully happy life."

"Thank you for helping to make me feel better."

"I love you," said Severus.

"I love you, too."

Before long, the couple were asleep and outside in the garden, an owl hooted as it drank from the bird bath.