Disclaimer: Seriously guys, we all know we don't own HP, I'd actually be pretty scared to see what happened if we did.
Prologue
Ron Weasley made his way purposefully down the dark and abandoned halls of Hogwarts. He looked particularly disheveled, his mop of red hair was soaking wet from the downpour outside and stubbornly clinging to his forehead while his battle tattered robes billowed around him. In his right hand was his wand, his fingers wrapped tightly around it so that his knuckles were white. This was not a very uncommon sight, the leisurely strolling that was so common about the wizarding world disappeared after The War began and was replaced with quick fearful steps, wand always at the ready, always on the defense. The rhythmic sound of his shoes against the stone floor and the steady swoosh of his robes reverberated eerily down the long dimly lit corridor.
Through the apparent look of determination on his face he was seething. The boyishness of his face was gone, replaced by the hard-edged scowl of a man that had seen far more than his age should permit. But that was to be expected wasn't it? The War had taken a lot from everyone, especially with the recent ferocity of the attacks. Voldemort was upping the ante, and in a very big way, who was he to think that he could be any different? He knew from reading the steadily growing obituaries in the Daily Prophet that death and loss were mere commonplace now, but he just never thought that he could lose something…someone that meant so much to him. They'd always been able to escape everything, take the most hopeless of situations and come out on top. Looking back now, he thought of how foolish he was to think that they were invincible.
He reached his destination and muttered something under his breath. Suddenly the staircase leading to the Headmasters office appeared before him and he paused. His anger seemed to dissipate for a second and became replaced by a look of agony. He paused and stared down at his left hand, seemingly contemplating going up the stairs. But as soon as it had left, the previous fury that was written all over his face returned and he quickly walked up the staircase.
He thought he could hear voices as he approached the top but when he reached the door it was silent. His hand raised to knock on the door but halted before making contact as if he was again reconsidering his actions.
"Come in Mr. Weasley." Came the ever pleasant voice of Albus Dumbledore through the thick dark wood of the door.
Cautiously opening the door, Ron walked into the Headmasters office slowly and shut the door silently behind him. The office was dark, due to the rather late hour and lit solely by several candles, enchanted to float over Dumbledore's large desk. He turned to regard the aged wizard sitting before him, letting his back rest lightly against the door.
"Hullo Professor" He said curtly though his face never lost its apparent rage.
Dumbledore raised his hand.
"It's been months since you've left Hogwarts Ron, I'm sure there's no need for the upkeep of such pleasantries." He stated good-naturedly. The light-heartedness of his tone of voice seemed to do nothing to help Ron's furious demeanor. When he said nothing Dumbledore continued.
"Well, I would ask how you're doing Mr. Weasley, but considering your appearance and the hour of this visit, I'm sure I'm about to find out ."
Ron took this as an invitation as he straightened and opened his mouth and closed it again. He apparently had something very important to say and was considering how to go about saying it. Choosing the direct approach he suddenly said
"I know who did it."
"Did what?" Dumbledore questioned though he was almost positive he knew what 'it' he was referring to. Ron simply looked at the professor as if he was playing a cruel joke on him. His gaze shifted to the ground as his fists clenched tightly at his side.
"I know who killed…her….I know who killed Hermione." He breathed through clenched teeth.
Dumbledore was about to speak when an odd noise came from behind where Fawkes was sitting, preening her feathers. Ron's head snapped suspiciously in the direction of the noise but thought nothing more of it.
"Well this certainly is good news Mr. Weasley, but I really must ask why you came to me with this information." Dumbledore queried as he knitted his fingers together and examined Ron.
"Harry suggested that I come here to you before I get the Ministry to lock that bastard in Azkaban for the rest of his life." He growled.
Dumbledore smiled lightly before motioning to one of the large leather chairs in front of his desk.
"Sit Mr. Weasley, I'm quite anxious to hear this story." He grabbed a small glass dish as Ron situated himself in the seat across from him. "Lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered.
Ron waved the small yellow candies away as he contemplated where to begin.
"Shall we start with the culprit, perhaps?" Suggested Dumbledore as he motioned for a few of the candles in their direction to better illuminate their meeting.
"It was Draco Malfoy." He spat, making his malicious contempt for the wizard more than obvious. Dumbledore quirked an eyebrow but showed no apparent signs of shock. Ron took his silence as an invitation to continue his story.
"During the attack in the muggle park yesterday, when we lost Seamus and Parvati and… Hermione…." His eyes darkened but he continued on. "The order was advancing on the death eaters, the ones that weren't dueling with one of the Order members were apparating away. I was dueling with… Goyle's dad I think it was, can never be to sure with those masks. He apparently recognized who I was, not that it's really very hard." Ron scoffed bitterly at his own joke.
"He taunted me, trying to get me to lose my concentration I s'pose. He said the usual stuff about my family being blood traitors, nothing we haven't all heard before, but then he started going on and on about my….." He paused as his anger began to build up at the remembrance of the incident and tears filled his eyes, the malice in his voice was growing with each syllable.
"My pathetic mudblood girlfriend, how it was too bad she was muggle born because if she wasn't he would have liked to … well, he was just trying to get to me, and when he saw that was working he kept up with it. But then he said, that if she was such a clever little witch then how could she let Malfoy do what he did to her." Ron squinted his eyes in a vain attempt to hide the tears spilling out of his bright blue eyes. He let his hands bury themselves into his wild red hair as he began to tremble in rage.
"That bastard killed my Hermione." He said in a angry, almost inaudible whisper.Dumbledore leaned back in his chair obviously mulling around Ron's words in his head letting the severity of his accusations sink in. Though Draco was a suspected Death Eater, and had never been very shy about voicing his affiliations with the Dark Arts and Voldemort, he was having a hard time to believe he would have it in him to end the life of another; especially not one of his fellow students, but even more importantly especially not Hermione Granger.
"Ron…" he began in a comforting voice. "We all miss Ms. Granger, and what happened to her was a terrible tragedy, and I would also like to see the crime punished. But I don't think that the word of a Death Eater is enough to sentence Mr. Malfoy to a lifetime in Azkaban."
"Are you kidding me!?" Ron shrieked, his arms had flown to the arms of his chair and he sat up straight on the edge of his seat defensively. His eyes searched Dumbledore's for some sign that he was joking.
"I'm HANDING you Hermione's KILLER, her KILLER, and you're saying that I don't have enough evidence?" The hatred he was displaying before was nothing compared to the rage he was showing now.
"Now… Ron…" Dumbledore said his voice carrying the soft hint of a warning, but Ron took no note of it.
"NO!" he screamed as he stood up. "Why do we need anymore evidence?! He's a bloody MALFOY! Their family crest has the bloody dark mark on it! It's not like killing a "lowly filthy mudblood" was some unspeakable act for him! He hated Hermione, HATED HER!" But at the mention of her name Ron seemed to calm a bit. His eyes searched Dumbledore's sadly.
"She was my girlfriend…. No, she was my fiancé." He corrected himself as a fresh set of tears began building in his eyes a sad smile crossing his features momentarily. "Did you know that? We were gonna get married, she thought we were being rash and irresponsible so we didn't tell anyone, but we were still going to do it. As soon as the war ended we were going to have a huge wedding at the Burrow, then have a bunch of red bushy haired babies in a huge house and…" He left the sentence unfinished and laughed through the tears that were spilling out of his eyes.
"But now it's …..it's …. It's just gone. Over! Everything we were dreaming is over all because of that self-righteous pure-blooded son of a bitch!"
"Mr. Weasley…" Dumbledore was slightly agitated and seemed almost fatherly as he stood up to make himself eye to eye with the angry young wizard. "Though I do understand your state of distress I would greatly appreciate it if you calmed down a bit. Ms. Granger is gone, and there is little we can do about that besides properly mourn her. And I'm sure that she would not appreciate you pointing fingers unjustifiably in an attempt to bring her killer to justice."
"I THINK IF IT WERE UP TO HER SHE WOULD STILL WANT TO BE ALIVE!" He screamed furiously, his whole body was shaking, his hands clenched into tight fists by his side. Then suddenly he turned to walk out the door, still yelling.
"I don't even know why I came here! The Ministry won't give a damn who I'm trying to lock up especially if his last name is Malfoy!" And with that and the swift slam of the door Ronald Weasley was gone.
Dumbledore sighed and calmly settled back in his chair before reaching across his large mahogany desk to grab a lemon drop. He placed it in his mouth listening to Ron's angry march down the stairs, when the sound of the door at the end of the stairway slamming echoed through the office he slowly shifted his gaze towards the corner behind Fawkes.
"Well Mr. Malfoy, it appears you have quite a lot of explaining to do." He said to what seemed like no one, but suddenly a deep male voice answered from the corner.
"It would appear so." Said Draco Malfoy as he removed his invisibility cloak and sauntered over to sit in the chair that Ron Weasley had just vacated. He, like Ron, looked as if he had just got out of battle. His usually perfectly groomed hair was hanging disorderly over his marred face and his expensive luxurious robes were tattered and stained with what appeared to be blood. Unlike Ron, his demeanor was very calm, though a smirk graced his lips as he leaned back in his chair obviously getting ready to fulfill Dumbledore's request of an explanation.
"You see…." He began but quit when Dumbledore raised his hand for him to cease.
"Oh, no no no. You don't owe me any sort of clarification, I'm quite aware of the state of things." He said with a wry smile. When Draco looked at him in confusion he decided to continue.
"Mr. Malfoy, do you really expect me to believe that you of all people would kill her?"
Still obviously not understanding what he was implying that he knew, Draco decided to play ignorant.
' Why would me killing a mudblood be unsuspected?" He sneered, showing his excessive pureblood arrogance. Dum
"I happen to know, Draco that even the cruelest and most heartless of men.' Dumbledore paused when he saw him flinch slightly at his words. "wouldn't kill a woman they love so dearly as you do our Ms. Granger."
Draco started and stared at the old wizard sitting before him barely believing his words. He thought that they had been careful, that they had taken every precaution to keep themselves secret. But this was Dumbledore, of course they couldn't get past him. Draco visibly relaxed as a mischievous grin played out on his marred face.
"No, Professor," He said calmly. "I DID kill her, just not in the sense you might be thinking.
A/N: Sweet Jesus you read all the way to the bottom? wow. Well, as always review please!
