A/N - I hope people enjoy my latest story. This is the first time I've listed other main characters as well as Draco and Hermione but this story is just as much about Narcissa and Lucius. I have the entire story perfectly structured already and there will be ten chapters in total. I have already written the first five and this is the story I am currently spending most of my time on so hopefully it will be finished soon. Hopefully I'll be able to update every couple of days, especially if the story goes down well.


The Body.

The large back garden of Malfoy Manor was lit up with thousands of enchanted firefly's as the annual New Year's Eve party headed towards its climax. In the wizarding world on New Year's Eve there was only one party that people wished to be invited to, the Malfoy's. People waited with baited breath as the invites went out in early December, only the best were invited to Malfoy Manor for New Year and it was an honour to receive one of the expensive silver and green invitations with the beautiful calligraphy of Narcissa Malfoy's personal invite.

Despite their part in the war all three Malfoy's had made an effort to make up for past mistakes. With a lot of hard work and a genuine change of attitude the Malfoy family had rebuilt their reputation and were now once again considered to be amongst the finest wizarding families in Britain.

Lucius Malfoy had surprised everyone after the war when he had publically admitted his status as a Death Eater. He surprised people even more when he announced that it was the worst decision of his life and was something he desperately wanted to put right. Privately Lucius struck a deal with the Auror's to keep his out of Azkaban and he spent months working with them to capture the remaining Death Eaters. While the exact details of his deal were kept private the Ministry made it public knowledge exactly how much information Lucius had given them. As a result of his help capturing the Death Eaters, and making the wizarding world a safer place, Lucius was forgiven by the majority of the public and even hailed as a hero in some parts. Lucius used his newfound status to earn respect for the Malfoy name, once again getting people to associate the name with a powerful wizarding family, only this time without the dark connotations.

Narcissa Malfoy was hailed as a hero when immediately after the war it came to light she had lied to Voldemort and saved Harry's life. Even though protecting her son had been the main motivation behind the lie, something Narcissa openly admitted, people still considered her brave for lying to Voldemort. As her husband started to regain favour in the wizarding world the press began focusing on Narcissa, before the war they hadn't given much consideration to Narcissa but the press soon discovered the public had an appetite for the remorseful family, especially the beautiful wife of Lucius Malfoy. For years before the war Narcissa had been heavily involved with several charities but with the new interest in her life it soon meant her charity work was public knowledge. Despite taking a while to get used to the intrusion in her life Narcissa had eventually used the press to get publicity for her charities. Nowadays if she wasn't in the press regarding her latest charity work, Narcissa was featured in the gossip columns as they discussed her latest party.

While Lucius and Narcissa had undoubtedly helped the Malfoy image the general consensus was that it was their son, Draco, who was the major reason the family was accepted back into the wizarding world. After the war Draco was fully prepared to accept any consequences that were coming to him in regard to his actions. As the youngest Death Eater on record his trial was the most anticipated in the aftermath of the war. Surprisingly Draco refused to testify in his own defence. Several people, including Harry Potter, testified that he had been put under severe pressure to join Voldemort and hadn't wanted to carry out his wishes. There were several tears and a lot of sympathy in court the day that Narcissa testified and revealed that Draco had received two choices from Voldemort, he could either take the Dark Mark or watch his mother be tortured and killed in front of him. Despite never once trying to weasel out of his actions Draco was unanimously found innocent of all charges. The information that was revealed combined with the dignified manner in which Draco had behaved throughout his trial resulted in massive public support for the young Malfoy.

After his trial Draco went to work at his father's ailing company. While Lucius took a back seat in the business after the war Draco worked all hours to make the business a success, he stopped dealing with any firms with connections to the dark arts and even expanded part of the business into the muggle world. Draco's business success combined with his good looks meant he was a regular in the wizarding press, whether it was praising him for a deal he had conducted at work or speculating about which witch he was currently dating. Nearly two years after the war the press surrounding Draco reached fever pitch when he was photographed on a date with Hermione Granger, the so called brightest witch of her age and one third of the golden trio who had defeated Voldemort. The press loved the idea of the Gryffindor golden girl and the Slytherin bad boy together and the couple regularly featured in the tabloids and magazines as their relationship progressed. News of their engagement three months ago had caused a frenzy and the wizarding world were now anxiously awaiting news of when to expect the long anticipated nuptials.

Like all parties held at Malfoy Manor the press were strictly excluded, not that it stopped them from camping outside the grounds in the hopes of sneaking a few pictures with long distance lenses or speaking to someone who had wandered a bit too far from the action. Narcissa was well aware of the press surrounding the party, knowing that the few sneaky pictures they could snap would prove helpful in making sure people remembered her family had changed she was quite content to leave them to it.

At quarter to twelve after checking that the magical firework display was all set to go Narcissa set about finding her husband. Lucius wasn't exactly the person she wanted to be speaking to at the minute but for appearances sake Narcissa prepared herself to publicly see in the New Year with her husband. After scanning the gardens, with no luck, Narcissa was heading towards the Manor when she was stopped by her long-time friend, Sylvia Parkinson.

"Cissa, the party's wonderful, as always." Sylvia said with smile. "Although I haven't seen your husband for a while."

"I'm just off to look for him." Narcissa smiled politely. "You know Lucius, he's probably snuck into the office to do some work."

"Typical man, my Harold is just the same." Sylvia said. Harold was Sylvia's husband. "I was actually heading to the bathroom before the fireworks, I can hurry him up if you want."

"That would be great, thank you." Narcissa said, grateful for her friends help.

As Sylvia headed into the Manor, Narcissa let her gaze wander across the garden. Everyone looked to be having a good time, the party was another huge success. As she spotted Draco and Hermione approaching her, Narcissa smiled at the sight of her son and his fiancé. Narcissa was a big fan of the feisty witch Draco was engaged to and she was looking forward to the day she officially became part of the family.

Draco and Hermione had just reached Narcissa when a bloodcurdling scream interrupted the festivities. While the noise didn't disturb all the guests, everyone who was closer to the Manor turned to see what was happening. A few seconds after the scream a sobbing Sylvia appeared in the doorway she had entered a few minutes ago.

"He's dead." Sylvia sobbed. "Lucius is dead."


...


New Year's Eve found Calvin Bainbridge, the head of the Auror Department, sitting wading through a stack of paperwork. Bainbridge would rather have been at home with his wife but unfortunately it was his turn to work the holiday shift. Bainbridge was a fair boss and he believed that if he expected his staff to take turns in working over the holidays that he should have to do the same.

A knock on the door disturbed his work, looking up Bainbridge found one of his newest Aurors, Aiden Scott entering the room.

"We've just received a call, we've got a case." Aiden told his boss. "Lucius Malfoy's been found dead in his study, it looks like murder."

Bainbridge snorted, he was surprised that someone hadn't killed the former Death Eater years ago. Despite the public opinion that Lucius Malfoy was repentant for his actions during the war Bainbridge was of a different opinion. Directly after the war Bainbridge was part of the team of Auror's that had dealt with Lucius and the information they received from the blond man, it was his opinion that Lucius hadn't really changed he was just doing whatever he could to avoid going to Azkaban.

"Have you arranged for the forensic team to accompany us?" Bainbridge asked as he rose from his desk.

"They're on their way." Aiden replied.

"Let's go then." Bainbridge said, leaving his office.

Outside in the department several on duty Auror's were waiting to head to Malfoy Manor. One of them explained that the floo network was set up so the men headed to the fireplace in the far corner of the department, preparing to floo to the murder scene.

Bainbridge let several of his team floo to the Manor before heading there himself, the remaining ones following close behind their boss. Arriving in a high ceilinged room with little furniture Bainbridge looked around, spotting two of his off duty Auror's greeting their work colleagues.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had both joined the Auror department directly after the war. While Bainbridge had accepted that both men had potential to be good Auror's he disliked that fact that neither man had actually achieved the right qualifications to even be accepted into the training programme. Bainbridge knew better than to voice his concerns as it was common knowledge that Potter and Weasley were favoured by the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shackelbolt. Bainbridge was also aware that Kingsley was lining Potter up to be his successor as head of department, not that he was planning on retiring for a long while yet.

"Potter, Weasley." Bainbridge said, walking up to the two men. "I take it you reported the incident."

"Yes, we've also contained things as best we can." Harry said.

"Where's the body?" Bainbridge asked, noticing the forensic team arriving in the room.

"In the study, just along the corridor." Ron said, heading to the doorway and pointing the forensic team in the right direction.

"We also gathered most of the guests in the ballroom." Harry said, hoping to impress his boss.

"Why only most?" Bainbridge questioned.

"The family are in the front room and Mrs Parkinson is in the library with her husband and daughter, she discovered the body." Ron said.

"Parkinson?" Bainbridge raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Any relation to your girlfriend?"

"Yes." Harry nodded. "It was Pansy's mother that discovered Lucius."

"We'll talk to her first, then you can leave." Bainbridge said. Turning to two of his Auror's he sent them to speak with the Parkinson's.

"We can stay and help." Ron offered, eager to be involved in such a large scale investigation.

"No, you can't." Bainbridge said firmly. "I appreciate everything you've done tonight but you both know you can't be part of the investigation when you are potential witnesses. Potter after we've finished with your girlfriend and her family you're free to leave. The same goes for you Weasley, I assume you're girlfriends here as well."

Ron nodded as Bainbridge turned to instruct a few more of his Auror's. "I want the names and addresses of every guest that was at the Manor tonight. Start with Weasley's girlfriend."

"Do you want us to question them all?" One of the Auror's asked.

"Briefly. All I want to know for now is when people last saw Lucius Malfoy alive and did they witness anything in regards to him over the course of the evening." Bainbridge dismissed several of his team to deal with the witnesses before turning to Aiden. "Come on we'll go and view the body."

After making sure that Harry and Ron understood they were to leave as soon as possible Bainbridge set off towards the study. Stepping into the expensively decorated room his gaze immediately fell to the prone body of Lucius Malfoy, sprawled across the floor.

"What do we have?" Bainbridge asked the chief forensic officer, Tess Dunlop.

"He was killed by a blow to the back of the head." Tess said, pointing out the dent in the back of Lucius' skull.

"Why didn't they just use magic?" Aiden asked. He had only been an Auror for little over a year and so far hadn't witnessed a crime where the perpetrator hadn't used magic.

"There's a number of reasons." Bainbridge explained. He liked Aiden so he was willing to explain things more for the young man. "Magic can be traced to an individual person these days so not using magic could be a way of trying to stay anonymous. Or it could have been a spur of the moment thing, whoever did this might not have intended to kill Lucius, it could just be an argument that got out of hand. Then there is some people who despite having magic are more disposed to reacting in a physical way."

"Like Lucius' future daughter-in-law." Aiden said, a story he had heard stirring in his mind.

"Hermione Granger?" Bainbridge questioned. He had only met the woman a few times but he would rather that she and not her friends had applied to be an Auror, she was exceptionally bright and had returned to school to get her qualifications, unlike her two friends.

"Yes, there's a story I've heard Ron tell about her." Aiden said. "It's no secret that her and her fiancé didn't like each other in school, well apparently there was an incident in either second or third year, I forget which."

"The point Aiden." Bainbridge sighed. He might like the man but sometimes it took him an eternity to make a point or get to the end of a story.

"The point is that after an argument Hermione apparently had her now fiancé at wand point. But instead of hexing him, as most people would do, she pulled away before turning back and hitting him. According to Ron she nearly broke his nose."

Bainbridge considered Aiden's story, while it had happened years ago it still showed that Hermione Granger had a tendency towards violence. Bainbridge also decided to wait until he had the full story before treating the story as truth, it was no secret that Ron Weasley wasn't the biggest fan of Draco Malfoy and he wouldn't put it past the redhead to embellish a story to make it sound more embarrassing for the other man.

After speaking again with the forensic team, who were examining the body closer and scouring the office for evidence, Bainbridge and Aiden headed to check on the rest of the team. With people eager to get away the witnesses had been co-operative and the last few were just leaving as Bainbridge entered the ballroom.

"Well do we have anything?" Bainbridge asked.

"Most people saw nothing but we do have a small handful who witnessed Lucius arguing earlier in the evening." One of the Auror's said.

"Who was he arguing with?" Bainbridge asked, hoping he was going to get a simple case to deal with and the killer would be pointed out straight away.

"We have several people who reckon he was arguing with his wife, Narcissa." The same Auror spoke again. "But several more insist it was his son, Draco, he was arguing with."

"Then there is another group who say it was his son's fiancé, Hermione, he was arguing with." Another Auror piped up.

"Interesting." Bainbridge mused. "If he argued with all three, I wonder which one he argued with last."

The rest of the Auror's all nodded, knowing exactly what Bainbridge was insinuating. Chances were whoever argued with Lucius last, killed him. Bainbridge gave several orders to his team before heading off to speak with the family for the victim, one of the Auror's was able to point him in the right direction after earlier finding out from Harry where the front room was located.

Bainbridge knocked once before entering the front room, his eyes immediately scanned the enormous room which was twice the size of the whole of the first floor of his modest house. His gaze then fell on the grieving family, not that anyone looked too distraught. A cool and composed Narcissa Malfoy sat in a high backed chair while Draco Malfoy and his fiancé sat side by side on a small sofa.

"I'm Calvin Bainbridge, Head Auror. I'll be conducting the investigation." Bainbridge introduced himself before sitting in the chair Draco gestured to.

"What happened?" Draco asked. "How did he die?"

"Mr Malfoy was struck on the back of his head, the blow was strong enough to kill him."

"He was murdered?" Narcissa whispered, horrified.

She hadn't seen Lucius as Harry had insisted that the fewer people who entered the study the better it was for the investigation. Narcissa had assumed that Lucius had suffered a heart attack or something similar, it had never once occurred to her that foul play could be involved.

"Yes Ma'am." Bainbridge nodded, studying the three people on the room closely. Narcissa's surprise seemed genuine but he would wait until he interviewed the three of them before making any decisions regarding their guilt. "I understand all three of you had words with Mr Malfoy tonight."

Bainbridge watched intently as all three visibly reacted to his accusation. Draco regained his composure the quickest, turning to glare at the Auror while Narcissa and Hermione looked wary.

"Are you accusing us of something?" Draco snapped, his grey eyes flashing dangerously.

"No, I'm merely stating facts." Bainbridge shrugged, not in the least bit intimidated by the youngest Malfoy. He could easily see how people could be intimidated by the frosty blond man in front of him but he had far too much experience as an Auror for it to work on him. "We have several people who heard Mr Malfoy arguing with all three of you over the course of the night."

"I suppose you want to know about the arguments then." Draco said.

"Not tonight. It's late, I think it would be best if we all got some rest. " Bainbridge said, standing up. "I would like all three of you to come into the Ministry tomorrow, I'll owl you with an appropriate time."

"Of course, we'll be there." Narcissa said.

"I'm afraid you'll not be able to stay in the Manor tonight Mrs Malfoy." Bainbridge said, addressing the blonde woman. "Hopefully we can get the investigation wrapped up quickly but it might take a few days before you can return. Do you have somewhere you can go?"

"You can stay with us, Narcissa." Hermione said, moving to perch on the arm of Narcissa's chair.

Bainbridge watched the genuine affection as Narcissa took hold of Hermione's hand and smiled at her future daughter-in-law. Bainbridge couldn't imagine Lucius Malfoy being happy with having a muggleborn in the family but clearly has wife had no problems with her son's choice of partner.

After checking the address where he could find the Malfoy family Bainbridge left the front room. After sending an Auror to stay with the family until they were ready to leave Bainbridge headed back into the study, where the investigation was now thoroughly underway. After leaving several more instructions to his team at the Manor he flooed back to the Ministry where he addressed the rest of his team that had returned to base.

Heading back into his office Bainbridge debated the case he was now working on. Logic dictated that Lucius's killer was someone he had argued with that night, leaving them with three prime suspects. Until he'd spoken to the trio and heard what the arguments were about Bainbridge was going to keep an open mind regarding their possible guilt. It was a strong possibility he had spoken with the killer tonight, but there was still an outside chance that someone else had been the one to actually see off the former Death Eater.