Splitting Up & The First Clues

"God! Where the hell did it go," Tonks exclaimed.

"Calm down Tonks," Mad Eye insisted, "Whoever the murderer is obviously wouldn't want the body found and as Dumbledore said the murderer had to have been in this room. So all of us should decide which rooms each pair will search. Got it."

"But how are we going to decide who searches which room?" Molly asks.

"I suggest we draw straws."

"There are no straws here," Kreacher said as he entered the room.

"There are toothpicks though," Dobby replied as he also entered the room.

"Good," said Dumbledore, "As I stay here the rest of you go into the kitchen."

This of course sounded suspicious but the eight of them went and followed Kreacher and Dobby into the kitchen.

The kitchen was magnificent in a dark decaying way. Though the refrigerator worked, as did the other appliances, it still had a creepy feeling to it. Cobwebs littered the corners, dust and dirt covered the marble tiled floor so much that it looked like there was no floor at all. The tiles were coming off the walls as well as chipping in many places. The wallpaper was peeling as was the paint used to try and hide the Victorian aged wallpaper. The wooden counter top was rotted and with so many holes in it. Knives in plain view looked menacing as if the murderer would decide to kill anyone of them in plain view. And then there was the huge freezer built into the back wall. It seemed as if there was something unknown and dangerous in it.

"What do you think is in that freezer Mad Eye," Tonks said in a whisper.

"Probably nothing," Sirius said.

"Right. Get your head in the game Tonks," Mad Eye agreed.

"But what if there's something in there," Molly says.

"Then we have to check," Remus says.

"Right," Arthur agrees.

"Disgraceful mudblood," Dobby says.

"Excuse me?" Tonks said with an attitudinal disbelief.

"Sorry Ms. Tonks but Dobby felt he had to say that since Kreacher is no longer here," Dobby says innocently as he plays with his entwined fingers.

"Kreacher isn't here?" Arthur said.

"Where is that git?" Sirius asked.

"Yes where is he," Mad Eye asks as well.

"I have a bad feeling that we'll find our answer in that freezer," Tonks says hesitantly.

"You feel it too?" Molly says.

"Yes."

"Well come on then. Who's going to open the freezer door and see who it is?" Mad Eye gruffly says. No steps forward and Mad Eye says impatiently, "Guess I have to do it. Bunch of pansies."

Sirius and Remus take extreme offense to this; Sirius swears yet Remus keeps it in. As this happens Mad Eye walks up calmly up to the freezer door and Tonks creeps stealthily behind him for back up. Remus does the same for Tonks and yet again Sirius lets out a snicker.

"Right behind you Mad Eye," Tonks whispers.

"Yes, right behind you Tonks..." everyone stares at him, "...I mean Mad Eye."

"Be quiet," Mad Eye commanded and then he went back to the freezer door.

Mad Eye doesn't hesitate at all. The freezer door handle stuck a bit so Mad Eye hand to move the handle around a bit for it to begin to open. As it began to open everyone had their wands pointed at it and were in their best action, heroic pose.

Squeak, went the rusted door.

Squeak!

The rusty door opens a crack and Mad Eye gets impatient that it won't open faster. Everyone holds their breath as the door slowly opens.

Squeak!

Squeak!

"Damn it you damn door! Open already!" Mad Eye yells.

"Here!" Tonks says as she points her wand at the door, "Alohomora!"

The door only opens a little more.

"Nice try," Remus says as he pats her her back.

"Thanks."

"Enough chatter!" Mad Eye spoke again as his frustration grew more and more by the second.

It took about ten or so minutes before he could open the door and then...and then...and then...something abruptly fell out of it into Mad Eye's arms. Molly screams as does Sirius.

"Not so manly now are you Sirius," Tonks said absentmindedly as she stares at what had fallen out.

Kreacher.

The mean little house elf had a vacant lifeless look in his eyes. In his back was a dagger and dark red blood spreading all over his back. Mad Eye remains unfazed, though inside he begins to falter.

"I'll take him to the ballroom. The rest of you draw toothpicks to figure out who gets what room," he said as he walked out the kitchen.

Arthur gets out the toothpicks and begins cutting them with a butcher knife. No one takes their eyes off it wondering if he or anyone of them could be the murderer. Tonks and Remus walks over to Sirius.

"Its a shame what happened to Kreacher," Tonks said, "Might have been horrible but no one deserves that."

"Right," Sirius and Remus agree.

"Two dead bodies," Remus says in a dead voice, "Which one of us is next?"

Arthur soon calls everyone around the counter.

"Longest gets the lounge, the next longest gets the Billiard Room, the shortest gets the basement, and next shortest gets the attic," Arthur explains.

They all nod in agreement and Sirius goes first. He pulls the second longest toothpick. As he walks back to Remus and Tonks he sees his cousin rest her head on his best mate's shoulder and Sirius lets out a chuckle.

"Remus we have the Billiard Room," he says.

Back at the counter Arthur says: "You want to do the honors Molly?"

"Yes," and as she grabs a toothpick she ends up getting the longest one that was in Arthur's hand.

"It looks like we have the lounge to look through," Arthur says with a sigh that matches the one his wife gave out.

Mad Eye came back into the kitchen just then and sees Tonks over by Remus and Sirius.

"Tonks, over here," Mad Eye says and Tonks complies.

Before she goes over to him though she whispers something in Remus' ear. Remus gives her a nod as an answer. With that Tonks goes over to Mad Eye and he picks the shortest of them all. Arthur tells them that they have the basement.

"If someone gets the basement it might as well be us," Tonks says.

"Well then lets go there now," Mad Eye replies.

Severus is the last and realizes that him and Kingsley only have one option; the attic.

"We get the bloody attic," Severus, cynically states, "How delightful."

"We have no choice," Kingsley says, "We might as well go now and try to find some clues."

"My money's either on the dog or the werewolf," Severus tells him.

"What did you say Snivelus?" Sirius exclaims.

Sirius wants to fight him, duel him, hurt him in any way. Remus fortunately pulls him back.

"Lets go Sirius," Remus tells him in a calm manner, "You don't want to lose your head over an insignificant potions professor."

Tonks laughs at this and Mad Eye tells her that they should go now. Molly tells Arthur the same, and the third to leave was the team of Sirius and Remus. Lastly though was Severus and Kingsley.


Within minutes Mad Eye and Tonks were making their way down the stairs on their way to the basement.

"Lumos," Tonks whispered.

"Not too bright. We don't want the killer to attack us if he's down here do we?" Mad Eye says in an even lower but stern whisper.

"I know Mad Eye."

And so as they reached the bottom step they hear a weird sound. Its almost as if beetles and cockroaches were crawling around on the practically invisible floor. Every step they make squeaks, every breath sounds shallow and eerie, and every scent they had seemed to have dulled within seconds.

Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak.

"What was that?"

"Probably just the rats."

"Yes. Yes, of course," Tonks said nervously.

They continue searching but since it was too dark to even see the hand in front of their faces it felt like they were getting nowhere. Suddenly Tonks felt a ticklish, furry feeling going against her bare legs. She points her wand down to her feet and at first all she sees if her tie-dyed ruffled knee-length skirt but as she squints she sees something worse.

Rats.

Rats scurrying against her skin and she lets out a scream. Then with that scream she ends up falling flat on her face onto something hard. She lets out a moan of pain as her hair falls upside down and touches something uncommonly smooth.

"Quiet down Nymphadora!" Mad Eye tells her in a loud whisper.

Her hair turns an even brighter orange as she says, "Don't EVER call me Nymphadora!" Mad Eye blows this off as he helps her up. And then he sees something shine in the light of the wand. Mad Eye leans in and picks it up. The object was a corked beaker with a drop of liquid left.

"Look at this," Mad Eye said.

She did and it looked familiar.

"You don't think Severus murdered Hagrid and Kreacher? Do you?"

"Its a possibility, but we'd better keep this as evidence," he says as he puts it in his inside coat pocket.

"Right. Lets look for more clues."


In the Billiard Room Remus ans Sirius were busy looking for clues.

"Well Remus I don't think there's anything suspicious in this room lets check the library," Sirius says.

Remus agrees and they enter the library. They search high and low, behind every cobweb and bit of dust. Sirius notices that Remus is in a bit of a hurry.

"That's interesting," he thinks, "That could mean Remus is the killer but...Then again it could do something Tonks whispered to him awhile ago in the kitchen..."

Remus checks the bookshelf now almost every book is covered in dust and he goes over every single book.

"It seems like the most recent books are the ones not covered in that much dust," Remus thinks, "...Why is Sirius...never mind...we have to solve this case...About an hour before I meet Tonks in the dining room...Hmm, what's this."

He pulls out that particular book. It feels heavy in his hands and he notices that there's no dust whatsoever on it. Remus runs his fingers on the letters of the spine and front cover. He opens the book to the first page and calls Sirius over to him.

"How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found!" they gasp.

"You want to keep it or should I?" Remus asks.

Sirius tells him that Remus should keep it.

"Maybe you could use it to get away...or impress Tonks?" Sirius jokes.

Remus turns around in rage, beginning to snap at his friend.

"What are you saying? That I'm the murderer? I could ask you the same thing! You're the one who's been held up in Askaban letting the madness take you over!"

Their argument continues for sometime until Remus gets so angry he storms out the library. He marches angrily down the hallway his angry thoughts unceasing.

"I can't believe my closest living friend doesn't believe me. After all I've done for him! Well forget it! Sirius can just be on his own from this point forward!

He wasn't paying attention to where he was going or who was in his way when he slammed into someone knocking both himself and the other person down. How he ended up on top of the other person he doesn't know and he doesn't know who the other person is until...

"Remus, get off of me."

"Sorry Tonks," he says as he gets up and then extends his hand to her, "You need help getting up?"

Tonks takes his hand and they begin to roam the eerie hallways of this mansion.

"Did you find any clues?" Remus asks Tonks.

"Yes, me and Mad Eye found a beaker with a little bit of potion in it. What did you and Sirius find?"

"A book."

"What kind of book?"

"I'll tell you when we get into the conservatory right there."

The conservatory is very dark and ominous. The pitch back night sky frowns on them as it continues to rain and later hail. The only light was from the dim moon. Plants and vines cast scary suffocating shadows in the whole room.

"What the book Remus?" Tonks asks.

Remus fishes it out of his coat and hands it to Tonks.

"How To Disappear Completely and Never Be F―"

Whether it was his anger at Sirius or he just wanted to let his feelings known in case either one of them was going to die that night; Remus stopped her with a kiss. This surprises Tonks yet she gives into him. As a result the heavy book gives aloud thud on the white tiled ground. Soon they end up falling onto the floor shattering the pots and vases the plants were in. As the things shattered thunder and lightning strikes again forcing the two of them to pull apart as well as making them face the darkness.

"What was that?" Tonks pants.

"I don't know," Remus replies.

A bloodcurdling scream is let out and Tonks and Remus scramble to their feet to investigate further.