Disclaimer: RLCS doesn't own the Harry Potter Universe. This disclaimer shall apply to every chapter henceforth, because I forget to add them in sometimes.
Don't hurt me, I know that I already deleted and re-uploaded this chapter BUT there are definite changes so READ IT ALL (or you can just scroll down to the part where Blaise walks in) or you'll be lost when I update the next chapter. It's longer now because I combined two chapters. And I changed a few details that may seem unimportant now but will be later on.
Chapter One: Interogations
Hermione got up off the floor and dusted herself off. She hated traveling by floo but considering that the other option was flying on a broom, floo was like a walk in the park on a beautiful autumn day. She looked around and took in her surroundings. She was in a dimly lit room that looked as if it was used for an employee lounge; it had a few leather armchairs and a black leather couch as well as a refrigerator and a microwave.
Suddenly, the door in the far corner of the room burst open and Hermione was greeted by none other than Harry Potter, who had his wand drawn.
"Oh 'Mione, it's just you. Well you know the first thing they teach you in training; constant vigilance."
Hermione smiled and nodded. She, Harry and Ron had entered auror training together as soon as they left Hogwarts and after Harry had defeated Voldemort in their last year. They were also joined by Pansy Parkinson who had joined the Order of the Phoenix in their last year, as well as Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini. With the information that the Order got from those three as well as professor Snape, they managed to infiltrate Voldemort's hide out and defeat him once and for all.
After the war, the six were able to put aside their petty childhood rivalries and became civil towards each other, but that didn't mean that they were the best of friends. True, Pansy had bonded with the "Golden Trio" during training and was now considered a friend, but Draco and Blaise were another story. Although they were civil and willing to carry on normal conversations when in the same room with any of the Gryffindors, they by no means went out of their way to be friends with them.
Hermione was shaken out of her thoughtful trance when she heard Harry calling her name.
"'Mione, earth to 'Mione, can you hear me?" he asked while waving his wand in her face.
Hermione laughed and swatted him in the arm.
"Harry, grow up already."
Harry gave her one of his trademark grins and led her into a long hallway lined with doors. Harry's face suddenly took on a serious look as he started to describe the crime in all its gruesome detail.
"Her name is Cecilia Carroway, and she was twenty years old. She was Draco's secretary and she had been hired little under a year and a half ago. A janitor found her while he was opening up the building. She appears to have been tortured and given the killing curse."
"How do you know it wasn't suicide?"
"We performed a Priori Incantatem on her wand. The last spell she performed was to unlock her office. Actually, her wand was found locked in her desk drawer."
"Are there any tell tale signs of torture on the body?"
"No"
"Then I'm assuming that you got a medi-witch to perform a transparency spell?"
"Yes, you won't believe what this poor girl was put through. Her lungs looked like cottage cheese, where her kidneys should have been, there were sacks of puss and her heart had been skewered by a metal rod. Whoever did this to her was a professional. If you looked at her with the naked eye it would look as if she had just dropped dead of some illness. Even her face was peaceful but her eyes…her eyes weren't devoid of emotion like most people that get avadaed. (A/n: I know that's most likely spelled wrong) She had a look of utter terror in her eyes. It's down right chilly."
"Have you gotten an estimated time of death?"
"12:15 am"
"Where is Draco?"
"He's on his way here; Pans just owled him."
"What about Blaise?"
"Same"
"Did you call anyone else in for questioning?"
"No, but Ginny came along with Ron, Pans and I to complete her auror field training and she recognized Cecilia. Cecilia was a Hufflepuff year younger than her and she had an older sister in Ravenclaw who was classmates with Ginny."
"Have you owled the sister yet?"
"No"
"Get someone to do that, I want to interview her about her sister set an interview time for sometime later today."
"I'll get on it shortly."
Hermione nodded; they had reached the end of the hallway and stopped in front of a closed door labeled Cecilia Carroway. Harry opened the door and they entered the crime scene. Hermione saw that Ron, Pansy and Ginny were standing to one side of the room conversing about something. She and Harry walked over to them and Hermione greeted them all warmly.
"Hey Ron, Gin, Pans."
She was greeted with a chorus of "Hey 'Mione"s
"So Pans, you owled Draco and Blaise, right?"
"Yup, they should be here soon."
"Alright, I think I'll go have a look at the body."
Her four friends/colleagues nodded and she slowly made her way to the body which lay in the center of the room. It was just as Harry had said, her features were totally relaxed but her eyes were stormy and troubled; it was a rather haunting sight.
She knelt down and took a closer look at the area around the body. There was no blood spatter nor were there any other signs of a struggle; the scene was immaculate. Suddenly she heard the door open and shut behind her and she turned to see who had caused the commotion.
There greeting Pansy, Harry, Ron and Ginny cordially was Draco Malfoy. He walked over to Hermione and extended his hand to her and she took it stiffly. Hermione noticed that he didn't bother to look at the body.
"Granger"
"Mr. Malfoy"
"I understand you wanted to talk to me about Ms. Carroway's death?"
"Yes, is there somewhere we can speak privately?"
"Will my office be alright?"
"Yes, that would be fine."
"Alright, follow me then."
Hermione followed Draco but before she left she asked Harry to alert her when Blaise arrived. He nodded and she walked out of the room.
Draco's office, as it turned out, was across the hall from Cecilia's and was rather expensive looking. It had office furniture of fine cherry wood and all the latest in wizard electronics. He even had a telephone and a computer.
"I'm surprised you have indulged yourself with muggle technology Mr. Malfoy"
"Granger…Hermione, how long have we known each other? You can call me Draco you know. And I'm just trying to keep up with the times."
"Well Draco, let's get this interrogation over with."
"As you wish. Have a seat." he said pointing to his desk chair. She sat and he conjured himself an armchair facing her and sat down.
"Do you have any connection to the murder of Ms. Cecilia Carroway?"
"No, I do not. And Granger, what kind of question is that? If I had anything to do with her murder do you think I'd tell you?"
Hermione reddened when she realized he was right.
"Look Malfoy, it's the wee hours of the morning. Can we just get on with this?"
He smirked that annoying smirk of his but nodded.
"Where have you been since you last saw Ms. Carroway and can anyone verify your presence?"
"I went home with Blaise and we flew around on our brooms for a bit. Then I had a business dinner with a client from America, Mr. Genthry. You can contact him if you wish."
Hermione nodded and he continued.
"Well, after the dinner, he and I parted ways and I went home to sleep. That is till I was awakened by a ministry owl and came here. I'm sure my house elves can assure you that I was home."
Hermione rolled her eyes when he mentioned house elves but decided she was in no mood to go into the finer points of house elf rights at four thirty in the morning, so she pressed on with her questioning.
"How long had Ms. Carroway been in your employment?"
"I believe it was little under a year and a half."
"And did you have any prior connections to Ms. Carroway before she came into your service?"
"No, she was sent to me by a secretarial agency."
"Did you spend time with Ms. Carroway outside of an office setting?"
"Once in a while we would go out to dinner after a long day at the office."
"Were you and Ms. Carroway ever romantically involved?"
"No, she had a boyfriend."
"What was his name?"
"I believe it was, Todd Carter. I also believe they got engaged around a month ago."
"Had you ever met Todd Carter?"
"Yes, but I never got to know the guy. Cecilia introduced him to me while she was leaving for lunch with him. He had also come to pick her up a few times."
"From what you knew about him, did he seem shady or untrustworthy?"
"I didn't pay much attention to him."
"C'mon, you must have noticed something."
"No, I don't exactly take interest in the personal lives of my employees unless it benefits me."
Hermione rolled her eyes
"Why am I not surprised?"
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
Just as Hermione was about to reply there was a knock at the door. Hermione used her wand to open it and Harry walked in.
"Blaise is here."
"Thanks Harry, and have you sent an owl to Ms. Carroway's sister?"
"Yes and her name is Jessica."
"Alright, Draco, I think we're done for now, but I would like to interview you more later. Would that be alright?"
"Whatever" he replied noncommittally.
"Alright, I'll be in touch. Harry please send Blaise in here."
"Of course."
With that Draco and Harry walked out of the room and Blaise sauntered in a few moments later.
Compared to Draco, Blaise had always been a gentleman, even in their Hogwarts days. A couple of times in seventh year, he and Hermione were paired together in advanced Arithmancy and they had had pleasant conversations. As Blaise walked into the Draco's office, clad in khaki slacks and a midnight blue polo, he gave her a business like nod and took a seat in the chair Draco had occupied not two minutes prior.
"Good evening Hermione or I guess I should say should I say good morning?"
"Good morning to you to Blaise, it's nice to see you again; I'm sorry it couldn't be under more cheerful pretenses"
"Quite alright, now perhaps we should get this over with."
Hermione nodded, she went through the same questioning process with Blaise that she had with Draco and had come up with similar results.
"When was the last time you saw Ms. Carroway alive?"
"Yesterday morning, when I came to have a meeting with Draco."
"Did she seem peaky or worried in anyway?"
"Not that I noticed, no."
"Did you ever meet her fiancé, Todd Carter?"
"I met the guy once or twice; he seemed like an ok guy."
"Did you ever have a conversation with him?"
"No, he was ok, but he was quite anti-social, never said more than 'hi' and 'goodbye' to me."
"I see. Well Malfoy wasn't much help with telling me about Cecilia's personal life. Would you happen to know anything that would be useful to me?"
"Like what?"
"Things like, if she behaved strangely, had any weird habits, anything that could raise suspicions."
"Well, she always seemed like a pretty well put together girl. Always came to work dressed to kill, got all her work done proficiently. I believe she was in Ravenclaw back at Hogwarts. She was always cheery, added a good vibe to Draco's floor. Till she came, Draco was driving us all crazy with his constant grumpiness."
Hermione chuckled and motioned for him to go on.
"But now that I think about it, she's been acting a little off for the past month. I can't put my finger on it, but she's been a little more reserved."
"How do you mean?"
"Well, usually when I came up for a meeting with Draco, she would be all chatter when I came into her office. She would talk about EVERYTHING from the weather to how Puddlemere United was doing this season. But lately, she's just been shuffling papers and taking calls. She's still very sweet but she seems a little more jaded. I figured Malfoy's workaholism was finally getting to her. Her's wouldn't be the first secretary's spirit he's broken."
Hermione nodded and was about to ask another question when there was another knock at the door, this time it was Pansy.
"Mione, I'm sorry to interrupt but we've found something that you may find interesting."
"Alright, Blaise, I think that's all I need to know from you but I'll be in contact if I need to talk to you again. Would that be alright?"
"Of course, but I think I'll stick around a little while if that's ok. I need to talk to Draco."
"As you wish, but please, stay out of Ms. Carroway's office. It is still a crime scene."
Blaise nodded and followed Hermione and Pansy out of the room. He took a left down towards the employee lounge where Pansy told him Malfoy was. Hermione and Pansy walked into Cecilia's office and Ron stepped up to them holding up an iPod.
"We found this in one of her desk drawers. I didn't know what it was but apparently Ginny says it's some kind of muggle music system."
Hermione gave a soft chuckle. "Ron you know how to work a computer and a cell phone but you still don't know what an iPod is…tsk tsk, you need to keep up with your muggle technology."
Ron's ears turned slightly pink but other than that he seemed unfazed by her kind hearted ribbing.
"Anyway" he continued "Ginny performed a fingerprint spell on it and found only those of the victim. Then she plugged the two head sets in her ears and listened to some of the songs."
"And?"
This time it was Ginny who spoke up.
"And, there was only one song on the thing, honestly all that money and you put ONE song on it."
Hermione smiled and asked what song it was.
"Listen for yourself." Ginny replied, taking the iPod from Ron's grasp and handed it to Hermione. She charmed the earphones to act as speakers and scrolled the click wheel menu to Songs. There she saw only one title: Twenty Four - Jem. As the song filled the room Hermione couldn't help but notice that some of the lyrics foreshadowed the way Cecilia's final day would play out.
In 24 hours they'll be
laying flowers
on my life, it's over tonight
I'm not messing no I
need your blessing
and your promise to live free
please do it for me
I'm not alone, I sense it, I sense it
All that I said, I meant it, I meant it
Hermione mused to herself 'Why would she put that, of all songs, on her iPod? Unless she knew she would be murdered, but then…why wouldn't she have told anyone? What was this girl involved in?'
Just then, the door of the office, which had been shut after Hermione and Pansy had entered, burst open and a clearly emotional young man ran into the room followed by another auror, Jay Phelps, who had his wand drawn. When he saw Cecilia's body the man broke into uncontrollable sobs and collapsed onto the floor.
Teaser: Is Draco telling the truth? What's the true story behind Cecilia's murder? What does the song mean? And who is this mysterious stranger? Find out soon, in The Crime of Passion.
Review Please. It makes me happy.
-rlcs
A/N: This chapter used to contain the full lyrics to the song. I edited it because, first of all, I'm not allowed to use them. I tried to figure out a way to take it out all together but there's no way it would have worked without atleast SOME of the song in there. If you want to full lyrics just search for the song on google. And if you want to hear it…well I think there is probably a preview for it on iTunes.
One more thing and this is VERY IMPORTANT!!! I'm looking for a beta. In a sense that you would get the full plot (or most of it anywho...) and you would give me your opinion on how it sounds. If you're interested leave me a review. Please let me know ASAP. thanks.
haha this will be my only really long author's note for this story (but I reserve the right to take it back later if need arise).
