Chapter Two
"Enter," Professor Dumbledore answered to Harry's frantic knocking, wondering who would be coming to see him at such a late hour.
"Professor!" Harry shouted, bursting through the door and looking pale and frightened. "You have to come quick! I've left Hermione, Ron and Draco there so no one would disturb the scene but you need to send for the Aurors and bring them back!"
"What's happened?" Dumbledore asked sharply, jumping to his feet.
"It's professor Trelawney, Sir! She's been murdered!"
"Let's go," Dumbledore said in answer, brandishing his wand as he followed Harry from the room. Harry ran through the hallways with long strides, barely slowing down for the surprisingly quick older man, pulling up short when they turned the corner.
Dumbledore gasped before turning to his students, his face looking more severe than Harry could ever remember seeing it.
"You found her exactly like this?" he asked the students, taking in their pale faces and trembling bodies.
"Yes, Sir," Draco answered for them, feeling as though his Headmaster was x-raying him and checking for any lies. "We didn't even get too close to her because we didn't want to disturb anything. No other students have been down this corridor since we got here."
"Where were the four of you going?" Dumbledore asked, turning his eyes to Hermione, who looked sick to her stomach.
"We were just going back to the common room, Sir. Draco was walking us there before he went down to his own for the night."
Dumbledore was just opening his mouth to answer when a silvery Lynx patronus bounded up and informed them that the Aurors had arrived. "I've summoned Professor Snape, you four need to meet him by the entrance hall so he can split you up and put you into separate rooms again for questioning." He held up his hand to forestall the disagreement he read from their faces. "Please do as I say. It isn't going to look good that you four were involved in discovering another murder."
"You can't possibly think…" Harry started, but snapped his mouth shut as the members of Law Enforcement barreled around the corner with their wands drawn and pointing, accusing looks on their faces.
Hermione and her friends skirted around the angry Aurors and headed downstairs, wondering whether Snape was going to give them a hard time about what was happening.
"Don't bother," the Potions master drawled when the explanations began to flow from the four. "I know there's no way any of you could be involved in this." They approached him warily, surprised. "Malfoy doesn't have the balls, Potter wouldn't want to destroy his glowing reputation, Weasley wouldn't do it without anything to gain and Granger is much too…perfect."
"There's the professor we all know and love to hate," Hermione stated under her breath.
"Into separate rooms, all of you," he snarled, acting as though they were interrupting some important plans he definitely didn't have.
"Yes, Sir," Harry said, snapping to attention and mock saluting before entering a room. Hermione, Ron and Draco all had to stifle laughs at the look on Snape's face.
/
"I've heard that you disliked Professor Trelawney and personally feel as though Divination is a waste of time," Auror Taylor stated, his hands flat against the table and his face only a few inches away from her own. "In fact, I was even told that you caused a scene in her classroom in your third year before storming away and have been heard since then making disparaging remarks about her character."
Hermione swallowed a lump in her throat, but despite how scared she was, she held her head up high – she had nothing to do with Professor Trelawney's death and she wasn't going to make anyone let her feel like she was in the wrong.
"I disliked her, yes, but not enough to kill her! She was a fraud, someone who only made two prophecies that turned out right in her entire career and spent most of her time predicting the deaths of her students," she answered, deciding to be honest since she had nothing to hide.
"So you admit that you didn't like her?"
"Yes," she answered, staring Auror Taylor in the eye.
"Let's talk about Draco Malfoy," he said, switching gears.
"What about him?" Hermione asked slowly, immediately feeling defensive.
"He was present when both bodies were found," he said, clearly trying to lead her into saying something he wanted to hear.
"So was Harry Potter," Hermione pointed out. "Should we talk about him, too?"
"I doubt Harry Potter had anything to do with these deaths," the Auror answered, his disposition decidedly prickly.
"Yet you obviously think Draco does, which is ridiculous."
"Why is that so ridiculous? He's a marked Death Eater, Miss Granger, and both professors that have been killed were in full support of Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix."
"Did you manage to forget that Draco was 'in full support' of the light side as well?" Hermione asked frostily, narrowing her eyes at the authority figure in front of her. "Draco Malfoy fought for Harry Potter! He helped him out a lot more than anyone else. I certainly didn't see you out there risking your life to keep Harry alive, so maybe you should start looking elsewhere."
The Auror bristled at Hermione's comment but managed to keep his composure despite Hermione's insinuation.
"I understand you're dating Draco Malfoy and that easily clouds your judgement, but you should know that we're pretty sure he's involved in this somehow."
"I think it's your judgement that's been clouded, Auror Taylor," Hermione answered stiffly, crossing her arms across her chest tightly and leaning back in her chair. "You see the mark on his arm and place him into a specific category and somehow ignore the fact that he did everything he could to help Harry defeat Voldemort."
The Auror opened his mouth angrily, a retort on his lips, but there was a knock on the door and he snapped his mouth shut before glaring at her once and going to answer it. Hermione saw another man in Auror robes outside and Auror Taylor stepped out, closing the door behind him. He steamed back into the room after a few moments with a handful of papers that he dropped on the table with force before taking his seat across from her again.
"What do you think of Fred and George Weasley?"
"I think they're very respectable men who wouldn't hurt a fly," Hermione answered tersely, her arms tightening around her middle even more.
"Sybill Trelawney's cause of death was Nosebleed Nougat, which is some sort of pill that makes a person sick until they've taken the other half, which would negate the sickness in a matter of moments. She was never given the antidote and therefore bled out."
Hermione was shocked, yet again, by the information that something the Weasley twins invented was used in the murder of a professor. She sat there in silence as the Auror stared at her, clearly waiting for a response, and she decided to take the route Draco would go with her answer.
"Obviously whoever decided to kill the Professors visited Fred and George's shop before committing these murders. Maybe they had it all planned out or maybe they had the products on hand before they knew they were going to kill our teachers and decided that the products would be the best way to go about."
"Or maybe the Weasley twins decided to use their own merchandise against their teachers."
"Absolutely not," Hermione snarled. "Not only would that be incredibly stupid and incriminating but they are not murderers!"
"What about Rodolphus Lestrange?" The Auror snapped, and Hermione felt as though she'd been slapped.
"Are you seriously trying to say that anyone who killed someone in a war has a black mark against them?! Harry Potter, me, even Professor Dumbledore! Everyone killed in the war, Auror Taylor, a war that was necessary to ensure our world is a better place. Being a soldier doesn't make someone a murderer."
"Does Draco Malfoy frequent Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?" the Auror asked suddenly, changing gears when he realized Hermione was not going to say anything negative about the Weasley twins.
"No more than Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, or myself!" Hermione snapped, getting increasingly annoyed.
"So, yes, then?"
"I think we're finished here," Hermione snarled. "You have insulted me and my comrades, displaying an arrogant, conceited attitude towards those who didn't run home to hide from Voldemort. You have made wild allegations without a shred of proof and clearly without a properly conducted investigation of either crime scene, and I'm not talking to you anymore without some sort of legal representation. I didn't think I'd need to request a lawyer and was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. I've always considered Aurors to be upstanding and meticulous in seeking justice, but clearly that was ridiculous of me and I'll be telling my friends to keep their mouths shut without representation from here on out."
The Auror sat back as though he'd been slapped, shocked that she'd gone that far. He couldn't hold her since he had nothing proving she had anything to do with the deaths, so he could only let her leave and hope the other Aurors were getting something of worth. He collected his papers and stood up, gesturing for her to do the same.
"I'm sure we'll be seeing each other soon," he said with a barely suppressed snarl as he waved his wand at the door, allowing Hermione to disappear through it, she slammed it behind her as she went.
She needed to find Draco, Harry and Ron, because unfortunately, Draco was right – the Aurors were prejudiced against him because of bad choices he'd been forced to make when he was sixteen years old, regardless of whether he'd even been involved with criminal activity – for Voldemort or otherwise. Their investigation thus far was all based on the mark on his arm.
/
Hermione sat on the stairs leading away from the Great Hall and waited for the others to be finished with their interviews, fuming more and more as every second went by. How dare Auror Taylor treat her that way and speak to her about her friends and boyfriend in such a derogatory manner? Shouldn't they be out looking for the actual killer instead of trying to pin it on a bunch of nineteen year olds who were trying to finish their education?
Harry came out after a few moments, looking both exhausted and angry – Hermione could only imagine what they'd said to him.
"I can't believe this," he snarled after spotting Hermione and storming over to her. "They had the gall to ask me about Draco's allegiance, about the twins, about you and Ron, about Professor Snape, and about Draco's parents! They have absolutely no fucking idea what they're doing!"
"They only asked me about the twins and Draco before I put a stop to the interview. I can't believe they're trying to pin it on any of them."
"I told them in no uncertain terms that everyone they'd asked me about was innocent."
Harry was pacing in front of her, running his hands through his hair in agitation. He spun around quickly when another door opened and Ron came out looking rather pale, his freckles standing out on his sallow face.
"They think the twins," he started, but Harry cut him off with a rather forceful, "I know!"
"And Draco," Ron said, looking irritated. "I told them there's no way but they didn't seem too convinced. I had to tell them almost everything I could about my childhood and how the twins were raised and how they've acted. We had to go into details about the death of Rodolphus Lestrange, which is just ridiculous considering we were fighting a sodding war. I wouldn't be surprised if they were arrested within the next few hours, to be honest."
"This is bullshit," Harry snapped. "If this is the way they behave then I'm seriously going to be reconsidering my career options."
Ron nodded and sat on the stairs with Hermione, watching Harry pace as they waited for Draco to make his appearance.
No one spoke for a few minutes until they heard raised voices and the door to Draco's room snap open.
"I didn't do anything!" Draco's voice bellowed in fury, an emotion he hadn't shown for a long time. "You can't do this!"
Hermione jumped up and stood beside Harry, facing the door dead on as a struggling Draco came out with his hands behind his back, the Auror who was interviewing him had a tight grip on his shoulders and Hermione could tell from where she was standing that his hands had been bound.
"What are you doing?!" Ron yelled, running forward with Harry on his heels.
"Mr. Malfoy has been placed under arrest for the murders of Horace Slughorn and Sybill Trelawney."
Hermione gasped in anger and surprise, her body swaying slightly from the shock of the statement.
"That's ridiculous," Harry spat, moving even closer. "On what grounds are you arresting him?"
The Auror looked around, obviously hoping for some backup, but the rest of his team had vacated the area and had headed to Dumbledore's office once their own interrogations were complete. He stammered out some sort of reply but Harry spoke over him roughly.
"Suspicion? You can't arrest someone on suspicion, Smith, and I know you know the rulings of the 1738 Wizengamot precedent just as well as I do! You have absolutely no proof, but I can tell you right now – as I told the Auror who insulted, I mean, interviewed me – I was with Draco all of last night since he stayed in our tower and Hermione was with him all day, and was later joined by Ron and myself before we found Professor Trelawney."
Auror Smith looked worried now, wondering if he'd made a mistake.
"Get these off me," Draco snarled, wriggling his arms. "I'll sue the lot of you if you try and pin this on me, I swear it!"
"He's a Death Eater," the Auror snapped, making it clear that he wasn't willing to release Draco.
Hermione felt rage and hatred take over her senses so fast that she didn't even think twice about it. She didn't remember moving forward but she suddenly found herself standing right next to Harry, her blood rushing through her ears and her hand itching to slap the stupid Auror in front of her. She opened her mouth to snarl out a reply but found she didn't have to since Ron was already hissing at the Auror. Suddenly, she noticed the reason she hadn't hit the insufferable cretin; Harry's hands were clamped over her wrists, holding her in place. She'd have to thank him later, as she really didn't fancy getting arrested herself.
"FormerDeath Eater, you bloody arsehole! He fought with us – he saved my arse at least twice during the war and took more than one torture curse for Hermione, who is his girlfriend of over two years, by the way! Unhand him now or we'll have so much legal representation up your arse you won't know what to do with them! I'm tired of this shit! We fought the war to end prejudice, not to turn it around on everyone else. Of course, you'd know that if you'd shown up for any of the battles."
The Auror took one look at the angry faces in front of him before waving his wand and releasing the magical handcuffs that were pinning Draco's hands behind his back.
"One toe out of line, Mr. Malfoy, and you'll be coming with us whether you have these three to back you up or not! Once I find even a shred of evidence that points at you you're going to be finished."
Draco sent the man a hate-filled glare before looking at his two friends and girlfriend in turn, taking Hermione's hand, which was shaking with rage, and leading the group up the stairs of the entrance hall and away from the angry Auror behind them.
"I'll be staying in Gryffindor tower tonight, I think," he said, his voice trembling slightly and quieter now that the rage was diminishing and being overwhelmed by fear.
"They aren't pinning this on you, Draco," Ron snarled, sounding angrier than Hermione could ever remember hearing him. "We will do everything in our power to ensure that doesn't happen!"
Draco gave a tight nod that all of them understood to be a thank you as they made their way to the seventh floor, each of them silent and lost in their own anger and thoughts.
/
Draco woke up with a stiff neck, dead arm, and a mouthful of hair. The tip of his nose was cold and his fingers were feeling rather icy.
He'd fallen asleep on the couch in the Gryffindor common room the night before and as he cleared the bushy hair from his mouth he realized that his girlfriend had fallen asleep with him. His neck was stiff from being propped up on the armrest and his arm was dead from Hermione's weight on it all night, but he smiled down at her sleeping form, thinking he wouldn't have moved it even if he'd noticed earlier. He wasn't the most expressive person but it seemed like Hermione understood what it meant when he gave her a small smile, the smile he reserved for only her, or when his eyes softened somewhat when he looked at her.
Harry and Ron also seemed to be able to pick up what he was thinking and feeling with just a specific look, or a certain shift in his demeanor. He never really smiled at them but they'd seen it on his face when he was with Hermione and that was good enough for them. They understood he was a quiet and somewhat ornery bloke, but they didn't try and change it – they accepted it instead and learned how to read him, which in itself made him pretty happy.
He reached into his pocket slowly and extracted his wand without too much movement, pointing it at the fireplace and igniting the flames again. It had died down during the night and the common room had cooled considerably, but just moments after lighting it he was able to feel the heat seep back into the room.
Draco had been almost arrested a few weeks before and since that time he stayed in the Gryffindor tower, feeling the need to use Harry, Ron and Hermione as an alibi and not giving himself even a second where the Aurors could point to him to place the blame. He usually slept on a cot in the eighth year boys' dorm that had been placed in between Harry and Ron's beds, but Hermione had snuggled him on the couch the night before and he was so comfortable and happy that he'd fallen asleep.
Hermione snorted quietly before smacking her lips and groaning, the light shining through one of the windows of the tower and directly onto her face.
Her eyes fluttered and Draco felt her hands tighten on his stomach and shoulder for a moment, clearly wondering where she was, but then her eyes snapped open and she looked up at him before smiling shyly. He loved that she still looked at him that way.
"Good morning," she said as she pushed herself up and ran her hands through her hair, trying to situate it.
He smiled and sat up, stretching out his neck carefully before cracking his fingers.
"I was wondering if we should go to the village today since we all completed our homework last night?" she said, making it sound like a question even though it wasn't.
"I need to get some new quills," he said as an answer, causing her to smile at him. He'd never straight up jump at the chance to go anywhere with her and her friends – even after two years he still managed to say he wanted to be there with them without actually saying it.
"I'm going to bathe and get ready then!" Hermione said happily, glad they had a plan for the day. "Will you tell Harry and Ron? I'm going to invite Ginny and Luna as well, I think it would be great for all of us to get out for a while – I feel like all we've done the last few weeks is classes and homework."
Draco nodded before leaning down and kissing her.
"Morning breath," she said, pulling away quickly, but he just smiled at her and kissed her again, clearly not worried about such things. Hermione sighed as the kiss deepened, Draco's tongue slithering into her mouth as she accepted it happily, rubbing her own along it and completely forgetting about being courteous about her probably awful breath.
A whistle sounded behind them and Hermione pulled away, her face reddening when she saw Parvati and Lavender standing at the bottom of their staircase.
"I'll go get dressed, then," Draco said, turning away and climbing the boys' staircase, looking back at Hermione over his shoulder.
"I still don't know how you did it, Hermione," Lavender said, watching Draco disappear with longing in her eyes.
"Did what?" Hermione asked, turning to the two girls.
"Landed that," Lavender said, gesturing to Draco. "He's so… hot. Unemotional, but hot."
"He isn't unemotional," Hermione defended immediately. "You have to be willing to look for the emotion in order to catch it, but it's there."
"Do you love him?" Parvati asked conversationally as she moved farther into the common room. She didn't sound anything but curious and Hermione had no problem answering her.
"Yes."
"Does he love you?" Lavender asked, sounding a little bit more condescending than her counterpart.
"Yes," Hermione asked without a second of hesitation.
"He's told you?!" Lavender asked with a sigh. "I've always wanted to hear a man say those words to me."
Hermione bit her lip for a second before telling the girls she needed to have a bath before they left for Hogsmeade, leaving the room suddenly. Draco had only actually said the words 'I love you' to Hermione once, but she knew by the way he looked at her, his eyes soft and a small smile on his lips that it was true. She knew by the protectiveness he had toward her and the fact that he always wanted to be touching her in some way.
Draco loved her and Hermione didn't need to hear him say it regularly to know that it was true – and she was completely fine with that.
Hermione went to the prefects' bathroom to do her business instead of having to have a rushed bath in the shared dorm with the other Gryffindor girls. She started filling the large sunken tub and then moved away, hanging up her towel and disrobing. She carried her wand with her and laid it on the edge of the tub, always a little nervous about having it too far away – an obvious reaction to the war she'd fought in for years. Hermione sat on the edge and dangled her feet into the water, submerging her body slowly since the water was so hot and once she was in the tub completely she moved to the running tap and turned it off.
She lay on her back and floated on top of the water peacefully for a few minutes, loving the weightless feeling as her hair spread out around her, the water diminishing all the frizziness.
She finally dunked under the water, making sure her hair was completely drenched before shampooing it, but when she surfaced and wiped the excess water from her eyes, she opened them to complete and utter darkness
