Disclaimer: I own nothing and am making no profit.

I have no beta on this story so any mistakes are my own.

Chapter 3

Hannah Abbot popped into the alley first. She wasn't sure why, but somehow she'd always managed to arrive before Harry when they apparated somewhere. And she never felt nearly as sick as he looked whenever he finally arrived. She had to admit, she did take a measure of pride in being better than Harry Potter at something. She leaned up against the wall, ducking out of the rain, and waited the next few seconds for her partner to show up.

Harry Potter looked a little queasy when he first showed up. Hannah laughed quietly and said as teasingly as she could muster.

"Too many eggs this morning?"

"Must have," he groaned, shaking his head. It only took him the briefest of moments to recover.

"Wand shop or do you need to stop into the leaky cauldron and puke?" Hannah asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"I'm fine, Abbot," he spat, shaking his head a bit.

"Wand shop it is," she responded jovially, although they both knew her happiness wouldn't last long. Just as long as she stayed awake. Which given their morning wouldn't be particularly long.

"Wand shop works," Harry said. Hannah led the way. She almost always did. Harry walked a few steps behind her, examining the alley. It was certainly more populated now than it had been hours before when they'd stopped for breakfast, but there still wasn't much action. Most of the stores were just opening. Everything seemed normal. Of course, Harry hadn't expected anything to be out of the ordinary in the alley. He looked toward the entrance to Ollivander's just in time to see his partner step inside the door.

"Hey Luna," Hannah's voice rang out into the street. "Your boss around?"

"Oh!" Luna sounded startled. She always sounded startled. "Uhm, yes, he's yes," she said as Harry entered the wand shop. He gazed around, marveling to himself at how little Ollivander's had changed in the decade since he'd first stepped foot into the magical world. Luna seemed to have forgotten, for a moment at least, that she was speaking with Hannah as he entered. Instead she just looked at him, her blue eyes shining and a pale pink blush rising up her cheeks.

"Hello Luna," he said quietly as he gazed around.

"Hi Harry," she blushed more. He had to admit, she was pretty. She probably had been for a while, too, but he'd never really taken the time to look. Which, as he thought about it, was a tad absurd. After all those late nights in Dumbledore's Army, and Slughorn's ball. Strange how much fear of a dark wizard trying to kill you can alter ones perspective. He debated asking her to dinner. Part of him knew she'd go. They'd done friendly lunches in the past, but never really anything serious. Of course, he already had a date, begrudgingly, that night. So perhaps he'd come back when he wasn't busy.

"Is Garrick in trouble?" she asked carefully, her wide, inquisitive eyes sliding back and forth between the two Aurors. She'd apprenticed to Ollivander shortly after the war. He'd approached her after their time in confinement and asked if she was interested. And she had been, especially when the old coot started to explain wand lore to her.

"Not at all," Hannah said with her sweet smile that could win over just about any witness. "We would just like his help with a case."

"Is it something I could maybe help with?" She asked carefully as she glanced at a clock in the corner of the shop. "Garrick is resting." Harry was going to argue but Hannah spoke before he could.

"If you can identify this then there would be no need to bother him," she said calmly as she took the wand out of her bag and placed it on the counter in front of Luna. The inquisitive blonde looked at it for a few moments, peering around the glass case.

"Uhm, well, it's about nine inches and looks to be made of cedar. Can I take it out of the case?" she asked, her large blue eyes gazing up at Harry, her cheeks still flushed a very pale pink.

"Preferably not," Harry said quickly, which simply made the younger girl frown.

"It'll be harder to identify then," she said carefully before ducking under the large desk she stood behind and emerging a moment later with a large book. Harry couldn't help but think it was at least as large as some of the things Hermione used to check out from the library for fun. Harry saw it was labeled 'cedar' and assumed it was an inventory of the wands Ollivander had either made or sold.

"But can you do it?" Harry asked, sounding sterner than he intended. Luna looked up at him for a moment, blushed more, and quickly opened the book. He was slightly annoyed that the wand maker wasn't available, knowing full well he would have been able to identify the wand simply by touching it

"Well maybe, but I'm going to have to sort through every one that is about nine inches and made of cedar," she said quietly, trying her best to not sound disappointed. Her wide eyes locked onto Harry for a moment and he could tell the girl was trying to be helpful.

"And if you could take it out of the case?" Hannah asked, she was leaning against the counter and staring out the front window down over the alley.

"Well then I can at least tell what's inside and that will narrow the search down rather a lot," she said.

"Open it up then," Hannah responded, Harry turned and looked at her.

"But we don't want to mess with anything that could be evidence," he said.

"I already checked it at the office while you were talking with Daphne," Hannah said. "It's perfectly clean and it's not like I would have brought it out with the intention of returning it had I not looked it over."

"I guess you have a point," Harry said as Luna carefully took the wand out of the case.

"Of course I do, what do you take me for, a ministry stooge?" she teased, using the term they used for ministry officials who stood by and did nothing during the war.

"Oh no, you're my awesomely competent partner. Any interesting last spells cast?" He asked, knowing that it was incredibly difficult to look back over a wand's history after time had elapsed.

"Not really. A breath freshener, a mending charm used most commonly on clothing, and a rudimentary birth control charm," Hannah responded idly. Harry noticed Luna blushed a bit at the last one before speaking up.

"Cedar and unicorn hair," she said quietly, but her words drew the attention of the Aurors.

"Does that help at all?" Harry asked. Luna nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh yes, it narrows it down quite a bit," she said as the door to the shop opened. Harry watched a young couple walk in with an eleven year old girl. At least both Aurors assumed that was the age as it looked like they were looking for her first wand. Luna looked torn between helping the customers or the Aurors, but Harry gestured for her to help. She quickly replaced the wand in the case before hurrying to the customers. Harry leaned against the counter as the parents eyed him suspiciously while Luna approached them. He vaguely recognized the family. He thought the father worked in the Department of Games and Sports. He could have spent more time looking at the man, but decided Luna's behind was a much better target.

"When did she get hot?" Hannah asked quietly as Luna went through wand lore with the little girl. She kneeled down by her before taking out a few wands to attempt to find the match.

"She's always been pretty," Harry said. "She was just usually too weird for people to notice. Hell, she even looked pretty when she smiled at me as we rescued her from Malfoy Manor," he admitted, his earlier ruminations helping him to realize that.

"That, Mr. Potter, is a time I would rather not think about," Garrick Ollivander said from behind the desk. Harry stepped away quickly, but Hannah hadn't been caught surprised.

"I think it's a time we'd all rather not think about," Harry admitted. Ollivander nodded. He took a moment to appraise the older man. His condition certainly hadn't improved much in the few years since the end of the war. If anything, it was a little worse. He looked incredibly frail and Harry was surprised he was actually able to stand and move on his own. Then again, he could have been supported by some type of magic, for all he knew, but the Auror didn't sense any.

"You are correct, Mr. Potter. Now, may I ask why two Aurors were soliciting my clerk?"

"We actually came to solicit you, but she said you weren't available," Harry responded dryly. Ollivander wasn't quite as creepy to him anymore. The wand maker helped identify wands rather often, so Harry was accustomed to stopping by to find out information. Of course, it probably helped that he simply looked like a frail old man.

"Wand identification?" Ollivander asked He reached for the encased wand that Luna had left on the counter. It slipped from his hands and fell back to the counter. Harry noticed Luna look up at Ollivander, but quickly went back to helping the customers.

"Please," Hannah said as she took the wand from the case and handed it to the older man. He inspected it carefully, holding it with just the tips of his fingers as he did. Harry had to admit he was rather amazed that the wand maker didn't drop it like he had the case. Instead, the older man looked almost possessive of the piece of enchanted wood.

"eight and three quarter inches, Cedar and unicorn hair. Not particularly powerful. Certainly no holly and phoenix feather, or even willow and chimera mane," Ollivander said with a nod toward Harry and then Hannah. "But it is rather quick. Adaptive." He placed it back carefully into the case and pushed that, with just his fingertips, back toward the Aurors.

"And it belongs to?" Harry asked dryly.

"It is in your possession, Mr. Potter. Or perhaps Miss Abbot's," Ollivander said. He looked up at Harry as if he wasn't sure why the Auror would be asking that question. Harry sighed and had to remind himself that the wand maker wasn't entirely himself anymore. There were just some things that even magic couldn't fix.

"Who did it belong to before we found it," Hannah amended with a smile. Ollivander looked up at her and smiled a bit himself, although he still managed to look confused. But he smiled at Harry's pretty blonde partner, as just about everyone did.

"It belonged to Pansy Parkinson," Ollivander said as if everyone should have known that. Harry nodded and glanced at his partner, who looked a tad paler than she usually did. "You two should may have known her, she was about your age."

"Exactly our age," Hannah said. "Thanks for your help, Mr. Ollivander." She turned and walked out of the shop.

"Yes, anytime, Miss Abbott," Ollivander said dreamily as he walked slowly from behind the desk and toward the customers. Harry took just a moment before he walked toward the door. Before he walked out though he heard Luna speak.

"Wait Harry," she said. He turned and saw her standing behind him. She was blushing and not quite able to look him in the eye. He noticed the parents behind her looked a little bit annoyed that she abandoned them, but their daughter was generating bright pink sparks from the end of one of the wands so they chose to praise her rather than reprimand Luna.

"Yes, Luna?" he responded slowly.

"We uhm, well, if you would like to, we could go to dinner. Or uhm, lunch again. That is if you're not too busy," she let her voice trail off as she spoke, still not looking up at him.

"Uh, sure, Luna. I'm free most Tuesday and Thursday nights. So how about this Thursday?" He smiled. She raised her eyes to him, blushing a bit.

"I work Thursday afternoon," she said meekly, still blushing. They'd done lunch every couple of months since the end of the war, so it didn't surprise him that she defaulted to that.

"So do I," Harry said with a smile. "But I'm going to leave at five, go change, and then take you somewhere."

"Where?" she asked excitedly. He just shrugged.

"Up to you," he smiled. "What time would you like me to pick you up?"

"Around seven?" she asked, almost as if she expected he'd change his mind if she picked the wrong time.

"I'll stop by your place around seven on Thursday, then," he smiled. She beamed at him as he finished. "But now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work." Luna nodded enthusiastically as he turned to exit the shop. Hannah fell into step as soon as he stepped out into the street.

"Hot date with Luna Lovegood, hey?" she asked, teasingly, as she walked next to him toward the alley where they'd apparated to the Parkinson's residence.

"We'll see," he responded dryly. "You always tell me that I need to get out more."

"You do. I'm actually excited for you," she laughed.

"I thought you were trying to hook me up with Greengrass," he responded.

"Not really. I just think you'll have a good time with her. You and Luna have been cute since like fifth year. You should have seen her face when you'd stand behind her in Dumbledore's Army. Red as those radish earrings she wore," Hannah teased more. Harry just shook his head. After a moment she continued. "You know the location of the Parkinson's apparation area?"

"Yea, I grabbed it before we left the office," he answered.

"Good, apparently it's a half a freaking mile away from the residence. Pretentious pricks. See you there," she responded before disappearing with a loud pop. Harry followed her lead.

Harry gasped for air as soon as he appeared on the long path that led up to the Parkinson estate. Hannah was standing a few feet away so she could chide him for looking green once more as he appeared. He shook his head and started walking, rather slowly, up the path toward the large manor. Hannah fell into step beside him. After a few moments she spoke.

"Holly and phoenix feather?" she asked quietly. They'd never discussed wands before. He reached to his side to grab his wand and offered it to her as they walked.

"Yes," was all he said in response as she looked over his wand.

"So this is the wand the defeated Lord Voldemort?" she asked, turning it over carefully in her hands as she spoke. He couldn't help but smile a bit at her saying his name. It had taken some time, but finally most of the Wizarding world wasn't afraid of the name of a dead wizard.

"No, it's not," he admitted. "It was broken at the time. I killed him with hawthorn and unicorn hair."

"Oh. Is that your backup wand then?" Hannah asked. Every Auror carried at least two wands, as there was always the possibility of being disarmed. Ollivander actually offered to make a brother wand for anyone in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, assuming the materials were available. But that was a service that Harry hadn't required.

"No. It's not. I'd broken my wand well before the battle. I managed to fix it after the battle, but the one I was using then was just one I'd stumbled upon."

"Stumbled upon?" she asked as she turned her gaze to him and handed back his wand. He slipped it back to his side where it rested next to its brother.

"Well, stole from Draco Malfoy," he admitted.

"No shit?" she laughed. "I'm surprised he doesn't go around bragging that it was his wand that ended the Dark Lord's tyranny! That would have probably helped his image at least a little bit."

"Well, I never gave it back. So he'd have had to admit that I took it from him when he was trying to kill me. Not sure how well that would have gone over."

"Valid point," she laughed. "Why didn't you return it?"

"He never asked for it," Harry admitted. "Now it sits in a case in my apartment. Some collectors even offered to buy it."

"Good amount?" she teased, knowing full well that Harry inherited enough money that the amount wouldn't particularly matter if he wished to get rid of it.

"About five years pay," Harry responded. Hannah just whistled.

"So did Ollivander make you a duplicate for a backup? He did for me. Willow and chimera hair." She reached down and held up two completely identical wands. Harry plucked one from her and examined it carefully. It hadn't seen much use so he assumed it was her backup. After a moment he handed it back to her.

"No, he didn't," Harry admitted as they were only a couple of feet from the door.

"Well what's your backup then? I've seen it on your hip enough."

"Yew and phoenix feather," Harry admitted.

"How'd you get it?" she asked as they stepped up to the door.

"Found it after the war," he said as he used the knocker on the door. He thought Hannah would comment further but before she could open her mouth the door opened slowly.

"Welcome to Parkinson Manor, how may I be of assistance!" a high voice squeaked. Harry turned his gaze down to see the large round eyes of a house elf.

"Aurors Harry Potter and Hannah Abbot here to see Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson," Hannah opened.

"Do you have an appointment?" The elf asked politely. The creature's gaze darted between the two Aurors quickly.

"No," Harry responded bluntly.

"My masters do not take solicitation except by appointment," the elf said. It went to close the door but Harry put his foot in the way.

"It's about their daughter," Hannah said calmly. "You can tell them we will not be long."

"Appointment only!" the elf squeaked, looking both frightened and like it wanted to crush Harry's foot in the door.

"Just ask them, please," Hannah smiled. The elf looked at her for a moment and then disappeared back into the house. Harry moved his foot away and let the door close.

"Appointment only?" Harry asked, looking over at his partner.

"They're probably gathering up possessions and apparating to a safe house," Hannah laughed. "Former Death Eaters-"

"Repentant Death Eaters," Harry corrected.

"Right, repentant Death Eaters. Why else would two Aurors show up on their doorstep if not to prove their alibi was complete crap and imprison them?"

"I'd go with 'our jobs' but dragging away alleged dark wizards is what they think our job is," he laughed.

"Hey that's what I signed up for," Hannah laughed.

"Me too," Harry said. "But after Oxford, I think I'd rather stick to this side of it." He winced a bit at the memory of the Death Eaters final stand. He still had nightmares about those nights.

"Well it's certainly nice being able to rest a little soundly," Hannah agreed, shaking her head a bit as the elf opened the door once more.

"They will give you five minutes in the sitting room," it said carefully. "But they have a very busy schedule!"

"Thank you," Hannah said as she stepped into the house. Harry followed her as the elf led her to the sitting room.

When they entered the sitting room Harry saw that both Parkinsons sat on a couch in the middle of the room. There were two chairs across from them. He heard the elf excuse itself almost as soon as it showed them to the room. Hannah stepped up toward the older couple. They were both older and graying. Harry would have guessed they'd had pansy later in life. Mrs. Parkinson was very thin and had long hair and was still fairly attractive. Harry couldn't help but think she'd have been rather impressive thirty years earlier. From what he remembered of Pansy she'd gotten her thin lips from her mother.

Unfortunately, she'd gotten everything else from her father. He wasn't tall. Harry figured he was probably about Hannah's height, and at least a couple inches shorter than himself. He wasn't particularly large either, but he had a strangely round face topped with the pug nose that Harry would always associate with Pansy. Neither of the two looked particularly happy to have two members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in their sitting room.

"Why are you here?" Mr. Parkinson asked, coldly, his arms crossed above his chest. His wife gave him a brief stare before turning her looks to the Aurors.

"Oh come now," his wife scolded. "At least let them sit. Tea?" she gazed up at Hannah, who was smiling. She nodded and took a seat in one of the chairs and accepted a cup of tea. Harry just stood behind the chair and shook his head at the offer of tea.

"None for me, thank you," he said, leaning against the chair.

"Now, to what do we owe this visit?" Mrs. Parkinson asked, doing her best to attempt to sound cheerful. Harry gazed around the room. He'd let Hannah do most of the talking. It usually worked out better that way.

"We just wanted to ask some questions to start, if we could," she said carefully. Harry was surprised she didn't bring up the fact that their daughter was dead immediately, but he let her work, knowing she'd likely get to it soon.

"About what? The elf said you were interested in Pansy? Has she done something?" the mother looked concerned. The father just looked annoyed.

"Well," Hannah said quietly after a moment. She took out the case containing Pansy's wand. "There's never any easy way to put this. This morning my partner and I were called to the scene of a murder. We both could identify the body based on our time in school with her. But we also confirmed it with the wand maker Ollivander this morning. I'm terribly sorry for your loss." She placed the wand on table. Mrs. Parkinson almost dropped her tea. Mr. Parkinson didn't look phased. Harry had to admire his poker face.

"My God," Mrs. Parkinson said. "What happened?"

"We don't have much information at this time. She was found by Muggle police in a Muggle park. We were called into the area by a Squib officer. There was bruising on the neck and excess magic in the body. We do; however, believe she was murdered. Unfortunately we cannot provide more information at this time," Hannah spoke quietly. Harry had to admire how she could simply events so well. Sure, she lied to them, but it made everything seem cleaner.

"Is that all?" Mr. Parkinson said. He showed no emotion as he spoke. "Thank you for your time but if that is all I trust you can show yourself out." Harry struggled to not curse the man. Apathetic parents weren't uncommon in the wizarding world but they still infuriated him.

"Unfortunately it isn't that easy," Hannah said, doing her best to smile. "We still need you to answer some questions."

"First, I will not answer any questions without my attorney present. But second I doubt I could be of any assistance as my daughter has not lived under my roof since shortly after her matriculation. She has, to the best of my knowledge, been living with her fiancé, Mr. Malfoy," Mr. Parkinson said. "Now please leave my home, you have traumatize my wife and I enough for the day." Harry tensed at his words. He was going to argue but Hannah simply stood and nodded.

"Alright. We are sorry for your loss. We will let you know when the examination of the body is finished so you can claim it," she said while turning to Harry and then exiting the room without another word. When they were back outside on the path he finally spoke.

"You let that one go pretty easily," He said.

"We weren't going to get anything out of him anyway," she admitted. "Malfoy's name is probably all we'd get."

"I thought they split up shortly after the war. Wasn't there something about that in one of the papers?" Harry asked knowing full well that Hannah followed the general gossip much closer than he ever considered doing.

"They did and there was," Hannah said. "Still it's the best lead we're about to get."

"Probably. Shall we accost the Malfoy's today then?" Harry asked, but as he did he heard the door of the manor opening behind them. On instinct he turned around to see who it was, one hand sliding toward his wand. But as Mrs. Parkinson stepped out toward them he relaxed.

"Wait, please," She said. Hannah turned as well as they both stopped. "I'm sorry about him. But he and Pansy, well, they argued a lot. And when things didn't pan out with the Malfoy's, well, it all blew up after that."

"How so?" Harry asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He didn't quite kick her out, but it was close. He told her to not come back until she fixed things with Draco and so she left. Instead she got an apartment and lived there. They hadn't spoken much since," Mrs. Parkinson explained.

"I see," Hannah said. "Do you happen to know where that apartment is?"

"I'm sorry, I don't," Mrs. Parkinson responded. "She did not speak to me much either. One of her friends might know."

"Can you be more specific?" Harry asked.

"I would guess Tracey or Millicent," Mrs. Parkinson said. "Draco may know, too."

"Thank you," Hannah said after a moment. "Your information is helpful."

"I'm sorry I don't know more," Mrs. Parkinson responded. "You will find whoever did this, won't you?"

"We'll certainly try," Hannah said.

"You two have gathered quite the reputation in the papers," Mrs. Parkinson said. "I just hope that you can find whoever was responsible."

"We'll do what we can," Harry affirmed Hannah's last statement. "But a case like this, with very little evidence, it can be very difficult to come up with anything."

"I see," Mrs. Parkinson sobered at the news. Harry knew he was always too blunt with people. But he was a terrible liar. "Well if anyone can, I suspect it is you too. Please find her killer." She stared at the two Aurors, tears forming in her eyes.

"We will," Hannah said. Harry winced at the thought of making such a promise, but knew that Hannah was just appeasing the older woman who gave them a quick nod as the tears fell down her cheeks before she turned to move quickly back to the house. The Aurors watched her move before continuing down the path to the point where they could apparated away from the home. They didn't speak about the older woman's words.

"So, Malfoy Manor?" Harry asked.

"Hell no," Hannah said. "I'm too exhausted to accost a Malfoy now. " She stifled a yawn as she finished speaking.

"Me too," Harry admitted with a yawn of his own, which just caused Hannah to swat him as she yawned again.

"Well then I'm going to go see what the Muggle pathologist figured out. You should go nap and get dressed up for your date," she said.

"Can I just nap and wake up in the morning?" Harry asked.

"No," Hannah replied. "And you're going to have fun. So deal with it. And if you floo me at four in the morning again tomorrow I'm going to kill you. Now enjoy your night!" She teased as she popped away. Harry shook his head and laughed quietly under his breath before turning his thoughts to his own bed and appearing in his apartment just a moment later.

Author's Note: I'm not a fan of the shorter chapters. But am going to try to keep with them through the duration of the story. I may experiment with longer scenes and then scenes that are entire chapters as I go. But I'm much more at home sitting down and writing a 10-12k word chapter than the 4500 I'm shooting for here. We'll see.

This chapter didn't turn out at all like I was hoping and I'm not particularly happy with it. But after spending the better part of two months on it I decided to just go with what I had and move on with the story, knowing full well that if I didn't, this story would never advance past the third chapter.

As always the best way to contact me is typically by private message. I try to respond to everything sent to me. Thank you for the reviews and continued support, I appreciate all of it.