Title: The Blood On Our Hands
Summary: When the Head of the Department of Mysteries disappears, Harry Potter is bent on bringing her back. Meanwhile, Hermione Granger adds fuel to the fire only to unravel a cold-blooded conspiracy that makes an attempt on her life.
A/N: Just letting anyone reading this know that I haven't lost interest in this story.
The ∙ Blood ∙ On ∙ Our ∙ Hands
"To me, the thing that is worse than death is betrayal. You see, I could conceive death, but I could not conceive betrayal."
―Malcom X
The Auror Division wasn't even close to wrapping up the Lovegood case.
"We've reviewed this case over twenty times already," Harry paced around the room. "What is it that we're missing? I don't get it."
Harry and Draco were closeted in Harry's office late in the evening, frustrated by their lack of progress. The two had agreed to meet up at Harry's place because Malfoy Manor was undergoing some refurbishing that week.
"We have gone over all the details of that night many times. Maybe there's something we're overlooking," Malfoy told him absently, his mind processing the information about the case. "Maybe we're just not looking in the right places, that's all.
"But, what could we be missing?" Harry asked, creasing his brows in thought. "We've sifted through all the information we've received with a fine-toothed comb. We've tried to picture scenarios and possible motives, most which didn't seem plausible."
Draco leaned forward and placed his elbows on the desk. "I think we should be thinking how Lovegood was kidnapped instead of why and who."
Harry looked at Malfoy as if he was a complete idiot. "Well that's simple. Luna was taken because the kidnappers wanted to get to me—"
Malfoy snorted. "Get your head out of your arse, Potter, because everything isn't about you. What if it isn't about you at all? Huh? Did you ever stop to consider that?"
"Well . . . no," Harry managed to stammer out. "I didn't think it was a coincidence."
"That's because you don't think! You never use your head!" Malfoy shouted.
Harry flushed with embarrassment. What if Malfoy had a point? What if he was just blaming himself because it was the easier route to take? Being the Saviour of the Wizarding World wasn't always great when you had a hero complex the size of Russia.
"I was thinking maybe Lovegood was kidnapped for reasons beyond that. Last night, I was toying with the theory that maybe the Lovegoods could have a longstanding feud with one of the many Wizarding Pureblood families. Maybe the family they are at odds with decided to get back at the Lovegoods by kidnapping that old crackpot's daughter?" Malfoy suggested.
Hm. Malfoy had a good point but his constant condescension annoyed Harry to no end. "Why must you insult the Lovegoods? Can't you utter a sentence without badmouthing someone?"
"It's not my fault when the Lovegoods make it so easy to pick on them," Malfoy said defensively.
Harry gave a reproachful shake of his head. "This is precisely why Hermione hates you so much. Just when you stop being such an unbearable prick, you start being the insufferable bastard that I despised so much during our Hogwarts schooldays."
"Oh, stop you or your sentimentality might rub off on me," Malfoy said with faux coyness. "Right. I think it's high time we've visited Xenophilius Lovegood."
"I think I should be doing it alone," Harry started. "Mr. Lovegood might react in a negative way if he sees a former Death Eaters standing on his threshold."
"Fine," Malfoy spat out. "It's not like I was looking forward to the visit, either."
Harry shrugged. It was for the best. Malfoy had an uncanny ability to bring out the worst in people, Hermione being a prime example. He would undoubtedly say something snarky that would rile Xenophilius Lovegood up — he didn't think he wanted to see the eccentric man lash out at them. After all, his daughter had been taken away from him, which might have led to him to become mentally unsound.
Harry froze as he had a blazing epiphany.
"Malfoy . . ." he began with a tentative whisper. "What if . . . what if we have a traitor in our midst?" He had been suddenly reminded of Peter Pettigrew, who had sold out his parents to Lord Voldemort.
"The idea certainly doesn't seem impossible. In fact, it might be the brightest thing you've said all day," Malfoy said amusedly.
"Ha, fucking, ha, Malfoy. Shall we get back to the speculation of the possible mole in our office or do you have any schoolboy witticisms to get off your chest?" Harry said scathingly.
Draco rubbed his chin, as if contemplating Harry's question. "No. I'm done with my schoolboy witticisms," He said with a sniff.
Harry rolled his eyes at the pettiness of it all and got on, "This person is probably someone in the department gone rogue. This traitor, whoever it is, has had years to perfect my mannerisms. Otherwise, how could the imposter manage to lure Luna to the pub so easily?"
"I've always thought she was a bit touched in the head, even for a Ravenclaw," Malfoy remarked offhandedly.
"Malfoy, just because you're daft doesn't mean the rest of the world is," Harry snapped. "When Luna was in the Leaky Cauldron with the imposter, they were seen chatting for what seemed to be an hour. An hour! How did they manage that without giving themselves away? They would have to know a lot about me and Luna and our equation with each other to have successfully pulled this off. The informant must be somebody who knows us and our habits well. "
"Which narrows down the list of suspects to pretty much everyone in the Magical World," Malfoy said dryly. "Just how many people have you grown close to in the past several years? Knowing you, I'm willing to bet pretty much everyone."
"That's not true. I'm not friends with Zacharias Smith," Harry argued.
"That's because everyone in the department hates Smith," Malfoy rolled his eyes.
Malfoy grabbed a piece of parchment, dipping the feathered quill he found inside Harry's desk into the inkpot and began listing out all the potential suspects. "To make you feel better, I'm even including Tonks, and she's my favourite cousin."
Ron Apparated inside Harry's flat at that precise moment.
"Potter, can you tell your pet Weasel to go away? We are in an important meeting, after all," Malfoy snarked without looking up from the parchment.
"Manners, Malfoy. You're talking about my best friend!" Harry protested at the audacity of his partner. "And, if it hasn't escaped your notice, Ron happens to be an Auror as well!"
Finally, Malfoy looked up from the list sporting an expression of calm detachment that aggravated Harry and Ron. "Oh? Weaselbee will only be a hindrance to this case, and the idea that he is still an Auror is quite laughable. I highly doubt he can contribute anything relevant to this discussion."
Harry suppressed the urge to hex Malfoy in his nether regions.
"Speak for yourself, Malfoy," Ron spat out. "You've been given this case two weeks ago and you still haven't found any closure. Harry is the only one taking this case seriously, considering the fact that he brought a piece of evidence back with him —"
"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU!" Harry snapped, his left eyelid twitching. "You two sound like an old married couple. It's annoying how you to jump each other's throats. "
"Sorry mate, I don't swing that way," Ron spluttered, the blush that was slowly creeping up his neck almost matched the shade of his hair.
"Can we get down to business?" Malfoy asked in a bored tone, and continued without waiting for their response. "Good. In the past five years, the Auror Division had recruited roughly around fifty five Aurors . . ."
For the rest of the week, Harry was so wholly engrossed in the endless paperwork that seemed to have piled up on his desk overnight that he forgot about Ginny.
"You've got to relax," she told him. Instead of holding it against him, she seemed concerned for his wellbeing. It was as if the fact that he had been a neglectful boyfriend all week hadn't registered at all.
While he appreciated it under normal circumstances, he found it downright bothersome at the moment. He didn't need her mollycoddling him like he was a child that needed to be placated. He wasn't in the mood to be fussed over when he was preoccupied with finding Luna. He didn't even know if she was alive!
"That's the problem, Ginny! I can't relax . . . Luna she needs me," he said agitated, a feeling of helplessness crept in his tone. "I can't let her down! Not now, not ever!"
He missed the wounded look that flashed across her freckled countenance.
"I'm sure Luna wouldn't begrudge you a moment of relaxation," Ginny responded calmly. "In fact, it might help her more if you did take a break from it. That might give fresh perspective."
"Ginny, don't do this," Harry said rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"Do what?" she asked eyes narrowed.
He sensed this was going to turn into an argument.
"I don't know," Harry said with an absentminded look and glanced at the Muggle watch Mr. Weasley gave him on his eighteenth birthday.
He cursed when he saw the time. "Blast, I had agreed to meet with Hermione at seven and I'm already late!"
"You don't have time for me but we wouldn't want to keep Hermione waiting, now would we?" Ginny spat out in a sickly sweet tone.
He slipped on a jacket, pecked her cheek and slipped in a quick 'I love you!', before he left hurriedly. It didn't change the irritated expression on her face and he sighed. He hated how he was treating Ginny. She deserved someone better than him, someone that could give her the time of day. As he Apparated to the Leaky Cauldron, he dwelled on Ginny's expression. She wasn't the same happy girl she once was. It was as if their relationship had sucked all that lightness out of her.
"Life hasn't been treating you well lately, has it?" Hermione said after taking a long look at him.
"I hate how everyone is so worried about me when I'm quite capable of taking care of myself." Everyone had taken to walking on eggshells around him lately. Hermione didn't have to deal with the pitying glances and whispers in the hallways at their workplace even though she was one of Luna's closest friends.
"Nobody said you can't take care of yourself, Harry. We just think you are being too hard on yourself," Hermione said concerned. "I hate seeing you like this, and I hate how some nutter is toying with us as they hold Luna in captivity. I truly thought things would die down sometime after the War, but a part of me knows that it's just wishful thinking."
"But, it has died down for the most part. This person is taking advantage of the fact that Death Eater attacks have become more and more infrequent to catch us off guard."
"Do you think the recent assault on that Muggle neighbourhood is connecting to Luna's kidnapping somehow?" Hermione pondered.
"Probably not," Harry furrowed his brow in thought. What was Hermione getting at? But, there was the slightest possibility that she could be right. He was going to have to trust her instincts on this one. "It's just Greyback up to his old tricks again."
"By why does he have to do it now? It doesn't make sense," Hermione said, tugging at her ear in thought. "If there is one person in the world who can understand Greyback, it's got to be Remus Lupin. Maybe you can ask him?" she offered.
"You're right! Why didn't I think of that? Thanks, Hermione," Harry gratefully said. As usual, Hermione was thinking ahead.
Remus had managed to procure a job after the war. It did help that he was hailed a hero and received an Order of Merlin first class. Harry hadn't seen his old professor for weeks because of the recent events and the fact that Harry's own job was extremely time consuming. There were times when he went days without seeing Hermione and Ron, and Ginny felt his absence most of all.
"I think I'll do that now . . . do you want to come along, then?" Harry asked Hermione.
"I have other things to take care of, Harry. Maybe . . ." She was cut off mid-sentence when a familiar snarky voice called out, "Afraid he'll catch on to your secret feelings for him, Granger? Oops! Sorry! I seem to have let the cat out of the bag."
No, this couldn't be happening, Harry thought. He turned around to find a smirking Malfoy towering over him.
Whenever Malfoy and Hermione were within talking distance with each other, he usually found himself in the middle of it.
He could see the battle glint in Hermione's eye that indicated she was preparing to use the barrage of insults that lay waiting at the tip of her tongue.
He needed to stop this from happening.
"I was thinking of visiting Professor Lupin to see if he could help us understand why Greyback reappeared after all those years," Harry started. "I think it might be connected to the Lovegood case, what do you think?"
"I think we should take this somewhere else," Malfoy began coolly. "After all, if this is connected to the Lovegood case, I don't want to leak confidential information —"
"We were discussing about a theory, Malfoy. I don't think that constitutes as breaking the rules!" Hermione reminded him sharply. "Besides, we weren't even talking about Luna."
"It doesn't even deserve to be called a theory, Granger!" Malfoy gave her a nasty sneer. "A baseless claim is more like it."
"You seem awfully simpleminded for an Auror," Hermione shot back.
At this rate, they weren't going to get anything done.
As always, concrit is appreciated. :3
