Chapter seven
'This is going to need a lot of investigation and as much proof as we can get. Hermione and Ron are married, they have a child at Hogwarts, three more at home. They looked like the perfect couple, Ron is also an auror. They are liked and respected for being part of the golden trio, for being with you during those years. They have spoken about how they were the only two that ever supported you through everything, how you were their best friend, how they wanted to find out who killed you. They also used to bad mouth Draco whenever the opportunity arose, it made it hard on Draco to get work, to even go about his everyday life. Then there's Ginny, how much was she involved. For all we know she was part of it, but she might not have had anything to do with trying to kill you.' Kingsley said.
'That is why my godson became a recluse, he had his house elf buy everything he needed and only went out when it was necessary,' Severus said.
'With Ginny, she did like me, so maybe she was part of it. So Ron and Hermione acted like the perfect couple, was anyone suspicious when they got married because I know it was only a few months after the fighting?'
'No, but if Hermione knew the law, that might be the reason. A husband and wife do not have to testify against each other if they did not want to. That is another reason we need as much proof before we confront them because we can't get them to say anything against each other, the proof will have to speak for itself. Since Ron is an auror and friends with all the aurors, I will investigate this myself, it will not have anything to do with the auror office in case one of them tells Ron.'
'So you think that's why Hermione married him when she supposedly loved me?'
'It makes sense Harry, Ron loved Hermione, this way she could guarantee they couldn't say anything about what they did to you. Hermione had lost the one she loved, so she kept herself safe by marrying Ron. You said it before, everyone knew they liked each other, it was the perfect solution even if Hermione loved you and not Ron. She was a very good actress, no one ever picked up on the fact she loved you. Ginny was different, everyone knew how she felt about you and she did seem to be very upset after we all thought you died. But something is not right about the way she acted, especially with Hermione. From the moment it was thought you died, she had nothing to do with Hermione, refused to have any part in the wedding, she didn't even go.' Minerva said.
'With Ron I knew more because he used to talk in his sleep and we always shared his room at Hogwarts, the Burrow or Grimmauld place, he often called out to Hermione. One time with Hermione though, when Ron dated Lavender, I was acting as if I liked Ginny because Dumbledore suggested it, he wanted to make sure no one picked up on how Draco and I felt about each other, that was to keep Draco safe. So Ron was snogging Lavender, Hermione acted like she was hurt and I went to see how she was. She asked me what it was like to see Ginny snogging Dean, she was in tears.'
'So Hermione used her real feelings for you to make you believe her tears were for Ron. Were you showing your feelings for Ginny even if they weren't real?'
'Not really as they weren't real, I didn't want to do that, but Dumbledore really pushed for me to start dating her, we did, months later. I had explained everything to Draco at that time so he knew when he saw Ginny and me together that it wasn't real.'
'Part of Ron hurting you might be because of his sister. He would have seen that as you using her and hurting her. From what I knew of Ginny Weasley, she liked you for years Harry,' Kingsley said.
'She did, after we started dating, she admitted that she liked me since she was young. She explained that her mother used to tell her stories of the boy who lived and she was so sad to hear I had to live with muggles and she wanted to rescue me and look after me. Well she said those feelings grew over the years, then she finds out that Ron and I were friends, so she used to follow me around all the time, whenever I was at the Burrow and when we stayed at Grimmauld place.'
'So she was probably hurt, Ron saw that, then he finds out about you and Draco. How did they find out about you two?' Gawain asked.
'I don't know, we were so careful, we never got seen together, we acted like always, scowling, sniping, having a go at each other. Maybe we didn't act as well as we thought.'
'No, you both did well, I never picked up on anything and I was keeping a close watch on Draco.' Snape said.
'Harry, what about you're map, did they use it?' Draco asked.
'What map?' Minerva asked.
Harry smirked, 'My map of Hogwarts,' Harry pulled his wand and summoned an old furry pouch, then pulled out some parchment, tapped it with his wand, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,' Harry pushed it towards Minerva, 'My father, Sirius, Remus and Pettigrew invented that when they were students. Remus told me after he found out I had the map that it was mainly my father and Sirius that did all the magic on it. It shows everyone at Hogwarts, but also every room, apart from the room of requirement. When someone goes in there it will show someone near that part of wall then they just disappear.'
'Did you leave this in the dorm room?' Minerva asked.
'Most of the time it stayed in my trunk and only the three of us knew how to activated it.'
'This might be how they found out. Where did you and Draco spend your time together?' Gawain asked.
'Either the room of requirement or the astronomy tower,' Draco said.
'If they saw this map at those time, then they would know you two were spending a lot of time together, the rest would have been easy to work out,' Kingsley said.
'Did they question you about when you were supposed to be following Draco?' Gawain asked.
'Not a lot, just asked if I saw him doing anything suspicious. Come to think of it, they didn't seem that interested, yet when I first started they knew what I had heard and what I thought, that Draco had taken his father's place as a death eater and was given a job by Voldemort, then about Snape making the unbreakable vow with Narcissa, so they knew it was all serious and dangerous. So they questioned me all the time, but after a while they stopped.'
'Sounds to me like they knew about you and Draco because of the map. Do you know how the map works?' Gawain asked.
'No, I never got a lot of time to speak with Remus about it, I asked Sirius once, but we got interrupted by everyone turning up for an order meeting.'
'Is that the map that insulted me when I tried to reveal what it was?' Severus asked.
'Yeah, Remus said they all put insults on it for anyone that tried to open the map without the passwords. Those names on the front are their nicknames, Moony was Remus, being a werewolf it was a good name for him. My father was Prongs as his animagus was a stag, Sirius was Padfoot for his animagus dog and Wormtail was Pettigrew for his rat.'
'May I see it Potter?' Severus asked. Harry pushed the map towards him the others watched Severus while Harry listened and knew he had his wand out, but couldn't hear anything. So Minerva, Kingsley, Gawain, Draco and Evan watched Severus while Harry listened and they all wondered what he was doing.
