Chapter 8

This murder was different, it was both angry and punishing. Gone were the kills masked as suicides. The killer knew that the team was getting closer to solving the case and he retaliated. Hermione was irritated with herself. If she hadn't fought with Ron, the Daily Prophet wouldn't have run that awful article and the press conference wouldn't have been necessary. Harry had to reveal their hand to the public, which meant that the killer knew that the team was onto him. Hermione felt the bile rise in her throat as she looked at the crime scene and the body.

There was no pool of blood and the witch's wrists were slit. That was where the similarities ended. The victim had been beaten prior to death, her face and body covered in bruises and lacerations. Nate had told them that the victim had a concussion, a ruptured spleen, and fractured ribs. The killer had beaten her before she died and Hermione couldn't imagine the terror the witch had felt before her death. It made her sick and it strengthened Hermione's resolve to catch him.

"He's sending us a message," Malfoy said, taking a step beside her.

"We need to find out who he is," Hermione said, trying to control her anger. She had just been informed that the victim's wand was found downstairs. "He's starting to spiral out of control, which means that he won't wait another month before he kills again."

They watched the forensic team collect the samples and canvas the crime scene. Nate was working on the preliminary findings, while Harry and Ron were talking to the neighbours outside.

"We need to ban the communal wards. People are going to have to return to warding their houses themselves," he said.

"The killer has to be someone that works on Goldstein's team. Nothing else makes sense."

Draco nodded. "I'll go check on Potter and Weasley. If we're done here, we can start going through the employee records and take a closer look."

"Sounds good."

Hermione was about to go talk to Nate when Malfoy paused by the door. "It's good to have you back, Granger."

She nodded as he walked away. Her first day back had been so busy that it had pushed everything out of her mind. The victim was Kate Reiling, an American muggleborn that had been in London for the past six months. She was a professor that was working on a thesis with the Arithmancy division at the Ministry. Reiling was staying at a flat that was part of the communal ward network, a house that their government had provided. Hermione didn't want to think of the political pressure that now pressed on this team.

Nate was busy talking to someone else, so Hermione took the time to observe the wards. She had read over the formula that Goldstein had sent them. She understood Harry and Malfoy's concern, but Hermione also knew that there were some wizards and witches that didn't know the first thing about wards. The communal wards did offer them protection, but there was no screening process. There also hadn't been any upgrades to the wards since Perry first created them.

The wards were intact, an expected finding. The magical signature of the killer was accepted, also an expected finding. There was no evidence of forced entry, just like at the previous crime scenes. Suddenly an idea dawned on her. Was it possible that a tenant from another community could access the wards in this one? The information she received from Anthony didn't touch on it. Hermione pulled a pen and paper from her bag and wrote Goldstein a letter. She would have to send it when she returned to the Ministry.

"Granger, we're good to leave," Malfoy said.

She nodded and they both apparated to the Ministry.


Hermione took the floo home. She was relieved when Goldstein wrote back and told her that each community had separate communal wards. If someone had opted into the Hogsmeade communal wards, they couldn't access the homes of those who had opted in for the service in Diagon Alley. She had been worried that they would have to go through every tenant that used Goldstein's wards, but thankfully their search was restricted to his staff.

Harry had popped in to give them a quick update on the interviews. It didn't seem like Reiling was aware that she was being stalked, which Hermione found stranger. Stalkers usually thrived on preying on their victims' minds something that she had told Malfoy weeks ago. She was relieved when it was finally time to go home. She desperately needed a good night's sleep to process the information she had discovered today.

But when Hermione stepped out of the green flames, Anthea and Ginny greeted her from the couch. It was one of those situations where she wished she could run into her room and pretend not to see them, but she couldn't without being rude. Her flatmate was drinking tea, while Anthea had a glass of red wine. The two girls stopped talking suddenly, which did not bode well for Hermione.

"Just the person that we wanted to talk to," Ginny said, making room for her to join them.

Hermione reluctantly put her jacket and work bag away before joining her best friends. The only thing she wanted to do right now was crawl into bed. Today had been a long day and she knew that tomorrow would be just as busy. Her flatmate would not accept that as an excuse and would pester her until Hermione joined them. Ginny handed her a wine glass as soon as she sat down and filled it.

"I'm surprised you're just getting in now," Anthea said.

Hermione took a sip of the merlot. It was smooth with just a hint of vanilla. "Work has been very busy. I don't think I'll have an ordinary workday until the killer is caught."

"Are you any closer?" Ginny asked.

"You know that I can't talk about it outside of work."

"Well, let's talk about something that you can talk about," Anthea interrupted. "Why didn't you tell me about your fight with Ron? I had to hear from Ginny today that you were so upset that you missed work."

Hermione didn't say anything right away. She glared at Ginny who looked back at her with equal fierceness. It wasn't that she had meant to keep it a secret, the Daily Prophet had reported their fight for Merlin's sake. When she was upset, the last thing she wanted to do was talk about it.

"We're just concerned about you. It's unlike you to miss work because you're upset," Ginny said.

She chuckled darkly. "I should have known this was a bloody intervention. I would have buried myself in work, except that would have meant seeing Ron."

"This is going to sound insensitive, but why is this bothering you so much?" Anthea asked.

Hermione sighed. "Even though Ron and I were broken up, I thought we would get back together eventually. When I pictured my future, he was in it. Little redheaded, frizzy-haired children running around, officially being a part of the Weasley family, and being with a man that understands what being friends with Harry is like," she said. "When Ron told me he was going to propose to Parkinson, he shattered that future as well as broke my heart. I needed time to grieve and process what had happened and start imagining a new future."

The Healer bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

"I get it," Ginny said in a small voice and both girls turned to stare at her. "I won't lie and say that part of me wishes that Harry would wake up one day and give me another chance, but we all know that he won't leave Cho."

"Really?" Hermione asked, surprised.

"I don't talk about it because there's no point," the redhead shrugged.

Ginny hadn't talked about Harry since Hermione had moved in a few years ago. She had dated several men since she and Harry had broken up, but nothing had ever stuck. Hermione had often wondered if Ginny still had feelings for Harry, but she had left it alone. If her flatmate wanted to confide in her, she would.

"Let's take a break from our pathetic unrequited loves and hear about your love life," Hermione deflected, hoping that the intervention was over.

Anthea's lips quirked into a shy smile. "I started seeing someone last week. It's still new, so I want to keep it private for now. I really like him though."

The conversation changed to lighter topics and she was grateful for it. Hermione had missed these nights with Ginny and Anthea and was grateful that they had forced her into it tonight. Since she had been assigned to the task force, Hermione hadn't been able to spend as much time with them. From the sounds of it, Ginny was also busy with a series of away games and Anthea was getting an influx of patients from a wizarding virus that was going around. It wasn't long until the girls called it a night.

Hermione walked the Healer to the fireplace and gave her a hug.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Anthea asked.

"I am now. Thank you for checking up on me."

"That's what friends are for," she said before grabbing floo powder, tossing it in the fire, and disappearing into the roaring green flames.

Turning around, she was surprised to see that Ginny had already cleaned up and had disappeared into her bedroom. Hermione was going to talk to her about Harry, but it would have to wait for another time. Rubbing her eyes, she walked to the bathroom and started getting ready for bed.

Draco looked at the employee files in front of him. Granger had already started her pile. The first thing they had done was exclude the female employees. That had been the easy part. Looking at the first document, Draco had no idea what he was looking for and the information provided was lacking. It gave the basic information on when the person was hired, their role within the company, but that was it.

The killer could be anyone. Thankfully, the new forensic technician wasn't as much of an idiot as the previous one had been. He had done Granger's spell and they had been able to isolate the killer's footprint on the carpet. Granger had explained to him the mechanics of how they could determine the killer's height and weight from the footprint but he had tuned her out.

The only thing he had retained from her ten minute lecture was that the killer was approximately a hundred and eighty-three centimetres tall and seventy-seven kilos. It was great to finally have this information, but the files in front of him were useless in that regard. Neither the height nor weight were listed.

"Granger, we should just go and talk to these people. There's no way of knowing if these suspects match the height and weight we're looking for. It's only thirty people. If Potter and Weasley take half, we only have fifteen to check out."

She sighed. "You're right. It'll be a waste of time if we pour our time and effort into a potential suspect only to find out that they don't match the description."

"I'm always right," he said with a smile.

"If that's what you need to tell yourself to fall asleep at night."

They packed up their things and headed towards the task force office. Weasley and Potter were still looking for the ritual that the killer planned on doing. Because things were still tense between the redhead and Granger, the two sets of partners split up. Potter and Weasley worked in the office, while he and Granger worked in her old office. It was only a five minute walk from the conference room, better than Draco's cubicle. He didn't pause when they reached the door and he strode in, not caring if Granger followed him or not. He was starting to tire of the Golden Trio's drama if he was being honest.

"Potter," Draco said, handing him a piece of parchment. "We need to split up the employees and interview them. Here are the people that you're going to check out."

His former partner looked at the list and nodded. "Ron and I aren't getting anywhere on the ritual anyway. You guys have your camera?"

"We do," Granger said from the doorway.

"Let's find this bastard," Draco said, giving Potter a nod and following Granger out of the room.

"I think that Andersen should be a suspect. Not only does he fit the specifications, something seemed off about him when we interviewed him," Hermione said over lunch two days later.

It had taken them a few days to track down, talk to the employees, and verify the alibis and information the suspects gave them. It was tiring work and Hermione was looking forward to holing up in the office for a couple of days and just going over paperwork. Hermione could tell that her partner felt the same. He was quieter and seemed less patient with the suspects today.

Malfoy finished chewing his food before answering. "I agree. I also didn't like the look of Perry."

"He's only a hundred and sixty pounds and he has an alibi."

"Yeah, working at the Ministry, I know. There's just something off about him. He kept staring at you."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You know, some men do find me attractive. It's not a foreign concept."

"That's not what I meant," Malfoy said, rolling his eyes, "Of course you're attractive, but it was the way he was staring at you. I don't know how to describe it, forget it."

"Are you jealous?" she joked and was rewarded when he almost choked on a piece of chicken.

"Jealous? I always knew you were delusional, Granger. I think we should look into Dylans and Hoffman. They match the criteria too."

A comfortable silence stretched between them. He was right: Dylans, Hoffman, and Andersen were the only suspects that they didn't cross off their list. Hermione thought about Perry. It was impossible for it to be him. He was in the logs, his coworker had vouched for him, and he didn't seem like the type of person to be their killer. Perry was attractive with his long, brown hair and the way he talked... It was clear that he was intelligent and could hold a good conversation. His glasses were adorable, making him look a little bit like Clark Kent. Hermione had almost pointed that out to Malfoy until she realized that he wouldn't understand the reference. The way the killer targeted and controlled his victims made Hermione think that he most likely felt powerless in his own life. Perry definitely looked like he was both powerful and in control.

"I agree. We should meet up with Harry and see what they've found."