A tired Harry finally arrived home, long after his children's bedtime. With his job he couldn't guarantee having weekends off, but he did always try and at least see his kids on a weekend. However, his hopeful early finish had disappeared when they'd found Michael. After the discovery of the body, he and Draco had spent the afternoon and evening speaking to Michael's friends and family. Ron had immediately set about digging into his past, while Hermione had begun the autopsy and quickly confirmed that Michael was also poisoned.
"You look like you've had a rough day," Ginny Potter remarked as her husband slowly entered the front room.
"I have," Harry sighed, collapsing onto the nearby sofa. "I'm sorry I couldn't get home earlier. How are the boys?"
"They're fine," Ginny replied. "George and Angelina called round. George took Teddy and little Fred to a quidditch match, while Ange and I stayed here with the little ones. Roxy held a tea party for her, James and Albus."
"I bet the boys loved that," Harry chuckled.
"James wasn't so keen, he kept throwing his cup away," Ginny said with a rueful smile. "Luckily giving him cake made him behave somewhat."
"I'm just sorry I couldn't get home sooner," Harry said. "We had another one today."
"Oh no," Ginny gasped, her hand covering her mouth in shock. "Was he from your year at school?"
"Yeah." Harry took a deep breath, before he broke the news of who the latest victim was. It wasn't until after they returned to the Ministry that it occurred to him that Ginny had briefly dated Michael in Hogwarts. "It was Michael Corner."
Ginny gasped again and tears started to fill her eyes. She no longer had feelings for Michael, but there had been a time when they were close, and it was an almighty shock to find out he was dead. Harry moved over to where his wife was sitting and pulled her into his arms.
"This is so scary, Harry," Ginny whispered. "All these people went to school with you and Ron. What if one of you are next?"
"Ron and I aren't stupid enough to go back to a hotel with a stranger," Harry said. "I'm not interested in anyone else but you, and even though Ron's single, he's not an idiot. We won't become victims."
"I hope not," Ginny muttered. Wiping at her eyes, she sat up and vowed not to worry about something that was never going to happen. "Have you ate?" She asked her husband. "I've got a chicken pie for you in the oven."
"That sounds great," Harry said, smiling at his wife. "We did grab food, but that was hours ago. I could do with a nice meal, before I head to bed and collapse. I'm so tired, and I'll have to go into work tomorrow as well."
"Why don't you go and have a quick shower while I fix your pie," Ginny suggested as she got to her feet. "When you come back, you can eat then we can go to bed."
Harry stood up and gave Ginny a quick kiss, before heading off for a shower. Heading into the kitchen, Ginny decided not to mention the free samples of body paint that had arrived that afternoon. She had been hoping her and Harry could try them, but he clearly wasn't in the mood right now. Maybe once he'd solved the case he would feel more like indulging in a bit of fun. After all, they had been talking about adding to their family.
Draco packed up and was ready to leave the office just after Harry had left for home. Ron was still working, but when Draco asked if the redhead needed any help, he said he was nearly finished and would be heading home shortly. On impulse, when Draco got into the lift he pressed the button that would take him to the forensic lab. He had no idea if Hermione was still working, but if she was he was going to offer to make sure she got home safely. As luck would have it, Hermione was just pulling on her jacket when Draco entered her office.
"I'm off home, do you want something?" Hermione asked, hoping she wouldn't have to stay any longer.
"I was just coming to check on you," Draco replied. "I thought I could walk you home."
"Did you now," Hermione chuckled knowingly. "And I suppose you were hoping for an invite inside as well."
"I wouldn't say no," Draco replied with a smile. "After the week I've had, I could do with a friendly face around."
Hermione instantly sobered as she remembered the losses Draco had suffered over the last few days. With his flirtation and ability to push his emotions to one side, she'd almost forgotten he was still grieving. However, she could now see the sadness in his expressive grey eyes.
"You can take me home," Hermione said to the blond. "You can even come in for a drink, but there will be no sex."
"What's wrong with sex?" Draco asked as they made their way to the lift. "You seemed to enjoy it all the other times."
"It's not about enjoyment," Hermione retorted as they stepped into the lift.
"If it's not about enjoyment, then you're not doing it right," Draco shot back. "Sex is all about enjoyment. And I know for a fact you enjoyed yourself over the weekend, and on Wednesday night."
Hermione turned her head and glared at the blond wizard standing beside her. "I've warned you Draco, don't push it. You can come and have a drink as a friend, but if you're expecting more, you'll end up disappointed."
"As I said before, friends will do for now," Draco replied with a shrug.
Choosing not to carry on the argument, Hermione led the way from the lifts over towards the fires. After telling Draco she would have to go through first and alter her settings on the floo, Hermione stepped into the emerald green flames and disappeared. After giving Hermione the five minutes she asked for, Draco followed her through the floo network.
"Tea, coffee, or something stronger?" Hermione asked as Draco stepped into her front room.
A quick glance at Hermione showed she'd already removed her jacket and slipped off her heels. Draco let his eyes linger on Hermione's legs, before he turned his attention back to her face and requested something stronger than tea or coffee. While Hermione headed off to grab two drinks, Draco removed his jacket and threw it over a nearby chair. He then collapsed onto the sofa and ran his hands down his face in an attempt to stay alert. After the week he'd had he was knackered, but he would rather spend an hour or so with Hermione than go back to an empty penthouse and dwell on things.
When Hermione came back into the front room, she handed Draco a glass of firewhisky and sat down next to him with her own glass of rose wine. Draco took an appreciative gulp of his drink, before relaxing against the back of Hermione's sofa.
"You look tired," Hermione remarked.
"I haven't been sleeping great," Draco answered. "Having a serial killer on the loose tends to disrupt my sleep patterns."
"Have you dealt with a serial killer before?" Hermione asked. She knew the only cases Harry had dealt with that held numerous victims murdered by the same person were all involving Death Eaters.
"Once," Draco replied. "A couple of years ago we had someone killing blonde witches in France. The wizard responsible had suffered a mental breakdown and was killing blonde women as they reminded him of his wife who'd left him a few years previously."
"How did you catch him?"
"He got sloppy. Initially he was pretty good at making sure there was no forensic evidence, but he was disturbed at one of the crime scenes and left traces of blood behind. The victim also wasn't quite dead when we got to her and she gave us a brief description before she died. He struck again a few days later, but being disturbed had rattled him and he made a lot of errors. He was spotted snatching the witch and we managed to get to her before he killed her. He put up a fight, but we captured him and put an end to his crimes."
"Wow, that sounds pretty terrible," Hermione said softly.
"It was," Draco confirmed with a soft sigh. "It was the hardest case I've ever had to deal with. Until now."
"We'll catch her, Draco," Hermione said, taking hold of the blond's hand. "She's not going to get away with this."
"I know, I just wish things were moving faster," Draco said. "I wish we had some clues."
"Maybe we will after this one," Hermione said. "I've began analysing the body paint we found on Michael. I'm hoping we can trace where the paint was bought."
"A lot of places make body paint," Draco pointed out. "There's a lot of different brands out there."
"You sound like an expert," Hermione said, raising a questioning eyebrow at the blond wizard.
"I've had a few experiences," Draco replied with a smirk. "I don't suppose you're exactly innocent yourself. You certainly didn't act innocent last weekend."
"You're not going to let that drop, are you?" Hermione questioned as she took a large drink of her wine.
"No, I'm not going to suddenly forget about the best sex of my life," Draco retorted.
"What about your experiences with body paint? Surely they top last weekend."
"No, they don't," Draco replied with a shake of the head. "Although you and body paint could quite possibly topple last weekend."
Despite herself, Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "You're incorrigible," She scolded. "I've told you, nothing is going to happen between us."
"You told me that on Monday morning, but you were in my bed on Wednesday night," Draco argued.
"That was different," Hermione said quietly. "Things just sort of escalated when I was comforting you."
"So I was a pity shag," Draco snorted. "Nice."
"It wasn't a pity shag," Hermione protested. "I like you Draco, and if things were different then we might have had something together. But we work together so a relationship is off the cards."
"Why?" Draco asked, determined to get a proper answer this time around. "What is the problem with us working together? Surely you don't care that much about office gossip."
"Maybe I do," Hermione replied. "Maybe I'm sick of being talked about, and I just don't want to give my detractors more ammunition to use against me."
"What detractors?" Draco questioned with a frown. "What am I missing, Hermione?"
"It's nothing," Hermione answered quietly.
"Clearly it's not nothing," Draco said, placing his hand under Hermione's chin and forcing her to look at him. "Something has happened to make you unwilling to even give us a try, and I want to know what. Don't I deserve an explanation as to why you won't even give us a chance?"
"I guess so," Hermione said. Pulling her head out of Draco's grasp she stood up and walked over to the large window that dominated her front room. After looking out at the dark night sky for a couple of minutes, she turned back around to face Draco. "The simple answer is, I'm a coward. I don't want to be the subject of yet more gossip around the Ministry."
"What gossip have you been the subject of before?" Draco asked.
"I've been the subject of gossip since the moment I started," Hermione replied. "Right from the beginning, there's being whispers about how I only got the job because of my connections with the Minister. I passed all my medical and forensic training at an accelerated rate, and I was heavily involved in the restructuring of the Law and Forensic division. A lot of people don't like how much muggle technology and ideas are imbedded in the forensic side of the job. When I became the pathologist, I was still quite young and there was a lot of talk that I got the job because of my friendship with Kingsley, and I wasn't qualified for the position. A lot of people still think that. After all, I'm head of my department while Harry is still just a field Auror. A lot of the Ministry think Harry should be higher up the career ladder, and I should be lower."
"First of all, that's all a pile of crap," Draco said forcefully. "Anyone who's worked with you, or even knows you for that matter, knows you're qualified for your job. And more importantly, you deserve it. I can tell you now, you're a hell of a lot better than any of the forensic people I worked with in France."
Hermione smiled gratefully at Draco, it always helped when someone reaffirmed she deserved her job. "Thanks, but I think you might be slightly biased since you want to get me back into bed."
"I'm not that biased," Draco replied. "Besides, I'm sure Potter and Weasley will say the exact same thing and they don't want to get you into bed. You're brilliant at your job, Hermione, and don't you let anyone tell you otherwise. Although, I have to admit I'm shocked you let this bother you. I thought you had a tougher skin than that."
"It never used to bother me," Hermione confessed as she made her way back to sit down next to Draco. "But when you keep hearing people talking about you, it begins to get to you. After all these years, people still talk and I still get affected by it."
"But how does that, prevent you from dating a colleague?" Draco asked. "If people are going to talk, does it matter what they say about you? Dating me isn't going to make people think you're sleeping your way to the top, you're already there. And even if you weren't, I'm not in a position to advance your career."
"People will still talk," Hermione said. "I'm sorry Draco, but I don't want to give them anything else to use against me. I'm sick and tired about being talking about, and I'm not prepared to fan the flames of gossip by dating a colleague."
"I can't say I understand, but I'll try my best to back off," Draco said as he wearily got to his feet. "Not that I can guarantee, I won't flirt with you. I'm also not giving up hope that you'll come round and see sense, but I'll try not to push it."
Bending over, he gave Hermione a brief kiss on the cheek before grabbing his jacket and flooing home. At home, he threw his jacket onto a chair and yanked off his shoes. Draco still suspected there was more to Hermione's reluctance to get involved with him, but for the time being he was too tired to care.
Gathering up his mail, which the owls left in a secure window box attached to the back window, he threw it onto the desk in his study before heading off to bed. After a quick shower he climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep, never realising that in the next room sat the evidence that could potentially lead them to the killer.
