I hope everyone is having a good time this Holiday Season!! Now to find out what that crash was -

Chapter Twenty-Five

Hermione floated her trunk into the main bedroom with Danny not far behind. Looking around the room for the best place to put it, Danny suggested she place it at the foot of the bed. Having done that she proceeded to open the lid and sort through what was inside, taking out her toiletries and taking them into the en-suit bathroom. As she left the bathroom she noticed the Danny had cleared some space in the closet and a couple of the drawers so she could put her clothes away beside theirs. This made her stop short and blush at the reality of what was happening. Nervousness and a tinge of fear caused butterflies to bombard her stomach at the thought that she would be living with two men - and not in the way she'd shared a tent with Harry and Ron for all those months. Danny turned to her and, correctly interpreting her wide-eyed stare, went up to her and kissed her gently, pulling her out of her momentary shock and helping her to relax. They deepened the kiss for a while, their bodies pulling closer to the other as their tongues duelled, before Hermione reluctantly pulled away. Very reluctantly. She really could spend all day kissing that man, but there was something about kissing him in the bedroom he shared with Mac that made it seem... illicit, somehow. She still wasn't sure of Mac's feelings for her, beyond the conviction that he couldn't stand back and let her die. Until she knew his feelings she'd have to respect his existing relationship with Danny.

"We should get unpacking." She told him as she gently pushed at his chest.

"Right. Unpacking." He replied before giving her a lascivious grin and heading back to the trunk, rummaging around within. He heard a gasp from Hermione as he began pulling out her underwear when suddenly she was at his side and pulling the items from his hands, her face bright red in embarrassment. "I'm gonna see them eventually." He couldn't help teasing her, and enjoying the new colour she managed to achieve in her awkwardness, before deciding that perhaps he'd go shopping some time - maybe for something a little less practical. 'I'll need to take Mac, he's more experienced at buying women's sizes' he thought to himself.

Danny held up his hands in surrender when Hermione shooed him away from the trunk after depositing her items in one of the open drawers, deciding to sit on the bed as he watched her unpack. A task she went about performing efficiently yet quickly, folding items into the drawers or hanging them in the closet, almost as if she didn't want to give him time to examine any more of her clothes than he had. She would occasionally glance at him before turning her attention back to her unpacking, all the while biting at her lip.

"Youse can ask me anything." He said, trying to reassure her, and wondering what she was having such trouble asking.

"Will you answer honestly?" She retorted. "I'd prefer you to say that you don't want to answer rather than lie or try to find another way around answering."

"Okay, seems fair. What did ya want to ask?" Danny's curiosity was now piqued.

"How was your case today?"

Danny looked at the young woman, stunned. That was not what he was expecting her to ask.

"You don't have to answer, I realise that some people prefer to keep what they see in your type of work away from their home life. I just, I thought I'd ask in case you wanted to talk about it." She told him, putting away the last of her clothing and turning back to face him. "I may not always understand all aspects of what you tell me, but I can at least listen."

Hermione took a seat beside him, sitting wordlessly as she watched the memories of the case pass behind Danny's eyes. It had been very hard for her to ignore the emotions she'd been feeling from Danny all day, and knew that whatever had happened had been very difficult for him to deal with. Hermione was hoping he would accept her offer to talk about it.

"It's always harder when it's a kid. Worse when there's more than one."

He began haltingly, and she sat listening in silence, as Danny described how a last minute site inspection before demolition had revealed two young boys - one eight, the other six - had been left badly beaten on the third floor of the building. By the time the paramedics arrived on the scene the youngest boy was declared dead and the older one taken to the emergency department of St Luke's Hospital in critical condition. Mac and Danny, along with Adam, had processed the scene.

Adam had found a baseball bat less than five feet away from where the boys had been found and partially hidden under some tarp, but when Mac had removed the covering they discovered that someone had hammered a dozen five inch nails around the top three inches of the barrel so the sharp ends of the nails protruded - creating a homemade mace club. The clothes on the body of the six year old had rips all over them - many of them blood-stained - suggesting that the club had been used. From the paramedic report before they left the older boy's clothing was in similar shape, indicating the two had suffered some sort of attack. The Coroner's van had just left for the morgue with the body, and the three scientists where securing the evidence for transport when two kids crawled out of one of the construction debris chutes at the other end of the room, calling out for two other boys and asking if they were ready for round two. The two new boys looked to be the same age as the two victims, wearing shoe-boxes on their heads and holding a length of cardboard as if it were a shield.

It turned out the four boys had been playing a version of Knights & Serfs, and had held a great battle to protect their castle. Unfortunately, one of the boys had taken his baseball bat and decided to make it look like one of the things he'd seen in one of his older brother's comic books. The two knights - Joey Kimber and Billy Tranton - had taken turns at "fighting" with the two serfs - the two victims, six year old Eric Lloyd and eight year old Stevie Hart - who had sticks to use as swords. When Eric and Stevie didn't get back up, Joey and Billy just thought they were tired and realising they were too, went home to bed. It had taken Mac a while to convince the two boys that their friends were dead and not just playing a new game of hide and seek. Back at the lab, fingerprint analysis of the bat and the nails showed that Joey and Stevie had held the bat steady while Eric held the nails and Billy used the hammer which he'd led them to on the scaffolding outside one of the windows. All so they could play a new game.

"Kids shouldn't be killin' kids, y'know." Danny was sat on the bed leaning on his elbows, with his head in his hands. His voice was tight with the turmoil the three men had obviously felt during the course of the day, the idea that a children's game could result in death.

At some point during Danny's talking Hermione had moved closer, gently brushing her hand through his hair offering comfort as the emotions of the case came back to him - and her. When he finished speaking she put both her arms round his shoulders giving him a side-ways hug and kissing his cheek as one of her hands resumed stroking his head. She didn't know what to say to him to ease any of his hurt for the boys' lost childhoods, but the years with Harry had taught her that sometimes, just having someone there for you could help more than any words. So she just held him, occasionally kissing his cheek, waiting until he was ready to talk again - and ready to accept whatever change of subject he suddenly came up with.

She therefore wasn't surprised when, after several minutes, Danny gave a cough and moved out of her embrace.

"So, what else ya keep in that trunk anyway?" Danny asked as he gave her a wink before moving to rummage round in her belongings again. She thought nothing of this having put away her more delicate items, until he stood up holding her jewellery box. She didn't actually keep her jewellery in there, instead she used it for -

"Hey! Youse got two of these thin's." Danny exclaimed as he took a golden ball from within the box, gasping when the tiny wings spread out and began flapping.

Unfortunately, when he gasped he also let go of the Snitch which began zooming around the room at full speed, finding the open bathroom door and hitting the glass partition of the shower, causing it to crack, and ricocheting back to smash into the wall-cabinet's mirror. Danny had to duck as the tiny ball whizzed through the doorway back into the bedroom and headed towards the bedroom door. The noise in the bathroom had brought Mac and Harry to the bedroom, just in time for the speeding Snitch to fly past the unsuspecting Mac before being caught by Harry as it headed for the dining table.

"Everyone alright?" Harry asked with a touch of humour in his voice. He joined Mac at the entrance of the bedroom to find a sheepish-looking Danny and Hermione shaking her head at him, trying not to laugh.

Mac went to the bathroom to inspect the damage, coming to stand beside Mia. He was just thinking how they'd have to be careful cleaning up the glass and wondering about using the shower when the glass was cracked, when he heard Hermione speak beside him.

"Reparo." She said to the room at large, and Mac watched as the crack disappeared from the shower stall, and the broken pieces of mirror returned to their original positions within the frame making that too, look as if it had never been broken. He couldn't help himself from going up to the mirror to inspect it, carefully running his hand along the surface trying to feel any residual cracks, turning his attention back to Mia when he found none.

Hermione gave him a smile and then went over to Harry and took the now calm Snitch from his hand. She walked up to Danny, who was still holding the box in his hands, and put the tiny ball beside its twin before looking up at him.

"Not an indoor ball." She told him as she closed the box, removing it from his hands and placing it beneath her clothes in the drawers, tut-ting and mumbling. "Boys and their toys." Her voice was quiet, but still heard by the other three - making each try not to give in to the laughter bubbling in their chests.

"Sorry, dear." Danny said as he gave her a puppy-dog expression, his actions causing the other two to let go of their laughter and making Hermione smile as well - until she thought properly about what had just happened.

"Maybe I should keep my things somewhere else. Magical objects can be dangerous and you don't know how to recognise them, which just makes them even more perilous." Hermione began to worry.

"Or, instead, you could tell us what the items are and what they do, and tell us if they're safe to touch or not. And in that same vein - Danny and I keep our guns in a locked box kept in the kitchen, on the middle shelf on the side of the kitchen island facing the bedroom. You can't touch them."

"Trust me, I don't want to. But, your point is noted, and my more dangerous items are in my apothecary anyway, and that's always locked."

"You said earlier something about needing a place to brew?" Mac remembered. "And your apothecary is where you store your ingredients? Are the substances you brew dangerous as well?"

"Yes it is, and the potions I need to restock on aren't dangerous, but there are others that are decidedly deadly." She answered. "But for the moment, I'm not sure when you two had lunch but I'd be willing to guess the three of you are hungry by now. Why don't we make a start on dinner?"

The three men readily agreed and they all went out to the main room, where Hermione and Danny caught sight of all the groceries still out on the counter top.

"I thought you two were putting the shopping away?" She asked the other two as she made her way into the kitchen area.

"We sort of got distracted discussing magic - and flying." Mac said as he joined her at the kitchen island.

"I put away the chilled stuff." Harry defended himself.

"What about the frozen?" At this point Hermione had her arms crossed in front of her chest and she arched her eyebrow at him - in a look Harry was very familiar with by now.

"Um, he was playing with the frozen stuff." Harry was pointing at Mac, hoping to deflect her ire.

"You didn't say this was frozen. It doesn't even feel cold." Mac opened his left hand to reveal the collection of tiny objects in his palm - his hand had automatically closed in reflex when they'd heard the crash, and had remained so until he remembered the shopping. Danny came over to him and began poking at the tiny things just as Mac had first done.

"I didn't know until I emptied the other bags."

Hermione gave an exasperated sigh and a shake of her head as she started to open cupboard doors and proceeded to put the food away in their appropriate places while she explained why the food wasn't cold to the touch.

"A stasis charm on the contents of the bag ensures there are no breakages, spills or defrosting, or even cooling of any hot foods. It's placed at the same time as the items are reduced, allowing them to be placed in pockets or bags without messy consequences. The charm also prevents you from feeling the difference in temperatures." Hermione turned to the three as she finished speaking and held out her hand. "Though, I think it's time they were put away now. Don't you?"

Mac gave her a sheepish look, much to the amusement of Danny who unsuccessfully tried turning his chuckle into a cough, before dropping the items into her outstretched hand. He then moved round behind her and began putting the rest of the shopping away while Hermione filled the freezer, and Harry and Danny pulled out the tall stools on the other side of the island and sat down to watch them work.

"You know, I think this is the first time in quite a while that this kitchen has been properly stocked." Mac commented as he put the last of the food away - earning him a 'tut' from the woman beside him.

"Somehow I have no problem believing that." She realised she'd spoken louder than she thought when she heard Harry and Danny quietly laughing. Her cheeks instantly flamed and her eyes went wide at her rudeness. "I'm sorry."

Mac gave a chuckle of his own.

"It's fine. The hazard of shift work, I'm afraid. Often it's just easier to pick something up on the way, than have to cook when we get home." He told her. "It's rare for us to work just the one shift, or even get a case finished in one shift." His voice faded away as he thought about the case they'd had that day, before he gave a shake of his head and continued. "Well, thank you again for providing the food Mia. As you got the food, I think it's only fair that we make dinner." He offered as he motioned for her to join Harry on the stools. "You're welcome to join us Harry."

"Thanks, but I think you guys should enjoy your first meal back at home on your own." Harry replied as he stood, catching Hermione completely by surprise.

"Harry?"

"Besides, I think I might like to do the same." He finished as he made his way to the door.

"Except you don't actually have any table or plates to eat off. Or a bed for that matter." She tried arguing as she followed him.

Harry stopped and turned to smile at her as he was over-come by memories of having to remind her that she had magic during their first adventure together.

"I am a wizard you know." This did not get the smile he expected, she was just too worried about him - not that he would ever complain, especially after he'd discovered that she truly was the only one to actually worry about him and not what he was supposed to accomplish for the world. He softened as he looked her in the eyes, having one of their silent conversations as Harry's eyes assured Hermione that he would be okay, while hers told him that he could come back whenever he wanted, even for no reason. Harry smiled warmly at her and bent forward to kiss her forehead.

"You are welcome here anytime Harry." Mac said as he walked round the kitchen island to join Danny standing just behind the pair.

"Thanks. Goodnight you guys." Harry replied, giving a wave as he turned and took the last few steps to the door. He stopped and looked back at Hermione before he closed the door behind himself. "Set your wards."

Then the door closed, leaving the trio to settle in to their new living arrangements.

xxxx