A/N : Thanks for all the likes and reviews! Moving right along...
Hermione slowly rose from the bed shaking the sleep from her head. "Do you think everything's alright?" She asked turning to her husband who was already moving to get dressed. "Severus?"
He looked at his wife with tired eyes, "I'm sorry I just have a lot on my mind, but to answer your question-I don't know. Potter did sound disturbed..."
"I just hope he's alright, something tells me that this is no ordinary criminal..."
Severus paused mid button and turned to Hermione. "Potter is a very capable auror, you shouldn't worry. And," he said with a lift in his tone, "with this new found DNA we can in all likelihood not only who this person is, but his motives as well."
To be honest, Severus was more than grateful for Potter's run in. He had just about exhausted all of his resources and with him being busy with the school...there was only so much he could do. Especially when he was operating on pure conjecture. "In any case, we should hurry."
"Right." Hermione nodded, "I'll let Albus and Minerva know we're leaving."
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Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt was not expecting his for one of his best aurors to come limping into his office and yet here he was. "I've got some good news Kingsley."
"Really?" He questioned the young man who plopped down in the chair in front of him.
"I have some of the Lentus user's DNA. Nicked it off with a slicing hex," Harry announced as he slid a bag across the Minister's desk. It was a lock of hair.
This was good news. "Good work Harry," he praised taking the bag to examine the hair. "So, the gender of our assailant...?"
"Is a male. I've sent a piece of it to the lab. We should be getting the results soon. Hermione and Sn-Severus are on their way as well." Kingsley nodded trying to keep his face neutral when he heard Hermione's name. There were not many women who could be a wife of a politician. And he and Hermione had worked so well together, but it was obvious that they weren't meant to be. Perhaps he was destined to be alone...
"Are you alright Kingsley?" Potter asked-breaking up his thoughts.
"You know, you're really lucky Harry."
"Sir?"
"Tonight, after we're all done for the day, you get to go home to a wife who loves you. Me? I'm left going home to an empty house." It was one of the most personal things he had ever shared with Harry. In all honesty he was just glad to get it off his chest. He didn't have many friends (being minister seemed to scare them off or cause them to be uncomfortable) and then you had the people who were just around him to be seen.
"You're not still hung up on Hermione are you?" Harry inquired a little uncomfortably. Kingsley waved him off.
"Not really. At least not in the same way. I realize that Hermione is not available, but it doesn't stop me from wanting someone like her. Not many women can handle politics."
"What about Parkinson? She's no 'mione, but she can certainly handle politics and politicians for that matter."
"Violet?" Kingsley gasped appalled that Harry would suggest such a thing. Violet Parkinson was a married woman.
"No, Pansy." Oh. Shacklebolt thought to himself. Free from living under the pureblood supremacy of her parents, Pansy had shown that she was actually a decent person. She personally apologized to both Harry and Hermione after Tom Riddle was defeated. Even working with Arthur Weasley in the Misuse of Muggle artifacts Department before taking it over. She wasn't their friend, but she had changed. She was smart, well spoken, and pretty too.
"Pansy?"
"Just think on it."
"Excuse me, Minister Shacklebolt, Auror Potter," the Minister 's assistant said popping into the room, "The Snape's are here and so are the test results."
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The small party sat in the Minister's office patiently listening the lab tech explain the results.
"As you all probably know the Ministry has come a long way in its approach to such things. A hair follicle is very significant not only in magical, but in the muggle world as well. In a way we simply upgraded muggle forensics. Not only can I tell you who this hair belongs to, but what he had for breakfast this morning," the excited and somewhat cocky technician announced.
"We're waiting," Severus grumbled giving the man a dark glare.
"The results please Dexter, the hour does grow late," Kingsley said not unkindly.
"Of course, Minister." He cleared his throat, "The lab results show that the hair belongs to Igor Karkaroff."
"WHAT!?"
