Chapter 16
"Are you sure it's her?"
"Definitely. I saw her with Arnold here a few months back in my restaurant. You know I can't forget a pretty face. Yep, the picture may not look like it, but that's definitely her."
Harry turned to Arnold. "Well, Arnold?" He turned the photo to him. "What do you think?"
He only had to look at the photo for a moment. The Muggle "smartphone's" photos did not move, so the picture was blurred, but Gemini's face was clear enough for Arnold to know her a mile away. "That's her, alright." He said quietly.
"How did you find them, Dean?" Harry asked
"Told 'ya, mate. I get my tomatoes from the grocer a few houses down Grimauld Place and when I passed I saw them pop out from between the houses. She was with that guy. I was going to try and stop them, but I thought it was dangerous and—"
"You did the right thing, Dean." Harry assured him. "You couldn't have risked getting into a duel, especially not with the two of them against you alone. Not with your baby on the way. But thank you for sending the photos."
Dean nodded grimly. "Anytime, Harry. Good luck to us all."
"And to us all." Harry nodded. "Is there anything else you noticed, Dean?"
He shook his head. "I was standing far away so I couldn't hear what they were saying. Obviously they were kind of cheerful about something, but apart from Gemini laughing about something, I couldn't get a thing. But the man's hair is black, not blonde though."
"That's definitely Malcolm." Harry said, pointing at the picture. "He must have dyed his hair at one point for a disguise. Were his eyes blue?"
"Couldn't tell. But Gemini's eyes weren't red, Harry."
"Well, now that she's met Malcolm, she must know that the map's destroyed. She may try to perform Dark Arts now, we have that for certain. She may or may not know Hermione's trying to make a second one." Harry sighed. "Still, it's more information than we knew yesterday. Thank you, Dean."
Dean gulped, glancing nervously at Arnold. "There's something else. It might be useless, but…"
"Any lead would be good by now."
"Well…I think…I think the two could possibly be dating." Dean said slowly. "I'm not certain, but look at the way he placed his arm around her. Plus there was the way she laughed at something he said. And then there was the way he looked at her. She looked like she was having fun, but his face…"
"Okay. We'll take that in mind." Harry said quickly. "Thanks, Dean."
"Until next time, Harry. Arnold." Dean quickly left the room, which was silent as Harry observed Arnold's face.
"We can't possibly know that from that picture." Harry said uneasily. "It might be nothing, Arnold."
Arnold grimaced. "The first time I saw Gemini…well, I think she acted a lot like her father: it was hard for her to love. She didn't love Teddy, she desired him. And the first time I told her I liked her, she looked like she wanted to claw my face out. Merlin only knows why she let me walk her to the train." He looked somberly at the printed photo. "If she can smile and laugh for this Malcolm guy…I'm not so sure anymore, Harry."
Harry felt sorry for Arnold. No matter how evil Gemini had become, Arnold would never stop falling in love with the girl he knew in Hogwarts. And no matter how much Harry tried, Arnold could never separate Gemini Black and Gemini Ridley. And Harry couldn't blame him. "We'll find them eventually, Arnold. Doesn't matter what those two are together."
But Arnold wasn't listening anymore. Doesn't matter what those two are together…if only I knew which couple you meant, Harry.
