A.N. Thank You for all kind reviews! I'm happy You like it, and didn't give up on me and my story!
Since some of reviews were anonymus, here's a reply for them:
Acronym- yes, Pansy is a Slytherin, and she will show it:) I'm happy to hear that You like it so far!
James Birdsong- Thank You for review:)
Serena was dead! He just couldn't believe that he failed! He lost Serena, his devoted follower and apprentice, and the bitch who killed her was still alive! He had no way of killing her, since that filthy bastard Malfoy switched the wards around the house and made them unbreakable! If only he had his sphere! Out of fury, he clenched his hand around the knife, almost breaking it in half.. Serena's death would not be in vain! They had to pay! Maybe... Oh, yes, of course, Astoria! Daphne's sister, constantly vigilant at Daphne's bedside! Serena would have loved being memorized in such way!
"What's going on with those boxes?" Pansy asked while looking at the empty cardboard boxes brought by Hermione, which her friend had just been setting up in an even row by the wall.
"You said you were going to work on Greg's things today, " Hermione explained, "I wanted to be of help to you at least in this way."
Pansy's browns rose in a silent question.
"You can pack Greg's belongings into these boxes, determining what you want to keep and what to donate." Hermione hurried with an explanation.
"You do realize that all I have to do is wave a wand, we're witches after all, I don't need all those boxes."
"I know, but it' s the muggles way of dealing with loss and saying goodbye." Hermione sighed sadly. "You pick up every little thing and remember all the good memories. This is a closure many people need in order to move on"
Pansy remained silent.
"Oh, I know, it's crazy. You ought to do it the way you think it's right. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have interfered." Hermione started withdrawing, but Pansy grabbed her hand.
"No, no, thank you, truly, that really sounds like a pretty good idea, even if it's a muggle way." she made a joke in an effort to defuse the tense atmosphere.
She loathed the fact that since Greg's death, everyone has been treating her like an fragile doll, as if she were to crumble to pieces at the smallest touch. She was Pansy Goyle, nee Parkinson cold bitch of Slytherin, not some dumb little girl! And all of them, Hermione, Draco, Harry, they all treated her as if she was made of glass! She wasn't! She didn't want to cry or mourn, she wanted to kill someone and drink herself into oblivion!
"Is there anything else I can do for you? Harry and Ron won't be here for a while." Hermione asked. She so badly wished to find a way to show her gratitude to a friend whose courage saved her and her child's life but found herself lost. There was no words that could express her sorrow and relief, survivors guilt was a horrible thing.
"No, no, I can handle it. All I need to do today is pick up some papers from my office, and then I'll begin to pack.' Pansy brushed off the non-existent speck of her arm and stared her friend directly in the eyes "The four of you just focus on finding that bastard."
"I promise!" Hermione spontaneously hugged her friend, glad to see glimpses of old Pansy and left locking the doors behind her.
Pansy looked at evenly spaced boxes and sighed, would putting each of his things one by one into a box really help with anything? The boxes... there was something about them. She frowned trying to figure out what troubled her in that picture.
Harry spread all the files on the table and stared at Ron, Draco and Hermione.
"This must stop. The answer is somewhere here, we just have to find it," he stated forcefully. They answered him with hummed approval. Since Draco and Harry had uncovered their suspicions about the perpetrator's identity, nothing has been the same.
"And it will end, Harry." Hermione said firmly. "We just have to start thinking logically!"
Harry thanked her with a smile. Who, if not the brightest and most talented witch of her time, would be able to crack this puzzle?
"We know it's someone who fought on our side in the war, someone whose close to us." Draco didn't hesitate to start this unpleasant conversation determined to get to the truth and bring the killer to justice.
"We can rule out Neville" Ron spoke. "He was with me and Harry in the interrogation room, Ginny was in the lobby."
"That leaves Remus, Luna, Lavender, Bill..." Harry started to list the names when he was interrupted by Ron, who leapt on his feet, getting red from anger.
"My brother?! You suspect my brother?!"
"I suspect everyone," Harry said to him, " even Andromeda! That's why we're meeting here, not at the Ministry, that's why we're doing with only four of us!"
"But, but, but, he's my brother!" Ron staggered and Harry mellowed at the sight of disbelief and shock on his friend's face.
"I know Ron, and believe me, I do not think it is him," he put his hand on his friends shoulder, "but we owe it to the victims, we cannot leave any stone unturned."
Ron nodded his head then sat down heavily behind the table and reached for the first file.
Pansy was walking swiftly through familiar hallways greeting every acquaintance she met with an empty nod. Something was tingling in her memory, something she had seen when she had tried to save Flora Tacet's life. A tiny detail, a meaningless tangle of colors, but it was bothering her.
It was magnificent. Fortune had ultimately smiled at him. He was standing in the aisle when she passed him, all he had to do was extend his hand, and he would have been able to touch her. She even smiled at him! He clenched his hand on the knife hidden in his robes forgetting about Astoria. He would honor Serena's memory by chopping her killer into pieces!
"It makes no sense! There's nothing here!" Ron angrily hit the table with his open hand. "We go around in circles and still know nothing."
"On the contrary, we know a lot! We know it's someone who has free access to St. Mungo's, because there he met Neville, Serena and killed Rosa and Flora Tacet, it's somebody we all know, because he walked freely into Malfoy Manor, because he succeeded in surprising Blaise. " Hermione counted steadily. "We know that he's not afraid to use dark magic, we know that he is driven by hatred and revenge, we know that he attacks former Slytherin."
"Elves" Draco suddenly spoke and everyone stared at him surprised, but he turned to Hermione, as usual, when they were trying to figure out some intricate problem together. "Why did he kill the house-elfs?"
"Because they all know him and could identify him. The elves at Gamroths's house, where he conducted his preparations, ours, because he was here before, and... of course!" Hermione replied quickly and they both looked at each other as if they were suddenly experiencing enlightenment.
Harry and Ron shared confused look, completely missing the point.
"Why don't you share some of your knowledge?" Ron suggested interrupting the silent eye conversation of the Malfoys.
"Tipsy!" was simultaneously said by the couple.
"What?"
"He killed Tipsy! We found her body in Pansy's and Greg's room! Only a few people knew about Tipsy, and where she was! Tipsy didn't ever leave Greg! If he killed her because he was afraid she'd recognize him, if he knew where to find her, then he wasn't just inside Malfoy Manor before, he was inside Greg's room!" Hermione explained triumphantly, "And it has been only a handful of people who went there," her eyes went to Ron, because what she was about to say was going to hit him hard.
She walked into the room that Rose and Serena had been sharing and looked at the boxes standing against the wall. As the room was a crime-scene, thankfully nothing had been moved. Pansy spilled the contents of the boxes on the floor, notwithstanding the mess, she needed to be sure.
"You can't be serious!" Ron shouted, "My father is not a murderer! You guys are completely out of your fucking minds!"
"Ron, listen, it's the only logical..." Hermione started, but Ron interrupted her sharply.
"I don't care about your logic, my father is not a murderer!"
"No" Harry sighed. "It's not Arthur! Ron's right, it's not Arthur! There is somebody else who knew Tipsy, who visited Greg" with trembling hands he flipped through records looking for the note that had been made during the inquiry at St. Mungo's. When he found it, his knees buckled.
"Harry? What's that?" Hermione took the paper.
"List of persons who were at St. Mungo's on the day of Rose's and Flora's death."
Three pairs of eyes were staring horrified at the 19th name on the list.
She heard the silent click of a locking door and instantly turned her head to face the killer.
"I never thought you'd be the one to figure it out."
He had an unusually soft voice for someone who was a serial killer.
Tell me what you think:)