A/N: Runs into Snape's shop, flops in exhaustion over the counter and hands Severus a sheaf of papers. 'Next chapter, sir!'.
'It's late.'
'Sorry sir, pandemic on. Folks calling in sicknotsick at work left and right. Working 10 to 12 hour days. Fall asleep upon arrival at home.'
'Don't let it happen again.
'zzzzz'
Chapter 24
Harry walked quickly through Diagon Alley toward Bewitching The Mind, Snape's shop, in order to visit the couple. Hermione had been discharged from St. Mungo's three days earlier, and it came as quite a surprise when he had learned that she was actually living with Snape. He had offered to have her live with him and his family at Grimmauld until she was well again and was dumbstruck when she told him her convalescence had been already settled. Harry had known the pair were dating but hadn't realised the extent of their relationship, but then again, they hadn't been living together long before her accident, and she hadn't had time to tell everyone.
He was meeting the pair to go over recent developments in the murder of Andrew Kane and apparent suicide of Alexis Hanneford, as well as the status of Rita Skeeter, who was being held temporarily within the Ministry holding cells. It had been determined she was a flight risk and weren't taking any chances. Hermione would be pleased this whole mess would be over within the month.
Passing the store front and turning at the alley just to the left of the building, Harry walked about fifty feet along the way toward the alcove leading to the flat. He could feel the wards that protected it but knew that Hermione had changed the wards to allow him to enter, with Severus' permission, of course. He knocked on the door, heard feet down the steps, and the door opened.
Severus' pale face peered through the crack between the jamb and door and with a grunt that made Harry smirk, he pulled the door wider. "Potter," he said flatly.
"Snape," said Harry in a chipper a voice as he could manage, just to annoy him.
"Hermione has said I am not allowed to hex, curse, charm, or otherwise maim you, so taunting me may not end well for either us. You may enter."
Harry laughed. "Pax, Snape, pax," he replied, holding up his hands in placation. "How is Hermione this morning?" he asked as he followed Severus up the steps.
"She is well. She is just finishing breakfast, but insisted I leave some of the pastries for you."
"She thinks I never get enough to eat, silly woman."
"Yes, it's a tendency that has spilled over into how she feeds me," Severus agreed.
By this time, the men had entered the flat, and Severus showed Harry through to their bedroom. "You will not find whips, chains, devices of torture or whatever else you may have imagined from your youthful ideal of me," Severus said snidely.
"We put them all away before you arrived!" Hermione sang out with a laugh as the pair entered the room. "Hello, Harry!"
Hermione was sat at a table that was laden with a breakfast tray. There were two other chairs pulled up to it, plates and cups at the ready. "Come on," she invited, gesturing that Severus and Harry should join her, "let's finish our pastries and then we can get down to business."
As the three of them finished their tea and croissants, Harry told them of any family news he had—Albus was cutting teeth, James had broken his arm—and Hermione shared details of her current state of health; no longer wobbly when walking, physio going well. Severus only passed along titbits, which was to be expected. When they could longer put off their discussion by nursing cold cups of tea, Severus cleared the table, putting the tray on the bed, and Harry pulled a sheaf of papers from his bag.
He spread the sheets before him, shuffled a few until he was satisfied with their order and began. "I'll start with the easiest bit, the coroner's reports on both Kane and Hanneford. Kane died of a stab wound to the abdomen which perforated his abdominal aorta. Harry looked closer at his paper, "He exsangini….exswang…."
"Exsanguinated," Hermione provided.
"Yes, that, from the knife wound, which was approximately five centimetres by three centimetres; the coroner's report suggests the knife was twisted on both the way in and out to cause such a large wound. Other findings in the report such as some heart trouble, hardening of the arteries and, erm, " he blushed before continuing, "gonorrhoea, were not contributing causes of his death."
Severus snorted and Hermione outright laughed. "Oh, Harry!" she exclaimed, "you should see your face!"
"Yes, well…" he blushed further before saying, indignantly, "Shall we continue or do you two need a break to giggle?"
Hermione apologised, "I'm sorry, Harry. I know this is serious; please continue."
Flapping his papers about as he turned to Hanneford's report, he began, "Hanneford died of drowning, plain and simple. Her alcohol content was higher than usual, which contributed to the death. She was in otherwise good general health."
Severus spoke, "So Alexis' death is ruled accidental, and Kane's as homicide?"
"Yes," answered Harry. "The question is, did Hanneford or Skeeter kill Kane?"
"I am assuming you'll question Skeeter under Veritaserum, to bring this whole ruddy mess to a conclusion?" asked Severus.
"No. She is not suspected of dark activity and so Veritaserum not warranted here. If she refuses to cooperate, she will be charged with obstructing justice and sent to Azkaban for a few weeks. She may come to her sense while there," explained Harry.
"How can we prove that Kane was involved in the explosion?" asked Hermione. "Can we tie the three of them together?"
"We can prove Kane was part of the explosion, actually," answered Harry. "We were able to work with the spider…"
"Bucket," Hermione provided.
"Yes, Bucket and his magizoologist, Draconia Corvus. She, along with memory experts from the Department of Mysteries, were able to pull his memories. It was difficult because spiders have so many eyes, but on the other hand, it provided so many viewpoints, so to speak, that it was not difficult to see who it was and what he was doing."
"It was Kane for certain?" asked Hermione.
"No doubt," replied Harry. "Instead of a glamour just in case, he boldly walked in, went to your brewing station and used a bottle of something to drench some rags in a drawer."
"They are the purified rags I use to wipe my wands and caldrons. He must have poured something on them. It wouldn't have to be anything lethal either, just water can cause them to be impurified. All he had to do is soak the rags, use a drying charm and when I used one to wipe the rods…boom," she trailed off.
"I would imagine if he had been suspected, he could blame it on you," began Severus, "perhaps blame your personal life for making you distracted."
Hermione nodded in agreement. "Did you pull any information about Kane in my office at any other time?"
"Yeees," Harry said as he flipped through the reports. "Here it is. Bucket observed Kane on several occasions. At one time, Kane went through your recipes and was seen to use a quill to write something on them."
"The changes to some runes that had caused some minor incidents," interjected Hermione.
"So we can prove that Kane was out to discredit Hermione," said Severus, "but why?"
"That's easy enough," said Hermione, "I got the department head position when he expected it to be his. And as most of the department has Slytherin connections, it stands to reason they would favour and support him in a scheme to discredit me."
"But that doesn't explain why he had been seen with Skeeter and Hanneford," said Harry.
Severus cleared his throat. "I once dated Hanneford," he began. "We didn't date long, nor were we intimate, however much she had tried. We did not part well."
"She acted like you were rather intimate that day at the shop," murmured Hermione.
"A notion that I quickly dissuaded you from, if you recall," he reminded Hermione and then explained to Harry, "She wanted to return to society after her self-imposed exile during both wars. She wanted to date someone who was considered part of the action, part of the war and might open those doors to society. Why she would think I would be that door opener is beyond me."
"Well, at the time, you were travelling in social circles you hadn't before," said Hermione. "We all were, come to think of it."
Harry said, "I read her files before all this, out of curiosity. Ron and I had had lunch one day in the same pub the three of them were. We thought it was interesting three so disparate people were having lunch together."
"Ohh, disparate," laughed Hermione. "Such big words you use Harry now you're all grown up and an Auror."
Harry laughed. "Shut it you. "When I had gotten back to work that day, I checked out their files. Much of what you say and know is true, Severus. Her family decamped to Italy during both wars and had a tough time breaking back into pureblood society here in England. So, you think she was plotting revenge?"
"Perhaps," said Severus.
"And by becoming friends with Skeeter," added Hermione, "she had easy access to a mouthpiece at the Prophet to write articles in such a way as to make her look the injured victim."
"And, I suspect," said Harry, "Kane jumped on board to further his cause."
"Yes," agreed Hermione. "But how on earth would Kane and Hanneford have met? If Alexis were travelling in the best of society, Kane wouldn't have been part of that."
"Perhaps by accident?" Harry shrugged.
"That's the only explanation I have," said Hermione. "Severus?"
"I fear that the answers to all our questions lie with Skeeter. You've questioned her before, Harry. What sort of questions will you be asking her now? Will there be a trial?"
"I'm hoping I can get this cleared up by an inquest, rather than a full trial. It all depends on what Skeeter tells us."
"I would rather an inquest as well," said Hermione. "I don't think I would be strong enough for the stress a full-blown trial would create."
"Even if it were closed to the public?" Harry asked.
"Even if," Hermione replied.
"I agree," said Severus. "Get what information you can from Skeeter during questioning. If she proves unable or unwilling to answer, then Hermione and I will press charges and force a Wizengamot trial.
++SSHG++
Harry sat at the table in the interview room, reviewing a file with Auror Alyce Miller, who would be conducting the interview with Rita this morning. The pair were just waiting for the Aurors to bring the woman from her holding cell for questioning.
They murmured as they waited, asking questions and pointing out certain areas of her previous statements they wished to revisit. They also reviewed the other notes on the case; the interviews with Hermione and Severus, coroner's reports, and the notes from the investigators covering the explosion at Malfoy Industries. They hoped Rita would either corroborate or confess everything without going to trial. If she did confess, then an inquest would be held, and she would have to testify there.
The door opened and through it walked Rita, who struggled slightly against the Aurors escorting her. "No need to be so rough! I am cooperating!" she exclaimed.
"Good to hear, Ms. Skeeter," Harry said by way of greeting. "Please sit down." He indicated the chair on the other side of the table. The aurors stationed themselves at the back of the room in case they were needed.
"Shall we start?" Alyce asked, reaching toward the recorder at the edge of the table, finger poised over the on switch.
"Um, yes. Let's get this over with," Harry responded.
"Quite," Rita agreed tersely.
"Auror Third Class Alyce Miller, conducting interview on this date, September 12th, 1000 hours, with Rita Skeeter. Auror Second Class Harry Potter, OM1, witness to the proceedings for the safety of the individual being questioned.
"Ms Skeeter, you have not been formally charged with a crime at this time, but it is the Ministry's hope that you will cooperate fully with the investigations into the deaths of Andrew Kane, Alexis Hanneford, and the investigation into the explosion at Malfoy Industries."
"And if I choose not to?"
"Severus Snape and Hermione Granger are prepared to file charges against you for libel, which will require we remand you to Azkaban until a trial could be held for those charges."
"How long would it take until such a trial could be held?" asked Rita.
"Not long," interjected Harry. "The last time I looked at the docket for the Wizengamot, there was a backlog of about six weeks for trials." He watched Rita wiggle uncomfortably in her chair with a frown on her face that suddenly turned sly.
"Auror Potter," she began, "you wouldn't be attempting to, um, persuade me into a confession, would you?"
"Absolutely not, Ms. Skeeter. We both know that blackmail is against the law as well as morally reprehensible. I am just stating the facts as they are in answer to your question."
Rita looked at Harry and Alyce. "If I answer your questions," she began, "what sort of advantage would I have at a trial?"
"The Minister has stated that should you cooperate now, he would only order an inquest into the deaths of Kane and Hanneford. You would need to attend that and answer questions there. Should those answers deviate greatly from any you provide here, then you will go to trial for perjury. Should you elect not to answer questions here, then instead of an inquest, there will be a full trial in front of the Wizengamot."
Harry looked directly at Rita as he gave her a moment or two to consider her options, hoping she would elect to answer questions now, saving them a whole lot of trouble.
"If I answer questions now, but during the course of those questions decide I need a lawyer or decide not to answer, what happens?"
"We will, of course, provide you with a lawyer and reschedule further questioning until you've had a chance to speak with him or her. Should you choose not to answer any further questions at all, we go to trial and remand you to Azkaban."
"Not a lot of options then, eh?"
"I see plenty," answered Harry. "It is up to you to decide how many options you have."
Rita seemed to have made a decision because she suddenly sat straighter in her chair. "Very well, you may question me. I reserve the right to ask for a lawyer should I wish to no longer answer questions."
"Agreed," said Harry. "Alyce, you may begin."
Clearing her throat, Alyce asked, "What was your relationship with Alexis Hanneford?"
Alyce had started with the mundane questions; how she knew Alexis and Kane, how often they met, and so forth. She then asked the question that not only Granger and Snape had wanted to know but knew that Harry did as well.
"How did Hanneford and Kane meet? It's pretty obvious their social circles did not include each other."
Rita laughed. "Purely by accident, would you believe? She had gone to Snape's shop in an effort to persuade him to go out with her again and discovered that he was in a relationship with Granger. Of course, she became angry that such a dowdy, frumpy woman would be preferable to her, a tall, beautiful, and cultured woman. When she left the shop, she ran into Kane, who happened to be walking past on some errand or other. It was purely coincidence. He buttered up her a bit, appealing to her wounded pride and then revealed that he too had a beef with Granger."
"And you met them, how?" asked Alyce.
"I saw them in a pub. Seeing how hush hush their conversation was, I decided to see what was up."
"You nosed in on their conversation, in other words," said Harry.
"We both know that would not be unusual for me."
"True. What happened at that first meeting?"
"They were griping about Snape and Granger. I had my own reasons for not liking either of them, and on the grounds of a common interest, joined them."
"So how did it go from just malicious articles and small accidents to murder?"
"It wasn't supposed to," Rita said with a sigh. "It was just supposed to be articles in the paper to discredit Snape and problems at work to convince Malfoy he hadn't made a good choice."
"Explain," said Alyce.
Rita fidgeted a bit. "It was just supposed to be small things, as I've said before. Small things at work and gossip against Snape. When we realized that Snape and Granger were not reacting to the stories or problems at work, Kane decided things needed to be escalated. He wanted Granger to fail so badly that he ramped up his sabotage of her work. He wanted Malfoy to see that she was not the brightest witch of anything-at-all and sack her. He admitted he had not planned on anyone dying; just sort of injured a great deal."
"'Injured a great deal'?!" spluttered Harry. "How in Merlin's name do you find the audacity to 'injure a great deal' and not feel remorse for that, let alone a death?"
"Hey," Rita said, "I certainly didn't encourage him to cause mayhem. I just sort of hmm'd along with the idea."
"And Hanneford? Why did she escalate things?"
"No idea, to be honest. Snape has had his fair share of women, if all the pictures in the Prophet are true. He'd bring them to Ministry affairs and the like. The gossip was that he was great in bed and Alexis wanted a bit of that. She was not one to say no to a good shag, she once told me. She was not best pleased when little Hermione Granger was his next conquest rather than her."
Harry snorted and passed another folder to Alyce, who skimmed it before continuing with questions.
"In the course of the investigation regarding the death of Andrew Kane, a knife was found in the shop owned by Severus Snape. That knife bore two magical signatures on it; Hanneford's and yours. Those magical signatures were traced and led back to your flat. Can you explain this?"
Rita squirmed. "It was Alexis' knife," she admitted. "She showed up at my flat, scared out of her wits and admitted she had killed Kane in an alley."
"She was certain he was dead?" asked Alyce.
"No," admitted Rita. "She told me that she didn't remember what had happened, only that Kane had made a sexual advance, and the next thing she knew, he was writhing on the ground, blood coming from his belly. She remembers looking at her hand and finding a bloodied knife. She then came to my flat."
"What happened next?" prompted Alyce.
"She was sick in my bathroom and I fixed tea," responded Rita who laughed ruefully. "Imagine fixing tea when your friend just killed someone."
"We all react to horrible circumstances differently, if not appropriately," said Alyce.
"As we drank the tea, Alexis told me what happened. I decided to Apparate to the spot and determine if Kane were dead or not. If he were, I would make sure it couldn't be traced to Alexis and that he would be found by someone."
"What else did you talk about?"
"We talked about what to do, how to shift blame. Naturally, Snape and Granger were the perfect, premade targets. I went to Snape's shop the next morning, distracted him with an excuse about needed a product which was not on his shelves and then while he was gone, hid the knife behind some things on a shelf. You know what happened after that."
"Yes," agreed Alyce. "You came home from work and found Alexis Hanneford dead in your bath."
Rita nodded.
"You do realise that with this confession, you will be charged with accessory to murder?"
Rita hung her head. "I know," she whispered. She looked up. "Will I go to trial for that?"
Harry answered, "I will need to speak to the Wizengamot to see what the protocol is. I feel they will say yes. With your confession, we can't have an inquest. I'm sorry for that, but not for your sake; for Hermione's and Severus. She is still not completely well after the explosion and Snape's had enough of trials, don't you think?"
Rita had hoped to play on Harry's well-known affinity for sympathy, but blew it with her next statement.
"Well, a lot of folks would reckon Snape's trial was a farce."
Alyce, sensing her boss was about to say something that would land him in hot water, quickly ended the interview.
"Auror McMurphy," she directed, "take Miss Skeeter back to her holding cell."
Once the auror and Skeeter were gone, she turned to Harry. "I know it ended rather abruptly, boss, but I sensed you were about to say something you shouldn't."
"You were correct, Miller, good call."
"It's a trial now, isn't it? I know you were hoping it would only be an inquest."
"Yeah, unfortunately. Her confession demands it, but I didn't want to let her know that right now so I bluffed about asking the Wizengamot. I'll start the paperwork to remand her to Azkaban until the trial."
"Very well. I must go file my reports," said Alyce, waving the handful of files.
"And I must go tell Severus and Hermione. I hate my job sometimes."
"But when justice is served, you like it, yes?"
Harry nodded and looked at his watch. "Time to grab a bit to eat and then I'll take care of Snape and Hermione."
"Very well. I'll catch up with you later. Ta," said Alyce as she walked out the door.
Harry dropped into an empty chair with a sigh. He had hoped for Hermione's sake this would be over soon, but fate was not on his side today. He hoped they would take the news well, but somehow, he expected not.
A/N: I can't believe my muse wants a trial. I hate trials…I hate reading them, I hate watching them. Ugh…now I have to write one! Let me know if things seem wonky in this chapter. I hope not.