its been hella long. sorry.

think you've got the mystery figured out? let me know in the comments. don't forget this is a series. check out speechless and aphelion to get more pieces of the puzzle.


Dinner had been just as awkward as the funeral itself but this time they were able to sit next to each other. Neville sat on Harry's Left, while Ron sat on Hermione's right. Harry kept sitting back and nudging Ron's large paw of a hand that was draped over the back of Hermione's chair.

"Look at 'em down there. They're looking up to us, ya know it?" Ron said with a lopsided grin, "You know what that makes me think of?"

Hermione was sitting straight up in her seat with her eyes focused only on her plate of food in front of her, "Setting a good example for them and sitting proper?"

Neville beat Harry to it, "Ronald Weasley sitting proper? Just ask the man to move the moon for ye' 'Mione."

Harry tried to hide a chuckle in his napkin which quickly turned into a choking sound when Ron said, "Of course I'd move the moon for my girl. What bloke wouldn't?"

"That reminds me," Harry paused before he finished his sentence, catching Hermione's pleading eyes,

She wanted to leave, be nowhere near this already awkward situation. He knew that look, he'd been given it many times before whenever he and Ron were about to have a row. It was the plea to leave well enough alone and not make her life harder. Harry would take the knee for her, in more than one way, but she'd want nothing of that sort.

What he wanted to say was something pertaining to moving into her flat without her knowing, but this was neither the time nor the place. Yet, he also remembered their conversation from earlier about Kingsley.

"What's that restaurant you took what's her name to while Hermione was gone?"

Ron's jaw fell open, and he started to stutter "Uh, what – it was just a lunch. A work thing- why would you- wait – it wasn't what you think-"

"Hey Mione, maybe you and Kingsley should go to that one. You were asking for suggestions earlier, remember? Ron said he got lucky there. I bet that means it's pretty cheap."

Ron's arm came back suddenly, as he looked across the room to see Kingsley watching them with disdain. His eyes went from her to Kingsley and his face went red. "Excuse me."

Hermione held her breath for what felt like forever until Ron stepped out of the Great Hall. She picked up her goblet of wine and began to drink from it heavily.

Neville looked from each of them to the door that just closed, "What just happened?"

"Justice," Harry smirked as he stuffed a fingerling potato in his mouth.

Hermione spoke with her lips tightly pressed and not looking up, "Neville, who is that next to Professor Flitwick?"

"Hagrid." He looked over and saw the larger man shove a whole slice of pie into his mouth, crumbs scattering across his massive belly and down to the table.

Hermione turned her head and looked at him with narrow eyes, "The other side, Neville."

His cheeks turned slightly pink, "S-sorry, uh… the one speaking to Lord Ollivander? That's Master Jiggers."

"Hm." She hummed and continued to poke at her dessert in thought.

"Wait, the one who owns the shop in Diagon?" Harry's eyes landed on the thin man who was in a heated conversation with Flitwick and his wife. "I've never seen him there."

Neville nodded as he put a spoonful of pudding into his mouth, "Master Jiggers refuses to deal with the public and his wife manages the shop. At least since the Professor came to teach at Hogwarts."

"I heard them talking earlier and it didn't sound like they were on each other's good side." Harry leaned over to keep his voice down.

"Tha's prolly because they been at each other's throats for decades." Neville shook his head in thought and kept eating his pudding, "They published articles against each other, that's how it all got started."

"What's kept them in business with each other then?"

"Too stubborn to sell to the other," Neville shrugged, "You know how wizards can get."

"Yes, I most certainly do," Hermione huffed.

Neville suddenly sat up straight and looked back over towards the head of the table. The Great Hall got quiet, and everyone's heads turned towards the head of the table, their eyes followed. Once Ollivander stood from his chair, the rest of the table followed, including a large population of the students sitting at the tables below.

Harry and Hermione followed suit, not wanting to be rude in an unfamiliar setting. Ollivander walked around the tables with Jiggers, his wife, Flitwick, McGonagall, and Kingsley. As he passed everyone gave him a bow.

"Oh no…" Neville paled as he saw a familiar large bird cross the Great Hall.

"I didn't know your Nan still had that hat, Neville." Harry struggled to keep a straight face.

Hermione's jaw clenched tight as she exhaled hotly through her nose and elbowed him hard in the side, "I can't take you anywhere."

"Ah, Lady Longbottom," Ollivander greeted with a hint of shortness, "pleasure as always. Now, if you don't mind-"

"Lord Ollivander, I haven't seen you since that day at Gringotts. How is the shop doing? And your family?"

His passive look of annoyance turned to a firm scowl and upturn of his nose, "Minister?"

Harry had never seen Kingsley move that fast since the war, he didn't know what had gotten into him. Kingsley moved from the back of the group to his side at once and intercepted Neville's grandmother, "Lady Longbottom, it would be my honor to have one of my top Aurors escort you home." Kingsley offered.

"Oh, I would love that!" Neville's grandmother exclaimed.

Ron was quickly shoved from the far back of the group by McGonagall. He didn't look too certain how he had gotten there himself, "Um, hello Ma'am, I'm Neville's friend from school-"

"Oh, that one." Her smile faltered as she took his arm.

Kingsley wrapped a half arm around both of them as he quickly pushed them towards the door, "Oh yes, Weasley has been working one of our top cases."

Ollivander looked to Kingsley with a lesser scowl and gave a curt nod. Minerva cleared her throat and looked down to Flitwick pointedly. The smaller man caught the hint and pushed forward through the group, "Lord Ollivander, perhaps you would allow me to offer you a nightcap before your departure?"

"What do you think, Master?" Ollivander looked at his friend.

"After the day I've had?" Jiggers exasperated, causing his wife to scowl.

"He means, we would love to," she translated.

Once the large group left Harry turned to his friend and asked, "What was that all about?"

Neville's face was beet red and his hands were shaking, "A bloody tragedy."

Hermione pushed the porrón of wine towards him, "Wizarding politics and social hierarchy."

"I'll never get married," he almost sobbed and started to breathe heavily.

"Is he- are you-" Harry started to pat his friend on the back, "Hey mate, let's get out of here, yeah?"

He bobbed his head up and down as his face started to turn a darker red. Harry quickly rose from his seat and made way for them to head out the side door behind the main table. He paused to let his friend catch up before putting an arm around him and started talking to him quietly.

"Breathe easy mate, do you want to go to your rooms?" Harry offered, "Get away from everyone and not run into the people at the carriages?"

"Y-y-ye"

"S'alright mate, I got you," Harry helped him manage the stairs, "Just take some slow deep breaths."


Hermione followed along quietly until she heard the sound of whispering voices. She stopped following them and quietly went towards Ravenclaw tower.

"I hope you prefer these surroundings, Lord Ollivander, I know it must be difficult to go to my office. It's hard at times even for myself."

"Your hospitality and consideration are greatly appreciated, I'm certain I speak for myself and Lady Jiggers."

"Just keep me from the dungeons, I can't bear to see the place he spent those torturous hours before his death." She sniffed.

"Another reason to have a drink, my dear." The thick accent could only have been from her husband.

Hermione pressed herself against the wall, shoulder to shoulder with a suit of armor who looked down at her suspiciously with a low groan and squeak due to years of corrosion and stiff posture. She quickly dug through her robes and pulled out her wand and her badge, "Shh!"

The knight quickly straightened up and put his arm out to solute. Luckily, she had already placed a silencing charm on the rusted soldier.

"I for one am relieved you are here, Lord Ollivander. We need someone to make sense of all this," Flitwick's high pitch voice carried clearer than the others, causing her to scrunch her face in frustration as she strained to hear the rest of the conversation.

"Though the help is much appreciated, I assure you my team is handling this."

"No offense Minister, but your team has done quite enough…"

She left her satchel on the back of her chair in the Great Hall, and with it her Quill. Some Auror she was these past 48 hours, she thought angrily. She held her wand out and pointed it silently towards the Great Hall.

"You said he wasn't alone the night he passed?"

"No, sir. Potter and Granger were there for questioning."

"Questioning him for what? Contemplating the act before the deed?" Ollivander asked impatiently.

All three began speaking over each other in hushed voices. Hermione bounced on her heels impatiently as she kept her wand and open hand out towards the Great Hall.

"ENOUGH!"

Hemione jumped at the booming voice from the typically quiet and frail wandmaker. She peeked her head around the corner and spotted the door to the Flitwick's office cracked open. Light from the burning fireplace beckoning for her to take a peek. Their movements casting flickers of shadows.

"One of you better start making sense, and quickly," he hissed, "Not only for Lady Jiggers' peace of mind but for your own sakes!"

Hermione couldn't see anything where she was, so she slowly crept down the hall towards the open door after silencing herself. Kingsley and McGonagall were eyeing each other before taking turns speaking in hushed whispers. She watched Lady Jiggers gasp and sob, while her husband started cursing in German and taking tried to console her. She didn't expect to see Kingsley physically backing away from the much shorter man.

"You dare? Without speaking to me first?"

"Lord Ollivander, I acted and directed with the best intentions as Minister."

She ducked her head back and looked around the other corner for any signs of her missing bag, and cursed under her breath, 'How the hell did Harry get his Firebolt down to the pitch before the dragon burnt him to the crisp and I can't summon my bloody purse from three flights of stairs?!'

"You do well to remember who put you in that position and how easily you can be replaced!" With two fingers pointed at Kingsley's chest, the wandmaker let him have it, "Your late arrival to the Ministry and the Order were always suspicious to me, more so than Judas. Or did that slip your memory?"

"No, sir."

Hermione's eyes bulged, and she covered her mouth with both of her hands.

"I've already got Molly running around behind my back trying to make moves far above her House, now I have you running around getting people killed and asking the wrong questions. You do well to remember your loyalties, Vicar."

"Understood."

"Speaking of, does that woman have any moral bone in her body?" Lady Jiggers spoke up, "I almost fell apart passing the front gates and she wouldn't stop talking my ear off during dinner in the very room her son died!"

"Hey!" someone down the call called out.

She jumped and spun around but didn't see anyone. The sound of scraping chairs caused her to run down the hall from where she came. She could hear feet behind her and picked up the pace.

A hand reached out and grabbed her, "Hermione!"

She squeaked and spun around, "Oh, it's you! You scared me, Harry!"

"Where have you been? I was worried about you."

"I heard voices and I had to check it out," she tucked her hair behind her ears and straightened her clothes. His scowl caused her to scowl back at him suspiciously, "Where were you?"

"Helping out a friend who was having a panic attack. Never mind that," he shook his head angrily, "Do you hear yourself? You followed voices down an empty hallway after hours in the castle. How many times have you given me hell for that?"

She scoffed, "I don't have time to argue with you about this, we need to talk to Kingsley." She started to walk away from him.

"Are you even listening to me?" he called out to her.

THWACK

She spun around in time to see her summoned purse come up behind Harry and hit him on the back of the head with such force it knocked his glasses off his head and sent him to the floor.

"Harry!" she gasped as she rushed to his aide.