Chapter 8 – Do not go gentle.

Severus was reluctant to visit the ministry the next day, his excuse being that he didn't have anything to say that hadn't been said already and that he didn't feel he could further contribute to the investigation especially now they had a muggle investigator on board.

Harry thought that was a load of crap. It was more likely that Severus was just uncomfortable around muggles and that despite him advocating the need for one he felt no desire to be in the same room as them. He wondered if that was a result of his upbringing or the many years he spent under Voldemorts tuition.

He certainly wasn't game to ask. Instead he insisted that Severus would be useful even if only to keep things on track as he still had the gift of keeping a room quiet. Severus had raised his eyebrows to that, but didn't comment. He did however agree to accompany Harry to the Ministry.

The two of them arrived at the aurors headquarters to find the conference room fully prepared for their muggle visitor. The contents of the case file were spellotaped to the wall on the far side of the room in chronological order, including all the photographs and the two notes that the killer had left.

In front of the wall stood a young woman dressed simply in muggle clothes, blue jeans, a royal blue turtleneck and a black blazer, her brown hair pulled back into a pony tail. She studied the wall as if merely looking at it could reveal the killer to her.

Severus looked at Harry in surprise. If this was the muggle investigator it was not at all whom he expected. Harry just shrugged.

Jones appeared at the door beside them. 'Special Agent Sophie Bennett.' He said quietly gesturing to the woman, who hadn't seemed to notice they were there yet. 'She got here three hours ago and this was the first thing she did.' he pointed to the wall. 'She's been staring at it since she finished.'

'She did this?' Severus asked in surprise.

'Why are you surprised?' Sophie Bennett asked, turning to face them. 'Are you coming in or are you going to stand in the doorway all day?'

Harry could help but smirk at the sight of Snape speechless. Special Agent Sophie Bennett was young, slender and beautiful but yet had a sharp look about her, like if you said the wrong thing she'd turn into an insulted hippogriff and do you serious damage.

He moved into the room and held his hand out to her. 'I'm Harry Potter.'

She smiled slightly and shook his hand. 'I know. You're well known everywhere Mr. Potter. I'm Special Agent Bennett. Please just call me Bennett.'

Harry nodded tightly, irritated by her comment. He had been looking forward to meeting someone who didn't already know his name. He glanced over at Severus who had recovered himself and had sat down at the conference table frowning. 'This is Severus Snape.'

Bennett nodded at Snape. 'Your reputation precedes you as well Mr. Snape.'

Severus stared back at her, his arms folded tightly across his chest. 'This is your work?' he asked, gesturing to the wall behind her.

'Yes. I find it easier to make sense of a case when I can see it easily laid out for me. A wall is easier than a conference table.' Bennett said, turning back to look at it. 'If I look at it long enough l see connections.'

'And have you seen any connections?' Snape asked coolly.

Sophie Bennett turned again and looked at Snape, holding his glare and matching it with one of her own. 'A few.' She said. 'There's much that needs explaining though.'

'Obviously.'

Bennett crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. 'Why don't we wait until everyone has arrived before we get into this?'

'That's fine.' Harry said quickly, nudging Severus's side with his elbow. He still had a frown on his face.

Harry didn't really understand why Severus was reacting to Bennett like this. She seemed highly intelligent, and well aware of the wizarding world and how it worked. For example she showed no awe or surprise at the fact that the people in the crime scene photos were moving, she had either seen wizard pictures before or she was very good at hiding her surprise. Then there was her use of spellotape. Harry was surprised at Severus. Given his insistence that they bring in a muggle to help with the investigation he had assumed he'd be a bit more welcoming. He supposed old habits die hard, and Severus was never the welcoming type.

They were soon joined by the rest of the team and got down to business. Bennett quickly explained the muggle way of tracking and investigating muggle serial killers in particular the use of profiling the killer to try and understand motive, intent and possible suspects as well as potential victims.

The profile the FBI had come up with strongly suggested that their killer was a half blood, someone who had grown up in an abusive family with a strong hate towards magic.

Harry felt distinctly uncomfortable at this point since that was exactly the environment that he had grown up in, but if Bennett was aware of that she gave no sign of it and no one else commented on it.

Bennett then went on to say that the killer was probably a very gifted wizard, most likely a male, and thus hated his own identity given his violent upbringing.

When she finished it was Blaise Zabini who spoke first. 'While this is all very interesting how exactly does that help us catch them?' He drawled, managing to sound as derisive as possible.

'It helps narrow down your list of suspects.' Bennett said. 'Assuming you have a list that is. And if you don't it helps create one.'

Harry smirked.

'How does this case present in comparison to the cases you work on in the muggle world?' Jones asked. 'How can you be sure this profile as you call it is correct if we're dealing with a wizard and not a muggle?'

Severus cut in – 'Wizards and muggles are both humans Jones. The psychology of one is comparable to the other.'

'That's true.' Bennett said. 'I've worked on many cases in the wizard world. I'm sorry to say that evil exists everywhere, not just among us mere muggles.'

'I didn't mean to insult you' Jones said. 'It just seems to me to be so imprecise. Like you're just making it up as you go along.'

'If all my job entailed was to make something up, I wouldn't have travelled halfway across the world to assist you.' Bennett said patiently. 'I can only assure you that this works. It's tested and proven to be effective. You don't need magic to find answers all the time you know. The brain is a powerful tool on its own.'

'So where do we go from here?' Prewitt asked.

'Our best lead at present are the two notes that the killer has allegedly sent.' Bennett said. 'I understand that there is no magical trace left on these notes and therefore no magical way to determine if they were in fact sent by the same person?'

'That's correct.' Blaise said.

'What about fingerprints?' Harry asked.

'Both notes have been fingerprinted and we're waiting for the results.' Bennett said. 'Don't get your hopes up though. Even if the killer was foolish enough to leave prints on the notes they'd still have to be in the system already for it to do us any good. It's possible that they may have been fingerprinted if they grew up in our society but unlikely.'

'But can we take the finger prints of anyone who is a suspect to match them?' Jones asked.

'Do you have any suspects?' Bennett asked.

'We have a few.' Prewitt said.

Harry seriously doubted that was true. So did Bennett if her raised eyebrow was any indication.

'Like I said. Don't get ahead of yourselves. We may not even find a print.' She said quickly. 'We need to focus on any connections between the killer and his victims. Starting with you Mr Potter.'

Harry.' Harry automatically corrected her.

'Why do you think that he sent you the first note?' Bennett asked.

'I have no idea.' Harry answered honestly. 'It's not like I'm a prominent feature in wizard society any longer. I have no idea why he fixated on me.'

Severus snorted. 'Oh please Potter. If he's a half blood, talented wizard who had a terrible up bringing you don't think he would identify with you? Especially given the knowledge that you are the so called hero of the wizarding world who vanquished the most powerful wizard who ever lived?'

'Dumbledore was the most powerful wizard who ever lived.' Harry said instantly. 'Not Voldemort.'

Prewitt flinched. Severus narrowed his eyes at Harry, who shrugged.

Severus looked away. 'Really Prewitt?' he said scathingly. 'All these years later and you still can't hear the Dark Lord's name?'

'All these years later and you still call him the Dark Lord?' Prewitt snapped back.

There was silence.

Bennett leaned back in her chair. 'Can we get back to it please?' She asked. 'Harry it does indeed seem very likely that the killer has identified with you though in what way I'm still not entirely sure. It could be seen as a challenge, like he's daring you to catch him. Or it could be that he feels a connection with you, as someone who has experienced similar things and might feel the same way he does.'

'I can only hope it's the former.' Harry said making a face. 'I don't want to be a poster boy for the psychotic.'

'Why not, you're the poster boy for everyone else.' Snape muttered.

Harry glared at him.

Snape sighed. 'No matter the motives here it is clear to us all that Harry is a target. I have to suggest that he be either placed under surveillance or moved to a more remote and secure location.'

'We've been down this road Snape. I don't want to leave my home whether I'm a target or not.' Harry said tiredly, running his hands over his face and into his hair.

'Are we actually certain that he is a target?' Blaise asked suddenly. 'I mean sure the first note was sent to him but the second was sent here.'

'After the first note was received I placed extremely strong charms on Potters property in regards to post.' Snape said. 'Nothing would be able to get through now; perhaps that's why it was sent here.'

'There were already strong anti-post charms on my property thanks very much.' Harry said indignantly.

Snape rolled his eyes. 'You had anti junk mail charms Harry. Not exactly strong enough to keep out anything offensive.'

'Have you both considered that it may have been foolish to block the killers' avenue of contact?' Bennett asked.

Snape gave her a glare that would have made Harry cringe, but Bennett just gazed steadily back at him. 'Why would anyone be so foolish as to let a killer have access to their home, in whatever avenue?' Snape asked her.

'If you want to catch them sometimes you have to bait them.' Bennett said. 'Harry you should lift these charms and hope that the killer contacts you again. We can set up proper surveillance both magic and muggle and see what happens. Cases have been broken on far less.'

'No way.' Snape said. 'Far too dangerous.'

'I'm talking to Harry.' Bennett said icily. 'And I'm not suggesting that he stay there if that's what you think. Harry is there somewhere else you can go to wait this out? Somewhere you feel comfortable with?' Her expression changed when she looked at Harry and a small smile played across her lips.

Harry looked quickly to Severus, who was still glaring at Bennett, but their eyes quickly met across the table and Severus gave a slight nod which Harry took as an invitation to stay with him. 'Yeah I have somewhere.'

'Good.' Bennett said standing up. 'Then if we're all in agreement I think this is the best place to start.'

'Just one more question.' Harry asked. 'The second note, was it another copy of David Berkowitz or has he moved onto to someone else?'

Bennett raised her eyebrows at Harry. 'I'm impressed that you recognized the first as David Berkowitz.'

Harry just shrugged. 'It wasn't hard.'

'It wasn't from Berkowitz. It was from the so called Zodiac Killer.' Bennett said shortly.

'And who was that exactly?' Snape asked.

'We don't know. He was never caught.' Bennett answered, pushing a stray piece of hair from her eyes. 'I think our killer made the switch to prove a point. That he won't be caught either. That or he's not capable of originality.'

'I say let's catch this guy as quickly as possible to prove him wrong.' Harry said.

The meeting broke up fairly quickly after that and Harry and Severus headed out the door. Harry looked at Bennett for a few moments before he left; there was something truly admirable about her, perhaps just the ease at which she discussed magic. Whatever it was he liked her a lot.

'Stop staring at her Potter.' Severus growled.

'I just find her interesting is all.' Harry said absently, turning to leave. 'I like her.'

'I don't.' Severus said shortly.

Harry knew better than to press him further, but for a minute he almost thought that Severus sounded jealous.

…

By the time they had arrived back at Harry's place Severus had calmed down somewhat and was busy instructing him on what he needed to pack, and how quickly he wanted to leave.

Eventually Harry held up his hands. 'Stop it. I'm a grown man, I'll take what I believe I need and we'll bloody well leave when I'm ready!'

Snape stood in the door way to his study and folded his arms across his chest. 'Fine but if you forget anything I'm not coming back for it.'

Harry frowned at him. 'I don't get why you think you're place is so safe anyway. It's not different to mine.'

'Mine is more secure, and you know it.' Severus snapped. 'How many times do we have to go through this? No notes were left on my door step. No killer has crossed my threshold.'

Harry couldn't help but smirk a little. 'Crossed your threshold?' he questioned. 'Really?'

Severus just glared at him. 'You always did think that your safely was a big joke. It seems as though that's still the case.'

Harry just shrugged. 'I suppose I'm so used to it that it just feels normal to me. In fact I feel more alive and a part of things since this whole mess began than I have in years.'

'Perhaps you shouldn't have chosen to isolate yourself quite so efficiently then.'

'It started before I isolated myself.'

Severus took hold of Harry's shoulder gently, and turned him to face him. 'Harry I know you don't want to leave here, and I know the thought of returning to my home is repellant to you but surely you must realize that it isn't safe for you to stay? Particularly once I lower the wards?'

Harry was caught by surprise at his tone. He looked into Severus' eyes and felt a flutter in his stomach. 'I don't find the thought of returning to your home repellant. I just don't want to isolate myself again. I want to solve this case, I want to do it quickly, and I'm worried about Ron and Hermione.'

Severus took his hand away. 'Hermione is a very gifted witch Harry. I am sure they are and will be fine.'

'I love the fact that you're choosing to admit that she's gifted now.'

'Now, it's true.' Snape admitted. 'It wasn't then.'

'Bullshit.' Harry said flatly. 'Did you check on them earlier?'

'When exactly was I supposed to do that?'

'I'll do it now.' Harry said absently. He had a rolling feeling in his stomach, like the world was about to spin out of control.

'Harry? Are you okay?' Snape had taken his elbow again.

Harry nodded slightly. 'I'm fine, I just have a feeling. '

'What kind of feeling?' Severus asked quietly.

'I'm just a bit dizzy that's all. It's nothing.'

But it wasn't nothing, and Harry had the most urgent desire to leave right now – that he had to do nothing else but get to Ron and Hermione's.

'Snape you can take the rest of my stuff to your place can't you?' He said shaking off Severus's arm.

Severus widened his eyes in surprise. 'Yes but – '

Harry was gone. He had apparated right from the living room through several layers of wards.

It wasn't possible.

The trickle of fear that had been growing inside Severus ever since that note had been delivered to Harry's front door was growing larger by the second.

…

When Harry arrived at Ron and Hermione's he really had no idea what to expect. He couldn't explain why it was so important to him to get there in such a hurry, he only knew that he had to see them both right then, right that very second.

His first notion that something was wrong was that the wards were down. After that he didn't think much of anything and he pushed open the front door slowly with his left hand, while pulling out his wand with his right.

Peeking around the corner of the door he could see that the place was in shambles. It looked like it had been trashed. There was upended furniture everywhere and what looked like a bowl of soup had been thrown at the opposite wall. Harry pushed open the door completely and stepped into the room, his wand held out in front of him.

The color drained from his face as he saw Ron crumpled on the floor, blood freely flowing from a wound on his head. Harry rushed to him and quickly checked his pulse; he was still alive but barely.

There was a noise, ever so slight. A shuffling came from the bedroom and he heard what he thought was a whimper. Harry left Ron and bolted to the bedroom, wand outstretched, as a terrible red haze came over him.

He stood in the bedroom doorway in horror as he saw Hermione in what appeared to be a full body bind tied up in the corner of the bedroom. She was propped up against the wall her eyes wide in terror, her form frozen.

It was then that Harry noticed the gun pointed at her head and as he watched the killer cock the gun whatever small vestiges of sanity that remained inside him snapped.

He raised his wand at the killer and without hesitation screamed 'Avada Kadavra!'

…

A/N – so I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I updated this story but it is my intention to update it much more frequently now. I want to finish it. Please keep reviewing and enjoying – all reviews are welcome good or bad. In fact bad ones help me to become a better writer!