Harry Potter & the Price of Mercy

by: NecessaryEvil

Chapter Sixteen: Ron P.I.

Disclaimer: Not mine, wish they were. I could use the money.

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers. Sorry for the months of delay, but life happened and I suddenly had to use nights to sleep. Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner.

Ron woke up Tuesday morning to the feeling of sunlight streaming down through the windows above his bed. For a fraction of a second his mind was peaceful, thinking, 'this is how things ought to be,' and then his memory kicked in and all the peace and tranquility went away, to be replaced, not by pain, longing, and sadness as they had the past few mornings, but by anger and a new sense of purpose. He, Ron Weasely was going to make Sayuri's killer pay. It didn't matter to him if it took him a year or a thousand years, the bastard who had killed the woman he loved was going to pay dearly for what had been done.

But first, Ron though to himself in a calm way that belied his rage, I have to figure out who killed her, and that's not going to be easy. Indeed this was the case, as no one had witnessed the event. There were no paintings in the hallway and no house elves traveled down it unless called, for it was a very clean hallway. Ron had learned a thing or two about crime investigation from his brothers, because they had become experts in order to avoid being caught after they pulled a prank, leave no evidence and you're home free, had been their motto.

But first, Ron thought, I have to get out of bed, because you can't make any progress on an investigation while you're sitting in bed. He got up and looked around and found Harry searching every corner of the room for something. He watched him for a few more minutes before asking, "Lose something. mate?"

Harry started at the sound of Ron's voice before turning around and looking at his friend, "Oh, you're up. I was just looking for my dad's old silver ring, have you seen it? It's plain looking really, but it's kind of important that I find it,"

Ron looked at his friend for a moment before saying, "No, I haven't seen it, I'll keep an eye out for it though,"

Harry looked rather relieved, "Thanks, mate. So you going back to classes yet?"

Ron paused for a moment before saying, "Not quite yet,"

Harry seemed to think he understood as he nodded and left without another word. Ron smiled grimly about how well he and Harry thought they knew each other, but how little they actually knew. He for example had no idea how Harry managed to vanish the second Ron looked away, or why that fight in Diagon Alley had started and Harry had no idea that Ron would not rest soundly until Sayuri's killer had been brought to justice or that Ron wanted the honor of doing it himself

***

Ron decided that the best way to begin the investigation was to interview the person who had found the body. Padma had been sent to the Hospital Wing psych ward when people noticed that she hadn't uttered a single word besides a very anguished 'NO' for two days. When Ron entered the Ward he found it more full than he had expected. A dozen students sat in various areas of the ward doing magic that was amazing and disturbing at the same time.

A boy with dark hair that matched the circles around his eyes was staring into a mirror and seemingly distorting its image so that it showed him as five years younger and alone in a dorm, the knob of the door rattling as though someone was trying to get in. A girl with short blue hair was forming a very beautiful dress out of pure black magic. And others were doing various things of intensities between these two.

Padma was sitting on a bed in the corner hugging her knees and whispering over and over, "No. No," and staring into space a vacant look to her eyes that told him she was not all there. He walked over to her and said, "Hullo Padma," she looked at him for a moment and then whispered "No," and looked back into the space in front of her. Ron did not let her apparent lack of coherent thought stop him, he merely leapt into his questioning, "Did you see anything strange when you found the body Padma,"

Padma went completely silent and still and then turned to Ron with blank eyes. At that moment, staring into the depths of Padma Patil's eyes Ron knew that he would get nothing from her and that she was suffering as much, if not more, than he was. He got up to leave, but Padma grabbed the hem of his cloak and croaked out, "There was silver," before turning away and starting to murmur incoherently. Ron considered this comment a moment before turning and walking out of the hospital wing and towards the Ravenclaw wing.

***

Dumbledore had told Ron that nothing had been moved at the crime scene since Padma had found the body, so Ron felt that he would have and easy enough time investigating it. He however wanted it done quite thoroughly, so he asked for help from someone he knew could investigate the very magic that had been cast here. He would have asked Harry, but he felt that this investigation should be taken up by people who had been close to Sayuri, and while Ron had absolute faith that Harry would jump at the chance to help, Harry and Sayuri had only ever talked once, so Ron decided to go with Cho, someone who had known Sayuri for years and someone he trusted.

He and Cho stood in the hallway, Ron investigating the physical crime scene while Cho investigated the power that had been left behind. Ron looked around the hallway and as he did he asked, "What do you see?"

Cho was silent for a moment before saying, "The hallway is coated," she paused for a moment, looked around some more and the walked to a point in the middle of the hallway facing in the direction of the Great Hall and said, "From here on down the hallway the walls, the floor, and the ceiling are completely coated with pure magic. It's almost as if it hadn't been focused by a wand,"

Ron vaguely noted her comment, but was distracted by a glint that he saw near the wall not three feet from where Cho was standing. Ron walked over and picked up the pure silver ring that was laying there embedded in a crack in the stone floor. He examined it absently before saying, "I think we're about done here. Thanks for your help. I think I'll interview a few witnesses next,"

"Didn't you already try Padma?" Cho asked.

"I'm think of witnesses as to the whereabouts of my new prime suspect," Ron said coolly.

***

The first witness on Ron's list just happened to be his little sister. Ginny had slept in the Common Room that night and thus would have seen all comings and goings from the tower. Ron found her coming out of Potions and pulled her aside and started out very abruptly, "Did you see anything unusual happening in the Common Room the night that she died?"

Ginny didn't lose a beat, "Not really, but I was paying very much attention. Me and Hermione were going over all the possible reasons Harry could have of leaving the Common Room with a big bag of stuff in tow,"

"Harry wasn't in the dorms?" Ron asked.

"No, we tried to follow him, but when he got outside the portrait hole he did that disappearing thing he does,"

"Right," Ron replied, "Thanks,"

***

Ron of course figured that Hermione, no matter her conversational topic, would be more perceptive of the world around her, so she was next. He found her at lunch and asked her what she had seen on the night of the murder while she was in the common room.

"Well nothing much really. Me and Ginny were talking about Harry's odd habit of sneaking out at night and how distant he had been since Sayuri's mom had turned in Sirius, but no one else was really there except for Neville up in the dorms, but we could hear him sleeping from where we were,"

Ron nodded, "I think that's all I need from you, " was all he said before walking away.

***

Ron sat in the armchair in front of Gryffindor Fire waiting for his floo call to got through as he went over what he had learned in his mind. Finally the head of Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror with whom he had met previously when his father had taken him to the ministry, appeared in the fire. Kinglsley smiled slightly when he saw Ron, but that smile was replaced by a business like frown when Ron said, "I'm pretty sure I've just figured out who killed Himiko Sayuri,"

A/N: The Plot sickens. Tune in next time for Quidditch and possibly the answer to who Ron has discovered to have killed Sayuri.