Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Irrelevant
Disclaimer: The universe of Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling, but the plot is all mine. ;)
A/N: This is an older story that I wished to publish here, and the whole idea of it was to write a mystery with a VS. theme and then put the different characters in a different order, so the reader would have to figure out for him-/herself in what order the events occurred. I don't know how well I managed, but I at least had fun writing it. :) So please enjoy, and remember that the chapters are not in the correct order - you need to figure them out for yourself! /Piper.
The Hogwarts Murders – Vol. 1
Potions was really taking up all his time nowadays - he almost did not have time for Quidditch practice anymore, let alone time to spend with his friends. He almost regretted being so persistent on becoming an Auror; it took a lot of effort. Had it not been for Umbridge, Professor McGonagall never would have vouched for him and he would not have been stuck with Snape for another two dreadful years. Being subjected to his sallow malice in a class full of Slytherins (plus Hermione) was one thing, but receiving a solid, mocking T on all his homework was truly aggrevating. Therefore an obligatory nightly walk really stimulated his senses and rid him of all frustration.
At least until tonight.
Harry was rounding the corner to the library, intending to go ahead down a couple more corridors before turning back, and almost collided with a dark shape emerging from an old tapestry. A tall, lean figure with silver blonde hair and cold, calculating eyes that glowed a fluorescent grey-white in the moonlight was towering before him. Draco Malfoy. The last person that Harry wanted to meet in a dark corridor. The Slytherin's last attempt to perform the Cruciatus curse on him was still very fresh in his memory, and he did not feel up to another exposure to excruciating pain at the moment.
The blonde sneered. "Didn't think I'd meet you here, Potter," he said unpleasantly, "but then of course you love to break the rules. You do know that the school is out of bounds at this hour, don't you, Potter?"
Harry felt the familiar pent-up rage building up inside of him, and he had the feeling that he was about to do something stupid. Clenching his jaws, he said, "What are you up to, Malfoy?"
"Oh, nothing that you have any business in. Now scurry off to your bed and I'll let you go for this time."
"What? You're losing your touch, Malfoy? Can't even reprimand a simple Gryffindor now?" He knew he should not be mocking him, but it was so hard to resist.
He made to walk past Malfoy, but the blonde grabbed the sleeve of his robes and held him back. "Don't push it, Potter. You're already getting at my nerves as it is. I should take points from you for disobeying the school rules."
"Really, what's the use, Malfoy? I'll just win them back anyway. Face it, you'll never amount to me."
Draco's grip hardened. "You'll wish you'd never said that!" he hissed in a true Slytherin spirit. And with a quick flick of his hand he had withdrawn his wand from his inner robes pocket and pointed it straight at Harry. "It will only take me an A and a K," Draco continued, and Harry had no illusions about this being less than a mortal threat. He backed away from the blonde, but then, acting on a crazy whim, he charged at Draco, knocking the blonde opponent off his feet. The Slytherin made a queer dance in mid-air, flailing his arms wildly around before touching down on the foot of a statue, the back of his head hitting the stone hard before coming to rest on the cold marble floor.
Harry fought for his balance, all the while expecting Draco to get up and utter the curse that he had recently threatened to throw at Harry, but the Slytherin remained still, unmoving. The sudden quiet of the night made Harry quiver. When he realised that Draco was not going to get back up on his feet, he gasped for breath, simultaneously understanding what he had done.
Blood poured out of the wound in the back of Draco's head, colouring the floor. But it was no cheery colour - not to Harry. Shaking and shivering to the bone, he kneeled beside the blonde's limp body, carefully shaking him. "Draco?" No reply. Of course there was no reply - he was dead. "Draco, please wake up, please don't be dead, please don't..."
Terrified of himself, Harry turned and ran as fast as he could, just ran - away from the truth of his crime. Later he found himself in the trophy room, chanting "Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God" while unconsciously - and unintentionally - making all the trophies swirl around the room, clinking against one another. He was vaguely aware of Professor McGonagall turning up and asking, "What is going on in here?" Screaming, "I saw him!", Harry fled from the scene. Hours later he found himself deep inside the Forbidden Forest, huddled against a tree, weeping.
It was assumed that a dark wizard had somehow gained entry to Hogwarts with the intention of killing Harry Potter, but instead had wound up murdering Draco Malfoy. Supposedly the young Slytherin Prefect had been at the wrong place at the wrong time. There were even rumours saying that Malfoy had tried to save Potter. Frightened for his life, Harry had fled and never returned. This was what they all believed until the day two years later when Ron got a call on a fellytone and heard Harry say, "I killed him."