Seeds of Seduction
Chapter 6: So Many Suspects
Hermione walked up the steps to her room and closed the door the door behind her. She threw off her black coat and kicked off her boots. Haphazardly, she threw her bag on the couch next to her bed. Throwing herself on her plush bed, she settled her head between the satin pillows and closed her eyes. Just as she was drifting into a doze, someone knocked on her door.
"Great," muttered Hermione as she pulled herself off the bed and staggered to the door.
"What is it?" asked Hermione irritably as she threw open the door. In front of her was Harry.
"Hey Hermione," said Harry stepping in, "You were great. Ginny and I were having a hard time trying to contain the laughter."
"I'm glad you enjoyed the show," said Hermione sarcastically," Now if you'll excuse me I'd like to get a few minutes of sleep."
"Sorry, sorry," said Harry holding out his hands, "I just wanted to let you know that Ginny and I are going to narrow suspects. We'll be back and tell you what we know in a couple of hours."
"Ok," said Hermione tiredly as Harry left her room.
Once more, Hermione closed the door and lay down on her bed. Within a few minutes she fell into a dreamless sleep.
. & .
Meanwhile miles away from Hermione, Draco and Lord Voldemort were discussing the events of the day. Ina dark and small room the two Death Eaters sat alone. Draco sat in a hard backed wooden chair and faced Voldemort who was sitting in a plush chair. His faithful pet, Nagini slowly slithered around the chair hissing menacingly.
"Draco," said the Dark lord coldly, "How did today go? Did that Mudblood fall for your false confession?"
"Yes she did My Lord,' answered Draco promptly, "She also claimed that she fell in love with me as well."
"She did? You verified her answer, no doubt?" asked the Dark Lord a hint of danger in his voice.
"Yes I did my Lord," said Draco with pride in his voice.
"When shall you be meeting this girl next time?" asked the Dark Lord.
"In two days. I'll try my hardest to get a meeting place from her," said Draco.
"I'm setting a deadline for you Draco. I'm only giving you a month and a half. It's the first of December today. You only have until the middle of January to give me information. If you fail you shall pay with your life, however if you succeed, you will rewarded beyond your wildest dreams," threatened Lord Voldemort.
"Yes sir," said Draco dutifully without the slightest hint of fear though inside he was shivering slightly.
. & .
Meanwhile Harry and Ginny were sitting in their bedroom. The curtains were drawn and the only light was coming from the rose candles that Ginny had lit. The fancy dark wood dresser and side tables gleamed at the flickering light that shone on them. Harry and Ginny sat on the cream comforter of their bed with a stack of files next to them. Ginny snuggled next to Harry as she opened the first file.
"Mhmm," murmured Harry as he kissed the top of her head.
"Harry," said Ginny, "Why are we looking through the folders instead of asking the Order."
"Gin," explained Harry, "It would be suspicious if we went around and asked for their alibi. We have no clue who the spy is; if we asked him or her, they would lie and tell the Dark Lord that they were under suspicion. There are a lot of members in the Order."
"Yeah," cut in Ginny wryly gesturing to the towering pile next to her, "About a 1000."
"But we can automatically remove some of them because we were talking to them while we were give away," reasoned Harry.
"You're right," said Ginny kissing Harry's cheek. "Thank God Dumbledore has these files on every member. It tells their previous history and actions. We can see who has a motive for destroying the Light or wanting revenge on Dumbledore."
Silence fell between the two for a while as they looked through the files. Occasionally, Ginny and Harry would ask the other if a suspect had been in the hall at the time of the betrayal.
"Gin," said Harry after an hour of unsuccessful files, "Here's a suspect and -"
'What?" exclaimed Ginny peering over Harry's shoulder, "Who is it?"
"Mundugus Fletcher," said Harry swallowing hard, "Gin, I just can't believe it could be him."
"What's his motive," said Ginny whipping out a piece of paper and moving closer to Harry who wrapped his arm around her waist.
"He was nowhere in sight that night," said Harry, "Come to think of it, where is he? I haven't seen him for a while. Dumbledore told me that he has been suspended from the Order for a while."
"What? Why?" asked Ginny her eyes full of worry.
"He continued importing stolen goods even after Dumbledore warned him not to," said Harry hurriedly, " Dumbledore said that he could remain a member of the Order and know what was happening; he just isn't allowed to fight in any battles."
"That's a motive,' said Ginny her eyes wide, "He could be mad and strayed over to Voldemort. After all, he DOES get drunk a lot. He could have let it slip that he wasn't able to fight over it. A Death Eater could have placed the Imperius curse on him. Harry, do you know when he was suspended?"
"Um," said Harry furrowing his eyebrows, "I think it was about a month ago?"
"That's too far back," said Ginny, "But this is a suspect. He has a huge motive and I really think that HE could be the spy. Hermione can use this."
"But," argued Harry.
"Harry," said Ginny, "You said that nobody could be trusted."
"That's true," admitted Harry. "You're right. I'm sorry."
"Don't be," said Ginny smiling at him radiantly, "Good job Harry," said Ginny as she kissed him.
"Is that all the thanks I get?" pouted Harry but he had a mischievous look in his eyes.
Ginny smirked as she kissed him more forcibly this time. Harry wrapped her small waist with his hands and pulled her down as he fell back onto the bed. The papers in the folder Ginny was holding flew all over the bed as he returned her kiss. Finally, a minute later, they broke apart and Ginny laid her head on Harry's chest listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart. Suddenly, Ginny yelped and broke away.
"Gin," said Harry urgently, "What happened?"
Ginny was staring at a piece of paper that was facing her. Harry pulled her close to him and picked up the paper. His face went white as he read the memos.
"Harry," gasped Ginny finally her face pale, " That… that piece of paper. Percy! He might be, he could be…"
"I can't believe it," said Harry swallowing hard and he held Ginny tight, "it can't be right."
"Harry," said Ginny as a tear fell down her face, "Tell me what it says. I can't read it."
"Gin," said Harry swallowing hard, "It says a lot of points that point towards him being the spy. Gin, I think we should discuss this with Ron when he comes back. I don't want to point fingers without having him here; he's on this mission as well."
"Ok," said Ginny though tears were falling down her face, "I just don't want, I CAN"T believe that he could do this."
"Shh," said Harry as he held Ginny close.
Ginny laid her head against Harry's muscular shoulders and closed her eyes. Harry kissed her forehead and slowly rocked her until her breathing became shallow and even. He then laid her lovingly on the pillows and kissed her one last time on her cheek. Waving his wand, he gathered the papers and returned them to the folder. Marking it with a black pen, he took Mundungus' and Percy's folders and put them in the drawer of the desk and placed a locking charm on it. For another few hours, he looked through the other folders but to no avail. Harry sighed and placed the files on his desk. Exhausted he lay down next to Ginny and placed his arms around her. She turned around and nuzzled her head in his neck. Closing his eyes, Harry fell asleep to the sound of her heartbeat.
. & .
An hour later a knock on the door woke Harry.
"What?" he mumbled sleepily.
Fazed, he looked around him and saw Ginny sleeping next to him. Gently, he extracted himself from Ginny and looked around; everything was hazy. Yawning, he felt around the dresser, found his glasses, and put them on. Stretching, he walked to the door and opened it.
"Oh hey," said Harry when he saw Ron standing outside with Hermione. "Come on in."
"Sorry for waking you up Harry," said Hermione.
"No big deal," said Harry who was now wide awake, 'let me wake up Ginny."
"You don't have," started Hermione but Harry went over and gently prodded Ginny.
After a few unsuccessful tries, Ginny started and sat up looking around her sleepily.
"Hey honey," said Harry softly kissing her on her nose, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm better," said Ginny rubbing her eyes blearily.
"Oh hey Ron, Hermione," said Ginny after a few minutes as she caught sight of them.
She got up and walked with Harry to the middle of the room.
"Hey Ron, Hermione," said Ginny nervously, "We made some really important advances this afternoon. One of them is really going to shock you but we felt that you really needed to know."
"Ok," said Ron slowly. He waved his wands and a wooden table and 4 chairs appeared.
Harry went over to the desk and brought out the two files. Ginny rummaged in her drawer and found her pad of paper and a pen. They walked over to Ron and Hermione who were sitting comfortably in the chairs and set down the files and pad. Harry and Ginny sat side by side and Harry cleared his throat. Hermione smiled as she and Ron looked at him expectantly.
"Me and Ginny looked through all the files of the members of the Order today," said Harry seriously.
"Did you find anyone with a really strong motive?" asked Ron.
"Yes," said Harry, "there were only 2 suspects out of all the members in the Order. We were able to eliminate most of them because we were talking to them while our identities were made known to Voldemort."
"Who was the first," said Hermione, "I need to know today because I do have to meet Malfoy tomorrow at the same café."
"The first is Mundugus Fletcher," said Harry carefully.
"Hold on Ron," said Harry quickly when he saw Ron's mouth open in protest, "Look Ron, I know that it seems unlikely but Dumbledore suspended him from the Order for a year because he was still importing stolen goods. However, he still knows additions to the Order, meeting of the Order, and other many valuable details. Moody told me that he was devastated and very furious when he was suspended. That's a very strong reason to stray over."
"I suppose so," said Ron. "What's the second suspect?"
Harry and Ginny exchanged nervous looks.
"Promise me that you won't blow your top until you hear our argument," said Harry but this request seemed to fuel Ron's interest.
"Yes, ok I promise, now tell me," said Ron impatiently.
"It's Percy Ron," said Harry.
"What?" gasped Hermione.
Just as Harry expected, Ron's face went white. In the matter of seconds, his face changed from white to red. A look of surprise crossed his face, which was replaced by anger in a few seconds.
"Harry," growled Ron pushing his chair back and standing up. His brown eyes were burning with anger. "You realize what you're saying don't you? YOU JUST ACCUSED ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF MY FAMILY OF BEING A DEATH EATER!"
"Ron," said Harry but Ron interrupted him.
"Harry," said Ron breathing heavily, "You went too far okay? I know he was a real prat in our 4th year but you have no right to call him a Death Eater. You are no longer--"
"Ron," said Ginny angrily, "Shut up and sit down. Percy's my brother too but you don't hear me making a fuss. Now will you shut up and let us tell our side."
"Percy's our strongest suspect," said Harry standing up, "There's an entire paper in his file that really states how much he hates Dumbledore."
"Oh, so just because he hates Dumbledore, he's going to betray us?" spat Ron.
"OK Ron," said Harry hotly, "You explain to me why your brother not killed a SINGLE Death Eater in his 3 years in the Order even though he went to all the battles?"
"Just because he hasn't killed a Death Eater doesn't mean," started Ron but Harry cut him off.
"Did you know Ron that Dumbledore had Percy SACKED in the Ministry?" asked Harry.
"Dumbledore sacked Percy?" said Hermione in disbelief.
"Yes," said Harry urgently, "That's the point. Has he ever mentioned to you that he was fired? In the beginning of this year, Dumbledore ran a private case against certain members of the Ministry for rebelling against certain laws the Minister had tried to pass. Percy was one of them."
"What were the laws about?" asked Hermione curiously.
"They were asking for harsher protection for Azkaban and punishments for Death Eaters," said Harry.
"Do you know any other people who were sacked?" asked Hermione.
"Yes, Lucius Malfoy was sacked along with McNair," said Harry. "Doesn't that strike you as funny that all these former Death Eaters were sacked and Percy was included. I mean only Death Eaters would not want harsher punishments for their fellow murderers."
"Harry," cut in Ron, "If Dumbledore suspected Percy, why did he allow Percy in the Order?'
Ron smirked as he saw Harry struggle with an answer.
"Look Ron," said Ginny, "We know that Percy is a soft-hearted person at heart. He would definitely try the plea that he personally didn't like the punishment to be any harder. Dumbledore would have believed him as he was already a member of the Order."
Harry smirked as Ron sighed; he knew that they had won the argument.
"Now look Ron," said Harry, "We are not 100 sure but they are the two strongest suspects that we have. Hermione needs to know; would you rather have all the suspects and be ruthless or be sweet and soft and eliminate people just because they're close to us? We can't leave anyone out Ron, no matter how close they are to us. It pains me if Percy was a Death Eater but I'd rather be wrong than be sorry."
"You're right," sighed Ron, "I'm sorry."
"It's ok," said Harry, "if a sibling of mine was accused of betraying the family, I would probably have reacted the same way."
"Ok guys," said Hermione, "I have my first official date with Malfoy tomorrow. Narrowing the suspects was a really big help you guys. I really appreciate that. I told Ron the plan and he believes that we need to start diminishing Voldemort's army now. He encouraged me to slip him a fake meeting spot tomorrow."
"Ok Hermione," said Harry, "That's not a bad idea but have you informed Dumbledore about this? He has to station enough aurors to overwhelm them. He also has a few tricks up his sleeve to hide the fact that they are losing more Death Eaters while we're losing only a few Aurors."
"Severus told me a few minutes ago that Draco only has a month and a half to get info out of me," said Hermione, "I think the sooner that I give him the info and diminish the Dark Lord's army, the better. And yes, I will tell Dumbledore that I plan on telling him the place tomorrow. Leave everything to me."
"Good luck Hermione," said Harry, Ron, and Ginny.
Hey! Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them!
Divya: Hi! Yes, I watched Kal Ho Naa Ho. You probably realized that small scene. I love Shah Rukh Khan. LOLL. Anyways, hope it's ok that I used it. I hope you keep reading!
Thanks to everyone who stuck with my story so far!