An uneasy silence settled over the group for a moment only to be punctuated by short, panicked gasps.
"Veronica?" Duncan asked, concerned.
"It's just…I can't…he can't be…" Veronica stopped, sobs overtaking her.
"Shhh," Duncan whispered, pulling her close, looking slightly startled by her breakdown. This new Veronica was tough, she never cried in front of people. He had only seen her do so on two occasions: when she found out the truth about Shelley's party and when she realized the bus crash may have been meant for her.
Logan stepped over and squatted down next to them. "Veronica…Veronica, look at me."
Slowly, Veronica lifted her head off Duncan's chest, swiping at her eyes. "What?"
"If anyone can relate to what you're feeling right now, it's me. That asshole is my…my father."
A shadow of a smile flickered at the corners of her mouth. "Yeah, I guess so. I just don't understand why anyone would steal those tapes. If they weren't missing, he'd still be rotting in prison where he belongs." Aaron's lawyer had literally jumped for joy when he heard of the tapes' disappearing act and, apparently, had immediately bribed every judge in Balboa County, most of whom were friends of Aaron's and hadn't believed the charges to begin with, to dismiss the statutory rape and murder charges and allow Aaron out on bail for the attempted murder and assault charges. It was Neptune at it's finest.
Logan looked away, guilt darkening his boyishly cute features. "Yeah," he whispered.
Harry cleared his throat, reminding the three that he and his friends were still there and that the entire restaurant was staring at them with undisguised curiosity.
Veronica sat up, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Sorry. I don't…really have an explanation, actually. None that wouldn't take a whole day, anyway."
"It's quite alright…" Hermione trailed off, her gaze drifting to the window. She whipped back around and continued, "We have to be going now, anyway."
"What –?" Harry was cut off by a stomp on his foot, which he passed on to Ron when he opened his mouth the echo Harry a few seconds later.
"Let's go," Hermione said, her voice deceptively cheery as she shot her friends dark warning glares.
Ron still looked confused, but thankfully didn't say anything as they bid the Americans goodbye and exited the café.
Veronica watched them go, curiosity niggling at the back of her mind. She shook it off, turning back to the crisis at hand. "We have to find those tapes."
Duncan and Logan stared at her in surprise. "How do you propose we do that, Nancy?" Logan asked.
"Well, Joe, we start by getting Internet records for every computer in the Sheriff's Department. They all received emails from someone asking for the tapes. We just have to trace the email address to find our thief."
"And what if this thief doesn't have the tapes anymore?" Logan avoided her gaze as he asked this.
"Then we find out who does." Three stared at one another for a long moment. "Frank, Joe, let's get cracking. We've got some tapes to find."
-x-
"What was that all about?" Harry asked as soon as the door to the restaurant swung shut behind them.
"I saw one of Fawkes's feathers appear in the window," Hermione explained. "We should get back to Grimmauld Place."
"Right. Should we hide behind the dumpster and Apparate back?" Harry asked.
Hermione nodded her consent and a few minutes later they were standing on the deadened grass in front of Number 12, Grimmauld Place. The sight of the house still caused a dull ache in Harry's heart along with a flood of bittersweet memories. They approached the heavy front door but before they could even climb the cement stairs onto the stoop, the door swung open with a bang. Remus Lupin hurried out and rushed them inside.
"You know it's not safe to linger outside headquarters," he admonished them as he carefully shut the door, so as not to wake Mrs. Black portrait.
"Right, sorry," Harry said quickly. "What happened? We saw the feather."
Molly Weasley bustled into the hall. "It's nothing terrible, dear. You just need to clear the rest of your belongings out of the Dursleys' before they get rid of it."
Harry frowned.
"Would you like me to go for you?" Mrs. Weasley offered, seeing the dark look on his face.
"No, it's fine," Harry assured her. "I'll just take Ron and Hermione to help me, if it's okay with them."
"Of course," his friends said in unison.
-x-
"Well, that's the last of it," Harry declared, handing a box to Hermione. The whole process had only taken about ten minutes. He had never had many possessions. The Dursleys had been kind enough to see to that. He, Ron, and Hermione each had only a small box that they would Floo back to Grimmauld Place with.
"You're leaving, then?" Vernon asked eagerly. "For good?"
"Yeah and trust me, no one is happier about it than me," Harry informed him. He wanted to watch his uncle's amazing color-changing face one last time.
Predictably, Vernon's face turned redder than usual and he began spluttering. "You – the nerve – how dare you!"
"Well, goodbye," Harry called a few minutes later, after Vernon had calmed down, before stepping close to the fireplace and digging in his pocket for a bit of Floo powder.
The Dursleys had returned to their time-honored 'ignore Harry' routine and were focused on the television. Harry was about to leave when he heard a familiar name: Veronica Mars. He turned back and quietly watched the news story on an actor who had slept with and killed his son's girlfriend and then kidnapped and tried to kill that same son's new girlfriend, Veronica, when she discovered the truth. A picture of Veronica dirtied and bleeding, standing next to her heavily bandaged father as he lay on a stretcher, convinced Harry of the idea that had been formulating in the back of his mind ever since they left the restaurant. He had to help Veronica. If only so that he had a chance at winning back his 'Most Screwed-Up Teen' award.
---x---
Hope you all liked it. I'm terribly sorry for the wait. I've had no time and a horrible case of writer's block. But hopefully that's gone now so I should be updating a bit more frequently. No promises, but I'm trying.