Chapter Seventy-Four: Nineteen Victims
Ginny Weasley – Present Day
April 30, 2001
Joshua Beckett
Johanna Beckett
Julie Beckett
Jonah Beckett
Graham Niesbett
Hannah Niesbett
Joseph Jones
Nile Smith
Heather Smith
Katy Smith
Sharon Butler
Jack Coulson
Heidi Coulson
Barry Mitchell
Leslie Mitchell
Douglas Bates
Maria Sanchez
Ginny sat at her desk and tugged at her hair frustratingly. She read the names over and over on the list in front of her that was handed to her by Neville two days ago and sighed. It appeared that Neville and Jessica had discovered that seventeen muggles had all been murdered recently in very similar ways. Not only were all the murders unsolved, but none of the cause of deaths could be determined. In addition to this, all seventeen deaths mimicked the two Fortescue deaths. What troubled Ginny even further was the fact that the muggle authorities failed to advise the Ministry of Magic. Ginny grabbed a nearby quill and added two names to the list:
William Berth
Sam Wriggins
There was no doubt in her mind that these murders were the same, which also meant that all these murders were used to create horcruxes. She thought back to a conversation she had with Hermione in the past and her theory that a random murder would not suffice and that it needed to be meaningful. Did that mean that all these victims were related, or were there multiple murderers? According to Neville, Jessica claimed that none of these people had any known ties to the magical world which made it that much more mysterious.
"Ginny?"
Ginny looked up to see Cho Chang standing in her office.
"What time is it?" Ginny asked her.
"About 9am."
"Sorry, I didn't hear you come in, I've been incredibly busy."
"Well, I am about to add to that. We've got eight new grievances today."
"Of course we do," Ginny grumbled.
Cho hesitated but then spoke. "You need some help, Ginny, you can't do this all on your own."
Ginny nodded, but before she could respond, she felt her galleon grow hot. She quickly grabbed it and read a message from Remus which advised of an Order meeting at 5pm. "What now?" she sighed out loud. It was never a good sign when an impromptu Order meeting was called.
"Anything I could do?" Cho offered.
Ginny thought for a moment, but then admitted defeat. "Yeah, actually there is. How many review meetings do I have this week?"
"Two tomorrow, but that's it for now."
"Okay, don't schedule anything else. Instead, put out an ad within the Ministry and the Daily Prophet that we are hiring. I need someone to handle these review hearings for me for a while."
"Shall I put the responses on your desk?" asked Cho, staring at the teetering files on the edge of the desk.
"No," Ginny laughed. "Pick the top candidates and give them to me and I'll meet with five next week. If I don't like any, we can move on to the next five and so on."
Cho nodded and handed her the stack of the eight new grievances. "You'll want to look at the bottom one now," she told her. "It's from Narcissa Malfoy."
"What a shock," she replied, rolling her eyes.
As Cho stepped out of her office, Ginny flipped to the grievance from the Malfoy matriarch and was not surprised to see that it was against Hermione. In order to uphold the duties of the Dobwig Association, Ginny had no choice but to review and investigate the complaint against Hermione, which, she very well knew, would implicate Hermione further. After thinking for a moment, Ginny picked up her quill again, grabbed a blank piece of parchment, and began to write:
To the attention of Narcissa Malfoy,
The Dobwig Association confirms receipt of your grievance, hereby referred to as docket 8719. In order for a review to take place, we do require that all information is provided to our office prior to the commencement of our investigation. Our records indicate that a break-in occurred at your residence in January of the year 2000, and for your safety, we require the details of said break-in to ensure that it is not connected to your current allegations against Miss Hermione Granger. As you are aware, section 62 of the Dobwig Association guidelines state that any suspicious activity must be reviewed by a member of the Association to ensure that every patron, magical or not, are safe from threat. Until such time that our office receives your completed grievance application, we will refrain from commencing an investigation. You may submit your amended application at your earliest opportunity.
Kind regards, Ginny Weasley
She put her quill down, re-read her letter, and smiled. She knew that this would not stop Narcissa from moving forward but at least she was able to buy a little time until she could figure out what to do. She then grabbed her list of now nineteen names, tucked it safely into her robes, grabbed the eight new files, and walked over to Cho.
"Please send acknowledgement letters on these seven files," she said, handing her the majority of the pile. "I will get to them as soon as I can."
"And the Malfoy application?"
"Send this," she said, providing Cho with her letter. "Then file it away. I don't want to see this file again until Narcissa writes back."
Ginny stepped out of the office and prepared to head home to her shared flat with Harry. She had a lot of thinking to do, and she would not be able to do so with any distractions from the Ministry.
"Ah, Miss Weasley," came the voice of Dolores Umbridge as Ginny was making her way to the lifts.
"What can I do for you, Dolores?" Ginny asked dully.
"The Minister has provided me with a petition that was received to have articles written in the Daily Prophet vetted by a Ministry Official before being released to the public."
'And?"
"And your name is on it."
"Yes," Ginny confirmed. "That should tell you about my position on this matter."
"Well, I require a statement from everyone on this list explaining their reasoning if you wish for it to be heard."
"Fine," Ginny responded annoyed. "When do you need it by?"
"Wednesday."
"Wednesday?" Ginny repeated. "That's in two days!"
"Forty-eight hours is more than enough notice. You'll find the time to write it if this matter truly is important to you."
Ginny turned back towards the lift and walked away. She didn't have the time nor patience to respond to her. She made a mental note to have it done, however; it was important to ensure that no article like the horcrux article would be released to the public again. As she waited for her lift to arrive, she thought of all the work she had ahead of her and for the first time in a very long time, she began to cry. She didn't know how long she could do this without Harry; she was overwhelmed, exhausted, and anxious to have her partner back. She allowed herself to get emotional until the empty lift arrived, then she took a deep breath and composed herself. She would do what was needed for Harry's sake and she would somehow get through everything, she just needed to take it one step at a time.
Remus Lupin – Present Day
April 30, 2001
Remus had just finished telling the Order members about the information given to him from Harry and Hermione. The pair had arrived at his house yesterday where they relayed their tale of the Death Eaters plan.
"Can we just bring 'em in, Minister?" asked Hagrid, when Remus finished speaking.
"I am afraid not. Given that Harry and Hermione are wanted with the Ministry, we cannot act on their word."
"And when do we stop with all this bloody protocol nonsense and just protect the lives of innocent people?" Minerva nearly shouted.
"I agree, Minerva," said Dora, "but we would implicate Remus that way as well."
"I don't care," Remus offered.
"But I do!"
"I hear your point, Minerva, truly," said Kingsley. "But this has always been the issue with the Ministry and if I bend the rules now, I can say goodbye to being Minister."
"No, as hard of a decision that it is to make, we need someone from our side running the Ministry," said Filius.
"Sadly, I agree," added Molly.
"That's why we take care of it ourselves," responded George. "This isn't the first time, and it won't be the last."
"What do we do? Round them up ourselves?" asked Angelina.
"We cannot do anything illegal," warned Kingsley.
"No, but I can legally bring in Crabbe," suggested Ginny.
"How so?" Molly questioned.
"He was never reviewed by the Dobwig Association as a Death Eater."
"You cannot detain him on no evidence though," a concerned Kingsley stated.
"No, but while under review I could at least strip him of magic, and I can take my sweet time reviewing him as well."
"I think that could work," Remus said.
"Mister Crabbe would never oblige," said Filius knowingly.
"Then the Aurors step in and pick him up. Not adhering to the Dobwig Association's requests is a strict violation of Ministry standards," Dora advised.
"That takes care of him, but what about the others?"
"With any luck, I can get Crabbe to talk and hopefully implicate the others. Until then, we need to monitor them ourselves; at least we know who they are."
"Nobody can find their way onto the Burrow property," Percy said. "So my family will remain safe there."
"Be sure not to step outside the Fidelius Charms protection under any circumstance," warned Remus. "Only leave by Floo."
Molly nodded. "We've learned that lesson the hard way, I am afraid; we know what to do now."
"I suppose that's that," Remus concluded. "Is there anything else while we are all gathered here?"
Neville cleared his throat. "Yeah, I think I might have something." He nervously walked to the front of the room and faced the Order. "So, uh, Jessica and I, we've been spending some time together for the sake of Amelia and so she knows a little bit about what's going on."
"You can't talk about Order matters with anyone outside of the Order!" Kingsley snapped.
"He never said it was Order stuff!" Ginny snapped back. "Besides, Jessica was at the Burrow for several months; she knows more than you think!"
"Continue, Neville," Remus smiled encouragingly.
"Okay, well, she's a muggle and so she follows the muggle news and she came across a list of names of muggles who were suspiciously murdered."
"Is there a significance to this list?" asked Minerva, trying to assist her old pupil.
"I think so," he responded. "They were all found the same way that Berth and Wriggins were found."
"Did we ever get any leads on those deaths?" asked Indira.
"No," answered Helen. "Hestia and I followed up on every possible lead but came up empty."
"I have the list here," Ginny offered, and passed the parchment around.
"I've looked into it," Neville continued, "and I think Jessica is on to something. The deaths are described the same way as the two Fortescue's, and we know that those were to be used for horcruxes."
"Surely you aren't suggesting that there are nineteen horcruxes out there?" gasped Minerva, grabbing her chest.
"I think we need to assume that there is," frowned Remus as he scanned the list just handed to him.
"We can have this investigated by the Ministry," Kingsley said. "I will have agents sent to speak with all the families and see what we can find."
"That alleviates some pressure off the Order," responded Remus.
"What about the Stone?" asked Dennis. "Nobody has located it yet."
"We're lookin' in the right place, so it'll be found soon enough," said Hagrid.
"I can take a crew back with me," Minerva offered. "There are no astronomy classes scheduled this evening, so nobody should be watching."
"I'll go," offered Dennis.
"Me too," said Angelina. "Lee's at the shop with George tonight."
"I would go, but I'm on the St. Mungo's shift tonight with Luna," said Neville.
"We cannot stop protecting the vulnerable, now more than ever. I can assist with the search," Minerva responded.
"Is that all for tonight, then?"
The room agreed that the meeting was adjourned for tonight, and so Remus and Dora apparated back to the flat where and anxious Harry and Hermione were waiting.
"What's the next move?" Harry asked, after Remus filled them in on the meeting.
"I don't really know," he responded honestly.
"Ginny is set to owl Crabbe tomorrow, so I'll be on standby to help bring him in, if need be," said Dora.
"We need to keep monitoring the Death Eater lair; it's how we are going to get intel," Hermione suggested.
"It's dangerous," Remus warned.
"Everything we do is dangerous," Harry shrugged.
"Hermione, I know you want to speak to Draco," Remus said carefully.
"I know that I can't," she responded frowning.
"Remus, it might not actually be a bad thing to have her speak to him," said Dora.
"You cannot be serious!"
"Hermione," said Dora, turning towards the girl and ignoring her husband. "What is your gut telling you?"
Hermione hesitated. "Draco will choose to do good when he can, but he's got a fight or flight mentality; he will do what is necessary to survive."
"Which is why he took Harry's cloak."
Hermione nodded. "It was the only way to save his father."
"Narcissa isn't going to let them use the Manor," Harry thought out loud.
"Which means Draco may be in danger," whimpered Hermione.
"So, I go to Narcissa."
"What?" Remus asked, bewildered. "Harry, what could you possibly say to her?"
"She wants Hermione gone," he started, but then he caught Dora's eye and looked away.
"It's a good plan," Hermione agreed, catching on.
"What am I missing?"
"Remus, Harry could cut some sort of deal with Narcissa," explained Dora.
"I don't think there's any deal out there that she will take that goes against the Death Eaters. She may not be one, but her loyalty will always be to that side."
"Draco is the most important thing to her, and I'm a threat because she knows how he feels about me. You eliminate me and she no longer has any worries about her son's future."
"It's a large risk."
"One I'm willing to take."
"There is no other option, Remus; we will protect her," Dora reassured him.
"I don't like it either," Harry agreed. "But we can pull it off."
Remus was silent for a while. "Fine," he sighed. "Let's figure out a safe plan."
Angelina Johnson – Present Day
April 30, 2001
Angelina was on her hands and knees deep in the Forest along with Dennis and Minerva, looking desperately for the Resurrection Stone. Hagrid had marked off the general area and slowly, they would each take a foot-by-foot square and turn every rock in that square thrice in hand to see which one was the Stone. So far, about fifty foot-by-foot squares had been roped off as completed, but still the Stone had not turned up. Angelina rose as she just finished her most recent square with no luck and went to rope off a new section to start her next search. She took a moment and looked over at Minerva who was also on her knees, digging amongst them to find it. Then there was Dennis who was very dedicated to the search; he had volunteered to search every time the opportunity arose. She smiled sadly as she watched him turn stones in his hands, thinking of the loss he had suffered and wishing she could bring him comfort. He placed the pile of stones he had just finished on the ground and reached behind him into an unsearched plot and grabbed two fists full of stones and dropped them into his pocket.
"Dennis?" she called out confused. "What did you do that for?"
"What?" he asked, with a deer in the headlights look about him.
"Put some unsearched stones into your pockets?"
"Oh, d-did I?" he laughed nervously. "I didn't even realize."
He emptied his pockets next to him and Angelina walked over and grabbed them. She turned them over three times, and, concluding that the pile did not contain the Resurrection Stone, she dropped them into an already searched plot. She then grabbed some rope and began to mark off a new plot next to him.
"What are you doing?" he asked her.
"Getting ready to search my next plot."
"Why right here?"
"Does it matter? This whole area needs to be searched."
"I, uh, work better alone."
Angelina rose without saying anything and walked over to Minerva who had just stopped to have a water break.
"Something is suspicious about him," Angelina whispered.
"You've noticed it too?" questioned Minerva.
Angelina nodded. "But I cannot place my finger on it."
"Did you know that he has been here for every available shift? At first I thought it was because he wanted to see poor Colin, and wanted the Stone for himself, but now I am not so sure."
"What makes you think it's something else?" she asked, but also agreeing that it felt like more than just that.
Minerva shook her head. "I'm not sure; it's just a feeling. Well, come on, let us find this Stone before he, just in case."
Angelina chose to make her plot next to Minerva and they continued in silence for another quarter of an hour, turning rocks over and over and waiting for someone from the dead to appear. She closed her eyes and counted to herself, one, two, three, as she passed the rocks between her hands, but nothing would happen, so she would grab another pile and begin again. One, two, three, then again, one, two, three. As she reached for her next group of stones, she saw a blackish green pebble that didn't appear like the rest. She grabbed it out of interest and turned it thrice in hand, then went to drop it into the finished pile, when she heard a voice beside her.
"Hello, love."
Next to her, was her beloved Fred. Panic setting in, she threw the Stone at Minerva, and Fred vanished.
"What -?" started Minerva, but Angelina shook her head and put a finger over her lips.
Minerva picked up the Stone and turned it thrice in hand and Angelina knew by the face she was making, that someone from the dead had just appeared to her too. Slipping the Stone into her pocket, Minerva gave Angelina a small nod, and then rose.
"Alright, Mr. Creevey, that is enough for today."
"I can go longer," he offered.
"It is not a debate, let us go."
The three of them left the forest together and walked to the apparition point just outside of the grounds. Dennis apparated away first and Angelina turned to Minerva.
"What now?" she asked.
"We do not tell anyone accept Potter directly that we found this."
Angelina nodded in agreement. "I saw Fred," she said sadly.
Minerva placed a hand on her shoulder. "That must have been difficult."
"More than I can explain," she responded, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"This Stone can be very dangerous and that is why nobody must know that it is in my possession, until I can hand it over safely to Potter."
"Okay," Angelina agreed, turning to leave.
"Wait, Ms. Johnson, there is more."
"Oh?"
Minerva sighed. "Colin Creevey appeared to me just now, when I turned the Stone over three times. He said only five words to me."
"What were they?"
"Do not trust my brother."
Draco Malfoy – The Past
June 1, 1999
Hermione giggled as Draco pushed her over the large couch and kissed her.
"Draco, this is wrong, we need to stop!"
"What's wrong about it?" he asked, not removing his lips from hers.
"We are in Hagrid's Hut!"
"Yes, and he isn't here!"
"That's what makes it wrong!" she laughed again, pushing him off. "He asked me to feed Fang while he was away, not to make out on his bed!"
"Well, we aren't on his bed, so no harm and no foul!"
Hermione laughed again. "Stop," she said, but she was smiling.
"I can't help it if I want to kiss you all day long," he said, reaching for her again. "We never get alone time; it's too hard to pass this up." He leaned in for a kiss and she returned it, and soon both their hands were wandering.
After a few moments, she pulled back. "Draco, stop."
He groaned. "I promise you Hagrid is not going to care!"
But he shook her head no. "It isn't that."
"Then what is it?" he watched her blush. "Oh."
"It's not that I don't want to!" she quickly said.
"You do?"
"Of course I do!"
"Oh," he smiled, reaching for her, but she pushed him back.
"Just not yet," she said.
"When?" he asked her, not unkindly.
Hermione shrugged. "I, uh, don't know."
"Hermione, we are ready for this. I've told you, you're the only one I want."
"Draco, when I do that for the first time, it's not going to be in Hagrid's hut."
"I can get us a room at the Leaky Cauldron?"
"That would be more suitable."
"Done, let's go," he said, walking towards the door, but she laughed again.
"Not now!"
Draco groaned. "I don't know how much longer I could physically wait."
She smiled weakly. "Maybe, on my birthday?"
"How about my birthday?" he suggested.
"That's four days away!"
"Perfect!"
"Draco!"
Draco sighed but put his arms around his witch. "Fine, your birthday then, but I want something on my birthday."
Hermione stiffened a little but nodded. "Deal."
The pair kissed for a little longer while Draco's thoughts went to wonderful places, and he couldn't wait to see what would happen in exactly four days.
Author's Notes:
Hello all! So we have a couple of big things happening here. First, the resurrection stone has been found! Also, looks like Harry and Narcissa may have a meeting soon, and could Hermione be going to see Draco? What's going to happen to Crabbe and his review? Also, let's not forget that Grindelwald is formulating a plan! Lots to see coming up! I'll keep this note short and sweet so thanks for checking out the fic so far and I'll see you at the next chapter!