Hermione sighed as she made her way to school, feeling rather awful about yesterday. Bags had formed under her eyes and her skin had gotten pale, she hadn't even fully brushed her hair either so it was more frizzy then it was yesterday. She stopped walking and looked behind her, for some reason she felt as though someone was watching her.
"Hello?" She called out, "Is anyone there?"
Silence was the only answer she got, so she kept walking, though a bit more cautiously this time. As she made her way to the school gates, her heart leapt into her throat. There were dozens of police cars parked in the school's lot, and officers were heading into the building. Sweat began to pour down her forehead as she watched the officers intently. In fact she was so focused on what she was doing she nearly jumped into the air when she felt someone tap her shoulder.
"Ahh!" She screamed as she whirled around to see a confused Ron who had his hand outstretched.
"Er, Hermione are you alright?" Ron asked.
Hermione glared at him as she held a hand over her beating heart,
"No I'm not alright!" She snapped at him, "You nearly gave me a heart attack Ron!"
"Oh, sorry."
"Anyway, did you hear about Malfoy's dad's death?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded, it was all the news stations could talk about today. They kept going on and on about the 'hidden connection' between Quirrell and Lockheart which lead to their deaths, seemingly more excited about talking about the crime rather than the people. She figured that give or take a few weeks, the media stations would switch to a different topic entirely, they were rather fickle like that.
"Yeah well guess what, apparently the police found out that the killer goes to our school," Ron continued, "It's kind of creepy to think that there's been a psycho killer hiding here in plain sight."
"O-oh." Hermione said, desperately wishing the conversation would move onto something else.
"I mean there's a high chance it could be someone we know really well, isn't that cool Hermi-Hermione?"
Ron stopped himself mid-sentence and looked at Hermione who had clasped her arms around herself and began to shake.
"Are you alright?" He asked, "You don't look so good."
"How could you think this is cool Ron!" Hermione shouted, "There's a killer hiding in the school, what if they decide to kill a student for the sake of it?!"
"A-alright it isn't cool, but you got to admit you're a bit interested, right?" Ron asked as he held his hands up in a placating manner. "They'd have to be pretty organized if they could get away with two murders, I wonder what their motive is?"
"I-"
Hermione was interrupted by the ringing of the school bell.
"Oh, that's right we should head to class now," Ron sighed, "Man I wish they'd closed school or something."
.
.
.
"Ahem, students..." Principal Fudge said over the intercom as they were in class, "The polite officers have informed me that they will be holding interrogations here at the academy."
"When you hear your name, head straight for room 205, don't make any detours, otherwise the officers will be angry."
"First, Hannah Abott, you are needed in room 205."
Over the course of the day, other girls were called up to the room to be interrogated for their possible involvement in the murders. Strangely, none of the boys had been called up to be interrogated, which caused some people to theorize that the murderer must be female.
"Hermione Granger, you are needed in room 205."
Hermione had been slightly out of it during the day, her mind raced as she tried to figure out a way to talk to the officers that wouldn't implicate her. But she kept jumping from topic to topic, her thoughts raced as she imagined herself getting locked up in prison at her age, or getting executed, or...
Her breaths came out in short puffs as she walked up the stairs to the interrogation room and she could see dark spots forming in her vision. And then she felt herself fall to the ground and hit the stairs before everything went dark.
.
.
.
"So then Hermione," She heard Harry's father say to her as he and another man sat on the opposite side of a table. Apparently after fainting she had gotten up at some point and gone to the room and was being interrogated by the officers in the classroom.
"Where were you last night?"
"I was hanging out with Luna officer," Hermione's mouth moved on its own and answered the officer's questions, "I have an airtight alibi too."
"We're not suspecting you yet," Harry's father said, "We just wanted to...check up on you."
"Huh?" 'Hermione' tilted her head in confusion, "But isn't this an interrogation, you don't interrogate people unless you think they're suspicious."
"Well that's..."
"You do think we're suspicious, don't you?"
"Well we have evidence that shows the last victim knew the murderer went to school here," The man sitting next to Harry's dad said, "So we're just checking things out."
"Well then shouldn't you interrogate the boys then?" 'Hermione' asked, "They go to school here just like us girls, aren't they suspicious too?"
"There's a reason we're not interrogating the boys Hermione." Harry's dad said. "It's because-"
"Because you're sexist right?" Hermione interrupted.
"What no, we're aren't-"
"It's the only thing that makes sense to me," 'Hermione' crossed her arms, "The chief is a bona fide sexist, maybe his ideals rubbed off on you."
"That's not what we're talking about right now-" The man next to Harry's dad began, but Hermione interrupted him,
"Are you perverts then, do you have a thing for girls in school outfits?"
"Why you-"
"Calm down Sirius," Harry's dad said before sighing and turning to face 'Hermione' "Is there a reason you're acting like this?"
"I'm just a little miffed that I had to leave class and get interrogated for a crime I didn't commit," 'Hermione said. "Really I have an alibi so you can't really go after me."
Harry's dad sighed, "Alright then we're done here, you can head back to class."
'Hermione' smiled and practically skipped out of the room, and as she went down the stairs, she couldn't contain the laughter that was bubbling up in her chest. She laughed all the way to her class, a plan rapidly forming in her mind...
