CHAPTER 15: Where are you

A/N: Without further ado...

Interior, Atrium, Ministry of Magic, Whitehall, London – Afternoon

Harry stepped out of the floo as the green flames submerged back into the ground. He walked purposefully with long marching strides, his robe swashing with every movement. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him, some with pity in their eyes, some with contempt and anger shining in them. The latter seemed to be more prominent.

He didn't pay any attention to anyone as he strode past the fountain of Magical Brethren.

He reached the small open area that served as the entrance to the lifts and stepped inside one.

Damian, the young lift operator, greeted him with a polite smile and a nod. "Mr. Potter, sir" he said in a low and hesitant voice.

Harry ignored him as the lift doors closed.

Damian gulped as he pressed the button to the second floor before he grabbed on to the sidebar as the lift zoomed backwards.

"I-I was shocked when I read this morning about your grandfather, sir." Damian looked up at him from his seat as the lift came to a slow pause for a second before shooting upwards. "He was truly a great man. My deepest condolences"

A few seconds of uncomfortable silence later the lift came to a halt and the doors split open before Harry stepped outside.

Interior, Auror Headquarters – Afternoon

A hush of silence spread over the office the moment he walked through the door. Their expression not unlike that of the people in the atrium.

But the ratio tilted heavily towards those with contempt and hidden anger in their eyes as they all tried to appear busy. Some did a terrible job at it by simply fumbling with the parchment or quill at their desks and casted their eyes over their shoulders every few seconds.

John came up to Harry and gave him a nod. An unrecognizable emotion lurking behind his eyes that had never been present before. Also, his eyes were red as if he had just finished an intense session of crying.

But it seemed Harry didn't even notice as he looked at him with the same hard, determined eyes that burned with rage since the moment he stepped out of the floo, or if he did notice then he certainly didn't care.

"The minister is waiting for you in your office, sir" John said hoarsely.

Harry walked past him before turning left when he reached the passage that divided the cubicles on either side.

Interior, Head Auror Office – Afternoon

Harry walked into the room and the door closed behind him. He stopped and for a moment and stared at the bald-headed man sitting in his chair. He wore an elegant navy-blue robe with a white M emblem etched over the right side of his chest.

A young woman wearing a white blouse and knee length skirt stood next to him holding a file. Both their attention was focused on a sheet of paper sitting on the desk. Simultaneously, they looked at him.

"Mr. Potter" the man stood up as Harry walked over to the desk. "Corather Rain, I believe we've met a few times" He stuck his hand out which Harry lazily shook.

"So, I guess that means Martin won, huh" Harry scoffed, before he took a seat opposite him.

A shocked expression came over Coranther's face. He turned to the woman who was supporting the same look. He turned back to Harry and sat back down, a deep frown marring his face.

"Mr. Potter" he began slowly. "Are you saying you didn't know that Martin won the election."

"No" Harry deadpanned.

"So, you haven't read the morning paper"

"What's there to read?" Harry said indifferently.

Coranther stared at him in disbelief before a surprised chuckle escaped his lips. "Mr. Potter" the humor disappeared from his voice, if there was any to begin with "there is a lot to read." He said assertively. "A lot has happened since-"

"I don't need to pick up the paper to know what the headline is going to be about." Harry cut him testily. "I don't need to pick it up to know that under the dramatize headline there will be two pictures of Martin, one will be of him smiling, probably with his family to create more sympathy and the second of him hanging from the clocktower, butt ass naked with his dick chopped off and his head cut off."

A sharp gasp escaped the woman's lips as she stared at Harry in indignation.

He ignored her and continued. "I don't need to read the paper to know that under it there will be an equally big, if not bigger, article on my grandfather and his murder last night. I don't need to pick it up to know that in some small corner on the front page there will be a mention of the election and who won because Mr. Rain" He paused as he leaned forward. "Our wizarding world loves theatrics more than anything else. They love the farce, this-this buffoonery – the point is they don't care about the real world or the future, no, they don't want any piece of it. No, what they want is something that will make for an interesting few weeks of gossip and speculation based on their own agendas and false beliefs, and last night provided them with it in spades." He finished with a loud thump of his palm on the desk, rattling a quill from its spot.

He leaned back and swiped a hand through his hair.

"Oh, and congratulations. You get to run this circus for next seven years" he scoffed, shaking his head.

Coranther stared at him for a few moments before he lifted his hand towards the woman. "Stella, fetch me the morning paper, please"

"Yes, sir" Stella walked towards the back of the room and picked up the newspaper sitting on top of the drawer. She walked back and placed it on the desk in front of the Coranther.

"Thank you" Coranther picked up the paper and unfolded it. "You're right, Mr. Potter" he said before shifting his gaze to the paper as his expression turned somber. "For the most part" his voice dropped several decibel levels. He shifted his gaze back to Harry whose eyes narrowed slightly as Coranther glided the paper across the table towards him.

His gaze lingered on him for a few seconds before it turned to the paper before him and he picked it up. He turned it around to the front page and as he predicted the top headline read,

Martin Locke, re-elected Minister of Magic, latest victim of the clocktower serial killer

Martin Locke, who was re-elected as Minister was found hanged from the clocktower sometime around 5.30 a.m. by a shop owner in Merlin's district in Oxfordshire. If not for his untimely death it would've been his third time serving as minister in his already long run of 14 years. The election favored him unanimously as he won 79 to 21 in percentage. Sadly, that would not be the case.

As you can see from the image on your right, (for those who don't know the reveling charm to remove the glaze from the picture means you are too young to see such things so please kindly turn to page 5 to read about the latest in sports and entertainment. We have a brand-new scoop on the upcoming Thunderbolt 2017 that is aimed to release in October), he faced the same end as the victims before him in the Clocktower serial killer case. Mr. Locke is the third victim of this psychopath killer who likes to strip his victims naked and decapitates them before hanging them from the clocktower and showcases their mutilated bodies on display for everyone.

Coranther Rain, Mr. Locke's second in command and his former advisor takes up his position as a result of this tragic incident. It was a truly somber and dull atmosphere in the Atrium this early morning, which was filled to the brim with thousands of wizards and witches, when the result was announced and Mr. Locke's team took the stage.

Harry tore his eyes away from the paper with a bored expression and looked at Coranther. "As I said, this is just a dramatized version of what I said" he grunted.

Coranther waved his hand offhandedly. "Forget about that and by all means skip on the heartfelt piece about your grandfather under it if you want which is written by Orion Wells, his longtime dear friend but I'm sure to you it will just be a dramatized version targeted towards gossip mongers"

Harry's jaw slackened and his nostrils flared at his subtle remark.

"I want to bring your attention to two other headlines at the bottom." he nodded at the paper.

Harry brought his gaze back to the paper and skipped past the large piece which was written in Albus Dumbledore's honor and celebrated his life.

Under it there were two slightly small headlines parallel to each other. On the left read,

Harry Potter, the savior of the wizarding world, found talking to a prostitute in front of a brothel in Crawley Lane.

Under the headline was a moving photograph of Harry holding Katharine and Lyla's hand before they apparated. The photograph was taken from across the street.

Disgust rose over Harry's face as he swore under his breath "Fuckin imbeciles"

He glided his eyes to the other headline and his breath hitched. His eyes turned wide and his grip on the paper tightened.

Roman Kicklighter, Auror in the DMLE, committed suicide.

The young auror was found hung in his house early this morning by fellow auror John Ritkins.

Harry whipped his gaze up and stared shockingly at Coranther.

"Though I don't know you extremely well but from what little I've heard about you I assume that reaction is because of Roman and not the prostitute" Harry continued to stare at him unblinkingly.

"How - when -" Coranther cut Harry of by lifting his hand.

He opened the first drawer and took out a rumpled piece of parchment.

He leaned over the table and handed it to Harry who took it a bit hesitantly.

"Go on. It's addressed to you"

Harry unfolded the parchment which was sloshed with tear stains and read the words written in a cursive font tilted to the right.

I am leaving

To my beautiful sister, I am so sorry. I know I'm taking a coward's way out but I just don't have the strength. You know this better than anyone. I'm sorry I won't be there to take care of you. I broke my promise and I'm deeply ashamed. I'm so sorry, my darling Ava. Just remember that I'll always love you, like mum and dad. We'll always look over you. You are beautiful, you are strong. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Don't be weak like me. I wasn't strong enough to stand up to the world.

To Mr. Harry Potter, sir, even on a piece of paper I can't find the courage to address you by your name, I hope you will forgive me for that as it goes against everything you ever taught me. I'm sorry for disappointing you again, sir, but I'm afraid you were right. I just wasn't strong enough. Like you said, I would've always been someone's bitch, a shitshow. I tried to fight it sir, this weakness inside me and I thought I was on the right track but then you once against showed me my place this morning and I realized that nothing had changed, that I was still the same boy who used to get bullied and beaten up in school. But still, as was the case in school it's not the physical pain that hurt, although I'll be lying if I didn't say that I definitely felt I was going to die when you punched me, it's the words, the humiliation, the degradation that hurts the most. As I've learnt during my time in this life that bruises heal overtime but the emotional pain remains forever.

Mum and dad,

I'm coming

Harry turned his head to the side and chewed the inside of his lip. He shook his head and closed his eyes. "Oh Roman...what did you do" he murmured.

A few minutes passed by as the other two occupants simply stared at Harry whose posture didn't change.

Finally, he opened his eyes and scratched his beard. He dropped the paper on to the desk and locked his eyes with Coranther who was watching him with a scrutinizing gaze.

"This letter is mentioned in the Daily Prophet's article. I don't how they got their hands on it because as far as I'm aware no media person even knew about the incident. We were going to keep this under wrap for a while. There was already so much bad news and this doesn't shed a good light on the DMLE. The letter was brought straight to my attention. As soon as I read the letter, I put it in this drawer. Maybe someone leaked it. Not sure."

Harry turned his gaze down.

"That wasn't the only tragedy"

Harry whipped his eyes up.

"His sister was found dead also"

Harry's jaw slackened and he balled his fists.

"Suicide" Coranther answered his unspoken question. "Forensic estimates her time of death around the same time as Roman so we believe that she probably found him not long after he hung himself"

Harry moved his gaze to some spot behind Coranther.

"The day that should've been full of joy and celebration has turned to one of misery and tragedy and the public demands some sort of justice"

Harry's gaze darkened. "What sort of justice" he asked in a low voice.

"Harry, your opinion in the wizarding community has changed like this" he snapped his fingers. "I've been getting howlers all morning to remove you from the force right away. Pardon my honesty but if it wasn't for the death of your grandfather, the reaction would've been much worse. As it is the case, there are still those who sympathize with you and there will always be those who would forever feel indebted to you that they would never find any fault in anything you do but they're now in the minority. I'm sure you would've noticed everyone's reaction when you walked into the building. Forget that, the DMLE did a poll this morning on whether you should stay or not and – well I don't even want to tell you the result but let me just say that in their mind it isn't even question. No one wrote their names because they're all afraid of you but they demand justice.

I'm not going to say who but I had a small talk with the member of the DMLE and he said that this was inevitable with the way you had been running the office since you came back. Apparently before that too as I was informed that several aurors resigned because of your aggressive behavior. He said that officers were afraid to even look you in the eye, that you worked them overtime and demanded nothing but absolute excellence and perfection and if that wasn't met, then not even Merlin could help them.

Roman just happened to be the unluckiest of the lot. This person said that he witnessed numerous occasions where he feared that you were going to physically assault him. He said that on couple of occasions he found Roman crying in bathroom stalls because of what you said."

He picked up the glass of water to his right and drowned it in one gulp. He placed it back on the table and leaned back in his seat.

Harry continued to stare down at the desk.

"Plus, now with all this hooker thing you've got yourself tangled in; I mean – you may not think so but these things matter. When you're someone of your stature who is constantly under the public eye these things heavily matter, in fact this is the type of stuff that sways the public opinion one way or another. If you're a good family man whose never had a hitch in his marriage, the public loves you but, if they even catch a whiff of a scandal, and this is a very big scandal let me just tell you, then they don't think so highly of you. I'm not saying this is how it should be but this is the way it is and you have to accept that.

But forget all that" His words caught Harry off-guard as he lifted his gaze towards him. "Forget everything I just said, forget the letter, your bad behavior or this scandal, forget it all because frankly I don't care about any of that. My issue isn't that, my issue is regarding your incompetency to catch this killer. As far as I'm aware Martin gave you all the power with no one to answer to, not even him apparently as he once told me, and yet still, you're unable to catch whoever is behind this. You're still no further than you were when the first murder happened. Not only did we lose dozens of aurors including Draco who was one of the finest aurors and I'm not blaming their death on you, not for a second but at some point you have to take some responsibility because that's what leaders do and you were their leader, but now we've lost the man who led wizarding Britain for fourteen years and was well on his way to lead it for another seven years."

A despondent look came over his face as he shook his head. "I still remember his last words to me. It was in a small pub in France. Muggle. We were talking about these murders and I asked him if he was worried that he could be next target since the killer already tried to kill him once during his rally in Diagon Alley. He simply gave me a smile and said, no, Harry would never let that happen."

"He wasn't the target during the rally" Harry's deep voice cut through the room even though it wasn't said with any emotion behind it. He looked up at Coranther who was staring at him confusedly. "The target was always Joanna, if it had been Martin, he would've been dead that night." he finished monotonously.

Coranther's throat bobbed as he swallowed. "Well, that shows to tell that we're all pawns in this killer's hand. He can pick and choose anyone of us at any time and there wouldn't be anyone who can stop him"

"I will find him" Harry stood up. "If that's all" He turned to leave.

"Harry" Coranther's authoritative voice stopped him and he turned around to face him as the older man walked around his desk towards him. "I'm sorry but I'm afraid you've left me with no choice"

Harry tilted his head and his jaw cracked under pressure. "Don't do this' he whispered.

Coranther shrugged his shoulder. "I've made my decision and trust me I'm doing you a favor. The press is going to be on your ass-"

"I don't give a fuck about the press!" yelled Harry.

"Well, I do!" Coranther shouted back. "You were given your chance and you failed. Plus, this is what you wanted right, didn't you tell Martin that you never wanted the job back, that you just wanted to do hit work. Well, take it. I'm offering you what you wanted. It won't appease the public since they want you gone, for a while at least, but I can placate them with a few deceptive words about how you are getting demoted to the lowest ranks in the DMLE. You'll have nothing to do with the case, of course."

"He killed my grandfather" growled Harry.

Coranther was rendered speechless for a moment as he opened and closed his mouth several times. "What-" he managed, after finally finding his voice.

"That fucker killed my grandfather and my best friend"

"How can you be sure he killed your grandfather. It's an ongoing investigation on what happened to him last night."

"Because I saw him" Harry gritted out.

"I know that's what you told the aurors when they reached the house but how can you be sure it was him."

"Because I've spent every fucking hour working this case! What do you think I've been doing. Sitting on my arse and wanking in some corner. I know him better than anyone here. I know where he came from, what happened to him and I also know that he won't be able to kill let alone walk for next three months at least.

"How can you be sure of that" Coranther asked suspiciously.

"Because he is smart enough to not admit to a hospital. He lost a lot of blood during the duel; it was practically dripping off him so you can tell these amateurs who collected his blood sample to search for in every hospital in the country that they won't find anything. He's not a one-man army, he'll have someone to treat him but no matter how good they are they won't be able to provide him with the potions and medicine equivalent to that of St. Mungo's. They may try to steal it so we'll need to put a couple of aurors on night duty on every major hospital in the country. There are only six so we'll only need a dozen."

Coranther's face was set in a stony expression as he spoke "I suggest you give all this information to John Ritkins as he'll be taking over this case from this point forward."

Harry's eyes flashed with unbridled rage and his hair started to stand up.

Stella let out a frightened yelp when the empty glass on the desk flew and smashed into the back wall.

"Harry, calm down" Coranther backed away a couple of steps as he looked around him with fear in his eyes.

"You're sabotaging everything I've done." hissed Harry.

"Harry-"

"If you do this, the killings will continue"

"And what have you done!" Coranther shouted, thought his voice was strained with panic as things started to levitate in the air, including the desk.

"I'm the only one can catch him!"

"No! You're not. If you were you would've done so by now!"

In less than a second Harry had him pushed against the shelf with one hand gripping his throat.

"Don't do something you're going to regret" Coranther choked out.

Harry tightened his hold and the newly appointed minister's face quickly turned red. He started tapping helplessly on his arm.

A few seconds later Harry dropped his hand and Coranther doubled over as his body wracked with gut wrenching coughs. The energy that was levitating the objects vanished and everything dropped back to their previous place, including the desk which made a rumbling sound in the room.

Coranther stumbled over to the other side of the desk and pressed the red button protruding from the wood.

"Minister!" Stella ran over to Coranther and grabbed on to his shoulders as he was about to drop to the ground. She lifted him up with a loud grunt before bringing over his chair. He dropped on to it heavily and took deep breaths.

Just then the door was pushed open with a bang and a team of aurors came barging in, their wands pointed forward.

John was leading the group.

Coranther pointed at Harry.

"Confiscate this man's wand and lead him out of the building. From this moment on he is no longer an employee of the ministry and if he is ever found anywhere near the building in the future he'll be arrested without a warning" he looked at Harry as he said this.

Coranther looked at John. "What are you waiting for! Do as I say!"

John nodded before he walked over to Harry with slow but determined steps, his gaze turned down.

"You're making a big mistake" Harry said to Coranther.

"You keep thinking that" Coranther rebutted hoarsely. "My conscience is clear and I've no problem in saying what I'm about to say" He took a brief pause. "Harry Potter, you're fired."

"Sir"

Harry turned his head forward and faced John.

"Your wand" he tried to appear confident but his eyes told the truth.

Harry looked behind him as more aurors swept into the room.

He brought his gaze back towards John and stared at him probingly. John dropped his gaze under his scrutiny.

"What are you waiting for!" snapped Coranther. "Ritkins! This is an order!"

Before John could act, Harry tugged his left arm up before placing his wand in his palm. John whipped his gaze up and saw Harry give him a small smile. "Never doubt yourself" he whispered.

John nodded his head as he closed his fist.

"I'm sorry, sir-"

"Don't" Harry cut him off with a shake of his head. "You stood up, for yourself, for the entire team. I have nothing but respect for you"

John's throat bobbed as he swallowed. "Yes sir" his voice was thick with emotion.

Harry nodded before he walked out of the room.

Interior, Master Bedroom, Second Floor, Mars, Godric's Hollow – Night

Hermione tiredly walked into the room before slumping on the edge of the bed. She hunched forward and placed her elbows on her knees. She brought her hand to her face and rubbed her eyes. Just then the bathroom door opened and she was startled from her peace.

She stood up and whipped herself around towards the door and came face to face with Harry who stood at the threshold, slightly leaning to his right. His eyes were a dark green and his eyes appeared to be hazy.

They stared at each other for an indefinite amount of time.

"I heard what happened" her soft voice broke the silence.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"About you getting fired" she elaborated.

The effect was instantaneous as Harry's jaw slackened and his breathing turned slightly ragged.

"Rain addressed the press in the afternoon. I presume not long after he told you" she finished, eyeing him warily.

Harry leaned against the door frame and folded his arms over his chest.

"Everyone was at Potter manor today. Your dad said he is not sure when the funeral will be held as it was a murder and they may need the body for further investigation."

"They are not gonna find shit" Harry growled.

Hermione scrunched her forehead. "How can you be sure?"

Harry didn't respond as he rested his head against the frame and closed his eyes.

Hermione took a couple of steps forward until she reached the bed post. She rested a hand against it. Her downturned gaze roamed across the floor as she appeared nervous to utter what was going in her mind.

"Is it true?"

Harry opened his eyes and looked at her. She was staring at him with hesitation in her eyes.

"That you were there when it happened"

Harry blinked once and she inhaled sharply.

Silence enveloped them once again as Harry walked over to the bed and dropped face first on it. He turned his head to the side towards the headboard.

Hermione stared at his form as tears gathered behind her eyes.

She removed her shoes before sitting on the bed. She looked over her shoulder at him for several seconds before pulling herself further on the bed and hoisting her legs on the mattress. She lied down and rolled on to her side facing him.

A few seconds later she lifted her left arm and held it above Harry's back. She seemed to be in a dilemma and after a while appeared to have made up her mind as she slowly lowered her arm and gently laid it over Harry's back.

However, the reaction wasn't what she hoped for as the moment the contact was made Harry violently shrugged her arm off and the next second Hermione found herself staring at his rage filled eyes. He leaned closer to her and she involuntarily sunk deeper into the mattress.

"Don't you fuckin dare!" he hissed. "Next time I'll rip your fuckin arm off" he pulled back as he added. "You lost this privilege a long time ago"

He returned to his previous position.

Tears escaped Hermione's eyes and ran down her cheeks as small sniffling sounds filled the room. Her face twisted in agony as more tears streamed down her face. She wiped them away and set her jaw in determination.

She draped her arm once again over his back. The result was the same.

Harry shrugged her arm off but this time he didn't look at her.

She tried again; he shrugged it off again.

"I'm warning you"

This went on for a couple of more times before he grabbed her wrist mid-air and in a single motion had her pinned under him.

"Stop" he growled.

She tried to get her arms free by squirming but it did nothing. Tears continued to cascade down her cheeks as she stared up at him with pleading eyes.

His grip tightened and she gasped in pain.

"You're hurting me" she whimpered.

His eyes drifted to her wrists which were turning red under the pressure and he let go. He sent her one last glare before getting off the bed and walking into the walk-in wardrobe.

She sat up and peered inside the closet but couldn't see anything because of the darkness. Sounds of movement and scuffling of clothes reached her ears and made her sit in attention.

She stood up after a few seconds and was about to take a step when Harry walked back into the room carrying a leather bag. It wasn't zipped so she could see what was inside through the gap, nothing except clothes.

She watched him walk over to the dressing table and grab his wallet. He pocketed it before zipping up the bag. Hermione's eyes turned wide when she saw him head for the door.

"What are you doing" she asked in a croaked voice.

He ignored her and kept on walking.

She ran after him and pulled on his arm.

He wrenched his arm from her grasp and glared at her.

She moved towards the door and blocked his path.

"Back off" he said in a cold voice.

"I'm not letting you leave"

He barked a laugh before his face twisted into a sneer. "Really, and how the fuck are you going to do that"

"I know that you don't have your wand otherwise you could've just apparated which means that it was confiscated by the ministry because you probably did something very stupid."

He scoffed and shook his head as she continued.

"Which means you need to get to the floo and I'm not going to let that happen"

"And why the fuck not" he asked irritably. "We're done, remember. It's official now, anyway."

"I don't care about any of that! You need help or you'll die!"

"And I suppose you're the one who can help me!"

"YES!"

She glared at him as her chest heaved with deep breaths.

"I'm the only one who can help you" she said in a much calmer voice.

Harry's eyes narrowed into slits. "That's a lie and you know it" he spat. "There is no cure for this"

She stammered for a reply. "Not yet" she said, after finding her voice. "But I can figure it out. I came close once"

He tutted as a nasty smile spread over his mouth. "I'm afraid, close isn't going to cut it, mars." he leaned closer till their faces were only inches apart. "And I refuse to be your plaything for the remainder of my days for you to do your experiments on." he shook his head as he leaned back. "I'm not going to spend whatever life I've left in a hospital bed, especially when I know that it's not going to change anything. If there were a cure, you would've already found it. So please, kindly get the fuck out of my way"

"But-"

"Listen" he held up his hand. "Don't tempt me, not now. Let me get out of here as quickly as possible because even I don't know what I'll do"

Hermione's gaze turned resolute. "You'll never hurt me"

"Don't be so sure" he whispered.

"I don't need to be sure. I know" she whispered back.

"How" he murmured.

"Because my husband promised me on the day of our wedding. He said that 'I'll kill myself before I lay hand on you'" she wiped under her nose.

An unrecognizable emotion flashed through Harry's eyes. "You have no right to bring that up because we both made promises that day and you broke yours, and not just one" he whispered the last part.

Hermione nodded her head as more tears leaked down her cheeks. "I know" she whimpered. "I'm sorry" she breathed.

"Ha!" he scoffed. "Too late for that, should've thought about that before." Anger rose over his face as he tried to move past her but she kept blocking him.

"Please, I'm sorry-"

"NO! You should've thought about that when you left me alone to grieve and turned to others for comfort, should've thought about that when you stood with the rest of the world as they blamed me for my son's death, should've thought about that when I begged you to help me through the darkest period of my life and you simply turned your back against me and left me to fend for myself as I was getting attacked from every side, should've thought about that when I spent 2 fucking years of my life to catch that motherfucker, should've told me that killing him wouldn't do anything, that it wouldn't bring our son back, that the pain wouldn't go, it would remain, forever, should've looked for me when I left, where was your concern then, but no!, you were so angry at me for leaving that did you ever stop and think that maybe he isn't alright, that maybe he wants me to come and get him out of this hellhole he finds himself in, no, you did none of that, you just waited and waited and when you couldn't wait anymore, you sought comfort in someone else again, only this time it happened to be a man."

"I-"

Harry tutted, silencing her.

"Let's not play that game again where you say that it was just a kiss because we both know where it was leading. It might not have happened that night but sooner or later you were both going to end up in someone's bed. So, if I hadn't come back and was still living in that rutty little motel drowning and snorting myself to an early death, hoping that one day my wife will come and take me back home, you would've been probably fucking him in my own bed. Plus, I don't remember the last time you kissed me like that" he shrugged his shoulder. "Like I said, should've thought about that before"

He walked past her as she stood immobilized, staring at the space he had been occupying with haunting eyes.

6 Months Later

Interior, Seventh floor, IMA, London – Evening

A group of people wearing white robes stood in a semi-circle as they all peered inside a glass tube that was attached to a cylindrical glass box. A single wispy transparent thread of living tissue lay inside the box. It was beating like a heart, purple red in colour.

Hermione was standing next to the box and holding her wand in her right hand.

She placed the end of her wand over the hole in the glass tube and murmured an incantation. A blue glow of light emanated from her wand before it traveled through the tube and hit the tissue. It started shaking wildly. She held her hand behind her back and immediately a small vial with amber green liquid was thrusted into her hand by a woman with golden hair.

She poured it inside the tube and watched it cascade down its curvy length before it dropped onto the tissue. The tissue stopped moving and slowly its colour started changing. The angry purple red faded away and slowly it turned into an ethereal grey.

A loud gasp escaped everyone's mouth, except Hermione's whose eyes filled with tears as she covered her mouth with her hands.

Just then the tissue started flapping violently and everyone's attention turned to it. A look of horror came over Hermione's face as she watched it turn back to purple red and a few seconds later it exploded into smithereens and covered the inside of the glass with dark red blood.

"AAH!"

A young woman with fiery red hair let out a terrifying scream.

Everyone's shoulder dropped and a tired and lost expression enveloped their faces as Hermione walked over to the glass box and bent down till she was level with it.

The rest turned around and dejectedly started walking out of the lab.

"I thought we did it this time" said one girl.

"I did too. We came so close," said another.

"Now, we have to start all over again" sighed a middle-aged man with dusty brown hair.

Soon, it was just Hermione in the room.

"I'm not going to stop, Harry." she said, lifting her hand and running her fingers over the glass as she stared at the blood coated glass. "I promise I'll get there. I just need more time, but more importantly I need you. I need your blood...I've tried everything else...and I need you too..." she sighed. "For that I need to find you first. Where are you" she whispered.

A/N: Post your comments and let me know your thoughts.