Chapter Four

For a few moment nobody spoke. They stood rooted to the spot, unable to tear their eyes away from the terrible sight that was Salome's strangled corpse. Then-

"We should move her."

It was Hermione who had broken the silence. She inched around Draco and down the few steps into the large kitchen, trembling from head to foot. She shuffled towards the body lying in front of the massive sink, still filled to the brim with plates, pots and suds. Salome's arms were wet and there was water splashed down the front of her dress. Her brown eyes were wide and vacant, a slight scream still evident in her mouth.

Hermione reached down with shaking fingers and gingerly closed the young servant's eyes. "She never saw it coming."

There was a thump, a rush of feet and a gasp of pain as George seized Draco by the lapels of his jacket and threw him up against the wall. "Did you kill her?" he spat.

"No!" Draco pulled himself free, straightening his jacket. "I dropped the rope on the floor way before we even heard the intruder, and then I was with your brother for the rest of it."

George shot a glance to his brother, who confirmed it with a nod.

"Plus," Draco continued, "I have no motive to kill this servant girl. I didn't know her until tonight. If anyone has motive it's Longbottom's lover over there." He rudely pointed ro Ginny, who scoffed indignantly.

"I didn't kill her!"

Fred looked uneasily over at his sister. "Well, you had the motive. And you were alone in that ballroom... I guess it's possible you could have snuck across to the kitchen and killed her..."

"I DIDN'T KILL HER!" Ginny was now flushing red with anger and shame over the reason why she would have the motive to kill the domestic. She looked wildly round at everyone to find they were all wearing an expression of slight distrust. "You have to believe me!"

Just then they became very aware that their host had still not returned and there was an eerie silence in the house. The rain was no longer lashing down in sheets, but falling gently and all traces of a thunderstorm had disappeared. Cautiously, after moving Salome's body to the kitchen table, where they sat her in a chair and laid her head on the table as of she were sleeping, the six of them made their way through the hall and into the study where another terrifying discovery was to be made.

Severus Snape was sprawled on the floor, the lead pipe next to him and blood from a deep wound in his scalp leaching into the pale carpet. His greasy hair was matted with blood and his arm was outstretched, as if he was about to grab the ankle of the person nearest and jump up shaking with suppressed laughter, telling them it was all part of his plan. Draco even looked like he hoped it to be true.

They all knew deep down he wouldn't be grabbing anyone's ankle anymore.

"Oh God," Hermione wailed, burying her face in Fred's shoulder.

"Merlin's beard," Minerva breathed, kneeling down next to the lifeless form of her former colleague. "I never liked him but I never wanted..." She trailed off, looking at Ginny. "You dropped the pipe didn't you?" She stood. We were all in the kitchen when this happened. So none of us could be the killer."

"That still doesn't explain which one of you killed the servant." Draco shot a suspicious glance in Ginny's direction. "Any one of you could have done it."

George turned round, perhaps to say something about Ginny being the only one who was alone at the time of the murder, but he was cut short by a surprised shout from the hall. Fred had wandered out and was standing in the dining room doorway, pointing at the ornate table decoration in the centre of the dining table.

It escaped nobody's notice that of the six figurines, one had a piece of string tied around its neck, and another was lying face down on the surface of the cake, a small amount 'blood' pooled about the head. Next to it, was a matchstick, painted silver, to serve as the miniature pipe.

"What...?" Fred gently poked the figurine representing Snape, as if may suddenly become reanimated.

Taking the lead as the only other member of Hogwarts staff there, Minerva raised her hands. "OK, I think we should continue to search the house. I mean to say, if I've deduced this correctly and four more people are to die, then I for one would like to see if we can catch the murderer before it's one of us." There was a murmur of agreement, and they split back into pairs; Hermione went with Fred, Ginny with George and Minerva with Draco.

They were standing in the hall ready to split off and search the ground floor when there was a cough from inside a small room which must be the toilet.

Gripping Fred's arm so hard he hissed in pain, Hermione dragged herself forward as the toilet flushed. For a moment she was confused as to why the killer would do something so obvious as to take a leak in the middle of a house where he had just murdered two people, but the sound of the doorknob rattling stopped that thought before it could develop any further. Digging her nails in, she reached for her wand before realising it wasn't there and panicking as the door swung open and a person stumbled out.

Ginny screamed.

It was Neville.

He was in a bad way. Evidently he had fallen out of the Floo, and had an impressive gash on one hand, to which he was holding a wad of paper towels from the toilet. He was covered in soot and had various bruises, cuts and scratches on his face from falling face first out of the grate.

"Am I interrupting something?"

The guests immediately denied it, apart from Hermione, who had always been a stickler for honesty. "Well actually, yes you are." Everyone else groaned.

Neville cocked an eyebrow. "I heard a scream. What happened?"

Everyone was suddenly at a loss as to what to say. Could they possibly tell Neville that in the space of five minutes two people had been brutally murdered? Or that they even suspected it could have been him? Draco still looked suspicious of him, but judging by the size of the gash, he would have bled everywhere and whilst that wouldn't look out of place in the study, there was not a drop of blood to be found in the kitchen.

Plus, Hermione suspected that Neville, who was still terrified of Snape, would never have the guts to enter a room alone with him, let alone smack him over the head with a lead pipe.

"The domestic just, ah, fainted! Yes, she fainted!" Hermione examined the wound on Neville's hand and grimaced as fresh blood welled up. "Well we'll just take you along to the st- ah, no. Um, how the kitch- no.. no good. Uh, would you like to, ah, come to the bathroom!" She chastised herself for slipping up as she led Neville upstairs.

"There must still be someone in this house," George murmured to Minerva. "Neville can't be the killer, so there's someone here other than us and the butler and the cook."

"How are they getting around?" Minerva questioned.

"These old houses must be full of secret passageways, maybe he's using one of them?" Draco suggested, as Neville and Hermione reappeared.

"I think you need to tell me what exactly is happening here," Neville said, looking confusedly between the overly-cheerful Hermione to the ashen faces of her companions and the glimmers for fear in their eyes. "And why is there someone creeping about between the rooms like a madman?"

Everyone gasped. "M-Madman?" Hermione stammered.

"What do you mean, there's some creeping about?" Minerva uncharacteristically shoved Draco and Ginny aside so she could see Neville properly.

"I've been hearing footsteps, but not like yours. Really quiet ones, sometimes from inside the walls!" Neville looked around. "I thought it was a mouse, but they're too loud and they aren't scrabbling. I think there's someone in the house. A-and then I heard the scream and you all came running. Then there was some voices in that room over there and a thump and then you all came running again."

It didn't escape his notice that everyone was staring at him wide-eyed.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"Well if you'd excuse me, I have to... ah..." Minerva pointed towards the toilet and strode off, locking herself in. They heard the distant sounds of her retching and Ginny was privately surprised that they hadn't all thrown up by now.

Hermione sighed, laid a hand on Neville's shoulder and got him to sit on the step. "Neville," she said, unsure how exactly to tell him. "Salome, the servant, screamed because she was being strangled. The thump was Snape after he was cracked over the head with a pipe. The person you heard sneaking about is a murderer and as it stands, he is still in the house."

And then the lights went out, plunging them into pitch blackness.