Chapter Seven

By the time they had moved Lucius' lifeless body from the conservatory, Dumbledore had cleared up the bloody mess from the study floor and the lounge wall, repaired the front doors, respectfully laid out the five other bodies in the hall and covered them with a sheet and produced a large bottle of fine Firewhisky. He then conjured up a comfy chintz armchair for himself in the study and they sat in silence, watching the fire.

After a while, Dumbledore's electric blue gaze, trained on the fire, raised and fixed itself on Hermione. "I must say you figured it out perfectly."

"I figured what out?" Hermione said in a very small voice.

Dumbledore laughed. "How he did it of course! He was in the house all along. That was why Severus was late; he was giving his final instructions. This whole evening was planned, even Mr Longbottom's unfortunate displacement from the Floo Network."

Fred muttered something that sounded like 'I knew his appearance couldn't be an accident."

Smiling pleasantly, Dumbledore continued. "There's another secret passage from the upstairs master bedroom to the cellar. When you were all seated in the dining room, Lucius here snuck down into the cellar and across the hall into the study, whereupon he entered this secret passage here." He gestured towards the painting. "He then waited for Mr Longbottom to come out of the fireplace upstairs and as you ran to investigate, he opened the portrait, took the rope and the lead pipe, hurried along the passage and throttled Salome. However, Lucius, being a clever chap, had figured that he too could make a little money from your secrets, so betrayed his accomplice and stuck him with the lead pipe, killing him as he went to fetch some protection for you."

"So Sn- Professor Snape's death is the only unplanned death?" Ginny asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "I must say that Draco over there was going to be the final victim (Draco blanched) so he could use the murder of his son as a tool to blackmail you all, but unfortunately, he made himself heard too soon and you all chased him. But I get ahead of myself . What happened after you discovered Severus' body?"

For the first time, the group thought back to the events of the night. "We found Neville in the toilet," said Hermione eventually. "And then the lights went out."

Dumbledore inlined his head. "By now Lucius had retreated back into the secret passageway,"

George looked at the painting, the occupant still snoozing away, and realised that the killer had been standing a foot away from them all.

"When you all rushed out of the room to investigate Mr Longbottom's appearance, All Lucius had to do was sneak through the cellar via the trapdoor and switch off the electricity at the mains; none of you noticed him lean out of the cellar door to do so because you were all looking at Mr Longbottom at the top of the stairs. It worked to his advantage that you hadn't though tof taking note of the location of the fuse box, particularly with the storm. All he then had to do was sneak back upstairs and wait for you all to go down into the cellar, whereupon he ran into the kitchen and-."

"-stabbed the cook," Hermione finished in an undertone.

"Indeed." Dumbledore took a sip of Firewhisky. "After you'd all run int to find the cook stabbed and decided split up, he waited behind the painting in the study and overheard you lock the remaining weapons in the cupboard. That was a bit of an impedance, seeing as he would have to burst it open – you might have guessed that Alohomora will work nowhere in this house? - and claim the weapons again."

"Which is precisely what he did." Minerva swallowed, suddenly looking very old as opposed to the fairly young middle-aged woman she had appeared earlier in the evening.

Dumbledore nodded slowly and waved a hand towards the hall, where the six bodies were lying. "Yes. Whilst you were busy searching the ground floor, Lucius crept from his hiding place and smashed open the cupboard," he indicted the mess that had been a rather handsome cupboard, "and retrieved the weapons, backing Mr Longbottom into the lounge and shooting him through the chest, snapping his wand, which I am sad to say wouldn't have worked anyway. Even Lucius had to to use this to bust the cupboard open." He gestured to a large cigar box on the floor, a revelation that caused Fred to exclaim something about there being a spell on the house that prevented wands from being useable.

"But how did he get Neville here in the first lace?"

"Lucius knew some very serious magic Mrs Potter. This included various enchantments to alter the destination of a traveller without their knowledge. Mr Longbottom was doomed the moment he stepped into his fireplace at home. He only thought he'd fallen out of the wrong grate."

"Bastard." Draco had spoken for the first time since he'd discovered his father was behind it all. "Complete bastard!"

Dumbledore continued as if Draco had just sent a heavy stack of compliments his father's way. "Anyway, after you'd all hurried into the lounge to see the body, he simply hid in the cupboard in the comer, knowing that you'd all leave sooner or later. When you did he slipped back into the passage behind the fireplace. Once out of the conservatory, he murdered the butler and dragged the body out of sight down the passage, so he would have time to get back into the meat locker. What he didn't count on was you hearing him in the passage as he listened to your conversation in the study."

"And then we chased him!" Ginny stood. "He ran down the passageway but there's a trapdoor leading to the cellar, and he went down that."

Dumbledore's eyes were sparkling. "Yes. He didn't count on the trapdoor being locked in the other passage though, otherwise you would have been chasing him for quite some time. You chased him to your trap in the conservatory, and I think that was my entrance as well wasn't it?"

Minerva narrowed her eyes confusedly at her employer. "Albus, what were you doing here anyway?"

"Isn't it obvious? I came o save you all from being murdered by Lucius Malfoy!" Dumbledore chuckled, reached into the pocket of his robes and drew out a drawstring bag. He opened it and revealed it to be full of yellow boiled sweets. "Sherbet lemon?"

Everyone stared at him bemusedly. Only Albus Dumbledore would offer round some sherbet lemons at a serious time like this.

"I felt as if people close to me were in mortal peril." Dumbledore popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth. "I immediately Apparated to the driveway, blasted the doors open upon finding they had been locked and... well, you know the rest."

"How did you know where we were?" Fred silently pinched a sherbet lemon from the bag and gingerly placed it on his tongue.

Dumbledore laughed, although whether it was in regards to the question or to Fred's thievery they didn't know. "Isn't that obvious as well?"

Hermione gasped. "This is your house?" She scrutinised the paining concealing the secret passage and discovered somewhat of a likeness between Dumbledore and the occupant. "We're in Godric's Hollow?"

"On the outskirts of the village yes," Dumbledore smiled benevolently. "This is the home my family used to live in. I now live here alone as my brother resides in the Hog's Head, and I have no need for either of the wings, but when I caught wind of Severus' plan I offered him the use of my house for its execution."

Minerva went whiter than white. "You mean," she croaked, "you KNOW?"

"About your bordello? Of course!" Dumbledore offered Fred another sherbet lemon as he inched towards the bag, looking hopeful. "And I know about your son and daughter, and about your secret business dealings and whatnot." He settled back in his chair and finished his Firewhisky.

"And you aren't going to report us?" Hermione licked her lips.

This time Dumbledore roared with laughter. "Of course I'm not! These things make people more interesting, although I must say I disapprove somewhat of extra-marital affairs," he shot a glance at Ginny and Hermione, who blushed, "but I'm not going to turn you in and humiliate you in the same way Severus would have done in a heartbeat."

"I don't understand," Hermione said. "Why was Snape doing this in the first place?"

"Professor Snape was doing it because he was under orders from Lucius Malfoy. A little while ago, Lucius became aware of Severus' involvement in three deaths of several second year students at Hogwarts. Lucius decided that he could get a little extra cash from it, and blackmailed him furiously. But Severus, riddled with guilt, got to a point where he hadn't any more money and begged Lucius to reconsider the offer. Lucius decided that he could use Severus as a vehicle for his other dastardly blackmail schemes. However, Lucius wasn't happy that Severus was keeping some of the money for himself; that was why he killed him."

Everyone was trying to imagine Severus Snape on his knees, begging for forgiveness and to be released from a horrid blackmail scheme. It made them feel almost sorry for him.

"But why did Lucius kill everyone else? George asked, accepting a sherbet lemon upon insistence from his brother.

"Because murder is excellent blackmail," Hermione replied on Dumbledore's behalf. "If we are left in a locked house with a load of dead bodies, including the one of our host and supposed blackmailer, then it's something fantastic to hold over our heads, get us to pay more."

"Precisely," replied Dumbledore. "Lucius became even more greedy, and his ultimate plan was to force you to not only pay blackmail for your individual reasons but also the blackmail for keeping six murders quiet."

"Will we be exposed now?" Minerva inquired fearfully, staring wide-eyed at the six shrouded bodies outside the door.

There was a hearty chuckle and Dumbledore stood up. "Of course you aren't," he said kindly. "But I must say to Mrs Potter that she should tell Harry about the affair with Mr Longbottom at least. No doubt his untimely death will soften the blow somewhat."

Ginny looked dejected but determined.

Dumbledore surveyed the group. Draco was white, his blond hair tousled and damp with sweat, his suit rumpled and silk shirt stained. The twins looked worse for wear with dusty jackets; George had lost his tie. The women were all looking distinctly dishevelled, their buns drooping and falling out, Minerva had cobwebs all over her tartan dress and Ginny had a tear in her skirt. Everyone looked as if they needed to go home and take a hot bath, a sentiment which Dumbledore voiced.

Nodding in agreement, they all stood.

"Are you paying blackmail for anything Professor?" Ginny asked.

Dumbledore gave a mysterious smile. "Not anymore," he said wistfully, gazing down at Lucius' body. "But this man was threatening to expose the poker ring I run amongst the staff of Hogwarts."

Minerva squeaked and turned red.

"She's never forgiven me for beating her so spectacularly at a game of strip-poke one night after a little too much Firewhiskyr," Dumbledore whispered to Hermione and Ginny with a wink. Both women giggled.

And then everyone was laughing, despite the six bodies that were so nearby, despite the horrific events of the night. They laughed until their eyes streamed and their sides were splitting and they were doubled over. They were laughing so hard they didn't hear the doorbell until the Ministry officials who had been ringing it had blasted the door open and were standing in the hall.

"What's the meaning of this Dumbledore?" asked a portly official, brandishing his wand at the hysterical group. "Where's Lucius Malfoy? And are those dead bodies?"

Dumbledore flung an arm around the official's shoulders, using the other to wipe tears of mirth from his face. "Come with me to the study gentlemen and I will explain everything. But if you want to know who killed Lucius Malfoy? It was me. In the conservatory. With the candlestick." He winked at Hermione, still laughing, and closed the study door.

The guests were finally allowed home after giving statements to the Ministry officials. Their secrets were still secret – to them and Dumbledore anyway – and they were bundled in their coats. Fred was examining thee six little figurines, still in the centre of the dining table. The last one had a doll's house prop candlestick next to it.

"Who could have found the time to do this?" Hermione gestured at the figures. "Lucius was too busy murdering people to have had the chance to do this without getting caught, and nobody's wands worked until Dumbledore got here."

Fred frowned. "Maybe it was something to do with Dumbledore. Who knows. It reminds me of that book we studied though, back at Hogwarts, in a Muggle Studies lesson. 'Ten Little Indians'. It's a Christie I think."

Hermione smiled and tucked her arm through his. "Well remembered." She kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Let's go."

The six of them walked out of the (again) newly repaired front doors, into the darkness. The rain had stopped, and there was now a hazy chill across the gravel driveway. The car that had brought them there was waiting patiently at the base of the porch steps. Dumbledore appeared in the doorway.

"Did you do the figurines?" Hermione asked as the driver pulled the car door open.

Dumbledore merely smiled, confirming her suspicions. "Sometimes, it's best to leave some questions unanswered."

The car pulled away from the house, leaving behind a night of horrors, dropping them off at the train station in time for the last train of the night. As they stood on the platform Ginny was steeling herself to tell Harry not only of the death of a friend but also the betrayal of a wife. Hermione was steeling herself to tell Ron of her three trysts with his own brother. Minerva was still looking as if she would have a heart attack at any moment but the pain of the night must have been miniscule in comparison to the pain Draco was suffering.

To turn up at a dinner party to find your former Head of House is manipulating you into paying copious amounts of money, only to find it was your own father all along? Hermione knew that the pain of Draco losing his favourite teacher and Head of House must be nothing to the pain of his own father essentially betraying his family.

The train pulled up with a screech and they all piled on, collapsing into their seats and drifting off before the train had even left the station, glad that this night was over and they could return to relative normality the following day.

Upon arrival in London, they piled into the Leaky Cauldron, intending to Apparate home from the privacy of the wizarding pub. Instead, they ended up at the bar, Tom pouring them each a drink. For a while nobody spoke and then Ginny raised her glass, making the toast they were all eager to make, albeit with a pang of extreme sadness.

"To Neville, the hero who put up a fight."