Chapter Two
"Gwen I don't think this is a good idea!" Lilly hissed as we hurried along the deserted top corridors. Everyone else was being shepherded to their common rooms but we had given them all the slip a few floors back.
"Come on Lilly, don't you want to know what's going on?" I whispered excitedly as we came to a corner and slowed down to check it was clear.
"Not particularly, what makes you think the teachers are up here anyway?"
"That door they went through, it only leads to the north wing of the seventh floor which hasn't been used for years! Why else would they come here? I'll show him who's unobservant."
Lilly stopped short and stared at me in disbelief.
"Is that what this is about?!" she demanded. "For Merlin's sake Gwen! Just let it go!"
"I will not let it go! I'll show that upstart little prat."
"Anyone I know?" asked Sherlock as he and John came through a secret passage hidden behind a tapestry. Lilly and I jumped out of our skins and I growled,
"Jesus Christ Sherlock! You scared the living daylights out of us! What are you doing here anyway?"
"At a guess I'd say we were doing the same thing as you two, checking out the crime scene."
"How do you know it's a crime scene?" Lilly asked still clutching at her heart like she might have a seizure. Sherlock raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't you see Professor Longbottom's knees?"
"What- oh never mind, I'll just take your word for it." I sighed. Sherlock nodded.
"Probably for the best, you wouldn't understand anyway."
I opened my mouth to yell at him but he had already moved off down the corridor with John in tow. Grinding my teeth angrily, I tugged Lilly after them.
"Sherlock it's bad enough that you drag me into this kind of stuff over the holidays!" John said. "Can't we just forget about it when we're at school."
"Not when something happens right under our noses, no." Sherlock countered, then he threw out an arm and caught John in the chest. We all stopped and edge towards the corner where we could hear voices. Sherlock flattened himself against the wall and peered around, making it impossible for any of us to do the same. I could hear Professor Slughorn's voice which sounded distressed.
"…terrible, terrible! No idea she was so unhappy!"
"Well it certainly looks like suicide again." said a man's voice and Lilly clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. She shoved Sherlock out of the way so she could get a look. I ducked down and popped my head out just below hers. Practically all the teachers were standing in the dusty, badly lit corridor, as well as several people in maroon robes. The one who was talking to Slughorn had messy black hair and wore glasses, and he looked very familiar.
"Hey, isn't that your dad?" I asked Lilly in an undertone and she jabbed me in the back to shut up.
"I suppose we should let the Law Enforcement Squad take over then." said Harry Potter, looking over his shoulder sadly at an old classroom. Slughorn nodded and slowly the adults trickled away until only one was left guarding the cordoned off class. Just then someone spoke behind us and we all whipped around.
"Well why aren't I surprised to find you here freak?"
The woman was dark skinned and dark haired, and she was looking at Sherlock with pure loathing. Sherlock didn't look at all abashed.
"Hello Donovan."
Her lip curled and she prodded us around the corner into the corridor. The man guarding the class looked up and groaned.
"Oh Jesus, what is that doing here?"
"Don't talk Anderson you lower the IQ of the whole school." Sherlock countered and we snorted. Lilly was looking from Donovan to Anderson with a frown.
"Hey…I remember you two!" she cried suddenly. "Weren't you the ones who got caught snogging in the potions class?"
Both adults blushed scarlet and I saw Sherlock smirk. Anderson glared at Lilly.
"Oh I know you! You're Potter's kid aren't you?" he sneered. "So Sherlock's sidekicks are getting famous are they?"
Just then another, older man came around the corner and called,
"Well if it isn't Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, I had a feeling I'd be seeing you."
"What's the situation Lestrade?" Sherlock asked, ignoring the exasperated expressions on Donovan and Anderson's faces. Lestrade reached us and looked grim.
"Sixth year girl, Kelly Trent, found by the caretaker an hour ago in that classroom, looks like suicide."
Lilly and I both exchanged appalled glances.
"Kelly's dead?!" I cried, making everyone look at me. "But why would she kill herself? And how?"
"For once, not a bad question." Sherlock said calmly. "How did she 'kill herself'?"
"Poison, draft of living death."
"Hmm, not the usual choice for a student suicide." Sherlock mused. "Difficult to get a hold of to start with."
Lestrade regarded Sherlock for a moment before sighing heavily.
"Why couldn't it for once just be a straightforward suicide? Alright, go on, but only five minutes this time, ok?"
"Please, I'll be done in two." Sherlock scoffed and he swept past the stunned Anderson and Donovan in the classroom. Not wanting to be left behind, the rest of us followed him. I had to swallow hard when I saw Kelly's prone body lying on the floor. She was a chubby Hufflepuff girl who took great care how she dressed. The hem of her robes had pink stitching around it and she wore a number of ugly rings on her fingers. Sherlock circled the body with his eyes narrowed. He knelt down to peer at Kelly from every angle whilst we stood back quietly. I leant over to whisper to John,
"Uh, does this sort of thing happen to you a lot?"
"You have no idea." he muttered. "Whenever something weird happens back in our town you can bet he's there like a shot. We've met the Magical Law Enforcement Squad more times than I can count."
"So that's why Donovan and Anderson hate you?" Lilly asked and Sherlock answered without looking up.
"No, they hate me because I might have told everyone about their affair, Anderson's fiancée wasn't pleased."
I scowled at him whilst Lilly rolled her eyes.
"You go out of your way to wind people up don't you? Can't you keep our deductions to yourself once in a while?"
"Why should I do that?" asked Sherlock curiously before pointing at the floor in front of Kelly. "Now why would she scratch that into the floor I wonder?"
We edged around to see what he was pointing at. Scratched onto the stone floor was a single word 'Rache'. Kelly's glasses lay next to it so she had obviously used them to scratch the word.
"What does that mean?" I asked as John knelt down beside Sherlock.
"I don't know, it may be German for revenge." Sherlock mused as John rubbed the message with his finger. I frowned thoughtfully and cocked my head to one side.
"That's a bit farfetched don't you think?"
Sherlock look up at me slowly and John shook his head frantically behind his back. But I was determined to voice my opinion.
"Kelly didn't even speak German, I doubt she knew how to write it. It looks more like half a word, but she died before she finished it."
Lilly scrutinized the word and nodded slowly.
"Yeah, it looks like Rachel or something."
Sherlock opened his mouth but then closed it again, glancing between the word and us. John snorted.
"Bloody hell I think you've silenced him, you deserve a medal or something."
With Sherlock still struggling to think of something to say, John bent down to examine Kelly.
"Dead…no longer than an hour." he muttered. "Definitely looks like suicide."
Before he could go on a tall figure appeared at the door and there was a sharp intake of breath.
"What do you four think you're doing?!" asked Professor McGonagall furiously.
I had never been in the headmaster's office before and I hoped never to repeat the experience. All four of us had been hauled up here by a seething Professor McGonagall and we now stood, heads bowed and shame faced before Professor Slughorn. At least, Lilly, John and I were, Sherlock was looking distinctly bored by the whole affair. The office was quite full, our heads of house were there, as well as Mr Potter and Mr Weasley. Lestrade stood looking guilty behind all of them. McGonagall began the assault.
"Explain yourselves!" she spat, glaring at us with her hawk-like eyes. I flinched and John began to apologise on behalf of all of us. It wasn't good enough for McGonagall.
"Have you no respect Watson?! Sneaking around a suicide scene when you had been expressly told to go to your-"
"It wasn't suicide." cut in Sherlock and everyone looked at him. Mr Potter frowned at him.
"What makes you say that?" he asked sharply. Sherlock glanced around to ascertain that he was the centre of attention before going on.
"Kelly Trent wasn't the brightest egg in the basket, she would have the skill to make a Draft of Living Death and anyway, didn't anyone see her eyelids?"
Everyone looked blank so he elaborated.
"Her eyelids were creased, a sure sign of the imperious curse."
"You're saying she was forced to kill herself?!" Lestrade piped up incredulously but Potter shook his head.
"You can't Imperio someone to kill themselves, the survival instinct is too strong."
"But it proves that her death wasn't as simple as it seems!" Sherlock persisted. "And who is Rachel?"
I glanced at him indignantly but chose not to say anything.
"What does Rachel have anything to do with this?" Ron Weasley asked in confusion.
"That's what she was scratching into the floor. A family member or a friend perhaps? Lestrade get someone on it."
Several of the adults bristled at being given orders by a seventh year kid and John wisely trod on Sherlock's foot.
"It is not up to you to solve mysteries Mr Holmes." Slughorn said sternly. "From now on you are to stay out of this or I'll contact your brother."
Sherlock winced before nodded moodily. Slughorn fixed the rest of us with a steely look.
"As for the rest of you, I expected better. Off to bed with all of you and this had better be the last escapade do you hear me?"
We turned and left the office in silence. The moment we had reached the corridor downstairs however, Sherlock said,
"Idiots. They didn't notice the crucial thing!"
"What?" Lilly snapped, her face as red as her hair. Sherlock smiled a rare smile.
"Kelly was missing a ring."