"Oh my God!"

"She's bleeding everywhere!"

"It's not hers. Damn it, someone open the door!"

"Oh my God!"

"Hurry up! Open the damn door!"

"Get the shower on."

Someone guided her into the shower and then turned it on. She cried uncontrollably and the sudden spray of water made it worse to the point where she sank down in the corner, no longer able to stand. Her body was wracked with her own sobs and partial screams of pain.

"Turn that shower off! You are destroying evidence!"

The water stopped coming. Madam Pomfrey stepped out of the bathroom to the waiting infirmary full of officers. Snipely and McGonagall were upon her first.

"I have to take her."

"You certainly will not!" Madam Pomfrey declared. "She is in a terrible state and not fit for any sort of questioning you no doubt will subject her to."

"I don't know if everyone in Hogwarts it blind to that girl's activities, but I certainly am not! Another student's body is lying shredded and Miss Granger there is soaked in his blood. She is no longer simply a person of interest but is, along with Mr. Draco Malfoy, our prime suspect and I will be taking her into custody!"

"My concern for her health and safety overrides your need to see her in chains."

"What about the safety of your students? Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy are clearly involved in some kind of murder spree, and not only are you ignoring it, but you are trying to protect them both from being questioned on it! Madam Headmistress, you must see reason-"

"Do you really think that after all Miss Granger did for the magical community, she would simply turn around and use some creature to kill students, especially Mr. Weasley, whom she cared a great deal about?"

"Madam, I am aware of the relationship between Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger, and know from countless interviews that any intimate relationship ended last year when Mr. Weasley discovered Miss Granger was involved with Mr. Malfoy. It was also told to me that the separation was not amicable in the least and that both Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger made irreprehensible comments about the other. As far as what she did for the magical community, I must remind you, Madam McGonagall, that for all Miss Granger's accomplishments leading to the Final Battle, she was not rewarded for it here at Hogwarts. The Head Girl position, a slot I know she wished to fill since arriving at the school, was given to Miss Celeste Gibbons, who as you know very well is dead! The case mounts against her, and Mr. Malfoy's actions upon her apprehension downstairs are not in anyone's favor."

"He was trying to protect a distraught girl."

"He was trying to keep her mouth shut. He attacked several officers, had to be forcibly restrained, and even then he would not stop his tirade. And now, on top of the mess he and Miss Granger have made, they have dragged a Mr. Blaise Zabini and the bloody Boy-Who-Lived into this! No, Madam Headmistress, I will not be told to wait. I have been held off long enough by your stonewalling. Officers, please go fetch Miss Granger and arrest her on two counts of murder by proxy. If anyone tries to stop you, they will be arrested for interfering in an investigation and as accomplices."

McGonagall watched helplessly as two officers dragged Hermione out of the room. She was dripping water and blood all over the floor, and she could barely hold her head up as she continued to wail. Snipely's lip curled in disdain but he motioned for them to follow. McGonagall stopped him at the door.

"Use the floo in Madam Pomfrey's room."

A smirk came to Snipely's cold face and he pushed the woman aside. "Miss Granger will leave in the carriage waiting at the Entrance Hall. A floo ride may be too jarring for her poor nerves."

Down in the Great Hall, students were once again pressed up against the windows as they watched Draco, Blaise, and Harry set down on the ground outside a carriage. The two Slytherins were bound behind their backs while Harry was left untouched, his status as the savior of the magical community making officers hesitant to treat him unduly. Ginny and Luna tried to go out to see what was going on, but officers prohibited them. Everyone was a buzz. What was going on? Why were the three outside? Where were Hermione and Ron?

A plaintive cry brought everyone to the Great Hall doors. Coming down the stairs were two officers and between them was Hermione, sobbing and unreachable as they marched her through the Entrance Hall. Outside, the boys had turned at the sound and when Hermione appeared in the doorway in her state, Draco was set off again. Cursing and seething, he was forced into a carriage before he could do any damage. Blaise and Harry followed, though not compliantly.

But none of this registered to Hermione. She could hear nothing, see nothing, say nothing past the sounds of despair that erupted from her breaking heart.

"Mr. Malfoy, do you know how much trouble you are in?"

"Tell me where she is."

"That's not your concern."

"Bullshit! What did you do with her?"

"Mr. Malfoy, your actions may be looked on as sweet in her eyes, but I only see more reason to tighten the restraints. Now, either you answer my questions, or-"

"Or what?"

Snipely rolled his eyes and motioned to the guard. "Take him back. He will just go before the Wizengemot."

"Where is she?" Draco yelled while being dragged out. Snipely watched him go before leaving as well. A piece of parchment zipped up and, taking it, he scowled. He headed towards his office, a little annoyed to find it full of Weasleys and Lovegoods.

"Arthur," he greeted the family patriarch. "I'm sorry you came all the way down here. Mr. Potter is in custody right now."

"Nobody has told us what has happened," Molly said, clutching her husband's hand hard. "Where are Ron, Harry, and Hermione?"

Snipely's eyebrow rose. "Nobody's told you yet?" Sighing, he sat behind his desk. "As you know, the beast got out."

"Yes, we know about Celeste Gibbons." Arthur frowned. "Is that what this is about? You can't possibly think those three had anything to do with it."

"Nor Blaise or Mr. Malfoy," said Mr. Lovegood, touching his daughter's shoulder. Snipely's eyebrow rose.

"Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger were involved and Mr. Malfoy previously took ownership for the creature."

"Hermione would never hurt anyone," Ginny snapped. "Neither would the others. This is a mistake."

"I want to see my son and his friends," Molly demanded. Snipley shook his head.

"That's impossible at this point. I am sorry to have to inform you that your son was found murdered in the dungeons last night."

Molly was the only one who actually made a noise. The rest of them just stared in initial shock and gradual horror and disbelief.

"No," Arthur murmured. "No, that's impossible."

Snipely shifted in discomfort, not particularly fond of being outnumbered by folks he knew were getting very bad news.

"I'm so sorry, Arthur," he said, though his tone was less empathetic than it should have been. "Because of how similar the scene is to Miss Gibbons', we were forced to take Miss Granger into custody. Harry and Mr. Zabini were at the scene, so they are also in custody."

Luna embraced Ginny as the girl started crying. The older boys were quiet, not quite sure how to react. Even Percy looked out of his element, much as he did when Fred had passed. Arthur gripped his wife's shoulders, taking a deep breath to keep himself from falling apart.

"Hermione would never-"

"With all due respect, Arthur, you've no idea what that witch would ever do." He stood. "My deepest condolences."

He left them to his office, meeting Harker out in the corridor. "How did they take it?"

"I want to talk to the Weasley girl and Luna Lovegood before long," he said as the two men started walking towards the main office area. "They both know some things that could be helpful in the investigation."

"Did Malfoy say anything?"

"No. He just wants to see Granger. Probably to get their stories straight or to tell her to keep her mouth shut. I imagine he'll be wanting to take all the credit for the two murders."

"You don't think he did it himself?"

Snipely shook his head. "No. Malfoy's not got his father in him. Skipped town during the war. I don't peg him as cold enough to do it on his own."

"But you think Granger would?"

"I think the girl had enough motive, at least for Gibbons'. And she managed to get Malfoy, the devout pureblood, to fall in love with her. I think she could have gotten him to do anything for her, including offing Gibbons and Weasley."

"You really think she took out Weasley?"

Snipely shrugged. "Doesn't matter. She's going down for both and so is Malfoy. Murder by proxy will do them both in. Hey, did we ever get the results back on the tests?"

"Yeah, they just came in. You'll never believe. It's Mngwa and Bakeneko."

"You're joking."

"Wish I was. I think we'll have to close down the school. There's no way we get that thing out of the castle."

"Question is how did that witch get one in. And without anyone noticing that big bastard. Well, we'll find out. Look, I want this case airtight, understood. Get the fur and blood samples rushed, okay? When the Wizengemot gets it, I want a unanimous verdict, understood?"

Harker nodded and took off. Snipely took a deep breath and entered through a dark metal door. There were a line of cells and in the middle one sat Hermione. After being brought to the Ministry, her clothes had been removed and she had been showered before being placed in the cell. She looked rather miserable, hair damp and clinging to her milk-white skin. Her eyes were closed and she was leaning against the wall as if unable to sit straight on her own.

"Miss Granger."

He opened the cell as she opened her eyes. They were dull, very different from their last interview.

"Miss Granger, I am giving you one last chance to explain yourself. After this, it goes to the Wizengemot and there will be no mercy."

She looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry."

His eyebrow rose. "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused."

He sat across from her. "Miss Granger, you need to understand the amount of trouble-"

"Ron is dead." Her eyes met his with such sudden fury that he leaned away. "Ron is dead because of me. Because he…because he tried to protect me, even after everything I did to him." She shook her head, looking away. "You don't care, though. You're going to put me in Azkaban."

"I am. I don't approve of murderers being any place else."

"I never said I killed Ron."

"You said-"

"He's dead because of me. That's not an admission of guilt, not that it matters. I may as well have killed him."

He frowned. "Your friend is dead and you still refuse to take responsibility. How cold are your veins, Miss Granger?"

He caught her by the wrists before she could pummel him. "I didn't kill him!" she cried. "I would never…I would never hurt Ron!" She wrenched herself away, eyes dark as coal. "But I tell you, I'll kill who did."

"So now it's someone else?"

"It was always someone else. I never…I thought it was me, but it's not. I didn't do any of this."

"Really? And who did?"

She sank back into her seat. "Does it matter? I can't prove anything."

"Then you all go."

Her eyes widened. "Please, Draco had nothing to do with this! Nobody did! This is all my doing!"

"It doesn't work that way. Malfoy already claimed responsibility of the creature and, since you two are lovers, that puts you both at the heart of both murders."

Hermione shook her head. "Draco took responsibility because he didn't want me to get expelled! I was the one who brought Easter into Hogwarts."

"I'll be sure to tell the Wizengemot that at your trial," said he as he closed the cell door. "You are in helpless water, Miss Granger. The best thing you can do for yourself is tell the truth."

"I am!"

He shrugged. "Then God save you."