EDIT 24/7/12

Hi, Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! It really helps me to stay motivated to get better at writing. Updates will be totally random as I have started volunteering a few days a week and don't have as much time to write anymore. Sorry if any characters are a bit ooc.

Also sorry this is up a few days later then I said it would be.

Mysteries and Magic

Chapter Three: The first of many

It was an early morning, about 3am when Harry was awoken by a scream. The scream was soon followed by the fire alarm going off and the noises of the other residents being forced to evacuate his apartment building. Harry quickly pulled himself out of bed and throw on a dressing gown and some slippers before following the rest of the crowd out onto the street. There were police and firemen arriving from all directions, rushing to control the situation and to put out the fire that was blazing away on the 5th floor. The policeman that had arrived first was calling for backup and his partner was yelling out instructions.

The road was closed off and the locals forced back into their homes and apartment buildings. The residences of the burning building were ushered over to the paramedics to be checked over. Once it was clear no one was injured, they were pushed across the road to be questioned when more reinforcements arrived. Left standing in the cold with his neighbours, Harry stared at the still smoking building watching the fire-fighters put out the last of the fire. Once the area was safe again some of the police were able to go inside and inspect the area.

An inspector soon came out of the building shouting out instructions on his was over to the crowd. Following behind him a woman was watching them, no doubt trying to see if any of them were the guilty ones, so it could be wrapped up easily and she could get home again. The pair stopped in front of the waiting crowd and the man introduced himself as Detective Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard and the woman as Sergeant Donavan. Then he turned to address the woman before he pulled out his phone and dialled. The woman turned all her attention to the crown and spoke,

'My name is Sergeant Donavan. If you have anything to say about tonight's events, you tell me. I need anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious to step forward and I will be questioning you all first. Anyone else, just try to stay out of our way until you are asked for. This is a very serious investigation and we don't need any more people sticking their nose in then necessary.'

A few people step forward from the crowd. From what Harry could see they all lived on the fifth floor. He tried to hear what they were talking about but they soon moved out of earshot as the sergeant pulled out her notebook to write down their statements and he couldn't hear anything important. Most of the people around him were tired and uninterested in what had happened. Almost everyone in the building didn't take any notice of anyone else but themselves, hardly interacting with each other. That was one of the reasons why Harry had chosen this building to live in. No one cared who he was. It was also very close to the Ministry and the Ministers favourite coffee shop. It made getting the work day started much easier. Harry glanced around trying to find somewhere to sit. It looked like it would be a while before they were allowed back inside to their homes. There was no where left to sit. The few spots that were around had been taken up by the elderly people that lived on the first and second floors. Resigning himself to standing, Harry took another look around the area.

The firemen were leaving now to fill in reports and whatever else they do after a fire. The police were gathering the last of the evidence that could be found it the dark and were working on sealing up the area. The paramedics had all left leaving only the police. No one had survived that fire. Harry didn't know who lived in that apartment. He had no clue who or how many were dead. It was never good news though. Was it a murder or an accident? Judging by the scream he heard earlier Harry could only guess it was murder. If it were an accident he didn't think that that police would be asking so many questions.

A taxi cab arrived and caught his attention from the buzzing police. Out of the car stepped two men. One was very tall and slender. He had dark curly hair and pale skin, nothing else could be seen about the man's features as it was too dark. He was wearing a long great coat and a scarf was tried around his neck. The other man was shorter than his companion, about average height. He had short neat blonde hair and was wearing jeans with a dark coat. He seemed much more relaxed and friendly. The pair made their way over to the police and the taller one demanding to see Lestrade. The DI quickly distracted them. Saving the nervous young man from any more of the tall mans demands. Harry watched as the DI explained the situation and then shouted at the pair that they had five minutes as they entered the building.

Harry wondered who the pair was. They were not police or not secret service. When the five minutes were up the pair returned outside, the tall man spoke to the Di while the other man watched on. The pair was soon wondering around asking random questions and inspecting the area. The tall man seemed to believe that there was something that the police had missed and was also looking around for it.

Sergeant Donavan glanced at the pair in disgust as she walked over to ask the other residents some questions. When she got to Harry she stood in front of him and blocked his view of the pair.

'Your name and apartment number first. Then tell me if you saw or heard anything' she asked straight to the point and even a little rudely.

'I'm Harry Potter. I live in 36 on the third floor.'

'And you...' prompted the Sergeant to hurry him up a bit.

'I didn't see anything, obviously I was sleeping but I heard a scream just before the fire alarm was set off. That's what woke me the scream not the alarm.'

'Do you know the residence of apartment 57?'

'No. I have no idea who they are.'

'Alright then, I just need your contact details in case we have any more questions for you.'

Harry told her his number at work and his mobile phone in case he was needed again. He doubted they would need him though. After all he didn't even know the people living there. She moved on quick enough after taking his statement and Harry was free to look around again. The mysterious pair was talking to some of the people from the fifth floor. He slowly made his way closer trying to hear what they were speaking about without being obvious.

The tall man was listening to the shorter man ask questions and cut in whenever then man made a mistake or wasn't asking quite the right thing. As if he sensed someone watching the tall man looked up and met Harry's eye. The tall man raised an eyebrow before turning back to the elderly lady in front of him. Harry quickly looked away from them not wanting to be caught staring again. The tall man had very familiar eyes. Like he had seen them on someone else, but he just couldn't work out who they belonged too. He frowned slightly as he tried to remember. He figured it would come to him if it was important.

It was getting close to 5am and Harry was leaning on a wall wishing he could go back inside and get ready for work. There was no chance he could go back to sleep now and he had to be at work at 8am. He supposed he would go in early today. Half an hour later they were finally allowed back into their apartments. Harry rushed inside to get out of the cold and started his usual morning routine. After a hot shower and dressing he moved into his small kitchen to make himself some breakfast. He also made himself some lunch to take to work. Once he had cleaned his breakfast dishes he gathered his work bag and lunch. He paused at the mirror next to the front door to check his appearance. His suit was fine, shoes clean and hair in place. After the ball he had decided to keep it long and gone to the hair dressers in Diagon Ally to get some hair care spells. It was much easier to just cast a spell and have his hair braided, ready for the day. Leaving his apartment he made sure to grab his umbrella and lock the door before catching the lift to the underground car park.

Harry arrived just over an hour early to work. The atrium of the Ministry was almost empty. He was waved through security like every other day and rode the lift down to the Ministers office stopping for a coffee on the way. His desk was just as he had left it last night. The morning mail had not yet arrived. The Minister was not in yet and would be in late today. It was another secret meeting with Mycroft Holmes.

It was just after ten am when the Minister arrived. Harry was downloading some notes from his phone and waved as he walked passed. The Ministers ten am appointment was sitting in a wooden chair and looked as if she was getting fed up with waiting. The Minister did not invite the woman into his office and left her to wait a little longer while he got settled. The woman huffed as the clock passed ten fifteen and looked like she was about ready to bust into the office weather the Minster liked it or not. Harry didn't bother paying her much attention as he had better things to do. The morning mail was sitting waiting to be sorted and the files from the department of education needed to be proof read.

The main was nothing important but the files were. They were about the new programs that were going to be set up for children under eleven. The department wanted to set up a school for all muggleborn and muggle raised children to introduce them to magic before they went to Hogwarts. It was a three year school program that would start when the children were eight. It was also teach them their muggles studies so they were not neglected. The department was also trying to finalise the details on a magical university. The university was in its last stages of planning and a location had been chosen to start construction as soon as the minister approved the plans. The new university would offer courses from three years up to seven depending on when a person wanted to study.

Harry sometimes wished the university had been running when he had finished Hogwarts. It would have opened up a lot more opportunities for his peers and himself. Harry was currently happy with his job but at the time when he first started it had been this or the aurora's department and he was sick of chasing bad guys around.

The minister finally let the woman into his office for their meeting and Harry was left alone again. He liked it when his office was quite. It made work much easier to complete. Harry turned back to his files only stopping for lunch or to arrange and deal with appointments.

The day was just winding down when a call come in. It was from the department of muggle relations. It seems that there was an emergency that the Minister needed to be informed of. Harry patched the call thought to the Minsters office and waited for instructions. The minister called him into his office and handed him a folder with instructions to take it to Scotland Yard and hand it to the DI in change of the Jagget case personally.

Harry left the Ministers office with the folder in his briefcase. He didn't plan on coming back to the office that evening. He arrived at Scotland Yard just after four thirty in the afternoon and the building was buzzing with police. Harry certainly looked out of place with his immaculate looks and expensive suit. When he approached the front desk he was ignored by the young lady that was sitting behind it, staring at the computer in front of her. Harry knowing the files he carried were important didn't have the patience to wait for her attention.

'Excuse me...' the lady did not look up so Harry repeated himself. She still did not respond. Annoyed Harry dropped his briefcase on the desk with a loud bang. This startled the lady and she looked up at him.

'Can I help you sir?' The lady snapped at him.

'I would hope so. I need to speak to the DI in charge of the Jagget case.'

'I'm sorry sir but that case is classified.'

'I know that. Now either call the DI and tell him someone from MI3 is here or get your superior.'

'MI3 never heard of it.' The lady looked at him septically.

'Just call, will you. I have better things to be doing this afternoon then talking with you.'

The lady glared at him but picked up the phone next to her and dialled a number. After a quick conversation, the lady put down the phone and gave Harry the instructions on how to go to the DI's office. The office was on the fifth floor of the building and the lift was broken. Harry was fit but it was still a challenge to walk the stairs with lots of other people getting in the way. He finally made it to the fifth floor and the DI's office in the third room from the left. The name plate on the door proclaimed that the office belonged to DI Lestrade, the same DI that was at his apartment building that morning. Harry knocked on the door and entered when he was called in.

The room looked like a typical office. There was a desk with three chairs, one was behind the desk where the DI was sitting and in front of the desk were the other two chairs. One was occupied the short blonde man also from this morning. Standing by the only window looking down at the people on the street was the blonde mans companion. Lestrade gestured for him to take a seat in the only free chair before speaking.

'Good afternoon Mr. Potter. I believe you have the files I requested. '

'Yes sir I have them with me. I also have the paper work you need to sign to prove that you personally received them.' Replied Harry as he pulled out the files from his briefcase.

Lestrade nodded in thanks as he took the files. The paper work that needed signing was on top of the folders. He checked that the documents were the ones he asked for before moving to read over the paperwork. As soon as the paperwork was signed and back inside Harry's briefcase, the man in the corner of the room snatched up the files while muttering to himself. Something out their now being twenty nine possible causes. The blonde man just sighed and slouched further into his chair.

Lestrade smiled almost fondly at the tall man before shaking his head and focusing back on Harry.

'Mr. Potter I was hoping that you might have a direct phone number that we can have to your superior. It would save us a lot of time if we didn't need to be redirected three times to reach him.'

'Have you got some paper I can right it on? I'm not in the habit of carrying around business cards with private government phone numbers on.'

Lestrade passed him a piece of paper from the note pad sitting next to him for him to write down the number as well as two others. One was the out of office hour's number and the other was his work mobile phone.

'Is there anything else you needed Mr. Lestrade and Mister... ah... Sorry we haven't been introduced yet...' Harry said turning to the blonde man, 'I'm Harry Potter. It's nice to meet you.'

The blonde man looked slightly startled to be spoken to and took a moment to reply.

'Dr. John Watson and that is Sherlock Holmes, detective.'

'Consulting detective, must I correct you ever time John.' Cut in Sherlock, from his perch by the window.

'Sherlock Holmes, Consulting detective. Better?'

'Yes much better.'

'That will be everything for now Mr. Potter. We will call you if we need any more information or have any questions. Good evening.' Lestrade spoke before John and Sherlock could get into another of their petty arguments about titles.

Harry nodded and bid the three men good evening before leaving the office. It was only as Harry reached his car that he realise why Sherlock Holmes' eyes looked so familiar. They were the same eyes that belonged to Mycroft Holmes.

TBC

Next Chapter will be shorter but it will be from the point of view of Mycroft and Sherlock/John. Kind of a filler chapter and have more about the mysterious murders. Please let me know if there are any major spelling or grammar issues as this isn't BETA-ed. The chapter will be up in the next two weeks, just before I leave for about a week and a half on a cruise.