As it turned out, Dagmar was gone already when they came to collect her for questioning. And so the manhunt, or rather woman-hunt began in earnest, the Romanian Aurors scouring the surrounding area and listening out for her presence in other parts of the country. She didn't use magical transport means or they would have been able to trace her magical signature and track her movement. So she had to be somewhere around, not far, where she could hide until it all blew over and then disappear forever.
Hermione left the investigation to Bill who was working with the Aurors and combing the forest, while she finally managed to finish the cure that afternoon. She made enough for all the dragons and one extra in case new cases popped up again. They also confirmed that the salve used on the dragons and brewed by Dagmar was not only cross-contaminated but actually contained the disease right from the cauldron, which was found discarded and cleverly disguised under a pile of rubbish, bearing the evidence of her treachery. Now that they could prove it was her, they needed to find out how in the world she managed to replicate the disease in modern age.
In the meantime, Charlie was grateful to have an extra pair of hands helping with the administration of the cure which has thickened to a viscous salve that could be easily spread over the affected areas locally, and mixed into the dragons' water and food to be ingested internally. They tightened the circle of carers to just four, to avoid any cross-contamination and bad practice. This way they managed to tend to a dragon in just an hour and then set up roots for monitoring. By that evening all the dragons were healing, even the most severely wounded lady, and the handlers all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Hey, how are the dragons doing? Is it working?" Bill caught up with his brother outside the hatchery.
"The cure is already working miracles. We'll even be able to save Hera, and she was quite far into the illness," Charlie said tiredly but his eyes were brighter and he seemed in a much better mood.
Bill clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Char. You saved dragon lives," he offered, always proud of him.
"I wouldn't be able to without you two," he pointed out quite rightly. "Any luck with Dagmar?" he asked, feeling the fury rise within his chest just at the thought of the woman.
"Not yet. The Aurors just switched shifts and we now have some more on foot since the nights here are so dark and they can't continue searching from their brooms. I'm going to take a nap before I join them to continue with the search in the morning," explained as they headed back towards the cottage.
When they walked in, they found an absolutely exhausted Hermione curled up in the plush, comfortable armchair, her hair damp and rising as the curls bounced back slowly. She was loosely wrapped up in the soft blanket that used to hang on the back of the sofa, and in her lap, partially covered and contentedly snoozing was Apollo. He blinked at them as they walked in and gave them a warning glare, one that only an unimpressed tomcat could give, warning them against waking his mistress.
Bill cast a quick silencing charm on her so she wouldn't hear them putter around as they quickly shared some dinner and took turns in the shower. Charlie wished his brother good night and gave him an extra blankets to cover up with as the eldest redhead tried to stretch out for the sofa that was not meant for his 6' 3" build. His head barely hit the pillow though and he was out like the light before he knew it.
She hummed to herself, gently applying the perfume to her pulse point. Her corset was laced tightly but she loved the peach tulle that fell gracefully around her shoulders. She still couldn't believe it, they had a new Queen! And whether you were muggle or magical, this was a time for celebration.
Victoria would set a great example for other politically-minded, strong young women and Hermione couldn't wait for their rights to become better equalled to the men's. She was lucky herself to have a husband to love her sharp mind and strong opinions.
"Are you ready to join us for the celebrations, wife?" came a cheeky voice from behind her, and she turned in her seat to look at her husband…
An insistent fist began pounding on the door of the cottage. Since the silencing charm has worn off, Hermione and Bill both jumped, wands aimed at the offending door. Hermione took a deep breath to calm her wildly beating heart and opened the door, hearing Charlie pad into the living room on bare feet as well.
Outside their door was one of the Aurors who were searching the woods throughout the night. It was still dark but the sky would soon be changing colour with the rising sun. They couldn't have slept longer than four or five hours and Hermione was not pleased with the interruption. That changed however with the news the man before her was bearing. "We caught her. She is locked in one of the empty offices in the headquarters. The captain suggested I speak with you and see if you have evidence for her interrogation," he bowed slightly in respect to the war heroine and the internationally recognised curse breaker, though his gaze did briefly pause on Hermione's chest where her long sleeve top dipped to reveal the curve of her breasts.
Both Hermione and Bill frowned at the cheek of the man but Bill beat her to it. "Give us an hour to compile all the evidence," he said and closed the door in the Auror's face.
"Cheeky little bugger…" he murmured just loud enough for Hermione to hear and hide a smile behind her hand before yawning widely and stretching her arms up above her head.
"I'll make some breakfast. Charlie will need to tell you about the spread of the disease at the reserve and you can provide evidence from our search," she suggested.
"Sure, if you're happy to look it over to see if anything needs to be added," he agreed but wanted her input. Hermione nodded in agreement and bent down to pick up Apollo who purred and nuzzled her cheek, watching the two men over her shoulder as she headed for the kitchen.
It took them an hour to compile a clear report and timeline of events so they could question Dagmar accordingly, eat the delicious crepes Hermione made for them, and get ready to face the world. Charlie was not allowed to go with them, and perhaps it was for the best, as he was downright furious with the woman he once considered a friend. Hermione didn't have much experience with interrogation, other than what she lived through during the war and the majority was conducted on her rather than vice versa. She wasn't sure about going in but Bill seemed to know what he was doing and felt that having a woman in the room may be helpful somehow.
They nodded to the Aurors guarding the door and were let into the disused office. There were precisely two chairs and a table, and Dagmar was already sitting in one of them. She was in her thirties, a beautiful tall woman with athletic build, lovely almond-shaped eyes and blond hair pulled into a tight, severe bun. She looked calm and collected, a woman who knew what probably awaited her for her actions. And while her icy blue eyes may have once been lovely, they were flat, cold, emotionless. Hermione briefly wondered whether she was using occlumency, recognising that emotional blankness from the eyes of their potions master and double spy. But there was something, a glimmer of emotion that was being suppressed and that gave her hope that they would get through.
Bill pulled out the chair for her and Hermione sat across from the other woman with her travel mug of coffee and an equally calm facade. Bill stood behind her and opened the file they were carrying, as if reading through the content once again despite knowing them by heart.
"Dagmar Královičová, nee Kratzmar….thirty two years old, single, divorced, childless, relatively wealthy…I'm struggling to find something that could serve as potential blackmail material to make you do something like this.." Bill mused and set the file down on the table in front of Hermione.
Dagmar didn't even bat an eyelash, she just continued to look at them.
"We won't reiterate the charges you are facing. We know what you did, and for that you will be prosecuted," he continued despite her silence. "We just want to know why. Not that motive counts in the wizarding court, but we are rather curious," he mused with a half smile, as if somewhat impressed.
Dagmar raised a brow at his obvious attempt to lead her into spilling her secrets. "I don't need to talk to you," she shrugged, her accent very minute and nearly unnoticeable.
"Perhaps, but we can just get some veritaserum and get the answers anyway, so why not cooperate?" he asked simply.
"Do you think I don't know how to avoid answering under veritaserum?" she flipped back but her answer was just a bit too quick and Hermione noticed the slight quiver in her fingers before she crossed her arms over her chest to hide the tremor.
"Does it matter?" Hermione suddenly piped up, drawing the gaze of the woman before her to herself. "We will find out one way or another. And if not us, then the Aurors will for sure. Why don't you make it easier on yourself and tell us who made you do this?" she asked, changing the tone.
Instead of placing the blame all on the shoulders of the perpetrator, try to find the blame somewhere higher in a command or blackmail. They were all just pawns anyway and there was always someone higher, more powerful who made decisions behind their backs. Bill who was walking around the room leaned against the door, a little away from the women, to allow for Hermione's line of questioning to be a bit more effective. Clever. He was technically the bad male cop, and she was the good female cop that empathised with the other woman. He never thought it would actually work in the real life, and he really needed to stop watching so many muggle thrillers…
Dagmar remained silent for a long moment, just staring at Hermione and trying to decide whether to speak or not. She didn't really have much choice but at least this way she could tell the story as it was, before anyone tampered with her memories. And the brunette before her looked very honest. "I did love him once…" she began, the words barely a whisper and Hermione had to strain to hear her.
"The man who did this?" she asked, wanting to reinforce the fact that she knew there was someone else behind this.
"The man who did this," she said and lifted her shirt, showing a multitude of scars, old and newer pink ones. Her piercing icy gaze deepened and Hermione could see clearly the pain within them. So she she an occlumens as well, Hermione concluded, seeing the veil of protection drop and reveal the truth.
"Who did this to you?" she asked, calmly and quietly but instead of pity her gaze held compassion for the pain she was seeing before her in every scar.
Dagmar lowered her shirt and wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as if wishing for someone to hold her and knowing she was alone in this.
"We used to be good friends. He's very smart, charming, but he also has a wife. I didn't think about it then, it was ten years ago and I was stupid to think that having an affair would lead to him choosing me instead," she admitted.
Hermione transfigured a mug and poured some of her coffee into it, offering it to the woman. "Please have some, you must be chilled. I promise it's just coffee," she demonstrated by taking a sip herself.
Thrown by the kindness Dagmar reached for the cup and held it tightly, feeling the warmth seeping into her frozen fingers. "Thank you," she said gratefully, strangely comforted by the woman before her.
"Did you end the affair when he said he would stay with his wife?" she asked, as if she knew that scenario well herself. She nearly fooled Bill as well who looked at her curiously for a moment.
Dagmar sipped at the coffee gratefully and nodded. "So I stupidly told him that I will tell her myself. He got very angry, and decided to remind me that no one would believe me, no one would care about me and I could disappear any day without anyone noticing…" she whispered hoarsely, emotions tightening her throat.
Bill shook his head. "Charlie is my brother," he spoke up, but kept his tone gentle to not frighten her. "He always spoke very highly of you and would probably hire us to look for you and find you," he reassured, hoping the words would help her understand the lies.
Dagmar drew into herself a little but sipped the coffee for a few moments before continuing. "You don't know him like I do…." she admitted. "He could make me disappear and no one would know…he's wealthy, famous, and I was just another tourist in his country," she admitted, looking down into her cup.
Hermione shot Bill a look. A foreigner. She had a foreign, married, wealthy lover. "His country?" she asked. "Was he like a visiting diplomat?" she prompted gently.
Dagmar shook her head. "We met at a function once. He came over to see what we do and we started the affair then. I would visit him in Brussels, always traveling via muggle means to not be tracked," she explained.
Brussels. Wealthy, married, diplomatic, shrewd…..she knew several men like that but only one that would have come to Romania and had an interest in the dragon reserve. "Willems…..Lucas Willems did this to you?" she asked cautiously.
By the tears that began streaming down the woman's face, she knew they hit jackpot. "I didn't know what it was, I swear. I had no idea when I put it into the cauldron," she suddenly looked at Hermione, trying to frantically explain everything that happened. "Lucas told me we could be together, that he was going to build a better reserve in Belgium, leave his wife and we could finally be happy. He would love me again if I just dropped the vial into the salve. He said it was going to colour the dragons' scales and bring into question our competency here in Romania, so the dragons would get transferred to his country. Please, I really didn't know it was deadly!" she gripped the edge of the table tightly, her eyes pleading and nearly hysterical. "I really didn't know," she managed to say before sobs of sorrow wrecked her body.
Hermione got out of her seat and walked over, standing next to Dagmar and held her tightly as the blonde sobbed into her sweater. She knew this was the person who distributed the deadly bacteria and nearly killed eight precious, ancient dragons. This was also a woman who was physically and mentally abused, manipulated, coerced and used in an international sabotage for the purpose of a greedy, vicious man. And they now had more evidence against him, enough to get him interrogated under veritaserum. She looked at Bill and nodded for him to head off and notify the Auror department of the development and to get the warrant for arrest of one Lucas Willems. Bill bowed his head slightly in thanks for her help and slipped out of the room nearly unnoticed, knowing Hermione wouldn't leave the woman's side just yet.
