Chapter Sixteen.
Sitting at his desk in the middle of the Auror Department Harry tried not to stare at the desk opposite his, the desk that belonged to Ron. All of Ron's belongings in the Department had been packed away before Harry returned to work the previous day, but he still thought of the desk as belonging to his best friend.
As Harry struggled to concentrate on his paperwork, his mind started to drift. It had been Ron's funeral a couple of days earlier and he still couldn't get over how hard Molly had taken Ron's death. After the war and Fred's death she had been devastated, but this time she was inconsolable. Just to get her to Ron's funeral meant she had to be dosed up with pills and potions from the Healers, but even they couldn't block out the traumatic event for long and halfway through the ceremony she had broken down in a torrent of heart wrenching sobs.
Harry thought that one of the reasons Molly and the rest of the family were taking Ron's death so hard was the fact they thought Hermione had killed him. Harry still wasn't convinced of his friend's guilt but he hadn't been able to prove her innocence either. The Aurors in charge of the case were convinced that Hermione was guilty and they told Harry they weren't looking for anyone else in connection with Ron's death. When Harry had tried to argue for Hermione, Kingsley had stepped in and told him to back off. In fact the Minister had only allowed him to return to work if he left the Aurors investigating Ron's death well alone.
Shaking his head to dislodge thoughts of Ron and Hermione, Harry once again tried to concentrate on his work. Since he'd been off work after Ron's death, he was working on a Saturday in order to catch up with some paperwork he had missed. After half an hour of trying unsuccessfully to get working, Harry closed the file he was working and decided to have a break. Leaving his desk he wandered across into the Law Department staffroom and poured himself a steaming cup of coffee, before collapsing on one of the comfortable chairs dotted around the room.
Half an hour later Harry returned to his desk, determined to actually work. Initially his plan was working fine, until he moved a file on his desk and found an envelope with his name scrawled on the front. Harry puzzled over the envelope for several seconds, wondering who had left it on his desk. He knew for a fact it hadn't been on his desk earlier that morning, meaning someone had left it while he was in the staff room.
Finally deciding to open it and find out what it was, Harry ripped open the envelope. Unfolding the piece of parchment inside his heart stopped when he read the couple of hastily scrawled lines.
Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are hiding out in Blaise Zabini's Italian villa on the coast. They plan on leaving the country in the next few hours so you'll have to move quickly to catch them.
Harry read and re-read the note several times before jumping up and making his way to the Minister's office. He knew Kingsley was working because he'd spoken to him earlier. Harry was going to Kingsley because he would rather deal with the note himself rather than passing it onto the Aurors in charge of the investigation and he was hoping his long standing friendship with the Minister would help get him what he wanted.
"Harry, what can I do for you?" Kingsley asked as Harry entered his office.
"I've just found this on my desk." Harry answered, handing over the note to Kingsley.
Kingsley quickly read the note before jumping up ready for action. "If this is accurate we're going to have to move immediately. Can you handle it if we go, or do I need to call in someone else?"
"I can handle it." Harry replied, pleased he didn't have to beg Kingsley to allow him to go to Italy.
"Are you sure?" Kingsley paused and studied Harry carefully. "I know you think Hermione is innocent, but we will be going there to arrest her. Can you cope with that?"
"I know we'll be arresting her." Harry admitted, upset at the prospect but knowing it was inevitable. "But maybe once she's told her side of the story I'll have a better idea of how to help prove that she's innocent."
"I admire your loyalty Harry, but I think you should keep an open mind." Kingsley said as the two wizards left his office and headed down to the records department to find the address of Blaise's villa in Italy.
"Do you think Hermione is capable of murder?" Harry asked, knowing Kingsley was a good judge of character and had known Hermione for a long time.
"I think in the right circumstances anyone is capable of anything." Kingsley replied. "But on a personal level I have to admit I find it hard placing Hermione as a killer."
"When we bring her back, will you ensure she gets a fair trial?" Harry asked. "If she gives us any leads, they need to be followed up."
"Don't worry, Harry. I promise that I will listen to everything Hermione has to say and I'll personally check through everything before an official charge is made against her." Kingsley reassured Harry. "If there's a chance Hermione didn't kill Ron, we'll spot it and find the real culprit."
"Thanks, Kingsley." Harry smiled at the Minister.
Kingsley nodded sharply in response. "Enough talking, let's find Zabini's address and get to Italy."
Ten minutes later they had the address they needed and Kingsley was organising a floo connection to the Ministry in Italy. When they arrived in Rome, Kingsley organised for a couple of the Italian Aurors to accompany them to the villa. Kingsley made sure the Italian wizards knew not to interfere unless necessary before they left for the Italian coast.
When they arrived at the villa they debated various methods of gaining access to the villa. In the end Kingsley sent the two Italian Aurors to the back of the property, in case anyone tried to run, while he and Harry tried the straightforward approach and knocked on the door. When the door opened they found themselves standing in front of a serious looking Blaise Zabini.
"Potter. Minister." Blaise nodded. "We've been expecting you, do come in."
Harry and Kingsley shared a baffled look, but they stepped inside the villa.
"You do know why we're here, don't you?" Harry asked the former Slytherin.
"You're here because you got our message." A voice from a nearby doorway called.
Harry and Kingsley whirled around at the same time to find Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway of what they presumed was the front room. Harry was puzzled by the fact Malfoy seemed to have sent the message to him, but before he could react Blaise was speaking again.
"Maybe we should take this into the front room." He suggested, gesturing to the room behind Draco.
At Blaise's suggestion, Draco turned and re-entered the front room, leaving Harry and Kingsley to follow him. Entering the front room Harry's eyes fell on Hermione, who was standing in another doorway. Before he had a chance to say anything however his eyes scanned over the rest of the room, nearly giving him a heart attack at what he witnessed. Sitting tied up in a chair, next to Pansy Parkinson, was a scowling Ron.
"What the hell?" Harry whispered, grabbing hold of the nearest chair for support. He just spent nearly a fortnight grieving for his best friend and to see him alive and well was just so overwhelming.
"Would someone care to explain what's going on?" Kingsley ordered, looking from Ron to Hermione in confusion.
"How about I start." Hermione suggested, entering the room properly.
Sitting down on a large chair next to Draco she gestured for Harry and Kingsley to sit down on the sofa. Once everyone was settled she took hold of Draco's hand and prepared to tell her side of the story.
"It all started six months ago when Ron showed up at my flat and blackmailed me into agreeing to marry him." Hermione started. "Draco and I have been together for a while and somehow Ron found out and decided to do something about it."
"How did he blackmail you?" Kingsley asked.
"He said he had information proving Draco is involved in dark magic, and he said he would use it if I didn't marry him." Hermione answered. "The information's all false of course, but I wasn't risking him using it and getting Draco sent to Azkaban."
"Why didn't you come to me and tell me what was going on?" Harry asked quietly.
"Because I was worried you would take Ron's side." Hermione replied. "I know the information about Draco is false, but if Ron claimed it was real you would have believed him."
Harry wanted to protest but he knew Hermione was right. If he'd known about the information Ron had he would have believed it was real, even if Hermione had protested he would have brushed her off. The only reason he was believing her now was the situation he had walked in on. The fact Ron was alive changed everything, especially as it was looking like he was the mastermind behind this entire murder and frame-up.
"Why didn't you tell us about the blackmail, though?" Kingsley questioned. "Ron was still breaking the law by blackmailing you."
"Yes, he was, but he could have claimed the information was real and he was just taking advantage of the situation. I wasn't going to risk anyone taking his accusations seriously." Hermione said.
Kingsley nodded, understanding Hermione's reasoning. "So what happened the weekend of the wedding?"
"After the argument I had with Ron, I returned to the honeymoon suite where I drank until I passed out. I didn't wake up until the following morning, which was when I found 'Ron' was dead."
"So you ran." Harry said quietly.
"Yes." Hermione nodded. "All the evidence pointed to me, and I'd given myself a great motive the previous day. I knew I didn't stand a chance so I went to Draco and we ran."
"How did you work out what had happened that night?" Kingsley asked. "How did you know Ron was still alive?"
"Until he showed up here, we didn't." Draco answered, taking over the story. "Last week Pansy had said something to raise Theo's suspicions and we decided she was involved in what happened. We set the trap for her, we didn't expect to catch a weasel as well."
"I think it's time to hear the other side of the story now." Kingsley said, turning to Ron. "I'm assuming you want a chance to explain yourself."
"What's to explain, I tried setting Hermione up and I failed." Ron snapped.
"But why?" Harry asked his friend in bewilderment. "I thought you loved her."
"I do, that's why I did this." Ron retorted. "She deserves better than Malfoy."
"And Azkaban is better is it?" Draco snorted in disgust.
Harry ignored Draco and looked at his best friend in complete disbelief. This wasn't the Ron he knew, the Ron he knew wasn't so malicious and cruel.
"You don't love Hermione." Harry stated forcefully as he finally found his voice. "What you did was the total opposite of love, it was bloody deranged. You didn't for one minute think of the pain you've caused her, not to mention the rest of your family. Did you ever give them a consideration when you were planning your little stunt? Did it never occur to you how devastated they would be to lose someone else? Your mother is a complete mess, half the time the Healers have her sedated because she just can't cope."
Harry took a deep breath after his rant. He still had plenty more he wanted to say to Ron, but for now he looked to have said enough to rattle Ron. Since him and Kingsley had arrived the redhead had been seemingly unconcerned with what was happening, but at least now he looked slightly guilty. The mention of the rest of his family, Molly in particular, seemed to have made his realise the serious repercussions of his actions.
"I think it's time we returned to the Ministry. We need the full story and we need to know where Miss Parkinson fits in this." Kingsley announced as he stood up. "You'll have to come as well, Hermione." He added, turning to the brunette witch. "In fact I want you all to come back to London and give statements."
"Will the charges against Hermione be dropped?" Draco asked, reluctant to let his girlfriend return home if she could be arrested.
"Yes, I'll sort that personally." Kingsley assured the blond wizard. "Hermione will face no charges, but we need to do everything officially."
Satisfied it would be safe for Hermione to return home, Draco agreed they would all return with Kingsley and Harry. Once Kingsley had brought the Italian Aurors into the villa plans then got underway to return to London. Ten minutes later everyone left Blaise's place and headed to the Italian Ministry in Rome, before they headed home to sort out the mess Ron and Pansy had created.