''So? How did it go?'' Hermione had met Harry and Ron outside in the exact place she had left them. At some point during the three hours the two aurors had been inside the home on Salt Box Road, she had conjured up a small resting spot complete with a chair, a cup of hot tea, and of course a book to read.

Harry and Ron must have somewhat surprised her with their reappearance because she had hastily slapped the novel, Aleonor, closed and jumped from her seat.

Ron glanced back at the residence before answering his wife in a hushed tone, ''Bloody weird.''

''I take it there were no grand revelations,'' Hermione surmised as she started shoving her chair into the purse she carried. The area was still without any activity or else she wouldn't have risked using unrealistic items stored in her purse in the first place.

''More or less,'' Harry breathed. He was looking at the home, but his mind was wandering. He hadn't known what exactly to expect from meeting Gerald and Oliver except that he thought having done so would make him a bit more certain about the situation. And it hadn't.

Hermione rolled her eyes as she finished putting away her chair and stood, ''Elaboration would be nice,'' she muttered while placing the book carefully inside her purse and then throwing the bag over her shoulder. She began walking down the sidewalk, leading the trio back toward the bus stop.

''Sorry,'' Harry apologized, taking a couple of quick steps to catch up with his friends' stroll. He had fallen behind staring at the house, thinking. ''It's just I assumed after actually meeting him and talking to him, I'd have a better sense of him as a person. Not know everything, of course, just...''

''It didn't put you at ease at all about the severity of things,'' Harry gave a soft smile at Hermione's conclusion. ''I'm assuming you did learn something though, granted how long the interview took,'' she continued.

''A couple of things,'' Ron piped. ''Like he killed his mum for one thing.''

''Oh,'' Hermione's reaction was awkward.

Harry turned his head to the side to look at her, ''Oh?'' he repeated.

''It's just that...'' Hermione explained, ''I wondered how she had died is all. I wasn't able to find any information on a timeframe or burial.''

The three wizards walked the next few moments in silence. The day was very cool and there was a soft breeze. It would have been extremely pleasant if it weren't for the business at hand. When the end of the road was in sight, Hermione began with follow-up questions.

''With the killing curse?''

The aurors nodded in unison.

''Yeah,'' Ron said.

''Why?''

''Anger issues,'' Harry and Ron spoke together firmly.

''Damn,'' Hermione shook her head. ''I'm guessing this happened quite some time ago? or else you would have arrested him.''

''About a year after he met Voldemort,'' Harry answered, ''so forty or so years ago...out of our jurisdiction...but the thing is...that he did it without a wand... He doesn't require a wand for casting spells.''

Hermione paused, taking in this new tidbit. ''That's incredible. Terrible, I mean, about his mother though. Did he prove it to you?''

''To a degree. No charms or curses. He mostly just proved he was telekinetic,'' Harry said. ''I don't think they were lying about that.''

''You feel they lied about something else?'' Hermione prompted.

Harry sighed. They had reached the end of the road and stopped briefly. He stepped forward to be in front of the other two and turned to face them, creating an close circle with their bodies. ''It's not Oliver. He seems truthful even though it's obvious he wants to protect Gerald, but I got the feeling that Gerald actually isn't being entirely truthful with his friend.''

''I think you're right,'' Ron agreed. ''I don't believe that the time with his mum was the only time he used one of the unforgivable curses either.''

Harry nodded.

''It sounds to me that you did get a good sense of him,'' Hermione interjected.

Harry and Ron exchanged a knowing glance before looking at the witch again. They both shook their heads.

''That's just it, Hermione,'' Harry explained, ''He's so...all over the place that it's hard to grasp any certainty to his character. All we know for certain is that he has anger problems and he does practice magic.''

''Right,'' Ron picked up. ''The guy is so moody, it's like you don't know whether to feel sorry for him or just think that he's a jerk.''

''Okay...but you are both certain that he's not being completely honest, right?'' Hermione asked.

The aurors nodded.

''So then you know he's not fully remorseful,'' she concluded.

''What?'' Ron spoke, but Harry was equally confused.

Hermione tilted her head to the side with a smile, ''If you know he's lying about crimes he's committed, then you know he's at the very least concerned with his safety over anything cruel he might have done. I would say his own safety or that of someone close to him, but there is apparently nobody fitting that description. So therefore you know that he isn't entirely remorseful for those crimes.''

The other wizards were still mildly confused. The redhead opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. Harry managed to talk instead, ''Okay, and?'' he prompted.

''And,'' Hermione continued, ''that means that more than feeling sorry for him because things he may have gone through, you should understand that he isn't incapable of committing crimes or harming others especially if it means protecting himself. To him, he is more important than anyone else's suffering.''

Another moment of pause passed as the two aurors contemplated this train of thought. Neither could deny the conclusion. Even in the moments where they were sure of his sincerity, they could now see his own selfish thoughts.

'I didn't mean to kill her.'

The wording of it wasn't the only thing that spoke towards Hermione's surmise. Gerald had gotten up at that time. He didn't take a necessarily offensive or even defensive stance, but the fact that he had stood while everyone remained seated now seemed to show that he felt the need to have 'the upper hand' so to speak should he need to defend himself.

Harry sighed. ''I think that's true. I guess we can just hope that he doesn't have some sort of hidden agenda. If his only concern is his own safety, then he shouldn't be a threat unless threatened.''

Harry thought back to Oliver then. How he had been doing everything he could to keep his friend calm...to keep him of a certain mind and behavior while he and Ron were present... Oliver knew that his friend was of a very defensive nature. That would explain his actions and in turn, those actions further proved what Hermione had said about Gerald.

''Well, we've spoken with him. We have his statement. Now, unless something else comes up, we just wait for more instructions from the Minister, right?'' Ron said.

''Yeah,'' Harry agreed. ''We still have to speak with Professor Karkaroff and Lucius Malfoy. Besides that...it's however the minister says we should proceed...since currently we know of no unanswered for crime he may be involved in.''

There was another brief pause.

"What about Oliver?" Hermione asked somewhat quietly.

"What do you mean?" Harry returned.

Hermione looked awkwardly at her friend and hesitated, "I mean, not that I think there's anything to worry about, but..." she trailed off, her voice and her demeanor making it obvious that she wished she hadn't said anything. Her eyes were flitting nervously away from Harry and toward her husband. "It's nothing. Just a silly thought," she tried to hush her original idea by beginning to walk off again.

The two others followed quickly behind her as she headed for the bus stop. However, it was too late for her not to put further worry onto Harry. Both he and Ron had already guessed the rest of her initial statement.

"I don't know," Harry admitted as the three stopped where the bus would come and then turned down another road into the town. "I was so focused on Gerald... All I gathered about Oliver is that he was a very loyal person and he was truly concerned for his friend."

"He didn't come off as suspicious in any way," Ron added, "not rude or anything else like that either."

Hermione nodded her head oddly. She was being very careful not to say anything else. Her mind was quite overactive. Usually in a good and productive way, but her worry for Harry was at her forefront and she didn't want to add any unnecessary stress...specifically when, like Harry said, there was no actual crime being investigated.

They walked down the streets of the quiet town without speaking any more. The silent plan had been made to apparate back home and they all knew how to go about doing so whilst among muggles. The first empty alley the three came across, each quickly ducked into, one by one, making sure nobody had their eyes on them.

After a short goodbye including a kiss from Ron to his wife and a hug from Hermione to Harry, the three disappeared. Hermione went back to her home and the two aurors appeared just outside the Ministry of Magic. They'd need to get in direct touch with Lucius Malfoy and see if Minister Shacklebolt was available.

Somehow, Harry felt the ordeal with Gerald wasn't going to be as open and shut as he had hoped...and now he was even beginning to suspect Oliver Smith of wickedness...