"How did you get this?" Harry demanded, confused.

"It was stuck to my door," Stephen answered, "I hadn't even gotten out of bed when I heard knocking, but when I got there, nobody was around. All that was different was the letter."

Little Brother... Oliver was Stephen's little brother, but he wasn't the one that sent the letter... It was delivered before he fled with Gerald. There was absolutely no reasoning to give his brother such a cryptic message when he didn't know that he, himself, was going to be on the run.

Harry recalled the conversation he and Ron had spied on. Brad had called the three bandmates brothers and said he was there for them...to help...which was exactly what was written in this note.

Another ploy on the vampire's part? Was the letter meant to mess with Gerald's head: remind him what they had of his and that they could give him an out, if he would just take it? If it hadn't been for interference from his pursuers, Gerald might have stayed away from any major pursuit from the aurors as well. Might have...

Giving the note to Stephen was a threat. They were warning not only Gerald, but Oliver as well, that they would take things further. And their tactics had already started to work.

You brought them into this, Mr. Potter. That's on you.

Gerald had brought his only two friends into these sordid affairs...and he was feeling guilty. He refused to bear the brunt of anyone other than them getting hurt. Arthur was right- he hadn't been threatening Harry or the family that night at the restaurant- he was placing the blame of anything happening to them on someone else...Harry.

But just how much was it going to take until he broke? He was clearly reaching that point as evidenced by his morph at the festival... He was a danger even if he didn't mean to be. The scenario appeared to Harry similar to that of a werewolf transformation. This demon, creature, whichever, that he was hiding- he didn't control.

"Do you have any idea what it means?" the lead auror asked without detailing his own thoughts.

Stephen shook his head, "No. Only that it's not meant for me."

Harry tilted his head, "Why do you say that?"

The man on the couch sighed, "Ollie invited us to the concert. We," he gave his wife an awkward look, "Decided not to go, but we told him to come over afterward."

"Was Gerald meant to be here too?" Ron inquired.

"Certainly not!" Mary stated indignately, bringing all eyes to her.

"No, he wasn't," her husband rephrased calmly after a small pause, "Just Oliver."

The note was definitely meant for Oliver then...but he would have spoken to Gerald about it. So whose crime were they referencing? The personal feeling of the letter coupled with being signed by Brad made it seem that this 'crime' was probably not an illegal act at all, but rather something between the band members that had caused a great strain on their relationship. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense as Brad had made it known he wasn't concerned for any immoral deed his friend and brother had done.

"Mr. Smith," Harry thought, "Do you know of any fights or disagreements that your brother, Brad, and Gerald might have had?"

Stephen paused, glancing down at his feet before gazing back on his company with a shrug, "Those three? Thick as thieves. Poor Ollie, he- Gerald helped him out of a really dark place...as did Brad. After our parents were killed... He didn't handle it well... I'm sure there have been fights especially considering the type of man Gerald is, but he wouldn't have shared that with me. However, I- Hm..." Stephen pursed his lips, then shook his head once as they parted in hesitation.

"What is it? Stephen?" Mr. Weasely pushed.

The man took a deep breath. His wife's brow was furrowed, obviously confused by his trouble.

"Gerald...Gerald sought me out...last week," Stephen explained nervously.

"What?!" Mary scurried from her spot behind the couch to the front of it, shockingly eyeing her husband. "You didn't tell me that!"

"I knew how you'd react," the wizard confessed, reaching out to take her hand.

She jerked away from him with the same furious expression she had had the first day the aurors had come to their home. Shaking her head at him, she took her leave quickly. Stephen didn't move after her though. He only inhaled and continued his story.

"It was the same day that Brad went missing. It was late. Mary was already asleep... I opened the door and when I saw him alone, my first thought was that something was wrong with Oliver. He must have seen it on my face because the first thing he said was, 'your brother is fine.'

"He told me that Brad was gone...he said that Mary and I were in danger as well. I was dumbfounded at seeing him. I didn't know how to react. Part of me thought he meant to harm us himself. He gave me something, though, and I managed to ask what it was... He didn't give a straight answer. Only said that if we were in trouble, to activate it with a certain incantation. He said it me and then left."

"And did Oliver know about this?" Harry questioned.

"I told him the next day, yes," Mr. Smith went on. "It did cause a fight between them. Ollie didn't say much to me other than to ask me to get rid of the item permanently."

Harry, Ron, and Arthur exchanged looks.

"Did you?" the elder Weasely asked.

Stephen got up from his seat and walked around to a long table nestled inside the hallway behind the den. Opening a drawer, he retrieved an object wrapped in sheets and came back to his guests, his hands shaking as he offered it to Harry.

The investigator took it, feeling through the cloth multiple small, light, but long items. Carefully untying the folds, he opened it to reveal Gerald's gift.

Five human finger bones, stripped clean of any flesh and dried of any blood.

"Is that?" Ron started.

Arthur stiffened at the sight, face becoming instantly somber, "What was the spell?"

"Protect mine to earn yourself," Stephen choked out in a weak voice, apparently afraid to speak the words.

The room became eerily quiet as the wizards all contemplated the bones and what the spell was meant to unleash. But more than that, they wondered whose bones they were holding...and how fresh they were. Was obtaining them...giving this dark magic to Stephen...was that the crime?

"I never planned on using it," Stephen admitted. "And their presence has not stopped haunting me...but I've kept it because if anything happened to my brother...I thought I could use it to help put Gerald away. I know this magic is no good..."

Harry quickly concealed the bones once more, stuffing them into the inside of his robe, "It will help, thank you," he told the worried wizard and then turned to his teammates, "Let's go."

The other two followed directly after the lead auror as he left the house. Journeying past the Smith residence, Harry glanced at his watch. If Hermione had been able to talk to anyone, she should have by now and wherever Gerald was, he would be awake.

Once more finding a safe spot, the three wizards spun into the air, disapparating and reappearing at Ron's home. Inside, they found Hermione and Ginny waiting for them. While Ginny ran to hug her husband, the other witch spoke.

"Lucius is clean," she said nervously.

"What?" Harry responded as Ginny eased away from the embrace.

"The poison in the people at Durmstrang wasn't in his body at all," Granger clarified. "Gerald was the murderer."

Everyone paused, each with their separate line of thinking, but all once more deliberating Gerald's motives, aggression, and vile nature.

"Was he all there?" Ron questioned his wife, suddenly, "I mean-"

Harry retrieved the bones for clarification of the redhead and gave them to Hermione, who quickly looked them over, "These aren't his," she shook her head, "Each one is from a different person... Where-"

"Gerald gave them to Stephen with a spell meant to protect him and Mary," Harry gave a rapid explanation of it and then the note.

"Wherever these bones are from, that's where Oliver and Gerald are," Hermione breathed. "With both of them afraid for more trouble and with him losing control, Gerald must have given up."

"But," Ron protested, "They never got the message. They don't know-"

"It doesn't matter," his father chimed in. "He's using his necromancy. Whether he's given up or they plan to try and fight back, he's going to be where he can have the best advantage. That would be around death...there's more to those bodies than just fingers."

"Tom Riddle's graveyard," Ginny piped. "He's still attached to Voldemort. It's where he was resurrected and buried...it's where Gerald was tortured and nearly died himself."

"It's as good a guess as any," Harry agreed. "It's isolated and familiar to him."

"Something gets me though," Ron surmised, his face in contemplation, "Why hasn't he just fought back before now instead of letting himself be bullied? He didn't simply take threats from anyone else. Killed Lucius for acting like that towards him."

"We don't know how many of these vampires there are, Ronald," his wife argued, "or how strong they are or how far their reach is. Doing so might not have seemed a viable option to him."

"This far into matters," Arthur shared, "We need to stop Gerald and put these creatures back to rest."

The lead auror agreed, "We need to move. Now."