She awoke with a start. She was just having a nightmare about Nyssa. Again. She was safe and simply had fallen asleep while reading the case files on the Potters' couch. Ginny had long gone to sleep and Hermione had stayed up trying to put the pieces together for the case. Not being able to solve the mystery of Nyssa's death had deeply affected her and she always felt like she had failed her. They all did, but she was Hermione's partner above all and if anyone should have solved it by now, it was her. It's not like she had entirely given up on it, but she was kept away from any new leads that had come up since her breakdown which had followed soon after Nyssa's murder.
To add insult to injury, it was Malfoy who had found Hermione in a state. She had been going through some files in the Ministry archive and the next thing she knew was being found on the floor by him. She had been hysterical by all accounts and only calmed down once he held her. Embarrassingly she had held on as if her life depended on it and like a true gentleman he had let her weep in his arms and said nothing of it later. She had expected a snarky comment once things had settled, but it never came. Malfoy could be a decent human if he wanted.
She tried to keep up with whatever leads had come their way by trying to sneak and read files and memos but soon all leads had dried up and she was put on a probationary leave for her health. After a break of a few months, she had returned to work but as an Unspeakable in training. The case never left her mind and they investigated whatever they had found over the years but everything seemed to be a dead end, until now.
Hermione got up and organised her stacks of old and new notes for the case. She put away the files and defeatedly decided to call it a night. Just as she was crossing Ginny's bedroom, Hermione heard her voice, "You can sleep here if you want,". She knew what that meant. It was like the War all over again; you held on to those you could. Ginny wasn't easily phased but there was something about the Carver that was bone-chilling in the truest sense. Hermione quietly made her way to Ginny and both women fell asleep feeling slightly safer that night.
In the morning, Harry had finally made it home. Ginny was crushing him to death in an embrace when Hermione walked out of the bathroom downstairs. "You are home!", she jumped to join the hug. "We all are," came Ron's voice behind her. Hermione whipped around and gave him an equally tight hug and then turned to her right and bumped into the Slytherin Prince. He looked uncomfortable standing there like he didn't know what to do with himself amongst all this affection. "Glad to see you are also back Malfoy." He wasn't expecting a non-sarcastic greeting so while he looked taken aback, he simply retorted, "I am glad that all of us are okay."
It was very uncharacteristic and genuine of him, something nobody was expecting but Malfoys can also outgrow their ferret stage apparently.
After the guys had freshened up quickly, they all sat around the table grabbing a light breakfast that Kreacher had whipped up. The old elf was delighted (well as delighted as his grumpy self could be) that both Harry & Malfoy were well. After a few minutes of mundane chatter, Ginny made Harry promise that he would be home once she returned from practice. With that, she changed into her Quidditch gear and with a quick kiss to Harry and a round of hugs to everyone, she was off to join her team, Holyhead Harpies.
Hermione knew this was her cue to discuss the mission. "We found four more bodies," Draco stated. Anybody else would be taken aback by his matter-of-fact tone, but Hermione knew him enough to hear the strain in his voice and notice the way he seemed to be staring off into the distance. Harry sat with his head in his hands and Ron looked equally deflated. After a few moments of silence, Hermione asked, "Where?" in a sombre tone. Harry handed her his notes as he explained that they had found 4 victims so far but chances were there were a lot more hiding in plain sight.
The victims were four more women living alone in different rural areas. One was in Scotland, one in Northern Ireland and two in England. There was no connection between them except that it seemed like nobody missed them much after they passed. Not until the sister of the latest victim, Miss Cassandra Poetos, returned from a rather long trip to France where she had eloped with her husband. She hadn't met her sister in a few years and neither had they spoken lately since the little cottage didn't have a Floo connection. However, the sisters did frequently write letters to each other and when her letters stopped getting responses, she got worried and came to visit Cassandra. Only what she found was her sister's corpse lying in bed and 'reading'. One can only imagine the trauma she had.
This had happened a month ago when the local Aurors had taken over the case. A recently transferred clerk in the department had mentioned the similarity to the Carver in passing which made them reach out to Tonks. She had put out a department-wide notice for any such similar cases and possible victims. The idea was to identify potential victims and protect them before the killer could strike. For the large part they had been successful but when local Aurors had made welfare checks to the other three women on the potential victims' list, they had found them disturbingly dead and posed as well.
There were still many women to be checked off the list and many who were yet to be added to the list. The possibility of undiscovered victims went up by the moment with this killer.
"See the only thing common is his victims and his MO. That's the only thread tying all these cases together. If we can profile the victims, I am sure we can draw up a better profile of the killer." said Hermione. She and the rest had often relied on muggle methods to solve cases in the past. Malfoy was also surprisingly very welcoming of the idea of using muggle technology and knowledge to solve cases. Hermione had earlier attributed it to him trying to be more muggle-friendly but had learnt that he had grown to genuinely respect and rely upon muggle knowledge.
"I'll ask Tonks to get us in touch with the Scotland Yard team in that case?" Malfoy said looking at Harry. Harry just shrugged in agreement. Scotland Yard kept a division of Secretkeepers who worked with the Ministry of Magic to solve crimes in divisions where muggle intervention was needed like in the case of criminal psychology & forensics. "Have we run any muggle trace tests so far?" Ron asked while chewing on a toast. Harry looked a little distracted and replied, "No magical traces could be found for the wand that was used nor for the blade. We did send things to be tested to Scotland Yard as well. But no DNA or fingerprints so far that could help us identify our killer. This fresh lot of crime scenes might give us some clues."
After an hour of figuring out the possible timeline of the cases, the quad decided to meet at work post lunch. It was decided that Hermione's new office would be used as the main base for all case-related work since it was going to be the most protected room that they had regular access to. Hermione's ex-boss from the Department of Mysteries had graciously offered her a room that was heavily warded and whose existence was a secret in itself. Hermione was free to add whatever charms she wanted to secure it further.
Just as she was about to Floo out to her place Harry stopped her midway. "I know you can take care of yourself but I know the deal you made with Kingsley and Tonks. You aren't going anywhere without a guard." "You know better than to try and become an overprotective oaf Harry." He pinched the bridge of his nose and his voice softened, "Listen, I know what's glaringly obvious to all of us and we are all in denial about. Don't make me say it out loud and make it worse. Just let one of us come with you while you pack up your things. Please M'ione!" The pleading look he gave crumbled her resolve. He looked so worn out like he didn't have the energy to fight another battle. "Okay fine, but only one of you and no hissy fits."
"Good girl, Malfoy go keep her safe!"
Draco Malfoy who had just started chugging some water choked on it and coughed and wheezed in the most un-Malfoylike fashion. "What now?" he managed to wheeze out. Had it not been a sight to behold, Hermione would have been equally flabbergasted. But seeing the Malfoy Prince so out of his element had its perks. "I am pulling rank and I need a nap. Not all of us can function on coffee like you Malfoy. Go."
"Hello, it's my house! Don't I get a say?!" sputtered Hermione. "You've already agreed to this and you didn't specify who. M'ione it's either him or I send McLaggen. The choice is yours."
At that, Hermione and Draco grimaced together. "FINE!" They both shouted. After fifteen minutes of grumbling the two had finally left. "What are you playing at Harry?" Ron asked as he plopped onto the couch. "You'll see," said Harry cryptically as he settled in for a nap on the loveseat.