Chapter Twelve: Requiescat in Pace

Easter had arrived at Hogwarts. The girls were getting flowers and chocolates from the owls when they were dropping packages in the Great Hall at breakfast that morning. They were too busy thinking about what to give to the owls in return besides petting their feathers and feeding them toast. Gwen and Willow ran to Hermione and Ginny and told them to read the Quibbler. They glanced at it. Apparently the supposed murder the seventh years have solved all made the news. Hermione was astonished to see that the mystery she solved managed to make the front page. Ginny noticed, "How do you like that? You're a famous wizard detective now. Why don't you join the FBI after Hogwarts?" "Ha-ha," Hermione said, very dryly. She didn't know for sure who the hell wrote this article, but when she looked at the byline, she was pleased to learn that Rita Skeeter was nowhere near the classroom when the scenery took place.

From the looks of it, there were anonymous photographers in the area taking advantage of the magical drawback. What were they going to think of doing now? It was supposed to be a test, but as it turns out the case happened for real in real time. Hermione was taken aback by this. How and when did this even happen? This wasn't supposed a real murder case. None of this was making any sense.

Easter Sunday arrived and the girls decided to take the Hogwarts Express to London to visit the family Hermione solved the case of. With a knock at the door, the father opened it. "Excuse me, sir, my name is Hermione Granger, and this is Ginny Weasley. We've come to talk to you about a murder that took place last month, you know, your wife killed a mailman." "Oh, yes, of course," the man shook her hand, "come on in." And they did.

The butler closed the door after they entered and the two ladies sat down. The father introduced himself, "I'm Derrick Majors. These two are Brittany and Heath." The daughter and son sat down in the couch. The butler walked in carrying tea on a tray. "How did you two come here, and how did you know about what happened here?" Mr. Majors asked them. "Well," Hermione started, "it's actually kind of a sad but funny story." She cleared her throat. "We kind of go to a school not that far from this location, and we were doing a class project on solving mysteries the way...other people do, and while we were solving them, mine was incredibly similar to this one, so we wanted to see for ourselves if it was true." "And apparently it is," Ginny muttered under her breath. Hermione said, "Sh! And that's why we're here. We wanted to pay our respects to the mailman and see if there's anything we can do to help."

Mr. Majors wasn't very keen of the idea of having what looked like reporters at his doorstep talking about his private life, although he seemed touched by the thought and decided they should come to the funeral. Hermione and Ginny started to feel uneasy since they only just met them and didn't know the mailman at all, but they didn't want to seem rude, so they decided to take this opportunity and come to the funeral to pay their respects and get it over with. It would be the decent thing to do.

"How would you like to come to the festivities?" Mr. Majors asked them. Hermione said, "Thank you, but we really don't know anybody, and besides, we've only just met you and your family. It would feel pretty silly attending an event without actually knowing anybody." "But you and your friends would be the perfect asset to the crime," Mr. Majors told her. "After all, you're the one who uncovered the crime and exposed my wife." It was salt on an open wound.

Hermione felt her heartbeat slowly beating with anguish and remorse. Mr. Majors knew about this after she had told them all about their project and she must've assumed it was all just an assignment, but after seeing it was for real, Hermione couldn't pass it up.

The funeral started to take place and everybody assumed the position. Hermione and Ginny sat down next to Luna, and Mr. Majors stood up at the podium and said a few words over the deceased. "Mr. Monty meant a lot to society. He was a post office major like no other. He did his job right. He didn't get to be bothered by dogs. He just picked up the pieces and continued on."

Minutes later, his daughter, Brittany, appeared at the podium. She was saying, "I cared for him very deeply. We didn't know each other very well, but he helped me through all the bad times I've been through. I loved him." Her brother rolled his eyes. The maid then appeared at the podium and said, "I felt like Mr. Monty was part of the family. He always did his rounds for everyone else in our area, but he always thought of us as his favorite family." Then the butler showed up at the podium and said his piece. "I knew him. He was charming. And funny. And kind. That's all." Hermione couldn't believe her ears.

Mr. Majors returned to the podium, "And now, our new friend, Miss Hermione Granger, would like to say a few words." "What?!" Hermione whispered to herself. Ginny nudged her to go up onstage. Hermione nervously made her way up to the stand and cleared her throat softly. "Thank you," she spoke into the microphone.

"Now I know you all don't know me, but I had decided to come here and offer my condolences to the Majors. All this started because my classmates and I all did an assignment, that we were to solve murders in our classroom. When I found out that this one was for real, I thought I'd decided to make sense of it, and offer my apologies to these people. I figured everyone should have a part in this. It was a genuine man who has suddenly been taken from them, and all I can say is, I'm sorry. I truly am."

"I think I've heard all I needed to," said a voice in the background.

Hermione looked up, confused. All of a sudden the lights were fading and Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout showed up. Everyone else stood up and applauded. Ginny and Luna turned around and stood up, also confused. Hannah and the rest of the students got up as well and Professor Periwinkle walked up onstage. "Job well done, Miss Granger." "Okay," Hermione was saying, "what on Earth is happening right now?"

"Hermione, this was all part of assignment," Periwinkle continued. "I wanted to see how well you could handle in a murder situation like this, and you performed adequately." "So, all this was just a mirage? A reenactment of a real murder?" Hermione asked, unable to process the situation. "Actually, they're all real people, but, yes, this was sort of befuddling, wasn't it?" Hermione couldn't believe her ears. What a relief to find out that the mailman was actually alive and that the mother wasn't going to prison for that crime.

"But wait, so what about that family?"

"They wanted to take part in the project," Periwinkle told her. "They're all wizards, but the mailman really is a muggle." Hermione said, "Wow." Ginny walked to her and asked her, "How do you feel?"

"Honestly, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. A resurrection has been made here, and there wasn't even a real murder in sight!" Luna chimed in saying, "Well, that is what Easter is all about." Hermione and Ginny laughed.

Mr. Majors walked up to the girls and said, "Thank you all so much for a fun weekend, Miss Granger. I hope we didn't make you feel too uncomfortable." "No, no, not at all," Hermione said, "I'm used to most things like this." "I'll bet," he answered, "well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your term." His children ran to give them each a hug. "Have a nice life," Ginny said to them. "I hope this weekend wasn't too depressing or boring for either of you." Brittany told them, "Not at all." Heath said, "It was okay." Hermione chuckled. And as they bid them farewell, everybody Apparated back to Hogwarts.