Amethyst woke up early despite not getting to sleep until around 4:00 in the morning. She sat at the desk and wrote a letter to Bane about the meeting on Monday. After she finished she had Ember deliver it. She stood in the courtyard watching the hippogriffs fly away from the school for the day. She thought over the events of the night before and came to a couple of decisions. It hadn't been brought up about her being a witness at any of the trials, but she wanted to be present at them at the very least. She also made the decision to put searching for a wand on hold until after the Christmas holiday. Last night had shown her that she was strong enough to wield wandless magic. She would keep her promise to Draco about the acromantulas, but she knew she was strong enough to handle it.
"You're up early." Harry and Ginny came out of Hogwarts and joined Amethyst in the courtyard.
"So are you." Amethyst remarked. "Going to get some flying in?"
"That's the plan. Are you okay? You look like something is weighing on your mind." Ginny replied. She had noticed that Amethyst looked deep in thought when they approached.
"About the trials…" Amethyst turned to Harry.
"You may be called as a witness, at least for Kyle's, but I won't know for sure yet until I get back in the office on Tuesday." Harry answered before she could finish.
"Even if I'm not, I would like to be present if I can." Amethyst said. There was a pause as she could see Harry thinking it over.
"I don't see that being an issue. It might be good to have you there even if we don't need you as a witness. We may need Draco as well, but I can talk to him later." Harry squeezed Amethyst's arm. "How are you really holding up though?"
"It's been a lot to comprehend. So much has happened in such a short amount of time I'm not even sure I've processed anything yet." Amethyst took a deep breath. "I don't know how you went through seven years of stuff happening…"
"It wasn't easy, but I didn't go it alone and neither will you." Harry looked at Ginny and then back at Amethyst. "Hopefully, it won't be seven years for you." He smirked which caused Ginny and Amethyst to smile.
"You two go enjoy some flying time. I'm under strict orders to rest today, but I'm waiting to hear back from Bane about tomorrow." Amethyst stretched and then waved as Harry and Ginny Mae their way to the Quidditch Pitch. She was, once again, alone with her thoughts.
"Lost in thought?" Draco came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She rested her arms on his and then leaned back against him. "I didn't expect you to awake already."
"Woke up from a dream and couldn't fall back asleep. Wrote a letter to Bane about tomorrow and then have use been lost in thought since. Though I did talk, briefly with Harry and Ginny when they stopped by on their way to the Quidditch Pitch." Amethyst turned to face him.
"About?"
"The trials." Amethyst replied. "Harry said that they might need me to act a witness but he won't know for sure until Tuesday. I told him I would like to be there even if they don't need me."
"Are you sure?" He brushed some stray hair out of her face. She nodded. "Harry said they might need you, too."
"I figured. About the acromantulas…" He changed the subject. "I would feel much better if you didn't participate…" He held up his finger to stop her from interrupting. "But I know you need to and should. As long as you are not alone it will be fine. I'll be fine." He pulled her into a hug. They stayed like that for a while before Ember returned with a reply from Bane. As Amethyst was reading the reply, an owl dropped a letter for Draco. He recognized it being from Ollivander's so he pocketed it. There was, then, a second letter but this one was from his mother. He groaned.
"What is it?" Amethyst looked over at him. He showed her the letter. "Oh."
"Draco,
Are you coming home for Christmas? We would like to see you and Scorpius. I am thinking about inviting Pansy to join us. It would be good for you two to reconnect after all this time. I think she could be good for you and it's time you start thinking about getting married again. Scorpius will be out of the house in a few years and then you will be alone in the Manor. Just give it some thought, Son."
Draco had to control his anger and annoyance as he read the letter. He was prepared for her to mention Pansy, but not the marriage stuff. He looked at Amethyst who seemed lost in thought again. There was a strange look on her face. She must have sensed him watching her, because she looked at him and smiled weakly. "What's wrong?" He knew something was wrong, but he wasn't sure if it had to do with her letter or his.
"What… how are you going to reply?" She asked but he didn't think that was what was bothering her.
"With the truth. I have no reason to lie to my mother and no reason to giver her reason to hope or think that Pansy stands a chance." He replied and then pulled her closer to him. "What's really going on?" She handed him the letter she received.
"Amethyst,
I've had centaurs patrolling the forest day and night for a few weeks. Nothing too exciting has happened until last night. Late last night winged entered the forest so some of the centaurs followed him. Before he could get too far into the dragon's territory, they apprehended him. He had a couple of dragon eggs on him. The eggs were returned to their nest without incident. When asked his name, he said Kyle Roberts. We still have him and will await word from what to do with him."
"How?!" Draco was visibly angry now. He spun on his heel and stormed off to the Quidditch Pitch. Amethyst struggled to keep up.
"Draco, wait." Amethyst grabbed his wrist when he started to raise his wand. Harry and Ginny must have noticed them because they landed soon after.
"Draco, what's…" Before Harry could get the question out, Draco shoved him.
"Draco!" Both Amethyst and Ginny stood between them. Ginny had her and raised and pointed at Draco. Just then, Ron came running to them with a couple of men following behind.
"Harry!" Ron yelled as he neared. "It's Kyle…" He panted. "These Aurors came to the castle looking for you."
"What's happened?" Harry looked around him and settled his gaze on the Aurors.
"Kyle Roberts has escaped." One of the Aurors said. "We went to check on him this morning and the Aurors who were guarding him are dead."
"What?!" Harry was now angry. He looked at Draco and now understood the look on his face. "How?" He growled.
"We don't know, unless he had help from outside." One of the Aurors answered. "What about the other guy?"
"I was in my room all night once I entered. And before that I was with Harry." Dimitri had joined them. "There was a charm placed on my room. If I left, Harry, Ron, and Draco would have known."
"If he had help, it wasn't Dimitri, Pansy, or Goyle." Harry said. "The important thing now is to find him."
"The centaurs have him." Amethyst spoke up. The only reason she was calm right now was because she knew the centaurs wouldn't just let him go. Especially since he had been caught stealing dragon eggs. "They detained him sometime last night after they spotted him in dragon territory. He had a couple of dragon eggs on him."
"How do you know this?" The first Auror spoke again. Amethyst noticed that Orion was bristling. She squeezed Draco's hand and nodded subtlety at the kneazle when he looked at her. Draco made eye contact with Ron and Dimitri. Ginny noticed the silent exchanges and also shifted her stance. Harry noticed when Draco moved into a protective stance in front of Amethyst.
"I happen to be on friendly terms with the centaurs." Just then Ember came flying towards them with a small tribe of centaurs following below. Along with them was Kyle bound by ropes. Bane was leading them.
"When I didn't receive a response right away, I figured something was up so I had Ember track you." Bane said to Amethyst. He took notice of Orion's stance and that of Draco and the others. He motioned to the other centaurs who brought Kyle into the group. They all noticed the exchange between Kyle and the first Auror.
"…" Kyle's face turned to Draco and his eyes went wide as he watched Orion jump onto Draco's shoulder and Ember perched herself on Amethyst's shoulder.
"Attacking me last night wasn't enough? They you have Aurors murdered. And then had the nerve to steal dragon eggs?!" Amethyst took a step towards Kyle. "The dragons should have had you for a midnight snack. Or the acromantulas…" Draco had to hold her back.
"I had nothing to do with those Aurors." Kyle spat and then looked at the Auror standing next to him. "He told me that he would help me escape, and the only payment he wanted was a couple of dragon eggs."
"Liar!" The Auror turned on him. Before anyone could react, both the Auror and Kyle were bound by a body binding curse.
"You are an absolute idiot, Kyle." Amethyst shook her head. "You didn't attend Hogwarts, so you wouldn't understand the dangers that lie in the Forbidden Forest. But I would think that working for the Ministry would have at least alerted you to the current issues we've been having." She turned to the Auror. "He wouldn't have known where the dragon nests were. No one outside of the Minister, myself, and a few select members in the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures would know." She narrowed her eyes. "I'm sure a little Veritas serum will jog your memory."
"Like you said, Kyle worked for the Ministry. He could have accessed that information." The Auror said defensively. Orion growled.
"While true, none of those who knew would trust Kyle Roberts with anything. But an Auror could easily convince someone or trick someone for the information." Amethyst retorted. Orion continued to growl.
"Take them both to the Ministry at once." Harry ordered. "Get some Veritas serum. I want to know everything." He took a deep breath. "Retrieve the Auror's bodies for identification and let me know immediately so I can inform their families." The remaining Aurors and Ron all headed away from the Quidditch Pitch to do as Harry said. Ginny squeezed her husband's shoulder. "Thank you, Bane." He nodded at the centaurs.
"He's lucky we found him when we did. My men were also tracking a small group of acromantulas. They would have gotten to him sooner or later." Bane explained. "We will be at the meeting tomorrow; we may have some useful information." The centaurs, then, turned and headed back into the forest.
"I would appreciate a few non-eventful days." Amethyst sighed.
"I'm sorry about earlier." Draco looked at Harry.
"No worries. As soon as they said Kyle had escaped, I understood." Harry shook his head. "I cannot believe this happened. Kyle is a lot of things, but murder?"
"I don't think he had any idea that was going to happen." Amethyst thought for a moment. "He is a lot of things, but one thing he will not do it take another life."
"How can you be so sure?" Draco asked.
"Because his mother was murdered." Amethyst thought back to one of the few times she'd felt any kind of sympathy or empathy for Kyle Roberts. "He was away at school when he received the news. His mother had been visiting family in Germany when she was attacked by some dark wizards. The magical law enforcement in Germany determined that it had been a case of mistaken identity. The wizards were after her cousin for a bad deal of some kind. Kyle was devastated by the news. It was the only time he seemed normal."
"That will all be confirmed soon enough, but I agree with you." Harry said. "Looks like I'll be heading into the office earlier than I wanted." He sighed. He was hoping that the weekend would be a mini vacation. The worst part was having to tell his Aurors' families the news. Ginny laid a hand on his shoulder again.
"Do you want me to come?" She knew this was her husband's worst part of the job. It didn't happen very often anymore, but when it did, Harry often took it hard.
"Thanks." He nodded. "We'll try to be back for the meeting tomorrow."
"Don't worry about it." Amethyst shook her head. She squeezed Harry's upper arm and then hugged Ginny. Harry and Ginny headed back to the castle, leaving Amethyst and Draco alone of the Quidditch Pitch. "…" She sighed and closed her eyes. Her mind drifted back to the Battle of Hogwarts and the amount of friends that had been killed on school grounds. There hadn't been a death at the school since… until now. And she had been the reason Kyle had been here to begin with.
"It's not on you." Draco pulled her into his arms. "Kyle made all the decisions, but if that Auror was the one who killed the other two, he is the one who takes all that blame and responsibility."
"I know, but if it weren't for me…" She started.
"No. If Kyle hadn't made the decision to come here; if he hadn't decided to listen to Pansy, none of this would have happened." He held her tighter and felt her nod. She needed a long vacation after everything she's been through. "Christmas break."
"Hmm…?" She pulled away to look at him.
"I know you planned on spending it here, but what if we took a couple of days and spent some time in Godric's Hollow?" He looked into her violet eyes and could see and unspoken question.