August gave way to September, which slipped away rapidly, reaching its last week in what seemed like a jiffy. The sky became sorrowful again as rain began to lash London. There was greenery everywhere, and the dry, hot days were replaced by pleasant ones.
The Aurors had a definite suspect: Daisy. Ginny did her best to try to make the Aurors understand that Daisy had to be innocent, but far from being convinced, even Ron and Harry seemed to think that Ginny was just sticking up for Daisy because of the great sympathy that Ginny felt for the teenager and also due to the fact that they were now friends. Ginny reacted to this fiercely, saying that a crime was a crime and she would never stick up for a person just because she was friends with them or because she pitied them. There had been a huge argument between Ron and Ginny, leading to several not-so-loving sibling confrontations and a really nasty Bat-Bogey Hex. Ginny even stopped speaking to Harry for a while, fuming at what she thought was his ‘narrow-mindedness’.
The Aurors, though, didn’t rule out any of the others whom they had met on the day of the murder either, because it was most likely that any one of them could also be easily involved. Elizabeth’s continuous accusations could be a way of shifting suspicion from herself. The twins were quick to shift their suspicions, too, and Chris could have hurt himself, after all. Rebecca too had chances of being involved.
After a lot of apologies, and a bit of making-up, Harry, Ron and Ginny decided that Irene was worth a watch, too, based upon whatever Hermione had heard earlier. The murderer had done a very clever job, though. They had blocked Andrew’s Floo connection and they seemed to have locked his door with powerful enchantments and made it unbreakable, so that Andrew would be truly dead before anyone could save him. Harry, however had no doubt that these serial killings had a motive that was dirtier than whatever Walanger had told the Aurors. It did not seem to him as an act of fanaticism, for Andrew definitely hadn’t been obsessed with Harry at any rate. No, the killer had something else in mind. There was definitely something very sinister hidden below all the murders.
At home, Naina and Jessica had both begun to walk; a phenomenon which was welcomed with great cheer and marvel. It became a daily routine for the tired Aurors to just ask the girls to walk from the sofa to the television set, from the dining table to the kitchen and so on. They walked as though someone had just fed them five bottles of Firewhiskey, but it was wonderful, nonetheless.
In the meantime, Ginny and Daisy had developed a very good friendship, and as Ryan left for Hogwarts, Ginny became Daisy’s companion. None of the murder victims had left clues for the Aurors to work on, excepting Andrew, which left the Aurors at a seeming dead-end. They now went to their Headquarters daily, only to sort out paperwork pertaining to the killings. Ron visited Rebecca and Chris, too, as the three of them discussed the life histories of everyone involved in the case.
From what Ron found out, Rebecca and Chris had been in Ravenclaw, along with Belinda, Andrew and Daisy, Elizabeth had been a Gryffindor, while the twins were in Hufflepuff. Charlotte Seam, another victim, was in Hufflepuff, too. The two other victims were Alison Henry and Jennifer Daniels. Rebecca, Belinda, Chris, Jennifer, Alison and another boy called Shaun had been very close friends at Hogwarts. Similarly, Daisy, Andrew, Elizabeth, Neil, Mike, Charlotte and another Hufflepuff called Parineeta had been another group of friends. The five Ravenclaws got along well, too: that is until Daisy broke her friendship with Rebecca after an incident which Rebecca refused to reveal, and the mention of which made Chris get up and walk out of the room. Rebecca still considered Daisy a friend, anyway. Charlotte also lived close to Rebecca and they had known each other very well.
Ron and Hermione fought even more now, their fights breaking over the silliest of things. Each time, they would have a shouting match, which always ended with a tearful Hermione and an irritated Ron. This made Ron try and escape being at home even more, which meant that he was spending a lot of time with Chris and Rebecca, where his mind seemed to calm down. The worst of all was that Ron was so engrossed with his work that he forgot about Hermione’s birthday, but even when he remembered in the evening at last, he couldn’t seem to find time even to get her a flower on that day. Hermione broke down completely when he accepted it and refused to talk to him for an entire week. She also openly accused Ron of having an extra-marital affair once, which reduced even Ron to tears.
“Where have you been?” asked Hermione, as Ron entered the house. “It’s half-past eleven already, and the others came in at eight.”
“Oh, you’ve decided to talk to me, then? Well, I was working,” Ron replied, seating himself at the dining table. “Chris and Rebecca are very important people for our case.”
“Yes, yes,” muttered Hermione. “Of course, Rebecca has to be important.”
“What’s for food?” Ron asked, ignoring Hermione’s mutterings.
“Salad and stew,” said Hermione, spooning salad into a plate and ladling cold stew for Ron. He swallowed a spoonful of stew, and almost spat it out in disgust.
“It’s gone cold.”
“You must come home on time if you want it to be warm, then,” snapped Hermione.
“Couldn’t you wait for me?”
Hermione looked at him and frowned. “What do you think of yourself, Ron? First of all, you come late. Then, you want all of us to wait for you to come home and then serve food so that you can have it warm. You’re happily enjoying with Rebecca and here you’re asking us to starve ourselves and wait for your grand arrival.”
“I’m not enjoying with Rebecca, Hermione, it’s work!”
“And does Rebecca have so much of information inside her that even after interrogating her for about two months, you have not acquired it all?”
“Well, Hermione, there are discussions, speculations…”
“Yes, Ron, of course, you must take as much time as you can, shouldn’t you? How will you spend time with her otherwise? You will lose any excuse to be with dear, charming Rebecca if you ask her everything together.”
Ron stood up. “What do you mean by this, Hermione?”
“Don’t talk as though you don’t know.”
“Are you accusing me of-?” Ron stopped midway, only to see tears find their way down Hermione’s cheek. He was sick of seeing her cry at the sight of him. Couldn’t she understand how important the case was? What on earth was wrong with her? “Listen,” he began again, “don’t start crying again. I’m bloody sick of seeing you sob every time I’m with you. What the hell is your problem? Why don’t you just spit it out?”
Hermione gasped, more tears streaming down her face. “You kn-know w-what the problem is, R-R-Ron, you know v-very well. Rebecca has become m-more important to you than Jess, Jay or me! You’ve s-stopped thinking a-about us. Y-You are o-only concerned about that R-Rebecca! I th-think you sh-should just s-stop p-pretending now. It’s h-hurting me…”
Ron’s jaw dropped. This woman was actually accusing him of having an affair with Rebecca. He stood up abruptly, leaving his stew and salad as he rushed up the stairs, pain tearing at his heart. What hadn’t he given Hermione? What hadn’t he done, out of the sheer love that he felt for her? And now, after all this…
Ron slumped onto his bed, without even getting his robes off, as his vision began to blur with tears. They stung his eyes and poured out, dampening his pillow. He didn’t dare make a sound, for the fear of waking up his children. But then, this was too much for him to take.
Gulping in large amounts of air, Ron finally steadied himself, wiped his face quickly and pretended to be asleep as Hermione entered. He opened his eyes slightly as she turned on just one dim light and began to search for something in her drawer. Drawing a bottle, she poured some potion into a small measuring cup and swallowed it, scouring the cup clean after that. She then switched off the light with a wave of her wand and dropped down beside Ron, falling asleep at once.
He found sleep after a few minutes and it did really seem a few seconds that he had fallen asleep, when he was shaken awake by Hermione.
“’Ermione, whazzup?” he asked, opening an eye. He could hear Jessica wailing in the background. “Just get her quiet…” He rolled over as Hermione opened her mouth to say something else and he was asleep again.
***
Ginny made her way to Harry’s room on the morning of September the twenty-seventh, carrying a few files in her slender hands. She had just wished Ron and Hermione a happy marriage anniversary, and wished to discuss an idea that she had with Harry.
The door to Harry’s room was open, and Parvati was fixing her hair at the dressing table, while Harry was carefully folding his robes so that he could carry them to the Ministry to put on over his Muggle clothes. He momentarily looked up and noticed the redhead. “Ready?”
Ginny nodded. “Yeah. Today’s going to be boring, though. We’re to make files for all the suspects and complete the information in those.”
Harry shook his head. “I just wish we could get more clues. We’re doing nothing except paperwork at the moment, and that isn’t right.”
Ginny sighed. “Just an alphabet written in a most confusing way to be going on with… this is proving to be difficult. The murderer is too clever.”
Harry shrugged and began to put on his tie. He did one turn and waved his wand, but had soon converted it into a confusing tangle. Ginny giggled as she saw him tackle this. “You can’t even do your tie properly?”
Harry went red. “Of course I can do it… I did it at Hogwarts all the time didn’t I? The spell just went wrong, I guess.”
Parvati smiled at him from the dressing table. “Just give me a minute, Harry, I’ll disentangle that.” She got up and went to him. Just as she got hold of the tie, Naina called from her cradle.
“Mummy?”
“Coming, sweetie,” said Parvati. She looked at Ginny. “Could you get this right for him? Naina will most probably need her formula now and she’ll throw a tantrum if I don’t go to her. Someone”” Parvati raised an eyebrow at Harry, “”has spoiled her.”
“Hey!” said Harry, defensively. I haven’t spoiled my daughter!”
“Kidding, honey,” Parvati replied calmly. “No, actually, I don’t want to keep her hungry. So… Ginny?”
“Sure,” said Ginny, as she stepped forward, and began to right Harry’s tie. Parvati exited the room with a very groggy Naina, who was clutching her mother’s hand as she toddled on.
Harry stood still, as Ginny’s small hands worked on his tie. Her brown eyes were concentrated on the tie, while she carefully straightened the knots. She made sure that his collar was not standing awkwardly, as she moved her fingers around the edges, smoothening them. Just then, a strand of her fancily styled hair fell into her eye. She jerked her head, trying to get it away. It flew back and landed on her eye again.
Harry chuckled as he reached out a hand and tucked the strand behind Ginny’s ear. “Why do you women have to make your own lives difficult by doing such things to your hair?”
She didn’t reply. The touch of his hand on her skin had knocked all the sense out of her. She looked into his eyes and saw the bewilderment in them. Obviously, he had no idea of the tantalizing sensation that had passed through her when he had done that to her hair. Realising what she was doing, Ginny felt a blush creep up her cheeks, and looked down, taking deep breaths. She needed to control herself. She had to ward away all her feelings for him, or she could cause a calamity in the house. She decided to lure him into a better discussion. “Have you greeted Ron and Hermione yet?”
Harry nodded. “Yeah, but I think they aren’t talking to each other again.”
“Well, Ron came home late last night… again.”
“I wish he would stop upsetting her so much. I tried speaking to him, but he doesn’t seem to understand.”
Ginny sighed. “Exactly. Ron does not understand. I can’t believe him, seriously. He’s being such a prat! Poor Hermione is constantly on the verge of tears these days… Anyway, I’m planning to send them on a date today. I need your help.”
“Yes, tell me.”
“Send Ron to that restaurant called Scoffers at around eight in the evening. It’s in Battersea.”
“Done,” replied Harry smiling. “Let’s leave, then. Underground again, today?”
Ginny nodded. “I think that’s safer. The car can be easily tampered with.”
Harry shrugged. “Come on.”
They caught a train to the Ministry and as it rattled on, Ginny leaned onto the window and shut her eyes. Harry glanced up at her beautiful face, with her red tresses flying merrily with the train’s speed. There was a sweet smile on her face and her face looked serenely gorgeous.
Harry smiled to himself, lost. The train kept jerking to a halt at various stations and rattled on to the next, but he didn’t seem to be able to get his eyes off her. Suddenly, Ginny opened her eyes with a startled expression. “I fell asleep!” she exclaimed, rubbing her eyes. “But where are we? Shouldn’t we have reached London by now? What have you been doing?”
“Um…” Harry had no idea of which stop they were heading towards. A cool female voice which Harry hadn’t heard until now announced the next station, though, and to his horror, Harry realised that they were two stations past their destination.
Ginny gave Harry an exasperated look. “I never knew that you, of all people, day-dreamed, Harry, but you’ve just proved it. Come on…” She grasped his hand and pulled him to the door, as the train halted again. They got off and bought two more tickets, to travel back to the Ministry, before going to the next platform and getting into the train that arrived.
***
Ron flattened his hair and adjusted his collar, as he sat upon a cushiony chair at Scoffers. Hermione would arrive at any moment, and he didn’t want to upset her today. She was already prone to getting upset at his smallest remark.
Anyway, today was their marriage anniversary and he had decided that he’d not give her a chance to be upset. He definitely loved her, and this fact had to be reinforced into her. Smiling, Ron removed a small box from his pocket. It had the pair of pearl earrings that Hermione had craved for so long. These earrings would help him reunite with his love.
The door to the restaurant opened with a soft clink and Ron looked up, expecting Hermione. He was surprised, however, to see Rebecca walk in, dressed in a red mini skirt with black leggings and a sequined black top. She had let her straight hair down, and wore boots to match her clothes. “Hi!” she greeted, coming over to Ron.
Ron smiled. “Hey! Take a seat. So, you’re here on a date, eh?”
She blushed as she sat down. “Not really… but I’ve gotta go. I just came here for a friendly dinner with Chris.” She pointed out to Chris on another table and he waved at Ron. “I don’t believe in dating, actually…”
“Oh, Chris,” said Ron, in a teasing voice.
“Cut it,” Rebecca replied, blushing deeper still. “Daisy likes him in that way, I don’t.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen how much she likes him. Haven’t we all agreed over the fact that it was Daisy who slashed at Chris’ hand in Andrew’s place?” sighed Ron.
Rebecca let out a deep breath. “I think she did that because she was upset. Come on, Ron, she absolutely loves Chris. I know this!”
“And Chris?”
“He loves her too… they went out for a while in our seventh year, you know.”
Ron chuckled. “That’s infatuation, not love.”
“No, Ron,” replied Rebecca, “they loved each other.”
“Then why did they break up?”
Rebecca sighed. “Because of a stupid mistake that Chris made.”
“And how is that possible?”
Rebecca looked right at Ron. “Chris was just so stupid…” she smacked her forehead in exasperation. “You know, he was very popular at school. A lot of girls were after him. He was just like… almost every girl was crazy about him. And well, Daisy was not. At least, she didn’t behave as though she had anything special for him. As you can guess, Chris fell for Daisy even with the number of girls who fawned over him. And though Daisy didn’t show it, she had always fancied Chris. So they started going out after six years of fancying each other.”
Ron took a deep breath. It didn’t seem long ago that Hermione and he had gotten together. They, after all, had gotten together after six years of fancying each other too. Rebecca didn’t seem to notice Ron’s expression, though, and she continued with her story.
“Then, just around two months after they had begun to date, Chris told Daisy that he wanted to discontinue their relationship… because… well, honestly, this is one thing that I cannot disclose, Ron, I have no right to talk about this. Chris doesn’t like me mentioning it either. But Daisy obviously didn’t like what he did and whatever Chris did do, to be honest, was really unfair. He was also under the impression that he had done the right thing and left Daisy to be miserable for days, by not speaking to her at all because she wasn’t talking to him, and he thought she was being incredibly stupid.”
“Then?”
“Daisy was in deep shock. She fell ill over and over again, started losing concentration in studies, and weakened mentally. A girl, whom I had never witnessed in shedding even a tear, now cried herself to sleep every night. Anyway, Chris didn’t seem to realise that he had fallen in love until around two weeks after they split up. When he started missing Daisy, he thought it was just because of the deep obsession that he had for her, but then, he turned out to be wrong. He went and apologised to Daisy, but she turned a deaf ear to his apologies and said plainly that she would never forgive him for whatever he did. And then… then, like an idiot, Chris did something else.”
“What did he do?”
Rebecca shuddered. “I don’t want to talk about it, Ron, it was very, very hideous. It struck Daisy even harder and that was when she broke her friendship with Belinda and me, assuming that we were into whatever Chris had done, too. She has changed a lot, ever since. She was really the life of every place that she set foot in. Even in our common room, getting rid of exam angst meant spending some time with Daisy. She was always brimming with happiness, no matter what. She got on with everyone and was liked by most people in school. But now… she’s sunken into herself. She’s subdued. After Chris left her, Daisy began to keep to herself. I remember times when I didn’t even realise her presence in our dormitory. So much more has happened to her since then… Charlotte’s and Andrew’s deaths… all of this has just left Daisy to dissolve into her own trauma.”
“But then you and Chris have gone through a lot, too,” Ron pointed out. “I don’t see you attacking people.”
“Ron, I was under depression too, if you remember. And my rudeness then is why all your friends despise me. I was in a condition that’s very similar to what Daisy is going through, but maybe I didn’t go about slashing people’s hands because I have a better control over my emotions than Daisy does. And I definitely don’t have anything against anyone out here and now that you know why Daisy hates Chris, you might agree that it was easier for her to fly off the handle. As for Chris, like Daisy, he’s always a very hopeful, happy person. His attitude helped us sail through this. We had each other when Belinda died. He believes me and I believe him, too. He has comforted me through these tough times. You can see that I’m much better, now, and Chris too has begun to accept what has happened and live on. Daisy, though, lost her closest friend to the murderer. And to top all that, Liz, Neil and Mike have begun to isolate her from themselves, as they are under the impression that she has killed Andrew. Parineeta, another of Daisy’s friends is in India, now, clueless about what’s going on here.
“Daisy desperately needs someone, Ron, she needs someone to comfort her, to listen to her, to let her break down and let it all out… but who is there? She can’t possibly sit and discuss this with her brother; he is too young to understand. Her parents are away at the moment, so the choice of talking to them is gone too. You see? That’s why I agree with Ginny. Daisy is troubled, definitely, but she could never be the murderer.”
There was silence, as Ron considered whatever Rebecca had told him. He felt a bubble of sympathy erupt for Daisy, and realised why Ginny had hexed him when he had refused to believe in Daisy’s innocence. But then Rebecca had no idea of the other clue that they had found at Andrew’s place. Ron decided that the topic needed a slight deviation, or they would soon be discussing suspects. Even if it were Rebecca, Ron didn’t like the idea of discussing suspects with anyone except for his colleagues. “But didn’t you try to explain everything to Daisy after she broke her friendship with you?” he asked, seeing that this was a good time to change tracks.
“She wouldn’t listen, Ron. She is very stubborn. But I know that both Daisy and Chris really miss each other. That’s why I dine with Chris on Wednesdays, and that is exactly why Daisy never eats alone on Wednesdays either.”
Ron raised an eyebrow. “I don’t get this. How are Wednesdays related to-?”
“They went on a date every Wednesday.”
Ron shook his head. “Why did Daisy erase your memory of Belinda’s murder, if she considers all her ties with you broken, then?”
Rebecca shrugged. “Dunno… she probably felt sorry for me.” She stood up. “I guess I’ll go to Chris now…”
Ron raised an eyebrow. “You can join Hermione and me. I’m sure Chris would like more company, and Hermione won’t mind, either.”
“No,” replied Rebecca, “I notice that you’re not giving Hermione your time, Ron, and I think she deserves this dinner with you- alone.”
“Come on,” insisted Ron. “Hermione and I have a lot of time alone. After this case is solved, I’m planning on taking her out for a nice vacation.”
“Ron…”
“Come on, Rebecca. It’s all right!”
“All right, then,” Rebecca said, as she went to the table where Chris sat. He grinned when she spoke to him and got up. The duo came up to Ron’s table and sat, now waiting for Hermione, too. Five minutes passed, and Chris got up, saying that he wanted to go to the bathroom. As he walked away there was another clink, and Daisy entered the restaurant. She was dressed in jeans and a casual T- shirt, with trainers. She looked slightly pale as she walked in, and as Chris walked past, their arms brushed.
Chris looked around immediately, and Daisy paled even further. Everything seemed to freeze as the teenagers looked at each other, eyes wide. But that was just for a moment, because, Chris had already continued along his way as though nothing had happened and Daisy merely decided that she shouldn’t be dining in the same restaurant as Chris. She promptly turned and walked out.
Ron looked at Rebecca, slightly saddened by what he had seen. If he didn’t patch up with Hermione now, then he too would probably be in a similar condition. And he definitely didn’t want that. Rebecca, on the other hand, called him forward to whisper something into his ear. He tilted his head and bent forward, just as someone else opened the door to the restaurant. But this time, he heard a sob, very close to where he was sitting.
Ron ignored it and Rebecca was just about to say something, when the sobs grew louder. And he looked up just in time to see Hermione turn around and walk away, definitely crying.
Killer Instincts by Ginny Weasley Potter
Chapter Notes: Hello, dears!
This chapter was ready a week ago, but I waited for this day. Why, you may ask? Because today, the 11th of January, is Chris's birthday!!! So all my reviewers will get a big slice of cake! ;) Chris turns twenty today- that is, if he lives past this fic *evil grin*. That doesn't mean that I'm confirming his death... (muahahahaha!)
Pauie is the most wonderful Beta and it is with her help that you're getting to read this chapter. The idea of the train scene was hers!
I would also like to thank the wonderful Britons of MNFF again, because they've helped me a lot with food and restaurants in London. :)
Many thanks to padfoot_returns (Riham) for the sweet chapter tiltle. Do you guys like it? I do! Please R/R! I can see the names of everyone who has favourited this fic and it will be nice if you leave a line about what you think. :) A huggle for all of you guys!
Oh, and twenty-seventh of September is Pauie's birthday. I would like to dedicate my chapter to Pauie, who is a wonderful Beta and a lovely sis, too!
EDIT: Daisy's b'day is on January 22nd... three days from now. She turns twenty if she survives the fic, too! I'll try to update this by then, but I don't think it's really possible.