Hermione woke up with a start as someone patted her shoulder lightly. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she saw Healer Willows standing in front of her with a smile on his face. “How is he?” she asked him.
“We have controlled the bleeding and dressed the wounds. Mr Weasley is awake and pretty much healthy.”
“Thanks,” said Hermione, smiling at the Healer and checking the clock on the wall. It was two o’clock in the morning. Yawning, she walked into the Emergency Room. Inside the room on three beds right in front of her were Harry, Ginny and Chris too. Chris was unconscious with a face mask helping him take in the hyperbaric oxygen. Harry and Ginny were having the same type of treatment” except that they were awake and were just lounging on their beds.
“Forgotten about me, huh?” asked a voice, and Hermione turned to Ron, who was lying to her right. He looked much better than he had seemed when Hermione had rushed him to the hospital” except that his face was still quite pale.
She took a stool and sat beside him. “Do you really think so?”
He grinned at her. “Wouldn’t put it past you.” He raised a heavily bandaged wrist. “I guess the world is gonna think that I was so depressed of being your husband that I tried to slice my wrists.”
“Or vice-versa,” she replied, holding up her far more lightly bandaged wrists for him to see. She had cut them on the manacles earlier.
His eyes swivelled over to the bandages and he raised an eyebrow. “You got cut too?”
“The cuffs cut me,” Hermione grimaced.
“Did it hurt?”
“It was quite bad, but I was desperate...”
“To get out?”
“To try and get the other Aurors to you before Rebecca could finish you off. Their wands were all in a bundle on the other side of the room and they were also chained. So to get them out, I had to put up a huge drama.”
“Oh, so you didn't forget me there... It was only after I was safe and sound, was it?”
She did not have the energy to listen to his silly remarks. She just looked at him simply and said, “I will never forget you for anything. I love you too much to do that.” The words had tumbled out of her mouth without prompting.
Ron’s eyes widened. “What did you just say?”
Hermione smiled. She was ready to say it a hundred times. “I love you. I’ve said that before too. And last night, when your life was in danger, I realised that I didn’t care about getting out alive myself” but it mattered a lot that you live past the incident.”
Ron raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t it? I’m your husband. I can’t say that I wouldn’t have felt the same way.”
“I” I guess so. But I also realised what a fool I’ve been…”
“Wow, that’s new! I never thought I’d hear you say this.”
Hermione sighed. “Yeah…” she swallowed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear before continuing. “You remember what we had discussed about the divorce a month ago?”
“Mm hmm.”
“Well… now the case is truly solved… I think you should decide…”
Ron licked his lips before replying to her. “I’ll” I’ll think about it and tell you, okay?”
“When?”
“Whenever.”
“Okay…” Hermione bit her lip from a retort. “I” I have some work to sort out in my office. I’ll see you later, okay?”
Ron nodded. “All right. Bye.”
“Bye.” Hermione waved at Harry and Ginny too, who waved back at her as she left.
***
London: The infamous serial killings that had plagued the city of London since July, 2007 finally came to an end early in the morning today as the culprit duo” Rebecca Palmer and Shaun McCall was caught by Aurors Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, Anthony Goldstein, Romilda Vane, Irene Stance and Ginevra Weasley. However, the entire encounter came off as brutal when Stance succumbed to a killing curse from McCall’s wand, while Palmer committed suicide by jumping from the terrace of the house where the encounter took place. McCall has been placed in Azkaban and will be there until further interrogation.
A third body found in the house has been recognised as that belonging to Kevin Stevens” a famous personality in the Muggle world. According to sources, Stevens owned the house where…
Daisy threw the newspaper aside and sank back into her covers, a shiver running down her spine. Chris’s father was dead.
She shut her eyes and sighed, wondering how Chris would react once he woke up. He was sharing her ward with her now, and she had just woken up with those irritating pains in her abdomen, when she heard them wheeling him in, heavily sedated and looking awfully pale beneath his face mask. Cheryl had been with him till then and later his mother had come in, her beautiful face tear streaked and swollen. Cheryl had given the woman a bear hug and both of them had cried for a while before Cheryl left, leaving Daisy to wonder what had happened. Just then, Melanie had noticed that Daisy was awake and come to her. “Aren’t you sleepy, sweetheart?” she asked, managing a smile.
“I didn’t opt for the sedative…” Daisy replied. She placed a hand on her aching belly and winced.
“Are you in pain?” Melanie asked, noticing Daisy wince.
“It’s” it’s okay…” Daisy said, trying to ignore the pain.
“I’ll call the doctor… or what is it”? Healer…” said Melanie, as she got up and left the ward. After a few minutes, Healer Tudor had come and lightly sedated Daisy, so that she had slept for the next twelve hours straight. Finally, she had woken up again, groggy and confused, when she had remembered what she had seen that morning. Immediately, she had asked for a newspaper and now she knew what had been going on.
“Are we ready to try taking fluids by mouth?” asked a voice, and Daisy broke out of her reverie on seeing Carla at the door.
“Okay,” said Daisy. “But… has my stomach healed completely?”
“We’ll find out now…” said Carla. “The Healers reckon your stomach must have healed pretty much now. It’s your uterus they’re more worried about.”
“My uterus?” Daisy asked, surprised. “What’s wrong with my uterus?”
“It got ruptured too,” replied Carla. “Didn’t the Healers tell you?”
“No!”
“Oh…” said Carla. “Well… your uterus got damaged along with your stomach. Your daily medication includes the repair, but it will take time to heal completely.” She conjured a silver goblet with a small silver spoon in it. “Orange juice,” she said, sitting next to Daisy. “Ready for it?”
Daisy nodded as Carla spooned the orange juice and brought it to Daisy’s mouth. The latter felt the juice sooth her tongue, as she swallowed a spoonful. Carla waited for a reaction and asked her, “Tummy feel fine?”
Daisy nodded. “It’s only a spoonful…”
Carla spooned some more and slowly and in a few minutes, Daisy was able to drink it all. Carla smiled, showing Daisy the empty goblet. “This is great!”
Daisy placed a hand on her stomach. “I do feel good now.” There was silence, as Carla rinsed the goblet with her wand and set it on Daisy’s bedside table. Then as she stood up, Daisy asked the question that she had been craving to ask since morning. “How’s Chris?”
Carla looked into Daisy’s eyes. “He’s been heavily sedated since they got him here.”
“Why is he here?”
“Well… the house where the entire incident took place yesterday” Chris’s house” had caught fire. He passed out while they were trying to escape, so the Aurors brought him here thinking it was smoke inhalation.”
“Was it?”
“Actually, everyone in the house had to go through a bit of oxygen therapy… and Chris hadn’t inhaled much. So we reckon it was the smoke plus the shock of seeing his dad dead. The Healers have kept him sedated to rest his mind.”
“He saw his dad die?” Daisy asked, horrified.
“Apparently, he saw the body,” said Carla. “He didn’t actually see him die.”
“So how long is he gonna remain sedated?” Daisy asked.
“They gave him a dose a few hours ago… so that was the last one, I think. He’ll wake up in another couple of hours.” Carla then picked up a flask of Sleeping Drought from Daisy’s bedside table. “By the way, I was supposed to give you some of this if you kept that orange juice in your stomach for a few minutes.”
“No…” moaned Daisy.
“Come on,” said Carla, pouring some into a spoon. She brought it close to Daisy’s mouth and the latter swallowed it, falling back into a deep sleep.
***
Harry waved his wand at a silver sphere in his cabin, and it glowed orange as all the recording of Shaun McCall’s interrogation got transferred into it. He then kept the sphere on the table and looked at Ginny, who was sitting across him. “Do you want to hear it?”
“Yes please,” she replied. Harry nodded and pressed the sphere with his finger. A drone of a voice then started speaking.
“Interrogation of Shaun McCall by Harry Potter.” Then Harry’s voice spoke out of it.
Harry: For the record, I’m Harry Potter, currently handling the interrogation for the London Killing Case. May I have your full name?
Shaun: Shaun McCall.
Harry: You’re talking under effect of Veritaserum. Are you aware of that?
Shaun: Yes.
Harry: Let’s get started with the interrogation. Are you ready, Mr McCall?
Shaun: I’m ready.
Harry: What was your relationship with your deceased companion, Miss Rebecca Palmer?
Shaun: She was a good friend. We had the same ambitions.
Harry: So you must have been very close with her.
Shaun: Yes.
Harry: Where were you employed? Give me the specifics.
Shaun: I worked as an Unspeakable at the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic.
Harry: So you had the guide book that all the Unspeakables are provided with. Am I right?
Shaun: Yes.
Harry: Did you hand over the book to Rebecca Palmer?
Shaun: Yes.
Harry: Did she ask for it, or did you get the idea to do it?
Shaun: It was my idea. I read about the Galvanising Gem, and was not able to resist what it offered.
Harry: How did you steal the Galvanising Gem?
Shaun: Rebecca was an expert with potions. She concocted a certain potion which countered all the enchantments the Ministry had cast upon me to be an Unspeakable. I then knew where and how to find the Galvanising Gem.
Harry: What was the plan of action after that?
Shaun: We knew that we had to find the appropriate people to extract the blood of, so that the potion would work. The first five people weren’t difficult to find, as we knew them already.
Harry: And you killed them all?
Shaun: Everyone, except for Andrew. He did not die at our hands.
Harry: What about Mrs Parvati Potter?
Shaun: We did not kill her. It was Chris who did it.
Harry: Under the Imperius Curse?
Shaun: Yes. The Aurors had started investigating the case by the time Andrew was dead. And Daisy Joe knew about us. We had to shut her up without killing her.
Harry: So you blackmailed her into keeping quiet. Am I right?
Shaun: Yes. And then we realised that we may as well use her silence. Parvati Potter needed to be killed and we couldn't leave any trails that could lead the Aurors to us. And Daisy is a very clever girl. So if we could get her to carry out the next murder, she could do it properly, without leaving behind clues.
Harry: How did you convince her?
Shaun: We kept the blackmail going. We threatened to kill her family. Her father is the Head of my department, so I could find out about his locations easily. Her brother is in Hogwarts and she knew that it was easy for us to find him. She still tried to protect all of them by not telling anybody of her parents' whereabouts and constantly warning her brother to take care of himself. And she was so scared anyway, that she did whatever we asked her to.
Harry: What were the things that you made her do?
Shaun: On the first day of the Auror investigation, she said a few things to the Aurors that could raise their suspicions upon the us. We had already asked her to shut up, but she didn't. So Rebecca and I threatened her and asked her cover up for the mistake by attacking Chris while the Aurors were at Andrew's house, so that suspicions would be shifted from Rebecca. She needed a bit of bullying from our side, but she agreed to it anyway. We were succesful in shifting most of those suspicions at the end of the day.
Harry: Where did Chris Stevens feature in this whole plan of yours?
Shaun: The attack on Chris obviously drove any suspicion off him. The day for obtaining the blood of Parvati Potter came close and we decided to let Chris kill her so that the Aurors would not even think of him. And even if they caught him under the Imperius Curse, it would lead them to Daisy and not us. So this time, we persuaded Daisy to merely use the Imperius Curse upon him and let him do the rest.
Harry: Did it start with the poisoning on Halloween?
Shaun: Yes. But it went wrong. Rebecca tried once again to kill Mrs Potter by cursing the hat that Irene Stance had won and sending it to Parvati. But that didn't work either. To top it all, this attempted attack made the Aurors cast a Fidelius Charm over their place.
Harry: You obviously overcame it.
Shaun: We were at a loss until Daisy came up with a plan.
Harry: On her own?
Shaun: Of course, it was when Rebecca bullied her into thinking of something, but it was a good plan, nonetheless.
Harry: What was it?
Shaun: Daisy pretended to still love Chris and got back with him on the eve of Parvati Potter's death. Once she was with him, she Imperiused him and got him to drink Polyjuice Potion with Ginny Weasley's hair in it. Then she sent him to the house, where Hermione Granger mistook him for Ginny Weasley and broke the secret to him. The next day, Chris killed Parvati Potter.
Harry: And the rest of the attacks?
Shaun: Once Daisy was in jail, Rebecca brewed up her own brilliant potion which was capable of controlling anyone. She made sure Chris had a regular dose of it so she could control him whenever she wanted. After that, she used it to let Chris attack her to drive away any suspicion from her. When Daisy came out and was about to blab, she used Chris to attack her also. Finally, at Chris's place last night, she used her control upon Chris twice. I think he even killed someone...
Harry: And what about Healer Robert Harrison? Did Rebecca Palmer control him too?
Shaun: Yes. She did it twice. The first time was when Daisy woke up from her two-week slumber in the hospital. Rebecca made the Healer inject poison instead of anti-spasmodic through Daisy's IV. That was why she got worse and slipped into a coma. The second time when Healer Harrison was controlled by Rebecca was after Daisy told Ron about Rebecca.
Harry: So you're saying that the potion enabled Rebecca Palmer to know what was happening around the subject?
Shaun: Yes.
Harry: What about the poison found in Daisy Joe's stab wounds? Was that Rebecca Palmer's invention again?
Shaun: Yes.
Harry: So all in all, you accept to all the charges against you. You agree to being guilty of felony and blackmail with the now deceased Rebecca Palmer by your side.
Shaun: Yes.
Harry: I have no more questions. You may return to your cell, Mr McCall.
Harry ran a hand through his hair as a voice said, “End of Interrogation.” He thought of all the things that he had just heard a second time that day and found himself wondering how the Aurors had sorted the case at all. If it weren't for Daisy...
“Oh my God,” whispered Ginny and Harry saw that the colour had drained from her face. “That was one hell of a case.”
“Yes it was,” agreed Harry. “Should we let Chris know how he's been hoodwinked?”
“I guess so,” said Ginny. “And I won't be surprised if he goes and becomes Mad-Eye Moody's disciple after this.”
“But how do we tell him about it? He's having a hell of a time already...”
“It won't be too tough...”
Harry raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you know what you're talking about? First, we'll have to tell Chris that he was cheated upon by everyone around him, including Daisy. Then we'll have to tell him that he also attacked Daisy and Rebecca. To top it all, we'll also have to tell him that he actually killed Parvati and Kevin Stevens!”
Ginny's jaw had dropped. “Chris killed his dad?”
“Yeah. Hermione told me about it. She was there when it happened,” Harry said, rubbing his temples.
“Oh Merlin... How?”
“Well, he was controlled, wasn't he?” Harry said.
“Yeah,” said Ginny, “we'll have to find a way to tell him about all of this anyway.” There was silence. “So... Felony and blackmail are the charges against Shaun, huh? Is there a trial for him?”
“I don't think so,” said Harry. “He's owned up to all those charges, plus there is one more now.”
“What?”
Harry sighed. “He's guilty of physical abuse.”
“What the hell?”
“I know...”
“Who told you?”
“He did. I asked him if he had to own up to anything else after the interrogation, and he gave me this.” Harry pulled out a vial of silvery memory out of his pocket.
“Have you seen who the victim was?”
“No.”
“Should we see...?”
“I guess,” said Harry, getting up from his seat. He walked to the door and held it open for Ginny to walk out before getting out of the room himself. Together, they went to the Auror training room, which contained a Pensieve on one side. This served for new Aurors to observe some of the cases that the senior Aurors had worked on and pick up tips.
Harry emptied the contents of the vial into the huge basin and bent over so that he was pulled into the memory. He was in what seemed like a closed wooden shed. He looked around to see Shaun stir a cauldron full of red potion.
Ginny landed beside Harry and he looked at her, bewildered. Whom had Shaun abused, after all? Just then, someone knocked at the door, a few metres away. “Shaun?”
Harry recognised the voice as Rebecca's. Shaun stopped stirring and waved his wand at the door. It opened and Rebecca walked in, looking very angry. “She's not agreeing to it.”
Shaun raised an eyebrow. “Does she need convincing even now?”
“I'm afraid so.”
“Fine. I'll make her say yes.”
“How?”
“Get her in.”
Rebecca went out again and came back, followed by a very frightened, but determined looking Daisy this time. The former stopped right before Shaun and pulled Daisy forward by her arm. “What did you tell the Aurors?” she asked, her eyes menacing.
“That you are a bitch,” said Daisy. She looked white, but her voice was loaded with determination. “I wasn't wrong, was I?”
“You may be right, but I want you to prove yourself wrong,” said Rebecca.
“I got the gist the last time you said this to me, thanks,” spat Daisy. “I'm not going to do that. In fact, I'm going to tell them today that it's been you all along. You can't do a thing to my family now.”
“How dare you”” said Shaun, coming forward.
Daisy showed him a rude finger. “I dare.”
“So you need convincing?”
“My answer is final.”
Shaun looked at Rebecca. “Get into the house, if you will. I'll convince her.”
“I'll stay here,” said Rebecca. “I can help you if you want.”
“No problem,” shrugged Shaun. He undid his belt and pulled it off, throwing it in a corner. Then he grabbed Daisy by her shoulders and slapped her hard so that she fell to the floor and screamed. She was wearing a knee length skirt that lifted up as she fell down. “Will you do it now?” Shaun asked her, as she desperately tried to pull her skirt down.
“NO!” she screamed, again trying to get to her feet.
Shaun knelt beside her and bent over, kissing her. However, he pulled back, roaring in pain and clutching his mouth, which seemed to be bleeding. “YOU STUPID WHORE!” he growled, wiping blood away from his mouth and crawling towards her on all fours, as she tried to escape. Finally, he got hold of her by her ankle and pulled her towards himself. He then knelt over on her legs, causing her to scream in pain. “Will you do what we say now?”
“No!” said Daisy again, through gritted teeth.
Just then, Rebecca walked up from behind, her arms folded over her chest. “She will not agree like this, Shaun.”
Shaun raised an eyebrow fiercely at Daisy. “Really?”
“She's right,” Daisy growled, tears of pain streaming down her eyes.
“Then all you need is a little screwing, don't you?” hissed Shaun, holding her shoulders again. “Chris shouldn't have got you so used to this...”
“SHUT UP!” roared Daisy, flames rising in her eyes.
“Oh, I won't. In fact, I'll give you just what Chris gave you...” He grabbed the collar of the cotton shirt that she was wearing and was about to tear it.
“No!” Daisy said again. “Don't do that... Please...”
“Will you do what I say?” Shaun asked, pulling the collars apart. Daisy had not fastened the first two buttons, but the third one popped out at Shaun's force, so that her cleavage was visible.
“Don't!” Daisy now begged, bursting into sobs. “I'll do what you say... I swear I will.”
“Right,” breathed Shaun, letting go of her. “It's good that you have finally understood.” He looked at Rebecca. “Our job is done. Help her sew that button back and let her go.”
The memory ended and Harry felt himself being pulled out of the pensieve along with Ginny. As soon as she was out, Ginny sat on a chair nearby. Harry took another one, noticing that Ginny was very white. He could understand why it was so. He too was shocked by the ugliness of what he had just seen.
“Oh my God...” Ginny whispered.
“Why didn't she ever tell...?” Harry asked more to himself than Ginny. “She would have never been arrested...”
“She hasn't told even Chris about it,” Ginny whispered miserably. “But... Oh Harry! We've just been so horrible to her!”
“You haven't,” Harry muttered sadly, “but the rest of us have. Had she just told us...”
The two of them just sat there, wondering if the entire case could get any uglier or complicated. Then they wondered about the many truths they would have to tell Chris and how they would have to get Daisy to speak about the assault upon her.
Harry sighed and stood up. It looked like he had not overcome the toughest bit of the case yet.