The receiver fell out of Parvati’s hand and the colour drained out of her face. “H-Harry,” she whispered, looking at her husband.
Harry looked up from his file. “What happened?”
“The p-person on the other s-side…”
“What about them?”
“I don’t know… they just whispered my name and laughed. It was eerie.”
Harry raised an eyebrow. “It may have been a wrong number.”
“It was not, the person knew my maiden name.”
Harry took a deep breath. “Did you recognise the gender?”
Yes,” replied Parvati. “It was a woman.”
“Merlin…” Harry put the file down and sat down next to Parvati. He remained silent for a while, before saying, “Okay, no matter what, you’re speaking to me every hour. Tell me if you find anything wrong with anybody.” There was silence, and without warning, Harry hugged Parvati.
“Oh Harry…” Parvati whispered, returning the hug. “I’ll be alright, okay, honey? Don’t worry.”
Harry broke away and nodded, looking down as he did so. “I hope so, Parvati, I really do.”
***
Hermione got up from the swing and walked to her room. The kids were still sleeping and Ron was busy with his file. She sat beside her husband, who did not even look up.
“Ron?”
Ron still did not look up; he merely grunted.
“Ron…”
Another grunt.
“RON!”
“What is it, Hermione? Can’t you even see that I’m busy?” Ron asked finally.
“I know, Ron, I just came to tell you that you’d better get ready and leave.” She walked to the wardrobe, and pulled out a set of robes. “Are you going to wear your robes?”
He grunted again.
It was too much now. Hermione dropped the set of clothes that she had been holding out for Ron, and stomped out of the room. If he was not interested in speaking to her, then she wouldn’t speak to him either. She had walked all the way to the staircase when she heard a voice from the room nearby. It belonged to Irene. Hesitating slightly, Hermione took a step backwards and hid behind a pillar and strained her ears to listen.
“Yes… yes… I must have given a good blow to Patil. What does she think of herself? And she’s such a vamp! Harry does not belong to her at all. He only belongs to… well; do I even need to mention the name? It goes without saying, doesn’t it? And I hate the way she is being a pillar between Harry and the person worthy of him. And how nicely Harry has been brainwashed. He was sticking up for that aimless bitch! And…”
Hermione sighed exasperatedly and continued on her way, reaching the steps and descending them. How could people talk to themselves? Irene Stance was definitely a person she’d look out for, if she were an Auror. But how ridiculous! Irene, the trained Auror as the serial killer? It was as impossible as Voldemort doing charity. But even then… there was something fishy about that woman.
She reached the living room, to see Ginny cuddling a very giggly Naina, while watching a Muggle cartoon on television. She went and sat next to the duo.
“Hi!” said Ginny, as she tickled Naina on the stomach.
“Hello,” replied Hermione. “I see that you’ve already developed an intimate friendship with our Naina.”
“Yep,” Ginny said. “Oh, the cutie pie…” she tickled Naina again. “I just adore her eyes.”
“I know, they’re too pretty, aren’t they?”
“Uh huh. And they’re so expressive… you can see her childish, carefree attitude by just looking at them.”
“She’s going to be an intelligent girl, I can just say,” said Hermione, stroking the girl’s hair. Then she remembered something. “Ginny?”
“Huh?”
“I think there’s something off about Irene.”
Ginny looked up. “I noticed that too. Weird, isn’t she? I can’t see anyone developing such a grudge with Parvati. She is so nice.”
“Not only that…” Hermione narrated whatever she had overheard, to Ginny, who raised an eyebrow.
“Wait; do you mean to say-?”
“I’d definitely add Irene to my list of suspects, Ginny.”
“But she’s an Auror! I can’t see an Auror becoming a serial killer!”
Hermione just shrugged. “I don’t know, I’ve informed you of my suspicions. It’s up to you now, to take any action.”
Ginny nodded, as she got up. “I’ll look into it, definitely. But chances that Irene is behind all this seem dim. Anyway, I think we’ll be leaving now… so I’ll leave Naina with her Mum.”
She smiled at Hermione, and walked off to Harry’s room carrying Naina attentively.
***
Ginny trotted up the stairs and reached Harry and Parvati’s room. Something about seeing Harry made her heart pound against her rib cage like crazy. But ignoring the sensation, she raised a hand and knocked at the door.
“Come in.”
Ginny pushed the door open and walked inside, to see Harry adjusting the sleeves of his shirt. Parvati, who was juicing something that resembled a tuber with a mortar and pestle, looked at Ginny and smiled.
“Oh, you’ve to leave now?”
At that moment, Harry looked up too and smiled. “Yeah, I’m coming in a mo’.”
For some reason, Ginny’s throat was dry. It had happened even the previous day and it was happening today, too. But she managed to get out an answer, which sounded really stupid, once she had said it. “Actually, I-I just left to come Naina. But yes, we’re leaving shortly.”
“Huh?” Harry’s eyes were fixed on Ginny, now.
Ginny swore mentally and corrected her statement. Why the hell was Harry staring at her like that? “I came to leave Naina.” She said it correctly this time. One good thing about her was that once she had gotten over the initial state of nervousness, she could continue normally.
“Oh, right, give her here,” said Harry, holding out his hands to receive his daughter.
Ginny placed the girl in his arms, but as she did so, their fingers brushed; sending a swooping sensation down her stomach. She could feel her cheeks growing warm and a tingling sensation crept up them, just as it used to when she faced Harry as a teenager. She turned away, not wanting him to see her blush. “C- Come down to the hall, we’ve to leave.” Not wanting to stop at that place for another second, she ran out of the room and raced down the stairs at top speed.
What was happening to her? Why was she behaving like a shy teenager all over again? She thought that it was all over; that she had the strength to face Harry without getting embarrassed ever since she had dated him in her sixth year. But what was this?
No… she’d have to control herself. She did not want to attract Harry’s attention towards herself and make him do anything wrong to Parvati and Naina. She did not want to be the reason for any ruined lives. Yes, yes; she would master herself and not allow any of these things to happen whenever she faced Harry. She would learn to face him again. She would become the same old Ginny; for the sake of Harry and his family.
***
“I think it’s almost time now,” said Harry, getting up from the bed to face the dressing table mirror. Tensing a little, he added, “And don’t forget whatever I’ve told you.”
“But Harry, why on earth would the murderer target me?”
Harry laughed shakily. “Parvati, I thought you were intelligent enough to deduce that you are the person who is closest to me?”
“I still don’t see the reason why she would kill me, Harry. If she’s so overly obsessed with you, then she’d want you to be happy.”
“She wants herself to be happy.”
Parvati shrugged. “You’re the Auror, you know better anyway.”
Harry sighed. “Yeah, maybe…” He then began to fiddle with the sleeves of his shirt, folding them backwards; just as there was a rap on the door.
“Come in,” called Parvati. “Oh, you’ve to leave now?”
Harry looked up, to see Ginny standing at the door, holding Naina in her arms. “Yeah, I’m coming in a mo’,” he said, giving her a small smile.
She stared at him as though she had never seen him and finally stammered, “Actually, I-I just left to come Naina. But yes, we’re leaving shortly.”
What the hell did she just say? Had she left to come Naina? What was wrong with her?
“Huh?” Harry asked lamely. He looked at her properly and just registered how beautiful she looked with a child in tow, before he got a reply.
“I came to leave Naina.”
Whay was he staring at her as though she were a stick of candy? How stupid of him! And how could he be so slow? It was obvious that she had come to leave Naina.
Harry looked at Naina and holding out his hands, he said, “Oh, right, give her here.”
But as soon as she placed Naina in his arms, a tingle and then another passed through his body. Their fingers had brushed. Harry looked at Ginny again, just in time to see her turn pink. Clearly, she had experienced the same feeling as he had.
She turned away, colouring even more and stumbled with her words yet another time. “C- Come down to the hall, we’ve leaving.” And then, she ran before Harry could reply.
Gosh, that was cute, thought Harry. It had been a long time since he had seen her blush like that and somehow; blushing made her look even prettier.
“Harry, will you give Naina here? I need to get her ready.”
Harry turned and handed his daughter to Parvati. “You’re going out today?”
“Yeah, Hermione and I are planning to find a good crèche for Naina, Jess and Jay. We won’t be able to take care of the kids. There has been a fresh batch of AIDS patients in Mungo’s and Hermione is going to get a few blood samples today. We’ll be working on the antidote for most of the evenings.”
“AIDS?”
“Yeah, it’s a deadly disease even among wizards. If Hermione and I can find the correct potion, then it will be given to the Muggle patients as well.”
“But Parvati,” said Harry, “I don’t want Naina to grow up in a crèche…”
Parvati gave a weary smile. “It isn’t for long! I can’t do much about it, Harry, how am I going to give her time, with all the work I have? Keeping her in the same room while brewing all those antidotes could be dangerous too.”
Harry sighed. He had always dreamt of a good life for Naina. He had wanted her first education to be imparted to her by her parents. Not in a crèche in the hands of someone else. But then, he was struck with an idea. “Hey,” he said, smiling at Parvati. “You’re only busy in the evenings, right? How will it be if I take care of Naina at that time?”
“Harry, you won’t have time. You’re on a case.”
“I’ll make time. Ron and I can always cut it off in the evenings, we’re seniors now. Just tell me when you have to start your work.”
“I’ll start it at around seven. But can you-?”
Harry held up a hand. “Leave it to me. I’ll come at six thirty today, so I can learn a few things about taking care of her from you. I can teach her a bit of Hindi and Marathi too.”
Parvati snorted. “You don’t know those languages. You can only understand them.”
“I’ll learn! Come on! I’ll start with alphabets tonight. Just write them down in a sheet of paper with the pronunciation in English. I’ll do it.”
Parvati smiled kindly. “Honey, you don’t have to-”
“Come on, Parvati, do you think I’ll leave this matter like that? For me, Naina is more important than a ruddy murderer roaming the streets of London. And I don’t want her to grow up like I did. Of course, a crèche would be better than being taken care of by Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, but still. I’ll take over in the evenings. Anyway, I feel that I’m not giving her enough time. So this would be a good way to get her closer to me.”
Parvati got up from the bed and came over to Harry, throwing her arms around his neck. “That’s so sweet of you, Harry, oh... I love you so much!” She pecked Harry on the cheeks a fair few times, before hugging him tightly again.
“That’s all right, but don’t forget-”
“Oh, Harry, I’ll speak to you every hour. Stop harping on about that, now!”
Harry chuckled. “Your life is as important as Naina’s nurture.”
Parvati frowned. “If you go on about that speaking thingy for another minute, I swear that I’ll never contact you and let you bear the suspense, Harry.”
Harry winked at her. “Okay, I’ll just go down now.” He left the room, Parvati following him along with Naina. The little family walked downstairs and to the living room where the rest of the Aurors, excluding Ron, were waiting.
In about a minute or two, Ron arrived with Hermione, who was carrying a cranky Jessica in her arms.
“Come on, then,” said Anthony, and Padma gave him a kiss on the cheek as he walked to the door. He kissed her back and went out, Romilda, Irene and Ginny following him.
“Take care, Harry,” Parvati said, kissing him on the forehead as he proceeded too.
He just turned around to see Ron ducking to avoid Hermione’s kiss. “Oh for God’s sake, Hermione, don’t coddle me in front of my colleagues!”
“I don’t see Harry and Anthony feeling ashamed, Ron.”
“They’re different. I’m talking about myself over here.”
Hermione frowned slightly, but waved him goodbye, nonetheless. Ron waved back and the Aurors trudged down the path, to the three cars that had been parked on in the side.
“Right,” said Ron, as he unlocked his car. “Let’s split up and investigate. Anyone who’s got all the addresses?”
“Here,” said Romilda, handing him a sheet of paper.
“Hmm,” Ron replied, looking at the addresses. “You know what? I noticed something today, when I was going through the newsprints and all the information material that Walanger had provided. You people may have noticed this, too, now to think of it. Did you realise that all of the victims are related to the witness of the first murder?”
“You mean Rebecca Palmer?” Irene asked.
“Yeah,” said Ron. “All the victims were her friends. She only witnessed the first case, though. All of us will jointly interrogate her first, before parting ways.”
“So, do we add her as a suspect?”
“Of course not! They have been close friends of hers. Who murders their own friends? And her mental state is really questionable, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s mentioned,” said Ginny. “But the thing is, do you think her parents will allow us to interrogate her?”
Ron shrugged. “They’ll have to. This is important.”
Harry looked at the list of names of people who were related to the murders. “Let’s divide into pairs right here, so there’s no confusion later on. We’ll reach Rebecca’s place with our partners, so that we can all be compatible with each other by the time we leave her house. Ron, Ginny and you can go and interrogate this Daisy Joe. She was a friend of the victims, too. Anthony; you can go to Charlotte Seam’s place with Romilda. Charlotte was murdered in her own house. And I’ll go to Belinda Spencer’s’ home with-” he looked around, only to realise that he had to go with Irene. “Uh, I’ll- I’ll go with Irene, I guess.”
“No matter, mate, you can go with Ginny. Irene will come with me,” said Ron, looking at Harry kindly.
Not Ginny, thought Harry. He did not mind getting insulted by Irene, but he did not want to go with Ginny at any cost.
“Come on, mate, don’t waste time,” said Ron. “Irene, come with me. Ginny, you can go with Harry. See you people in twenty minutes!” Without further ado, he walked to the driver’s seat and sat inside the car.
Harry unlocked his Honda City, too and beckoned Ginny into it. Once they had been seated comfortably with fastened seat belts, Harry started the car and began to drive.
They pulled out of the lane and entered the main city, with its wide bustling streets and beautiful buildings. He had switched on the radio, and the soothing country songs filled him with happiness.
“You’re a good driver,” said Ginny, breaking the silence between them.
“Are there good drivers, too? I mean, this isn’t exactly an art, right?”
“It depends on the way you can manage the car and control it. As a passenger, I must feel safe when you’re driving.”
“And do you feel safe?” Harry asked, looking at her as he stopped at the signal.
“Very,” whispered Ginny. Then she coughed. “I mean, that’s exactly why I said that you are a good driver. I’m glad Ron’s not with me, just for this. I shudder to imagine him driving a car.”
“You’ll be amazed at how good he is,” said Harry, now accelerating the car, as the green signal turned on. “But he often starts swearing matches with other drivers.”
“Ah,” said Ginny. “I thought he’d have that trait in him. Do Hermione, Padma and Parvati drive?”
“Yeah,” said Harry. “Parvati loves driving, though. You don’t drive, do you?”
“I’ve learnt it, but I’m not confident. I still need someone to be there with me, whenever I drive.”
“But you’re an Auror. You must be confident about small things like this. You can’t always depend on others.”
“I know, Harry, but who has time to sit with me while I drive for a few days?”
Harry thought for a while before replying. “Hey, I’ll be there. We’re going to do investigations together, anyway. Why don’t you do the driving for the next few days? I’ll guide you.”
“Thanks Harry,” said Ginny, smiling at him, as Harry finally stepped on the brakes and stopped the car in front of a medium-sized house. They waited outside the car, until Anthony and Ron finally pulled in. The six Aurors then opened the gates, and headed down the narrow gravelled path to the doorstep. They rang the doorbell and stood aside, waiting for someone to open the door.
The door finally opened, and a middle aged woman with black eyes and straight black hair stood before them. “Yes?”
“We’re Aurors, from the Ministry of Magic,” replied Anthony. “We’re here to question Rebecca Palmer.”
The woman looked at them. “Very well, come in. I’ll take you to Rebecca’s room.”
The group entered the neat house and proceeded up the stairs. The woman, who Harry assumed was Rebecca’s mother, knocked at the first door in the first landing. “Rebecca dear? There are Aurors here come to talk to you.”
There was no answer.
“Rebecca? Could you open the door, please?”
The door swung open, revealing a room painted soft green with posters of various cricket players covering the walls. In the corner, a desk stacked with books stood abreast the single bed made with yellow sheets. Sitting to the other side of the bed in a matching yellow bean bag chair, was a teenage girl who was reading. Her mother backed out of the room, leaving the Aurors alone with her.
“Excuse me, Rebecca, could we have a word?” asked Ginny.
The girl looked up, scowling slightly at the disturbance. She had straight, shoulder-length raven hair and very dark brown eyes behind bronze, wire-rimmed glasses. She had wheaten skin, with a pimple or two scattered here and there. Harry knew that she was eighteen, but her face still had a childish look to it. In addition, her body was rather thin, and as she stood up to look at them, she seemed short. She couldn’t be more than five feet tall, give or take an inch.
“Um, hello,” ventured Anthony.
Rebecca did not reply, but instead asked, “Why are you here?”
“We’ve come to ask you questions about the serial killings in London,” said Ginny. “Could you-”
“Get out.”
“Rebecca,” began Harry. “Look-”
“Just go. I don’t want to talk.”
“Re-”
“GO! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! I DON’T WANT TO TALK TO YOU! GO! GO!” The girl reached for the pillows on her bed and threw them at the Aurors.
Anthony caught one of the pillows and tossed it aside. “Look, Rebecca, we need to speak with you. You cannot avoid it. Talk to us on your own, or we will have to force you to give the information.” And he reached into his pocket and drew out a vial of Veritaserum.
Rebecca’s eyes swivelled between the vial and Anthony. Then, all of a sudden, her face reddened with anger. “Do it then! Give me that bloody Veritaserum! Get out all the facts. You people never understand, do you? Never lost so many friends as I have, right? Here I am, trying to forget how horrible my life has been in the last month, and now I have Aurors swarming into my house like bees for nectar, reopening old wounds. You people are not concerned about me, are you? You just want to make money investigating cases. You don’t have hearts, you don’t have feelings…” She buried her face in her hands, trying to control her anger.
Anthony opened his mouth again, but Ron held up his hand. “I’ll talk to her.” Going ahead, he knelt before her and called her softly. “Rebecca?”
She looked up at him. “Please go away. Tell your friends that I don’t want to talk.”
“Hey,” said Ron, “I understand what you’ve been through and how you feel. I’m Harry’s best friend and Harry too has gone through all this, see? I really, really know what’s going on in your mind right now. But you know what? If you answer us, we can have your revenge. We can get the murderer caught.”
“You’re Harry Potter’s best friend?” Rebecca asked.
“Yes.”
“Then you must be Ron Weasley! I’m sorry that I didn’t recognise you. I saw your pictures in the Prophet around ten years ago, when you helped Harry defeat You-Know-Who. I was only eight then and remember your face very vaguely. Even now, I’m not exactly in my right mind. But you’re so lucky… you have a best friend.”
Ron smiled at her. “But you’re equally lucky. You have a loving family. And believe me, your friends are still here. They’re watching over you. Seeing you talk to me right now and smiling at the thought of revenge.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then- then if I answer every question of yours, the murderer can be caught quickly?”
“Of course, and if you want, you can decide the punishment. Is that okay?”
Rebecca smiled and her childish face looked just like Jake. Ron was even talking to her the way he always spoke to Jake or Jessica. In a soft, clear and slow way. It was as though he was mollifying a child.
“Ron, I’ll answer, then. Start your questions,” said Rebecca, keeping her hand in Ron’s.
“Yeah,” said Ron, freeing his hand from hers, conjuring a notebook and beckoning to the others. “Come on, people, and help me. I can’t interrogate her all by myself, can I?”
Harry flashed a smile at Ron, as all the Aurors settled with similar notebooks and quills. Ron had done his job. It was all up to Rebecca Palmer now.
Killer Instincts by Ginny Weasley Potter
Chapter Notes: I know that this has taken long, but when I submitted this the last time, the mod deleted this by mistake. So... sorry! But I have exams every month, so you'll have to bear with me. Updates are not going to be very fast.
Thanks to Pauie, for correcting this fic!
This chapter is dedicated to Su*, a friend of mine. You rock! *Hugs*
And readers, please review!