A Break in the Case
A/N- Sorry about the loooonnngggg wait. It's mostly my fault, I had a bad case of Writer's Block. Well sorry again, and thanks for the reviews!!! Nitya and Matt, thanks for the beta work!
**********
Hermione smiled as she saw Ron coming. She stood up and started walking towards him as he made his way to her. "How's he doing?" he asked as they embraced.
"He's making progress. He's been awake a couple of times, and the best news is that there doesn't seem to be apparent brain damage," she said as they broke apart.
Ron sighed with relief and put his arm around her shoulders as they walked back over to the couch. "Hey, Lavender," he said with a grin when he saw the blonde sitting on the couch.
Lavender grinned back at him, her eyes twinkling. This caused Hermione to look at her closely, wondering if there was some interest developing in her friend towards the man next to her. Well, it's about time.
Hermione looked over to Ron with a teasing smile. "So, how did you finally get down here?"
Ron rolled his eyes. "I swear, I could kill Percy for keeping me down there." Hermione continued looking at him with an expectant look. "Oh," he said. "Fred had, well, a break in the case."
Hermione's eyes widened along with Lavender's. "What kind of break?" Lavender asked.
Ron shrugged. "I'm not really sure. He wouldn't say. But he wasn't in a good mood so I took that advantage and asked to go," he said with a satisfying smile. "He usually says yes to me when he's not really listening."
Hermione elbowed him. "Ow," he said, trying to act in pain.
Hermione sat down next to Lavender. "Why didn't you ask Fred what he learned?" she said, glaring at him.
Ron's face got serious as he looked at his best friend. "Come on, Herm. He wouldn't have told me. You should have seen him. He looked like he didn't want to tell any of us." She continued to glare at him. "Herm, stop looking at me like that!"
Hermione sighed, the glare suddenly disappearing. "Sorry, I just want this to end. I want to know who did this."
"We all do," Ron said softly as he sat down next to her. "We'll catch this guy and move on with our lives."
Hermione nodded and slid into his arms, thinking about Harry. She hadn't talked to him since earlier that day. The doctors kept running tests and she wasn't allowed in. At least Ron was here…
She probably would have smiled if she could see the looks passing between Ron and Lavender.
**********
Fred did have a break, and he didn't like it. He talked to people who worked at the airport, people who were in the area about the time at the shooting to see if he could find anyone who saw anything suspicious. But only one person helped him.
He talked to a short woman who worked at the airport. At first, he thought she would be like everybody else and not be able to help him. Then she caught his interest…
***Flashback***
"No, I didn't see much that looked out of the ordinary right before the shooting. No- Wait, actually I did."
Fred stopped looking around and stared sharply at the woman. "What? What was it?"
The woman laughed. "It was quite strange. About ten minutes before the shooting, I was looking down at some papers while walking and ran into somebody. I uttered an apology and looked up a little but he started walking past me. But before he left I saw on his shirt three letters: DMLE." She stopped with a questioning look and then continued. "They were changing colors. The letters were changing colors right before my eyes. I blinked, but by then he was gone."
Fred thought his heart had stopped. He knew what kind of shirt that was… "What did the man look like?" he asked urgently.
The woman shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry; I never did see his face. I never really bothered to look." She giggled. "I only saw from his chest down."
Fred nodded absent-mindedly. He licked his lips, his mouth suddenly feeling dry. "And… what color shirt was it?"
"Dark blue." She simply said and the woman apologized again for not knowing more before walking off. Fred felt for sure his face was drained and pale. That shirt… only certain people wore that shirt. DMLE stood for Department of Magical Law Enforcement… There were different colors for each section, and Dark blue were the Aurors.
***End of Flashback***
Fred hadn't been sure what to think. According to this Muggle woman, a man wearing an Auror's shirt had been at the airport. Harry? No, he had been wearing a red shirt.
The shirts had all been a joke. A few months ago, the 'youth' part of Ministry thought it would be 'cool' to make shirts for each department and sections in that department. Fred thought it was just stupid, but now he was actually thankful. But now he knew that the killer was an Auror. What would he do now? Bloody hell he was working with Aurors. They were the ones whom he gave his information to. How could he trust any of them now?
But now, there was still that question: Why was there use of a gun? A wizard, and especially an Auror could finish someone off much easier with just two words. But there had to be a reason he was using a gun, same as to why there was always a fire afterwards.
But what was the reason?
**********
"So why haven't you ever married?"
Lavender shook her head, laughing. "Ron, how can I when I haven't found Mr. Right," she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Ron slapped his head. "Oh right, how could I have not known that?" He shook his head, his eyes twinkling. "I'm such a dolt."
"But a very cute dolt." Lavender's eyes widened at what she just said. She was mentally kicking herself. Lavender, why did you have to say that?
Ron just grinned back. "Why, thanks. My ego appreciates it."
Lavender looked at him, and his grin made her stomach do flip-flops. She gave him a shy smile. "Just don't let your head get too big."
He laughed. "I'll try and remember that." His face suddenly got serious. "So, how did you know that every man you meet isn't Mr. Right?"
Lavender looked at him with an odd expression. "Why the sudden curiosity, Ron?"
Ron shrugged, his face slightly pink. "I'm just confused as to why a girl like you doesn't have guys lining outside the door."
Lavender blinked in surprise. Never had she thought she'd hear Ron Weasley say that to her. She smiled at him. "Thanks." She looked down at the floor, noticing Ron doing the same.
It was silent for a bit, until Ron asked, "So, how did you feel when Harry and Hermione separated?" he asked softly.
Lavender glanced over at him to notice his eyes looked moist. "Mostly depressed. I thought that if any match was meant to last forever, it would be theirs."
Ron nodded. "I've known them for years… well you already knew that. But I never saw it coming."
"Nobody did. I mean, people who didn't even know them couldn't believe it," she said laughing softly.
"I haven't given up hope yet," Ron said. "If there were any two people who could work out their problems, it was those two."
Lavender grinned. "What, you and Hermione couldn't?"
Ron snorted. "That will be the day. When we were younger, we would just hurt each other with words when we were in an argument, which was all the time." He sighed. "No, Harry always treated her with more respect than I did."
"Well, at least you and I are agreeing that we think Harry and Hermione will get back together after all this," Lavender said.
"We're agreeing with a lot of people on that. Everyone knows they still love each other, but," Ron's voice changed down to a lower key, a more sorrowful tone, "they started having some pretty ugly differences. It got to the point when he didn't want to go home anymore. He said it was because of her nagging."
Lavender winced. "She had a right to know about his frequent visits to the bar, why he wasn't home enough helping out, his relationships with other women. She tried to wait for him to come to her, but he wouldn't."
Ron smiled fondly. "Hermione isn't one to be put off easily."
Lavender. "That she isn't." She bit her lip. "So, why haven't you ever married?" Now you can be put on the spot.
Ron smirked. "Never found the right girl. I kept looking in the wrong places."
He stared right at her when he said that, and Lavender bit her lip, wondering if he meant what she thought he meant. Her thoughts were interrupted when Hermione came back over.
"I wish my mum would stop bugging me," she said with an exasperated tone.
Lavender wasn't sure to be thankful for the interruption, or scream at Hermione and her bad timing. But she couldn't hide a smile when she saw the annoyed look on Hermione's face. Ron just looked confused. "What's wrong? Why's your mum bugging you?" he asked.
Hermione sighed and sat down. "She and Dad want me to go back to Liverpool with them… immediately."
"What?" Ron sat up, his eyes not so soft anymore.
"Don't worry Ron. I'm not going."
"They just want you to leave? Leave Harry?" Ron asked, thinking it was the most absurd thing in the world.
Hermione grabbed Ron's arm, afraid he might be stupid enough to do something… stupid. "Ron, I already told them I'm not going anywhere. They're just wasting their breath."
**********
Hermione was inside with Harry for the last visit of the night, and that left Ron and Lavender alone in the waiting room, again. Ron had wanted to go in, but the nurse asked to just let Hermione first, then Ron a little later. Ron had been pacing for about ten minutes.
Lavender groaned. "Ron, will you stop moving?"
Ron stopped. "Well it's either I pace, or I throw things around the room."
Lavender rolled her eyes. "Oh, you need to grow up."
Hermione came out of the room. 'Ron, come on in. Harry insists." She looked over to the blonde. "You too, Lav."
"Oh I don't have to," Lavender said quickly, going a bit red. "I mean, I want to see Harry, but…"
Hermione smiled and shook her head. "I'd like you to be there, Lav. Please?"
Lavender followed the two into Harry's room. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw him. His face was so bruised. Well, what did you expect from a person who just got shot in the head?
Hermione and Ron went on both sides of Harry. "Harry, darling. Ron and Lavender are here."
Harry slowly opened his eyes and he caught sight of Lavender first. "Hey Lav, how's it going?" he asked weakly.
She smiled. "Pretty good. How 'bout you?"
"I've felt better before." He looked over to Ron. "Hey mate."
Ron leaned down to Harry. "Jeez, man. I new you were ugly before but even a Hippogriff's arse looks better than you."
"Thanks Ron. I knew I could count on you to cheer me up," Harry said, laughter filling his voice.
Ron smirked. "What are friends for?"
"Ron," Harry said. "I need you to do something for me."
"Anything mate. You name it."
"I need you to keep an eye on Hermione, and don't say anything yet," Harry warned when he saw Ron open his mouth. Ron quickly closed it. "Now," Harry continued. "I know you'll keep an eye on her, but I'm talking bodyguard eye. When you sleep, one eye stays open." He stopped and took a few breaths. Hermione stayed next to him, trying to soothe him by running her hand up and down on his arm. "This guy is after her. He was desperate to go after her in the airport; he might be crazy enough to come in here."
"Harry, you know I'll look after her. You didn't even have to tell me," Ron said.
"Yeah, but I feel better saying it," Harry admitted.
Ron grinned. "Well, don't worry mate. I probably won't sleep much tonight anyways."
Harry licked his lips. "Have they got any leads?"
Ron looked at Hermione before answering. "Well, I'm pretty sure Fred does. But he didn't tell me what it was."
"Hopefully it'll lead to finding him soon." Harry whispered.
**********
Well, maybe someone borrowed an Auror shirt to throw us off track, Fred thought desperately. No, that's not possible. There has to be another explanation. Fred needed to talk to somebody, to get this off his chest. But who? If it was an Auror, whom could he trust?
Suddenly a thought hit him in the head. Fletcher! If anyone could help him at a time like this, Mundugus Fletcher could.
Fletcher lived in an old cottage about ten minutes outside of London, retired, and decided to grow old there.
Fred apparated over and knocked. It took a while for a reply back. "Yeah?" a voice barked from inside.
"Fletcher, it's Fred. Fred Weasley."
Fred heard scuffling on the other side for a moment, and then the door opened. A hand shot out and grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him inside.
Fred swallowed as Fletcher let him go right away. "Yea, it's nice to see you too."
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Fletcher demanded.
Fred raised his eyebrows. "What's got you pissed?"
Fletcher scowled. "If someone sees…Listen Weasley, I don't want to be involved in this case. I don't work at the Ministry anymore."
"Oh, so you've heard about it?" Fred said, putting on an act of cheerfulness that didn't go un-noticed.
"Of course I know about it. Who doesn't know about the damn thing?"
"Well," Fred said, losing his 'cheerfulness,' "What makes you think I'm here on behalf of the case?"
Fletcher rolled his eyes. "It's not like you give me friendly visits often… in fact, never."
Fred sighed. "Listen, I know you don't want to be bothered, but I need your help."
Fletcher slumped down on the chair. "On what?"
"On the case," Fred cried with an exasperated tone.
"I know it's on the case, but which part of the case? Where the wives are staying, why the killer uses a gun if he's a wizard, or better yet, who the killer is himself?" he said sarcastically.
Fred raised an eyebrow. "So, what exactly do you know about this, Fletcher?"
Fletcher blinked. "Um, what do you mean?"
"I mean, you seem to know a lot about it." Fred looked at Fletcher's guilty face and his eyes wondered over the table when they fell on a box. With a quick glance at Fletcher, Fred reached out to the box and removed the lid. A smile appeared on his face. "So, you're actually keeping tabs on it, are ya?"
Fletcher fidgeted. "What makes you ask?"
"Don't play dumb now."
Fletcher stayed quiet for a moment, realizing he had no way out. "All right fine, I'm following it. Can you blame me?"
Fred laughed. "Not really. Well I guess it won't be as hard for you to help me now, huh?"
"Sure."
"I'm glad you're so happy about this," Fred said. "So, what sort of things caught your interest?"
Fletcher shrugged and started going through the papers. "Well, I'm interested in the patterns of the murders. From what it looks like, he shoots them, than sets the fire around them. I think he's trying to tell us something."
Fred nodded. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking. And not normally do wizards use guns or fire to kill."
"What makes you think it's really a wizard?" Fletcher asked, looking up.
Fred told him about what he had learned about the shirts according to the woman. "Ah," Fletcher said. "So, that's why you came to me."
"Yeah, well I figured you would be of help until I can figure out what to do," Fred admitted sheepishly.
"Well," Fletcher said looking back down at the papers, "Whoever this guy is, I'd say he's not thinking clearly."
"Mad?"
Fletcher shrugged. "Possibly. Something tragic happened in his life at one point, and now the aftereffect is here. There are many different possibilities… About the shirts, it could just be a set-up."
"Yeah, I thought that too. But then I remembered that the shirts were especially designed for each group and their persons. It was magically enchanted to only fit the person it was made for."
Fletcher nodded. "I see." He stood up. "I started thinking why he just didn't burn the Longbottom house down…" He peered intently at the picture of Parvati. "No… there's a reason as to why he wanted her dead, and I don't think it's just for sport."
"I don't either," Fred admitted. "But do you think it's some kind of an obsession? And would people be able to tell?"
"Not necessarily. Most situations like this are well hidden. The killers live normal lives, and their friends and family have no idea what's really going on inside their head." He sighed. "But with the way this is going, this man is going to start making mistakes. The shirt at the airport was probably one. Now you just have to wait for the others to come." He stopped looking at the papers and looked at Fred. "He's getting desperate; for all we know he may want to be found out."
"Why would someone do all this to be found out?"
"We may never know. Just play close attention to things Fred. Alright?"
Fred agreed and apparated back to The Ministry soon after. He looked around as he made his way into the Auror Department. There he saw Remus, Terry, Percy and Dennis. At the hospital he knew Ron was… And there were so many others.
Could one of them shot Parvati and dragged her into the shed where she would wait for someone to find her? And then went to Pansy's house, and shot her in her bedroom? And then on a clear, sunny afternoon, walked into Malfoy Manor and go after Ginny? Then Harry?
Percy looked suspicious walking up to Hermione's house that one night. Had he lied? Same as Ron; that night William caught him at Potter's Books. Had he really heard something, or was it just an excuse?
Fred shook his head. Get a grip Weasley. These are your brothers. You know they wouldn't do anything like that. How could you think it's them? How could you think it's anybody here?
**********
It was 3 a.m. and Fred was still at the Ministry, his head on his desk while he slept. He felt a sudden shake on his shoulder and sleepily lifted his head. "Can a guy get a good nice rest these days?" he growled.
"Well, it's going to be like this even longer now," Remus's voice sounded overhead, in a whispering voice making Fred awake more.
"What do you mean?"
Remus sighed. "Fred… Luna Thomas…she's been murdered."
**********
A/N: Now some of you may be confused with the whole D/L thingy… I'll explain it in the next chapter… Yes they are, er, were married.