Private Justice
CHAPTER EDITED!!!
A/N- I hope you guys enjoy this chapter because Hermione makes an entrance. Yes, you guys are very excited!! I hope you don't get confused with this chapter though… Enjoy!!!
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It was all just a cruel joke. It had to be. On all the days, in all the ways for Parvati to die, this just didn't seem right. And just the fact that it happened was wrong enough. This is what Angelina Weasley was thinking when she heard the news of the murder. She was in shock and completely speechless. And when she heard that Parvati had been killed with some sort of muggle weapon, she didn't know what to think. She wanted desperately to believe that it was a cruel joke.
Angelina watched as Fred made his way to Neville. Oh poor Neville, she thought. And what about the baby? Frank is just six months old. He shouldn't have to lose his mother this early in his life.
Fred had to shout into Neville's ear because of the noise. The look on Neville's face was unreadable (probably because there was paint on it). Neville took off his wig and threw himself onto Fred.
"Noooo! Parvati!" Neville cried.
"We're going over now mate." Fred said, and with a 'pop' he was gone, with Neville following his lead.
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Colin must have went straight back to the Longbottom's house to look out for the baby and put the fire out, for the fire had been a small one; and by the time other people arrived, the fire was out. Harry and Draco were there now, trying to get things under control.
"She's dead, isn't she?" Draco asked, his voice very dull and emotionless.
Harry shook his head sadly "Poor Neville."
"Who do you think did this?"
"Well, Fred said that there was a bullet hole in her head from a muggle gun."
Draco looked confused. "A gun? Is a gun that silver thing that makes a big bang noise? "
Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes Draco. That's the gun."
"So… A muggle killed Parvati? Why?" Draco asked, though more to himself than to Harry.
"It would appear it was a muggle…" Harry said, staring out into nothing.
He started to think on how Hermione would react to the news of Parvati's death. She would probably be more upset over Parvati's death than the fact that there may be a killer on the loose… At least at first…
"Why would a muggle want to kill Parvati?" Draco asked again. "Do you think a muggle found out she was a witch?"
Draco's question brought Harry back to the scene. But Harry just didn't know what to say.
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Hermione Potter was putting some books on the shelves when she heard the little bell on the door ring. She turned to see her friend Lavender Brown walk in.
"You know," Lavender said, "I think your business is the only one open in this part of the wizarding world today."
"Well, there isn't a reason I should close, so I'm not closing." Hermione replied with a smile.
Lavender just rolled her eyes at her friend. "You want to come and join me for lunch?"
"I can't; to much stuff to do. I have to get all these books out and I don't want to be at it all day. Normally I would ask Harry, and if we weren't in the middle of a divorce-"
"Divorce? Hermione, you said you weren't even going to consider, not even think of divorce. You're against it."
"Yea, well it doesn't apply to me. Some things change that make it so it doesn't apply to me."
"Like what?"
"Adultery." Hermione said as she placed another book on the shelf.
"Hermione, you know divorce is going to make your life worse, not better."
Hermione stared at her friend for a few minutes. She wondered if Harry even gave her a second thought during the day, or on any day.
"What choice do I have Lavender? What should I do? There haven't been any kind of attempts or anything leading towards reconcile." she said.
"Is that from you or him?"
"I'm the one who was wronged here."
"Hermione, are you even sure about that?"
"Lav, I'm sure. It's his move now, and he's just not moving." Hermione said as she started to put books on the shelf again, not even looking to see if they belonged there.
"He can stubborn at times. But do you really want to lose him?
"I already have." Hermione said. She picked up a book and saw a picture of a flower. It was white, dyed with pink… It was the same kind of flower that she had in her wedding, the day she and Harry promised to love one another until death parted them…
*****Flashback*****
Harry looked at her with so much love in his eyes she thought she would cry even more. He started saying his vow…
"Hermione, you mean so much to me. From the time we became friends, you were always there for me, even when we were fighting. I am so thankful for our friendship. But I'm even more thankful for your love that you have given to me. You make me see life in a whole new way, and I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful that the troll attacked you, because it brought us together as friends, which led to love. I love you so much, and my love for you will never, ever end…
*****End of flashback*****
Never, ever end… echoed in Hermione's head. But it has, she thought, as a tear slid down her cheek.
"I don't think you lost him." Lavender said, taking Hermione's hand. "I don't even think that you lost his love. It's not a happy man I see walking around. It's a miserable man. He may cover it up with jokes and his Potter charm, but there is pain in his eyes."
"He's not happy about failure. Neither am I."
Lavender looked her in the eyes. "Then don't fail."
Hermione held her friend's gaze, and then heard the bell ring.
"Hermione? Are you in here?"
Hermione and Lavender turned to see Angelina.
"Angelina, are you ok?" Hermione asked.
"Somethings wrong." Angelina shifted her gaze to Lavender. "It's Parvati…She was murdered."
Lavender went pale. Sure, Parvati and Lavender weren't as close as they were when they were younger, but they were still good friends.
"What!? Are you sure Angelina?" Hermione asked, looking at Lavender out of the corner of her eye, who had to sit down.
"About it being Parvati? Yea. Colin Creevy ran into me and Fred and said he had found her with a muggle bullet wound in the head."
"Bullet? Did a muggle kill her?"
"We don't know, but its what everyone will assume. I mean, if you think about it; not many witches or wizards know anything about muggle things."
"I suppose…" Hermione muttered, appearing to Angelina that she was thinking this through.
"What? You don't think it was a muggle?"
"Well… If you think about it, it just seems a little weird. Out of all the days a muggle could have chosen to go after Parvati, it just so happens to be the day most wizards and witches would be at the Ministry, and not many people would pay attention. Don't magical families live on both sides of Neville and Parvati?"
"Well, Colin lives on one side, and a couple, Dan and Sandra Clifford live on the other side. Sandra works at the Ministry, and Dan is some kind of entertainer. I saw them both at The Ministry today."
"Right… So doesn't it seem… Ironic?"
"I guess it is… But maybe the shooter just made a very lucky choice and bango, got her."
Lavender gasped and started to take deep breaths of air on that comment, causing Hemione to give Angelina a sharp look.
"Angelina!" Hermione said sharply.
Angelina looked horrified. "Oh, I… Uh… bloody hell… I swear I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I knew her too; we were friends. I'm so sorry."
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Lavender and Angelina were gone. Hermione was still in her bookshop, without anyone else there. It seemed that once her two friends left, Hermione started to think about what had been said. There was a killer on the loose. Every little noise made her jump. To think that there was someone out there who had murdered Parvati gave her a sick feeling. I've got to keep busy, she thought. Just keep busy and everything will be fine.
She picked up a vase, heard a noise outside, and dropped the vase, causing it to break into many, many pieces. She backed up, and made no move to clean it up. She couldn't think straight…
That's when Hermione heard the bell over her door make a 'ring.'
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A/N- Oh dear me, it seems to be another cliffhanger, *gasp* I'm really having a fun time giving these to you guys. And you may be wondering why it's another short chapter… I don't know why, it just is. It's just that everytime I decide to end the chap, it's still short… And I always end the chapter when it happens to be a cliffhanger. I'm going to try and make the chaps longer though, so don't worry!! I hope you understand some things about H/Hr's relationship now from Hermione's point of view. And to warn you all… Read my summary again, *wink* Thanks for the reviews guys!!! I mean if you never reviewed, I would never finish this story. Oh and Sandra, did you like your cameo with 'you know who???' I don't know why I did it (I think I've gone insane for a little bit), and I had a hard time typing it down. But don't think that I'm giving him up, because I am soooooo not!!! And if you don't like the last name, forgive me? I'm horrible with making up last names. What do you guys think of the Flashback? I know it's not much, but I hope you liked it anyway… NOW REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's an order, lol!!
WKris