A/N: Thank you to those of you who R/R the last two chapters. Feedback is always appreciated. Once again, the fanarts are not by me. I just borrowed them to illustrate the picture that I have in my mind, of the characters. I borrowed Charlotte from someone called Jose and Alexa from Jen Chan. As usual, enjoy!
Chapter 3
Bells for all occasions.
***Christmas Day***
Draco Malfoy had arisen early that morning so that he could go over the details of his case. It was now 10 p.m. and he was still stumped. The killer left no clue behind to indicate who he was. This was a rare case in the wizarding world and he had absolutely no leads whatsoever. The motive was far beyond him too.
Was it revenge? Was the killer some nerd who got rejected by all the girls at school and was making the entire female population pay for rejecting him? Was it for pure pleasure? Why a knife? Why not the Avada Kedavra curse? How were the victims chosen? Why were they chosen? What gender was the killer? Was the killer a muggle? Did a muggle infiltrate the wizarding world? Would he expose them?
Those were just a few of the questions that Draco kept asking himself all day long. In all his years of private investigating, this was the first time he found himself getting nowhere on a case. The bodies themselves were clean. There was no skin or dirt under the fingernails of any of the victims. The bodies bore only wounds. He had carved up each of their faces, and when he was done watching them suffer, he impaled them with a single knife wound to the heart, the final blow before their lights were turned out forever.
Could it be that his victims trusted him? But how could that be? Surely they would have tried to claw him once he had begun cutting up their faces, regardless of whether they trusted him or not. But not if they were drugged or a spell had been placed over them. There was no evidence that a spell or a drug had been used though.
The case baffled Draco more and more each time he tried to think about it. He went over a million theories in his head, but none of them made any sense. Or maybe logic was not what was needed to solve the case. Either way he had a headache and promptly made his way to bed.
………………
Ginny lay tired from all the day's events on the old grey couch in the Weasley living room. As much as she loved her family, she could not wait to get home to her own flat. The Weasley clan was always quite a handful on their own but now with all her nephews and niece they were quite a force to be reckoned with. Kyle, the baby in the family, was Bill's son. Then there were Eric and Jason, Percy's sons, and Aiden and Alexa, Charlie's son and daughter. And it seemed as though they all wanted their aunt Ginny. And all day long at that. She had made a mental note not to get them so many toys the following year, as she always seemed to be the one to get stuck playing with them and they had always somehow managed to invent the most tiresome games. Just one more day though and she would be back in the luxury of her own apartment. How she had longed for a bubble bath and a glass of wine.
But Ginny was not alone in her weariness. On the couch next to her, Charlotte McGuire, Ginny's assistant and friend of four years, flopped down weary from dealing with one too many Weasleys. Charlotte was petite. She had long blonde hair, which she always pulled back in a braid. She also wore glasses, which, according to Ginny, were held up by the neatest of noses. She was one of those people who always had a serious expression on her face. Ginny constantly teased her that she could pass for McGonagall when she got older. She bore no physical resemblance to the woman but her demeanour always reminded Ginny of that of her old professor's. Charlotte's personality, however, was anything but like that of McGonagall's. She was fun and bubbly and loud. Each time Ginny compared Charlotte to her former teacher, Charlotte, would simply roll her eyes. Charlotte, who had been born and raised in America, had no clue who McGonagall was. Her famous line every time Ginny compared her to the woman was, "yeah, but can McGonagall do this?" and she come up with the craziest scheme that she could think up at the moment.
"I am sorry for putting you through this every year, Charl," Ginny said to her friend.
"And I am tired of telling you every year," Charlotte replied, "that I would not have it any other way."
"I know but…" Ginny began, but Charlotte waved her off before she could finish.
"Look Gin, honestly I am grateful. Beside I enjoy all the us time I can get. You never know when one day some bloke is going to sweep you off your feet and you're going to forget about good old Charlotte."
"Like I could ever forget you!" Ginny replied. "Besides the shoe could be on the other foot and you could be the one leaving me in the dust."
"You know what, that sounds like a plan to me, Weasley. I could do with seeing someone other than your sorry face everyday," Charlotte laughed as she ducked a pillow the older girl threw at her.
Charlotte was Ginny's closest female friend. Sure, she had Hermione and Luna, but they were always tied up in the lives of their significant others and no matter what they said, single friends always came last on the priority list. As much as she knew it was selfish of her, Ginny was glad that she had a single friend to share her life with and she hoped that Charlotte would not find anyone anytime soon. She hated loosing a good friend to yet another member of the opposite sex, especially since she herself could not seem to find a member of the opposite sex to loose herself to. Lost in her thoughts, Ginny soon fell asleep on the couch.
***Wedding Day***
"Charlotte, Ginny, wake up," came Molly's voice from above them. "It's show time."
"Mom, I am still sleepy!" Ginny whined.
"Come on, sleepyhead," Molly prompted her, "today is the big day."
"But I don't wanna go to school!" came Ginny's response from under her pillow, a response that was met by a lot of snickering.
"I think auntie Gin has gone mad," she heard her five year old nephew, Aiden, say.
"Uh huh," her three year old niece, Alexa, replied.
"Is that so?" Ginny peaked out from her pillow and grabbed Alexa. "And what exactly do you know about crazy people, Missy?" she asked as she hugged and kissed her niece who was now squirming to get away.
"Gammy, Gin-gin kiss Alexa and Gin-gin not brush her teeth," Alexa complained to grandmother.
"Ginny, leave Alexa alone and go brush your teeth please!" Molly shooed her youngest daughter off the couch and into the bathroom, but not before Ginny made a last lap to kiss a complaining Alexa once more. The cute three year old who always wore her hair in two pigtails looked like a miniature version of Ginny. She was Ginny's only niece and the most spoilt grandchild of Arthur and Molly. Ginny, herself spoilt the girl enormously.
…………….
Ginny checked her appearance once more in the mirror to make sure she was seeing correctly. She gaped openly at the ravishing looking creature that stared back at her. Is that, me? She had gotten so used to settling for what she was naturally given that on the rare occasion that she did play dress up, she usually ended up gaping like a fish at the results. In fact, she usually never made a fuss about her appearance at all, aside from the fact that she tried to look her neatest and most professional at all times. Not that she was ugly in any way. In fact she had turned out to be pretty decent looking, it was just that she usually preferred to be natural. But today the reflection that stared back at her was just, beautiful. The baby pink gave her skin an extra glow and the colour also went well with her bright shock of red hair in contrast. She had dusted on a bit of light makeup on her face to match her dress and she used some fairy glitter on her long hair. In fact she looked a bit like a fairy now that she had thought about it.
"Trying to catch some flies are we?" teased a voice at her door.
"Ron!" she scolded, "ever heard about a thing called knocking?"
"Can't say that I have," he replied. Then he added, "you look amazing, Gin."
"Thank you, Ronald," she curtsied. "And you don't look too bad yourself." Ron beamed at his sister's compliment. "Oh, can you believe it, Ron? They're finally getting married!" she hugged her older sibling.
"Ginny," Ron replied with a mock stifling sound, "can't breathe. Let go."
"Oh you!" she shoved him playfully out of the way.
"Seriously though," he said, " I think that Hermione needs you."
……………….
"Hermione?" Ginny stopped dead in her tracks and gasped audibly as she saw the older woman.
"Do I look okay?" Hermione asked nervously.
"You look more than okay," Ginny replied still wide eyed. "You look amazing!"
"Oh thank you, Gin!" Hermione exclaimed as she hugged Ginny tightly. "I am so nervous. What if he doesn't want to marry me anymore, Gin?" she asked with a terrified look on her face.
"Of course he wants to marry you," Ginny soothed her friend. "Harry loves you with all of his being."
Hermione let go of Ginny and nodded. "Shall we?" she asked as she linked her hand with Ginny's.
Ginny smiled at her. "If you're ready, I am!"
……………….
Ginny walked ahead of Hermione, refusing to look left or right at the gaping eyes on either side of the aisle, in fear that she would somehow loose her balance and fall if she got distracted by the crowd. Crowds had always made her nervous and today bore no exception. Her hands were as cold as ice and she gripped her bouquet for dear life as she focused on a spot right in the middle of the flower-adorned arch that Harry was now standing under, waiting for his bride to be.
The wedding was taking place at the Ligano Hotel, an international five star hotel that Harry, Hermione and Ron had vacationed at once, when they had taken a getaway trip to the Caribbean. The hotel had also been a way to quell the feuding between the Grangers and the Weasleys, both of whom had insisted that the wedding take place at their houses. Harry had told the Weasleys that the Borrow was a bit too small for the size of his guest list, and had fed the Grangers the excuse that there were too many magical folks at the wedding, and the risk of them being exposed was just too great. Of course, now both clans were mad at him, but he was grateful that they had at least stopped fighting with each other.
Ginny breathed a sigh of relief as she reached her target without tripping once. Harry gave her a small smile and then looked past her as the wedding march began to play. Ginny saw him gasp in awe at Hermione. Hermione, too, who had only been focused on Harry as she walked down the aisle, smiled as she saw this. She looked radiant walking down the aisle. Her white, off the shoulder, ballroom gown style dress flowed around her making her look like the princess that she was for the day. Her long frizzy hair was now tamed and left open, held in place by a bandeau veil.
Hermione was given away by her father, Dr. Granger, and her hand was most gratefully accepted by Harry. Ginny cried throughout the entire ceremony, especially when the duo repeated their vows to each other. She had never seen witnessed anything more romantic in all of her twenty-four years.
……………….
"And this, Charlotte, is my old Tranfiguration teacher, Minerva McGonagall," Ginny introduced the two women.
"Pleased to meet you. I have heard so much about you," Charlotte replied. "Oh but all good things," she added with a smile when she noticed a small look of concern on the older woman's face. "Ginny is always telling me that I remind her of you."
"Is that so?" McGonagall asked politely. "So, Ginny dear …"
"Attention, attention everyone," Ron's voice floated across the room interrupting any conversation that was about to materialize among the trio. "Our bride and groom will now have the cutting of the cake, after which they will proceed to have their first dance."
The cake was four tiers tall. The top one boasted of not only the bride and groom figurines, but of figurines of Crookshanks and a Quidditch broom as well. They were the things that the couple was most passionate about in their lives, besides each other. Ginny had thought it a bit tacky, especially given the profession she was in but the bride and groom were anything but ordinary and so it suited them in some odd way. In contract to the actual wedding, which was held outdoors, the reception took place in the posh ballroom of the Ligano. It was lavishly decorated in baby pink and lavender, Hermione's favourite colours.
Hermione and Harry cut the cake and fed it to each other, never for one moment taking their eyes off each other.
"Ah, young love," Ginny sighed dreamily.
"And I supposed you're old and worn out?" McGonagall questioned her in an amused tone, bringing Ginny out of her little reverie at the same time.
Ginny blushed at her outburst. "I uh," she began, but thankfully the music cued at that exact moment releasing her from her misery. She watched in awe as the newlyweds floated effortlessly on the dance floor. They moved in perfect unison, so much so that they looked as if they were one body. Then one by one, other couples started joining them on the dance floor. Ginny sighed as once again she began feeling left out for the umpteenth time in her life, when someone extended a hand to her in invitation.
"Care to dance, Ms. Weasley?" came the voice attached to the hand.
"Neville!" Ginny almost screamed as she looked up from where she was sitting. "It's been ages! And I'd love to," she said feeling grateful. She and Neville caught up on old times as they danced, and pretty soon the music had changed to more upbeat tunes and the friends had the time of their lives tearing up the dance floor.
………………
Alexa Weasley was tugging at her father's coat, demanding that he produce a dragon for her. Of course she meant a holographic type image of one and not a real one. At any rate, Charlie was paying no attention to his daughter. Instead, he was preoccupied chatting with a friend whom he had not seen in years.
"But dada, you pwomised!" Alexa sulked.
"Uh huh," he replied to her absentmindedly, not even realizing that she had spoken to him.
Alexa frowned but then lit up just as suddenly when she came up with a brilliant idea. She quietly slipped a hand into Charlie's pocket and pulled out his wand. Then she ran into a quiet corner, giggling and swishing her wand while chanting, "dragon, dragon." As with every other time she did this, her attempts were unsuccessful but at least she had something to keep her busy.
Ginny who had witnessed her niece's entire escapade, made her way to Alexa, who promptly hid the wand behind her back. "What have you got there you little brute?" Ginny teased her niece.
"Nothing," she replied.
"I see," Ginny replied, "so why does nothing look like your daddy's wand?" she tickled the little girl until she produced the object from behind her back.
"Do not tell dada, pwease, Gin-Gin," her niece pleaded, frowning.
"Don't worry, shrimp, my lips are sealed," Ginny reassured her with a wink. "But you're hanging out with me the rest of the evening to keep your little butt out of trouble. And our first stop is the bathroom because Aunt Gin-gin has to pee so badly."
Alexa giggled at her silly aunt.
……………
"Now do not move from this spot and that's an order!" Ginny instructed Alexa as she put her niece to sit down in the love seat of the ladies room. Alexa nodded in agreement and Ginny stepped into a stall.
"Dragon, dragon, argh!" Alexa stomped her feet as she failed to perform the spell she had seen her father do so many times before. What words did dada use again? "Draco accio?" she said, dubiously, waving the wand. No that wasn't it, the word was longer, Dragonis, Draconis, Draconi… Alexa's thoughts ceased mid-sentence as smoke began to spew out of her father's wand. "Oh, oh," she muttered as it dropped onto the floor.
………….
Draco had awoken from a nap with an enormous thirst and was about to call on one of his house elves for a glass of water, when his world started spinning and he ended up on what looked like the floor of a ladies room. A little girl with red hair stood over him watching him intently.
"And who might you be?" he asked her.
"Alexa Weezey," Alexa replied to the blonde man. "And my aunt Gin-gin has to pee pee and she is in the toilet."
Draco laughed at the little girl's bold revelation. "I see," he said, "and do you know how I got here?"
………….
Ginny, was halfway through using the lavatory when she heard a strange voice outside the stall. A male voice. A male voice, where Alexa waited for her. Panicked, she finished up as fast as she could and darted out the stall, only to come face to face with Draco Malfoy.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him.
"I should ask you the same thing," was his reply.
"Are you trying to imply that I brought you here, Malfoy? Because if you think for one moment…" she started to argue with Draco, when Alexa cut her off.
"Dragon, dragon!" Alexa said, pointing a chubby index finger at Draco and giggling.
Ginny's eyes widened in recognition. "You did this?" she looked at Alexa, amazed.
"Yep," Alexa answered proudly.
"Malfoy, I am so sorry," Ginny began, "she was playing with her father's wand and I think something must have gone wrong. Please do not report this." Then she turned to Alexa, "and you young lady have a lot of explaining to do to your father." But Alexa was paying no attention to Ginny. Instead she was staring all doe-eyed at Draco.
"Dragon man pretty," Alexa said looking at Draco.
Draco grinned. "Why thank you," he replied, looking a bit too smug for his own good.
Ginny scooped her niece up in her arms, amused by her actions. "You madam, are too much," she said laughing.
Alexa, however, opened her arms signaling for Draco to take her. Ginny laughed and gave Draco a sorry, bud, but you have to take her, look.
Draco took the baby, holding her an arms length away from his body. Alexa giggled. "Silly dragon," she said. "Hold Alexa properly!"
"Bossy little one, aren't you?" he gave in as he held Alexa closer to him. The little girl then kissed him on the nose.
"Will Dragon be Alexa's boyfriend?" she asked an amused Draco.
"Well," he answered, "I never thought that I would ever be saying this to a Weasley but I would be honoured to have a girlfriend like you. I like a girl good taste, and you are the first Weasley I ever came across who has had some."
Alexa stuck out her tongue at Ginny. "See, Alexa got a boyfriend. Now Gin-gin should be more like Alexa so she could get herself a boyfriend too and then she would stop saying silly things."
"Traitor," Ginny gave the girl a mock frown.
"Awww, Gin-gin, don't be sad. Gin-gin can borrow Alexa's boyfriend sometimes."
At this, Ginny, burst out laughing. "You best be going now," she told Draco, still laughing. "Wouldn't want the rest of the Weasley clan finding you here now would you?"
Draco nodded and apparated back to his home.
