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Chapter 9-Unspeakable Tragedy
Harry lay awake so long that his back hurt from leaning against the headboard. He knew he had dozed in and out because he had no idea what time it was from one moment to the next. It was 8 o'clock now, the clock said. I can't stand this anymore, he thought. I have to call Hermione. As he was picking up the phone, he noticed that the red message light was on. He called the desk. "Hello, this is Harry Potter in two fourteen."
"Just a moment, Sir," said the operator. There was a short interruption and then a message.
"I don't know what time it is Harry, but call me as soon as you get this," said Hermione.
Harry hung up and dialed her home number. "Hello, is this Harry? Just a sec," said Hermione.
"Harry, what are you doing in a hotel?" she asked.
"I didn't think it was a good idea to stay at the Weasley's anymore," said Harry cautiously.
"Hedwig came with a letter at 3 AM, Harry," said Hermione haltingly.
Harry could feel his head beginning to pound. "Hermione, I have something to tell you," Harry interrupted. She ignored him.
"I haven't read any of it aloud yet." Hermione paused.
"Read any of what?" asked Harry. The perspiration began everywhere. His hands were clammy.
"The sweet little, love letter Ginny sent me, Harry. Do you want to hear?"
"Let me explain, Hermione," said Harry. At first, he thought the silence was a good thing. He thought it might be the opportunity to explain. "Hermione….
"Don't say another word, Harry. Listen to these three lines of what I read five hours ago."
Dear Hermione, I don't deserve forgiveness but I ask you anyway. When he returned, he ravaged me in ways I had only dreamed of him touching me. We made love again.
"Do you think all the pleading for forgiveness and telling me it wasn't all your fault meant anything. She must have been drunk, Harry. I haven't read dirty romance novels with descriptions like she included. She even explained how right I was about your tenderness to bring her to orgasm. She couldn't have made it up, Harry. I don't believe she could."
Harry couldn't think of a way to combat these accusations. He was at the mercy of some twisted mind and the only explanation was Ginny.
"What the fuck just happened to our lives, Harry? I'm sorry I don't mean to talk that way. I'm sure Mum and Dad heard me." She said calmly.
Then in another breath, "Please tell me that this is a bad dream. I could kill you both," screamed Hermione. "Aren't you even going to deny it? Are you still enjoying the feeling, you bastard?" She raged. "I hate life."
Harry's face was hot and his knees trembled as he felt the urge to vomit. He couldn't speak. The only thing in the world worse than the actual act of adultery and showing no remorse was to plead for someone to commit adultery with you, falsely accuse you when they wouldn't do it, and then turning around and pleading for forgiveness because they were unworthy. He was breathing so hard he thought he'd pass out. "No, I didn't do it. How can you be so quick to judge me? That's not what happened."
"I left the Weasleys' within twenty minutes of getting there. I was at the hotel by midnight," said Harry. "I didn't go back for the jacket. It's still there. Check with the desk for my check-in time."
"Well, isn't that interesting? I checked Harry. They have your check-in time as 4 AM," said Hermione calmer and more calculated. "Are you going to tell me she had the time changed too? Be a man, Harry. If you just wanted sex with her and it meant nothing but getting your rocks off, just say so and be done with it. Be done with us. I'm so hurt I can't cry. Civil words to describe this elude me, Harry. She wouldn't lie to me."
"Hermione, I didn't do it. Come to the hotel and see me. You can always tell if I'm lying," said Harry. He hoped the stress he was feeling would not make him look guilty.
"I don't know what else there is to say." Harry could feel a chill in her voice that was frightening. "I can't talk here anyway. I don't know what I'd do if Mum or Dad have heard my foul mouth this morning. I can't face them either. I'll be there in a half-an-hour to hear your side face to face," said Hermione. The sound of the dial tone had never sounded so final.
Harry dressed as quickly as possible. Then he went down to the desk. The attendants that were there last night were long gone. "Can you tell me what time I checked-in?" Harry inquired. "Sure, you checked in at 3:58 AM, Mr. Potter. I helped you with your bag. You looked pretty shaken up, groggy. I'm surprised you're awake now to be honest."
Harry was now so upset he wanted to run. He just wanted to run. He couldn't think of anything else to ask the porter or the bellboy. His heart pounded in his ears. "They were dreams. I know what I feel like after sex and this isn't it," he said to himself aloud without realizing it until the people in the lobby just stared at him. He pretended to have a cell phone. "Sorry, folks I'll keep my voice down." Oh, God, now the people in the lobby think I'm a nutter, he thought.
He waited in the lobby for Hermione. He wanted to stay in a public place where the chances of screaming were less likely. He didn't know how to begin. When he saw her in business attire, jacket, blouse, and slacks, he knew this was not going to go well. "If I'm going to see a solicitor today to stop you from bothering me, I'm going to be dressed for it," she said curtly. "Where are we going to sit? There's a table in the far corner."
Hermione sat across from him with dark sunglasses and a very sullen look on her face. "I've been up since 3 AM trying to decide whether to listen to you, leave you or kill you. I haven't ruled any of them out yet. Don't laugh because I'm serious about all three. I don't want to start crying so get on with your story." Try as she might, Harry could tell she was walking the edge of her patience and ability to control her emotions. Her words were rapid and defined. She was different. He'd never seen her like this.
"First, Hermione. I am shocked too. I was shocked to be in the position I was in last night when I got there. No one was home except Ginny and me. If I thought that I needed to protect myself from an accusation like this I would never have stayed there in the first place. It just got weirder and weirder. I left I swear. I'll tell you everything I can remember saying and what she said, but you have to believe me." Harry said. She sat motionless except for covering her quivering mouth as she listened.
"That's more or less what she said happened too, Harry. There was one exception. She said you came back for your jacket and when you saw her again just a few minutes later you told her that you'd always wanted to make love to her," she said. "How do you account for that? From there she said she didn't remember anything until you woke up together at 2:15 AM and banged each other again. I want to be sick just thinking about it. I've showered three times this morning, Harry."
"Hermione, if you love me you know me and you know I'm not capable of this. How could you love a man you thought capable of this?" he said.
"Maybe that is my problem. My choice in men has always sucked. The problem is that I want to believe you. If I didn't I wouldn't be here. I'm serious Harry; I could kill you right now. My life feels like it is over Harry, so why shouldn't yours be too. I dreamt of children with you and making love to you, sitting under an apple tree in the summers in our backyard at two in the morning," she sobbed. "How can this be happening?"
"First off, you have to believe me that I didn't do it. I haven't made love to any other woman in my life but you." He looked around this time to make sure they were not embarrassing themselves.
Hermione sat still. "So, Ginny is evil then is what you're saying. She is making up a lie, putting it in her handwriting, and sending it to me because she hates us both. I don't believe that rubbish."
"So, we're back to you believing it because she told you so in some sort of midnight confession. If I had sent you a note saying, `Ginny just rubbed her breasts in my face and put her hand in my crotch, just wanted you to know in case she accuses me of screwing her,' you'd believe me then, right?" he said vehemently. "No, you would have said that I sent the note to divert suspicion so that I could plow your best friend with an alibi, wouldn't you?"
He sat back with tears in his eyes. "What's going on here?" He got up and walked away. He didn't go far. He stopped. He looked at her and wept as he sat down in a booth not to far from her. He lost control. There was no sound, but the occasional gulping of air to breath. He didn't know what to do. What were those dreams? Why did he have them last night? How in the world could he explain that? Why did they say I was groggy? He was about to tell Hermione about them when she got up and walked toward him.
"Harry, don't come to the house. I'll call you when I'm ready to talk." She walked away. Harry felt like every dream he ever had was walking away too.
Harry was helpless in the muggle world. He was polite enough and he knew the muggle world well enough, but he was a non-person as far as he knew. He had nothing other than the phony muggle credit cards that actually linked to the accounts Bill had set up. He had become accustom to some of the things that he only did with Hermione and they didn't involve that much of the wizard community. He felt lost. His friends were not going to understand what was going on. He had to reason with Ginny. She had to tell the truth. She had to be the person he always thought she was. He DisApparated from the parking lot of the Four Pillars and Apparated in the exact spot he had last night visiting the Weasleys.
The house looked empty. He went to the rear door and knocked. He shook the locked door. He thought for a moment about whether he should do anything and that led to a big "NO". The Weasleys' never lock their door, he thought. Today it was locked. He walked to the window to see if his overcoat was still on the chair. It was. Harry's chest burned and his head throbbed. Why come back and not take it with him?
He sat at the picnic table in back for as long as he could stand waiting for anyone to come home. He decided that he'd take a walk to Bill's and Fleur's. It was near noon now. As he got close, he heard Bill in the living room. Harry knocked, "Ah, Harry, welcome. Everyone is still in Somerset, I imagine."
"Where exactly is that Bill?" asked Harry.
"I have no idea, I was led to believe it was near Liverpool," said Bill. "Tea?"
Harry was trying as hard as he could to maintain his normally calm demeanor. "You said, everyone, Bill. Did you mean everyone went there this weekend?"
"Yes, Harry. Fleur and I went to check on you earlier but you'd locked the door. We never do that. We left it, because we thought you wanted it that way. We thought that maybe it was habit coming from London. Mum and Dad said you'd be staying the night last night." Bill said.
"How did they get there, to Somerset, I mean?" asked Harry.
"Harry, no offense mate, but this is a bit like an interrogation. What's going on with you?" asked Bill as Fleur looked at him curiously.
Fleur and Bill occasionally spoke French when she had something to say that she wasn't sure would come out right in English. Today it was probably because the embarrassment of the "Rooster in the Chicken Coop" analogy was still on her mind. Bill turned to Harry.
"She says that you look like you have seen a ghost. She said that it seemed as if you didn't believe everyone went to Somerset," said Bill.
He knew his expression had changed when he learned everyone went, but he was surprised that Fleur picked it up. Harry's last nerve began to show as his mind reeled at the mountain he had to climb to prove his innocence to Hermione. He wept again as he had at the hotel. His body shook as Fleur came to him.
Bill, unaccustomed to men breaking down in tears, just looked away.
"Harry, I try to understand. Tell me what is the matter," said Fleur holding him. The panic and sadness had overwhelmed him, but it only lasted three or four minutes.
He told them the entire story. Bill listened and seemed eager to jump in whenever Harry mentioned Ginny. Bill walked to the door and back again at least three times. "That's just not possible. There are so many things wrong with this picture that it seems impossible, but it's too crazy for it to be a total lie. Ginny loves the two of you more than I think she does our family sometimes." Bill thought hard for a long time.
"Bill, what do I do now?" asked Harry.
"Harry, just think good thoughts. You love each other. We know something isn't right. Bill walked toward the other side of the room. "We see her commercial on TV at least once a day." He pulled back the cardboard cover that looked exactly like a bookcase revealing a flat screen TV. "I have to be careful because Dad would be over here messing with it day in and day out." Harry laughed.
"This is amazing, Bill. I've been looking at TV more these past few months because of all the hotels. The TVs that the hotels provide suck compared to this one." Bill smiled and continued talking to Fleur.
"Yeah, the picture is pretty life-like, isn't it? The only person who's seen Hermione look as good as she does on that TV is you, I'm sure," said Bill with a wink.
Harry sat glued to the TV. He fell asleep. "Harry, I'm sending Fleur to get Tonks and Lupin. We're missing something. I'm sure that Ginny and the rest of the family are home next door by now too. I'm not going to go over there though until I know what I could possibly say to Ginny." Bill smiled when he realized Harry was asleep.
An hour later or so Harry awoke.
"What channel is this, Bill?" asked Harry. "The picture just switched to some crazy view of Ottery St. Catchpole. Is it local? Bill, this is too weird, listen."
"You are looking at live pictures of police attempting to apprehend a young woman in an SUV. She is the suspect in a plot to kill her boyfriend and his lover. She is suspected of carrying a concealed firearm, which is a capital crime in Great Britain. What we do know is that police received an anonymous tip that a young woman was overheard threatening her boyfriend and his lover. Another tip was received just a half an hour ago in Devon that a young woman was sitting along side the road waving a gun. Details on the suspect, or the intended victims are unknown at this time. We now have live pictures from the scene. We can now see her crossing a field toward two houses," said the voice. "Armed police officers have been deployed. This is highly unusual and unprecedented in this area of Britain."
"Bill, that's the Burrow," said Harry racing toward the door. His heart pounded. He couldn't breathe. He had to stop her. This couldn't be true. "It's Hermione, NO.. It can't be. Someone is setting her up. She'd never do this in a million years."
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Three hours before and miles away, Hermione sat in the SUV on the road in front of the home of her dreams. The tears poured out, her chest heaved and she coughed from crying so long. She had her purse, her diary, Ginny's letter and another object lying in the seat next to her. She picked it up gingerly.
The cold steel glistened in the October sun. She got out of the car and walked to about ten feet from the mailbox.
She raised the gun and pointed it at the name Potter she'd placed over the name of Whitehall in name holder what seemed to be years before. Her hand trembled for a moment and then steadied. The recoil and deafening report of the Glock 17 9mm semi-automatic shook Hermione for moment sending the shots wide of her target. She steadied and fired again ripping a hole below the nameplate. She fired again this time closer. She fired again and again. Finally, the paper-covered nameplate bent and collapsed as the shot broke the chain on one end.
She turned and looked around for anyone who might have seen her. She ignored the black sedan across from her. "Granger, you know what you have to do. We've talked about it. They can't live after what they've done to you," said the man in a foreign accent.
"You will make sure they get there if they aren't already, right? I can't wait to see the surprised look on their faces as they die," said Hermione. She had no idea how insane she sounded. She put the SUV in gear made a U-turn and headed west toward the Weasleys.
"How long does the curse last asked the woman sitting next to him? She won't have second thoughts and remember this will she?" said the blond woman next to him.
"The Imperious Curse will last until something triggers its release or I remove it. The triggers for release are seldom normal stimuli. The act of murder may trigger it, but all the better. She would likely kill herself once she sees what she's done. Remember, she's not supposed to live through this," he said.
"You're sure this is the only way?" asked the woman.
"The Ministry and their friends are sure to find out the story about Potter and Weasley was manufactured very soon. If the three of them are dead before they do, then Mr. Hanson will be happy, my love." said the man.
"Yes, we will have paid our debt and they will have paid theirs," said the woman as she kissed him. "She was so hard to work with always worrying about Potter." They followed Hermione remaining at least 2 km behind her.
The radio blared as the wind blew in through Hermione's open window. The cool, damp fall air kept Hermione awake. "I can't believe I'm a week from being married. He has no idea how much more this will hurt him than it hurts me. Now I know what it is to be fearless. There is no reason to fear death, because there is nothing to live for. That's the secret is it, Harry." She had no idea how insane the words she spoke were.
Hermione stopped as the SUV along the side of the road, "Damn maps. I can't remember how to get there," she said. "I've been here at least five times in the summer or more and once with my parents and I can't remember which of these roads to take," she said looking down as the black sedan and the car behind it passed her.
"What the hell is she doing?" said the blond woman. "I have to get back to London before the news breaks. Have you got the news stations alerted?"
"Yes, I do. Will you settle down? She looks like she might have gotten lost. I didn't think to point it out on the map. It could be a problem if the police get there too early. It's too late now though," he said. "Wait."
"Hello, I'd like to report a young woman waving a gun in her car on the side of the road near Ottery St. Catchpole."
She figured it out. The large grove of trees that was near the Burrow was the forest on the map. The drive had taken a little over three hours. She could see the Weasleys' decrepit old home from the road. She looked further to her right and saw the makeshift house that Bill and Fleur lived in. She pulled her jacket closer with the gun safely hidden in her tiny handbag. Her identification, the letter from Ginny and her diary were the only things with her. She walked slowly across the fields crying a little harder daydreaming of Quidditch in this very field. "That's all gone now Harry. That boy doesn't exist for me. Nothing exists for me. Soon none of us will exist," she mumbled as she walked more quickly as she could sense time was growing short.
In the background, there were sirens. Hermione heard them before--way off in the distance--but had ignored them until now. She saw him come out of Bill's house, first. A moment later, Ginny emerged from the Weasley house. She looked back as the sirens got louder as she broke from her daydreams. She saw the local regular police heading toward the houses maintaining their distance. Out of the corner of her eye she could see armed police running toward her. "DROP THE GUN," rang out from a loudspeaker. She pulled the gun from her bag: she was surprised to be still standing and alive; she aimed at Harry. "Harry. You're dead and so am I." The shots rang out from all around.
Harry felt as if a rogue Bludger hat hit him in the chest and knocked him to the ground. Then he felt the burning in his lower chest. He saw the bright red blood on the surface of his jacket as it turned into crimson bubbles. He gasped for air. He couldn't breathe as he lay in the grass. He could hear screams for what seemed like forever. He heard everyone around him. He tried repeatedly to say, "Hermione, I love you," but didn't have the breath. Hermione lay 10 feet away bleeding, trying to crawl to him and pleading for forgiveness until an armed officer pushed her to the ground with his knee in her back and handcuffed her.
The wind seemed to carry him away. Harry felt a floating sensation that was remarkably like riding his broom. He could see below him an ambulance and two stretchers. The police pulled the Weasleys and Luna back. The clouds obscured his view. He imagined the faces of Hermione, Ron and Ginny whose faces gave way to the sad faces of his parents, Sirius, Dumbledore and Cedric. "Fight, Harry. Fight, Damn it. You fought Lord Voldemort for all of us in the Graveyard. Fight for you and Hermione. You will not join us now." Harry struggled and a sudden sensation of electricity flowed through him as he gasped.
"He's back, Captain," said the man sitting beside him. Harry could feel the air mask over his nose and mouth. He could hear the whirring sound of a pump near his right ear and the crackle of a radio. "We need a trauma unit and Medevac; lock on my beacon. Two gunshot victims early twenties. One male, one female. Male critical, female serious. Need blood typing on arrival."
"Will need armed escort for female upon arrival," said the voice.
"Angel 25 inbound for Medevac, two kilometers east," was the reply.
The last thing Harry heard was the rhythmic thumping of the vast blades of the helicopter and the voice next to him. Harry could stay awake no longer as he felt a new tube being inserted into his hand.
"Hold on, mate, we're doing everything we can," said the young man.
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Lupin stepped back into the house. He would not be a good candidate for pictures in his wizard robes. He shuddered, "I hope I was quick enough," he muttered, "for Hermione's sake, I hope I was quick enough." He could wait or change into some of Bill's clothes.
Outside Tonks was trying to get the elder Weasleys away from the scene as the emergency medical team treated Hermione and Harry. Bill found Ginny and pulled her off to the side. "What do you know about Harry's stay in the Burrow last night?"
"Nothing, why?" she said through her tears. "What does that have to do with anything as my best friends lay dying in this wretched field?"
Bill hugged her. His own tears made it hard to see.
The family pulled away as the police seemed to become less and less aware of their presence. Tonks talked with the lead investigator for quite some time. The presence of the news helicopter was Lupin's greatest concern. He was adept at making nearly imperceptible movements with his wand to cast spells. He'd just removed the items from Hermione's handbag and transformed them into falling leaves. He hoped neither he nort they had been spotted. They had only gone a few feet during one of the busiest moments They were hidden in the tall grass at the edge of the field. The fluttering of the leaves would have appeared to be simply windblown debris.
There were no words to describe the grief-stricken looks on their faces. Ron stood absolutely still holding Luna staring out the window. Ginny sat in a chair at the edge of the kitchen curtains watching as investigators talked to Tonks. Arthur and Molly sat quietly in the living room awaiting word.
It took Tonks an hour to finish the interviews with the police. She refused interviews with the local and national media. She left the reporters talking to the police with whom she had just finished talking.
Tonks had learned more than she had divulged to the police. "Apparently, local police received an anonymous tip threatening the lives to two people located in Ottery St. Catchpole. When the tip included the statement that the suspect was possibly armed with a handgun they contacted the London police for assistance. Earlier, a passerby saw a young woman brandishing a firearm in the front seat of an SUV outside of Oxford. There was no license given but a description of the car. Eventually, an unarmed police officer in an unmarked car saw Hermione as she passed; shortly thereafter, the police received the tip, which led them to her here. Hermione never had a chance."
"What did you tell them?" asked Bill.
"I told them their names and said that I was a friend. I showed them my Ministry badge quickly and they looked at as a colleague. Ginny, we have to talk in private. Bill can come too. You may be able to help," said Tonks.
"Maybe my house would be better," offered Bill. He could tell by Tonks' body language she already had some of this figured out.
"Molly and Arthur, they are taking Harry and Hermione to Charing Cross Hospital's trauma ward. It is very near Diagon Alley. Can you find your way there? We may need to find a way to sneak Hermione out. She will be facing, ten to thirty years in a muggle prison. It's ten years for having a handgun without using it," said Tonks. "This is a very serious situation by itself without videotape of her trying to kill her fiancé."
"We won't let them take her though will we, Tonks. Surely, we can hide her and get her help," said Bill.
"I've already considered that and it will be important not to give away anymore about our world than is necessary, Bill. In the end, no, she will not go to muggle prison or Azkaban. The thing is, she has to live and want to live knowing she almost killed Harry," said Tonks.
"You sound sure that he'll survive," said Arthur.
"Harry's as tough as they come. There are forces working there that we will never understand," she said. "Enough of this."
The field had cleared by the time they began walking toward Bill's house. The markings painted into the grass identified important parts of the crime scene. Lupin walked back across from it toward the house. He held three things in his hands.
Once inside, Tonks set a very relaxed atmosphere. Okay, everyone needs to focus on what has happened over the past 24 hours and in the case of Ginny over the past month or so. Ginny, it's going to seem like we are picking on you, but you'll understand why in a moment.
"First, the gun that Hermione had is bought and sold outside of Britain. Therefore, it's reasonable to assume that this is not simply a Ministry matter. It does involve the muggle police. Second, Hermione is not going to walk up to some thug at a dock somewhere and ask for a gun. The gun was provided and either she was hypnotized or under the Imperious Curse. Hermione is brave, but not fearless. She was driven to do what she was going to do today knowing that she was going to die or hoping she would." Tonks stopped. "Any questions or comments?"
"How can you be talking like this as if it were a presentation on making a cake, Tonks?" Ginny said. "Out of no where, she is deranged and shooting Harry."
Tonks looked at Ginny. "Out of nowhere, huh?" Tonks carefully covered the rest of the note and left the, "Dear Hermione" showing. "Whose handwriting is that?"
"Mine and it's on my stationary that I keep in my desk upstairs," said Ginny. "I write to Hermione often now. I think twice in the last month."
"Make that three times," said Bill who motioned to Tonks while Ginny looked at the letter. "How can you sit there and say Hermione did this out of nowhere?" He didn't raise his voice. He tried to act as if he believed the letter, against his better judgment. He knew he could supply her with any alibi or support if he was too protective. He gave her the letter to read.
"We don't know how Harry and Hermione are yet, do we?" said Lupin. "I saw it all in slow motion. I tried using the Protego charm on Hermione, since there were four officers aiming at her. Maybe it reduced her injuries. It may be useless against non-magical threats though. I don't know."
Bill still had not taken his eyes off his sister as she read the letter. "Ginny, did you write that?" Bill asked apparently uninterested in what she thought of the content of the letter.
Ginny sat staring off into the room as if she were trying to remember something. She shook her head, "Yes, of course I did, but not last night. This didn't happen, but I dreamt that it did a while ago. I had an erotic dream about Harry. I even dreamt that I was so humiliated that I wrote a letter confessing it to Hermione too, but holding this in my hand is just sick." She broke into tears.
"Ginny, Sweetie, listen to me. We believe you, but we want to make sure. There are things that we can do that the muggle police can't do, even if they had the ability. I want to give you Veritaserum. It will erase any doubts in any of our minds, but we won't without your permission." Tonks said very kindly.
"Where was this solution for Hermione before she went off getting a gun and trying to kill Harry," said Ginny. "I haven't one thing to hide. Nothing."
Ginny's head twisted away violently at the taste of the foul concoction. She forced herself to swallow it. Tonks and Bill asked every possible question that related to any relationship between Harry and her or Hermione and her. They investigated latent thoughts of hatred for one or the other of them. Ginny was not hiding anything. One last question seemed obvious, but the answer seemed out of place. "Ginny do you know anyone who might have a reason to hurt either of them?"
Ginny replied, "I know that Julie wasn't happy that Hermione and Harry were together, but maybe it was my imagination."
"What was your imagination?" asked Tonks. Ginny seemed to be thinking even harder now. Veritaserum had a trance-like effect, but sometimes it would be broken when the suspect was asked about things not in their direct knowledge. The theory was that personal information was stored in one part of the brain and impressions of the world around us in another. That is why those types of questions were last to be asked. It often ended the effect of the Veritaserum.
"She looked agitated, even jealous when Harry and Hermione kissed good-bye at the airport. I don't know what the expression was but it was more than boredom or impatience." Ginny said.
Bill had never witnessed the effects of Veritaserum on anyone before, so he expected some clear indication that the effects ceased. Yet after the last question, Ginny responded by watching him and Tonks move about the room. "Do you have any more questions? Did I answer them for you?"
"Yes, Sweetie, you did," said Tonks. "Remus, you heard her last answer. Your impressions are?"
"If you need more information give me more, I want to do what I can to help," offered Ginny. "I will say that nothing tastes worse than that though."
"Ginny, you said that you observed this Julie looking rather upset when Harry and Hermione were intimate as they said good-bye. Say that again and who is Julie?" queried Lupin.
"Julie did many of the same things for Hermione that I did for Ron as his secretary. That's actually why I was introduced to her. Hermione wanted me to get the opportunity to do the same. She tried for the last few months to get me into the industry. The biggest difference though is that Julie got paid on a percentage basis. Ron hired me on a salary almost poverty basis." Ginny laughed softly. "I mean Julie would get ten thousand dollars a day when Hermione was doing big photo shoots. Hermione only got a little more than that, but Julie was the one finding the jobs. She was the boss. Julie would get paid for just setting up meetings with Hermione. Hermione would only get paid if she appeared at the show or if she showed up for an exploratory meeting."
"What's this exploratory meeting? In addition, I need to know more about how Julie acted. Did you find this out talking to Julie or did Hermione tell you?" Remus asked.
"According to Hermione an exploratory meeting was one in which an investor or prospective client would tell Hermione what they stood for and had the opportunity to impress her with the value of being their face or representative in advertising. An example was some rich guy out of Glasgow who funded the petition drive about house-elves last year. She wanted him to do that more than she wanted money. Hermione said that Julie was supremely pissed off that there would be little money in the venture." Ginny recalled. "As far as her demeanor went, it went for anyone who didn't seem to care about Hermione's career. If they were a distraction, Julie couldn't wait for them to go."
"How long did you travel with Hermione that time?" asked Bill.
"Two, two-and-a-half weeks, that was all. Right after Luna took over with Ron," said Ginny. "Other than that though, Julie was like Hermione's sister. They took me shopping, we went to dinner, I watched the outdoor shoots for several magazines, and went to two of the fashion shows."
"She didn't like you interfering or she didn't care?" asked Tonks.
"Julie loves Hermione. I mean she adores her. She was supportive even when Hermione started talking to Harry on the telephone every night. It was weird. Once she had Hermione on her own away from London, she was a different person."
*^$@
Mrs. Weasley arrived an hour and twenty minutes after the shootings. Mr. Weasley remained at the Burrow. She knew enough about the area surrounding Diagon Alley that she was able to get a taxi to the door almost immediately. She always found it uncomfortable to use muggle money and travel in muggle places. She went to the desk and asked about the two gunshot victims brought in earlier. They were in surgery and there was no period for any updates to their conditions, the nurse said.
"Can you tell me for sure whether they are alive. I'm assuming they made it here alive," said Molly.
"Yes, ma'am. They are in surgery still and they don't operate on the dead people, so as far as I know they are both alive," said the nurse. There were news crews entering the front door as Molly backed away from the counter.
Mrs. Weasley moved over to the waiting area where two televisions were broadcasting the local news. There on the screen was a picture of Hermione alongside a picture on a magazine cover. "What tragic chain of events could have driven this beautiful and talented young woman to murder in broad daylight with no hope for escape?" said the newscaster. "Investigators are looking into several leads including drugs and a possible affair by her fiancé with this woman." A picture of Ginny dressed in hip-hugger jeans and a very revealing halter-top appeared side by side with Harry in his finest suit. "We will continue to keep you updated as the story unfolds. In other news…"
Molly had never seen Ginny dressed that way. Molly muttered, "Someone is making this whole sordid affair up, I'll venture to guess." She walked away and sat on the other side away from the TVs.
*^$@
At the same time back at Bill's, the television was on there too. Tonks and Remus had often come here to watch the horrible events of nine-eleven just a month or so before. Bill and Fleur were active members in the new Order of the Phoenix before that night. Hermione and Harry didn't realize how extensive Bill's involvement was as Tonks described it to everyone. Bill was undercover in Gringott's from the day of his graduation when Dumbledore had recruited him. He had been a member unbeknownst to his parents long before they thought it was official.
The same newscast that Molly watched disgusted Ginny. "They can't make her out to be some junkie. Oh, my God, where did that picture come from?" asked Ginny as her face changed to one of horror. She bolted out the front door. When she arrived in her room at the Burrow she ran up the stairs to her room. She rummaged through a box and pulled out a pile of pictures.
She returned to Bill's with the stack of photos several minutes later. She sat down at the table. She looked shocked, hurt, and horrified. "I think they're all here." Ginny's eyes were redder now than they had been. No one looked happy, but now Ginny looked the worst.
"What are you talking about Ginny?" asked Tonks. "What made you run to the Burrow? Oh, that would make me a little uneasy too." Tonks looked at the pictures of Ginny naked except for a boa and spiked heels.
"I told her that I wanted all of them. I didn't want her putting them in any magazines. At first, when she said I could be a model I laughed. She had a photographer with a digital camera take pictures of me and showed me how beautiful he could make me on film," said Ginny. Ginny sounded distraught and couldn't stop talking.
Ginny explained how one thing led to another. Julie and the photographer said that Hermione had her private nude shots too. That every girl who modeled wanted to know what she'd look like nude on film. "This was the day that I had that dream about Harry. I had my stationary with me. I got so drunk to even be able to take those pictures."
"Guys stay away," said Tonks. "Ginny, we had better go in the other room." Ginny was crying. Tonks didn't want the men to see these for obvious reasons. Tonks grabbed all the pictures and checked the floor. She was glad that somehow Bill and Remus were distracted. As she looked over, there was another broadcast report on Harry and Hermione.
"Sources wishing to remain anonymous say that the young victim, Harry Potter, 22 of London and the suspect, Hermione Granger, 23 of Oxford were scheduled to be married a week from today at an unknown location in Scotland."
"Additionally, Police investigators say that the dispute between the couple reached untenable proportions today when Miss Granger discovered the affair between Mr. Potter and this woman, Ginny Weasley, 19 of Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon. Police have confiscated video and pictures of the couple's liaisons from Miss Granger's family home in Oxford. What makes this case unique as well is that crimes involving a woman with a gun are rare here…." The news cast continued with interviews with experts debating the use of firearms by police and the psychology of murder.
"Just moments ago Miss Granger's business manager, Julie Carlson of Hermione's Delight, Incorporated made this statement." The statement began as the flashbulbs went off. "I am personally distraught to hear that Hermione Granger's life is in great peril at Charing Cross Hospital. Our hearts are with her for a healthy and complete recovery. Unfortunately, other aspects of her life were affected by this horrible tragedy as well. It is my duty, in the interest of public credibility and decency to make an announcement on behalf of our clients. Each of the companies that she has represented, now, formally disavow themselves of any connection with Miss Granger or her personal representatives, family or friends from this time forward pending the outcome of any trials or investigations. I will, however, remain by her side as a personal friend and confidant in her time of need. Thank you."
"Shut that off," yelled Ginny from the other room. "Who is making sure that this on TV? Shut that bitch off. I could kill her. I know it was her now. Without seeing her face, she sounded like she was gloating. I know she is trying to destroy Hermione or Harry. This is one big fucking mess. She had to have someone from our world to help….and," Ginny needed to settle down, she was rambling. Tonks feared that the stress might have taken Ginny over the edge. She asked Remus to go get some sleeping potion and find out when they could get beds for Harry, Hermione and Ginny at St. Mungo's. The move for Hermione and Harry was inevitable after they stabilized at their current hospital. She would watch Ginny.
"Turn it to another station, Bill," said Tonks. Bill sat devastated in his chair still listening to the overwhelming discussion of penalties for handgun use and possible charges that could be filed. He could not move. "Bill, turn it off. We know it is all lies now. We don't have to torture ourselves with hearing it over and over again. Molly will let us know how they are." Bill shut it off and walked outside.
"I hope our mother didn't see that," he said. Bill would be glad to know that Mrs. Weasley realized that she could not watch anymore of that rubbish. She had already decided it was all untrue.
"I hope Hermione's parents aren't watching," said Remus.
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