Chapter 6
The whole house woke up to an ear-splitting scream.
Tom immediately shot up from his position on the armchair, his face graver than it usually was (if that were somehow possible). He threw on a shirt and ran to the door, wand at the ready, determined not to waste any time.
Hermione's reaction time was slightly slower than Tom's, but she managed to jump out of bed and stumble her way over to the door, panic flooding her face.
"What in the world is going on?" she asked as the two of them sped down the corridor to where the screams were coming from. Hermione glanced down at her watch. "It's five o'clock in the morning."
Tom did not reply, charging into the room with the open door and Hermione quickly followed him through and her jaw fell by a mile.
She had seriously thought that nothing could get any worse. She had been wrong. Very wrong. Hermione Granger was not often wrong.
Susan Bones was standing by the door screaming, tears streaming down her face, her whole body shaking, not managing to stop even when Tom attempted to shake her out of her hysteria.
She lunged forwards, reaching out, but Tom held her firmly in place.
"Miss Bones, I'm going to need you to calm down," he said smoothly, although his face was full of alarm. He looked over his shoulder at Hermione who could hardly form a sentence.
"I- I- can't," she stammered. "H-how -""
Behind her, a rush of people started piling in, all having just woken up.
"What the bloody hell is going on down here?"
"Who the fuck is screaming like a banshee?"
"Mione, what's happening?"
It was all getting too much. The shouting, the screaming, the questions, the sight before her. Everyone needed to get out. But she could hardly speak. She could hardly do anything but stare at the sight before her.
Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying naked, limbs sprawled across his bed, head lolled to the side and completely motionless. His eyes were open and blank, grey and lifeless like a broken stone. All the colour had been drained from his cheeks, stiff and ashen like an ancient statue. He hardly looked like a person anymore. His humanity had been split open like a fig. Torn from him like a receipt. As if life were just that: a piece of litter. So easily discarded. So easily forgotten.
Hermione had seen death plenty of times before, but no death toll could ever alleviate the sheer pain that it caused her every time. She thought she had been done with death years ago. But no living person is ever done with death.
"I need everyone to remain calm," Tom instructed, ushering the spectators down away from the doorframe. "I am going to request that you all hand in your wands to Miss Granger and return to your rooms. Questioning will begin after we have collected and analysed all the evidence."
At this, the crowd broke into hysteria.
"Questioning? None of us did this. There's no murderer among us."
"I'm the auror here, I can do the questioning."
"How do we know it wasn't you that did this?"
Again, the overwhelming sounds. She needed it all to stop. They all needed time to calm down. They just needed time.
"ENOUGH," Hermione yelled and they all fell silent. "I didn't think I needed to spell it out for all of you. One of us, our schoolmate for many and our friend for some, has just been killed. Murdered. Panicking, complaining and shouting will do nothing. Every single one of us is a suspect and I will not stop until we have gotten to the bottom of this. Now do as Riddle says, hand in your wands and go back to your rooms. We have a crime scene to inspect."
They looked among themselves, considering Hermione's words.
Ron was the first to step forward and place his wand in Hermione's palm.
"I'm only doing this because I trust you with my whole heart, Hermione. I may be the auror, but this requires a Hermione Granger brain," he said with a gulp. "I don't that trust that man Riddle though."
"Thank you, Ron," replied Hermione, reaching out to squeeze his hand. "But I do trust him. I need him for this."
Tom looked away.
"But how, Mione?" asked Ron, almost pleading as he squeezed Hermione's hand in return. "How do you know he didn't do this himself? He's a complete stranger."
Hermione sighed and looked up into his eyes.
"Because he was with me, Ron."
Blaise let out a dramatic gasp but Hermione glared at him and he fell silent.
"W-with you? All night? Mione, I don't understand-" Ron began. Then realisation struck him. "Oh. I get it now. I get it. Good to know, Hermione. Good to know."
"Ron-" Hermione began, but he had already turned away from her and was walking down the corridor. He reached his room and slammed the door shut behind him.
Blaise jumped at the sound over dramatically.
"Hermione Granger that was absolutely brutal," said Blaise, somewhat in awe. "You've earned yourself my wand."
Blaise chucked Hermione his wand and she caught it in her palm next to Ron's. Raising her brow, she then held her hand out to Draco, who was standing next to Blaise, fiddling with his wand and looking particularly reluctant to hand it over.
"I'm not giving you my fucking wand," said Draco defensively, crossing his arms in protest.
"Mr Malfoy, I encourage you to hand your wand over or I shall have to remove it from you by force," Tom said impatiently.
Draco stepped forward, fists balled at his side. Blaise stepped in front of him, placing his hand on Draco's shoulder.
"Don't give him a reason, mate," Blaise warned with a rare severity.
Draco took several deep breaths, trying to compose himself. When he was done, he looked up at Tom dead in the eye.
"Have it your way," he spat.
He hardly even looked at Hermione as he carelessly dropped his wand in her hand, following Blaise down the corridor and back to his own room.
"Here you go, Hermione," said Luna, her voice silky as always. "Good luck."
Hermione did not know how she did it. Luna had a far longer history with death than the rest of them, being able to see thestrals from a young age after the death of her mother. And yet she always remained perfectly composed, even though she was certain Luna was breaking inside.
Viktor then gave his in, too shocked to say a word. This at least saved him from absolutely butchering Hermione's name once again.
At last, it was only herself, Tom, Susan and Justin's corpse left. Susan had calmed down considerably, no longer requiring Tom to restrain her.
"Susan, will you be alright to return to your room?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, I think so," she sniffed. "Thanks."
She exhaled sharply and began to walk off. Tom halted her.
"Your wand, please, Miss Bones," he ordered firmly.
Susan looked at him, then at Hermione, and then back at Tom.
"You can't mean- but- but-" she started and then shrugged her shoulders, dropping her wand into Hermion's palm. "I suppose it's just protocol."
"Something like that," replied Tom coldly.
They waited patiently until she had entered her room and shut the door behind her. Hermione wrapped the wands in a ribbon and put them in a safe space in her bag.
"Now the fun begins," exhaled Tom sarcastically, conjuring two pairs of latex gloves, two overshoes, scene suits and face masks for himself and Hermione. "We have a lot of work to do."
Hermione accepted the personal protective equipment and with a quick tap of her wand, she was fully ready.
"I'm sure I look ridiculous," she muttered.
"On the contrary, I think full PPE becomes you very well," said Tom, looking her up and down with a small smile.
"Two jokes," she replied proudly. "I've gotten two jokes out of you. That must be some sort of record."
"With a character as charming yours, Miss Granger, you will excuse me if I lose my composure around you."
Hermione felt herself blush even through the ridiculous equipment she was wearing.
"We should probably take photos," she suggested. "I have a camera here in my extendable bag."
She pulled the device out of the corner of her bag, playing around with it in her hand and grinning deviously.
"Although, I think I probably ought to test it out first," she giggled, pressing down on the button at the top of the camera and grabbing a shot of Tom in his protective suit before holding it back out to him."There you go. You can have it now."
Tom looked a little confused but accepted the camera from Hermione.
"I see you were not exaggerating when you said that bag of yours was beyond useful."
Proceeding with the investigation, Tom began to take pictures of Justin's corpse and the area around him. Hermione fell to her hands and knees and started searching the floor.
"The sheets are all scorched," he noted, pointing to certain burned sections of the bed. Whatever had caused these burns had penetrated all the way down to the mattress. "Did Justin smoke muggle cigarettes?"
"I don't think he did, but I can't know for sure," Hermione replied, looking at the sheets curiously. "I'll check for cigarettes or a lighter among his possessions. We can ask the others, too, see if they know."
Tom nodded and cut out a section of the burned sheet and one of the mattress using the severing charm, placing the cuttings into plastic evidence bags which he proceeded to label.
"I would like to perform an autopsy on the body," spoke Tom a few moments later. He was leaning over Justin's body analytically, eye pressed against the camera as he took another picture.
"You know how to do one of those?" Hermione asked, bewildered. What other secrets did Tom have up his sleeve? At this rate, she wouldn't be surprised if he knew how to make a bomb or something.
"I have never performed one, but I have witnessed many and am certain it would benefit our investigation."
Hermione nodded in agreement and continued her search.
"Miss Granger," he began, hesitating slightly. "I would like it very much if you could be present."
All of sudden, the temperature of the room must have increased because Hermione felt herself grow very warm. This was not the kind of reaction to be feeling at a crime scene.
"Of course, I'd be happy to help," she gulped, feigning composure.
Having checked the floor space and furniture at least ten times over and convinced there was no evidence to be gathered, and no cigarettes or other smoke related objects, Hermione moved over to search the area under the bed, aided by her lumos.
"Bingo!" she exclaimed, beckoning Tom to come over and grab a snapshot of the golden watch she had discovered. He lowered himself to the ground, next to Hermione and the camera shutter clicked. "Our first proper clue."
The watch face was entirely smashed.
"Good work, Miss Granger." He slid the watch into a plastic pouch with forceps and stood up to label it.
There was nothing else under the bed. Hermione moved onto the other furniture.
"Unless you discover any other clues, I've finished with the photography. I'm going to need to charm and move the body now."
"Where are we going to put him?" Hermione asked, trying to remain as calm as possible.
"The basement," he replied and then paused for a second. "I imagine this house has one. It should have the best temperature to preserve his body. The charms can only do so much."
Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Please may you levitate him whilst I cast the preservation spells, Miss Granger?"
Hermione cast the levitation charm on Justin's body, channeling as much of her magic as she possible could into raising his corpse, attempting to hold him as still as possible.
"Hang on a second," she said quickly, noticing a small sand-coloured item lying between one of the folds of the sheets. "What's that on the bed?"
Tom followed her eyes and took a picture.
"Hold the levitation spell," he instructed, reaching forward to pick up the item with a pair of forceps and holding it between them. "A Butterbeer cork."
"A Butterbeer cork?" Hermione asked, sounding thoroughly disappointed. "So much for that."
"Never underestimate the importance of seemingly insignificant things," Tom replied, sliding the cork into a plastic evidence bag and labelling it. He then handed her all the evidence bags to store in her handbag. "Back to the body."
He lifted his wand and cast several complicated charms on Justin's corpse, an invisible shield forming around him. "I'll transport the body to the basement. Seal this crime scene with multiple wards whilst I'm gone. I believe we're done here."
Tom took over the levitation and Hermione conjured a thin hospital sheet to cover Justin's body.
"You've done well, Miss Granger. I am exceedingly pleased."
She shook her head in disagreement.
"I only found one clue. And a Butterbeer cork."
"They may be the only clues we need. We shall analyse them better in due time. We have a busy schedule before us."
Hermione let out a nervous laugh.
"Ever questioned murder suspects before?" she asked jokingly. Again, it was a nervous laugh. She wasn't quite sure how to cope with the situation yet. She was certain it would hit her all later.
"Informally," he replied before he took his leave, levitating Justin's corpse behind him.
"Is there anything you haven't done before?" Hermione called down the corridor, but he was already gone.
Had the situation Hermione presently found herself in been slightly less stressful and intense, she might have struggled to hold back a giggle at the particularly funny sight. But her schoolmate was dead. Murdered in cold blood by one of the people on this very corridor. Someone she knew and trusted.
Memories of Herbology lessons with the Hufflepuffs taught by Professor Sprout and of Dumbledore's army suddenly came back to her, causing a tear to fall from her eye. She hadn't always trusted Justin after he turned on Harry twice, in second and fourth year, but he had been a friend nonetheless.
He was a muggle-born, like her, and had also been petrified during second year. They had an informal connection in that sense. An unspoken bond, an understanding.
"I'll find who did this to you, Justin," she whispered, tasting the salt of the tear that had trickled down onto her lip. "I won't let them get away with it."
She slammed the door shut, raised her hand and a burst of light shot out of the end of her wand like an exploded supernova, consuming every inch of the door and walls, sealing them shut from crown to toe.
"I won't let you down."