Misanthropic by DragonHeartstring
Summary: Attacks have struck the wizarding world, and a pregnant Ginny Potter is determined to figure out who is behind it, and why she feels like she is the target. But things are not all what they seem. A 2 part mini-mystery.
Rating: PG-13
Categories: Post-Hogwarts
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2016.04.03
Updated: 2016.04.17
Index
Chapter 1: Part 1
Chapter 2: Part 2
Chapter 1: Part 1
Author's Notes: Hi! I have returned with a short little 2 parter, which for some reason I really struggled with writing. It was inspired by an anonymous prompt I received on tumblr months ago, which stated "Head Auror harry ignores hundreds of death threats he gets each week but once the threat becomes very real for attacking Ginny, little James and his unborn son - harry doesn't stop until the person/s behind the threat is safely in Azkaban." In reality, this story is nothing like that, when I think about it. But this is what came.
I really enjoyed this idea of a "two minute mystery" that Ginny tries to solve alongside the Aurors, so maybe this will become a series of disconnected stories if I have more inspiration. I hope you enjoy!
It all began one blustery Thursday at Caerphilly stadium.
The Catapults had just evened out the score against the Wasps when a bright flash of light appeared from the home seats, momentarily distracting the players and spectators alike before the explosion rocked the stadium.
Ginny Potter grabbed the rail in front of her and used it to pull herself up from the floor. She coughed and waved her hand in front of her, trying to clear the air, which was filled with dust and debris. Unable to see more than one foot in front of her, Ginny pulled out her wand and began siphoning the dust away, allowing her a better picture of what lie before her. Her position in the press box gave her a good view of the rest of the stadium, or rather, what remained of the stadium.
A huge crater filled what was previously the visitors' seats, and the floor of the VIP box above them had completely caved in.
Wilbur Swanning, one of the Wasp's beaters, landed in the press box looking stunned.
"Blimey, what d'yah think that was?" he asked.
Ginny sighed. "Looked like a Blasting Curse to me." A quick glance around the box indicated that her fellow reporters were in too much shock to do anything. She turned to Wilbur. "Can I have your broom?"
He nodded and handed it to her. Ginny sent a quick Patronus to Harry, telling him what happened, and then mounted the broom.
In the few moments that she had spent talking to Wilbur, panic had erupted in the stands. Screaming fans were flooding the exits, and stunned players hung suspended in midair, unsure of what to do.
Ginny kicked off hard from the press box and speed across the field. She landed at the destroyed visitors seats and began vanishing rubble just as the Aurors arrived. Amongst the sounds of apparition, Ginny heard her name being called.
"Over here," she responded, helping a sobbing young girl to her feet.
Harry ran over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Ginny, are you alright?" he gasped. He was soon joined by two other Aurors, Cheryl Freebush and Argyle Bresten. "Is the b-"
Ginny silenced him with a glance and nodded. "I'm fine, Harry," she said. She pressed one hand lightly to her stomach and smiled. "Fine."
Harry nodded slowly and put one arm around her shoulders. "So what happened?" he asked.
"Reducto came from somewhere in the home seats," she said, pointing out the approximate location.
Cheryl looked skeptical. "How do you know that?"
Ginny bristled. "I have some experience with the curse myself. Nothing else would cause destruction like this." She gestured to the crater behind her.
Argyle nodded. "Should we screen everyone, boss?" he asked Harry.
Harry sighed. "We can try, but with this panic it's hard to tell who was where when it happened. Besides, I doubt the perpetrator is still here."
"It would be easy enough for them to hide in the crowd," Cheryl contradicted.
"The wards came down with the explosion, I could feel it," Ginny said. "You all got in easily enough, and I would bet anything whoever cast the curse got out as soon as possible."
"Why don't you start by helping the rescue crews?" Harry said, dismissing the other Aurors. Ginny made to follow, but Harry pulled her back. "You don't have to stick around if you don't want to, love."
Ginny sighed. "With the adrenaline coming down I am starting to feel exhausted. I get tired so easily these days," she said, pressing her hand to her stomach once more. She used her other hand to smack Harry. "And what's wrong with you, practically shouting about the baby? We aren't announcing anything yet, remember?"
"Sorry, I was just worried," he answered, squeezing her gently and pressing a soft kiss to the side of her head. "Why don't you go on and collect James and go home? I'll get there as soon as I can. Shouldn't be too long, this isn't really my case."
Ginny nodded and kissed him quickly, before handing him the broom she still had clutched in her left hand. "Make sure to get this back to Wilbur Swanning."
The explosion was all that the newspapers covered for the next week, considering the fact that there were dozens of casualties and even more injuries.
'Death Toll Rises in Caerphilly Catastrophe,' read the headline of the Daily Prophet that lay on the Burrow's kitchen table. Ginny bounced James on her lap as she listened to her mother talk about lax security.
"And you would think after everything we all went through with the war, things would be better now. But there is always something." Molly topped off two cups of tea and put them on the table.
"Yes, you would think that, wouldn't you?" Ginny agreed, taking a sip of tea.
"You must have been terrified," Molly continued. "Sitting there watching the match when it all happened."
"Startled, and angry, but not terrified, Mum," Ginny answered. "It wasn't aimed anywhere near me."
Molly sighed and put a plate of biscuits on the table. "Still, you could have gotten hurt. And Harry has no idea who it was?"
"No," Ginny said. "You know he wasn't even supposed to be on the case, he was busy with the smuggling one. But with the scope of this, Robards has put everyone on it. Harry said they have a few leads, but how do they find a suspect in a crowd of 30,000 people?"
Ginny dunked a biscuit in her tea and handed the soggy treat to James, who immediately started sucking on it. "I just can't figure it out, most people like this want to make their presence known, don't they? The Death Eaters always left the Dark Mark behind, to let everyone know they had been there."
"Well, I'm sure Harry and his team will be able to figure it out," Molly said.
Ginny hummed in vague agreement.
A sudden noise from the sitting room distracted them.
"Mum?" Ron came into the kitchen, still in his work robes. "Oh, good, food," he said, swiping a biscuit and shoving it into his mouth.
"Won," James gurgled.
"Hey there little mate, how's it going?" Ron reached over and tickled the little boy, making him giggle.
"Ron, what are you doing here?" Molly asked him, standing quickly to make another cup of tea.
Ron took a seat. "Didn't George tell you? Just an hour ago all the windows in the shop shattered. Some customers were injured, so we had to call in Harry and he closed us down for the rest of the day to investigate."
Ginny and Molly stared at him in shock.
"You were targeted?" Ginny asked.
Ron shook his head and gratefully took the cup of tea Molly offered. "I don't think so. The same thing happened at Quality Quidditch Supplies a few minutes before it happened at our place. It's probably just kids messing around."
Both women looked at him skeptically. "What does Harry think?" Ginny asked.
Ron shrugged. "He still had to go over to QQS, so he didn't say."
Ginny didn't answer, but readjusted James on her lap.
"I'm just glad that you decided not to go to the Harpies meet and greet at Quidditch Quality Supplies today, Ginny," Molly said, taking James from her and bouncing him in her arms.
"I didn't go because I wasn't feeling well this morning," Ginny clarified. "Besides, that was this morning, I'm sure they were all out by the time anything happened." Despite her words, Ginny couldn't help but think about the circumstances.
Late that night, Ginny lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Harry had come home late, and he and the Aurors had been unable to find anything at either shop in Diagon Alley. All of the injuries were minor, and the windows were easily repairable. As far as the department was concerned, it was fairly harmless vandalism.
Ginny wasn't so sure.
"Harry," she whispered, trying to see if he was still awake. Exhausted from working three investigations that were producing no leads, he had collapsed on the bed next to her ten minutes ago and hadn't moved since.
"Harry," she said a little louder. He turned his head to face her and opened one eye.
"Don't tell me," he said. "You want ice cream."
Ginny laughed. "No. No cravings." She reached over and ran a hand through his hair. "I've been thinking about these attacks." Harry turned more completely to look at her.
"What about them?"
"I don't know," Ginny said, hesitant. "You don't think they could have to do with me, do you?"
This time, Harry straightened up. "Why do you think that?"
Ginny sighed. "Mum was talking about how I was supposed to be at Quality Quidditch Supplies today, and the Caerphilly game was the only one I've been to in ages..." She trailed off.
"We don't have any evidence that the two are connected," Harry said. "What happened at Wheezes was nothing compared to the match."
"I know," Ginny conceded. "I just have a gut feeling." She laid her hands on her still flat stomach, wanting to feel movement that it was much to early to feel. Harry slid one of his hands over to her stomach as well and laced their fingers together.
“If it will make you feel better, I will look into it. But I really don’t think you have anything to worry about,” Harry said. He squeezed her hand once before letting go, and sliding his hand down from her stomach and pulling her closer.
Ginny smirked at him. "I thought you were tired?"
"I got a second wind."
Thankfully, James was not crying when Ginny woke up the next morning, feeling thoroughly refreshed.
Harry had already left for the office, and Ginny was able to shower, dress, and make breakfast for herself and for James before he woke up. They spent an enjoyable morning at home before Ginny dropped him off at the Burrow and went to the Daily Prophet offices for her weekly meeting.
A state of chaos greeted her when she arrived.
A mess of parchment covered the entire floor, some desks were overturned, and employees ran to and fro trying to set things right. Rita Skeeter, looking decidedly rumpled, gave Ginny a sour look as she passed by.
Ginny approached her boss and inquired as to what had happened.
"Don't know," he answered, waving his wand over the parchment on the floor before him causing it to stack in neat piles. "It was like this when we got in this morning. It's taken the DMLE team all morning to tell us that we can start cleaning up. The meeting is canceled for this week, rescheduled for Monday."
Ginny looked around, observing the mess until she located a wizard in the pale violet robes of the DMLE team. She approached him carefully, trying to avoid stepping on anything important.
"Excuse me," she called, as she reached him. "Have the Aurors been notified about this?"
The man looked up, and did a double take as he recognized her. "No, Mrs. Potter, they haven't. You see, we checked and found no dark magic, so the Aurors won't be interested in this.”
Ginny hummed, but did not comment.
“It wasn’t even a robbery,” he continued. “As far as anyone can tell, nothing was taken. It was just vandalism.”
Ginny thanked him and left quickly, hurrying to the apparition point to go to the Ministry. She arrived in the atrium and walked quickly to the lifts, keeping her head down so she would not be recognized and stopped.
She found Harry in his cubicle, squinting down at some parchment on his desk. Ginny shifted some of the parchment aside and hopped up onto the desk, crossing her legs and snapping her fingers in front of Harry's face to get his attention.
Harry turned his head slowly to look at Ginny, smiling warmly. “And here I was thinking I would be stuck staring at reports all day,” he said, pushing his glasses up his forehead and rubbing his eyes. “It seems something more intriguing has just been delivered to my desk."
“Intriguing, but I’m just here to bring you more problems.”
Harry looked confused. “I just came from the Daily Prophet office - its been ransacked,” Ginny clarified. Harry was suddenly alert.
“Why didn’t we hear about this?”
“The DMLE is there, and said there was no dark magic so you wouldn’t have been interested,” Ginny said, watching as Harry rifled through the stack of parchment on his desk for a clear piece. “Harry, you don’t think this has anything to do with what I said last night, do you?”
Harry had started scribbling down notes, but stopped and looked up at her instead. “What? That all of these events are connected, or that they are targeting you?” he asked.
“Both,” Ginny clarified. “You don’t think that it is all a bit too coincidental that I have a connection to all of the locations that were attacked?”
“I agree with you,” Harry said, grabbing hold of one of her hands and squeezing it. “I don’t like it, but I agree with you. But you know Robards, if there is no evidence of a connection, he won’t let us look into it. He won’t even like me looking into the Daily Prophet if there is no dark magic.”
“Oh."
"That doesn't mean I'm not going to do it. We just have to be sneaky about it."
Ginny smiled. "Well, you have plenty of experience with that."
Ginny and Harry spent the next hour making sure that all of his notes on the four incidents were thorough and correct. They were struggling to find any connection between the events besides Ginny herself.
Suddenly, Ginny grabbed Harry's arm and twisted it so she could see his watch. "I'm going to be late for my healer's appointment," she said, rising from her seat.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Harry asked. Ginny shook her head.
"We are trying to be discrete, remember?" she chastised lightly. She bent down and kissed him. "And be home in time for dinner tonight, Ron and Hermione are coming over."
“Everything looks good, Ginny,” Healer Thorndike said, opening the door of the tiny examination room for Ginny. “I’ll see you again for your next check-up, and by then you will probably be showing. You might want to think about making an announcement.”
Ginny nodded. “Harry and I were just talking about that,” she confirmed. “We will probably announce it next week.”
Healer Thorndike smiled. “I’m glad to hear it.”
After setting up a time for her next visit, Ginny left the room and headed down the hall to the stairs to the lobby. St. Mungo’s was relatively quiet at that hour, and the corridors were empty. Despite this, Ginny suddenly felt like she was being watched. Drawing her wand, she spun around, scanning the doorways for the source of the feeling.
From behind one door, a small woman in orderly's robes emerged, pulling a cart of supplies. Ginny sighed, replacing her wand in her pocket and berating herself for getting paranoid. Nothing was going to happen to her in the hospital.
Still, Ginny walked quicker than usual to the fireplace and rapidly flooed back to the Burrow to pick up James. She declined her mother's offer of tea and went home, and was busy preparing dinner when Ron and Hermione arrived through the floo.
“Hi, sis,” Ron said, coming up behind her and snatching a vegetable before Ginny had a change to throw it into the pot. “What’s for dinner?”
“Stew,” Ginny answered, swatting his hands away from her cutting board. “Watch it,” she ordered as she set the knives to chopping and turned to greet Hermione, who had immediately scooped James up out of his high chair and was resting him on her massive belly.
“So,” Hermione started after cooing at James, “How’s Harry’s investigation going?”
Ginny sighed. “Not well,” she responded, explaining to them what happened at the Daily Prophet offices earlier that day. “I’m starting to think this is all to target me.”
Ron and Hermione looked shocked. “Does Harry agree?” Ron asked.
“Reluctantly,” Ginny conceded, waving her wand toward the cabinets and watching the plates and silverware travel midair towards the table. “He doesn’t like it but knows that I have a point. There are too many coincidences."
Just then, the floo flared to life and Harry stepped out, grinning.
“It’s done!”
All four heads turned to look at him. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione looked puzzled, but James squealed and held out his arms. Harry lifted him out of Hermione’s slack grip and gave him a hug.
“What’s done?” Ron asked.
“The case - all the attacks - we know who did it and we have them in custody!”
Ginny rushed over to kiss him. “That’s wonderful, Harry. Who is it?”
“Wilbur Swanning.”
Chapter 2: Part 2
Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay. Here is the conclusion.
A moment of stunned silence greeted Harry’s announcement.
“The Wasp’s beater?” Ron asked, his voiced hushed. Harry nodded.
Ginny shook her head. “That’s impossible. I know Wilbur, he’s very nice - if a little dim. He wouldn’t do something like this."
Harry shrugged. “That’s what I thought too, but it seems like he was fooling us all.”
“No,” Ginny continued. “I don’t understand. Why?"
“I don’t know yet - we will question him tomorrow. Bresten picked him up for an interview today and he confessed."
Ginny gaped at him. “He confessed?” she exclaimed. “How is that even possible? He was up by the press box with me when the explosion happened!”
“I don’t know,” Harry admitted, “but I will find out tomorrow in interrogation. Thankfully, this is all over.” He slid James into his high chair and grabbed the plates to start setting the table.
Ginny let the matter drop, but remained mysteriously quiet during dinner, choosing to listen to Ron and Harry bicker over which of them was better at Gobstones while they were still in Hogwarts. It wasn't until after dessert was finished and the boys disappeared to the attic to find an old Gobstones set that Ginny turned to Hermione with a request.
"Hermione, something isn't right here," she began.
Hermione nodded. "I know, we all know Harry is terrible at Gobstones, but you know how these two get sometimes..."
"No, not them," Ginny interrupted. "Wilbur Swanning."
Hermione eyed her critically before answering. "You aren't going to let this go, are you?"
"No!" Ginny exclaimed, surprising herself with the strength of her conviction. "It just doesn't seem possible that Wilbur did it. I know Wilbur, we played together for a while on the England team. He wouldn't hurt anyone."
"So tell Harry," Hermione said, reaching across the table for James, who was busy sticking his pudgy hands in gooey treacle.
Ginny sighed. "The department won't listen to Harry, especially if it's just my word against Wilbur's confession. And I don't need Harry sticking his neck out for me, especially against Robards. And especially if he wants that promotion soon."
Hermione took a napkin and started rubbing James's hands clean. "So what's left to do?"
"Well," Ginny began, drawing out the word and wishing she was holding James - Hermione was less likely to attack that way, "I was thinking maybe you could sign up to be his counsel and we could talk to Wilbur ourselves."
Hermione stopped rubbing James's hands clean and immediately received a smudge of treacle on her cheek. Ginny grimaced, but Hermione didn't even seem to notice.
"But... Why.... What if...." Hermione' chain of words trailed off as she looked thoughtful. "You know that could work," she finally said with a nod, and resumed the task of cleaning James. "But won't Harry be mad that we are going behind his back?"
Ginny shook her head. "No, he’ll understand. He just said today that we will have to be sneaky to figure this out."
"Somehow I don't think he meant to include the two of us.”
Ginny waved her concerns aside. “It doesn’t matter. Robards can get mad at us if he wants to, but he can’t get mad at Harry for this.” She realized that Hermione was about to comment and answered preemptively. “And to cover all tracks, we won’t tell Harry what we are doing. He can be just as surprised as everyone else tomorrow.”
Hermione sighed and gave Ginny a calculating look. After a moment, she shrugged and turned most of her attention back to James. “Fine,” she said, “but you are taking the heat for this if Harry is angry.”
Ginny nodded fervently. “Of course, but there won’t be a problem. So what do you need me to do?”
“Hmm…” Hermione looked thoughtful. “I need to get to the Auror Office early tomorrow morning and make sure that I am listed as counsel before Harry gets there for interrogation. So just make sure that Harry does not leave the house before 7 o'clock.”
Ginny nodded again. “Not before 7, got it.”
“And you can come at 8 o'clock and talk to Wilbur with me.”
Ginny grinned. “Wonderful! Thanks, Hermione,” she beamed, and Hermione just nodded in acknowledgement. Just then, Ron and Harry returned with the Gobstones set, and soon enough the newly cleaned James was covered in putrid liquid and having a wonderful time.
The next morning, Hermione sat patiently outside the conference rooms of the Auror Office, balancing her wand on her swollen belly for entertainment and waiting for someone to arrive.
At precisely 7:52, Harry walked through the doors, whistling a cheerful tune. Hermione wondered briefly what Ginny had done to make him so late for work, but quickly decided she would rather not know.
“Hello, Hermione,” Harry said, giving her a small wave as he walked past. Suddenly he stopped, and backtracked to stand in front of her. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for a counsel meeting,” Hermione answered, snatching her precariously tipped wand off of her stomach before it fell to the ground.
Harry looked confused. “I thought you weren’t doing counsel anymore?”
Hermione smiled. “I’m not, generally, but I was specifically asked to do this, and I do admit that I find it intriguing.”
“Oh,” Harry said, nodding along. “Is it for Proudfoot’s case? Because you might want to talk to him first to make sure you know of all the evidence-”
“No, Harry,” Hermione interrupted. “I’m here to speak with Wilbur Swanning.”
Harry goggled at her. “Did Robards ask you to do that?” he asked, incredulous.
“No, actually, she did,” Hermione answered, pointing behind Harry’s back. He spun around quickly in time to see Ginny approaching them at a rush.
“I got here on time, didn’t I?” she asked, slightly breathless. “I didn’t have a lot of time to get James fed and off to Mum’s.”
Hermione opened her mouth to reassure Ginny that she was just on time, but Harry beat her to the punch. “What are you doing here?” he asked, looking completely confused.
Ginny took a deep breath. "You see, Hermione and I are going to talk to Wilbur to see why he would confess to a crime he did not commit, because he may tell me more than he would an Auror, and we didn't tell you because then you can have plausible deniability when Robards tries to get mad at you," she said in a rush, her words tripping over each other. Harry watched her intently, processing her words, and then frowned.
"Okay, but when did Hermione sign up as counsel? I just told you all about it last night."
"This morning at 7 o'clock, sharp," Hermione responded.
Harry looked at her quickly before switching his gaze back to Ginny. With narrowed eyes he asked, "So this morning was not about the fact that you 'can't resist me in my uniform' but it was just a diversionary tactic?"
Ginny grimaced. "Sorry, love," she apologized.
Harry shook his head in disbelief. "Sexual subterfuge. What will you stoop to next?"
Ginny grinned. "I'll make it up to you, Harry, I promise," she said, kissing him quickly on the cheek. "Just give us a few minutes with Wilbur, and then he will be all yours."
“Fine,” Harry conceded. “But you’re taking the heat for this if Robards is angry,” he added, walking away from them. Ginny waved him off and turned to Hermione.
“Ready?” she asked, and Hermione nodded, leading the way into the conference rooms where Wilbur was already waiting.
Wilbur Swanning was sitting in a chair at the end of a long table, his wrists chained to the armrests. He looked despondent, his large form hunched over, head hanging and his fringe covering his eyes, but he did not look like the kind of person who killed others for no reason.
Hermione sighed and took a step into the room.
“Mr. Swanning, my name is Hermione Granger and I work for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I will be working as your counsellor, and to give you advice before going into interrogation with the Aurors,” Hermione recited her pre-prepared speech quickly, and Wilbur did not pay much attention. Hermione took a seat at the table and gestured for Ginny to do the same. "This is my associate, Ginny Potter,” she added as an afterthought. At this, Wilbur’s head snapped up.
“Ginny…” he muttered, looking at her closely. “I’m so sorry.”
Ginny and Hermione exchanged a look before leaning forward. “Wilbur,” Ginny began, “what is going on?”
Wilbur shook his head frantically. “I can’t… I didn’t… I’m glad you aren’t hurt,” he finally said. “But you have to be careful. There’s only so much I can do.”
“But what does that mean, Wilbur? Why are you confessing to the explosion?” Ginny asked.
“I had to, you would have done the same thing, I know it,” he said, pointing a finger at Ginny.
“But —”
Wilbur shook his head again. “I’m not going to tell you more, and I’m not going to tell the Aurors more. Just…” he hesitated, searching for the right thing to say. “Be careful.”
Hermione and Ginny tried in vain for the next half hour to get more information out of Wilbur, but he remained stubbornly tight-lipped. The two witches left the conference room frustrated and even more confused than before. With no other leads to follow, Hermione returned to her office and Ginny made her way through the Auror Office to Harry’s cubicle.
“Well that was useless,” she said, hopping up to sit on the corner of his desk again. “All he kept doing was apologizing and saying that I still need to be careful, but I still have no idea why he would have -”
“You were right,” Harry interrupted her. Ginny looked at him, confused, and he repeated his statement. “You were right.” He handed her the piece of parchment he had been reading.
Harry Potter - My darling, your Aurors are barking up the wrong broomstick. It is best for them to give up now. Once your wife and children are out of the way, we will have our chance. Love always.
After a long period of silence, Ginny let out a hollow laugh. “You know, I wasn’t expecting that,” she said. She looked back at the letter and then turned to Harry. “So this is all to target me, from someone who is in love with you?”
Harry sighed, and wearily rubbed his hands over his face. “Looks like it,” he answered. “Whoever this woman is -”
“Or man,” Ginny interrupted, “remember that time -”
“Fine,” Harry conceded, blushing slightly. “Whoever this person is, they are delusional, and obviously very dangerous. But if Wilbur is confessing to the crimes, he knows more about this than we do. Maybe I can get some information out of him.” He rose from his seat and gathered all of his paperwork.
Ginny stood as well. “And I will go and see if his team knows anything.”
Harry shook his head sharply. “No, Ginny, you are in danger. You shouldn’t be going around questioning people about this. If something happens to you or the baby…”
He trailed off as they both looked at each other in shock.
“The baby!” Ginny exclaimed, one hand flying to cradle her stomach and the other pointing at the letter. Aurors at neighboring cubicles turned to look at the commotion, and she dropped her voice to a whisper. “How did they know to say ‘children’?”
Harry continued to stare at her in shock. “You don’t think this person knows about the baby?” he asked, his eyes wide.
“Why else would they say that?” Ginny countered. “Very few people know that I am pregnant, Harry.” Harry caught on to the edge in her voice, and quickly moved to her side.
“It wouldn’t be anyone we told,” Harry said, certain, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “None of our friends could be behind this.”
Ginny shook her head. “No, I trust them all,” she agreed. “But the only other person how knows is my healer, and I trust her too.” Suddenly she gasped. “But anyone else at St. Mungo’s could have seen me - or could have access to the files - and figured it out."
Harry regarded her carefully for a moment, and then nodded. “I’ll start looking into all employees at St. Mungo’s and cross referencing them with the crimes and with Swanning. You should -”
“Don’t tell me to go home, Harry,” Ginny interrupted, angry. “This case now officially includes me, and you are not going to stop me from getting involved.”
Harry smiled slightly. “Since when can I stop you from getting involved?” he asked, gesturing to their surroundings. “You came today, didn’t you?” Ginny grinned sheepishly. “If you want to go talk to the Wasps, go ahead, and see what you can get from them as a fellow player, not as an Auror.” Ginny nodded in agreement. “But check in with me before you do anything else,” he concluded. “Please,” he implored, seeing the look on Ginny’s face.
She smiled at him and nodded again. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to get myself in any trouble at the Wasp’s stadium. I’ll see you later.”
Visiting the Wasps was proving to be a completely fruitless endeavor, and Ginny sighed heavily. She was sitting on the first tier of bleachers listening to Gustav Abalone, the other beater, describe the time he and Wilbur first met. None of the team members had any idea why Wilbur would have committed such heinous crimes, or while he would have taken the blame for them if he had not done them.
Ginny was trying to think of what excuse would be the best to use to leave when Gustav said something that caught her attention.
“Of course at that time, his sister was just out of school, and she would come to every game, but -”
Ginny sat up straight. “Wilbur has a sister?” she asked, surprised. No one had mentioned any relatives that morning at the Auror Office, and she was not sure that Harry knew that Wilbur had any siblings.
Gustav nodded. “A half-sister, yes,” he answered. “Maeve Sykes. She is much younger than him. Wilbur’s mother re-married after his father’s death, and Maeve was born while Wilbur was already in Hogwarts.”
“Do you know where I can find her?”
Ginny stood on the pavement of a street filled with drab looking terraced houses and considered her choices. She had promised Harry that she would return to the Auror Office without any side trips, but this was too intriguing to pass up. Besides, Ginny reasoned, she was more than capable of defending herself if it came to that.
Consulting the address that the kind old warlock who worked in the Wasp’s records department had written down as Wilbur’s emergency contact, Ginny checked to make sure that she was approaching the correct door.
Her knock on the door labeled ‘17' echoed down the empty street, and Ginny shivered slightly in the brisk air.
After a few moments, the door opened wide and a small woman stood before her. “Can I help you?” she asked brusquely. Ginny observed her carefully, trying to place the feeling that she had seen her before. Chalking it up to the woman’s slight resemblance to Wilbur, she shrugged.
“Are you Maeve Sykes?” At the woman’s curt nod, Ginny continued. “My name is Ginny Potter,” she said slowly, emphasizing her last name slightly to see the woman’s reaction. There was none. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about your brother.”
Maeve raised an eyebrow skeptically, but stepped back and gestured inside. Ginny followed her down the narrow corridor and into the cramped and dingy kitchen. Maeve gestured to a chair at the table and turned away from Ginny to put a kettle on the stovetop.
Ginny peered around curiously, looking for any hints into the woman’s lifestyle. The first thing that she had noticed was the lack of any Wasp’s memorabilia: you could not step foot into any Weasley home without being assaulted by some memento of Ginny’s time with the Harpies or the England National Team.
Ginny breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that there was also no evidence of all of the items her hyperactive imagination had conjured up: a defaced Ginny Weasley action figure with pins sticking out and a wall shrine to Harry, filled with newspaper clippings and candid photographs.
Instead, there was a small pile of Sorcerer’s Digest magazines on the table and a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. A small tank sat on a corner table, with a fat toad perched on a rock. What looked like a dried out mimbulus mimbletonia sat in a pot on the windowsill, which revealed an unfortunate view of the back of another terraced house.
Maeve herself was a rather unremarkable woman. She was shorter than Ginny, with pale brown hair and watery eyes. She had no distinguishing features, nothing that would help distinguish her in a crowd. She was certainly older than Ginny, probably by at least five years, but she had the appearance of a woman who was much older. She returned from the stove carrying two chipped teacups and a plate full of biscuits, which Ginny politely declined.
When it seemed obvious that Maeve was not about to start conversation, Ginny smiled. “So, I was just over at the Wasp’s stadium taking to Gustav, and he mentioned you. Said it has been a while since he saw you.”
Maeve shrugged. “I keep busy,” she said simply, taking a sip of tea.
Ginny laughed shakily. “Don’t we all.” Sensing that Maeve was not one for conversation, Ginny raised her teacup to her lips, but paused before taking a sip. She locked eyes with the toad in the tank, who suddenly bore a rather unfortunate resemblance to Dolores Umbridge. With a jolt, Ginny put the teacup back on the saucer.
“So are you and Wilbur close?” Ginny asked, desperate to get some information and leave.
Maeve just shrugged again. “I suppose. We talk frequently, just talked yesterday as a matter of fact.” She looked at Ginny sideways. “Why? Did something happen to him?” she asked, without any trace of emotion.
Ginny’s mind raced, trying to decide what to say. The news had not yet broken about Wilbur’s confession, and either Maeve really did not know that he turned himself in, or she was pretending not to. She suddenly regretted not telling Harry that she was coming to this house.
“Oh, I was just curious,” Ginny said causally, toying with the handle of her teacup. “Wilbur and I played together on the England team before his injury, and I never saw you around at that time.”
“I was in training then,” Maeve responded, draining her teacup and standing to fill it again.
“Where do you work?” Ginny asked.
Maeve turned around slowly, and Ginny unconsciously copied the movement of her arm.
“In hospital,” she said briefly, before Ginny’s teacup exploded.
Thanks to her instinct, Ginny’s wand was in her hand a fraction of a second before Maeve’s was, and her shield charm was up just in time to protect her from the shards of porcelain and scalding hot tea.
With a flick of her wrist, she sent a silent Stunning Spell at Maeve, who sidestepped it and cast a Blasting Curse on the wall behind Ginny. Ducking underneath the table to avoid the falling sheet wall, Ginny marveled at Maeve’s willingness to destroy her own home.
Maeve began to round the table to come from behind, so Ginny stuck her wand out and cast a Trip Jinx, causing the other woman to stumble and fall to the ground. Leaping up from behind the table, Ginny quickly disarmed her opponent before she had a chance to react, and had her immobilized and bound in a few seconds.
Just as she finished securing the bonds, the kitchen door swung open and Harry stood in the doorway, his wand raised and a team of Aurors behind him.
Ginny smiled from her position in the destroyed kitchen, surrounded by Maeve’s immobile body and large chunks of wall. “What took you so long?” she asked cheekily.
The other Aurors immediately went to Maeve, but Harry approached Ginny, looking slightly shocked.
“I was going to tell you I was coming here, but then I just sort of came instead. Sorry, love,” Ginny prefaced before Harry had a chance to speak. She draped her arms around his neck when he reached her. “You aren’t mad, are you?” she asked.
Harry laughed. “What, that you are more competent than an office full of trained Aurors?” He shook his head. “No, but I guess that means you get the glory now.”
Ginny giggled. “What do you think the headlines will say?” She waved her hand in the air as she outlined each word, “‘Expectant Mother, and Investigative Reporter, Ginny Potter Saves the World — and Hapless Husband.’”
Harry considered it. “Catchy, although maybe a little too wordy,” he critiqued. “And I’m not sure what you saved me from.”
Ginny scoffed. “Clearly from a life with your true love Maeve,” she said, gesturing to the woman still on the ground behind her, “Who knows that the way to your heart is by murdering your wife and children.”
"Overall, a misguided and poor-intentioned gesture,” Harry agreed. “So, do you think I’m up for that promotion yet?”
Ginny pretended to consider it. “Deputy Head Auror Potter?” she asked, tapping one finger against her chin. “Honestly, I think I deserve it more.”