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Seeing Double | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:Draco Malfoy, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Other, Remus Lupin, Ron Weasley Genres: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Drama, General, Humor, Romance Warnings: Death Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 136 Summary: Ginny Weasley became an Auror after a traumatic death made her determined to see no killer stay free. Harry Potter saved the wizarding world, and is now enjoying his life as Witch Weekly's Number One Bachelor, no longer worrying about Death Eaters and killers. But when a man who looks just like the 'Chosen One' himself is found murdered, the two must work together to find the killer before it is too late. Hitcount: Story Total: 60258; Chapter Total: 5702 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: As we approach the climax and the eventual end of this story, which is ten chapters and a short epilogue, I want to say thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, and hopefully enjoyed this story so far. This is my favorite chapter, and I hope that you all like what you see. Let me know! |
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Ginny was uncomfortable. It wasn’t the gorgeous golden dress robes that had arrived at her flat not even an hour ago. Nor, much to her surprise, was it the man standing next to her. Instead, it was the number of cameras that were flashing and billowing out smoke in her face. Normally to Ginny, a large affair was a gathering of her family members, not a fancy gala with the wizarding elite. Her plastered on smile was beginning to hurt, and she turned slightly toward Harry so she could murmur out of the side of her mouth. “Do they need to take so many pictures, Potter?” “I don’t tell them what to do, I just go along with it. Don’t worry Weasley, they choose the best one to put on the cover of the paper.” He turned and winked at her. “And how about, just for tonight, we put aside the formalities and you call me Harry?” Ginny responded with a grimace and a quiet grunt as she turned to allow the press to take one more picture. After that, she turned on her heel, grabbed Harry’s arm, and pulled him through the entranceway and into Malfoy Manor. The house, just like the Malfoys themselves, was flashy and over-the-top. A large security troll had greeted them at the front gate, and the path to the front door of the mansion was lined with trees whose leaves had been charmed to twinkle in a permanent silver powder, like stars in the night sky. The evening was beautiful, and the guests on the side patio mingled with the albino peacocks that strutted around the lawn. The press had set up camp at the front door, taking photos of every witch or wizard they recognized as they entered the party. Just before Harry and Ginny had walked through, Myron Wagtail, the lead singer of The Weird Sisters, had entered with a broomstick thin witch on his arm. Just past the Daily Prophet photographer, Harry and Ginny found themselves in an entrance hall buzzing with people. Ginny swiveled her head around quickly, taking in as much as she could. The entirety of her childhood home, the Burrow, could have fit into this one room! Surrounding her were famous faces as well as wealthy Ministry members, all dressed to impress. As much as she regretted thinking it, Ginny was beyond grateful that Harry had thought ahead and bought her the robes she was currently wearing. She would have just made a fool of herself showing up in anything she owned. Ginny turned her head slightly to look at her date for the evening. Harry was observing the crowd as well, but with a look of unveiled distaste rather than awe. He seemed at ease with the situation, and he definitely looked the part of a distinguished wealthy wizard. His jet-black robes were obviously new and expensive, and expertly tailored to fit his frame. However Harry seemed to have done nothing else to his appearance to prepare for the night. His hair was the same tousled mess it had been every day he came to the Auror Office and his infamous glasses were perched slightly crookedly on the bridge of his nose. But his eyes were gleaming with an air of mischief and excitement, and this was enough to make Ginny inexplicably excited for the evening, and even a little light-headed. Harry turned to look at her and the look of distaste disappeared, replaced with a wide smile. He reached down and grabbed two glasses of champaign off the tray of a passing house-elf and handed one to her. “Here’s to us, Ginny,” he said, clinking his glass to hers lightly and taking a sip. Ginny smiled and did the same. “So,” he began, drawing out the word, “since we aren’t on duty for a few moments, why don’t you tell me more about yourself?” Ginny burst out laughing at the obvious line. “Harry, I already told you about my first year at Hogwarts, something I tell hardly anyone in the world. What else could I possibly have to reveal?” “It doesn’t have to be deep and depressing,” he answered with an innocuous roll of his eyes. “Or you could ask me something. Anything you want to.” Ginny considered him for a moment, trying to choose the most interesting topic. She settled on the newest one, and one that really intrigued her. “Tell me about Teddy. You two seem close.” At the mention of the young boy, Harry’s smile spread even wider. “He’s great, isn’t he? I guess he is like the little brother I never had. You see, Remus and Sirius raised me ever since my parents died, and when Remus got married to Tonks, I finally felt like my family was growing.” His smile became sad, and Ginny decided to ask a question. “Tonks? Like Nymphadora Tonks, the former Auror?” “The one and only. She was great.” Harry smiled wistfully. “But she died, just like Sirius, during the Battle of Hogwarts. Teddy was only one month old at the time. I felt like it was my story happening all over again…” he trailed off slowly before finding his train of thought again. “But at least he still has his father and he has me, whatever that is worth.” He gave Ginny a self-deprecating smile. “I think it’s worth a lot.” Ginny surprised herself with that comment and froze. They locked eyes for a prolonged moment, and the tension between them began to grow. Ginny quickly changed the topic and began talking about her own family — telling stories of her brothers and her young niece, Victoire. She was just beginning to tell Harry about Ron’s decision to join George in business after the war when they were interrupted by a snide voice. “What imbecile made the mistake to let a Weasley into my house?” Ginny whipped her head around quickly to see the sour face of Draco Malfoy. Harry’s restraining hand on her arm stopped Ginny from pulling her wand just in time. She took a deep breath before addressing him. “Malfoy. It’s,” she forced herself to say the next few words, “a pleasure to see you again.” Draco scoffed. “I won’t even bother lying and saying the same. But like I said, Weasley, you definitely weren’t invited to this party, so why are you here?” Harry stepped forward. “She’s here with me. I received an invitation to this… affair,” he said in his best disdainful voice, clearly trying to imitate Draco’s tone. “And I brought a date. You may never have experienced this phenomenon, but it is actually an activity that some people enjoy.” Ginny bit back her laughter. Draco’s eyes widened as he realized exactly whom it was that was standing next to Ginny. “But you’re Potter… Harry Potter,” he appeared to be trying to piece together a sentence. Instead, he reached out his hand to shake Harry’s. Harry shook it quickly and then noticeably wiped his palm against his robes. This time, Ginny did not even try to hide her smile. “I don’t understand. How do you know Harry Potter?” Draco addressed his question to Ginny, his confusion evident on his face. “That is exactly what I was wondering,” Lucius Malfoy’s voice was filled with venom as he came to stand behind his son. The Malfoy men were matching in midnight blue robes. Ginny supposed that some witches would be impressed with the obvious wealth and confidence that they exuded, but she felt rather sick at the sight of them. Lucius appraised her slowly, looking her up and down. He couldn’t seem to find anything particular to insult; rather he seemed a little two impressed with the way she looked. She stiffened under his gaze, uncomfortable and angry. Harry seemed to notice because he slid his free hand around her waist and pulled her in closer to him, glaring at the older Malfoy at the same time. “Ginny and I met earlier this week at the St. Mungo’s luncheon and we’ve spent every day together since. Isn’t that right, dear?” Harry turned to look at her. Ginny smiled at the truthfulness of the statement he had made. “Absolutely, darling,” she countered, watching the surprise on Lucius’s face. “And how did you get invited to a party like that? It isn’t like you are an important person, Weasley,” said Lucius, his sneer becoming more pronounced. Ginny tensed, prepared for a fight, but Harry pulled her back again. “That’s right, Weasley,” Draco continued, glancing quickly at Harry’s hand at her waist before looking back at her, “Don’t you work for the Ministry, like your useless father? I guess even the Harpies didn’t want someone like you.” Probably sensing that Ginny was about to explode, Harry squeezed her slightly and interrupted the attack. “It’s been a blast, truly, but we must be going. I need to speak with someone over there.” He waved his hand in the general direction of the parlor, and quickly steered Ginny away from the father and son. Ginny took a few deep breaths as they walked away and finally calmed down by the time they entered the parlor, where elegantly dressed couples swirled around on the makeshift dance floor. Ginny took a step away from Harry and he quickly dropped his hand from her waist, bringing it up to run through his hair. “Let’s just get this over with, Harry. Let’s find something incriminating and get out of here.” Harry smiled at her obvious desire to suspect Malfoy — despite what she had been saying for the past few days — but checked quickly over his shoulder before answering. “I am all for it, but the Malfoys are still watching us. They’ll see if we disappear.” Ginny sighed, “It’s all because of me. You probably would have blended into the crowd better had you actually brought Seamus.” Harry laughed loudly. “Perhaps, but then we would have looked peculiar with my next request. Care to dance, Ginny?” Harry held out his hand in a formal position. Ginny studied him closely, considering her options. She thought about Lucius and Draco Malfoy and how terrible people could be, and how Harry had actually been charming and sincere to her the entire evening. Tossing away her worries, Ginny smiled, nodded, and grabbed his hand. The quartet orchestra was playing a classic song, and Harry pulled her into a simple waltz. He kept their hands clasped together and replaced his other hand on his waist as she let her free hand fall onto his shoulder. Ginny looked up at Harry to see him studying her intensely as he moved through the steps of the dance with a practiced ease. He cleared his throat quickly. “So, Harpies?” he questioned. Ginny laughed lightly. “It was a well known fact back at Hogwarts that I wanted to join the Holyhead Harpies after I finished school. But Malfoy was just making fun of me.” “So you’re a good Quidditch player?” Harry asked. “The best!” Ginny said proudly, and then blushed. “At least, that’s what my brothers tell me. I did want to go pro; I think that would have been amazing. And some of the scouts actually told me that I could make it, so I guess I’m not that bad a player.” “So why didn’t you do it?” Harry led Ginny into a spin and then pulled her back to him, closer than she was before. She pulled back half a step. “I told you about what happened after Fred died…” She looked down before continuing. “I thought that doing something as meaningless as playing Quidditch for a living wouldn’t do any good in the world. And after all the horrors from the war, I felt the world needed a little fixing.” “Well, I for one am glad that you became an Auror,” Harry said sincerely, spinning her again. “And why’s that?” “If not, we may never have met. And I can’t complain about that.” Ginny blushed spectacularly again and didn’t bother hiding her smile or her playful eye roll. This time when Harry pulled her in closer, she didn’t fight it. “Do you play any Quidditch?” she asked. Harry smiled proudly. “Sirius used to say I was a natural, just like my dad was. It’s too bad I never went to Hogwarts; maybe we would have played together. Just think about what the celebratory parties could have been like.” Ginny laughed, “No doubt you would have made a scene and drawn everyone’s attention.” Harry shrugged. “But maybe when we aren’t searching for a killer, the two of us could play.” A grin slowly spread across Harry’s face. “I would love to play with you.” The intensity of his gaze made her feel like he wasn’t even talking about Quidditch. “But look at this, Auror Weasley, you are making plans to spend time with me away from this case. I must be making quite the impression tonight.” “Maybe you are, Harry Potter. Maybe you are.” A little over an hour later Ginny had met an endless stream of Harry’s acquaintances and had finally convinced herself that the Malfoys had stopped watching her every move. She grabbed Harry by the hand and pulled him towards the edge of the room, taking his plate with a remaining piece of blancmange out of his hands and placing it on a side table. “Hey!” Harry started, turning to look at her. “I was eating that.” “You can get a piece later, we need to do what we came here for.” She pulled him behind her as she weaved through the crowd of people until they emerged in a deserted corridor. She turned to Harry. “You said that you know the way around. So where are we going?” Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment covered in his messy handwriting. He squinted at it, turned it sideways, and looked around at the various doors off the corridor. Ginny glanced at the parchment and saw small diagrams of the halls of Malfoy Manor, apparently as described by Dobby the house-elf. “Malfoy is not stupid. He knows that the Aurors could come looking in his house at any moment. If he is involved in this, then he would make sure not to leave anything lying around in the open,” Harry said. “Dobby told me that there is a secret vault in one of the spare bedrooms. We need to find our way upstairs.” Harry started down the hall toward a staircase. They climbed slowly, taking care not to make any noise that would draw attention to them. At the first floor landing they were faced with a long corridor lined with identical black doors. Harry looked down at his parchment guide and began counting the number of rooms. Ginny suddenly heard voices at the opposite end of the corridor, but it was cloaked in darkness and she could not see who was coming. Ginny grabbed Harry’s arm and pulled him toward the wall, pulling her wand out of her robes at the same time. “Someone’s coming,” she whispered to him, casting two quick Disillusionment Charms over their heads. As the cooling sensation melted over her head, she felt Harry’s hand slip into her own. “So we don’t lose one another,” he said and they stood with their backs against the wall as the voices grew louder. Two burly security wizards dressed in solid black emerged from the darkness, obviously patrolling the corridors for errant party guests. Their loud discussion about the current Quidditch standings made Ginny believe that they did not suspect anything. The two wizards passed by Ginny and Harry without a glance and began to climb the stairs to the second floor. Ginny let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding when she heard their footsteps start along the corridor directly above them. “It’s the fifth door on the left,” Harry whispered, squeezing her invisible hand. He began moving and dragged Ginny along; she could see the ripples of movement from his camouflaged body in front of her. Harry reached the bedroom door and carefully eased it open, and the two of them entered the room. It was decorated elaborately like the rest of the house but gave no indication that there was anything hidden in a secret vault. Pointing her wand over her shoulder, Ginny cast a locking charm on the door, ensuring that they would not be interrupted without knowing someone was coming. Ginny tapped each of their heads and undid the Disillusionment Charms, watching as Harry came back into focus. She slowly slid her hand out of his, smiling slightly at the disappointed look on his face as she did so. Instead of commenting, she pulled the parchment from his hand and looked at it. “So where is the vault hidden?” she asked, trying to decipher his illegible scrawl. “Dobby said that I need to —” he stopped talking as he approached a bookcase filled with old tomes. When he waved his wand, the bookcase swung forward and revealed a steel door built into the wall. “Wow,” Ginny said, drawing out the word. “Cliché, no?” “Maybe it is so obvious, it gets overlooked,” Harry responded, studying the lock. He waved his wand quickly and muttered, “Alohomora!” but the door remained firmly shut. He turned back to look at Ginny. “Any ideas on how to get in?” “Didn’t think this through, eh, Potter?” she asked with a smirk, reaching up and pulling one of the barrettes from her hair. “Don’t tell me you are going to pick the lock, muggle style.” Ginny laughed. “You never know, it might work. But no, this is a little different.” She attached the clip to the lock and taped it lightly with her wand. Both of them watched as the tumblers began to spin rapidly, falling into place with a satisfying click. Ginny reached forward and removed the clip and swung the door open. “This,” she held up the barrette, “is a Safe Cracker. Another one of George and Ron’s ideas. It can open any lock, no matter how magically protected it is. And it comes easily disguised as an accessory.” She slid it back into place in her hair. “I thought it might come in handy.” “So had I brought Finnigan, he would have worn that in his hair?” Ginny laughed again, “No, he could have just put it in his pocket. Although, I wouldn’t put it past Seamus to do that.” “Speaking of pockets, where did you pull your wand from? Those robes don’t have pockets,” Harry asked with a small smile. Ginny smirked but did not answer; instead she turned away from him and walked into the hidden room. Harry shook his head in disbelief and followed Ginny into the vault. It was a large room, larger than Ginny had expected, and was filled with shelves cluttered with glittering valuables. Ginny and Harry separated, searching through the belongings for evidence of a connection to the murder. Ginny looked for the glint of the knife that was used to carve the scars, but was distracted by the shine of thousands of Galleons worth of gems and golden knickknacks. Ginny sifted through the items, finding nothing incriminating, but stopping often to admire certain pieces. She turned to Harry to discover that he was not even attracted to the glitter and glitz at all. Instead, he was intently studying one particular shelf filled with what appeared to be old and worn objects. It was the only area of the vault that was not shining brightly. Ginny walked over to stand beside him. “Are you finding anything?” she asked. “Maybe,” he answered, gesturing to the items in front of him. “Something about these things just feels off, you know?” He reached forward to grab a dusty grey necklace, but Ginny shot forward and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back. “No!” she shouted, scanning her wand over the items and muttering a quick diagnostic spell. “These are pulsing with Dark Magic.” An eerie black mist hovered over the shelf as a result of her spell, indicating extreme amounts Dark Magic in the area. Ginny grinned, “This is perfect! All we have to do now is —” “Shh!” Harry cut her off, gesturing toward the door to the bedroom. Footsteps could be heard in the corridor, most likely the security wizards, but they couldn’t be certain. Ginny quickly pushed Harry out of the vault and eased the door shut behind her, and Harry pulled the bookcase back in place. They knelt by the door and listened to the footsteps slowly fade until they could be heard once again on the floor above. Once again, Ginny cast Disillusionment Charms on the two of them and grabbed hold of Harry, opening the door at the same time. Checking that the coast was clear, she pulled Harry out, shut the door behind her, and hurried down the hallway. They rushed down the stairs and back into the ground floor corridor, where the sounds of the party could once again be heard. Ginny waved her wand and canceled the Charms, feeling the rush of warmth starting from the top of her head down to her toes. Turning away from Harry, she stowed her wand deep in her robes before starting back toward the party. She walked through the parlor toward the patio with Harry following behind slowly, still holding on to her hand. She glanced over her shoulder at him with a questioning look as to why he was stalling. “Don’t we have to go back? We didn’t find anything linking him to the murders,” Harry asked with a frown. “We don’t need to,” Ginny said. She walked quickly through the crowd and emerged onto the quieter side patio. Turning to face Harry, she smiled. “Now that I know where he is hiding something that we can find, the Auror Office can issue a search warrant on suspicion of Dark Artifacts. Once they find the Dark objects, they will tear this place apart to see what else is here. And the best part is, I will have no connection to it, because I am currently working a murder case!” Ginny was practically bouncing with excitement. “I finally got Malfoy on something!” Harry grinned, his eyes sparkling. “That’s wonderful! So since we don’t need to be here anymore, what do you say we go —” “Harry Potter!” Ginny and Harry jumped, still on edge and afraid that they had been caught snooping. Ginny spun around to see who had called out to Harry, expecting to see one of the Malfoy, but instead came face to face with a blonde witch about her age. She was wearing a set of flashy red robes that did not leave very much to the imagination and her obviously bleached hair was piled extravagantly on top of her head. Ginny did not recognize her, but Harry groaned quietly at the sight of her. “Harry Potter,” the woman repeated, ignoring Ginny completely and sauntering up to Harry’s side. “I was very disappointed that I didn’t see you the other night.” She winked at him. Harry gulped, taking a step away from her, but the witch leapt forward and clutched his arm. “Right, er… sorry about that. I was busy and I, erm, couldn’t make it.” He sent Ginny a pleading look, but she just frowned and raised one eyebrow questioningly. He shook his arm rapidly and succeeded in throwing the blonde off, at which point he jumped quickly to Ginny’s side. “Let me introduce you to Ginny Weasley,” he said, gesturing to Ginny. “Do you two know each other?” The blonde witch turned to regard Ginny as if seeing her for the first time. She looked her up and down slowly and then took in how close she was standing to Harry. “No, I don’t believe we do,” she began, a snarl appearing on her face. “I went to Beauxbatons, not Hogwarts. We are a ‘cut above the rest’.” Ginny rolled her eyes. “Then you probably know Fleur Delacour, my sister-in-law.” The witch’s eyes narrowed slightly, and Ginny smiled, knowing that most women did not like Fleur very much; Merlin knew she didn’t. Knowing that conversation was not going to continue between the two of them, both women turned to look at Harry, who was unsuccessfully trying to hide behind Ginny. “Well,” said the blonde to Harry when he also failed to respond, “when you get tired of your… present company… feel free to come see me. I trust you still have my address.” Ginny stiffened, prepared to pull her wand, but the blonde woman just shot her a phony smile and walked back into the house, swinging her hips in an outrageously obvious way. Refusing to admit to herself that she was jealous, Ginny spun around to look at Harry, who had the grace to look sheepish. “Sorry about that,” he began. “A lot of women seem to think they can be so forward with me, maybe because I have a reputation as a —” “Serial dater?” “Yeah,” Harry confirmed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I told you the tabloids could be cruel. I’m not really like that; I just want to enjoy my life. The first time I saw her,” he nodded toward the house, “was at the St. Mungo’s party you picked me up from. She gave me her name and address, seemed to think I was interested in coming over.” Ginny looked at him skeptically. “Okay, so I consider it sometimes,” he said, clearly embarrassed. “Doesn’t mean I have ever actually done it, or ever would. And I will have you know I burned that parchment as soon as I went home. Remus saw me do it if you don’t believe me.” Ginny smiled at his defensiveness and how hard he was trying to convince her of his innocence. “I’m just surprised that you aren’t interested in her. What happened to the flirt that first sat in my interrogation room?” “Maybe that was special, just for you,” Harry said with a smirk. “Do you want me do go back to hitting on you? Because that could be arranged.” Ginny was about to respond when another voice interrupted them. “Trouble in paradise?” Lucius Malfoy stepped out of the shadows. Ginny wondered how long he had been standing there. She prepared to defend herself, but then remembered the fact that she would finally be able to get him arrested. Instead, she smiled. “Thank you for the lovely party, Mr. Malfoy, but we must be going.” “So soon?” Lucius questioned, taking a step closer to them. Ginny reflexively took a step back. “You should watch your backs out there in the dark night. I just read about two killings.” “Really?” Harry asked, feigning surprise. Ginny elbowed him lightly. “Yes, one of them was right outside the Hog’s Head. I understand you were there that night. Did you see anything?” Ginny asked, throwing caution into the wind. “Why, Auror Weasley,” Lucius began, making it clear he knew all along what Ginny did for a living, “If you want my alibi, you only need to ask.” “Not at all, Mr. Malfoy. I just hoped maybe you could shed some light onto who the killer was.” Ginny’s reply may have sounded even, but she was forcing herself to keep it that way. “Well, I am very sorry, I would have loved to have helped, but I left the Hog’s Head long before anything happened that night. I was already here at home when the murder must have occurred.” His smile was sly, but it was clear to both of them that his alibi meant nothing. “What a pity,” Ginny replied. “Well, thanks for the lovely evening.” With that, she grabbed Harry by the hand and walked toward the gates of the property, leaving Lucius Malfoy to watch as they disappeared into the night. |
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