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The Brewmaster's Mystery | ||||||
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Category: Post-Hogwarts Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Drama Warnings: Sexual Situations Story is Complete Rating: R Reviews: 150 Summary: MMB is growing, Charlie and Seph are about to be parents and Harry and Ginny will be wed in mere months; life appears to be perfect. But when unexplained failures begin occurring around the brewery, Harry can't help but wonder if something is afoot. Hitcount: Story Total: 88258; Chapter Total: 2462 Author's Notes: Some of you have guessed who the perps are, no one with a name however. This is the beginning of the end. The song is by Florence + the Machine. Enjoy, MNF |
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Chapter 32: “I’m Not Calling You a Liar” June 27, 2000 6:00 a.m. Harry POV: I wasn’t far from the Quirkes’ house, the house Seph had built for them, waiting for Patrick, Orla and all the younger Quirke kids to arrive. When Patrick first told us he believed one of the perps was his father, the one with the strange wand movements, Seph fainted. I suppose I’d be shocked to find out one of Ginny’s brothers or their wives wanted to kill me. So much so I might faint too. It broke her heart to know someone she was so close to, someone who she’d gone out of her way to help, would turn on her so. She said aloud she thought it was all a waste; he was already against her when she made all the concessions at Christmas. She’d also whispered her fear that Phila shared her husband’s opinions. I never had the heart to tell her the Aurors suspected Phila as well. We set up this plan to ensure the youngest Quirkes’ wouldn’t see a thing. Patrick had come up with the idea of awakening his sisters and brothers early on the day their father didn’t teach until the afternoon. It was usually Orla’s responsibility to get the rest of them up and fed anyway, so telling the little ones that Auntie Seph had invited them over for a pyjama party would help motivate them out of the house. Orla had wanted to move out, go in on a flat like Patrick had done. She didn’t though, because she wasn’t going to leave the childcare to her fifteen-year-old sister, Eva. Patrick’s stories of his home life made me so sad. I had been ignored by my aunt; it seemed they were ignored by their mother. After Patrick fully explained why he suspected the tall person on the video was his father, Auror Proudfoot began an investigation. While Charlie and I wanted to know every detail his investigation yielded, Seph and Patrick asked not to be updated. After our final conference with Proudfoot last night, I was glad that aunt and nephew were out of the loop. Philomena MacPhearson Quirke was indeed involved, possibly even arranging some of the activities herself. Since death threats had been made, it was impossible for the couple not to do time. Alternative care arrangements would need to be made for the four Quirkes not yet of age. Exactly on time, Orla came to the clearing roughly halfway between the houses; the others followed her in a line. Patrick was bringing up the rear, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt. It would seem neither of us did the pyjama thing anymore. In his arms was the littlest of the Quirke children, Audra. Her pig-tail laden head was on his shoulder, one hand clutching what appeared to be an old, cloth nappy -- quite clean, certainly not used -- while her other hand was near her face, thumb in her mouth. I sidled up beside him as we trekked to Seph’s. “Is it a little early for her?” I asked. “Something like that,” he replied. “Audra usually sleeps until Tin can’t stand the quiet anymore and starts jumping on her bed. I’d say she normally sleeps to nine or so. Six is way too early for her. She’s liable to fall back to sleep when we get to Aunt Seph’s.” “Got it,” I said. “What have you told them?” A flick of my head forward indicated the children. “Nothing,” he answered quickly. “All they know at this point is they’re having a pyjama and waffle party at Connor, Olivia and Suzannah’s house.” “Lively and Sunny,” I corrected and he looked at me confused. “The babies, they’re called Lively and Sunny. Suzannah is Sunny and Olivia is Lively. Connor gave them their nicknames and they kind of stuck.” “Ah,” he said in understanding. “The kids should figure it out quickly.” “The kids, huh, not your sisters and brothers?” “I’m three and a half years older than Orla, and then there are some big gaps between the rest of them. I was already at Hogwarts when the last two were born. I feel more like an uncle than a brother to them,” he explained. “You should see Eva with Audra and Tingus; she’s more a mother to them than our mum has ever been. When she went to Hogwarts last fall, they bawled for days. Mum and Dad were so frustrated with them they had me take them for a few days. My flatmates weren‘t big on two screaming kids, so I went to Aunt Dora‘s house.” “Well, you’re off ‘parent duty’ today, as are your sisters. Mum Weasley, Ginny, Fleur and Elizabeth have cooked up quite a day for all of them. You’ll be able to slip out and go to the Ministry if you want.” “I won’t,” he quickly answered. “My father has turned his back on his children and acted like an idiot. Someone is going to need to take care of these kids; I’m twenty-one with a good job and a career ahead -- Seph has said she wants to make me the Head of Security for both breweries. I have no doubt what parts of my family have my loyalties.” “Anything I can do to help, just ask. Ginny and I love minding our nieces and nephews.” “Are there little Potter feet in the future? That kid will have mad flying skills.” “Yeah, he or she would, but they’re not making an appearance for a long time. Ginny is in her first year with the Harpies, but already she’ll be starting in the UK Quidditch playoffs. She really wants to make the team for next year’s World Cup. I want her to enjoy those things, enjoy her career. She’s worked so hard for it. We’ll have children when she’s ready for them.” Before any more could be said, we were met by a very excited Connor, still in his Quidditch pyjamas. He threw himself at me, and I only bent down to catch him at the last second. If I hadn’t figured out what he was doing, he would have crashed into my calves. “Harwy, why you not in your pyjamas? I wore my kidditch ones just like you have.” He was getting better with his language, but when he’s excited or emotional, he forgets. “Sorry buddy, but your Mum and I need to take care of some stuff today. Grandmummy and Ginny and Auntie Fleur will be here with all your Quirke cousins,” I explained. “It not nice to call dem quirky. Mummy doesn’t like me to say dat somebody is quirky, even though the old lady next door is. I heard her and Daddy Charwie say it,” he explained. I needed to keep my laugh in. Patrick wasn’t doing as well, and went indoors. “No, they’re not quirky: that would be a mean thing to say. Their last name is Quirke like yours is Weasley.” “Oh, so they gonna play.” “Exactly.” “Okay,” he said and then squirmed to get down. I put him on the back steps and Beaghy shooed the little boy into the house. When everyone was in, I nodded to Beaghy and she returned it. Nothing got by that elf, and she’d insisted we tell her everything. I raised my wand and sent my Patronus to Auror Proudfoot. Seph and I were going to wait in Kingsley’s office until the Aurors were to the point of interrogation. We wanted to understand “why?” and more importantly, who they were working with. TBM TBM TBM TBM TBM “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked Seph. Kingsley had gone to the interrogation room a few minutes ago. We were welcome to join them to observe the questioning when we were ready. Seph hesitated, I remained behind with her. “I have to do this,” she reluctantly said. “I need to know why.” “I can go and explain it to you. You do not have to do this,” I told her, taking her hands in mine. “How did you end up such a good boy when you didn’t have your parents with you? How does someone who has everything growing up turn out so awful?” “I don’t know about anyone else and why they turn out like they do. My parents were with me,” I told her. “They were in my heart and in my genes. Then I got their best friends and all the stories they told me.” “They would be so proud of the man you have become. I know I am.” I hugged her, and I felt the moment she’d gathered enough strength to face her brother-in-law. But I needed to tell her about her sister before we went over to the interrogation. “Seph,” I said as I pulled away. “Phila is there too. The Aurors brought them both in. They found solid evidence against her.” Seph made a disgusted noise and then shook her head. “When we were little, Phila swore she’d always be my best friend. I wanted to believe her, but I knew we weren’t even friends then. I was five when I realised your dad was my best friend, Sirius was a close second; my sister was just someone I lived and occasionally played with. I never got the chance to ask my mum if she wanted me somewhere else as a child because she didn’t want me around the other girls, or maybe my father. He tried to spoil me, but I always had Mr P to balance things out. “I tried so hard to be what my family wanted me to be, but looking back, she was so jealous I spent my days with MummyP and Jamie. Maybe if I had tried harder, made an effort after old man Lestrange died —“ “Seph, you could have done everything right, and Phila may have still chosen to betray you. She made these choices, not you. Regardless of what she says motivated her, ultimately it was her decision, as it was her husband’s.” She nodded again, this time in resolution. I knew it wouldn’t be the only time Charlie, Ginny, Fleur and I would need to remind her this wasn’t her fault; I just hoped she didn’t truly believe whatever venom these two would spew. “Come on, let’s go,” she said to me as she stood. I walked alongside her, willing to do whatever I could to help her. I owed her that. We observed Proudfoot and another member of the MLE team. After an hour, I’d come to several conclusions. First, I wasn’t impressed with Angus’ intelligence, or actually his lack thereof. This man was a lecturer at Oxford, in both the magical history department as well as the Muggle. It almost seemed as if his mind was in another time; he was obsessed with the nineteenth century. One of his desires was to return the farmhouse to its original floor plan, hence his setting fire to the addition. He mumbled incessantly about it when he wasn’t being spoken to. Second, Seph’s sister was a bitter bitch. She was still whining about what happened when Seph went into hiding in 1978. I couldn’t believe how upset she was about Seph doing what was best for her by not marrying Lestrange. Lastly, they were awful parents. Not once, in the more than two hours it had been since they were arrested, did they ask about their four underage children. Why they’d had so many kids when they obviously disliked them I had no clue. “I don’t understand,” Seph muttered. “What, Seph?” “Was all of this just because they wanted the farm? They threatened to kill my children, my husband was mauled by a dragon, my business was … why did they do it?” “I don’t know, Seph. I don’t know what makes someone become like that.” I tried to comfort her. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, but her muscles were tense. “That’s it,” she said before charging the door and going in the room where the interrogation was happening. “What the hell did I do to you that was worth putting the lives of my children and husband in peril?” she demanded. I followed her in, putting my hand on her left arm. “You don’t know?” Phila spewed. “Perfect Persephone doesn’t know what she did to the rest of us?” “I’m not perfect, Phila. I never have been.” “Okay, perhaps not perfect, but you were so blessed. The rest of us had to struggle, you just went into hiding,” her sister retorted. Seph stood there, gobsmacked. “What you’ve done to that magnificent farm,” Angus mumbled, again. He was obsessed. “It would have been ours, dearest,” Phila comforted him. “She’s the one who took it away.” “Phila, I didn’t take the farm. Mummy had always planned to give it to me. After we withdrew my dowry so I could escape Lestrange, she signed it over to me at her death. I’ve been on the deed since 1978. It was never yours, Phila.” “Shove it, Perri. Always got your way. You had Mummy and Daddy snowed since the day you were born. You ran away from your arranged marriage, but Lestrange wouldn’t give up. He wanted to find you so badly. None of us ever knew why. Oh, wait until everyone finds out what you’ve been hiding all these years. Not so innocent, were you?” Phila looked psychotically happy, reminding me of Bellatrix. “That woman told us everything we needed to know,” Angus added. “Why do you think we were so happy to work with her? She wasn’t only pissed at you, she hated Harry too, which opened up a whole new realm of possibilities. Harry, Harry,” he addressed me as if he knew me. “You really shouldn’t have killed off all those pure-bloods. Their relatives are just itching to murder you.” I wasn’t surprised by this: bringing down Voldemort had made me several enemies. I lived my life watching my back. “What woman? Who is she?” Seph insisted. “We just wanted to discredit you two at the beginning,” Angus continued rambling, ignoring Seph’s questions. “Dead rats, mouldy grains, destroyed things in the greenhouse, a small fire to rid the house of that hideous addition. Then she came along. Beautiful, seductive, intelligent, sympathetic. I certainly enjoyed her company--” “You slept with her?” Phila asked, surprised and confused. “Yes, dear,” he spat the words at his wife. “I also know you did. I found a pair of your knickers in the bed. She tried to claim they were hers, but I’d seen you in them that morning.” Seph and I looked at each other, all of this getting odder by the minute. The Aurors looked amused. The Quirkes were arguing with each other, and I’d hit a point at which I wasn’t sure where all this was going. “Quiet!” Seph yelled. “Just tell me who she is. Why is she so interested in me?” “How could you not know? I guess Sirius wasn’t the first one to knock you up,” Phila said with delight. “All we know is she wanted to bring you down because you weren’t there to raise her.” Seph stumbled backwards and I caught her and pulled a chair over for her. She looked up at me and shook her head violently. “Harry, I did not betray Sirius. The first child I had is Connor. I don’t know what that woman wants or believes, I swear to you, I am not her mother.” “I believe you. We’ll get to the bottom of this, Seph.” |
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