The Reluctant Detectives
folder
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
30
Views:
13,558
Reviews:
96
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
3
Category:
Harry Potter › Het - Male/Female › Snape/Hermione
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
30
Views:
13,558
Reviews:
96
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
3
Disclaimer:
I don't own Harry Potter or anything else from the book series. Nor do I make any moneys from doing this. Though goodness knows I wish I did.
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
It may have been Hermione’s idea to want to speak to Kingsley, but the time and place hadn’t been. The sun wasn’t up yet as they joined the head auror in his office. Even getting there so early they were made to wait for him. Hermione slumped into a large chair in the outer office and was asleep within seconds. Severus looked over to her. She hadn’t slept much the night before. It wasn’t for the lack of trying. She tossed and turned for what felt like hours before she got up from his bed and went about trying to get more work done. She had only climbed into the bed an hour before they had to wake.
Kingsley walked into his office in time to see Snape covering Hermione with his cape. The professor looked over to him and nodded in greeting.
“Let’s go to your inner office, shall we?” Snape murmured.
The two men walked over and were sitting down as the Head Auror asked, “How are things working out?”
“We’re making strides,” Severus murmured. “But I wish to speak to you about something else first.”
Sitting down he asked, “And what would you like to speak about?”
Making himself comfortable, he thought over what he would say before asking, “Did anyone in the Ministry ever think about what would become of our heroes?”
Frowning Kingsley asked, “What are you talking about?”
Leaning forward he said in a hard voice, “Did you ever once think that the so called Golden Trio would need more than accolades?” Kingsley leaned back, saying nothing. “They didn’t do it for fame or parades. They did what they did, because they had no choice. The Dark Lord would have killed them or worse. As it was Hermione had a spell cast on her by Antonin Dolohov that no one knows how it affects her even today and was tortured by Bellatrix LeStrange. Mr. Potter blames himself for everything that happened to everyone.” Severus leaned back into his chair. “She’s clinically depressed and Mr. Potter is hiding away from the world. They need help. They did your work. Stop giving them medals and start helping them.”
“St. Mungos…”
“She might as well have written them a letter for all the help she received,” he said to the other man. “At least that was the gist of what she told me. And before you assume or ask, Hermione hasn’t learned to tell a falsehood any better than she had when she was a child.”
“What do you propose I do about this?”
“Have the Ministry stop doing as it has been,” Severus told him. “The war ended six years ago. Take down the posters, the statues, and Merlin knows what else and make it a point to assist them. Get her into St. Mungos and into the care of a mediwitch. Call Harry. Talk to him. Tell him he isn’t alone. That you’ll listen to him.”
“Why don’t you?”
Snarling Snape muttered, “Just because I can’t stand him doesn’t mean that he doesn’t need help.”
He felt Hermione wrap her arms around him from behind, kissing his cheek, mumbling near his ear, “You are so sweet when you are being a contrary bastard to someone other than me.”
Severus rolled his eyes as he asked, “How much of our exchange did you hear?”
“Not much,” she admitted as she went over to sit next to him. “Just the last comment you made.” She pulled out her work to date, looking over to Kingsley. “As of this moment I am sorry to say that the death tally has risen. Two more people from the first bombing, as have three more from the second have died. All of the victims mentioned passing on from complications due to injuries sustained during the two different events.” She pulled out the papers in regards to the murder. “We were able to figure out that the death of a student in Hogwarts was a homicide. Viviana Templeton was murdered on campus.”
“What?” Kingsley sat up straight, looking straight over to Snape. “Why wasn’t I informed of this?”
“Because we are doing so now,” she told him, pulling his attention back over to herself. “We needed to get proof. Something we have at the present.” She handed over the papers to him. “I was able to figure out using the spells and testing procedures so noted in my logs, which you are currently holding, that whomever it was that murdered Viviana Templeton was a wizard approximately 1.77 meters tall give or take a few centimeters and approximately 77 to 83 kilograms.” She looked at the shock on both of their faces and was about to conclude what she was saying when she recalled the last fact. “Oh, yeah and has muggle highlighted mousy brown hair.”
“Pretend I can’t read this report,” Kingsley told her. “How is it that you know how tall he was or how much he weighed?”
“Merlin! How did you know it was a man?” Severus asked, not knowing just how far she had gotten in her testing.
“The sex of the murderer was easy,” she told him. “The blood and hair I found wasn’t all hers. I did something called a DNA test. But I didn’t use the traditional muggle tools. I came up with a way to do the task with magic that takes but a fraction of the time. Unfortunately, with nothing to compare it to as the wizarding world has yet to come up with a DNA database, we can’t do much with it until we have a suspect. About the only other thing I can say is it was a wizard with A negative blood who is distantly related to muggle royalty.” She looked over to Severus. “I would have to study DNA more to tell you more about it.”
“Right,” Kingsley said, sounding as if he were slightly overwhelmed. “But how…”
“Ward displacement,” she interrupted him. “Think of a ward like a pool of water. When you place something into it, the water in the pool is displaced. Its that displacement that can tell you about the height and weight of the person.”
“But students go through there all the time,” Kingsley pointed out to her.
“Yes, I know. But…” she grinned. “This wasn’t a student and the wards castle recognized him as such.”
“You mean to say that someone from off campus got into the school and killed this girl?” Severus asked.
“The wards didn’t recognize him as a threat,” she told him. “Meaning that not only had he been there before, but that chances are that he attended school there within the last six years.”
“Why the last six years?” Kingsley asked, looking from one to the other.
It was Severus who answered, “Because since the war, former students have been automatically allowed entrance into the school, but are monitored. It’s standard procedure. But one only a student in the years since the Battle of Hogwarts would know of.” He muttered a curse. “I’m going to have to change the wards.”
***
I want to thank everyone that has taken the time to send in a positive review. It means ever so much to me that you took the time to do so. And for those of you who haven't, keep in mind that as a writer that I need feed back to know that I am going in the right direction with the story. So please READ & REVIEW!!!
It may have been Hermione’s idea to want to speak to Kingsley, but the time and place hadn’t been. The sun wasn’t up yet as they joined the head auror in his office. Even getting there so early they were made to wait for him. Hermione slumped into a large chair in the outer office and was asleep within seconds. Severus looked over to her. She hadn’t slept much the night before. It wasn’t for the lack of trying. She tossed and turned for what felt like hours before she got up from his bed and went about trying to get more work done. She had only climbed into the bed an hour before they had to wake.
Kingsley walked into his office in time to see Snape covering Hermione with his cape. The professor looked over to him and nodded in greeting.
“Let’s go to your inner office, shall we?” Snape murmured.
The two men walked over and were sitting down as the Head Auror asked, “How are things working out?”
“We’re making strides,” Severus murmured. “But I wish to speak to you about something else first.”
Sitting down he asked, “And what would you like to speak about?”
Making himself comfortable, he thought over what he would say before asking, “Did anyone in the Ministry ever think about what would become of our heroes?”
Frowning Kingsley asked, “What are you talking about?”
Leaning forward he said in a hard voice, “Did you ever once think that the so called Golden Trio would need more than accolades?” Kingsley leaned back, saying nothing. “They didn’t do it for fame or parades. They did what they did, because they had no choice. The Dark Lord would have killed them or worse. As it was Hermione had a spell cast on her by Antonin Dolohov that no one knows how it affects her even today and was tortured by Bellatrix LeStrange. Mr. Potter blames himself for everything that happened to everyone.” Severus leaned back into his chair. “She’s clinically depressed and Mr. Potter is hiding away from the world. They need help. They did your work. Stop giving them medals and start helping them.”
“St. Mungos…”
“She might as well have written them a letter for all the help she received,” he said to the other man. “At least that was the gist of what she told me. And before you assume or ask, Hermione hasn’t learned to tell a falsehood any better than she had when she was a child.”
“What do you propose I do about this?”
“Have the Ministry stop doing as it has been,” Severus told him. “The war ended six years ago. Take down the posters, the statues, and Merlin knows what else and make it a point to assist them. Get her into St. Mungos and into the care of a mediwitch. Call Harry. Talk to him. Tell him he isn’t alone. That you’ll listen to him.”
“Why don’t you?”
Snarling Snape muttered, “Just because I can’t stand him doesn’t mean that he doesn’t need help.”
He felt Hermione wrap her arms around him from behind, kissing his cheek, mumbling near his ear, “You are so sweet when you are being a contrary bastard to someone other than me.”
Severus rolled his eyes as he asked, “How much of our exchange did you hear?”
“Not much,” she admitted as she went over to sit next to him. “Just the last comment you made.” She pulled out her work to date, looking over to Kingsley. “As of this moment I am sorry to say that the death tally has risen. Two more people from the first bombing, as have three more from the second have died. All of the victims mentioned passing on from complications due to injuries sustained during the two different events.” She pulled out the papers in regards to the murder. “We were able to figure out that the death of a student in Hogwarts was a homicide. Viviana Templeton was murdered on campus.”
“What?” Kingsley sat up straight, looking straight over to Snape. “Why wasn’t I informed of this?”
“Because we are doing so now,” she told him, pulling his attention back over to herself. “We needed to get proof. Something we have at the present.” She handed over the papers to him. “I was able to figure out using the spells and testing procedures so noted in my logs, which you are currently holding, that whomever it was that murdered Viviana Templeton was a wizard approximately 1.77 meters tall give or take a few centimeters and approximately 77 to 83 kilograms.” She looked at the shock on both of their faces and was about to conclude what she was saying when she recalled the last fact. “Oh, yeah and has muggle highlighted mousy brown hair.”
“Pretend I can’t read this report,” Kingsley told her. “How is it that you know how tall he was or how much he weighed?”
“Merlin! How did you know it was a man?” Severus asked, not knowing just how far she had gotten in her testing.
“The sex of the murderer was easy,” she told him. “The blood and hair I found wasn’t all hers. I did something called a DNA test. But I didn’t use the traditional muggle tools. I came up with a way to do the task with magic that takes but a fraction of the time. Unfortunately, with nothing to compare it to as the wizarding world has yet to come up with a DNA database, we can’t do much with it until we have a suspect. About the only other thing I can say is it was a wizard with A negative blood who is distantly related to muggle royalty.” She looked over to Severus. “I would have to study DNA more to tell you more about it.”
“Right,” Kingsley said, sounding as if he were slightly overwhelmed. “But how…”
“Ward displacement,” she interrupted him. “Think of a ward like a pool of water. When you place something into it, the water in the pool is displaced. Its that displacement that can tell you about the height and weight of the person.”
“But students go through there all the time,” Kingsley pointed out to her.
“Yes, I know. But…” she grinned. “This wasn’t a student and the wards castle recognized him as such.”
“You mean to say that someone from off campus got into the school and killed this girl?” Severus asked.
“The wards didn’t recognize him as a threat,” she told him. “Meaning that not only had he been there before, but that chances are that he attended school there within the last six years.”
“Why the last six years?” Kingsley asked, looking from one to the other.
It was Severus who answered, “Because since the war, former students have been automatically allowed entrance into the school, but are monitored. It’s standard procedure. But one only a student in the years since the Battle of Hogwarts would know of.” He muttered a curse. “I’m going to have to change the wards.”
***
I want to thank everyone that has taken the time to send in a positive review. It means ever so much to me that you took the time to do so. And for those of you who haven't, keep in mind that as a writer that I need feed back to know that I am going in the right direction with the story. So please READ & REVIEW!!!