The Reluctant Detectives

Chapter Twenty-six


It was a very intoxicated group of friends that were playing truth or dare. Each one trying to embarrass the others with the questions being asked. And it would seem that Hermione and her paramour were the one catching their interest the most, as she seemed to be getting more questions than the others were.


“So,” Katie said, sipping on what she called, ‘a drink some bloke made up on the beach while he was having sex’. “Hermione, do tell, truth or dare?”


Sighing as she sat in her chair. Hermione was feeling pleasantly intoxicated and didn’t want to spoil it by actually taking a dare. “Truth.”


Katie clapped her hands happily. “Just how is Severus Snape in bed?”


“I’m not one to fuck and tell, but…” She tried to take a sip of her drink but discovered the glass was empty. “…I am still climaxing from the last time we had sex,” she said, waving to the house elf for a new butter beer.


This sent up a roar of laughter in the room. Hermione looked over to Katie. “It’s my turn. Truth or dare, Katie?”


“Oh, truth!” she said readying herself for anything.


“Katie, which one of the twins are you sleeping with?”


Frowning the witch asked, “That’s it?”


“I have a reason for asking,” Hermione told her.


Swallowing nervously, she answered, “Fred.”


Hermione smiled and told them what had happened. Katie sat there looking horrified until she recalled just whom she was dating and how she should have expected this from him.


“I have to tell you, Katie,” Hermione said casually. “At first, I wasn’t entirely sure it was you what with your knees near your ears and all. I thought it would have been impossible to do that, but I tried it with Severus. And it wasn’t half as bad as I thought it would be.” She paused with a thoughtful look on her face. “I need to learn yoga.”


“If you learn yoga, you’ll end up killing him!” Ginny crowed, making all of them laugh.


“It might not be all that bad of a way to go!” Padma giggled with her sister Parvati as she said it.


“I plan on fucking my way through to and past old age,” Hermione announced. “And I plan on doing it with Severus Snape, the most sexually satisfied snarky bastard on earth.”


This had them all but rolling on the floor.


“Okay, okay, my turn to ask a question!” Tonks announced. “And this is for everyone here, myself included…”


“I thought we were playing truth or dare?” Hermione mumbled.


“We were,” Ginny said still giggling. “Now we’re only playing truth as it’s the only thing we’ve been taking.”


“Okay,” Hermione sighed. “Go for it, Tonks!”


“If you could or wanted to, whom would you sleep with other than the man or woman you are with at the moment?”


It was Padma that answered first. “I would sleep with Oliver Wood.”


Parvati frowned. “But you’re a lesbian.”


“Doesn’t mean I’m not curious,” her sister replied. “What about you, Parv?”


“Hmm, I always thought about giving Ron Weasley a shag,” she murmured.


“You are just going to have to trust me when I say you don’t want to,” Hermione told her. “Really.”


“I don’t want to hear this!” Ginny exclaimed.


“Then plug your ears, because you won’t want to hear that your brother is about as hung as an ant.”


Snorting Tonks muttered, “Oh Merlin, that’s a pip!”


“Small is one thing, but he doesn’t know how to use it either. With any luck for his wife, she’s taught him something or the poor woman will never have an orgasm with him.”


“What about you, Hermione?” Ginny asked her, hoping to get the woman off the topic of her brother.


“No offense, Fleur, but if he wasn’t married and I wasn’t involved with Severus, I think I could come up with a few dirty thoughts about Bill.”


“My Bill is very worthy of them, petite,” she drawled with a smile. “I think if I could have any man, I think I would like to be with, eh, a young Charles Degaulle.”


Most of the witches at the party didn’t know whom the French witch was speaking of. “I presume you mean a young, alive Charles Degaulle?” Hermione asked thoughtfully.


Fleur smiled as she nodded to the affirmative. Turning to her sister-in-law she asked Ginny, “Whom would you like to be with?”


“I always knew I was supposed to be with Harry,” she said quietly. “It’s difficult to think of being with anyone else other than him.” Ginny took a sip of her ginger ale and said, “But if there’s anyone, I would have to say Dean Thomas.” She smiled dreamily. “From what I can remember from his kissing, I bet he would be great in bed.”


Hermione looked over to Tonks. “What about you? Who would you like to shag if you weren’t with Remus?”


She thought it over, saying, “If I could be with anyone, I would have to say I would love to be with Hero. That boy has such energy that it makes me wonder…”


“That’s his name?” Hermione asked her. “Hero? What kind of name is…” But then the facts snapped together so quickly that she nearly had trouble keeping up with them. “Greek?” She looked over to Tonks, who was serving herself more fire whiskey. “By any chance was Hero already here when you came over to investigate the death of Viviana Templeton?”


“What? Yes, he was! I thought that was so weird.”


Hermione got up in a rush, apologizing to Ginny as she hurried away. She went straight over to the rooms she and Severus occupied. She grabbed up the sober up potion and went about pulling out the letters, reading them over. They were all signed “Hero”. She had never thought there was a chance that the man was signing his own name. But she would have to do more, much more than provide a hunch.


Severus stumbled out of the bedroom as he was putting on his robe, walking over to where Hermione was studying the letters.


She looked over to him, her face very serious as she said, “I think I know whom it is. Help me prove it.”


***

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