CSI England

Hermione’s body drained of blood and she went pale white. “She was murdered?”



“Yes.” Harry told her.



“Where’s the file?” She asked, reaching out.



“Hermione you are not taking this one.” Ron told her firmly. “Me and Harry are. We took it from Eckly.”



“Ron, I worked on the last one fine.” She said getting angry.



“Hermione,” Harry said in a harsh voice, “Eckly already picked up Snape.”









Hermione raced through the Ministry building to the interview rooms and located Severus who once again had Draco at his side.



“Severus, what happened?” She ran into his arms, but he didn’t speak, Draco did.



“Severus was taken from Spinners End about 4 hours ago, and brought here for questioning. He has an alibi for last night but nobody can confirm it. Vesna Izzanitch is really dead then?” He asked.



“Yes, Harry and Ron took over the case from Eckly, that’s why you are still here. They need to interview you, but they have to look at the scene first. They won’t let me help in anyway, so whatever I find out wont be first hand.”



“Do we at least know why the professor is here?” Draco asked her.



“According to Harry and Ron she was murdered and dumped.” She told them. “I don’t know anything else, they left to see the scene.”



“Is Severus a suspect?” Draco asked.



“To Eckly he must have been, but Ron and Harry are the Aurors now so it may be a different case. They will still want to talk to you though.” She told the two men. Severus still hadn’t released her hand.



“Why?” Draco asked, still concerned over his client. Severus was acting accordingly by letting Draco do all the talking. Hermione had nothing to do with the case, but he was following Draco’s advice and Draco was brilliant.



“Because Eckly had him picked up and everything Eckly has done so far needs to be looked at, then they can decide what is or isn’t relevant to the case. She sat down with Severus and clutched his hands in hers. She knew his silence was at Draco’s insistence and she said nothing about it, she just held his hands.







Harry and Ron passed through the magical barrier and felt a wave of magic sweep over them. It would prevent them from contaminating the crime scene. They walked over where the body of a woman was on the ground.



Squatting down Ron looked her over. “She’s been hit on the head several times, and a couple to the face also.” He lifted the sheet that covered her body. “Rape, no doubt about it, and a brutal one too.” He replaced the sheet. Harry was looking just as closely.



“Colin, get some shots of her wrists too.” He told the blonde. Colin was only a year younger then them but he always seemed to young an eager. He had Harry to think for his job as a photographer for the Ministry. Harry told them Colin always got the photograph needed.



The camera went off as Harry and Ron circulated the area. The found her purse not to far away and quickly had it bag and labeled. Nothing else seemed unusual until Ron called Harry over a few feet away. “What is it?” He asked.



“There’s a woman in the window above us, peering at the team from behind a curtain.” He said quietly.



“You think she was watching when the murder occurred?” He asked, making a show of taking off his glasses and cleaning them.



“She might have, that was a hell of a lot more interesting then this.” He said. They looked at each other then in unison looked up at the window and smiled. The curtain snapped shut.



Without saying a word, they walked into the shop. “Excuse me, the woman in the flat above this shop, do you know her?” He asked the old man behind the counter.



“You mean my sister, Aggy?” He said in a gravely voice. “She never leaves.”



“We need to speak with her. She may have witnessed a crime.” Ron told him.



The old man, moved to a corner and pulled aside a curtain to reveal a set of stairs. “These lead upstairs.” He went back to the paper on his counter.



They walked up the stairs and took in the room. It reminded Harry of Ron’s house. Thoroughly lived in and sturdy, but this place could use the cleaning of Molly Weasley. “Aggy? We’re from the Auror department, we’d like to talk to you.”



“What in bloody hell do you want?” They spun around wands aimed at the most wrinkled hag Harry had ever seen. This was obviously an older sister. A much, much, MUCH older sister.



“I’m Auror Weasley, this is Auror Potter. We want to know if you saw anything out side either late last night or early this morning.” He said pocketing his wand.



“I saw nothing.” She said glaring at them.



“Did you hear anything?” He asked.



“I heard nothing.” She said still glaring.



“Ma’am I can hear the team working down there, are you telling me you couldn’t hear an attack in an abandoned area?” Harry asked.



“I tell you I didn’t hear no girl getting attacked!” She shouted.



“We didn’t say it was a girl.” Ron told her calmly. She turned her back on the Aurors. “Look, we are sorry for disturbing your,” his eyeballs rolled around the room, “sanctuary, but if you saw a crime committed then we need to know what happened.”



She moved to a warn reclined and slowly sank into it. “It was about 2 in the morning. I’ve been having problems sleeping lately, so I was reading my tarot,” she gesturing to the nearby table and cards, “that’s when I heard the argument.”



“With the girl?” Harry asked.



She nodded. “I went to the window and saw her and some man arguing. He shoved her against the wall and when she shoved him back he punched her face. Then he punched her again. She started yelling that she wasn’t going to do it again, and he grabbed her shoulders and banged her against the wall. The struggled and ended up behind the corner, and I lost sight of them. I could still hear shuffling around for a few moments, then it went quiet, and it sounded like a heavy sack hit the ground. I saw her head and arm fall then he ran down the alley.” She said, taking a deep breathe and shaking her head.



“Did you see his face?” Harry asked.



“No, he wore a hooded cloak, he was all in black.” She said.



“Ma’am, we will need that memory.” Ron told her.



She obediently pulled out her wand and closed her eyes, pulling out the memory and dropping it in the glass vial Ron held out. “When this happened, why didn’t you summon the Aurors?” Harry asked.



“I don’t like people in my home.” She looked around. “I have problems leaving my privacy, it makes me nervous.”



“Well, then we will leave you now, and if we have any more questions, we will come here so you wont have to leave.”



“Thank you.” She said gratefully.



When they left Harry spoke first. I looked out her window and if she was killed against the wall, she wouldn’t have seen the act itself.”



“We need to look at this, it doesn’t make Snape look good.” He said. “I want to see how tall this guy was.”



“I agree. We also need to talk to Snape, he’s waiting in an interview room.” They spoke to the team who was taking the body to St. Mungo’s to be examined. All evidence from the crime scene would be taken to the Ministry.



They apparated back to the Ministry to speak with Severus. He was waiting with his legal counsel, Draco Malfoy, and Hermione was still with him. “Hermione, we need you to step outside while we talk to the professor.” Harry told her.



“I’m not on the case, I’m here as support to Severus, and that’s all.” She said firmly, not letting go of his hand.



“You know how it works Hermione, please don’t argue.” Ron told her. “He can tell you what we talk about later if he wants.” He told her. She looked to Draco who wasn’t looking in her direction and Hermione had a feeling he agreed with them but didn’t want to say so. Severus gave her hand a squeeze and she had no choice but to leave.



When she exited the room, Harry and Ron looked to the two men. “Eckly has a habit of jumping to conclusions so we decided to take the case over.” Harry told Draco.



“And we appreciate it.” He said. “Severus has already answered his questions though.” They all took a seat around the table.



“All Eckly wrote in his notes was ‘no confirmable alibi’, where were you last night at about two in the morning professor?”



Severus looked to Draco who nodded, then he spoke. “I was gathering supplies in the Forbidden Forest from midnight until dawn. Various specimens need to be collected at the height of their bloom period or at the peak of ripeness. Some of them take time to harvest properly. It’s often an all night task.”



“Did anyone see you in the forest?” Ron asked him, jotting down notes.



“Dumbledore spoke with me briefly, but other then that no. The entire staff knows about the harvests but Hermione was the only person who ever went with me. The other professors have no need for them.” He said.



“Did Vesna Izzanitch contact you at all after what happened?” Harry asked him.



“No.” Severus answered.



“What about anyone else, strangers coming up to you, strange mail, that sort of thing?”



“No, nothing like that.” He said.



“Alright.” The Aurors stood. “We apologize for making you wait, but we wanted to make sure we went over everything in case Eckly missed something.”



“We understand. Draco stood and offered his hand. Severus if going to be staying at Malfoy Manor for now, you can reach him and me there anytime.” Draco took his client and let the room. Hermione joined them and the trio apparated away.



“Ten galleons says that Hermione will be staying at Malfoy Manor as well.” Ron said. The partners left for the floos. They wanted to see the cause of death on the body.