Murder at Midnight
This was written for a spring fic exchange that was never posted. Don't know why, but I'm tired of it just sitting there.

Fic Request
Briefly describe what you'd like to receive: Something about the establishment of their relationship. Maybe a post war fic. It has to make sense though, if Draco remained a death eater and helped the wrong side of the war, I doubt Harry would be able to set aside such a big difference.
Preferred Rating: Any
Specifics you want (optional, maximum of three): whatever you want really, IC please,
Deal Breakers (what don't you want?): PWP, Character death, non-con,


Title: Murder at Midnight
Author: cyn_ful
Rating: PG
Length: (Drabble - up to 300 words; Ficlet - up to 1500 words; Fic - One shot, unlimited; Chaptered - unlimited) One shot – Word Count 6574
Disclaimer: I do not own these lovely boys, they are simply playing in my mind.
Summary: Can Harry have a good time after the war? The twins are hoping to help with their Murder Mystery Weekend.
Notes: I’m sorry I wasn’t able to stick with the no character death, but does it help if it isn’t permanent? The muse fought me most of the way through this. Special thanks to my lovely beta, Laura, who is super awesome and beta’d this in no time at all.





Harry looked up from the invitation in his hand. He didn’t know how the twins could always convince him to try one of their hare-brained schemes. This one, surprisingly, could actually be fun. Granted, Harry wasn’t in the mood for fun.

Harry was tired. He had fought the battle like he was supposed to. He had made all of the public appearances that were required after killing Voldemort. He’d even sat through the trials of accused Death Eaters making sure that none of them got away this time.

The one person that he was surprised was never on trial was Draco Malfoy. Harry caught a glimpse of him at Lucius Malfoy’s trial, just after he was sentenced. His counterpart’s eyes were hard as he stared at his father; h is face an emotionless mask as he stood and walked out of the courtroom. Harry had heard different rumours going on about him, but never ran into him.

It was still perfectly fine with him. As far as he was concerned the less he saw of the blond prat the better he felt. Besides, Harry still had a hard time believing that Malfoy had actually ended up helping the light side during the final battles.

Harry looked at the invitation again. His arrival time was set for one minute. He picked up his overnight bag, stepped into the fireplace and took a deep breath before he dropped the Floo Powder, “Flaming Nest.”

Harry slid past grates quickly. He kept his eyes closed tightly, this was his least favorite mode of travel even after years of being in the Wizarding World. He tumbled out of the grate and right into the legs of the red-headed twins that wanted to torment him for the weekend.

“Oi! Harry, don’t you know how to land without falling all over us?”

“No, Fred, he still just wants to get tangled up in your legs, I think,” said George with a grin as he helped Harry to his feet.

“Now, now, Harry, if I have told you once, I told you a hundred times. I’m not the bloke for you. I know there was that one time, but still…”

“Fred, that one time you stuck your tongue down my throat!” Harry cut in. He hugged George and then Fred and put up with Fred squeezing his arse cheeks. “Although, if something doesn’t change soon…”

“Still no girl to love, Harry?” George teased him.

“Stuff it, George, you know Harry wants me. And how could he not? All this gorgeousness wrapped up in one package.” Fred rubbed his hands over his body stressing the well toned chest.

Harry and George just laughed. “Onto the serious note, Harry,” George jumped in before Fred could begin flexing his muscles, “you have approximately three minutes to get yourself disguised before the next guest arrives.”

“What exactly is your plan?” Harry questioned.

Fred became serious as he explained the plan. “You see it’s like this, you will take a Poly-Pill, which thankfully tastes nothing like the juice. You will become John Asbury for the next 48 hours. No one here will recognize you.”

“Only Fred and I know who is who and what is truly happening. No one will be able to disclose who they really are…even with hints. This means that you are truly escaping your image, at least until the weekend is over,” George said with a smile. He knew that was the part that was going to get Harry.

“Now, here is your little pill. Just pop it into your mouth and watch yourself become the ever so sexy Mr. John Asbury.” Fred handed Harry the pill.

“But first, you must sign this indemnity clause basically stating that you are not going to hex anyone in your given state. Your wand will only be used under emergency events, etc., etc.”

Harry signed in the big red book that was sitting on the counter. He glanced at the contract before holding out his hand for the little red pill. He popped it into his mouth and felt the transformation taking effect. His skin felt as if it was being tickled and he felt his nose popping softly. He looked in the mirror beside the door and nodded his head. “I do believe I prefer your method to that of real Polyjuice.”

“Right this way, Mr. Asbury. You will be staying in the Louis XIV bedroom. You are going to have a roommate who will be arriving shortly,” Fred said in his most professional voice. “If for some reason you need to change your sleeping arrangements, please let us know. Thank you for choosing The Red-Nested Inn for you weekend get-a-way.”

“Percival Jenkins will show you to your room.” George said as he gave Harry a small nudge in his back, sending him into a room with the butler waiting for him. “Thank you, Jenkins.”

Fred closed the door firmly behind George and grinned, “How long do you think him and Malfoy are going to get along?”

George laughed, “No telling, but it is going to be fun watching the interaction between the two of them, with neither of them knowing the other.”

“Well, speak of the devil, I hear someone coming in the Floo.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry had just finished putting his clothes away for the weekend when the door opened silently behind him. Harry turned and looked as a young man walked through the door. “Hi, I’m John Asbury.” Harry said holding out his hand to the new occupant.

“Hello,” said the quiet man. He took his hand and shook it firmly. “I’m Calvin Geode, just up from Surrey. How do you do?” He slipped his hand out of Harry’s and walked to the bed that was going to be his. He placed his bag on the bed and opened it.

“Surrey? That is interesting. I’m from Oxfordshire.” Harry said easily. He noticed how his mouth just formed the words. He couldn’t even say London or Little Whining if he had wanted to, which meant the same for the man in front of him.

“Oh, that’s nice,” the other man said as he began putting away his clothes. “Do you think they are going to give us time to freshen up a bit before the merriment begins?”

Harry smiled, “Knowing the proprietors, I doubt it.”

“Then I had better hurry, I guess.” The young man walked into the adjoining bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Harry grinned. He was thinking that it might actually be a fun weekend. He was getting to meet people without them automatically looking up at his forehead. Although he wasn’t too sure about his room-mate for the weekend, but knowing the twins it was going to be very interesting. Harry walked out towards the drawing room with the thought that this might be the first thing he had enjoyed since the intense battles with Voldemort.

Harry entered the drawing room and was immediately approached by a maid offering drinks. Accepting a Whiskey Sour from the girl he moved to the back of the room and sat down in a wingback chair near the door to the room. With the doors open, he was partially obscured, but he could see everyone in the room.

The other guest began to arrive while Harry sat quietly sipping his drink. The first to appear was a black woman about 24 years old. She looked around the drawing room and took a glass of wine from the maid when she approached her. She moved to the piano and set her glass down before elegantly moving her fingers over a few of the keys. Harry thought about speaking to her, but she didn’t notice him in the corner.

The next to enter were two gentlemen discussing the weather in Scotland. They too ignored Harry in the corner and walked straight to the bartender in the corner of the room, pushing past the maid. She looked at them and looked into Harry’s corner and rolled her eyes. Harry covered his laugh as the two began to speak a bit louder, discussing the pros and cons of boarding schools as they both took a dark lager from the bartender.

Over the next fifteen minutes the guests entered the drawing room. Each had the same thing in common. They would greet the maid and get a drink before finding a corner or group of people to talk with. They all seemed to ignore the corner that Harry had positioned himself. Each guest smiled to the others as if they had been best friends forever. If Harry hadn’t already known that no one knew who the other person was, he would think he was being left out. Granted, that was perfect for him.

He preferred to observe anyways instead of rushing into the midst of anything. He could just imagine the first two gentlemen being Ron and the other Seamus; they were loud and boisterous, even now. They wanted to draw attention to themselves. Apparently the tall lanky one, that he suspected was Ron, kept trying to charm the petite brunette with soft wavy hair. Appearances sake, she reminded him of Hermione, but knew that Hermione if disguised would be totally opposite. If she happened to be there he would suspect the young woman who walked in first. It could be that she had first walked to the piano, yet there was the inexplicable way in which she seemed to take in her surroundings as if she were analyzing a book. It was so subtle, that only those that paid attention would notice.

As far as the others were concerned, he wasn’t quite sure. Beyond knowing that both Ron and Hermione would be here, all the other faces could be mysterious people in the Wizarding World. Knowing the twins, most of his friends were probably in this room, well the ones that were left.

Harry watched as busty dark haired beauty approached the young black girl. He heard her introduce herself as Joan Brian and heard the soft husky voice reply with her name, Gretchen Andrews. He made a mental note of their names; that may be important later.

He turned his head just in time to see his roommate enter the room. He watched the man slip in silently and unnoticed. He was approached by the maid and took a red wine from her. He glanced around the room and slid into the corner next to Harry. He nodded his head and began watching the others as well.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome, welcome to our humble establishment,” an elderly gentleman called out to the guests. “I am Gregory Knight. We have a wonderful evening planned out for you, but first we must partake of the delicious meal prepared by the lovely Suzette.” He gestured to the maid as he spoke. He then opened his arms to the dining room adjacent to the drawing room. “Please, if we could move to the dining room, our evening can officially begin.”

The guests began to move to the other room. Harry and Calvin stood up and slipped in with the group to the other room. They looked for their nametags and sat around at the large table. The seat to the right of their host was empty. To his other side was a pretty girl in a light purple dress. Her hair was loosely tied up on her head with ringlets falling around her face. Next to her was the boisterous man whom Harry decided was Ron. Beside him was the young girl that he had decided was Hermione aka Gretchen Andrews.

Harry smiled. The twins would make sure that he was surrounded by his friends. They knew how anxious he was about not knowing who was there and the dangers present. To Harry’s left, next to the open seat was the other boisterous man, that he still felt was Seamus. Directly beside Harry was the girl who introduced herself as Joan Brian. He didn’t have any idea as to who she may have been. He didn’t feel that it was Ginny, but he didn’t have very many guesses. To the left of Calvin was a blonde woman with a pointy face. She reminded Harry of Malfoy for some reason, although he was pretty sure the twins wouldn’t have invited that twat. Next to her was a light-skinned black man wearing glasses. He was dressed quite stylish, but Harry could tell that he would prefer to be dressed down. This was a man that would prefer to participate in sports of some kind and not necessarily dinner parties. To his left was another dark-haired beauty; her hair was long with just a hint of a wave in it. She seemed to look around with great interest as she smiled at everyone – a Hufflepuff, it had to be. Beside her was a tanned man with curly locks. He appeared quite comfortable in the formal dining room and his clothes were immaculate. At the other end of the table, opposite the host was a hard looking woman, who could only be the host’s wife. Her hair was a strawberry blonde. She looked as if she had worked in the sun quite a bit.

To Harry’s right was the woman that “Ron” was trying to pick up. She had a soft voice and a genteel manner to her, from what he could gather. To her other side was a young man that seemed out of place. He kept glancing towards the door, as if expecting someone else to arrive. His hair was long, curly and frizzy to match. Harry suspected that he was probably in on the “act” that was going on. Beside him was a beautiful light-skinned woman, as far as Harry could tell she had the grace of an angel. She leaned in to the man beside her and whispered in his ear. He seemed a bit small and his hair was spiked. He appeared to not care about his appearance and ignored everyone with the exception of the girl beside him.

“It seems as if my daughter is going to be late to dinner, again,” began Gregory. “We should go on and begin our first course.” With a wave of his hand, Percival and Suzette began serving a creamy French onion soup. The guests began to sip on their soup as he continued to talk. “I have invited you all here for a wonderful evening of relaxation and entertainment. Ms. Arabella Edmonds will entertain us with her beautiful voice while my son, Patrick, accompanies her on the piano. My darling wife, Meredith, will regal us with tales of life in America.” Meredith nodded her head in agreement with her husband.

Just then, a girl tripped into the room right on top of her chair. Gregory stood up and helped to balance her. “Nancy, what have you been doing?” he whispered harshly. Harry noticed how the boy with the wild hair started to get up, but Arabella placed a hand on his arm. They apparently knew each other.

“I’m sorry, Father,” she slurred as she sat down in her chair, ignoring everyone else in the room. “I just forgot the time, it won’t happen again.”

“That’s the third time this week, Nancy.” The girl across the table spoke harshly. “You would think that you could find a new decent excuse and not the same old one every night.”

“Oh stuff it, Bea. You aren’t my mum,” she replied in a daze.

“I might not be your mother, but at least I care about you. You are tarnishing the good name of our family; out every night doing God knows what with God knows who.”

“Beatrice…Nancy! Both of you stop this right now. Please remember that we do have guests tonight,” Gregory insisted. He looked down the table to his wife, as if to get some support from her. She on the other hand seemed to be taking another shot of whiskey.

“Yes, Father.” Beatrice mumbled while glaring at her sister. Patrick was just like his mom, ignoring the entire problem at the other end of the table.

Harry kept his mental list going. Years of looking for the most subtle of clues to help end the war prepared him to notice the slight nuances. The others guests were either looking away politely or watching intently to see if more fireworks would be going off. Harry looked over at Calvin. He seemed to be taking it all in with interest.

“I’m sorry to interrupt our dinner with family matters,” Gregory said to the guests. “As I was saying, tonight should be quite fun and very entertaining. So eat up and enjoy!”

The guests began eating their soup again. As they finished it, Suzette and Percival began sitting a light salad in front of them. They talked quietly amongst themselves remarking on how delicious the food was. The main course was interrupted at the far end of the table when Patrick stood up and threw his napkin on his plate. “Honestly, Mother, I don’t know why I bother talking to you. You are worse than our dear sister, who obviously can’t go a day without shooting up.” He stormed out of the room and was quickly followed by Arabella.

“Is everything alright, dear?” Gregory asked from the other end of the table.

“Of course, darling,” she said sweetly. “Yet another of your brilliant ideas gone sour, I’m afraid. Would you like to air any more of our dirty laundry in front of your special guests?” She looked at the crowd before she too stood and stormed out of the room.

“Excuse me, please, I must go and see to this matter,” he said quickly following his wife out of the room.

“Nancy, this is all your fault. If you had not stolen all of their money, they wouldn’t need to invite people into our home.” Beatrice snapped at her sister. “I wish you would just die.” She excused herself from the guests and went out through the drawing room and up the stairs.

Nancy put her head down on the table and began to cry softly. The boy with the wild hair got up and came over to her. He put his arm around her and whispered in her ear. He then looked up as if he heard someone coming. “I’ll take care of this, Nance.”

“Thank you, Tom,” she whispered weakly. He put his arm around her as she stood up. He walked her out of the room and towards the stairs.

“Well, that was definitely interesting, don’t you think?” the girl next to Harry remarked.

“I think it could become very interesting around here in a minute,” he replied to her as he caught the eye of Calvin who was replying to Gretchen and her comment on the drama they had just witnessed. The majority of the table ignored the two at the end, Richard and Avery as their nametags suggested. They became their obnoxious selves wondering what happened with the sister and if they were single.

Calvin decided to take the lead and stood up. “I’m going to assume that is the end of dinner. Do you think we should go back to the drawing room?” He pulled the chair out for Gretchen and took her arm as they walked back to the other room.

Harry took the arm of Joan and followed them out of the room. He released her arm in the drawing room after asking if she would like a drink. He walked to the bartender and requested the Long Island Ice Tea for the lady.

“Do you suppose there will be more dramatics, or was that the biggest we will see tonight?”

Harry heard the voice next to his ear and he turned to see Calvin there, getting a drink for his lady-friend as well. “I’m not sure. It seemed pretty staged to me. What do you think may happen next?”

Calvin smiled. “I would say soon will we see a ‘dramatic’ death of someone, possibly the father. Then chaos will break loose. The two oafs, Richard and Avery are going to believe they are the only ones that know the answers.”

Harry laughed. “I do believe you are right.” He took the glass and another Whiskey Sour for him then walked with Calvin back to the ladies. They had taken seats near the fireplace. “What do you think of the others here?” he asked curiously.

“I would suspect that we are with the two most intelligent women in the room. They seem to be level headed and not prone to gossip, such as the girl to your right. Her name was Eliza, correct?”

“No, I believe it was Lizabeth. I believe she will soon find someone else to talk to, although she looks to be heading this way.” He handed the drink to Joan and sat down on the armrest beside her.

“Thank you. Your name is John, right?” she asked.

“Yes, it is, and yours is Joan.” She nodded. He then held out a hand to Calvin. “This is my roommate Calvin Geode.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Joan,” he replied smoothly.

She proceeded to introduce Gretchen to the two of them formally. Noticing that there were a few others that wanted to join them, they immersed themselves in quiet conversation, pretending to not notice.

John kept glancing at Calvin as they talked. He noticed how his silky voice was soft and lilting. He had to admit the Calvin was quite attractive. He also noticed how Gretchen and Joan seemed to be scooting closer and closer together.

They didn’t have to wait long before the next part of the dramatics began. They heard voices yelling in the hallway and door slamming. “Well, I will show you then! I’m better than the other two; I will prove it to you if it kills me!” Nancy yelled. She stumbled into the drawing room and went straight to the bartender. He gave her a martini without even asking. “Thank you, Joshua,” she said softly.

Nancy looked around the room as if having forgotten that there were guests present. “I’m sorry for my family’s behavior,” she said. “They are on their best behavior tonight, though. Typically they yell at each other even more. Hell, I think I’m the only one that is even halfway real with anyone.”

“Nancy, there you are. Do you want to go now?”

“Oh, Tom, don’t be silly. I have to entertain father’s guests while everyone else has a breakdown. I do love you, although I shouldn’t say that too loudly.” She walked over to him and kissed him soundly. Her movements showed how drunk she truly was. She stumbled past him and fell promptly into Richard’s lap. “Now aren’t you comfortable?” she asked coyly.

“Nancy, come on! You don’t have to prove anything!” Tom said quietly, knowing every eye in the room was on him. He walked over to her and pulled her out of Richard’s lap. “All we have to do is leave and never look back.”

“Oh, but why leave when my family is just so entertaining?” She removed herself from his grip and proceeded to wind her body around another gentleman. Then all at once she seemed to pass out into the lap of the Lizabeth.

Lizabeth had a look of horror on her face. Tom walked over to her and shook his head. “I’m through with you now.”

He began to walk out of the room when the Suzette yelled, “She isn’t breathing!”

Lizabeth screamed, panic had clearly consumed her as pushed Nancy off of her lap, “Are you sure? She died? On me? Do something about this!”

The bartender ran over to her and began to perform CPR to no use while Suzette ran out of the room and gathered the family. Gregory ran to his daughter’s side and began to cry. “What happened to her?”

The guests stood around shocked as they watched the scene unfolding. Some in disbelief, some curious, and then there was Harry and the four he was with. They watched intently, paying close attention to every detail.

No more than a half hour had past when there was a knock at the door and a detective showed up. He examined the girl’s body and took statements from each family member. Beatrice was sitting in the corner with a smile on her face. Patrick sat down at the piano and just began to play music with Arabella singing softly beside him. Meredith sat next to her daughter’s body and sobbed; meanwhile Gregory talked softly with each guest wondering what they saw and Tom sat in a corner sobbing.

Harry noticed one other girl walk over to Beatrice. He nodded his head to Calvin. It was the girl that had sat to his left. “I believe her name was Grace. She was very quiet.” Gretchen and Joan were still intent on the scene before them. They were whispering between themselves. Harry stood up, “Would you like to get another drink?”

Calvin nodded and they both walked for another drink. After getting it they settled back into the corner they were in when they first arrived. “So what do you think is going on?” Harry asked.

“I think that we are to believe that the sister had something to do with this murder,” Calvin began, “but I’m not so sure about that.”

Harry nodded his head. “From all of my past experience, it isn’t the most obvious person. Most people would assume either her or the secret boyfriend.”

“You mean, you don’t think he did it?” Calvin asked a bit surprised. “I do suppose you are right. He would be rather obvious, wouldn’t he?”

“Most definitely. My money is on the quiet girl sitting with Beatrice. She is an unknown. She is managing to fit in with the rest of the ‘guests,’ but she also knows the family,” he said pointing to the girl with Beatrice.

Calvin nodded his head. “I see what you mean.” He looked at Harry and smiled. “So, I guess this means the two of us can sit back and listen to the loudmouth over there describe how it was the gardener.”

Harry laughed. He enjoyed the ongoing conversation he had with Calvin. He was beginning to wish he knew who he really was. From the glances he received from Calvin, they could possibly have an interesting relationship. Harry couldn’t think of anyone that he had felt this at ease with in a long time.

Upon mention of the gardener, he seemed to appear out of thin air. “’Scuse me, Sir.” He walked up to Gregory. “I thought you should be knowin’ that a ladder was found outside of Miss Nancy’s room. It looks as if someone was going to be using it later.”

The inspector and Gregory spoke in hushed tones with the gardener. Gregory had large hand movements pointing at the different people it could have been.

“This is where we see that it could be Gregory,” Harry said.

“Or it could be the mother who is sobbing. There is nothing more shocking than a person who is so distraught after they have committed murder,” Calvin replied pointing to the mother.

Harry laughed. “I think I will stick with the mysterious girl.”

Calvin laughed too as he reached for his glass. Their hands touched for a quick second. They gazed into each other’s eyes and looked away. “I do believe you are on to something.”

“I hope that I am,” he replied quietly, hoping that Calvin wouldn’t notice.

Another hour passed with notes on how everyone was reacting. Everyone aside from them laughed quietly in the face of the death before them. It was also obvious to anyone who was paying attention that Richard now tried to be in the middle of everything and that Lizabeth seemed to be clinging to Richard, whether from too much to drink or the shock of a dead woman in her lap.

“Excuse me everyone,” the Inspector spoke up. “I need everyone’s attention. I unfortunately cannot let anyone leave tonight. There is some evidence that will appear shortly to help find the murderer. I cannot disclose what it is, but I must see each and everyone one of you back here at 11:00 a.m. sharp.”

Harry stretched and held his hand out to help Calvin up. Calvin looked at him for a moment before he accepted it. Harry let his hand drop after Calvin stood up, tingles running up his spine. “I guess we should go up then.”

“Yes, we should.” Calvin brushed the wrinkles from his trousers and began to walk out with Harry following him up the stairs leaving the other occupants downstairs.

They entered their room and to their sides of the room. Harry looked over at him. “Do you want to use the loo first?”

“I will be quick about it,” he replied. Calvin gathered his things for bed and stepped into the connecting room.

Harry sat down on his bed and ran his hands through his hair. He hadn’t felt this attracted to anyone else in a long time. He pondered what his next move would be. He hoped that Calvin would actually be interested, but he didn’t know. Getting to know him as first as whom he really was, was going to be the first step. He really wanted to know who Calvin was. No one that he knew of attracted him this much. Calvin was witty and looked at the larger picture and not at what you were supposed to see. That was something that Harry had wanted for a long time.

Calvin came out of the bathroom dressed for bed. “Your turn, John,” he said casually. He walked to his bed and pulled down the blankets. He grabbed a book off the side table and sat in the bed reading.

Harry got up and hopped into a cold shower. It wouldn’t do for his pajamas to show how he was affected by the other man. He quickly got ready for bed and walked out. “Well, goodnight, Calvin.”

“’Nite, John,” was the reply from the other bed.

Harry lay down, unable to get comfortable. He fell into a light sleep. His training kicked into overdrive as he listened to the other man. Calvin put his book up and sighed. He turned out the light and lay down, sleep eluding him for awhile.

The sun came pouring through the window bright and early the next morning. Harry woke from his restless slumber to a rooster crowing in the backyard somewhere.

“Bloody rooster needs to be in a soup,” mumbled the form in the other bed.

Harry laughed, “It definitely needs to be somewhere else.” He tried to pull the blankets back over his head, but it didn’t work. Years of little to no sleep were working against him. He got up and went into the bathroom, showered and got ready for the day.

“You are a morning person, aren’t you?” came the accusation from the bed on the other side of the room when Harry emerged from the bathroom.

“I have been accused of that once or twice. It has never been easy for me to sleep late,” was Harry’s matter of fact reply.

Calvin sat up and rubbed his eyes. Harry’s eyes tried to avoid the patch of skin that was showing as Calvin stretched. He got up out of bed and moved to the loo.

Harry was silently working up his courage to ask Calvin out after they left the hotel when the other man came back into the room smiling. “Do you think we will have great fun today? I bet there will be more mayhem from Richard and Lizabeth than anything else.”

“I expect we shall hear something out of the two of them.” He looked down at his hands. “What are you doing after you leave here?”

Calvin looked at Harry with a strange look. “More than likely I will be going home and straight to bed. If someone decides to wake me, I shall cook them in a stew.”

“Oh,” he said, “I guess that is a good idea.”

“Is there something that you wanted?” Calvin asked.

Harry looked at his hands as he felt his face turning red. “Well, it isn’t very many people that I meet that I get along with, that’s all.”

“So did you want to continue our newfound alliance?” Calvin asked skeptically.

“Alliance, yes, that would be a good word for it.” Harry carefully looked up at Calvin who had a questioning look on his face. “It’s just that people see me and think one thing. I don’t think I have ever gotten to know anyone without any reservations.”

“I understand what you mean. If you are willing after all is said and done, we could go for maybe a bit a tea at this coffee shop I know,” Calvin said.

Harry’s face brightened. “I would love to.” He stood up and opened the door. “I do believe breakfast waits along with the dreaded murder suspect.”

Calvin smiled at him and walked out the door. “I do hope that you will still want to go. You can be so refreshingly cute at times.”

Harry laughed and followed the man downstairs to the drawing room. A buffet had been set up alongside a wall and the others were coming in slowly. Some were grumbling about damned roosters, while one or two others were quite obviously morning people.

Finally the great event arrived. The inspector showed up with a large envelope. “Good morning everyone, good morning,” he said quite chipper. He was obviously another morning person.

Harry and Calvin were sitting in their corner quietly watching the other participants greet the Inspector.

“I’m sorry to say that I’m going to have to take someone into custody this morning.” The Inspector looked around. “But first, I want to know what you think.” He went around the room getting responses from everyone.

The majority of the room decided that Beatrice was the murderer because she hated her sister. Gretchen had decided that it was actually Patrick the brother. He wanted the inheritance to himself, so if he could frame the other sister he would succeed.

The Inspector looked to Harry and Calvin. They both said Grace simultaneously and the Inspector gazed at them carefully. He looked away and spoke to the crowd again. “Shockingly, someone actually has found the culprit. She is Grace Smith, cousin to the girls.”

Grace stood up in shock, “How dare you!” She attempted to walk out of the room, but was blocked by the gardener. “You can’t prove it.”

“Au contraire, Ms. Smith,” the Inspector began, “the final piece fell into place last night when I heard about the ladder. I inspected the site and found a small footprint in the mud. I had looked at everyone’s shoes and yours was covered in mud. Frank, take her away!”

Grace struggled against the gardener, but he held her until the handcuffs were put on her. The Inspector turned and looked at Harry and Calvin again. “I’m surprised that anyone pointed the finger at Ms. Smith. Can you explain how you knew?”

Calvin spoke up, “It was not from the lack of acting skills of the other family members. She seemed to blend into the crowd so much so that you couldn’t tell if she were a family member or not. She did clearly know the family, so she had to be in on the plot all along.”

“She also was the only female wearing shoes made for the outdoors last night,” Harry added.

“Very good, both of you,” was all the Inspector could say.

Then Gregory stood up and clapped his hands. “Thank you, thank you all! I do hope that you enjoyed yourselves.” He was greeted with a round of applause. “In just a few more minutes you will be changing back into yourself. If you have made new friends, please do not let their appearance startle to.” Gregory seemed to look in the corner at Harry and Calvin, but he also noticed the look at a few other people.

“Are you sure, John?” Calvin asked softly.

He looked over at Calvin and smiled, “I have never been surer.” He took Calvin’s hand in his. “In fact, if it doesn’t bother you, I will hold your hand until we are finished.”

They entwined hands as Gregory began speaking again. “When we the change is complete, I shall bring out our entire cast.”

Harry took a look around the room. It seemed as if a few people were closer. Lizabeth and Richard were in each other’s arms. Their disappointment over not guessing the correct murderer had already faded.

While watching them, he saw their images fade into the image of Ron and Pansy. Harry’s eyes got bigger. He never would have suspected that of Pansy, but he was right about him being Ron. Gretchen turned out to be Hermione who was holding hands with Susan Bones. The other loudmouth, Avery was Blaise. Harry’s eyes kept skimming until he felt the nerve to look into the eyes of Draco.

Draco looked just as nervous as Harry felt, but neither had let go of the hand they were holding. “Did you know,” he whispered.

Harry shook his head no.

Draco started to remove his hand from Harry’s, but Harry stopped him. “You didn’t forget that we have tea after this, did you?”

Draco smiled at him, “No, I didn’t forget. I just thought you might like your hand back before Weasley storms over here and cuts mine off.”

Harry laughed. He then looked up to see Ron getting yelled at by Pansy for inappropriate behavior that was not fitting of a Gryffindor. He was not supposed to attract her in the least.

Gregory, who just happened to be George, looked at Harry and smiled after noting the hand position of him and Draco. “Thank you very much, everyone! Thank you! I’m sure a few of you are shocked.”

Fred burst into the room, “But we felt that after the war, a few of us needed a new start. Sometimes we can’t see beyond an image, until the image is destroyed.”

“And so, without final ado, our cast! Gregory was of course played by me. Our groundskeeper was Fred.” George went into the list of characters. Ginny was Suzette, Bill the Bartender. Lee Jordan was Percival. Tonks was a surprise as Beatrice followed by Inspector Moony. Alicia was Meredith. Dean portrayed Patrick and Katie was his love Arabella. Angelina played Grace and Michael Corner portrayed Tom. The cast was finished out with Nancy being Cho.

Draco leaned over and whispered into Harry’s ear, “I have always said that Cho must die.”

Harry laughed softly and put his arm around the blond beside him. He was happy, in fact he felt like today was the start of something new and fresh in his life and nothing could change that. He looked into Draco’s eyes and then leaned in to kiss him softly.

Draco looked up at him, “What was that for?”

“Just because I can feel the start of something new. I’m ready for some tea, how about you?” He took Draco’s hand and they slipped out of the room unnoticed by all except the twins who exchanged a high five.