Part Three

Harry Potter Apparated to the edge of a small clearing and drew the case file from his robe. Ron Weasley appeared a moment later, still buttoning the collar of his.

"What's the situation?"

Harry flipped through the file. "Magical Accidents and Catastrophes received a tip last night from Saint Sock, a nearby hamlet."

Ron breathed a laugh at the name and rolled his eyes. "Wizards."

Harry shot him a quick smile. "Residents reported seeing smoke from within the forest."

Ron nodded toward the burned-out cabin. Beyond the smoking ruin stood a ramshackle greenhouse. "I assume that's the source."

"MAC just got it under control late this morning. They found a body while performing their investigation."

Ron's eyebrows rose. "Was wondering why they called us in." He reached for the file, which Harry handed over. "Current occupant?"

"Not on file. I have Transportation checking the Floo Network Registry, but I doubt we'll find anything."

"And the Saint Sock residents had never seen anything unusual before?"

"Not that they told MAC."

Ron completed his review and handed the file back over. "MAC's cleared out?"

Harry gave a weak laugh. "Couldn't wait to leave. For all the accidents they see, you'd think they'd have more of a stomach for these things."

"We Aurors are made of tougher stuff," Ron agreed. "Wands out, do you reckon?"

Harry shrugged. "Can't hurt."

"Wait," a small voice demanded from behind them.

Harry looked over his shoulder and saw a young boy covered in blood. A cut, several inches long and crusted over with dark blood, ran across one side of his scalp, and he was missing the tip of his left ear. He held his right wrist close to his chest, his left cheek was covered by a mottled, purple-blue bruise, and his eye was swollen almost entirely shut. Despite the pain he must've felt, the boy stood tall. His chin was set and his wand aimed at them. His expression was strangely familiar.

Ron inhaled sharply. "What the -"

"What's your name?" Harry prompted.

"Cassius."

"Do you know who lived here?"

"Theodore Nott." Cassius shifted his weight. "I killed him."

Neither he nor Ron moved. Theodore Nott had hardly been seen or heard from since Hogwarts. Not that anyone cared; he'd always been quiet and, Harry thought, somewhat off.

"And the fire?" Ron asked.

"I set it. I needed to be found."

Harry and Ron exchanged a look and sheathed their wands. The situation was unusual, but they could at least follow the outline of their department's suspect apprehension protocol.

Harry knelt down so that his and Cassius' eyes were level. "You're found now, Cassius. We're going to take you to the Ministry of Magic in London, get you Healed up, and then ask you some questions, okay?"

Cassius' unbruised eye bounced between Harry and Ron, finally settling on the house. "Okay, we'll go."

A beat of silence, then Ron asked, "We'll?"

Cassius lowered his wand and approached the house, stopping when he reached the singed threshold.

"Granger?"

Harry froze. He'd misheard. It wouldn't have been the first time.

"Granger? Are you there?"

Harry shot to standing, his heart beating triple time. Ron blinked, shook his head slowly, and then turned wide, blue eyes toward his friend.

"Harry, what's he - "

Ron tottered, and Harry steadied him with firm hands.

"Come on, let's sit you down." Awkwardly, he lowered Ron onto the ground.

"Granger?" Cassius looked back to Harry. "She's not responding."

"Who is she?" Harry choked the question out. He felt nauseous. "Who's Granger?"

"A ghost," Cassius said. Ron made a strangled sound. Turning toward him with furrowed brows, Cassius elaborated: "My mother."

A broken cry tore from Ron's chest, and Harry felt himself sway. The hollow created by Hermione's disappearance a decade ago was lodged deep in his heart. It was an ache that had never vanished. A story left incomplete. A puzzle unsolved. She never could have lived with the mystery. She would've found the answer. He'd never felt so unworthy of her as when he looked at her open case file.

He pushed up his glasses to wipe his eyes. "Did she help you do this?"

"Yes…" But the boy sounded unsure. He looked back at Harry. "I don't understand."

Harry didn't want to explain. He wanted to leave. He wanted to go home to Ginny and cry into her shoulder. He wanted to hold his sons and daughter close and never let them go. He wanted his family.

But he answered. Because Cassius deserved to know. Because Cassius wanted his family, too.

"Ghosts are tied to certain locations. If the location goes away or gets destroyed…"

Cassius' chin trembled. "The ghost goes too," he finished. Tears spilled down his face as he looked up at Harry. "She helped me set the fires," he said in a small voice. "Did she know?"

Probably, was the honest answer. There wasn't much Hermione hadn't known.

"No," Harry said. "She didn't know."

"She said she loved me."

"She did," said Ron. Pale and trembling, his friend walked up to Cassius and knelt before him. He placed his hands on Cassius' shoulders and looked into a face whose agony mirrored his own. "Your mother was Hermione Granger, and she was the cleverest, most loving, and most talented witch I've ever known. She loved you, Cassius. No mother could've loved you more."

The End