Chapter 1: Prologue

This story is a non-epilogue compliant mix of mystery with romance, and please remember that all 36 chapters aren't just either romance or mystery. I will juggle the plot strands, and if you're looking for plain romance, this is not your place.

SUMMARY

London: Four murders have taken place under bizarre circumstances, for what seems to be an equally bizarre reason.

Harry, a happily wedded man with a wonderful wife and a cute daughter, is an Auror at the Ministry of Magic and is now given a new case to solve with Ron and four other Aurors. Incidentally, the four Aurors include Ginny, Harry's 'schoolboy crush'; and it turns out to be much more than a crush when Harry sees her again. What's more is that Harry is working upon a case that seems to connect to him directly. And once again, it opens up old fears: fears of losing loved ones.

Ron, on the other hand, seems to be tired of Hermione. Tempers are running high and fights are breaking out more often than usual. Are they really falling apart? Or can they sort this out before it is too late?

Then there is the case itself. Who is trustworthy, and who is not? Who is deadly enough to murder four people in cold blood?

Indulge into the gut-wrenching action, combined with warm romance and tingling suspense; while I tell you a story of love, ambition and obsession… a story of what those killer instincts can do.

DISCLAIMER: Nothing you recognise belongs to me. It's all property of Queen Jo.

A/N: Ok, so this is the first novel I completed, and I'm very proud of it. I started writing this in early 2007, which means it's been six years (:o) and also that I was six years younger; so this might seem a little juvenile and teenager-ish.

The principle pairings here are Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione. I also have an OC/OC pairing on the side, and I love those two. :D

That said, before you read the story, I'd like to remind you that in early 2007, DH hadn't come out yet, so this one is compliant upto book 6. Of course, since this is post-war, the only relavance this has is that the story is not compliant with the epilogue. Ron and Hermione have two kids; I renamed them Rose and Hugo but in the original fic, the boy is older than the girl, so yes, Hugo will be elser to Rose. But once again, that really doesn't matter as far as the plot is concerned, because Ron and Hermione's kids are not very significant here. And this also means there's no compliance to the post-DH information that JK Rowling gave us about everyone's lives and occupation.

More than half of the original version of this was betaed by Pauie/lucilla_pauie from MNFF but the revamping is all me and any new mistakes are mine!

I hope all that didn't drive you away yet, and if it didn't, I present my first-ever novel, Killer Instincts. Please note that this is the beginning, so before you ask any "OMG HOW? WHY?" questions, I'd like to say that it will all be explained in chapter 1. Enjoy!

PROLOGUE

A stream of sunlight illuminated the dark grey stone floor as it poured down from the high gothic-style stained glass windows of the cathedral. The neatly arranged seats had been occupied by a large number of people who were attending the wedding. The people belonging to the bride's side were wearing traditional gowns and suits while the people from the side of the bridegroom were dressed in saris and sherwanis- the traditional Indian attire.

Ron, who was playing the role of the best man, smoothed his beige coloured sherwani and scanned the room for his wife, Hermione. Oh yes… there she was- dressed in a rust coloured embroidered sari and light jewellery. She was carrying their three-month-old son, Hugo, in her arms. Ron smiled at her and she returned it. Then, he looked aside and smiled warmly at his best friend and the bridegroom, Harry. Harry too, like Ron, was dressed in a sherwani, though it was white. A thin red dupatta patterned with blue squares and trimmed with gold dangled lankly from the man's neck and a sort of headgear decorated his forehead, two rows of strings hanging down his temples. With these Maharashtrian wedding clothes, Harry looked somewhat like an Anglo-Indian, what with his stunningly green eyes and jet black hair.

"Ron?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"It's just t-that…" Harry looked jittery.

"Nervous?" asked Ron.

Harry nodded rather hesitantly.

"Don't worry, mate," said Ron, clapping his hand on Harry's shoulder. "It will be all right. I felt the same way at first, but I got through it, didn't I?"

Harry took a deep breath as the bridal march started to play and everybody rose to their feet. And then she came in, walking gracefully towards Harry. She was escorted by her father and the flower girl was throwing rose petals for her to walk on. Her white wedding gown was arranged with tiny silver stars and her fingers caressed the white roses in her hands in a gracefully nervous manner. She was looking shyly at the floor, her veil rippling elegantly as she did so. Finally, she reached the altar and stood beside Harry.

Harry reached out for her veil shakily and put it back for her, gasping as he did so. She had worn no make-up at all, yet the natural crimson colour on her dusky cheeks reaching right down her throat made her look gorgeous. Her innocent deep brown eyes looked at Harry's green ones with warmth and love. Her long and shiny black locks were arranged beautifully in curly bundles. Even though Harry wondered why Parvati was so inclined to curl up her straight hair, he had to agree to himself that her beauty was truly breath-taking.

The Minister started to talk, about love, commitment and marriage, but Harry was paying no attention to him. His eyes were only on the beautiful woman in front of him; adoring every moment of this precious day in his life. And then came the pasr that Harry had been waiting for.

"Do you, Harry Potter, accept this woman, Parvati Patil as your wedded wife and promise to love, honour, comfort, and keep her in sickness and health as long as you both shall live?" the priest asked.

"I do."

"Do you, Parvati Patil, accept this man, Harry Potter as your wedded husband and promise to love, honour, comfort, and keep him in sickness and health as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"You may now kiss the bride."

There was a shower of red sparks, as Harry bent forward and kissed Parvati on her lips, feeling her soft fingers on his cheeks. Huge applause issued through the cathedral, echoing from the stone walls. Then, Harry took Parvati's hand in his and the couple walked out of the cathedral, all the guests applauding them loudly and following the couple outside. Harry and Parvati walked on down the narrow road outside the church and turned right, finally going through a gateway decorated with strings of marigold, jasmines and roses. Harry looked up and saw the temple, with its marble pillars and dome glinting brilliantly in the sunshine.

Leaving their shoes outside, the couple walked past the temple and went into a hall behind the building. The hall was huge, it's pillars bedecked with flowers. There was a plinth in the centre of the hall with a small depression in the centre, surrounded by bricks. The depression looked like a square well, except for the fact that there was a fire cackling merrily in it. There was a priest sitting beside the fire, putting spoons of clarified butter into it. The fumes made Harry's eyes burn slightly, as he walked alongside Parvati to sit on the plinth. After the duo had seated themselves cross- legged, the guests began to fill up the hall. They waited for everyone to seat themselves.

Finally, Padma came up to them from the back and bent forwards. She had a small, red container in her hand. "Congratulations!" she whispered, removing the lid of the container and giving it to Parvati, who took it her right hand and extended it towards Harry. She gestured to him to smear it on Parvati's forehead, at the parting of her hair. Harry, bewildered by this, stared at Padma's hennaed palm numbly for a second before sticking his right thumb into the container and drawing it out shakily. He looked at the vermilion that had stuck on to his thumb and gradually applied it to the parting of Parvati's hair. There was a large amount of applause again and puffed rice was showered on Harry and Parvati.

There was a moment of silence, after which Padma gave Harry a necklace of tiny black beads. He put it on Parvati's neck with a third round of applause. The applause subsided and Padma stepped forward again. She tied Harry's scarf to a small portion of Parvati's gown, with Parvati standing in front of Harry. Harry extended his right hand and held Parvati's right hand, which she had stretched backwards. The priest on the floor started uttering prayers from the Vedas, as Parvati led Harry around the fire in a clockwise direction. They took seven rounds around it, each time, promising to protect and love each other, regarding the fire as their witness, as rose petals were showered on them.

When the rounds were done, the couple stopped before the altar and detached themselves from each other. Padma smiled at the duo and said to Harry, "Go on, you can hold her hand while walking out." Harry smiled back at Padma and held Parvati's hand as they started walking down the aisle to go outside the hall. Soon, Parvati broke her hand free of his, as Padma came up to her, holding out a plate of rice.

Tears streaming down her face, Parvati filled her palms with rice and flung it behind her. She repeated the procedure quite a few number of times, finally triggering even Padma to tears. At last, Harry and Parvati walked outside the hall, finding a red car decorated with flowers waiting outside for them. They got into the car.

"Come home soon," said a choked-up Padma, looking at her twin through the window of the car.

"Sure!" Parvati said, giving Padma a watery smile. "I'll come soon. Make sure you visit me too!"

Harry looked onto his other side, to see the people he loved smiling at him. All the Weasleys except for Ginny, were present. Ginny was completing her internship at an Auror school in Australia. She had not received admission in the day school for Aurors at London itself, due to shortage of seats in the years after the war.

All the Weasleys beamed at Harry; Mrs. Weasley was controlling her sobs with difficulty. Harry felt happiness erupt in his chest. He was married now. Just then, Parvati's cousins pushed the car forward for a short distance, after which the couple sped off home in their car; ready to begin a new life.

End Notes:

So what say? Yay or nay? Should I continue? Let me know! I love reviews! :D

Okay, despite that lengthy A/N, I'm getting reviews about people being disappointed that this is 'not Harry/Ginny'. Now, I'm not luring anyone under any false pretenses of this being H/G without having any intention to make it H/G. If you think I have nothing better to do than to trick people into reading my fanfiction of all things, please go have a look at my bio. It will tell you that I'm a busy person and really, I have no time for rubbish pranks at the moment. Also, I'd like you to remember that since I'm the person who plotted and wrote this story, it's quite obvious that I know what I'm doing, and also that I know about the ships that this includes. If you want to jump to conclusions about this fic (which happens to be a 36 chaptered novel) right after reading the first two chapters, be my guest, but if you can just be patient and read on, you'll see what I mean by this being H/G and R/Hr. There are a lot of chapters to go, and if everything were to happen right here, in the prologue, there would be no point in having 36 chapters. So yes, this is a long story, you have to be patient, and if you can't, well... sorry about that. Also, sorry if I come across as mean and scary- I just want to get my point across, and I am trying to be firm; not mean. Thank you. :)