They All Love You

part twenty-six

The Winter Ball would be hosted on the second to last day of the first semester, the date being December 17th. Within days of the public announcement, students all over the castle were non stop blabbering away about the future party. If anything, a ray of light had been cast on the students- giving them something to look forward to.

As the first day of December came, Hermione had officially caught up on all her homework and had began re-viewing material with Ginny, Luna and Pansy in the warmth of the eighth and seventh year's common room.

"Alright, quiz me on History of Magic, since I'm certain I'll get an Acceptable at best," Pansy complained, shoving her magically-crafted stack of flashcards into Hermione's hands.

Laughing, Hermione flipped the first one over, "When did Venusia Crickerly die, and what was the cause for death?"

Pansy groaned and dropped her head into her palms as Hermione tried to bite back her laugh.

"She died in 1912 since she uprooted a mandrake in her garden, isn't it?" Ginny's mind scrapped together, anxiously looking at a visibly impressed Hermione.

"You're absolutely right, Gin. Do you remember her profession?"

Pansy's head whipped up, "WAIT! I know this...minister for magic, right? Right?"

Luna, Ginny and Hermione all laughed at her efforts, but Hermione confirmed her question with a simple 'yes.'

"I'm going to fail all of my NEWTS, no doubt about it," Pansy huffed, sliding backwards into the chair.

"Yes, living jobless with hundreds of thousands of galleons at your disposable does sound dreadful," Ginny tutted, making Hermione laugh even harder.

Amidst the hubbub of laughing, chanting and the slight chance of serious study and review time, Theodore Nott was pacing within the Head Student's common room, eager for some sort of breakthrough. 

For the past months, like Hermione, has been left completely unsatisfied with the handling of Professor Sprout's untimely "accidental death" and the strange disappearance of Astoria herself. Getting the owl that asked how Astoria was adjusting back to school life made him even more curious, wondering what the root of the issue was.

They couldn't possibly connected, he had earlier concluded, for they both were completely different circumstances and people with the only similarity being they attended Hogwarts alongside himself.

Placed scrappily on the large oak table in the common room laid a stretched out piece of parchment in a landscape position with notes and maps of aimless words and theories he had scribbled effortlessly into the parchment. Dates, times, ministry statements gathered from The Daily Prophet, possible theories, witnesses and people involved in Sprout and Astoria's vastly opposite lives.

Mumbling to himself, he walked over to the far left corner of the page where "Professor Sprout" was barely noticeable from his penmanship and re-read over his sloppy notes.

Pomona Sprout: died in office, found by Hermione Granger and Dean Thomas, sectumsempra, "spell mishap/misuse", Hogwarts cloak on possible killer- portrait saw only some sort of man entering just before Hermione and Dean entered-

That was it. 

As his mind foolishly read over the notes again and again, he lunged for his quill and wrote down a possible breakthrough in his investigation.

Possible killer did not exit the room after entering

After his ink-blotted sentence was written, he snatched his wand in determination and marched out of the common room to find Hermione. Perhaps she could make light of the situation?