THIRTEEN

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"Harry!"

Harry turned, his brows rising the moment he noticed Draco's stern expression. Without needing his urging, Ron turned to the woman they had been speaking to before—presumably one of the people who were to take the body—to finish their conversation as Harry took a step closer towards them. "Did something happen?"

"Yes, actually," Draco said at once as he moved to the side, letting Harry's attention fall on Bada. The confusion on his face only made her feel more guilt, even though she knew she couldn't have done things differently. Today was turning out to be a rather unpleasant day.

"Not here," she murmured, gaze wary as she looked left and right. "In my apartment."

"Now? Can't it wait?" Harry wondered, his confusion heightening when Bada shook her head. After some hesitation, he nodded. "Give me a moment."

He left to exchange a word with the woman he had been talking with before, leaving Bada, Theodore and Draco on their own. The moment he was gone, Theodore turned to her.

"I know you couldn't have killed all these people since you were with us. But how did you know we should look at the sea shells to find a common link between the crimes?"

"I can explain everything," she replied as she turned to face him, expression pleading. "It's just...It's a long story."

"We are ready," Harry's voice was heard before Theodore could reply, and as Bada turned to face him, she saw Ron was by his side, as confused as Harry was.

"Hold each other," she asked softly, "I'm taking you to my apartment."

There was no need for any further prodding, and with the five of them joined, she turned on the spot, apparating in an alley by her apartment. She didn't waste a moment to walk forward, to the direction her apartment was, and even though none of them said a word, she knew they were following her closely. It didn't take her long to reach the building she lived in and not long later she was ascending the stairs to the first floor, opening her door and ushering them inside.

"Should we take off our shoes?" Ron asked when he noticed her taking off her shoes. At her nod, all of them complied. With the door closed, they got deeper in the house. Unaccustomed to having company at such a time, at the sound of them arriving both Jakda and Geomeun appeared from the corridor that led to her bedroom.

"Would you like a glass of water?" Bada asked softly as she headed to the kitchen. "Perhaps some tea?"

"I would like some tea," Ron admitted, and as no one else spoke, she assumed he was the only one who needed something.

"One of the women we were asking in case she had seen anything saw a suspicious vehicle in the area with a couple inside, a man and a woman. She hadn't noticed how the man looked but she said the woman looked just like Bada," Draco spoke, not wasting a moment to share his findings.

"Couldn't it be she got confused?" Harry asked, and even with her back turned on them, Bada could make out the hesitancy in his tone. "After all, she was with us when we got the distress signal."

"I thought so too. But when I turned to her she had that look on her face like she knew something."

Silence followed Draco's statement as Bada cleared her throat lightly. "Please take a seat."

She heard the chairs moving as they sat down and not a moment after they had sat, Harry spoke up. "You've been hiding things from us? You knew something about the case and didn't let us know?"

"I had an assumption, yes," she admitted, Harry's hurt tone like a punch in her gut she chose to forget for now, knowing things would only get worse if she didn't explain what she knew. "My hunch proved to be correct by what the woman said today."

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