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SIYE Time:12:47 on 28th March 2024
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The Corpse Wore Toilet Paper
By lucky_black_cat

- Text Size +

Category: Hogwarts Express Challenge (2006-3)
Characters:None
Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff
Warnings: Death, Extreme Language, Violence
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 29
Summary: ** Winner of Best Overall in the Hogwarts Express Challenge **
When the corpse of a Death Eater is found in the bathroom, aboard the Hogwarts Express, it will take inter-house to cooperation to solve the murder, and save Ginny's life along the way.
Hitcount: Story Total: 14093; Chapter Total: 2688





Author's Notes:
I've said it before, but I'll say it again: A huge thanks to Spenser Hemmingway for his incredible beta work. You rock my socks, Eric ^_^




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Chapter 4



Harry opened the door of the bathroom and held it open for Ron, who was right behind him. “Want to go in first?” he asked.

“Not really,” Ron answered with a grin, and pushed Harry in.

Harry chuckled and looked around at the room they were in. He heard Ron close the door with a click behind him, and he cast a sideways look at Bella’s body, which was still lying there, rigid and unmoving. “Guess the rigor mortis is setting in,” he commented. He then turned to Ron and asked, “Shall we enact what happened here?”

Ron nodded. “I’ll be Bellatrix,” he said, walking towards the door. “You can be the killer — remember, you’re inside that cubicle at the moment.”

“Right,” Harry nodded, going into the second cubicle. He closed the door after him and noticed something peculiar in it. “Ron, come here, you may want to have a look at this.”

“What’s that?” Ron opened the cubicle door with some effort and Harry retreated to the back of the cubicle to let him in. Then he pointed at the part of the door where the bolt should have been. Only, there was no bolt, and the wood looked burnt, as if a fire had been lit next to it. “What happened?” Ron muttered, touching the wood with his fingers. He removed them quickly, though. “It’s still warm.”

Harry looked at the burnt spot and thought aloud, “Well, if the killer was here, they must have gone out pretty fast in order to surprise Bellatrix. I am guessing that the reason why the Banishing Charm was so powerful is because the attacker was feeling very strong emotions, which also caused a burst of accidental magic that reduced the bolt to ashes and made the door open.”

“That makes sense,” Ron nodded. “Ok, I’m going to go out and act like I’m her.” He jabbed his thumb in the direction of Bellatrix.

Ron walked from the door of the bathroom to the point where Bella’s body was, and in that moment, Harry went out of the cubicle and pointed his wand at Ron. “Ok, so now we duel,” Harry said, and he and Ron started acting as if they were shooting spells at each other. “Now I banish you,” Harry told him, and Ron walked backwards till he was right next to Bellatrix.

“Right,” he sighed. “So this is what happened here, but who was the person in the cubicle?”

“I don’t know,” Harry sighed. “That’s just what I don’t —” He stopped mid-sentence and looked at a spot on the ground, his eyes wide. “I can’t believe it,” he breathed.

“What? What is it?” Ron asked nervously, coming up to him. Slowly, Harry bent down to pick up a handkerchief from the floor. Ron gave a whimper at the sight of it and shook his head in disbelief. “It can’t be,” he repeated over and over again. “It just can’t.”

Harry looked at the black handkerchief, not wanting to admit what it was telling him. “I can’t believe it either,” he sighed, tracing the embroidered letters with his finger. “But who else has the initials ‘GMW’?”

****


A pair of emerald green eyes looked out of the window. The rain, so insistent before, was now a mere drizzle that fell to the ground almost reluctantly and joined the small streams of water that had formed earlier. Harry found it oddly ironic that the landscape looked as lonely and sad as he felt. He turned to look at the glass on his hand, and shook it slightly, making a bit of the amber liquid spill out. With a sigh, he lifted it up to his lips and took a swig. He winced as the Firewhiskey burned his throat and made his eyes water slightly. He shook his head and took another swig as the compartment door slid open.

“Can I have a word with you, Harry?” Cho Chang’s voice came from the doorway.

Harry looked at the Asian girl questioningly but nodded nevertheless. With a small smile, she closed the door behind her and took a seat in front of him. “Are you all right?” she asked, peering at him concernedly.

“Yeah… I think,” Harry answered vaguely, sipping his glass again. Cho watched him drink from it and frowned. “You can’t try and drown your sorrows in alcohol. They can swim,” she said wisely. “I learnt that some time ago.”

“Why did you come here?” Harry asked her brusquely.

She sighed and looked him in the eye. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Why?”

“Please, Harry, don’t get defensive with me,” Cho asked him softly.

“Sorry,” Harry muttered, drinking what was left in his glass.

“You’re welcome,” she smiled. However, her expression changed to one of seriousness when she continued. “I heard what happened. Everyone is saying that Ginny is the murderer.”

“I just can’t believe she is,” Harry shook his head.

“How do you feel about her after this? Do you still love her?” Cho asked quietly.

“Of course I do,” Harry answered, knowing as he said it that it was the truth. “But I’m confused. I don’t know if I’m happy that Bella’s dead, or sad that Ginny’s a murderer.”

“Life is highly overrated,” Cho muttered. “Even the murder of someone who doesn’t deserve to live is considered an atrocity. From what I’ve heard, it was all in self-defence. Besides, if you are truly in love with her, this shouldn’t matter at all.”

“That’s it, though, isn’t it?” Harry asked bitterly. “I’m in love with her, and now I discover she’s a murderer. So I wonder, what else is she hiding?” Harry shook his head. “I’m just being stupid,” he chastised himself. “Just being stupid. Overreacting.”

Cho sighed. “Murder is not as bad as it’s made out to be. I still think about Cedric… I was in love with him, and I know that if he had killed someone to save his own life, I would still love him, even if he had become a murderer.” Harry looked at Cho and started to realise how right she was. “Would you rather Ginny hadn’t done anything? Would you rather the body in the bathroom was hers instead of Bella’s?”

Harry shook his head. “Of course not,” he answered, as what Cho had been trying to tell him finally made sense.

“She’s dying now though, Harry,” Cho told him sadly. “I was walking by the door of your compartment when I heard Pansy say she had poisoned Ginny. She’s dying, Harry, the love of your life is dying! And you’re sitting here, feeling sorry for what happened! Are you going to let her die like this? I bet she knows you’ve found her handkerchief. She’s going to die being believed a filthy murderer by the only man she has ever loved!” Cho got up, tears running down her face now. “If you let that happen, you’re not who I thought you were,” she added sadly, and ran towards the door. She stopped for a second and, without looking back at him, added, “It may seem like Ginny is not a good person. It may seem like she’s just a filthy murderer. But remember… things are never what they seem.”

Harry took a deep, steadying breath and closed his eyes. Cho was right. He checked his watch and realised with a sinking feeling that the potion would kill Ginny in less than half an hour. How could he let time slip through his fingers this way? Neither Nott nor Hermione had returned, so the antidote wasn’t ready. Harry wasn’t going to let Ginny die thinking he didn’t love her. He made his glass vanish and got up to leave when he saw something lying next to the spot where Cho had been sitting. It was a wand — Cho’s wand. He pocketed it and decided to give it back to her later. Now, his priority was to see Ginny.

Harry ran down the train towards the compartment where she was, occasionally muttering an ‘excuse me’ or a ‘sorry’ whenever he bumped into any of his fellow students. Finally, he reached his destination and opened the door so forcefully that it made Ron, who was next to Ginny, jump in his chair.

“She woke up a while ago, but fell asleep again,” Ron informed him.

Harry, however, paid him no mind, and asked him to leave them alone. Ron nodded and, muttering a ‘good luck’ to his friend, went to wait outside. Once he had left, Harry took out his wand and cast a quick Enervate on Ginny.

Her eyes opened slowly, lazily, and she smiled sadly when she saw him. “Hello, Harry,” she greeted him softly.

Harry could feel the tears prickling at the corners of his eyes as he scooped her up in his arms and made her sit on his lap. She looked at him quizzically, her clear brown eyes boring into his. “Ron told me what’s going to happen to me in twenty minutes,” she whispered. Harry started crying in earnest and pulled her to him, hugging her fiercely.

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated over and over again, caressing her back. “I’m so sorry, Gin. Will you ever forgive me?”

“What are you talking about?” she asked him, pulling away to look him in the eye. “You haven’t done anything to me. There’s nothing that should be forgiven.”

“I should never have left you at the funeral,” he muttered, his vision blurry due to the tears. “If I hadn’t, none of this would have happened.”

“There’s no use protecting me now,” Ginny answered, crying as well. “Not even you can protect me from death, Harry.”

“Maybe not,” Harry admitted, “but I can make you die knowing the truth.” Ginny looked at him questioningly. “I don’t care if you’re a murderer. You’re still Ginny, my Ginny. I still feel the same way about you.” He took a deep breath and said, “I love you, Ginny Weasley.”

Ginny choked back a sob and threw her arms around him. “I love you too. I always have,” she told him, resting her hand against his face. Harry closed his eyes, luxuriating in the feel of her skin against his, and leaned forward to kiss her. The kiss was slow, and told them that what they had could never be destroyed, not even by death.

When they pulled away, Ginny caressed Harry’s cheek and looked into his eyes. “You’ll never be alone,” she muttered lovingly. “I’ll always be with you, here.” She put her hand over his chest, where his heart was. “All you have to do is think of me, and I’ll be with you.”

“I know,” he told her, and kissed her again. He pulled her as close to him as he could, as if that way he could force her to remain with him.

Someone cleared his throat from the doorway. “I really hate to interrupt,” came Nott’s voice from the doorway. “It seems like it’s all I do lately.” Harry and Ginny pulled away and looked at him smiling slightly, and he grinned back at them, looking very proud of himself. “I’ve got the antidote. Drink it all, Ginny,” he said, giving Ginny a flask full of a liquid that emitted a faint coppery glow. Without thinking it twice, Ginny grabbed the flask and drowned it in one go.

“Next time you’ve got to save me from poisoning,” she choked, wincing, “won’t you put a bit of sugar into the antidote?”

Ron, who had come in again when he had seen Nott and Hermione arriving with the antidote, yanked Ginny away from Harry and hugged the life out of her. “You’re going to be the end of me, if you ever scare me like this.” Ginny hugged him back, a huge grin on her face, which was slowly recovering its normal creamy colour.

“I love you too, even if you’re a dimwit sometimes,” she giggled softly.

“Hey!” Ron exclaimed, acting offended, though in reality he was grinning from ear to ear.

Ginny stuck out her tongue at him and kissed Harry soundly, making the others whoop. “I don’t know if I should congratulate you or pity you, mate,” Ron chuckled. “The fiery hair comes with a fiery temper. You’re the most courageous bloke I know, if you’re willing to subject yourself to my sister.”

“Maybe that’s why I got placed in Gryffindor after all,” Harry answered, looking at Theodore with amusement dancing in his eyes.

Theodore shook his head and looked at Ginny accusingly as she brought Harry down to kiss her again. “What?” she asked when they pulled apart.

“I saved you! Don’t I get one of those as well?” Theodore joked, his eyes twinkling.

Ginny laughed and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. “This is all I can give you,” she giggled.

“It’s not enough. But you can make up for it by making me Best Man when you two get married,” Theodore teased.

****


“We’ ll arrive at Kings’ Cross Station in half an hour,” Theodore announced, throwing himself onto a chair.

Harry took out Cho’s wand and got up. “I should be getting this back to Cho,” he told the others. “She came to see me earlier and forgot this.”

“Right,” Ron nodded, taking out his chessboard and pieces. “Want to play, Ginny?” he asked.

“You’re going to be thrashed, dear brother,” she grinned and sat in front of him. “Come back soon, Harry,” she called, as her boyfriend went out of the compartment.

Harry walked down the doorway towards the Ravenclaw Compartment, where he knew Cho would be. All the while, he couldn’t stop thinking about the murder. Even though he had accepted that Ginny had killed Bella, part of him still couldn’t believe it. He fingered the wand in his hands — weeping willow, by the looks of it. He couldn’t help but wonder how Cho had forgotten the wand in his compartment. She hadn’t taken it out in all the time they had been talking, so how could she have left it there? Was it a sign? Was she trying to tell him something?

“It may seem like Ginny is not a good person. It may seem like she’s just a filthy murderer. But remember… things are never what they seem.” What had Cho meant to say by that? Harry stopped dead in his tracks. Was Cho telling him that Ginny was not Bella’s killer? He looked at the wand. The wheels in his head started turning, and he realised what she had meant, even though he couldn’t find it any sense at all.

“Cho, I need to talk to you,” Harry asked, sliding open the door of the Ravenclaw Compartment. He was surprised to see that she was alone in there.

“That’s good,” she answered, smiling. “Come sit down, Harry.”

He did as he was told and showed her the wand. “You forgot this,” he said.

“Maybe I did,” she answered cryptically. “Have you done anything to it, Harry?”

“What?” Harry asked, shocked. “Of course not!”

Cho sighed. “I told you… things aren’t what they seem. You didn’t listen…” she looked at him sadly. “Can I have your wand, please, Harry?”

Frowning in confusion, Harry took out his wand and gave it to her. She took it and made its tip touch the tip of her own wand. “Prior Incantato!” she muttered. From the point where the two wands were connected erupted a puff of smoke. It formed the shape of a cloaked woman. A jet of light hit the woman on the chest and threw her backwards. Harry gaped at Cho, who smiled sadly at him. “You see, Ginny didn’t do it,” she told him. “I did.”

“How? Why?” Harry asked, confused.

“Let me tell you the story,” Cho said softly, and began speaking.

****


Cho got on the Hogwarts Express surrounded by her Ravenclaw friends. Marietta was telling Helen something that Roger Davies had told her the other day, and they were both laughing openly. However, as hilarious as the story undoubtedly was, Cho couldn’t find it in her to laugh along with her friends. It was rainy days like this that reminded her the most of Cedric, and how much he loved taking walks outside in the rain. He used to say how the rain purified him and washed away all his worries and problems.

“So Roger went to Anthony and told him to stuff his graphs and statistics. You should have seen his face!” Marietta giggled.

“Hey girls, I’m going to the bathroom,” Cho told them. “See you in the compartment later.”

Both girls nodded and continued talking. Cho walked away from them, hoping they hadn’t seen the tears that were starting to run down her cheeks. Finally, she arrived to the bathroom and went in, closing the door after her. It was empty. However, Cho locked herself inside the second of the three cubicles; afraid someone would come into the bathroom and see her crying. She didn’t want anyone to know that she still thought about Cedric more than she told her friends. It wasn’t that she couldn’t forget about him — it was that she didn’t want to. She felt that, if she let go of him, she would be letting go of the happiness she knew by his side.

While Cho was crying, she heard the whistle that announced that the train would be leaving Hogsmeade Station in five minutes. Shortly after that, she heard the door of the bathroom open. She stiffened, and tried to keep silent, just in case it was Marietta or Helen. However, she soon realised that it wasn’t, because this girl was crying too. Cho heard the girl sob and mutter “It’s over, it’s over” again and again. Cho recognised the voice — it was Ginny Weasley.

Cho wondered what had happened to her. She always seemed to radiate off happiness, so why was she crying? Cho barely knew her, but deep inside she knew that Ginny Weasley was the kind of person you can trust no matter what happens. That’s why Cho felt sad for her. Ginny must be washing her face, Cho thought as she heard water flowing. Then, the door opened again, and this time Cho knew it was unwanted company. Cho watched the scene through a small gap in the door.

“What do you want?” Ginny asked, whipping around to face the newcomer. “You’re not welcome here, Bellatrix!”

The woman called Bellatrix let out a cold, humourless laugh. “You break my heart,” she sneered. “Do believe me, I wouldn’t be here if it depended on me. This train is full of Mudbloods and filth.”

“Then leave!” Ginny shouted, wiping her eyes furiously and taking out her wand.

“I am here on the Dark Lord’s orders,” Bellatrix smiled proudly, “and I will not leave until his instructions are fulfilled. Stupefy!” A jet of red light shot from the tip of Bella’s wand towards Ginny, who dodged it.

“Is that the best you can give me, Bellatrix?” Ginny told her sneeringly. “It’s going to take more than one Stunner to finish me off.”

“We’ll see about that,” Bella answered. She threw another jet of light at Ginny at the same time that the redhead fired a Stunner of her own. The two jets collided and threw each other off course, which resulted in both spells missing their targets.

“If I had wanted you dead, Ginny Weasley,” Bella said, “you’d be already.” Then, with a swift movement of her wrist, Bella produced ropes that tied themselves around Ginny’s body, immobilising her before she had time to react. Ginny fought and wrestled against the ropes, but they didn’t release her. Bella laughed.

“You’re too brave, or too stupid. A typical Gryffindor,” Bella sneered. “I hope that, at least, you’re proud of yourself.” With a wave of her wand, she forced Ginny into a sitting position in the corner, where she had no way to escape.

“Set me free, you great bitch!” Ginny yelled, her eyes blazing with fury.

“What would be the fun in that?” Bella taunted her. “Though I must admit that it’s a pity I have to get rid of you. You’ve got a pretty face… just like that Diggory boy did.”

Cho felt her blood boiling with anger and hatred. How could this woman speak of Cedric that way? She wasn’t half as good as he was, she didn’t deserve to even speak his name. A wave of fury like Cho had never known before came over her, and she hardly noticed when the door of the cubicle burst open.

“This is the end of you, Ginny Weasley,” the woman smirked, so focused on Ginny that she hadn’t noticed Cho’s appearance. Bella trained her wand on the redhead once more and cried, “Anima Mor-”

“Impedimenta!” Cho cried, and the woman turned just in time for a white-hot jet of light to collide with her chest and send her flying backwards. At the contact with the wall, she dropped to the floor, unmoving.

Cho ran towards Ginny, whose breathing was ragged and heavy. With a wave of her wand, Cho released the redhead and then helped her to her feet. Ginny mumbled a ‘thank you’ before asking, “Why did you do it?”

“That woman insulted Cedric,” Cho answered furiously. She could still feel her power pounding in the air around her. “Besides, she was about to harm you.”

Ginny smiled and hugged the older girl. “Thanks, Cho,” she muttered.

“You’re welcome,” Cho smiled. Then, she turned to look at Bella’s cloaked figure lying on the floor, not showing a sign of life. Both Cho and Ginny approached the Death Eater, their wands out just in case. “Is she unconscious?” Cho asked.

Ginny bent down and touched Bella’s neck. With a gasp, she removed her hand. “Cho,” she said in a small voice. “She’s not unconscious. She’s dead.”

Cho looked at Ginny, alarmed. “What are you talking about?” Cho asked. Ginny nodded solemnly. Just then, Cho saw the scarlet liquid on the wall that had stopped Bella’s body. It was blood. Horrified, Cho put her hands over her mouth and backed away from the corpse. “I killed her,” she muttered over and over again, her eyes wide. Then, she turned to look at Ginny, who was staring at her with an unfathomable expression on her face. “You’re not going to turn me in, are you?” Cho asked in a small voice.

Ginny shook her head. “You just saved my life. It’s the least I can do to repay you,” Ginny told her, and got up. “Let’s get out of here. Nobody’s got to know.”

Cho nodded mutely. “Thanks,” she said, following Ginny, who was walking towards the door. “Hold on,” Cho told her suddenly, and turned to cover Bella’s face with the hood of her robes. Then, taking a deep breath, she ran out of the bathroom, right after Ginny.

“Remember,” Ginny whispered to her, as she locked the bathroom door with a charm. “If anybody asks, you don’t know anything. Go now, they mustn’t see us near here.”

****


Harry took a moment to process the information. “That makes sense,” he said slowly. “Your story is coherent with the evidence we found.”

Cho nodded. “You should consider yourself a lucky man,” she told Harry. “Ginny was the most amazing person I’ve ever met. She never turned me in, even when she was about to die. But it was time I returned the favour, so her memory can rest in peace.” Cho looked at her hands, which were on her lap.

“Cho,” Harry muttered. “Ginny’s alive.”

Cho looked up, shocked. “I thought she’d been poisoned?”

“We managed to brew the antidote in time,” Harry explained. “Everything’s going to be all right.”

Cho smiled. “I’m so happy for you,” she said, and Harry knew that she truly meant it. “You both deserve happiness. You belong together; I see it in the way you look at each other. Please be happy, do it for me, won’t you?”

Harry kissed her forehead. “Thank you, Cho,” he told her, getting up as he felt the train come to a stop. He halted in the threshold, just before going out. Looking back at the Ravenclaw with a smile, he whispered, “Remember… Nobody’s got to know.” With that, he left the compartment and went to meet his friends.

“Nobody’s got to know,” Cho muttered with a smile, after he had left. Her dark eyes looked out of the window, and watching the raindrops that lingered on the glass, she smiled and realised it had never been about letting go of Cedric. She put a hand over her heart and knew, without a doubt, that he would always be with her.


THE END

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