Day 0/1

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to JK Rowling. I make no money from this piece of fiction.

A/N: A big thank you goes to x_weasley for helping me sort out all the ideas bouncing around in my head. I don't know what I'd do without you, my dear.

---

Day 0 – 11:20pm – Ministry Lab

By the time he got back to the lab, Severus was already dragging. The journey had taken twice as long as it should have – the traffic jam adding at least twenty minutes onto his drive time.

Until Minister Scrimgeour's recent Evidence Collection Manifesto, the Unspeakables had been able to Apparate back to the lab with the evidence in tow. With only one fully equipped lab in the country, it was a practical solution to a very large problem. Time was the only difference between catching a cold case or a hot one, and the Unspeakables had precious little of that.

However, a ruling from the Ministry had brought that to an end, informing all employees that vehicles were to be used during the transportation of evidence. According to one of their many studies, Apparition affected the chemical structure of any evidence collected, hence making it subject to question in court. Although the new policy might ensure Scrimgeour's advancement in the public eye, Severus knew it was a load of bullshit. It was just another scheme that gave big-shot lawyers a chance to exonerate clearly guilty parties.

His feet clicked on the tile floor as he strode down the hall to the Morgue. When he arrived, he found Dr. Luna Lovegood bent over the slab that held their Jane Doe, magnifying glass in hand, hard at work on his case.

The blonde, pale-faced coroner was the nightshift's secret weapon. Her sharp eyes missed nothing, and despite being one of the odder employees at the Ministry, she was able to come to conclusions with a speed Severus could only envy. A lateral thinker to the highest degree.

"Got anything yet?" he asked softly.

She shrugged without looking up, focused upon the victim's neck. "Snape," she said by way of acknowledgement. She didn't answer his question, instead plumping for, "You're late."

"I am never late. I always arrive exactly when I intend to," he replied nonchalantly. Luna gave him a questioning glance, her icy blue eyes blinking owlishly.

Severus ignored her, moving closer to the corpse. For all the time he'd spent studying the dead woman under the beam of his torch, he was more than willing to take another look under the better light.

Her flesh grey with a slight bluish tinge, Jane Doe had long brown hair, close-set eyes and full lips that were dry and cracked. She was small, for a woman, with wide-set hips and full breasts. A nice figure – for a corpse.

Wand behind her ear, in a fashion that reminded him a little of the cartoon painters found on the back of cereal packets, Luna leant so close to the body that her nose almost touched its cheek.

"Hello... what do we have here?" she said, more to herself than to Severus. A tiny pair of stainless steel tweezers gleamed in the fluorescent lighting, crackling distinctively as they closed around the object of her interest. Severus watched as she held it up to the light. "Well, that's interesting. What's a piece of glass doing in your hair, hmm? You don't look like a Glass-Eating Buckshine Elf to me." She placed the clear fragment in a brown envelope ready for lab testing and passed it to Severus.

Taking her wand from behind her ear, Luna grasped it gently between her index finger and thumb and made a small flicking motion over the torso of the corpse.

"Aperire," she said, the tip of her wand glowing blue. Severus watched as she passed it over the body, the colour changing from blue to pink as the wood touched her lower abdomen. "There are signs of sexual activity. Judging from the colour intensity, I'd say it was most likely an hour or two before death."

"Consensual?"

She flicked him a look. "I found no tears or abrasions on my initial examination. However, there was a slight bruising to the inner tissues. But that doesn't really tell us much; the skin there is especially sensitive, and the high number of blood vessels close to the surface means it takes very little trauma to cause bruising. I took a swab earlier. See if we can identify our lover boy. If we're lucky, he may not have been wearing a condom."

"Any internal trauma?"

"Not that I've found." She passed her wand over the woman's chest. The colour flickered slightly but remained blue. "There's no damage to the lungs or heart beyond generalised wear and tear. She's a smoker, hence the flickering, but lung degeneration is nowhere near a level that could be considered fatal." She thumbed back the lid of one eye. "And no petechial haemorrhaging in the conjunctivae either. So we can rule out both heart attack, induced or otherwise, and suffocation. The cause of death was probably due to exsanguination, though I'd need to open her up to make sure." She placed her wand on the slab and cracked her fingers.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked, grimacing slightly.

Luna merely smiled. "The killer sliced through the superior thyroid artery, external carotid artery, severed both laryngeal branches of the vagus nerve and her larynx."

"So her throat was paralysed?"

"Yes. Her voice box was immobilised. The damage to the nerve and the tissue around it would have paralysed her throat instantly, like you said." She ran a finger down the side of the woman's face. "Death would have been silent and relatively quick. Poor thing."

Severus leaned in for a closer look. "And the weapon?"

"The wound tract tells us the weapon was sharp with a serrated edge, which could match the knife you found." Luna drew in a deep breath before continuing. "I did find one odd thing though. Her blood isn't clotting, which indicates the victim was given some sort of anti-coagulant before her death. Most likely Warfarin or a Coumarin extract. I sent a sample off to Toxicology along with a greasy substance I found on her arm. It's been put on 'Rush', so the results should be back by the start of tomorrow night's shift."

Severus was about to reply when the door opened. Hermione came in, wearing a pale pink camisole, indigo jeans, and her usual white lab coat. They didn't wear robes at the lab; the long sleeves were a health hazard.

"Hey," she said, placing a hand on the edge of the door. "We've got a hit on our Jane Doe."

Severus' eyebrows rose. He followed Hermione out, barely hearing Luna's call of, "I'll keep you posted if I find anything new," as the doors to the Morgue clattered shut behind them.

------

Seated on a stool in the DNA lab, Severus watched with rapt curiosity as Hermione moved the onscreen cursor over the minimised window, blowing it up to full-size. A head shot, complete with fingerprints and personal details, appeared on the small screen.

"Our Jane Doe is one Eleanor Bones. Twenty three. Address: 59 Embassy Way, Manchester. Works as a waitress at the Three Broomsticks, travelling daily from Permanent Portkey Position 5703," she said with a smug smile.

Severus squinted at the slightly blurry screen, reading the tiny writing that flashed across its surface. The Lab was a low budget affair, scrounging ex-display technical gear from stores like Currys and Comet and running it off the excess magical energies collected at the main Ministry building, which meant that most of the computerised equipment was either broken or on its way out.

"Sentenced to four weeks community service for shop lifting, which explains why we have her prints on the database."

"Exactly." Hermione swung round on her chair and picked up a printed sheet that lay on the desk. "Ministry sent through a log of her wand use over the last two days. No defensive or offensive hexes registered, so either she knew her killer or it was a surprise attack. Last known spell performed by her wand was a Prophylaxis Charm at 3:55pm."

"Ties in with Luna's findings." Hermione raised a quizzical eyebrow. "She found signs of sexual congress about an hour before death," he said by way of explanation.

"I think we need to find this mystery lover. He could have seen the killer."

"Or he could be the killer. Seduction gone wrong, perhaps," he said, flushing slightly under the intensity of her gaze.

Hermione smiled. "Lust and anger are such close relatives."

"Indeed."

Severus drummed his fingers against the desk, thinking. They had a location and a possible theory, but with the key elements missing, they could only guess at the motive. Though not a man inclined to gamble, Severus was hedging his bets on a revenge killing. Pretty young woman found dead and alone, plus an unaccounted for lover, gave him an answer he didn't much like the look of.

"What's that?" Hermione asked, startling him out of his reverie. She pointed to the envelope Luna had given him. Severus flashed her a rare grin, pleased to have the upper hand for once.

"This," he said, peeling open the top and walking over to a battered looking microscope, "is a glass fragment Luna found in our victim's hair." Carefully, he placed the tiny piece on a backing plate and fed it under the microscope lens. He looked into the eyepiece and fiddled about with the black knobs at either side until he got the focusing just right.

"Ah ha!" he exclaimed, motioning for Hermione to come and take a look. He moved out of her way, placing a hand on her shoulder as she leant in. He felt her shiver a little under his touch. "Cold?"

"No," she said without looking up. "Glass isn't polarised, so it's not from a pair of glasses or a car window. It also has a slight bluish tinge under white light observation." She drew back a little. "My best guess is an ordinary window pane or part of a glass tumbler. But there was no glass at the scene. She must have picked it up before the dump, though where is anyone's guess."

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

"House call?"

Severus smirked at her.

----

Day 1 – 00:55am – 59 Embassy Way

Before long, they were turning off the main road and into the maze of smaller streets that made up the outskirts of Manchester City. It was a quiet night, and the neighbourhood was asleep save for a few windows flickering with TV watching. The streetlamps gave off a sickly orange glow, and Severus had to blink to keep his eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead.

A rundown leftover from the 1920s, 59 was a narrow, two-up-two-down terrace with a slate roof that seemed more black than grey under the mercury-vapour streetlights. Large, double-glazed windows were at either side of the door with a small tinted window to the right that was, possibly, the bathroom. The garden was almost non-existent, the pitiful amount of grass peppered with splotches of yellow denoting the season.

The temperature hovered around the twenty-six degree mark, just hot enough to make Severus feel uncomfortable under his button-down jacket. Hermione had put on her robes, light blue ones this time, and he could make out a tiny bead of sweat rolling down the back of her neck.

"This weather's going to be the death of me," she groaned, fanning herself lightly with an empty hand. Her other carried their large, black kit bag.

The pair walked up the concrete driveway, Severus with his wand out. The house had been cleared moments before, but Severus had learnt the hard way that it paid to be vigilant. The front door, white and thick with city grime, was ajar. He walked through into the cool, dark hallway, sighing with relief.

"Are you the lot from the Ministry?"

Severus turned, spotting a bulky-looking Auror in green robes gesturing towards them with the tip of his wand. "Yes."

"Then I think you'd better start over here," he said, holding open the door to what appeared to be the bedroom.

Hermione and Severus pushed forward, walking past the Auror and into the room. She let out a low whistle as she surveyed the scene.

The murder had definitely taken place here. There was a pool of blood on the bed, originating from a point about a third of the way from the bottom. Arterial spray covered both the far wall and the headboard, stark against the light wood and cream wallpaper. The bed sheets were rumpled with signs of a struggle and had been pulled out from underneath the mattress. Half a broken wine glass, empty save for a few drops of ruby-coloured liquid, stood on the bedside table, the sharp edges glinting dangerously in the light.

Hermione set the kit down on the floor, opening it up and removing a UV torch from the very bottom. She tossed Severus a pair orange tinted goggles, then put a pair on herself, tucking her curls behind her ears to keep them out of the way. Severus flicked off the lights, plunging the room into semi-darkness, so it was lit only from the weak light of the streetlamp that shone through the flimsy net curtains. Hermione switched on the torch, running the beam up and down the bed spread. Moving from left to right, she paused occasionally to look at something a little closer, lifting hair, fibres and other objects of interest with a small section of plastic-backed tape.

"Signs of sexual activity," she said as she flicked the blue beam over the end of the sheet, marking where the fabric glowed. Severus stepped closer, stilling her hand with his own. He pointedly ignored the tingles of energy the contact brought.

"Stop right there," he commanded, pulling a pair of tweezers from his pocket. He reached down onto the bedspread, picking up a red fibre. "Dyed thread of some description. Most likely from a shirt or robes."

Hermione held out a brown paper bag. "Bag it and tag it. We'll take it back for processing."

He placed the thin thread into a brown collection envelope and sealed it closed, cataloguing it with the evidence Hermione had collected. Leaving her to continue processing the bedspread, he turned towards the western side of the room. The wineglass caught his attention first.

"Strange," he muttered, sliding his wand into the loop at his belt and digging into the kit bag.

Hermione looked up. "What's strange?"

"Broken wine glass, yet no wine bottle or glass on the floor." Severus opened a small jar of fingerprinting dust, loading up the large, fluffy brush he now wielded with the black powder. Using feather-light strokes, he began to brush over the glass, resisting the urge to sneeze as the powder cascaded into the surrounding air. "No fingerprints either. Killer cleaned up?"

"Well, we know the killer was wearing gloves, which could explain why you aren't finding anything. Perhaps the glass was broken elsewhere?"

"But why have a broken wineglass in your bedroom?"

Hermione shrugged, dropping to the floor to examine under the bed. Severus heard her rummage around for a while and then a loud crack.

"Shit," she hissed.

"Are you all right?" he said, watching with concerned eyes as she sat up rubbing her head.

"The bed may have been slightly lower than I expected." She gave him a lopsided smile, amused by his worried expression. "I'll be fine. Found something interesting though, so I suppose the bump on the head was worth it." She reached under the bed and pulled out a long strip of soft purple velvet. Sensuous to the touch, the fabric was attached to the underside of the bed, knotted around the bottom of the wooden frame. She gave it a sharp tug, pulling it out to its fullest extent. "Looks like we got ourselves a pair of deviants," she said with a cheeky grin.

"Check the fabric for epithelial cells. The victim was probably tied down, and someone had to fasten the bonds; she couldn't have done that alone, even magically aided." He gave her a puzzled look. "It still doesn't explain the blood pattern though." He strode up to the head of the bed, tracing the line of the spatter with his index finger. "It's too high. By all assumptions, the spatter should be lower. If she was tied down, then her body would have been closer to the bed. Plus the pooling is at an odd position. Neither at the head nor the foot."

"Killer could have repositioned the body after death. With her tied down, the killer would have had to do some smart manoeuvring to remove himself without getting blood everywhere. Apart from the bed and the wall, the scene is unusually clean. Murder is messy, and throat slashing doubly so. The killer had to have caught some of the spatter, yet I don't see any blood drops indicating movement."

"Hmm..." Severus moved round to the opposite side of the bed, careful not to disturb any potential evidence. "I've got a bloody footprint on this side. Looks to be a size twelve – definitely not our victim's. The foot was bare, and there's only the one. Perhaps the killer missed it during clean up. Luckily for us, might I add."

There was a small flash of light as Hermione snapped off shots of the print. "Only a partial, but it's something, I suppose. It does narrow down the potential field of suspects."

Severus looked at his watch and groaned. Hermione shot him an odd look.

"It's going to take the rest of the shift to process: we've got the entire house to do," he explained, inwardly cursing any deity he could think of for having the audacity to place him in an enclosed space with her for the rest of their twelve hour shift. As if Malfoy's ultimatum wasn't playing heavily enough on his mind already, he would now be faced with tantalising glimpses of what he couldn't have. He was in two minds over whether to just kiss her and get the rejection over and done with. A planned seduction needed time. Time which he, incidentally, no longer had.

Sodding all to hell, Severus decided to follow his instincts. He licked his lips nervously, his eyes flicking over her face, looking for any sign of affection. Leaning forward slightly, he was about to take the plunge when she spoke again.

"Draco will be along later," she said. "He's just finishing up over at the lab."

He scowled at the mention of the other man's name, suddenly feeling incredibly foolish. "The sooner he gets here, the better," he said, not meaning a single word.

Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. Her fingers were soft and warm, sending a thrill though him. For Severus, it wasn't quite the comforting gesture she'd intended.

"Hey, it's not all doom and gloom," she said, giving him a small smile. "You've got me."

'If only,' Severus thought. 'If only...'