A/N: Releasing this one a little early thanks to some extra engagement on my last chapter :) Hope you all enjoy!
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Chapter 8
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Sitting at her desk, Grace can hardly keep her mind from spiraling. Another victim, well two victims from a crime scene that morning. Charlotte Michaelson aka Lottie, the owner of the very bakery Grace had visited on Sunday.
Speaking with all witnesses, the woman acted completely normal all morning until a regular customer, Jared Greengrass, came in. She killed him on the spot before taking her own life, blasting herself directly in the head with a powerful curse.
"It was the same man she mentioned caused her trouble." Grace confirms with her partner, recognizing the man immediately as the one Hughes had spoken with.
"She's the first one where we have a confirmed connection between both parties..." Lowering his voice to a whisper he leans closer, "You said Hughes knew him do you think that-"
"No." Grace cuts Regulus off, matching his hushed tone. "He clearly cared for the man... you saw how devastated he was this morning and how passionately he demanded the Chief to give him the case... He wouldn't do this, even if he did want to propel an anti-muggle born message, I don't believe he would hurt his friend... Plus he just isn't that smart."
"Agree with you there." Regulus forces a small chuckle despite the dark situation. "Maybe we should pull what customer records we can from the Bakery. See if any other pure bloods have placed orders there?"
"Yeah, couldn't hurt, but I don't think our killer will be dumb enough to leave a trail that could be easily spotted."
"Mails here." Erik calls out, walking around to each Auror. "Here you go, Grace." He hands her a small group of envelopes before doing the same for Regulus. "And for Mister Black."
"Thanks." Grace mumbles, mind still deep in compilation over the case. After a few breaths, she opts to look through her letters, immediately noticing one that seems to be unofficial with no seal on it. Oh Merlin. She internally groans reading the handwritten note.
'For the woman who has stolen my heart with a look of power. I am yours.'
"What's that?" Regulus asks, looking over and reading the note with a look of disgust passing his face. "Do you know who-"
"No." Grace shakes her head, throwing the note in a drawer of her desk. "No idea who would be writing that to me. Probably a joke from one of them." She whispers, gesturing to the male Aurors.
In reality, Grace is actually well accustomed to getting cheesy love notes, poems, flowers, sporadic gifts... even with her terrifying reputation in school, she had quite the following of admirers who showered her in gifts over the years, especially in Ravenclaw House. However, now graduated and receiving a note in her work place, she can only assume it is a joke.
"Hm." Regulus glares towards the other Aurors, a desire to both protect and defend the woman next to him surging. Regardless if it's a joke or a real note, he does not wish for anyone to mess with Grace or even worse, pursue her.
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Days pass with no new attack and unfortunately no new leads are discovered from scouring through the Bakery records. As Saturday night begins, Regulus feels oddly out of place in his own home. Having gotten used to spending every free moment with Grace recently, it is a new experience being stuck at home again with nothing to do.
"Master, will Miss Lupin be arriving soon?" Kreacher asks, watching as the dark haired man stares blankly into the fireplace.
"Oh, uh. Not tonight."
"Oh no." Kreacher gasps slightly moving forward. "Did Master do something to offend Miss Lupin? Kreacher will fix it! Kreacher will convince her to return!"
"No!" Regulus quickly stops his house elf from apparating to find the woman and no doubt beg her to return in the most embarrassing way he can imagine. "Grace promised to spend the evening with her roommate. He's has a rough week and they are having a night in together."
"Oh, Kreacher understands. Kreature will go and remove this roommate."
"NO!" Regulus reaches out and once again stops him from snapping his fingers. "Her roommate is fine. I like him."
"But he is preventing Master from being happy with Miss Lupin!"
Regulus shakes his head with a laugh. "I appreciate you trying to help, but Grace is enjoying a night with her friend. I will see her tomorrow."
"Hmff." Kreacher huffs in disappointment before turning and heading into the kitchen.
Chuckling, Regulus grabs one of the books Grace has lent him and begins reading by the fire. As the evening progresses, he is surprised to hear a knocking at his door. Listening with curious ears, he hears Kreacher answer, only to then hear him begin yelling. "MISS CANNOT ENTER! KREACHER NEEDS MISS TO STOP RIGHT NOW!"
Standing from his seat, Regulus looks over to see a woman, a little older than him, barge into the room. Her ewry green tinted eyes look emotionless as she raises her wand and begins casting at him. Shit. Quickly dodging the first blow, Regulus grabs his wand. "Kreacher! Do not harm her, she's under a curse!" He yells, seeing his house elf getting ready to attack the woman.
"But Master!"
"I have it handled!" Reglus shouts blocking the spells. Back and forth the woman attacks and Regulus blocks. "Expelliarmus!" Regulus casts, but the woman is quick to counter with a protective spell. She's too good of a dueler. I'll need to use some force. "Incendio!" He launches a stream of fire towards the woman whose shield breaks from the pressure. "Expelliarmus!" He casts the disarming charm in quick succession, launching the woman's wand from her hands over to Regulus. "Incarcerous!" He shouts again, binding the woman with thick rope as she falls to the ground, squirming as she tries to break free.
Quickly notifying the Ministry, the on-call Aurors arrive to take Regulus and Kreachers statements and then escort the woman to St. Mungos for treatment on reversing the curse. "Hmm." The one Auror speaks after finishing his note. "The killer must have known you were on the case." The one man comments, making Regulus' heart drop. Grace.
Panic filling him, he doesn't say another word before he apparates away from the Aurors and straight to Grace's apartment. If they attacked me, what's to say they didn't attack Grace?!
"Reg!" The brunette woman calls, smiling up at him mid spin as her and Jeremy dance around the kitchen baking brownies. "What's up?"
Letting out a heavy breath he didn't realize he was holding, he races forward and pulls the woman into his arms. "Thank Merlin, you're okay." He whispers, fear having consumed him with the idea that Grace could have just as easily been targeted.
"What's wrong?" She asks, pulling back, worry creeping into her as she sees his expression. Giving her a brief overview of what occurred, Grace immediately grows concerned and enraged. "I'm going to kill them." She hisses, fists clenched.
"Grace." Regulus scolds, grateful Jeremy was understanding and allowed them to go back into her room to speak privately.
"They went after you, Reg. This is personal now. They're dead."
"We are not executioners." Regulus whispers, pulling Grace closer to him so he can hold her. "We will bring them to justice, not murder the murderer."
"What about some light torture?" She asks, looking up at the man who releases a chuckle even though he can't quite determine if she's kidding or not.
"And here I thought Miss Professional would be keeping her cool."
"You could have been hurt... or-or worse." She insists, looking more serious. "My professionalism goes out the window with that."
"I could get hurt every day."
"You know what I mean." She rolls her eyes before a look of compilation crosses her face. "You shouldn't go home tonight. They could try again."
Regulus grins, wrapping his arms tighter around the woman. "Are you suggesting I sleep over, Miss Lupin?"
"Maybe." She speaks, a smile finally returning to her face, feeling a wave of comfort come over her from his embrace. "For your safety of course."
"Ahhh right. Of course for my safety." He winks.
"Great! So it's decided." Grace pulls out of his grip and starts walking towards the door. "Jeremy would love a snuggle buddy tonight."
Laughing dryly, he watches the woman walk away. "You're hilarious."
"I know!" She states factually over her shoulder before heading back into the main room.
Joining Grace and Jeremy for the remainder of the evening, both Aurors are somehow able to forget the events from earlier as the killer and the case fall to the back of their minds. The joy and laughter from being with one another, overwhelming the worry and paranoia.
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Showering before Regulus wakes up, Grace nearly squeals like a love struck school girl at the sight of the man in her bed. After a few drinks and lots of food, both Aurors quickly drifted off into peaceful dreams as their limbs intertwined on the bed last night. I wonder if he would have finally kissed me had Jeremy been out last night? She wonders, looking for a business outfit to wear for the day.
Deciding last night that they would travel to St. Mungos in the morning to see the latest victim of the curse, Grace unsurprisingly didn't mind the idea of working on their Sunday off. Between the hate fire she holds from Regulus being attacked and the excitement at receiving a possible break in the case with a new witness, her energy is high and eager.
"You're up early." She hears Regulus' raspy morning voice speak from the bed and she has to force herself to keep facing her wardrobe to hide her blushing cheeks from the sound.
"Ugh yeah. You can sleep in longer if you want."
"That's alright." She hears him get off the bed and walk towards her. Her breath catches as his arms wrap around her waist from behind, pulling the robe-wearing woman against his chest. "Good morning." He mumbles into her ear before giving a gentle kiss on the side of her head. "Mind if I use your shower?"
"Yeah, g-go ahead." She slightly stutters, feeling flustered by his close proximity with just a thin layer of clothing separating him from her bare skin. Lingering a little longer, Regulus finally backs away and leaves Grace longing to feel his arms around her again. "Oh Merlin. Get yourself together!" She whispers aloud after hearing the bedroom door shut as he heads to the bathroom.
Dressing into a typical work blouse and pants, she magically dries and styles her hair back while waiting for Regulus to return.
Hearing the door open, she looks up only to immediately shoot her eyes to the floor. Walking in with just a towel wrapped around his waist, Regulus is well aware of the womans fair skin becoming rosey as he enters. "Do you know a good cleaning charm I could use on my clothes?" He asks casually with a smirk, enjoying the sight of watching the normally put together woman become flustered around him.
"Oh, um. Yes." She collects herself, moving closer. After briefly describing the spell and movement, Regulus casts it without issue, allowing his clothes to become spotless and ready to be worn once again.
"Jeremy's in the bathroom now. Do you mind if I change in here?"
"Oh! Yeah, go ahead." She looks over at him, allowing her eyes to study his toned arms and chest. Gods it's unfair how beautiful he is.
"Grace." Regulus' voice cuts off both her eyes and her thoughts from wandering.
"Huh?" She asks, looking back at his face. "OH!" Her blush deepens realizing he's waiting for her to leave. "Go ahead, I'll step out!"
"I mean, I don't mind if you stay-"
"I'll step out!" She repeats, practically sprinting past him and into the living room. Chuckling to himself, as he watches her, he resists the urge to pull her back to keep her in the room. If I pull her back in here then there is no way we're making it to St. Mungos today.
Dressing quickly, the two Aurors eat a simple breakfast then head into the office to pull the file that was submitted from the report last night. Briefly speaking with the night shift Aurors who Regulus recognized from earlier, he apologizes for disappearing so quickly. However, the Aurors did not expect an apology as they took one look at the two partners and realized exactly why Lord Black disappeared last night and did not blame him for wanting to ensure his partners safety.
"We still have another 30 minutes in our shift, need us to come to St Mungos with you?" The one Auror asks, curious to learn more about the big serial killer case.
"We have it handled. Thank you." Grace professionally dismisses him before she takes Regulus' arm and apprates them to the wizarding hospital.
"Always hate coming here." Regulus mumbles, as they arrive in the hall. "Reminds me of death."
"Really?" Grace asks, looking over at her partner. "I'd say it's life... a place to give people a chance to heal." Regulus just looks at her silently for a moment, appreciating the way her mind works. "Come on." She nudges him. "This way."
Meeting with the victim, it becomes clear quickly that she has no memory of being cursed or anything out of the ordinary for the day. "I am so sorry I cannot be of more help." She speaks kindly to both Aurors. "Truly if I knew anything I would share, but I just remember taking my trash out like I normally do on Saturday night then nothing."
"Don't worry." Grace smiles appreciatively. "It's okay if you cannot remember anything else. We are just glad you are safe."
"Oh, I cannot thank your partner enough!" She reaches out and grabs Regulus' arm before tears suddenly spill out of her eyes. "I've read about what happened to the other woman and - oh merlin - I-I cannot express how grateful I am!"
"No thank you necessary." He nods, patting her hand gently.
"Oh, I did have one last question for you." Grace cuts in drawing the womans attention. "The case file mentions you being a half blood. Is that true?"
"Um, yes. I'm a half blood. My moms a muggle." Grace's brows tense as she looks at Regulus. He's lowered his requirement for victims blood status. Both Aurors think with a passing glance.
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A/N:
The plot thickens!!! Who could the killer be? Hmmm have we even met them yet?