The Boy Who Lived

Time to go Home

It was Mione who related the details of what she'd witnessed because, fortunately, she'd been there too, she was the one who stopped matters from getting truly out of hand. Robards and Eliot were in Harry's office too, as witnesses to Mione's statement. Pansy was sitting in Robards office with Hercules and Nev and a strong sweet mug of tea. Nev didn't know what was actually going on but Harry knew he'd look after Pansy, it was easy to see she was in shock and frightened. Harry's biggest concern was that this would be a step backwards for her.

'That woman's an absolute creep!' Mione exclaimed in hushed tones in Harry's office. 'I never guessed in all the years that we've been in meetings together. I mean, she's not the warmest of people, and her handshake is a bit like holding a wet fish and it's all a bit clammy and sickly but, you know...'

Harry did indeed know. There had never been any reason to dislike Gide but there was something about the woman. Harry had decided that if Pius Thicknesse and Severus Snape had ever had a lovechild, she would be the result. All three people were a constant reminder never to grow his hair or use Sleekeasy on it. And to always smile more.

'Pansy and I have been carrying out some research together in the library,' she looked slightly guilty and Harry raised an eyebrow, this was news to him but he ignored that snippet of information for the moment. 'So, Pans... Pansy had left our table to find a particular book. It was a bit of an obscure link and anyway, not relevant, she'd gone to find the book. I saw Gide come in but hadn't paid much attention to it. It seemed she was waiting for an opportunity because she cornered Pansy in the aisle. Luckily, I realised that Pans had been gone for longer than just finding a single book which we both knew the location of, so, I went to find her. Gide had her back to me; she'd cornered Pansy and was pushing her up against the shelves. I knew it was serious because the book Pansy had gone to fetch was on the floor, its spine bent and pages folded from how it had fallen; she's prestigiously careful when it comes to the treatment of the old books, she'd never purposely mistreat them, especially one as important as Waffling's Magical Theory. Anyway, Gide, she's so tall and she had Pansy pressed up against the bookshelf... Harry! Breath! Are you going to be able to calm down?'

Harry nodded, breathing deeply in through his nose and the door stopped rattling. He wasn't in a position to get this angry, this protective, but honestly. Mione looked at him with immense feeling in her brown eyes. Robards simply watched Harry with pursed lips, if the circumstances had been different, he would have been amused and his eyes would be twinkling wickedly, but this was not the moment for teasing about Harry's lack of control and his moral righteousness.

Hermione whispered almost disbelievingly of her own words, 'she'd pinned Pansy against the shelf, her hands pressed against Pansy's chest and Pansy had frozen, I don't even think it was a spell, I just think she was that frightened. I was going to march straight down there and hex the woman but I knew you needed more evidence on her, I know you needed a witness, so I went down the next aisle to hear what she was saying. She was saying Pansy owed her because she'd kept Pansy in a job, because she'd been nice to... she called her "a fucking Death-Eater cock-pocket" and said that she was the only one who'd been willing to give her a job because her attempts to hand Harry over to Voldemort. She said she wanted Pansy back in the Genealogy Department and she wouldn't sign her release form because she wanted what was due...' Mione gulped. 'It was all implied but Gide's other hand,' she faltered. 'She ran her hand over Pansy's breast to... she was touching Pansy, down below, she was actually touching Pansy. Trying to unzip her trousers there, in the bloody library. It's disgusting... Well, I did hex her then, as soon as I saw that and the way Pansy looked traumatised. And I brought Pansy straight up here. You know the rest.'

'And Gide?' Robards looked furious so at least Harry felt justified in his own anger.

'I had to leave her where she fell.'