Who Will Stop the Rain

Paparazzi

Harry's expression hardened as he approached the gaggle of reporters who all stood huddled together behind a magical barrier one of the rookie Aurors had put in place. His eyes scanned the crowd and his gaze fell upon that of his old school friend, Hermione Granger, who unlike the others screaming questions and waving quills in his face, stood sedately to one side, watching him closely. He raised his hand and the crowd fell silent. For a moment, he didn't speak, the only sound was the rain battering off of their sodden cloaks and parchment.

"The body of a young boy was found by a passer-by at about four-thirty this morning," he began. "We regret to confirm that the victim is Adrian Nott."

The reporters erupted with more questions. Harry pointed to one of them and they asked, "Was Adrian drowned like the previous victims?"

"An autopsy will be conducted in order to determine the victims cause of death," he explained. Nodding to another reporter they lowered their hand and asked.

"Do the Aurors believe that this is the work of the Origami Killer?"

"We cannot say conclusively whether or not this is the work of the Origami Killer," Harry countered evasively. Not that it would make any much difference, everyone already knew that it was.

"Did the killer leave any written evidence? Perhaps a written note to explain his actions?" shouted another reporter from near the back of the group.

"The killer hasn't made any attempts to contact us in any way and we have only the murders to help us understand his motives," said Harry monotonously. If the reporters insisted on asking the same questions, he would give them the same answers as he had done before.

"According to certain sources, the Ministry has been applying pressure to avoid any mention of a serial killer so not to have an adverse effect of the Minister's re-election campaign," Rita Skeeter called out. "Do you have anything to say about that, Auror Potter?"

Harry resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. Typical of Skeeter to focus on the political element of the story rather than the victim.

"Pure speculation," he replied shortly. "At no time has the Minister been involved in this case, except to support the efforts of the Auror Department."

"Some people are saying that the Auror Department were slow to take an interest in these murders because the victims are the children of former Death Eaters. What do you say to that?"

Harry's head snapped towards Hermione and he glared at her. She stared back at him expectantly, defiantly, waiting for him to answer her question.

"The Auror Department makes no distinction between victims based on their backgrounds," Ron interjected. "These are children we're talking about for Merlin's sake, we all want to see this bastard caught."

Murmurs of agreement rippled throughout the group of reporters. Hermione frowned a little and scribbled something in her notepad. Harry decided to wrap things up there before Hermione started asking more awkward questions.

"The Auror Department will continue to work around the clock to find the killer as quickly as possible," he finished. "That's all I'll say for now. Thank you for your time."

As he turned to leave he caught Hermione's eye and gave her the slightest of nods. She ducked under the barrier and followed Harry and Ron as they marched in the direction of a nearby alleyway. Once they were out of sight, Harry cast a Silencing Charm for good measure while Ron stood guard a couple feet away in case they were interrupted.

"Was that really necessary?" Harry asked irritably.

"It was a legitimate question," she argued hotly.