Alibi

"So, where were you when it happened?" Hermione asked in a demanding tone.

"Hermione, do I really have to?" He sighed exasperatedly.

"Yes Ron. We all have to sort out our alibis before Snape comes to question us."

"What?!" both Ron and Harry shrieked.

"Shh!" Hermione hissed; she looked around suspiciously, giving a short nod when a first year Gryffindor passed - as soon as the boy was out of sight she turned back to the other two.

"He was assigned the investigation by professor Dumbledore."

"What?!" Ron whispered - he suddenly looked very pale.

"Why Snape?" Harry added, looking dumbstruck. If Snape was the one questioning them, he didn't stand a chance. Ever since Harry had come to Hogwarts Snape had had it in for him.

"Because professor McGonagall is in Spain for the wedding of her sister and professor Dumbledore is taking over her classes, so he doesn't have the time," Hermione said matter-of-factly, "so we'd better sort out our alibis now, before it's too late. I'll play Snape, so it'll be all more real. Ron?" She sat back in her chair by the fire, her elbows on the armrests, her hands in front of her mouth, her fingertips slightly touching eachother. She stared penetratingly at Ron, waiting for him to speak. A small smile curled her lips.

"Well er... Harry has been with me all day. We walked to breakfast together and then we had that double Transfiguration class. You were there as well. After that we had Potions and again you were there. Then we had lunch, double Divination and in the end we had Care of Magical Creatures. Then we had dinner, after which you made us do our homework. Then we heard about the murder and now we're here sorting out our alibis."

Ron gave Hermione a smug look.

"I couldn't have done it. I haven't been out of Harry's sight since daybreak."

Hermione nodded once and then turned to Harry with the words: "Now you. Can you confirm Ron's story?"

Harry looked at his feet.

"Well?"

"Well... not quite. I can confirm everything except for 15 to 20 minutes in the end of Divination. Ron got professor Trelawny angry and she sent him out of the classroom and gave him extra homework."

He looked up.

"But I'm sure he didn't do it. Ron wouldn't kill anyone, not even if they deserve it."

Hermione raised her eyebrows at Ron - his ears were glowing bright red.

"Now Ron," she said, leaning forward in her chair, "why would you lie about that? Did you perhaps kill him? You sure had enough reason to. You hate his guts because he always puts you and your family down. You did it, didn't you?"

"No, I did not!" Ron huffed, leaning forward as well. "I won't deny that I thought about killing him, but I never actually did it. But now we're talking about motives, you hate the big blond snob as much as I do. You resent the fact that he always snears at you and you hate him because he calls you Mudblood. So what have you been doing all day?"

Hermione smiled and leaned back again.

"I'll tell you all I did. Let me see... I got up this morning as usual and went to breakfast with the two of you. We then had Trasfiguration and Potions like you said. Then lunch, double Arithmancy - you can check with professor Vector, I was there every minute - Care of Magical Creatures was next, and then dinner, homework and now this."

She looked at Ron and Harry triumphantly.

"Okay," the latter said. "Now, if you didn't do it, and Ron and I didn't do it either, who did it?"

"We know who did it," a voice beside them said. All three of them jumped up at the sudden words.

"Fred, George, you nearly gave me a heartattack! What's the idea, giving us such a fright?!"

"Bad conscience, Ron?" George grinned widely.

"You said you knew who did it?" Hermione said apprehensively.

"Yes. It all happened some time after lunch. We had first had an hour of Muggle Studies and we were on our way to Transfiguration when we saw him. The blond Slytherin-git was walking behind professor Sprout, making fun of her."

"Yeah," Fred added, wrinkling his brow. "He was really harrassing her. We were about to hex him in public to help her, when he called her the worst thing I have ever heard him say." He shivered at the memory.

"He called her 'vegetable'," George fumed. "When we heard that we knew we couldn't let him live any longer. We lured him outside and put the curse on him."

"Avada...?" Harry gasped, wide-eyed.

"Yes." The twins nodded gravely.

No one knew what to say for a moment. The silence was interrupted when Ginny came into the Gryffindor common room and joined their group.

"Hi," she said cheerfully. Her face fell when she noticed how serious everyone looked. "What's up?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

Ron looked up, his mouth still open.

"They killed him. Fred and George killed Draco Malfoy." Suddenly his face lit up and he started to smile, his glassy stare resting somewhere in mid-air.

"Don't be silly, Malfoy isn't dead; I saw him just before I came here!" Ginny said, shaking her head.

"I know," Ron grinned, "it was only a game we made up, but it sure is fun to pretend they really did it..."

The end *evil grin*