#thread;nicholas

Ted hadn't been expecting trouble. The crime scene had been secured days ago and Aurors had already been and gone, asking their questions and retrieving evidence. But upon compiling his report, Ted had noticed discrepancies between the statements - and not just discrepancies, more like big gaping holes. Something smelled worse than a rat in a drain, so together with his partner for the day, they'd returned and had started to interrogate the witnesses once more. Splitting up to cover everything more quickly, Ted had gone one way, his partner the other.

The Dark Mark still flew overhead, casting a sickly green glow over everyone's pallid features. If they hadn't been scared enough already, the persistently floating skull - which so far they hadn't been able to remove - only conjured yet more fear. Beneath it lay the remains of a small house in a quiet village, its occupants no longer alive to tell their tales. It was eerily silent. A shop sign swung on its rusty hinges, sending the only sound through the air like a mournfully jarring metronome. A few curtains twitched. Most people were unwilling to talk, claiming they hadn't seen or heard anything, or that they'd forgotten the details after so much time had passed - as though you could forget anything like this. But the more questions Ted asked, the more he realised that the facts were not merely disjointed. In some instances, they had changed completely. People who'd sworn one thing days ago suddenly seemed to recall a very different story. These were good people; people who'd been certain and who had wanted to help. He made note of them, recording their new evidence before standing by a large clocktower in the village centre and waiting for his partner.

Mist had started to swirl, dusk descending. It was then that he noticed a figure up ahead, masked and furtive, moving between houses. Fucking Death Eater. Backing further behind the tower, he peered around the edge, gripped his wand and considered his options. There could be more of them, then he'd be screwed. Or he could risk apprehending this lone figure and hope that nothing worse came of it. His partner was nowhere to be seen. So he decided that leaving and returning with more Aurors was not an option; he would not leave his colleague alone in potential danger. So he crept closer, weaving a path along the thickening shadows and abandoned cobblestones. Once close enough, he cast a hex at the door that the figure had just opened, causing it to slam shut with a crash that sliced through the quiet surroundings.