DAY BY DAY
By Lady Jane
Chapter Twelve: "The One Where Malfoy Talks"
Still Monday
Neville walked back into his office; he'd been to see his boss to bring him up to date with the current situation concerning Hermione's disappearance and the search for her. As he did so, Harry appeared in the middle of the room with a crack!
'Sweet mother of Merlin, Harry! Will you bloody well cut that out?' groaned Neville.
Harry spun to face him, ignoring his protest. 'I've got Malfoy. And he may be able to lead us to Hermione.' He walked over to Neville and grabbed his arm, then without warning, Apparated them both back to Dean's bedroom where Ginny and Luna remained guarding Malfoy.
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Neville, barely able to grasp what Harry had said to him, now found himself in a bedroom with Ginny, Luna and - Bloody hell! That's Draco Malfoy! What's he doing here? And what are they doing? Are they guarding him for crying out loud?!
'What the-'
Harry was still holding Neville's arm and as Neville began to speak, Harry pulled him closer to Malfoy who was still standing by the window. Neville pulled his arm from Harry's grasp and frowned at him.
'Listen, Harry, that was uncalled for-'
Harry interrupted him, his voice hard and impatient.
'Sorry, but I just want Hermione found as quickly as possible. Those two wizards in her office this morning were Death Eaters, according to Malfoy here. I want you to listen to him - see if you believe him.'
'Do you believe him?' Neville asked.
'I think so - I'm not totally certain,' replied Harry. 'A dose of Veritaserum wouldn't go astray.'
With Harry there, Ginny and Luna lowered their wands, sitting on the edge of the bed. Neville and Harry remained standing, Harry's wand pointed unwaveringly at Malfoy.
'Start talking,' ordered Harry.
Casting a slightly bored glance at them all, Malfoy began to repeat his story once more for Neville's benefit. As he spoke, Harry stood stock still, watching him, his wand not moving. Despite everything he'd ever known about Malfoy, he found himself believing it may be possible that his story was true, as did Neville when he'd heard it.
'Well?' drawled Malfoy, 'What now?'
'Give me your wand,' said Neville to Malfoy. 'You'll get it back when all this is over.'
'What? Leave myself defenceless?'
Neville ignored him as he turned to talk to the others.
'All right, this is what's going to happen: Harry and I will take Malfoy and go back to my office. Luna and Ginny, I'd like you both to stay here for now so that we know where we can contact you quickly. Once we've sorted out the details of what we're going to do, we'll Floo you.' Ginny and Luna both frowned at this announcement as Neville turned back to Malfoy.
'You will give me your wand,' he repeated, 'and your broom, because I don't really trust you; however, you'll have to trust me when I tell you that we will make sure you're safe, for Hermione's sake. If what you say is true, we need you to find her.'
He walked towards Malfoy as he finished, holding out his hand. He stood, his hand out, waiting patiently while Malfoy glared, then frowned at him. Reluctantly, he slowly removed his wand from his robes and handed it over, together with his broom. Neville placed the wand inside his own robes and taking the broom, turned and headed for the door, asking everyone to follow him down to the loungeroom, commenting to the girls as they walked through the door ahead of him, 'Enough of Harry's cavalier style of Apparating. He's like a loose bloody cannon and he's done more damage than one!'
'What d'you mean?' asked Ginny.
As they walked down the hall, Neville replied, 'He's been Apparating in and out of my office and Hermione's office at the Ministry. I've got three wizards working on repairing the bloody Protector Charms because of it.'
Ginny gave a low whistle. 'I didn't think it was possible to Apparate in or out or even around the Ministry!'
'It's not,' said Neville grimly, 'unless you're Harry Potter.'
Ginny smiled. 'He can go where no wizard has gone before, eh?'
Neville frowned; they were walking into the loungeroom. 'It's not funny, Ginny.'
Ginny suppressed her smile. 'Oh, no, of course not. But we've always known Harry's power was way above the norm, since before he defeated Voldemort.'
Neville shuddered at hearing the name, still getting used to people - some, not all - saying it now that he was gone.
'Yeah, well, he should stick to defeating Dark Lords and leave my Protector Charms alone.'
Ginny looked up at him and saw he had a small smile on his face as he moved away to speak to everyone again.
'All right, Harry, you and I will go with Malfoy, now-'
Ginny put her hand up by way of apology as she interrupted him.
'Neville, Luna and I can't just sit here and wait.' Luna was nodding in agreement. 'At least please let us wait in your office. I'm sure we'll be able to help in some way as well.'
Neville glanced at Harry, who gave a slight nod.
'OK, we'll all go. But-' he looked at Harry as he spoke, 'we're Apparating to the entrance of the Ministry as we're supposed to.' Harry nodded in acquiescence.
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When they made it back to Neville's office, the first thing he did was order Malfoy to sit in one of the armchairs, using a spell to bind him there; his upper body was free, but he was unable to get out of the chair. Harry was leaning on the wall beside him, his wand still in his hand. While Dean was sitting in Neville's chair behind his desk glaring at Malfoy, Ron was staring in amazement at him, perched on an upturned wastepaper basket that was making peculiar hiccoughing noises in protest at being upside down. The girls settled themselves in the remaining armchair, Luna sitting in it, Ginny perched on the large, padded arm, her arm draped across the back. Neville thought his office had never been so crowded as he sat himself on the front corner of his desk, turning his head slightly to look at Dean and Ron.
'You two haven't yet heard Malfoy's story. However, I've decided I'd like to hear it with the added benefit of Veritaserum, just to be sure.' As he spoke, he reached over to a small white cabinet on the wall beside his desk, murmuring an anti-lock charm. The door of the cabinet clicked open as he did so and he reached inside for a small glass bottle of clear liquid.
Malfoy looked stricken as Neville turned towards him with the bottle. 'That's not necessary! I've told you the truth!'
'Then you have nothing to be afraid of, do you?' replied Neville as he bent over the magically bound man.
'Please! No!' Only Neville heard Malfoy's tortured whisper which he chose to ignore.
'Do you take it voluntarily or do I have to get my wand out?'
Malfoy dropped his head for a moment, then looked up at Neville. His features tightened, his gaze cold, he said quietly, 'I'll take it, but you may find out some things some of you would be better off not knowing.'
Neville shrugged. He didn't care two hoots about this man, he simply wanted to find Hermione, as he knew everyone in this room did. Malfoy was only co-operating to save his own skin as it was so Neville didn't feel he deserved any special consideration. Once a self-serving bastard, always a self-serving bastard, he thought bitterly as he placed three drops of the Veritaserum in Malfoy's open mouth.
Malfoy let his head drop back, his eyes closing, feeling the effects of the potion taking effect. Just let me get through this without saying her name, was his last voluntary thought.
'Malfoy, can you hear me?' asked Neville.
Malfoy lifted his heard slowly, eyes still shut.
'Yes.' His voice sounded almost mechanical. His eyes slowly opened, looking unfocused.
Neville leaned over and put the glass bottle back in its cabinet, closing the door with a soft "click".
He turned back, settling himself on the desk corner, crossing his arms as he once again spoke to Malfoy.
'What is your current address?'
'13b Penny Farthing Lane.'
Neville nodded; he'd been right - Muggle London.
'Malfoy, what are the names of these wizards you claim are Death Eaters and where did you first meet them?'
In the expressionless voice characteristic of someone under the influence of Veritaserum, Malfoy replied, 'Mulcher and Jugson. Last Tuesday evening they were in the Leaky Cauldron when I arrived. They basically pounced on me when I sat down.'
'What did you talk about?'
'They demanded to know where I'd been because they'd been waiting so long and they knew I had dinner at the pub every evening at the same time. I told them I'd been to see my girlfriend. Then they told me they knew what I'd done to get out of Azkaban and I asked them who they were. I'd never met them, but I recognised their names; my father had spoken of them. It was Jugson and Mulcher. So I knew they were Death Eaters. They told me I'd pay for what I'd done, the people I'd betrayed. They said I'd be going back to Azkaban, that I'd die there if my father didn't kill me first.'
'What did you say to that?' asked Neville. There was not a sound to be heard in the room, the attention of every person present was centred on what Malfoy was saying.
'I told him since I didn't plan on doing anything wrong there was no way I'd end up back in Azkaban.'
'What was their response to that?'
'They said I didn't actually have to do anything wrong, as long as it appeared as though I had. They said with my background and reputation I wouldn't stand a chance, that no one would believe me, they'd make sure of that. They said it over and over, who the hell would believe me? Because sure as hell Harry Potter wouldn't, nor would any of his friends.'
'Why do you think they were telling you this?'
'They were completely confident and absolutely sure of themselves. They said so. They were taunting me, gloating; they said it was the sweetest revenge, to see someone who had betrayed one of them rot in Azkaban for the rest of his life. They said just because the Dark Lord was gone didn't mean the remaining Death Eaters didn't look out for each other.'
'What did you plan on doing about this?'
'Nothing, until something concrete happened. I thought I would deal with it then.'
Neville shifted a little, becoming a little uncomfortable perched on his desk as he was. Still, no one else in the room spoke, their eyes not leaving the still figure in the armchair.
'How did you know when something concrete had happened?'
'I went into the Leaky Cauldron for lunch today. There were a lot of Ministry employees there as there usually is. The only thing they were all talking about was Granger's disappearance. I managed to overhear enough to know that two wizards had gone in to see her and that they and Granger had all vanished. I knew it must've been Jugson and Mulcher. I also heard my name mentioned - nothing definite, they were just wondering - but my name was being associated with it. That's when I knew what they were planning.'
'Why didn't anyone recognise you?'
'I always wear my robes with the concealment charm on them. Just in case.'
'And what did you do after that?'
'I realised that what they'd basically done was make sure Potter was involved because he's capable of anything for the sake of his friends and that he'd be after me, and me alone. I'm not sure exactly what else they planned, but I know that much. What they'd done was set Potter on me, because they knew he'd do the job for them without even realising it. I knew I didn't stand a chance against him; I knew neither he nor any of his friends would believe me. I was desperate. I couldn't go to the Ministry or the magazine's offices for obvious reasons. I thought my only chance was to explain everything I knew to someone who might listen.'
'You'd be recognised at both the Ministry and the offices of Witch Weekly,' said Neville, more to himself than anything. 'So, why did you think Ginny Weasley would listen to you?' Neville paused for a second, then added, 'And how did you know where she lived?' No harm in trying to find out how Malfoy knew where Dean lived enabling him to sit on park benches late at night, watching windows…
Neville thought perhaps a tremor may have passed through Malfoy's body, but he wasn't sure.
The flat, toneless voice continued.
'She was the only person I'd spoken to; I thought there was a chance she would listen to me. I knew she was going out with Thomas and it was simply a matter of asking one of his mates at the Wanderers' Club where he lived and they told me. People are very trusting.'
So simple. Neville glanced at Dean then at Ginny but both of them were still looking at Malfoy.
'What is it you propose we do to find Hermione?'
'I know Jugson and Mulcher come into the Leaky Cauldron every Tuesday night. Knowing this, you could arrange to capture them, question them and find out where they're keeping Granger.'
Neville nodded, then looked around at each of the others. 'That's what we're going to do, everyone. We will set up an operation and tomorrow night we'll bring these two into custody, give them Veritaserum and get Hermione back.' Turning back to Malfoy, he asked him, 'Do you think either of these men would in any way harm Hermione?'
'I don't know.'
Neville leaned closer to Malfoy. 'One last thing, Malfoy, I'm just curious; who's the girlfriend you'd been to see?'
This time Neville was sure: Malfoy visibly shuddered. Then he spoke, as he had to.
'She's not my girlfriend; I simply said that to cover myself.'
'So who did you see that night? Did you tell Jugson and Mulcher?'
'Yes, I told them. They know her. I said it was Ginevra Weasley.'
There was a collective gasp from around the room. Dean's eyes snapped to Ginny who was gaping at Malfoy. Neville held up his hand to stave off anything being said.
'So they think that Ginny is your girlfriend?'
'Yes.'
'Why did you use Ginny's name?'
'Because I love her. Because she should be my girlfriend.'
Pandemonium ensued.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Note: Not my longest chapter (sorry guys!) but this was the perfect closing point for this one. I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that the next chapter is just about ready and it's more than twice as long as this one…
xxxx Lady Jane xxxx J