A/N. Here's the continuation to Draco's interrogation and a few interesting developments. I know bad 'Neville' would be a shocker. Most don't believe it possible just as almost everyone thinks Draco is guilty. Human nature is amusing.
BTW, do remember that I started this story pre DH.
Chapter 54 - One Line, Two Sides
Andy had rejoined Harry and Jack in the adjacent room to discuss Malfoy's unusual request.
"Absolutely not," Jack's first answer to it was firm, "She's not a lawyer."
"She doesn't have to be," Andy pointed out, knowing the rule book by heart, "If Malfoy's half the attorney I suspect he is he knows this. I don't think we have a leg to stand on to refuse."
Visible annoyed that his Auror was likely right, he asked, "Why do you think he wants her there?"
"I don't know," Andy started a list of guesses, "To muddle things up, gain sympathy, who knows. I can ask him if you want."
Before Jack could answer his phone rang.
"Muller," he took it and walked away from them, out of earshot.
Andy walked over and stood by Harry at the glass window where he was watching Malfoy keenly, trying to figure out the real answer to Jack's last question. It was a travesty that Legilimency and Veritaserum use were prohibited.
"Remind me about today when we play good cop-bad cop again," she spoke her mind about the surprise he gave her minutes ago, "Fuck, Harry. He's a reputable lawyer, not a criminal lightweight like Floyd. He can hurt us in many unimaginable ways. You know I don't mind the pain but the waste of time is the killer."
He didn't care about himself but he put Andy in a tough situation. She had gone through something like that earlier in her career and learned her lesson.
"I lost it."
"I'll say."
"I'm sorry."
"Just don't let it happen again," she replied, then added, "At least not when I'm looking."
"I'll let you know when not to look."
"So, about Malfoy's request," she carried on, "I don't hear you yelling and screaming about how we shouldn't call Hermione in for this."
Andy was perceptive as always.
"Nor are you gung-ho about the idea of her being in there."
"She doesn't want us talking about him or about the case. If we don't then I can't convince her that he's the same asshole he was years ago," he explained.
"And her being in there while we ask Malfoy questions can accomplish that?" Andy had misgivings about the plan. "That's a double edged sword, wouldn't you think?"
That was true. Depending on how the interrogation turned out, she could be convinced of something he didn't want her convinced of.
"It's not only that."
"What?"
"Knowing her she has a perfectly good reason for not wanting to talk about the git."
"Do you think she's already privy to information that will prove his guilt?"
"I don't know."
He certainly hoped not.
"Afraid, Pandora?"
"I'm just bracing myself. There's no other way around this. We have to talk about him. I have to open the box."
"Well, I think you're off the hook on that. Malfoy is opening it for you."
A profanity signaled that Jack was off his phone and demanded their attention.
"Who the hell is Neville Longbottom?"
Dread immediately came to his mind.
"What's happened? Is he okay?"
"That depends on what you mean by okay," Jack retorted, "That was Kingsley. He says you know this guy."
"We went to school together. We've been friends for years."
"Well your friend's name came up during the course of investigating the murder of another suspect."
"Dennis Creevey's been murdered?" he asked.
"No. The other one. Severus Snape."
Snape was dead? The furrows on his forehead were deepening by the minute.
"Kingsley sent people to bring Longbottom in for questioning and do a search. No Longbottom but they hit the mother load at his manor in London. They found preserved magical being remains, potion paraphernalia, a couple of full unbreakable phials and evidence he's been communicating with Lestrange."
Harry immediately smelled set-up and a poorly executed one. It was unimaginable that Neville would do something like this and him having a conversation with Lestrange was as remote a possibility as could ever be. The witch altered his childhood and ruined his parents' lives. The idea of Neville working for or with Lestrange was too far out.
"Something's not right," he said more to himself.
"That's what Kingsley deduced. 'Unlikely' he said but procedure has to be followed. And customs confirm he got into Toronto yesterday."
"To attend the conference."
Harry suddenly remembered Neville talking about it the last time he went home a few months ago. If he recalled correctly, Neville hadn't missed a Toronto conference in five years. It was too much of a coincidence.
"Kingsley is on his way and promised details when he gets here. He also wants to assemble a team, do a briefing and send them out to find him," Jack informed them.
"Did he try calling and asking Neville to come in?"
To Harry that seemed like a reasonable first step. After all, this was Neville they were talking about.
"Not sure. I'll ask. I'm meeting him right about now."
If Kingsley was on his way Harry estimated the search would happen within the hour. Neville was a decent guy and his friend. He hoped this Malfoy interrogation would be finished by then because he couldn't be in two places at once.
As Jack made his way to the door, Andy reminded him.
"What about this shit from the dumpster?"
He waved his hand dismissively, "Give him what he wants and see where he goes with it."
Harry got Hermione on the phone after Jack left and explained the situation to her. He tried to hide his displeasure at how it didn't take a split second for her to decide to come or how she seemed to be at Malfoy's beck and call.
"Holly's escorting her down," he told Andy, "We should meet them outside."
"We?"
"I'm not sitting this one out."
Andy was shaking her head, "You, him, her in one room? Bad idea."
"Why?"
"If you have to ask that question then it's definitely a bad idea. You look like shit, you're tired, you're cranky, you already punched the guy once, you want to rush this so you can join that search for your friend Longbottom, I can go on and on."
"I promise I'll behave."
"I won't hold my breath."
"You don't have a choice in this."
"I know but the token resistance will make me feel better if we fuck this up," Andy resigned herself to the idea. "Try to focus, will you? We have a story to take apart."
XXXXXXXXXX
Hermione looked around the room unsure of what she was doing there. After she stabilized and sent Unspeakable Bellow off to the hospital, she got a phone call from Harry. It was a weird one. He told her what the situation was, what Draco's request entailed and said she could do whatever she wanted.
It wasn't really a question of want. Draco asked her to be his one person; she was not going to say 'no'. Admittedly, it was murky to her what she could do to help, if that was indeed what he had hoped she would do but she really didn't have much of a choice.
She had never felt more out of place in her life. There was Draco sitting beside her, grey eyes warm, welcoming and smiling. Then there was Harry standing behind Andy, leaning against the huge mirror, arms across his chest, irritated and worn out. He didn't respond when on their way in she suggested surreptitiously that he should get some sleep. Obviously, he was pissed. Just a couple of hours ago she refused to discuss Draco with him; one request from Draco she was attending the questioning. It wasn't always nice to know what he was thinking.
Draco had been happy to see her and she felt the same about seeing him; or maybe his exuberance was just infectious. Hermione had to temper her reaction as Harry was watching her and Draco with hawk-like intensity.
"I'm a civilian," she reminded him when she first sat down, concerned about wasting any opportunity for Draco to defend himself, "Wouldn't you rather have another lawyer here?"
"I can take care of the legal part. I'd rather have someone who I know really cares about me with me," Draco replied.
In one fluid motion Draco had taken her right hand from the table into his, seemingly content to hold on to it until kingdom come. Each unspoken second in the room that ticked away right after was an agonizing eternity. She somehow got the sense that it was some test and was deliberate, to find out what she would do with a disapproving friend looking on. Immediately trashing the thought of abruptly snatching her arm away from him, she brought her other hand onto his, fully intending to rescue the right one covertly, maybe with a teensy-weensy pat and some reassuring words.
"It's going to be fine," she said half heartedly.
Hermione didn't really know if it was going to be but that was what she usually said to patients.
"Thanks for coming," Draco answered back, his other hand swooped swiftly down and settled on top of hers.
She could only smile weakly at him before gazing upon the entanglement of hands and fingers before her, wondering how she got herself into such a complicated bind.
Now what?'
Harry shifted noisily and cleared his throat. She was sure that if looks could kill there would be dead people in that room by now. She didn't have the heart to look up, afraid of what she would see. Help! Someone? Anyone?
Andy came to her rescue.
"That's very sweet but touching between suspect and anyone else in the room is prohibited."
She probably made that rule up but Hermione didn't care. With relief, she gently reclaimed her hands and put them beyond easy reach.
Draco glared at Harry and questioned, "Is that right? I could have sworn one of you did more than touch me earlier."
"I tripped and I apologized," Harry gnarled at him, "Go on with your life already."
"Too bad the recorders malfunctioned at the same time you lost your balance. I would have loved to see a replay of how your fist ended up on my face."
"Touch her one more time and it most definitely will," Harry retorted plainly.
"Harry!" Hermione chastised, still processing what Draco had just accused him of.
"Is that a threat, Potter?"
"No. A warning. The only one you'll get."
As they continued to give each other evil looks, a glint in Draco's eye caught her attention. He wouldn't dare...
"Boys, please! Ease up on the testosterone and grow up a bit," Andy must have caught it too and tried to break the conversation up, "Just no one touch anyone anymore!"
Neither acknowledged Andy.
Harry conjured a swivel armchair beside Andy and motioned her there, sounding very official, "Healer Granger, why don't you sit here? It'll be more comfortable."
Recognizing it was not a good time to be messing with him Hermione did not say a word and was just about to move when Draco protested.
"No. I need her right beside me to confer with about the case. If you're moving her you're going to have to move me too."
Andy threw her arms up in frustration, "Oh, for fuck's sake!"
"I really don't mind where I sit..." she said to them as she remained in an awkward position, midway between standing and sitting.
Harry was adamant about getting her as far away from Draco as possible, "Then you can sit here. He can still confer with you from over there."
"It's not only about being seated near enough to discuss the case," Draco pointed out.
"Of course, it wouldn't be," came Andy's snide remark.
Hermione got tired and decided to sit down.
Draco calmly explained to her, "It is important where you sit. They want me isolated. If you're on their side of the room then they'll have mental advantage. They want me to think and to feel that you're not with me."
"She's not with you," Harry declared for her. "And your point is?"
Draco carried on, "She IS with me because I asked her to be here. She stays on my side of the line!"
"What fucking line? I don't see any line. There is no fucking line."
"Yes there is! It's right there!"
"Where?" Harry challenged and then asked Andy, "Do you see any line?"
"No, I don't see a line but I think he means..."
Harry got the answer he wanted and cut her off, "See. No line."
"Let it go, Harry. It's no big deal," Andy attempted to convince him.
Draco demonstrated for their benefit.
"It's the psychological line that cuts the room in half from there to there. How dense can you be? It's common sense. Line…my side…your side. I invited her; she's on my side."
"Sorry but I don't follow troll logic," Harry's voice was measured which both recognized as a harbinger of something they did not want to happen.
"I think you may have to deal with this," Andy said to Hermione.
"Good idea, Auror Marsh," Harry overheard Andy and he let go of his crankiness, "Let's let Healer Granger decide where she wants to sit."
Great…
"Okay," Draco agreed then asked her, "So which side of the line are you going to be?"
She didn't want to be there in the first place…
"There is no line," Harry sneaked the comment in, unable to let go.
"Enough," she admonished him.
"Yes, there is..."
"I said enough!"
Hermione gave Draco the same stern look. Both finally stopped.
"I don't care if there is or there isn't but there's no need to bicker like a married couple. Here's the deal. I'll sit here," she took her chair and set it forcefully right on the imaginary line, the line Harry, she suspected, was merely pretending not to see, half of her body on Draco's side and half on Harry's. She turned to Draco and said, "If you need to confer with me, we'll ask them to step out."
Both were about to say something and she nipped that in the bud.
"If I hear one complaint about where I'm sitting I'll side with the less whiny one."
An uneasy silent truce prevailed.
"Thank you, Switzerland," Andy acknowledged, "I couldn't have picked a better spot myself. We can finally get this going."
"Just a wait a sec," Hermione interrupted. "I'm sorry but I have to ask."
She addressed Harry first.
"I know why you want me here…"
Then she turned to Draco.
"But why do you?"
Draco thought for a moment then answered, "I don't know if you know what this inquiry is about but I figured you'd hear about it from someone else. I value your opinion, particularly your opinion of me. I want you to hear this first hand. Stories can be easily spun around and I don't want to have to defend myself twice."
Harry coughed out a word that sounded very much like, "Bullshit."
"You probably don't want be here but I'd really appreciate it if you could stay," Draco continued, "I hope that's not too much to ask."
She noted a fleeting regret in the apologetic tone of his voice and it tugged at her heartstrings. At the end of the day he was just like everyone else. Draco wanted what most people wanted. Acceptance; a sense of belonging. Many took it for granted but he had to fight tooth and nail for it since that unfortunate night on the tower at Hogwarts.
Satisfied by her unspoken response, Draco shifted his attention to Andy, "So, Auror Marsh. Where would you like to begin?"
"Are you sure you're okay?" Harry asked in a patronizing tone, "Do you need a moment to compose yourself, maybe wipe the crocodile tears away?"
Hermione turned right into Harry's piercing inquiry, not expecting him to be looking at her. He was disappointed and hurt. He saw what she knew would be painful for him to see, the reason she did not want them to get into an argument about Draco. Line or no line, before the evidence was listed down before her, she had developed a sense of loyalty towards Draco Malfoy. Even if she physically sat on neutral ground she was partial to his innocence because she did care about him. She cared about how he felt, she cared about his future, she cared about him as a person, even if it was just as a friend. And Harry would have a hard time accepting that about her.
Harry was the first to break eye contact and it broke a part of her as he did. She was disappointed too. He didn't understand why and probably never would because he did not want to.
"No, I'm fine thanks," Draco replied bluntly.
Andy proceeded, opened the file and paraded before Draco pictures of a blond Tommy Waterman.
"Tell us everything you know about him."
XXXXXXXXXX
Dean listened as background information on Neville was being discussed. This was all surreal. He felt hollow as Kingsley talked about Neville like he was some common criminal and felt bad knowing that it was him who found Neville through Snape's notes.
The book was revealing. There were pages upon pages of entries which told of how NL and Snape were working on cutting edge plant and potion research. Snape had tapped NL's herbology knowledge after breaking off ties with another collaborator, TT, months ago. While intricately described by Snape, to the layman that he was, the goal of their study was basically to create a new species of plants from animals. Why they would want to do that was a head-scratcher but even without the book saying so, the green monster he fought with was proof that they had succeeded. It apparently was modeled after a nasty giant octopus.
The role of potions in the experiment was vague and still being investigated by the Unspeakables. But of interest was Snape's mention of NL expressing an unremitting desire to learn more about potion making and threatening to cease collaboration if Snape did not tutor him to become better at it. NL picked up so many potion making tips from his former Professor that he had become adept so much so that during the latter part of the tests, NL was doing pretty much everything related to potions. Snape nicknamed him the Potion Master and the entries into his journal ended soon after that.
He ran the initials so many times but Snape's allusion that NL was into Herbology and was a former student narrowed the list to pretty much just Neville. Even with that, Dean was not entirely convinced until he saw what he saw at the Longbottom residence in London. It was pretty hard not to recognize a scaled down replica of Snape's underground lab and greenhouse. The preserved magical being tissues were the most damning evidence of all.
Neville had a lot of explaining to do.
The booming voice of Kingsley's Canadian counterpart broke his train of thought. Dean looked around the Briefing Room hoping to see a familiar face but didn't. He really should have called Harry to warn him about this. Maybe he could have done a better job of influencing Kingsley to keep the Canucks off the initial investigation.
XXXXXXXXXX
At around the same time, just outside Grant PS, three teenagers were animatedly discussing the questions and answers on their just concluded Calculus exam. It was their last test for the week and they were walking towards the nearby mall to hang out the rest of the day.
A horn from a white van honked at them. The window on the passenger's side of the cab rolled down as the tallest of the three approached it. A man with slick black hair and grey eyes sitting up front addressed the teen in a friendly tone.
"Hey kid, how's it going?"
"It's going. Everything okay, Mr. Floyd?"
"Well, I need more volunteers to test the fresh batch of potion I have."
The blonde boy with spiked hair peered inside and saw a couple of teenagers he knew to be Squibs. One of them, Griffin, a kid in the same year as he was, tried to persuade him.
"Come on, Julius. It'll be fun."
Julius waffled, "I don't know, I mean, I'd like to but I'm kind of grounded…"
"Two hours tops," Mr. Floyd added, "You'll be home in no time."
The side door of the van slid open and he got in, ignoring the disapproving look of his two best friends. The kid did not need convincing. He would do just about anything to have the ability to perform magic.