A/N: And here it is! The final chapter. Maybe. I think. There might be one in the future, I don't know yet. But for now I'm considering this story wrapped, even if it is a bit of a shattered ending. Thanks so much for reading and please leave a comment with your thoughts!

"Please tell me he's saying they weren't his."

Hermione bit her lip and read over the report again. "It looks quite the opposite, actually. He's confessed."

"He's obviously lying…. Isn't there anything you can do about that?" This wasn't the sort of thing Hermione usually handled. But she was making an exception. Just this once, she had warned. And since she had consented to helping, Harry had been pacing a hole right through the carpet of her office.

"What is it you expect me to do?" Hermione rolled her eyes. She set the file down, pulling off her reading glasses. Levelling Harry a rather impatient look. "And are you so sure he actually is lying? This does seem like a very Malfoy thing to do – cursed objects and death threats and all that…."

Harry sighed heavily. Most everyone was telling him much the same. Draco had always been a bad apple and here was the proof. But he wasn't ready to settle for that, yet. He knew the man better than that. Draco deserved the benefit of the doubt and a good defense. "He as good as told me he was, Hermione. He said he was helping a friend…. Can't you have a Veritaserum Interrogation ordered? Force him to tell the truth?"

"No. Not on him, I can't. Truth serums can't be entered into binding testimony if the subject was a Death Eater. After the mess with Mad-Eye and Barty Crouch Jr., Voldemort was training Death Eaters to withstand their effects. Therefore we can't trust what he might say under its power."

His fists balled, Harry abruptly halted his pacing. He was glaring at the floor, using every ounce of restraint he had not to train that look on his friend. The policy wasn't her fault. "He was just a kid, Hermione. I doubt if he received that kind of training."

Hermione's was softer and more sympathetic when she whispered her apology. "Rules are rules," she added for good measure. As if that explained everything she ever needed to know.

XxX

Harry hadn't wanted to have to do it. To himself. To Draco. To Nott….

What he had done wasn't fair to any of them.

And he hadn't expected to feel any sympathy for Theodore Nott. But what he had said in his moments of vulnerability and the kindness he had exhibited and his cold, lonely house….

He might have framed Draco, but he didn't deserve Azkaban, either.

Harry had been reluctant to do anything with the information he had obtained. He sat in his and Draco's destroyed apartment all night, too restless and conflicted to sleep. But by the time the morning rolled around, he saw no other way. This place felt empty without Draco. It always would. And the longer he dragged this out, the uglier that absence was going to feel.

"Hermione, I've done something stupid," was the first thing Harry said since it happened. He barged into his friend's office, threw the little Muggle tape recorder on the desk, and practically threw himself into a chair.

"Good morning to you, too," Hermione muttered around the mug of coffee at her lips. "What stupid thing have you done today? And be aware before you disclose…if it's a crime, I'll have to throw you into the cell beside Malfoy."

With a roll of his eyes, Harry leaned forward and pushed the 'play' button on the recorder. Theodore Nott's voice filled the small room and he rushed to turn down the volume.

"What does Draco like? I want what he wanted. I want…to be whatever he was to you. I want you in whatever way he had you."

Hermione lit up bright red and paused the recording. "Moving on so soon?" she whispered cautiously. "Who is that?"

Harry blushed as well and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Theodore Nott. The supposed whistleblower. And before you lecture me, yes I did sneak a peek at your file. And, yes, I know that's not legal. Spare me for a moment and just…just listen. And try not to judge."

The whole thing turned Harry's stomach. He continued the recording with his eyes firmly trained on the floor. The rest of the dirty, explicit talk and the coerced confession. The way he absolutely shattered a man's dreams and life with one simple potion slip. Things he couldn't be proud of no matter how he spun it.

The air went quiet and still Harry couldn't meet Hermione's eyes. He could just feel the judgement in her gaze. He didn't have to look at her to know that the sigh she leaked through her nose meant she was disappointed.

"I told you…Veritaserum confessions aren't permissible."

He nodded, his head falling into his hands. "On a Death Eater. Nott was never a Death Eater."

"Where did you even get Veritaserum? That's a regulated substance."

"You warned me not to disclose illegal activity…."

Again, Hermione sighed heavily. "Harry…."

"I just want Draco home, Hermione," Harry whispered. Finally, he raised his eyes and met her probing look. "He's innocent. This proves that, doesn't it?"

After a beat, Hermione nodded and pulled the recorder closer. She rewound the tape, head still resignedly bobbing. "This was, indeed, stupid, Harry…. But I'll see if it helps at all. Go home. I'll owl you when I know anything."

Harry wasn't proud of what he had done. The slump in his shoulders was absolute proof of that. But if it brought his boyfriend home, he knew he could find a way to live with it. He whispered a quiet 'thank you' to his friend and left her office. His stomach was in knots and there was deep guilt buried in his gut.

But if this brought Draco home, he could live with that. He could learn to live with just about anything if they could only just be happy once again.