Draco smirked at Kelley, genuinely happy to have pleased him. It felt good to have someone on his side that understood. He couldn't fool himself though. While they both wanted to take down the Ministry, they had separate ways of going about it. To Kelley it seemed like it was just entertainment, but Draco had a deep sense of justice. He included himself in it as well. Once order was restored (or created for the first time, let's be honest) in the Ministry, he was prepared to pay for his actual crimes.
He followed closely behind Lara as she left. The entire room had noticed her reluctance, Draco included. As he noticed her hurriedly going down the wrong hallway, he quickly corrected her, guiding her back to room 4A where he planned to do the interrogation. Upon entering the room, Draco was very silent. He cleared his mind and tried to remember where he stored his more expensive potions before summoning the truth serum, two doses, from his flat.
"If you want, you can do me first," Draco said quietly, looking apprehensive, not due to the serum, but expecting her unfiltered opinion to shortly follow.
He couldn't say that his mind was usually quiet. It wasn't. At that moment, the thoughts were so loud and busy that no one thought stood out in particular. It was a mixture of shame for what he had done, pride for being strong enough to do it, apprehension for what she thought of him, hatred for not being a person who deserved any better than Mr. Morton, and dread for all of his plans to come crashing down on him. It was the result of success. Each success made him hesitate and double check that he had considered everything. Failure was much less stressful. He could sit back and let fate swallow him whole. His eyes sharpened, realizing that he was doing it again. He was completely consumed by his own thoughts.
Despite having to change direction following Draco showing she was going the wrong way, she was still ignoring them. They both kept quiet, it was a chilly atmosphere. Lara waited until they were in the room before she spoke. Normally she would have retaliated with a joke, but it wasn't a matter of deciding not to say it because she was mad but more of, she was so mad she hadn't even thought of it as anything more than it was.
"I want my wand." She demanded, her eyes now fixed on his, just as intensely as they had the wall. At first she ignored the potion, the whole trust exersize he had planned, but she knew that this job was more important than her anger, it was more lives to try and spare - Kelley could come in any minute. "No, no, you're more suited to the interrogation, of dominating it." Her words were spoken harshly and she grabbed one of the two liquids. "I still want my wand."
Lara downed it quickly, she never expected them to taste very nice and she often heard those at the Ministry complaining about it, but perhaps they were merely fussy. "Go on.." She mimicked Kelley, the one person she thought he would never become, but he was almost just as bad as him, it was destroying her. She couldn't even begin to imagine how he felt, how it felt, doing that to someone, no matter the reason. Having killed herself she could relate somewhat, when under attack you have to fight back, but you must always have an honorable reason why.
Instead of sitting down she stood her ground, her eyes still on his, the potion bottle smashed on the ground beside her, though no satisfaction of breaking it would heal her feelings. She waited.
"You know I can't give you your wand, and you know why," Draco said with uneasiness in his voice.
He mentally scrambled to come up with some questions, suddenly losing his confidence in his plan. A sick feeling shot through him and his stomach flipped. The mantra of be strong wasn't very effective. He took a breath, swallowed, and began cautiously.
"Have you ever killed a man?" Draco asked very softly, almost unable hold eye contact with her.
Draco denied her access to her wand and it didn't matter she knew the reason why she wasn't allowed it and he couldn't give her it, she was stubborn and hated feeling weak. She needed her wand, to her it symbolized everything she was, and her true passion; magic.
"I have." Lara replied, honestly, of course - his softness not effecting her. She was to mad to dread any questions he was going to give her, and though she didn't lie, it was like she was back in that room where Morton sat waiting to die. Short and sweet answers. She would have though Draco would have guessed her answer, she just wondered how he would take it and if he would label her now as just one of the other Aurors.
He had figured as much. That was in the job description, he was sure. He wasn't sure if she knew why he was asking her questions in the style that he was using, but it was probably safer if she didn't know. That thought shocked him,and he needed to nip it in the bud once and for all.
"Would you ever sabatoge me, even in a subtle action, to get back at me for what I've done?"
This time it was vague, but he needed to hear the answer to ease his own mind. He was teetering between feeling guilty for not trusting her to not sabatoge his plans on purpose and feeling prudent in expecting it from her.
Lara's answer was just as vague, but equally as true. "I don't know." She spoke slowly, her look turning more gentle. She didn't WANT to hurt Draco, but she could not promise him that she wouldn't do something if she felt it was the right thing to do. It was a conflict even she didn't understand. She was almost sure he'd be unhappy with her answer.
"Save some brutal questions for Kelley," Lara sarcastically and unenthusiasticly spoke. "I care about you. I just don't agree with you." She didn't like admitting it, but she felt she couldn't just leave her answer at ' I don't know' and because of the truth serum, that's what rolled off her tongue.
Draco shook his head, looking thoughtful. The adrenaline from before had worn off and his apprehension had faded.
"No, actually that one wasn't meant for him. It was meant for my own peace of mind," he explained quietly, not willing to express his opinion any further about it.
"If a man had the power to save your childhood friend, but chose politics instead of what was right, and the result was that she killed herself... and if not a single person in the world was able to hold him accountable legally, but you had the chance to kill him, would you?" He asked, truly wanting to know more than that, but refusing to make it an open ended question.
The fact the question was meant to ease Draco made her feel even worse about not giving a straight 'no'. Her heart began to race as he spoke again, maybe she wasn't as confident as she liked to believe whilst on the potion.
She thought about it, though her mind came up with an answer right away, her mouth then followed. "No." Lara was firm. "I would have made sure he suffered until his time was up. Naturally." She wouldn't have murdered them, that was the easy option, even if she tortured him first. This was something the Ministry asked her too once, under the same potion - it was another reason they were so keen to keep her around, even if she wouldn't admit it, deep down, she liked the slow torture. Not that she knew she was doing it in the case with Draco; it was the perfect manipulation.
Everyone had their dark sides if tested and thrown into the environment and situation. She only hoped he wouldn't take it the wrong way - like he had insisted of himself, she too, was good at the core.
Draco's brow furrowed slightly at her answer, which ended up confusing him more than when he started. Did she just admit that she would torture him until he died of exhaustion or an unrelated reason? Coward! his mind shouted, though he kept his lips tightly sealed. His expression easily revealed his hurt, however.
"Kelley should have seen that," Draco said darkly, "Moving on... Was I wrong for killing Mr. Morton?"
Eh, the question was very loaded but it needed to be asked. He didn't know where her mind was at the moment, and at this point she couldn't give a wrong answer. If she said he was wrong, well... it was obvious that morally it was wrong. If she said he was right, though... he would have many more questions for her.
Lara still had her turn to ask him questions, but things were heavy enough already. "Don't ask questions we might never come back from, even if you want to know the answer." her tone was almost pleading, the two of them were both hurting.
"Kelley can go to hell."
She took a deep breath, almost afraid of what the truth would be. "No. Bad people deserve bad things. " Lara didnt know that was her opinion until the truth potion revealed it. Her own part added, "Everyone is bad though, there's a fine line."
Lara sat down on the bed behind her. "Revenge was necessary, but my opinion, honest opinion, is that my view doesn't matter; i'm not a fair judge, this isn't my fight Draco, it's not."
Draco glanced to the door anxiously, but he didn't see Kelley. Looking back to her, he wished that he could say everything on his mind.
"Lara, I don't blame you. Whatever your answers are, I accept you. I don't want you to agree with me. I just want you to trust me that I have what I believe is your best interest at heart. Someday I would want you to trust me with your life completely, while knowing what you now know about me. I'm going to save the rest of my questions for Kelley, because I'm running out of them."
He felt like he needed a break for whatever reason. His mind was racing and he didn't have the energy to sift through it all like he normally did.
"Once Kelley checks in and witnesses a few of your answers, and your serum wears off, I'll let you question me. In front of Kelley, too, if he so chooses. I have very little to hide from him at this point."
Lara stared back at Draco, she kept failing to understand why he was so interested in her safety and trust, more than the mission at hand. She began to speak, she was wanting to ask him before Kelley got in but that never happened and she was cut off by his arrival.
"Speaking of the devil." She muttered.
"Draco," He nodded, "you," Nathan noted to Lara. "Well? Having fun? I don't smell smoke I guess she's cooperating. I joke I joke." It seemed nothing killed his spirit and he wasn't bothered by her comment, as he mentioned before, he liked the feisty kind.
"So, straight onto business, has she said anything worth my time? Or have you not got anywhere yet?" Lara felt a huge amount of pressure now he was in the room, she only wondered what Draco felt like.
Draco turned to Kelley seriously, "From what I've observed, her morals aren't so black and white as she displayed in the interrogation room. She's admitted that she would torture a man to death if he had personally wronged her enough. There is a lot of potential I see in her, but as expected, a bit of work to go. For your own peace of mind, I saved just a few questions for you to observe. Afterwards, she is to use truth serum on myself and ask me whatever she likes. You're welcome to sit in on as much of that as you'd like, as well."
He turned to Lara casually, deciding to ask her three questions together for Kelley to get an idea of where they were at in their progress. "Three questions, answer each in a complete sentence for the sake of clarity if you would. Have you ever killed a man? Do you trust that I have your best interest at heart? Should I trust you with your wand?"
The questions were chosen in such a way that she could give no wrong answer. The first, he already knew her answer. She couldn't fail. The last two were meant to prove that Draco should remain close to her, and if she answered differently than he expected her to, that she was on her way to earning even Kelley's trust. They weren't exactly softballs so to speak, so he didn't suspect that Kelley would consider him being soft on her or manipulative towards him. Dangling his own trust test in front of Kelley would likely be too tempting a distraction for him to pay too much attention to it.
Kelley's eyes buldged and his smile widened. "Perhaps I should watch what I do then, aye?" and he nudged Draco's arm. Not that Kelley wouldn't put Lara in her place if she did try anything, but the fact Draco saw potential in her, well that went a long way. Even he was surprised. "Thank you, I respect that." and so he watched.
Lara was relying on Draco do go through with his promise, to be smart with his questions. 'Complete sentences' that part she wasn't too happy with. She sighed and looked to Kelley. "I have killed a man, yes - and I was right to do so. I trust Draco has my best interests at heart and I don't quite know why." She was trying to get it over with, somehow prolonging this experience wasn't something she wished. The next part she was tricky with. Draco could trust her with her wand, but Kelley couldn't. Essentially that meant then Draco couldn't either, if she was to do anything it would jeopardize them both.
"No. You shouldn't."
Kelley was impressed, she had a drive in her and she wasn't a stranger to killing, it didn't matter what excuse she had for doing so, she had it in her.
"Well she said it herself," Nathan laughed, no wand for her. Not anytime soon anyway. "Do you have any other questions? Don't be shy around me, and for gods sake take advantage; truth potions are a gift." He motioned as he brought his hand up to his heart, like he truly meant it.
"Then, your go." Overall Kelley was pleased and for now, he didn't have any questions of his own, as far as he could tell so long as she trusted Draco, Kelley could trust her. Draco was the bind that he needed and so long as he only had to control one and let Draco take care of her, then it shouldn't be too difficult.
"Nah, not shy. It's just at the point that it is going to take some time," Draco explained, "But yeah, I'm ready to give it a go."
In a swift motion, he downed the serum knowing Lara's would wear off shortly. He turned to Lara, taking a deep breath.
"Take your best shot!" He challenged her with a confident expression.
Kelley let the two of them get on with it, he was merely there to watch over - not to interfere unless absolutely necessary. Lara gave Draco a look and stood up, "This should be fun." Though she didn't look like she was enjoying it at all.
"Draco, when you killed Mr Morton, how did you feel?" She was going straight for the kill. "and you killed him, why? Was it to satisfy yourself, Kelley? why?". Lara wasn't sure how he'd take to the questions but he was bound to know they were coming and as far as she could tell the answers would be nothing Nathan would have a problem with.
As she waited for the answer she reminded herself that this was the truth, he couldn't escape it now and it not only was proving something to the boss, but also to her.
All of the color drained from Draco's face after hearing the question. He had cornered himself without thinking it was even possible.
"I felt nothing but hatred for myself. I expected to feel vindicated. Maybe next time. I killed him, because someone needed to put him down so that he couldn't continue to neglect people I care about. It was to satisfy my thirst for justice. It was also to satisfy Kelley, but mostly myself. I killed him because I had to. I would kill him again if given the chance."
He looked fatigued, not expecting the strength of the serum to penetrate him so deeply.
Lara got goosebumps, she was almost afraid to look at Kelley. That was not what she wanted to hear, and it probably wasn't what Draco wanted to share. She looked to the ground then back to Kelley. "I want to stop now."
He knew she wasn't lying, the truth potion didnt leave your system that quickly, but it would soon. "Not so fast," He persisted. "If you wont ask another I will. Would you kill on demand? If I needed you to, would you?"
Lara knew this would be hard for Draco, she did not shoot Kelley a friendly look. "One more;.." he smirked as he switched his gaze between them both. "What is so special about her? you keep trying to protect Lara and I just cant understand why." he laughed "She is one of THEM."