Chapter 21
"What is it about Malfoy?" Hermione asked Harry, "If this is some overprotective big brother thing then you really don't need to worry."
"It's not about that," he said. He paused as he searched for the words. Hermione could tell that what he said next wouldn't be something she liked hearing, "As you know, I spoke with Kingsley today. He told me that they figured out how the Death Eaters got into your flat. You're not going to like this, but all of the wards were down Hermione, and they had been for a while. The team decided that the only way the wards could have been taken down for that long without being noticed is if it came from inside the flat."
He looked at her meaningfully, waiting for her to catch on to what he was implying. She being Hermione, he didn't have to wait long.
"What are you saying, Harry? That Malfoy did it? That he's secretly the head of the Death Eaters? That's preposterous," She exclaimed. There was absolutely no way that Draco was behind this. For one thing, she was with him all of the time, and as far as she knew, he couldn't be in two places at once.
"That's what I said, but the evidence adds up. All of the people who have been killed were people we went to school with, except Andromeda who was a traitor to his family. Blaise is his best friend which would explain why he was the only one who wasn't killed. The Diagon Alley attack began as soon as he separated from you. We only have his word that the Lestrange's were spotted in France seeing as he's the only one who could recognize them. He could easily have left and killed Seamus, set the scene at the manor and then come wake you up. Lastly, the break in happened as soon as you started getting close to figuring something out, and he conveniently took you out, not to mention he could be having other people do his bidding."
She let what Harry said sink in for a moment. It was all true, yet it didn't feel right. It seemed to add up too perfectly. If she was going to doubt him now was the moment, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She wasn't quite sure, but she just knew that he couldn't be the one behind all of this.
"Harry, tell me you don't believe this? Do you really think he's capable of such terrible things?" she asked, disbelieving, "You're forgetting that he saved my life twice during the Diagon Alley attack, and that his own mother was attacked at the manor. Everything he has ever done has been to protect me and stop these Death Eaters from doing any more harm. He was also with me when Andromeda was killed. It's not him,"
"I'm not saying that I think it is, I'm telling you that's what Kingsley and the other Aurors are beginning to think," Harry said emphatically.
"How can they even think that? After all the good he's done while working there? " Hermione asked, frustrated. He had proven himself so many times, and it was so clear to her that this was exactly what the Death Eaters were hoping for. Kingsley had even vouched for him when she was refusing to work with him, she didn't understand how he could change his mind so easily and suddenly.
"The evidence is compelling and it keeps piling up,"
"That's what the Death Eaters want. We said they were trying to make him look guilty by using a glamour charm to look like him in France. Has Kingsley already forgotten this? I can't believe he's falling for it," she exclaimed, angrily.
"They think that he would do it to lead the trail away from him because it would be so obvious that no one would suspect him." Harry said.
That didn't make much sense to her. If he was guilty why would he lead them straight to him? No one would do that, it was too risky. Apparently the ministry was just as blind as ever.
"They seem to be quite convinced. Are they taking any action against him?" she asked, worriedly.
"Believe me when I say I brought up every argument that you did, but they had a rebuttal for everything. They aren't taking any action as of now, but he is at the top of their suspect list. They wanted me to come to you and request that you report any suspicious behavior, and they want me to keep an eye on the two of you to make sure you're safe."
"You really don't think that he has anything to do with this?" she asked, hopefully. She was so sure, but it would be better if she had someone on her side.
"No, of course not. He was a prat at school, but he doesn't have this kind of evil in him. And I trust your judgment more than anyone's, so if you say he's safe then I know he is." He replied.
"Thank you Harry." She said, hugging him.
Breaking apart he said, "We'll need to work especially hard to come up with evidence that proves his innocence. To start with I'll need a list of anyone who's been in your apartment in the past few months."
"That will be tough. It could have been anyone, even the pizza delivery guy for all we know."
"It's just a starting point. If we can come up with anyone else who would have been able to take those wards down then we can start to plant doubt in their theory."
"What I want to know is how we didn't know the wards were down?" Hermione asked.
"That's why the Aurors say they were taken down from inside. The only way it could have been done is if someone had entered the flat with permission at one time, making it so the wards recognized them so that they could return and remove the wards without alerting you."
"Well then we know it's not Rabastan or Rodolphus," She said, "but that doesn't narrow it down much."
"Our other main suspect is Evan Stark, and we are starting to think that it may be someone in our age group, particularly someone who was at Hogwarts with us."
Hermione was surprised that she hadn't realized this before. Most of the deaths were people she went to school with, why wouldn't the killer be too? It was widely known at school that Seamus was a halfblood, Dennis Creevey a muggleborn, and Astoria a pureblood.
"That makes sense. Whoever is doing this is trying awfully hard to make Draco look guilty, is there anyone you can think of from school who might want to get some sort of revenge on him?
"Does Ron count?" She asked jokingly. Harry looked like he was trying to decide between laughing or defending Ron.
Hermione saved him the trouble, "I'm just kidding, Ron has done some idiotic things, but would never do anything like that."
"How about we ask Malfoy if there is anyone who he thinks would try to frame him?" Harry suggested.
"But don't tell him that the ministry is suspicious of him," Hermione stated, "he's worked too hard to gain their trust, we should at least try to clear his name before he finds out. I will go talk to him and make the list of everyone who has been in my flat."
She gave him another quick hug and went up to her room where she found Draco waiting for her.
"Is everything alright?" He asked as she walked through the door.
"Yes, Harry just wants us to make a list of everyone who has been in the flat in the last few months. He also suggested that you make a list of anyone who was at school with us that may want to get revenge on you."
"And why are we making these lists?" He asked inquisitively.
Hermione sighed, "The wards were taken down from the inside, so it had to be someone who had permission to enter at one time."
"And the other list?" He asked, starting to get an idea of what was going on.
"The Aurors have begun to think that whoever is behind all of this may have gone to school with us, and since they are clearly trying to make you look guilty, Harry and I figured your enemies would be a good place to start."
"I see," he said, but he could tell there was something else that she wasn't telling him. He would leave it alone for now, but not for long.
"I haven't an idea of who it could be though. Hardly anyone comes over," she started, "I specifically included you, Harry, Ginny, and Ron in the wards, everyone else has had verbal permission to enter, but there aren't many others. Since we started working together the only other people who have come by are Neville and Luna."
"Pansy and Blaise came over once," Draco reminded her, thinking of when the duo came over for dinner several weeks ago, before Pansy went back to France.
"Ah yes, you're right. The rest are just delivery- wait! Deliverymen! When we first started working together but before you moved in, Evan came by one night to give me something for work.
"And you let him in?" Draco asked incredulously.
He was their number one suspect of Death Eater involvement. So far the Aurors that were tailing him hadn't found anything, but there was definitely something off putting about him.
"I didn't think it odd because he had done it so many times before and we didn't even suspect him at that point." She said defensively.
"Put him at the top of the list, he's the first person we need to check out. We should also look into the restaurants we order take out from often. If someone is watching us then they'll know our habits and could easily enchant the deliveryman." Draco stated.
Hermione quickly added Evan and the restaurants to the list. She set that list aside for the time being to get started on the other one. She desperately wanted to prove Draco's innocence before he found out about Kingsley's suspicions of him.
"Let's start on your list. Do you have any enemies from school?" She asked.
"Just you, Potter, and Weasley," he replied. She opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off.
"Granger, I've figured it out! You're seducing me to gain my trust and then you're going to frame me for murder," he said scandalously.
She laughed, "How did you ever figure out my genius plan?"
"Well let me tell you something, it won't work," he said somberly, "I am much too intelligent to fall for it."
"I think you've already fallen for it," she replied teasingly.
"I think you're right," he said, but his tone was no longer in jest. Clearly he was implying something much different, but neither one of them was quite ready for that conversation. He cleared his throat, and the moment was gone.
"In all seriousness, there are a lot of people from school who dislike me. Many of the Slytherins felt that I got off too easy, especially those that had to serve time in Azkaban."
"Who?"
"Theodore Nott for one. He was discovered to be a Death Eater during the final battle. It wasn't proven that he killed anyone but he had the mark and had taken it of his own volition so he was given the minimum sentence of three years in Azkaban. We were there together while I was awaiting my trial, and there was a growing animosity coming from him. Marcus Flint was another. We didn't know each other well at school but I know he resented me for getting away without punishment. He got out of Azkaban about a year and a half ago. Millicent Bulstrode also hates me. That woman is outright insane. She used to spew all the Dark Lords propaganda so passionately that it even made the rest of us Slytherins uncomfortable, and after I turned her down in sixth year she really started to hate me."
Hermione listened as Draco listed off all of the people who held grudges against him. By the time he was done, it was close to midnight and there were eight serious suspects on the list of 14, several of which she knew.
She yawned and stood up, "I'll give these lists to Harry tomorrow, I think we're all too tired to discuss it tonight."
He nodded in agreement.
"Hopefully this will all be over soon," she said assuredly, though neither knew who she was trying to reassure.
"It will," he said, kissing her lips lightly.
"Draco, I know that earlier I said -"
He cut her off. The whole evening something felt off. He could tell that something was bothering ever since she spoke with Harry.
"It's alright, go to bed Hermione," He said, laying a kiss on her forehead before he left for his own room.
She sighed and started getting ready for bed. She didn't understand how anyone who knew him could actually suspect him. He tried so hard to do the right thing, but it seemed that he couldn't escape his past. She was ashamed to admit that she questioned his loyalties at one time as well, but that seemed so long ago now. She tried to push it out of her mind and get some sleep.
After hours of tossing and turning she finally fell asleep, but it was filled with nightmares. She dreamt of the war and Hagrid carrying Harry's dead body, but as he laid him down he changed to Draco. She screamed in her dream and ran to him, and when she got to him she saw that he wasn't dead at all. She threw herself on him weeping tears of joy, but when she pulled away his face was hard. He looked at her and said "It was me all along,". The next thing she saw was a bolt of green light leave his wand. The light was hurtling toward her and she knew she was going to die.
"Hermione!" she heard a distant voice call. She heard it again, and woke with a gasp. Draco sat on the edge of the bed, his hand on her shoulder.
"You were having a nightmare," he said.
He rubbed her back soothingly as she fought to catch her breath. The dream left her mind as soon as she woke up, and all she remembered was a flash of green light and the vice like grip of fear.
"I couldn't sleep and heard you whimpering from down the hall. Are you alright now?"
"Y-yes, I'm fine," she replied shakily. She moved over as he wordlessly climbed into bed with her. The nightmares had been getting worse as the stress of the case grew. She was beginning to worry that she would have to dip into her supply of dreamless sleep potion, but hoping she could avoid it. The potion made her head feel foggy and she needed all of her wits about her.
She laid her head on Draco's chest, and slowly started to relax and let sleep overtake her again. Draco stayed with her through the night, though they both slept fitfully.
The morning came bright and early. It was a beautiful day, though the inhabitants of 12 Grimmauld Place didn't feel it. There was a lot of work to be done to prepare for the trap they were setting for the Death Eaters, and to regain the information that had been lost. On top of that, Harry and Hermione were concerned about Draco, and Draco could tell something was going on between the two of them but had no idea what it was.
Hermione gave Harry the lists first thing in the morning and he immediately went in to the office to begin finding out what information he could. He alerted Kingsley to Evan's involvement, and began to look into the individuals on Draco's list. Theodore Nott had practically vanished after being released from Azkaban three years ago, Marcus Flint had continued to have some problems with the law after his release though nothing serious, and Millicent Bulstrode was still in the area and living off of her parents money with no criminal record. Harry found that this information wasn't as helpful as he hoped it might be, though he did think that the lack of information available about Theodore Nott was suspicious.
Draco and Hermione weren't having much better luck. They were currently in the Manor's library searching for any books that may contain the information that had been stolen. So far they had found a couple of mildly helpful books, but nothing substantial. Hermione had sent an owl to McGonagall asking if Hogwarts had any of the books they were looking for, but they only had a few. After hours of searching they were hardly better off than when they began.
The day was long and irritating for all. The only good thing to come of it was that George had discovered a way to trick the listening device. He essentially made it so that everything it picked up would be sent to him first and he would be able to send only what they wanted the Death Eaters to hear. This allowed Draco and Hermione to speak freely without giving away their plan. Unfortunately, the only way this could be achieved was if George was available at all times to listen in and edit, so it could only be used short term. After much debate it was decided that they would set the trap for tomorrow.
The three of them met with the other Aurors and solidified the plan. Draco and Harry would remain in the apartment with Hermione, while the others would be on standby. Kingsley didn't like the fact that Draco was so heavily involved, but Hermione was adamant that he be there or she wouldn't do it. She was determined to prove Kingsley wrong, and this seemed like a good place to start. Though she worried that no one would show up and it would only strengthen the suspicion against Draco, but she tried to keep that thought from her mind. There was a lot riding on this, and all she could do right now was hope that it would work.