Draco and Hermione were woken by the sound of someone hammering on the door to the head dorms. Following Draco's return to the castle, they'd spent a few hours burning off Draco's excess energy, before they'd drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.
"Tell whoever it is to bugger off," Draco grumbled, pulling a pillow over his head.
Hermione chuckled lightly as she hopped out of bed. Grabbing Draco's shirt she pulled it on and slid into a pair of knickers. She knew it was obvious that she'd just stepped out of Draco's bed, but she really wasn't bothered. It would either be their friends at the door, or her brother with news of Ginny.
Leaving Draco in bed, Hermione headed down to the common room. When she opened the door, Harry entered the room with several Slytherins following him. Hermione wasn't surprised to see Blaise, Theo and Daphne with her nephew, but the presence of Pansy was a surprise. Out of everyone, Pansy was the only one who looked shocked at what Hermione was wearing, and she couldn't help but smirk knowingly at the raven haired Slytherin.
"Isn't it early for a visit?" Hermione questioned.
"It's the middle of the morning, Hermione," Harry replied with a chuckle. "We've been waiting for you and Draco to make an appearance."
"Sorry, we had a long night," Hermione said, smiling smugly and looking anything but sorry.
"Please, no details," Harry begged.
"Okay, I'll not brag about my amazing night of sex," Hermione said. "So what brings the lot of you to our rooms? I'm sure we would have emerged sooner or later."
"We've brought gossip," Daphne said eagerly.
"Juicy gossip," Blaise added with a smirk.
"Spill," Hermione urged, perching on the edge of the sofa.
"It's about Weaselette," Theo announced. "Harry, you know more so you tell the rest."
"Basically there was a big fuss this morning as Ginny was missing from her dorms," Harry explained. "One of her roommates knew she'd left last night, and she still wasn't back this morning."
"I have no real desire to hear about Ginny's midnight frolics," Hermione snorted. "She was most likely with a boy."
"That's what we all thought, but then we heard she was in the hospital wing," Harry said. "No-one can get into the hospital wing, not even the Professors. Dad's busy in there, but even Lucius and Narcissa don't know what's happening."
"And I saw my father earlier," Theo added. "He couldn't stop to talk, but he was heading in the direction of the hospital wing with Professor Snape."
"Why would the Minister of Magic turn up because Ginny is in the hospital wing?" Hermione mused. "Something else must be going on."
"That was our thoughts," Blaise said. "We thought you might fancy getting up in case something happens."
"I'll go and drag Draco out of bed then," Hermione said as she got to her feet.
"No dragging necessary, I'm here," Draco mumbled as he entered the common room, looking half asleep.
Draco had pulled on a pair of dark green pyjama bottoms, before staggering downstairs, and Hermione noticed the way Pansy was unable to tear her eyes away from Draco's bare chest. Not that Hermione could blame her as Draco was looking as sexy as anything, half dressed and half awake.
"So what's the fuss down here?" Draco asked, slouching down on the sofa next to Hermione and throwing his arm over her shoulder.
Harry and the others quickly filled Draco in on the news about Ginny. Like Hermione, he had his act down perfectly and acted as though this was the first he'd heard about Ginny.
"I wonder what the story is," he mused.
"Well we might find out if you and Hermione ever got up," Harry grumbled.
"Sorry, we didn't exactly get much sleep last night," Draco said with a sly grin.
"Enough already," Harry moaned as everyone else laughed at his obvious discomfort.
"We'll go and get dressed," Hermione offered, getting to her feet.
Before Hermione and Draco could even leave the common room, there was a knock on the door. Since Draco was still on the sofa, looking as though he was going to drop back to sleep at any moment, Hermione made her way to the door. When she opened it, she found her brother at the door. Severus took one look at her appearance, before shaking his head and pointedly looking away.
"I need to see you in my office, Hermione," Severus said.
"Do you want me to get dressed first?" Hermione teased.
"Yes," Severus snapped.
"Hold on, why do you want to see me so urgently?" Hermione asked. "From what I've heard, you've got another matter to deal with this morning."
"I do, but this is important," Severus said. "You've got ten minutes, Hermione."
"Okay, do you want to wait?" Hermione asked, swinging open the door even wider so Severus could see the others, who had all been listening intently to what was happening.
"Ah Miss Parkinson, I was looking for you too," Severus said. "Come with Hermione to my office."
"Why?" Pansy cried. "What have I done?"
"I'd rather talk about this in my office," Severus said.
"What's going on, Dad?" Harry asked. "Is this about Ginny?"
"It is," Severus confirmed. "I'm sure Hermione and Pansy will fill you in when they've finished in my office. But for now, Hermione go and get dressed."
"I'll be two minutes," Hermione said as she turned and departed the room.
While Hermione was getting dressed, the others tried to get Severus to give them some gossip, but the headmaster remained quiet. He knew that they would know the full story in a couple of hours, but for now, he was staying tight lipped. He wasn't going to give the Weasleys any ammunition to throw in his direction, not when they'd turned up at Hogwarts in a foul mood and were trying to place the blame on Ginny's accident on Severus and the school.
Once Hermione was finished dressing, she and Pansy accompanied Severus back to his office. Taking advantage of Pansy's obvious worry about what was going on, Hermione managed to check with her brother that he had everything in place for his part of the plan. When they entered Severus's office, they found McGonagall sitting with Molly and Arthur Weasley. Bernard Nott was standing looking out of the window, and as Severus settled the girls down into seats, the Minister of Magic took his seat behind Severus's desk.
"We'll get straight down to it," Nott began. "Miss Weasley is in hospital and she's making some allegations against the pair of you."
"She's what?" Hermione frowned, as beside her Pansy snorted inelegantly and muttered obscenities under her breath. "Just what is she saying?"
"Miss Weasley left school grounds yesterday evening, and she's claiming she was meeting Miss Parkinson," Nott explained.
"No way," Pansy snarled. "I was not meeting that little cow. I was in my dorms last night."
"How dare you insult my daughter," Molly snapped. "She'd told me everything. How you've been approaching her for weeks, trying to bond with her over your mutual hatred of Hermione. You lured her out of the castle."
"This is absurd," Pansy yelled, jumping to her feet. "I've never spoken to her, and I never arranged to meet her last night. I'll take veritiserum if that's what it takes to prove my innocence."
"She's clearly trying to wriggle out of it," Arthur said, turning to the Minister. "You heard what Ginny said. She thought she was meeting the Parkinson girl last night."
"I heard," Nott said with a nod. "I also heard her saying that she was meeting her in a bid to get rid of Miss Granger."
"Get rid of me?" Hermione gasped. "I don't believe that."
"You don't believe the Parkinson girl hates you?" Molly cackled nastily. "I bet there's a lot of people who hate you."
"I'm sure there is," Hermione agreed. "And I know Pansy doesn't like me."
"Hey," Pansy protested.
"But," Hermione continued, ignoring Pansy. "I don't believe she would do what she's been accused of. She might not like me, but she would never plot with Ginny. Her dislike of me is nothing compared to her dislike of Ginny. Besides, Pansy's not a fool. She wouldn't risk her life going against me and my family."
"Of course I wouldn't," Pansy exclaimed. "Only a fool would take on The Dark Lord and his family. I'm not a fool."
"No, but since you didn't turn up last night, you weren't going against The Dark Lord's family. You were working with them," Arthur accused. "The pair of you were working together to set my daughter up."
"Set her up?" Hermione laughed." Set her up for what? I'm sorry, but I don't think we're getting the full picture here." Glaring at the Weasleys, Hermione turned to her brother. "Just what are we being accused of Severus?"
"Last night, Ginny was attacked," Severus explained. "As you've heard, she says she was meeting Pansy. But she says it was you who turned up, and you had a wolf with you."
"A wolf?" Hermione queried.
"Not just any wolf, a werewolf," Arthur spat. "Greyback. You let Greyback bite my daughter."
"Weaselette's been bitten by a werewolf?" Pansy laughed cruelly. "Does that mean she's a werewolf now?"
"It was a full moon last night, so she must be," Hermione replied with a smirk. "Poor little thing, her life is changed irrevocably."
"Don't 'poor little thing' my daughter," Molly snarled, jumping to her feet and lunging for Hermione. "You did this, you evil little bitch."
Hermione watched in amusement as Arthur and McGonagall stopped Molly from attacking her. She didn't for one minute think they were protecting her, but they knew that if Molly attacked her, she was placing herself in danger. Voldemort wouldn't stand for anyone hurting her, and Arthur and McGonagall knew that.
"Enough!" Nott bellowed. "Mrs Weasley, sit down before I have you removed from this office."
"We all know she did this," Molly fumed. "She's ruined my daughter's life."
"I have done no such thing," Hermione protested.
"So you deny being out of the castle last night?" Nott asked.
"Of course I do," Hermione replied. "I was in the head dorms all night, ask Draco if you don't believe me."
"He could vouch for you for the entire night?" Nott asked.
"All night," Hermione answered with a slight smirk. "We spent some time with our friends, then we had a very eventful night. I'm willing to give you my memories to prove what I was doing all night if you want."
"That won't be necessary," Severus said quickly, before speaking directly to the Minister. "When I turned up at the head dorms, she was half dressed in Draco's clothes, and he was also half dressed. It was very clear they'd just tumbled out of bed together."
"I knew we shouldn't have let them share dorms," McGonagall muttered.
"They're both adults, and they haven't neglected their head duties," Severus argued. "But that's not the point right now. We're trying to establish who is telling the truth here."
"It's obvious Ginny is the one telling the truth," Molly seethed. "You've all seen her injuries. She was attacked last night."
"But that doesn't mean we were involved," Hermione argued. "Pansy's already offered to take truth serum and I'm happy for you to look at my memories of last night. We've got nothing to hide. We weren't the ones breaking school rules and leaving the castle in the middle of the night. From where I'm sitting, the only person to blame here is Ginny."
"Don't you dare pin this on my daughter," Arthur warned in a low voice. "We know you're behind this Hermione."
"Prove it," Hermione challenged.
"Miss Granger is right," Nott interrupted. "Before we can accuse her and Miss Parkinson, we need proof. I think we take the two girls up on their offer and use veritiserum and take a look at their memories."
"Can I just make one request?" Hermione asked. She wasn't worried about her memories being viewed as she'd already thought ahead and had a recent encounter in her head inserted in between her real memories of the previous night and that morning. "My memories are rather personal, so I don't want them being flashed around for all to see. I will give one person permission to view them, and one person only."
"Not me," Severus said sharply. "I have no desire to see my sister and godson getting frisky."
"It has to be someone we trust to view the memories," Arthur said. "Minerva, will you look at the memories?"
"Hermione, is that okay with you?" Severus asked.
"If Professor McGonagall can cope with the memories, it's fine by me," Hermione said with a shrug.
"I can cope," McGonagall muttered.
"Now for Miss Parkinson," Nott said. "Do you still consent to be questioned under veritiserum?"
"I do," Pansy said with a nod of her head. "Ask me anything about that lying little Weaselette."
Molly snarled angrily, but she said nothing as preparations got underway to prove if the two seventh years were lying. Severus flooed Narcissa to get some veritiserum from the potions supplies, for Pansy to be questioned, while McGonagall prepared herself for viewing Hermione's memories. Once Severus returned, it was McGonagall's turn, and casting the appropriate spell she delved into Hermione's head and her memories of the previous night.
McGonagall's examination took a few minutes and when she finished she was bright red and wouldn't look Hermione in the eye. Quietly she admitted that Hermione had spent the night in the head dorms, and hadn't left until Severus had gone to get her. Attention then turned to Pansy, but no matter what questions were thrown her way, she refused to admit to being in contact with Ginny. With the veritiserum in her system it was impossible for Pansy to lie, so it was clear to everyone that she hadn't arranged to meet Ginny.
"I really don't think there anything else to say," Severus said. "Hermione and Pansy have proven their innocence. Girls, you can go back to your day."
"Wait," Molly cried, jumping in before Hermione and Pansy even had time to get to their feet. "I'm not having this. These two have been given a chance to prove their side of the story, my daughter deserves the same consideration."
"What do you suggest?" Severus asked. "That we view her memories as well."
"Ginny's in no fit state to have her memories read," Arthur protested. "It's an invasive experience, and I honestly don't think my daughter can cope at the moment."
"How about extracting them and viewing them in a pensieve?" Hermione suggested helpfully.
Molly and Arthur gave Hermione a disbelieving look, not sure why she was so keen to help them get to the truth. However, even though they didn't trust her, they couldn't deny her idea was a good one.
"I think that's the fairest idea," Nott said. "And then we'll have the full story."
"Minerva will you go and get her memories," Molly asked, not trusting anyone else to gather her daughter's memories without tainting them.
McGonagall readily agreed, and she headed off to the hospital wing to gently extract Ginny's memories of the previous night. While she was gone, Severus produced a pensive for viewing the memories from one of his cupboards. However, what the Weasleys didn't know was that he'd coated the pensieve in a potion earlier that morning and the result would be that any memories viewed in it would be distorted and hazy. So even with Ginny's memories, it wasn't going to reveal his sister's involvement in what had happened to her.
While McGonagall was away a discussion took place as to who was going to view the memories. The Weasleys didn't trust anyone else to look at them, but Hermione was adamant she wasn't going to trust their word and she insisted either Severus or the Minister view the memories. In the end it was decided that the Minister and McGonagall would view the memories as Arthur admitted he wasn't sure he could cope with witnessing his daughter being brutally attacked.
When McGonagall finally returned, she poured Ginny's memories into the pensieve and side by side, she and Nott entered the pensieve to view the memories. The wait for them to return was an excruciating one, but finally they emerged. McGonagall instantly turned to Molly and Arthur and gave them a sympathetic look, while Nott looked slightly smug.
"I'm afraid your daughter's memories are no good," Nott told the Weasleys. "They're all hazy and distorted."
"You've done something to her memories," Molly accused, looking between Hermione and Severus.
"We never touched her memories," Hermione shot back. "McGonagall retrieved them, and she and the Minister viewed them. How on earth could we have tampered with them?"
"They weren't tampered with," Nott said firmly. "I've heard of trauma victims having troubles with the memories before. It's not uncommon for someone who has suffered something horrific to produce hazy memories. I think in this case, we have to believe the memories and the testimony we have received. The two girls have proved their innocence, and this is good enough for me."
"Now you can go girls," Severus said, turning back to Hermione and Pansy as he suppressed a smirk at how perfectly Hermione's plan had ran.
"Thank you Severus," Hermione replied with a smile as she got to her feet.
"This isn't the end of this," Molly warned. Despite the disaster with the memories she believed her daughter, and she knew Hermione was responsible for what had happened to Ginny, she just had to find a way to prove it.
Hermione merely smirked at Molly as she turned to leave her brother's office. She knew Severus would now push the blame onto Ginny for leaving school premises, and with any luck Ginny would be forced to leave school. Even if she didn't leave because of the night's events, there was a good chance she would be forced out of school once it was known she was a werewolf. After all, now Pansy knew about the attack, it was only a matter of hours before the rest of the school found out that Ginny had been attacked by a werewolf on a full moon.