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Chapter Thirty-Eight
Penseive
It had been easy enough for Draco to acquire a penseive - he simply mail-ordered one. The hard part came when he was deciding what memories he should share with his two friends and which ones he shouldn't. He did know if he was ready to tell the whole truth, or even if he should. He wanted Harry to know the truth about his godfather, but at some point he also needed him to know that Draco had the knowledge and ability to help him defeat Voldemort. The question was, was Harry ready to hear about it? At this point Harry knew Voldemort was still out there and very much a threat, but he had no idea about the cursed diary or any of the other Horcruxes, including the one lodged inside his cursed scar.
In truth Draco wasn't sure at all what his next move would be concerning the pieces of his former master's soul. He currently had one in his possession (the diary), another (the diadem of Ravenclaw) which he knew where to locate in the Room of Hidden things and would take it when the time was right. The others, however, were tricky. He knew there was a ring as well as a locket and a cup but he wasn't exactly sure what they looked like or where they were. After the war, bits and pieces of the truth came out concerning what exactly the Golden Trio had been up that final year, but the entire story was never fully revealed.
During Draco's conversations with Hermione, on a rare occasion she would briefly mention something that she, Potter and Weasley had done during that final, fateful year. Like the time Potter dove nearly naked into a frozen pond to get the Sword of Gryffindor. Not the brightest thing he'd ever done, but Harry, being a typical Gryffindor, has a serious problem about doing dangerous things without thinking about the possible consequences beforehand. Draco had known about the Sword of Gryffindor, Neville had used it to kill off Nagini, but how it had come into his position had been a mystery. When Draco asked, Hermione said that Snape had hidden it in the pond for Harry to find, and they had later given it to Nevile. The sword, had been impregnated with Basilisk venom, and in so would work to destroy the Horcruxes. Draco had known the Diary was, in fact, a piece of the Dark Lord's soul but he hadn't known until Hermione told him that he had, in fact, split his soul not once, but seven times.
Draco also knew that Pettigrew had been the one to help the Dark Lord return to power and gain a new body using Harry's blood. The question was, now that the rat was no longer in the equation, would Voldemort still rise again? He knew that Barty was at his family's home under his father's Imperius Curse - a curse he would soon break and escape sometime that summer. The problem was he didn't have an exact date or time and even if he did, he didn't think there was anything he could do to stop him - at least not in his current position as a thirteen year old Hogwarts student. The unfortunate truth was that there was still a large possibility that Voldemort could return without Pettigrew's help.
In the end Draco decided, for the time being he would show Harry and Hermione bits and pieces of his conversations with Sirius and be truthful with them about knowing who he was all along. He knew this would bring out all kinds of questions from his friends, probably starting with, "how did you know what he was?" As of yet he wasn't sure how he was going to answer them.
XXX
Peter Pettigrew was frightened, utterly petrified in fact. His court date had been set for that Tuesday, and he had no doubt as to what was going to happen to him. He had confessed everything under veritaserum, and while anything said under the truth serum is not admissible in court, the testimonies and memories of the three witnesses in the room at the time, was. He would be found guilty and shipped off to Azkaban. He would spend the rest of his life in a soul sucking prison, most likely going mad within the first year. That was if they didn't order his soul to be sucked out first. In a desperate attempt to flee, he had tried to transform back into his rat form, but it would seem a spell had been placed on him that hinders any sort of wandless magic, including transfiguration. His only hope was that the spell would wear off at some point, though he honestly didn't know if or when it would.
"Pettigrew, your breakfast," A gruff voice from outside his cell called out. A slot suddenly appeared in the large metal door, it was big enough to slide a small tray of food and a cup of water through, which then levitated to the floor.
Peter sighed as he stood from his cot and scuttled over to his food. He groaned at the sight of burnt toast, and lumpy porridge.
"I ate better as a rat," He huffed picking up the tray and making his way back to his bed.
XXX
Snape really didn't want to believe in Black's innocence. He hated the bloody mutt, almost as much as he hated James Potter. However… Pettigrew was alive, the truth was revealed and it was only a matter of time before Sirius Black was publicly declared innocent of all charges. He still had no idea his former childhood rival had been masquerading as his godson's familiar; though chances were he wouldn't be thrilled when he found out. As for Pettigrew, as much as he had enjoyed punching the S.O.B., he later found out that he broke his hand in the process. Madam Pomfrey had healed the bones easily enough, however she advised him to limit its use for the next few days; so basically limited spell casting and no chopping up ingredients or stirring potions.
"Looks like my classes will be writing a lot of essays for the next few days," he said with a smirk as he plopped down on his comfortable leather couch. He wasn't looking forward to all that grading, but it would be a few days without someone not following directions and destroying a cauldron.
XXX
Right after breakfast, Draco took Harry and Hermione aside and explained that he had something important to tell them but that it needed to be done in private and that no one else could know about it. Both Gryffindors recognized the seriousness in their friend's request and quickly agreed.
"Okay, where and when?" Harry asked, pulling his rucksack further onto his shoulder as he leaned against the cool stone wall just outside the Great Hall.
"Leave the tower around eleven, but bring your cloak, Harry." Draco requested.
"Sure thing," Harry said with a nod.
"That's after curfew, Draco," Hermione sighed, shaking her head.
Harry rolled his eyes while Draco smirked, "That's why I asked Harry to bring the cloak. Besides," he added as his brow rose in a knowing look, "it's not like you haven't broken school rules before."
Hermione opened her mouth but quickly closed it, ducking her head. Okay, so maybe she had broken a few rules, but they were all for good reasons.
"Where are we meeting you, mate?" Harry asked.
"Seventh floor, opposite the painting of Barnabas the Barmy," Draco answered."
"You mean the one where he's trying to teach a group of smelly trolls ballet?" Harry asked with a snicker.
"That's the one."
"Why there?" Hermione's face was scrunched up in confusion, yet Draco could tell she was curious as well.
"I'll tell you tonight. Trust me, Hermione; it's big and I simply can't risk someone else over-hearing."
A part of Hermione wanted to say no, that this was ridiculous, that whatever he had to say could be done during day light hours but then… she thought back to their first year, and all the sneaking around she had done behind his back. She had felt so guilty for not confiding in him, for ignoring him to help Harry and Ron, and now he was offering to do exactly what she had not, to confide in her his secret. Or at least she was assuming it was a secret, why else would he want to meet in an isolated corridor in the middle of the night.
"All right," she relented, "I trust you."
Draco smiled, "Great, but remember, no one can know, and that includes Weasley," he said, looking more at Harry then Hermione.
"Don't worry Draco, I'm not going to say anything to Ron. It would just end up in an argument if I did anyway," Harry said with a sigh. His ginger-haired friend still didn't trust Draco and Harry still had absolutely no understanding as to why.
With that the three friends left the corridor and headed toward their first class of the day.
XXX
Draco stood silently outside the invisible entrance to the Room of Requirement, his penseive tucked away in his rucksack that rested over his shoulder. He had selected three specific memories to show Harry and Hermione, all pertaining directly to Sirius. The first was when the former Marauder destroyed Christmas dinner in his animagus form, as well as revealing himself to Draco afterwards, second was Sirius telling Draco about Pettigrew being captured, and finally the letter he wrote to Draco telling him he would be back at Hogwarts that weekend and wished to speak directly with Harry to tell him his side of the story, before it hit the papers, specifically the Daily Prophet.
Draco was positive that once the memories were viewed there wouldn't be any doubt in Harry or even Hermione's mind that Sirius Black was innocent of all claims against him, but it would also undoubtedly raise dozens of difficult questions.
At the growing echo of two pairs of shoes reverberating off the stone floor, Draco stepped away from the wall and into the center of the corridor.
"It's okay guys," Draco said, "the coast is clear." With that the invisibility cloak was pulled away revealing his two Gryffindor friends. Draco then made his way to the opposite wall, before pacing back and forth three times as he thought of what he needed, 'a safe place to tell Hermione and Harry about Sirius'.
Seconds later a large door appeared where blank stones had once been.
"Woah," Harry said in utter surprise then adding, "wicked."
Hermione response, however, wasn't as simple, "Draco, what… how…where did this door come from and does it lead?" Hermione's curious eyes scanned the opening in detail before finally turning to her blond friend.
"Come on, let's go in and I'll show you." With a smile, Draco reached out and opened the large wooden door. The three friends stepped inside, the door automatically closing behind them.
Inside was circular room, with a comfy brown couch in the center, a small table in front of it and a plain wooden chair with a green cushion on the other side of the table. "Let's have a seat then, shall we?"
His two friends nodded and followed him to the middle of the room. Draco sat in the chair, while his friends sat on the couch.
"So," Harry gave his friend a small smile as he asked, "what is so important that you had to have us come to a secret room in the dead of night to tell us?"
"Yes, Draco, what is going on?" Hermione added crossing her legs and her arms.
Draco tried not to laugh at how frustrated his friend looked; she truly hated not knowing something.
"Do you guys know what a penseive is?" he asked, carefully unhooking his bag and taking out the silver, shallow-looking stone basin.
Harry shook his head, "No idea," he said quickly.
Hermione on the other hand, gave a simple nod before saying, "It is an object to review memories, though this is the first time I have seen one outside of a book," she stated, looking at the basin with keen interest.
"As always, Hermione you are correct," Draco exclaimed. "In this case it will be my memories that you two will be viewing."
"What do you mean viewing? How can anyone see someone else's memories?" Harry looked completely confused. There was so much he still didn't know about the magical world.
"Well, I use my wand to take specific memories from my mind and I place them in the penseive," He explained looking down at it. "There is something I want the both of you two know, but I don't believe any words I could say could possibly do it justice so…so, I decided the best way was to simply show you my memories.
"Cool," Harry grinned. He wondered how it worked, would it play like a movie, or would it just be pictures, like a slide show or something.
Hermione was more curious than ever, but she was also starting to get a little anxious. What could possibly be so…serious, that Draco didn't feel he had the proper words to express it?
"The memories are already inside, so all you have to do is basically place your face into the liquid."
Harry laughed but did what Draco said, Hermione then followed.
Draco leaned back in the chair, and closed his eyes as his two friends watched several life-altering moments of the past year of his life, play out before them.
A/N: I Know, I know I left you with a cliffy. Sorry, but it's necessary, trust me. I'm also sorry the update took so long, busy life and all that. Anyway, I already have a complete outline of the next chapter done so hopefully it won't take as long to write. Next up, Harry and Hermione's reactions to Draco's memories, Harry meets Sirius and Peter's trial.