Michael and his parents where sitting in a room at the Ministry speaking with the lawyer.
Gabe Barclay was his name and he seemed to know what he was doing.
He had explained to the Corners that Michael was looking at 3 years or more in Azkaban for the attack on Neville Longbottom if he came out of the coma.
If he died as a result of his injuries caused by the attack then he was looking at life or the dementor's kiss. Either way he was going to prison.
His mother broke down and cried, his father stared into space and Michael remained indifferent.
Gabe a small cough before he spoke again, Michael seemed to stiffen slightly and he stared at the man intensely.
'Michael what I want you to do is walk me through once more what happened the night you attacked Professor Longbottom.
The young man repeated verbatim what he had told Minerva and Kingsley. Gabe thought it sounded to rehearsed and tried a different angle.
The look on Michaels face was also of concern, for most of the meeting he had been sitting comfortably.
Until the point Gabe had spoken directly to him where he gaze became fixed on him and hadn't wavered since.
He would speak to Kingsley after the meeting. Maybe the boy had suffered some sort of breakdown or was on the verge.
Gabe had been a lawyer for a long time and he was well versed in the art of body language. Michael Corners was telling him that something wasn't right.
'It might be worth getting a Healer to have a look at young Michael Corner' he said seated in Kingsley's office
'Something wrong?' Kingsley asked
'Just a feeling, I'd feel better if a medic gave him a once over to be on the safe side' Gabe replied.
'I'll get in touch with St Mungo's Kingsley assured him.
'Thanks Kingsley' Gabe smiled and bid the Minister goodbye.
The Minister contacted St Mungo's and asked for a Healer that dealt with possible breakdowns to visit the Ministry as soon as possible.
He got a reply later that afternoon to say that a Healer would arrive the next day.
The spell to help Neville breath was taken off the next day; Draco held his breath for what seemed like hours waiting for his husband's chest to rise of its own accord.
Squeezing Augusta's hand he waited. Finally Neville began to breath on his own, his chest rising and falling gently.
Draco breathed a huge sigh of relief at the simple movement. They were one step closer to Neville waking up.
Healer O'Neil told the pair that the sedation he had been under would be slowly scaled back and if successful Neville would wake in the next 24-48 hours all going well.
'Come back to me love' Draco whispered as he stroked Neville's face gently
Augusta quietly left the room to give Draco some time alone with her Grandson.
Draco toed off his shoes and climbed onto the bed laying down next to his husband and draping his arm over his waist nuzzling into Neville's chest.
'I need you Nev, 'I'm no good without you here'
Draco closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep in his husband's arms revelling in the warm feeling he got from simply being close to the man.
A Mediwitch came in a short time later and smiled when she saw the blonde curled up against Neville sleeping peacefully.
It was about time she thought as she checked everything was going well and Neville's vital signs were remaining stable.
The poor man hadn't got any rest in the last few days.
On the way out she shut the door quietly allowing Draco to sleep undisturbed.
Augusta poked her head in about an hour later and Draco was still sleeping peacefully.
She scratched him a note saying she would be up with Frank and Alice if anything changed.
The Longbottom Matriarch smiled to herself as she walked the length of the corridor to the nearest lift.
She was immensely grateful that Neville had found such a wonderful man in Draco Malfoy.
She had been more than sceptical when her Grandson had first announced he was dating a Malfoy, those doubts were soon washed away the first time she met the young man.
He was everything Neville needed and she would have been foolish to think otherwise.
Healer O'Neil, Kingsley and Gabe Barclay stood in the small room inside the Ministry waiting while an Auror escorted Michael up from the holding cells.
In the interim Gabe explained his feeling that something wasn't quite right with the way Michael had explained the reason behind attacking Neville.
He described it as sounding robotic there was no feeling coupled with the words.
A few minutes later the Auror came into the room with Michael and the others sat down at the long table the Auror standing guard a little way from Michael.
'Mr Corner my name is Healer O'Neil I am going to give you a check up today, Gabe and the Minister are a little concerned about your health and well being' he said kindly.
'Alright' Michael replied.
'Good now first of all' Healer O'Neil coughed slightly clearing his throat before continuing.
The reaction was instant. Michael sat straight as if a rod had been glue to his spine; his eyes became fixed on the Healer never moving an inch.
'That's the look I was telling you about' Gabe exclaimed pointing at Michael.
Healer O'Neil frowned slightly and focused on Michael for a few moments.
The Auror that had been standing quietly cleared his throat and Michaels gaze instantly followed the sound and became transfixed again.
Without speaking Healer O'Neil waved his wand over the Ravenclaw muttering as he did so.
His brow furrowed in concentration his mouth fixed in a permanent frown.
Pulling his wand away and sitting it in his lap Healer O'Neil looked closely into Michael's eyes once more before speaking.
'He has been placed under a mind control spell, it's called Mentis Imerpium, there are similarities between this and Muggle hypnosis which is basically a form of control one can rendered over another' he said sombrely
He thought for a moment more and gave a small cough.
'Thought so, it's more like the muggle version than I thought' he muttered
'Can you explain it to me? I'm a little confused' Kingsley asked
'In the muggle world hypnosis is used as a tool to uncover lost or repressed memories, it can be used to control or modify behaviour leaving the victim responsive to suggestion or direction. There is often a command that activates the state in this case I believe that the command Michael responds to is someone coughing'
'In other words you're saying that someone used a magical form of hypnosis on Michael and told him to attack Professor Longbottom?' Kingsley said incredulously
'That's exactly what I am saying' Healer O'Neil replied gravely.
'So now we need to find the culprit' Kingsley countered
'Can it be reversed?' Gabe asked
'There is a counter spell to bring him out of it yes' Healer O'Neil replied.
'Will he remember anything?' Kingsley interjected
'I am unsure of that part and we wont know until he is released from the spell' Healer O'Neil surmised.
'Bring him out of it Ryan' Kingsley said decisively
'Compos Mentis' Healer O'Neil said in a strong voice and flicked his wand.
Michael blinked and looked dazedly at the four men in the room.
'What am I doing here?' he asked with confusion.
'You don't remember anything?' Kingsley inquired
'No the last thing I remember was going to down to breakfast in the Great Hall, and now I'm here' he shrugged
'We had better explain Michael, but first I will contact your parents' Kingsley nodded and went back to his office.
It must be bad whatever it is Michael thought if he was at the Ministry for Magic and had an Auror standing guard over him.
He looked at Gabe and Healer O'Neil with confusion and the two men took it upon themselves to make introductions.
The Ravenclaws blood froze when the tall man with the beard said he was a lawyer that his parents had hired.
Kingsley came back into the room and told Michael his parents were on their way.
At Michaels insistence Kingsley gave him the bare facts about why he had been held at the Ministry for the past two days.
He refused to say anymore until Michael's parents arrived.
Reluctantly the young man let the matter go for the moment.
His mind was a jumble of confusion and it was causing his head to throb, he suddenly felt very weary, the feeling seeping into his bones and settling there.