AN: Great responses to last chapter! Keep them coming.

As always, thanks to Bex for fixing my mistakes and to you all for reading. I own nothing but the plot bunny.

Lost Souls of Nott Castle

Chapter 38 - Interrogation

Draco walked in the other room and sat down in the chair previously occupied by Rupert. Pansy didn't look up right away, so when she did she was surprised to see that it was him sitting there. Her eyes widened for a second, then her lips turned down in a scowl.

"If it isn't the blood traitor," she sneered.

He sighed.

"Pansy. I was in the neighborhood. Thought I would stop in and say hello." He leaned back in his chair in a bored manner.

"Don't bother," she turned up her nose. "Go away."

Draco didn't leave. He sat and he watched her with the same bored expression on his face. He only had to wait a minute before she shifted in her seat.

"It's a wicked shame about your little whore forgetting all about you." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and smirked at him.

His jaw ticked, otherwise he showed no reaction to her statement.

"I would appreciate it if you refrained from calling my girlfriend a whore," he told her. "And luckily the memory loss was a temporary side effect from her fall."

The smirk dropped off her face. She glared at him, then her lips turned up in an evil grin.

"I know you're lying," she whispered to him.

"Let me ask you something, Pansy. Why else do you think you are in here?" He leaned forward and whispered back. "Hermione identified you as the one that pushed her down the stairs."

"That's impossible!" She slammed both hands on the table as she stood. "Blaise told me the curse worked. She couldn't remember anything."

"She couldn't," he agreed. "Until she could. I'm curious. Did you even research that curse before you used it?"

She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," she insisted.

"Then let me enlighten you," he ground out. "Initially, yes, she lost her memory. It lasted around twenty four hours. Then she started getting flashes of her memory back. At first it was just a few here and there. Within twelve hours, she was inundated with them. To the point where she couldn't tell the difference between her memories and reality. We had to put her in isolation so she couldn't harm herself or anyone else."

Pansy sat back down in her chair and tossed her hair over her shoulder. She let her lips tilt up in a smile.

"Is that a problem?" She asked sweetly.

"Not anymore," he countered. "Most people know not to underestimate Hermione. You never quite figured that out, though. Did you? She figured out how to use occlumency to block the curse until we can find a trustworthy curse breaker to rid her of it permanently. It was a nice try, though."

The smile fell from her face and was replaced with a scowl.

"Tell me what curse you used, and she might convince the Wizangamot to go easy on you." He folded his hands together and stared at her.

He could see the exact moment when she realized that she was well and truly screwed. Panic crossed through her eyes first. Then her hands tightened into fists and her breath quickened. She pushed her hair behind her ears and folded her arms over her chest.

"Fucking Potter," she muttered to herself, just barely audible. He doubted that Hermione, on the other side of the glass behind him, had even heard her.

What was it she had told Rupert? She should have used Weasley instead? Instead of what? Or whom?

Instead of Potter.

"What the fuck did you do?" His stomach churned. He knew the answer. He knew it in the depths of his soul.

She looked up at him. Her pale blue eyes met his. He could see tears starting to form. Tears of frustration. Tears of resignation. Not sorrow, though. Not regret.

"I did what I had to do." She told him defiantly. "I had to get you away from her. She was ruining everything! We were betrothed, Draco! We were supposed to get married. That...that mudblood was trying to steal you away..."

"Enough," he stood. "First off, never call her that again. Second, I told you years ago that I had no intention of ever marrying you. We are not now, nor have we ever been, betrothed."

He leaned over the table towards her.

"Now what, exactly, did you feel like you had to do."

She stood up defiantly and matched his stance.

"After you told me you wouldn't marry me, I talked to my father. He talked to Lucius. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but we are betrothed, whether you like it or not. And I will not have my future husband risking his pureblood line by shagging that mudblood. Everyone knows she's always had a thing for Potter. She followed him around like a damn puppy dog for seven years. So I got him to come on to her. I don't know how he managed to keep fucking that up." She rolled her eyes and jutted out her hips. "Then he was supposed to take her to his house and hold her there until you came to your senses. But he fucked that up, too. So I took matters into my own hands. She was walking down the stairs. I tripped her. Then I made sure she couldn't stand to be around you anymore."

He ran his hand over his face and took a deep breath.

"What curse did you use?" He asked once again.

She smirked at him.

"Maybe on our wedding night I'll tell you."

"One more question. How did you get Potter to cooperate?" He asked, ignoring her comment.

"It's a little spell I know you're familiar with, Draco. Cooperation is the only option."

The imperius curse. He sighed.

"You do know the imperius curse is an unforgivable, right?" He asked.

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Only if they can prove it," she whispered with a wink.

He chuckled and shook his head. He figured Rupert should have enough by now, so he turned to leave. Before he opened the door, he looked back at her.

"By the way, before my father was sentenced to Azkaban, he declared me to be a blood traitor and disowned me." He paused long enough for those words to sink in. "I am officially not the heir to the Malfoy fortune. Nor am I bound to any agreements that my father may or may not have made in my name. There is only one woman that I would ever want to marry, and it certainly is not you. Good luck with your trial, Pansy. You are going to need it."

He walked out the door without looking back. He took a deep breath before opening the door to the next room over.

As soon as he opened the door he could see Hermione pacing the floor. She turned to face him and he couldn't tell what was going through her mind. Her eyes met his for a brief moment. Then she rushed at him, throwing her arms around his neck.

He barely had time to react. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

He didn't know what to say to her first, but it didn't seem to matter. She knew everything he was thinking. They held each other for a few long moments before pulling away.

"Can I assume you got everything you needed from that?" He asked the detective.

"That was very impressive, Mr. Malfoy." He held out his hand and Draco clasped it, shaking firmly. "Have you ever considered joining the Auror department?"

He looked at the older man like he was crazy.

"No," he said with a laugh. "Not even once."

Rupert shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe you should," he said.

"I think I'll stick with potions," Draco told him. "Did you get everything you needed?"

"And then some."

"Someone will check Harry, right?" Hermione asked. "To see if the imperious curse is still active?"

"We will. That's my next stop, actually. Would you like to tag along?"

Hermione glanced up at Draco. He knew she wanted to go so he shrugged his shoulders. That was her decision to make. He was okay with it either way.

"Yes," she answered. "Thank you."

They followed him back to his office. There, he jotted down two memos and sent them on their way. One was a note to have Harry brought up from the holding cells to a room. The other was to have a healer that specializes in the imperious curse brought in as soon as possible.

Within twenty minutes everything was set. They found themselves in a similar room further down the hall from where Pansy had been.

Harry Potter sat at the table in the adjoining room. He looked downright miserable. His hair was even more unruly than normal. His cheeks were hollow and pale. His green eyes were sad.

It broke Hermione's heart to see her best friend like that. She gasped and covered her mouth.

Rupert entered the room with the healer. They both sat across from Potter.

"Mr. Potter. Do you know why you are here?"

"Yes." He said quietly.

"Do you confess to threatening and then attacking Miss Hermione Granger?"

A tear leaked from his eye. Hermione grasped Draco's hand.

"Yes," he whispered.

"Did you do these things on your own free will?"

His eyes widened. He took several shallow breaths. He looked like he was fighting with himself.

"He's trying to fight it," Hermione whispered.

Another tear fell as he whispered a hoarse "yes."

"Mr. Potter," the healer said. "Please relax for a moment."

He held his wand up, waved it in a complex pattern and intoned " Finite!"

Harry gasped and slumped forward in his chair. He took several deep, gasping breaths, as though he had been starved for air for far too long.

"I couldn't stop myself," he choked out. "I tried. But when she told me to send the letter, I sent the letter. When she told me to attack her, I attacked. Thank Merlin Hermione is better than me."

"You were under the imperious curse, Mr. Potter," Rupert informed him. "We will need a full statement of everything you remember, then you'll be free to go."

"How did you know?" He asked.

"You can thank Draco Malfoy for that, actually." Rupert said with a gruff laugh. "He's the one that figured it out."

Harry looked like he had drunk sour milk.

"Malfoy? Great." He groaned.

"Like I'm any happier about it than he is," Draco muttered in Hermione's ear. She turned her head to look up at him and saw the small smirk that was on his lips.

"Did you mean what you said to Pansy?" She asked.

"Which part?" He asked.

"The part about there being one witch that you would want to marry," she answered quietly.

"You know the answer to that," he told her. Then he leaned down and kissed her.

The door opened behind them and Rupert stepped inside. They stopped kissing but remained in each other's arms.

"Would it be okay if I went over and talked to him?" She asked.

"I don't see why not," the detective told her. She squeezed Draco's hand, then went to the room next door.

Harry finished writing his statement, then looked up to see who had walked in. As soon as he saw Hermione standing by the door, he jumped up.

"Mione!" He moved towards her quickly. "I am so sorry..." He started to apologize.

She cut him off by throwing her arms around him and hugging him.

Draco watched from behind the glass. He didn't particularly like seeing his girlfriend in an embrace with another man, but he trusted her implicitly. He knew that she did not have romantic interests in Potter.

He listened as the two Gryffindors shared apologies and he rolled his eyes when she said she knew he would never hurt her.

"You know, Malfoy," Rupert clapped him on the back. "I was serious about the Auror thing. I'll gladly sponsor you if you want to go for it."

He looked up at the older man and shook his head.

"I'm on probation for another fifteen months. My wand is monitored every week. Thank you for the offer, sir, but I think I've dealt with enough dark wizards in my time already."

"I understand that," he responded. "Well, good luck to both of you."

He turned to walk away, then stopped.

"By the way, if you are in need of a good, trustworthy curse breaker, you should go see Franklin Willoughby. Best there is. Just tell him I sent you."

"Thank you, sir. We will."

Draco looked up to see the room next door empty. He followed Rupert out of the room and found Hermione and Potter standing there.

"Harry," she said with a grin. "I'd like you to meet my boyfriend. Draco, this is my best friend, Harry. Harry, this is my boyfriend, Draco."

"Are we really doing this?" He asked her dully. She grinned and bounced on the balls of her feet.

"Yep."

He rolled his eyes, but knew he couldn't deny her this small gesture. Hell, he had already gone through the motions with Weasley.

"Potter," he said as he held out his hand.

Harry, for his part, looked like he might be ill. He swallowed the bile in his throat and reciprocated.

"Malfoy," he shook his hand firmly. "I understand I owe you my thanks as well."

"Save it. I didn't do it for you." He turned his attention to Hermione. "Rupert here knows a good curse breaker. He gave me his name and address. We could go after lunch?"

"That sounds great," she told him with a smile.

Then, just because he could, he pulled her in for a kiss.

"Gross," Potter muttered and turned his back. "Why do you need a curse breaker?"

"It's a long story," Hermione said with a sigh, leaning her head against Draco's chest.

Potter waited for her to elaborate. So did Draco, for that matter. She did not, however.

"So, lunch? I'm starving." She looked up at him.

"After you," he told her.

Unfortunately for Draco, Potter joined them for lunch. While they ate, Hermione filled her friend in on the curse and the events of the past few days. By the time they were finished eating, Potter was all caught up and Hermione looked exhausted.

"What can I do to help?" Potter asked as they were leaving the bistro.

"Nothing. Go home." Draco answered. "Maybe take a shower, yeah?"

Harry glared at him and Hermione sighed.

"He's right, Harry. There really isn't anything you can do." She rubbed her temples. "Go home. I'll owl you when everything is sorted."

Reluctantly, he agreed and apperated home, leaving Draco and Hermione alone at last.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. He had noticed that she had been quiet throughout lunch, letting him fill in most of the details to Potter. And she kept rubbing her forehead and squinting her eyes.

"I'm getting a pretty bad headache, actually." She told him. "It will be fine, though. Let's go."

She had a vial of pain relief potion in her bag. She took it quickly then they set out to find the curse breaker.

AN: Pansy is so evil. And poor Harry. Did you have it figured out? Let me know your thoughts.

Until Saturday!

-mezy