Draco Malfoy stood up as the judge walked in. Everyone stood up, of course, but Snape could see a war being fought in the young Mr. Malfoy's eyes. An interminable moment later, he saw Draco reach for his mother's hand. Draco leaned over to his lawyer and spoke. His lawyer's eyes opened wide, and he cleared his throat and motioned to Arthur Weasley.

Arthur walked over and the solicitor said something in a low voice. Arthur nodded, and walked to the judge. Words were exchanged, and the judge looked sternly at Malfoy's attorney.

"I've been told that in a most appalling, unprofessional set of circumstances, you've neglected to present the full defense."

"Er…some new…evidence, that I was unaware of, must be presented to give this man a fair trial. I beg the court's forgiveness, but I ask you to allow my client to take the stand again for further examination."

Snape nearly gave himself away with a gasp. This was highly irregular, and certainly not in Ron's planning. Was this a trick? The evidence was all out there, surely! He looked over at Hermione, who managed to keep her face impassive. Her companions, however, looked very upset, particularly Ron. He was so Gryffindor, after all; he hated to lose control over one of his scenarios.

The judge hesitated, but looked at both the defendant and the woman he had clearly wronged, and made a decision. "If there is new evidence, we should hear it. If the prosecution has no objections?"

Hermione's attorney looked over at her, and she shook her head and whispered, "It's all right, let's hear what Draco has to add. He cannot change the facts of what happened."

Her solicitor nodded. "No objections." Draco was led up to the stand.

The judge intoned, "You are still under the influence of Veritaserum for at least the next few hours, so we won't need to re-administer. Let's begin."

Draco's attorney was absolutely ill at the thought of what would happen to him when this trial was over. Everyone knew it was a bad idea to get on the wrong side of the Malfoy family, and he wasn't sure that this line of questioning wouldn't get him killed, or worse. Sighing audibly, he began. "Mr. Malfoy. On the night in question, did you have occasion to see your father?"

"Yes." There was a murmur in the courtroom, and the judge stilled everyone with a look.

"What was your father doing at Hogwarts?"

"My father and a companion wished to test a new version of the Imperius curse. They've named it the Insinuata Imperius. It requires a tandem of curse and potion rather than a simple curse, and is designed to overcome those who know how to throw off Imperius."

"Do you know how to resist Imperius, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes."

"Did they use you for a test subject, then?"

"Yes. My father and his associate administered the potion in a goblet of wine, and the two of them cast the Insinuata on me. They had me do a few things, and then my father was satisfied that the curse would work; they intended on using it on Professor Snape to determine once and for all if he were a traitor. My father and his associate left me in my dorm room. As I went on my nightly rounds, assuming the test was over, I encountered my father's associate in the halls. He put me under the curse again. Apparently, the potion is very long-lasting; I did not fully recover from its effects until I was awaiting trial, and no one ever took the curse off me after he re-cast it. I was, effectively, under Imperius for two days before I was finally able to fight it off. "

"Did you rape and torture Hermione Granger under the effects of the Insinuata Imperius?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you divulge this before?" Draco looked at his father's livid face, then at his mother's encouraging eyes, and frowned as if in pain. "I wasn't asked about the circumstances under which I made the decision. I have been protecting my father and his associate, and since you didn't directly ask me the question, I was not compelled to divulge the truth. My feelings towards this matter have changed and I wish to tell the whole truth."

"Was your father aware that you had been placed under the curse when you attacked Miss Granger?"

"I don't know. But he was not there when his associate re-cast the spell."

"What is the identity of his associate?"

Lucius jumped up out of his chair. "I need a moment with my son. IMMEDIATELY!!!" Lucius was panicked at this turn of events, especially knowing his boss was somewhere in the room. Why had he let this travesty go on so long?

"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy," the judge said, "but you are out of order. Answer the question, son."

"Peter Pettigrew."

The court erupted in disbelieving and angry babbling, and the judge had a very difficult time regaining order. Ron leaned over and said something to Hermione's attorney, who nodded grimly. The judge asked the solicitors from both sides to approach.

"Isn't Pettigrew dead? Sirius Black…I'm very confused here." Draco's attorney had not expected any of this, and knew he was as good as dead at this point so he might as well see it through.

"Draco can't be lying. He's under veritaserum. Your Honor, I know this would really fall outside the boundaries of this particular trial, but we must know about Pettigrew; may I cross? With counsel's permission, of course." Draco's attorney nodded at Hermione's lawyer, and the judge decided to allow. Alastor Moody had both hands on Lucius's shoulders; Narcissa's only response was a very small, encouraging smile in her son's direction.

Snape could not understand why Voldemort had not attacked yet. He could only suppose it was because Lucius was surrounded and Pettigrew was out of commission; but Voldemort still had the element of surprise, or at least he thought so. Snape's best guess was that Voldemort was debating whether to kill Draco outright or attempt to kidnap him and punish him back into submission.

"Mr. Malfoy. You claim Peter Pettigrew is responsible for putting you under a modified Imperius and forcing you to attack the plaintiff. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea why he would do such a thing?"

"I don't know his motives. You can speak to him yourself. He's in this courtroom now."

More gasps from the gallery, as spectators craned their necks around to determine the location of the "dead" man.

"Here…now? Could you indicate to the court where he is seated?"

Draco looked around for a minute, and saw Harry nod towards a far corner of the room. Draco's eyes lighted on a tabby holding a large, ugly, but very familiar rat in her jaws. The tabby walked into the middle of the room, and dropped her burden, holding his tail with one paw.

"He's right there. The rat. He's an Animagus."

"Avada Kedavra", hissed a hideous voice from behind Snape, and one member of the courtroom crumpled to the floor before anyone could react.