Disclaimer: I don't own any characters.

Chapter 6

Lucius busied himself by walking around the room and chatting with his fellow Death Eaters. He was asking everyone if they knew what the meeting was about in a tone of voice that suggested that only he knew, when of course…he had no clue just like everyone else.

He was pompous enough to hold these little meetings in the dungeons of his very own manor. It made him feel important. Anything for the Dark Lord. And of course, if anyone were to enter the house from above, they would hear nothing of what went on in the dungeons as they were far underground. It was perfect.

He was interrupted by the loud cracking of someone apparating. There standing in the middle of the room was Lord Voldemort.

Quickly and quietly, the Death Eaters scrambled to their proper places in the circle. The gap in between Bellatriz and McNair seemed to scream at the rest of the group.

"You will all remember the betrayal that was revealed at our last meeting," Voldemort began. "How is it that no one was able to suspect the traitor?" his tone was accusatory, as if suggesting that everyone was in on it. "Perhaps Severus had some…help?"

The circle shifted uncomfortably while murmurs of "never, my Lord," were heard throughout.

He began pacing inside of the circle stopping at seemingly random spots to continue his speech. "As I informed you all many years ago, I have undergone numerous things to ensure my safety. I am nearly immortal. And I have not gone through it all to be betrayed by those I thought were loyal!" his red eyes blazed as he stood in front of Bellatrix.

He pulled the hood of her robes down. Her head was bowed down in respect before he put his milk white thumb and forefinger on either side of her chin and lifted it. She didn't even shiver at his cold touch or look away as he looked straight into her eyes.

"What would you do for me, Bellatrix?" he hissed.

"Anything," she answered with a maniac glint in her eyes. "I would kill for you. I would die for you, my Lord."

"Good," he said savagely. Seemingly satisfied he moved on.

He stopped in front of Lucius and Narcissa. "Lucius, were you not friends with Severus? Have you not known him since your days at school? Did you not talk to him on a regular basis?"

Lucius visibly shifted. "Yes, my Lord, but-

"Then wouldn't you say that out of all of my Death Eaters, you were the most acquainted with him?" he pressed on.

"Yes, my Lord, but-

"And you didn't see anything suspicious about him?!" Voldemort spat at Lucius.

Narcissa was now visibly trembling but Lucius tried to hold his ground. "Begging your pardon, my Lord, but the traitor fooled everyone. I did, myself, wonder why Severus was constantly late, but he always seemed to have a valid reason."

"A valid reason? I had a valid reason to kill him," he hissed. "Not that I needed one. I could kill any of you, at any time if it is what I wanted."

An unmistakable whimper came out from beneath Narcissa's hood. Unfortunately for her, the Dark Lord knew no mercy. He pulled her hood off much like he had done with Bellatrix. Narcissa, however, was not able to hold back the shiver.

"My dear, are you frightened?" he asked in a tone that suggested he could care less. "Are you afraid that I might kill you and your husband? Well…you should be."

Draco had promised Pansy that he would stop by the manor and pick up the mirror that Narcissa had intended to give to her as a wedding gift. It was a small hand-held mirror that had been in Narcissa's family for centuries and it was always passed down to the daughters when they were to get married. It was a solid and shining silver with a snake as the handle. There were also snakes that intertwined all around it; they were what actually held the mirror part. Each snake had strikingly green eyes (emeralds) and ruby red tongues.

So now, Draco was to be found searching his mothers room for the beloved mirror. He searched for about five minutes before his patience wore thin.

Where in the world is that bloody mirror? I'll never hear the end of it if I come back without it, he thought. Maybe she was going to get it polished and left it downstairs.

With a shrug he headed towards the living room.

He checked the shelves, the couches and he even ended up checking the kitchen.

Maybe she never took it out of the dungeons in the first place. Everything old and expensive is still down there.

He crept down the stairs that led to the dungeons but stopped short when he heard voices.

Not another meeting. I swear…they are going to get caught one of these days. Good for them. Idiots, the lot of them.

Curiosity got the better of him and he stayed to listen. But he would not like what he heard, or saw for that matter.

"But, My Lord, we have never done anything to betray you or your trust. My family has always been loyal to you!" Lucius pleaded. He knew he was fighting for his and Narcissa's life.

"That may be so, Lucius, but before my return when you were in danger of going to Azkaban did you not tell the Ministry that you had made a mistake? That your only loyalty was to them?"

"It was a lie, My Lord!

Draco had never heard his father sound so frantic in his life.

"How can I be so sure it was a lie? How do I know you are not lying to me at this moment?"

"My Lord, please believe me when I say my family will always be loyal to you."

"Is that so? Then may I ask why your son is not amongst our ranks? He is most certainly not loyal to me."

"But he is loyal to me. He would never betray my secrets."

"That I simply have no way of knowing," his tone was final.

He turned around to face the opposite side of the circle. Then with out warning, he whirled around and killed both Lucius and Narcissa.

Draco watched the whole thing. He ran upstairs where he was sure they couldn't hear him and disapparated home…without the mirror.

I was beginning to get quite tired of the long trek into the bowels of the Ministry just to see someone who was probably going to be ridiculously ungrateful after I save his life.

"Hello Henry," I said pleasantly. "Can you let me in, please?"

"Sure thing, Miss Granger." Henry got up from his desk to open the door to Malfoy's room for me. "Sure hope Mr. Malfoy appreciates what you're doing. From what I hear tell, many folks think he's guilty. You sure are a hard working lady."

"Thanks. I hope my client realizes the same."

When I walked into the room it was obvious how wrong I was.

"What in the bloody hell took you so long?! And what was the meaning of this?" he held up the note I had sent with Ares the night before. "Almost cracked it? Couldn't have been more vague, could you?"

I looked at my watch and saw that it was only eleven thirty. He had some nerve yelling at me after everything I found out yesterday. So I unpacked my notes from yesterday without saying a word. I was a human being and I expected to be treated like one. After all, it was his life on the line not mine. If he wanted me to save, it he would have to be a little more polite.

"We don't have all day," he said exasperatedly.

I looked at him defiantly with a look that clearly said 'bite me.'

"Look Granger, we don't have time for pleasantries. If you want me to apologize it's not going to happen so can you just get on with what you've found out."

"Not until you apologize." My stubbornness is my weakness.

"Damn it, woman!" he yelled as he slammed his fists on the table in frustration causing me to jump back in alarm. "Do you have any idea how much self control it is taking me not to strangle you right now?" he asked in a deadly whisper.

I wasn't going to let him scare me. After all, Henry was right outside.

"And don't think that great oaf outside will do you any good. I can strangle with one hand and cover your mouth with the other," he continued in a whisper.

Okay, now I'm scared. What if it has been him all this time? He does look like he wants to kill me right now. Maybe he is capable of it. Maybe he's been lying this whole time.

But he couldn't be, everything fits.

Maybe everything was supposed to fit. What if…he really did do it, but left clues that would make him look innocent. What if it's all part of his plan?

There would only be one way to tell for sure…

"Veritaserum," I said aloud.

"What?"

"Veritaserum. Take some and then everyone will know if your telling the truth."

"Are you mad? Didn't you even hear me apologize?"

"No."

"Well too bad because it's not going to happen again. That's just about as likely as me taking the potion."

"You mean you won't?"

"Of course I won't. I may not be a murderer, but I am a Malfoy. Besides, we all have secrets that we would prefer if they stayed just like that…secret."

"But it could prove your innocence or-

"Or what? Don't tell me you're starting to have second thoughts? After you said yourself that you almost had it figured out? You make no sense, Granger."

He was clearly frustrated. Plus, he was right. I was wasting time and for no good reason either. I was also doubting myself too. Common sense would tell me that while Malfoy might be capable of murder, he had more brains than to go out and do it. Besides, they were five totally random people.

"I still think the potion would be a good idea," I started calmly. "It would prove without a doubt that you are innocent. No on would be able to argue with that."

"I know," he said just as calmly. "But I would rather not." He seemed to shift uncomfortably in his chair. "Well, you said you've almost cracked it. What's the 'it', your head or the case?"

"Very funny. I think you know what I mean." He was all business now. "The timeline is almost finished, I'm only missing two pieces. I need to know the date your parents died and the date that you lost your wand."

"Well, my parents died on the eighth of September, I believe. As for my wand, I don't know the exact date but I remember not being able to find it a few days after my parents died."

I took a breath. "That's it. Everything fits. Here, see for yourself." I held the timeline out for him to take and he quickly snatched it from my hands.

"You'll need to make copies of this for every witch and wizard on the Wizengamot," he said looking it over, apparently satisfied.

"The Wizengamot? You really think you'll be tried in front of the entire Wizengamot?"

"Do use your head, Granger. Son of a powerful Death Eater on trial for murder, obviously it'll be in front of everyone."

"For your information, I have been using my head. Quite a bit, actually. I went to see the ten witnesses yesterday. It turns out that two of them were Neville and Alicia Spinnet. Then there were four more wizards and a family of four muggles."

He shifted at the word.

"One thing that could really help our case is what you're wearing."

He gave me a look.

"Listen. Everyone said that they saw you wearing ragged robes and your hair was a mess and you were very dirty."

"Like I would ever walk around looking like that."

"That's what I thought. But that's not the most important part. There was an auror that chased 'you' into an alley next to Lisa Turpin house. When 'you' apparated he called for backup and they went straight to your manor. He said that when they apprehended you, you were wearing your typical expensive clothes. And I asked how could you have possibly have gotten cleaned up and dressed in all of three minutes? That's another clue in your favor. As for the muggles-

He cut me off with a derisive snort this time.

"I'll have you know Malfoy, that you might very well owe your life to a six year old muggle girl named Natalie. Although, I'm not entirely sure she was completely muggle because she saw a new quidditch shop and her parents-

"Granger, your point if you wouldn't mind."

"Right. Well, I showed them a picture of you and asked them if that was the person they saw. The parents said yes, but Natalie asked me if it was a picture of a younger you because you looked fatter when they saw 'you' in person. She also said that your eyes looked smaller. When I asked her why she thought you would look fatter she said 'maybe he was wearing a mask.' That made me think."

He shifted restlessly in his seat and I could tell he was loosing his patience again so I just blurted everything out.

"I think one of the Death Eaters that Voldemort hasn't killed has been using Polyjuice Potion to turn into you and kill everyone. Obviously, that's why everyone saw you when it wasn't really you," I said in one quick breath.

His eyes widened as what I said sunk in slowly. "But who and how? And how the hell are you going to prove it?"

"That's the only problem. There's no way for me to find out which of the Death Eaters are still alive. Wouldn't their deaths be kept quiet?"

"I suppose. But their families would know. There would have to have been funerals. When I buried my parents, I just told everyone that they both had heart attacks. Idiots, really. I'm still surprised they believed me. As if two perfectly healthy people just drop dead and at the same time."

"I guess you would know who all of the Death Eaters were right?"

"Yes, so?"

"So you could name them and I could try to find out which ones are still alive."

"Alright. Let's see. Well, you can obviously eliminate my parents and Snape."

"Obviously."

"Then there's the Lestrange's, Bellatrix and Rodolphus, they'll be alive still. I can almost guarantee it. They would commit suicide if Voldemort told them too. Hm, Nott, Jugson, Rabastan, Dolohov, McNair, Avery, Rookwood, Mulciber, oh and Crabbe and Goyle. They'll be dead for sure. Even if they are loyal, they'll be too much of a liability being the idiots that they are, just like their sons. I think that's it."

And too think we faced nearly all of them in the Department of Mysteries in our fifth year. We were lucky. Too bad Sirius wasn't. If only we could have proved his innocence. But to do that we would have had to catch…

"Oh my goodness…Wormtail!" I practically shouted.

"Just when I start to think you might actually be sane…" he trailed off with a smirk.

"Don't you know who, wait…of course you wouldn't know. What was I thinking? You've obviously heard of Sirius Black, right?"

"Who hasn't?"

"Well, what would you say if I told you that he was innocent?"

"I would say I need a new lawyer because mine has lost it. Granger, he murdered thirteen people, one wizard and twelve muggles, in the middle of the day in front of everyone. There were witnesses."

"There are also ten witnesses who said they saw you kill Lisa Turpin. Don't you see. People can be fooled."

"What has Sirius Black got to do with me?"

"Nothing and everything. Who was the wizard that Sirius supposedly killed?"

"Peter Pettigrew."

"That's who Wormtail is. It was a nickname his friends gave him."

"How do you know that?"

"Never mind that now. Just trust me when I tell you that Sirius Black was innocent. Peter Pettigrew framed him. Pettigrew was an animagus. He could turn into a rat. So he cut off his finger, blasted the wall in back of him, transformed and ran away."

"They say the biggest part they ever found of him was his finger," said Malfoy amazed.

"Exactly."

"How is it possible that you know all of this?"

Should I or shouldn't' I? Oh, what the hell.

"Remember Ron's rat, Scabbers?"

"Yeah, but what's that got to do…no. You don't mean to tell me that that was Pettigrew the whole time."

I nodded. "That's why Sirius escaped in our third year. He wasn't after Harry, he was after Pettigrew."

"Why do you call him by his first name? It's not like you knew him," he said suspiciously.

"Honestly Malfoy, the things you come up with. Anyway, all I'm saying is if Pettigrew is still alive, he is definitely a possibility."

"And if he can turn into a rat, like you say, it would be no problem for him to come into my house and get some of my hair for the potion," said Malfoy thinking hard.

"Unless we can physically hand them Pettigrew, no one is going to believe us. Every one thinks you're guilty and I'm not sure I can convince them otherwise."

"You know, Granger, contrary to popular belief I may actually not be the devil. If anyone can convince the Wizengamot that I'm innocent, it's you. After all, why do you think I hired you in the first place."

"That could quite possibly be the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Malfoy," I said thoughtfully.

"Don't get used to it."