32 – Volatile
Hermione closed the open window with a flick of her wand, the claw of flame that had reached through clenching one last time at the air, then dissolving into sulfuric smoke. Another flourish of her wrist and the window gleamed with an almost invisible spell. Now it was impermeable. That would hold them off for a bit.
"Draco, was that a sealing I saw earlier, the purple?" Hermione was surprised at how steady her voice was, much steadier than it had been earlier, as if the fiery demons scratching at the glass removed all room for questioning, for overthinking.
"Yes." Draco's face was rigid, although that wasn't unusual for him. He was well schooled in being impassive.
"Does it work even against house elves?"
"If it's done right."
"What about against fiend fyre?" They both glanced up to see a flame laughing at them while it smashed against the glass with what appeared to be a burning leg.
"I don't think we should count on it," said Draco with a shudder.
"Hmm," Hermione frowned. "Did you see the sealing?"
"Yes." Draco's moved from the window to her face. He studied her intently.
"Did it go up or down? The purple? I saw the color, but didn't see which way it was moving."
"Up."
"Good." She smiled at Draco. He looked so good, hair tousled, skin flushed. She looked away. No more kissing. There wasn't time. "We may be able to find a way under the seal."
He gave a quick nod. "We can apparate as long as we stay within the seal. Let's get out of here first, then we can discuss our options." She could tell he was tense, of course he was, but she was very grateful for his calm and logical approach.
"Clytie!" She called the house elf, who appeared a moment later. The elf stood straight, trying to be efficient, but his eyes kept darting back to the shapes moving on the outside of the window. By now the flames had reached the wood roof at the top of the windows. It would probably be easier to get through the shingles than the glass. They needed to hurry.
"Clytie, can you take us to the lowest level of the house?"
Before the elf could respond, Draco asked him, "Is that the dungeons? Is there anyone down there?"
"The dungeons, yes, it being the dungeons. No, is not being anyone there. Is not used. Is not having a door now."
"That sounds good. Let's go." Draco took Hermione's hand, intertwining their fingers. She needed to stay focused and not dwell on how right it felt to have their hands meshed together like that. They each reached out for Clytie's outstretched arms and, with one last nervous glance at the tempest outside, the elf apparated them away.
Hermione stumbled as they arrived, leaning heavily into Draco. She took a deep breath and coughed as her lungs rejected the thick musty air. She couldn't see a thing, but her eyes stung from the dust they'd stirred up.
"Clytie? Are there lights?" A second later a half dozen torches lit themselves one at time down a narrow stone passage.
"Clytie is being sorry. Is not cleaning here. Is being closed for many years now." The elf snapped his fingers and the dust cleared.
Hermione smiled. What a time for housecleaning. That made her think . . . . "Are there any other elves? Is everyone else out?"
"Clytie is only elf with Master Blaise. Is others going to . . . going with Master Summers."
"Okay. Now we need to check for the seal." Hermione began to look around.
"How do we do that?"
"Cast a spell, something innocuous since the seal will make it backfire. Watch. Telo lumen." A bolt of light shot out of her wand, disappeared into the stone wall, then shot back out of the wall a few feet away.
Draco aimed his wand lower on the wall "Telo lumen." The light disappeared and they waited . . . waited . . . waited. Draco raised his eyebrows. "Could it be that simple?"
"Well – we know the seal ends then, but how do we get out?
"Clytie is doing that. Is not being hard." Clytie reached his hands out to them.
"Wait. Where are we going?" Hermione asked, pulling her hand back.
"Do you remember my summer cottage?" Draco asked the elf, who nodded vigorously. "If you can take us there, then I can come back once Hermione's . . . ."
"No. I need to go to the wolfsbane patch. They didn't get the wolfsbane, did they?"
"What? No, but . . . not now. It's too . . . ."
"It has to be now. It's the last chance. They'll destroy it and . . . I'm assuming this isn't the only patch that was booby trapped. Next month . . . we'll need it more than ever."
"They could be out there, right now. If they see me with you . . . ."
"Clytie?" Hermione turned to the elf. "Could you check? See if anyone's there."
"Yes, miss." The elf disappeared instantly. He must be as anxious to be out of there as they were, plus he was probably worried about Blaise.
"How'd you know all of that about the seal?" Draco asked. Hermione smiled. Was he just making conversation?
"Professor Snape's notebooks. He seemed to be a bit of an expert on sealing."
"Hmm. Strange that he didn't teach . . . the Ugly One better." It gave her such a warm sensation to hear him referring to Voldemort like the Order did. They both knew he usually had to call him "the Dark Lord."
"Not really, considering he never really wanted him to . . . . oh, you don't know that any more. I had to take your memories about Professor Snape." Hermione bit her lip, feeling both guilty about obliviating him and worried about whether this was the time to explain, well, to re-explain things to him.
"No . . . I don't remember, but I must . . . I'm sure before the idea of Snape being a double agent would have shocked me, but now it doesn't. Part of me . . . somehow . . . must remember."
"Strange. I'll fill you in later."
"No. Don't. It's still too risky. He's going to be going into my mind more for a while. Let's wait until . . . ."
Clytie reappeared, with a huge smile on his face, and held some sort of flowers out to Hermione.
"Oh! This is it. You picked it for me." What a brilliant elf.
"Is saving time." Hermione took the wolfsbane from him, bound it with a quick spell and slipped it into her bag, then reached out to both of her companions.
"Shall we go?"
A moment later they were in Draco's cottage.
"I've got to go soon." Draco said. "I've got to report in and I've got a lot to do to get ready for Gringott's. So do you."
"Wait. You should go somewhere else first. Stop and get rid of my scent, then you can do a spell . . . something to get your scent back. I did a 'verdanto' to make the plants more fragrant. That won't work. How about . . . ."
"Praesudo," Draco said with a smirk. Hermione raised one eyebrow, questioning. "It's a prank spell. Makes you sweat."
"Perfect."
"I'd better go." He looked at her and she could see it in his eyes. He wanted to kiss her. Then he shook his head and stepped back. "I'd better go," he said again and he was gone.
She stood looking at the empty space where he'd been. How strange . . . that he trusted her enough to leave her, and Blaise's elf, in his private home, but he couldn't . . . . of course, kissing him was a bad idea anyway. Plus he shouldn't have memories like that. Hopefully he was right that Voldemort couldn't read thoughts and feelings and whatever else was there when you kissed someone invisible. That was a weird idea. She shook it off and turned to Clytie.
"Oh . . . Blaise. What will he do?" The elf didn't answer but began to clench his hands tightly together.
"Is not knowing . . . not knowing. Master is should be going . . . going safe away, . . . but Master is not wanting to . . . ."
"We'll take care of him. I'll get clearance to bring him . . . somewhere safe." She bit her lip. Where could she bring Blaise? For that matter, where was she going to go now? Hogwarts. Until they reopened headquarters, it would have to be Hogwarts. The next problems were how to get there, how to contact Blaise. Of course, he was practically there already. She was jumping to conclusions, but she was fairly certain that he was in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid and . . . his pack or whatever.
"Clytie? Do you know Hagrid?"
"Clytie is not to be saying." Of course not. Blaise would be cautious about what his elf could say.
"That's fine, Clytie. Could you just take Blaise a . . ." She glanced up at the elf. His huge wrinkled eyes were full of tears. His arms were crossed in front of his body and convulsively gripping his own forearms. "Oh, you poor thing. Your home. Can I . . . is there anything I can get for you?" Not that tea would bring any of it back, but . . . .
"Clytie is needing . . . Master is needing . . . place. Clytie is not knowing . . . ."
"That we can do. Just give Blaise this note and he'll know where to go." Hermione was already writing out a scroll for Blaise explaining that he should tell Hagrid that he needed to get into Hogwarts. She would meet him there.
Once Clytie disapparated with the note, Hermione paused. How would she get to Hogwarts? She couldn't apparate or floo in. Yesterday she'd used Andromeda's owl to contact Harry. She could go to Andromeda's again, but she couldn't floo directly there from here. That wasn't safe. She'd have to . . .
The coin in her pocket burned.
Moon. Don't go any where near Diagon Alley.
She sighed. That meant she couldn't go through the Leaky Cauldron. Where else was there? She pinched the bridge of her nose. Was there anyplace else she could go? Or maybe she shouldn't floo. An idea struck her. It might not work, but it was worth a try.
"Nappy?"
Before she could worry that the elf wouldn't come to her call Nappy was there.
"Is Miss needing?"
"I'm afraid I am. I can't apparate out of here. Is there any chance you could take me to the gates of Hogwarts?"
Nappy held a long thin arm out to her. "Nappy is doing whatever Miss needs."
"You can do that? I thought you only obeyed . . . well, Malfoys."
"Master is telling Nappy to do asks for Miss." Hermione couldn't help the grin that appeared on her face. When had he done that? Nappy smiled, then her smile broadened and her eyebrows lifted. "Master is not knowing Nappy can do asks for Miss anyway."
Hermione was already surprised that Draco had told the elf to obey her. That was an awful lot of trust. She held out her hand toward the elf, then what Nappy had said sunk in. Her surprise turned to shock and she pulled her hand back.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Nappy is saying many things have happened at Malfoy Manor, things even young Master isn't knowing. Time is going."
Before Hermione could ask any more questions the elf had taken her hand and they were being pulled together toward Hogwarts.
Hermione glanced up and took a long look at the beautiful castle in all its solid glory, then she looked back over to her companion. "Nappy? What do you mean that . . . " but Nappy gave her a cryptic smile and disappeared. Hermione frowned for a moment, then shook it off. Whatever that had been about this was not a safe place to stay and ponder the elf's riddles.
She touched the gate and felt the buzz that signalled that the wards had been triggered. She couldn't help looking over her shoulder into the dark forest. She couldn't see the moon any longer, but she wasn't sure if it had set yet. There could still be werewolves about.
Werewolves. Had Greyback been in full wolf form tonight? Draco had said he was there. She hadn't seen him, but . . . the way Draco had talked about him it sounded like he'd been with him. How could he have done that?
She grasped the coin in her hand. "Moon. Did Greyback transform tonight?" Surely he had. Nothing else made sense.
"Miss Hermione?" She looked up to see Winky standing on the other side of the fence. She must be fated to rely on house elves tonight. Winky reached through the gate and Hermione grasped her hand then stepped through and started to walk toward the castle.
"Miss Hermione? Winky be taking Miss to Harry Potter. Harry Potter is needing Miss." With that Hermione found herself being pulled into apparation by a house elf yet again.
They arrived just outside the doors to the Hospital Wing, startling Harry as they landed almost on top of him.
"Hermione!" Harry pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're here." He released her and stepped back to study her intently. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. Why? What's happened?"
"A lot. I don't know what the Death Eaters are playing at, but there was an attack in Diagon Alley tonight, lots of injuries. Plus, . . . " he hesitated and her stomach clenched. "Lavender and Neville were attacked. Don't worry they're okay. Lavender's parents are missing though. No attack at the Weasleys either. Meanwhile . . . I'm going to have to question our imposter. Can you help?"
Hermione bit her lip and glanced at her watch. She needed to focus on the Gringotts visit. They had to set everything up tomorrow. She'd hoped to go over the plan with Harry and Bill tonight, but if Harry needed her, she'd help him. "Sure, but why are you doing it? Where are all the other interrogators?" Bill had talked to Hermione a bit about interrogation, but she hadn't been trained yet. Harry had never even seemed interested.
"Bill and Kingsley were questioning a Death Eater. Something happened. They tried something new, something to keep this one from just disappearing on them. I guess it went wrong. Kingsley called me down to the dungeons. That's where they were working. He was all upset and . . . covered in blood. He said he was okay, but needed me to go ahead and question the imposter. That's all I know."
Kingsley was covered in blood. He was usually so calm, not a violent interrogator at all, and to talk to Harry without even cleaning himself off? That didn't sound like Kingsley at all.
"Did you . . . did you ask him a security question?"
Harry looked at her with surprise. "No. I didn't . . . but it had to be him. He sent his patronus to get me. You can't fake those."
"Okay. Just being careful. So where are we going?"
"Back down to the dungeons. She or he, or whoever, has been locked up down there for a few hours. They took some polyjuice off of her, so by now she should've transformed. We're just supposed to do our best. I have some Veritaserum, although we're running low so we're supposed to be judicious." He patted the pocket of his robes. "Kingsley said they'd ask more questions if they needed to. Oh – are you hungry? Do you need anything before we do this?"
"No. I'm good." Honestly, Hermione was still in an inappropriately good mood. Despite everything that had happened tonight she felt a happy buzzing in her chest, almost like the Amorita potion had felt. It had to just be endorphins from what had been the most dazzling kiss of her life.
"Things must have gone well with . . . your contact," said Harry. His quirked eyebrows made Hermione lower her eyes with a blush.
"I'll tell you about it later," she said. He'd understand that this was too public of a place for that conversation. For now they had other things to do. "Oh, by the way, I brewed some more Veritaserum tonight, from Snape's recipe." Harry looked sharply at her. He knew what that meant. "That should help."
It would actually be fascinating to get to use the stronger Veritaserum on the same person after using the usual. That way the effects could be compared and . . . no, this wasn't the time for experimentation. Plus, there was the warning Draco had given her. It made sense that a spy would be nervous around unbridled truth. The Order should be okay though, wouldn't it?
As they headed down to the dungeons, down the many staircases that always made Hermione wonder just how far below ground Hogwarts went, Hermione shared with Harry what little she'd been told about interrogation techniques.
"There isn't much point in asking questions without the Veritaserum, although one or two can give a baseline for how cooperative the suspect is. Once they've had the potion – oh, do you know the swallowing spell?" Harry nodded. "I think its standard procedure to use it since most will try not to swallow the Veritaserum. Anyway, after that we're supposed to ask a couple questions that you'd expect the suspect to resist, just to make sure it is working."
"If it isn't?"
"The only way it won't work is if they've taken an antidote. Any idea if she was searched before they put her in the cell?"
"No, although Kingsley is usually thorough." Harry paused in front of a row of portraits, reading the names off of them. "Boethius, Cervantes, Porter, . . . Havel. That's it."
He pointed his wand at a portrait of a tired looking man with a slight mustache.
"Did they tell you the password?" Hermione asked.
Harry nodded and said "Mud or stars."
The portrait swung open, revealing a dark stone hallway. Hermione waved her wand and the torches lit, but she shivered as she stepped through. The temperature was several degrees cooler and there was the lingering odor of decay.
She cast a warming charm over herself and Harry, then went back to their discussion. "Right. I don't know much more. Bill did suggest writing down the most important points you want to cover so that you don't get distracted and forget to ask crucial questions before the potion wears off."
"Right, although we might want to follow up on anything unexpected that shows up."
"Sure, but then we have to . . . ." A shriek tore down the hallway, causing both of them to startle. "What was that?" She was pretty sure that was just a human, although there was something guttural in the sound that suggested serious pain. Hermione clenched her eyes and took a deep breath. Thinking about when she'd made such sounds herself would destroy her concentration.
"That's coming from the end. I think that's where they are . . . Kingsley, Bill and . . . whoever. We're just in here." Harry stopped in front of the next door and they both took deep breaths.
"Wait." Hermione pulled a parchment out of her bag and quickly scratched down some questions. "How do these look?" she asked holding her list out to Harry.
"Good. Be sure to ask her what she's reported back to whoever her contact is."
Hermione nodded and made an note of his suggestion. "Okay, I'm ready. Do you know the password?"
"Yes, but this one can only be opened by a patronus giving the password."
That was brilliant. Harry's stag appeared and spoke with his voice as it said "Once to have been happy." At first, Hermione thought it hadn't worked, then the door swung slowly inward, scraping painfully across the stones. For once, Draco would approve of their security measures. He probably couldn't do a patronus though. Who would've taught him?
At first, as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, Hermione thought the cell was empty. Then she saw a form huddled in the corner.
"Why's it so dark in here?" she asked, as she cast a Lumos and several small lights appeared floating in the air. She sent them all to the nearest torch holders and their light spilled into the cell. Whoever it was still looked like Hestia. How strange.
Hermione transfigured a small stool into a reasonable chair while Harry went over to get their subject, victim really.
"Come on. We're just going to ask you some questions." There was no resistance, but he or she wasn't hurrying either.
"So who are you?" Hermione demanded, but she received no answer. She rolled her eyes at Harry and he pulled out the Veritaserum.
"You know what this is. Open up." He dropped a few drops into her mouth, then spelled her to swallow them.
"You are under polyjuice, aren't you?" Hermione asked as soon as she was situated on the chair. She received only a glare. "You're going to answer our questions. Don't make this harder on yourself than it has to be."
"Or what? You'll tear me apart? Like they've been doing down the hall."
Great. Why hadn't they used a silencing spell at least? "No. We don't know what's going on down there, but we do have stronger potions. So, who are you?"
"You'll know in a few minutes." At least she was talking now.
"What potion are you using?"
"My father made it. It's better than polyjuice. Lasts longer."
"Who are you spying for?"
"I'm not spying." Great. One way to evade Veritaserum was to ask exactly the question answered and, apparently, she was very good at this game. Two could play though. The questioner had to be very careful, very specific with the questions.
"What Death Eaters know that you've been living with the Order while disguised?"
"My father."
"Anyone else?"
"Not that I know of."
"If you're not . . . " Her skin began to bubble and Hermione paused. As always, the transition out of polyjuice was as disturbing to watch as the transition in. She seemed to be shrinking overall. Her long black hair, pulled back into a short, ragged bob. She lost a few inches in height, which wasn't too surprising since Hestia was, had been, a tall woman.
Harry spoke first. "Pansy." His voice was chilled. Pansy Parkinson had been the one who'd been eager to hand him over to Voldemort. She threw him a cold look, but there was fear in her eyes.
"Now you'll talk," Harry said and Hermione thought the witch might have good reason to be afraid. "What are you doing here?"
"Freezing," she said with a sneer.
Hermione raised her eyebrows at Harry and he nodded. He'd let her go back to trying the methodical way.
"When was the last time you communicated with your father in any way?"
Pansy flinched. "The day of the attack at St. Mungo's."
That couldn't be right. "Was that the day you first came to live with the Order?"
"Yes."
"You haven't contacted your father in any way since then?"
"That's what I said. I can't lie. You know that." Even in an dungeon, even as their prisoner, Pansy had to be a bitch.
"Besides your father, have you communicated in any way with any Death Eater since you came to live with the Order?"
"No."
"Have you communicated in any way with any one who was not an Order member since you came to live with the Order?"
"No."
Hermione frowned at Harry. That couldn't be true. Could their Veritaserum be faulty? He just shrugged.
"Enough," said Hermione. They didn't have time to waste. At this rate they'd be here all night. She pulled out the stoppered vial from her inner robe. Before Pansy could protest, she spelled her mouth open, dropped in two drops of the stronger Veritaserum, and spelled her to swallow it. "Now you'll tell us. Why have you been impersonating Hestia?"
There was a brief moment when a stubborn expression passed through her eyes, then her resistance fell away.
"I was never a spy. I've just been trying to hide, trying to be inconspicuous and safe." Pansy looked at the ground. She was done pretending to be tough.
"Who were you hiding from?" Harry asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.
"Everyone. It was my father's idea. He just wanted me to be safe."
"You weren't safe with the Death Eaters?" Hermione asked.
"No one is. You have no idea what they're like. The Dark Lord likes to hurt people. No one is safe. Ever. And the others . . . they're losing their minds one at a time."
"They're going crazy? Who is? What makes you think so?" Harry looked at Hermione and she held her quill ready.
"Mr. Malfoy was the first. He's like a child now. Well, Bellatrix was insane long ago, but then . . . some of them, some who used to be decent, went mad, became monsters." Pansy pulled her feet up onto the chair and hugged her knees close to her chest. She seemed to be shrinking even further. Were there tears in her eyes? She was avoiding names. Was she still evading their questions? Was she trying to protect someone?
"Who do you mean? Who became a monster?"
"He did." Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Who?"
"Draco."
Hermione's breath froze in her lungs. She couldn't react. She'd endanger him if she let Pansy see too much.
Harry knew that. "What did Draco do?" He asked the question before Hermione's hesitation was conspicuous.
"Don't make me say it."
"You have to answer the question."
Pansy looked up at Hermione, eyes now overflowing with tears. "I know I have to answer. I hate it, but I want to answer. I just can't . . . there are things I don't want to say out loud, not here, not to you, not to anyone, ever. Please. You can do legilimency. Come look. Don't make me say it."
Hermione looked at Harry. This was unexpected. And why was she asking Hermione to do the legilimency? Maybe she was afraid of Harry, or . . . could it be a trap?
"Is this some sort of trap?" Hermione asked her.
"No."
Hermione stepped back and gestured to Harry with her head. They needed to talk about this. Pansy's head fell down onto her knees which were still pulled up onto the chair.
"Muffilato." Hermione half turned from her, not willing to completely turn her back on the girl. Pansy had to be up to something. "What do you think, Harry?"
"It's strange, but as long as I'm here, what could she do to you?"
"I don't know." Under Veritaserum she shouldn't be able to hide anything from the legilimency. It was an insane thing to invite onto yourself. What could it be that she didn't want to say out loud? She and Draco had dated, hadn't they? Hermione didn't want to see that, but she couldn't let her personal feelings, this totally inappropriate thing that was going on with Draco, she couldn't let that stop her from doing her job. "I'll do it."
Harry's brow creased with concern, but he gave her a small nod.
"Are you planning to do anything other than show me your memories?"
"Yeah. To be completely humiliated." Pansy's voice had a bitter edge even in a whisper.
Hermione couldn't think about this too much. She needed to just do this. She pointed her wand at Pansy and looked directly into her eyes. "Legilimens."
She saw a set of ornate wooden doors. She glanced around. She was in a well furnished room, a bedroom, the large hunter's green draped bed just to her side, no light but the fireplace. She seemed to be sitting in some sort of high backed chair.
The doors banged open and Draco was there, his face twisted with hatred, hard, vicious. Hermione gasped and tried to pull away. He did look like a monster, nothing at all like her Draco. He raised his wand at her – "Silencio."
AN – Sorry for the wait. May is a crazy month for me. I hope the long chapter makes up for it. Thanks so much to my beta Hesaluti who is having a crazy busy time and is sick and still took time out to help me out. I'd love to hear what you think. BTW – if you've never reviewed before – try it. It adds a whole new dimension to reading!