Disclaimer–J.K. Rowling's world, not mine.
It was tensely silent for the first few moments Draco had left the room. Harry and Ron didn't seem to know what to say to Hermione.
"You know," Harry started looking at Hermione, "you never cease to amaze me, Hermione."
"Harry I know this looks bad–"
"You do realize you can be thrown in Azkaban for this!" Harry yelled.
"Harry, listen to me. If I thought Draco was any threat I would have turned him in straight away but he's not."
"Yeah, well, we'll see about that," Harry muttered.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked him. Harry didn't answer but started searching through his pockets for something. He pulled out a small vial with something that looked like water. Hermione, of course, knew better.
"Veritaserum? Harry do you really think–"
"Yes, Hermione," Ron cut in, "it is necessary."
"I'll just slip this into Malfoy's coffee when he comes back and ask him a few questions," Harry explained. "Then, depending on what he says, we'll take it from there."
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. She was angry that Harry and Ron didn't trust her judgement regarding Draco. Like she would put herself in danger like that? Please! She wasn't the brightest witch in Hogwarts for nothing. And she really didn't think Draco was going to be thick enough to fall for Harry's Veritaserum-in-the-coffee-trick either.
A few minutes later, Draco came back with a tray of coffee. He looked back at Harry and Ron suspiciously as he set the tray down on the table. Draco poured out the coffee into cups but his eyes remained fixed on Harry's. Then he took two cups and handed one to Hermione and kept the other for himself as he leaned back in his seat, smirking and still looking Harry directly in the eyes.
"If you think you're going to slip some Veritaserum into my coffee, Potter, you'd better be slick about it."
"How did you–" Ron started.
"You're a Legilimens then?" Harry accused.
"Yes, well," Draco said as he took a sip of coffee, "it comes in handy, doesn't it."
Hermione rolled her eyes and drank her coffee. Harry and Ron didn't dare touch their cups, though she knew they were probably dying to. It was just after midnight when she and Draco had finished watching The Godfather, and Auror training always took a lot out of Harry and Ron. Harry especially, was wearing thin as of late.
"Take it, Malfoy," Harry commanded as he took out the vial from his pocket. All Draco could do was laugh.
"And why would I do that, Potter?"
"Because, Malfoy," Harry said, "for some reason Hermione trusts you. Do you really want to prove her wrong? Or is it that you have something to hide?" Reverse psychology? Nice try Harry, Hermione thought, having tried that herself before.
"I've nothing to hide, Potter," he spat back, "but how do I know that's really Veritaserum in there? What if you're the one who wants to poison me?"
"You forget, Malfoy," Harry said, "Hermione trusts us too." Draco looked over to Hermione and then back to Harry. Finally, Draco let out a sigh and snatched the vial from Harry, downing the whole thing in one gulp.
"What's your name," Ron asked him.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy," Draco automatically responded.
"And where did you grow up?" Harry asked.
"Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire."
"Is that right?" Harry asked Ron.
"Dunno. Is that right, Hermione?" Ron asked her.
"Why don't you two ask him things that you're sure about first, and then get to the other questions," she explained. Those two were so daft sometimes.
"Right," Harry said. "What position did you play on the Quidditch team?"
"I was the Slytherin Seeker."
"I reckon it's really Malfoy then," Ron said mumbled.
"Good. Alright, Malfoy," Harry paused, "what happened after that night in the tower?"
"I fled with Snape that night. When the Death Eaters told the Dark Lord I couldn't do it, he killed my parents. Then I was thrown into solitary confinement and punished–"
"Harry please," Hermione said.
"Okay, Malfoy. So how did you escape the Death Eaters?"
"Professor Snape came down to see me and gave me back my wand. We made it look like I attacked him and I got out. I went straight to Gringott's and cleaned out one of my family's vault's and fled to the Muggle world." It was the same story that Draco had told her on his birthday.
"And you're no longer a Death Eater, Malfoy?" Ron asked.
"You don't just stop being a Death Eater, Weasley, but I am not a practicing Death Eater if that helps."
"Ok, Malfoy, we believe you," Harry said. "Now, tell us what the Death Eaters know about the Order of the Phoenix."
"They know it's an organization Dumbledore ran up until," Draco paused. Even under the effects of the Veritaserum he had trouble saying it. "Until he was killed. They now believe that it's being run by Potter now.
"Your meetings are Sundays but they don't know the location. They believe that the location changes from week to week. It has been confirmed that Hagrid, Lupin, McGonagall, Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Weasley's Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Molly, Fred and George are all members.
"The Death Eaters believed, up until I left, that the Order was searching for Horcruxes. The Dark Lord, especially, is nervous about Potter finding them." Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sat up straighter when Draco mentioned Horcruxes.
"Malfoy," Harry said, "what do you know about the remaining Horcruxes?"
"Nothing. The Dark Lord never shared such information with me."
"Dammit!" Harry yelled.
"Harry I think you should stop now," Hermione said.
"No, Hermione," Harry said quietly. "Not yet. I have just one more question for him." Harry stopped and looked Draco straight in the eyes. "Malfoy, could you really have gone through with it and killed Dumbledore that night in the tower?"
"No, I couldn't."
Hermione was relieved, to say the least. She knew that Draco couldn't have gone through with it, but surely even Harry and Ron couldn't argue with his answer since he had been under the effects of Veritaserum. They both seemed to ease up after that, though neither said anything. Harry, however, did take a drink of the coffee Draco had poured for him.
"Hmm," Harry contemplated, "this is good coffee." Hermione wasn't about to say I told you so. Harry drained his cup and then got up. "Hermione I need to use your Floo," he said walking towards the fireplace.
"Go ahead, Harry." Harry whispered his destination and then was off.
"So I'm off to Azkaban, eh?" Draco said to no one in particular.
"No, Malfoy," Ron said slightly annoyed. "You're not going to Azkaban. Harry just needs to make some travel arrangements. You two can't stay here anymore. It might not be safe."
"So we're just going to pick up and leave then?" Draco snapped. Ron rolled his eyes unsympathetically.
"Actually, you two should go and pack your things. This way we can leave right when Harry gets back."
Nearly half an hour later Harry returned with a portkey. Hermione and Draco gathered their things together as Ron took a very annoyed Crookshanks (who had been sleeping very nicely until he had been unceremoniously woken up, hence his agitated state). Harry held out the stuffed bear. After a minute it began to glow blue and they were transported.
It was nearly pitch black when they arrived but Harry had the Put-Outer handy anyway. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all began to walk to familiar path to the house until she realized that Draco couldn't tell where he was going.
"Come on, Draco. It's just up here," she whispered. "Follow me." Hermione could see the house and looked over to Draco. It was clear that he was staring at nothing and Hermione couldn't help but smile. He made the oddest face when he was puzzled, she had noticed before. They gave Harry and Ron their things as the two of them went into the house.
"Where are we?" Draco whispered to her.
"You'll see in a minute. Just wait." Harry came back out holding a piece of paper and thrust it into Draco's hands.
"Read it and memorize it," Harry said as he lit up the tip of his wand so Draco could see it.
The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.
Once Draco committed the information to memory, Harry burnt the paper and the three of them proceeded inside the house. As they entered the house, Hermione could hear an irritated Harry mumble something along the lines of "home sweet home."
Grimmauld Place, Hermione thought. Home sweet home indeed.
Author's Note – It's been nearly a month since my last update! Sorry about the delay. I got kind of stuck while I was writing this chapter (but I did manage to write the very end of this story and two different one-shots). Anyway, not much to say about this chapter. It's nearing the end! Let me know what you guys think. Thanks for reading.