DISCLAIMER: I am not JK Rowling, I am only a fanfiction author who managed to steal Jo's secret pensieve, but hey..that's a secret! Shhh….

-Chapter Fifteen-

Somebody suffers a lost belief,

Somebody feels betrayed;

It's an hour of darkness, doubt and pain,

It's hard to find relief-

To trust or not to trust?

That's the riddle again!

Yet Another Chance?

Draco felt he had been punched in the face. Now he was trapped in the middle, belonging neither here nor there. The order was not going to trust him after this.

"How did you find out?" he asked, leaning against the wall, his voice barely audible.

"I guessed."spoke Hermione Granger. "At first I thought it was Kreacher who was helping you but then I realized he could not disobey direct orders from Harry. I thought back and remembered we had mentioned Godric's Hollow in the hall downstairs; then Harry said he and Lupin had discussed plans at the same place. And then it hit me that Mrs. Black's portrait had not shouted once since we arrived here, probably didn't want to attract attention to herself, I suppose."

Oh, why did that girl have to be so clever all the time?

"It was her plan, really." Draco replied faintly, "She was mad at Potter inheriting this house and decided to act against him the moment you three appeared. When I arrived I was without any plan, she told me-----" his voice trailed off and he shut his eyes. His vision was suddenly becoming foggy and the floor seemed to be slipping beneath his feet.

"Are you alright?" he heard Potter asking, and nodded weakly, forcing his gray eyes open and meeting his green ones.

"Well you can stop playacting, because that won't stop us from turning you in." Weasley said roughly.

Draco gulped " How come she told you everything?" he asked with a lot of efforts.

"Because she thought she was speaking to her dear great nephew. She took Ron to be you." said Granger.

"Polyjuice potion?" he asked and then smiled.

"That takes a month to brew. You never really trusted me, did you?"

"You can't complain Malfoy, if we didn't." said Potter. " And if you really want to know, I trusted you. Neville trusted you. The order trusted you. And we were wrong. Only Ron and Hermione suspected you from the very beginning and you have proved them right."

"Lets come to the point, Harry," said Hermione sharply, " you had gone to meet Voldemort today," she said, addressing Malfoy, "what information have you given him?"

Draco looked at the wand at her hand. In fact, all of them had their wands out.

"I did not have any information to give Granger. I went to ask about my mother."

"We have heard that story before." Said Neville Longbottom.

"Yes, you better tell the truth this time." Said Ginny Weasley.

Draco looked at them, all glaring at him.

"This is the truth." He said quietly, I went to ask him to free my mother because I was worried that aurors would torture her, but-----."

"Aurors don't torture anyone!" said Neville fiercely, his face flushed and his eyes gleaming wildly.

"They save others from criminals like your aunt who torture people."

"I was just afraid for my mother, Longbottom. Anyway, I am glad that aurors are not like deatheaters, because, the Dark Lord cares little about his servants. He doesn't care whether my mother lives or dies, because from his point of view, she can reveal nothing of importance," (Harry was surprised to note the bitterness in his tone.) " to him, well, he forgot that I could." He finished venomously, talking more to himself than the others.

Harry eyed the pale blonde boy before him. He looked positively ill. There were shadows under his eyes, his gray eyes looked unfocussed and he had to lean on the wall to support himself. Even as Harry watched, he seemed to slip a few inches. He saw him flinch as Harry raised his wand and then stared as the latter conjured a chair out of thin air.

"Sit." Harry pointed to the chair. Draco obeyed mutely.

"Now what are you on about Malfoy?" Harry asked quietly. "What do you mean by saying you can reveal important things about Voldemort?"

Malfoy shuddered at the name.

Ron spoke up, "Don't you see what he means, Harry?" he said, smirking in a mirthless tone, "He has been caught spying and now he wants to play the Snape game. He will join our side and pass out information, while pretending to be spying for us."

"Give me another chance Potter," Malfoy said earnestly.

"Do you realize that the entire Order of the Phoenix could get arrested for sheltering a known deatheater like you?" Harry asked barely controlling his anger.

Malfoy nodded.

"And you know quite well you almost got Ron, Hermione and me killed twice, not to mention Lupin, after Tonks and her family having done so much for you. You have the nerve to ask for a second chance after this?" The anger that had subsided in him in seeing Malfoy so ill re-ignited, and Harry needed every iota of his patience not to start firing every hex that he knew on the boy sitting before him.

"It's pointless Harry." Said Hermione, " if he doesn't tells us what he told Voldemort today we will simply have to turn him in to the Ministry. He can join his parents in Azkaban."

Malfoy stood up. "How many times Granger do I say that I did not have any information to give him, that I went to----" he stopped suddenly and collapsed on the chair, his face looks paper white.

"What happened to him now?" asked Ron.

"I think he is really ill." Said Ginny quietly.

They looked at each other. Then Hermione spoke.

"Neville, did you say you gave him soporuta to ease his sleep?" she asked.

Neville nodded and Harry could see the two of them exchanging knowing looks.

"So what happened?" he asked. "Soporuta is not poisonous, is it?"

"No." said Hermione, but it causes tremendous side effects if it is taken raw when the body is suffering from a high degree of curse –inflicted pain. I think Voldemort must have inflicted a lot of torture on Malfoy to make him do his work, possibly the Cruciatus curse." She was looking slightly sick.

"So what do we do now? How do we deal with him?" asked Ginny.

"We can't deal with him now." Said Hermione, " He needs rest. But we must keep watch on him."

-XXX-

Draco opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying on his bed in the room at Black Manor. Potter and his friends were still there, sitting on two other beds and talking on low voices. Potter noticed him watching and walked over to him.

"If you are feeling better, we must discuss your options."

"My options--?" Draco began but was interrupted.

"If we hand you over to the Ministry, it will bring trouble for the Order as well, as we kept you hidden for about a month. I don't think we will do that."

Malfoy breathed in relief.

"We think we will just let you go," Harry continued, "You can go back to Voldemort and explain that you have been caught and thrown out of here. I bet he will be pleased with you."

Draco stared at him in horror as the meaning of his words sank in.

P.S: you know what you have to do!