Idk, Harry Potter, like, totes so doesn't belong to me, yo.

AN: Fact- a friend gave me a cardboard New!Spock for my bday (mmm, the Quinto) and everytime my sister comes home to visit she dresses him up like something different. Right now he is Pirate!Spock.

Also, here is a new chapter with many revelations- but not all. Blaise still has to tell his side of the story, eh what? ;) And it's just one long scene this time, but what can you do? Write more? Naaaah. Saving the scene breaks for the next chapter. Gotta switch it up sometimes, keep you on your toes. Or some shit.

Hermione settled the tray with assorted little biscuits and a pot of tea on one of the side tables in the living room and poured some out for everyone. They passed the cups around dutifully. Even if they didn't drink it, at least they'd have something to keep their hands busy; while they talked about things she really was beginning to wish they didn't have to talk about. But it wasn't entirely up to her. It was also up to Ginny, and Lucius, who looked grimly determined to see it through after the morning they'd all had.

Hermione wondered if her lips should still be tingling every time she looked at Lucius, or not. Was that normal? It had been so long since she'd had a proper kiss from a man she maybe, sort of found attractive that she couldn't remember. Then again, all of Ron's kisses had burned. Until they'd stopped. And then there'd been nothing.

She sank down into her armchair with a sigh and decided that this was all a very bad idea. Draco caught the look of desperation on her face and leaned towards her, ready to be solicitous once more.

She didn't think that was a good idea, either. Not when his eyes made her spine feel like it was ramrod straight and mush at the same time. So she looked away, to Ginny.

Ginny's eyes were fixed on some point inside her cup of tea, as if she could divine the future while it was still filled with tea. She reached into the cup, picked at some invisible hair or speck of dust with one finger, then pulled said finger back and blew on it quickly.

"Careful," Hermione said after the fact. "It's hot."

Ginny rolled her eyes up and over at her best friend, then rolled them back to the cup. Hermione sighed again and nearly met Draco's eyes, but slid hers away at the last minute. She missed the way his hands clenched about his delicate tea cup.

Lucius took a small sip and cleared his throat.

"How shall we do this?"

Hermione straightened up, pressed her lips together. "I rather thought…that is, we assumed you would simply tell us what happened."

Lucius looked at her like she was a simple child, but managed to make it a not unkind glance.

"Many things happened back then, Miss Granger," he said succinctly. And though she frowned slightly at his formal address of her, she didn't correct him again, he noted with satisfaction. That was fine, it was good. It was how it needed to be. He held his cup in long, graceful fingers that had been cramped with pain only a week ago and considered what to do. Finally, he spoke.

"If I may make a suggestion."

"Please," Hermione replied, and though there were four of them in the room, it may as well have only been the two of them in that moment. Her eyes met his and darted away again, the same as they did from Draco. Lucius resisted the urge to roll his eyes and be done with the lot. Young adults. Children.

He felt so fucking old.

"It would be easier for me to tell you the pertinent information if I know what you have already guessed, what you already know. Then I might more effectively fill in the gaps, so to speak." He said each word carefully and Hermione's eyes watched some spot on the rug. They flickered, but didn't look up again.

She wondered if his gaze- his and his son's- had affected her this way before the kiss. She couldn't remember. But between avoiding Lucius' and Draco's eyes, she didn't have many options for visual cues.

She did raise her brows, however. "That sounds fair. Let me get my file."

Draco jumped up. "In the desk, isn't it? I've got it- stay there."

But Ginny superseded them both. "I haveit," she said and, pulling her wand out, gave it a lazy flick. Seconds later, the file floated out into Hermione's outstretched hand. Her face was pinched, but she managed a thank you, just the same.

No matter how long it had been, watching others perform magic never got any easier- even if she had, as Lucius had pointed out, surrounded herself with the stuff despite her resolve to never use it again. Look where that had gotten her, after all. One of the first things Ginny had noticed, but politely declined to comment on, was the potions book Hermione had left sitting in the kitchen from a week ago, when she'd been reading up on ways to treat Lucius. And it wasn't like she could pretend she hadn't been digging about in her blossoming herb garden for helpful ingredients, either.

Shaking her head, she opened the file in her hands and flipped through a few pages, and finally glanced up. Lucius was still watching her, as was Draco. She addressed one of the flower prints on the wall.

"Ginny and I- that is, after Ginny told me how Zabini had been behaving, and Draco told me what little he knew, I decided to put together a timeline. I already had one, from right after we escaped. I was obsessed with figuring out what had happened back then, before…it ceased to matter," she added softly. No one spoke and she went on.

"At any rate, the night after the final battle, in the early hours of May third, the three of us were captured by some rogue Death Eaters. They kept us until late October, the twentieth. I should add that we believe they actually died three days before then, but we've never known the details, because when we escaped our cells and found them dead, we didn't…stick around to figure out what had happened." Her voice broke, but she soldiered on. "To this day we don't even know if the two bodies we found were the only ones holding us- Ginny was always prepared to swear there was at least one other, but as they didn't- as I wasn't their-"

She stopped outright and Ginny caught her breath, then took up the story.

"Four of them attacked us that night, you see," she continued. "I managed to take down one, but there were three others- it would have taken at least that many to restrain all three of us. So I always assumed. But there were only the two bodies when we escaped." She looked at Hermione, who wiped her cheeks and nodded that she was alright to go on.

"I hope you can understand why I grew suspicious of you, and of Zabini, after hearing what Draco had to say," Hermione said. "When he told me Zabini had visited you that October, and knowing that just days after you and your wife went missing, we found our way out- not to mention that I've seen the curse you've suffered from, Lucius," she added. "They tortured Ron with it, day in and day out."

Ginny nodded and covered her mouth, looked away. Draco watched Hermione, his eyes wide.

"You don't think Zabini was one of them-"

"I don't know," Hermione replied. "And it's up to your father now to tell us the rest. Ginny has tried to get it from Zabini, but-"

"He'll never tell," Lucius responded. "He wouldn't even tell me, at first. It was only when Narcissa came to me, told me she knew something was wrong, that food had been disappearing from the kitchen; and that damned boy tried to sneak off one night-" Lucius' eyes flashed with life and anger and he paused, breathing heavily, as if the effort of feeling anything wore at him. Draco looked from his father to the women.

"So there was something going on under our very noses?" he asked. "Don't tell me they were holding them on our property-"

Lucius held up a hand. "Let me start from the beginning," he said, his voice softer. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath.

The small company all leaned forward in their seats.

"Zabini came to stay with us that first week of October," he began and Draco nodded. Lucius went on. "He and Draco were not close, but Narcissa and I felt we should at least try to stick together, with the old club, you understand? And Zabini, while not a wholesome sort himself, was at least mostly innocent of all charges against him, save cowardice. It was difficult, to be a former associate of the Dark Lord- even if one had renounced one's ways- during that time. Your disappearance and the subsequent hunt for you had all good people- all," he said again, fiercely, "up in arms. So even if once our cases had looked promising, we were forced to view the alternative: that things might end badly."

"Go on," Hermione said quietly. Lucius' eyes flickered, but he did not open them.

"You may recall, Draco, that as you didn't care for his company, it left Blaise up to his own devices for much of the time?"

"Yes," Draco replied. "He'd go for long walks and broom rides. Even off the estate, at times."

Lucius gave another sigh. "I was particularly suspicious of all behaviors during that period. Just because we had once banded together didn't mean we were now protecting one another. And I knew Zabini was only for himself, which was why I was paying such close attention to his activities during his visit." He paused again, took a deep breath. "Which was why I noticed him acting strangely after one such excursion off our property, not long after he'd come to stay."

"I know the one you mean," Draco said suddenly. "He came back and wouldn't speak to me at all, wouldn't even eat with us. Acted like he'd taken ill, when he was perfectly healthy. He'd only been there three days or so, hadn't he?"

Lucius finally opened his eyes. "That's correct. It was the week after that Narcissa came to me and told me about the trouble in our kitchen. That someone was thieving. I noticed other items- just small things, but some valuable enough to fetch a decent price- started to disappear as well. It was during one of my conversations with Narcissa on the subject that Zabini accidentally walked into the room. Shall we say his behavior…gave him up?

"I questioned him almost immediately, but he insisted he knew nothing. But the longer I watched him, I knew something nefarious was going on. He snuck around like gnome, pick pocketing items and then taking his long walks. I finally cornered him one night in the library, and had to use legilimency to see what was happening. That was the morning of the seventeenth. What I saw…" He paused and swallowed, staring into his cup before bringing his head up and looking at both Hermione and Ginny in turn. His eyes were dark and unholy.

Hermione couldn't look away, even as Lucius dropped his gaze again. Her fingers gripped the edges of her armchair too tightly and she was trembling all over. Ginny's hands were shaking so badly she'd had to put her tea cup down and had covered her face entirely. Only Draco sat up straight, his face expressionless- but not because he was not moved. Because if he let himself feel anything, he was certain he would hurt someone, or something.

"Blaise had somehow stumbled across the small cottage in the woods that bordered our property. The Death Eaters there had immediately seen his usefulness and they Imperioused him to do their bidding."

Ginny gave a small cry and sank back against her seat. "So it wasn't his fault?"

Lucius sent her a piercing look.

"They ordered him to bring them food and secure money and supplies for them, Miss Weasley," he said as gently as possible. "Nothing else. I saw everything, there in his memories. They did not order him to keep it a secret, or to not try and help you. That he did- rather, didn't do- entirely on his own. As for the torture…whether he willingly took part in it or not, I truly cannot say."

"Then the third man-"

"Was not Zabini, not at first," Lucius said. "I saw what they'd told him, explained to him. They'd begun to turn against each other within the first months and finally one killed another, narrowing their number to two. But by then, I can only assume, they already had Mister Weasley to do their bidding. Am I right?" he asked, turning his gaze to Hermione, who had paled.

She only nodded before slumping into her chair and mirroring Ginny's horrified pose, her hands over her face. Draco thought his heart was going to break.

"You said it was the morning of the seventeenth," Draco prompted his father finally and Lucius nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"Right. After I realized what I'd seen, could process it, I immediately took measures to detain Zabini and called Narcissa in to tell her the entire story. We had to decide what to do, you understand. Draco wasn't with us that day- you'd gone into town, son, if you recall, so we could not rely on his help, but we knew we needed to act fast, whatever we did."

"I should think the decision to call the aurors would be quite simple," Ginny ground out, her voice accusing.

Lucius gave a small shake of his head. "We tried to," he said. "Narcissa and I- actually, it was entirely at my wife's insistence that we go there ourselves. I suppose there was a certain element of looking after our own interests, because if we told the aurors and then stepped back, did nothing else to help, it would make us look guilty as well. Still, those were not our only reasons. Narcissa was heartsick when she learned what was going on. She was ready to fly out the door and take care of the situation herself before I stopped her, talked some sense into her.

"It was after Blaise watched our debate, after I'd lifted his curse, that he offered his own help. Even though I'd seen his memories, he said it would be easier for us to gain access if he led us there. I foolishly agreed, thinking he had seen how terrible the situation would be for his own trial; that in order to help himself he must help us, too."

Lucius paused and took a long drink of his tea. He wiped his mouth in an ungentlemanly manner, but didn't seem to care any longer. When he spoke again, his voice was hushed and forced.

"We were both taken in by his last desperate attempt to save his own skin. Narcissa and I penned a joint letter to the ministry, alerting them of what we knew, asking for them to send immediate assistance- telling them of our own plans. And we wrote a message to Draco as well. Our activities were being monitored and restrained, so we did not have regular access to the owl post and our floo was also blocked. All our correspondence came through a ministry mandated owl, once a day, in the evening. So we set the letter for the aurors, for help, in the post box and then we gathered ourselves and waited until dark. We wanted to leave ourselves enough time that the ministry would receive our call for help before we reached the cottage.

"Narcissa hated to wait those extra hours, but we did. And like the fool that I was, I- we both- trusted Zabini and left him free, though I watched him as carefully as possible. But our minds were full of the pending…rescue mission, and I missed the way he'd carefully swiped the letter to the ministry and the message for Draco."

"I was going to say, I never received a thing," Draco broke in. "That's why it took me so long to figure out something was wrong."

Lucius sent him a kind, but sad, look and shook his head. "There was nothing anyone could have done, save myself. If I had only realized-" He stopped short, took another drink.

"Well, go on," Ginny spoke up. "I can't take this much longer," she added quietly and Hermione reached over, took her hand and squeezed it.

"Yes, please, Lucius," she said, looking to him. "Finish your story."

He didn't bother to look at either of them that time.

"We followed Zabini and concealed ourselves outside the cottage to wait for his signal. It didn't come and instead the Death Eaters began firing at us from inside the cottage. I managed to incapacitate one of them and Zabini escaped past me while Narcissa dueled with the other. Where he went after that, I don't know- it was enough to register with both of us that he'd betrayed us and that help would probably not come.

"Then the one I was battling hit me with that damned curse. I heard Narcissa finish him seconds later, but while her back was turned, the one she was fighting sent the killing curse at her. I called to her, warned her, but I was wrought with pain. I couldn't see to fire my wand and I knew Narcissa was gone before I saw her broken body. I-" He hunched over, took a shuddering breath that rattled in his chest like a snake; felt his throat constrict with the fresh grief of it all. "I killed the bastard myself, managed to throw enough wayward curses that I finally hit him even while he still had his wand trained on me, torturing me. But I killed him outright," he finished. His face was ashen and his eyes squeezed shut, as if he were reliving those moments.

But then, Hermione knew he was. She did the same thing, night after night. As did Ginny, and Draco. None of them could help it. Like she'd told Ginny earlier, grief like that never truly went away. One never got rid of the memories.

They would haunt them all forever.

Lucius finally opened his eyes after a long silence, his lashes wet with tears.

"And that is all I know. All I can tell you. I wish it were more, but as it is-"

"It's more than enough," Hermione answered, and poured herself more tea with a shaky hand. There was another tense stretch of silence and then Ginny spoke.

"So that bastard I've been feeding and taking care of the last two weeks knew about us. He knew, for two whole weeks, and he hadn't been compelled to stay silent, hadn't been forced to help torture- but he did anyway. He left us in there to rot for two weeks longer than we needed to- and likely wasn't going to come forward any time soon. He knew," she ended in a sharp whisper, then covered her face again.

"Oh, god," she moaned. "That's what he meant, when he said he hated owing me anything. That's what he meant- and he thought I knew about it, and that's why I'd chosen him in the first place-" She let out a harsh laugh. "As if I'd want anything to do with him if I'd known that? As if I'd have let him live this long? Oh, god!"

Hermione watched her friend begin to break down and set her tea cup down, knelt before her. She could feel her own insides working, urging her to lose her breakfast, to lose her own mind.

Instead, she resolutely stood up again, turned to Draco and Lucius, both. Draco's cheeks were wet, she could see, and she was suddenly grateful for his sympathy; but it didn't change the fact that they were intruders. An apology in her eyes, she held her hands up helplessly.

"Go," she said. "Please, get out." Her voice rose in pitch and she knew she was on the verge of hysteria, herself. Ginny continued to sob and threw her arms about Hermione's waist, burying her face against her stomach. Hermione put one hand on her head, looking down at her sadly. She glanced up again at Draco, who was standing and just helping his father from his chair. Lucius was staring at Ginny, his face pinched with sorrow of his own.

"Get out!" Hermione hissed again. "Please."

Lucius finally tore his eyes away and allowed Draco to hurry him from the room and through to the kitchen, to the outside. Then Hermione wrapped her arms around Ginny's shoulders as her friend continued to sob and shake against her; and she let herself go as well, while they clung to each other.

Outside, the sun continued to shine brightly.

AN: And fucking birds sang.

I considered adding that to the last line, but thought I'd best not. Might ruin the mood. So I put it here, immediately below. XD Happy Margot is happy, but still evil.