All Characters belong to JKR
Chapter 9: A Place to Discover –
Numbness filled every pore of Hermione Granger's skin. Each nerve ending felt severed. Every feeling she had ever felt was cauterized and ripped from her soul. Sitting in her former living room on a small loveseat, she was trying hard to concentrate on the words coming from the man in front of her, but instead she was having trouble following what he was saying, because she felt so detached. His tone was chilly and clipped. It was as if he telling her the events of his day, instead of recounting the story of how he had ruined her life.
This was a dream. She was truly having an outer body experience. She felt dismembered. She felt disjointed. There was no way that this was real. This couldn't be real. Did Draco really die for this?
As if sensing that she was no longer paying attention to him and his rant, he grabbed her by her chin, and showing a display of misguided emotion, he shouted, "LISTEN TO ME!"
She was listening. She just couldn't comprehend. She couldn't believe any of this. None of it made sense to her. Why would this man hate Draco so much? Why would this man be so obsessed with her? He had never shown any signs that he felt anything other than friendship toward her most of their entire lives.
No reprieve was in sight…his story was past the point of no return. He had been talking for over an hour, but he was growing weary, that much she could tell. He even complained to her that his weariness was over the fact that it had taken this long to conclude 'his mission', but that it was all finally going to end tonight.
He admitted everything to her. Everything apart from the main thing she wanted to know. WHY?
He told Hermione that his anger and jealously toward Draco started when they were still in school. He never fully explained why he hated Draco, or how his hatred of Draco became muddled with his obsession with her, but apparently it started after Draco once made the off-handed comment during third year that it was a shame that Hermione was a Mudblood, because he thought she was the prettiest girl in school. This man, still a boy at the time, overheard that comment and became enraged for a multitude of reasons.
Draco Malfoy was the son of a Death Eater!
Draco Malfoy was supposed to hate Mudbloods!
More importantly in his opinion, Draco Malfoy wasn't good enough for people like her. Who did he think he was?
He explained to Hermione that he was jealous that Draco always got everything that he wanted, but he took perverse joy knowing that there was at least one thing in the world that no matter HOW MUCH Draco wanted it, he would never have it: HER.
So he set his mind to remind Draco of that. The first note he sent him harked back to that very thing. He said it was innocuous enough. He merely 'reminded' Draco of his heritage. He wrote: "You're a pureblood, she's a mudblood, remember that."
He thought one note would be all that it would take, but apparently, Draco didn't heed the warning. The other man revealed that he had access to most of the castle during school, so he would leave notes to Draco in schoolbooks and library books. He even sent him Owls. He wanted to play to Draco's fierce sense of pureblood heritage. He assumed that after a few well placed notes to Draco, the other boy's infatuation with Hermione would turn to hate once more.
Then during the Yule ball, fourth year, he caught Draco staring at Hermione a bit too long. That infuriated him! He had stopped sending Draco 'messages' because he had thought Draco's fascination with Hermione had ceased, but apparently it hadn't.
That was the first night things became physical. He revealed that he tripped Draco on the stairs after the ball. When he, along with some other boys, went to help him up, he stuck another note in Draco's pocket. It read: "Son of a Death Eater soils himself when he looks at a Mudblood." He never wanted Draco to suspect the notes were from a friend or acquaintance, so he usually worded them to sound as if they were from an enemy.
Years went by and nothing untold happened. Draco seemed to be following in the footsteps of his father, hating all things 'impure', so the messages stopped. He even became engaged to Astoria Greengrass, who he was betrothed to since infancy. Hermione became engaged to Ron. Harry Potter began to date Ginny Weasley.
The other man knew there was no place in her life for someone like him, but he said as long as she didn't soil herself with the likes of Draco, he was content to see her with someone like Ron. All seemed right. Everything was as it was meant to be. It was all he ever wanted – his family, friends, acquaintances, and even his enemies to be in their proper place in his neat and tidy little world.
She wanted to ask him what right did he have to decide if everything was right or wrong with the world, but she kept quiet, didn't try to make sense of it all, and merely tried to absorb the sordid details.
"Then," the man said, "You and Ron broke up. I never understood why. You had no good reason to stop seeing him! And you were still friends! That didn't make any sense! And Harry Potter stopped going out in public with Ginny. She told me that he was backing away from her. Everything was unraveling."
"The worst part came when Draco announced to the world that his betrothal was over," he said quietly, sitting down for the first time. "That's when I knew…I knew he did it because you were finally free. He still wanted you. He was still obsessed. He only wanted you because he thought you were unattainable. He wanted you because I told him he couldn't have you. That was my gravest error. I forbade him from seeing you, and no one ever forbade Draco from anything, so he went after you because of that."
Hermione clenched her jaw, holding in her biting response. Draco was never obsessed with her, as this man made it sound. He didn't start dating her because she was 'forbidden'. However, she didn't crave this man's high opinion, and she knew the truth would be lost on him, so she kept her silence.
The man added, "He started going around you at work. You started going out to lunch together. You were a sympathetic ear and a shoulder on which he could cry. He was all darkness and you were all light, and he was going to taint you forever, and you were going to let him! You were no better than him after all. All these years I thought that even if he did care for you, you would never lower yourself to care for him in return."
He stopped talking and looked right in her eyes. "But you did. You fell in love with him…him, the son of the greatest Death Eater of them all, the boy who tried to kill Dumbledore. You, you loved someone like him, but yet never ONCE, in all our lives, did you ever even glance my way! DRACO MALFOY WON AGAIN!" After his small outburst he sat back and stared into space.
Hermione stared at him as the silence ensued. Though Draco was never obsessed with her, it sounded as if this man was. Finally she stated, "And that's when the notes to me began, too. Because you didn't approve. You were upset with me."
"Yes."
"Sometimes your notes warned me from him, and said that I wasn't good enough for him, and sometimes they called me all sorts of names, and said that I was lowering myself by being with him. It was as if the notes took on a duality, a double meaning. Did you write all of the notes yourself?"
"Yes."
"You had no accomplice?" she asked.
"No." He hung his head, shook it and repeated, "No, I always acted alone. I didn't want anyone to know. It was my problem to fix."
Hermione was confused. She assumed Ginny Weasley was in Azkaban because she was the Messenger, or at least his accomplice. Perhaps she was there because she really was the killer. Hermione was about to ask this man if he knew who killed Draco when she heard a whimper come from the man lying on the floor in the corner.
"Ah, our friend is waking up," the ranting man said. He stood up, his wand dangling from his hand. "Really, it wasn't nice of him to try to spy on us, was it? I only stunned him before, Hermione. Should I kill him now?"
Hermione looked up into the face of a mad man and said, "Oh, please, no. Percy, no."
Holding the hand of the young woman in his, Lucius Malfoy smiled at her again and said, "I'm so glad we were able to have this talk, Miss Weasley. Everything will be alright now. Do not fear any longer. No one will hurt you anymore. I'm so proud of you for remembering everything."
He stood up and adjusted his robes. As he turned to go, the serene look he presented to the young woman was replaced with a mask of rage. He went to the door and banged on it twice with his fist. Adrian, who was on the other side, opened it quickly.
"Were you successful? Did you find out if she had anything to do with killing Draco? Did you find out why she's really in here, because I have to admit, that baffles me the most," Adrian concluded. "Why would Harry Potter, and most of all, her own brother, Percy Weasley, the Minister of Magic, place her here under the guise of Hermione?"
"I found out everything we needed to know, but I don't have time to explain. Since we can't Disapparate from Azkaban, then we must make all haste. We have to get back to London, and find Hermione. She was to meet Percy Weasley tonight, and I'm afraid she's in terrible danger. We have to hurry!" Lucius started running down the long hallway.
"She'll be safe enough," Adrian said as he jogged next to the older man. "She's with Theo, right? Wasn't he to guard her?"
"She's in more danger than you realize," Lucius said cryptically, never stopping once. "I'll explain as we go, come!"
Harry escorted Ron to a holding cell near the Auror's office. They had both taken showers and had a bite to eat, but then Harry explained that Ron wasn't free to go home. Ron didn't understand why he was being held still, or what more he could tell Harry, but he didn't question anything. He was too tired to question anything.
Harry closed the bars of the holding cell and said, "You're alone. No one is in the adjoining cell, so you're safe. Try to get some sleep."
Ron didn't understand why Harry used the phrase, 'You're be safe'. Harry turned to walk away when Ron called out, "Harry?"
"What?" Harry didn't turn back to look at his friend.
"Why did Percy allow you to take Ginny to Azkaban? Do you both think she killed Draco? Do you think Percy knows something? Do you think I'm trying to protect them? Because, really, I don't recall anything. I would tell you if I did, but I do know that Ginny wouldn't kill Malfoy. I know it. What would be her motive?"
Harry turned back slowly. He leaned his back against the wall and slid down bit by bit so that he was sitting before Ron's small cell. Ron leaned forward on the cot, his hands clenched tightly between his legs, to listen to Harry's response to his queries.
"I know that. So does Percy. She wouldn't kill Malfoy on her own. Ron, there are a few things you don't know. Percy knows that Hermione didn't kill Draco because he was with her the moment that Draco died. He doesn't want anyone to know that. He's covered that fact very carefully. She told the Aurors when she was arrested that he was with her when Draco was killed, but he had proof that he wasn't, and you seemed to have proof that that she was the one lying, so we had no choice but to arrest her."
"Percy wouldn't lie," Ron stated plainly. "If he could have helped Hermione, he would have."
Harry merely shook his head. "No, you're wrong. Hermione told us at the time that Percy tried, in vain, to convince her not to go through with the wedding. When we questioned her why he would do such a thing, she had no clue.
"I found out later, on my own, that his motives were personal. It seems he was a bit obsessed with her or some tripe. He hated that she ruined the perfect picture of 'the golden trio' that he had in his mind, regarding you, me and her. He thought that if she married Malfoy, it would look badly on you. He thought the public would wonder why she threw over a war hero for a Death Eater. He couldn't stand that thought. Anything that looked bad on you looked bad on him as the new Minister of Magic. The reasons don't matter, and I no longer care.
"When I found out, I told Percy if he didn't right all of these wrongs, immediately, I would find proof and throw his arse in jail." Harry rubbed the place between his eyes, his glasses being held in one hand.
"But…but, Percy couldn't have been with Hermione when Malfoy was murdered!" Ron spouted. "If he was, why didn't he ever tell anyone that?" Ron, tired though he was, stood up, indignant. "That would have been the best possible alibi! He could have saved her from going to prison! Wait, that still doesn't explain why Ginny's in Azkaban." Ron approached the bars of the small cell and sat down on the floor.
"Ginny's in Azkaban for protection," Harry answered, "and by now, Lucius Malfoy, who went to question her this evening, might have found out why. I hope he ascertains more than we ever could. I always suspected that she was under the Imperius Curse, and that under the influence of such, after having ingested Polyjuice Potion to resemble Hermione, she did, without doubt, kill Draco Malfoy. The problem is I still don't have proof, and without a corroborating story from either Ginny or the person who put her under that curse, I still don't have enough proof to set Hermione free. I was hoping you would give me that proof, Ron."
Ron looked at his best friend, shocked. "NO!" He scooted across the floor, away from the bars, into the corner of the small cell. This time, he said no again, although quietly, and more to himself. "No, no, no, no."
"Yes, she did, but she's not responsible," Harry said, resigned. He stood up. He was so weary. "Still, we don't know why. We don't know who used the Imperio on her. Her mind's so altered that she can barely remember anything, not even who she is. To protect her from harm from the person who cursed her, and to protect your family and his position as new Minister of Magic, your brother Percy decided to send her there. Frankly, I think he only wants to protect himself from a scandal.
"Percy's been deciding everyone's fate for a while now. He's the one that decided Hermione would be convicted, since he wasn't going to give her an alibi. Also, there was an eyewitness, wasn't there?" Harry pointed to Ron. Ron looked pained.
Ron said, "Hermione was a sacrificial lamb. Percy used her. And we failed her in the end, didn't we?"
Harry merely nodded in affirmation. "Yes, we failed her, Ron."
Hermione looked over at Percy Weasley. When he first arrived this evening, she begged off all unnecessary conversations and asked what she really, truly, wanted to know first and foremost.
The moment he walked into her house she asked him, "Did you kill Draco?" She knew he didn't, but she had to ask. She knew he didn't because he was with her when Draco died.
He looked up at her. He had tears streaming down his face. "No, Hermione. I hated him. I was with him a few moments before he died. I told him how much I hated him and his kind. I saw that he had a note in his hand. It was from the Messenger. I told him that it was never going to end, unless he gave you up. I didn't say it was from me, per se, but I allowed him to think as much, and I told him that whatever was said in the note he should heed the warning. Then, I left him to talk to you. I even passed Ron in the hallway.
"I asked Ron where he was going and he said he was going to see Malfoy. He was going to try to convince him not to marry you. I never told him that I was going to you to do the same. I wished him luck and then we smiled at each other and went our separate ways.
"I hated that you were going to marry Malfoy, but I was with you when he was murdered. That's why I've worked hard with Harry Potter to try to get you out of prison, because I knew you didn't do it."
"Does Harry know you're the Messenger?" she asked.
"What?" he asked, surprised. "I'm not the Messenger."
Lucius and Adrian arrived outside Hermione's house. So they would not be seen, they slipped to the back garden and hid behind a cluster of trees. They were aided by the darkness of the night. Adrian had already sent an Owl to Harry asking for his help. "Are you going to tell me what's going on here, Malfoy?" Adrian asked.
"We've been lied to," Lucius said with anger. "Someone we trusted, implicitly, has lied to us for a very long time. The lies started when he was still a boy, and perpetuated into adulthood. I can't believe we didn't realize it."
"You're talking riddles," Adrian moaned. "What did Ginny reveal to you?"
"I'll tell you when Potter gets here," Lucius groaned. "I only hope it won't be too late. To think, I practically handed Hermione to Draco's killer by letting her come here without me tonight!"
"Percy Weasley killed your son?" Adrian asked, astonished. "I thought for sure that Ginny Weasley was the killer."
Lucius looked perturbed. "She was the killer, but she wasn't responsible for what she did. The killer found that Ginny was jealous of Hermione. She had been for most of their lives. He found a kindred spirit in her, in that he apparently had spent his entire life jealous of my son. They fed on each other's hatred and obsessions. He used her to exact a final act of vengeance against Hermione and Draco, by having Miss Weasley, under Polyjuice Potion, kill my son. He made sure that the youngest Weasley son would witness the entire thing. Hermione had no alibi, there was an eyewitness, and so there was no doubt that she was guilty. Meanwhile, he's been walking around free."
"Yet Hermione only served a year, and now she's free, why?" Adrian asked.
"The Minister of Magic has finally found his conscience, perhaps? It seems he was with Hermione when my son died. He could have given her an alibi, but he didn't. Also, Miss Weasley has started to remember everything. I'm sure her brother, along with Mr. Potter, wanted her to be safely out of the way of the real killer when she finally remembered who he was."
"WHO IS HE?" Adrian almost shouted.
Lucius pulled the younger man away from the house. "Quiet, he might hear us!"
Harry sighed and placed his glassed back on his face. He told Ron, "Percy promised me at the time that he would make sure that Hermione served no more than six months, and never in Azkaban. He kept part of his bargain. She served a year, but not in Azkaban. No, that honour has been left for your sister."
"Why is Ginny suddenly in jail? And why can't Hermione go free, I mean, really free?" Ron asked.
"There's still a threat," Harry labored. "Ginny's begun to have terrible night terrors. She's starting to remember. And as she starts to remember, the person who cursed her somehow has become aware. Threats have started anew. There's been several attempts against her life even. I thought it would be safer to place her in Azkaban, and under the guise of Hermione Granger. I also wanted to up the ante. I wanted the person who really killed Draco to know that Hermione was free, and that Ginny was untouchable. I wanted that person to KNOW that I KNEW that he had used Polyjuice Potion on Ginny to resemble Hermione before and that I was using it on her now. I wanted him to think that I found out who he was."
Suddenly, Ron grabbed Harry's collar from his side of the cell and dragged him to the bars, pressing him close, with his fist tightly around the other man's shirt. "You're using Hermione as a sort of bait to draw out the killer, aren't you? You're no better than Percy!"
"No! I'm using her to find Draco's killer so she can finally go free! Who better to find out who really killed Malfoy than her, Ron?" Harry asked, his hand coming up to Ron's wrist. "Besides, if you would just remember everything that happened in that room with Malfoy that day, perhaps we wouldn't have resorted to this!"
A young man ran into the room at that moment. He said, "Mr. Potter, should I call for help?"
"No, I'm fine Timmons. Ron will let me go, won't you, Ron?" Harry reflected flatly. Ron did so, slowly. Harry turned to the other man and asked, "Did you want something?"
The younger man said, "You're needed, Mr. Potter. A Mr. Pucey just sent an Owl. He said to meet him and a Master Malfoy at a Miss Granger's house. The note said that they know who the killer is, and that she's not safe. It says, and I quote, 'The killer is with her now' unquote."
Harry took the Owl from the young Auror, read it again quickly and then unlocked the cell in which Ron resided. "Come on, Ron. I may need your help. Hermione was to meet Percy tonight, and the only person protecting her is Theo Nott."
Ron looked white as a sheet and he didn't immediately step out of the cell. Harry, annoyed, repeated, "Now, Ron! I said that I might need your help! She's alone with Percy and only Nott is there to protect her!"
Ron slowly nodded. "Yes, you will need my help. I remember everything. Oh, God, Harry, we have to hurry! She's not in danger from Percy! It's Nott. It was Theo Nott all along!"
