"You're all dismissed, leave." Bellatrix ordered "Now!" she roared at the unresponsive men surrounding her.
Narcissa and her son climbed the stairs, their pace slow because of Draco's injured leg, once they made it to Narcissa's room, she grabbed him by the arm.
"What happened to you? Is your leg okay? Wait here I'll..." she asked, frantically searching the room for something Draco didn't know when he interrupted her, putting a hand on her arm.
"Mother, I'm fine. I did this to myself, it's nothing serious I just had to do it to make it look like Rowle put up a fight."
"Yes, Rowle, tell me how did everything go?" She asked, her eyes never leaving her son's leg.
"All went well, obviously." Draco replied, sitting on the bed and stretching his legs. "The hardest part was making it throught Selwyn's defenses. The dubious bugger placed protective charms on his filthy house enough to secure Hogwarts! And when I finally made it through them he almost killed me with the random spells he kept firing everywhere." he grimaced at the memory of having curses flying over his head.
"He spent so long interrogating me I almost thought of leaving and finding somebody else. But he finally relented, when he did, I cast an Imperius on him then made him drink the potion, it was rather...entertaining to watch him transform into you." Draco paused to smile at the disgusted look on his mother's face.
"Sent him to tell Rowle that Bellatrix requested his presence upstairs. When Rowle entered the room I attacked him and cast an Imperius on him too. I then tied his hands and legs and put him in the box, then I shot a spell at my leg so it would look like he fought back. Then I brought him down, that was when you saw me. I never knew an Imperius could be so exhausting. I feel like my brain is numb!" he sighed, throwing his head back at the pillows.
"It is, when you're casting it on more than one person at the same time, you shouldn't have done that." Narcissa chided sternly.
"Do you have any other ideas?" He asked, his voice louder than he intended it to be.
"Did you make sure you obliviated Selwyn?" She asked, ignoring her son's question.
"Of course I did!" Draco knew it would be long before his mother stops following up his every move and double checking on him.
"What about the girl? Is she still in your ro.." Narcissa started to ask when they heard a knock on the door, she went to open the door to find a house elf informing her that Bellatrix demanded Draco's presence.
"Come in." Bellatrix ordered as she heard a knock on the door. As he entered the room he saw Rowle on the floor, covered in blood.
"Veritaserum, Draco. I want you to prepare some." She demanded.
Draco fought to keep his face as expressionless as possible.
"It's a very powerful potion, preparing it will take time." He explained.
"Time is not something we have. You don't have to prepare it, owl Snape and ask him if he has some. I don't care what you do, Draco. You have one hour." Bellatrix ordered, her tone final, allowing Draco no more arguments.
He went back to his mother's room, pale and distracted "What happened, Draco?" Narcissa asked warily at the sight of her son.
"Bellatrix wants me to bring her some Veritaserum, she gave me one hour...I don't know what to do." he replied inattentively as he threw himself on the nearest couch.
"Wait..." Narcissa said as she started searching through her drawers until she found a flask that contained a lime green liquid.
"Essence of insanity?" Draco asked quirking an eyebrow.
"Yes." she confirmed briefly, pointing her wand at the flask and whispering something. The liquid slowly started losing its color and became water-like.
"Did you transform it into Veritaserum? What spell is that? Is that even possible?" Draco inquired, his look confused, as he stood up and looked closely at the flask.
"There is no time for explanation, this is still the essence of insanity it only looks like Veritaserum. Give it to Bellatrix, I'm sure she's going to use it on Rowle to interrogate him, when she does, cast an Imperuis spell on him. and you know what to do after that." Narcissa instructed her son as she cast spells on her drawers to close them and handed the flask to him.
"Don't give it to her until the hour is over so she won't suspect anything" she warned.
"But wouldn't this make him hysterical? Wouldn't she suspect anything? Can't you find me any other potion?" Draco asked.
"No, Essence Of Insanity is the only potion that you can manipulate its color. And people are usually hysterical when they're forced to drink Veritaserum. If you cast the curse fast enough, she won't notice." Narcissa informed
"Fine, I'll go to my room now." Draco replied, a content smile playing on his face, now that his dilemma has been sorted out. Narcissa opened her mouth to say something but decided against it.
Hermione put her book on the table near her. She woke up to find herself alone in the room, some breakfast lied on the table beside her, next to it was a pile of books and a note from Malfoy.
"Keep yourself busy. Do not try to leave the room. I'll be back soon.
Draco"
The brief note held an authoritarian tone, even on paper he could be insufferable, Hermione thought. But at least he was thoughtful enough to leave her some books. She could see some more books on the shelves across the room, she wished she could move or at least had a wand to bring some more books now that she had read Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland for a second time. When Malfoy was back she would demand a wand, maybe then she could heal her own leg instead of numbing the pain with potions. The door opened and the subject of her latest thought walked in.
"How is your leg?" he asked.
"Mine is fine, what happened to yours?" she asked as she noticed him limping.
"Nothing serious." he replied briefly as he opened his potions box and took out a flask.
"Are you planning on telling me what's happening anytime soon? Where is Harry? Is he okay? What happened to you? When will I be able to get out of here?" Hermione burst into questions as Draco stood next to her bed.
"For the love of Merlin, Granger can't you keep quiet for a couple of minutes? I have a lot of things on my mind and answering all those questions will take a lot of time, something I don't have right now." Draco sighed in exasperation as he took Hermione's hand and poured drops of the potion on the cuts.
Hermione flinched as the liquid stung her hand. But this time, the wounds started fading away, by the time he was finished her hands looked and felt as if they've never been cut.
"Thank you." she mumbled. "But what about my leg? We can't keep using pain relief potions." she remarked.
"No, we can't. There is a spell, Brackium Emendo, but it's a difficult one and I can't risk using it yet." he admitted.
"Maybe you should try." Hermione urged.
"Try a spell I haven't fully mastered, on you? Don't you have the least sense of self preservation, Granger? Haven't you learnt anything from that fool Lockhart in our second year? Do you want to end up the way Potter did?" he frowned at her incredulously.
"Well, maybe if you get me a wand I can try it myself." She said, lifting her chin up.
"Because you're more skilled than me?" He scoffed.
"This is not what I'm saying, you should stop twisting my words. What I'm trying to say is, I need a wand, I'm not comfortable with being dependent on you." Hermione explained exasperatedly.
"I'm not enjoying your invalidity, either. I'm just waiting for the right time, when I know for sure that I can cast the spell properly. I've been practicing it ever since I brought you here and it might come as a surprise for you that I'm actually getting better at it, just give me a day or two." His voice came out strained.
He had been practicing a spell for you! The timid voice in Hermione's head exclaimed. He had been practicing a spell so I don't burden him anymore, she corrected herself quickly.
"Just for the record, it did not come as a surprise to me, Draco..." Hermione paused abruptly at the name that came out of her mouth before she could stop it.
Draco's hand faltered as he heard his name, he had known Hermione for over six years now and not once had he heard her use his first name, neither had he used hers. It didn't sound repulsive or even odd; it sounded familiar to him and he found himself wanting to hear it again. For once, somebody was saying his name with a tone that wasn't authoritarian, contemptuous or downright worried. His hand tightened around the flask he held before putting it on the desk and turning to face Hermione.
"When have I become Draco?" He raised an eyebrow, the left corner of his mouth tilting downwards.
"Let's not stray away from the point, Malfoy. I need a wand." Hermione ordered, she could feel her cheeks growing hot.
"So, I'm Malfoy again now? You're becoming very confusing, Granger." He smirked at her, his eyes glittering in victory as he saw color flood her cheeks.
"Again, I need a wand." Hermione struggled to control the anger in her voice, she would not let him think he could provoke her, she decided.
"I'll be down in less than an hour. I'll try to fetch you a spare wand, then." He said finally, looking away from her and grabbing his own wand.
Hermione watched wide eyed as he rolled up the leg of his trousers, she let out an audible gasp at what he called 'nothing serious'. This was everything serious, she thought, the wound looked grave and it was bleeding, looking at the floor she now noticed that it had left a trail of blood allover the room.
"Vulnera Sanentur" he muttered and Hermione looked in fascination at his leg as the blood started to fade and the wound healed gradually.