A/N: Dear ForensicGeek2, for the love of good, woman, contact me on any of the links in my profile, the curiosity is killing me here! \(0_0)/
Hermione opened the door and went out, followed by Malfoy. In front of her, she saw Lupin on the ground groaning in pain, Tonks was kneeling over him while Mr. and Mrs. Weasly were looking at him with horror.
Draco raised his wand, "Parti..." he started to say, but Hermione was quicker "Partis Temporus" she said, and once again the thin gate appeared momentarily before vanishing, forming a gap in the protective shield that covered the mansion. Tonks and Mr. Weasly carried Lupin with difficulty through the gap and into the house, followed by Mrs. weasly. Once they did, Draco finally moved, holding his wand, he pointed it at Lupin who was still writhing in pain.
Tonks instantly pointed her own wand at Malfoy but Hermione held her arm, looking at her in a silent plead. Draco, inattentive to the wand pointed at him, waved his own wand over Lupin while muttering something they couldn't hear. Finally Lupin stood up, unbalanced at first then he stood upright and shook his head before suddenly grabbing his wand. He pointed it at Malfoy who stood up as well, impassively looking at the furious man in front of him.
"Stupefy!" Lupin thundered and Draco ducked instantly missing the spell by a few inches. The impassive look on his face faltered for a moment. Hermione and Mrs. Weasly gasped simultaneously while Tonks and Mr. Weasly watched silently, both of them knowing how unwise it would be to interfere with an angry Lupin.
"Alarte Ascendare" Lupin thundered again and this time Draco wasn't fast enough, the spell hit him and he flew across the wide hall, he flew so high that he was inches away from the ceiling.
"Aresto Momentum" Hermione yelled suddenly in a shaky voice, stopping Malfoy's body seconds away from hitting the wall "Descendo" she followed and he was lowered to the floor at a more reasonable up again but this time his impassive look replaced with a furious one.
"Serpensortia" Draco snapped and a huge green snake shot out of his wand and headed directly towards Lupin.
"Vipera Evanesca" Hermione spoke, pointing her wand at the snake making it vanish immediately. "Stop, please!" she begged, moving her eyes between Malfoy and Lupin. But neither of them relented.
Lupin was still holding his wand "Confri.."he started to say, but Tonks held his arm, raising her hand to his face.
"Remus, that's enough." she said quietly. But he didn't look at her, his eyes never left Malfoy who stood there holding his wand defensively, waiting for the Lupin to attack again.
"Remus please," she begged, "he's my cousin." she added and Lupin finally looked at her for a long while, then lowered his wand.
"I explained everything in my letters, didn't you get it?" Hermione asked Lupin, her voice a mixture of anger and confusion.
"I did and I couldn't believe you actually trusted Malfoy! I still have a hard time accepting the fact that you wrote this letter without being forced or threatened." he answered.
"But I wasn't." she contradicted.
"I can see that now." he said, and his voice sounded accusatory. Hermione wanted to argue but the look on Lupin's face told her it was no good. Looking at the floor, Hermione let her shoulder fall down in frustration.
"Hermione dear, we were so worried about you." Mrs. Weasly finally spoke, hugging Hermione tightly.
"Yes! Ron, Harry and Ginny, all of us, when we got your letter we couldn't believe ourselves. Lupin thought it was a trap but we thought, what if it wasn't? Harry wanted to come with us but we couldn't take the risk so he stayed with the others." Mr. Weasly explained fervently.
"Is everybody else alright?" Hermione asked, much calmer now.
"Yes, we're all fine. But Harry and Ron...they've been devastated ever since they came back without you. You have to know, dear, that Harry never wanted to leave you behind.." Mrs. Weasly started to explain but Hermione cut her.
"I know, I understand." she said.
"Where is everybody else staying?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, they're at.." Mrs. Weasly spoke. "Molly, no!" Lupin interrupted forcefully.
"I don't think this should be discussed in the presence of a Death Eater." he explained sternly. Hermione looked at him in confusion for a minute, she was about to ask him what he was talking about but then she realized he was talking about Malfoy; she had almost forgotten what he was.
"Which brings us to the main point." Lupin announced "Should we or shouldn't we trust Malfoy?" he asked and before Hermione could answer, he reached for his pocket and took out a small bottle. "There's only one way we could know."
"What's in that bottle?" Hermione asked.
"Veritaserum." Lupin gave her the answer she already knew.
Draco who was standing in the corner watching them silently, rolled his eyes. He knew it would come down to this, no matter what Granger said in that letter, they would still doubt it until they heard it themselves. His last encounter with that potion was a hideous one, he had no intention of repeating it again, but what if he had? Was it any different than the last time? Somehow it was, for Draco.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasly excused themselves out, saying they were going to retrieve their broomsticks.
"I don't want to be interrogated by so much people, it's confusing." Malfoy said, directing his words at Lupin.
"What you want or don't want isn't any of my concern, Mr. Malfoy. And Tonks and I are hardly considered so much people." Lupin explained disdainfully.
"Let's get it over with then." Draco said, heading to the study, followed by Lupin and Tonks.
"I'm not drinking anything you give me as long as I can't see what it is." Draco insisted, refusing to trust Lupin's word about the contents of the bottle. Tonks, who was getting tired of being with two stubborn men in one room, reached for a glass that sat on the desk in front of them and emptied the contents of the bottle in it.
"Better?" she asked exasperatedly.
"Much. Where's the antidote?" he asked.
"There isn't any. The quantity is already very little, it won't last for more than an hour." Lupin's voice was stern, he was getting fed up with Malfoy's attitude.
"Alright_" Malfoy said reluctantly "_but I have one condition." he added.
"You're pushing your luck too far." Lupin warned "What condition?" Tonks asked.
"Granger, I want her to be here." Draco said. "Why?" Lupin asked with a frown
"What I want or don't want isn't any of your concern." Draco repeated Lupin's words smugly. "This is my only condition." he insisted.
"Fine." it was Tonks who replied. She went out and came back minutes later with Hermione, closing the door behind her, she urged Malfoy to drink the potion. He did, with a grimace, before sitting down on the chair behind the desk, watching Lupin as he paced the floor, obviously thinking of the right questions to ask.
"Who knows that you are here now?" Lupin asked. "The people in this house...and my mother." Draco replied.
"Is there anybody in this house that you're hiding from us?" Lupin asked. "No." Draco replied.
"Did you save Ms. Granger that day at the Malfoy Manor, based on the orders of your..your dark lord or any of his followers?" Lupin asked. "No." Draco replied.
"Did your dark lord or any of his followers order you to bring us here?" Lupin inquired. "No." Draco replied
"Are you willing to help the order fight against your lord?" Lupin asked. "Yes." Draco replied.
"Why so?" Lupin added. Draco paused for a long while and Hermione thought he wasn't going to answer that question. "Because I want him defeated...and I want something in return from the order."
Lupin watched Malfoy closely for a second, trying to digest the last answer the boy had given. "What do you want in return." he asked.
"I want you to hide my mother somewhere safe, and I need your help to...fake her death."
"Why do you want to fake your mother's death?"
"Because as long as she's only missing, my father will keep looking for her."
Lupin paused, pacing the floor again, searching his mind for any other possible question "Why did you save Miss Granger from your aunt then?" he asked suddenly.
Draco looked directly at Hermione, he held her gaze for a while and she knew what to do.
"You've already asked him this question, Lupin." she interfered.
"No I haven't." Lupin said, his brows furrowed.
"Yes, you asked him if he did it based on an..you-know-who's orders, and then you asked him why he wanted to help the order, these are pretty much the same question." Hermione argued, her tone a bit more aggressive than she intended it to be.
"Why are you defending him?" Lupin frowned at her.
"Because I find it very offensive that you interrogated him all over again. You think so little of me that you couldn't take my word for it." Hermione replied indignantly.
Taken aback by how she interpreted his actions, Lupin tried to explain his point.
"Hermione, I did not mean to offend you in any way, you should know that. But I have to admit I was worried that he might have tricked you by drinking a different potion...or manipulating the origina..."
"I am perfectly capable of knowing what a potion is when I see it, thank you very much" Hermione interrupted him, putting on her most hurt expression.
Tonks, sensing a fight waiting to happen, decided to interfere.
"Hermione, I'm sure Remus didn't mean it that way. But I think this is all but a misunderstanding, we're all very tired and we all sound a bit more...aggressive than we usually are. I believe this interrogation is over and we need to go back, the others are waiting for us." And with that, Tonks left, followed by Lupin who looked like he was going to say something to Hermione but then he decided against it.
Hermione looked at Malfoy who was now standing in front of her, she started to say something but he raised his hand in a motion to stop her.
"Don't_" he ordered "_talk to me until this stupid potion wears off."