A/N: Surprise - another chapter this week :) There may only be two chapters next week, though, as I have to attend two Christmas parties (I hate parties and I can't wait for it to be over). Anyway, two chapters are pretty certain, not sure whether I'll get a third one done.

This chapter is the main reason why the story is tagged as canon divergent on AO3. Part of it is in interview style, it felt like a good idea when I planned this chapter, I'm not 100% sure anymore. I hope you like it!

Again: Mild trigger warning for references to torture and again nothing graphic.

Chapter 12

"I need to talk to Miss Skeeter." Hermione's voice was, she thought, reasonably pleasant, but the receptionist of the Daily Prophet looked extremely nervous.

"Miss Granger, I understand you're upset, but Miss Skeeter did not interview Mr Weasley nor was she responsible for the article resulting from that interview." The woman stuttered just a little.

Hermione refrained from rolling her eyes. "I'm well aware of that. I still need to talk to her. Believe me, she will be pleased to see me." She would be, once she heard what she had to say.

"Very well then, I will see, if she has time." The woman hurried away and Hermione stood perfectly still while she waited, but inside she was fuming.

It was 10 January and the last few days had been wonderful. She had spent a lot of time with Draco; he had taken her to dinner, they had visited Muggle London together with his friends, or maybe it was more accurate to say their friends now, and it had been so much fun. They had found the last of the eight employees for their little sub-department at work, the renovation of the building they had bought was about to be finished and she had spent some time at the Manor almost every day, sometimes having dinner with everyone before going to Draco's sitting room, the library, or to her flat to not leave the cats alone all evening.

All in all, this year had started better than any year she could remember.

Until this morning.

Ronald and Harry had been spotted by a reporter in Diagon Alley, who had asked them for a spontaneous interview. It had started off harmlessly, although the headline suggested otherwise. Ron had talked about his new job in a shop for Quidditch supplies, which he loved. Strangely enough, he had never found a job he had loved while she had still been paying for everything. But that didn't matter, she would have been happy for him, if the headline hadn't spoilt his answer to the question of what he thought of her assumed relationship (they hadn't officially made it public yet) with Draco Malfoy.

It was beyond Hermione why it even mattered what her cheating ex thought of her potential relationship, but the question had been asked and Ron had answered, Harry had stood by without saying a word, and she would make them both regret it. "Why would I care what the Death Eater whore is doing? They've probably been shagging for a while before she broke up with me. He's probably the reason."

The headline had been "War Heroine or Death Eather Whore?". Not even Rita would sink so low, or at least she wouldn't be so plumb about it.

"Miss Granger." Hermione turned her head and looked at the familiar face of Rita Skeeter. She nodded her greeting, but before she could say anything, the reporter continued. "The article in the latest edition …"

"Was not your doing, I understand that" She didn't have the patience for that. "I want to give you an interview. I want to tell you a few things that happened during the War that have been kept from public so far."

The beady eyes behind the glasses widened with excitement. "Please come to my office, Miss Granger."

The two women left the reception area – probably to the relief of the poor receptionist – and sat down on a small table in a corner of Rita's office. On the way, Rita had fetched two glasses of water, which stood on the table, and she now took out her notepad and her faithful quill.

"I think you understand the consequences, if you don't write exactly what I tell you, without leaving out, editing or enhancing anything." As before, her voice was relatively neutral, but firm.

Rita swallowed and nodded. Obviously, she remembered the consequences very well. Good.

"Don't worry, that was just a reminder. I'm not here to threaten you. If you write exactly what I have to tell you, you won't need to change anything to make it interesting."

That got her back on track. "Very well, Miss Granger. Are you ready?"

Hermione nodded. Rita put her notepad down and placed her self-writing quill on it, so that she could focus on the interview.

RS: Miss Granger, you said you wished to share some aspects of the War that have not been made public so far with our readers. Is that correct?

HG: Yes, it is.

RS: What is it you would like to talk about?

HG: It is well-known that Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and I were captured by Death Eaters towards the end of the War and brought to Malfoy Manor. But the public has been somewhat kept in the dark about what exactly happened there, except that we were able to flee, together with other prisoners.

RS: Yes.

Rita leaned forward, she was interested now, her eyes were gleaming. Her quill furiously scribbled on the notepad.

HG: Harry and Ron were locked up in the … well, they still call it dungeons, but the Manor is not a castle, it doesn't have dungeons. It was probably the wine cellar, I suppose. I was brought into the drawing room, were Voldemort led most of his operations, Death Eater meetings, executions and … torture sessions. He wasn't there, though. Several Death Eaters were. And Bellatrix Lestrange was there, too.

RS: Were the Malfoys there?

HG: Yes.

RS: Did they do anything to help you?

HG: Not at that time. But as I said, there were several Death Eaters present and they wouldn't have been able to do anything without making it obvious that they were not loyal to Voldemort and risking their own lives.

RS: I see. What happened then?

Hermione took a sip of her water before answering in a somewhat smaller voice.

HG: Bellatrix Lestrange tortured me for quite a while with the Cruciatus Curse. She tried to find out what we did while we were in hiding. I didn't tell her about the Horcruxes, obviously.

To Rita's credit, she looked genuinely shocked.

HG: I didn't notice much at that time, but I knew that Narcissa was gone for a little while and when she came back, she argued with her sister. She told her that Voldemort would be furious, if I was killed or driven mad before he arrived and that they should throw me into the cellar with the others. She agreed eventually and when I arrived there, they were gone.

RS: Gone?

Hermione felt tears welling up and quickly blinked them away.

HG: Yes, gone. I later found out that Narcissa sent one of their house elves to the prisoners. According to her plan, the house elf was supposed to get us all out as soon as I was locked up with them. But when I stopped screaming and Narcissa was arguing with Bellatrix, which admittedly took a while because Bellatrix wasn't exactly reasonable, Ron and Harry convinced the elf that I was dead and that they should leave now before they were caught. The house elf was given the order not to return, so they ideally wouldn't know how we got out. Or as it happened, how they got out.

RS: They left without you, without any indication that you were actually dead?

HG: That is correct.

They were both quiet for a moment.

HG: I don't …"

She couldn't say that she didn't blame them, she couldn't, because she knew, had the roles been reversed, she would never have left without them.

HG: I understand why they did it. They were scared, we all were.

RS: But you wouldn't have left without them.

That was not a question. Apparently, even bloody Rita Skeeter knew her well enough to know that.

HG: No, never. What was worse, in my opinion … Kingsley Shacklebolt met with them at Shell Cottage. They told him I was dead. They reported to the Order that I was dead.

Rita looked appalled; Hermione took another sip of her water and took a moment to gather herself.

HG: They later told me that they really thought I was dead and that they didn't want anyone to risk their life. But they had no way of knowing and Kingsley isn't a careless man. He would not have sent Aurors or Order members into certain death to get me out.

RS: How did you get out?

HG: Lucius Malfoy. I was imprisoned for several hours, it was night time when he came. He stunned the Death Eater who watched me. Bellatrix Lestrange had insisted on a guard, as they didn't know how the others got out. I learned later that Lucius made it look like my escape was the guard's fault. Anyway, he let me out, gave me my wand back and helped me escape.

Everything had hurt, her muscles had still been shaking from the repeated Cruciatus, and she had been so cold and so scared. She had cowered in a corner, awaiting Voldemort's return, expecting further torture and eventual death. The man outside, who had been there to guard her, had mocked her repeatedly and she had refused to give him the satisfaction to see her cry. But she had rarely felt more like crying in her entire life. Suddenly she had heard a low thump and the heavy wooden door of her prison had opened.

The tall man in front of her had worn Death Eater robes and his mask, but she had immediately thought of Lucius Malfoy, which had been confirmed as he spoke. "Come. Quickly."

She hadn't moved.

"Come, now! You can stay here and wait for the Dark Lord to return or you can take your chance with me."

He hadn't wasted time trying to convince her that he was on her side and it had been effective. The reasonable part in Hermione, the part that wasn't all fear and hurt, had told her that there hadn't really been a choice. It had been certain death or almost certain death. The latter had seemed preferable.

She had stood up, legs shaking, and had stumbled towards the door. To her surprise he had handed her her wand. "I wouldn't try to use it against me, if I were you, because then you will never get out." His voice had been low and muffled by the mask, but it had unmistakenly been Lucius Malfoy, as she would later tell the Wizengamot. He led her out of the cell, past the stunned guard, but to her surprise, he had led her further into the cellars, and at the farthest end, he had touched a stone with his wand and much like the entrance to Diagon Alley, the brick wall had moved aside and had given way to a tunnel. "Follow the tunnel, it leads into the woods surrounding the Manor. Don't leave the tunnel on the other end, you may be spotted. When you reach the end, you will no longer be on the Manor grounds and apparition will be possible. Apparate from there."

Without further ado, he had given her a gentle shove and the wall had closed behind her.

RS: Why was that not revealed to the public?

HG: The Wizengamot decided on a general statement that the Malfoys helped the Order. Which they did. They provided information about Voldemort's plans throughout the entire War. But after the trials, it was leaked what Narcissa and Draco did in addition to that. I don't really know, why the rest wasn't, but it is true. You can ask the Minister, I'm sure he will confirm it when confronted directly.

RS: I see. And after fleeing the Manor you rejoined the others?

HG: Yes. Lucius made sure I made it off the Manor grounds where I could apparate away. When I was reasonably safe, I sent a Patronus to Kingsley Shacklebolt and he came to collect me and brought me to Shell Cottage. Everything that happened from there is public knowledge.

She remembered all too well how angry Kingsley hat been at Ron and Harry, how angry and disappointed she herself had been, but she had pushed it aside for the sake of winning a War.

RS: I see. I have one more question. Is Mr Weasley's statement yesterday the reason you wanted to make all this public?

HG: Yes. I know it sounds petty, but yes. He was present for all of the trials, he knows what the Malfoys did, that the information they provided the Order with saved many lives, that Draco risked his own life every day to provide the prisoners with better food, clean water and potions, that Narcissa lied to Voldemort for Harry's sake during the Battle of Hogwarts, that I would be dead without Lucius, and all that while most of what Ronald did was complaining that we didn't find the Horcruxes fast enough, that he missed his mother's food and so on. He also left Harry and me for a while. And to this day, he has the audacity to still attack them every chance he gets, to threaten Lucius with a wand, unprovoked I may add, and call me a whore, although he was the one cheating. I assure you, whatever may or may not be between Draco and me now, there was definitely nothing when Ron and I were still a couple. Draco was still living in France and Ron and I were already separated when we met again for the first time after five years. Our relationship was far from happy, but I never cheated on him.

After the interview, Hermione had gone back to her flat and now she was sitting on the sofa, Zeus half asleep in her lap. She didn't really care whether Kingsley was happy with her for revealing this information, he would have to live with it, but she probably should talk to the Malfoys before the article came out tomorrow morning.

She lifted Zeus from her lap and onto the sofa cushion and went through the floo to the Manor.

Bimsy informed her that they were all in Master's and Mistress' sitting room, so she went upstairs and lifted her hand to knock. However, Bimsy had obviously informed them that she was coming, because Draco opened the door before she had the chance to, a worried look on his face.

"Hi, are you alright?" He put his arms around her and she firmly hugged him back. For the first time today, she felt calm as he held her close. "I came to your flat after I read the Prophet, but you weren't there." She had modified the wards, so he – and his parents as well – could come in at any time.

"I'm alright. But I may have done something … rash?"

He lifted an eyebrow at her. "Rash?"

"Do you need a lawyer?" Lucius asked from the sofa, where he and Narcissa still sat. "Are there any witnesses?"

She looked over Draco's shoulder and glowered at him. "Not that rash." She slipped out of Draco's embrace and went past him into the sitting room.

Draco sat down on one of the armchairs and gently pulled her into his lap. Hermione grinned at him, put an arm around his shoulder and gave him a quick kiss.

"If you two are quite finished, I'd like to hear your definition of rash."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but told them about her interview with Rita Skeeter and all she had revealed.

To her surprise, Narcissa laughed lightly. "Draco, remember to stay on her good side."

Hermione huffed and Draco grinned at his mother. "You don't have to tell me that! In third year, she punched me in the face – admittedly for being a prick. But my nose was broken."

Lucius actually chocked on the tea he had just sipped. "Pardon?"

"Your nose wasn't broken!"

"Well, I should know! I told Madame Pomfrey that it was a bludger, because I didn't want to tell her that I was punched by a girl." He shot Narcissa a betrayed look as she dissolved into helpless laughter. Even Lucius chuckled.

Hermione tried to control her own laughter. "I'm sorry. I didn't know I broke your nose."

He shook his head and kissed her cheek. "I deserved it."

She looked back at Lucius and Narcissa, who still looked amused. "So you don't mind that I told her all that?"

Lucius shrugged. "It doesn't paint us in a bad light, so why would we mind? At least, if Miss Skeeter sticks to the truth."

"Oh, she will. We have a mutually beneficial agreement." She smiled innocently. Due to the three curious pairs of eyes on her, she decided to explain a little further. "I'm sure you remember the articles she wrote about me during the Tournaments in fourth year." They nodded. "I found out that she is an illegal Animagus, a bug, to be precise. I caught her in a glass, kept her there for a while, and when I let her out, I told her that it would be better for her not to give me a reason to report her to the Ministry. I keep her little secret and she sticks to the truth, at least when she writes about me or people she knows I care about, hence mutually beneficial."

Everyone was silent for a moment until Lucius looked at his son. "Draco?"

"Yes, father?"

"If you screw this up, I may have to disinherit you."

~tbc~