A heavy silence filled the room as everyone took in the bottle of Veriteserum sitting on the coffee table. After a moment, Harry picked the bottle back up and allowed it to be passed around the room so that people could see it was the genuine article. The bottle was unopened, and carried the official seal from the Ministry's potions department. Of course, there was still a chance the bottle was a fake as Harry and Ron would have access to any potions the Ministry made, but no-one handling the bottle had any doubt that it was real. Harry and Ron really had brought Veriteserum to the family gathering.
"Let's get on with this," Ron said, topping up his glass of firewhisky which was almost empty.
With the bottle back with Harry, he used his wand to open it and using the dripper attached to the underside of the lid, he dropped a single drop of the liquid into his best friends glass. Without hesitation, Ron knocked back the drink laced with the strongest truth potion in their world.
"Go ahead Harry," he said.
"Ron, did you take your wand and disable the wards around Hermione's house?" Harry began. "Did you remove Lucius Malfoy's death Eater mask from the ministry and leave it at Hermione's house? Are you Hermione's prowler?"
Before Harry had even finished his questions, Ron's head was shaking from side to side. "No," he answered solemnly. "I have done none of those things. I am not the person we're looking for."
"This is ridiculous," Molly snorted as she surged to her feet. "Of course Ron didn't do this. No-one here did this. And I think it's disgusting to accuse our family like this."
"I agree," Percy said, also rising to his feet. "I for one, am not going to sit here and be insulted by my own family."
"Sit down, both of you," Arthur barked, displaying his rarely seen decisive side. "I fully agree that no-one here is responsible for what is happening with Hermione, although I can admit that the evidence is pointing in our direction. What we need to do is prove our innocence and then all work together to discover who is doing this, and why they've set our family up for the fall."
"Are you suggesting we each drink some of that potion?" Molly asked in outrage.
"No-one's got anything to hide, and providing the only questions asked is about Hermione's stalker situation, I see no problem with it," Arthur said with a firm nod of his head. "Give me a dose, Harry."
Harry did as his father-in-law asked and dropped a portion of Veriteserum into Arthur's drink. He then asked Arthur the same questions he'd asked Ron, and got virtually the same answers. Arthur had not taken Ron's wand, he had not interfered with the wards around Hermione's house, he hadn't taken Lucius's mask from the Ministry, and most importantly he wasn't Hermione's stalker.
Once Arthur had taken his turn, Harry topped up his glass and added his drop of Veriteserum. Ron then did the questioning, with the same answers coming from Harry that came from Ron and Arthur. He was not the guilty party.
"I'll go next," Charlie offered. Even though he hadn't been in the country at the time of the first incidents, it wasn't unfeasible that he could have snuck back without anyone knowing. Besides, if his family was going to take the potion, then so was he. It was only fair that everyone received the same treatment.
To no-one's surprise, Charlie denied being involved in what was happening when he was questioned, and so the attention turned to Draco, who offered to go next. Much to Molly's visible disappointment, Draco also denied any involvement in the incidents that had been blighting Hermione's life over the last month.
"I suppose it could be argued that I'm orchestrating the whole thing for some reason, so I'll also submit to taking the potion," Hermione said once her fiancé had been cleared by Harry's questioning.
"No-one thinks you're making this up, Hermione," Ginny said, sounding horrified at the idea of her friend thinking that any of them could believe such a thing of her.
"I don't suppose they do, but I do think it's only fair that we all partake," Hermione said, picking up the glass which Harry had topped up for her and added the Veriteserum.
Obviously the questions Hermione was asked were slightly different, but they revealed that not only was she not making it up about the footprints outside of her house, but she hadn't orchestrated the entire stalking incident, and she'd most certainly not gained possession of Lucius's Death Eater mask and left it in a box with her daughter's name on.
Even though the finger of suspicion had never really pointed their way, Ginny and Luna were the next two to submit to taking Veriteserum and clearing their name while questioned by Harry. Fleur, Audrey and Angelina then followed suit, confirming that they weren't mixed up in what was going on either.
"I guess it's my turn now," George remarked as his wife finished her turn. "I can't say I'm happy about coming under suspicion, although I can see how it has happened given the evidence. But I'm more than happy to take the potion and clear my name. I would never do anything like this to you, Hermione."
Hermione smiled at George, her instincts screaming at her that he was telling the truth and that he would never treat her in such a way. Moments later her instincts were borne out when George denied the accusations under the influence of his dose of Veriteserum. Next up was Bill, and he shared his brothers sentiments about understanding how they had come to be under suspicion, despite not being at all happy about it. Bill was also more than happy to take the Veriteserum, which proved that he wasn't the guilty party.
With the majority of the room in the clear, attention turned to Molly and Percy, who were the only ones yet to take the potion. When neither of them made any attempts to volunteer to be the next one to prove their innocence, Hermione began to fear the worst. She had convinced herself that Molly wasn't involved, but the longer the older witch sat quiet and refused to take the potion, the more doubts were beginning to creep into her mind.
"Molly," Arthur hissed at his wife. "Don't be so stubborn. I know you didn't do this."
"Of course I didn't do this," Molly spat angrily. "And I can't believe that my family are accusing me."
"We're not accusing you, we're just trying to get to the bottom of this," Charlie said. "Surely you can see why the finger of suspicion is pointing towards someone in our family."
"All I can see is that someone is trying to tear my family apart," Molly muttered, glaring towards Hermione and Draco as if she was blaming them for what was happening, despite the fact they'd both been questioned and cleared while under the influence of Veriteserum.
"No-one wants to tear the family apart, Molly," Hermione said softly. "I just want to find out who is doing this, so I don't have to worry about Anya's safety."
"If nothing else, do it for Anya," Arthur urged his wife.
The mention of her granddaughter seemed to be the push Molly needed as she allowed Harry to drop some potion into the small bit of wine she had left. She then downed the potion laced wine in one gulp and answered Harry's questions. Questions that revealed that she had absolutely nothing to do with what was happening with Hermione.
"Thank you Molly," Hermione said, breathing a huge sigh of relief now she knew for sure that Molly wasn't involved in what was going on. Although hopefully the days events wouldn't affect the truce they'd just called and bridges could still be mended between them, if only for Anya's sake.
"Looks like it's your turn, Perc," George said as all eyes turned to the one person yet to take the potion.
"No," Percy declared flatly with an abrupt shake of his head. "I refuse to be treated in such a way. I am disgusted that my own family would treat me like this."
"You're not being treated like anything. No-one is singling you out," Bill pointed out. "Harry and Ron are merely following the evidence. And I'm sure once they've ruled us all out, they can work on finding the real culprit."
"Pardon me if I don't have faith in their investigative skills, if they've led them to us," Percy snorted. "My word should be enough for you all."
"Don't be so stubborn Percy," Audrey scolded her husband. "You've got nothing to hide, so take the potion and then we can move on and find the real villain."
"No-one will ask about anything other than the incidents involving Hermione," Harry assured his brother-in-law, in case that was what was worrying Percy. Maybe he thought that by going last he would be subjected to other people throwing questions his way. Questions he would be forced to answer thanks to the Veriteserum.
"I refuse," Percy insisted stubbornly. "I doubt this is even legal."
"Sod the legalities, this is family," Ron snapped. "Just take the bloody potion, Percy."
"Please Percy," Hermione begged, trying to catch Percy's eye. An uneasy feeling had been building in the pit of her stomach as Percy had avoided taking the potion, all while ensuring he'd never looked in her direction. Until moments ago, she never would have thought Percy could be behind what was happening, but now the doubts were looming large.
"No," Percy repeated stubbornly, still keeping his eyes averted from Hermione.
"Percival Weasley, look at me," Molly snapped, her tone making it very clear that she was not to be disobeyed. Slowly Percy turned to look at his mother, and she let out a soft cry as she shook her head. "What have you done, son?"
"Noth…noth…nothing," Percy stammered, his cheeks flaming as he kept his eyes fixed on his mother.
"Percy," Molly whispered softly, a lone tear streaking down her cheek as she looked at her son, guilt swimming in his eyes. "You have to tell the truth. Please."
"I did it for you," Percy suddenly burst out as he buried his face in his hands and began to cry.
Percy's outburst stunned everyone, and for several moments the only sound that could be heard was Percy's sobs. Audrey was the closest person to Percy, and slowly she reached out for her husband, urging him to tell his side of the story.
"I would never have hurt you or Anya," he began with as he finally looked at Hermione. "I just wanted you to think being with Draco was dangerous. I just wanted you to get rid of him."
"Why?" Hermione asked. She was still reeling from the discovery that Percy was the one behind the stalking, but she still wanted some answers. "I didn't think you had a problem with Draco."
"I don't really care either way," Percy admitted. "But Mum does. I was at The Burrow before Christmas, and she came home from shopping all upset because she'd seen Narcissa Malfoy buying presents for Anya, and had heard that Draco was planning on proposing to you. She was devastated at the thought of losing Anya, and I couldn't stand it."
"But she wasn't losing Anya," Charlie pointed out. "None of you are losing Anya. She's family and that will never change."
"That's not how Mum saw it," Percy argued. "I could see the whole situation was eating her up inside, and I just wanted to make things better for her."
"So you thought you would scare me off Draco?" Hermione questioned.
"I figured that if you saw that being with him was a danger to Anya, then you would leave him, and that would give you and Mum a chance to sort things out," Percy explained, his voice sounding pretty emotionless as he shared his story. "I started with the footprints in the snow while I was trying to work out a way to link the prowler with the Malfoys. I came up with the idea of sending you something of theirs, something dark, but I didn't know how I was going to manage it until I popped to The Burrow to drop off little Molly's gloves and saw Ron's jacket. His wand was poking out of his pocket, so I took it. I dropped the wards around your house so I could visit again, and then I went to the Ministry and went into the vault. The mask was the first thing I found that would work."
"And you left it in a box with Anya's name on," Charlie snorted with a disappointed shake of his head. "What if she'd opened the box? What do you think she would have made of the mask?"
"I knew you and Hermione wouldn't let that happen," Percy said, his voice still betraying no tone. It was almost as if he was on autopilot. "It was a warning. I figured you would see the mask and decided you needed to get Anya away from the Malfoys."
"You never thought we would trace this all back to you?" Ron asked in disbelief. Percy was so smart, it amazed him to think that his brother thought that he wouldn't be caught.
"I knew you would work out it was your wand used to access the vault, but I also knew Mum was planning on sending you to Diagon Alley that day. I figured that when you put the pieces together, you would assume someone took your wand while you were out. I never thought you would suspect the family."
"Because you didn't realise I was only going to be out for ten minutes," Ron muttered. "If I'd been out for longer, that's exactly what we would have thought. The only reason suspicion fell on the family was because I was in Diagon Alley for too short a time. No-one could have done what you did and returned my wand in the time I was out."
Percy nodded his head, but he didn't add anymore to his story and it was very clear to everyone that he had finished talking. He'd confessed, and given his reasons why he'd done what he had, so there really wasn't much more to say.
"What happens now?" Audrey asked, glancing towards her husband, who was now sitting looking down at the floor.
"We're going to have to arrest him," Ron said with a sigh as he shared a sad look with Harry. Even though this was the result they had both expected, arresting a family member was something they weren't at all happy about doing.
"Given he's family, we won't be able to do any interviewing," Harry said. "In fact, the whole case will likely be handed over to another pair of Aurors."
"Will he go to Azkaban?" Audrey questioned, causing Molly to let out a loud wail at the idea.
"I really don't know," Harry admitted, glancing over to where Arthur was comforting a devastated Molly. "It's all going to depend on how helpful he is, and what charges the Ministry decide to issue. I'm not going to lie, a custodial sentence is an option. But given Percy's good character, and the fact no-one was harmed, he might well be given some sort of community service. We'll just have to wait and see."
When Harry and Ron escorted Percy from the house, Audrey insisted on accompanying her husband to the Ministry of Magic. Molly also wanted to go, but Arthur refused and instead whisked her away home. As for everyone else, they stayed and had another drink as they digested the news that Percy of all people had been behind the ordeal Hermione had undergone over the previous few weeks. It was certainly going to take some getting used to, and Hermione knew it was going to be a long time before she truly accepted that Percy had been her prowler.