Ch. 33

Hermione's POV

Ginny tried her hardest, but she wasn't able to fully distract me from thinking about Draco. And she tried

"Are you sure you don't want to go out tonight?" She asked, pouring herself a second drink. "It would help get your mind off things."

I shook my head. "I've never been one for going out, you know that. Plus, it would look really bad if whatever he was given has worn off and he comes here to find that I've gone out."

She tilted her head back and forth and then let out a sigh. "I suppose you're right."

She returned back to the other couch and looked at me sternly. "Just don't overthink anything about his words or actions. None of them reflect how he really feels about you."

"It's hard not to overthink it," I sighed. "If I knew what really happened I'd be able to convince myself better, but I didn't see Ron put anything in his drink, and that was how Draco acted towards me in school."

"You're smarter than this, Hermione." I looked over to see Ginny scowling at me as she went on. "You know damn well Draco loves you. Why are you trying to convince yourself that he no longer does?"

I opened and closed my mouth, unsure of what to say. "I don't know, honestly. I shouldn't be, but I don't know how to stop thinking it."

"Why would he spend all that time getting close to you, just to try and hurt you?" She asked. "No one, not even Pansy, would do that. And you know Pansy's changed too."

"You're right." I took a drink and chastised myself for thinking the worst. "I think it's just because I don't know what's causing him to act like that, and I don't know how to fix it."

"Well, the real Draco is underneath that façade," Ginny said. "You probably shouldn't have left him in the middle of the room, either. Why did you leave?"

"Would you want to stay there if Harry suddenly turned on you and you had to listen to him insulting you and calling you one of the worst names?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't want to leave, but I also didn't want to break down crying in front of everyone. Even though I knew he didn't mean those words, they still hurt and I didn't want to keep hearing them."

Ginny sighed and nodded. "I understand. I suppose I would've done the same thing, especially since he called you a mudblood."

"It hurt a lot," I said quietly. "I know he wasn't in his right mind, but something made him say it, and I don't know how to fix it so it was just a mixture of emotions that made me leave. But mostly, I didn't want to keep hearing him say those things to me."

There was a sudden pop in the middle of the living room that caught our attention and Harry looked around, giving me a sad look. I stood up from the couch and asked, "How is he?"

"Draco?" I nodded and he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "He's not that great, honestly."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well..." Harry sighed and looked down at the floor. "I managed to convince him to let me come over and grab his things instead of him."

My heart fell and I sat back down onto the couch in shock. "What?"

"Hermione, you know he isn't in his right state of mind right now," Harry said, trying to comfort me. "This is only temporary."

"I know it's only temporary but we don't know how temporary," I said, frustrated. "Temporary could mean weeks, months! We don't even know what Ron gave him!"

"Have you gotten that out of him yet?" Ginny asked, the tips of her ears turning red from anger.

He shook his head. "I've taken him to one of the holding cells at the Ministry to make sure he doesn't try to leave the country or anything, but I haven't gotten any permission yet to interrogate him."

"What do you mean, you haven't gotten any permission yet?" I asked. "You're the head Auror."

"I know, but it's not my decision," He explained calmly. "I have to wait for the Wizengamot to approve it before I can do anything."

I groaned and leaned back against the couch, crossing my arms. "Why does Draco want his things back?"

Harry didn't answer, instead putting his hands in his pockets and looking down at the floor. Panic seared through me and I stood up again. "Harry, tell me."

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling with one of the most pained expressions on his face. "He said that he would never in his right mind have dated a muggleborn and that any possible relationship you two would have had is over."

It felt as if the breath had been knocked out of my chest. I tried hard to remind myself that it wasn't how he actually felt, but this was difficult. There was a sudden surge of anger though that ran through me and I took a deep breath before saying, "Bring Ron here."

Both of them gave me confused looks and Ginny asked, "Hermione, did you just say-"

"Yes." I turned to look at her. "Harry may not be able to get permission to interrogate him, but I don't need permission."

"Hermione, are you sure that's the smartest idea?" Harry asked nervously. "I mean, you're also a Ministry employee; you would need permission too."

"I will deal with that later," I said bitterly. "I just want to know what happened and he probably won't tell you anything."

"How do you know he'll even tell you the truth?" Harry asked, moving to stand next to me.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You really think I don't have any Veritaserum of my own?"

His eyebrows shot up in surprise but he gave me a half-grin. "I shouldn't be surprised but..."

"How do you even have that?" Ginny asked curiously. "Isn't it regulated by the Ministry?"

"Yes, but in my line of work, I need an accurate report of what happened in werewolf attacks," I explained. "And a lot of family members try to hide the fact that their own kin attacked them."

Ginny gave me a surprised look but nodded. "Well, do you want us here when you interrogate him?"

"I would like that, yes," I nodded. "But probably in another room so that he doesn't pick up on anything odd and refuse to answer. Veritaserum unfortunately isn't always completely effective, and if he knows he's getting interrogated, he can alter his answers to what he believes is the truth and not what actually is the truth."

"How are you going to make him believe it's not an interrogation?" Harry asked curiously.

After thinking for a few moments, I sighed and shrugged. "I'm just going to have to make him believe that I want him here to comfort me after Draco broke up with me."

"So wait," Ginny stood up and gestured around. "Are you going to interrogate him here? Are you sure you want him knowing where you live?"

I shrugged again. "I can always find a new place. Or alter his memory, either way."

We all stood there quietly for a few moments, and I went to sit down on the arm of the couch, thinking about what I was about to do. Hopefully this would actually work, and we could fix whatever is going on with Draco very soon.