Chapter 10
Hermione, Harry, and Luna apparated back to Hermione's apartment, holding Ron with them. Hermione then gazed out her window to see Malfoy was standing in front of Astoria. The two of them seemed to be in a heated conversation.
"Harry…." Hermione muttered, slowly turning from her window. "I'm going to get the veritaserum ready for Ron….are we ready?"
Harry was sitting the blabbering Ron down on Hermione's sofa while Luna was slowly pacing in front of them, humming something to "soothe the nargyles" around Ron's head.
Harry turned to Hermione and nodded. "We're ready."
Luna also slowly nodded. "I realize the issue with Ron here is that the thing that put him in his state made him an unstable candidate for the healing I was going to perform on him back at my home. So I won't do that again."
"Wait a minute," Hermione shifted her gaze to Luna. "What exactly is 'the thing' that put him in this mental state?"
Luna shrugged. "Not sure exactly. I just know the Plumdungies that resulted from my spell indicated that whatever it was, it was making him unsuitable for the healing I was trying to perform on him."
Hermione blinked at the blonde girl, then shook her head. "Okay….whatever. Let's give him the Veritaserum."
Hermione grabbed the potion from one of her cabinets, and as she approached Ron, her front door swung open to reveal a distressed-looking Draco.
"You won't believe what Astoria just told me," he was panting. "She was with Snape and Bellatrix since they were invited to her Greengrass family dinner-- it was on the night Ron raped Pansy. She said they were talking about using the Imperius Curse on Ron to 'get vengeance' on Arthur for what he did to them." He shifted his gaze to Ron, who was still mindlessly blabbering nonsense.
Harry was staring at Draco with an unreadable look in his eyes. "You're saying Ron raped Pansy because he was under the Imperius Curse?" His tone was flat.
Hermione, feeling overwhelmed with disbelief, watched as Draco clenched his fists, looking like he wanted to rip out his fine, blonde hair.
He spoke in a constrained tone. "I daresay that Ron was put under the Imperius Curse for the purpose of raping Pansy."
The room was silent for what felt like a long moment, except for Ron's endless chattering.
Hermione then spoke carefully. "I guess that's a place to start then," she approached Ron with the Veritaserum and knelt beside him. She fed him a tablespoon of the serum. "Ron, were you put under the Imperius Curse?"
Ron faced her, alternating between grins and frowns. "Yes-yes-yessie-yessir-yes." He then proceeded in his endless, nonsensical blabbering.
Draco made a quiet scoffing noise. "That would explain why his mind is trash. The curse must've malfunctioned with something in his head."
Hermione felt her heart wrench. She couldn’t tell if she was feeling sorry for Ron, or if she was disgusted with the thought of him being a mindless buffoon. She fed him another tablespoon. "Ron, who shot you with the Imperius Curse."
Ron flapped his arms up and down. "Snape! Bellatrix! Go- Imperio!" He pointed an arm forward, as if he were pointing a wand.
Hermione and Harry exchanged disturbed glances. Hermione fed him another tablespoon. "Why did they shoot the Imperius Curse on you?"
Ron flapped his arms up and down again. "Snape! Bellatrix! Go- Imperio!" He pointed an arm forward again.
Hermione huffed. "He doesn't know why…."
Draco knelt beside Hermione, fixing a scrutinizing gaze on Ron. "Try asking him what was happening before Snape and Bellatrix cursed him."
Hermione fed Ron another tablespoon. "Ron….what was happening before Snape and Bellatrix shouted 'Imperio' to you?"
Ron blinked a bunch of times before proceeding to speak haphazardly. "House surveillance. Parkinson. Pansy. Pansies are flowers! I hate those flowers! Flowers gross!"
Hermione blinked. She looked at Harry. "So…Ron was simply guarding Pansy's house like usual, and they just came out of nowhere to curse him. And….make him do…..what he…" Hermione didn’t even want to finish the sentence. She rose to her feet and set the truth serum aside. "I…I think we've done what we needed to do with Ron." She clenched her fists, though quite weakly. "He never intended to hurt Pansy. In fact, it sounds like he was annoyed with her before he was cursed." Pansies are flowers! I hate those flowers! His words rang through her head several times.
Draco also rose to his feet, fixing an expressionless gaze on Ron. He turned to Harry, who was staring ahead with a distant look in his eyes.
"You alive there, Potter?" Draco said rather glumly.
Harry blinked and then turned to walk toward the front door. "I'm….I'm going to talk to Pansy." He turned to Hermione. "We'll meet tomorrow?"
Hermione nodded, still trying to mentally and emotionally process everything. "We need to figure out how we're going to investigate Snape and Bellatrix." She slowly turned to Draco. "Did….did Astoria say anything about why Snape and Bellatrix wanted to curse Ron and make him do what he did to Pansy? You mentioned it was because they wanted to get revenge on Arthur for what he did to them….what exactly did he do that made them so vengeful?"
Draco slowly shook his head, staring at the ground with an exhausted expression. "She wasn’t sure. She only knew this because she happened to be outside, throwing out the trash after the Greengrass dinner was over, and she found Snape and Bellatrix talking in a dark corner of her house, away from all the cameras. She only heard them say they needed to find Ron and place him under the Imperius Curse, so that they can get their revenge on Arthur for what he did to them."
Hermione stared at him, feeling a strange urge in her heart. An urge for what exactly? She wasn’t sure. But for some reason, she wasn't feeling as spiteful as she normally did when she was looking at Malfoy. In fact, looking at him in his current state almost made her feel relieved and anxious at the same time.
Hermione bit her lip. "Tell Astoria to meet with us tomorrow. We'll be at the same coffee shop as before."