The Lion and the Eagle |Neville Longbottom|

26. A Potential Crack in the Case

(Neville's POV)

For a while, things seemed to be going downward. Sure, I was discharged from St. Mungo's, but we were no closer finding Jenelle or any Death Eaters. What time I didn't spend at the office I spent with Ron and Hermione. It was good to get Hermione's perspective on some things, even if they were a little outlandish.

The idea of interrogating a Death Eater still remained on the table. None would be willing enough to give up where Jenelle was, let alone if they had any base of operations. But we don't want to lose ourselves to such a dark path.

I knew animals could sense stress and anxiety; it was why every time I showed up at the house that Crookshanks seemed to settle near me or on my lap when the opportunity presented itself. I sat on the sofa, with the orange ball of fluff on my lap. His low purrs did little to help me.

"You know, I've always wondered something," Hermione said to me casually.

"What's that?"

"Aurors aren't witness protection. They aren't assigned to people unless there is a significant threat to them. You were never ordered to protect Jenelle."

"So?"

"So why did you do it?"

My eyes fell down to the orange cat in my lap. A finger scratched between his ears.

"Neville, there have been reports like hers. Missing persons. Ron tells me what he can, but I know for a fact none involve Aurors being assigned to potential targets."

"You should've seen her that night, Hermione. She was outnumbered. Nobody else...if I hadn't happened upon the scene, she could've gone missing for much longer than she already is. I just felt...compelled to make sure the threat was away from her. I hadn't meant to move with her as much as I did. It just felt like the right thing to do."

Hermione nodded, lips pursed in thought.

"What?" I asked her. She hadn't spoken for a full minute. Sometimes with Hermione, silence was a bad thing.

"Just...just running something through in my mind."

"Do you want to fill me in?"

Before she could get the words out, there was a knock at the door. It sounded generic enough, not a specific one that she had Harry and the other Aurors use when they came to the house, especially in this time.

The nagging suspicion in my mind told me something was brewing. Crookshanks tensed in my lap before making his abrupt exit.

Another generic knock. Hermione and I looked to one another. Wands out, she went to the door. She thrust it open, and I had a spell ready on my lips. Truthfully, I had hoped a Death Eater had gotten ballsy enough to try here again.

I was sort of right in my assumption.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked rather rudely to her guest at the front door. "How did you even find this place?"

"Did some digging of my own. While some of us aren't know-it-alls like you, Granger, we still have functioning brains."

"Ah-ah." Hermione gestured with her wand as Draco Malfoy tried to step inside her house. "Unless I invite you in, you aren't getting any further."

"You're taking a big risk by showing up here, Malfoy," I said to the bloke. He looked perhaps worse than when Jenelle and I had encountered him some time ago. He sure looked paler than before, but being in the cover of darkness, it was hard to get a true sense. "I could have you arrested on the spot."

"Hold that thought, Longbottom, until after you hear what I have to say," said Malfoy. "I was hoping to get this information to you, but you met me halfway. This works."

"What are you going on about?" asked Hermione.

"The Death Eaters. I may have some information you've been dying to get your hands on." Malfoy looked past the both of us. "No Weasley? Where's your little assignment, Longbottom?"

"She's been taken," I said hollowly. "You better not be wasting our time, Malfoy. We've got pressing matters to worry about."

"Clearly, since you're planting your arse here and you're not out in the field conducting detective work." Malfoy inhaled. "I know where Death Eaters have been hanging around."

Hermione and I exchanged a look. "Go on," I said slowly.

"They're at the Manor."

"Because you're housing them," said Hermione.

"No." Malfoy shook his head. "I want nothing to do with those blokes. Look, I went back to the Manor to see if any squatters had run the place, or if Mum and Dad had returned. I didn't go inside, per se, but I could hear voices when I was sneaking around. I got a few good peeks in as well. I don't believe it's just Death Eaters in the Manor. There...I think there are hostages inside."

"And how can we know for sure you're telling the truth?" Hermione dared to ask.

"Because, Granger, I've got some stake in this too. They're in the bloody Manor! They still want my head. I want them disbanded, done and over with so maybe things can have a shot at returning to normal."

"You're going to have a lot to prove to us, and the rest of the Aurors, by giving this information. If it's false, you know what this means for you," I said firmly to him.

"I'm not in league with them." He scratched the arm that held the Dark Mark. "Just because I still bear the damn symbol doesn't mean I pledged my life to them. Circumstances were different then, and they are now."

"I hope you have no plans on continuing your adventures as a loner, because the others will need to hear this," Hermione insisted.

"I wouldn't come all this way to hand you this information and then disappear. I'm not asking to become an informant for anyone, I just want my damn life back. And I'm sure Longbottom wants to get back to regular Auror business and not witness protection."

I inhaled deeply. Malfoy had no idea what Jenelle and I had endured. How many places we hopped around. How many days I barely slept to ensure her safety. How much pain I was in the night that they took her away. How much worry I still felt, even now, not knowing where she was, or the Death Eaters' plans as a whole.

Hermione quirked her mouth. "Well, then, I guess I'll let you in. But don't get comfortable."