Harry glanced around at the gathered witched and wizards.

"And when you woke up the second time," Agito asked plainly, drawing his attention back to the bench, "what occurred, Mr Potter."

"I did part of what Voldemort expected of me," Harry said, unable to keep the self-loathing out of his voice, "I had sex with Draco Malfoy, whether he really wanted to or not, and then I bit him."

"Are you saying you raped, Draco Malfoy?" Fudge leapt at the chance to confirm what Harry could not bring himself to outright admit.

"If it pleases the Wizengamot," Snape's voice carried over the room a second time, "I believe this answers that question."

Harry turned his head to look at the Potions master in surprise, he had not expected anyone to come to his rescue on this point. He had not given Draco a choice, not really, even if his lover had apparently chosen the only course that offered possible survival.

"What is it?" Madame Bones asked calmly.

"A written account of the incident in question by Draco Malfoy," Snape said evenly.

"Hearsay," Fudge said instantly, "if the witness cannot appear the evidence cannot be accepted."

"The document has the Malfoy family seal," Snape replied and the Minister's face fell again.

Harry didn't understand.

"There are only two individuals who may use the Malfoy family seal," Agito pointed out to the other two members of the bench, "Narcissa Malfoy who is unlikely to produce a document defending a wizard who attacked her son, and Draco Malfoy. Hence I do not see why the account should not be read into evidence."

"He could have been coerced," Fudge insisted.

"Mr Malfoy also requested that I present this if necessary," Snape replied and held out a small globe, "it is a memory ball of him creating the document."

Madame Bones nodded to a prim looking woman to her left who stood up and walked over to Snape to retrieve the two objects. When the witch handed the parchment and the globe to the bench the Head of Magical Law Enforcement peered into the memory ball before passing it to Agito and then opened the letter. Harry just stared as she read, wondering what Draco would have said in the letter. The document and the memory ball worked their way through all three Interrogators and then back to Madame Bones.

"I believe the only section required for evidence it the last paragraph," she said firmly, and the look she sent Fudge dared the man to disagree.

Her companions both nodded.

"I, Draco Malfoy," Madame Bones read firmly, "was complicit in all actions upon my person taken by Harry Potter on the night of the twenty eight of November. I expected to die at his hand, as was Voldemort's desire; that I am not dead is a tribute to Harry Potter's character."

Total silence reigned around the room and Harry dared not look at anyone as conflicting emotions raged within him. His memories were too clear, and they excited the darker part of his nature, but what he had done still abhorred the human part. Whatever Draco claimed, it had not been a mutual choice.

"Perhaps you would care to tell us what occurred after this point," Madame Bones said eventually.

It took Harry a few more long seconds before he could lift his eyes from where he was staring at the floor and meet the witch's gaze. They would pull every detail from him, he knew it, and he steeled himself against his own reactions.

"Mr Potter?" Madame Bones coaxed kindly.

"I left him unconscious on the bed and left the room," he said slowly and watched as Fudge leapt at the opportunity to interrogate him.

"How exactly did you do that, Mr Potter?" the Minister asked shortly.

The man was determined to reveal everything dark about Harry to the court and Harry glared at him without being able to stop himself.

"I changed into a wolf and jumped through the door," he said plainly, stating things directly being the only way he could deal with the emotions the memories recalled.

The murmuring around the court increased again, but quietened down before Madame Bones was required to call for order.

"And what did you do once outside?" Agito, asked evenly.

Harry's eyes flicked to Fudge, he knew that the man would have read the report and there was no point in trying to hide the truth. Circumventing the issue of who he had and had not killed was going to be impossible.

"I killed the Death Eater on guard," he admitted, trying to keep any emotion from his voice.

"How and why?" Fudge demanded instantly.

"Now, Cornelius," Dumbledore put in immediately, "the how is a matter of record, I do not believe it would serve any purpose to bring in such details at this time."

"I concur," Madame Bones agreed before the Minister could protest, "but the why is pertinent to this enquiry."

"He drew his wand on me," Harry said, knowing that Fudge would make an issue out of the matter if he hesitated and let the Minister have a way in; "he was a danger to me, so I killed him."

"Did it not occur to you to disarm the wizard?" Agito asked reasonably.

This line of questioning seemed to appease Fudge somewhat since someone else was asking difficult questions, but Harry's glare still focused on the Minister.

"No," he replied honestly, "nothing occurred to me except removing the threat."

"And if you were threatened now, what would be the result?" the Head of Control of Dark Creatures asked calmly.

"I don't know," Harry replied, unable to answer the question, "it would depend on the threat."

He really didn't know how to explain it, it seemed rather obvious to him.

"I believe what Harry is trying to say," Dumbledore entered into the conversation slowly, "is that his response is equivalent to the nature of the threat. Death Eaters have been trying to kill Harry for years; he had no reason to suspect less of them in this instance."

"So, you considered everyone in that house a deadly threat?" Agito asked, obviously trying to clarify the point in his mind.

"Yes," Harry said immediately and then paused, "well all the Death Eaters. They were the enemy; they'd been torturing me for two days, what was I supposed to think?"

The anger at being second guessed and put on display twisted in the pit of his stomach, but he held himself very still to prevent a reaction.

Taking a short breath, Harry tried to centre his thoughts.

"Quite," Agito said, seemingly satisfied with his response about Voldemort's lackeys. "Why did you clarify 'Death Eaters'? Surely all those at the Manor were in Voldemort's employ?"

"No," Harry replied, his mind skipping back, "I met Narcissa Malfoy at the bottom of the stairs, she was only worried that her son had been sacrificed to," he paused, waiting for the memory to crystallise, "'this madness' is what she called it. I told her to take Draco and leave, and then I went to the secret rooms under the kitchen."

His memory was already flicking forward to Voldemort and he was ready to go on, but Madam Bones interrupted him.

"I'm sorry, Mr Potter," she said professionally, "but you're saying you met Narcissa Malfoy and let her go?"

Harry nodded.

"Did you mention this when you made your statement?" she asked evenly.

Harry nodded again; when Tonks had taken his statement, after Remus' first visit he had told her everything.

"Why is it not in the official record?" Madam Bones asked pointedly, looking at both of her fellows. "If someone has been tampering with official statements, I will have them thrown in Azkaban."

Fudge did not appear in the least guilty, but then Harry suspected the man had had a lot of practice. A quiet rumble of a growl made it past his clenched teeth, and he looked away to calm himself down.

"There must have been a clerical error," the Minster said as if he was perfectly innocent. "I will have the matter looked in to as soon as this hearing is over."

"Why did you let Narcissa Malfoy leave, Mr Potter?" Agito seemed to consider the matter closed and was moving on.

Harry let his mind trawl over the memory, trying to understand his reasoning. At the time he had not really been thinking, just doing.

"She was almost as desperate as I was," he said eventually, "and she wasn't a threat. She was like Draco, a prisoner of circumstance. I didn't need to harm her, and she could help get Draco away."

All three members of the bench were looking at him when he glanced back at them this time, even Fudge seemed to be considering what he had said.

"I am sorry to dwell on the matter, Mr Potter," Madam Bones said kindly, "but would you mind explaining why the freedom of Draco Malfoy was important to you? Surely once he had provided what you needed, he was no longer relevant to you?"

"He was innocent," Harry said, not understanding quite what she was getting at. "I didn't know what would happen when I confronted Voldemort, I didn't want anyone innocent being hurt."

The witch sat back in her chair a small smile playing at her mouth and he realised suddenly that he had said exactly what she was hoping to hear. In that moment he knew that in this Madam Bones was on his side.

"So, Harry," Dumbledore said pleasantly, "am I correct in saying that even as a werewolf you maintained enough of your original personality to wish others out of harm's way?"

Harry glanced at his mentor now and he found himself in awe of the war of words being played around him—it was almost as if the whole thing was scripted. Not quite sure of his voice at that moment, he nodded.

"Thank you, Harry," the headmaster said with a smile, "please go on."

Turning back, he found Fudge glaring at him once more, but the other two members of the bench seemed to have relaxed slightly.

"Um," he said, trying to gather his thoughts again, for now his confusion quelling the anger which had been building, "I went to the underground rooms; Voldemort was waiting for me. He seemed to think that now I had so much Dark Magic in me I was his to command. I don't really understand it, he seemed to think he had created a Dark slave, it never seemed to have occurred to him that I might still want to kill him."

He paused for a moment, using his Occlumency training to distance himself from the memory.

"I played along for a while," he began again, concentrating on long, calming breaths, "until I was close enough to strike. Then I ripped out his heart."

No matter what steps he had tried to take, his proclamation of victory came out with a relish he could not hide. It was almost as if he could smell Voldemort's blood on his hands and more than just the dark creatures inside him revelled in the recollection.

"You expect us to believe that You Know Who just allowed you to walk up to him and kill him?" Fudge asked derisively. "Are you sure it was not more that you were now a trusted ally and killed everyone present to prevent them telling the world?"

That pushed the wrong button in Harry's head, and he stood up with a snarl, fangs descending and supernatural defences coming to the fore.

"Voldemort has been trying to kill me since I was eleven," he said in a very low voice, resonating the power he could no longer hide; "he did kill my family and as good as killed my godfather. I would never, ever have pledged my allegiance to that monster. No Dark Mark, see," he finished coldly, holding up his arm and ripping back the sleeve of his shirt.

There had been some rustling and he could see the Aurors of the court with their hands on their wands and several plain clothed officers doing the same in the assembly. In a second his gaze flicked around the entire room cataloguing every possible threat in an instinctive move, then with a last glare at Fudge, he sat down again.