Lies Revealed

Back to Hogwarts

Severus, Sakura and Draco returned to Hogwarts before dinner in the Great Hall on Sunday. They were in Severus' quarters. "If you need me, either of you, come and find me. Lucius and Narcissa will keep us updated, and your grandfather." He wasn't worried about them, and their exams, they were top of their class. Judging from the way Granger was acting, it bothered her that she wasn't in the two spots. She was fourth behind a Ravenclaw named Miller. "Now remember, you need to keep ignoring Granger."

"She went to Professor McGonagall so expect to hear a complaint." Draco had heard Granger start to complain about her marks at the same time almost accusing them of cheating.

"What happened?" Severus moved them to the sitting area.

"No idea. It started shortly before yule. She and Weasley stopped us in the halls. She said you are in so much trouble. Weasley glared at us, Blaise asked what she meant, Weasley gave us this weird look, said you will find out. He left after that."

"Sakura?" Severus had a feeling that Dumbledore was going to use this to get some leverage on Lucius.

"Sh accused us of cheating." Sakura pointed to the note on Severus' desk.

"Indeed, cheating." Severus stood up. He went to his desk and read the note. Dumbledore required his presence with the two as soon as he returned. He headed to his private lab. He returned to the sitting room after grabbing the required vial. Since it was close to dinner, he hoped to delay this until after supper but had a feeling it was going to happen before the meal. "Let's go and meet some lions."

Sakura smirked as Draco let out a giggle. They didn't cheat and she hoped Severus would be able to give the girl detention for slander. They headed to the Great Hall for dinner. As expected they were met by Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"Ah, Professor Snape, Sakura and Malfoy, if you would follow me." Dumbledore didn't even give them a chance to enter the Great Hall. Severus and the two followed the pair to the Headmaster's office. Severus could see Minerva's lips were thin and pressed together, her jawline was rigid. She was unhappy about the idea of cheating, he wondered how she would enjoy what he had planned. Sakura and Draco sat next to each other while Severus took his usual spot, standing under the portrait of Phineas Black. McGonagall stood on the right side of Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore had his hands folded in front of him on his desk. "Lemon drop?"

"No, thank you." No one ever wanted the nasty things.

"Normally, I would have spoken to Professor Snape before we had this meeting, however, you spent Christmas with The Malfoy's and Professor Snape which didn't give me a chance to speak to him." Dumbledore looked at Severus who was staring at him.

"What do you think we have done?" Draco kept his mask in place making sure his mental shields were also in place.

"Your classwork has been extremely well done but there is some doubt about the integrity of the work in your classes, your essays, exams, and practicals." Dumbledore didn't change his position and didn't unfold his hands.

"What doubt?" Draco wasn't worried, they didn't cheat, and it was only because of Granger they were sitting here.

"As I said, some doubt, which I am hoping we can clear up." Dumbledore didn't answer the question. He wasn't going to admit it was a ploy to get them to take some truth serum. He knew the two didn't cheat.

"Can their accuser prove that they cheated? I want this person's name also." Severus wasn't about to allow any snake to be accused without being able to face their accuser. He never had in the past and he wasn't about to start now.

"We can solve it easily. They can take a simple truth serum and answer some questions." Dumbledore gave his fake smile to Malfoy and Sakura.

"I want my parents here for this. I am sure they would be interested in finding out who has accused us of cheating. I am also sure they would object to us taking a simple truth serum." Draco was sure his parents would demand a full inquiry once they learned of this. Sakura stood up and looked at Dumbledore as she pulled out her wand. She waved it and summoned their books. "As you can see, we didn't cheat, look at our notes, our imperfect essays, our study guides and if you look closely you will find numerous questions we asked and found answers to in the library." Draco remained seated as Sakura moved to stand with Severus.