Trial and Error

Summary: With the remainder of her life hanging in the balance, Narcissa Malfoy can only rely on the mercy of the citizens of the Wizarding World to save her. Sequel to 'So Close, and Still So Far'.

Disclaimer: It all belongs to JK Rowling; I hope we all know that by now.

Chapter One

Time had stopped for Narcissa. She supposed, of course, that she had known the time was coming, as the consequence of her actions was severe, but still, the shock had not yet disappeared.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had known that Bellatrix's death would have consequences for her, but she had not expected anything like this, anything so alien as to have Aurors come for her for an act of motherly instinct to protect her son. On reflection, she should have done, but she had not.

Now, however, the situation she had gotten both herself and her family into was all too clear. It was just as it had been two years previously, when Lucius had been caught in the Department of Mysteries, and Narcissa felt a stab of pain in her heart not dissimilar to that of a knife. During that year, once her husband had been convicted, the woman had promised Draco that such an ordeal would never separate them again, that she would make sure it would not. Yet here he stood, here they stood together, as she went back on that vow, having ensured its breakage with her own actions.

The Auror stood before her, to the side of the Minister, had continued to speak, listing the terms and conditions of her arrest in a monotonous voice, as if he had done so countless times before, which he presumably had done, given the level of status he seemed to have with Shacklebolt, but Narcissa was no longer listening. Her focus was fixed on the faces of both her husband and her son, both of whom seemed both shocked and horrified at the events unfolding before them.

As the Ministry employee began to drag her away, however, Lucius seemed to come to life, as if he had only just realised what was happening. He stepped away from Draco, his presence once again as commanding as it had used to be. He stepped right in front of the man, blocking his exit from the Great Hall. He could have easily walked around, but he was stopped by the dark skinned man, who wanted to hear what Malfoy had to say, for fairness, if nothing else. By this point, almost all occupants of the room had turned to watch, including Potter himself. He turned to the Minister with little delay, laying a hand on his wife's shoulder, and began to speak.

"You have no right to arrest her, Shacklebolt." he told the man, strength in his voice that Narcissa had not heard since before he had been incarcerated. "She has committed no crime that warrants you doing so now."

"She was responsible for the death of Bellatrix Lestrange, Malfoy." responded the Auror, a slight smirk on his face. "That adds up to murder in my book."

"Since when has death added up to murder, Minister?" he questioned, glaring at the man who dared to smirk at his wife's situation, though his question was directed to the man in power. "I thought that the nature of the person's death was a factor in the decision as to whether or not the perpetrator should be arrested immediately. That was the case when I still worked at the Ministry, anyway."

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, this tradition has been overruled, for now." Shacklebolt replied smoothly to the question, which was an accusation by anyone's standards. "We are, after all, in a time of warfare."

"And she killed off one of the biggest Death Eater threats in the world!" the man exclaimed, determined not to let his wife down. He had abandoned her for long enough while imprisoned in Azkaban, and there was no chance that, while he was not bound in chains, he would allow her to be carted away just as he was, but for a crime she had not committed, or not as they said she had, at least.

"After fighting alongside them." he responded, not seeming to be fazed at all by the anger that was burning behind Lucius' eyes, and behind Draco's as well, as he was just as furious as his father at the injustice that his mother was suffering.

"Mum didn't fight with Voldemort!" the young man exclaimed, stepping forward in line with his father, yet another person stopping the guard from taking his mother out of the doorway. "She didn't fight with anyone. All she tried to do was find me and get us all out of here, away from the Dark Lord, away from the fighting and the danger. All she wanted was to keep the three of us safe, she didn't mean to hurt her, I know that she didn't. "

"Alright, I think we've heard enough." the Auror sighed, and Kingsley nodded his head in agreement, not saying anything to the positive or negative of the comment, but clearly showing that he agreed nonetheless. "Narcissa Malfoy, you are under arrest for the murder of Bellatrix Lestrange. You have the right to remain silent at any period before your trial, but anything you do say may be taken in writing and used as evidence in your trial."

It took only a moment for the boy to realise that his mother was being taken from him, but the Auror, a large and burly man, had brushed past both himself and his father and was near the door at the end of the Entrance Hall, close to a point where he could Apparate the pair of them. Shacklebolt followed soon after, bringing Draco to his sense, along with Lucius, it seemed.

As Narcissa was taken along the bridge, her family cried out to try and save her, but could not pass the shield charm that the Auror had put up, as the man had predicted that they would do so. They screamed and yelled and fought with the magic, but it did not end until she had disappeared, still maintaining the tearful silence that she had been left in since her arrest had first been announced.

Once his beloved wife had disappeared, Lucius stared at the space where she had disappeared from, as if by doing so he could will her back to him. But she did not reappear, and tears filled his eyes. Narcissa was paying for the crimes he had committed, even now, she was paying for the world he had dragged her into, when she had been just a child. Once again he realised what he had thought so long ago, for years and years on end.

It wasn't supposed to be like this.

A/N: So, here is the sequel! I wanted to get it off the ground, and so here it begins again! Please review!