Disclaimer: All Recognizable characters are J.K Rowlings. I do not own them. If i did, I would be rich :(
A.N: This is my first attempt at writing any sort of fan fiction or anything like that. So feedback is more than welcome!
It had been months since the war had ended, and lord Voldemort had been killed. The trials for death eaters involved in the war started soon after and are still going on. It started out with the lesser known – nay the less important ones. Rookwood, Avery, Crabbe, Mulciber, and the like. I could give a shit about what happened to these people. They could rot in Azkaban, they killed people. Today, well today is going to be the start of the trials for the inner circle, the death eaters with all of the dirty laundry. Today – It's the trials for my parents. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. I'm curious as to what is going to happen to my father but, he was an evil bastard of a man and I could do without him returning to Malfoy Manor. Mother though, mother I hope catches a break. On the outside, to all of the other people she could be pretty, you know, nasty. But she raised me and when at home she did everything to divert my father's anger away from me and onto herself. She took good care of me and let down her guard when he wasn't around during the days before Hogwarts.
Looking around the court rooms, I could feel the sense of anticipation from the group here, in hopes of gaining justice for the lives lost. In late of the attack on the ministry, the people and the court rooms had been changed. While the building remained intact, the whole interior of the building had been remodeled. The courtroom still had the seats around the center of the room, and the floor still spilt to show the prisoner, but there was less of a dark and dingy feel to the rooms. Floors and walls had been replaced, they were lighter in color. The lighting had also been upgraded to more modern versions, and the seating itself took a change, and now were these plush, rowed seating. I am not sure if this was a permanent change to the room, or more for the sake of those required to be here for the trials.
As for the people. Well, I'm sure like me most are sick of being here. There had been so much pain after the war. There were people to be buried on both sides, families who had to say goodbye to more than one person. There was a blanket of stress and sadness that shrouded the ministry lately. Even though we all got here this morning, less than half an hour ago, we already all want to leave. So far days were long. They ranged anywhere from 12 – 14 hours. Guests were allowed only the chance to move during the very brief 20 minute recesses taken every two hours or so. Hopefully there would be a shortening of the days down to a mere 7-8 hours now that most of the easier trials were over and the more serious ones were to begin – the ones that would take if not days, weeks to complete. In either instance this change would make for a huge difference.
"Percy, welcome back to court. Are we ready to begin?" Rufus Scrimgeour asks the third of the Weasley clan and the scribe for the Wizengamot. He must've taken some time off after the twin either Fred or George, I don't remember, died. He nods, albeit minutely. "Okay fine, may we begin." The floors split and my mother rose from the ground. Her hands and feet were cuffed to the chair, and there was a guard from the prison behind her as a second level of protection. Like she was getting out of those chains anyways.
Her face looks gaunt, her cheeks and eye sunken in and they color of her skin a greyish color. The only thing that looks remotely the same was her eyes. They had that same glint in them that I remember from childhood. When she meets my gaze, she doesn't look as near death as I imagined she would. She had written me weeks ago, accepting her fate as a former death eater supporter. I was hoping that Scrimgeour would take a small pity on my mother, due to the fact that she was never an actual death eater. Maybe take her wand for good and give her a few years in Azkaban, then a life of parole. It had been a theme for those who fought in the second war, supporters were given a lesser sentence than the self-acclaimed death eaters.
Tuning out the typical legal proceedings given before every case, I took a look around the room, staring into the eyes of many of Dumbledore's army, I noticed a few faces missing. Some families were not in attendance because there were bodies still to be found. Not everyone had their closure and had chosen to stay out of all of the courtroom drama. Most notably though, Hermione Granger who, according to all of the heavies, had been seen at every single trial. Start to finish. Why I'll never know but now – she was missing. And Skeeter was definitely taking note of that, I think her pen was moving faster than we've ever seen her mouth run.
I hated not being able to speak on the behalf of my mother. She was a good person. I was asked to stay off of the list of witnesses, the lawyer thinks that testimony from me might hinder my mother's chances of ever getting out of Azkaban.
"I spent most of my life married to a Death Eater," my mom began "As a house rich in pure blood traditions, marrying a man of just as strong beliefs was important to my family. When my marriage was arranged, it was planned from the time I was 6. Play dates arranged and marriage contracts signed. I had no idea. When I was young – maybe 4 months into my first year at Hogwarts, I quickly became infatuated with a boy in my grade. My mother and father quickly, I might add, sat me down and explained to me that a family friend a year ahead of me was to be my husband. Hopefully in the same year we graduated."
I sigh, knowing fully of my family's history with planned and arranged marriages. Knowing how secretly unhappy my mother was with her the choice that was made for her. Knowing how she purposely talked my father out of my arranged marriage with Astoria. For which I am eternally grateful. I listened to my mother give a more that detailed explanation of her life with my father and his controlling ways. Hopefully she would be able to tap into the Wizengamot's emotional side. It looked to be working.
Then all of the sudden she steps out. The Heroine of the war. Hermione Granger herself. Bloody hell, what was going on?