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Chapter 1

Harry scurried down the corridor as quickly as she could without drawing too much attention to herself, her black ponytail swooshing back and forth as she picked up the pace. Despite her efforts, eyes darted in her direction and voices called out her name as she passed. Eventually, deciding that being inconspicuous was hopeless, the girl broke into a full on sprint down the Ministry's corridors.

"What a day to be running late," she muttered to herself as she pushed her way through a crowded corridor and into the lift.

The lift seemed to be moving purposely slow, as though trying to make her miss the trial. It stopped at every possible exit, and Harry tapped her fingers impatiently against her leg, until the lift finally stopped at her exit.

She sprinted out at full speed, not stopping when she bumped into an intern with a pile of files stacked up to her neck, which went flying at the moment of their collision. She merely shouted an apology as she kept going. Finally, reaching her destination, Harry paused outside the trial room doors, taking a moment to compose herself and make a half hearted attempt at flattening her notoriously unruly hair. She opened the door as quietly as possible and made her way to her seat. The opening remarks had begun, but she had not missed anything of importance. She spared a single glance at the man in the center of the room, who was looking as stoic as ever, before she directed her attention to Kingsley.

The new Minister read off each of the accused man's charges, before prompting the prosecution to make their case. After a record short introduction—only eighteen and a half minutes!—the prosecution began their presentation. Witnesses for the prosecution, which included two former Hogwarts professors, several former classmates, and a certain young witch with flaming red hair, came forward and attested to the accused man's lack of moral fiber, his antagonistic behavior, and, of course, the most damning piece of evidence against him—the Dark Mark which was eternally engraved in the man's forearm.

Throughout their speeches the man's eyes remained fixed on the Prime Minister's seat, as though trying to read his thoughts.

Harry couldn't very well argue against any of the points the prosecutors made. However, the thought of her old school rival suffering in Azkaban for years, no matter how much he had teased and taunted her over the years, made her stomach churn. She began to doze off as the prosecution was wrapping up, and almost missed the call for witnesses for the defense. She hastily shook herself awake and approached the witness stand.

"State your name for the court," Kingsley requested.

"Harriet Potter."

"Miss Potter, do you so swear in accordance with Wizarding law statute 221b to tell the complete and unbiased truth to the best of your ability with the understanding that violating this statue will result in perjury on your part and a minimum of ten days jail time or a minimum fine of 200 galleons?"

"I so swear, Minister."

"Then we shall proceed with the hearing."

The defense attorney straightened her robes as she approached the stand. She had a pile of curly blond hair balanced smartly in a large bun on the top of her head, and her inquisitive eyes examined Harry through thin black frames. She pursed her lips and examined her questions before the interrogation began.

"Miss Potter, how are you acquainted with the defendant?"

"We were classmates at Hogwarts."

"Were you friends?"

"No, I wouldn't have called us friends at the time."

"But you knew each other well?"

"Yes, we engaged each other in conversation frequently," Harry nodded, not technically lying.

"Were the two of you ever alone together?"

"Um…" Harry faltered, caught off guard by the question, "Yes."

"Under what circumstances was that?"

"We had a, erm, an altercation in a bathroom in our sixth year of school."

"And what was the result of this 'altercation' as you called it?"

"Mr. Malfoy was injured as a result my poor judgment, but as you can see, he has since made a full recovery."

"And when was the last time you saw Mr. Malfoy, prior to this day?"

"At Hogwarts."

"Tell me about that."

"I saved him from a fire in the Room of Requirement."

"And why did you do that?"

"Obviously, because I think he's worth saving," Harry replied, beginning to feel annoyed. She wasn't the one on trial, after all.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you think he is worth saving, Miss Potter?"

Harry paused for a moment, unsure of how exactly to respond.

"Miss Potter?"

"I believe that he is capable of goodness and kindness and will not continue in his old ways once released back into wizarding society."

"Have you ever seen evidence of goodness and kindness from this man?"

"Yes."

At this, the defendant's eyes moved from the Minister's seat to the witness stand.

"Could you give me an example?"

"He saved my life."

Mummers spread trough the courtroom quickly at this revelation, but Kinsley ordered silence, and the trial hastily continued.

"Could you elaborate Miss Potter?"

"When I was briefly held captive at Malfoy Manor, after being captured by snatchers, he had the opportunity to identify me to the death eaters and have me turned in to Voldemort, but he lied and told them he wasn't sure it was me."

"Are you sure he actually recognized you?"

"Absolutely. I'm positive," Harry replied.

"That will be all, Miss Potter."

Before she new it, Harry was being ushered away and the next witness, Draco's mother, was brought forward, and Harry returned to her seat in the audience. Her stomach began to churn again. Had she said everything she could have? Should she have elaborated more about the bathroom incident? Or listed more of Malfoy's more redeemable qualities? Her testimony was the best chance he had of staying out of Azkaban. What if she had screwed it all up?

Her thoughts were spiraling so much that she missed all of Mrs. Malfoy's Testimony and only just caught the end of Professor McGonagall's testimony. The Minister announced that they would take a some time for deliberation, an the court would be called back into session as soon as a verdict was reached.

Harry exited the courtroom and hurried to the bathroom. She was sweating profusely. She locked herself in a stall and performed a quick drying spell on her robes, before sitting down on the closed toilet seat cover and hiding her face in her hands. What was she thinking? "An altercation in the bathroom"! That made it sound like they'd fucked or something. Although, she admitted to herself, that may have been preferable to what actually happened. She still felt sick at thought of Malfoy laying on the bathroom floor covered in his own blood.

She finally composed herself again and returned to the corridor where many others were waiting to hear the verdict of the case. She spoke to Ginny Weasley briefly, before taking a seat in one of the chairs that lined the corridor. Finally, after two and a half hours of deliberation, a verdict was reached, and they all returned to their seats in the trial chamber.

Malfoy was cleared of all charges, except possession of the Dark Mark and withholding information about the use of Dark Magic. He was sentenced to six months in Azkaban and two years probation.

As he was being escorted out of the courtroom, he caught Harry's eye and gave her a look of confusion mixed with thanks. She smiled at him, but he was out of the room before he could've had a chance to respond.