X Five Years X
Disclaimer: Simply put, I don't own Harry Potter or the characters and places in this story. The plot, however, is mine.
Summary: After Hogwarts, Hermione Granger becomes a defense attorney for the Ministry of Magic and is court-assigned to the notorious Draco Malfoy. Everyone knows he's guilty, including himself. But as Hermione spends time puzzling over his past, she discovers that maybe there is still something a little good left inside him.
X Chapter 1: Bleeding the Same X
"Get up." A hand roughly shook him awake as Draco Malfoy rolled over on the old cot he had been resting on. He narrowed his grey eyes suspiciously at the prison guard as he sat up.
He snapped rudely in response. "What?"
The guard grabbed his shoulder and tugged him into a standing position before pushing him callously towards the cell gate. "You got a visitor."
It was a long walk from his cell to the visiting room. The shackles on his hands kept his shoulders rigid and sore and his legs were out of practice from being chained to a wall for several days. The hall was grey and gloomy and there were no windows to let in any light. Somewhere, Draco could hear water dripping onto the stone floor.
Finally he was halted in front of a solid metal door. A small round porthole allowed a beam of light from within to shine dimly into the corridor.
The guard turned to him gruffly. Mockingly, he said, "Now you play nice, little Death Eater. I'll be right outside the door." Then the man jerked the metal slab open and shoved Draco inside roughly.
He glared daggers through the porthole at the guard's satisfied smirk but turned at the sound of a chair screeching against the floor as it was pulled out.
His blond eyebrows rose in bemusement. Sneering, he ridiculed, "Long time, no see, Granger. It's been, what, four years?"
Hermione Granger frowned disgustedly. She pointed a delicate finger at a chair across the table from her, indicating for him to sit. She was taller now, but still stood a good four inches under him. He stayed standing.
When she didn't reply, he narrowed his eyes and demanded, "What are you doing here anyway?"
With a frustrated sigh, she glared at him before answering. "I'm your court-appointed lawyer, Malfoy. Under the Fifteenth Wizarding Decree, every Azkaban criminal has the right to an attorney. Apparently, I'm being punished in some way as I have been hired to be yours." She crossed her arms across her chest bitterly and sat down in her own chair. Pulling out a cream-colored folder, she opened it and organized its contents meticulously.
Draco chuckled but sat down across from her, leaning his forearms on the cold metal surface of the table.
"I bet nobody else would take the job, so they made you do it, knowing that you never back down from a challenge, even when it gets you into trouble." He said trouble threateningly, a dark flicker lighting his eyes, taunting her, baiting her.
She glanced up from her papers to meet his eyes but quickly looked down again. Her hands shook a bit as she got out a quill and inkpot.
Draco smirked widely. "But you're scared too. You always were pathetic, Granger."
Hermione flattened her hands on the table and looked at him resolutely. Her gaze was fierce and her rich brown eyes were filled with an old anger. "You're right, Malfoy. I took this job because no one else would. But I also took it because it would give me complete control over the man that had made my childhood miserable and destroyed hundreds of people's lives. I have the power to put you behind bars forever. I can get you the Kiss, if I wanted. I could even have you executed. We both know you've done plenty to deserve that."
She sat back in her chair, a relaxed smirk on her own face now. "It's not like you can hurt me anyway. This island is free of all magic except protection wards. Most of all procedures here are done the Muggle way. You can't even do wandless magic inside these walls. You can't even touch me. Not while you're in here and there's a spell between us."
Draco's eyes were hard as he scowled at her, but she didn't look away. She met his eyes easily, contemptuously. His voice was low and dangerous as he replied. "I never knew you were the revenge type, Granger." He paused thoughtfully. "And I didn't kill hundreds of people. That's quite a lot, actually, even for me."
Her face hardened at his casual speech and she snapped coldly, "I didn't say you killed hundreds of people. You've only killed forty-seven. I said you destroyed hundreds. Every time you murdered someone, their family broke. And every time you murdered someone, their friends suffered in your wake. You don't have to kill someone to destroy them." She finished almost wistfully and her eyes looked far away, as if she was looking at someone over Draco's shoulder.
He watched her curiously as she thought. Her hair was pulled back in a knot behind her head but tendrils of unruly curls had slipped out to frame her face. Her robes were a conservative blue in a business style cut but flattering enough to show her womanly figure. Her skin was pale, as if she was inside working a lot. Knowing her, she probably was, he thought. Her face was smooth and youthful, although a certain maturity she had lacked a few years ago while they went to school had caused miniscule lines to crease the sides of her mouth. But her eyes were the same as they had always been, emotional chocolate pools. Draco had always been able to know how she felt because those eyes gave everything away.
As if coming out of a trance, she shook her head with closed eyes. Looking back at Draco, the tips of her pink lips turned down in a slight frown, she ruffled through her papers. Then she sat up straight and spoke in a professional tone, as if ashamed for letting him see her momentary lapse. "You're being charged with multiple counts of murder, torture, regular use of the Unforgivables, treachery and treason, attacking Ministry officials, consorting with Death Eaters, being a Death Eater, and using magic in the presence of Muggles. Do you deny any of those claims?"
She glanced up and watched as he shook his head grimly. She swallowed slowly but continued on. "You're to have a trial in two months to determine your sentence."
He interrupted, "Two months? Why would the Ministry wait that long? Everyone knows I'm guilty. Wouldn't they just give me the Kiss and be done with it?"
Hermione sighed, but her expression mirrored his own. Obviously, she wasn't happy with the Ministry either. "Yes, but Scrimgeour has a lot on his plate right now. Constant Death Eater attacks have kept the entire Ministry on their toes. The Wizengamot and Council of Magical Law's funds have been cut to help pad the Magical Law Enforcement and Auror fields. They're more concerned with catching Death Eaters than with sentencing them. And besides, Dementors aren't exactly in the Ministry's control right now."
Draco smirked in realization. "I see. I'm assuming the Ministry isn't getting anywhere on the Dark Lord's whereabouts' and Dementors are running rampant doing his work. No wonder this place isn't as miserable as I thought it would be. There aren't any Dementor guards. I bet the entire Wizarding community is in an uproar."
Hermione frowned but didn't deny it. "There are still a few Dementors around, Malfoy. You can still get the Kiss, if you wanted, but it would just take a lot of time that the Ministry doesn't have right now."
Hesitating slightly, she commented, "I'm supposed to ask for your account of your crimes, but there are so many," she glanced at him pointedly, "that it will take longer than one visit. I'm afraid you'll have to tolerate me quite a bit over the next couple months. Wizarding law is full of complicated rules and procedures." She looked at him sarcastically, as if daring him to comment.
He shrugged noncommittally. "It's not like I've got much else to do."
Hermione breathed deeply and then plunged right in. "I'd like to start with why you joined the Death Eaters in the first place and how you rose to become one of Voldemort's most trusted servants. Maybe if I know your motivations, I can better understand the reasons for your crimes."
Draco looked at her coldly. His eyes were calculating, contemplating whether or not to tell her the truth. Finally, he sighed deeply, tiredly and leaned forward to stare at his clasped hands on the table. The sleeves of his grey uniform had been carefully rolled up and the pale light in the room caught on the barely visible yellow hair on his arms. She could partially see the horrible black tattoo on the inside of his left arm.
His whispered, broken answer shocked her. "Ever since I was a boy, I was expected to follow in my father's footsteps. I believed every word he said because I idolized him. I so desperately wanted him to be proud of me, to love me, that I was willing to do anything just to get in his good graces. Blindly, I followed him in his every action. I did whatever he told me to do. When he said, 'Become a Death Eater,' I did. I knew he never loved me, but I had always hoped that someday he would. I found out too late that his cruel heart would never harbor any love for me." His words were sad, bitter.
Hermione's dark eyebrows were drawn up in bewilderment. Draco could tell, just by looking at her eyes, that she had never known about the lonely, unloved little boy he had once been. And he could see her mind fighting itself. She knew of his past, of the terrible things he had done, but now her heart desperately wanted to pity him.
His voice hardened then. "I don't want your pity, Granger," he spat. "I don't deserve your pity." He almost sounded disgusted in himself.
She was silent still, but the unwanted compassion continued to leak out of her warm eyes.
Abruptly, she shuffled through her papers again. Her face was alight with a sudden dawning.
Pointing at a piece of parchment, she analyzed, "This is the report of your capture. It says that you were at the Malfoy Manor when the Ministry raided there for Dark artifacts. It always seemed anomalous to me that you would do that alone. It was stupid and careless of you to return there when the Ministry had a warrant for your arrest, especially because it was common knowledge that Magical Law Enforcement had scheduled that raid. Then when you put up a fight, you didn't use any Unforgivables, although you had never hesitated to use them before. This also seemed out of character for you."
She looked at him intensely as she spoke next. "You claimed at the time that you were under orders to retrieve an old family heirloom for the Dark Lord, but I highly doubt that was true. There was really no reason for you to be there, unless you wanted to get caught."
Draco glanced up swiftly to meet her eyes. He didn't speak for several moments, but finally, wearily said, "You always were smart, Granger."
Her mouth parted disbelievingly, as if she hadn't really expected her observation to be true. She leaned forward and whispered, "But why would someone of such high standing with Voldemort turn himself in? You were untouchable."
He knew she was genuinely curious and that she wasn't asking just for the case anymore.
Draco met her eyes seriously. "I finally realized what I was doing. I had allowed myself to believe that lineage was the only thing that mattered. I was following a psychotic killer who wasn't even of pure heritage himself. I had never stood up for myself, despite my pride, and thoughtlessly did whatever heinous deeds I was told to do. I kept believing that everything would be better if the Dark Lord rose to power and that it would help me forget my childhood. I had convinced myself that I was doing the right thing for the Wizarding world by exterminating muggle-borns and muggle-born lovers, but I couldn't forget the dirty feeling I got whenever I cursed an innocent person."
His next words were pained, tortured, as if it killed him inside to admit them. His eyes were glassed over and his mouth was drawn in a firm line. "You see, Granger, everyone bleeds the same when they die."
A heavy pause filled the room after his words hit the table loudly. Draco's breathing deep and quiet, regretful. He continued to look at his hands stoically, but a soft whimper made him look up at Hermione.
She had one clasped over her mouth in complete awe, as if she had just witnessed something sacred and monumental. Overwhelmed, her voice shook as she spoke. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when Draco Malfoy admitted something like that."
For a moment their eyes met, a weighted look passing between them. It was broken when Hermione hurriedly shoved her papers into the folder and stood up. Her chair clattered to the ground behind her, the sudden noise resonating through the small room.
"I've got to go, but I'll come back later this week." She sounded slightly alarmed and hasty to leave. She smoothed down her black skirt with one hand and clutched her folder to her chest protectively with the other. "Um, we'll discuss the case proceedings next time. I still have many questions to ask."
Draco's eyebrows had risen in amusement at her unrest and he smirked slightly, but it was devoid of any contempt. "And I still have more to tell."
He stood up languidly, gracefully and turned toward the door. He didn't look at her when he spoke again. "I'll see you later, Granger."
Then he lifted a pale hand and rapped on the door to let the guard know he was done. He left her standing there, an unreadable expression etched across her face.
X
A/N: Reviews would make my day. I'll update quickly because I've already got the next chapter written.
