A/N: Sequel to Back to School and Correspondence.
Beta'd by Wendypops and Fiendfyre
Justice?
The small group of eighth-year students were sitting in the Great Hall of Hogwarts when a loud whooshing noise signalled the arrival of the owl post. The cheerful banter between them was suddenly broken by the sight of a red envelope hovering in front of Draco's face, the edges smoking.
"What the fu...heck?" Draco hastily changed his wording at the look on Hermione's face.
"Haha! What have you done now?" Ron burst out laughing but stopped abruptly as the sound of his own mother's voice filled the cavernous hall.
"DRACO MALFOY! WE WELCOMED YOU INTO OUR FAMILY AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY US? BY GETTING MY DAUGHTER ARRESTED?"
Harry quickly cast a Silencing Charm around their table as the Howler continued.
"I KNOW WHAT SHE DID TO YOU WAS HORRIBLE BUT WE WERE GETTING HELP! THERE WAS NO NEED TO INVOLVE THE AURORS! YOU WILL FIX THIS; DO YOU HEAR ME YOUNG MAN? FIX THIS!"
With a final sob, the offending missive ripped itself up into tiny pieces that littered the table like confetti.
The entire table was white faced by the end of it, except for Ron, who had turned a shade of red that clashed violently with his hair.
"What the fuck did you do, Malfoy?" Ron questioned the paler than usual boy sitting opposite him. He had his wand out and trained on Draco.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Harry wasn't the only one to cast, but he was the one to pocket his friend's wand.
"Ron!" Harry said, getting his attention away from Draco. "Think a minute, please. Draco hasn't done anything. He wouldn't do anything. We agreed to leave the Ministry out of it, remember?"
"What is going on then?" Ron huffed, shaking off his girlfriend's restraining arm.
"I may be able to answer that, Mr Weasley." Professor McGonagall gestured for the group to stand and follow her. "Perhaps we should find somewhere a little less public?"
Once they were all ensconced in the Headmistress' office, the professor began to explain.
"As you know, as part of the shake-up happening at the Ministry at the moment, more and more Muggle ideas are finding their way into our world. One of these is an offence called 'perverting the course of justice'. While Mr Malfoy admirably decided not to seek retribution for what Miss Weasley accused him of, the Ministry have decided otherwise. They call it 'wasting Auror time'. Mr Weasley, I'm sure your father would have discussed these changes at home; after all, these were his ideas."
"Are you saying this is my dad's fault?" Ron asked angrily.
"Mr Weasley! There is only one person who is at fault here, and the sooner you remember that, the better!" Professor McGonagall berated the red haired boy. "Mr Malfoy, I will personally speak to Molly Weasley on your behalf. Please don't worry. I suggest you retire to your rooms. Goodnight."
The group of friends did as they were asked, respectfully fearful of the Headmistress.
When they reached their rooms, Draco made to go to bed but paused at the doorway when he realised that Harry wasn't following him.
"Are you coming?" Draco asked his boyfriend.
"I'll be there in a minute, love," Harry replied, making himself comfortable on the sofa beside Hermione and Ron. "I've just got talk to Ron; I won't be long."
As Draco turned to enter the dormitory, Harry turned to his best friend of seven years.
"What was that about, Ron?" he spoke coldly to the redhead, "you know Draco wouldn't do something like that. Even if you didn't, you should've thought that I wouldn't do that. Don't try to make me choose between you; I can't guarantee you'd like the result. You will apologise to him, I won't have Draco talked to like that."
"Harry, no! It was just a reaction! What would you think?" Hermione interjected before Ron could talk.
"I can talk for myself, thank you!" Ron angrily stated, "I'm standing up for my sister. I know it wasn't Draco's fault for what she did, but I don't want her to end up in prison. I should have thought before I opened my mouth. For a second I just forgot that he was my friend. All that was in my head was Malfoy, the pointy faced ferret who would do anything to have a go at my family."
"I'll talk to him; maybe we can do something to help. If he is agrees, of course. This is his choice, you can't force him."
Harry was interrupted by the sight of a blond head barrelling past him, running through the common room portrait hole.
"Draco!" Harry cried, jumping up from the sofa and following his irate boyfriend.
By the time Harry had exited the common room, Draco was nowhere to be seen. He thought quickly and decided to head down to the dungeons to look for him, thinking that Draco would go to familiar territory.
After a frantic dash and a thorough search, including a very hairy trip into the Slytherin common room, Harry thought to try the Quidditch pitch. A quick visit to the kitchen yielded no result so he exited the school. A scout around the pitch, the stands and the changing rooms came up empty so he ran back towards the school intent on finding Draco, although he had no clue where to look.
As he ran through the front doors, he heard a voice coming from a side room; it sounded like Hermione was trying to calm someone down.
"He said that he would try to get me to help her, Hermione. I heard him!"
The sound of his boyfriend's voice caused a smile to break out onto Harry's face, but once he thought over Draco's words, his smile faded. Draco had misheard! Or not heard it all!
"You didn't hear everything Harry said, Draco!" Harry walked into the room and shot Hermione a grateful look.
"I was standing up for you, love. I told Ron it was your decision on whether to help her or not. Please, believe me."
Draco nodded and stood up, a small smile gracing his features. "I will be having a word with Weasley for bringing the bloody ferret incident up again; I thought we were past that! And we can talk about the other thing later. Sorry, I'm a bit frazzled this evening."
"Understandable," Harry nodded back, taking his hand.
Harry noticed Hermione holding a worn piece of parchment and rolled his eyes. "So that's how you found him, then?"
"Yes, I think I may be the only person in this school thinking straight this evening!" Hermione huffed, good-naturedly.
Once they had made it safely back to their rooms, they settled in on the sofas and Harry called for Kreacher. He ignored Hermione's humph of irritation and asked his now loyal house elf for some hot tea.
"I think we need some sustenance before we start this conversation," he told the pair sat with him.
"Will you be needing tea for Mister Weasley as well?" Kreacher inquired.
The three spun around to face the redhead standing in the doorway.
"Hm, Draco, I think I have something to say," Ron mumbled, his face flushing, "I'm sorry I over-reacted like that. I should have asked before I assumed. My dad always said that if you assume, you make yourself and your friend look like idiots!"
Hermione and Harry burst out laughing while their other halves looked on confusedly.
"When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me!" Hermione got out eventually, still giggling.
"Well, that's what I said!" Ron shrugged his shoulders and shared a familiar exasperated look with Draco before they both realised what they were originally talking about.
The giggling stopped when the frosty atmosphere reappeared; the laughing pair looking between Ron and Draco.
"Harry?" Ron prompted his friend.
"Not my choice, Ron. I told you before. My loyalty is to Draco and I will follow his lead." Harry politely replied.
Surprised, Draco looked up at his boyfriend. He flashed Harry a smile and received one in return.
Draco nodded. "I understand Ron, you were wrong to assume," he paused to glare at Harry and Hermione, who had started giggling again, "but I don't like being accused of something I didn't do."
Ron blanched at the meaning behind his words.
"I will never forget you standing up for me against your own sister in the first place and for that, I accept your apology." Draco stood up and held his hand out to Ron.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief then laughed once more when the arrival of Kreacher with the tea startled them all.
The following morning, the friends were breakfasting in the Great Hall when then owl post arrived. Draco automatically flinched when he saw the Weasley family's old owl making its way to their table.
"Don't worry, love, it's not a howler," Harry tried to calm his boyfriend.
Errol did hold a letter for Draco though, as well as one for Ron.
Draco carefully opened the letter and read its content. He wordlessly handed it over to Harry to read.
Draco,
I must sincerely apologise for my outburst yesterday. I should have known that you wouldn't have done this; I should have checked before I sent the Howler. Arthur has this saying about doing that very thing but I can't think of it at the moment.
I hope you can forgive me and you should know that you are still welcome in our house whenever you want. Well, if Ginny is out, of course.
I was wondering if you would meet with us to discuss Ginny's predicament.
Hope you are well.
Molly Weasley
Harry and Draco were interrupted from their musings when Ron cried out.
"They've set a date. They're bloody taking it to trial!"
Everyone at the table stared at Ron as he continued to summarise the note he had received from his mother.
"It's going to be soon, Dad has found a defence wizard for Gi – her," he stumbled, not wanting to upset Draco or Harry by mentioning his sister's name, "and oh, Merlin! She wants to meet with Draco!"
Harry nearly fell off his chair in shock and he wasn't the only one.
"What?" Draco croaked into the silence that followed this declaration.
"What?" the rest of the group echoed.
Ron handed the letter to Draco, who held it between himself and Harry to read.
Ron,
I can't believe it! They are sending Ginny's case to trial! I thought this would all blow over soon but they are determined to make an example of her. I could strangle your father for bringing all this Muggle nonsense in!
Ginny would really like to talk with Draco; do you think he would be agreeable? She really is apologetic and would just like the opportunity to explain herself. Please, will you ask him?
Hope school is going well and you're doing your work and eating properly.
Look after Hermione,
Mum
"Well, that's just not going to happen!" Harry proclaimed, "I'm not letting Draco alone with her, there's no telling what she'd do!"
"Harry, be reasonable. She's already in enough trouble with causing more by hurting me further," Draco added reasonably. "I'll think about it," he added to Ron.
Ron smiled at him as Harry nodded at settled back into his chair.
Blaise caught sight of the note and frowned. "Look after Hermione?" he asked, "Have you still not told her, Ron?"
The group laughed at Ron's unease. "She likes Hermione and it keeps her off my back," he muttered under his breath.
The girl in question huffed and stood up. "Time for class, come on!" Blaise stood immediately, to the amusement of everyone at the table.
"Oh, shut up!" he moaned, picking Hermione's bag up for her.
Laughing, they set off to their first class, every one of them grateful for the distraction.
The following weekend was scheduled to be a Hogsmeade visit, and Harry and Draco had made plans to go to the Burrow and meet with Ginny. Draco still hadn't decided what he was going to do and Harry wasn't going to push him. Draco just hoped that this meeting would be able to make his mind up either way.
On entering the quirky home, the pair found themselves engulfed in the tight embrace of the Weasley matriarch.
"Harry, Draco, I can't thank you enough for agreeing to come. Can I get you some tea or something to eat?" Molly huffed out in one breath once she had released them.
Harry looked sideways at Draco, who shook his head.
"Thank you, Molly, but we haven't got long," he lied. "We're meeting our friends for lunch."
"Right, of course," she replied and gestured behind towards the door, "Ginny is in the living room."
Harry nodded to Molly and led his pale-faced boyfriend by the hand out of the kitchen.
"Ginny." Harry announced their presence to the room's only occupant.
The girl spun her head around with a grin on her face. "Harry, Draco; how nice to see you!"
The boys shared a look of surprise as they moved to sit on the sofa opposite her.
"Do you mind if I speak with Draco alone, please? It won't take long," Ginny asked in a happy tone.
"Of course," Draco replied. "It'll be fine," he added to Harry in an undertone.
Harry reluctantly went to join Molly in the kitchen.
"Finished already, dears?" Molly asked, looking up from her pot.
"No, Molly, she wanted to talk to Draco alone," he hesitantly replied, sharing the look of apprehension that flittered across her face.
Molly wordlessly handed a cup of tea and gestured to him to take a seat. They both sat in silence, the only sounds in the kitchen being the clink of china on china and the occasional sigh.
Their silence was shattered when they heard a shout from the direction of the living room. Harry was out of his seat and down the hall before his teacup managed to hit the table with a crash.
The sight that greeted him when he barrelled into the living room would live with him forever. Draco was in a full body bind, with Ginny standing over his prone body, wand in hand.
"You WILL tell me what spell you used on him, you worthless piece of scum. He was MINE! We were meant to get married! And you thought you could STEAL him away from me?"
"EXPELLIARMUS!" The spell was so powerful that it threw Ginny across the room until she smashed into the wall, unconscious.
Harry quickly release Draco from the bind and ran to gather him in his arms. He conjured his Patronus to send for the Aurors when Draco stilled his arm.
"Let's just go, please," Draco shakily pleaded, standing up.
He looked at Molly's shining eyes and held his arm on tighter to Harry. "Take us out of here, please."
Harry nodded and Apparated them to Hogsmeade.
They arrived outside the Three Broomsticks and Harry quickly checked his boyfriend over from head to toe.
"Are you okay? What happened? How did she get the better of you? Are you sure you're okay?" Harry said all this without taking a breath and despite it all, Draco felt himself smile.
"I'm fine," he assured Harry, trying to make light of it. "My big bad wizard saved me again!"
Harry ushered him into the pub with a nod and a shoulder nudge. They quickly found the table their friends had commandeered for the afternoon.
Pansy spotted them first, and noticing the paleness of Draco's face and the tight set of Harry's jaw, knew something was up.
"What's happened?" she asked urgently, getting the attention of the rest of the table.
"She didn't, please tell me she didn't?" Ron muttered dejectedly.
"Sorry, Ron, she did," Harry coldly replied.
"Hey!" Ron cried, and then added in a smaller voice, "I'm not my sister. And I don't think much of my sister is left in there, to be honest with you."
"So, I guess that answered your question on whether to speak at the trial, eh, Draco!" Blaise obviously thought he was lightening the mood. Hermione smacked him.
"Yes, it did," was all Draco said.
The trial of Ginny Weasley was not turning out in her favour. After failing to secure her victim's compliance in talking for her in court, she was left at the mercy of a Wizengamot eager to show that their new Muggle influences were working and necessary. Her entire family sat in the gallery, accepting of the possibilty that their daughter and sister may not be returning home with them tonight.
"Are there any more statements to be added, Mr Gillory?" The question as directed at Ginny's defence wizard.
Before he could answer, the impressive doors of Courtroom Five burst open and an equally impressive looking Draco Malfoy stormed through them. He had a determined look on his pale face, his formal robes billowing around him and his hands clenched by his sides.
Harry looked up, his face twisting to a smile; he looked towards the centre of the room to gauge her reaction to the new arrival and was gratified to see the look of horror mingled with the faint twinge of hope on her face.
Molly Weasley grasped her husband's hand in a vice-like grip, a small glimmer of hope flittered across their faces. Ron and his brothers also perked up at the sight of the blond man standing just inside the courtroom door. Draco walked towards the high table at which the Wizengamot sat.
Madam Bones stood up from her position at the head of the courtroom to address the blond man.
"Mr Malfoy. Do you have something to say to the court?" She looked intrigued as to what the young man might have to add to the proceedings.
"Yes, Madam Bones, if I may?" Draco shot Harry a small reassuring smile, which was returned with a nod.
Madam Bones waved her hand for Draco to continue. He took a deep breath and started to talk.
"On the fifteenth of August of this year, I attended a party held by Charles Weasley, brother to Ginerva Weasley. It was also attended by all of his brothers, many of his friends, and my boyfriend, Harry Potter. Miss Weasley, on this night, attended a separate party held by Charlotte Weasley and I fear she may have had one too many Firewhiskys."
Draco glanced around the room. He noticed the smiles of hope slide off the faces of the Weasley family at his words. Draco tore his eyes away from his friends, took a fortifying breath and continued.
"At three o'clock the following morning, the rest of my household and I were awoken by the arrival of no fewer than fifteen Aurors intending to arrest me. Miss Weasley had reported to the Ministry that at 11.30 that previous night, I had attempted to sexually assault her. Due to my probation, it was decided I would be taken straight to Azkaban to await trial. I, of course, was released the next day owing to the many witnesses who corroborated my alibi and the complete lack of evidence or, indeed, truth to her accusations."
Draco paused to take a sip of the glass of water that had magically appeared at his side. He forced himself to say what he had come to say. This was not for him; it was for Harry and his family. It had to be said.
"I forgave Miss Weasley her indiscretion many months ago after a revelation I had. Ginny Weasley, like every child of her age, was brought up hearing about the Great Harry Potter. Her bedtime stories consisted of tales about the Boy-Who-Lived and his defeat of You-Know-Who. She met this boy at ten years of age and he has been an actual part of her life since then. He was her brother's best friend. He saved her life at age eleven. She even dated him briefly at fifteen. All the signs pointed to her being married to him, with a houseful of babies and a pet Crup. This didn't happen. Mr Potter defeated the evil wizard again, but did not go running back to her arms. He fell in love with me: a Death Eater, a generally accepted bad egg and, perhaps most importantly, a man."
Harry gave his boyfriend a reassuring smile this time. Gratified, Draco continued.
"Who here was happy that the Golden Boy turned out to be gay?"
Harry rolled his eyes while the rest of the court shifted uneasily in their seats. There were outraged murmurs from the members of the Wizengamot, as well as the gallery. Draco ignored these and barrelled on.
"Who here was happy that he did not plan on marrying Ginny Weasley, or any other well-bred witch? That he planned on spending the rest of his life with me? Miss Weasley has lived her entire life with the delusion that she was going to marry Harry Potter. And no one disabused her of this notion. Not her parents, who I'm sure would have loved to have gained Harry Potter as a son-in-law. Not her brother, who would have loved for his sister and his best friend to live happily ever after together. Not her friends, who simply wanted to see her happy. Certainly not the public, who printed and read article after article detailing their short lived relationship and even ran guessing polls on when the two would eventually reunite and get engaged."
Draco took another calming drink, his throat becoming dry. He had the rapt attention of his audience now and he knew it. Not a single person spoke or dared to interrupt him.
"Miss Weasley lived with this every day, and then she was informed one day that, no, none of this was ever going to happen. It probably devastated her; I know for damn sure it would devastate me. Mr Potter is probably sat in his seat know thinking I'm blaming him. I'm not. Miss Weasley is to blame here. But she is not the only one. I do not hate her for her actions, neither should you. Pity her if you must, but understand that each and every one of you would have done the same if you had been given the love of Harry Potter and had it snatched away."
Draco had to pause; the look of shock on his face was very telling. He had had another revelation.
"I know I would."
Draco nodded and turned to leave the courtroom. Harry immediately stood to follow him, shaking off the arm of whichever Weasley tried to hold him back.
"Draco!" Harry cried once the doors to the stuffy room shut behind him, "Draco, wait!"
Harry caught up to his boyfriend and crushed him with a tight hug, "I will never take my love away from you, Draco Malfoy. You are perfect; I couldn't ask for a better partner no matter what anybody else thinks. As a matter of fact, I think you may be too good for me."
Draco burst out laughing and kissed him fiercely.
"Too damn right, I am!" he informed his boyfriend once they had stopped for breath.
"You are brilliant, Draco. Do you want to go back in to hear the verdict?" Harry quietly asked.
"No," Draco shook his head, "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."
"Let's just go home."
The end.