Conviction

Chapter 2: The Team

xXx

The address housed a glass and steel building in the heart of the city. Not exactly what he would think of in terms of a government headquarters, but despite the fact that times were always changing, government's spending frivolous amounts of money was not.

Draco sighed. It would appear the dread of starting his new job was wearing him down. He rolled his eyes at himself and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets of his navy pea coat, walking toward the building and through the front door. He was stopped at the front desk and was given an envelope with his credentials, a key card and badge, which he used to make the lift work. He took a long deep breath, held it as the elevator made it's final stop and let it out as the door dinged before opening.

The rolling doors slowly revealed to him the expansive floor, which left little privacy for any occupants with walls of glass and steel, perfectly matching the outer structure. The group he was there to meet was gathered at the center of the floor, all residing around an oval conference table with Hermione at the head. She was checking her watch as he approached and he smirked to himself knowing his defiant act of tardiness would only put him on her hit list.

"Mr. Malfoy, welcome." she greeted him with a smile. He found it unnerving that there was no trace of annoyance or anger anywhere on her face. "Please," she gestured him forward. "Come in, meet your team." she came to stand beside him as he stopped at the head of the table. Hermione began by pointing out the people he didn't know, starting with a young woman with dirty blonde hair and a dreamy look on her face. "This is Dr. Luna Lovegood, she is a criminal Psycologist."

Draco held out his hand to her and she accepted it with a slight smile, her ethereal voice replying;

"What a pleasure it is to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise." he answered before Hermione directed his attention to the very tall brunette next to her. His five o'clock shadow was quite noticeable and he had a goofy air to him. He dressed casually in a polo and slacks.

"And this is Mr. Neville Longbottom. He will be the head of your forensics endeavors." They shook hands as well. "And of course you know Blaise Zabini, he'll be your right hand when dealing with the individual prosecutors." she stepped aside to allow Draco to greet his long time friend. "And then last but certainly not least we have Mr. Harry Potter, an Inspector on detachment from Scotland Yard."

"Potter."

"Malfoy."

They greeted each other a bit coldly, but seemed to remain as professional as possible. Hermione smiled. "Oh good, you remember each other." both men shot her a look but she ignored it. "Now," she picked up a small stack of files from the head of the table and dropped them into Draco's arms. "Consider this a test." she told them. "There are three cases here, I want you all to go through them, and decide as a team, the final decision of course being Mr. Malfoy's, which case you will work on first. Depending on how well you do, we will make adjustments from there and get you more to chose from." Draco said nothing and neither did anyone else. "Excellent, you have five days."

"To chose a case?" Draco asked, stopping her from walking out.

"To investigate." she replied. "From the moment you open a case you have five days to find something new and compelling in order for us to take the next step with it. If you don't find anything by then the case will be closed and put away."

"That's hardly anytime at all for a proper investigation." Harry spoke up.

Hermione sighed. "I'm aware, unfortunately we must acknowledge that this unit was created for strictly political reasons and as such we must create results in a non political time table. The people want immediate results, they watch far too much telly, those ridiculous crime dramas telling them they can get lab results in hours not days and, that justice will always be done and that no matter what good always triumphs over evil. Unfortunately as you are all aware, that is not the case and so, you must do what you can with what you have." she looked around the table, making eye contact with everyone. "Consider this though, the better you do as time progresses the more likely we can get a little more wiggle room."

With that Hermione bid them good luck and walked out. Draco shook his head, dropping the files on the table and walking out after her. "Already practicing for you first debate speech Granger, that was brilliant." He didn't need to face her to know she was rolling her eyes. She didn't turn around, continuing on her way to the elevators. "The fact of the matter remains the same," he continued. The elevator doors slid open as they approached and Hermione stepped on, finally facing him as she turned around. He put his hand up to keep the doors open. "You want us to work miracles with nothing."

"Well God can do it." she replied unironically.

"I'm not God."

Hermione gasped mockingly. "Alert the media, stop the presses, the world will want to know all about the day Draco Lucius Malfoy admitted that he was, in fact, just a man." with that she pushed his hand out of the way and let the doors close.

Draco returned to the conference room to find the team already pouring over the files. There were three in all spread out among them as they shared details, each delving into their own expertise to make observations. Draco took a deep breath before stepping forward.

"Alright, what have we got?" he asked drawing their attention.

Harry replied "One co-ed rape case."

"Pass on that one for now, don't want to bring that kind of attention to ourselves before we get the resources to do it justice." Draco immediately replied.

"Alright, then we have a man who murdered his girlfriend." Blaise continued.

"What does that one look like?"

Blaise laid out the details of the case, from the way the body of Callie Bronson was found in the woods nearly an hour from home, to her confessions in her diary, claiming to have been terrified of her boyfriend, Mikal Whitehall. The time table suggested, seemingly without a doubt that he was able to do it. And forensic evidence left little doubt otherwise.

"Seems pretty cut and dry." Harry added when Blaise was finished.

Draco didn't respond as he picked up the file, reading it through himself. "Nothing is as cut and dry as anyone thinks." he murmured. "What about the third one?" he continued without looking away from the file in his hands.

"I have my doubts about this one." Luna's ethereal voice responded. "It's a bombing of a Military recruitment office. The man they convicted fits the profile to a T." she continued. "It doesn't mean he did it, but I have my doubts the investigators are wrong."

"It sounds like the murder case is the best option then." Blaise replied. Draco nodded, noticing the way Harry looked away from them. He said nothing about it as he turned back to the file, only to discover the most likely cause of his foul mood. Printed boldly in the designated slot, just under the sloppily written signature was the name of the lead investigator; Ronald B. Weasley.

Draco tamped down the feeling of glee that welled up inside of him at the prospect of sticking it to the red haired man. He'd spent a disproportionate amount of his childhood loathing Ron for numerous reasons, mostly for his innate laziness. He was everything Draco wasn't, Lazy being one of them, and Self righteous. Ron spent most of his childhood living in Harry and Hermione's shadow and he showed just how much that bothered him by the way he treated Hermione through the years. The irony of knowing that Pansy had been the Hermione to his Ron was not lost on him as they grew up and he hated every second of knowing that he and the weasel were anything alike.

"Alright, are we all in agreement then?" he asked looking around the table. There were nods all around and surprisingly enough, even from Harry. "Good, Neville, I want you to go over the prosecution's evidence with a fine toothed comb. Leave no piece of forensics unscrutinized. Potter, contact the witnesses and re interview them, see if their stories have changed at all. Also, if you feel the need, warn Weasley we're looking into his old case." Harry looked surprised at his thoughtfulness. "We'll be burning a lot of bridges in this unit. I have no doubt we'll be considered worse than internal affairs after a few overturns. Let's not make it worse than we have to, eh?" Draco explained himself before turning to Blaise. "Who was the lead prosecutor? Do you know?"

Blaise looked rueful. "Cornelius Fudge." he replied. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Of course he did. Alright then, go with Potter to interview the witnesses and then the two of you can head up to Azkaban Prison and talk to the convicted and the man who convicted him."

"How convenient." Blaise replied. Draco hummed his agreement.

"And then of course, Dr. Lovegood." he turned to her. "I'd like you to accompany me to notify the families of the victim and the convicted. They have the right to hear it from us before the vultures in the media get a hold of it."

With their assignments ready, the team went their separate ways.

xXx

Ronald Weasley was a good friend. Harry held no illusions that he could be vicious, even to the people he cared about, but more often than not he was the best friend anyone could ask for. For years he stuck by his and Hermione's sides, sometimes stuck in their shadows, sometimes shining for himself. But growing up the youngest boy of seven siblings left Ron with a bit of a chip on his shoulder and a desperation to shine on his own, something that was difficult to do when your two best friends were a popular jock and a highly driven genius. Hermione and Harry knew that he was talented in his own way and that he would come into his own one day.

He found his own as an Inspector with Scotland Yard. He was a brilliant investigator with a moral compass that helped move him through the ranks quickly. He and Harry had started out as partners and as they moved up in the ranks found themselves going in different directions. Ron became the head of his own precinct while Harry decided to accept Hermione's offer in her task force. Of course, Ron had taken a bit of a hit that Hermione hadn't asked him, but Harry couldn't really blame her. For years people told them they were meant to be. Hermione and Ron, Ron and Hermione. So they gave it a try and after it all fell apart Ron wasn't taking it as well as Hermione had. Hermione held out some hope that they would eventually fall back into their easy friendship, but Ron was as stubborn as all of them and still held out hope that they might get the chance to try again, despite knowing that they did not want the same things in life.

Now, Harry stood outside his best friend's office, praying to whatever being was out there that Ron didn't start a war with what Harry was about to tell him. Harry knocked on the door just below the gold engraved plate and stepped in when Ron replied. Ron looked up and smiled. "Hey, it's my favorite Future Brother in Law." he replied. Harry snorted.

"I'm your only brother in law, you only have one sister and your brothers are all straight."

"That's very true." Ron replied grinning, gesturing for Harry to take a seat. "So, what can I do ya for? How's the new task force?" the look on Ron's face told Harry exactly what he thought of the job.

"Actually, that's why I'm here." Harry began. "We've chosen our first case."

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." Ron groaned, slouching back in his chair. He was smarter than people gave him credit for if he'd already figure it out. "Tell me she didn't give you one of my cases?" he asked outraged. "She's fucking got it out for me now. I told you!" Harry sighed.

"Hermione didn't chose the case for us we chose it as a team out of a stack of three." Harry defended. As kids he would regularly turn a blind eye to the fights that raged between his two best friends, fights that usually ended with Hermione crying alone in the girls bathroom. He was determined to remain neutral though. That is until his Uncle Sirius had taken him aside and explained that it was his job to watch out for his friends no matter what, even if that meant taken some of whatever was directed at one of them. It was how his father and uncles had all behaved with each other and if he truly considered them his friends he would get in the middle of it. The thinly veiled threat to Ron's safety certainly didn't hurt either. He believed Sirius' exact words were; "Either you do something or Arthur and Molly will be out a child if that little runt makes my baby girl cry ever again."

Harry's affection for his two best friends was equal, they were more than friends really, siblings in all actuality. Despite that, having taken Sirius' words to heart he'd started to notice a pattern and learned rather quickly that while Hermione was stubborn and pushy and sometimes a bit of a know-it-all, Ron was usually that one to start things, picking at her and doing insensitive things to get under her skin and whenever it looked like he was going to lose an argument, which was fairly regularly he'd try to turn everyone against her.

In all honesty, he was rather happy when they had broken up. Ron was a lot of things but mature wasn't one of them. Ron was his best friend, his brother, but Hermione was his sister and she deserved someone who could keep up with her. Someone who wasn't emasculated by her drive, her power and her intelligence. She was going to do amazing things in life and she needed someone who would support her unconditionally, not just when it benefited them as well.

"And nobody has it out for you Ron, she's just doing her job. You're not stupid, you had to have known that there were no cases off limits to the task force, eventually we would have settled on one of yours." Harry continued.

Ron sighed. "Yeah, I guess." he relented. "So, what's the case?" he asked.

"The Bronson Murder."

Ron huffed ruefully. "My first solo case as a Sergeant. Of course she'd want to cut her teeth on that one."

Harry sighed. "Ron, you know she has nothing to do with this right?"

"Of course she does, it's her task force."

"Yeah, in name only. She appointed someone else to run it to avoid a conflict of interest." Harry explained.

Ron looked surprised. "Than who's running it?"

Harry was quite proud of the fact that he did not flinch. He'd realized rather belatedly that he'd walked into something even worse. "Try to stay calm alright." He told him and Ron looked at him suspiciously.

"Harry, who did she appoint?"

"Draco Malfoy."

"The Ferret!" Ron exclaimed. "Are you kidding me? Why the bloody hell would she chose that slimy little cockroach?"

"Because he's qualified." Harry muttered under his breath. He sat up straight and looked over his shoulder out the window counting the number of bodies looking in on them curiously at Ron's outburst. "Look, you know Hermione, she doesn't do anything without a reason and her reasons are rarely revenge oriented. I have no doubt she appointed Malfoy for his qualifications and nothing more."

That seemed to settle Ron a bit and slumped down in his chair pouting only half as much as before. "Fine, I suppose you're right, but I still don't like it."

"Trust me, I don't like it either, I mean, this means he's my boss now." Harry cringed. "God, I never thought I'd be working for Malfoy of all people."

Ron snorted. "Still glad you took the job?" he teased half heartedly.

Harry thought on it a moment "Yeah, I think I am." He finally replied. "If there's even just one person going through what we went through than I need to be there to help them." he continued. Ron nodded. He could understand that.

Harry, hell the whole family had been distraught when Sirius was arrested and the sham of a trial he got only made things worse. Ron was certain that was why Hermione settled on criminal law in the end. Watching one of the men who had taken her in during the worst moments of her life be convicted of something she knew he was incapable of doing had certainly changed her perspective of the world.

"How's Sirius doing?" Ron asked his voice soft.

"The university gave Uncle Remus some time off so I think they were talking about going on a trip for a few weeks. Just the two of them."

"And still no word on who really killed Peter?"

Harry shook his head. "The investigators say the case is going cold. And Fudge still refuses to admit who paid him off to overlook all the evidence that would have exonerated Sirius." Harry sighed, ridding himself of the melancholy thoughts. "Anyway, if it makes you feel any better is was Malfoy's idea to warn you we were looking into the case. Said he figured we were going to burn a lot of bridges in the future and thought you'd appreciate knowing what's going on."

Ron was silent as he thought over what Harry had told him and soon enough Harry had to leave, biding his friend goodbye as he left.

xXx

"How did your first day go?" Hermione asked without looking up from the work spread out on her desk.

Draco sighed, taking a seat across from her desk. "Well, the victim's mother spit on me and the convict's mother hugged me so I'd say it's a bit of a mixed bag at this point." he explained, slumping down in the chair.

"Any progress so far?" she continued still not looking at him.

"Well, Zabini and Potter went up to Azkaban to talk to our suspect and the man who convicted him." he couldn't help but notice how she tensed at the name of the prison. Her adopted father had spent five years there, he had no idea how she could go anywhere near it when her duties called for it.

"And what did they have to say?"

"Mikal insists that the incriminating evidence they used against him is unrelated to the case. That it couldn't have been him in Callie's diary because she had no reason to fear him."

"Yes, well, we've both heard that before, from either side of the courtroom." Hermione replied finally looking up at him.

"Yes, but those cases weren't tried by a man who was caught taking bribes to overlook evidence." Draco replied watching her reaction carefully. Hermione sighed.

"Good point." she looked away. "What do you think about it?"

"I don't have nearly enough information to form an opinion, but from what Zabini and Potter tell me he has quite a temper. Potter got him all worked up while they were there just to see how much it would take to make him exploded. It didn't take much." Draco explained. "Also, he noticed acne scars on Whitehall's chest and he's seen that before with members of his fiance's league who were caught using steroids."

"So he's a recovering steroid user. That would explain the rage issue."

Draco nodded. "All the evidence says he did it."

"But?"

"But, there's something about this case that's not sitting well with me. I can't put my finger on it."

"Well, keep working at it. You have four more days."

xXx

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