Chapter Four

A/N: Thank you to NimbusCentaur and the youngest Gorgons for reviewing the last chapter.

As the final arrangements were made for the trial, Lucius could not concentrate, instead staring unseeingly at the door which would lead to the grate from Azkaban prison. In a few minutes, his poor, darling wife would be brought through those doors, and placed down in the same chair that he had been chained to two years ago, and there was nothing that he could do to save her from the horrors of a criminal trial.

'I should have fought them.' he told himself, repeating the words that had run through his mind every night since the battle, as he had lain awake in bed staring at the empty sheets beside him. 'If I had fought the Aurors, I might not have been able to save her, but at least she would have known that I was willing to fight for her. At least she'd have known for sure that I had not given up on her. At least she would have known that I care.'

Then the gavel came down on the wooden podium, in which sat the High Inquisitor of the trial, and Lucius knew all too well from experience what that meant. Immediately, his stomach became crippled with cramps of fear and sadness and dread for what was to come. But at the same moment, as Narcissa was brought through the door, the man found a slight smile coming to his face. At least he knew that she was alright.

A gasp from at his side reminded him that his son, their son, had not seen his mother since she had been taken away, and that the condition she was in had changed greatly since then. Her hair was unkempt and matted with dirt, the skirt of her dress was almost torn to shreds and that she was limping to an even greater extent now than she had been last time he had seen her, most likely due to her receiving no treatment for the injury in the prison. Lucius gritted his teeth against his bubbling rage. After all, if he was thrown out of the courtroom for misconduct, it would do no one any good, particularly not his wife or son. This was the only reason that he could stand to keep his silence.

It was only when she reached the seat in the centre of the room, sat before the High Inquisitor and the jury, that Narcissa finally looked up and met his eye. Their gaze was locked for only a moment, but in that short time, her husband saw the pain, the fear and the worry in the celestial blue of her eyes, and even when she looked away, he could see the intensity of the ordeal that she was going through. 'I only wish that I could make this all go away, that I could make this better for her.' he thought to himself, frustrated that his eyes were beginning to moisten before the trial had even begun. 'It is me that deserves all of this, not her.'

The hustle and bustle of the courtroom suddenly came to a halt, as the High Inquisitor got to his feet, a signal for all others in the room to do the same. Lucius almost had to haul his son to a standing position, as the boy was shaking to such an extent that he could not quite hold his own weight. This fact was not lost on Narcissa, and it acted only to intensify the worry in her expression. This was something that the Malfoy patriarch found incredible, that his wife could be on trial for her freedom, for her life, and that she still worried more for their son than for herself. 'It certainly puts my selfish behaviour in the courtroom two years ago to shame.' the man sighed internally.

After a minute and a few practiced words that never changed with time, the witnesses were seated, and the trial finally began.

"Are you Narcissa Cassiopeia Malfoy, born Narcissa Cassiopeia Black?" That was the first question, and was always the first, which Lucius knew from the sheer number of criminal trials he had witnessed over the years, both for professional and personal reasons. They knew precisely who she was, of course, and used this question for the sole purpose of testing that the Veritaserum used in all serious criminal trials was working.

"I am." she answered, as was expected, and the blonde man suspected that he was the only one to hear the pain and fear so well concealed in her tone. A quick glance to the son at his side disconfirmed this theory, as it seemed that Draco too could sense his mother's suffering, even as she tried to hide it from him.

"Mother to Draco and wife to Lucius?" the High Inquisitor pushed, and for just a moment, at the mention of her family, Narcissa faltered, and tears began to flood her eyes. However, she bit them back soon enough, casting a pained glance up to the raised area where her son and husband were seated, before returning her gaze to the tiles on the floor and repeating her previous answer.

With the Veritaserum know confirmed to be working, the man began to get on to the topic of the trial itself. The mention of Bellatrix, even before she had died, had always been a delicate subject to broach, particularly during the time that she was incarcerated in Azkaban, and Lucius willed his wife to remain strong, to persevere through the pain of the loss that had affected her so and prove to the jury that she did not kill her sister with malicious intent, but only to protect her darling son.

"Mrs. Malfoy, you have been brought here today to answer for the murder of Bellatrix Lestrange, your sister." the Inquisitor informed her, acting as though she did not know what she had done, as if it had not haunted every sleeping hour spent in Azkaban, and every waking one as well. "On the morning of May 2nd, you entered the Great Hall to see Mrs. Lestrange stood there, doing no harm to you whatsoever. You then approached her and confronted her about something she had done many years earlier, revealing what was clearly a very personal secret to the entirety of the Hall. Then when she began to speak back, you became violent, bringing your own personal life in the situation and blaming Mrs. Lestrange for the terrible losses you suffered, regarding your own children. Eventually, Mrs. Lestrange took a step forward, her wand raised, and began to speak quietly. It was then that you cast the Avada Kedavra curse, and murdered your own sister. This is what happened on that day, according to our reliable source. Do you have anything to say to contradict this statement?"

For a little while, Narcissa remained utterly silent, clearly left in shock from the blunt way the events had been listed for her. Once again, Lucius willed her to be strong, to fight back against what she had done, as although they had almost perfectly portrayed the events, they had not given any thought to her reasoning. It was not until the man opened his mouth to speak again that she gathered the courage to speak out.

"I do have something to say." she told the jury, and the slight whispers that had begun during the Inquisitor's statement quietened once again to a silence. "That is almost what happened, but it is not the whole story. I didn't kill my sister for no reason, I acted in defence of my son, who she was trying to kill at that very moment. When she 'began to speak quietly', she was trying to cast the Avada Kedavra curse on Draco. I am a mother, I didn't think of anything else. All I thought of was my son, and making sure he was alive and well. That's still all I think of now. And Bellatrix had not been perfect either. She caused me severe injuries in the garden of my own home, injuries which my husband can tell you could have been fatal. So, yes, I killed Bellatrix... but not because I wanted her dead. I didn't want her dead then, and I still don't today. I just wanted my little boy to be safe."

When Narcissa's own lengthy speech had come to an end, Lucius glanced around the room, seeing that quite a few of the jurors had tears in their eyes. He hoped that that would be a good sign in the long run, and that it could help to bring the verdict to their favour.

No witnesses had been willing to come forward, so now was the moment of reckoning. The voices of the legal representatives in the room all faded into one blend of noise, as all that Malfoy Sr. could concentrate on was his darling wife. He vaguely heard the all important questions being asked, and heard the scribbling of quills on parchment.

And then the High Inquisitor waved his wand, calling the papers to him, and Lucius could no longer bear to look. His stomach was twisting and turning in fright, and Draco next to him looked as if he were about to faint from worry. Suddenly remembering that he had a son to care for as well, the elder of the two grasped the younger's hand in his own. For a moment, his heir seemed shocked by this contact, but he quickly got over this shock and held his father's hand just as tightly in return. For a second between them, everything was alright, because they could be strong if they had each other.

But a deathly silence followed that second, and the two men turned to see that one pile of papers was higher than the other. One pile was pure white, representing peace and a clean slate. This was the pile that represented a ruling of 'Not Guilty'. But the other pile, the higher pile, was coloured a deep scarlet, representing the blood that had been and would yet be shed. Draco gave out a strangled cry, and Lucius now knew the terrible fate that awaited his wife.

She had been found guilty of murder, and there was only one sentence they could pass.

A/N: Oh my gosh! I will try and have the next chapter up quite soon, so don't fret. Please review!