Chapter 10: The Trial
As much as Harry disliked Grimmauld Place, having someone to share it with made it surprisingly livable. It wasn't long before Draco made him give the grand tour, explaining why there were planks set up in the fashion of hunting trophies, or why there was a sizable trophy case set up with next to nothing in it. It was during the grand tour that Draco tore the curtain away in the staircase while Harry had been in the kitchen. Immediately, Mrs. Black started to cry about mudbloods and scum. While he rushed to go take care of it, he was half way to the stairs when he noticed that the yelling had stopped. He found Draco sitting cross-legged on the stairs, actually having a conversation with the nasty Black. Apparently, finding out that Draco was Narcissa's pureblood son was enough for Mrs. Black to accept him being inside her house without swearing up a storm.
The two boys found a comfortable routine in their improvised home, but the threat of the trial, and the ever present lack of wolfsbane still kept them on their toes. Draco always got top marks in potions while in Hogwarts, but there was always the problem of trying to get the ingredients without someone asking questions about it later. Sending Potter into Diagon Alley to try and get them was out of the question. All the owls that came for him every day were bad enough without the Golden Boy buying a potion for a werewolf. He always snorted when he thought about the Daily Prophet headlines for that one: Savior of the Wizarding World Now a Dangerous Beast.
Finally, after what seemed like a month, the day of the Wizengamot trial fell upon them. Draco's nerves had been on edge all week, and this day was particularly atrocious. His whole hand shook, and his mind was elsewhere, when he managed to slice especially deep into himself. He cursed and had applied a rag to it when he heard Potter shout his name from down the steps. He yelled a hurried acknowledgment in return and quickly got dressed, just in case Potter decided that he hasn't moving fast enough and decided to throw proper etiquette out the second floor window. He had found a nice outfit from the closet that fit him well enough and decided that it would have to do for his trial. He might not be who he once was, but he was still a Malfoy, more or less, and he would be damn sure he still looked the part.
Draco turned the corner of the hall to face the staircase and was surprised to find Harry Potter ready and waiting at the bottom, dressed in his own formal wear.
"What are you doing, Potter?"
"You really think that, after dragging you from the wreckage of the war, I would let you face this on your own?"
"This isn't war, Potter."
"Really? Because I truly don't see a difference." He cocked his head to the side, causing his unruly hair to flop to the side and his glasses to slide a bit.
Draco rolled his eyes and walked down the steps, muttering a quick hello to Mrs. Black, and stopped a few steps from the bottom.
"Are you going to move, Potter?"
"Not until you accept me going with you." That stupid grin graced Potter's features.
The blonde shook his head and tried shoving his way through. As he passed the Gryffindor, the stubborn man swung around and grabbed Draco around the middle, pulling him in tightly, and held him there.
"Potter!" Draco tried to move around so his back wasn't pressed against the other man, but the hold was too tight.
"Resistance is futile. Just agree that I can come and I'll let you go."
"Potter, let me go!" Draco half yelled, half laughed.
"I'm not letting go until you agree. Simple as that."
"You insufferable little prat!" Draco finally succeeded in half turning in Harry's arms. "Fine!"
"Fine?" Potter questioned.
"Fine, you can come with me. You and your hero complex."
The arms slid from around Draco's stomach and the body moved back. "See? Was that so difficult?"
"With you? Always."
Over half the Ministry was still under construction, cleaning up from the war. There was a team of wizards moving the Magic is Might statue and replacing it with a new Ministry of Magic one. The gray eyes scanned the new statue and could have put Galleons on betting that the new wizard standing in the statue was based off the Boy Who Lived, only dressed in robes. Behind the main wizard was standing an army lined up behind him, the figures growing smaller as they were further away from the wizard. All the witches and wizards had their wands pointed upward and, as before, a stream of water from flowing from each wand tip. Draco eyed the wands mournfully; he missed being able to use his wand. The extend of the magic he allowed himself to do was a simple arm wave and a silent spell that either put book away or unrolled a rug. It just wasn't safe for him to still have his wand, he and Potter had agreed, because the Ministry could take it from him, or claim that he was dangerous with it.
"Hey, Malfoy? Are you coming? Don't want to be late to your own party," Potter called to him.
They headed for the lifts and hit the button for the second level, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Draco couldn't stand still, he kept shifting legs and tapping his fingers on his arms. The lift pulled back and upward and they were on their way. They were the only ones in the lift, which is something that Draco was grateful for.
"Potter?"
"Hm?"
"What if I go to Azkaban?"
Potter turned to face Draco, his face set. "You won't."
"But I could. It's me against the Weasley." He was slightly worried that the fear shone in his eyes, and cursed himself silently for it.
"No, it's not. It's you, only you. You didn't do anything you wanted to. You saved my life in Malfoy Manor. You didn't hurt anyone during the final battle. You survived, and they can't punish you for that no more than they could punish me for anyone that I hurt in the final battle to survive." The intensiveness of Potter's gaze had the blonde nearly believing that there wasn't a doubt that he was innocent.
The lift bell announced that they had reached the Law Enforcement office. Without a word, Draco walked out of the lift first and headed along the corridor that held the trial room. He stopped in front of the sizable door, took a heavy breath, and strode in with his head held high.
Harry followed the pale man into the trial room. He couldn't help but have a tiny smile and shake his head at the way he held himself high, even in the face of the Wizengamot. He stopped tailing Draco as the blonde stepped into the large circle and sat in the solitary chair in the center. He noticed that half the seats were vacant, no doubt from either deaths in the war or Death Eaters that were formerly on the bench. He didn't recognize most of the witches and wizards seated around in their plum robes, staring down at Draco like he was some animal on exhibit, but he did recognize one face, leading the trial, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Then he caught sight of a flash of flame. He turned his head and saw Ron and Ginny seated in the audience section of the room. He felt anger rising up inside him like the beasts of flame did in the Room of Requirement. Not only had Ron caused this whole fiasco, but he was sitting there, watching Draco with a sickening smirk across his face.
"Alright, let's attempt to keep this trial brief and uncomplicated, shall we?" Shacklebolt's voice reverberated around the room, demanding silence from the soft murmurs of conversation being held. "Draco Lucius Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, you are being charged for crimes against humanity during the Second Wizarding War. What is your plea?"
"Not guilty." Draco sounded much more confident than Harry knew him to be. "My life was threatened for the past two years and acted only in response to that threat."
"And why could you not have sought help instead of acting upon dark commands?"
"In the time of war, one couldn't know who was a Death Eater or not. The Ministry itself knows this all too well, one should think." Harry rolled his eyes at the obvious defiance in Draco's voice; no matter what pureblood prejudices say, he was a Malfoy through and through.
"Indeed, indeed. Would anyone like to stand on behalf of Draco Malfoy, to verify his claim?" Shacklebolt announced into the room.
Silence followed for a second before Harry stepped forward. "Witness for the defense, Harry James Potter." The quite murmurs erupted across the room once more.
"That's not right!" Harry turned and saw Ron standing up, face as red as his hair. "He's biased! He can't know if that's the truth; he was with me and Hermione traveling at the time of the crimes!"
Harry smirked. "How biased is it, then, to have you press the charges against Draco Malfoy if you couldn't have known the causes of the crimes, since you were, as you stated, with me the entire time? Even having you in this court room is unjust."
If possible, Ron turned an even darker shade of red and sat down beside Ginny once more, obviously swearing under his breath. Harry turned back toward the Wizengamot, eyes meeting with Shacklebolt.
"What Draco says is the truth. He was tormented in our sixth year, knowing what was asked of him. I saw it every day; the obvious lack of eating, sleep deprived, and his stress levels at their peak. And then, at the end of the year, after the Astronomy Tower incident, he fled from the grounds, followed by Death Eaters. He had no choice but to join them, or risk being called a traitor, especially after he couldn't commit the murder." The murmurs around the room grew louder, but Harry noticed that Draco remained silent and faced forward, head still held high. "And then, just this past year, when I was captured by the Snatchers and brought to Malfoy Manor, Bellatrix Lestrange had to verify who I was before calling Voldemort." At the sound of the name, he noticed quite a few people still flinched, including Draco himself. "He knew it was me, but he refused to name me outright and because of that, I managed to leave that Manor alive."
Shacklebolt asked, "And you are sure of this, Mr. Potter?"
"As sure as I am of anything. I have known him for over seven years, sir, and I know his facial expressions, how he acts, and why he does so. I put my name down, for what it is worth, of Draco's innocence and ask that you see it as well."
"Very well, Mr. Potter, we shall take your comments into consideration."
"One more thing, sir. I want to bring to your attention, while I was in the Forbidden Forest, that Mrs. Malfoy had the perfect opportunity to turn me over, once she realized that I was not dead, but she didn't. Twice in just the past few months my life was saved by a Malfoy; if they were truly Death Eaters, they wouldn't have even considered doing that."
"Very well. All in favor of conviction," Shacklebolt requested. There were a few whispers between the members, but not a single hand was raised into the air.
"And all in favor of dropping all charges brought forth?" This time every arm was raised, including Shacklebolt's.
"Alright then, Draco Malfoy, you have been cleared of all charges; you are free to leave young man."
Draco stood, did a half bow, and straightened up. Harry saw him turn and noticed the small glimpse of tears held in the eyes that sought him; they held so much more than tears though: thankfulness, hope, appreciation, and something Harry couldn't identify. He was mouthed a thank you, to which he nodded in response. It was then that he heard the loud swearing of Ron behind him. He turned in time to see the red haired man storm out of the room, turning at the door and shooting daggers at Draco, and possibly himself as well, before leaving.
The room was clearing out quickly while Draco and Harry waited for the assemblage to depart so they could leave separately from everyone else.
"Harry?" a soft and familiar voice called out to him. He turned and saw Ginny standing by the door way, smiling at him from a distance.
Harry couldn't help but smile as he saw Ginny. She was as lovely as ever, but something kept nagging at him, and wouldn't let him go: why was she with Dean? Why hasn't she contacted him in the past two and a half weeks? Why was she at the trial with Ron?
"I'll be right back, Malfoy." He could feel the gray eyes watching him as he stepped away and approached Ginny.
"Hello there, Ginny." He tried a true smile, but he couldn't quite make it.
A week had passed from the trial, and Harry noticed that Draco seemed much more cheerful at first. He kept himself busy with reading, or practicing his potions; even the night after the trial, he baked about three cakes. When Harry asked why, the blonde explained that he made them just because he could. The past day, though, Harry noticed that something seemed to be bothering the other man.
Harry got back from the Ministry and entered Grimmauld Place happily. He threw his jumper over the back of the couch and yelled out for Draco before entering the kitchen. His happy mood fell when he saw the pale man sitting in one of the dining room chairs, poking at a piece of cake with his fork.
"Malfoy! I just got back from the Ministry; they just offered me a position as an Auror in training!" Harry sat next to the blonde. When he didn't get a reply, he lowered his head and tried to peek through the white-blond stands of hair that kept Draco's face hidden. "Hello, Malfoy? Did you hear me? An Auror!"
"That's...that's fantastic, Potter, really." Harry could hardly hear the response he had gotten and his mood went flying out of the room as silently and quickly as an owl.
"What's wrong, Malfoy?" When he got no answer he tried again. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, to try and coax an answer.
Draco sighed and pushed his plate of cake away. He brought his head up to face Harry. "I have finally put my pride aside, I contacted every apothecary shop in the area, and not one of them is currently stocking wolfsbane. The full moon is only a few days away, what am I going to do?" Harry's heart broke at the sound of hopelessness in his voice, and there was no flare in the gray eyes. He knew that Draco hated the change; he got a picture of it that first night, in the Room of Requirement. Harry remembered Remus, how beaten down he always looked, and the altered life he had to live all because of the stupid infection, and started to wonder if Draco would look the same way in a year's time.
"Remus...Wait! Remus!" Harry practicality shouted.
Draco's head shot up and he looked at Harry like he had gone insane.
"What about him?"
"He was a werewolf! He took wolfsbane everywhere he went! I'll be back, I have to visit Andromeda Tonks!" Harry barely heard Draco's confused question about his aunt because he had started to apparate on the spot. The room twisted and spun and for the first time, Harry was excited about apparating. He landed on his feet outside of the protective barrier of the Tonks house and he rushed forward and quickly knocked on the wooden door. It creaked open a few inches and the woman looking strikingly like Bellatrix peaked through the gap.
"Andromeda Tonks, it's been too long," Harry said cheerfully.
The woman grunted and opened the door fully, holding onto a little bundle with bright blue hair. "Hello there, Harry Potter. Glad to see you made it out alive. How can I help you?"
"Can I come inside and look at Remus's things a bit? I am looking for something that I need that he had." Harry didn't enjoy altering the truth, but he also had to protect Draco's secret best he could.
"Certainly, Mr. Potter. Come inside."
Harry quickly thanked her before entering the home and, wanting to waste no time, headed for Remus and Tonks's old room and started going through everything he could think of that would hold a potion. He was at this task for a good fifteen minutes before he was startled by Andromeda's voice.
"Aren't you a wizard, boy?"
Harry gave her a funny look before he realized what she meant. He pulled out his wand and muttered sheepishly, "Accio potion." A medium sized case came flying toward him from under the bed and Harry caught it effortlessly. He unlatched the top and opened the container, seeing rows of small potion vials sitting peacefully side by side. He picked up one of them, held it up to the light, rotated the vial, and a huge smile spread over his face as he was clearly able to read the label, Wolfsbane Potion.
And that is that! Chapter 10 has ended. Let me know what you think, I love your input.