"Move aside boy."
"She is asleep. You'll disturb her."
"She is my blood and my responsibility, now move."
"Doing a fine job at it….."
"Excuse me?"
"Since when did you care about her well being?"
"This is not your business to meddle in."
"But this is my house and I decide what goes on here." There was a maniacal chuckle from behind the closed door.
My eyelids felt extremely heavy as I moved slightly between the sheets. My limbs were stiff from the night's rest, like winter had sprung upon my bones early. I only wished I felt the chill of the thought but sweat covered my brow creating an oily pallet of skin beneath the wet layer. I did everything I could to block the sounds that escalated on the other side of the thin slab that kept me from the chaos that ensued.
"Don't make me laugh! You put up a strong front but you are all show just like your father."
"I am nothing like my father. I am no coward." The crazed laugh was heard again.
"Is that why the Dark Lord is eagerly looking forward to having a new spy within the castle to keep an eye on Potter? You had your glory and you failed. Now move aside before I regret my next move. And put that ridiculous wand away." A growl was heard before the door was opened forcefully allowing both parties to stumble on top of each other into the room. I grumbled and pulled the covers over my head.
"Lyra? Lyra! You're awake!" The blonde headed boy sprang to and found it the best choice to climb up onto my bed to check my status. I eyeballed him with a dead expression.
"Yea...no thanks to you two," I grumbled. The grin that flashed a pair of white pearly teeth soon sank into a scowl, quickly shooting it towards Amycus.
"Bloody hell. And what happened to you?" I wiped the sweat off my forehead and turned my head towards my uncle with a stiff ache.
"EERRGGH! Get OUT!" Draco yelled; his rage shattered a glass frame on the bookshelf next to Amycus. The rigid man slowly glanced at the broken glass on the floor before returning his dark gaze upon us. His eye twitched ever so slightly as he let go of a deep breath he had been holding for what seemed like eternity.
"Fine but we are not done here. He'll be requesting your presence soon. Get up and…. fix whatever's going on with you." With that he made his way towards the door, slamming it on his way out.
Thank you Merlin. My head was pounding from the tension that presented itself without invitation. I just needed quiet….and water.
"When did you wake? Wait...did you hear all of that?" I gave Draco an irritated expression. Why couldn't he just let me be? To me it was all words that prevented the quiet my head needed.
"Why, why are you all even in here? What time is it?" The approaching darkness lead me to believe it was around maybe five or six in the evening. But I honestly couldn't even remember when I fell asleep.
"Lyra, you've been asleep for days. We were beginning to worry about you."
What?
"Excuse me? Days? Wha...what the hell happened?' I stretched into the back of my brain to seek for the remnants of the days prior. The clouded sleep took some time to disperse but images of Snape and Draco slowly emerged to clear vision.
I turned to Draco for answers. "Why was Snape here?" The blonde's expression changed at the mention of the professor's name. It only took me a moment to realize. My hand flew to my neck, grazing the tender skin that had once felt the gentle sting from Snape's cold hands. I could only imagine the surely blackened area.
"Father called him. He dropped something off for you a few hours ago." Draco motioned towards the dresser on which a glass bottle bore a creamy green substance. I grimaced at the potion immediately tasting the horrid liquid on my tongue. My eyes darted for something, anything else, to mask the imaginary sour taste before bile replaced it. Finally spotting a glass resting beside me on the nightstand, I grabbed it and forcefully shoved it into Draco's hands. He took the hint, thankfully, and tipped his wand to the cup, filling the empty glass with water. I chugged it greedily before shoving it back in his grasp for more.
"Making a note to have a bucket of water on stand by for that eh?" He laughed at my desperation and motioned towards the dresser.
"You don't think I'm going to take that, do you?" My mind was flooding back with visualizations and feelings of my last waking moments. "Especially after what happened last time. I'm not putting myself through that again."
"Apparently that potion is diluted. Mother's vial was made from pure Wolfsbane oil." He became quiet for a moment, looking down at his hands. "He said it may have contained a leaf from the plant, gauging your reaction to it."
"You mean to tell me your mother tried to poison me?!" Wolfsbane, otherwise known as Aconitum, was well known to be in the family of poisonous plants that Professor Sprout kept in a locked area of the greenhouse. Just the slightest of hand while making the potion could render deadly. I glared towards Draco as he sat there baffled.
"No, Lyra. She was trying to help you. She didn't know."
"And how do I not know that that vial over there isn't poisoned too? Snape murdered Albus Dumbledore Draco!" I sat fuming for a few moments watching him as he battled his thoughts on the matter, remaining silent.
"What, you trust him now?" Hot air flew from my nostrils.
"No but my parents do and I respect their loyalties. And you're alive, arn't you?"
I scoffed. "Draco, your family isn't the best ones to rely on for decisions."
His icy eyes narrowed. "And yours is better? You uncle is making arrangements on your behalf with Voldemort behind your back. Tell me how that earns respect?"
The answer was that it didn't. This morning was the first time the idea had roared it's ugly head in my direction.
"Tell me what you know." I demanded.
Draco sat cross legged on the bed. I could see the tension in his form as we both thought about what this meant for us. He was hesitant but finally proceeded.
"You will be an informant for Voldemort within the castle when you go back in the fall. Amycus has talked highly of you and your bond with Potter and his troupe of clowns. Disgusting really." I shifted uncomfortably at the idea of my uncle playing both sides. Both plans had flaws and neither really resulted in my well being. If he truly was on Harry's side, then going back to the castle would mean I would have to feed Voldemort false information on the DA's behalf. That would be extremely risky. Voldemort was no fool. Or this could all be a ploy, playing me to lead Voldemort directly to Harry, which would also result in demise. Either way….
"Wait, you said when I returned." Draco took a deep breath in and sighed.
"I probably won't be going back to Hogwarts next year Lyra." The words slapped me directly in the chest. The ventured assumption of his absence was something that I hoped he would prove wrong.
"I can't do that alone Draco. You know that!" The fire that had filled my chest began to switch to fearful anxiety. I searched his grey eyes for truth.
"You're the only one here that Potter will trust. Plus, I overheard my father talking to Yaxley this morning," he shook his head, ruffling the emotions that surrounded us. "I'm lucky the high council is even considering my innocence. Going back to school would be considered a luxury."
"That's ridiculous." Draco wasn't necessarily cleared of his conviction in my mind but he wasn't a murderer and the thought of him in Azkaban was mind boggling.
"So, you're not going to fight it?"
"And risk my neck in a cell? I'll take house arrest thanks."
I sighed. "C'mon Draco. Surely there is some law that makes it illegal to keep you from your own education." Draco's eyes focused on the broken glass that lay on the floor next to the door.
"I've searched and I haven't been able to find anything. Besides, I'm seventeen. The ministry can't keep tabs on me any longer. The trace is gone and I'll be tried as an adult."
"Then an even better reason why you should have an eye kept on you at school in a well monitored place." Draco's eyebrows raised in suspicion. "Clearly you need my assistance. You forget I grew up around people whose job it was to take down law breaking citizens."
"You're going to help me with my trial?"
I stopped to think what I was really about to do. I knew I couldn't make any promises when it came to pleading his case but if I could at least prolong his sentencing, maybe we could both win. It was worth a shot.
"Robbing someone of their education shouldn't even be lawful. Besides, I'm going to need your help."
"And you're feeling up to this now? My trial is tomorrow." His question was sincere and there was a wavering in his voice. A shortened fear overcame me instantly. We didn't have much time but, luckily for him, pressure only strengthens my motivation.
I nodded. "You've bloody lost it for not asking me sooner you know."
He chuckled and flashed a playful smile. "Maybe so, but only because of you. I'll go grab some books that I've already started reading." A smirk crept over my face as he got up and headed towards the door; holding my blush as he went.
For the next few hours, Draco and I sat boarded up in the bedroom going over all of the text he had found on ancient law and Ministry ruling. What he pulled was not sparse but it wasn't quite hitting at what we were looking for; a loophole to get him back in the safety of the school.
Finally around midnight he closed the last book, frustrated. The blonde sat for a moment with his fingers rubbing his temples.
"Lyra, this is pointless. We're not going to find anything and we're definitely not going to outsmart the Wizengamot." He sighed and collapsed on the bed in front of me.
"Really? You're going to give up that easily?" I shook my head. After about two moments, Draco gave a small chuckle.
"You're mental." He turned to me with an amused expression on his face. "How can you do this?" I paused momentarily, slightly baffled at the comment before turning back to the book in my hand.
"This is nothing Draco," I smiled lightly to myself.
"Well, while your brain is running at top speed, this one needs a break."
I shifted in the bed, somewhat restless. My energy had risen throughout the past few hours and I started to feel stagnant. We needed to get somewhere. "We have to go downstairs. We're not done yet."
Draco yawned, clearly not thrilled about the idea there was more to be done. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. "We're stopping by the kitchens on the way."
"Is that a demand?"
He smirked, "Yes." Taking my hand, Draco drug me out of the warm comfort of the bed and into the cold stillness of the hallway.
After three refills of tea, a bit of roasted tomato soup and a piece of chocolate cake (per Draco's request) we finally began our second shot at the revamping of Draco's sentencing. I quickly gave him the job of searching for certain texts amongst his varied bookshelves while I scoured the knowledge that they held. It was the best policy, seeing that Draco knew his collection better than anyone but it was also a relief to me and allowed me time to tunnel in on a book without continual stops. The flow worked nicely, that was until Draco starting taking longer and longer time between trips. I was soon faced with a thought and no book to prove it.
It took only moments for me to find Draco propped up against a bookcase, snoring slightly, the book I requested resting in his hands. I couldn't help but smile as I grabbed the piece from him, instantly rattling his temperamental slumber. He mumbled something incomprehensible and rubbed his eyes of exhaustion before stumbling after me towards the glow of the fire. It didn't take long for me to find exactly what I was looking for.
"I've got it. I've got it! Look here!" I jumped up, pulling the zombie-like boy closer to me on the couch and covered his lap with the book.
"You can plea a Minor's case."
Draco sighed. "Lyra, we've been over this already. I turned seventeen the day before his death. I wasn't a minor."
"But that's not all a minor is considered Draco. That's only what they tell you. I thought I had heard my mother talking about it once during a conviction in the States." Draco looked at me questioningly but I caught him before he spoke.
"It applies here too."
He looked down at the page and studied the words that could set him free.
A Minor's Case could be considered for a persons accused of a legal wrongdoing within a certain age range (seventeen). This means that until a minor reaches the legal age of adulthood, he or she may not be responsible for his/her own actions for damages for negligence or intentional wrongs without a parent being liable, nor for punishment as an adult for a crime. If an investigation were to prolong its need between the conviction and the person's seventeenth birthday, they would await a retrial and be tried again under new age appropriate circumstances. This also applies to a wizard or witches education or in an event of a family state emergency deemed by the court.
"So this means…" Draco faced me with white eyes.
"You could plea as a minor and be retried after you finish school at Hogwarts."
He thought for a moment, contemplating the ends of the outcome before rereading the snippet again.
"That means that I'll still have trial next year though."
"Draco, there's a LOT you can do in a year. What if they decide to appoint you Mercy for good deeds?"
My brain stopped me at my last words. Good deeds Lyra? Like anyone will believe that. I swished the thought out of my head trying to counterbalance it with the idea that people could change. The thought was a stretch but it wasn't impossible.
The boy lazily raised his eyebrows and looked at me with a dazed expression. "You're right," he replied sleepily, as if surrendering his white flag of forfeit. He planted a kiss on the top of my head before leaning back towards the arm of the couch, taking me with him. His willingness to succumb to sleep slightly infuriated me (how could one rest with this much on the line?) but that was soon diminished when he wrapped his arms around my body and pulled me closer to him.
His breathing slowed to a dull droll as I took the warmth and melted into it, listening to his heart beat steadily. There was no chance in keeping him awake, especially when he had been fighting sleep all night and I had to admit, I wasn't close behind. But still, the moments that were left felt few and far between. This was it. I thought. This may be the last moment I ever saw this sarcastic and narcissistic arsehole. As he rapidly started to drift into a deep slumber, I tried to memorize every curve of his face, feeling a tightening hold upon my heart as I looked. My emotions started to take over at the realization that flooded my brain. This couldn't be happening right now. Draco Malfoy, a soon to be convicted criminal, lay before me, sound asleep, while I sat worrying and blubbering over him. I wiped my nose and buried my head into his shirt. His grip tightened around my arm at my movement.
If only I could have one more day. But would that really change anything Lyra? We had spent hours searching for the hidden treasure to redeem Malfoy from his fate and I had proven to fail. Even the lingering thought of the Minor's Case was probably useless. But then again, Draco didn't seem to care too much. He hid his worry very well, although several times throughout the evening he had to close his eyes and recollect himself. To anyone, it would seem normal, but to me, I could see the tension strangling his logic. The moment didn't settle in until this final search, when we really could account for nothing in our work. And now the thought of him leaving or not even returning to school left me feeling helpless and empty.
"Draco?" I clung tighter to his clothing, taking deep breaths in, the tears awaiting their release. He hummed a response, surely only half aware of my state. The reality of it all was that, through countless error, I knew there was still hope for him, but with the guidance of certain influences, he wouldn't be able to make the choice without being burdened and beaten by the one's he trusted. Sighing slightly, I looked back at his peaceful face, his blonde hairs falling over his closed eyelids. The blockage that held the dam prior was now cracking beneath the pressure.
"I can't let you go," I finally whispered into him. A tear slid down my cheek, brushing his shirt lightly. At the touch, he gave a guttural growl and moved in around my body, molding me into his cavity. I let him, embracing what could be our last moments together.