Author's Note - Sorry for the small delay again, was writing a wonderful paper yesterday on the military ethics of shooting and bayoneting officers in the American Revolution. Yes - I am one of those history nerds.
Thanks to my wonderful reviewers for last chapter - Pug1998, Robyn Hawkes, and wintersong1954
Now here is the next chapter for you. It does not follow what I predicted would be in this chapter, but a plot bunny caught me and took off. Enjoy!
The sound of rain on the windows always warmed Hermione's heart. It was so full of peace and serenity, she could listen to it for hours. It took a little while, but Hermione started to realize that she was in a bed. As she opened her eyes, she had to shut them immediately with how bright the room was. It was full of white linins, and the smell was one of sanitary serum. She was in a hospital, Hermione finally realized. Slowly opening her eyes again, she groaned as her head started to pound. She heard shuffling feet, and figured a nurse was coming over to her. She was correct.
"Good, you're awake, Miss Granger."
"Where am I?"
"The Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, surely you remember your old nurse Madame Pomfrey?" Hermione did indeed recognize the voice, particularly when she was reminded of where she was.
"What happened to me?"
"That is what I would like to know. You were found out in the grounds passed out several days ago. You were malnourished, dehydrated, and overall very dirty. It looked like your magical levels were severely depleted, but that would be expected with how run down you were. I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but we were unable to find your wand near you."
"I lost it; I left it at the castle."
"What castle, dear?"
"You haven't heard?" Hermione proceeded to give a short recounting of the events leading up to her arriving at Hogwarts. Madame Pomfrey teared up at several spots.
"Oh dear, no one had reported you missing until after you were already found at Hogwarts." This made sense, she had been kidnapped by Madeline on a Friday. No one would have noticed her missing until at least Monday.
"What is today?"
"Thursday, you have been out for almost four days. I had expected you to wake up sometime yesterday."
"Does my son know I'm here?"
"No. I didn't want him to worry about you until you were in the clear. According to the scans I'm getting from you, you should be fine in a couple days as long as you eat well, drink plenty of water, and rest. I can't stress that last part enough."
"I will, Madame Pomfrey. I promise."
"Good. Now, let me go get the Headmistress, she has been very curious as to what happened to you, and in light of the events, she needs to be told." Hermione started to worry. She had killed a woman…sure, it was in self-defense, but how much did that play into cases like this in the wizarding world? Hermione laid her head back again and started to doze off. After about thirty minutes, Minerva McGonagall walked into the Hospital Wing.
"Miss Granger, I must say it was a surprise when you were found out on the grounds. Mind telling me what happened?"
"I'm doing well, thanks for asking." The sarcastic tone was not lost on the Headmistress, and she narrowed her eyes at Hermione. "Friday evening I got home from work to find the word 'mudblood' scrawled across my door. After searching my flat, I found that Madeline Malfoy was in my bedroom. She taunted me, said I was trying to steal her husband, and then attacked me. I tried to block her stunner, but I was too slow. Next thing I knew, I woke up in a cellar. I didn't have my wand on me. After several hours at least, I had no clue what time it was, Madeline came downstairs. She had clearly lost her mind, was threatening to kill me. She ranted about how she had tried so hard to get Draco to love her, and he didn't, and she knew about me and my son, and she wanted me dead. I reminded her that if she killed me, Draco would never forgive her. I was trying to get her to let me go, but it didn't work. Then she came up with the crazy plan that I would write a suicide note, then shoot myself dead with a muggle pistol. She gave me two hours, under threat that if I did not kill myself, she would kill my son. I worked out a plan to fire the weapon to make her think I had killed myself, have her come downstairs, and then shoot her and escape. I couldn't find my wand, so I apparated here. That's the last thing I remember." McGonagall sat down on the bed next to her and sighed. Then, she took her wand and waved it at Hermione, muttering a spell which Hermione had never heard before. Suddenly, Hermione felt constricted to the bed, and she couldn't move her arms or legs.
"What's happening? What did you do to me?"
"I am sorry, dear, but you killed someone and now I need to go call the aurors and tell them about your confession."
"Confession? It was self-defense! I had no choice!"
"Can you prove that?"
"Look at my memories, you will see!"
"I'll let the courts decide. Now, as I assume that Draco Malfoy is Doran's father, I will contact him about the situation and he will have temporary custody of Doran pending your hearing."
"What?"
"Miss Granger, I suggest that you quiet down and wait for the aurors to come collect you." Hermione sat there dumbfounded as the Headmistress left to presumably call the aurors. She couldn't believe what was happening, it was insanity. Hermione could not fall asleep after what the Headmistress said, and sure enough, within twenty minutes aurors were at the Hospital Wing to arrest her.
"Hermione Jean Granger, you are hereby charged in the murder of Madeline Anne Malfoy, by use of a muggle gun, and you are now placed under arrest and will remain in custody until your trial."
"Don't I have any rights? It was self-defense!"
"Save it for your trial. If you wish to hire a lawyer, you may do so. You get one owl to one person, no more than six inches of parchment, which must be read by an auror before it will be sent."
"But-"
"Ma'am, I suggest that you don't say anything else until you are required to. Now, please stand up and put your hands behind your back, and turn over your wand."
"I don't have my wand, it was stolen from me when I was kidnapped."
"Okay, ma'am. The charm holding you down has been released, please follow our instructions and stand up with your hands behind your back." Hermione shut her mouth and did as she was told. They magically bound her hand together, patted her down to ensure she had no wand or weapons on her, and were walking her over to the floo in the infirmary. Hermione looked to the door just in time to see her son walking in with his hand holding his arm up, it looked swollen and had an ugly purple color to it. Doran dropped his arm and started running towards his mum screaming.
"Mum! Mummy! Where are they taking you? What's going on?"
"Doran-"
"Ma'am, you are not allowed to speak to anyone but aurors. Son, you will need to leave now. Go to your headmistress once your arm is healed and she will tell you what is going on." Doran kept screaming "Mum! Mummy!" as Hermione was ducked into the floo and disappeared. Her heart was breaking at the sight of her little boy crying and screaming for her, and she was worried about his arm.
Hermione was taken to a holding cell at Azkaban where she was processed through into the system and given a short piece of parchment, and old quill, and some ink. Luckily, her handwriting was quite tiny after years of practice in cramming as much information as she could into her essays at school. She didn't know who to write to though. Draco would be one option, but with her being charged with killing his wife, she didn't know how that would go over. She and Luna were still to recent in their newfound friendship, and there was still a little bit of tension in the air there, although not much, but too much to risk her one owl on. She tried to think, but all she could picture was her son's crying face. Finally, she realized the only person she trusted enough with helping her out. Severus Snape.
Professor Snape,
I am sure you have heard by now of my arrest. I need your help. I was kidnapped on Friday evening after work by Madeline Malfoy, I woke up in a strange cellar. I don't have the space to write everything that happened, but rest assured, if I had not done what I did, I and/or my son would be dead right now. You have to believe that what I did was in self defense, and now I need help to find a lawyer who will fight my case. I am currently in Azkaban, and although I think the dementors are gone, I don't want to be here long. Doran saw me being arrested, please talk to him. He was crying for me as I was shoved through the floo. I have been booked under number 682749. I didn't know who else to write, I have no one else I can trust with this. Please help.
Sincerely,
Hermione J. Granger
She still had a little room left at the bottom of the parchment, but she didn't have anything else to say. She got up, handed the letter to the guard, and was walked to a cell. The guard read her letter, approved it, and sent it off. The cell she was in was extremely tiny, about five by five feet if her estimation was right. She had a thin mattress bolted to a wooden cot, a toilet with no seat, and nothing else. The door was thick and solid except for about a square foot of bars at the top to see through and a flap on the bottom, bolted on the outside, to shove food under. She had no idea what was going to happen next, if Severus would actually help, or if her son knew what was going on. Surely he was given a biased account by the Headmistress, but Hermione wasn't sure what to expect.
The rest of the day passed with no word, but the next day, a loud banging on her cell door woke her up.
"Get up! Granger! You have a visitor. Make it quick." Hermione rushed out of the hard bed, feeling bruises on her ribs and other areas from where the hard mattress had pressed against them. Taking the few steps to the door, she saw through the bars the answer to her prayers – Severus Snape, in all of his Professor glory, and another man whom she did not recognize.
"Miss Granger, I would like you to meet Sylvester Parnell, your new lawyer."
"Miss Granger, I have plenty of experience in murder trials. Why don't you start from the beginning and explain to me what occurred." Hermione just nodded for a second. During the night, she had come to the conclusion that Severus would chuck her letter into the fire and say 'good riddance.' Now that he stood before her with a lawyer, she was shocked.
"From the beginning, Hermione, we don't have all day."
"Right, sorry. I came home from work Friday evening…" and Hermione continued to tell her story to her employer and lawyer. At the end, where she got arrested, she just sighed and leaned against the door. She was still weak from her malnourishment, and being here did nothing to help that. Apparently, this was noticed by your lawyer.
"And I'm guessing that despite the fact that you were arrested in an infirmary, you have received no medical treatment since?"
"No, sir, I have not."
"And you are sure that it was self-defense?"
"Absolutely. You can look at my memories if you wish."
"I probably will collect them, it would be good evidence for the trial, but I do believe you. Now, your trial date is set for next week. They don't want to give you time to build up a good defense, and they denied my motion for a continuance. So we need to get ready quickly. Guard! I need to take her memories of the event." Mr. Parnell turned to the guard expectantly, and when he did nothing, the lawyer scoldingly told him, "Well? Let me in! I most certainly cannot take her memories from out here, and I need them for her trial. With all of us here, she won't get away."
The guard reluctantly moved to open the door, seemingly trying to understand what he should do. Mr. Parnell hastily walked into the cell, took out his wand, and told Hermione to concentrate on the events. He held his wand to Hermione temple, and a silvery blue thread whisped out and into the vial that Mr. Parnell had brought out for collection. When it was over, he turned and left the cell, shutting the door behind him.
"We don't want anyone suspicious. I need to look over these memories, go over the evidence from the scene, and find some witnesses to show Madeline's insanity. Don't say anything from the time you agree until the trial. This place is bugged. I'll come early on the day of the trial to give you an outfit and some things for your hair and scent. No offense, but I've been through this before. We'll shoot for acquittal, but if I see that you will really need to take a deal, I will get it as small as possible. I can't give you any idea of our chances until I go over the evidence, and I probably won't finish with that until right before the trial. They moved yours up for some reason, probably because it's a Malfoy and they are expecting Draco to financially back them. Unfortunately for them, Draco has said that he will testify in your favor in this trial, which will look great to the jury. Anyways, it is in a week's time, and I shall be back to retrieve you then. Do you agree with all of this and accept me as your attorney?"
Dazed, Hermione agreed. Severus and Mr. Parnell said their goodbyes and were escorted away. Hermione walked over to the hard bed and sat down, still feeling bruising everywhere. A week until her trial, where hopefully she would be able to be cleared. Draco was testifying for her…that was something that she really did not expect. A very small glimmer of hope shined in Hermione for about a minute, before the despair of Azkaban caught her up, and she began reliving all of her nightmares again. She had been wrong about the dementors, so very wrong. She had no clue until she got into her cell, and she could feel the happiness draining away from her. A week of this…she would go insane with a week of this. Fighting against the unhappiness, Hermione strained to think of Doran, of happiness with him; all she could bring up, however, was his tear-streaked face calling out for her as she was being arrested.
There you go! This was a tough chapter to write. I will get around to Doran finding out more soon, I promise! I just have several things that I want to accomplish first.
Now, I have been going over the story so far, and I realized that it has veered directions since I started writing and getting new ideas, and so now my Prologue has very little to do with the story. I will probably be rewriting it this week, but if anyone has suggestions, I am up for it.
Also - What DONT you want to see in the trial? =)
The next chapter will cover the trial aspect, I don't want to drag this out much longer. I have more things I want to get to =)
As always, thanks for reading and REVIEWING =)
MummyGoose
