AN: Thank you for the wonderful responses to chapter one. I hope you like this one, too. Not one of my favorites, but necessary to move the plot along. Feel free to leave me a review and let me know what you think.
Lost Souls of Nott Castle
Chapter 2
Draco followed the directions that had been owled to him that morning. He was to meet with his probation agent at ten o'clock. Her office was on the third floor of the Ministry, which seemed to be a labyrinth of office cubicles, hallways and conference rooms. He took two left hand turns, one right hand turn, and another left hand turn before he found an office labeled 'Agent Kimmey'. He knocked on the door and entered, only to find a small waiting room and an inner door which he assumed led to the actual office. The waiting room had four chairs, but only one was occupied, by Granger of course.
Her eyes met his and she nodded at him in acknowledgement. He sat across from her and waited. Luckily he didn't have to wait for long before the door opened and Agent Kimmey ushered them inside.
She was a middle aged woman with shoulder length dark blonde hair and tired blue eyes.
"Mr. Malfoy. Miss Granger. Please, come in."
He let Granger go in first and took the chair beside her. They were close enough that he could have easily taken her hand in his if he wanted to, which he certainly did not want to do. Still, the thought filtered through his mind that this was probably the closest they had ever been to each other.
"Mr. Malfoy, you have been given eighteen months of probation. For the first six months, you will be required to meet with me each week. During our meetings, you will surrender your wand and I will perform diagnostics to ensure that no dark magic has been performed since the previous meeting. The following six months we will meet every two weeks, and for the duration we will meet monthly. That is, of course, assuming that you have not used dark magic at any point."
He nodded his head in agreement. She was right, it did seem easy enough. And he had no reason to use dark magic anyway.
"Miss Granger, as his advocate you will be required to attend all scheduled meetings as well. If, by some chance, he breaks his probation, you will both be punished as the Wizengamot sees fit."
That part still didn't sit well with him. She shouldn't have to pay for his mistakes. If he was being honest, it felt too familiar. The idea of someone else being punished for his deeds. He clenched his fists and bit his tongue. It wouldn't do any good to argue with the agent. It wasn't her decision to make.
"I understand, Agent Kimmey."
The agent glanced back and forth between the two of them and sighed.
"Very well. I need both of you to sign this agreement. It states that you understand the terms and you agree to fulfill your end or suffer the consequences." She presented a scroll, which Granger took and preceded to read.
"Miss Granger, it really is rather standard."
Draco couldn't help the smirk on his face. This woman obviously had no idea who Hermione Granger was.
"I am not signing anything without reading it first, Agent Kimmey."
The woman across from them looked rather put out. He could only imagine that from her perspective she was looking at two Hogwarts drop outs that were in trouble with the law already and barely eighteen years of age.
"Can you please specify what is meant by 'dark magic'? Obviously the unforgivables fall into that category. Are there others that would also be considered dark?" She did not lift her eyes from the scroll as she talked, and he hated to admit to himself that she brought up a valid point. What some consider dark, others consider gray.
"Anything meant to harm another," the agent responded in a sarcastic tone, as though she were trying to explain something rather simple to someone incredibly dense.
Granger finally lifted her eyes from the parchment and narrowed them at the woman sitting across the desk.
"That's a little ambiguous, isn't it?" She asked. "A slicing charm can be used to cut a person or cut a sandwich. How do you differentiate?"
Agent Kimmey's eyes widened and she blinked several times, obviously at a loss for words.
"And what about defensive spells? A well placed expelliarmus can cause harm, but he needs to be able to defend himself if he's attacked."
"Miss Granger, why on Earth would he need to defend himself?" She threw her hands up in exasperation.
Granger looked at him then, startled. Her brown eyes were wide. She stared at him for a long moment before turning her attention back to the woman that held their fate in her hands.
"Agent Kimmey," she cleared her throat. "Half of the Wizarding world would probably line up at the chance to curse Draco Malfoy. Especially now that he's been spared from Azkaban."
"Regardless, expelliarmus is obviously a defensive spell that cannot cause harm." She sighed and he could clearly see disbelief written all over her face.
"Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort with an expelliarmus curse." Draco interjected. He knew he should keep his mouth shut and let Granger keep arguing with the ignorant woman, but he couldn't quite help himself.
"Enough of that, now." She rolled her eyes and sighed deeply. "You should not believe everything you hear."
They shared another exasperated look. Was it really possible that this woman had no idea who they were?
Hermione shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose before taking a deep breath.
"First of all, we were there when Voldemort was defeated, so I can assure you that is exactly what happened. Secondly, we are going to need this document revised to clarify dark magic as any curse cast with the intention of doing bodily harm to another, with an exception for spells that are cast defensively."
"I don't think you understand how this works. These terms are not negotiable." The agent was getting flustered.
"I'm not asking you to change the terms. I'm simply asking you to put into writing what is meant by dark magic. When I asked you, you said it was magic that was meant to cause harm and that no one would have reason to attack Mr. Malfoy. However, in the event that he is attacked, he should be able to defend himself without fear of punishment."
The witch shook her head and threw her hands up in exasperation.
"Fine. Give me the scroll back." She snatched the parchment away from Granger and made the requested changes. He glanced over to see a small smirk play across Granger's face before she took the parchment back and proceeded to re-read it.
Finally she nodded her head and signed the bottom of the scroll before handing it over to Draco. He glanced through it and signed as well. Agent Kimmey released a deep breath.
"Thank you. I will see you both next Monday at ten o'clock."
He wondered briefly if he should point out that she hadn't checked his wand, but thought better of it. She was already irritated with them. Probably better not to push it.
He stepped out into the waiting room first, but then stepped aside so Granger could step into the labyrinth of offices ahead of him.
He wanted to thank her for once again sticking up for him, even though he knew this time it was more to save her own ass than his. It was a rather Slytherin way of thinking, and a part of him had to respect that.
Instead he kept quiet and followed a few paces behind her. She turned the corner to the right and came to a stop. He nearly collided with her and had a comment on the tip of his tongue, but held it when he heard familiar voices.
"Hermione. What are you doing here?" Potter. Draco groaned and stepped back further into the hallway, out of sight.
"Harry. I had a meeting. You?"
Her voice was stilted. Cold.
Draco found that to be very interesting.
"We were asked to apply for the Aurors."
Weasley. Draco groaned. Could this get any worse?
"Actually, they asked if you would be interested as well." That was Potter again.
Granger crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her hip out to one side.
"And what did you tell them?"
"We told them that you aren't interested in putting away dark wizards." Weasley spat.
Very interesting.
"I would thank you not to speak on my behalf, Ronald." The temperature in the hallway chilled by several degrees.
"If you are interested, I think they would love to have you." Potter shuffled his feet.
"Forget it, Harry. She made her choice. Let's go."
Draco took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows. He walked around her and right in between the two prats that were standing in the middle of the hallway.
"Granger. Are these two giving you trouble?" He heard her moan in frustration behind him, which only made him smirk a little more. Bonus points for pissing off all three of them at the same time.
"Malfoy," Weasley growled. "Enjoy your freedom while you can. Mark my words, you'll be in Azkaban before it's all said and done."
"I would think you would want to keep me out of prison," he sneered. Did Weasley even understand that if he went to prison, then so would she? Or did he even care?
"You belong behind bars, Ferret. You and your whole lot." His eyes flickered to Granger and his nose crumpled in disgust.
She sighed and muttered "unbelievable," before storming off without another word.
Well, well, well. There was definitely trouble in paradise, Draco decided. And if he wasn't mistaken, it was due to her testifying on his behalf. Bloody brilliant.
He looked down his nose at them with the most condescending glare he could muster, then he followed her to the lifts, stepping inside just as the grate was closing.
Again he felt like he should say something. Anything. Apologize because her friends are asshats? Thank her for helping him despite their objections? Mock her for helping him at her own expense? The glare in her eyes warned him to keep quiet, though, so that is exactly what he did. He kept his mouth shut and when the lift doors opened he went his way and she went hers without another word between them.
Hermione left the Ministry as quickly as she could.
It had been five days since she testified on Malfoy's behalf. Five days since the Weasley's had thrown her out of the Burrow.
Four nights since she had a bed to sleep in or a hot meal.
She had hoped that they would forgive her and invite her back, but after talking to them she knew that wasn't going to happen. Not for awhile anyway. Which meant she had to move on, and she had to do it quickly.
She knew she could not keep going the way she had been.
The only problem was, for the first time in her life she didn't know what to do. She didn't know where to go. She didn't even have anyone she could talk to or ask for advice.
After leaving the Ministry, she made her way down the streets of muggle London. She wandered aimlessly, having nowhere to go and no one expecting her. Not a single person paid her any mind as she moved through their world. And not a single person wondered where she was or what she was doing.
She was completely, utterly alone.
Depression seeped into her bones. She found herself thinking dark thoughts that didn't sit well with her at all. During the day, she could mostly keep them at bay. But at night, when she was alone and vulnerable, the darkness would creep in.
As each day passed, she wondered if she would ever find herself again. Because truly, she was lost in more ways than one.