5 - Off the Record
A/N - I loved writing this chapter...definitely my favorite by far! The justice system in the Wizarding World does not make any sense, so I've decided to base the Malfoy trial off of the U.S. justice system and I hope it worked out!
Attorney Blair Wilson, the legal representative assigned to work with the Golden Trio, liked to do her job well. Hermione picked this up quickly when they met with her at the Ministry the following day. And Hermione would have been quite impressed with the young witch's proficiency in such a challenging position if she wasn't so preoccupied with sharing their entire life story...which, unfortunately, was the purpose of the meeting.
"Just a reminder that this is all off the record for now," Wilson kept prompting them. Although she established herself as trustworthy and was a surprisingly good listener, it was difficult placing such a vulnerable story into the hands of a stranger...especially because they had been extremely private about it up until this point. Not to mention that Hermione hated anything associated with press attention on principle.
And spending hours sitting inside a bland Ministry office talking about the last thing she wanted to talk about was not Hermione's idea of a good morning. Nonetheless, she made an effort to participate in the conversation and contributed her insight to their Ministry break-in and the events of Godric's Hollow. But she simultaneously fantasized about her trip to Diagon Alley with Ron afterwards and let Harry do most of the talking. She was relieved to find out that Harry was actually good at communicating everything that happened in a way that hopefully wouldn't raise too many questions. Although, Hermione reasoned, he'd practiced quite a bit over the years.
"...And Hermione was absolutely brilliant, getting us out of there." Ron's voice snapped her back to reality. She blushed, realizing that he was talking about their escape from the Death Eaters at the Lovegood's house.
"Did you happen to see who the Death Eaters were?" Wilson asked.
"Selwyn and Travers," Harry said, "But they both died during the final battle."
"The Lovegood's house has been restored, hasn't it?" Hermione felt guilty for just thinking of this now...
"Yeah, I told Kingsley the other day and he should be on top of it," Harry assured them.
Eventually, there was a noticeable lull in the conversation. How much were they supposed to tell Wilson about the Deathly Hallows? They decided to reveal the truth about Voldemort's horcruxes, but there was no guarantee that someone wouldn't go looking for the resurrection stone in the Forbidden Forest...or the Elder Wand in Dumbledore's grave.
"So you learned the tale of the Deathly Hallows? Bet that was a bit of a disappointment...although, I guess, we do know that the Elder Wand really does exist now," Wilson mused.
"We were a bit preoccupied with tracking down the rest of the horcruxes to pay much attention to what Mr. Lovegood told us," Harry said, sounding like he wanted to turn the conversation in another direction. "We went back to the tent."
"Was it around late March now?" Wilson flipped through her pages of notes.
"Yeah…"
"So how did you end up at Gringotts? I guess that's the next gap that'll need to be filled. It's crucial that we get an accurate statement out about why you robbed the bank because there's some controversy brewing around the Ministry that it wasn't actually justified…"
"It was justified," Harry said quickly. "There was a horcrux in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault."
"And how did you know this?"
"That's not relevant," Ron stated, glancing at Hermione.
"Then how did you get in contact with the goblin? He helped you, didn't he?" It was easy to discern the impatience in Wilson's voice.
Harry struggled with an answer and Hermione began weighing the pros and cons of telling Wilson the truth…
"Look, you broke dozens of laws during that break-in," Wilson continued. "Harry, it was reported that you used the Imperius Curse on an innocent goblin. Yeah, the Ministry knows about that...you didn't cover it up very well. And Hermione impersonated Bellatrix Lestrange. You guys also stole the dragon - "
"The dragon was living in illegal conditions!" Hermione protested.
"Remember, I'm on your side." Wilson raised her arms in surrender. "I don't blame you for anything you did and neither do most Gringotts and Ministry officials. You're not in trouble...but the Wizarding World deserves some sort of explanation."
Hermione met Harry's eyes, which seemed to be silently asking for her approval. She took a deep breath and nodded. Wilson watched them with curiosity.
"A little while after we escaped from Mr. Lovegood's house," Harry started, "I said Voldemort's name accidentally...triggered the taboo. Snatchers, Fenrir Greyback and Scabior and some others, came almost right away. They took our wands, tied us up with Griphook and Dean Thomas (who they had previously captured), and recognized Hermione from an article in the Prophet. They didn't recognize me because Hermione used a stinging jinx on my face to disguise me, but once they recognized her, it wasn't very hard to identify the rest of us. They took us to Malfoy Manor."
Wilson's face filled with anticipation. "Malfoy Manor?" she repeated. Hermione felt queasy.
"Voldemort was using it as his headquarters. And don't look so excited…this isn't a nice story."
"Right," Wilson said quickly, "But the prosecution team has been wondering whether you had any interactions with the Malfoys over the past year - "
"We're not really interested in testifying if that's where you're going with this," Ron interrupted her. "And before you publish anything, it needs to be approved by us."
"Of - of course," Wilson stammered. "Please continue, Harry."
"They had a big row over whether to call Voldemort or not...they weren't convinced it was me - "
"They?" Wilson asked while scribbling down notes.
"Lucius, Narcissa, Draco, Bellatrix Lestrange, and the Snatchers were all there."
"And Draco didn't identify you?"
"He identified Hermione...but not me or Ron. They were about to call Voldemort, but stopped once Bellatrix found out we had the Sword of Gryffindor. She thought it was in her vault at Gringotts...she was horrified at the thought that we broke into her vault. That's when I realized she must've been keeping something for Voldemort in there...a horcrux."
"That's very clever thinking. You're lucky that your instinct was right."
Hermione almost snorted at Wilson's words...it wasn't just instinct that led them to break into Bellatrix's vault. After how brutal and sadistic Bellatrix acted towards Hermione, they were pretty damn sure that she was worried about something other than just a sword. But Hermione was glad that Harry was downplaying the situation.
"And what'd Bellatrix do? Surely she wasn't very forgiving?" Wilson pressed. Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"That's not - that's not something we feel comfortable discussing," Harry said carefully.
"I don't need details, but I need to know if the Malfoys participated in any criminal behavior or assisted the Snatchers or Lestrange…I mean, you were held captive at their house."
"Well they did just stand by as - " Ron hesitated. Hermione knew what he was going to say. She knew that he still felt resentment towards everyone involved that night and he wanted justice. But she also knew that he wouldn't say anything without her permission.
"It's okay, Ron. We can tell her," Hermione said. She thought back to earlier in their conversation when Harry hesitated to tell Wilson about Ron's brief departure...but Ron didn't hesitate at all. He proudly stated that this was their story of how they saved the world, so there was really nothing to be ashamed of. This type of confidence was very out-of-character for Ron, but it inspired her.
Hermione took a moment to get her bearings together. This was not like telling the Weasleys. She knew full well that anything she said to Wilson could make it into the papers or be used as evidence in court despite this conversation being "off the record." Wilson hadn't said anything else yet, but her quill was positioned to write over the parchment.
"Well, Greyback put Harry, Ron, Dean, and Griphook in the cellar. Bellatrix kept me upstairs in the drawing room because the sword was in my bag...she wanted to question me. I'm sure you can imagine how that went. She used the Cruciatus curse multiple times and a cursed knife. It'll probably interest you to know that Lucius was pinning me to the ground while all of this happened, I think he just wanted to be involved in some way - "
"You never told us that!" Ron exclaimed, looking horrified.
"Well, it's not something that I try to bring up often…" Hermione's tone was unapologetically bitter at this point.
"So the Malfoys were accessories to torture...Hermione, this is a big deal," Wilson said cautiously.
"No, it was mostly Bellatrix…"
"Yes, but standing by and watching it happen doesn't make the Malfoys look good." Wilson was writing ferociously now. "How long was she questioning you?"
"Well, I refused to tell her anything, so it wasn't quick. I eventually lost consciousness, so I'm not really sure exactly how long - "
"We were in the cellar for exactly 23 minutes," Ron said. He had kept track of the time...
"And how'd you escape?"
Harry took over and told Wilson about Bellatrix's questioning of Griphook, the mirror and Aberforth sending Dobby, Wormtail's death, the skirmish in the drawing room, the knife, the chandelier...Ron held Hermione's hand under the conference table while Harry talked. Wilson's demeanor gentled considerably and her writing slowed as the story of that night progressed. She offered them a break in which Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in silence, letting all the stories they told and still planned to tell drain their emotions.
The rest of the morning followed the same pattern: Wilson would prompt them, they'd be hesitant to talk, Wilson would prompt them again, they'd eventually share what happened, and then they'd be stuck with those painful memories until she asked another question. Many times it felt like an interrogation. They all relaxed once Harry finished telling Wilson about Voldemort's death.
"And everyone knows what's happened since then…" he concluded. Hermione looked down at Ron's watch; it was already half past noon. She fidgeted in her seat, hoping to convey that she was ready to leave, but Wilson continued asking clarifying questions. Harry even politely asked for an update on the Malfoy's case, which Hermione assumed was an attempt to distract Wilson, but it just subjected them to more uncomfortable conversation.
"The indictment process for the Malfoys went smoothly...we didn't even present all of our evidence to the grand jury before they agreed to press charges. At the initial hearing, the judge granted them bail, and now they're on house arrest until the trial...mostly out of concern that they'll threaten witnesses. Obviously they all pleaded not guilty, despite the (in my opinion) very generous plea deal they were offered. And now we're in the process of developing our trial strategy and analyzing more evidence. There is going to be a preliminary hearing in a couple of days, but I expect it to be short...we're not even going to involve most of our witnesses or present all of our evidence. We're trying to let the discovery unfold gradually. Everything is going according to plan so far, but we're still very early on in the process, and I expect that the defense attorney for the Malfoys is going to start posing some challenges...Attorney Garrity means business. But so do we, obviously, and your statements could be huge for us. I know you don't want to testify, but I really encourage you to reconsider...for the sake of rebuilding the Wizarding World at least."
"I can't speak for Ron and Hermione, but I definitely don't want Draco or Narcissa spending a lifetime in Azkaban. With that being said, they really did contribute to the hell that we went through last year, and I don't believe that Lucius deserves pardon right now or ever." Harry paused. "Our hearts just aren't in this case...we're ready to move on. And there is a very real possibility that the defense will also call on me to testify on behalf of Narcissa's actions in the forest, and I don't want that to hurt the prosecution..."
"It will complicate things if you include us," Ron said simply.
"And it sounds like you already have a lot of evidence, so regarding Ron and I...how useful would our testimonies really be?" Hermione knew deep down that her experience at Malfoy Manor would probably be very worthy evidence, but she hoped to sway Wilson in the other direction.
"Hermione, it's important that you understand how valuable your testimony is," Wilson said slowly, "You experienced some of their most serious criminal behaviors first-hand. And even though we could get Ms. Lovegood or another captive to reference it, direct evidence from you is much more relevant than their circumstantial evidence."
"So you've talked with Luna and Mr. Ollivander then?"
"No, but after hearing that they were held captive in the Malfoy's cellar, I certainly plan to. We're already aware that many Death Eater offenses took place in the Malfoy's home, but holding kidnapped victims hostage is obviously very serious." Wilson glanced at the clock and set down her quill. She must've realized she was getting ahead of herself. "I know this is a lot to think about, but let's schedule a time, Hermione, to discuss this in private. I assure you that we will be able to work out a good testimony...trust me, it's better than the court summoning you (which could happen) and you not being prepared. Same goes for Harry and Ron. Dealing with complicated stuff is my job."
Harry and Ron nodded reluctantly. Hermione also agreed, despite herself. Maybe it would bring some peace? Maybe a sense of justice would stop her from thinking about that night 24/7? It certainly couldn't heal everything physically wrong with her body, but she had the opportunity to set things right...for herself and for Ron, who she knew wouldn't rest until justice was served.
"Thank you," Wilson said. She sounded genuine...and relieved. "Well, if you don't have any questions, I will get these statements out to the press and authorities as soon as possible and they'll send you a draft to approve before anything gets published. And expect an owl in the next few days once I discuss your testimonies with the rest of the prosecution."
"Right, thanks," Harry said unenthusiastically. But Hermione, given the circumstances, felt quite enthusiastic because after almost five excruciating hours, they finally stood up to leave the bland Ministry office.
"It really was an honor to meet all of you." Wilson shook their hands and walked them to the lift at the end of the hallway. The three of them remained quiet until they arrived back on the bustling streets of London a few minutes later.
"Are you both okay?" Ron pulled Hermione and Harry into a hug.
"That was just a lot harder than I expected," Harry sighed. "And all we wanted to do was stay out of the Malfoy trial drama, but that didn't happen...Hermione, I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. And Wilson's right...the Wizagamot might summon us anyway. At least now we know what we're getting into." Hermione smiled and Ron took her hand again.
"Well, I'm starving, so I guess we should go back to the Burrow?" Harry reached in and grabbed their hands to apparate, like they did so frequently over the past year, but Ron and Hermione pulled away. Ron grinned sheepishly.
"Actually, mate, Hermione and I are going to Diagon Alley to get new wands right now," he said. "Just the two of us."
"Oh…"
"Well, we've had to use Bellatrix's and Wormtail's wands since...you know when. We've been patient, but we're ready to get rid of them."
"I understand." Harry patted them on the backs and winked knowingly before apparating away. "Have fun and be safe, please."