I'm baaaaack. Moving was a nightmare. that is all.
He had long since become numb to the cold permeating his cage. His joints were stiff. He was exhausted. His muscles burned from the countless pushups, pullups and whatever other exercises he could find space for in his cell. It was mindless really. He chanted names in his head in time with the pushups; Hermione, Evander, Theo, Baby. Hermione, Evander, Theo, Baby. hermioneevandertheobaby.
When that mantra grew old, he added names. Hermione, Evander, Theo, Baby, Teddy, Molly. He carried on like that until the majority of the Weasleys and Potters were added to the list of things keeping him sane. Though - he would never admit that aloud.
Potter's visits did more for his mental state than he could explain. He would pop in weekly and bring pictures and stories and notes from all of the children. For those brief moments, Harry Fucking Potter was the only source of warmth in the entire forsaken prison; because of course he was.
Hermione, Evander, Theo, Baby, Teddy, Molly, Potter.
Even with the pictures from Potter, Malfoy agonized over the months he had missed with his children. He wondered how tall Evander would look beside him. He wondered if Theo was talking more and if he even remembered his father. He wondered if their baby knew better the sounds of other's voices; Ginny's, Potter's, Arthur's?
He focused a lot on his breathing and doing whatever he could to keep his heart rate steady and slow. The knowledge that Hermione could feel it beating provided just enough motivation for him to do so.
It encouraged him to keep his focus off of the Dementors as they patrolled overhead because the sight of them nearly sent him into a tailspin everytime. The cell walls would cave in and he wondered what Hermione imagined was happening to him.
The shrieks of his prison mates had long since been tuned out but every now and then a particularly agonized wail would draw his attention and he would curl in on himself as images and memories from the past washed over him.
Every now and then, a shout would echo throughout Azkaban and Draco found himself certain that he recognized it. Sometimes he heard his father's voice. Sometimes Crabbe and Goyle's. It was Aunt Bella's occasional cackle that was entirely unmistakable.
He couldn't see them though, and for that much he was grateful.
Save for Potter's visits, there was no discernable way with which he could tell time. He tried to keep track with the visits and the meals that appeared but it was an utter waste of time. There was no daylight to help him and the meals that appeared did so at irregular intervals.
The next time Potter visited, he brought with him a handful of photos and a couple of notes as had become the routine. The Auror held each picture up to the bars so that Draco could get a look at them.
One was of Theo; toddling around in Draco's shoes before he crashed to the floor giggling. He had gotten so big. His hair was so long. And darker. It was darker too.
Malfoy nodded at Harry after studying it for a moment and watched intently as the next picture was shuffled to the front of the stack. This one was of Evander on his training broom, six inches above the ground but beaming as though he had won the Quidditch World Cup.
"He looks like you." Harry said quietly - awkwardly. A muscle in Malfoy's jaw twitched and he nodded sharply. Potter shuffled the pictures again.
The next was a photo of all the children. Teddy, Evander, James, Remus, Theo, Lily, Hugo and Rosalie all waving emphatically. Some of them, he could tell, were shouting. He couldn't tell what though. Potter showed him a couple of notes and drawings before producing the final photo.
Hermione. His heart jerked painfully in his chest, almost as though it was contemplating clawing from his body to reach her. She stood sideways in the photo, the backdrop of which was the wall of books in their library - because of course it was. His white button up was the only shred of fabric on her, buttoned down to the top of her belly where it parted so that he could see how much their third baby had grown. The oxygen left his lungs in a rush as he watched her smile a little and wave on a loop. Her brown curls were the same, tumbling down her back in a wild mess. She'd lost weight in her face though; it was thinner, gaunt almost. But Merlin, she was beautiful. He missed her so much that the pain he felt when he looked at her almost suffocated him.
Potter cleared his throat and slowly lowered the stack of photos back down to his side.
"She's found you a solicitor." Draco's eyes flitted upwards. "We're working on getting him approval to come and meet with you before tomorrow. Ministry is fighting it at every turn, of course. 'Mione's got him pretty well prepared though." Harry chuckled and pushed his glasses up his nose.
"Sounds like Granger," Draco smirked and slumped against the cell wall. A thick silence settled between them, broken up only by the screams, shouts and cackles of those imprisoned with him. "Is she alright?" he asked quietly. Harry sighed.
"She's… managing. The boys are great. They miss you. She's stressed, you know, as I am sure you can imagine. I…" he hesitated before pressing on. "I don't think she is sleeping very well without you." Draco grimaced. "I've stayed with her a handful of times. That seems to help a bit. Gin's been her shadow since you left. Someone is always with her, so she's not alone. She finally got some sleep after the solicitor agreed to take your case. The kids are getting big." he rambled. Draco took a deep breath. "We're going to fix this." Harry said quietly. The blond scoffed. "Alright, I had best be going." a slight nod from the prisoner and Potter slapped the pictures against his palm before turning on his heel to leave.
"Potter-" Malfoy called, stopping Harry in his tracks. "Thanks,"
"'Course, mate."
"Tell her…" he sighed again and dropped his chin to his chest.
"I will."
And then Draco was alone with the demons again.
Ginny and Harry were sitting at the Malfoy's dining table, both with a mug of hot tea clutched between their hands as thoughtful silence surrounded them. The Potter and Malfoy children had all been put to bed in various rooms and Hermione had retreated to her bedroom, mumbling something about a shower.
"How do you think it went with the solicitor?" Ginny asked quietly. Harry sighed.
"Short and monitored."
"But they can't-"
"Death Eaters don't have rights, Ginny." he whispered. "They're terrorists."
"But after everything Malfoy did for them - we couldn't have won without him. You know that. They know that."
"None of it matters, Gin. He was a terrorist and they're treating him like one. They're treating him like the son of Lucius Malfoy. He murdered people. We just have to hope we can show Percy that he's made up for it."
"Are you talking about Daddy?" a little voice wobbled and shook behind them. The Potters' heads whipped sideways and both of them paled at the sight of Evander Malfoy standing there clutching Draco's too long shirt.
"Of course n-" Harry began. Ginny cut him off with a gentle hand on his arm and made her way over to her godson.
"Yes." she replied, reaching out and stroking the blond hair out of his eyes. He nodded bravely.
"Daddy made bad de-deci…" his brow furrowed.
"Decisions." he nodded.
"But he's good. Mama said he's good and he'll come home because he didn't have a choice." his little lip jutted out defiantly as he defended his father for the first of what would become countless times.
"Mama's right. Your father loves you very much."
He sniffled and then nodded and squared little shoulders, like he'd seen his mother and father do hundreds of times.
"Why are you awake, 'Vander?" Harry asked tiredly.
"I heard mama crying but the door was lockeded."
Harry sighed and glanced at Ginny.
"Go," Ginny slipped her hand into Evander's and started to lead him back up the stairs.
Harry downed his mug of tea and trudged up the stairs to his best friend's bedroom.
"Alohomora," the lock clicked and he pushed inside to find Hermione lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling. He could see the faint glimmer and reflection of tears on her face as he shut the bedroom door.
Hermione felt the bed dip beside her as Harry laid down flat beside her and reached for her hand.
She gripped it back tight and together, they waited impatiently for the sun to come up.
It was always impressive - or terrifying, depending on how you looked at it - to see Hermione's flip switch the way it did. She and Harry had not slept for even a moment. He held her hand and waited with her, wordlessly. She cried on and off and he could hear her mind working at a million miles a minute.
Then, come morning, when the chatter of the children began and Theo's crying started, she sat up as if she were waking up from a good night's sleep, shrugged on a jumper and asked Harry what he wanted for breakfast before they left for the trial.
"Auntie 'Miney, Auntie 'Miney," James shouted from the couch. Evander's eyes shot up and he beamed, barreling towards her.
"Good morning, James. Good morning, Darling." she smiled down at Evander while shifting Theo from one hip to another.
Harry and Ginny watched her, both with a sick feeling in their gut at her eerily effective compartmentalization.
Then, Angelina arrived to babysit as everyone was finishing up their breakfast. Evander grew anxious then, looking around at the black, formal robes. Teddy was trying to distract Remus from tossing chunks of potato into Lily's hair. Theo was planted firmly in Harry's lap, undoubtedly wrinkling his uncle's robes.
"We best be going." Hermione told the adults.
"Yes," Ginny echoed. "Mum and them will be meeting us at the Ministry." Hermione nodded. Harry was then passing Theo to Angelina and helping Hermione gather her notes.
Nobody heard Evander at first, until he was shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Mum!" he shrieked. The lights flickered and Hermione would have sworn that she saw lightning flash in her son's slate eyes. "Where are you going?" The anxiety in his little voice cracked something in Hermione's chest.
"To see your father." she answered cautiously.
"I want to come."
"No, Evander."
"I want to. I want to see daddy." angry tears welled in his eyes.
"Not today, baby." Hermione's instincts tracked the movement of Evander's hand as he gripped his glass of milk before her eyes even did. Her whispered protego bloomed in front of her and the cup shattered against it.
"Evander Malfoy!" Ginny yelled.
"Reparo." Hermione muttered. Fear and guilt joined the tears in the boy's eyes before all of those feelings spilled over and down his little cheeks.
"Please," he whimpered. Hermione sighed, glancing briefly at the clock above the kitchen sink. She absently noticed Angelina, Ginny and Harry bustling the other children out of the dining room.
"Not today." she repeated gently, getting to her knees with some effort. She cupped his face in her cold hands and leveled him with an understanding expression. "I know you're angry. I am too." she murmured, kissing his forehead. "None of this is fair, darling, and your father and I are so sorry you are going through this." he leaned forward and rested his head against his mother's shoulder.
"Tell him I love you." he mumbled. Hermione nodded and stroked his hair.
"Come," she responded, using her grip on the table to pull herself to her feet, tugging Evander along with her. He wiped at his eyes until they were red and dry.
Teddy made his way over to Hermione and tossed an arm around Evander's shoulders.
Harry, Ginny and Hermione said their goodbyes before entering the Floo one at a time and evaporating behind a wall of green flame.
The rest of the Weasleys, save for Ron, were waiting by the fountain when Hermione and the Potters arrived. Hermione could feel the anxiety in her throat, lungs and chest like it was hot lead. Breathing felt impossible, let alone walking and talking and giving testimony. Their baby gave a light flutter kick as if agreeing with her.
She couldn't get Evander's expression out of her head, even as she stared at the faces of all the witches and wizards passing by and it wasn't until she felt a hand at her back that nearly made her draw her wand, that she finally focused enough to walk forward.
"Dad says it's this way." George said in her ear, propelling her forward with his hand. She could feel Molly's warmth behind her, and Arthur's support. Ginny was chatting emphatically about how "pissed" she was and how badly she wanted to "beat Percy's arse". Harry was silent, his head down, trying his best not to draw attention to their group.
"I hope his solicitor has arrived." Hermione said. George nodded and stopped with her when she froze in front of the set of ornate wooden doors. "Ready?" she nodded and swung the doors open.
Arthur pushed ahead and led the way to their seats. They all sat down among the others in the ceilingless auditorium. Ginny all but shoved her brother out of the way to sit beside Hermione, reaching over and gripping her fingers so tight they turned white. The minutes leading up to the Minister's entrance dragged on and on for what felt like years and if the lightheadedness was any indication, Hermione held her breath the entire time.
Then Percy Weasley entered and the crowd stood, save for Ginny Potter, until Hermione tugged her roughly by the arm. The redhead grumbled and stood, unable to keep the look of utter disgust off of her face.
A wave of his hand settled the audience and they all sat, as if on command. The tip of his wand touched his throat and his voice boomed throughout the room. Ginny felt Hermione's full body flinch.
"Death Eater retrials, Installment No. 7; Draco Lucius Malfoy. Bring him up." Percy's wandering eyes caught sight of the horrifically angry faces of his family and he stood up even straighter.
The floor shuddered and rumbled with the force of the panel rising inside the cage on the floor.
"The charges today are as follows; War Crimes, the murder of Albus Dumbledore, the attempted murder of Harry Potter, conspiracy to overthrow the Ministry, terrorism, torture, the use of all three unforgivable curses, genocide and inumerable other counts of murder."
Hermione was not breathing as the floor panel made its final ascent.
"Draco Malfoy, how do you plead?"
Their eyes found each other as if magnetized. It tugged at them both, somewhere deep inside, and it was only Ginny's grip that kept Hermione from lurching forward. There was no such restraint for Draco and he staggered against the bars. The ring against her sternum stuttered to a stop and then resumed thrice as fast. It was like a dam broke in Hermione's chest; whatever had been hindering her ability to breathe cracked and crumbled so that oxygen flooded into her lungs. His eyes burned. The cold lifelessness that had filled them disappeared under her glare and this fire and possessiveness roared to life, building and building until those perfect lips of his parted and his voice rang out clear and certain;
"Not guilty."