Chapter Four ~ Trials and Confessions
Shasa Perino
A/N: I noticed after I put the third chapter up that the formatting was still bad. My apologies.
Dumbledore just stared at me.
"Sir?"
His face was very pale. "Bring me to him." It was all he would say.
I looked him straight in the eye. He just looked back. It didn't even seem as if he could see me.
"Hermione. Take me to Ron." His voice was serious and grave. I hadn't heard him like this since R-ron and I were about to be expelled for injuring the slimy git named Snape.
"Yes, sir." I walked out of his office and went directly to the hospital wing. I could see Madam Pomfrey closing the curtains around a bed that undoubtedly had a dead form lying in it. She was crying.
"Will you please wait here?" The headmaster asked. I nodded. He walked away from me, shutting the door in my face.
I had my second breakdown in one morning. Ron. Ron was dead. He killed himself. No, no. He made me kill him. I killed him. Ron. I killed him!
I don't know how long I sat against the wall of the corridor. I suddenly saw someone approaching me. Harry.
He sprinted up towards me. Out of breath, he panted, "Her--mione? What--what happened?"
I couldn't bear to look the Boy Who Lived in the face. I had murdered his best friend. "I-I…"
"Come on, Hermione, what is it? It can't be all that bad?" He looked down at me, sitting on the cold, stone floor, bawling my eyes out. "Or maybe it can…"
"What are you doing here?"
"Professor McGonagall told me to come. She said it was something urgent. Dumbledore's orders."
So McGonagall knew. Oh, God. What was I going to tell Harry? What was I going to tell Mr. and Mrs. Weasley? After all, they had always been so kind to me.
"Harry…Oh, God, Harry. Ron--"
"What about Ron? Nothing happened to him, did it?"
"I…I killed him."
"You what!?!"
"I killed him, Harry! I did it, all right! I couldn't do anything to stop it! He's dead, and it's entirely fault! It's my fault that my boyfr--Ron's dead!"
"I can't believe this! My best friend, the smartest girl in the world, killed my other best--. Did you say you're boyfriend?"
I blushed.
"So I can take that as a yes?"
I nodded.
"Okay…this is, uh, very strange. What happened?"
I explained everything to him. Except for the dream. That was personal. He was beginning to understand. To not hate me.
"Hermione. It's not your fault! You couldn't do anything to stop Ron."
How could he just let it go? Just like that? His best friend, one of his only friends, was murdered. He was dead! How could he just forgive his killer?
"Harry, it's not that easy!"
"Stop beating yourself up about this! There was nothing that you could do! Do you hear me? Nothing!"
"Listen to me! I know how to fight the Imperious curse! I do! That's one of the things you have to know to become an auror! You know that! I could have fought it…and Ron would still be alive, Harry! He would still be alive!"
It was true. When they hired new aurors, they actually put the Imperious curse on it, and we had to fight it. Simple, really.
Harry looked at me strangely. "Fine. I miss Ron, and I know you do too. But quit blaming yourself! You did it because you wanted him to be happy! There was no other way! You just said it yourself! Come to your senses!"
"If having Ron being suicidal instead of me being homicidal means coming to my senses, then I will never come to my senses! It's my fault! Ron's dead because of me. He could have gotten some help. I could have taken him to St. Mungo's. Harry, this could have been stopped!"
He sighed. "Have it your way. But don't come running to me if you need any help." He stiffened and knocked on the door to the hospital wing. Dumbledore opened it and let him in. I was alone again.
Oh, Ron! I miss you! Why did you have to go! You always were a stupid little git. I laughed, remembering when he had slugs coming out of his mouth.
The door opened. Dumbledore was standing there, looking down at me. "Hermione."
I looked up. "Y-yes, sir?"
"You may come see Ron if you would like."
"No, thank you, sir. I saw him enough earlier. Besides, a murderer and traitor does not deserve to see her victims."
"As you wish."
"Sir?"
"Yes, Hermione?"
"What's going to happen?"
"You will have a trial." He sighed. "I'm afraid that you may be spending some time in Azkaban for this."
My stomach flip-flopped. I completely forgot about the wizarding prison.
"And, Hermione?"
"Yes, sir?" Oh, god. This couldn't get any worse, could it?
"I am going to talk with the other professors. They…may see fit that we expel you."
"I expected no less, sir." True, I had expected to be expelled immediately. I guess I was just lucky to have the professors voice their opinions. I'm sure that Professors Vector and Flitwick will want me to stay. Wait, what am I saying? I deserve to be expelled! I killed a boy! I killed Ron! My best friend!
The Headmaster turned his back on me and began to walk away. I thought of something and called out. "Sir?"
He spun around. "Yes, Hermione?" His face was even more tired and hopeless looking than it was when I first told him the news.
"When will my trial be?"
"You will receive an owl sometime today, I suppose. Good luck, Hermione."
~
I hadn't gotten an owl. I had gotten a man. Cornelius Fudge, to be exact. His head appeared in the Common Room fireplace. Luckily I was the only one there. He told me to apparate to London. When I told him that you couldn't apparate or disapparate inside Hogwarts, all he said was that exceptions had been made. I did as I was told.
And here I am. I'm sitting in a chair in a courtroom. It's much like the one's Harry told me about in fourth year. My arms are held down with shackles and my feet are chained to the ground. God, you'd think I was a Death Eater or something. Wait. I am just like a Death Eater. I killed a person who fought the Dark Lord. What a wonderful thought.
Cornelius Fudge stood up. He asked me to tell the courtroom my side of the story. I did. I told them about how Ron told me what to tell them. How I threw his wand in the lake. When I finished, the Minister asked any witnesses to tell what happened. Dumbledore stood and said that I had admitted to murdering Ron. It was true. I had. Then Harry stood. He said that I was blaming myself for Ron's death and that I wouldn't say otherwise.
Those were the only two witnesses. Cornelius Fudge stood again. This time he talked to me. "Ms. Granger, will you please drink a goblet full of Veritaserum so the courtroom may hear the completely true story?" I must have made a strange face, so he said, "I have no reason to think that you have lied to us. This is just standard procedure. It may actually help to give you a lighter punishment."
I thought it over for a moment. And now I speak. "Sir, I decline your offer to drink the truth potion. I have heard that it completely ruins one section of your mind, and I would prefer not to drink it."
"Miss Granger--"
"Mr. Fudge, I completely understand that this is strong evidence against me."
"If you must…" One of the members of the jury stood up and walked over to Fudge. He spoke quickly and quietly and then returned to his seat. "The jury has reached a decision and has asked me to read it."
I can feel a lump in my throat. I know that nothing good will come out of his mouth in the next minute.
"The jury of this courtroom has found one, Miss Hermione Marie Granger, guilty of murder in the first degree. There is no evidence to prove otherwise, unless she wishes to drink the potion. We are not able to do priori incantantem on the victim's wand to see if he truly did put the defendant under one of the Unforgivable Curses. Hermione, do you still refuse to drink the potion?"
"Yes, sir, I refuse."
I can see him sigh. I'm sure that he doesn't want to do this. Maybe I'm the youngest person he's sentenced. I'm not sure.
"Miss Hermione Marie Granger, you are sentenced to life in Azkaban."
I had known that it was coming. I just didn't expect to feel so…so nervous. And upset. I can't believe that I will be spending the rest of my life with those horrid dementors. I deserved it, though.
~
I was pulled out of the courtroom, apparently kicking and screaming, and apparated to Azkaban. I landed right in an empty cell. I could feel the dementors swooping down on me. They most likely hadn't had much fresh meat since Snuffles escaped. It's going to be a long time in here with those awful things…
Let me explain my cell to you. It's about seven feet on either side, with a small wooden platform in the corner. I sat on it most of the time. My bed is underneath it, with a slightly curved piece of stone as a pillow. How wonderful this life is going to be…
I saw a little white plaque on the outside of my bars. No doubt, it said Hermione Marie Granger, Life on it. Across the aisle there was an empty cell. The plaque on it said Sirius Orion Black, Life, Kiss.
And then I saw Ron standing before me, telling me he was going to kill himself…
A/N: Ooh, aren't I evil? Yes, this is the end. The end of this wonderful, horrible story. I have an idea for an epilogue, but I'm not sure if I will do it. It's actually a lot sadder than this ending, so you can choose. Tell me in your review if you would like to see the epilogue. But don't forget to actually review!