A/N: I'm so, so sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter up! I've
been working on yet another new fan fic. I don't know what to call it
though. Whadda you think? "Fallen Angel" ('cause it's about this girl who's
an angel sent to help Draco.you'll understand better when you read it) or
"Gold and Gray" (Gold stands for Haley the angel and gray for Draco).
Anyhow, I'll shut up now. I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Hermione apparated to Harry's as soon as she got up her strength. Tears still ran freely down her face and she was sure she looked like a disaster, but she didn't care. She had to get Draco back.
"Harry!" she called frantically as she banged her fists against the front door. "Harry, help me! Please."
The door swung open to reveal a stressed-out version of her friend. His black hair stuck up in every direction and his emerald eyes were held wide open solely by the dangerous amounts of caffeine he had ingested.
'Hermione," he pulled her into his arms, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for him to be caught." He led her into his house and to the leather sofa.
"They took him, Harry," Hermione sobbed into her friend's chest. "We need to save him. He's innocent!"
"We'll get him back. I'll go talk to Moody in the morning," Harry's hand ran through her hair. "At first, I wasn't very happy with you and Draco. I hated that you could like someone who I hated so much. Then there was the incident around Christmas when you two stopped speaking. You were miserable and I could see it. You were so happy when he was around. When you told me at the Three Broomsticks after graduation that you loved him, I knew that it wouldn't matter what I thought and I learned to accept it. He came to my house a few weeks back. He asked me where you were and I refused to tell him. He made me take a truth potion and found out where you were. He apologized," Harry laughed lightly at this, "and told me he loved you and had to find you before the Aurors did. When you wrote me the letter telling me he was there, I didn't know what to do. I wanted to save your feelings, but I felt a responsibility to my job. I didn't tell them, Hermione. Your happiness meant more to me than my job or even Azkaban and I'm so sorry that they found out through me."
"Harry, will you help me?"
"Of course I will," Harry kissed her forehead. "In the morning, sleep now. You look exhausted."
"Yeah," Hermione laid her head on Harry's lap and cried for an hour before falling asleep.
Harry gently picked her head up off his lap and shoved a pillow under it as she mumbled incoherently. He had to go see Alastor Moody. Now.
'It's all my fault,' he thought to himself as he apparated outside Moody's office. The wooden face of the man looked up from his desk and inspected Harry through the door.
"Come in, Mr. Potter," he called. Harry bustled through the door and up to Moody's desk. "I suppose this has to do with the recent arrest of Draco Malfoy?"
"Yes, sir. He's innocent," Harry looked at Moody. The man's normal eye was rested on Harry as the other one rolled around its socket.
"What makes you believe this?"
"Well, my friend, Hermione Granger, cast a spell. She's a very powerful witch and knows what she's doing. She said it was a spell to see whether or not a person had been under the Imperius curse and that its effect proved that Malfoy had been. She said that many people didn't know about the spell and that it was something used in the days of Voldemort by the Aurors."
"Yes. She is correct. However, Mr. Potter, do you believe it is possible that Mr. Malfoy was put under the Imperius curse before the murder of Samuel Weston?" Moody opened his normal eye wider, asking Harry to consider the option.
"Yes, but that is a small possibility. Also, why would Dr- Malfoy would have told me and Hermione that he had been put under the curse if he thought there no way to prove it? Don't you think innocent until proven guilty pertains here? There is still a chance he was put under the curse and we can't send him to Azkaban until it is found out?" Harry was desperate now. Moody was hardly even giving him a chance to explain before retaliating.
"I'm sorry, Harry, but he has already been sent to Azkaban. Until we have another person to fill his cell, the dementors won't let him leave."
"But then? They'll let him out and send him to trial, but how are we supposed to find out when he was under the curse? It's impossible and they're not going to let him go, even if they can't prove he did it."
"Quite the contrary," Moody lowered his eyes to a book on his desk. "There are different phases to the spell Ms. Granger performed and you can, in fact, check to see if he was under the curse on a specific day. The problem will be convincing the jury. As you pointed out, not many people know of this spell or its power."
"But- but they have to believe you. You're an Auror and have been since before Voldemort!"
"Truth be told, not many people believe in me anymore. They believe I'm a paranoid old nutcase."
"Please, Moody, you just have to testify. If the jury doesn't believe you, then we'll have to think of something else. Right now, you're the only chance Malfoy's got."
"Okay, Mr. Potter. Since you are so passionate about the topic of Mr. Malfoy, I will apply for a trial and will have him taken out of Azkaban as soon as his cell can be filled. Now, may I please be left alone so I can try to figure out this case?"
"Yes, of course, sir," Harry stepped out of the office door and apparated back to his house. Much like Hogwarts, you could not apparate into or out of any Auror's office or home. The Ministry had taken that precaution after brutal murders of Aurors during Voldemort's reign.
Hermione was still sleeping uneasily on Harry's sofa. She kept moving and moaning and her forehead was creased in constant worries. Harry pushed a lock of hair out of her face and went to his kitchen to start a pot of tea.
Harry had done all he could do, but still he felt like he hadn't done enough. His best friend had gone through so many problems in her love life. First there was Draco, whom she loved but left after Hogwarts. Then, there was Ron. Only one word could describe that relationship: disaster. Six months of bickering and fights about how Ron thought he knew what was best for Hermione and Hermione was too much of a know-it-all for Ron. Surprisingly, after all of that, Ron had then proposed. He sent his owl to Hermione's house with a ring tied to his leg. He couldn't ask her himself due to the fact that he was in Disney World and too impatient. The ring had a Minnie Mouse head with a veil on it. It was plastic. Needless to say, Hermione had sent it back along with a Howler, which blew up in the middle of the amusement park.
She never loved Ron. She never even gave him a chance, truthfully. In the back of her mind and the whole of her heart, she was pining for Draco. Many times, she had repeated a Latin phrase to Harry. "Quor amor verus tenuit, tenebit." Those whom true love has held, it will go on holding. Obviously, it was true. At least in Hermione's case.
Hermione sauntered into the kitchen and sat on the stool across the bar from Harry.
"How are you?" Harry looked up from his teakettle.
"I'm okay," Hermione gave him a weak smile.
"I talked to Moody."
"Really?" Hermione's eyes darted up. "And?"
"As soon as someone can fill Mal-Draco's stall, he's going to be released until trial. Moody said he would testify. The problem is getting the jury to believe in the spell that you used before and that Moody is going to use on him before the court."
"He's going to be released?" Hermione smiled brightly and ran to hug Harry. "You are the BEST friend in the world! Thank you!"
"You're welcome, Hermione, but remember, there still is a chance that he won't be believed. A very large chance."
"But now he at least has a chance," Hermione pulled away. "He didn't have that before. I have to go. My own house awaits me and I'm sorry I've taken over yours." She kissed him on the cheek and stepped out of Harry's front door, leaving him no time to speak. He simply watched her go, wondering how badly her heart would break should he and Moody fail to succeed in this trial.
Hermione apparated to Harry's as soon as she got up her strength. Tears still ran freely down her face and she was sure she looked like a disaster, but she didn't care. She had to get Draco back.
"Harry!" she called frantically as she banged her fists against the front door. "Harry, help me! Please."
The door swung open to reveal a stressed-out version of her friend. His black hair stuck up in every direction and his emerald eyes were held wide open solely by the dangerous amounts of caffeine he had ingested.
'Hermione," he pulled her into his arms, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for him to be caught." He led her into his house and to the leather sofa.
"They took him, Harry," Hermione sobbed into her friend's chest. "We need to save him. He's innocent!"
"We'll get him back. I'll go talk to Moody in the morning," Harry's hand ran through her hair. "At first, I wasn't very happy with you and Draco. I hated that you could like someone who I hated so much. Then there was the incident around Christmas when you two stopped speaking. You were miserable and I could see it. You were so happy when he was around. When you told me at the Three Broomsticks after graduation that you loved him, I knew that it wouldn't matter what I thought and I learned to accept it. He came to my house a few weeks back. He asked me where you were and I refused to tell him. He made me take a truth potion and found out where you were. He apologized," Harry laughed lightly at this, "and told me he loved you and had to find you before the Aurors did. When you wrote me the letter telling me he was there, I didn't know what to do. I wanted to save your feelings, but I felt a responsibility to my job. I didn't tell them, Hermione. Your happiness meant more to me than my job or even Azkaban and I'm so sorry that they found out through me."
"Harry, will you help me?"
"Of course I will," Harry kissed her forehead. "In the morning, sleep now. You look exhausted."
"Yeah," Hermione laid her head on Harry's lap and cried for an hour before falling asleep.
Harry gently picked her head up off his lap and shoved a pillow under it as she mumbled incoherently. He had to go see Alastor Moody. Now.
'It's all my fault,' he thought to himself as he apparated outside Moody's office. The wooden face of the man looked up from his desk and inspected Harry through the door.
"Come in, Mr. Potter," he called. Harry bustled through the door and up to Moody's desk. "I suppose this has to do with the recent arrest of Draco Malfoy?"
"Yes, sir. He's innocent," Harry looked at Moody. The man's normal eye was rested on Harry as the other one rolled around its socket.
"What makes you believe this?"
"Well, my friend, Hermione Granger, cast a spell. She's a very powerful witch and knows what she's doing. She said it was a spell to see whether or not a person had been under the Imperius curse and that its effect proved that Malfoy had been. She said that many people didn't know about the spell and that it was something used in the days of Voldemort by the Aurors."
"Yes. She is correct. However, Mr. Potter, do you believe it is possible that Mr. Malfoy was put under the Imperius curse before the murder of Samuel Weston?" Moody opened his normal eye wider, asking Harry to consider the option.
"Yes, but that is a small possibility. Also, why would Dr- Malfoy would have told me and Hermione that he had been put under the curse if he thought there no way to prove it? Don't you think innocent until proven guilty pertains here? There is still a chance he was put under the curse and we can't send him to Azkaban until it is found out?" Harry was desperate now. Moody was hardly even giving him a chance to explain before retaliating.
"I'm sorry, Harry, but he has already been sent to Azkaban. Until we have another person to fill his cell, the dementors won't let him leave."
"But then? They'll let him out and send him to trial, but how are we supposed to find out when he was under the curse? It's impossible and they're not going to let him go, even if they can't prove he did it."
"Quite the contrary," Moody lowered his eyes to a book on his desk. "There are different phases to the spell Ms. Granger performed and you can, in fact, check to see if he was under the curse on a specific day. The problem will be convincing the jury. As you pointed out, not many people know of this spell or its power."
"But- but they have to believe you. You're an Auror and have been since before Voldemort!"
"Truth be told, not many people believe in me anymore. They believe I'm a paranoid old nutcase."
"Please, Moody, you just have to testify. If the jury doesn't believe you, then we'll have to think of something else. Right now, you're the only chance Malfoy's got."
"Okay, Mr. Potter. Since you are so passionate about the topic of Mr. Malfoy, I will apply for a trial and will have him taken out of Azkaban as soon as his cell can be filled. Now, may I please be left alone so I can try to figure out this case?"
"Yes, of course, sir," Harry stepped out of the office door and apparated back to his house. Much like Hogwarts, you could not apparate into or out of any Auror's office or home. The Ministry had taken that precaution after brutal murders of Aurors during Voldemort's reign.
Hermione was still sleeping uneasily on Harry's sofa. She kept moving and moaning and her forehead was creased in constant worries. Harry pushed a lock of hair out of her face and went to his kitchen to start a pot of tea.
Harry had done all he could do, but still he felt like he hadn't done enough. His best friend had gone through so many problems in her love life. First there was Draco, whom she loved but left after Hogwarts. Then, there was Ron. Only one word could describe that relationship: disaster. Six months of bickering and fights about how Ron thought he knew what was best for Hermione and Hermione was too much of a know-it-all for Ron. Surprisingly, after all of that, Ron had then proposed. He sent his owl to Hermione's house with a ring tied to his leg. He couldn't ask her himself due to the fact that he was in Disney World and too impatient. The ring had a Minnie Mouse head with a veil on it. It was plastic. Needless to say, Hermione had sent it back along with a Howler, which blew up in the middle of the amusement park.
She never loved Ron. She never even gave him a chance, truthfully. In the back of her mind and the whole of her heart, she was pining for Draco. Many times, she had repeated a Latin phrase to Harry. "Quor amor verus tenuit, tenebit." Those whom true love has held, it will go on holding. Obviously, it was true. At least in Hermione's case.
Hermione sauntered into the kitchen and sat on the stool across the bar from Harry.
"How are you?" Harry looked up from his teakettle.
"I'm okay," Hermione gave him a weak smile.
"I talked to Moody."
"Really?" Hermione's eyes darted up. "And?"
"As soon as someone can fill Mal-Draco's stall, he's going to be released until trial. Moody said he would testify. The problem is getting the jury to believe in the spell that you used before and that Moody is going to use on him before the court."
"He's going to be released?" Hermione smiled brightly and ran to hug Harry. "You are the BEST friend in the world! Thank you!"
"You're welcome, Hermione, but remember, there still is a chance that he won't be believed. A very large chance."
"But now he at least has a chance," Hermione pulled away. "He didn't have that before. I have to go. My own house awaits me and I'm sorry I've taken over yours." She kissed him on the cheek and stepped out of Harry's front door, leaving him no time to speak. He simply watched her go, wondering how badly her heart would break should he and Moody fail to succeed in this trial.