Chapter 6

Hermione ducked her head, and the officer pushed her into the muggle car. Draco sat beside her motionless, his arms also tied, and it seemed that the officials had also confiscated his wand.

"We're in trouble now," Draco muttered as the officers conferred outside. "Thanks to your friend."

"He thinks he's doing the right thing," she murmured tiredly. "Do you think they'll put Blaise in another car?"

Draco nodded, craning his neck to see the other car. "Yeah, they did. He looks rather murderous, doesn't he?"

Hermione sighed. "Well, I would be too, if I were him. We're going to have to make this up to him somehow. It's our fault he's been arrested."

"No," Draco said dangerously. "It's Luc's fault."

"Draco," she said tiredly. "Don't go blaming Luc. We're the one's who weren't straight with him about who you were, and what's going on. I mean, if we had told him we had helped vanquish Voldemort, perhaps this wouldn't have happened."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Do you think he would have believed us? It makes sense that Harry was the one to destroy Voldemort, but a Malfoy and a witch that nobody's ever heard of?"

Hermione cocked her head, and grinned. "I'm not that unknown. Remember that awful article Rita Skeeter wrote about me? Well, I'm sure that it reached France."

"How that is going to benefit us is beyond me," Draco said irritably. "Oh, and here come those stupid police officers, or whatever you call them."


Hermione was unceremoniously dumped in a chair in front of a desk, and a rather portly looking wizard sat opposite her, his face drawn and weary.

"Morning Ms. Granger," he said, his English accent shocking Hermione slightly. "Welcome to the French Ministry Investigation of Foreign Crime."

"Thank you," Hermione said, inclining her head graciously. They had dragged Draco away to be quizzed in another room.

He ran his hand over his face. "We received a tip from a French citizen that you and your companions, a Mr. Draco Malfoy, and Mr. Blaise Zabini, were supporters of You-Know-Who, recently destroyed by Harry Potter."

Hermione smiled forgivingly. "I am afraid there has been some sort of mistake. Mr. Malfoy and I have no connections with You-Know-Who directly, and though I cannot vouch for Mr. Zabini assuredly, I can tell you that he is a very upstanding young British youth."

The officer straightened up, adjusting his tie, staring at her with doubt. "Mr. Malfoy is the only son of a prominent Death Eater, currently imprisoned for crimes against several students, and his son is most likely involved in his father's criminal activities."

Hermione looked at him imperiously.

"I am afraid you are mistaken, Mr.-"

"Mr. Smith," the man finished for her. "Continue."

"Draco Malfoy is a close friend of Harry Potter, and he helped defeat Voldemort last month," Hermione said, and glared at Smith when he scoffed. "And if you don't believe me, feel free to contact Mr. Albus Dumbledore, a good friend of ours."

Smith stood, his annoyance clear in his agitated manner.

"I will then," he said, whipping out a quill. When she said nothing, he summoned his owl, and wrote a quick note. The owl flew off after he tied it on and they sat in silence, Hermione serene and calm, while Smith was irritated beyond all belief.

Momentarily, a letter appeared out of nowhere, sitting on Smith's desk ominously, the curly green handwriting clearly recognizable. Hermione smiled triumphantly, and watched with pleasure as Smith tore open the envelope and pulled out the parchment, his hands shaking in excitement.

"Dear Mr. Smith," he read aloud. "Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy, and Mr. Zabini are all students of mine at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the United Kingdom. Mr. Malfoy has severed ties with his family, and Ms. Granger has an exemplary record. She and Mr. Malfoy both assisted in the destruction of Voldemort's-" Smith flinched at this, but continued, "body this past May, and Mr. Zabini is one of our best students, and I can assure you that none of them have any contact whatsoever with Voldemort," again Smith twitched, "I am sorry to hear that they have been taken into your custody. You are holding them without any basis for your claims, and if they are not released, the English Ministry of Magic will come and fetch them. Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore."

Smith closed the letter, once again, the tired old man she had first seen when she was shoved into his office.

"I'm sorry," he said, running his still shaking hand through his hair. "You are free to go, and I offer you my sincere apology."


The three of them met on the sidewalk outside the French Ministry. The guest entrance was a public bathroom, with a talking faucet, if you twisted it enough.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said, wanting to cry, but knowing that it would only create an uncomfortable atmosphere. "I never dreamed that he would turn us into the government."

Blaise patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it too much," he said with a shrug. "At least Dumbledore intervened on our behalf, we would have been on our way to Azkaban without him."

"Well, that just ruined our day," Draco said angrily. "Because of that stupid, ponce Luc-"

"Stop it Draco," Hermione said sharply. "We've got better things to do than complain. After all, he could be your brother."

Draco snorted. "If he is, I don't want anything to do with him!"


That night, back at the hotel, the three of them sat at the table over their takeout dinner. Hermione hadn't felt like eating out, and Blaise had agreed, saying that fancy dining would only make his day worse.

"Well, do you want to stay here?" Hermione asked Draco as he wolfed down his steak with a voracity that was very intimidating.

Draco shook his head. "We've got too many problems back at home, we need to go back. With-" he glanced at Blaise. "Your friend back, and Dumbledore needing our help, I feel guilty going on a vacation."

Hermione tried to hide her disappointment.

"Okay," she said quietly. "We'll just come back next summer, or over spring break. Thanks for everything Blaise."

Blaise shrugged. "It was fun while it lasted. You all come back over spring break, and we can have a really good time. The two of you have stuff to deal with back home."

Hermione nodded, stifling her unhappiness.


A/N: For whoever asked, in their review, this is the sequel to one of my previous stories, Disfigurement. Just go to my homepage to see all my writing and previous writings. Everyone review!