Chapter 9
The Hogs' Head looked exactly the same as it had back in fifth year, down to the grime on the bar and the creak in the door. Hermione suspected it was deliberate to keep the eerie gloom present for its usual less-than-savory customers - if it had any. Aberforth, the barkeep and owner of the place, grunted in greeting to Hermione and Harry when they entered, carefully closing the excessively crooked and creaky door behind them. They sat in the usual place they had their first DA meetings, a large round wooden table in the back corner, just barely out of sight from the front door. Harry and Hermione were the first to arrive and she wondered if they would be the only ones arriving.
Harry went off to get them both butterbeers and Hermione looked around at the shabby pub while she removed her gloves. The paint had been chipped or peeled off of the bottom of the wall, perhaps by rats or the scuff of boots over the years. She eyed a certain rickety chair that seemed to wobble in the breeze, one of its four legs shorter than the others, with rough chipped wood as if the leg had been broken by force. Hermione liked to imagine a bar fighting scene, where someone picked up that chair and hit someone over the back. The person would have toppled over, landing on the table to the far left. She eyed the table and saw the top was crooked. She smiled, amused at her little fantasy of observation.
The door to the pub creaked loudly, announcing someone's arrival. Harry returned with their butterbeers, sitting down next to her. Behind him walked a tall red-headed man. Ron smiled awkwardly to her and sat down on the opposite side of the table.
"Didn't know if you would come," Hermione said to him.
He shrugged. "If it's serious enough to call in reinforcements, I feel like I should be there."
"Thank you Ron," she said, just as the door in the other room creaked again. Hermione felt a tight knot in her stomach of anxiety meeting up with everyone again. That, and she wasn't sure any of them would want to help once she told them they were helping Draco Malfoy.
"Hi everyone," Luna said, walking towards them and taking a seat next to Ron. Right behind her was Neville, adjusting his scarf that had gotten caught on a nearby chair. Once he had freed himself and safely wrestled the scarf from around his neck he sat down next to Luna, his face scarlet from embarrassment.
"Hi Luna, Neville," she said with a nod when he had sat down. "Nice of you to come."
"Of course," Neville said. "I got a right fright when the galleon heated up in my pocket. I was actually re-potting our venomous tentacula when I felt it, almost got a right bad nip from one as well when I was distracted."
"He can really anger the wrackspurts sometimes," Luna said airily, smiling.
"Right," Hermione said. "I take it your job at the greenhouses is going well then?"
"It is," Neville said. "Sprout seems to forgive most of my accidents by now. She actually managed to predict one the other day-"
"Sorry I'm late," came a voice from the front room, cutting Neville off. "Almost splinched myself because of a bloody cat-"
"Oh please you're such a drama queen."
Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas joined their circle, pulling out chairs and plopping themselves down.
"Hey," Seamus said. "The next time your cat makes a leap for me when I'm apparating you can't blame me if its bloody screeching head comes off in the process."
"It's not that serious, it wasn't attacking or anything," Dean said.
"Oh sure, if it wasn't trying to attack me then that's bloody fine huh?"
"Please Seamus, can we lower the volume a little?"
"I AM USING A PERFECTLY NORMAL TONE OF VOICE THOMAS."
Dean rolled his eyes just as the door creaked and more people entered. Ginny and Katie Bell came in, saying hi to everyone and distracting them from the fumes peeking out of Seamus' ears. People ordered drinks and did a little bit of catch-up before Hermione felt too nervous to keep it off any longer.
"Okay well, hi," she declared over the group, asking for their attention. "Thank you for being here today, I'm honestly amazed so many of you kept your galleons." She shook her head, slightly ashamed she hadn't done the same herself.
"We're always here when you need us Hermione," Ginny said with a smile, and Hermione felt a tiny twinge of guilt for having lost touch with the youngest Weasley these past few years. But she was a professional quidditch player now and a bit harder to get a hold of.
"Hear hear," said George who had just entered the pub, he nodded his head to everyone. "Hello, long time no see," he said over the group. "Don't let me interrupt, I'm sure there is some world saving that needs to be done if I know these three right." He gestured to Harry, Hermione, and Ron and the rest of the group had a round of amicable laughs.
"I don't know if it's world saving exactly," Hermione said cautiously. "Again, I'm very glad you all came. But I'm well aware we all have our own lives now and are busy with our own things, so you don't need to feel any obligation or anything-"
"Just spit it out Hermione," Seamus said, not unkindly. "We're here to help, we trust you, otherwise none of us would be here."
"But this is different," she insisted. She glanced at Harry for backup and he simply nodded, letting her know this was her fight but he was on her side regardless. "This will involve a lot of not very legal things and might have real life-altering consequences. So I want to make sure you all know you can leave and are under no obligation to help."
"Are you in some kind of trouble, Hermione?" Neville asked, his mouth twisted with worry.
"Not me," she said cautiously, looking over the wonderful loving faces of her friends she hadn't seen in so many years. "I want you guys to help me… help me help Draco Malfoy."
There was a stunned silence that filled the room as if her sentence had stopped time. "What?" Ginny said, the first to break the silence. "I'm sorry, my ears must be clogged with wax or something because I could have sworn you just said you wanted to help Malfoy?"
Hermione nibbled her lip and nodded, feeling nervous.
"Hermione," Seamus said. "Is this a joke?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure I understand here," Dean said. "He was the biggest tosser in our year."
"Isn't he in Azkaban?" Katie asked the group. "I feel like I read that somewhere."
"Well yes, he is-" Hermione attempted.
"That's the least he deserves, the rotter," Seamus said.
"What does he need help with?" Luna asked Hermione, her eyes wide and glossy as always. "Nargles? Or perhaps Dabberblimps? Those can get quite serious, you know."
"I…" Hermione wavered, not certain she should be thankful that Luna brought the conversation back to what it was truly about, or confused because she had never heard about Dabberblimps before. "Well see, I'm studying to be a lawyer and I actually uhm… took on Malfoys' case to make sure he wouldn't get the dementors' kiss after his trial. But, okay, I'm not explaining it right. So, there have been a couple of cases involving Death Eaters recently wherein they were all sentenced to get the kiss after their trials, but the trials themselves seemed to have been set up for them to fail. And I feel like this one - MY one is being set up to fail too and he doesn't deserve to get his soul sucked out of him just for being a school bully," she implored to Seamus.
"What about the lives he has altered forever with his actions?" Katie said, stoic.
Hermione hesitated, looking at her. "I know this is probably hard for you Katie, and like I said you don't need to stay and help - I would completely understand if you don't. But the things he did were under duress-"
"We were all 'under duress'," Katie spat, standing up abruptly. "That's not an excuse. He's a Death Eater, he did unspeakable things. He does not deserve to be helped or forgiven." Katie then marched out and Hermione flinched when the door slammed against the frame behind her, then creaked back open again from the force.
Hermione swallowed. "If anyone else feels the same way, now would probably be the best time for you to leave too. I understand your feelings on the matter, but I can't let an innocent man be punished unjustly."
"Innocent?" Seamus bellowed. "He sure as hell wasn't very innocent when all of you were held captive at his house! Not to mention when all of us were being tortured at school every day. Didn't see him lift so much as a finger, did we?"
"That was a poor choice of words," Hermione said quickly, trying to backtrack. "What I mean is, yes he's not exactly innocent, but everyone deserves a fair trial. Can't we all at least agree on that? If the roles were reversed, if we hadn't won and we were all facing trial with Umbridge or someone as a judge, do you think we would have gotten a fair one?" She looked around at her friends, gauging their reactions. "I want to believe that our system isn't so broken that we - as a society - would stoop as low as they did. We are not all knowing, and human beings are complicated. No one is wholly good or wholly evil. Therefore we cannot possibly be judged that way."
"I think," Luna said, with her airy, bright voice. "That's a good way to phrase that. Just because Thestrals aren't very pretty on the eyes doesn't mean they're evil creatures. Obviously the cause of us seeing them is unfortunate, but that's not their fault. If I saw an injured Thestral I would go help it, wouldn't you?"
"Thanks Luna, I appreciate the support," Hermione said, actually quite touched even if the example given was a bit strange and disjointed. "I'm not a lawyer yet, I'm still finishing my thesis," Hermione admitted. "Therefore the ministry appointed lawyer is back with me on the case and he is going to make sure I have no way of winning, no way of avoiding that dementors' kiss for Malfoy. And I cannot abide by that. Not only because I hate to lose but because of the injustice."
"What can we do?" Ron spoke up, looking up at her. Hermione couldn't read his expression, but she wished she could.
"I need to have a plan in place if- I mean when, I lose. I can't let them take Malfoy's soul, I just can't."
"I'm in," George said suddenly. "My life has been nothing but boring routine lately, might as well spice it up, and what's more unexpected than this?"
"Thank you," Hermione said sincerely.
"I'm in too," Ginny said. "Katie might be my teammate, and I'm not very pro-Malfoy to begin with, but I agree with Hermione. Morally, this is wrong. Everyone should get a free trial."
"Hermione, you're sure he deserves your help?" Dean said, cautiously eyeing Seamus. "I mean, all of his school bully behaviour aside, he is still a Death Eater."
"It's not about him deserving my help or not Dean, it's about giving it to those that need it. And he isn't a Death Eater, he used to be one, and not a very good one if he can't even identify Harry to his family when his face is swollen." She gestured to Harry and he shrugged. "Look, I can't do this on my own. Don't look at it as helping him, look at it as helping me."
"Anything you need," Neville said, "I'm here to help."
Luna smiled and took his hand, Neville blushed but squeezed it back. Hermione looked over the group, seeing that everyone aside from Seamus had spoken up. And everyone seemed to have realised that at the same time and were looking at him.
He groaned. "If I have to be anywhere near the tosser I'm punching him in the face, got that?"
"I suppose that's fair," Hermione said cautiously.
"Then I'm in," he grumbled, smacking Dean's hand away when he tried to pat his shoulder. "But I'm not happy about it."
Hermione smiled, and looked over her group of misfits. "Let's get to work."
Hermione walked through the great big double doors that led into the main hall of Hogwarts. Harry, who was next to her seemed to have the same feeling of anticipation and dread. Hermione had not gone back to finish their seventh year, seeing absolutely no point in it. Instead she delved head first into her lawyer training. Same with Harry and Ron who had both gotten positions in Auror training shortly after her education began. So seeing Hogwarts again was strange. Displaced memories seemed to be glued to the walls. Through the big archway she could see the four tables and some scattered students sitting about. In her mind it shifted from a sorting ceremony, to Halloween decorations, Christmas, a dueling club and end of year feast. In the hall she saw the steps she had sat on to cry after the Yule Ball fourth year, to her left she saw herself scraped, bruised and exhausted dueling a wizard dressed in black, getting pushed back into the school for the final push of the resistance where bodies were lying in rows against the walls.
Hermione shook it off and looked to Harry who looked just as lost in thought as she was. "Ready?" She asked and started for the staircase.
"Not really," Harry said, very truthfully. "Strange being back isn't it? To a place I used to call home."
"It is strange," she agreed. "Not sure if it's a good or bad kind of strange."
They walked up the many winding and shifting staircases up to the headmistress's office. Minerva McGonnagall greeted them as she stood by her great oak desk. The office which used to house trinkets and oddities belonging to Dumbledore, was now plainly decorated with items placed because they had a purpose. Portraits of old headmasters past lined the walls all the way up to the ceiling, most of whom were watching them attentively, not least the two most recent portraits on the wall.
"It is nice to see you two again," McGonagall said, gesturing for them to have a seat in an armchair. "I hope all is well."
"Yes well," Hermione started, going for the polite response. "We're doing okay."
"What seems to be the purpose of your visit?" She said, eyeing the two of them.
Hermione looked to Harry and saw that he was watching Dumbledore's portrait, probably too deep in thought to have heard her question. She sighed inwardly and then took it upon herself to speak. "It's twofold, actually. I guess jumping straight into it might be beneficial to all parties as you don't have a lot of time." Hermione stood and handed McGonagall a piece of parchment. "Firstly, I would like to ask for your help. My client, whom I legally have to refer to as Prisoner 8-4-7 to keep anonymity, but I believe you can tell by the information I have handed you who we are speaking of. Prisoner 8-4-7 is to go to trial very soon and I, along with Pierce Kroms, will be presenting his defence to the Warlocks at the Wizengamot. Ensuring your testimony might be very beneficial for his release."
McGonagall read over the parchment Hermione had handed her and nodded, she set it down on her desk and looked back over at her with a pensive lift to her eyebrow. "You feel that this is in their best interest?"
"I do, if his past is the problem-"
"Miss Granger," McGonagall cut in. "I do not presume to know how your thoughts on the man have changed over the years. I will help testify at the trial, I will answer honestly to the character of the man that used to be a student here. What you're doing is a valiant thing, courageous even in light of recent trials that have gone sour these past few years. In the case of Mr.- " she gestured to the parchment now laying on her desk. "I do not believe him worthy of such a horrific sentence."
"Thank you, professor- I mean, Headmistress. Sorry, old habits."
McGonagall nodded. "I understand." She waved a hand for Hermione to proceed.
"Right, secondly, Harry would like to apply for a teaching job."
Hermione's bluntness seemed to shake Harry out of his stupor, he tore his gaze away from the portraits and to the two women now looking at him.
"Is this true, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall asked.
Harry seemed to almost shrink in his chair from embarrassment, it felt to Hermione like he had aged back ten years and was being scolded for losing a quidditch match.
"Yes, I… I've left the Auror department and it's been brought to my attention," Harry said, glancing at Hermione and straightening up in his chair. "A couple of times, that teaching might be something of a skill of mine."
"Hmm," McGonagall said, pondering his words. "What position were you thinking of?"
"Defence Against the Dark Arts," Harry said.
She nodded. "Makes sense, you always did have a flare for the dramatic." McGonagall grinned, then stood and walked round to sit in the high armchair by her desk. She rifled through one of the drawers and then took out a quill and ink. "When can you begin your training?"
"Training?" Harry asked.
"Yes, if you are going to be a teacher you will need the correct qualifications, you didn't think we just let anyone teach at this school?"
"Well, headmistress, to be quite honest - yes, I did. I mean Lockhart taught here and-"
She held up a hand. "Please do not remind me of that imbecile. Your point has been noted. Unfortunately, all of those who have taught Defence Against the Dark Arts were qualified to, both with experience and either a teachers qualification or a degree. False or otherwise," she mumbled as she wrote on the parchment, then handed it over to Harry. "Here are the details, please bring in information on your past experiences, work and field related to the first meeting. If all goes to plan, you can apply for the job in a couple of months."
"Wow," Harry said, taking the parchment. "Thank you, prof- headmistress. That's… thank you."
McGonagall nodded. "No reason to go overboard Potter, this works the same way for everyone who applies. Despite you being a former student, there is no special treatment at Hogwarts." At their sceptical looks she sighed and added, "Anymore."
"Thank you Headmistress," Harry said, and Hermione nodded.
"Now, if that is all you may take your leave. It was nice seeing you two again."
"You too," Hermione said, shaking her hand and heading towards the door.
"Hope to see you again soon," McGonagall said. "Oh and Potter, if you ever want to come around and play some quidditch there are a couple of former students that host practice games on Thursday nights on the pitch."
"Oh cool, yeah I'd be interested in that."
"Wonderful, I'll owl you the details."
They headed back down the staircase, about halfway down Hermione suddenly stopped. Told Harry she had forgotten something and left him to walk the rest of the way alone as she hurried back up the steps to McGongall's office. When she came back down Harry asked her what that was about, but she waved it off and said she had simply forgotten she was going to take the parchment back.
Back at Grimmauld place Theo had blown up their kitchen. Well, not literally. They got back and the kitchen was an absolute mess. There were wet sticky blobs everywhere in different colours, flour on the floor, ketchup on the cabinets. Hermione was so confused by the mess she couldn't even get herself to yell or raise her voice but simply said - absolutely confounded: "Theo, what… what?"
"I made food!" Theo declared with a sweep of his arms. "Pretty neat huh?"
"Uhm… neat isn't exactly the word I'd use to describe it."
"Theo," Harry said, cautiously taking a step into the kitchen, avoiding a spectacularly neon green blob on the floor. "What did you make?"
"First I made pie, then that kind of came out burnt so instead I made muffins," Theo said, gesturing to a plate filled with stacks of what smelled like blueberry muffins. "Then I thought I should make dinner since you two would be out for so long - so I cooked up a couple of steaks and potatoes - wait you eat meat right?" He asked Hermione.
"Oh, yes I do." She said, still surprised by the mess, but caught herself and found it quite endearing of him. "Thank you for asking,"
He waved it off. "All of that is set up in the next room on the dining table."
"Okay, but… how did all of this happen?" Harry said, gesturing to the floor and the cabinets.
"Oh that, well Kreacher came in while I was cooking and complained about how clean everything was so I made sure to make a big mess so he had something to do while we ate. He actually came in here earlier and cried from happiness."
"Wow," Harry said, looking at Theo. "That's… so weird and so nice at the same time."
Theo smirked and shrugged. "That's usually how people describe my-"
"OKAY!" Hermione said loudly. "I'm going to just go into the dining room thanks, you guys can… whatever." She said waving her hands about in their general direction. Aiming herself at the door as Harry wrapped his arms around Theo.
Hermione shook her head and walked to the dining room. The table was set up so nicely. No wonder Theo came from a rich background. Even the napkins had been folded into swans on top of the plates, where they moved about as if on a pond. Candles were lit and there was even a centerpiece of flowers on the table. The dining room had never looked so good, or so romantic. Hermione grabbed her plate and took her serving of food, settling for a night in her room to let the two lovebirds enjoy their romantic dinner in peace.
She set her plate down on her desk, moving the haphazardly strewn pieces of paper and parchment, and pushing half-open books to the side. As she ate her food she pondered how she could deal with Kroms in a way that wouldn't backfire horribly. She doubted that was even possible, the man was out for blood and her demise - at least the end of her career before it even got to start. Hermione leant back in her chair, reaching into her coat pocket and lifting the gilded chain up to the light. She had a feeling things would go her way this time, just as they had before. It was going to be tricky, and difficult to maneuver. But this is what had to happen.
She looked at the necklace spin as the last rays of the sunset pierced through her window and bounced off its gold surface.
Draco Malfoy deserved to be free.
Pierce Kroms would not win.
Hermione Granger would persevere and do anything in her power to do the right thing. Even if she needed a time-turner to do it.
"The psychological evaluation has come back," Kroms said, joining her in interrogation room 9 once more. He waved the piece of paper in a flourish before putting it down on the table in front of her. "Looks like I'll be ordering the cage after all, and just in time too."
Hermione read over the paper and then shoved it back towards him. "You're despicable," she said, not even going to pretend at civility anymore. "Do you even care that you are condemning a person to death, do you even comprehend how disgusting it is what you're doing?" She got up out of her chair, annoyed he had the higher ground, towering over her.
"What is disgusting, Ms. Granger," he said with such force, with all clenched teeth and stiff frame leaning over her so she plopped back down into her seat. "Is scum and vermin criminals like him dirtying our streets and society. We must purge ourselves of their evil."
Hermione stared at him. And stared. Because she had heard that before. But instead of falling back into unsettling memories Hermione felt a tightening in her stomach that had nothing to do with an oncoming episode. No, she was not losing her grip on her emotions, on reality, on the when and now. She was angrier than she had ever been and somehow, it steadied her resolve. It cemented the fact that she had been right all along.
"Your prejudice, Mr. Kroms," she said, mimicking his tone of distaste. "Is duly noted."
Before he had a chance to reply the guards came in with Malfoy in tow. His shackles fastened to the table, and the door to the room closed with a guard on either side. Hermione didn't even try to get a word in when Kroms started the meeting, it would have been pointless anyway. He didn't allow her to speak, wouldn't let her get a word in - and Hermione briefly wondered if he was a misogynist as well as a prejudiced and entitled prick. No, she waited patiently for her time to strike and the perfect opportunity came when Kroms went to tell Malfoy about the results from the psych eval. His tone was menacing but gleeful, as if showing him how much he would suffer amused Kroms. Hermione leant down and picked up a tiny bowl with a lid on it. She plucked the lid off with a pop just as Kroms slimily slid the paper over to Malfoy to read for himself that he wouldn't just be chained but enclosed in a cage at his trial - like a ravenous animal.
Both men looked towards her at the sound, and she just smiled sweetly and did her best imitation of an exaggerated Marilyn Monroe with a shrug and an 'oopsie'. She saw Malfoy raise an eyebrow at her strange behaviour, but she could also see curiosity in his eye. He knew she was up to something.
"What is that?" Kroms snapped at her, jerking his head in her direction, annoyed at being interrupted.
"An assortment of nuts," Hermione said, popping a handful in her mouth then moving the container right under Kroms' nose. "Want some?" She said around the mouthful.
Kroms leapt out of his seat, backing away until his back hit the wall. "Ms. Granger put that away at once!"
"Why?" She said innocently. "I'm allowed to have snacks in here, and I'm really truly famished, barely had time for breakfast you see." She took another mouthful and dropped a couple of nuts on the floor. "Oops" she mumbled with her mouth stuffed.
"I…" Kroms looked around in a panic. Then plopped his hand over his nose and mouth, his eyes wide.
"You don't look so good, are you feeling alright, Mr. Kroms?" Hermione tilted her head to the side.
"I… have to-" Kroms stormed out of the interrogation room as quickly as he could, his voice already muffled.
"Well," Hermione said with a triumphant smile. "It seems Mr. Kroms has fallen ill, let the record show that Mr. P. Kroms has left the premises due to life threatening illness and the session will continue without him." She looked up at Malfoy and could see that he looked impressed. "Guard?"
The guard at the door looked at her.
"Could you step outside while I finish the meeting?"
"But dangerous prisoners should-"
"Yes, yes, I know. But you see, I'm his lawyer and I can ask you to step outside while I consulate. If anything happens you are right on the other side of the door, are you not?"
The guard hesitated, then nodded and stepped outside.
Hermione quickly grabbed her wand and waved it, putting a spell so no one could see into the interrogation room and silenced it for good measure.
"My my, what a sly snake we have become," Malfoy said, and when she looked at him she could almost she the familiar smirk on his face. "I'm impressed."
"Thank you," she said, allowing herself to enjoy his praise. "It was either that or actually killing Kroms which, I sadly admit, I did think about doing." She waved a hand. "Don't worry by the way, the spell I put on the room keeps everything we say off the record."
He nodded. "So what's your master plan then? You know you can't win."
"You're right, I can't." Hermione got up and walked around the table, she pointed her want at his chains and they fell away. He still had the shackles but for once he could freely move his arms and legs, untethered to each other or the table. Malfoy looked at his limbs with surprise, then up at her. "But I have a plan."
Malfoy stood from his seat and she went from looking down to looking up into his silvery eyes. The hair that had grown too long in his incarceration fell beside his cheeks, framing his angular face and sharp jaw. The pale skin gleaming just before the shadow went over his face, his head eclipsing the light behind him. "Of course Hermione Granger has a plan," he said and this time his smirk was there. Fully.
Hermione felt such triumph in that moment being able to see some of the Draco Malfoy she had known, no matter how annoying he had been back then. She could believe he wasn't like that now. She had to. He had apologised to her, so that was indication enough wasn't it? He felt guilty for what he had done, for the side he had been forced onto.
"I can't tell you the plan in full detail though, I know you can do occlumency but it's more than that." She shook her head. "I don't have time to explain why I can't explain," she said huffing out a laugh. Then it quickly died on her lips when his arms moved up and touched her shoulders, as if to steady her, but then his hands trailed down, skin on skin over her bare arms. There it was again, that electricity, the hairs on her forearms standing on end, a chill running up her spine and the back of her neck. Something inside her told her what it meant - but she also knew the strong blurry edge of denial keeping it hidden from her. Keeping whatever emotions she was feeling a mystery to herself.
"Your face flushes when you ramble." Those were the words out of his mouth. Hermione didn't even register what he had said until a few seconds later, her brain buffering because she was staring at his lips. They were closer to her than his eyes, she only needed to slightly tilt her head to look at his mouth and at the tongue darting out to wet his lower lip. Wait - why was everything in slow motion?
"Oh," was her educated and intelligent response. She swallowed, convincing herself it was nerves stuck in her throat, and looked back up into his eyes. She shook her thoughts out of her head and went back to business. "So when Kroms tanks the trial, I'll be there to get you out of this. Can you trust me?"
Malfoy was watching her, studying her face. "Does Theo trust you?"
Hermione hesitated. "I think so," she said cautiously.
"If Theo trusts you then I trust his judgement."
She pouted slightly. "You'll trust a man but-"
"Granger," he practically growled, grabbing her arms a little tighter. "This isn't a feminist issue. This is me trusting my life long friend over a woman I've seen once a week for nine weeks."
Hermione opened her mouth to protest but realised she was being stupid so shut it again. "Okay, that's fair. Also - that was an extremely unprofessional response and I apologise."
Malfoy shook his head. "I don't care. Also, Granger?"
"Yeah?"
"This trial was rigged the day I was sentenced in Azkaban. Years ago. I've known it, they've known it. I still don't see a point in fighting because no matter what you do, they'll still get their way. Maybe you should save your energies and try to save the next person instead. You must have had breakthroughs or whatever that you can use for the next one."
"Don't be silly," she said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm quite capable of saving you and whomever comes after."
"You joke but I'm being serious. I'm going to die-"
"No, you will die a natural death from old age sometime after an obnoxiously long life filled with your arrogance and inflated ego."
"Actually I think you're the one here with more arrogance strutting around everywhere in your heels and fancy skirts-"
"You're calling me arrogant? You? The high and mighty, nose in the air, I-am-better-than-thou Draco Malfoy?" She laughed. "I can't believe you can stand there and call me arrogant when-"
"Thinking you can save every bloody creature in the world because they got a fucking splinter and you come running with tweezers and bandages, you're not everybody's mum you know, some people can take care of themselves - I understand coming from friends such as Weasley that might be hard to comprehend-"
"All you did in school was whine and moan and talk about how your name meant this and your heritage meant that- HEY I do not mother my friends, how dare you, and Harry and Ron are fully capable of taking care of themselves-"
"I'm not someone you can save Granger, you need to get that through your thick fluffy skull and into your brain. I'm fucking broken."
Hermione stopped talking when he said that, stopped overlapping her words with his, her rant on top of his when his voice faltered. She hesitated, softening her voice as her gaze studied his face. "You're not the only one that's broken."
"I didn't ask you to fix me."
"I didn't say I was going to."
"Good."
"Good."
She stared.
He stared.
She breathed.
He sighed.
She leapt.
He leaned.
Then her mouth was on his and that sweet, intoxicating sensation of butterflies moving all around engulfed her senses. The hairs stood on end everywhere and there was this shiver that shook her to her core. His arms were around her and though he had gone thin in prison he felt warm and strong against her. A stable force in a storm she couldn't control. Her hands grabbed onto the material at the back of his neck, holding him to her. Hermione hadn't felt this alive, this full of electric live-wire, for so long she thought she had lost it. She thought she had lost the fire and was only running on fumes and stubbornness. But his soft lips caressing hers, his hands steady on her back - it fueled her, it turned the flame into a roaring inferno.
They pulled apart just enough to breathe. Just enough to open their eyes and look at each other.
"Fuck," they said in unison.
-Two weeks to the trial-
Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your support in reading my story. I know everything has gone completely crazy in the world and routine is hard to come by. Hopefully this can bring some kind of joy or entertainment to you in these isolating times. Please review if you can, it would mean the absolute world to me 3 Stay safe.
-Update of chapter- 2021
This story is now being posted to AO3 as well as here. I was getting a lot of troll reviews on ffn and was told that AO3 is a lot nicer - which it is. I will post the new chapters here as well. If you read this before I recommend reading some of the chapters again because things have been added since it was originally published. (The chapters were changed at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021).
