Chapter 10

Hermione sat at her desk, staring at the piece of paper.

Poisonous Prejudice in Wizarding Society

She finally had a title for her thesis. Her writing actually made sense. Now she sat there dumbstruck that it was almost over and was reluctant to write the last few pages. Writing her thesis had taken so long, parting with it was hard even if it had been the biggest pain in her butt for almost two years. An obsession that took hold of her life and held it hostage. The more she thought about it the sillier it seemed. She could have written this a long time ago, she could have written this only about her own experience, completely excluding the prevailing prejudice against others in wizarding society - focus only on the muggleborns and squibs. But that would have been wrong and man she was glad she hadn't. This thesis, this piece of writing was her baby - rather than hate it, the work and hours she had slaved over it with only a dozen words on the page - she cherished it. This was her hard work on paper, in ink. Maybe it would help someone else, maybe it could have an affect on wizarding society. She was probably being hopeful, optimistic and naive, she knew, but it was such a sweet thought.

She held onto sweet things now.

Sweet memories.

It had been almost a week since she had kissed Malfoy and yet every day she felt the tingle on her lips, and every day she recalled his arms around her. Unprofessionalism aside (because she had wallowed and scolded herself about that for three days straight already) she couldn't pinpoint how or why it had happened. Up until that point she hadn't felt anything for Malfoy particularly except maybe pity, perhaps intrigue? But at the same time she thought back to their hands touching the week before. Was that enough to create feelings? A simple touch of hands? Hardly. It was all very confusing and difficult to think about, so instead she had come to the conclusion that letting herself enjoy the memory of it, enjoy the feelings was more important than worrying. She had enough things to worry about.

Like her plans to break him out of Azkaban if she needed to.

Like her plans to go against everything she had studied about and break the law.

With a sigh of frustration she locked her thesis in her desk drawer and started pacing. Assuming the trial went the way she expected, with Kroms tanking it deliberately, everything would have to run smoothly for this to work out.

The click-click of her heels on the tiled floor gave her confidence to step into the interrogation room once more. With only a week to Malfoy's trial, this was supposed to be their most important meeting. Kroms, however, had a different idea. After she sat down and Malfoy was escorted in with his elaborate and unnecessary chains Kroms started listing off every single supposed and confirmed crime Malfoy had committed along with his fathers' wrongdoings and Hermione didn't get a word in the whole time.

She sat there fuming with anger the more time passed. Kroms had his nose buried in the stack of paperwork that was the Malfoy family crime file, reading out the crimes and misconducts with obviously biased malice.

Hermione had to use every bit of self-control she had to not smack the man, hex him or burn the paper right in his face. After almost an hour she finally looked up to see how Malfoy was taking all of this nonsense and saw that he was smirking. It caught her off-guard. It was so reminiscent of his old school-boy look, the gaunt face in front of her didn't hold the same boyish meanness from Hogwarts anymore. She blushed, realising his reaction had nothing to do with Kroms but with her own reaction to Kroms' actions.

Hermione pursed her lips at him, some of her anger and annoyance fading away as his smirk grew even wider at her. She couldn't help but silently laugh at herself and the craziness of the situation.

"What was that ms Granger?" Kroms said, looking up from his beloved files.

"Just a cough mr Kroms, please keep going," she said, gesturing towards the pile in front of him.

"Right, as I was saying…" Kroms turned back to his stack.

But Hermione's gaze went back to Malfoys'. He mouthed a question to her that took her three tries to understand: how have you been?

She didn't know how to answer. Since they had last seen each other she had been a nervous wreck. Busy consulting with her friends who had agreed to help her in the worst case scenario. There was a lot of planning. But Hermione had enough first-hand experience with plans like these to know that no matter how much planning they did there would always be things they couldn't expect.

Fine, she mouthed instead. Then, stressed, busy, when his eyebrow quirked at her lie. You?

He shrugged one shoulder and she supposed it had been a stupid question. How could you really be feeling in a prison where the guards are biased and prejudiced against you and you're about to be sentenced to death?

Sorry, she mouthed to him, bashfully moving her hair back from her face. Then they just sat there, taking in each other while the white noise of Kroms reading off some nonsense beside them.

Do you- was all she caught of the next thing he tried to mouth. She indicated for him to repeat himself. Do you… ooget it?

? - she made a face and he rolled his eyes at her. Raising his hands up, he pretended to scratch his nose - paying attention to Kroms' lack of reaction to the movement. Then he drew letters in the air for her to read. R-E-G-R-

Realisation dawned on her and without thought she quickly said "No." Aloud. Goddamnit.

"Is there something you want to interject ms Granger?" Kroms said, turning fully to her as if readying himself for a battle. "You disagree with the law, do you? With what the highly esteemed Wizengamot has declared is a crime and a serious breach of misconduct-"

"Oh shut up," Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. She was too tired of this pompous prick to continue with fake respectable platitudes. Turning to face him she took her stance in the battlefield, brandishing her sword and forcing him to take up his shield. "There's really no need for pretense anymore is there mr Kroms? We both know what's happening here and so does mr Malfoy."

"Prisoner 847-"

"Who is a person with a name"

"Has an extensive criminal history which has to be reviewed-"

"Does it? Is that what you think is a good use of our time in our last session with our client? Since you're so adamant to being professional - or your version of professionalism - what we should be using this time for is briefing our client on how we are going to defend his case, what we could expect from the Wizengamot, what he could expect to explain or questions he'd need to answer. I'm fairly certain mr Malfoy-"

"Prisoner 847-"

"-IS FAMILIAR WITH HIS FAMILY HISTORY." Hermione hadn't even noticed she stood up until the sound of her chair falling over echoed all across the chamber. She was too fed up with this man interrupting her, being deliberately difficult and obtuse. Prejudiced. She was done with it. "Now, you can take part in this session as it is supposed to be done or you can leave and let me have this hour with my -our- client to prepare for the trial that is in a weeks time."

"If you are quite finished with your emotional outburst miss Granger, I will continue."

Hermione had seldom in her life entertained the notion of murder. Now was one of those times. Her hand twitched at her side to reach for a wand she did not have on her person due ot the security risks. Her hand twitched to cast wandless magic she would not be able to take back. But then a loud noise made her jump out of her reverie of all the different ways she could shut up Pierce Kroms - Malfoy had tugged hard at his chains, the resulting rattle and drag against the ring in the table loud enough to get her attention. He subtly shook his head - which didn't ease her irritation, although it helped her focus on Malfoy rather than the annoying mouldy banana of a man next to her.

She sat back down with a huff, almost like a petulant child she crossed her arms over her chest. Frustration was not an emotion she was good at dealing with. Malfoy's steady gaze deflated her a little.

Then he mouthed the words: me neither.

Something else entirely filled her with heat. Her face felt flush all of a sudden and it had nothing to do with her indignation towards Kroms. But rather the fact that they had both admitted to things. Even if it hadn't been explicitly said, there was something between them now. A very unprofessional something. An inopportune something, but it was there. Hermione couldn't deny it, wouldn't deny it. She could realise how messed up she was just as she could admit that her plan to set this man free was iffy at best and life-threateningly dangerous at worst. Her motivations might have been to defy a corrupt system - but was that still the case? Or was she being selfish? Could it be that she had planned this elaborate mission to save a man just because she had made some kind of connection with him? That feeling didn't sit right with her.

No, that wasn't it though. Had it been anyone else being treated unfairly she would be thinking the same thing. The prejudice against Malfoy was almost unheard of - almost because it was the one thing that tied together every single Death Eater trial before his. There was no innocent until proven guilty, they were guilty by default. Black ink on their skin enough to prove culpability.

But just like the blood running through her veins defiantly filling her with magic - that shouldn't be enough to condemn them to death. Hermione had fought too hard for prejudices such as these to prevail after they defeated Voldemort. There were people out there that thought she didn't deserve magic, but she had it anyway. There were people that would say Malfoy didn't deserve anything other than a Dementor's kiss - but she would prove them wrong. He would prove them wrong.

Their meeting ended without fanfare and Malfoy was escorted out by the guards without Hermione getting a chance to speak with him again. The trial was a week away and she was terrified of failing. As she went to exit Kroms blocked her way with his arm across the open doorframe. For the second time that day she thought about hexing him with wandless magic.

"Whatever you have planned won't work."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"I know your tactics ms. Granger, I've read your extensive file. Almost criminal some could argue. Illegal brewing and distribution of polyjuice potion, illegal usage of a time turner, breaking an entering, not to mention the amount of property damage to Gringott's bank. Maybe it hasn't occurred to you in your length of study for Magical Law that breaking the law is not part of our jobs but rather adhering to it and enforcing it."

"I thought the enforcing was part of the Macial Law Enforcement, my mistake then. I also was not aware that being a Lawyer allowed you to be prosecutor, judge and jury." She leaned away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. But Kroms simply leant in closer, getting his stale breath in her personal space.

"Your credentials can easily be called into question, seeing as you have none."

"I think you'll find, mr. Kroms, that I have credentials ten feet long - I believe what you mean is I have lack of experience. Which is true, this is my first case-"

"And yet you haven't finished your degree and therefore need to be babysat."

"I didn't ask for a nanny, you volunteered," Hermione said through clenched teeth. "But we both know what your actual goal is and it's despicable. The fact that you can try to lecture me about my conduct when you are so obviously corrupt, more rotten than a fuzzy apple."

"Childish antics wont work against the Wizengamot, ms Granger," Kroms spat. "No amount of time turners or illegal inanity will save you or Prisoner 847."

"I'd advise you to step away from my person before I make you." Hermione's voice was dangerously even and serious.

Kroms stepped away and moved his arm from the doorway, gesturing sarcastically for her to walk through freely. "Be certain that when we are faced with the Wizengamot next week I will be bringing in all of my professional experience and credentials, ms. Granger. Can you say the same?" He then exited the interrogation room before her and left her bubbling like a whistling teapot.

Hermione stormed in through the floo at Grimmault Place and threw her suitcase down so hard it knocked two chairs over with a loud thunk. Harry came running in with his wand at the ready, but his hair was all askew and his shirt not fitted right.

"What is it?" He said, ready for any kind of trouble.

She shook her head. "Nothing. There's been a change of plans- why don't you have socks on?"

He sheepishly put his wand away and ran his hand through his hair which only made it stand more on end. "Oh uh…"

Theo walked into the room, his hair standing on end with creases in his trousers. "Hi Granger." His grin was too bright and cocky.

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Please don't tell me you guys were just shagging on our sofa Harry Potter."

He sputtered. "No, we were doing no such thing."

"Yet," Theo said under his breath with a smirk.

"Ew," Hermione said, looking between them both.

"It's… yeah, anyway," Harry said. "I got the teaching job."

Hermione instantly forgot all her anger and jumped her best friend for a crushing hug. "I told you. I'm so happy for you."

Harry chuckled. "Thanks."

She pulled away. "Is that why you're all…" she gestured between the two of them.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Partly, yeah."

"Do I want to know the other parts?"

Theo laughed. "Probably not."

"Right, cool, I'll leave it at that then."

"So what was all that commotion about?" Harry said, gesturing to the mess she had made and her discarded suitcase on the ground.

"That well.." She sighed, feeling deflated, but she needed that purpose back. So, with conviction and determination she took a deep breath. "There's a change of plan. No more time turners, no more illegal hijinks or jailbreaks. I'm taking down Kroms the legal and professional way."

"How are you going to do that?" Theo asked.

"I'm going to beat his ass with professionalism and law," she said simply. "I still need your help, but this time we're going to beat him with his own stick. He wants me to play his game? Fine, but he underestimates me. They all do."

Harry grinned. "That's the spirit."

"Tell us what we need to do," Theo said, taking Harry's hand.

Author's note: Special thanks to konec for their review which inspired me to actually finish this chapter. I know not much happened and all the action is coming up - but hopefully this was enjoyable to read.