A/N: Sorry, you might hate Pansy after this one x
Hermione's bail hearing was only a day away, and she was finding the confines of Azkaban even more suffocating. Thankfully, everywhere she seemed to go, Pansy appeared. Things were progressing rapidly between the two as Hermione was looking for more and more ways to take her mind off her hearing.
Currently, she was finding Pansy a particularly interesting distraction.
Hermione had her hand down Pansy's pants, pleasuring the Slytherin as they lay on Hermione's cot.
"Mn, fuck, I always knew it would feel so good to have Hermione Granger doing things like this to me," Pansy moaned.
Hermione smiled, kissing Pansy as she led the raven-haired girl to climax.
"How was that?" Hermione asked as they lay on the bed.
"So good," Pansy sighed, "It just makes it harder to do what I have to do now,"
"And what is that?" Hermione asked, sitting up on the bed. Pansy smirked and re-adjusted her pants before standing up and walking to the bars in the cell. She rapped on them and two guards appeared.
"Pansy, what is going on?" Hermione asked, alarmed. Pansy turned to look at her, the smirk growing even wider on her face.
"Guards, I believe the Golden Girl here has contraband in her cell," Pansy said gleefully.
"What the fuck, Pansy?!" Hermione shrieked as the guards began tearing her cell apart. Pansy laughed, dodging Hermione as she lunged at her.
"Bellatrix would hate for her pet Mudblood to be out on bail when she finally gets released from solitary next week," Pansy said with a devilish smile.
"You snake!" Hermione shouted, "I trusted you!"
Pansy shrugged.
"Well I am a Slytherin," she replied nonchalantly, "Besides, how many women can say they've claimed the Golden Girl?"
Pansy laughed and Hermione, enraged, lunged at her again, only to be pulled back by the damned guard Greg.
"Hold up, Granger," Greg cut in, "We've found a wand in your cell. You're going to solitary."
"Don't you think if I had a wand in here I would be long gone by now?!" Hermione shouted as the guards wrestled her out of the cell and down the dark hallways deeper into the prison.
Hermione felt a coldness fall over her as they reached the solitary cells, which were guarded by Dementors swooping around.
"See you tomorrow for your big day in the Wizengamot!" Greg laughed as they pushed her into a small cell and shut the heavy iron door behind her.
Hermione sank to the dirty concrete floor, looking helplessly at the bare surroundings.
Hermione awoke to loud shouting outside the heavy iron door. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but it definitely didn't sound like the shouting was in English.
The large iron door swung open and Hermione squinted against the light. Standing in the grime and dirt of Azkaban's solitary wing was Fleur Delacour-Weasley, accompanied by a harried looking Greg.
"Don't you dare move my client so much as a centimetre without letting me know in future," Fleur spat in her most condescending tone. Greg nodded dumbly, walking in to help up Hermione.
"Fleur?" Hermione asked, confused.
"It's the day of your hearing, Hermione," Fleur said, shooting a disparaging look at Greg, "I would have been here much earlier if they had bothered to inform me of this contraband issue."
"Fleur, how am I going to get bail with this—" Hermione began but was cut off by Fleur.
"Its handled," Fleur said, matter-of-factly. She took Hermione's arm and began leading her down the hallway, "I have also brought you some clothes to wear."
The morning went in a rush, frantically getting dressed and eating a delicious salad that Fleur had brought in before travelling to the Ministry of Magic with some of the guards from Azkaban.
Finally, before the bail hearing, Hermione had a moment alone with Fleur in a small office as Fleur flipped through her notes. Hermione watched the blonde, flawlessly dressed in a pencil skirt and blouse with silver robes over the top. Fleur was annotating in the margins of her already crowded parchment.
Hermione was beginning to feel bad about all the times she had scoffed at Fleur in the past and thought she was an airhead. Harry had been right with what he had told her during the Triwizard Tournament; Fleur was extremely intelligent.
"So, how did you handle the issue of the wand they found in my cell?" Hermione asked, her curiosity finally boiling over. Fleur paused in her note taking, turning all her attention to Hermione. She seemed so hyper-focussed it threw Hermione off.
"After you told me about Pansy I talked to Ginny some more about her," Fleur said. Hermione blushed and went to interrupt when Fleur raised a finger, "Don't worry, I did not tell her about the hickeys or anything of that nature. As far as she is concerned, you were just friends with Pansy."
"Th-thanks," Hermione replied, loathing the fact that she had fallen for Pansy's two-facedness.
"Anyway, after hearing more about Pansy, I decided to pay off an inmate to give me inside knowledge. Unfortunately, its hard for inmates to get messages out. I only heard about Pansy's plot to plant the wand after it had already happened. But it still worked out, I paid the inmate even more to attest to the fact they had heard Pansy's plans so they will not be allowed to use it against you in the bail hearing," Fleur explained.
"Fleur…" Hermione began, but Fleur waved a hand dismissively.
"Its my job, Hermione," Fleur said, checking a small watch before getting up, "Anyway, I have arranged for you to have some time with friends before the hearing. I will step out to give you space."
As if on cue, there was a knock at the door and Fleur opened it to reveal Ginny, Neville and Luna. Hermione didn't have a chance to say anything more to Fleur as she glided out the door.
"Hermione!" Ginny exclaimed, as the group came and hugged her, "Merlin, you're even more ripped than the last time I saw you."
"Ginny, how is everything?" Hermione asked, anxious for news about Ron and Harry.
"Classic Hermione skimming over the fact she is in prison to ask about other people," Ginny replied.
"The guys are still missing," Neville chimed in, "But the Order is active again and on the case."
"Just worry about your case for now," Ginny advised. But Hermione couldn't help but notice that Ginny appeared pale and as if she hadn't slept well in some time.
"Ginny, I hope you're looking after yourself," Hermione responded. Ginny smiled and shook her head.
"Its fine, Hermione," Ginny replied, "Besides, I'm nothing on Fleur. She sleeps at her office she works such crazy hours. She's even won mum's respect."
The friends weren't allowed much time to reunite, as soon Fleur had returned with the guards.
As they entered the courtroom, Hermione's eyes fell on the toad-like woman standing in the centre of the Wizengamot bench. As Umbridge's eyes fell on Hermione, a wide smile grew on her face. Hermione felt a deep rage building within her.
Her eyes finally left Umbridge as Fleur took her hand and squeezed it.
"It will be fine," Fleur murmured under her breath.
The court case kicked off in a vicious fashion. The Wizengamot clearly had a pre-disposition towards not granting bail, but Fleur was a powerhouse. Hermione couldn't help but stare at Fleur as she magnificently argued for Hermione's release.
"Do you not think that Hermione Granger is a danger to the community?" Umbridge was asking smugly, "She is to be on trial for murder."
"She is also a decorated war hero," Fleur countered, "With a pristine record until now. Innocent until proven guilty."
"Pristine record?" Umbridge replied, "She did strike Draco Malfoy at Hogwarts if I recall." There was murmuring amongst the bench. Hermione felt her heart sink, they were so clearly biased there was no way she could possibly win. But to her surprise, Fleur was smiling.
"Well, all this is purely a side issue, as I have found a number of laws and previous cases that mean the Wizengamot is bound to release Hermione on bail," Fleur replied. She pulled out a stack of papers and slammed them down on the table in front of Umbridge. Hermione didn't know whether to hit Fleur for not mentioning this sooner or to laugh at the face Umbridge was making as she read through the papers.
"These are very obscure…" Umbridge began.
"But still valid law," Fleur finished for her. Fleur whirled around and walked back to stand beside Hermione, walking as confidently as if she were on a catwalk.
The discussion intensified amongst the Wizengamot as they began to confer. Hermione began to wonder if they could still refuse her bail. She shuddered at the thought of returning to Bellatrix in prison.
Finally, the Wizengamot quietened as Umbridge cleared her throat.
"Hem, hem," Umbridge was not looking as upset as Hermione would expect her to be, filling her with dread, "While we are bound in this case to release Ms Granger on bail… We cannot ignore the severe risk this poses to Hogwarts alumnae, who Ms Granger has a history of assaulting. We can grant bail… But on the condition that Ms Granger can have no contact with anyone who has been a student or faculty member at Hogwarts."
"What! That's everyone I know!" Hermione exclaimed, producing a wide smile on Umbridge's face.
"Fine, Hermione can stay with me," Fleur responded, "I attended Beauxbatons Academy."
"I believe your husband and in-laws are all ex-Hogwarts?" Umbridge queried with distaste.
"That is fine, I have an apartment in the city that I can stay at with Hermione," Fleur replied, "I will ensure that she meets all bail conditions."
Umbridge's smile faltered.
"Very well, bail is set at two million galleons," Umbridge replied, banging her gavel.
"Shit… How are we going to afford that?" Hermione hissed to Fleur.
"I can cover it," Fleur said, before whipping away to sign some paperwork. Hermione watched her in awe. She gave so much to help Hermione without even batting an eye.
The two of them walked out of the courtroom to the gaggle of friends waiting and also, unfortunately, the press. Camera bulbs were flashing despite the Weasleys best efforts to shield Hermione.
"I knew Fleur could get you off!" Fred exclaimed.
Hermione had a sudden flashback to Lucius mocking her over Fleur… Suddenly her mind turned to the image of him as he lay dying in a pool of his own blood. Now she knew that Pansy was working with the Death Eaters, it made her attack on Lucius seem even more cold.
"Are you okay?" Ginny asked, putting a hand on Hermione's shoulder, "You look really pale."
"I should get her home," Fleur said quickly, "It's a condition of her bail that she cannot have contact with anyone who has attended or worked at Hogwarts—a thinly veiled attempt from Umbridge to rule out everyone that could help Hermione—so you should say your goodbyes now."
The Weasleys, Luna and Neville all took turns hugging Hermione before Hermione was led away by Fleur. The past 24 hours had been so wild her head was still spinning as they moved through throngs of people in the Ministry to leave.