Chapter 3: Trials and Tribulations

"Don't forget to write! I've packed you some snacks. And if those robes start getting too short just let me know. With all your brothers out of the house now, it really isn't a problem. We can manage some new ones." Ginny sighed, and squeezed her mum tightly. "I'll be fine. Besides, I like the worn in feeling. New robes are much too stiff. I've got to go now. I'll see you at Christmas!"

Ginny had to nearly peel herself out of her mother's arms, before racing for the train. It was September 1st. Finally, the summer had ended. Not only was it literally the longest summer of her life, having begun May 2nd and all, but also figuratively.

For so many reasons, she had been determined to keep herself busy and distracted. The end of summer had actually been the easiest. She had spent the last three weeks helping George reopen his shop, and learned that being a shop keeper was an impossibly stressful job. A part of her was almost dreading the upcoming school year, knowing full well just how many pranks her classmates had bought. In fact, she had half a mind to go find the Head Boy and Girl and warn them of just what they were about to face. But honestly, she was also glad. They all deserved a year of fun and laughs after what they had gone through last year.

And of course, thankfully, dealing with any pranks was not her responsibility. No. Her only responsibility this year was to herself and to her Quidditch team. Jannice would have to be a special kind of idiot to think Ginny didn't have every intention of challenging her for the Quidditch Captain position this year. Ginny had gone out flying nearly every day this summer, forcing George into playing against her so she could practice her chaser skills. While he hadn't been nearly the challenge Pucey had been, she knew her skills had improved.

"Ginny!" Spinning around, Ginny barely kept from dropping her luggage in shock. "Dean! What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"

Dean looked good for having been on the run all of last year. His frame had filled out a bit, and he seemed to have grown into his ears. "Well I decided to get some NEWTS, didn't I? Bit odd really, being the same year as you now. Still, at least I'm not the only one." Ginny could only stare at him in confusion.

He looked back at her with an eyebrow raised. "You didn't hear? Thought for sure Hermione would have mentioned it." Ginny thought quickly, piecing it together. Hogwarts still being under construction, the Ministry had set up testing sites in June for all the fifth and seventh years to take their OWLS and NEWTS. But people like Dean and Hermione who had missed their entire seventh year curriculum…of course they wouldn't have been able to take the NEWTS. If they wanted to finish their education, they would have to come back for a full school year. In fact, all the muggleborn students must now be a year behind.

"Have you seen her then? The last I knew they were still in Australia." The last letter from them had been a week ago, and had been a great relief to read. After almost three months of research, Hermione had finally felt confident in trying to undo her obliviation spells. Thankfully, it had worked. But instead of heading home, the three of them had decided to give themselves a vacation, and remain there for a bit of fun.

Dean looked startled at her question. "Have I seen her? No, I just sort of assumed…what is she doing in Australia?" A whistle blew, signaling the start of the ride, and Ginny proceeded to get into a compartment with Dean before telling him all about Hermione's parents. From there, they found themselves chatting about their summers, their experiences during the war, and even touching upon politics. "Did Carrow really force you to use unforgivables?" Ginny grimaced and nodded.

Dean whistled through his teeth and leaned back against his seat. "Crazy isn't it? How many of us have used unforgivables this past year? No wonder Kingsley had to give a blanket reprieve for using them in times of war. Still, I wish he didn't. Did you read the charges against Malfoy? He'd be charged with imperius if not for that bloody reprieve. Can't believe that bastard might get away with everything after all."

Ginny's throat nearly closed up with suppressed emotion. Never mind reading the charges against Draco. She had burned them into her mind, hoping desperately that none of them would stick. The Prophet had been covering all the upcoming trials, trying to predict sentences. The first round of them were to start next week. A fact which was driving her absolutely spare. The first morning she saw his name in the paper, the headline had been sensationalized. She had only read "Malfoy- A Life Sentence for Underage Crime?" before dropping the paper in a panic, nearly avoiding succumbing to a meltdown right there at the kitchen table.

Her parents had been spurred into action, her mother trying to calm her down while her father picked up the paper and read the article in full. Her mother had sat next to her, holding her hand, as Ginny tried to get a grip while her father read. As it turned out, the article was in fact doubting that a life sentence would ever happen, unforgivable or not, and preparing readers to accept that crimes done under fear of being killed were likely to receive light sentences.

Still, her reaction had prompted her parents to keep their mouths shut about their own opinions of Draco. In fact, the only complaint she heard them voice about any Malfoy trial the whole summer was when it was revealed that the Head Warlock of the Wizengamount was to preside over Lucius' trial. It was an open secret that he and Lucius Malfoy had been friendly for decades and no one was expecting him to hand down a life sentence for the elder Malfoy either.

"Gin? You alright?" Ginny looked back at Dean, and realized that he didn't know. Didn't have a clue what Draco meant to her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Speaking of former classmates though, have you heard from Neville or Seamus?" And just like that, they slid right back into pleasant conversation.

"Want to share a carriage up?" Piling off the train, Ginny paused in her search for Luna to look back at Dean. The train ride up had been lovely. They hadn't talked like that since they had first started dating. There was no reason to say no. It seemed like they had moved beyond the awkwardness of being exes, and were finally ready to be friends. It made her smile. "Sure."

Walking into the Great Hall, it seemed as if the Battle had never happened. She knew it had been a massive effort. There had been extensive coverage of the repairs, not to mention Percy's own reports on the progress. He and Bill had been at Hogwarts on and off all summer, helping to clear debris and recast enchantments. Much to her mum's dismay, with the war over, Bill fully intended to go back to curse breaking in exotic locations. He had held off for the summer, but he and Fleur were soon to be departing for Peru.

More surprising than the Hall though, was the bush of brown hair bobbing towards the Gryffindor table. Ginny almost blinked in astonishment. She was here? "Hermione?" The girl turned, a shiny Head Girl badge pinned on her robe, and Ginny squealed, racing towards her.

"You couldn't have mentioned this in one of Ron's letters! Congratulations!" Hermione positively beamed. "Thanks Ginny! I really was shocked. I almost didn't accept it. But then I thought, this is just what the school needs to see isn't it? It's a statement that prejudice and hate really have no place here anymore. That muggleborns-" Anticipating Hermione's upcoming speech, Ginny cut her off with a hug. "Oh never mind all that! Focus on the important things. Now that you're Head Girl, we can go anywhere we want after curfew and take points from anyone who bothers us!"

Hermione put her hands on her hips, trying to look reproving, but her smile completely ruined the effect. Ginny rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Of course I'm kidding. You're going to be brilliant Hermione. Really. The best Head Girl this school has ever seen." The rest of the Welcoming Feast, Ginny spent chatting with Hermione, hearing all about Australia, and wishing desperately to go herself someday. She had worried how she would feel coming back after last year, but so far everything felt strangely normal. She was back. Back to a Hogwarts that was as safe as a magical school could be expected to be.

After the feast, Hermione went off to make sure all the prefects were doing their jobs with welcoming the first years, and Ginny headed up to Gryffindor Tower for the first time since last October. She went to bed that night in high spirits, perfectly optimistic about the year, already planning Quidditch try outs in her head.

"So of course I assigned her to rounds anyways. As if a game of Exploding Snap gone wrong is any reason to neglect your duty- hey! 10 points from Slytherin for indecent behavior!" Ginny watched with alarm as Astoria spun around to stare at Hermione incredulously. The two of them had just entered the greenhouse, only to be met with the sight of a Slytherin snog session.

"Indecent behavior! For kissing? That's rich, given what that one over there was doing all of last year." Hermione looked utterly perplexed, and Ginny spoke quickly, trying to keep Astoria from saying another word. "Quite daring of you, making out near the Venemous Tentacula. Are you sure it was Puckle's arm around you and not a tentacle?" Both Slytherins nearly jumped away from the table as they realized just what plant they had been near, distracting them long enough for Professor Sprout to come in, followed soon after by the rest of their classmates. Ginny breathed a sigh of relief.

Pairing up with Hermione, Ginny dove into the first lesson of the year with gusto. There was something incredibly refreshing to knowing that any plants they helped with this year wouldn't be used for dark purposes. That there was no need to try and bungle up assignments on purpose or think about an enemy using the plant against you. Not to mention that with Hermione as a partner, the inevitable risks of handling the plants were considerably less. By the end of the lesson, Ginny was flying high, having received her first O for classwork since sometime last December.

"Ginny? What did Greengrass mean back there? About what you were doing last year?" Ginny nearly ground to a halt at Hermione's question, but then picked up speed again and continued heading back into the castle. "What? Oh, I don't know. Who cares? You know, I should have known something was going on between her and Puckle. The two of them spent half of last year at each other's throats. Though I suppose they still are, eh?" She nudged Hermione, smiling at her own joke, but Hermione seemed not to have even heard her.

"Ginny, I meant to ask you ages ago. It sort of slipped my mind. But last year, did you have-"

Ginny's eyes flew past Hermione and landed on Luna. Perfect. "Luna! Headed up from Care of Magical Creatures, are you? How's Hagrid doing?" And with that stoke of utter brilliance, Luna had joined them for the walk up and the conversation was redirected. She purposefully ignored Hermione's irritated gaze, and promised herself that this was only temporary. She would tell Hermione eventually. She just wanted a good first day of classes is all. To give Hermione time to remember what a wonderful person and friend she was, and that she shouldn't let a boy get between them. Because that would just be stupid.

It was a good plan and would have worked, if not for the unfortunate fact that she shared a dorm not only with Hermione, but with Antigone and Lizzie as well. It was well after ten o'clock and the girls were all getting ready for bed, when Antigone started nervously moving around. After a large sigh, she wrung her hands together and then looked at Ginny. "Ginny? How did you know you were ready to have sex?"

Lizzie gasped, eager to be in on the gossip. And Hermione spun around, wide eyed and absolutely shocked. Ginny's entire face went red. "I uh…you're thinking about sleeping with Titus then?" Antigone flushed. "No, I mean…maybe. I don't know. I shouldn't, right? Not until we're engaged at least. But it's getting so hard not to go further when we're together." Overcoming her shock, Hermione could no longer keep quiet. "But you're still in school! Doing that sort of thing at Hogwarts is completely against the rules. Section 5, Article 8 explicitly states that-"

"Yes, alright! I know. We all know. It's against the rules. I wasn't asking you anyhow, was I? Ginny?" Ginny could feel Hermione's incredulous stare, but couldn't return it. Instead, she focused on Antigone. "Well, I mean I suppose it's worth thinking about that if it all goes pear shaped, would you be willing to marry him and have his kids? Is he who you see yourself with for the rest of your life?" Antigone's brow furrowed, obviously not having expected that, and then huffed.

"That's the answer my mum would give! I'm asking how you knew. And if you expect me to believe it was because you were ready to settle down and have Malfoy's spawn, you must think me an absolute idiot." Ginny's head whipped around to watch as Hermione's gasp of shock turned into molten anger. "Malfoy!"

Ginny made a mad leap for her end table, but it was too late. Hermione had summoned Ginny's wand and was now clutching both hers and Ginny's in tight fists. "Hermione I-"

"You slept with Malfoy! Did you lose your mind? Were you imperiused? Did someone use a love potion on you? How could you!" Wandless, Ginny could only look on as Hermione continued to rant. "I can't believe you would do that! After everything he put us through! For God's sake, he was a deatheater!"

It was too much. Without knowing what she was doing, Ginny leapt out of bed and yelled right back. "He never wanted to be a deatheater and you know it! He never put me through anything I couldn't handle! He was never evil, and I would know! You think I gave a shit about insults over hand me downs after having survived Tom?"

"Is that really your defense? He's not as bad as Voldermort? You don't give away your body to someone because they aren't as evil as a psychopath! Tell me you were at least drunk or high from potion fumes or something."

Ginny's hand itched for her wand. She knew her temper was out of control. That she was going to regret this in the morning. Still, it didn't stop her from saying it. "Oh shut up! I'm sorry I'm not perfect like you! You want to know the truth? I thought he was fit. So bloody fit, that I wanted to run my hands all over him and forget everything else. And Merlin, was he good at making me forget about everything other than the feeling of his cock in me."

"Stop! I'm not listening to this!" Ginny had walked across the room and was now very much in Hermione's face. "If you don't want to hear it, then don't ask!"

"I can't believe I ever thought we were friends!" Ginny scoffed. "As if you would ever let anyone else into your little circle. Why don't you just marry the both of them and be done with it? Then you can all be together forever!"

Speechless, Hermione dropped Ginny's wand on the floor and then stormed out, the door banging shut behind her. Ginny stood there, breathing heavily and trying to regain a sense of calm while Antigone and Lizzie looked at her in shock. "What?" Neither of her dorm mates said a word. She watched them share a look, and then both proceeded to pull their bed curtains closed, leaving Ginny alone with her emotions.

She should go apologize. She had been out of line. She knew that Hermione had every right to be upset at learning that she had been with Draco. If she were Hermione, she would feel betrayed as well. But what would she say? What could she say? No doubt Hermione would want to hear that Ginny regretted being with Draco. That sleeping with him had been a terrible mistake and she would never do it again. But she wasn't going to lie.

She wanted advice. Needed it really. The kicker? The person she wanted advice from the most was Draco. Unfortunately, Azkaban didn't allow for owl post so even writing to him wasn't an option. In the end, she simply picked up her wand and crawled into bed. Maybe things would look better in the morning. By then, they both would have gotten a chance to cool off and she could apologize at breakfast.

Hermione wasn't at breakfast. Ginny felt her chest tighten and reassured herself that it was fine. She would see Hermione in Transfiguration. But when she arrived, it was to find Hermione had already sat with some Ravenclaw, and refused to look over when Ginny called her name. In the halls, she watched Hermione nearly fly down the corridors, effectively squashing any chance of Ginny catching up to her. The entire day continued like this, Hermione using others to block any chance of Ginny getting her alone, and Ginny realized just how much experience Hermione had with holding a grudge. She felt acute despair as she remembered just how long Hermione and her brother had managed to fight over the years. The two of them had iced each other out for months at a time, and even Harry hadn't been able to get them to reconcile.

Even in their dorm, Hermione managed to get herself to bed before Ginny, and charmed her bed curtains closed so that Ginny couldn't pry them open. After two days of this, Ginny finally lost it. She stood there red faced, yelling at the bed curtains she knew Hermione was hiding behind, hoping that sound at least made it through her charms. "I'm sorry Hermione! I didn't mean to insult you! I won't apologize for sleeping with Draco, but I am sorry I hurt you."

Hermione's face peered out of the curtains, staring at her with a piercing gaze. "It wasn't just a one time thing was it? I've been putting together everything I've overheard and I've come to an impossible conclusion. Not only were you with Malfoy long-term, but even your parents knew about it. After the Battle, you were with him, weren't you?" Ginny nodded slowly, and Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Lizzie and Antigone were downstairs, having had no desire to be involved in her and Hermione's fight. Meaning Ginny really had no excuse to not be honest. "I didn't lie before. At first, it really was mostly physical. I thought I would die soon, and I was depressed. Being with him, it made me feel better. And then we started having all these conversations, and I realized I just liked him. I really did. I know you think he's a twat. But maybe I need that. Do you know how rare it is for someone to hold their own against me? To not be afraid to fight with me and then be ready to move on afterwards? I don't know how to explain it. We just mesh."

Hermione was looking at her in horror. "I can't believe this. You've actually fallen for him, haven't you?" Ginny bit her lip, and decided not to say that she was in love with him. She was half afraid such a confession would cause Hermione to faint in disbelief. Instead she went with something much simpler. "Yeah."

Hermione's eyes rounded, and her head bobbed up and down. "Right, I see. Well, in that case…I'll talk to you this weekend. I have a bit of research to do first. Night." And with that, Hermione's curtains blew shut, leaving Ginny staring at them gobsmacked. She had always known Hermione was a bit odd, but that had been downright bizarre. She had research to do? Shaking her head, Ginny headed back down to the Common Room to try and get her Charms assignment done before bed, and to put her conversation with Hermione out of her mind.

It was Sunday morning when Hermione finally approached her, dragging her away from breakfast and into the library. Ginny's protest that the library didn't even open until ten on Sunday fell on deaf ears, as Hermione fished out a key and unlocked the library herself. At Ginny's look, Hermione only shrugged. "Head Girl privileges. Now come on. I have a lot to show you."

Any interest Ginny might have had in the excursion dissipated as she saw the pile of books Hermione had stacked in front of them. "Hermione, what is all this?" Hermione's eyes shone. "An explanation for your feelings. See, I think what's really going on here is a manifestation of pressures you've put on yourself. Look here! Centuries of conservative views on sex, which you have absorbed, telling you that you have to marry the man you sleep with. Nonsense of course. And of course you wouldn't know about oxytocin; none of these books even make mention of it, but it's a hormone your body releases after sex that makes you feel attached to the other person. So really, your feelings for Malfoy could all just be your hormones playing tricks on you. See, this is why going slow is so important. So you can know for sure what your feelings are before piling all this on your brain."

It was as if Hermione was speaking a foreign language. Ginny was sure Hermione's intentions were good, but all she could feel was outrage. "Are you saying my feelings aren't real? That I'm not capable of thinking straight? I'm not under some potion's influence, thank you very much! I don't have oxymotin or whatever it was you said!"

Hermione looked terribly distressed. "No! Don't you get it? I'm trying to show you that it's not your fault for feeling the way you do! By having sex, you messed up your mind, but now we can straighten it out!"

"Why can't you just accept what I told you, and leave it be? Love isn't always logical Hermione. It can't be defined by some stupid book. It's a feeling. Something you can't control or make sense of. And you know it! You've been in love with Ron for years. You loved him when he was an arse. When he had his tongue down another girl's throat. When he refused to speak to you for weeks! Don't tell me you wouldn't have chosen to stop loving him if you could." Hermione looked near tears.

"But why Malfoy? Any other wizard would have been better!" Ginny had no answer to give. The two witches stared at each other, each at a loss for words, and then Ginny turned around and left. The quaffle was in Hermione's pitch now. Ginny had said her piece. Either Hermione was going to come round, or she wasn't. There was nothing to do but wait and see.

Determined not to dwell on it anymore, Ginny spent the rest of the day putting together the sign up sheet for Quidditch tryouts, and planning all the drills potential players would run through. Really, she didn't expect the team to change much from last year, but try outs were definitely necessary. Dean was back after all, and she had every intention of needling him back into being a chaser. While not quite as good as Jannice, he would certainly be a step up from little Colton Fisher.

The second week of classes started with Hermione no longer avoiding her, but still not making any move to talk to her. Ginny decided to give her space, and found herself pairing up with Dean more often than not. She only shared two classes with Luna this year, Luna's schedule a complete mess of mixed classes as she tried to catch up from having missed half of last year.

Luckily, Ginny missing all of April didn't seem to have done her nearly as much harm. The school year having been cut short last year, all the professors were reteaching the last units from last year anyways. Even so, a full schedule of NEWT classes was already wearing her down so that by Thursday, she was rushing to breakfast with uncombed hair and mismatched socks, having stayed up until 1 am last night finishing her translation for Runes.

She raced in, just in time to hear Dean yell 'bloody hell' and begin reading the paper out loud to a large chunk of the table.

Malfoy trial stuns all in surprise verdict. Wednesday morning, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy pleaded not guilty to charges of abetting He Who Must Not Be Named in the torturing and killing of an unknown number of wizards and witches. Crucial to his case, was the fact that his wand had been taken and destroyed by He Who Must Not Be Named last July, leaving him unable to perform even the simplest of spells. His claim of being no more than a victim as his house was repeatedly invaded by unwanted visitors, specifically He Who Must Not Be Named and assorted death eaters, was supported by Pensive memories voluntarily given of these occurrences. Additionally, it was found that the defendant had been subject to torture himself at the hands of He Who Must Not Be Named, a particularly brutal session this past April having nearly killed him.

Testimony from those at the Battle of Hogwarts verified that the defendant had not fought alongside the death eaters, but spent the battle running around unarmed, searching only for his son. Lacking any evidence of an attack personally perpetrated by the defendant, and taking into account the recent cooperation of the defendant with the Aurors, the Wizengamount was left with no choice but to find the defendant not guilty.

Instead of rejoicing at his acquittal, however, he was forced to join his wife as a spectator at the trial of none other than his son. Draco Lucius Malfoy was brought in next, facing charges of abetting deatheaters in the murder of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Earlier charges of attempted murder had been dropped, given the defendant's age at the time of the alleged attempts.

After much debate and heated discussion, it was concluded that despite being coerced into his actions, his mother and himself having been threatened with death if he did not comply, he still chose to spend many hours repairing an object with malicious intent. Prior to sentencing, the court was reminded that since that incident, the defendant had participated in no death eater attacks. Particularly, it was emphasized that at the Battle of Hogwarts he had not heeded the call of He Who Must Not Be Named for his followers, but instead remained at the Castle amongst those fighting against He Who Must Not Be Named.

In a controversial sentencing, the Wizengamount declared him guilty but set his sentence at a mere four months, a perfect match for time already served by the defendant while waiting for his trial. The Malfoys spent the next two hours in the courtroom, giving interviews even while D. Malfoy remained chained to his chair while the paperwork was approved and verified for his release.

Lucius Malfoy's verdict is of particular interest in regards to tomorrow's trials, which include three Ministry officials facing similar charges of abetting death eater activity, while not having perpetuated any of the attacks themselves. Will the Wizengamount continue to be lenient of circumstances and view them as victims as well?

Dean stopped reading, and after a minute of silence, the entire table was rife with discussion, opinions bouncing back and forth over whether the Wizengamount had lost its mind or not. Instead of participating in them though, Ginny watched as an eagle owl swooped over, and dropped a piece of heavy parchment in front of her. She stared at it in fear. She hadn't meant to miss his trial. She honestly never thought that his trial would be in the first few days of them. Had he looked for her in the stands? What had he thought when he realized she wasn't there? How could she have let her classwork distract her from the lists of trials? Had they even listed it? How did one find out when a trial was anyhow?

Her only comfort was that it wasn't a howler. Breaking open the seal, she scanned the bottom for some sort of endearment to reassure herself, but it only said D.M. Gulping, she forced herself to read it from start to finish.

Gin,

As you probably have found out from the paper by now, I am no longer being held in Azkaban, though I'm sure a good number of people wish it were otherwise. I'm writing this in the hopes that you're not one of those disappointed by my release. These past four months have felt like an eternity, and I know it would be foolish to think nothing's changed since we saw each other in May. Still, here's hoping. Miss me?

-D.M.

At the last line, Ginny nearly lost it. She couldn't tell if she was in danger of laughing or crying, but either way, she felt lighter than air. She had Potions in fifteen minutes, but she honestly could care less. With no explanation to anyone, she clutched the letter tightly in her hand and ran out of the Great Hall. Getting up to the Owlery took a significant amount of time, even with running, but it was as if time suddenly had no meaning.

Under normal circumstances, she spent as little time in the Owlery as possible. It was smelly, crowded, noisy, and there was the ever present danger of getting pooed on. Ginny sat on the floor, yanked parchment, ink, and quill out of her bag, and began writing. It was going to be far from a masterpiece. But she couldn't stand the thought of Draco having to wait any longer than possible to be reassured that yes, she did miss him. Desperately.

Dear Draco,

You absolute idiot. Did I miss you? Of course I did. I love you, you wanker. I don't care if you have a meeting with the Minister himself on that day; I will kill you if you are not in Hogsmeade two weeks from this upcoming Saturday. We are going on a date, and then you are going to get us a room at The Three Broomsticks, where I will show you just how much I missed every bit of you. I'm sending this off now so you can get it as fast as possible, but be aware you are about to be inundated with letters from me. Do you have any idea how much I miss talking to you? Promise you will never end up in Azkaban again!

Love, (and you better start writing that as well even if you think it's stupid)

Ginny

She turned up to Potions twenty minutes late. Slughorn was forced to give her a detention for tardiness, and she had to work alone to try and brew today's potion given her late arrival. Hermione was looking at her in disapproval, but Ginny realized she really didn't care. Absolutely nothing could ruin her mood. Draco was free. She had her boyfriend back. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to get on a broom and zoom around in circles. Now, why the hell was her potion purple instead of blue like everyone else's?

(A/N: For those of you surprised at Lucius being acquitted of his crimes, so was I. But according to Rowling, none of the Malfoys- including Lucius- were sentenced to Azkaban after the Final Battle. So there you go.)