Chapter 22: The Trial

Nina stood in the bathroom and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her hair was neatly back in a low bun. Her skirt was perfectly preseed as she took the flower pin off of it and put it in her bag. Today she was going to care. Today was the day that was going to shape the rest of her life. With one last look in the mirror, Willow Dustin Nina walked out of the bathroom and Adriana Bronwen Crawford walked into the hallway and down the corridor (A/N I don't care that hallwaycorridor, you shouldn't either).

She looked at the door at the end of the corridor as it came closer and closer.

"Miss Crawford?"

Nina looked up at the large, brutish man now standing beside her.

"Ni-yes," she replied in a small voice. "Adriana Crawford."

"A ministry official will be here shortly to stay with you."

Nina didn't say anything. She just stood silently, not doing anything, thinking about anything.

The minutes passed and the echos of footsteps could soon be heard, but only from the distance. Nina looked up and down the corridor at the figure approaching from around the corner.

Hermoine looked around. There she was. The wind was blowing her hair in all directions, getting caught in her mouth. The ocean was as beautiful as she remembered it being, only now it felt vacant with the winter air nearing.

Draco, feeling Hermione's feeling of difference, wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He kissed her cheek and put his cheek to her's. Hermione felt a bliss she could stay in the rest of her life.

"Over here boys. The keg can go beside the dune and, well what do we have here?"

Hermione and Draco looked behind them and at the group of boys walking onto the beach towards them with Dudley in the lead. Hermione rolled her eyes and felt Draco wrap his arm protectively around her waist.

"Now if it isn't Maya and SilverDragon," Dudley sneered, still walking towards them. "I never did catch your name by the way."

"Blimey! Isn't that your girl Dud?" one of Dudley's friends exclaimed.

Draco rolled his eyes and in almost an instant the boy was lying facedown in the sand with a bruise forming on his shoulder.

"So what are you doing back here?" Dudley asked, finally only a few feet away from the couple. "I know neither of you go to school here, even forgetting the fact that this may be an open invitation party, but it doesn't extend as far as sluts or…I don't even know what you are, bloke."

Draco leaned forward and motioned with his index finger for Dudley to move closer. "I'm like your cousin," he whispered with a wink.

Dudley backed away slowly. His face paled to a shade that could only be described as Nearly Headless Nick having the flu. He began to look from Draco to Hermione.

"Y-yo-you're-"

"And don't forget about me," Hermione said with a raise of her eyebrow and light smile on her face.

"B-bu-but-but your frie-"

"Friends?" Hermione finished. "Well Nina knows too, she's one as well." Hermioen gasped and looked up at Draco. Seeing Dudley had caused her to completely forget about Nina.

"I know," Draco said as though hearing her thoughts. "Not here. Let's go. We have to get there soon anyway." He let his hand slide from her hip to her hand and laced their fingers together before walking them off to a point where he felt it would be safe to call the Knight Bus to take them to the Ministry.

"Do you think he's going to tell anyone?" Hermione asked Draco as they stepped onto the bus.

"Even if he did, no one would believe him." Draco told her as he took a few coins out of his pocket.

Hermione took a seat in the back where they would have had more privacy. "Do you always run around with money in your pocket?" she asked as he took the seat beside him. He put her legs across his and brought her close to him.

"Only when I put on a pair of pants."

Hermione rolled her eyes and rested her head on Draco's chest. So much was happening and it wasn't even Christmas yet. It was almost as though she was on yet another adventure with Harry and Ron.

"Do you think Nina is okay?" Hermione murmered into Draco's chest. She was growing more and more upset. Everything was spectacular before. It felt like Draco's asking her to be his girlfriend was all just a dream. "This all, it doesn't feel real."

Draco put his arm that wasn't still holding her hand around her shoulder and played with a strand of her hair that had fallen over her shoulder. He looked down at her resting figure. It was only four-thirty in the afternoon and already she felt as though her whole life was upside down. He best friend was missing, she was lying to her friends, she was in a relationship with Draco Malfoy.

"Don't worry Hermione," Draco said softly. "She'll be okay. We'll be okay."

Dumbledore sat in his seat looking out at the group of witches and wizards. They were in a courtroom designed in a similar likeness to the muggle courtrooms, though they looked almost nothing alike. It was just like Harry Potter's trial last year, only less depressing.

He looked off to the side of the room where Lucius Malfoy was sitting beside a stern couple. The woman looked like an opposite Narcissa. Her black hair flowed down the same way Narcissa's did. Her tan skin was smooth and her eyes were brown. She was a slender woman, but her frame was hidden by the the black suit similar to her daughter's. This was Nina's mother, Mrs. Allissa Crawford. Mr. Crawford, who was sitting between his wife and Lucius, too, looked like the opposite of a Malfoy. He and Lucius had been mistaken for cousins many times as children, only his hair, too, was black and his skin was tan with amost black eyes. He was wearing a black robe similar to Lucius's, almost identicle in fact. They were sitting sternly, all three together, as though they themselves were the ones trying the defendant.

The door off to the side of the room opened and in walked Nina accompanied by a young man. She walked in with an air of confidence with her shoulders back, chest our and chin in the air. She was wearing a muggle suit with a pink blazer and skirt with black lining to match her black pumps. The blazer was a ¾ sleeve and the skirt went down to her knees. Her hair was neatly back in a low bun, finishing off her professional look. The man's bright red hair, on the other hand, was unmanagable and wearing a black robe.

"Adriana Bronwen Crawford, you are here being charged with-"

Nina held up her hand to stop him. "Please, sir, if I may." The minister was shocked, as was the rest of the room, but no one said anything. "Thank you. I know I have done wrong in the past, and I know I can be quite a bit of a handful, but sometimes I am right. I know I go over the top, which makes many matters difficult for you, but what I do is because of what is in here," she put her hand over her heart. "Please look in there when you consider what to do with me. You can take away my wand, send me to Azkaban, you can give me the Kiss, but let me tell you that I will always be here and I will always be fighting for what I think is right and doing what is good in the world. Thank you for your time."

A/N Short, but I wanted to leave this on a cliffy. I have decided that I don't think I will update over the summer so you don't have to miss anything.