i do not own Harry Potter

Silver & Gold

Trio

The meeting was set for twelve that afternoon and Hermione was not going to be late—even if it meant she had to drag Harry by the ear and Ron by the hair half across Muggle streets.

"All right!" shouted Harry finally, and yanked himself free. "We're not going to be late, Hermione."

"Harry," she said impatiently, still dragging Ron, "this meeting is in front of every Death Eater alive, in front of the Ministry of Magic, and in front of television—wizard TV Harry! This is not your average Smartest-Girl-in-England." For a moment, her voice raised to a slightly hysterical tone before she took a deep breath.

"The what? Smartest girl in England? Hermione, please do not tell me you were on that show."

Trio

They arrived a little breathless. (For many reasons. One of them being running away from a very police-looking man.)

"Miss Granger, Mr.'s Potter and Weasly—please follow me to the Prep Room." The woman was about thirty, a little too young to be a secretary. Hermione didn't like it. "Your makeup will be put on in there and your lines are being printed. The coffee—you do drink coffee?—is being made." Her tone was brisk and she was already leading them past the whispers. ("Daddy daddy! There's Harry Potter!")

The woman's heels (painfully high, Hermione would fall off in a matter of four seconds) click-clacked in rhythm before she spared them a glance, as though Harry had not saved her life with Ron and Hermione's help."My name is Gwen, and if you want something it's my job to make it happen."

Ron glanced at her curiously. "So if I ask you to get me every flavor from—"

"It's being prepared."

Malfoy Family:
minus Lucius

"Mother," said Draco in a matter-oh-fact tone as he slid in next to her. "You are wringing your handkerchief."

For a moment, Narcissa did not look like she heard him. And then she turned; her eyes bigger and the skin beneath them sagging a little. His mother's skin never sagged before.

"I understand, Mother," said Draco easily. He perfected the Malfoys' perfect acting to perfection. "Everything will be fine."

Narcissa nodded and then went back to breathing heavily, and ignoring the glares they were getting. "Mm," she murmured, and then went back to clawing at the little white linen.

Draco sighed heavily, knowing there was no way to avoid his fate.

Trio

"You're complexion is very very good, darling," said Else, the makeup artist. "Your freckly friend even has them good."

"I know," Hermione whispered as Else took her wand and straightened her fizzy hair with every smooth glide. "I should know. Ron and I dated for a while…"

Else grinned. "Interesting couple, but not very interesting together. You're too familiar." She finished with Hermione's hair and look at the rest of her critically. "Interesting eyes. Almosta copper color."

Hermione blushed.

"Hermione," murmured Harry quietly, as a woman tried to attack his hair with a comb and some gel, "gimme your script."

"They all want us to be there for publicity," replied Hermione simply, keeping the small piece of parchment out of Harry's reach. "After I heard our lines were being printed, it was a little obvious."

Harry frowned. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I," admitted his best friend that was a girl. "So we have each other's backs."

Harry nodded.

"It's show time," piped up Ron, remembering a Muggle phrase. "Wish me luck."

Malfoy Family:
minus Lucius

They entered in a flurry of robes, black, light black, and dark gray. They looked almost plastic, thought Draco disgustingly. Other than the fact that Harry's hair was as wild as always and Ron was as tall as usual, they looked like they stepped out from a magazine. And it was stupid. Draco had seen, first hand, Granger's straight hair full of twigs and leaves. Potter's face was smudged the last time he has seen him so much, his scar was covered completely. Even Weasley's ruined robes, something he had been known for as a joke in his household, were spotless.

Absolutely disgusting.

"Mother," he murmured when Narcissa's grip became too strong.

She let go of his hand, only to clutch it again.

Trio

She blinked at Harry as he said his first line, in such a solemn tone, it gave her goose bumps.

They made the introductions—rank first—which lasted at least fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, Ron and Harry were kicking each other's legs, trying to make it look like they weren't. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"AND NOW," boomed the current, new Minister of Magic. "We get on with the judging. Due to some—ah—brawls the Death Eater's wands have been confiscated. Until proven innocent, they are being held."

A hissing sound came from somewhere, and everywhere turned to the cage being brought in the room. It was large, holding the Deather Eaters caught. The cage had bars, made of iron, with spells cast around it.

A cry of dismay rose, and then faded.

Hermione's eyes widened. Harry grimaced. Ron looked sick.

A cage.

Holding people.

Hermione steadied her shaking hands.

Malfoy Family:
minus Lucius

The surname "Parkinson" rang out through the quiet room. Pansy, two rows behind Draco, began to cry into her mother's shoulder.

From his perch, Draco could see the Crabbes, Goyles, and the Greengrasses. They all looked weary, especially Draco's own acquaintances who had been pardoned. Behind him, Blaise was holding his little sister as their mother pursed her lips.

Everyone—almost every Slytherin that ever went to Hogwarts and lived though the war anyway—was there, either looking at nothing with no expression and very ice-y eyes or trying to calm down the woman in the family—seeing as there was a lot more women than men.

Even Draco was pardoned with an intense warning and a bruise the size of shepherd pie on his back. Many of them were just as unlucky, unless you were a kid who had no idea—or no part—in the whole war. And that was rare.

Minister of Magic
secretary speaking into his ear

Gwen said something in his ear and the minister—his name was way too long—looked murderous. Good—something bad happened to that ass, thought Draco. Sure enough each and every Eater was brought out all at once, and Dracp heard his mother cry out as Lucius—once so proud—was spelled in, in a cage like an animal with his used-to-be straight back now dented. Some boys look away. Every little girl was crying now; asking why their daddy was blindfolded.

He waved to the Eaters and lavished out a piece of parchment. "The crimes of these wizards and their fellow families are too great each. We will judge them all at once. But of course the Golden Trio's say is final." The minister grinned at Harry, Hermione, and Ron.

Ron thought he leered more than anything.