Author's note: I meant to get this posted yesterday, but I've been super busy with work.

I made the trip over to the Ministry Holding Facility and asked to see Draco and Narcissa. I was escorted to an empty interrogation room where I waited. Cissy arrived first, escorted by a female guard. Her ankles were cuffed to each other and to the cuffs on her wrists, so that she couldn't escape.

"Oh thank Salazar Harry! They came and took us from our home. They took the egg from the incubator and confiscated the nest! They won't even let me see him!" Cissy exclaimed. Who she hadn't been allowed see was obviously Draco.

"I'm going to make this right; they aren't going to get away with this," I proclaimed.

I spent the next ten minutes comforting Narcissa and trying to get her to tell me everything she knew. Then the door was opened by a male guard, who looked back into the hallway at someone I couldn't see from this angle and barked, "Hurry up," in a gruff unfriendly voice.

And then Draco appeared, shuffling forward slowly with his ankles chained together and his arms filled with our egg; at least they hadn't cuffed his wrists. He awkwardly sat down on a chair with the egg on his lap.

"Oh Draco!" Cissy cried, flinging herself at her son and somehow getting her hands on his shoulders in an attempt at motherly contact. It looked like she wanted to hug him, but the chains prevented it.

"I'm alright, Mother," Draco said, without looking up. She nodded and went to stand behind his chair to face me, her hands planted comfortingly on his shoulders.

Initially Draco's eyes were downcast, staring at the egg, and refusing to make eye contact with me. But then I moved over to him, bending at the knees to be closer to his level, and pulled his chin up to look at me. His eyes looked dead and hollow, almost in shock even.

"Draco," I whispered and placed my hands on top of his, on our egg. "I'm going to fix this. I'm going to make everything alright again."

Draco nodded and from there the questioning began. I needed information and with my Auror training, I knew how to get it. I needed to know who had done what and what the Aurors were thinking. The Malfoys didn't have all of the answers for me, but they had enough of them to start my investigation. Their story corroborated a lot of what I'd already been told by Temby and Ferrel, but added the feeling and emotion to the story. Also, it wasn't whitewashed to make the Aurors look good, instead painting the Aurors in a crazed demonic light that was probably half truth and half exaggeration.

I stayed with them as long as I was allowed, but after two hours, visiting time was up. I hugged Draco, told him I loved him, and that everything would be alright. I promised Cissy that I would take care of this. And then I was ejected back out into the Auror department headquarters and faced with the daunting task of rescuing the Malfoys from unfair persecution and prosecution. I thought vaguely about finding a good lawyer to help me, knowing I'd need one, but ultimately help found me first, in the form of Ron.

Ron took me home to the Burrow, where more than half the Weasley family was waiting to help me. Molly and Arthur were there of course, along with Hermione, George, Bill, Fleur, Dromeda, Teddy, Ginny, and Lee Jordan. I told them what I knew and what needed to be done and Hermione took charge, handing out assignments.

Bill and Fleur were sent out to contact the Malfoy family attorney, Mr. Tordoff, fill the man in if necessary, and get him working on the case. Molly and Arthur would find a new lawyer to hire, because there was too much to expect Mr. Tordoff to be able to handle it all. George and Lee would contact the Department of Mysteries and get them involved; it was their job to find an expert willing to study the tree to determine that it is not a Horcrux. Ron and Ginny would go to Malfoy Manor to check on the well-being of the tree and insist that the tree be protected until the end of the case, as opposed to cut down in fear. Hermione and I had the hardest task of all: to contact the press and share my story.

I hated reporters. I hated the Daily Prophet and I especially hated Rita Skeeter. Normally I would choose to go to Luna and her father's crazy magazine long before even thinking about taking a story to the Prophet. Unfortunately, the Quibbler just didn't have the coverage needed to alert the masses. Hermione insisted it had to be the Prophet, but at least it wasn't Skeeter.

I ended up giving my interview to a middle aged, balding dark skinned wizard named Earl Zabini. Out of all of the reporters who came clambering when Hermione and I showed up on the news floor, he seemed the most trustworthy. A reporter couldn't be trusted with something this important, even this one, so Hermione arranged for us to sign a contract stating that I had to review and approve the article before it was printed. They wanted it for the morning paper, so I was stuck there all afternoon and evening.

In the interview, I told Earl all about what Temby and Ferrel were up to and how this whole thing was a setup, designed to get the Malfoy family back for Lucius' lite sentence. It was a witch hunt designed to dig up dirt on Draco and Narcissa, in order to punish them for the crimes Lucius was getting away with. That wasn't right or fair and I told him so.

I also for the first time, revealed my relationship with Draco to the public, including our egg. Draco would hate it, but the world had to know he was a veela in order to fully understand the story. The fact that I, the Savior of the Wizarding World with impeccable moral fiber, was in a permanent relationship with Draco and was having a child with him attested to his character and his innocence. It would also, according to Earl, draw attention to this story, beyond the mere addition of my name. And most importantly, I talked about Grandfather Abraxas' tree and how it differed from a Horcrux. I reminded the readers that I was the authority on Horcruxes, so I would know.

Earl seemed to report things accurately, not embellishing or adding untruths the way Skeeter was famous for. There were only a few small discrepancies, which I had corrected, before I approved the final version. There was also the matter of the title, which I wanted to be something along the lines of, "Innocent Malfoy Tree Persecuted and Malfoy Family Wrongly Imprisoned!" focusing on the heart of the matter. Earl preferred something along the lines of, "Harry Potter Engaged to Wrongfully Accused Draco Malfoy with a Child on the Way!"

We ultimately compromised, by agreeing to publish two front page articles side by side, one with each headline. The original article would go under my title. A few paragraphs would be removed to serve as the meat of the other article, with a large amount of the typical Harry Potter gossip added to beef it up. I even provided a picture of me and Draco for them and they acquired one of Draco and Narcissa's arrests, Draco holding our egg in his mugshot, from the Auror Department.

The changes ended up taking most of the night, making me exhausted when I went home and crashed. However, it all proved to be worth it the next morning when I was awoken by the delivery owl dropping the paper on my head. In a matter of hours, everyone in the Wizarding World knew what was going on.

I was planning on taking the day off to spend reconnecting with the Weasleys to determine the status of their various missions, but that plan was pushed to the side first thing that morning. Mrs. Weasley had informed me of the success of her and Mr. Weasley's mission with the attorney the moment I was out of bed, even before she started breakfast. I thanked her and joined Ron in making the toast and tea, while Mrs. Weasley broke out the frying pan; Mr. Weasley was still in bed, owing to the fact that he'd been called into work last night. Ron was giving me the rundown of his experiences yesterday playing the role of tree hugger.

"So I says to Putnam-" Putnam was a mid-ranking Auror, above me and Ron in the ranks, but not by much, "-that we were there to guard the tree like a bunch of wackos from Greenpeace and that bloody tree! Do you know what he said?" Ron asked as the Ministry owl flew in the window and landed on my shoulder, its sharp talons ripping through my shirt.

Knowing Grandfather Willow, it was probably some snide comment about the Weasleys being blood traitors, but I didn't get to find out exactly what. The owl was from Robards, ordering me into Headquarters immediately. Apparently he wanted to talk about the case. When the boss owls, we Aurors come running. I promised Ron I'd hear his story later, he promised back that he'd let the family know that I'd been called away by Robards, and then I was off.

Robards sat me down in front of his desk and spelled his door closed, before verifying that the silencing charm was still functioning, keeping this meeting private.

Then Robards turned to me and said, "I've called a press conference for noon today. After your article in this morning's paper, you've forced my hand and left me no other choice. Temby and Ferrel will have to give statements and I expect them to have their preliminary paperwork filled out and complete by today. Tomorrow, a full scale investigation of wrongdoing on the part of Temby will begin. He will be temporally taken off of the case, pending the results. If your accusations are proven true, he will be permanently replaced."

"Good. I hope he is; Draco and Narcissa won't get a fair trial as long as he's in charge," I said.

"I hope you are wrong, but I fear you're right. Either way, you're involved in this investigation and I require you to be there at the press conference and to give an official statement. You have the rest of the morning to work on it," Robards said, dismissing me from his office.

I went to my desk and got started. An official statement was different from an interview, in that I was not allowed to relay hearsay. It was a simple recitation of the facts as I experienced them, starting with Ron and me being sent across the continent to get us away during the raid and ending with what I found at the Manor and the state of Draco and Cissy in Ministry custody upon my return. I wasn't allowed to build a case for impeaching Temby from office and was limited to retelling the words Temby and Ferrel had said to me. I was, as an Auror, however, allowed to include a recommendation at the end to the effect that Temby's conduct was to be looked into.

I was in the middle of frantic report writing when Ron popped his head in and said, "I'm off to Horsford Woods. I've been reassigned."

"What? I thought our case was in Kyrgyzstan," I protested. I'd been counting on having Ron by my side, like he always was. Even when I didn't need him, I felt better knowing he was there, watching my back. And with Draco in jail, there was no telling what I might need Ron for today.

"Our case was in Kyrgyzstan, until you went all emotional and bailed. Robards said that since I style myself one of those new-aged eco-friendly bullshiters, I can spend the day tracking down whoever has been vandalizing trees in the Horsford Woods. It's probably just some guys our age having a laugh, so no partner required," Ron replied.

We Aurors lived and breathed the sacred code of the partner, so solo assignments were only ever employed with cases ruled to be of virtually zero danger. Wizards who liked to magically carve their names into trees weren't considered much of a danger risk. In fact, those types of cases were so low priority in these post-war times that the reports normally were just filed away without being assigned to anyone. "Bullshite case meant to keep you busy; tough luck mate," I concluded.

"Bloody thanks I get for saving that racist tree; they want me out of the way, so you don't have a chance to go all Mad-Eye on the Ministry and demand your Malfoys back," Ron said. This was assuming that I couldn't act without my partner, which was basically true. "But don't worry, we Weasleys take care of our own. We handled everything yesterday, just like we said we would."

"Alright, thanks Ron. I mean it; you're the best mate a bloke could ask for. Now go off and hug a few more tress, because I have an official statement to write."

Ron nodded and saluted me on the way out. I went back to writing.

Later, at the press conference I was allowed to read my statement to the gathered crowd, but was not allowed to answer questions regarding my personal life. It was irritating, but I was familiar with the process and understood it. A press conference was a place for disclosing facts to the public, not for trying a case in the court of public opinion. Interpretation was to be left to the media until a later date when the department head had formulated the department's stance on the matter.

Afterwards, I finally had time to visit with Draco and Cissy for the day. Even though they were being kept in the same holding facility, they were not allowed to see each other outside of my visits, because they were of differing genders. My visits provided them with a chance to see each other, as well as me. I informed them of what was going on in the outside world and reassured them that I was taking care of things.

I also had some time with Draco and our egg, without Cissy, for a more intimate conversation. He told me then how upset he was with having to stay in there with our baby and that he wanted me to take the egg. I, however, was too busy running back and forth handling things to take care of the egg. I explained that to him and how much I loved both of them. And he agreed to keep our egg with him and take care of it.

After visiting time ended, I returned to the Weasleys for an update. Hermione and I had obviously succeeded in getting my interview onto the front page, but I didn't know how the other missions turned out until then, although I was fairly certain that Ron hadn't strangled the tree or I would've heard about it. Bill and Fleur were successful in contacting Mr. Tordoff, the Malfoy family attorney, who was now working on the case. Molly and Arthur had hired a new lawyer, Mr. Rook, who was now in contact with Mr. Tordoff and focusing on the tree side of things. George and Lee already had an Unspeakable from the Department of Mysteries examining the tree. And lastly, Ron and Ginny had verified the well-being of the tree and gotten Robards to order a guard for the tree, threatening to file murder accusations if the tree was cut down. Ginny had also spat on the tree, for calling her a blood traitor, and told him to shove off when he complained about Aurors trampling his saplings.

All of the key angles had been covered and everything was looking up. But just when I thought we were in for clear skies ahead, the story of the crystal broke. The next morning's cover of the Prophet was destined to be the polar opposite of the pro-Malfoy cover of today. The crystal was to be a shit-storm that hit out of the blue at the worst possible time.

Author's Note: Sorry about the cliff-hanger, but there it is. Any ideas what the secret of the Malfoy Crystal is? Also, there are only 2 more chapters left, so we have an egg to name. They don't know the sex, so I'm looking for gender neutral names. Also, I think it would be fun to give the baby a bird name. So far I've thought of Phoenix, Raven, and Griffin. Anyone have another idea? Or a preference? Or just an opinion of what sex each of those bird names fits better. I think I've heard of all three used for girls, but do they work for boys too?