So sorry for the loong wait! Here's the next chapter!
Chapter Twenty-Five
Draco refused to speak to anyone. The last words he told the Ministry wizard was that he wished to speak to the Minister. Until then, Draco was going to be silent.
He fumed as the Ministry official tried to scare him into saying that he was a Death Eater and wished to follow and support Voldemort. Draco didn't know why the official was even bothering. After all, the Dark Mark was burnt onto his skin.
But he supposed the Ministry official actually needed a statement. Others were, apparently, under the Imperius Curse when they were burned with the Mark.
Draco wasn't one of them. At the time, he was fully aware of becoming one of the Dark Lord's so-called "supporters." He couldn't believe that he was locked up here.
For being a Death Eater, no less!
He hadn't been accused of being one since night Dumbledore and Harry saved him on the Astronomy Tower. He knew that once Kingsley and Harry got to the Ministry, it would all be sorted out, but this Ministry official was seriously annoying him. If he had his wand on him, he would hex him on the spot!
The door opened and another wizard came into the interrogation room, carrying papers. Draco could hear his mother's shrill voice and a baby's cry through the door. He also heard a cacophony of people yelling and shouting in the hall.
"Has he confessed to being a Death Eater, yet?" The new wizard looked almost bored.
"Not yet, but I'll break him." The Ministry official said menacingly.
Draco shook his head. "Really?" he said, breaking his brief vow of silence. "After Voldemort, I'm going to be afraid of you?"
The Ministry official narrowed his eyes at Draco. The door slammed open and Kingsley and Harry marched into the room.
"What is the meaning of this?" Kingsley's voice came out low and dangerous. Draco never heard it like this before.
"Minister—we've caught another Death Eater. Draco Malfoy, sir," the Ministry wizard said. He took the papers from the other wizard and handed it over to Kingsley. "Evidence of the Dark Mark on his left forearm."
Kingsley skimmed through the papers. "You say you received this information from the Malfoy Manor raid?"
The wizard nodded. "Yes—it's all in the paperwork. The information was taken from a series of letters between Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. All the red tape has been taken care of. We're just waiting on a confession or your word to put Malfoy on trial."
"What are the charges?"
The wizard gestured to the papers. "Accused of being a Death Eater, attempted murder of Albus Dumbledore, Ronald Weasley, and Katie Bell, accused of casting the Imperius Curse and the Cruciatus Curse. And Muggle-baiting."
Kingsley furrowed his brow and Draco hung his head. He knew he was guilty of all these things. He committed all of it before he went on the run with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"You do realize that this is Draco Malfoy?" Kingsley said.
The wizard nodded. "Yes—we retrieved him from Andromeda Tonks' house."
"Draco Malfoy spent the past year on the run with Harry Potter." Kingsley gestured to Harry, who nodded vehemently.
"He has. And he's saved my life. And he changed his allegiance from Voldemort prior to Voldemort's fall."
The wizard glared at Harry. "Forgive me, Potter, but you are new to the Ministry. There is an order and a way we do things here."
"Well, forgive me, but hasn't the Ministry been under control of Voldemort for the past year?"
The wizard shot Harry a dirty look. Kingsley held up his hand to stop them. "I will vouch for Draco Malfoy. I was the Auror who retrieved him from Hogwarts the night of Dumbledore's death and placed him under protection. And it was I who fed the story of Draco's death."
Draco looked up at Kingsley, hopeful.
"He is still under investigation," said the wizard.
"All of these things he's accused of occurred before he turned seventeen. He was a minor and not in his right mind," Kingsley said. He shot Draco a warning glance. "He was protecting his family under the thumb of Voldemort. It is as others have done. Those that have been Imperiused."
"His family have been supporters of the Dark Arts for ages!"
"His family, not him."
"But Minister—"
"I know what Lucius Malfoy did to your son," Kingsley said. "You can not take your revenge on his own son. Especially when he did nothing to deserve it."
The Ministry official sputtered and grew red in the face. "He has the Dark Mark on his arm!"
"You can place him under the influence of Veritaserum and retrieve testimonies from Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Draco Malfoy has been on the run with these three over the past year. He helped destroy Lord Voldemort."
"So we're supposed to just forget about everything else he's done?"
Kingsley shook his head. "No, but…as a teenager everyone makes mistakes."
"The Dark Mark, Minister! He has the Dark Mark!"
"He is no longer a Death Eater and has not been one since the night of Albus Dumbledore's death. If you continue to pursue your investigation into Malfoy, so be it, but as Minister, I will continue to support Draco Malfoy." He gestured to Harry. "And I'm sure he will have the support of the Auror Department as well." Harry nodded in agreement.
The wizard narrowed his eyes and threw the papers on the table. He and the other wizard left out of the room with a loud bang from the door.
"Draco—just try and stay out of trouble, all right?" Kingsley said with a small smile. "You may go home now." He placed a hand on Draco's shoulder and walked out of the door.
"DRACO!" Narcissa's shrill voice echoed into the room. She put her arms around him and hugged him tight. "What's happening? What did he do? What did Kingsley do?"
"Mum." Draco shook Narcissa off. It was a bit difficult since he was still chained. "I'm fine. Kingsley got me off." He looked at Harry and gestured to the chains. "A bit of help here?"
"Oh, right." Harry pulled out his wand and released Draco from his chains.
Draco rubbed his wrists that were raw from the tightness of his bonds. Andromeda and Teddy walked into the room, too.
"Teddy? You brought Teddy? Why—" Teddy gurgled as he reached for Draco. He giggled happily.
"We couldn't leave you alone," Andromeda said. "I can't believe they accused you of being a Death Eater."
"Draco Malfoy." Hermione stood in the doorway with her hands on her waist. "Don't scare me like that ever again!" She ran in and threw her arms around him.
"Not my fault—they came and brought me in!"
She punched his arm a few times. "I don't care! You had me worried sick! At first, I thought you didn't go to the funeral and then—" She punched him again. "Then you go and get yourself arrested!"
Draco looked helplessly at his mother. "Mother! She's beating up your only child."
"Well, then it's a good thing I have little Teddy in my life!" Narcissa teased. She cooed at Teddy.
Harry laughed. "Come on, Teddy," he said, showing Andromeda and Narcissa the door. "I'll show you my new office."
Andromeda and Narcissa followed Harry out the door. "Don't stay too late, Draco," Narcissa warned. "I don't want you to go and get arrested again." She closed the door behind her.
Hermione finally stopped punching him when they left. "You scared me," she said in a small voice.
"I'm sorry," he answered.
"Why did they arrest you anyway?"
He told her. "The worst thing about it is that everything they accused me of was—"
Hermione held up a hand. "Don't say anything else, Draco. We are still here at the Ministry." A look in her eyes told him that she knew what he was about to say.
"Come on, let's get out of here," he said, taking her hand. "I never liked coming to the Ministry anyway."
"Hurry before they find something else to arrest you on," she teased.
The pair of them headed out of the interrogation room and down the long hallway from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Draco saw the wizard who had been interrogating him sitting at a nearby desk and scowled at him. They headed for the lift and got off at the Atrium. As they stepped in line for the Floo network, Kingsley flagged them down.
"Draco!"
Draco turned at the sound of his name, a scowl already present on his face. "Oh. Hi Kingsley. I mean, Minister. Thanks again—"
"No problem, none at all," Kingsley said, waving his hand. "I hoped to catch you before you left. You remember the favor you asked of me?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"It's—you should just come with me."
"What favor?" Hermione asked, her curiousity rising.
"It's nothing," Draco answered. "Why don't you go find Harry and check out his new office, too?"
"I could tell you're just trying to get rid of me, Draco. What favor?"
"It's…it's something important. Don't worry, I'll let you know what it is as soon as—"
"As soon as I discuss it with Draco," Kingsley said.
Draco looked apologetically at Hermione as they headed for the lift once more. The three were silent as they rode the lift up. Draco could tell that Hermione was itching for more information, but knew better than to pester the Minister of Magic for more. Kingsley stopped at the Auror Headquarters and gestured for Hermione to get out. Hermione narrowed her eyes at Draco angrily as Kingsley shut the lift.
Once the lift doors closed, Draco spoke. "So, you've found them? Monica and Wendell Wilkins?"
Kingsley nodded. "Yes. And members of the Magic Reversal Squad already performed counter-charms to the Memory Charm Hermione placed on them. I'm told it was very difficult because of how powerful the charm was."
"I just want to make sure they're okay before Hermione sees them."
"I understand." The lift stopped at the topmost floor and Kingsley gestured them out. "They're waiting in my office."
"Do they remember who they are?"
"As far as I can tell, they do. They know that they are Hermione Granger's parents and they know that she's a witch. They know they've been in hiding because of the war and they know that the war's over now and that we've won."
Draco nodded. "I wonder—never mind." He put a hand on the door to Kingsley's office and pushed it open.
"Hi…Mr. and Mrs. Granger," he said in a confident voice. He tried not to show how nervous he was. "Um…I'm—"
"Are you Draco Malfoy?" Hermione's father asked. "The Minister of Magic—" he gestured to Kingsley, who walked in the office after Draco, "said that you're the one to thank for finding us."
Draco smiled. "Well, I just asked Kingsley to help find you guys. I, I didn't do any of the actual finding."
"Well, thank you," he said, grasping Draco's hand in a handshake. "And thank you for keeping us safe. The Minister was also telling us about the war."
"That wasn't me, it was your daughter—"
"Where is Hermione?" asked her mother. She eyed him suspiciously.
"She's here. I just wanted to…make sure you were both all right first…"
"Why?" she asked. "I remember my daughter speaking of you. Draco Malfoy." Her voice was laced with disdain.
His heart sank. So Hermione did talk about him at home.
"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, please forgive me for intruding," said Kingsley in his reassuring voice. "But whatever transgressions Draco Malfoy had done in the past, I know that he deeply regrets it. Especially if it was anything that involved your daughter. He was, after all, the one who requested a search party for you both. Also, the war gave us all a trying time. I believe that it put some of the more trivial things into perspective giving us a greater appreciation for all."
Mrs. Granger looked at Kingsley and nodded slowly. She still didn't take her eyes off of Draco.
"Erm…well, I'll just go pop down and call Hermione up here." Draco turned and walked out of the door. He wiped his hands on his pants, not noticing how sweaty his palms had gotten.
He headed down for the Auror Department and got off. He walked down the long hallway, looking for Harry's office. He saw it and knocked before pushing the door open.
Harry was sitting in his chair with his feet on the desk. Hermione sat across from him and they were laughing at something.
"Draco! Come in! Your mother and Andromeda just left," Harry said, waving him in.
"I'm only here for a minute. Hermione, would you come with me to Kingsley's office, please?"
"Is this about the favor?" she asked with narrow eyes.
"Yes, yes it is." He waved her over.
"Maybe I don't want to go."
Draco made a face at her. "Really? In all the time that I've known you, I've never believe it when Hermione Granger would pass up the chance to try and find something out that she didn't know before."
Hermione made a face at him and crossed her arms. They sat in silence for a few seconds before she stood. Harry winked at Draco, amused. "Fine. You're right." She smiled at Harry. "I'll catch you later, Harry."
"See you guys!"
Draco waved at Harry before taking Hermione's hand and leading her back to the lift.
"So what's this about anyway?" she asked.
"Your parents," Draco answered.
A sad look went across Hermione's face. "I was just asking Harry earlier if he could somehow help me look for them. But he says he doesn't know where to begin in Australia and doesn't want to ask others for help. Thinks it'll be a conflict of interest for him."
"Well, you're in luck, then, baby, because your parents are sitting in Kingsley's office at this very moment!"
Hermione looked shocked. "What—how—why—when—"
Draco smiled at her. The lift stopped and he took her hand and led her down the hall to the Minister's office. He stopped and prodded her forward.
"Go on, then."
She put a hand on the knob and stopped. "What if they don't remember me?"
"They do," Draco reassured. "I spoke to them. They…they don't seem to be having any symptoms of the Memory Charm. They remember you."
"You—is—what favor did you ask?"
Draco shook his head and gently pushed her forward. "Nothing, nothing. Just go in there. You've missed a year with them."
She searched his face before turning the knob on the door. She held it open for him.
He shook his head. "No, no. Just you. They're your parents."
She nodded and gave him a small smile. Draco waited in the hall and was soon joined by Kingsley. He didn't say much to him and instead just paced up and down the hall.
"Do you think I should stay and wait? No, I shouldn't. Well, maybe I should." Draco was talking to himself out loud.
Kingsley looked at him, amused. "That was a nice thing you did for her."
"Yeah, well…I haven't done many nice things for her, so I figured I should start."
A Ministry witch called for Kingsley. Kingsley nodded and signaled that he would be there. He placed a hand on Draco's shoulder. "Stay and wait," he advised before walking away.
Draco nodded and resumed his pacing.
He was nervous at what her parents thought of him. It was a different feeling, a weird feeling. He never cared what anybody thought of him before. He stood, wringing his hands together.
"Draco, I was hoping that you were still here!"
Hermione closed the door to the Minister's office behind her. She jumped into his arms and gave him a long kiss.
"What was that for?" Draco asked. "Not that I mind, of course." He winked at her.
"For bringing my parents back to me. Kingsley said you asked him to search for them."
"Yeah, but they're the ones that found them. It wasn't me."
"But it was your idea." She smiled at him. "When did you become so thoughtful?"
"The day you started to love me," he replied. He leaned down and kissed her.
"Come on," she said, taking his hand. She led him to Kingsley's office.
"What? No."
"Come on, it'll be fine."
Draco shook his head. "No. I've already met your parents."
"You met them as Draco Malfoy. Now come meet them as my boyfriend."
He hung his head.
Hermione laughed. "Come on, they'll love you!"
Draco shot her a look. "And whatever it is that you've been telling them about me for the past seven years is supposed to change in five minutes?"
Hermione shook her head. "No, but it didn't change in five minutes with me. Come on, they won't kill you."
"Your mother might."
Hermione laughed and hit him. She prodded him forward. "Come on, it's just my parents."
"Exactly."
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