{ Chapter Nine }
Draco managed to get four hours of sleep before he woke up. The morning sky was just beginning to lighten up as he rolled out of bed and stepped into the shower. Twenty minutes later and he was dressed and ready to go.
He opened his desk drawer and pulled out two envelopes. One contained Hermione's journal and the translation. The other held the paperwork necessary to file at the Wizengamot. He had filled them out weeks ago in preparation for this day. He looked them over one more time as he drank his morning coffee.
He was ready to leave when the clock struck seven o'clock. With one final breath, he opened the floo and stepped through to the Ministry. The halls were still empty at this point in the morning, but that's exactly what he had planned on. He walked quickly through the hallways and ended up in front of the Minister of Magic's door.
"Malfoy. You're here awfully early this morning. Weren't you on night patrol with Potter last night?" Kingsley motioned him in and motioned him to take a seat in front of his desk.
"I was, actually. I'm here today on unrelated business, though."
Kingsley's eyebrow raised in question and he sat back in his chair, his hands clasped on the desk in front of him.
"Let's hear it then." He motioned for Draco to continue.
"I plan on filing these this morning. I wanted you to be aware before the shit hit the fan." Draco pulled the paperwork out of the envelope in his hand and laid it on the desk in front of the Minister.
He watched carefully as the Minister read through the forms and the attached paperwork that detailed the marriage rite and the legislation allowing a sponsor to speak on behalf of the afflicted wife. His dark face hardened and his piercing eyes pinned Draco in a powerful glare.
"These are very serious allegations against Mr. Weasley. Can I assume that you have irrefutable evidence to back up these claims?"
"Not at all, sir. Any evidence I have is purely circumstantial."
Kingsley read through the papers once again before handing them back to Draco.
"Does anyone else know about this?"
"Blaise Zabini helped me with research, and my mother knows bits and pieces." He placed the papers back in the envelope and sat back in his chair, by all rights looking relaxed and nonchalant. Inside, though, he was a bundle of nerves.
"Potter is going to wring your neck for keeping him out of this, you know."
Draco nodded in agreement, but did not justify himself. He simply could not trust Potter not to say something to Weasley. Harry Potter was many things, but patient and level-headed were not among them. For this operation it was imperative not to let on that anyone was on to the Weasel. It was the only way to keep Hermione safe.
"Very well. Good luck, Malfoy."
Recognizing the dismissal for what it was, Draco collected his things and left the office. His next stop was the legal office where he would file the papers.
The welcome witch smiled brightly at him. It was just wrong to be that cheerful at half seven in the morning.
"Good morning, Draco! What brings you to our little hole in the world today?"
He groaned to himself. Lavender Brown. The weasel's mistress herself. Wasn't that just perfect.
"Brown. I need to file some paperwork." He started to walk past her when she cleared her throat.
"Actually, you can just leave that here with me, you know. I can make sure it gets filed for you." She smiled and batted her lashes at him.
"Fat chance. I'll take care of it myself." He continued past her desk and opened the door to the legal office.
Oliver Wood was sitting at his desk drinking a cup of coffee and eating a donut. He looked up when the door opened and moaned to himself. So much for a quiet morning.
"Malfoy. We don't open until eight o'clock." He went back to his donut. Draco rolled his eyes and sat in the seat across from him.
"And yet, here you are. Please, don't let me keep you from your breakfast."
He considered the pastry in front of him for a few seconds before pushing it aside.
"So what's so important that it can't wait twenty five more minutes?"
Malfoy slid him the envelope.
"I need these filed as soon as possible."
Oliver was intrigued. It wasn't often that a Malfoy stepped into his office and needed something from him. He opened the envelope and pulled out the papers inside. As he read through them, he felt a deep, sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Hermione was his friend. If any of it was true, Ron Weasley would have hell to pay.
When he finished reading, he stamped all the papers as being received and he opened his calendar. He didn't say a word to Draco about the case, as much as he wanted to ask the man sitting across from him a million different questions. That, however, was not Oliver's job. His job was to file the paperwork and schedule the hearings. Plain and simple. The questioning would be left up to the Wizangamot under the influence of veratiserum.
"We had a cancellation late yesterday, so there is an opening at ten o'clock this morning?" He looked at Draco expectantly.
"That's fine with me. Can I assume that you'll notify all parties?"
"Absolutely. Owls will go out first thing."
Oliver made copies of all the paperwork and handed them to Draco, keeping the originals for himself. Draco nodded his understanding and turned to go. He paused at the door and looked back over his shoulder.
"Send them yourself, Wood. Don't trust Brown to do it."
Oliver looked puzzled, but he nodded in agreement anyway. He reasoned that it was too important of a matter to have Lavender mess it up or something. She had been known to send summons to the wrong witch or wizard from time to time.
Draco had returned to his office to get some work done before the trial. He had been sitting there for only a few minutes when an owl delivered his summons to be seen in front of the Wizengamot that very morning. He also got to see the look on Weasley's face when he received an identical summon. He was completely confused. It was perfect.
By ten o'clock they were all seated in the specified courtroom. The members of the Wizangamot, including the Minister of Magic, all filed into the room and took their seats. Kingsley met Draco's eyes for the briefest of moments before bringing the court to order.
"Mr. Weasley, today is your fifth wedding anniversary, is it not?"
Ron still had a confused, deer-in-the-headlights look on his face as he stood and faced the Minister.
"It is, sir, but I don't understand…"
He was cut off as Kingsley raised his hand in silence.
"Under wizarding law a wife has the right to petition the courts to dissolve her marriage bond on or after her fifth wedding anniversary."
The color drained from Ron's face and he shook his head emphatically.
"That's impossible! She couldn't…"
"However," he was once again cut off by Kingsley's booming voice. "It has been brought to this courts attention that due to an ancient type of magic, she may be unable to petition the court herself. In circumstances such as these, a sponsor may step forward to speak on her behalf."
Ron's blue eyes were wide as he stared at first Harry, then Draco.
"Mr. Malfoy, you are petitioning on Mrs. Weasley's behalf?"
"I am, sir." He rose and bowed his head slightly to the Minister.
"You are aware that as her sponsor you agree to take responsibility for Mrs. Weasley if her marriage bond to Mr. Weasley is broken? This responsibility includes taking her as your wife under normal wizarding law."
Ron and Harry were both staring at him now with eyes wide and mouths gaping.
"I am aware." A low murmur spread through the small crowd that had gathered in the room at his declaration.
"Very well. Under the law, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy will both be required to testify under veratiserum. Mr. Malfoy. We'll begin with you."
Draco nodded his head and stepped forward. One of the members of the court handed him a vial which he drank immediately. The first few questions asked were standard; name, age, etc.
Then came the more specific questions.
Did Hermione ask him to file the petition? Did he know where she was? Had he been in contact with her since she disappeared? Why did he believe she was under the influence of a marriage rite?
His answers had come easily. No, she didn't ask him to file the petition. He had not had any contact with her since her disappearance. He didn't know where she was, but suspected that her husband did. He had found mention of the marriage rite in her research when he conducted the investigation into her disappearance, and it had seemed to fit with the behaviors he and others had witnessed since her wedding.
When he stepped down from the stand, another low murmur could be heard coming from the growing crowd that had gathered in the courtroom. Sitting right behind his table were Blaise, his mother, and, much to his surprise and displeasure, his father.
Harry was watching him with an accusing glare, and Luna sat next to him with a happy smile on her face.
Ron still looked pale as he was led up to the stand and handed the vial of veratiserum. He looked out at the crowd nervously before swallowing down the potion. His family was sitting directly behind his seat, and they were all glaring at him.
"Mr. Weasley, did you or did you not perform the marital rite known as The Perfect Wife on your wedding night five years ago?"
"I did." His words were spoken through clenched teeth as he tried to fight the effect of the veratiserum. A gasp of shock echoed through the room.
Kingsley stared at the red haired man for a moment longer than necessary. When he had first read Draco's report that morning he thought the man had taken their childhood rivalry a step too far and would be humiliated in his courtroom. Ron's confession, therefore, sat like a stone in his stomach.
"Do you know where your wife is, Mr. Weasley?"
"Yes. She's at home, where she belongs." His blue eyes were shooting icy cold daggers at Draco.
Another murmur went through the crowd. Draco heard a noise to his right and turned his head just in time to see Harry jump over the barrier. He leapt to his feet and tackled Potter to the ground just before he crossed the witness protection line. Another step and he would have been zapped hard enough to warrant a visit to St. Mungo's.
"Enough. I will have order in my courtroom, do you understand me, Mr. Potter?" Kingsley shot them both a glare worthy of the Minister of Magic.
"I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again." Harry was literally shaking with rage as Draco pulled him to his feet and pushed him back to the visitor's benches.
"Pull it together, Potter. This isn't over yet." Harry nodded his understanding and took his seat. Blaise moved to sit next to him, and Draco sat back down at his table.
Kingsley waited for order to be restored before turning his attention back to Ron.
"You realize that the ministry has spent countless hours searching for Mrs. Weasley on your behalf. A false report is considered a minor infraction, but you will be required to pay back the ministry for any and all funds spent investigating this matter."
Ron swallowed thickly and nodded his head in agreement.
"But she was missing when I first filed the report!" He quickly stuttered out the words. "I mean, she wasn't really, she was there, but I couldn't find her. I really did think she was missing."
His eyes were darting between Harry and his mother, trying to find sympathy or support from those closest to him. He didn't find any.
"She was hiding?" Kingsley glared at him as he sought clarification, getting angrier by the minute. Ron fidgeted in his seat.
"She likes to push the limits." He mumbled it just low enough that only those closest to the front of the room could hear him, Draco and Harry included. Both men's fists tightened in anger.
"Have you during the course of your marriage, ever caused your wife bodily harm?" Anyone that knew Kingsley could hear the tightness in his voice as he asked the question that he was pretty sure he already knew the answer to.
"Yes."
"On more than one occasion?"
"Yes." Ron was now slouching in his chair, resigned to the fact that he couldn't fight the serum and his secret was out now anyway.
"On the night of the third anniversary ball for the Final Battle, your wife was severely beaten and assaulted. The lead investigator in the case felt that you were the one that assaulted her. Was he right?"
Again, Ron glared at Draco as he tried to fight the effects of the serum.
"Answer the question, Mr. Weasley. Did you assault your wife at the third anniversary ball?"
"Yes."
Harry had already known of Draco's suspicions, so part of him had already accepted the fact that Ron was guilty, but the other part of him, the part that didn't want to believe that his best friend could do that to his other best friend, was heartbroken to hear him admit it. Most of the women in the room had tears in their eyes. Luna, Ginny and Molly were crying openly. Narcissa was dabbing at her eyes daintily. Draco appeared to be calm, except for his hand that was still curled tightly into a fist at his side.
"And were you aware that under the marriage rite that you subjected her to, your wife was unable to defend herself or fight back against you?"
"That was the whole point, wasn't it?"
A hushed silence fell across the room, as though no one could believe what they were hearing. Kingsley himself was speechless for a long moment.
"I believe we can vote now. All those in favor of approving Mr. Malfoy's petition, therefore dissolving the marital bond between Hermione and Ronald Weasley, and creating a new marital bond between Hermione and Draco Malfoy."
Every hand in the Wizengamot, and most in the viewing section, raised high into the air.
"All opposed?"
No one moved.
"Very good. This court will take a one hour recess while Mr. Weasley and I go to the Weasley's home and retrieve Mrs. Weasley. She will need to be here when the marital contract is destroyed. Mr. Malfoy, as her sponsor, you will accompany us."
Draco nodded at the Minister and took a deep breath before standing. Idly he wondered, as he was following the Minster out of the courtroom, what he would say to her. What would she say to him? In a stark moment of realization he realized that he had spent over two years researching her disappearance, six months planning how he would go about getting her marital bond dissolved, and not a single moment thinking about what would happen next.
He shook his head slowly to clear away the errant thought. There would be plenty of time to worry about that later. For now, it was time to go save his witch and finally repay his debt to her.