Chapter Seventeen.
It was well past midnight before Hermione had finished with Kingsley and was free to leave the Ministry. Upon arriving back in London, Ron and Pansy had been situated in interrogations rooms and the Aurors assigned to the case had started questioning them. A couple of other Aurors had been brought it to take statements from Theo and Blaise, while Harry took Draco's statement. Hermione meanwhile dealt with Kingsley as he took her statement and sorted out the issues surrounding the outstanding warrant against her name.
When Hermione had left Kingsley, she headed into the Law Department staff room. The Minister had promised her that Draco was waiting for her there, which he was. What Kingsley hadn't told her was that Harry was with him, so Hermione got a shock when she spotted her best friend upon entering the room.
"Hi." Harry stood up and smiled hesitantly at Hermione when she entered the room.
Hermione smiled back at Harry before rushing over to him and wrapping him in a tight hug. Harry immediately tightened his grip on Hermione and the two friends stood embracing for a long time. In fact they only parted when Draco cleared his throat, reminding them he was there.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to monopolize her attention." Harry told Draco as the blond wizard stepped forward and gave Hermione a quick kiss and a hug. "I've just really missed my best friend."
"I've missed you too, Harry." Hermione said, squeezing Harry's hand. "And I want to thank you for believing in me. Kingsley told me that you never thought I was guilty and that you kept protesting my innocence."
"I know you Hermione, and you're not a killer. But then again I thought I knew Ron, and I never would have thought him capable of such evil." Harry sighed.
"I wish I could say the same, but these last six months have totally changed my opinion of him." Hermione said. "Although even then, I never would have imagined he would have killed an innocent man just to set me up."
"Speaking of which, do you know who Weasley and Pansy killed in his place?" Draco asked Harry, knowing he had briefly spoken to the Auror who had been interviewing Pansy.
"A foreign wizard who Pansy sometimes does business with." Harry replied. "Apparently her jewellery business is a front for selling dark artefacts. This bloke they killed was a trader on the black market."
"Why did they pick him?" Hermione asked. "What did he ever do to them?"
"Nothing, apart from he was the same height and build as Ron." Harry answered. "That's all they required for their victim. Once they had him sedated they dyed and cut his hair to match Ron's, then they made sure his face was obscured from visual identification."
"That's awful." Hermione whispered. "They killed an innocent man just to frame me."
"He wasn't totally innocent, there's an international warrant out for his arrest. He's a well-known black market trader and several Auror departments across the globe were looking to question him on various offences." Harry explained.
"He still didn't deserve to be killed like that." Draco argued.
"No, he didn't." Harry agreed with the blond.
Once the subject of the identity of Ron's victim was exhausted an awkward silence fell in the room. Just as Draco was about to suggest him and Hermione leave, Harry decided to speak.
"Hermione, I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?" Hermione questioned. From where she was standing Harry had completely and utterly trusted her and had no reason to be sorry.
"For not being a better friend." Harry answered. "I'm sorry you felt you couldn't confide in me earlier. If I hadn't been such a judgemental arsehole when it came to Malfoy, you might have told me what Ron was doing."
"It doesn't matter now." Hermione insisted. "I just want to forget this ever happened and move on with my life. I don't want to hold grudges and cast aspersions."
"Will moving on be that easy?" Harry queried. "You are still technically married to Ron."
"Actually Kingsley's filed for an annulment. He reckons there'll be no problem getting it and by this time next week the marriage will be dissolved." Hermione replied, relief at the swift solution evident in her voice.
"That's good." Harry nodded. "You deserve to be with someone you really love."
"And I am." Hermione answered, smiling at Draco.
Harry smiled at the couple, happy that Ron hadn't managed to destroy Hermione's happiness. After taking Draco's statement the two wizards had talked and Harry was in no doubt that the former Slytherin thought the world of Hermione and was madly in love with her.
"I should be getting back." Harry said. "I want to check on the interviews, before trying to catch a few hours' sleep. Tomorrow will be a tough day and I'm not looking forward to it one bit."
"What's happening tomorrow?" Draco asked.
"Tomorrow I have to tell that Weasley's that's Ron's not dead and in fact he organised the entire thing." Harry answered wearily. "To be honest, I think the truth could be worse than what we thought had happened."
"Could you pass a message on from me?" Hermione asked.
"Of course."
"Tell them I understand if they thought I was guilty. Part of me wasn't sure of the truth so I don't hold it against them in any way for thinking the worst." Hermione said quietly. "Also tell them that I would love to see them, but I'll understand if they don't want to see me or if it's too soon for them. Just let them know that I love them and I hope this isn't the end of our relationship."
"I can do that." Harry nodded. "And for the record, I'm sure they'll want to see you at some point. It might not be right away, but I know they'll want to see you and talk to you."
"Thanks Harry." Hermione smiled, before she suddenly turned serious. "And if it's not too much trouble can you do me another favour?"
"Anything." Harry answered immediately. After everything Hermione had been through there wasn't anything he wouldn't do to help his friend.
"The night of the murder I passed out wearing my wedding dress, but in the morning I was in a nightgown." Hermione said. She didn't want to think about what Ron could have done to her, but now he was alive and could tell them exactly what happened she needed to know the truth. "Someone undressed me and changed what I was wearing, I need to know if it was Ron and if he did anything to me."
Harry felt sick at the implication behind Hermione's words, but he could understand it was a valid worry for his friend. Before today he would have scoffed at anyone implying Ron would rape Hermione, but after everything else his friend had done Harry wasn't so sure anymore. The Ron he thought he knew was clearly very different to the person he really was.
"I'll make sure you get the truth." He reassured Hermione. "I don't know how his interview is going or when he'll be finished, but I promise that I'll pay you a visit to bring you up to date."
"Thanks Harry." Hermione said, giving her friend another hug.
"Yeah thanks, Potter." Draco said, reaching out and shaking Harry's hand. "Hermione will be at mine when you need to come and see her."
After saying their goodbyes Harry headed back to check on the interviews, while Hermione and Draco made their way out of the Auror Department and towards the atrium. It wasn't until they were leaving the Ministry that Hermione remembered Blaise and Theo had been with them when they arrived.
"They left a couple of hours ago." Draco replied when Hermione asked about his friends. "They were going to wait, but I sent them home. They'll probably both show up sometimes tomorrow, just to check on things."
"As long as it's late." Hermione said, stifling a yawn. "I'm so tired, all I want to do is sleep."
"Let's get you home then." Draco put his arm around Hermione and apparated them both back to his penthouse.
Within half an hour of returning home the couple were curled up in bed, fast asleep.
Hermione didn't actually sleep as long as she'd anticipated and be mid-morning she was wide awake. Draco was still sleeping beside her, and not wanting to disturb her boyfriend she remained in bed. Lying looking up at the familiar ceiling, Hermione let her thoughts wander over recent events.
While she was relieved that she and Draco were no longer running from the law, she knew things were far from over. She may have been cleared of killing Ron, but she still had to endure his trial. Then there were the Weasley's and how they would react to her. Hermione hoped she still had a relationship with the loving family, but she knew that they may decide to fully support Ron, meaning she would be left out in the cold.
Hermione was so distracted with thoughts of the Weasley's that she failed to notice when Draco woke up. Draco lay watching Hermione for several minutes, before he leant over and brushed his lips against her cheek.
"You're awake." Hermione said, turning her head slightly so she was facing Draco.
"I have been for a while." Draco answered. "You looked lost in thought and I didn't want to disturb you."
"I was just thinking." Hermione sighed. "Do you think this whole mess is partly our fault?"
"What?" Draco looked at Hermione in complete confusion, not knowing why she was blaming them. "Why would this be our fault?"
"We kept our relationship a secret for so long." Hermione said. "Maybe if we told people sooner, this wouldn't have happened."
"First of all our relationship has nothing to do with anyone else. If we want to conduct in in private, that's our business." Draco replied. "And secondly, even if we had told people who's to say Weasley still wouldn't have taken the news badly. He still could have set me up and tipped the Aurors off, only we wouldn't have known where the information was coming from. The problem for him wasn't the fact our relationship was a secret, the problem was the entire relationship."
"I guess you're right." Hermione conceded. "Chances are Ron would still have taken the news badly."
"Exactly, and instead of me being here with you I could be in Azkaban." Draco said. "Don't forget that if Weasley hadn't approached you that first day, you were planning on telling his family about us on the Sunday. Judging from everything's he's done, I don't think he would have thought twice about using the fake information at his disposal."
Hermione nodded, understanding where Draco was coming from. While she now felt less guilty about their parts in events she still wasn't sure if other people would see things the same way. It would be very easy for people to look at what had happened and say that it wouldn't have happened if she and Draco had been open about their relationship from the beginning. Then again you could argue that if they had thought her friends and his family would support them in the first place then they wouldn't have felt the need to hide their relationship until it was more secure.
"I don't want you blaming yourself for any of this." Draco insisted, not quite convinced that Hermione was believing what he was telling her. "The only people at fault here are Weasley and Pansy. They chose to do what they did, no-one forced them into acting that way. They had a choice, even if they didn't like our relationship they didn't have to try and destroy it. Everything they did was because of them, not us."
"You're right." Hermione said, shaking off the remains of her guilty thoughts. "It was their choice to try and set you up and frame me. At the end of the day they picked their path and now they have to live with their choice."
Draco smiled, pleased that Hermione was starting to see that the horrors of the last few weeks weren't their fault. "Exactly. Now it's time for us to try and move on with our lives and I thought we could start by meeting my mother. After recent events I really need to go and see her and I thought you might like to come with me."
"Today?" Hermione asked and Draco nodded. "What's she like? Will she accept me being a muggleborn?"
"She'll have no choice in the matter, I love you and that's not going to change." Draco replied. "As for what she's like, she's a bit like me in the fact you have to get to know her a bit before she lets her guard down and shows you the real her. I'm not going to lie, she's not going to be over the moon that you're a muggleborn but since the end of the war she's been trying to adjust and she'll come round."
"What if she doesn't?" Hermione asked. "Do you have any tips on how to get in her good books?"
"Just be yourself." Draco chuckled at his girlfriend's obvious nervousness. "Once she sees how much we love each other she'll come round. All mother has ever wanted is for me to be happy, and I'm happy with you so she'll accept you. And hopefully in time you might even become close, she always wanted a daughter."
Hermione bit back a comment about how Narcissa would surely want a prim and proper pureblood as a daughter not a muggleborn like her, and instead asked Draco about when he planned on going to visit his mother. As the couple got up and got dressed, they decided that they would visit the Manor later that evening. That way if Blaise and Theo popped round before then they would be in to see their friends and thank them for everything they've done for them in the last few weeks.