Chapter Forty-Eight: The World Will Know
So the world says no?
Well the kids do too.
Try to walk all over us, we'll stomp all over you.
Everyday we wait,
is a day we lose,
and this ain't for fun,
and it ain't for show,
and we'll fight 'em toe to toe to toe
your world will feel the fire and finally, finally know
- The World Will Know, from Broadway's The Newsies

Hermione retuned to Hogwarts on Boxing Day a witch on a mission. Every fiber in her being was hell bent on bringing the Ministry to its knees and she already held in her possession returned letters of interest for an exclusive with the famous Hermione Granger.

Hermione wasted no time making a beeline to her dorm, dodging greetings from the students returning from holiday. Students either were returning early from their Christmas break or far more had stayed on over the holiday, Hermione wasn't sure. She made the effort to wave and give each person who called out to her a half-hearted smile. It was their fifth and sixth year all over again, Hermione's world had irrevocably changed and no one was the wiser.

Once securely inside the sanctuary of the eighth years, Hermione made her way to a corner table in the far end of the common room that was normally used to play chess or cards. It was the furthest point from the blazing fireplace, but Hermione's very being burned with purpose. She felt no chill regardless of the weather outside, only a grim determination that she and those she loved would not be cast aside and forgotten once more.
It looked like her fellow classmates were still due to arrive so she spread herself out as far as she liked. She threw her satchel on to the surface and began pulling out the parchment, quills, and ink she needed to do her work. Flipping though envelopes she arranged her returned correspondence in neat little piles, one for newspapers, one for personal, one for businesses, and one for Ministry officials.

All in all she had twenty-six responses. Out of those, sixteen of the letter writers were interested and eager to meet with her and hear what she had to say, seven were on the fence, and three completely waved off any involvement but wished her well in all future endeavors.

It was amazing the kind of attention she could bring herself nowadays. A month ago Hermione would have given anything to dip back under the radar and now she relished in becoming a honing missal aimed directly at those who deserved it most.

As she leaned back to decide which pile to attack first, Blaise was the first to enter the common room followed by Terry Boot, Michael Corner, and Neville. Hermione was surprised to see them back before the new year's term, but she didn't give it another thought. The group of boys looked at Hermione curiously but she didn't look up from her work. With a shrug Blaise turned to his room to deposit his things and the others followed suit. While in their rooms the rest of her eighth year classmates arrived, Anthony Goldstein, Ernie Macmillan, and Hannah Abbott bringing up the rear. The men took their stuff to their rooms, but Hannah held back as she watched Hermione furiously scribbling and then made her way over to Hermione's table.

"I know you're very dedicated to your studies," Hannah said with a smile. "But this looks like a lot of work so early in the term."

"It's not school work," Hermione said without looking up.

"Oh?" Hannah asked gently and deftly peered over Hermione's shoulder. "Is that more work for, what was it? The elf thing?"

"No," Hermione said and put her quill down. She looked over what she had written to the Prophet and turned to look up at the Hufflepuff. "It's Draco. The Ministry arrested him over holiday."

Hannah cocked her head, not quite understanding. "I'm sorry?" She asked. "The Ministry arrested Draco Malfoy? What for?"

"You remember the Maliceptor?" Hermione asked her, like Hannah could forget.

"Of course, that beastly thing that's been stalking you?"

Hermione nodded. "Draco and I came back to the dorms after we left Harry's Christmas Eve party, only we never actually made it to the dorms. The thing attacked us again outside in the hall. The last time it appeared I used a spell called Sectumsempra, and it worked to banish it for a little while. This was weeks ago. We used it again that night and it worked, but I banged myself against a table. Draco brought me to the Hospital Wing and that's when the Minister of Magic and two Aurors arrived to arrest him."

"Wait," Blaise was back in the room and was at Hermione's side in an instant. "Draco's been arrested again?"

"They took him without even listening to the whole story," Hermione said miserably. "Apparently right before Christmas the spell we used was added to the Dark Arts Scale. They came in with this trumped up story that Draco violated his parol by using dark magic."

"Didn't he?" Anthony asked and Hermione realized that her fellow eighth years were all gathered now in their common room, eyes on all on her. She wondered again why they all happened to be back before the official start of term, but the thought flitted out of her head due to her task at hand.

Hermione shook her head to clear it and also to focus on Anthony's question. "I checked," Hermione told them. "I looked through the records myself. There is no instance in the history of the Ministry where a wizard or witch on parole used a spell added to the scale during their parole. What makes it even more unique is that Draco is still technically a student. A student is given a grace period to learn about new additions in Defense class, and on top of that an adult witch or wizard is given a grace period of one year since the addition where they can be educated about its use if they abuse it."

Neville self consciously half raised his hand as though he were in class. "But that doesn't make sense. If it's in self defense any spell except the Unforgivables can be used, dark or not. And if it's only been on the scale a couple weeks how was he supposed to know?"

Hermione smiled sadly at her friend. "That's the thing," she swept her hand over the piles of parchment littering the table. "He wasn't. I used it before. Harry used it before. The ministry knew it would most likely be used again and this time possibly by Draco. It was a trap. The Aurors couldn't drag him out of the hospital wing fast enough."

"The Ministry set him up?" Hannah asked in a whisper. "Are you sure, Hermione? I mean, what if you just explained the circumstances?"

"I did," Hermione told her. "In fact, Harry, Ron, and I all paid him a visit. They corroborated my story about the Maliceptor, but Kingsley already knew about it. He knew we've been attacked before and how Draco defended me. Ron and Harry even told the Minister about the change in Draco, he wouldn't budge."

"But that's not right," Michael said with confusion.

"Agreed," Terry nodded. "Obviously there's been some mistake."

"You're not listening to me," Hermione looked at him and then stood up to address the entire group. "There hasn't been a mistake and it's not a matter of misunderstanding. The Ministry purposely added the specific spell that could be classified as dark for the sole purpose of incriminating him because they knew Draco would use it. Kingsley told the three of us that there was nothing we could do to get him out because he was already on probation."

"But if he didn't know about the spell," Terry began. "Not to mention having known you used it without repercussions, how it it legal? Regardless of one's past, you can't avoid breaking the law if you don't know what the law is."

Hermione smiled at the Ravenclaw who used the same defense she did.

"That's my argument," Hermione told him. "What we tried to tell the Minister. That was the plan all along, though. They wanted Draco back in Azkaban because it looks like the Ministry is doing their part in eradicating Deatheater behavior."

"But he wasn't a Deatheater anymore," Hannah's soft voice broke into the conversation and broke Hermione's heart. "We've all seen it. The two of you have become so close since the beginning of last term. If you say he was using a spell as a means to protect you then I just don't understand?" Hannah's voice was sad and tired.

"So the Ministry set him up." Ernie stated rather than asked. "But if you were here, what did McGonagall say? She had to have been around, right?"

Hermione nodded. "She told the Minister he was off base, but because of the parole..." Hermione trailed off.

"It's not right," Neville said vehemently. "This isn't right. What are they playing at?"

"Ron asked the same thing," Hermione told him. "It's politics. It's the same bloody song and dance over and over and over again. I asked the Minister if he wanted to be just like his predecessors, the ones who let Umbridge into our school, who didn't listen when we told him Sirius Black was innocent, the same ones who tried to shame Harry into silence about Voldemort. Kingsley said we were still children in our way. Children. Like we were not even involved last year."

"Of course we were," Neville said angrily. "And I would never be the first to defend Malfoy, but they're wrong about this. I would have happily turned the lock myself if he were actually guilty, but haven't we moved past that? If Malfoy were to cast a dark spell with dark intent then he deserves to rot in Azkaban for the rest of his life, but he was protecting you, Hermione. I don't necessarily like it but," Neville paused and then looked at the rest of their small group. "We," he pointed to Hannah, Terry, Blaise, Hermione and himself. "Spent Christmas Eve at Harry's. It was bloody bizarre. Pansy Parkinson was even there. The thing of it was, though, was that it was fun."

"It was," Terry said with a fond smile. "and Hagrid's rendition of God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriff is not to be missed."

"The point being," Neville interjected waving him off. "We were united. It was bizarre and uncomfortable and then it was fun and even a little exciting. But there we were, finally talking and finally figuring out what we were so damn divided out in the first place."

"And Pansy and Neville looked ready to tear each other apart for a minute," Blaise remembered with a smirk. "Although I couldn't tell under which context, to be honest. But Neville's right. If we're children then we're behaving better than the adults."

"It looked like Draco really cared for Hermione," Hannah said quietly. "I watched them when he gave her his Christmas present. He lit up so bright when she hugged him. If he's really a secret Deatheater then he should probably get an award, because I don't think you can fake that kind of happiness."

Hermione had sworn off crying until this was over, but her eyes threatened to water over when Hannah said that. She blinked rapidly and turned to her table.

"I told the Minister he would regret being a disappointment just like everyone before," she looked at the papers and spoke to the group while she composed herself. "I told him I would make sure the entire magical community knew what their game was and that Draco was innocent in this."

"He's trying to smooth it over, then," Michael said.

Hermione nodded. "He said that judicial Ministry affairs were not our concern."

"But aren't Harry and Ron Aurors?" Ernie asked.

"In training," Hermione corrected. "They still have another year at least before they are considered full-fledged."

"You'd think the Chosen One would get a free pass through technicalities," Michael said with a laugh.

Hermione shot him a look. "It's not exactly like he was born with all the knowledge you need to be an Auror," she said.

"It's just that," Blaise looked around and then slumped into a nearby chair. "This feels like being violated again."

Hannah made her way over to him. "I'm sorry about your friend," she said and she placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's like they're trying to fly all over the law here."

"They're trying to walk all over us," Hermione said, suddenly inspired. "You remember what it was like with Umbridge? How there was a new Ministry edict every week? Every day?"

"And then the Weasley twins shot everything to hell," Terry said with a dreamy smile. "One of the best days of my life."

"We couldn't fight back then," Hermione continued. "Except for secret meetings and private training. The Ministry was in complete control over Hogwarts."

"What are you getting at, Hermione?" Neville asked.

"The Ministry signed over all authority at Hogwarts," Hermione said with a grim smirk. "McGonagall even said...they can't interfere unless both the Headmaster or Mistress and Deputy were indisposed. We could use that to our advantage."

"What do you mean?" Anthony asked. "Fat lot of good we can do for Malfoy from Hogwarts."

"We can rally," Hermione told them. "We can write letters. We can spread the word. We can tell the children and grandchildren of Ministry officials that they are holding an innocent man, we can make some real noise like we were not able to before. After dropping the ball about Voldemort the Prophet should be easy to talk into running our story"

"I did not spend months hidden away and sleeping in a hammock to be told my opinion doesn't count," Neville said.

"Not to mention the massive snake you decapitated," Blaise added helpfully.

"I lost my mum," Hannah said angrily. "I lost her and then I was forced to come back to Hogwarts because the Ministry fell. It was weak then, does this new injustice make them weak now?"

"The Carrows tortured me," Terry joined in. "When word got out that Potter escaped Gringott's on a bloody dragon...I may or may not have lost my head. It was epic. It was so worth it."

"They got me, too," Michael shuddered involuntarily. "They had a first year strung up by his ankles. I got caught when I unlocked the shackles. Luckily after that Neville found me and we made it back to the Room of Requirement. I didn't come back out except to help the other students." Michael looked around. "See, when I was with Cho Chang, she told me about Cedric Diggory, how the Ministry covered it up. Obviously we know now that they just didn't want to believe You-Know-Who was back. It's understandable, it truly is, who would want that? But it was their blind eye and willful ignorance that gave You-Know-Who the opportunity to get as far as he did."

"We might have been able to hold on to Hogwarts if the Ministry wasn't trying to hard to keep a good image," Blaise was nodding. "If the Ministry actually listened to Potter in our fourth year it could have been the head start we needed."

"Harry wasn't supposed to survive that night," Hermione confirmed for Blaise. "and Voldemort was still really, really weak. He only had enough time to assemble the remaining Deatheaters that were still alive and not in prison. If the Ministry hadn't cowered they could have taken steps to secure Azkaban, hide the Deatheaters incarcerated there, there could have been a manhunt for Voldemort, he could have been stopped. It wouldn't have come down to children," Hermione practically spit the word. "To destroy Horcruxes, protect the younger students, defend our school and die trying to clean up the mess made by those who should know better."

"Here here!" Anthony, Terry, and Ernie said in unison.

"So what did you have in mind, Hermione?" Ernie asked evenly. "I won't pretend I have any love for Malfoy, but he's one of us. If you say he's innocent then I won't let the Ministry sweep him under the rug like they did to Cedric."

Hermione looked at the former Hufflepuff. It's been nearly four years but she could tell the death of his friend still weighed heavy on him. Hufflepuffs were loyal, if Ernie wasn't moved to stand up for Draco for Draco's sake he would be doing it in honor of his lost house mate.

"These are letters from parties that are interested in hearing from me," Hermione told them. "I need to get responses to all of them. I started with the Prophet, they're the biggest source of news in most of Europe. If they run my story then I think that will reach a large enough audience to really have an impact, but just in case I also want to respond to the smaller publications and other individuals."

Hermione was then struck with the biggest weapon in their arsenal and started pulling out blank sheets of parchment from her bag. "Write it down," she said to Anthony and Neville who were closest to her. "Write it all down." Hermione quickly began passing out paper to everyone in the room and began speaking quickly as though she were on the deadline of her life. "Write about your experiences here at Hogwarts last year. After that, write about what happened when Umbridge was in charge of Hogwarts. Write about what happened when the Ministry was influencing Hogwarts, write about what happens when the Ministry interferes at Hogwarts."

"Hermione?" Hannah asked tentatively.

"I don't want you to rip open old wounds like this," Hermione said with a sad shake to her head. "But if you agree with me, this needs to be done. We have given the Ministry too much power in the comings and goings of our lives. Kingsley told me I could take my exams and be done with Hogwarts, but Hogwarts isn't done with me."

Hermione paused, and looked around the room at her classmates who were scribbling letters that she hoped would be effective enough. "I wasn't a real witch until I came to Hogwarts," Hermione continued. "I was a terrified muggleborn who had no idea what was in store, but then I met Neville and his toad. From there I met Harry and Ron and things were never quite the same for me. Hogwarts is my home. Any violation that happens at Hogwarts feels like a rip to my soul. I'm biased, I understand that, but every time the ministry tried to interfere here something terrible happened. If we don't stand up now I'm afraid we won't be able to later."

Hermione motioned around the common room as though she were indicating an attack. "When Umbridge began to take over control I knew we were in a bad place. Umbridge was the epitome of passive evil. She was pure-blooded, so she didn't care what happened to those who were not. Draco was the same way right up until he wasn't. I can't tell you that beyond a shadow of a doubt that I know Draco is not the same person he was, no one can really say that but Draco himself. What I want the world to know is that Draco had proven to me that he's not a Deatheater. He made so many terrible choices over the years but he was finally coming into his own. If he's playing some sort of game then I can only applaud him because it would be the most brilliant con in history. He fought for me, he laid his life out for me, and now he's incarcerated because of me."

The troubled eyes of her classmates followed her as Hermione resumed her seat and pulled out another blank sheet of parchment.

"Are you sure you want to rip this wide open?" Neville asked, but didn't sound the least bit apprehensive.

"I think we have to," Hermione replied. "Don't you?"

Neville nodded and smiled ever so slightly. "I can already tell this is going to feel good," he said with a relish Hermione found surprising.

Hermione opened the door to Draco's room and pulled it behind her with a soft click. The room was in shadows, the only light source came from the half moon outside. She made her way to the four poster that dominated the room and sank into it with an empty feeling in her stomach. She was utterly alone in here, but she curled up with the pillows that smelled like him and reflected on all the ways the Ministry had wronged them and it kept her warm that night. Kingsley didn't think her generation had earned the right to have their say, well, he was wrong. The fire that had ignited Hermione just days before smouldered hot in her chest and tomorrow the letters would go out that would show the Ministry for what it was. If the Prophet cowered under political pressure then Hermione had half a dozen news articles that would pick up the slack. It wouldn't be like last time, now they had a voice. The world will know what was happening the moment after it happened.

(A/N) Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I recently went back and re-read this entire fic (I can't believe how long I've been working on it, if you're still sticking with me THANK YOU) and I'm pleased at the progression Hermione has made since school started. Next chapter we get to see her in her full Gryffindor glory and it's going to feel so, so good. Thank you so much to everyone who reviews/favorites this story, every time I get an email alert pushes me that much more to see this to completion. I think I'm going to ballpark that we'll be wrapping up in the next five chapters and an epilogue. Please let me know what you think! Your feedback is what keeps me going and I love you all for it. As always, find me on tumblr as arielxwriter, twitter as amccollums, or instagram at arielsinlove. Until next time!