CHAPTER 10
A/N: As always love to my followers, reviewers, and favoriters! White Pawn: Thank you for all the wonderful suggestion. I hope this chapter pleases!
Draco was more nervous than he thought possible. He and Chaz had stayed up late the night before, preparing him for his review hearing. He had been told all the rules. Chaz had warned him what not to say and what to make sure to say. His palms were sweating and even though he knew he was over prepared, he felt under prepared. This one meeting would decide the fate of the rest of his life. If he messed up at all, then he could be spending the rest of his life in Azkaban or at least a good chunk of it. He had to prove to the board that he was an asset to the Wizarding World.
The doors opened slowly in front of him, and Draco entered. The room was set up just as Chaz had explained. There was a long table across the room from him. Five wizards and two witches sat neatly in their chairs. All seven watching him expectantly as he walked toward his chair. It was placed in front of the long table, he knew that it was enchanted to physically hold him prisoner if the review board voted in the negative.
Draco arrived at the chair. After a deep breath, he seated himself and looked up at the review table. The Wizard in the middle sat in a chair that had a slightly taller back and was the head of the committee. This Wizard stood, he lifted up a long scroll of parchment.
"Draco Malfoy, you were accused of conspiring with Death Eaters, causing pain, suffering, and death. You have taken the Dark Mark and took part in many Death Eater attacks, including the attack on Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry. You have been in a period of probation for the last two year. Today you will be review by the board and your future will be decided. You have one hour to plead your case. In this time a string of questions will be asked by the board and the last ten minutes will be time for you to give a final statement if you wish. Do you have an questions before we get started?"
"No, sir," Draco answered.
"Very good, very good." The wizard resumed his seat and looked toward the left side of the table. Draco looked to the red headed witch who sat at the end of the table.
"Mr. Malfoy how old were you when you accepted the Dark Mark?"
"I was sixteen, ma'am." Draco swallowed hard and hoped that this was the answer that they were hoping for. The woman nodded and the man to her right ruffled his papers and looked up at Draco.
"And what were the circumstances of receiving your Dark Mark?"
The man was tall and thin with a balding head. He looked sternly at Draco awaiting an answer. Chaz had instructed him to answer will complete honesty and allow the truth to persuade.
"My father had been thrown in Azkaban. The Dark Lord decided to hand his responsibilities down to me. His only one and heir. Honestly, I had no choice. If I had said no, I would have been killed. Or I would have been tortured into taking it. At that point the Dark Lord had already beat my badly for my father's mistakes."
Scribbling could be heard from the table and Draco hoped that his answer was satisfactory. There was a long pause as the next wizard decided on his question. Draco's heart was pumping and he could feel sweat collecting on his back. He had to concentrate on his breathing. He didn't want to pass out during the hearing. He was not confident that the committee would stop the clock if he did black out.
"Mr. Malfoy, where are your parents now?"
"My father is locked in Azkaban. He will be given The Kiss for what he has done. I have not seen my mother since my first trial. She was not given the Dark Mark and I don't know if she ever really believed in what my father was doing. She had no choice really."
More scribbling.
More questions.
More painful truths.
Finally it seemed, after a time, they were ready to move on to how he had become and asset to Wizarding Society. This Draco felt much more comfortable with. He informed them of his work in the ministry, both his job and all the help he had been in giving information to the Aurors. The committee did not seem too impressed with this. Draco assumed that most people turned and gave up all the information that they could in order to help their own cause. He then led into the various projects that he had worked on. All the help he had given; all the good he had done. This seemed to be more impressive to the committee.
The head of the table cleared his throat. "I must admit, Mr. Malfoy. This is all quite impressive. I have hardly ever seen one participate this much while on probation. What else, might I ask, have you done?"
"I have been giving to several charities, sir. I have a list if you would like to look it over?"
The man nodded his head and motioned for Draco to come forward.
Draco retook his seat and tried to continue to take deep breaths. His time was coming to a close. They would soon be asking him for his final statement. He had memorized what he wanted to say, but all the time spent practicing seemed to have flown out the window. He tried hard to remember, but was interrupted.
"Some of these charities are muggle. Did you know this?"
"Yes, sir. I specifically wanted to give to a few muggle charities. Specifically those that would help repair school, home, and public building that were damaged during the war."
"I see," Draco couldn't read the face of the old Wizard, but there were meaningful looks being passed between the rest of the witches and wizards at the table. Draco could only hope that these were positive looks.
"Alright, Mr. Malfoy. It is now time for you final statement. I suggest that you explain to us why you believe you are an asset to the Wizarding World and how you will continue to be and asset.
Draco stood, his hands were shaking and he felt his lip quiver. Taking deep breath he tried to speak from the heart. "I was young when my father started to drill into me the importance of pure blood above all else. When I was old enough my father began to teach me the differences between myself, a pure blood, and those that were half-blood or muggle born. I grew up knowing nothing else. I grew up believe what my father had taught me. By the time went to school, I was convinced that he was right. But by the time I was forced to take the Dark Mark. I was less sure. I had been in school for six years with a mix of wizard and witches. I had seen the brilliance of some of the half-bloods and muggle borns. I began to doubt what my father had taught me all those years. But by then I was in much too deep. I was forced to take the Dark Mark and I was force to work for and with Lord Voldemort. I am not proud of what I have done, but have been and will continue to prove to myself and the world that I am a good person. I have helped rebuild Hogwarts. I have worked side by side with a muggle born to rebuild his shop. I have given to charities, Wizarding and muggle. I plan to purge my father's business and turn it into an upstanding family business. I plan to continue to give to charities and would like to start some more hands on projects after I have finished purging my father's company. In order to be an asset to this community, I need time and I will never be able to prove myself if I am locked away. I believe that I can better the Wizarding World."
Draco felt like he had finished strong. He had spoken from his heart and he only hoped that the committee could see that. He watched as they cast a silencing charm around their table. They spoke animatedly, looking at Draco from time to time. He in turn watched them carefully. He wished that he could read lips. They gestured to notes that they had made, to papers that Draco had given them, and even to Draco from time to time. Chaz had warned him that it could sometimes take a while for the committee to come to a decision. He tried not to panic when time seemed to be slipping by substantially.
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Hermione stood at the entrance to Sam's home. It was the morning after the full moon and she had decided to surprise him. He had given her a key a few weeks ago. She intended to use it to cook him a nice big breakfast. She was hoping that he might open up to her. She pressed the key into the lock, pushing the door open. She had been in his home many times before, but never by herself. He was undoubtedly asleep in his cage in the basement. She knew that most werewolves slept into the late morning the day after the full moon.
The kitchen was not hard to find. She had been in it a time or two. She set down her bags of groceries and got to work. Hermione loved to cook the muggle way; it helped her de-stress and right now she could really use that. Her second trip to Romania was coming up and she was over her head with preparations. Her boss had been adamant that she take her co-worker, Fran with her this time. Fran was beyond difficult. The women could not come to any kind of agreement on travel arrangements, and Hermione was sure she would end up slapping the woman before the trip was up.
Hermione hummed as she flipped eggs and turned the bacon. Bacon was Sam's favorite. She had bought it just for him. Pulling out the fruit she started to slice.
"What—What are you doing here?!" an angry voice sounded from behind Hermione. The knife slipped in her hand and she sliced open her finger. Hissing she grabbed the wounded finger and turned to Sam. His eyes were blazing and he looked angry. She had never seen him angry before. She found, immediately, that she didn't like it.
"I—I—I came to make you breakfast as a surprise!" Hermione answered back, still gripping her finger.
Sam's eyes didn't get and softer. "It's dangerous for you to be here."
Hermione snorted, "It's 11am. The moon went down hours ago! Besides, you took your wolfsbane potion!"
This didn't seem to even faze Sam. He stormed forward, his face a little too close to hers. "I don't care if I took the potion or not, Hermione. It is dangerous for you to be around me this close to the full moon!"
"No, it's not!" Hermione yelled back. Her finger was throbbing, she was starting to get a headache, and she was sick of him dismissing her like this. "You are not going to hurt me! I never would have come here, if I thought I was in danger!"
Sam's nostrils flared. Apparently he didn't like being yelled at. "You don't know what you're playing at, little girl."
"Excuse me? I am not a little girl. I am a grown woman. A grown woman who can take care of herself! Call me if you ever figure that out!" Hermione pressed her unhurt hand into his chest, pushing him back from her. She marched over to where her wand sat on the counter and rushed to the door. Realized that she couldn't hold her want properly to fix her own hand, she knew she would have to find someone who could. She walked the few blocks to the orphanage and floo-d to Harry and Ginny's flat. She knew that Ginny would be home for sure. At least she hoped.
"Ginny?" Hermione called out.
"Hermione, is that you?"
Hermione headed towards the voice. She found Ginny sitting in the study, scribbling a report for work. When Ginny looked up to see Hermione, she gasped and stood quickly.
"Don't worry. It looks way worse than it is. I promise." Hermione could only imagine what she looked like. The bleeding hadn't stopped and she was sure she was covered in blood.
"What happened? Why are you bleeding?"
Ginny grabbed her wand and started to scourgify away the blood.
"It's my finger. I cut it with a knife and I of course it had to be my wand hand! I'm sorry to bother you, but I needed someone who I trusted to fix this up."
"No need to be sorry, I'll fix it up in no time"
Ginny hadn't lied. It took her no time at all to carefully knit the skin back together. Hermione looked at her newly healed finger and thanked Ginny.
"Now tell me what else happened." Ginny insisted.
"What? Nothing else happened," Hermione denied.
"Please, I can tell that something happened. You look all frazzled."
Hermione sighed and told Ginny what had transpired between her and Sam.
"I'm really sorry, Hermione. It sounds like he has less of a wolf issue and more of a temper issue. But I really am sorry, I know you really liked him." Ginny leaned against the desk, offering her friend as much support as she could.
"Yes, that's the worst part, is that I really did like him. I mean, since Ron…" Hermione trailed off and the two shared a look. Things had been strained between Hermione and Ron since she broke things off with him. There was just no spark and Ron had a hard time excepting that. He had barely talked to her in the last two years. They would see each other occasionally at the Weasley dinners. "Since Ron, no one has caught my interest, but Sam…He just seemed so perfect. You know?"
"Well, I never met him, but from what you've told me, he sounded great. You know, maybe he'll shape up. He could call!"
Hermione sent a doubtful look her way, but didn't say anything more.
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A/N: Next chapter you'll find out about Draco and then Hermione and Draco will run into each other for the first time! Hope all this lead up has been worth it for everyone. I just really wanted it to feel as natural as possible. I didn't want to rush into anything. Please review and let me know what you all think. I just love seeing new reviews!