Chapter 26
Trial Aftermath
Draco couldn't concentrate on anything the Auror was saying to the lawyers.
Draco Malfoy has been found guilty of all charges against him.
Draco Malfoy has been found guilty of all charges against him.
He was going to Azkaban. Theo hadn't kissed him. He hadn't hugged Hermione or said goodbye to Pansy. Thank the gods he hadn't told Hermione that he loved her. She could move on with Theo and Pansy. They'd take care of her. He didn't need to worry.
"Mr. Malfoy," Mr Penworthy shook his shoulder, "Are you listening?"
"No, no," Draco said, "sorry no."
Mr Penworthy nodded, "Please repeat that, Auror. "
"All of it?" The man rolled his eyes in annoyance "Draco Malfoy has been found guilty; however, due to mitigating factors such as his minor age and the duress under which he committed these crimes, he will not be sentenced to Azkaban, Instead, he is to receive a term of ten years probation.
"The probation has several requirements. Mr. Malfoy has to attend a mandatory eighth year at Hogwarts and see the Mind Healer there weekly. He will submit to Wand Monitoring, mandatory Muggle Studies, and he must donate more to the reconstruction effort as reparations, the final amount to be determined by the DMLE Liaison's Office. In addition, he must provide restitution to one Madam Rosmerta of the Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade. At her discretion, Mr. Malfoy will pay a sum of no less than one thousand galleons or perform fifty hours of labour, or a combination of both. He must denounce blood supremacist views publicly, work for the DMLE or another approved Ministry office, without pay, for 6 months after graduation. Mr. Malfoy will not be allowed to take his Wizengamot seat for a minimum of 10 years and he must produce a minimum of two heirs to take the Malfoy and Black seats in the Wizengamot. Once they are adults, he must cede his seats to them. The second blood heir must take the Black surname for the probation to be considered complete."
"I'm not going to Azkaban?" Draco choked out, trying to absorb all the points of his probation, but focusing on that one piece of good news.
Ms. Wright looked over at him from where she was reviewing the scroll the Auror had handed to her on his way out of the room.
"No, you aren't," she smiled, warmly. "Congratulations."
He wasn't going to Azkaban.
Draco couldn't believe it.
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"Tell me that witch is going to be my daughter-in-law, Theodore." Narcissa said as Hermione walked away with Harry Potter in order to speak privately.
"What if I plan to marry both of them?" Theo asked, raising his eyebrow at Lady Malfoy.
"That's fine, Theodore, as long as Draco has a witch capable of bearing heirs. You and I both know that Pansy won't be able to manage that with everything that she has been through. And if he ever hopes to have a full life, he needs to get off probation and that clearly means two living children. I couldn't do that, it's a rare Pureblood witch who can these days." Narcissa tapped her fingers on her leg, not realising how she was giving away her emotions.
"Cissa -" Theo whispered, not wanting her to have to talk about Draco's baby sister that had died.
"Nevermind," she shook her head, "Here comes my Auror escort, and I want to say goodbye to Draco before they drag me back to the Manor."
Narcissa managed to get the crowd to part for her; the solicitors, who were speaking to the press rather than Draco, allowed her behind them so that she could speak to her son. Theo watched as she squeezed Draco's hand just before he was struck full force by a witch flying into his arms.
"Pansy!" He kissed her hard. "We are done with this place. Thank all the gods. We are fucking done."
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Harry made certain that he had gotten away from the majority of the crowd and that no one was paying any particular attention to him before he pushed into a door marked "DMLE Employees Only" in big red letters.
He felt badly that he hadn't insisted that Hermione come and spend the weekend with him and Ginny, but the truth of the matter was that he and Ginny weren't getting along great right now. Hermione being there would probably mean she would either be witness to or the cause of another of their rows.
Harry turned left as he came to an intersection in the corridors, then made a second left and a quick right. He saw the door he was looking for and checked around to make sure that no one saw him. Constant vigilance after all.
He stepped inside, pulling the door closed, locking and setting a ward on it.
Behind him, a man's voice said, "Took you long enough, Potter."
Harry's cock was already hard by the time he turned around and large hands were in his hair and on his throat. He moaned as his mouth was claimed and forgot all about his guilt around being a shitty friend to Hermione. He had so many other things to feel guilty about after all.
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Luna was very annoyed with her boyfriend as she walked to the Portkey office with McGonagall, who only very lightly threatened to tell the clerk's mother about some indiscretion that he had committed at Hogwarts the next time she went around for tea. The man, who had to have been in his fifties, if he was a day, looked terrified and quickly gave Luna the location that Blaise had portkeyed to. Luna wondered what on earth he could have done that would have the wrackspurts in such an uproar.
"There will be another portkey going to Rome in about fifteen minutes, Ms. Lovegood. Will that suit?" The question was, of course, directed to the Headmistress.
Minerva nodded regally and squeezed Luna's shoulder. "Please send the bill to Hogwarts, I'll settle it." She turned to Luna. "That was a very brave thing that you did in that courtroom, Ms. Lovegood. I'm proud of you. Good luck with Signora Zabini."
"I don't need luck," Luna smiled, "Blaise is fond of me and I'm clever and likeable."
"That you are." The older woman shook her head. "When you get back, we need to have a talk about your mother. You have some …relatives from her family who want to connect with you and I promised that we would discuss it first before I told them your name."
"Mother had living family members? Has a family?" Luna asked, surprised, her mind whirling at the very concept. "And they want to know me?"
Luna's mother had been gone for half her life, but the half that she had been there she had never once spoken of parents or siblings. It had always been as though Pandora Lovegood had sprung from the earth itself like a creature out of myth.
"Indeed," the Headmistress patted her shoulder, "We will talk when you return."
Luna wanted to yell after her, to have her tell her immediately, but by the time she got over her shock and was able to form words again, the Headmistress was already gone.
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Rome, Italy
The large palatial residence had a simple gate and only Muggle repellent spells around it, so it was easy enough for Luna to walk to the front door. A simple knock on the door had it opening, not by a house elf as she anticipated, but by the man she wanted to see.
He, however, was standing there dumbstruck, "Luna, how did you find me? How did you get here?"
"I asked at the hospital." Luna smiled, "I told them I was your fiancée and you rushed off as soon as you heard about your stepfather and I got the next portkey. The nurse I spoke to was very helpful. I think she took pity on me because my Italian is so horrendous, honestly." Blaise pulled her inside, closing the door behind her.
"Why did you come? It was only going to be a few days and…" Blaise looked at her in shock, still not believing that she was standing in front of him.
"You needed me! Did you think I was going to sit at Hogwarts or be the fifth wheel in probably the most hedonistic celebration of not going to Azkaban ever? I would never leave you to go through something like this alone," Luna stroked his face. "I love you. I'd do anything for you. I'd kill for you without a qualm, but what I won't do is leave you to suffer through family hardships alone. Aren't I going to be your family, too? That starts now, not at some unknown time in the future."
"How did I get so lucky?" Blaise pulled her to him, his eyes drinking her in and drifting to her pink lips but right before he claimed those lips with his, he heard a cough behind him and froze.
Signora Zabini was perhaps one of the most beautiful women that Luna had ever beheld. Blaise obviously inherited his colouring from her. Her black Acromantula robes were embroidered with red silk vines and flowers. Her short hair pressed flat with spirals of her scalp showing; it was unlike anyone's hair that Luna had ever seen, she didn't even know what to call the style. She was clearly a very fashionable woman, although Luna had expected no different. She was glad she was still in the formal robes that she had worn for her testimony rather than her regular attire.
"And who is this, caramellino?" Signora Zabini asked with a small smile playing across her ruby red lips that perfectly matched the embroidery on her robes.
Blaise stepped back and bowed to his mother, "Mamma, may I introduce the young woman that I mentioned to you, Luna Lovegood."
"Ah, you did not mention her by name, my darling," Signora Zabini stepped forward and took Luna's hands, "but now that I see her, I see only her mother."
Luna froze. "You… knew my mother?"
Signora Zabini laughed. "Indeed, since we were girls. The Shafiqs and Malfoys were close in those days. And while your mother was not sorted into Slytherin as was expected, her Ravenclaw sorting was still highly respectable so we continued our acquaintance until she ran away and was disowned."
"I don't…understand. What do the Shafiqs and the Malfoys have to do with my mother?" Luna felt her heart beat so heavily that it might burst out of her chest.
The older woman's immaculate eyebrow raised and she drawled, "Why my dear, in those days, I was Yasmene Shafiq and your mother was Pandora Malfoy. Did you not know?"
Luna found that she could not breathe. Then the tile floor rose up to meet Luna and everything went black.
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Hermione, Theo, and Pansy sat patiently outside Auror Selwyn's office, waiting as she cast the required charms on Draco and his wand.
Ms. Wright and the rest of the legal team had shaken Theo's hand before they left and thanked him for the opportunity to work on the case.
"We may open our own joint legal office rather than go back to our previous employers," Ms. Wright confided, "We work well together. And this case will certainly give us some notoriety."
Theo, in his gratitude, offered to cover the cost of their Diagon Alley offices until the new year. "It's a very small thing," he smiled, "but you've kept Draco out of Azkaban and for that, I'll be eternally grateful. And consider the Nott Estate your client as well."
"We'll be in contact to arrange Mr. Malfoy's press conference in the morning. It's important to get as many of his probation requirements met as swiftly as possible. I recommend he reach out to Madam Rosemerta immediately on the return to Hogwarts as well." Ms. Wright shook Theo's hand again and went off with the other solicitors and their clerk. Assuredly off to celebrate their victory with some firewhisky.
Hermione thought that she ought to feel guilty that she had told Harry that she was going back with McGonagall, but she did not think that it was his business what she was doing anyway.
It wasn't as though he had seemed overly concerned anyway. She knew that he had a lot going on, but it was hard not to feel upset with him about how little he considered their friendship to be a priority.
She had considered being honest with him after the trial about what was going on with her, Theo, Draco, and Pansy even if she didn't quite have the words to describe the intense emotional and physical intimacy that she felt with the other three. Harry's lack of interest in how she was doing, however, had disabused her of that notion. He could find out at some future point when he bothered to think about what was going on in her life.
Draco stepped out of the office and she looked up at his smiling face. Hermione squeezed Pansy's hand. Nothing Harry Potter did or didn't do was going to take away the joy that she felt in this moment.
Draco was free. Pansy was free. Hermione wasn't losing either of them today. There were no guarantees about the future and how long all of this would last despite the books of Cordelia's that Hermione had read, but she would try to just enjoy the happiness that she had found in the moment.
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Theo could tell that Hermione had her hand on her wand after the first insult had been yelled at Draco in the Atrium. Her body was in a tense fighting stance, every nerve ready to curse the offender into next week. Problematically, there wasn't just one.
"I wish we had asked Auror Selwyn to walk us to the hotel," she whispered to Theo after the third man glared at Draco. The stranger's menacing expression made her flinch. It didn't help that he was wearing Auror robes.
The curses and expletives came from every direction as they made their way through the Ministry to the exit. Theo couldn't keep track of who was yelling at them and pulled his wand as well.
"Fucking Death Eaters!"
"Scum!"
"You belong in Azkaban," an old crone paused in front of them and spat on Draco, who looked completely unsurprised, simply casting a Scourgify without bothering to make any comment at all.
Hermione stepped forward, ready to say something to the old woman, when Draco put his hand on her wrist, "Don't Hermione, please."
She took a deep breath and shook off her need to defend someone who mattered so much to her. "Let's just get to the Floo."
At the head of their little party, Theo threw the powder into the Floo and yelled "Knockturn Alley" before disappearing into the flames.
Some of the onlookers gasped.
"Oh, that's gonna add to the rumours," Pansy sighed before following Theo through the Floo.
"You go next, Draco," Hermione said imperiously.
"What? No." Draco shook his head.
"There are at least six people with their wands trained on you right now. You go through that Floo first or I might never see you again." Hermione barely stopped herself from either crying or grabbing his face to kiss him. She didn't know what was on the other side of the Floo either. She could only hope that Theo and Pansy were safe. "Now go."
Hermione gave Draco a little shove. "I'll be right behind you. Don't be difficult or I'll start calling you Malfoy again."
He looked at her in shock, but the Gryffindor wasn't backing down.
"Fine," he bit out. "Knockturn Alley."
She didn't give anyone standing around time to get any ideas and the wherewithal to act on them. She wanted to get to her wizards and her witch.
As soon as he was through, Hermione threw the powder and disappeared in a swirl of green flames.
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Theo had rented a room in Knockturn Alley for the night. He had attempted to get one above the Leaky Cauldron, but his request had been turned down because the owner "didn't want any trouble" and "couldn't accommodate four people in one bedroom." Theo rolled his eyes as he shared the story with the rest of them, clearly indicating that he thought the proprietor had been speaking absolute bollocks.
The White Wyvern was a pub in Knockturn Alley. It was located up a set of stairs above Markus Scarr's Indelible Tattoos, next door to a pawnbroker. The whole area was a bit dodgy, but that was all of Knockturn Alley really.
When they arrived at the location, Pansy wasn't terribly impressed; however, it was much better than going to Nott Manor, where there would almost certainly be something laying around that could kill Hermione. Pansy didn't have a huge amount of faith in the DMLE's ability to remove all the curses on the place nor find every dark artefact.
She never wanted to see Parkinson Manor again if she could help it. And she knew that Draco had no desire to go to Malfoy Manor. So this seemed like the best option. Theo could set wards and they all knew how to apparate if they needed to leave in a hurry.
The tavern keeper was a huge wizard with a scar down one side of his face and a long ponytail of steel grey hair. The pub itself was clean, even if the patrons were not.
Theo bought two bottles of firewhisky from the man and received their room key. They were followed by a dozen sets of eyes as they headed back to the stairwell that the publican had pointed them to.
The stairs were small and rickety and went more horizontally than vertically, and Pansy wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. At the landing, there were ten doors close together.
"Undetectable extension charm, I'll bet," Hermione muttered.
"Such a swot, Mi," Pansy laced her fingers with the other witch.
"Room Seven," Theo murmured, unlocking the door that looked as though it had been kicked in at least once in its career. "Home sweet home at least for the night." The door opened with an ominous creaking sound.
The room was very black. The walls, ceiling and window dressings were all black. The bed curtains and the bed linens were also black.
"Do you think all the black is to hide blood stains," Hermione asked, looking around the room. "Maybe the black out curtains were for vampires?"
"Could be," Theo smiled," but everything looks clean to me. I'll cast a few cleaning spells just in case and charm us some whiskey tumblers. It's time to celebrate."
Hermione wasted no time in casting elaborate wards on the room, at Draco's raised eyebrow, she smiled, "Who do you think set them when I was on the run with Ron and Harry?"
Draco laughed and continued to watch her wand work with pride. Gods, Hermione was incredible, he thought.
Pansy threw herself onto the bed and was surprised that it was in fact clean. She was so grateful that she wasn't heading to Azkaban that not even the less than luxurious accommodations could bring her down.
Theo had surprised everyone by having their shrunken trunks in his pocket. He restored them to the proper size, his trunk on the top of the stack. The lid flew open with a crack and four tumblers came floating out.
Soon the four of them were ensconced in the bed together, the boys down to only their joggers and the girls in camisoles and Hermione's pyjama shorts. Hermione's head was on Draco's chest and Pansy had her head leaning on his other shoulder as though neither of them could bear not to touch him. Draco had his arm around Pansy and levitated his glass up to his mouth, taking the whole shot with a straight face.
Theo, tucked in tight next to Hermione, rubbed circles on Draco's back. The Malfoy heir put his chin on the top of Hermione's head.
Hermione's soft snores made him smile, his grey eyes meeting Theo's ocean blue eyes with a delighted twinkle.
"I still can't believe it," Draco said after a while, after Pansy too had shifted, her breathing deepening. Theo claimed and finished each of the girl's firewhisky, setting the tumblers off to the side.
"I know this was your doing, Theo," Draco whispered, shifting to allow Theo to move Pansy onto one of the pillows gently. "I never would have gotten out of going to Azkaban if it wasn't for you getting me proper representation."
Draco lifted Hermione into his arms and slid her in next to Pansy, the two girls nuzzling and cuddling closer in their sleep.
"So bloody adorable those two," Theo murmured, coming behind Draco and wrapping his arms around the blond's waist.
"And sleepy." Draco replied, leaning his head back onto Theo's shoulder and pressing his cheek to Theo's. "I mean it, you know. I owe being free to you."
"You don't owe me a thing. I wasn't about to let you give up and go rot in that hellhole with our fathers, but I wasn't alone. You had a pride of lions testify including our girl and the Headmistress. Even the Chosen Prat. Although it was a boon to have Weasley absent, I'm not sure I could have kept from hexing him after that shite he spewed about our princess."
"And I don't know that she could have kept from giving him what for," Theo added thoughtfully, "Which he deserves but it wouldn't be ideal at your trial."
Draco nodded, putting his hand over Theo's hands, drawing warmth from the other man.
"I love you, Theodore Nott," Draco whispered.
"And I love you, Draco Malfoy," Theo kissed him lightly on the cheek. "More than all the stars. I swear I'll protect you from everything, even your misplaced sense of guilt."
Draco laughed, "I don't know that I would call it misplaced. Come on, let's get some sleep. I'm exhausted." His pale hair fell into his face and tickled Theo who blew at the strands. Draco just absorbed this perfect moment, savouring every sensation and smell.
Draco wanted to put it in a pensieve and relive it over and over.
"As you wish, dragon."
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