As the elevator went further and further down, Cora snapped out of her reminiscence and tried to focus at the task at hand. This would not be an easy one, that was sure, but she was determined to succeed.
The elevator doors finally opened and Cora found herself alone in a black, marble corridor. Or not entirely alone. At the end of the hall stood a rather anxious, prim Gryffindor and waited for her arrival.
Brown eyes met green. For a moment Cora thought her former classmate would sound the alarm, or at least reach for her wand, but all she saw was a twitch in her right hand.
So you do want to blast the living daylights out of me.
Cora smirked.
"Thanks for coming." Hermione Granger smiled nervously, but kept her position firm.
Cora had to admit, the purple suit, pink heels and brown hair in a bun, made Granger look rather fancy. A far cry from the bushy-haired, quirky know-it-all, with bunny teeth.
Good for her.
"How's it going in there?" Cora broke the awkward silence between the two and her eyes darted towards the closed wooden doors. She really didn't want to go inside, and cherished every minute of her procrastination. However few they might be.
"Harry's pulling a tough case, but there still aren't many that are convinced of Professor Snape's innocence." Hermoine folded her hands in front of her and sighed. She had dark circles underneath her eyes. No doubt from all the hours she had spent trying to exonerate the former Death Eater. The sight made Cora feel guilty.
"They need a scapegoat."
"Yes."
Cora tightened her lips. Although Granger hadn't said much, she still felt like a schoolgirl being scolded. And she deserved it. She'd left the wizarding world, without looking back, thinking that they were better off without her. And therefore hadn't known about all the Death Eater trials and re-trials.
Since it had taken several months for Severus to recover from Nagini's attacks, his trial had been postponed. After that he had been back and forth between his home and Azkaban, awaiting a final sentence. In truth, Severus was on trial for Voldemort's crimes, in addition to his own.
Granger had been fighting for months for her former professor, while Cora had been oblivious. She'd taken it for granted that Severus would be honored after the war, and that he preferred solitude over their frustrating marriage. When Granger told her the truth, Cora was absolutely devastated.
She should've been the one on trial, not Severus. And Granger wasn't the one that should've been fighting for his innocence and just outcome. She was.
Cora had failed on so many levels that half of it was enough.
"How... how have you been?"
Of course the Gryffindor would lend out an olive branch.
Oh, you know. After the war I spent the first month alone in a flat in the Scotland Highlands, watching old episodes of Heart Beat, before I finally faced my fears and dared stepping outside again. And then I took the bus all around Britain for a couple of months. Totally avoiding using magic, out of fear of the Ministry, not knowing where I was going or why, until I ended up in Oxford at a muggle elementary school as a drama teacher. Simply because I saw an advertisement in a newspaper and thought: why not?
"I've been alright. And you?" Cora's smile was polite, but stiff.
"That's- that's good." Hermione nodded. Clearly not buying it, but unsure of whether she should pursue the matter or not. "Me too."
Bet you don't have any nightmares or constantly look over your shoulder, either.
Cora rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"What a pair we make."
Hermione looked offended for a moment, but then she chuckled. The comment somehow made her relax a little. Obviously Cora wasn't going to jinx her into oblivion, and she herself didn't feel the need to do so either.
"You look good." Hermione's eyes said more than that, but Cora let it slide.
"Thanks."
Although Cora looked smashing in her black dress, sharp heels and plum lipstick, which made her look strikingly like her deceased mother, Bellatrix Lestrange, Hermoine pitied her. Her former classmate looked so stiff and out of sorts. She figured Cora might have felt better in jeans, a Rolling Stones t-shirt and leather jacket. The muggle background was more in the Slytherin's backbone than she might realize.
"You don't look too shabby yourself. Although," Cora gave her a look-over. "I would avoid wearing that around Mafalda Hopkirk, if I were you." The Slytherin smirked at how the Gryffindor's cheeks grew a crimson blush.
"Oh." Hermione laughed nervously, before straightening herself. "Well, fashion inspiration can be found anywhere."
"Indeed." Cora nodded approvingly. "But I do wish people in the magical community would buy a copy of Vogue once in a while. The medieval clothes are so last century."
"What would Marie Claire say?"
"What would she say, indeed?"
The former classmates chuckled.
The two of them shared several similarities - being overachievers, was one. Growing up among muggles, was another.
Despite knowing that, it wasn't until yesterday that Hermione had gotten her assumptions contradicted.
After the Battle of Hogwarts she had never quite settled with the idea that Cora wouldn't one day avenge her father's death.
However, that was until the Slytherin had picked up her phone, and Hermoine could hear the theme song of Sabrina - the teenage witch in the background. A show she used to watch during her summer holidays.
Cora hadn't expected to ever see the female lead of the Golden Trio again either. Not since she'd left her, Harry and Ron by the boats, with a mutual agreement of cease fire.
Before apparating to St Mungo's with Snape in her arms, she'd given Hermione the phone number to the orphanage she grew up in, just in case she needed to contact her. Either because she was in serious trouble or something wicked was happening with the Chamber of Secrets.
After that, Cora had intended to stay as far away from the magical world as possible, and hadn't even used her wand since the Battle of Hogwarts.
Therefore, two years later, when Cora had picked up her phone and heard the familiar, desperate voice on the other end, she'd almost choked on her evening coco.
She'd half-expected Hermione to burn the note and forget the heir of Slytherin ever existed. Not actually call her.
A pleasant silence came over them, and for a moment Cora imagined what it would be like to have Hermoine as her friend. To enjoy an iced caramel latte from Starbucks, discussing potions, while strolling the streets of London.
To an outsider they looked like two twenty-something colleagues, who were having a friendly chat in between work hours, but in reality they had been on opposite sides since day one at Hogwarts. Not just because of their respective houses, but personality wise too.
Hermione was a know-it-all, who had more books than friends, while Cora could easily talk to anyone and often got solo's in the school choir. Hermione was afraid of flying, while Cora had hoped her father would teach her how to fly without a broom. Hermione's hair was bushy and her style was nothing out of the ordinary, while Cora's hair was like silk and her style changed by her mood. Hermione seemed to always be sure of herself, while Cora worked hard to not show how little she felt. They'd competed to be the best in class, but nothing more.
All in all, Cora was painfully aware of the fact that with all their differences, Hermoine Granger never had been, and never would be, her friend.
But she did call, though.
"Are you nervous?" The warmth in Hermoine's brown eyes hit a chord in Cora's usually locked up heart.
"Yes."
She didn't know what made her answer so honestly, but it somehow felt good. Her frankness only made the brown eyes grow even warmer. "I'm sorry it has to be this way."
"It's time I stopped running," Cora said, with a sad smile. Hermoine nodded. She'd been on the run for over two years now, and it was time she faced the music. "But you can keep my number in case I ever get out of Azkaban. Maybe we can go out for some coffee."
"I'd like that."
Cora could see that she meant it. Perplexed by the sudden turn of events, she blinked twice and then gestured for the entrance to the courtroom. "Alright then. Shall we?"
As she followed Hermoine down the remains of the hall, through the massive wooden doors and stepped in front of the Wizengamont, she could feel the noose tighten around her neck. There was no way in hell that she would get out of there alive.
The courtroom was a cacophony of voices. Lawyers and civilians were arguing across the room, in a way that resembled the pupils in Cora's drama class when they were misbehaving.
She rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to silence them all with a sharp comment and stern gaze. Much like Professor MacGonnagal had done so many times in Transfiguration class.
Cora noticed said professor in the middle of an heated argument with some of the other teachers from Hogwarts. Apparently Professor Slughorn was an ally and Professor Sinestra was a foe. The Weasley's were also there. And so were a lot of other former classmates. The Malfoy's, though, were nowhere to be found. But that didn't really surprise her. Her aunt and uncle never associated with people that didn't benefit them, and right now, Severus Snape was a persona non grata.
In the midst of it all Kingsley Shacklebolt sat by himself, with his arms across his chest and a look of exasperation on his face. He had clearly given up.
Cora wondered when the Minister of Magic would look up and recognize who exactly had walked into his courtroom and back into the magical world again. And how long it would take before he raised his wand towards her and ordered the Dementor's Kiss.
Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks.
In the middle of the room Harry Potter stood and argued fiercely with some official lady. With his back towards Cora and arguing rather loudly, he was way too occupied to notice her there.
Cora blinked a couple of times, and searched her gut for whatever feeling that might be there. She half-expected to find a roaring dragon, but felt nothing.
No fear. No anger. Nothing.
That's peculiar.
In the corner of her eye she could see that Hermoine also had stopped and eyed her cautiously.
Relax, Granger, I'm not going to kill him.
She gave her a pointed look and sent her the comment through her mind. Hermoine smiled, a bit sheepishly.
Cora shifted her focus from Harry for a moment and to the wooden chair next to him. She'd recognize the black hair and straight posture anywhere.
Severus Snape hadn't uttered a word since she'd arrived. She wondered if he could sense her presence there. His hands lay calmly on the armrest. He wasn't cuffed or in an unnatural position, and that made her relieved. At least he wasn't in pain.
Seeing the black, unruly hair and prison overalls made her heart fall like a stone in her stomach. She bit her lip and suddenly felt the urge to make a run for it. For how could she face him after all she had done?
"He's a bloody traitor and deserves to be treated as such!" Ronald Weasley shouted, pointed at the accused and snapped her out of her trance. Apparently the Golden Trio didn't share a united front in this case.
The comment made her furious.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Weasley, don't be such a twat!" Cora shouted back at him, before she could think twice about it. The redhead had always gotten on her nerves.
Her outburst caught both his attention and the Chosen One's.
"Cora?" Harry's face was a mixture of astonishment and abandonment.
"Hello Harry."
With the sudden attention of the Boy-who-lived, more and more people recognized who had stepped in among them. And they did not like it.
Some reached for their wands, while others looked almost frantic. Cora, on the other hand, locked eyes with Harry, and the room fell eerily silent.
For a second or two they just stared at one another, and the tension between them was more intense than the grasp of a Devil's Snare.
Cora felt a strong pull towards her wand, but resisted it. This was not the time and place to start a new war.
Instead she raised her chin up, in perfect Slytherin style. With a calm she didn't think she possessed, she stepped forward until she stood next to the wooden chair with the accused. More and more wands raised up for each step she took.
She forced herself to look away from Harry for a moment, and into the baffled eyes of the Minister of Magic instead. "My name is Cora Bellatrix Snape. I am the heir of Slytherin. And I would like to testify on behalf of my husband."
Kingsley Shaklebolt straightened in his seat. This day suddenly got interesting. He gave Harry and Hermoine a quick glance. Then, as if he suddenly remembered who he was and in what position, he gestured towards her. "Have a seat, Mrs Snape."
Cora nodded, and immediately a wooden chair appeared next to her husband's.
She didn't dare look to her left, just kept her focus on Shaklebolt, and resisted the urge to take her husband's hand. No doubt, he would have pulled it out of her reach.
"Miss Granger."
"Yes?" Hermoine took a few steps forward, looking like a deer in headlights, and undoubtedly wishing she had made a different choice than bringing in the heir of Slytherin.
"Please, do explain." The Minister looked far from amused. All eyes shifted from Cora to Hermoine, but several still held out their wands defensively.
"Well... uhm..." The otherwise brave Gryffindor looked more like a mouse than a lioness, and Cora almost pitied her. Clearly she hadn't expected that Cora would actually pick up the phone last night. She must've been very tired, and very desperate to make such a move.
"She gave me a phone call, and here I am, Minister."
Hermoine gave her a startled look.
"And before you all go wondering whether we share a weekly tea at the Three Broomsticks - which I can assure you, we do not - it's not relevant how I was summoned, but why." Cora crossed one leg over the other as she spoke and leaned casually back into her chair.
It was a pleasant feeling to be the most powerful person in the room. Granted, there were more of them than of her, but her magical abilities exceeded even some of her old professors. Her father had taught her well.
The one exception to that rule sat next to her, and he was as quiet as the grave.
"And why are you here?" the Minister replied.
"To right a wrong."
"Well then, Mrs Snape, please explain."