The Dragon and the Angel - [Draco/Hermione]

Chapter Fourteen - The Hearing (Part.1)

Chapter Fourteen - The Hearing (Part. 1)

It was relatively easy slipping out of Defence Against the Dark Arts when Hawkins' back was turned. Hermione, Ron and Harry waited for Draco to arrive in the Entrance Hall for quite a few minutes before he practically ran into them, breathing heavily.

"Pansy and Goyle slowed me down - asked where I was going - but Blaise covered for me." Draco explained, wheezing. "Always knew I liked that bloke; remind me to-"

"Someone's coming!" Harry hissed.

The four of them ran in circles for a few seconds.

"Run for cover, you bloody idiots, don't go around like a chicken with its head cut off!" Ron burst out, pointing to a tapestry hanging on the right side of the exit. They quickly made their way towards it and pulled it over themselves before McGonagall's high-heels were heard clicking down the marble staircase. "I desperately hope this isn't like the Cloak all over again."

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, too preoccupied to ask what cloak Ron was speaking of.

"Harry's Cloak," Hermione explained in whispers as the footsteps grew nearer. "When we hid under it, we would disappear, but over time, we grew and you could see our feet when the rest of us was invisible - not another word, McGonagall's right there!"

McGonagall had indeed stopped in front of the tapestry our young heroes were hidden behind, and no matter how much Ron had been praying to Merlin, she could see their feet. McGonagall studied the polished black toes for a moment before carrying on her business, whistling, as if she hadn't seen anything odd at all. She must've recieved a similar letter from the Ministry, informing her of Draco's offences.

"I love that woman." Harry confided, finally breathing again. "Definately in my list of best Heads Hogwarts has ever had."

"Yeah, yeah, she's great, now let's go! I kind of want to stay out of Azkaban, if you don't mind!"

And that's how they ended up flying over London on invisible horses, one of whom was named Blackjack while the other three were excluded from the christening for the time being. Eventually, Ron named his Pancakes, Harry's was named Sir Hammish and Hermione named hers Shakespeare after some Muggle playright Draco had never heard of, and frankly didn't give a rats ass about, though he remained silent as Hermione told them of the play this Shakespeare had wrote, Romeo and Juliet.

"It was the original forbidden love story - quite romantic, actually." she was saying. "Romeo and Juliet were both very young. A few years younger then us."

"Wasn't Juliet fourteen?" asked Harry. Ron gave him a bewildered look. "Hey, I grew up with Muggles and attended normal school until age eleven. Older students were often talking about the 'borring' books they were reading in English class."

"Romeo and Juliet was hardly borring." Hermione huffed, stearing Shakespeare - the Threstal, that is - to the right. Everyone copied. "A classic, it became - Draco, are you alright? You seem pale."

"Of course he isn't alright, Hermione, he could be sentenced to death today! His mother might not even be there!" Ron caught himself there, then turned to Draco with a sympathetic look in his eyes. "Or it'll be the fear of heights that's bugging him."

"You're right." Draco whispered, tears threatening to overflow and spill down his perfect face. "My mother doesn't even know about the hearing." He took a deep breath and bit back his tears, refusing to cry in front of anyone.

"We'll be there for you Darco; actually, we're already here." Hermione pointed down bellow, where stood a lone, bright red telephone booth. "The visitor's entrance - Harry, remember the code?"

"62442." Harry recited. "Spells 'MAGIC' on a Muggle telephone."

"Really?" Ron demanded. "How queer. I never knew Muggle fellytones could spell. Hm. They really are ingenious, those Muggles - don't you dare tell my father I said that, he won't stop talking to me about his plug collection if you do."

Draco chuckled slightly as he felt a little bit of weight lift off his shoulder's at Ron's joke. But of course, those of you who actually know Arthur Weasley will know that Ron was being extremely serious. In fact, Harry decided to remember this moment for future blackmail.

As Draco, Harry, Ron and Hermione landed in front of the telephone booth, a heavy feeling of dread Darco couldn't shake off settled into his stomach, and about at the same time, his Dark Mark seared with pain. Great, he thought bitterly after the pain subsided. It hadn't been as bad this time, which she could be thankful for, all I need is for that to happen during the hearing and then I'll either be locked up in Azkaban or St. Mungo's.

"You sure you're okay, mate?" Harry asked, taking hold of Draco's shoulder and the mane of the Threstal he had been riding so it wouldn't scamper off. "I'll tie up these guys, you three go ahead."

Ron usherd them all into the cramped telephone booth, shutting the door behind him professionally. He puffed out his chest proudly (though there wasn't much room to do so) and dialed the magic combination - no pun intended.

"Hello and welcome to the Ministry of Magic," the cool female voice spoke to the temporary inhabitants of the telephone booth. Hermione noticed the message had been changed from her last visit when she was fifteen. The voice was also different, but Hermione couldn't bring herself to think of the possibility that maybe the previous operator had been killed. "State your name and buisness."

"Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger and Darco Malfoy," Ron listed. "here to attend a disciplinary meeting for Draco Malfoy." He made sure not to mention anything with the words 'Death Eater' in the sentence.

The machine spat three round sticker-things out. "Thank you and have a wonderful day."

Of course, the badges had to read, HERMIONE GRANGER: DEATH EATER CONDAMNATION, when Hermione peeked down at hers. She snatched the one from Draco's hand and gently pinned it to his chest before he could read it. Her eyes lingered, gazing into his before she pulled away and the telephone booth sunk deeper into the ground, her cheeks burning.

Harry waved at them, though they couldn't see him anymore, then returned to strubbling to attach a stubborn Threstal whose name we will not mention (cough, cough, Blackjack, cough) to the nearby streetlamp. He wondered what the Muggles that had seen death would see if they happened to wander this way, but didn't think too much about it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

What surprised Draco the most upon sitting down in the middle of the interrogation hall in front of  a full criminal trial was the fact that, in the stands, he could see his mother - but that wasn't what had surprised him the most. Sitting next to her, comforting his mother, Draco could see his only living aunt - the aunt who's name he hadn't been allowed to pronounce for the last eighteen years, the aunt whom he didn't even know what she looked like - but it couldn't have been anyone else - Andromeda Tonks, mother to the late Nymphadora Tonks, one of Draco's cousins, whom he had never met. She had died in the Battle along with her husband, orphaning her only son, who had just turned two a few months ago.

"Merlin's beard - Andromeda! Over here!" Hermione waved from where she and Ron stood, noticing the witch as well, climbing the side-stairs to the visitors' row where sat Teddy Lupin's grandmother. "I haven't seen you since Teddy's birthday - how is he?"

"He's great, thank you, Hermione. Hello, Ron. Where's Harry?" she asked.

"Tying up our ride." Ron explained, though he did not go into detail about having to borrow without permission the school Threstals. He coughed awkwardly. "Hello, Mrs. Malfoy."

"Draco'll be alright." Hermione added, worry clear in her eyes. "He has to be."

Kingsley Shaklebolt cleared his throat. The court quieted down immediately, and the trial began.