The Order Of The Serpent

Chapter 56

Draco stared at the ceiling, the events of the previous night replaying in his mind over and over again.

He could still hear Hermione's screams and the burning powerlessness he'd felt. It seemed to take Potter ages to show up. Draco had fought him a little for show, but practically handed his wand to him. The last thing he saw, was Hermione's eyes finding his, a single tear dripping down her cheek as Dobby apparated them away.

This was the end of their relationship, he knew. Silent tears ran down his face and outside, a thunderstorm broke loose, fitting his feelings perfectly.

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Weeks later, at the Battle of Hogwarts,, they each other again in the Room of Requirement. Draco followed Hermione in, not able to resist the urge to talk to her once more... Even if she wasn't with him anymore.

Hermione noticed that he had great difficulty keeping up his Death Eater facade towards Harry and Ron and her heart ached. They bantered a bit until he heard Ron call her his girlfriend. Things went a lot easier after that and she winced at the hard edge in his voice. How she wished that things were different.

She caught Vince's eye and tried to get a message across. Do something, we're waisting time...

Vince got the message and started shooting spells at Hermione and Ron, driving them back behind some piles of old lampshades. Her eyes went wide as she saw him conjuring Fiendfyre. Slowly but surely he lost control over it. He looked her in the eye. Run Hermione!

Draco saw Vince fall and knew that it would hunt his dreams forever. With sad hearts they escaped. The moment they got out they ran, away from The Golden Trio.

"What do we do?", Blaise asked when they were out of hearing distance from Potter. And Hermione...

"We hide", Draco answered, his voice thick from grief. "We can't blow our cover just yet and we can't fight the others either."

They all agreed and barricaded themselves in a hidden stockroom. There, in the darkness, no-one could see the tears running down their faces, grieving for their fallen friend.

***********

Hermione stood in a dark hallway with Harry beside her.

"Are you sure you want to do this Hermione?", he asked, "You know you don't have to."

"I know Harry", she replied, "But I owe it to him. He saved my life and so much more."

Stupid Hermione, you shouldn't have said that...

Harry looked at her quizzically, but didn't ask what she meant by it.

"Witness number one, Hermione Granger!", a booming voice called from behind the door.

"That's me", she said to Harry.

"I'll see you afterwards", he told her reassuringly.

She nodded at him, smoothed her robes down and walked out into the room. Her eyes found Draco's immediately. Her heart ached for him as she saw him sitting there in his striped Azkaban robes. He'd lost weight visibly, his hair was as greasy as Snape's used to be and he looked grimy.

"Hermione Granger", a voice called and she tore her eyes away from Draco's. "Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, on your honour as a witch?"

"I swear", she answered, gathering up all her Gryffindor courage.

"Is it true that Draco Malfoy took you prisoner at Hogwarts, during the Death Eater invasion?", the man asked.

"He did", she answered, "But..."

"Is it true that he claimed you as his reward for his part in the invasion?", the man interrupted her.

"Yes", she tried again, "But..."

"Is it true", the man interrupted her again, "That he did not stop his aunt from torturing you?"

"Yes, but..."

The man opened his mouth to interrupt her again.

"For the love of Godric, if you interrupt me once more I'll hex you into oblivion", she snapped. "Do you want to hear my testimony or not?"

The room went dead silent and Draco had to fight the urge to grin proudly.

"Please", a woman piped up from her left, "Give us your testimony Miss Granger."

"On the night of the invasion", she told them, "Draco found me in the dungeons while I was doing my rounds as a prefect. He kept me away from the battle and the other Death Eaters. After that, he claimed me as his prize because it was the only way to keep me out of Voldemort's own hands. He and his roommates did everything in their power to keep me safe after that. Do you have any more questions?"

"The aunt?", a woman asked timidly.

"He couldn't help me there", she answered, "He'd been killed. Bellatrix was a powerful witch, not to mention that she was dangerously mad."

"Did you have sex with him?", the first man piped up again.

A few court members bent closer to listen. Draco looked at Hermione's face and saw her look was murder. Oh boy...

"Did you have sex sir?", she asked icily.

"I beg your pardon?", the man answered, stunned by her answer.

"You heard me", she answered.

"I fail to see how that is relevant to the case", the man sputtered.

"Exactly", Hermione answered with her head held high.

"But, if he touched you without your consent...", the man sputtered.

"That should have been your question then, shouldn't it? You have no right to my private life", she answered. "To answer your relevant question, no he did not. And to answer what undoubtedly will be your next question, no he did not imperius me, fed me ammortentia or used mind control on me in any possible way."

"How can we be sure that you're not suffering from Stockholm syndrome?", the man sneered, trying to recover from the blow to his ego.

"I was cleared completely by my psychiatrist", she answered. "My muggle psychiatrist."

"How can we trust the judgement of a muggle psychiatrist?", the man barked.

Hermione's eyes flamed and the man recoiled from the heath of her gaze.

"I'm sure you're not implying that a muggle psychiatrist is in any way inferior to a wizard psychiatrist, right?", she said sweetly.

Touchdown Hermione... A silence came down on the room and she dared to glance at Draco once more.

"Thank you Miss Granger", the timid woman finally said, "No more questions. Please take a seat."

She nodded and walked to the bench across from Draco. As they looked at eachother, the both of them barely heard Harry's testimony and the ones that followed.

"Time to vote", the man announced, "Those in favour of clemency..."

Hermione ripped her eyes away from Draco's again and tried to count the wands raising.

"The court has decided", the man boomed, "Draco Malfoy, your time in Azkaban has ended. The month that you spent in there is found suitable punishment for your crimes. You may return home as a free man."

Draco sighed in relief. Even though she couldn't reveal anything about The Order Of The Serpent, her testimony, along with Potter's, was enough to set him free. When the judge ruled his release, she nodded at him with tears in her eyes and disappeared into the crowd... And out of his life.

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THE END
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Note: I'm planning to write a sequel, so please don't kill me yet. My Tumblr demands a lot of attention right now (HTTPS://hermionefanfics.tumblr.com if you want to check it out), so it can take a couple of weeks (months?).

Like Terminator would say: I'll be back 😉