Malfoy's Trial

Draco

"Thank you, Mr. Zabini. Your plea will be taken into account."

I sent Blaise a grateful look and moved my eyes back to the ministry official, Ms. Blackstone who now turned to me. "Mr. Malfoy, do you have anyone else who wants to vouch for you?" the ministry official asked not unkind.

I looked around the room and the ones who wanted to speak for me, had done so. Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini had both spoken on my behalf. My parents were already in Azkaban so neither of them could vouch for me, nor would I want them to.

When my eyes fell onto the Golden Trio; Potter, Weasley and Granger they weren't smiling smugly like I'd expected them to. Instead they looked around, as if waiting for someone to jump up. I pushed my jaws tightly onto each other and took a deep silent breath in through my nose. In defeat, I shook my head, "No, Ms. Blackstone."

Her eyes seemed to hint a bit of pity, but she didn't let it influence her voice. "Very well, Mr. Malfoy. Then the Wizengamot members will have their judgment ready within two weeks, until then you are obliged to stay with your aunt, Mrs. Tops under house arrest. If the judgement will rule in your favour, you will be placed under house arrest for the minimum of one year with a legal, light, guardian. If the judgement fails to be in your favour you will go to Azkaban immediately, for the duration of the sentence the Wizengamot chooses for you. In that case you will be forbidden any contact with…"

My eyes had moved to Granger who had pushed her elbow in Potter's ribs. "Excuse me, Ms. Blackstone!" a clear voice sounded through the Wizengamot. Immediately everyone turned to the one who had spoken and raised from his seat, The Chosen One, Harry Bloody Potter.

"I have something to say about Malfoy."

My eyes widened and now I knew that it was over. I was definitely going to Azkaban.

"Mr. Potter, this is highly inappropriate," Ms. Blackstone uttered surprised but after looking at Potter's raised eyebrows she motioned for him to stand in the speaking area of the Wizengamot hall.

Before I could begin to think about all the worst possible outcomes of what Potter could possibly say, Potter had cleared his throat and every witch and wizard of the Wizengamot was now looking in admiration to the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Malfoy is not a dark wizard and I think he shouldn't be punished for the things he did. In fact, instead of punishing him, I think we should help him."

If Potter was going to play the pity-card that everyone should feel sorry for me, I was going to kill him.

Suddenly I heard my mother's voice inside my head. "Don't you dare going to Azkaban, Draco! Promise me that you will do anything in your power to never go there! Promise me!" she had shrieked, completely lost in despair. And I had promised.

So now I kept my face neutral, even though I sincerely wanted to give Potter the bashing of a lifetime.

"Malfoy has made many more wrong choices than right ones. But he did make one decision that made us able to defeat Voldemort. He never sold us out to the Death Eaters in his house and so to Voldemort, when he could've easily done so. When we," Potter pointed to Granger, Weasley and himself "were inside Malfoy Manor, he chose not to betray us. Just like his mother chose to tell Voldemort that I was dead, when I wasn't. They both protected me, risking their own lives."

My eyes prickled. He had no right to speak about my mother. I balled my hands into a fist and made sure I wasn't shaking out of pure anger.

"I can honestly say I never liked Malfoy, but I do know one thing. Voldemort wasn't able to feel love. And I think a lot of children that made wrong decisions, which were only made out of fear, or not knowing better, but they could have chosen to do the exact same opposite if we'd helped them, given them a chance. I refuse to believe that sending Malfoy to Azkaban is the best thing we can do! We have certified mind healers that are able to change the world people live in simply by talking to them! I think that Malfoy is able to pay us back when he's had the right help. I don't think he is evil, we have all seen the recent memories about his opinion on pureblood supremacism. And I know that you cannot blame him for listening to his parents! If his parents chose to raise him that purebloods are better, he believed it because they were his parents! And another thing, many of you know about Malfoy's bullying. Especially Hermione Granger. But did the defence also tell you about the apology letter he sent her? One day after the war was finished? The letter that was six pages long?"

I nearly choked on my tongue. He wouldn't…

"Hermione brought the letter and she likes to read a short piece of it," Potter said, walking back to the benches where Weasley and Granger were seated. Meanwhile Granger had risen from her seat and took out the envelope I wished I'd never see again.

Before I could stop myself, I jumped up and yelled, "NO!"

This only resulted in a risen eyebrow from Ms. Blackstone, who motioned me to sit down. Granger had the decency to look ashamed but unfolded the letter and turned to the last page. She too cleared her throat and moved her eyes over the words.

"I still hear your scream resound in my head every night. The scream that reminds me of the torture you have withstood. But it makes me terrified to go to sleep, because I can't sleep a full night without waking up, drenched in cold sweat, shaking of terror and unable to shake the memories off of me. Granger, I am sorry, I truly am. I will never expect you to forgive me, because I don't know if I could, if I were in your shoes."

The memories flashed in front of my eyes. Children lying dead on the floor, Granger's scream. The only thing that was more deafening was the silence in the room. Then I realized, that people's mouths were moving, but no sound came out. I felt something stream down my cheeks and suddenly I felt a tightening grip on my arm. I yanked my arm loose and stared at the person the hand belonged to.

It was Ms. Blackstone.

"Mr. Malfoy, are you feeling alright? Do we need to call a healer?" her worried voice sounded far away and I couldn't focus on what was happening.

"Send a healer in here!" someone yelled.

And that was the last thing I heard before everything went dark.

St. Mungo's

The ceiling was bright white and I blinked a few times to get used to it. My headache was gone, but instead I felt so groggy because somebody obviously gave me a pain potion of some sorts. I suspected I was lying in a hospital bed and when I looked around the room, I saw my expectation was right. The room was small, but large enough for the one bed I was lying on and the one wooden chair near my bedside.

The windows were covered with light blue curtains and the door was also light blue. Then my eyes fell on three bouquets of gorgeous flowers with the rest of the table filled with get well-cards. If I had to guess, there were about twenty of them. Frowning, I extended my arm and tried to move towards it. My body whined painfully and I quickly went back to my original position.

The light blue door opened and an assistant healer, a nurse, walked in. She walked to the end of my bed, where a scroll of paper was placed. The dark, small nurse hadn't looked up once and was about to leave when I said very hoarse, "Uh, hello?"

The nurse's head jumped up and shock was written over her whole face.

"Healer Clearwater!" the nurse yelled over her shoulder while she hurried towards me.

"Mr. Malfoy, how are you feeling?" she now asked softly, taking my wrist into her hands probably because she wanted to know my pulse.

"Who are you?" I asked and tried to pull back my wrist.

The nurse let go of my wrist and took a step back.

"Right, I'm sorry. I am nurse Gabby; I have been taking care of you here in St. Mungo's. Do you know what day it is?"

I thought back of the last thing I could remember, the trial. That was on a Thursday. How many days have I been out? Two, three? Or just a few hours?

"How long was I out?" I asked nurse Gabby, my voice still hoarse.

"You have been put in a medical coma for the past week, it is now Friday a week later."

"But why? What is wrong with me?" I asked the nurse.

The door of my room opened and a Healer stood in the door opening. She looked familiar, but I couldn't quite remember where I knew her from, probably from Hogwarts. Then she walked over to my bed and sent me a friendly smile while extending her hand to me.

"Good evening, Mr. Malfoy, my name is Penelope Clearwater and I have been your Healer for the past week. How are you feeling?"

I shook her hand shortly, because the pain was nearly unbearable. Ignoring her question, I wanted to know what was wrong with me. And why Blaise or Theo weren't here…

"Why am I still here? What is wrong with me?" I asked again, the panic now slightly hearable in my voice.

Healer Clearwater furrowed her eyebrows.

"You have been experiencing post-traumatic stress due to your experiences in the war. That combined with a dangerous low amount of sleep... It caused you to shut out all your physical pain but also your emotional pain."

"But… I'm not sick or ill!" I protested, even though I knew it was in vain.

"Mr. Malfoy, I don't take pleasure in telling you that you are ill. I would prefer to tell you that you are all better and ready to go home. But unfortunately you have been bottling up all your pain, which is now overwhelming you. Understandably you have questions, so I have contacted your friends as soon as I heard you woke up. They will be able to tell you exactly what happened at the trial. But before they are allowed inside, I need you to answer my questions," she didn't give me a look of pity, which I was highly grateful for, but she did look at me stern.

So I nodded slowly.

"Are you in pain now?"

"Every movement hurts," I replied grumbling.

She wrote something down and asked, "Is there one part that hurts more than others?"

I thought about that and tensed my muscles.

"My back and left wrist are worse."

This didn't seem to surprise Healer Clearwater one bit, and she just nodded.

"Do you experience any nausea or dizziness?" her eyes moved from my right eye to my left.

I shook my head.

A small nod followed and she turned to nurse Gabby.

"Gabby, keep him on the anti-nausea potions, same dose, and keep on checking in on him every half an hour. He is allowed a normal dosage of Draught of Dreamless Sleep, unless there are complications, in that case you can give him the higher dosage."

"Yes, Healer Clearwater."

Healer Clearwater left the room and while nurse Gabby sat down in the wooden chair, writing stuff down on my medical documents, I stared at the light blue door in front of me.

It felt like ages before the door opened and Theo and Blaise entered. Nurse Gabby excused herself after assuring me that I could always call her if I felt unwell.

Blaise thanked her and shut the door behind her. Theo walked up to my bed and put his hand on my shoulder.

"How are you feeling, bro?" Theo asked while inspecting how I was looking.

Blaise leaned against the light blue door, far away from my bed. I turned back to Theo to answer his question.

"I'm fine, they are just worrying over nothing."

"Right, so when you didn't wake up after you fainted and puked at the trial, you just thought it was a good time to catch up on some sleep?" Theo stated sarcastically.

Surely they would've made that up, I would've remembered if I'd puked, right? I sent Theo a questioning look.

"I really puked?"

"Yes, you are lucky Ms. Blackstone was in time to dodge it."

I listened to hear a lie in there, but I didn't find one.

"So, is it postponed or will I still hear the verdict next Thursday?"

"You have been cleared of the charges," Blaise said, still leaning against the light blue door.

Against my expectations I didn't even feel happiness, a little relief, sure but no happiness. I was distracted by Blaise who was still leaning against the door, far away from my bed.

"Why are you standing all the way over there?" I asked, starting to get cranky.

Now Theo grinned and Blaise pulled a face.

"Let's just say that Blaise wasn't able to dodge it," Theo smirked.

"How is that possible? He was nowhere near me," I wondered frowning.

"We were here on Monday as well, you could barely speak so drugged up were you, but we were here, laughing at you and talking to you, Blaise was sitting at the edge of your bed. And well… you were very nauseous."

Theo made a vague motion with his hand and Blaise was still pulling a horrified face.

"Look, I'm sorry, I didn't know," I said to Blaise who was looking at me with a doubtful face.

"Yeah, no problem. I know you didn't do it on purpose…" Blaise said heedless, scratching the back of his neck and looking at the curtains.

"But you are cleared of all charges, Draco. You don't have to go to Azkaban!" Theo exclaimed happily.

I gave Theo a serious look and asked, "Yes, when did they sent out the verdict?"

"Saturday last week," Theo replied, his voice now small as if he was hiding something.

My back whined under the strain it took me to sit up straight. "What happened, Theo?"

"Well…" Theo didn't finish his sentence.

One of the reasons I liked Theo and Blaise was because they could say many words without actually saying anything, a fine Slytherin treat. But now Theo just stopped talking and I knew he wasn't going to tell me.

"Blaise," I demanded.

"Are you nauseous now?" Blaise asked before moving to step forward to my bed.

I shook my head, glanced at Theo again, who narrowed his left eye uncomfortably and I looked back at Blaise.

"Potter, on demand of Granger, ordered that you'd be taken to St. Mungo's immediately. They joined us to St. Mungo's where Potter demanded, again on Granger's whispered order, that an unbiased Healer would heal you. Potter then called in a personal favour he had with Healer Clearwater, he apparently knew from Hogwarts and then they were searching for whatever could be wrong with you. In the emergency room, where at that moment you, Theo, me, Healer Clearwater, Andromeda Tonks, Granger, Potter and Weasley were present. Granger in lack of a better word, strongly suggested, to run a test for magical exhaustion in combination with curse-sickness."

"Let me guess, she was right," I added, irritation clearly hearable in my voice.

Theo shrugged and added, "It could have taken them ages to find out that it was curse-sickness. The last case was apparently four years ago. Of course more cases appeared after the war was over but…" Theo stopped talking because he knew the rest of his sentence was redundant.

I looked at the side table that was filled with cards and three vases filled with flowers. "But who are all these flowers and cards from?"

"I think I'm going to go to the bathroom, I'll see you in a bit," Theo said quickly while hurrying to his feet.

"Stay right here!" I demanded.

Theo looked like he was being caught doing something completely wrong and so I knew I had to get to the bottom of this.

"Blaise, tell me."

Blaise rose his eyebrows at my demanding tone but didn't object.

"As soon as it was confirmed, Granger suggested that we made this public knowledge. You not daring to go to sleep because of the guilt-ridden nightmares that haunt you."

I opened my mouth to complain, because that would be the last thing I wanted, but I was almost sure they'd done it. Otherwise I wouldn't have received all these flowers and cards…

"So obviously I objected against that idea, Theo and Mrs. Tonks did too," Blaise paused dramatically, "but then Granger told Weasley to take the chart out of her bag."

"Chart? What chart?" I blurted out.

"The chart that said which Wizengamot member was voting against, or for your conviction."

"I didn't even know those charts existed," I said, frowning.

Now it was Theo's turn to snort and he said, "They don't. Granger made it."

"What do you mean- Never mind, continue," I said hastily.

"She showed the chart to all of us in the room, even Healer Clearwater was interested. You were going to go to Azkaban, Draco. Out of the 50 Wizengamot members, only 14 were going to clear you of the charges," Blaise's voice was tense and I could feel the dread filling the room.

"I was going to go to Azkaban?" I stuttered. I couldn't really believe that it was an actual possibility. I knew I could get send to Azkaban but I never really knew…

Blaise shook his head, "Draco, as soon as she started reading the letter you wrote her, nice touch in keeping that from us by the way, many jury members were switching their opinions in your favour. But Granger was firm in believing the public should know to create a larger support base for you. Because when you were admitted in the hospital, the first hate-mail arrived for you. She wanted to help you apparently. So she kindly suggested to let the whole wizarding world know, of your grief, guilt and pain. And so putting a stop to almost all of the hate-mail. And I still don't know why she was so passionate about helping you. She had ordered Potter and Weasley to join her in an interview with the Daily Prophet, the Quibbler and even the local wizard papers one day later, on Friday, openly claiming that they'd forgiven you. They told everyone that you were now friends with them. Even though Potter and Weasley disliked the 'plan', they agreed without one word."

Theo nodded at Blaise's words and added, "I don't know either why she helped you. You have bullied her throughout the years, called her names and now you have written her one letter and she has forgiven you? I don't know bro, something just doesn't add up."

I sighed deep. The right corner of my mouth curled up, I was painfully aware that my best friends were going to get angry at me.

"It wasn't the first letter I sent her."

Shock now passed over Theo's face, but Blaise's face stayed calm and calculating.

"I could've guessed it was something like that."

"You knew?!" Theo now blurted out, stomping the matrass of my bed next to my feet.

I looked shocked at Theo, who seemed really angry. But I couldn't blame him.

Blaise hastily shook his head and replied, "Of course I didn't know. I just suspected. You ever noticed that whenever he had insulted Granger he always needed time alone after that, to think?"

Theo nodded, a vague sense of comprehension rising. "I remember, what about it?"

"Well, it appears Draco here was always feeling incredibly guilty after calling Granger, Potter and Weasley names. So he wrote letters. Apology letters that said the truth about how he was feeling."

I felt a huge lump in my throat. If Blaise had known all along…

"Well, I don't know who he is anymore, so tell me. What was he feeling, Blaise?" Theo sneered.

"Confusion. He felt confused because his parents told him purebloods were better wizards. Then Granger, a muggleborn comes along and gets the best grades of the entire year. She was making him question everything his parents ever taught him because Granger was-," Blaise corrected himself, "is incredibly gifted."

I couldn't swallow. If Blaise knew this from the start, did he know about…

"Bullshit! We both knew Draco wasn't really meaning the things he said to them, we all knew that Draco had to maintain an obvious dislike towards them because of his father!" Theo said hotly.

"Yes, but we didn't know Draco actually liked them and-"

I felt the urge to intervene, not at all comfortable with how everything was working out. "Well- I uhhhh," I started.

"Very proficient, Draco. But try again later," Theo hissed while nodding to Blaise to continue.

Blaise took a deep, dramatic breath and I felt my hands tingle with the urge to hit him.

"Draco has been crushing on Granger since Yule Ball."

The bomb had landed. So Blaise knew about that too. Was there something he didn't know? I shuddered because of the cold shiver that ran over my arms and I pulled the blanket higher.

Theo looked at me expectantly and raised his eyebrows.

"What?" I asked, not knowing what Theo wanted.

"Aren't you going to correct Blaise? You know, because he said you've been in love with Granger since Yule?!" Theo now almost yelled again.

"There is nothing to correct, Blaise is right."

My heart felt a thousand pounds lighter and I could almost smile. But Blaise his face stood so smug that I imagined the smugness coming off of him in waves.

"Wha- Does she know?" Theo stuttered, flabbergasted.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? It's a simple yes or no question! Does Hermione Granger know you are in love with her?!" Theo yelled.

"I think she does, but I really hope she doesn't," I said softly.

"Why the hell is that?" Theo managed to say.

"Because…" I didn't answer.

I looked at Blaise expectantly and Blaise just shrugged, "Don't look at me, I told you all I know."

I rolled my eyes. "Because I have been with her."

"How-" Theo started.

"Been with her as in dating or been with her as in sex?" Blaise asked clinically.

"The latter. But we have been hanging out in muggle cafes, so…"

"And why did you stop?" Theo muttered angrily.

"Because she deserves better, even though it is just sex, she shouldn't have to be with me. There are tons of people who would love to date her and…"

Theo placed his hands on top of his head. "Okay, I came here to talk to my best friend, but now it appears that he's been having a whole secret life without me knowing about it!"

I felt bad, I really did. I should have told Theo and Blaise, no excuses. Just when I wanted to apologize, Blaise muttered, "Why don't you tell us about your girlfriend, Theo?"

"What?" Theo stammered, suddenly becoming red.

"Your girlfriend, or is Lisa Turpin your hook-up bitch?" Blaise sneered.

"Well!" Theo said, now having the decency to look just a little bit ashamed.

"Lisa Turpin, wasn't she in Raven-" I asked when Theo interrupted me, "-claw? Yes, she was. We've been dating for a full year now. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Blaise placed his hands on both my shoulder and Theo's and then he started to laugh.

"Now that we are sharing our endeavours, I've been hooking up with Thomas, Finnegan and Weasley."

"Which Weasley?" Theo and I asked at the same time.

"Ginny," Blaise muttered.

"Ah! The one that got away?" I teased Blaise.

Then a squeaking sound sounded and the door opened. In the doorway stood Potter and Granger. I'd expected Weasley to follow them in, but Granger shut the door behind her. Potter shook hands with both Blaise and Theo before walking up to me.

"Draco, how are you feeling?" Potter started.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. This was the first time he actually said my first name.

"Draco?" I asked Potter, as if to clarify why he use my first name.

"Does it bother you if I call you Draco?" Potter asked in return.

My eyes crossed Granger's who seemed uncomfortably distant. I knew I'd done something wrong, so I couldn't be bothered with what Potter was saying.

"No, of course not, Harry. I heard we are good friends now. So why wouldn't we call each other by our first names?"

Potter noticed the sarcasm but only nodded and said nothing. He stepped back so that Granger could step forward.

"Granger."

"Malfoy, I'd like to speak to you alone."

We had both made the rule that no one would ever brought our history up again and now she wanted to talk? I had taken my distance from her to make her realize she deserved someone better and now she came here to talk?

"Well grab a butterbeer, wont we, Harry?" Blaise said, emphasizing Potters first name.

"Sure we will, Hermione I'll be downstairs if you need me. Please don't go rushing off without me knowing okay?" Potter asked such a soft and caring tone that I knew something was wrong.

When we were finally alone, she sat down at the end of my bed, next to my feet. She didn't look up from her hands and just sat there in silence.

"I didn't ask you to save me, you know," I blurted out before I could stop myself.

This resulted into an immediate reaction. Her head shot up and she gasped, "You would have died in Azkaban, Draco. Of course I had to do something!" her voice was thin and I felt that she was already crying on the inside, but I didn't know why.

"I'm better off dead."

Shock was written all over her face. "You're better off alive, with me and…" her voice broke.

"And who? Blaise, Theo and Potter?" I asked sarcastically, feeling more miserable with the minute she was here, reminding me of the perfect witch, who I could never have.

Hermione's lip trembled. She opened her mouth and closed it again. When one tear rolled down her cheek and hung under her chin, I gave up. I took her hand into mine and whispered, "What is it?"

"I'm pregnant."

My mouth opened and closed. When sound finally came out it was three octaves higher than usual.

"Congratulations, who is the father?"

Hermione raised one eyebrow and then she sighed deeply, moving her curls back.

"You are the father, Draco. I'm three months pregnant."

"And you didn't think to tell me about this until now?!"

Her response was almost immediate.

"I didn't notice at first and when I found out there was another priority. I needed to keep you out of Azkaban, it was more important."

The silence in the room was deafening and my ears were feeling hot for some reason. My heartbeat was palpable in my throat and my mind was racing.

"You are pregnant."

"Yes."

"And I am the father."

"Yes."

"We are having a baby."

"Uh-yes."

"Do you want me to be the father?" I suddenly asked her, she could be telling me in a few minutes that she was going to let Potter of Weasley be the father.

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

"I'm sorry I left you," I whispered.

"I know. You were feeling guilty about finally being able to sleep a night through when we were sharing a bed."

"I-"

How did she know that? How could she possibly- when her eyes met mine, I was reminded again of the reason why I liked her, intelligent, fierce, passionate, powerful.

*BANG!*

The door slammed open.

"YOU ARE PREGNANT?!" Theo yelled at Granger, his eyes crazy and unbelieving.

Blaise just winked at her, giving me a thumbs up.

"Theo, chill. You are yelling at the mother of my child. Don't make me hex you," I warned smiling at the love of my life and extending my hand to hers.

She stepped closer and placed her small warm hand into mine.

"I love you," she said with her eyes wet.

"I know, I love you too," I said before making kissing noises.

The lights appeared in her eyes and she smiled broad, she bowed closer and pressed her lips against mine.

"I am dreaming, this can't be happening. I don't believe my eyes. How did this-"

"SHUT UP, THEO!" both Granger and I yelled at him.

Lovingly, I pinched Grangers hand.

Granger would be Granger until she would become a Malfoy. And if it were up to me, that wouldn't take long.

I know this story didn't make much sense. But I'm just a girl sending an unbetaed one-shot into the mesmerizing world of JKR's Harry Potter. I do hope you enjoyed it! I've got more Dramione one-shots that do make sense, so check them out if you're bored!
Love,

Aimee

PS. Reviews are appreciated like rainbows (priceless).