This chapter is a bit longer than I usually do, but there was a lot of info to cover. I hope y'all enjoy it! Thanks a million to my uber fantastic beta, sticksrouge11, and to all my reviewers. I just love reviews!
CHAPTER 9 The Hearing
"You said you would pardon him!" Ginny fought back tears as she shouted at her brother.
"We will," Ron said through clenched teeth, his face red. "The trial is in the morning!"
"Why did he have to go to Azkaban then?" she shouted. Draco had been back only three days before a group of Auror's had swooped down on him and taken him to Azkaban.
"He hasn't been cleared yet," Ron told her.
"How did they know he was back?"
"I don't know, Ginny. I already told you."
"You have to know! You're an Auror!"
"We don't always work as a group," he sighed. "Someone could have been tipped off!"
Before she could speak, there was a loud crack, and Narcissa was standing beside her. Ron flinched.
"Oh honey," she gasped, throwing her arms around Ginny. "I just got the owl."
Ginny's lower lip trembled and she sucked in a quick breath. "How could they do this?"
"Not everyone knows yet, honey. In fact, almost no one knows! He'll be fine though. In the morning, everything will be fine."
"Do you want me to stay with you tonight?" Ginny asked quietly.
Narcissa shook her head. "You go to your family tonight, and we'll get this sorted out in the morning. If you need me, I'll have our fire connected to the Floo network all night."
***
Ginny got little sleep, waking at all hours of the night, panicked about the trial, worried about Draco. She gave up even attempting to sleep at 4:30 and went to the shower. She let the water run until her mum banged on the door to make sure she was still alive.
"I've got breakfast, dear," her mum called.
Ginny wrapped herself in a towel and opened the door. "I'm not very hungry."
"Nonsense. Today you need your strength."
"Why? Do you think he won't get pardoned?"
"No. I believe he will be."
"Then what?" Ginny didn't like the forced casual tone in her mother's voice.
"Nothing," her mother told her, fussing with her hair. "Is this what you really what?" she asked finally.
"For Draco to be pardoned? Yes! Mum, he saved me. I owe him this much! Why doesn't anyone believe me?" Ginny told her.
"But what after this? How much after this do you owe him?"
"After this, I don't owe him anything. After this, I don't know where things will go. That's up to him," she replied, her voice several shades too cold.
Her mum remained silent.
"What mum? What is it?"
"I just want to make sure you'll be happy, Ginny. You're my only daughter. Is that too much to ask?"
Ginny turned and faced the mirror, using her wand to dry her hair and apply a bit of makeup. "I was happy when I was with him, you know."
Her mum took in a deep breath, absorbing her words. "Well come down when you're ready. We'll be leaving soon."
Ginny forced down a piece of toast and two pieces of bacon before giving up completely on her meal. The breakfast table seemed full of unusually cheerful conversation, as her mum, dad, all her brothers, Harry, and Hermione sat, oblivious to her lack of interest.
They all apparated to the Ministry an hour before the trail was scheduled to begin. Ginny met Narcissa in the entry foyer, by the thrice replaced Fountain of Magical Brethren. They followed her family down the lift as far as it would go, and then met up with Dumbledore, Moody, Harry, Lupin, and Tonks as they headed down another set of steps to the revived courtrooms.
"Courtroom ten," Dumbledore told them. "This way."
Moody nodded, his magical eye focused on Ginny. "They do love to use this one for the big trials, don't they?"
Ginny, Narcissa, her family, Moody, Lupin, and Tonks all took seats in the back of the room, and with a panicked heart, Ginny stared up at the people who would decide Draco's fate. The Wizengamot still consisted of about 50 or so witches and wizards, including Auror's, higher up ministry officials, and other prominent citizens. Harry and Ron sat directly to the left of Dumbledore, while Hermione was a row behind them. She recognized several members of the Order and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and tried to reassure herself.
But nothing prepared her for the moment Draco was escorted into the room, placed in the chair in the center, and then the chains jumped to life to tie his arms down. An audible gasp left her lips.
Draco was noticeably paler than normal, and the beginning of dark circles were forming underneath his eyes. Narcissa kept her composure and remained silent, but squeezed Ginny's hand.
Amelia Bones, the current acting Minister, began the trial, naming Dumbledore, herself, several Death Eaters already serving prison sentences, and - dear Merlin - Blaise Zabini as witnesses in the proceedings.
"Do you agree to take the Veritaserum that has been placed before you?" she asked.
"I do," he told her, his voice steady. It was Ron who stepped from the stand and held the goblet to Draco's lips as he swallowed the entire glass.
When he had finished, Amelia read the charges against Draco, which seemed to be a mile long, including torture, murder, rape, conspiracy, kidnapping, and a string of other war crimes associated with the Dark Lord.
"And how do you, Draco Malfoy, plead to these charges?" she finished.
"Guilty," he said firmly. "To most of them."
"Most?" Her eyebrows raised, and Ginny felt her mother stiffen slightly beside her.
"I have never raped anyone," he answered.
"But guilty to all other charges?"
"Guilty."
"Very well," she nodded. "The first witness will be Theodore Nott."
Ginny watched as Nathaniel's older brother was brought into the room and forced to drink Veritaserum. He was questioned at length about the activities that went on at the prison, the behaviors that had taken place before Draco had been placed at Dartford, and, so it seemed to Ginny, nearly everything that Draco ever did relating to the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters.
She cringed at much of the information that was presented, at Draco's ruthless, commanding, take no prisoners attitude towards the Order and anyone who did not support Voldemort. It became increasingly clear that while no one ever witnessed Draco kill or rape anyone, he allowed many others to do just that.
Next Karl Pettigrew, some distant relative of Peter's was brought in and given the drink. He too freely told the Wizengamot all he knew. Two more captured Death Eaters were questioned, and by then, Ginny's hopes were all but shattered. With all the disturbing evidence against Draco, Harry and Ron were going to have a horrible time convincing the Wizengamot to pardon him, if they too hadn't already changed their minds.
After what felt like an eternity, the imprisoned Death Eaters were taken away, and Amelia said, "The next witness will be Mr. Zabini."
Blaise took the chair next to Draco, but no chains moved to restrain him from leaving as they had for Draco and the Death Eaters.
"Please state your full name and residence," she request.
"Blaise Andrew Zabini," he replied, "of Wiltshire."
"Let the court know that Mr. Zabini was a double agent for the Order, having willingly immersed himself in with the Death Eaters. And would you please, in your own words, tell us what you know about these charges against Mr. Malfoy?"
Blaise's steady gaze didn't waver. "Draco was head of Dartford Prison. He was in charge of all the prisoners and all the guards; he had gotten that promotion shortly before Ms. Weasley arrived. He had taken Ginny as his own personal prisoner, which wasn't uncommon, but he treated her differently than the other guards did. I mean, I didn't see him with her all that often, but when I did, he was protective of her."
"Why did he take Ms. Weasley as a personal prisoner?" another member of the Wizengamot inquired.
Ginny could feel Moody's magical eye burning a hole in her back.
"I'm not sure. At first, the Death Eaters assumed she had knowledge to give us about the Order, but it became clear that she did not, or would not."
"And how were the other prisoners treated?"
"They were . . . raped and tortured. And killed."
"Did you ever witness of hear of Mr. Malfoy participating in these activities?"
"Not really," he shook his head. "Mostly he was able to over see everything, even before his promotion. But, as he said, I know he killed once."
"And who was that?"
"Marcus Flint."
"Marcus Flint?" Amelia raised her eyebrows. "The Death Eater?"
"Yes," Blaise nodded.
"Why would he do that?"
"I don't know."
"Mr. Malfoy?" she asked, looking at Draco. "Is this true?"
"Yes," Draco replied. "It is."
"And why would you kill a fellow Death Eater?"
Ginny thought she might faint. She hadn't quite told her family the truth about what had happened with him, and she felt the room grow hotter with each moment.
"Flint took a prisoner from the dungeons and put her in his room. I noticed she was gone and went to Flint's room. When I got there, he had her bound and the front of her robes were torn open. I knew he planned on taking her, if he hadn't already. He refused to let her go, and I was left with no other choice."
"You used an unforgivable curse because he was going to rape a prisoner?"
"That is correct."
"We were under the impression that rape was a common activity in Dartford."
"Yes," Draco nodded, "it was."
"Then why was this prisoner so important? Who was it?"
"Ginny Weasley."
Her mum let out an audible gasp, and as if pulled by invisible strings, her brothers stiffened.
"Very well." She turned back to Blaise. "In your opinion, how did Mr. Malfoy treat Ms. Weasley?"
Blaise hesitated. "Good, I'd say."
"The entire time?"
"Not at first."
"What was it like at first?"
"At first . . . at first she had to call him Master. He kept her in submission, but then things changed. I think he cared about her."
"What do you mean, kept her in submission?"
There was a long pause before Blaise spoke. "She was required to keep his quarters clean, I'd see her in there scrubbing the floors or his shoes . . . If she did anything wrong in front of the other guards she was hit or slapped . . ."
Tears filled Ginny's eyes, and she kept her gaze burning straight ahead, knowing her entire family was digesting the awful truth.
"Was she tortured?'
"Not with Crucio."
A heavy silence filled the room with the Wizengamot murmured among themselves.
"What else?" Madam Bones asked finally.
Blaise shifted uncomfortably. "Ginny had to watch other prisoners being tortured. She witness one person die."
"Who was that?"
"Pansy Parkinson."
"Is there anything else you would like to add?"
"No matter what Draco did in his past, he really grew to care about Ginny. He saved her life, and risked his own in the process. I believe that he has very much changed from the person he was six months ago."
"Very well. Mr. Zabini, you may go," Amelia excused him.
She watched as a visibly shaken Blaise left the chair.
"Next we will ask Ginerva Weasley to take the stand. As many of you are aware, Ms. Weasley had her thoughts searched by Albus Dumbledore, so he will be verifying her statements," Amelia proceeded.
Almost in a trance, Ginny stood to her feet and walked to the now empty chair. She was too afraid to look at Draco, sitting stoically next to her.
"Please state your name."
"Ginerva Molly Weasley," she whispered.
"And you were a prisoner at Dartfort Prison while Draco Malfoy was head guard?"
"Yes," she answered.
"Please explain to us why you are here today."
Nervously she glanced at Draco, and then at Dumbledore, who nodded reassuringly.
"I am here to request that Draco Malfoy be pardoned of all charges," she said, the strength in her voice surprising her.
"On what basis?"
"He saved my life. He kept me from all the things you mentioned that were going on in Dartford, and he got me out of there."
"It is our understanding you were not the only person he removed from the prison. Is that true?"
Ginny nodded. "Luna Lovegood Longbottom also."
"Please, tell us your story," Amelia pressed.
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