The Malfoy Trial

Kreacher met Draco and Harry when they arrived at Grimmauld Terrace. “There’s a slight problem with Robbie and Bobby.”

“Go on, tell us.” Harry put on a resigned look.

“They can’t do with the confined space most of us elves prefer. It’s to do with the cellar collapsing on them before they were rescued; I think.”

“That’s probably why they’re always looking at the ceiling, is it?” Draco observed.

“And they’re worried about being locked in a cellar, they’ve mentioned it more than once, haven’t they?” added Harry.

“So they’ve asked if they could sleep in you room.”

Draco looked at Harry and giggled.

Harry chuckled back. “Oh well! I should have seen that one coming, shouldn’t I? Not in our bed, I hope?”

“No! Neither have we had to remove any furniture, as we had to when Draco had a separate bed. Their bed is much smaller.”

“I imagine you’ve done it already, haven’t you?”

Kreacher smiled sheepishly.

“No need to answer that.” Harry shrugged good-naturedly. “What happens at Hogwarts then?”

“I’ve found space there also, and at the lodge.”

Draco’s eyes crinkled in amusement: “Just like the dorms we’re so used to, with one less occupant and three less beds.”

“Okay, Kreacher. Any more surprises?”

“None that I can think of. Oh yes! The headmistress flooed, she asked that all three of you go to see Kingsley tomorrow morning. He’ll test you. Then to Madam Malkin’s to be fitted with your tutor robes. After lunch you’re to go to Crusher, Mixxett and Feedum in Fizzic Alley to pick up your potions ingredients. She’ll send a basic list to them tomorrow morning, but you’re to add to it if necessary. She also suggests you introduce your assistants to the apothecaries so that they can collect in future. After tea there’s a meeting of the Wizengamot Ways and Means Committee which you should also attend.”

“Thanks – That’s got Monday sorted.” Harry chuckled as went upstairs.

“Erm … Milords … You’re not cross with us, are you?” greeted Robbie, when Draco opened the bedroom door for Harry.

“We were a little surprised, but now we know the reason why, welcome to our dorm.”

“Dorm? What’s a dorm, please?”

“Dormitory is its proper name, although we shorten it to dorm.” Draco was in teaching mode: “Based on the Latin ‘dormire’ ‘to sleep’ it is a place in which a number of people sleep together, usually in separate beds. The Roman army had its soldiers sleep in one room, as did the mediaeval monks. Many schools grew out of the monasteries, so they continued the practice.”

“Does that mean we’ll have to separate, then? We’ve just got used to having a proper bed instead of some rags in the corner of a cold stone floor.”

“No! Bobby. It’d be a bit crowded in here with four beds, wouldn’t it?”

“Do we have to do it at school then – If so we’re not looking forward to that?”

“Kreacher says that the arrangements are similar to here, so you don’t have to worry, Okay?”

“I hope you’re going to have a long shower tonight, we’ve been ages shovelling coal.”

“What for?”

“To heat the water Lord Draco – the furnace is coal fired and Reeve Kreacher says that we have to service all your needs and hot water is part of them. The furnace was glowing cherry red when we left it.”

Harry looked at Draco as if he were about to burst with indignation. “Save it ’til the morning Harry. Don’t undermine your Reeve’s authority.”

“Yes, but …”

Draco took the easy option and started to kiss his lord passionately. Harry soon became more interested in their emotions than Kreacher’s supposed niggardliness.

As they approached the shower Draco decided that he would go another step towards his goal. Whilst they were soaping each other down he turned round, ostensibly to pick up some shower gel; then he backed up against Harry, making sure Harry was aligned with his crack. After a few tentative shoves, Harry got the idea; reaching round to caress Draco’s prong. Harry rode up and down the skin-valley, enjoying the ride as Draco flexed his bum muscles.

Harry came first: “Thanks lover, do you want to do it to me now?”

Draco signified that he did, giving his lover a chapter full of interesting kisses before he started. As Draco rode Harry, Harry watched the two elves; puzzling what was going on. The two helpers were in the same position but not reacting in quite the same way; more like in-and-out than up-and-down. In his enjoyment of Draco’s fingers, and the erogenous feeling of a long dong riding his crack, Harry put it down to the slightly different shaped anatomies.

They took their time in the shower, enjoying the sexual sensations as well as those of constant hot water. Pink and quivering the quartet emerged into a steam filled bathroom, found their towels and opted to get dried in the bedroom. Having had two sessions the two Magicals lay in each other’s arms kissing until gentle sleep overtook them; easily copied by their assistants.

###

It was Draco who woke Harry with their usual sexy alarm call, all four of them indulging in a shorter shower than the previous evening. Whilst Harry and Draco shaved and combed the elves set out their clothing.

“Are these for me Milord?” Draco asked, looking at a set of underwear, trousers, shirt and pullover.

“Yes – I decided you’d earned them, but you can still wear the loincloth if you like.”

Draco’s thank you kiss nearly got Harry all hot and bothered.

As the Magical’s dressed, their assistants tidied the bathroom and then went to set the breakfast table, serving, not only the two Magicals, but Kreacher and Binder as well.

Once the two assistants were out of the room having their own breakfast Harry looked up: “Welcome to your first working breakfast, Binder.”

“Thank you Milord, Master. I am but here to help in any way I can.”

“First item on the agenda is to get rid of these silly titles. You’re a senior member of staff with advisory functions. Therefore you will call Draco and I by our first names, Okay.”

“See! I told you he’d say so, didn’t I?” Kreacher turned to Harry: “I had to repeat almost all the arguments you and I had,” then he smiled.

“Yes, H-Harry. It’ll still get a bit of getting used to. I always called Draco’s father Milord, y’know.”

“We’ll forgive slip-ups to begin with, Binder. You look as though you have some questions.”

“Yes! The Black portfolio is very conservative, giving a low return but little growth. You need to risk capital for it to grow. The Potter portfolio was stagnant even before the unfortunate incident with your parents and did nothing until a couple of years ago. I realise that some of that was due to your minority. However a couple of years ago you started to use a risk investment, it’s paying off handsomely. Does that mean that you regard all the potter fortune as risk capital?”

“You mean the money to start WWW off, I take it? That was just a way of helping some friends; it did turn out rather well, didn’t it? I wouldn’t want all of the fortune to be at risk, no. What do you advise?”

“The Potter fortune needs some bottom, to give you security. I’ll put together a suggested portfolio, for you. The Black investments need to be more adventurous. I would suggest venturing into the construction market, with all this rebuilding going on.”

“You might try Goyle and Thomas. They’re friends and reconstructing the cottage for me. I think they need an advance so maybe we could offer one in return for shares.”

“I’ll look into it Mi … Harry, oops!”

“If we can afford it, maybe on roughly the same level as the WWW investment?”

“That portfolio could afford more M-Harry.”

“I’d like to be cautious, but if they put up a good case, why not!” Harry turned to Kreacher whilst Binder chatted to Draco about the few Snape holdings: “What’s this about shovelling coal?”

“I thought you’d come up with that. Your earlier reception of them overjoyed them greatly and they became somewhat bumptious. They started teasing about old bones, so I decided to take then down a peg or two. It worked; they’re less cheeky than they were. I must admit, it is one of my least favourite pastimes, so I laid it on a bit thick. However to put things in context; I have a pair of elves coming to do the heavy work for us in a couple of days, once the Reeve at Hogwarts has finished with them. To put it mildly, they’re a bit simple and need a few days to get used to the idea of moving. Knowing your penchant for helping, I thought they’d be better off in a smaller household, where a defined place for them would give them a greater feeling of worth, instead of being in a corps of mindless labourers. They’re a husband and wife team.”

“Um … Thanks for the info … Um … I’m not sure about a lady shovelling coal, though.”

“She’s the one with the muscles, Harry.”

“I think your Muggle upbringing’s showing through, Harry,” put in Draco, surfacing from the Snape accounts: “Quite often the dominant in an elfin duo is the female. Think how small Dobby was, or how much bigger Winky is compared to Kreacher.”

“I rather expected cooks to be fatter, so I didn’t give it much thought; really. Okay! Point made! Now; about today! Midday, both of you and our assistants had better come to the Leakey Cauldron then we’ll go to Gringott’s and get you two passes for the Potter and Black vaults …”

“And the Snape ones too, Harry.”

“Okay; Draco. We’ll book a private room and have lunch at the pub; then Bobby and Robbie can go with us to the apothecaries to be introduced so that they can collect Draco’s personal and professorial ingredients.”

“Here’s the list from the Headmistress, Harry.”

“Thanks, Kreacher; give those kinds of things straight to Draco, in future, please.”

“Righty-ho!”

There were a few more minor domestic items to be sorted before Draco and Harry flooed to the Ministry.

###

“Good morning Mage Black and Potter, and to you Adept Snape; the Minister is expecting you.”

Harry noticed Hermione sitting looking exasperatedly at her watch.

“Hi, Hermione. We’re not late are we?”

“Not quite. Why do you always leave it to the last minute, Harry?”

“Um … We had a long working breakfast?”

“That’s a new excuse. Do I look forward to some more interesting excuses now you’re the head of two houses? Draco; please; for my nerves sake, try and get him to be a little more early.”

“I’ll try, but not promise G-Hermione. Father used to chide me about cutting things fine, too. Voldie even Crucioed me a couple of times for it.”

“Men!” Hermione heaved a sigh: “C’mon we have half a minute left.”

“Hello Hermione.” Kingsley gave her a fatherly hug: “I see you managed to get the two laggards here on time. I think my secretary owes me a galleon, she thought you wouldn’t.”

Kingsley beamed at the trio, very soon getting down to testing their abilities. Over coffee he said: “I’ll send you a list of spells to learn, each of you. Harry has fifteen or so to learn, some of them aggressive. Hermione has twenty. Draco is excellent in aggression but there at least thirty defence charms that need more work. I’ll send you a list, plus a suggestion of the order in which they need to be learned. Draco, I’m surprised that you cannot make a Patronus. Harry, that should be your first endeavour with him, I think.”

Draco went puce: “Hmm … please don’t laugh … Hmm …”

“Can I guess, Lover? You made one once and it’s a ferret.”

Draco looked down at his feet.

Harry hugged him: “It’s all right; you’ll have to laugh about it sometime. Make it easier on yourself; tell Ron as soon as you dare. His is a Jack Russell terrier, so you’re much the same size and equally aggressive.”

“Mine’s an otter, Draco, close relative, I think. It’s only big show-offs like Milord Black and Potter, who has a big thirty point stag as his.” Hermione patted Draco’s shoulder: “In Muggle culture, ferrets are used in hunting and the best ones are greatly prized.”

“I’ll tell you what, Draco. We’ll practice that hard and you can surprise Ron with it. He has difficulties with his. Turn the joke on him, for a change … Mmm? Not that we’ll attempt it immediately, but think through your happiest moments. Choose one that still gives you a real tingle. That’s the basis of a good Patronus. Cheerio Kingsley, thanks for your agreeing to see us.”

“Part of my plan to get a future chief Auror, Harry,” Kingsley had a sly smile: “I’ll floo you a suggested schedule for your lesson plan. If you violently disagree then we’ll talk. If it’s a different progression but same end result, don’t bother. We’ll meet at the Wizengamot later in the week and arrange for your private tuition. If you, Hermione, cannot make it, I’m sure our two stalwarts will pass on the skills. Goodbye.”

The receptionist was all smiles: “Did it go well then? Most people who visit his lordship come out looking glum or harassed.”

“He tried a little harassment, but I’m becoming immune.” Harry smiled: “It went better than I expected though. I think you owe him a galleon.”

“Another minute and I would have been richer. I wish you could pass on some of that immunisation to me, he expects results as soon as he’s asked me, sometimes. I think it’s your independence that mellows him.”

“Possibly! Allied to the fact that he wants something from me which, at the moment, I refuse to give.”

“Anything to do with the Auror’s department, perhaps? The secretary giggled: “I have just summoned one of the janitors; he’s to show you the new entrance in Fizzic Alley, now they’ve re-opened it. St Mungo’s as an entrance there too, now.”

They had hardly time to thank her before a very obsequious janitor came in.

Once inside the magical shopping centre, they went to Fortescues for coffee.

“Hey, Brain-boxes; you can answer me something that I’ve been wondering about recently. That label on Kingsley’s door said ‘Thaumaturge’ as part of his title. I thought that that was the Wizengamot Chairman’s title. Also why do I have five votes, Hermione two and you one, Draco?”

“I’ll try and be brief Harry,” started Draco: “The Wizengamot has forty nine seats and one-hundred and two votes. Both the chairman and the Minister are both titled Thaumaturge, and retain that for their lifetime even when they resign or are voted out. On departure they loose their privilege voting rights: five for the chairman and four for the Minister. The first place, like the Muggle Speaker’s, is the non factional Chairman’s. The remaining forty-eight are divided equally between the two main factions; Hereditary and Elected. This is where basic Arithmancy comes into play; each faction is divided into two sevens and one ten. The top seven have three votes each, the ten have two votes each and the bottom seven one vote each.”

Hermione was swiftly calculating: “Sevens and threes, I see. Wait a minute there’s a discrepancy of three.”

“That’s because the Minister is in the upper elected group and has one vote extra, not outside the factions as the Chairman is.”

“Um … I don’t see where the threes come in.”

“Well Harry, a ten is a seven plus a three and there are three groups in each section, if you add the independent chairman that also makes seven. Am I right, Draco?”

“Yes Hermione, and there’re further ones when you work across factions, too; let’s get back to basics though. Mages are heads of the seven great houses, of which Blacks are one. Seers are the heads of the Houses, of which there are ten; you’re one now, Hermione. Adepts are the heads of lesser houses – the other seven, like the Snapes. There are equivalents on the Electors’ side. Hogwarts returns a three voter, for instance. Certain Committee Leaders make up the seven single voters. The ten are regional seats each with two votes.”

“Just a minute, Lover; there’s a slight problem. A Mage was replaced by a Seer, so there’s a vote going begging.”

“I suspect the equality party got that through and are trying to raise one of the single voters to Seer status.”

Hermione was scribbling rapidly: “Erm … Erm … That’ll make a nonsense of the Arithmancy, Draco.”

“Yes I know; that’s why it should be voted out. My guess is that they’ll promote one of the houses to the greater status, that’d rectify the numerology. I’d even have a good guess at which house, Mage Potter.”

“No Draco, I’m Seer Potter and Mage Black … Oh! I see … Well now … That can’t be right; I’d have more votes than the chairman, as it is, with your commandeered one, I already outvote her.”

“Such is the price of fame, Lover. If you are promoted and once they cotton on to it, you will be politely asked to name a Legate, who’ll wield two of your six entitled votes leaving you the remainder, thus equalling the Minister. It’ll also give you a title of Archimage.”

“Erm … yes … I see how that fits the Arithmancy, Draco; as long as your commandeered vote doesn’t count.”

“No, Hermione, it doesn’t, I’m still entitled to the seat even if I can’t exercise my will to vote, although I am required to advise my lord.” Draco chuckled: “Milady Thaumaturge was smiling when we started our little conferences before voting, Harry. Some of the equality party were scowling, maybe they’d hoped to catch you out and challenge you. She’s no great friend of the Egalitarians; she’s a really excellent Arithmancer, so I’m told.”

Hermione was still scribbling: “The combinations are amazing Draco, each section locks the next one.”

“Hermione, C’mon. If you sit there much longer we’ll be late for the fittings.”

“Oh, Okay then.” The young Seer put the parchments into her portmanteau-sixed handbag and joined her companions.

“There is a book on it in the Black library, save your brain,” suggested Draco, smirking: “Milady Thaumaturge wrote it. The further you go the more intricate the numerology becomes. Maybe it will replace your bedtime book: “Hogwarts a History.”

Hermione looked daggers at Draco, who smiled impishly back and promptly hid behind Harry when she drew her wand.

“I think Ron and Milord here, have been telling you fibs. It’s ages since that was my favourite bedtime read.”

“If it’s not that one then it’s bound to be something equally big and boring.”

“Harry Potter; I’ll have you know …” Hermione shut up realising that her shrill voice had drawn a number of spectators. Luckily for her they had arrived at Madam Malkin’s, so she rushed inside, followed by the two smirking young men.

Trying new clothes always seems to set off the female of the species into some kind of dream world. Hermione soon forgot her ire as she inspected all the materials and models.