The Ties that Lead to Trust

Chapter 39~ Trying Times

During an average summer, the end of July always brought to mind Harry’s birthday. Even if they weren’t able to have a proper party, she would bake him something and send along a present for the occasion. However, with the trial date set for July 25th , she wasn’t thinking all that much about Harry at the moment. Instead, she was sitting at the kitchen table at 12 Grimmauld place preparing for the trial with Kingsley.

The dark man straightened his papers and took a deep breath before beginning. “Well, I have all the paperwork done and the witnesses lined up for the trial. I just want to go over the court procedure beforehand so there won’t be any confusion or surprises. We’ll be down in courtroom four at the Ministry at nine o’clock tomorrow morning. This will be a full Wizengamot hearing, which works in our favour. Lucius has been running low on money from what I hear and there are several new faces as well. Best I can tell it should be as fair as can be managed.”

Severus nodded in affirmation. “Albus did a bit of feeling about and he says the same. There are only a few he is aware of that could be bought for this case. A pity he won’t be sitting as a judge for this, but at least his support of our case has influence.”

“Now Hermione,” Kingsley began cautiously, “I don’t want you to get upset, but the most effective way to press charges on Lucius was for crimes against Severus-”

“What!” she shouted at him.

Severus placed a hand on her shoulder, but it was shrugged off. Kingsley sighed and continued. “A civil suit is only way to link Draco and Lucius together without separate trials and also the most useful for opening up charges that were ignored in the past for future trial. It may not be the ideal way of obtaining justice, but it is most likely to yield results. All witnesses will give testimony under a three quarter dose of veritaserum, which is also of great assistance.”

Her brow furrowed. “Three quarters dose? How strong an effect will that have?”

“The individual will be unable to lie, but be able to refuse a question or withhold information. A full dose would not allow for questions to be withdrawn and is in general seen as an extreme violation of privacy,” Severus explained.

Kingsley nodded his agreement. “It is not a common practice in trials, but there is a great deal of attention surrounding this one. As usual, there will be no muggle witnesses permitted, which is why Miss Wallace has continued her work with your grandmother. She will be able to provide all the medical testimony required on that front. She will also be able to use direct quotes from medical records, so in essence your grandmother will have a way to say her piece. As for the others, yourselves naturally, Poppy Pomfrey, Minerva, George and Ginny Weasley, Harry, Rosemerta and Albus.”

“Well that sounds about right. Will Malfoy be brought up as a witness?” Hermione asked with concern.

Both men lowered their heads a bit and Kingsley shrugged slightly. “Most likely. It would be unwise for neither Malfoy to take the stand in his own defence, but there is a possibility that one or both might not if they will reveal a much larger crime in the process. But yes, I think at least Draco will stand as a witness in his own defence. I can’t predict who else they might bring in as a witness, but we shall see.”

All remained quiet for a moment, breathing deeply and thinking about the day to come. Hermione felt twitchy and nervous about the high profile turn her private life was about to take. The whole Rita Skeeter affair still made her wary of the press, even if they could be useful. She looked at the others’ contemplative expressions and sighed deeply. “At least Wizengamot trials don’t often last long. I don’t want to spend weeks in a courtroom.”

“I agree with you wholeheartedly, Hermione. The less time I spend in a courtroom the better,” Severus said quietly, his voice betraying only the barest hint of the great abhorrence he had for the dark, unfriendly rooms in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic.
*********

The courtroom Hermione was sitting in was very much the same as the one Harry had described to her; a large, gloomy dungeon. The torches along the walls did not cast sufficient light to chase away the gloom, but too much to hide the overall dinginess of the room. It was a depressing and slightly scarey room to be in even for short periods of time, just as harry had described. The full Wizengamot was seated at the head of the room, dressed in their purple robes with grave expressions on their faces save a few who were smirking slightly in a superior manner. Hermione felt the scrutiny of all the judges trained on her and Severus and shifted uncomfortably when Cornelius Fudge entered with a sour expression on his face and sat, not with the Wizengamot, but in a segregated chair to the side. It was apparent that he would not be acting as a judge, and it was obvious he was not pleased about it.

Behind her, Hermione knew there were dozens of people crammed into uncomfortable bench seats, eager to watch the proceedings. Some were press, some were friends, but most were simply nosy. She resented the spectacle of an open court, but it was unavoidable. The only comfort came from the ranks of Weasleys and other close friends who filled the first bench directly behind her. Glancing back over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of Molly Weasley who sent her an encouraging look. Taking a series of deep breaths, she nodded back then focussed her attention towards the door near the front of the room.

There was a small commotion as the door opened and Lucius and Draco Malfoy were escorted into the room by Ministry guards followed by a sleazy looking man who must be their representative. Once seated, a hush fell upon the court and a dignified oriental man with long salt and pepper hair from the centre of the front row of judges stood to begin the proceedings. “The court will now hear the case of Snape versus Malfoy. I am Judge Xin Xiang Cai, head judge for this trial. Lucius Malfoy, you stand accused of threats against Mr Snape and his wife, theft, violation of privacy regulations one through seven, attack on a muggle causing bodily harm, use of unauthorized and illegal memory charms, assault causing bodily harm, and conspiracy. How do you plea?”

Lucius stood with as much indignance and superiority as could be mustered by a man who had been held in custody for a month and said, “Not guilty.”

There was a wave of murmuring from the assembled crowd, but it died down when the judge raised his hand and spoke again. “Draco Malfoy, you stand accused of two counts of assault causing bodily harm, rape, violation of Marriage Law 275 subsection 3 and conspiracy. How do you plea?”

Draco looked up at the assembled Wizengamot and appeared to shrink in stature. Hermione had felt a tight knot of anger and pain when she first saw him enter the room and was shocked now to notice his usual arrogant demeanor gone. His eyes moved around the room, then looked down at the ground and he did not speak.

“Mr Draco Malfoy, for the accusations as read, how do you plea?” Judge Xin said again impatiently.

The young man cast one last glance at his father, who was looking at him with a dangerous glint in his eye. Draco took a small sideways step a way from him and looked up with defeat in his eyes. “Guilty, sir.”

The courtroom exploded with shocked exclamations by the crowd in attendance. Hermione herself was astonished and stared wide eyed at the defence table where Lucius and his representative were glaring maliciously at the younger Malfoy.

The judge in charge, using a sonorous charm, called for order and the room fell silent. “Due to the nature of the case, special permission has been granted for the use of veritaserum for all individuals who come forth as witnesses. Let the record state that all those who henceforth take the stand will be administered a three quarter dosage of veritaserum prepared by Master Julian Beretta. The court will now hear opening statements.”

Lucius wore a look of shock bordering on horror when the announcement about the truth serum was made and became positively incensed as the trial proceeded. His representative seemed quite worried, a thin film of perspiration clinging to his brow, as he began calling witnesses to the stand and watched an official drop veritaserum on their tongues. All the carefully prepared character references and alibis vanished when they were forced to answer truthfully. Kingsley asked few questions of these individuals, namely the nature of their association with Lucius. Several said they were bullied and threatened into testifying but one particularly poorly chosen individual informed the court he had known Lucius in his capacity as a Deatheater. The court erupted with this admission while the horrible blotches of red fury that had appeared on Lucius’ face began to darken to a wretched purple.

After the revelation about Lucius’ unsavoury activities with Voldemort had been made, the representative at the defence table appeared to panic. After a few moments of quiet whispers between the three, the man said, his oily voice shaking, “I call to the stand my next witness, Draco Malfoy.”

It became so utterly silent in the courtroom that the sound of Draco’s footfalls echoed through the room. The customary swagger to his step was gone, his pale blonde hair limp and hanging without the gel that usually slicked it back and the expression on his face not one of confidence but apprehensive, like one so commonly worn by students approaching Filch’s office for detention. When he arrived at the stand, a courtroom assistant using a self-scribing quill asked for the record, “State your name.”

“Draco Marcels Malfoy,” he said with reticence.

The assistant continued in a board tone. “Do you freely agree to the administration of a three-quarter dose of veritaserum?”

“Yes.”

The mediwizard who was seated beside the witness booth gestured Draco over and indicated for him to sit. Obediently, he sat and opened his mouth as three drops of truth serum dripped from a small potion dropper. Standing again, he was ushered into the witness stand to face his first questions. The oily representative stood and began pacing nervously in front of the stand. “Young Mister Malfoy, please describe the nature of your relationship with Severus Snape.”

The young man’s voice wasn’t a monotone, but limited in expression as he began to speak under the influence of veritaserum. “Severus Snape was my Potions professor and Head of House for the duration of my schooling at Hogwarts.”

“Has he ever mistreated you or judged you unfairly in the past?” the slimy voice queried.

Draco nodded with a slightly pained expression. “Yes. On many occasions.”

The attorney smirked, “Could you give the court an example?”

“On a regular basis since my first year at Hogwarts I was unfairly favoured in class. I once instigated a fight with Potter. He was punished, I was not. Things of this nature happened many times during my first six years at Hogwarts,” Draco explained as he watched the splotches of fury continue to darken on his father’s face.

The attorney appeared to deflate at the young man’s statement, but continued to plow forward. “You said this happened during your first six years. How did this change during your last year at Hogwarts?”

Draco sighed slightly, “Snape treated students from all houses the same. At least while I was there.”

Abandoning this line of questioning, the increasingly frustrated representative asked, “What is the nature of your relationship with Ms Hermione Granger.”

“She is the most irritating know-it-all Mudblood I have ever met. I hate her and her little Gryffindor friends and am disgusted that she has the highest scores in the school,” he said, managing a small sneer.

The many voices in the court rumbled lowly at the vulgar term, but silenced when Judge Xin raised his hand. The attorney was wringing his hands and muttering to himself as he glanced between Draco on the stand and Lucius at the defence table. After a couple minutes of waiting for the next question, the judge asked, “Are you finished questioning your witness?”

The muttering stopped and the representative froze, unsure of what to say. After another minute of silence he mumbled quietly, “I give up,” then said more audibly, “no further questions.”

Hermione started a bit when Kingsley abruptly rose from beside her and moved before the stand to question Draco. Nothing that had been said thus far was particularly incendiary, but a squishy, nervous feeling was growing in her stomach as the booming voice of the intimidating auror filled the courtroom. “Draco Malfoy, as you already plea guilty to the charges against you, I will not waste the court’s time with a detailed dissection of the basic relevant events of the past year. So, in the interests of saving time, a simple yes or no answer will suffice. Did you physically assault Ms Granger in the Arithmancy corridor at Hogwarts on September 1st 1997?”

“Yes,” Draco replied shortly.

“On the morning of June 26th, 1998, did you physically assault and rape Ms Granger behind The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade?”

“Yes.”

“Did you knowingly violate Marriage Law Act 275?”

“Yes.”

“Did you plan the execution of these crimes with your father, Lucius Malfoy?”

“Not entirely,” Draco said, looking straight at Kingsley and avoiding his father’s hate filled glare.

If Kingsley was surprised by this response he didn’t show it. “Please explain how ‘not entirely’ your plans with your father were.”

“I was instructed to make life difficult and perhaps rough her up during the school year prior to leaving for school in September and in June I was told we would illustrate the effects of the Adulterous charm on Granger. These were rather broad and nonspecific instructions. I did not execute them as my father had intended.”

Kingsley nodded at this, then moved on to another line of questioning. “Were you aware of your father’s marriage petition to Ms Granger on your behalf prior to receiving the Ministry’s refusal letter?”

The corners of Draco’s mouth appeared to be on the verge of turning up at the question, but he restrained himself. “No, I was not.”

“Did he inform you as to why he had made such a decision without consulting you?” Kingsley leaned forward onto the witness stand and gave Draco a curious look.

The youth seemed unfazed and answered simply, “Yes.”

Kingsley gestured to the courtroom and asked, “Could you tell the court what that was?”

“Father said that he was told to use the marriage law to get Granger out of the way. If I married her, we would have the right to pull her out of school and restrict her activities.”

“Are you aware of who made this request of your father?”

“Objection!” cried the profusely sweating Malfoy attorney, who appeared to have been forcefully prodded in the ribs by Lucius.

Judge Xin gave the man a hard look for a moment, then said, “I see no grounds for an objection.”

The representative spluttered something incomprehensible and sat down once more. Judge Xin glanced at another judge sitting beside him then announced, “Overruled. Please continue Mr Shacklebolt.”

Kingsley straightened his robes and nodded to the judge. “Thank you, your honour. Mr Malfoy, who was it that made such an unconventional request of your father?”

This time his mouth did curl at the corners as he paused and looked across the courtroom at the nervous man fiddling with his bowler hat. “Cornelius Fudge.”

The soft whispers that had continued steadily behind Hermione for the duration of the trial stopped abruptly and the courtroom, many judges included, collectively gasped. She felt a buzzing in her ears as she stared wide-eyed at the Minister of Magic. His nervous fiddling had stopped and he was growing red in the face with an expression of shock bordering on horror. She continued to gape at Minister Fudge as his angry face turned from Draco and glared at her. She felt the unpleasantness rising in her stomach but calmed somewhat when Severus took her hand beneath the table and gave it a small squeeze. She turned away from the hateful glare and glanced briefly at Severus before turning her attention back to witness stand.

The judges had been equally as shocked by the revelation about Minister Fudge and no attempt to silence the room was made initially. Kingsley’s face was unreadable as he turned briefly back to the prosecution table and exchanged a look with Severus, though some message appeared to pass between the two of them as he nodded slightly in acknowledgement. When the noise finally died down, Kingsley continued as if nothing had happened. “Draco Malfoy, why did you assault Ms Granger at Hogwarts last September?”

“She needed to be put in her place. I was following my father’s instructions,” Draco explained.

“Were you aware of the threatening letters sent to Mr Snape starting August 22nd, 1997?”

“Yes.”

“Were you involved in the writing and delivery of these threats against Ms Granger to Mr Snape?”

“No.”

“Were you aware of the surveillance charm placed upon Ms Granger during the fall of 1997??”

“Yes.”

“Did you help plan and execute the initial charm?”

“No.”

“Did you ever use the charm to invade Ms Granger’s privacy?”

“Yes.”

“Did you have prior knowledge of your father’s intention to attack on Hermione Granger’s grandmother, Helen Brooks, on December 23rd 1997?”

“No.”

“Were you involved in any way with this attack?”

“No.”

“Please explain your reasons for the assault and rape of Ms Granger last month.”

“Granger was going to finish school and then she would be more difficult to get at. Father said Fudge wanted her reputation ruined before that happened. We were supposed to make it look like she had cheated on Snape, so they would both look bad.”

“Was it important that they both look bad?”

“Yes. Fudge only wanted Granger discredited but father needed Snape out of the way too.”

“Why is that?”

“Because Snape can prove my father was a Deatheather.”

Kingsley paused for a moment and looked around the court pensively. He appeared to be taking in the entire scene, then met Hermione’s eyes momentarily. She didn’t know why, but she reached for Severus’ hand under the table, allowing her small fingers to be engulfed by his large hand. Kingsley looked away and returned his focus to Draco. “Did you, yourself want to hurt Ms Granger in your first assault?”

“Yes.”

“Did you, yourself want to hurt Ms Granger in your second assault?”

“Yes.”

“Did you, yourself want to rape Ms Granger?”

“No.”

“Did you want her to be raped by anyone?”

“No. It didn’t matter to me. I was just doing what my father told me to.”

“Had you not been instructed to do so, would you have raped Ms Granger.”

“No.”

She saw Kingsley close his eyes for a long moment and Hermione could feel her own burning with the tears threatening to overtake her. Severus was gripping her hand tightly while she closed her eyes to block out the courtroom. Kingsley’s deep, steady voice foiled her attempt as she heard him address the bench. “No further questions.”
*********

Much of the remainder of the trial passed in a blur for Hermione as the buzzing in her ears returned and the murmuring of people behind her seemed loud enough to completely block out the voices of the people taking the stand. She saw Lucius take the stand and noticed how the underarms of the oily attorney’s robes were dark with perspiration. She watched, her mind fuzzy, as Kingsley in turn approached the witness stand and ripped to shreds any defence the senior Malfoy had prepared. By the time some of their own witnesses were administered veritaserum and took the witness stand she was nearly completely adrift in her own mind, eyes fixed on the torch above the witness stand, and no longer very aware of what was happening around her.

She wasn’t entirely sure of what to make Draco’s last few statements. He had admitted it was his own wish to hurt her, yes, but not his desire to see her raped. It was far from an apology or declaration of remorse, but it did indicate that perhaps he had found himself out of his league. She had long known Draco as a bully, a petty bully at that, and because of that never truly taken him seriously. He liked to get under people’s skin with his verbal jibes, but he was not a man of action. With a momentary glance at where he sat, she told herself he wasn’t even a man really. His limp hair fell around a young face and she could almost laugh at his sudden forceful thrust into the world of men.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Severus squeezing her hand and whispering in her ear. “It shouldn’t be too bad. I doubt you’ll be up there long.”

Hermione’s head turned towards him suddenly and he gestured towards the stand. She gave him a questioning glance and he said softly, “You’ve just been call to the stand. Are you alright?”

Distractedly she nodded and pushed her chair back making a loud clatter as it nearly overbalanced on the uneven stone floor. A shiver ran through her body as she methodically put one foot in front of the other and walked towards the witness stand. After the appropriate record had been made of her veritaserum administration, she shakily sat in the witness stand, trying to remain calm. Kingsley gave her what was likely meant to be a reassuring smile before he began, but it registered in her mind as more of a grimace. His voice, however, was deep and soothing and she relaxed somewhat as he began to speak. “Ms Granger, please describe the nature of your relationship with the Malfoy family prior to August 1997.”

“The Malfoys are a wealthy family convinced of the superiority of pureblood families. As I come from a muggle home, I was deemed inferior in their eyes and often told so by Draco. I have nothing against entirely magical families, but take offense when my own heritage is insulted. In general we have never gotten on well and there has been a fair bit of animosity over the perceived competition for academic success,” Hermione answered, trying to keep her speech from racing ahead of her.

“Would it be fair to say you were shocked to receive a marriage petition from the Malfoy family in August of 1997?”

“Yes.”

“Please describe the nature of your relationship with Severus Snape prior to August 1997.”

“He was my Potions professor at Hogwarts and we also knew each other through the Order of the Phoenix. He wasn’t the most pleasant of professors, but I have always had a great deal of respect for him. He is intelligent and quite knowledgeable of a variety of subjects. He was the sort of person I would seek to know better, though we never interacted beyond the capacity of teacher and student prior to August 1997.”

“Were you pleased to receive a marriage petition from him in August of 1997?”

“Not especially.”

“Would you care to explain?”

“I had intended to marry Ronald Weasley prior to the Battle of Hogsmeade in June of 1997. I was still upset over his death. I had no desire to marry anyone.”

“Why did you accept Mr Snape’s petition?”

“The Marriage Law dictated I marry a pureblood wizard and the Ministry would not extend my grace period. Severus Snape was the best choice at the time.”

“Were you concerned the Malfoy family would be upset by the rejection of their petition?”

“Yes. My experience has been that they are not a family to cross.”

“Do you have any regrets about your choice?”

“No.”

“In your own words, describe the incident in the Arithmancy corridor on September 1st, 1997.”

Kingsley continued to ask questions, attempting as best he could to keep the time on the stand to a minimum while covering everything he felt important. She tried to avoid looking anywhere but at Kingsley, unsure if she would be able to contain her suppressed emotions if she so much as glanced elsewhere. Despite her best efforts, however, a trail of tears ran down her cheeks, though she had managed to refrain from sobbing. Kingsley’s voice was gentle and soothing, but the squishy, nervous feeling returned when his questions were through and the Malfoy attorney approached. His voice was grating and harsh as he began to interrogate her. “What is the nature of your current relationship with Severus Snape?”

She drew a shaky breath and felt the pull of the veritaserum to answer. Slowly she said, “Severus is my husband.”

“Really? Why is it, then, that you did not live with him after your marriage?”

“I was Head Girl at Hogwarts. I was entitled to my own rooms.”

“Did you willfully keep the fact of your marriage a secret from the school at large?”

“To an extent. The staff were aware of it.”

“Did you marry Severus with the intention to consummate your bond?”

She tried to hold back from answering the question in the hopes that Kingsley would object, but he only sent her an apologetic look which dashed her hopes. Taking a deep breath she answered, “No.”

He smirked, apparently feeling gratified to have found a crack in the case against his clients. “Have you, in the duration of the past year, taken a contraceptive potion?”

“No,” She stated confidently and risked a brief glance at Severus and the row of Weasleys behind him. His expression was unreadable as always, though several Weasleys, particularly Ginny, appeared surprised. Hermione averted her gaze quickly, worried that her trick might somehow been discovered by the expression on her face. She had been very concerned about the possibility of this question and was very relieved it had been worded in her favour. After carefully studying the potion from Severus and asking endless questions, she discovered the undetectable nature of the potion was due to the fact that it affected tissue rather than hormones. Her potion did nothing to prevent fertilization, rather prevented implantation by desensitizing the tissues to the hormones the fetus produced. It had been a slightly disturbing revelation at first, but as the oily man in front of her began to get aggravated, she felt quite pleased with herself.

Suddenly, almost desperately, he demanded, “Have you participated in sexual intercourse with your husband since August 1997?”

Hermione felt colour blooming in her cheeks and fixed her eyes on a crooked stone in the floor. “Yes.”

Seemingly thrown off his last course of action, the man began firing off questions at random, seeming to have little direction or purpose. She answered several questions, not entirely certain as to what the point of all the questions were. After a few minutes, Kingsley stood. “Objection. I fail to see the point of any of the last dozen questions.”

Judge Xin nodded and looked at the Malfoy representative, “Please make your point sir.”

He stuttered a moment then screwed his face up in anger. He growled at Hermione, “You miserable little whore,” then addressed the judge, “No further questions.”
*********

Once Hermione had returned to her seat, she once again tried to block out the courtroom around her. She succeeded reasonably well at this as she had very little recollection of anything more than Severus’ departure and subsequent return to her side. He had taken her hand again, she noted, but hadn’t really returned from her private musings until the Wizengamot returned from their, all be they brief, deliberations. Severus nudged her and she blinked several times before recognizing what was happening and stood.

Judge Xin Xiang Cai stood at the front of the remainder of the judges and read out the verdict. “Draco Marcels Malfoy, the Wizengamot finds you guilty of two counts of assault causing bodily harm, rape, violation of Marriage Act 275 subsection 3 and violation of privacy regulations two and five. In light of the evidence given, for the charge of conspiracy, we find you not guilty. The Wizengamot sentences you to fifteen years in Azkaban prison to be followed by twelve years parole without a wand.”

Draco’s face was expressionless as he listened to his verdict and sentencing before abruptly sitting in his chair. The judge continued, “Lucius Gilles Malfoy, the Wizengamot finds you guilty of all charges, however, your sentencing will be postponed pending trial for war crimes to be held on August 7th 1998.”

In a matter of moments, the trial was over. The look on Lucius’ face was stricken, as if he couldn’t comprehend that the court had ruled against him. Several Ministry guards approached them to escort them out of the courtroom and Draco stood in silent resignation, prepared to leave in a quiet semblance of dignity. Lucius, however, stood unmoving. A large, muscular looking man grabbed him by the elbow and began pushing him towards the door. Lucius strained to look over his shoulder at Fudge who was carefully shuffling to the shadows. As the guards and Lucius Malfoy disappeared out the secure door of the court, a dark haired woman dressed in auror’s robes entered followed by a second auror. They strode briskly into the room and flanked Minister Fudge. Judge Xin called for silence in the court before adjourning the case, nodding to the aurors and leading the Wizengamot from the courtroom.

The aurors, who had been waiting for the proceedings to officially end, restrained Cornelius Fudge, confiscated his wand and arrested him before the entire courtroom full of people. Several camera flashes went off and an excited buzz of voices rose from the crowd. Hermione watched as Fudge was escorted from the room, not quite ready to believe that the trial was in fact over. Kingsley reached across her and shook Severus’ hand, then her own leaning in to speak to them. “I’ve arranged for a portkey to take you home so you won’t need to deal with all these people on your way out.”

Hermione smiled weakly at him. “Thanks. I just don’t want to face them.”

“And you shouldn’t either. Though the effects of veritaserum generally dissipate after an hour, you will have the tendency to give very frank answers for a few more. I’d rather the press not face either of you today. I don’t think they can take that kind of brutal honesty,” Kingsley said with a smile and set a quill on the table.

They both held the feather and scarcely heard Kingsley utter “Portus” before finding themselves jerked from the courtroom and deposited on their front step. The sudden quiet was blissful. Once Hermione had regained her feet, she savoured the hushed sound of wind through leaves. Her shoulders relaxed away from her ears and she felt drained. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her and she clung back. “I’m exhausted.”

“I’m not surprised,” Severus responded in a gentle tone.

“It’s over now,” she let out a long breath, “hard to believe it’s over.”

“Do you feel better?” he queried.

Hermione looked up at him and furrowed her brow. “It’s hard to say. I think I’ll need a while to get used to it. Perhaps spend some time alone.”

He frowned slightly but offered, “I can stay in the guest room if you like.”

“No, not like that,” she said, pulling back slightly, “I need to be able to go places alone again. I need to not be afraid. Be myself again.”

Severus brushed her cheek with his thumb and slid his fingers through her short tresses. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers softly, drawing her against himself. For a long while they stood together, enjoying the peacefulness of the world around them. When he finally broke the silence, Severus breathed, “Do what you need to do.”
*********


Well.... there it finally is... the grand trial. There are another two chapters and an epilogue left to go!