In Love and War

I'm so sorry everyone. I could have sworn I updated last week, but I didn't. I hope you don't hate me for leaving you waiting. :) Also, I will not be having a beta for this story, so all mistakes are mine. Anyway, onto the next chapter. Thank you all for reading and of course reviewing!!!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter, not it's character, the books of the movies. All rights belong to the author. I make no money from the writing of this fanfiction.

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In Love and War

Chapter 5

His cold eyes meet those of his accusers in the cold, dank room. They wanted his blood, they wanted him to pay, they wanted to take away everything. Lucius held his head high, his hair gleaming even in the dim lighting and a challenge written into the grim set of his mouth. He dared them to take away his dignity.

“Lucius Malfoy, you stand accused of murder, conspiracy, blackmail, and kidnapping. How do you plead?” Kingsley Shacklebolt asked from his seat on the high dais as the head of the Wizengamot.

“It is obvious to me, by your apprehension of my person that you have already decided my guilt. What words would I use to convince you of my innocence? I have no representation here and no one to speak on my behalf.” He stated as his strapped hands gripped the cold wood of the chair. He had never thought to be sitting in this chair again. He had sat here two times too many. Once after the first war and a few years earlier when he was brought forward following his capture at the Department of Mysteries. He could feel the leather straps biting into his skin as his hands flexed underneath the restraint.

He knew that he should fight against the conviction, it was in his nature, but for once he felt that there was nothing to be said. The charges were true. He had murdered, and he would never prove that he had done it under any influence. The loss of his wife and son were proof of that. Conspiracy, well. That had been proven two years ago when he broke into the Department of Mysteries. He tried to convince himself that if he would have been successful in his mission that the war would have ended more favorably, but he knew that it wouldn't of made a difference. He had blackmailed members of government for years, lining their pockets and his own with the fruits of those labors. None of these charges bothered him, in fact he didn't even bat an eye at hearing them. Kidnapping, however he had never done.

“I would ask, that you remove the kidnapping charge from my list of crimes, seeing as how I have never forcibly taken someone.” He said with a sneer gracing his lips.

He heard a cough from the stands. His eyes looked towards the sound and saw the vile Umbridge woman raising her hand in the air. He was shocked that she was still on the council. Apparently Shacklebolt hadn't gotten around to cleaning house yet.

“I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy, but isn't it true that Hermione Granger was brought to your home and tortured?” Her sugary voice, though low, carried well throughout the room. Just looking at the woman made his stomach churn. Everything about her from her puce pumps to her atrocious hair made him ill.

Lucius heard a murmur go through the stands as this piece of information was shared. As far as he knew, the Granger girl had kept the information to herself. He would have known through their bond if she had told. He had felt nothing, only small twinges of pain off and on.

“Yes, I was brought to his home, but not under his orders.”

His eyes locked on hers, surprised to see her in the courtroom. He had dreamed of her, seen her face almost every time he closed his eye, and as much as parts of him rejected her, he was happy to see her face, relieved that she had survived. His thoughts turned hard on him almost immediately after. What was she doing? He watched her small frame make it's way through the crowd until it stood next to him. She placed her small hand on his shoulder. He cringed inwardly at her touch, but it was immediately replaced by a feeling of warmth. He was not a man to accept comfort, but knowing that she was here, for some strange reason, caused a wave of calm to wash over him.

“Lucius Malfoy risked his life to save mine. He rescued me from death, from torture by leaving his family in the hands of Lord Voldemort. He provided me with the information that saved countless lives on the battlefield.” He listened as her voice broke, but her next words were spoke with such conviction and truth. “You owe him your gratitude.” Her voice was strong, but he could feel how weak she was through the small otter tattoo on his wrist.

A stunned silence overtook the room. If a pin were to be dropped, it would have echoed off the stone walls. His steel eyes took in the looks of disbelief and shock on the faces of the members of the council. Lucius almost laughed out loud when he saw the look on Umbridge's face. Her toad like features were twisted in the most comical way. The ugly woman looked like she had swallowed a vomit flavored Bertie Botts bean.

“We will take a recess.” Kingsley said as he motioned for the courtroom to be cleared out. People were slow in leaving. He watched them sneak glances at the girl next to him. The ministers patience must have ran out because his deep voice bellowed out in anger. “Get out of the damn room now!”

“What are you doing?” Lucius asked quietly, fire dancing in his icy eyes. “Do you want them to throw you in prison? Does the prospect of a windowless room, in a fortress of stone, filled with Death Eaters appeal to you?” He wanted to shake her at her stupidity.

He felt her hand leave his shoulder almost immediately as she stepped away from him, a brief flash of hurt shining through her wise eyes. Lucius took a good look at her now that he could see her properly. Her skin was pale, unnaturally so, but that was to be expected as she was still recovering from her injuries. Her bones stuck out under her skin from months of not having decent meals. She looked malnourished and tired, almost to the point that she looked like she would faint. Her eyes were haunted, but also held a fierce determination. Surely she should still be in the hospital, or at least under the watchful eyes of that fishwife Molly Weasley.

“I came to save you from this. You, Lucius Malfoy, are not a good man, but your actions tell me that you deserve a second chance. If I can give that to you, I will.” Her voice shrank to a whisper. “I owe you that much. Please don't take this away from me.”

The conviction in her voice left no room for arguments. It was pointless of her to try, she was only doing more harm than good. Her gryffindor mentality would be the destruction of her.

“Do you really want to tell everyone what happened to you with me? Do you want your precious Potter and Weasel to hear of how you betrayed them by giving me the information of what you were doing? How would the Weaselette react to you, knowing that you allowed yourself to be bonded to a man who tried to kill her?” He asked, knowing that he would strike a cord and hoped that she would give up. He had sacrificed everything he knew to save her life and he wouldn't have her throwing it away.

He watched as she stuck her chin in the air, her cinnamon eyes looking down her nose at them. “Unlike you Lucius, I have chosen my friends wisely. They will understand that what I did, I did out of necessity, to save their lives. I won't let you receive the dementors kiss for actions you were forced into.”

The words that would tell her he wasn't forced were ready to roll off his tongue, but they were halted by the doors opening and the council filing back into the courtroom. He expected the girl to reclaim her seat, but she moved back, anchoring herself to his side. A chair was brought forward for her after everyone had taken their seats.

Lucius watched as Percy Weasley made his way to the floor, the red heads eyes shooting daggers, not at him, but at the woman next to him. He felt rage boil under his skin as his palm itched to slap the glasses of the boys face.

“Here!” The boy said rudely as he thrust a vial of clear liquid to Hermione and watched as she popped the cork off and downed the serum. The middle son of his nemesis then turned on his heel, a look of disgust marring his features.

“Hermione Granger,” Shacklebolt called out to her. “You will tell us of your relationship to the accused. You will not be able to lie or omit facts.”

“I became separated from Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter after we broke out of Gringotts. I was trying to get access to an Order safe house. I wasn't entirely sure of the location, but I had a general idea of where it was. I was apprehended by death eaters and snatchers, led by Greyback and taken to Malfoy Manor.”

He watched as she faced the council down. Courage was something not regularly seen in a Slytherin household where self interest and preservation were a priority, so to see it first hand was almost an enlightening experience.

“I was tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. I suffered the cruciatus curse more times than I can remember. I wanted to die for fear I would leak information. I was beaten, stabbed, spat upon. It was never ending, waiting for the next blow to strike, wondering if the next round of crucio would cause me to lose my mind.”

He heard her voice falter as she struggled to get the next part of the tale out. Lucius had never had the urge to hold someone or to offer comfort, but at this moment, his body was begging him to touch her, to ease the pain of what she was about to lose.

“I was ready to die. I knew that my life was over the moment I was taken to Bellatrix, it was only a matter of time. I knew that when she was finished with her fun, it would all be over. I saw that she was about to kill me, but Mr. Malfoy stopped her. I don't remember anything after that. When I woke up we were in a house, my injuries were healed and I was alive.”

Lucius watched as a solitary tear rolled down her pale cheek, her sad voice broke through the silence in the room. She had them all captivated.

“Lucius gave up everything for me. I will never be able to repay him. What he lost because of me can never be....” Her voice trailed off as she sank down into her chair, the weight of their actions pressing down on her. He wasn't guessing what she was feeling, he could feel it through their bond. The pain, the fatigue, even the small bit of hope.

She stopped speaking and the minister must have thought she was done.

“So, Hermione. Malfoy rescued you from the Manor. Did anything else happen? I hope I don't need to remind you that everything you say will be taken into consideration. You mentioned an exchange of information from him. Please tell us about it.”

Lucius watched as she rolled up the sleeve of her dark robe, revealing the small snake tattoo that slithered across her pale skin. He watched as she held her hand up to show the room. An audible gasp sounded by a loud cry of No from the current Minister.

“You betrayed us.” Kingsley said, his features morphing into a look of cruel disgust.

“Miss Granger did nothing. I forced her to bind herself to me. Once that was done, I used that bond to extract information from her. It wasn't less cruel than what my sister in law had planned for her. She has done nothing.” The lie sprung easily from Lucius's lips. He didn't want to wait any longer for his sentencing. He was ready to receive the kiss, ready to put this life behind him. He wouldn't let her say anything else that would further incriminate herself.

“Members of the Wizengamot. I provided Lucius Malfoy with information pertaining to Harry Potter and the destruction of the horocrux's. In return he offered me Voldemort's plans. I made a decision to trust the man who saved my life and I swear that there was no deceit on his part. After I took the vow he returned me to the safe house. I would be dead if it were not for him. He risked everything to save me and I will not allow that sacrifice to go unrewarded.”

The room was quiet with only the sound of hushed whispers to penetrate the heavy fog of tension. A nod from Shacklebolt and the room was cleared. The straps binding him were loosened and he was able to stand up and move his body.

Kingsley made his way to them, even he could see the slight hesitation and indecision that warred within the wizard. Lucius saw him conjure a chair and set it in front of them.

“Malfoy. Tell me the truth of what happened. What have you gone through and tell me why you deserve to live, when you showed no mercy to those you slaughtered.” The brown eyes of the Minister of Magic bore into him. Lucius did not back down.

“It is as I said before Shacklebolt. I rescued the girl, but it was primarily for selfish reasons. She had information that I wanted.”

Kingsley shook his head. “If that's all you have to say.” The mans eyes traveled over to the new heroine of the wizarding world and looked down in defeat. “I'm sorry Hermione, but with what you have told me, I have to hold you.”

His chest clinched as he watched as she nodded, tears falling silently down her face that had once been so distasteful to him. She said nothing as the aurors came in and cuffed the iron manacles around her slender wrists. He felt guilt, an emotion that he had rarely felt, as she accepted what was to come without a fight.

He stood there in silence as he watched her leave the room, her head held high and her shoulders squared, ready to face the cruelties of her choices. He knew where she was headed. Azkaban was not a friendly place. All of the determination and hope that she carried would be sucked out of her. Every happy memory, every smile, would be gone before it could ever even appear. His refusal to stand with her would be her undoing. In a sick way, part of him felt vindicated, that for everything he had lost because of her, she would lose too.

His body faltered at the cruelness of his thoughts and he sank back onto the wooden chair, desperate for it's support. Kingsley's voice called to him from the door as he prepared to be led back to his cell.

“She could save you. Do you know what it took for her to come here today? Do you even care that she will be throwing away her life, for you? In my opinion, you deserve death Malfoy. But she saw something in you, Merlin knows what, but she saw something. Don't let her give everything up for you because you don't deserve it.” He paused for a moment. “Decide tonight Malfoy.”

Lucius sat in his dank prison cell hours later. His mind was a mess of confusion. Thoughts of the Granger girl raced through his mind at alarming speed. He replayed every moment that he had ever spent in her company, searching for anything that would allow him to condemn her to his fate. He found nothing. In every instance she had acted with compassion and bravery. She continually fought for what was right, for what was just. He had risked his family for her and they had meet their deaths at his hands. He wouldn't have her blood, the destruction of her life on his hands as well.

He reached for parchment and a quill, his confession spilled onto the paper, everything that he had done written in black and white. He called for the warden of the prison and asked him to deliver the letter to the Minister.

With his fate in others hands, he sat on the bare mattress and leaned back against the moldy stone of his prison cell. He had nothing to do to occupy his time except for wait and think of the Granger girl locked in a cell with nothing to comfort her except her bravery.