It\'s All Done With Mirrors

A/n thank you for all the reviews!!! Kxxx

Chapter Eight
Invisible Trials and Visible Tribulations


Supreme High Court, Ministry of Magic, London, July 2000

\"Ronald Benjamin Weasley, you have been charged with Unwizardly Conduct on numerous counts, including Breaking Wards and Entering, Crude Magical Assault on another Wizard, Destruction of Property not belonging to you, and Interference with Post Owls leading to the Concealment of Information. How do you plead?\"

A vial of Veritaserum had been placed in his view, and Ron knew the game was up.

\"I plead guilty, your Honour,\" he said.

In a chair on the left, Molly Weasley was sobbing noisily. Hermione sat beside her, her face pale, twisting the wedding band round and round on her finger. Ginny\'s face was buried in Harry\'s shoulder as he hugged her to him, his face contorted with disgust.

The \"Invisible Trials,\" that is, those in which the plaintiff was kept secret, had become popular recently. It was maddening that no one knew to whom Ron had committed these crimes...all anyone knew was that it had taken place within the last four years - the time-limit for any offence to be brought to justice in the Wizarding world.

Hermione wondered who it was, and then decided that perhaps it was best she didn\'t know. She stopped twisting her ring as the judge\'s gavel pounded itself up and down.

\"Ronald Benjamin Weasley, you are hereby sentenced to Loss of Wand Status. Your wand will be broken and you must remain without one for a period of twenty-five years.\"

\'That doesn\'t sound too bad,\' thought Ron. \'I\'m pretty used to having a broken wand. What I did to that git was bad enough to warrant a sentence in Azkaban. I have to say I think I got off lightly there. I wonder what I did to piss him off though?\' He recalled their last meeting and tried to think of what he could possibly have done recently that the overgrown bat would know about.

Hermione noticed his smirk, and shook her head. She had married him, however, and would stick by him, whatever he had done in the past. And there was no mention of her wand being broken. A year had passed since she\'d got hers back, and she was finding it very useful. Ron was so untidy, not to mention clumsy. Every piece of china in the house had been broken at least twelve times so far. If they\'d both been Muggles, she would probably have wrung his neck by now.

\'I\'m still glad I nobbled the greasy bastard,\' Ron thought sulkily. \'But I suppose the last laugh\'s on me. And an Invisible Trial, too! I would just love to shout his bloody name out loud. That\'d put a few cats among the pigeons...\'

\"You will be bound by the terms of this sentence, Mr. Weasley, which includes immediate death if you mention to another soul, living or dead, the name of the person who has filed this suit against you.\"

\'Yeah,\' mused Ron. \'That\'s the bugger, really.\'


+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Headmistress\'s Office, Hogwarts, August 2010

\"Professor Dumbledore! What on earth - \" I winced to see the purple and black bruise which spread across one half of the wizened old face.

\"My dear child, please don\'t ask, it doesn\'t hurt much, and I really do have much more pressing business with you tonight.\" His voice was as mild as milk, but I knew he was firmly steering me towards whatever he had going on in his fertile mind.

\"Now, Miss Granger, I had hoped that I would see you under more pleasant circumstances, but alas, we cannot always foresee...Divination is not one of my strong points...anyway, my dear, have you had enough to eat?\"

I nodded, and he spirited the plate away.

\"Good, good! Splendid, in fact. First of all, I have some information regarding the recent tragic event...\" he paused, and looked me in the eye before continuing. \"The Ministry were contacted, and they traced the Annihilare curse to Wiltshire, more specifically, to the house of Malfoy.\"

I nodded again, and volunteered a comment. \"I saw the Malfoy mark in the sky, when the green haze faded.\" For the past ten years, all Wizarding families have had to signature their work, if the magic in question is over a certain Magus Magnitudius.

Dumbledore looked at me sharply, but continued in the same neutral tone. \"This information could be useful when it comes to trial, my dear.\"

\"I don\'t see how much more bloody information they need, to be honest. Draco Malfoy murdered my husband because his wife was...well, you know! *With* him!\" My voice cracked as I continued: \"I didn\'t love Ron, Professor. But he didn\'t deserve to be murdered! Draco Malfoy killed Ron!\"

\"I\'m afraid you are wrong, my dear. You did indeed see the Malfoy insignia above your house when it was destroyed, but you are incorrect in assuming Draco is responsible for the murder of your late husband.\"

\"But Professor, you told me that the Annihilare curse was traced back to the House of Malfoy! I saw his mark with my own eyes!\"

\"You saw the Malfoy mark, but Draco did not have anything to do with this.\"

Not Draco? But it had to be...unless...

\"But I thought that his father Lucius was dead...\" I trailed off as bile rose in my throat.

Pansy.

\"Draco provided us with the information regarding Lady Malfoy\'s plot to kill Ronald and yourself.\"

\"A little too late for Ron though,\" my voice cracked again, as devastation froze into bitterness.

\"Hedwig was attacked by Pansy\'s cat, Crucifer. Her wing was damaged while she tried to bring the letter to you.\"

\'So that explains why Hedwig couldn\'t come to the house,\' I thought, blessing her for getting as far as she did.

I stared at my hands in my lap.

\"I understand if you don\'t feel you can go on tonight, Hermione,\" said Dumbledore softly.

\"There\'s more?\" I asked, sounding more than a little weary.

\"I\'m afraid so. You see, it all fits together somewhat.\"

I just knew he was going to say that.


+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
The Burrow, May 2000

\"Yeah, mum...of course she loves me! I rescued her didn\'t I? No witch can resist a dashing Wizard on a Firebolt\" -

\"Metaphorically speaking, of course.\" Potter sounded amused.

\"Thank you Harry, for your amazing sense of humour. As I was saying, Hermy\'s realised I am the only man for the job, is what I\'m saying. Well,\" Weasley continued, grinning all over his freckly face, \"aren\'t you going to congratulate me?\"

Molly was out of her seat and hugging her youngest son in a vice-like grip. Harry clapped him on the back, and that bloody imbecile Arthur smiled idiotically, his fishy eyes bulging out of his head.

The figure at the window, holding a bunch of flowers, glared at the scene. He dashed the bouquet of red roses against the stone wall, and disapparated.

*

Of course, that bloody imbecile Arthur managed to sign his own son\'s doom when he had the brilliant idea of \'Invisible Trials\', a few months later. Not bad going, for a Weasley.


+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Headmistress\'s Office, Hogwarts, August 2010


\"My dear, I am sure you have many questions, but first of all I need to call someone into the room.\" Dumbledore did not wait for my acquiescence, but instead turned to the fireplace and muttered something.

I gripped the arms of the chair, hoping it wouldn\'t be Snape. \'Because when I see him,\' I thought with cold fury, \'I am going to be alone, so I won\'t be sent to Azkaban for what I am going to do to him...to pay him back for getting into my head...for deserting me...for making me believe I was beautiful...loved...\'

\"Hello, Granger.\"

I just about shot through the ceiling. I was dimly aware that I seemed to be leaping from my seat, my hands thrust forward, going for the throat of the blond man in front of me...

Who caught both my hands easily, and pinned them to my sides.

\"Steady on, Granger. Don\'t I get a \'hello\'?\"

It was official. I had had enough. I broke down into paroxysms of sobbing. Through the passionate cries I could hear coming from my parched throat, I could occasionally hear a hesitant \"There, there...it\'s all right...let it out now, Granger...all of it.\"

Eventually I stopped wailing, and looked into the silver-grey eyes of my old nemesis, Draco Malfoy.

\"Since when did your activities include comforting bereaved Witches, Malfoy?\" I blurted out, but my heart wasn\'t really in it.

\"Granger, if it\'s any consolation, my wife is headed for Azkaban as we speak,\" he replied softly, and there was no hint of a sarcastic drawl, which, frankly, shocked me out of the remainder of my self-indulgent misery.

I was surprised at the swiftness of her sentencing. Draco interpreted my expression correctly, for his next words were:

\"I an aan alibi.\"

\"Where were you? Groping muggle women in Knockturn Alley?\" I managed to snap quite acidly.

\"Actually, no, he wasn\'t.\"

I knew that voice!

And, just as glamorous as she was when we were students together twelve years ago, the lithe figure of the one and only Lavender Brown stepped neatly into view.

\"He was with me,\" she said, and I could only gape with astonishment.


+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
The Burrow, May 2000

Hermione walked back to The Burrow, her feet tired. She had been taking a lot of walks in the fields around the Weasley family home, lately. She felt strange here - almost like a spare part. The celebrations of Harry and Ginny\'s wedding had been rekindled last night after their return from honeymooning in Ireland, and last night\'s party had played havoc with her nerves.

All she remembered was drinking rather a lot of wine, and feeling rather peculiar, had gone outside to sit on the porch, looking at the sickle moon.

Then Ron had showed up, and had been talking nineteen to the dozen about somethingometomething about Firebolts, she recalled, and something about the \"right man for the job\".

Then there had been a pause, and she\'d looked up, and Ron was looking expectantly at her, so she\'d supposed she ought to say something.

So she\'d nodded, and said \"Yes, of course, Ron. Absolutely.\"

And he\'d whooped, and kissed her hard on the lips and then had rushed into the house.

Strange boy.

As Hermione reached the back door of The Burrow, she noticed that there were red rose-petals strewn everywhere. How odd.


+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Headmistress\'s Office, Hogwarts August 2010

I tried a smile. \"Lavender,\" I croaked. \"How nice.\"

Lavender smiled. \"I know this must be really too much for you right now, Hermione - \"

\"I\'m glad someone\'s noticed,\" I could not suppress a growl.

\" - but please just listen. Draco,\" and here she positively simpered at Malfoy, \"has something really important to say to you. We both have, actually.\"

\"If you\'ve dragged me all this way to tell me you two are shagging like bunnies, I think I am likely to drown you all with vomit,\" would have been my preferred response, but in deference to Dumbledore I kept quiet. And hoped my silence would be rewarded in that this terrible night would not have to be endured for much longer.

Draco Malfoy released me from his grip. He stepped back two paces and lowered himself onto a loveseat. Taking his cue, I backed down into my armchair and leaned forward, fighting the waves of tiredness which threatened to cosh me into slumber at any moment.

Dumbledore interpreted my countenance correctly, it seemed, because he then summoned Poppy Pomfrey by Floo.

\"Poppy, if you will, please bring Miss Granger here some Pepper-up potion,\" he requests of the sleepy-looking head in the fireplace.

\"Immediately, Albus,\" she yawned, which set me off, and Lavender, too.

\"Actually, if you could manage two bottles, Poppy?\" Lavender asked, sweetly.

\"Better make that three,\" drawled Draco.

\"Very well, Lavender, Lord Malfoy,\" Poppy\'s head vanished, and almost immediately after that, three brown vials appeared in the grate.

I drank my potion, and began to feel quite a bit livelier.

\"Forgive me, Lavender, for my reactions earlier...and you too, Malfoy.\" I made the latter apology grudgingly, because...well, old habits die hard, don\'t they?

\"Not a problem, Hermione,\" they spo spoke together, which absurdly reminded me of the Weasley twins, George and Fred. I blurted out a strangled laugh, and they both looked curiously at me.

\"Never mind,\" I waved their questioning glances away. \"It looks like I am not going to get any sleep until we\'ve got to the bottom of this. So let\'s have it, guys. I\'ve gone from hearing voices in my head, through losing my husband, all the way to finding myself back in Hogwarts all in one day and to be *quite* frank...\"

I paused.

\"I am going to be severely pissed off if I get to my bed tonight without knowing what the hell is going on!\"

Dumbledore moved forward. \"I have to bring one more person in before we can make a start, so if you will excuse me for about thirty-eight seconds...\"

He moved to the fireplace, tossed some Floo Powder into his mouth and vanished, only to return exactly thirty-eight seconds later (yeah, I watched the damn clock!) with The Boy Who Won\'t Be Sleeping Tonight Either.

\"Hello Harry,\" I rose from my chair to hug him. He smelled of sleep, and babies. \"How are the twins?\"

\"Athena and Ronald are sleeping beautifully, \'Mione,\" he yawned. \"As is my wonderful wife. As was I until a few blissful seconds ago.\"

\"Pepper-up, Potter?\" Malfoy threw the third vial to Harry who caught it and downed it immediately.

\"I never thought I would live to see the day you\'d accept a drink from Malfoy without sending it to the labs for analysis first,\" I said, incredulously.

Lavender giggled. \"There\'ve been a fair few changes happening here in the past few years, Hermione,\" she intoned solemnly. \"I never thought I would see the day these two sat together at the lake, eating sandwiches from the same plate. But wonders never cease, I guess.\"

Malfoy quelled the resulting laughter with a clap of his hands. \'OK,\' I thought sadly, \'that\'s the light-hearted bit over with. Now it\'s down and dirty time...\'