Adverse Reactions

Courtroom 10 was bustling about with people just waiting with anticipation for the trial of the Pure-Blood Rebels to begin. Witches and Wizards of every shape, size and color were sitting around waiting for their loved ones, or the attackers of their loved ones to arrive in the courtroom. The walls were dimly lit by torches and the Wizengamot was slowly starting to arrange them around the judge’s stand where they would be sitting for the remainder of the trial. Hermione had been taken off the panel since it was her husband’s killer who was on trial. Lee Jordan’s sister Marci had also been one of the wounded so he was removed as well.

Harry and Hermione entered the courtroom rather slowly looking around at the scene before them and trying to locate where they had been placed to sit. The families of the wounded and dead were on one side of the courtroom and the families of the accused were on the other. Frederick, curled up on Harry’s shoulder, let out a small Ooh and Hugo stared up at the many rows of seats and all of the families that he recognized. A small man dressed in luscious plum colored robes walked up to Hermione and bowed slightly. He gazed up into her eyes and his own were filled with pity and despair as he led the widow, Harry and her children to their seats in the stands.

Kinsley Shacklebolt entered the room solemnly, dressed in judge’s robes and carrying his wand carefully. He seated himself at the judge’s seat and looked up at the audience in the courtroom.

“Good Morning. I’m sorry to say my greeting cannot come at a more hospitable time, but this is the trial of the twenty-seven members of the rebellion that were apprehended at the Ministry of Magic’s Auror Department on the day of November 26th. For the record today is December 17th 2017. We will begin with…”

The large doors of the courtroom were suddenly thrown open and in strode a rather tousled looking Draco Malfoy, who bowed a slight apology to Minster Shacklebolt and hurried off to the side of the room where Blaise Zambini sat with a glare on his face that very clearly expressed his distaste in Malfoy’s appearance and tardiness. Draco returned his look with a sneer and threw off his outer green hooded cloak and sat down returning his attention to the matter at hand.
“As I was saying. We will begin with those who were involved in the attack, those who were known for the wounded and then conclude with those found as the murderers.”

The far doors opened and in came in six of the Aurors leading a disheveled set of Carrow twins. The pair struggled against their restraints slightly and was strapped to two of the chairs in the front of the room. The ropes snaked their way around their wrists and ankles and bound them fiercely to the chair. The twins glared up at the Wizengamot and waited for their hearing to begin.

Hermione watched at first, but Fred shuffling in Harry’s arms next to her made her shift her attention elsewhere. Harry calmed the small child and let him sink to the floor and play with a small stuffed hippogriff, unaware of the intense trial that was unfolding around him. Hugo watched intently for a while, but legal proceeding bored the nine year old and he cuddled up next to his uncle and fell asleep. Hermione smiled at her children and moved her attention to the families of the accused. That’s when she saw him.

Draco looked away, but Hermione knew right away that he had been looking at her. She examined him closely trying to get a grasp on everything that was going on with him. He had grown very tall and his hair was long and side swept across his face in a Muggle hairstyle she had seen on the cover of “People” Magazine. He was wearing a tight black shirt and a pair of black jeans with a silver belt and a green hooded cloak that he had draped across his chair. His face looked rather gaunt and his silver eyes expressed an anger that she couldn’t place.

Before she realized she had been staring, his gray eyes met hers and he gave her a saddened expression and gestured for her to face the Wizengamot. She glared angrily at him, but realized what his gesture meant when she heard Shacklebolt announce the next name.

“Astoria Greengrass Malfoy. On trial for the murder of Ronald Weasley.”

Hermione watched as the tall dark-haired woman walked into the room lazily, obviously convinced that she was going to get out of this with a slap on the wrist. She sat delicately in the chair and gazed up at Draco and smiled. Hermione watched as Astoria’s husband simply glared angrily at her. She smirked and looked back toward Minister Shacklebolt and awaited the questioning.

“Mrs. Malfoy, you are accused of the murder of Auror Ronald Weasley by use of the Killing Curse. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty, Minister.”

Hermione’s rage welled within her and it took everything Harry had in him to prevent her from hexing her. Hermione was fuming, but kept her peace as the prosecution continued. After several witnesses, Cho Chang, the prosecuting attorney, called Harry to give his witness.

Harry rose to his feet and walked down and stood over by the prosecution and awaited questioning.

“Mr. Potter. Will you kindly tell us about Mrs. Malfoy’s involvement in the attack on the Auror Department?”

Harry nodded and stared at Astoria angrily, seething at the sickly sweet smirk that she sported as he began his recollection.

“Ron and I were working on a case involving the recent escape of Marshall Yaxley. We had heard about a sighting of him in Godric Hollows and we were arranging a team of experienced Aurors to hunt him down when we heard a loud commotion coming for the waiting room. We heard a woman’s voice yell the Killing Curse and we grabbed our wands and rushed out to find somewhere between thirty and fifty hooded figures firing curses around the room at all of us.

The attack was so sudden we hadn’t prepared for anything of the sort, but most of us were well equipped to handle the situation. Ron and I were paired as we always were. I remember that Harlem Shoemaker was on the floor. He was the one that had led Alecto Carrow into the room under the guise of a Muggle Born with an emergency. I took down six of them with some miscellaneous curses and for every one I knocked out, two more came toward me.
I thought I could handle anything they threw at me…that was until I saw the flash of green right next to me. It skimmed past me, barely missing my left ear, but it hit Ron. I didn’t look at him. I looked at the woman who had fired the curse and that was Mrs. Malfoy.

“HE’S LYING! I WAS NOWHERE NEAR THE WEASEL!! DRACO! DRACO, TELL THEM! TELL THEM I DON’T EVEN KNOW THE KILLING CURSE!!”

Astoria turned her head toward her husband who sat silently in his seat, eyes cold as ice as he shrugged at his wife. Hermione was awestruck. It wasn’t like a Malfoy to not defend their own. But then again it wasn’t Astoria’s time to defend herself yet. Astoria looked horrified for a moment, but shrugged it off as she turned back around.

“Order in the court!”

“Mr. Potter, are you sure it was Mrs. Malfoy you saw?”

Cho’s voice was level, but she did not look away from Harry who met her gaze and nodded surely. She waved her hand and muttered no further questions and returned to her seat next to Minister Shacklebolt. Astoria sat straight and smiled, still under the impression that she was going to get away with this. Hermione could feel her arrogance from where she was sitting.

“Mrs. Malfoy, do you have representation or a witness on your behalf?”

Astoria smirked and nodded.

“My husband, Draco Malfoy, as a testament of my moral character, Minister.”

Draco rose, but did not descend to the platform. Instead he looked toward Hermione and the children and returned his glare to Astoria who looked back at him confused.

“Mr. Malfoy, are you going to add your testimony on your wife’s behalf?”

Draco heard Cho’s words, but did not move. Instead he stood where he was, cold as ice, glaring at his wife.

“Draco, tell them I’m innocent.”

The pleading in Astoria’s voice was unmistakable. Her strong exterior was cracking under nerves and betrayal.

“Tell them I didn’t kill anyone. I won’t deny that I was there, but I didn’t kill anyone.”

Quietly, Draco descended the stairs and walked slowly to his wife and touched her face. She smiled, relief showing in her eyes as her husband approached the prosecutor.

“Your testimony Draco?”

The silence was long enough to drive a truck through. Draco gazed at Astoria and smirked once again and he turned and looked straight into Hermione’s eyes.

“Astoria began looking into the new laws that the Wizengamot proposed against the old pure-blood ways and became one of the members of the rebellion shortly after our son went off to Hogwarts in September. I found out she was part of this rebellion and told her that I would have no part of it and neither would our son.”

Draco moved his gaze to Harry who shot him a death glare that softened, but did not let up when he sensed the sincerity in Draco’s eyes.

“I was not going to let nineteen years of work, trying to restore my family’s name be ruined by my wife’s lack of judgment. My mother used every last ounce of energy she had left trying to give Scorpius and I a new life free from the dark ties our family had.”

“But Astoria would not leave it alone and she left the house under the clause of going to get Scorpius a new pair of dress robes for Christmas. Then I see in the paper that there has been an attack on the Ministry and who is the front page headliner. Astoria Malfoy, Murderer.”

“DRACO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY WON‘T YOU DEFEND ME?! I AM YOUR WIFE!!!”

The room had grown silent and all eyes were on Draco who turned his face to Astoria and gave her a classic Malfoy sneer and a gaze that stopped the blood in her veins.

“YOU are no wife of mine. And you deserve whatever is coming to you.”

And with that he turned on his heels and marched from the room with only a single glance of sorrow that he threw at Hermione. He didn’t even stay to hear Minister Shacklebolt issuing the kiss over the sound of Astoria’s cursing. Her blood curdling scream echoed throughout the ministry as she was led away to await the kiss in Azkaban.