The Return

The Return
Lady Blue Eyes


A/N: First, I do not own the Harry Potter universe, it all belongs to JKR and associated companies. Sadly, I will never own a piece of it so no money will ever be made off the writing of this story

The song One Night by The Corrs captured my imagination and inspired me to return to my 'Untitled' story. However there are no lemons here. Sorry, they just didn't fit with what I wanted here. (However I promise that the next story I post will have lots of lemony goodness!) It is a sequal and I hope I have done the original story justice. If you haven't read it, you might want to so that you can understand this a little better, but I think this can also be read as a stand alone.


It had been three years since the Battle at Hogwarts. Three years in which family and friends were buried, mourned, and their sacrifices celebrated. Three years in which lives were rebuilt on new and shaky ground. Lines were blurred, blood status was forgotten and those who had been on the side of the Dark Lord had been imprisoned, life sentences with no chance of parole. Draco Malfoy had been part of those who had been paraded before the Wizengamot and it was only the testimony of Harry Potter that saved him from rotting in a damp, stone cell.

Hermione remembered the day of his trial as if it were yesterday, though two and a half years had passed since then. Curled up on her couch near her fireplace she let her mind drift back to that day.

A quiet hush fell over the hall as Draco Malfoy was led to the podium before Minister Shacklebolt and the rest of the Wizengamot. From where she sat Hermione had a perfectly clear profile view of the handsome wizard. He was stoic, silent, looking neither right nor left and ignoring the 'boos' and 'hisses' of the crowd in the upper tier of seats. He was dressed neatly in a slate gray suit and tie, and she wondered briefly what his life would have been like if there had been no Voldemort.

Shacklebolt held up his hands for silence and began to speak, his deep voice echoing throughtout the room and holding the attention of the restless crowd.

"Draco Lucien Malfoy, you are brought before the Wizengamot today for crimes commited in the name of Voldemort, the most serious being an attempted murder charge. In a moment I will ask you how you will plead against those charges. How you plead and the reasons you give will determine the sentencing you receive today. You are entitled to legal representation. It says here you have declined representation both public and personal, is this true?"

Hermione gasped quietly even as Draco leaned forward to answer Shacklebolt's question in the affirmative. She had had such hopes for him after they had spoken in the fifth-floor corridor, and now she believed it was all for naught. Apparently, he made the wrong decisions anyway. A feeling, akin to sadness, welled in her chest. She still thought he was no Lucius Malfoy but maybe, maybe she had judged him wrong three years ago, and he was exactly who she had first thought him to be. Keeping her eyes trained on Draco she failed to notice the side door open and dark haired, green-eyed man enter the room.

"Very well, Mr. Malfoy. Let us proceed. The first and most serious charge against you is for the attempted murder of Albus Dumbledore. How will you plead?"

Taking a deep breath, Hermione leaned forward in her seat, anxious to hear Draco's reply. The blond man began to speak.

"I plead gui-" A voice from the side interrupted him though.

"Draco Malfoy is NOT guilty." Cheers erupted throught the hall as Harry Potter came to stand beside his one time enemy. Hermione blinked. What was Harry doing there? What had she missed? What did he know about Draco that she did not? And really, why was her heart beating so erratically now?

Draco showed no outward reaction to the fact that the hero of the wizarding world had come to defend him. In fact if she hadn't seen his jaw tighten at Harry's arrival, Hermione would have thougth he hadn't even noticed. She turned her attention to Harry now as Minister Shacklebolt addressed him.

"Harry Potter, this case is closed to outside interference. Mr. Malfoy has also indicated he does not wish legal representation, I'm sorry but I need to ask you to leave so we may resume his trial." The dark man looked pained at having to ask Harry to leave, but in truth if one defendant was allowed interruptions than all of them would want interruptions.

"I'm sorry, Minister, but that is just not possible. I have been given to understand that in extreme cases the Wizengamot would allow last minute testimony if it can be proved the testimony is true and accurate by the administration of Veritaserum. I will gladly take some as I feel it is important that you hear what I need to say and show you."

The minister stepped back to discuss with other members what should be done. At the same time Harry leaned over to Draco and whispered something to him. Hermione wished she knew what he had said because it made Draco stand just a bit taller and raise his chin a bit higher.

Finally, Minister Shacklebolt returned to the podium. "You may proceed Mr. Potter. It is also the decision of this court that Veritaserum will be waived on the basis of who you are and what you have done for our world."

"Minister Shacklebolt," Harry returned, "with all due respect, that is precisely the reason I choose to take Veritaserum. I do not want any one to question the validity of my statements in regards to Draco Malfoy." Shacklebolt nodded to a witch on his left who stood to bring the vial of truth serum and give a few drops to Harry.

"You may begin, Mr. Potter."

What was then spoken was a long and detailed description of Draco's decision to become a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. A spy that none but Harry Potter knew of. Hermione's insides twisted as the information came to light and she was overcome with emotion.

Draco had freed himself from his father's legacy.

Acquitted of all charges, Draco and Harry turned to leave the courtroom together, but Draco stopped his eyes going unerringly to Hermione. He mouthed 'Because of you' then followed the path Harry had led through the crowd.

Hermione sighed. She remembered rushing outside to see him but he was gone. Harry had caught up with her and she had bombarded him with questions. It was too late though. Draco had gone, fled the country in search of something she didn't know.

Since then she had made a name for herself in the Magical Law department of the ministry as the youngest witch ever to be promoted to Assistant Director of Legal Research. She had her friends, her own flat, her parents and Crookshanks, but sometimes in the darkest nights she thought of him. Of the boy who had hurt her, teased her, made her cry. And then she would think of the man he had become. For her he had implied and then he had left without a backwards glance.

She wasn't obsessed by him, or at least she didn't think so. She dated, plenty of nice wizards, though the majority never made it past the first date. They were just lacking in....in....in something, though she had trouble defining, even to Ginny, what that was.

Shaking off her meloncholy, Hermione stood up and stretched. She had to get to bed as tomorrow was Monday and she had a day full of meetings and an unending stack of parchment work lying in the in-box on her desk. With a wave of her hand she extinguished the flames in the fireplace and headed down the hall to her bedroom.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hermione heard her name being whispered in the next aisle over. She was currently standing deep within the stacks of files in the Magical Law Archives, which was located in the deep in the bowels of the Ministry. It was dark, damp, and dusty, and never failed to give Hermione the heebie jeebies. A fact that amused her friends no end, considering their fight in the Department of Mysteries was more dangerous than old files. Still, Hermione drew out her wand and held it in front of her.

She edged her way around the end of the shelving unit and found herself face to face with the one man she had longed to see for so long. Shock had her gaping at him one moment and in the next she slapped him as hard as she could, with all the pent up anger, worry, and care she had been holding deep inside.

The resounding crack against his cheek, and resulting pain had Draco stumbling back a step or two. Before he could get his bearings, she was attacking him, pelting his chest with her fists.

"You bastard," she cried, "Two and a half years and not a bloody word!"

"Woah, woah, Granger!" He grabbed for her fists and groaned when one caught him on the chin. "You've still got a mean right hook," he muttered, finally securing her hands in his.

He focused in on her face and noticed her eyes were moist with tears she was trying desperately to keep from falling. "I'm sorry, ok? I didn't mean to sneak up on you. Don't cry."

Hermione yanked her hands out of his and frowned up at him. "You left the Wizengamot that day and never looked back until now. Why?" Her eyes held his in a steady gaze and Draco knew no matter how much he tried to prepare for himself to see her again, it wasn't enough.

This woman had seen beneath the surface of the arrogant boy he had been. She had offered him a chance to change. Had believed in him at a time when he had nothing to believe in. How could he explain that seeing her in the courtroom on the day of his trial, hearing Potter defend him, knowing that she was the reason he had been able to cast the patronus charm at a time when he had needed to the most, had left him completely out of sorts emotionally?

"Draco," Hermione called his attention back to the present. He blinked to clear his head.

"I left for a number of reasons. The first was that my mother was in France. I hadn't seen her for quite some time before then and wanted to spend time with her. Since my father's death she's becoming a whole and happy new person. There was also the press to contend with. I no longer wanted to give them any opportunity to place the Malfoy name in headlines unless it was for a good cause."

Hermione nodded as he spoke. She wasn't unfeeling at all and could well understand wanting to see one's mother as well as avoid the crush of paprazzi that would have surrounded him in the blink of an eye. He grew quiet, his expression thoughtful, asthough searching for the right words. She waited. Patiently or not so patiently as she had to bite her lip to keep from telling him to just say it.

Reaching for her hands once again, he seemed to make up his mind on what he wanted to say. He looked her straight in the eye as the words came out of his mouth.

"And then there was you. That day at Hogwart's, you rose above every mean thing I had ever said to you. You looked deeper than anyone had before. You let me invade your private memories, and still...Still, you offered me a chance. I just...," he broke off and released her hands. He stepped away and turned his back, running his hands through his hair. He let out a sigh before turning back to face her.

"Granger, you showed me more in those few moments than I had ever seen before. Then at my trial I saw you and I hated that you had heard all the things they were charging me with, but I had no proof that I had been helping Potter. All of the sudden he was there, and I was declared innocent. I wanted you to know that I helped Potter because of you."

The emotions that were rolling off of him were intense. She could see the sorrow he had for his actions of the past and the care he obviously felt for her as he all but stated he wanted for her to see the best of him. She wasn't sure how to respond and so she didn't speak.

Instead Hermione took a step forward and wrapped her arms about his waist, pulling him to her in a tight hug. Draco stood perfectly still, unsure of what he was supposed to do. Finally he wrapped his own arms around her and settled in to her hug. She fit snugly against him and it was then that Draco Malfoy realized two things. The first was that she accepted him completely for the person he had become. The second was that holding her felt right and now that she was in his arms, he was going to do everything he could to keep her there.