A/N: AlexisTaylor for moderator, please.
Chapter 15: Draco's Advocate
As evening fell upon the rather quiet village of Hogsmeade, the Three Broomsticks was met with a rush of Hogwarts seventh years who were gathering for a round of butterbeers before returning to the castle for the night.
“Katie! Oh, it’s so good to see you,” Hermione said excitedly, greeting Katie with a hug.
“And you too, Hermione “ how’ve you been?”
“Rather good, all things considered…and yourself?”
“Oh, I’m fine “ brilliant at the moment, actually,” Katie answered, shooting a smile at Harry, and then leaning forward to give Ron a hug. “How are you holding up?”
“Oh, I’m fine,” Ron told her. “We have a rather decent Quidditch team this year, so everything’s set...”
“Quidditch, yes “ it all comes back to Quidditch with you, doesn’t it?” Katie laughed, rolling her eyes, as the four of them moved to a large booth.
“Who’s to be joining us, then?” Katie asked.
“Neville, Susan, Luna, Seamus, Dean “ Ron, don’t be rude “ and Siobhan…” Hermione informed them.
“Who’s Siobhan?”
“Harry’s new Slytherin friend,” Ron explained with a small snort of laughter.
“You’re friends with a Slytherin, now?” Katie asked, her eyebrows nearly shooting up off her face in her surprise. “Three weeks without me and you’re a changed man.”
“Siobhan’s not like other Slytherins,” Harry said in his defence. “She’s a lovely person “ well, maybe not lovely. She’s…er… she’s very…”
“She’s interesting,” Ron finished for him.
“Let’s just say you’ll have to meet her for yourself,” Harry added.
“Is she pretty?” Katie asked.
“Why does that matter?”
“I was just wondering if I need to be worried,” she teased.
“You don’t need to worry, trust me,” Harry reassured her.
“So she’s ugly, then?”
“No, she’s not ugly…”
“So, you’re attracted to her?”
“No!” Harry said, slightly exasperated but still grinning playfully. “Just how shallow do you think I am, anyway?”
Katie only laughed in response.
“What’s so funny?” a new voice asked.
The four of them turned to see Siobhan standing beside their booth, eyeing them all with what could almost be considered interest.
“Nothing, I was just giving Harry a hard time,” Katie said, eyeing Siobhan’s Slytherin colours and standing up to introduce herself. “You must be Siobhan…”
“Yes,” Siobhan replied, in an unnaturally friendly tone. “And you must be Katie? It’s a pleasure to meet you finally.”
Harry, Ron and Hermione shared confused looks with one another as they all moved down to make room for Siobhan to sit. They were soon joined by the rest of their friends “ Ron casting a small scowl towards Dean “ as Katie and Siobhan chatted away emphatically. Harry kept casting them curiously bewildered looks.
“What’s the matter with you?” Siobhan asked him after about twenty minutes.
“Nothing,” Harry shrugged. “I was just wondering who you are and what you’ve done with Siobhan…”
The curly-haired Slytherin scathingly flicked her eyes up to the heavens before turning back to Katie and picking up their conversation, ignoring him completely; Harry scowled and crossed his arms in annoyance.
“You look just like Hermione, mate,” Ron joked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hermione asked, not missing a beat.
“It means he’s beautiful, o’ course,” Ron recovered quickly with a grin. Hermione couldn’t hide that she was pleased; Ron’s shameless flattery never failed to mollify her. The two of them returned to being annoyingly adorable in their corner of the booth, and Harry joined the others in a discussion about how the Ministry was going to set about heightening security on their prisoners.
“I think they’ve finally decided to use Azkaban again, but they’ve been adding new cautionary measures since they can no longer rely on the dementors…”
“Nah, I don’t think so, Dean,” Seamus said. “I don’t think the Ministry is going to be using Azkaban again anytime soon. They lost dementor control over a year ago, if it’s taken them this long to re-establish a proper containment facility, there has to be more to it.”
“Well, then where do you suppose they’ll be keeping the prisoners?” Neville asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Luna, taking a sip of vividly-blue liquid Harry couldn’t identify.
“Do enlighten us, Luna…” Susan said playfully.
“Well, the Ministry has been in talks with Gringotts goblins for a good while now “ since just after last Christmas, I believe,” Luna explained. “It’s clear they’re planning on using the underground vaults to store prisoners.”
As usual with Luna’s extraordinary pronouncements, every one took a moment to simply stare in astonishment at the dirty blonde-haired Ravenclaw as they took in what she had said.
“Not a bad idea, actually,” Seamus said thoughtfully.
“Storing people in bank vaults doesn’t sound like a bad idea to you?” Dean challenged.
“Well, when you put it like that, it sounds silly,” Luna continued. “But they are making adaptations, of course. That’s why it’s taking so long.”
“Or course,” Harry said, giving Luna a wink. She simply smiled and took another sip of her unusual drink, which was now bright orange.
The group chatted away for another half-an-hour, as the topic of discussion drifted from politics to the question of how difficult it would be to coerce Hermione into allowing them to have a party in Gryffindor Tower that night. Just as they had started calculating how many Butterbeers they might be able to carry back to the castle, Harry diverted his attention and glanced at his watch to see that they should be returning to Hogwarts in ten minutes for dinner. Ducking out of the conversation, he turned to Siobhan and Katie.
“You don’t mind if I steal my girlfriend back, do you?” he asked, taking hold of Katie’s hand.
“Not at all,” Siobhan replied.
“Well, it was lovely meeting you Siobhan “ I do hope to see you again,” Katie said as she stood up, or rather, was pulled up by Harry.
“And you,” Siobhan replied with a small nod, as Harry and Katie left the Three Broomsticks and stepped outside into the warm September evening.
“Could you have been any ruder?” Katie scolded when they exited the pub.
“What?” Harry asked defensively. “What did I do?”
“You practically dragged me away “ not to mention that comment you made about earlier ‘what have you done with Siobhan’?”
“I’ve just never seen her talk that much, alright?” Harry explained. “She’s usually really quiet, and she’s never friendly…”
“So, what - are you jealous?” Katie mocked, clearly easing up on him.
“I’m not jealous,” Harry replied. “It’s just… odd. But can we not spend our last ten minutes talking about Siobhan?”
“What do you want to talk about, then?” Katie asked with a sweet smile.
“Well, to be totally honest “ I’m not really interested in talking much…” Harry replied mischievously.
“Oh, so that’s how it is?”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Good morning.”
“Morning, Alex…” came the response, intermingled with yawns, from the weary seventh years that sat sleepily in the Defence Against The Dark Arts classroom the next morning. Alex raised an eyebrow as she cast an appraising look over the group.
“Weren’t up late last night, were we?”
Neville, Harry and Ron hid guilty smiles and looked away, while Luna hummed and counted the lines on her palm; Hermione sat up straight and crossed her arms.
“I was only up late last night because it was necessary to maintain a certain amount of control over the Gryffindor common room,” Hermione said matter-of-factly, throwing a contemptuous glance over to her fellow Gryffindors.
“Funny, I remember a certain Head Girl downing her Butterbeer in five seconds flat so she could supply the key item for Spin the Bottle…” Harry muttered under his breath to Ron, who laughed aloud as Hermione gave a significant huff.
“Well, as much as I hope you enjoyed your impromptu party last night, you four still haven’t learned to summon you wands “ so you all best get to work,” Alex said in a friendly but brisk manner. “As for you Harry “ we need to have a chat.”
Harry looked at Alex enquiringly, but didn’t voice any questions as he stood up and followed her into her office.
“Have you heard anything about Draco Malfoy since this summer, Harry?” Alex asked the moment she snapped the door shut behind them.
“Er, no, I haven’t,” Harry replied, somewhat staggered.
“Well, you’ll want to get reacquainted with the idea of Mr. Malfoy, because you might be dealing with him rather soon. He’ll be all over the Daily Prophet, for certain.”
“Why? What’s happened?” Harry asked, feeling almost concerned.
“The Ministry’s finally getting their act together as far as prisoner-containment, so they’ll be holding proper trials for arrested Death Eaters before sentencing them to imprisonment; Young Mr. Malfoy will be the first to go to trial.”
“And why are you telling me?”
“You have a rather well known affinity with the boy, Harry,” Alex explained. “You were involved in the incident that led to his expulsion, and you are one of the few witnesses to his activities as a Death Eater. The Prophet will no doubt be interested in what you have to say, while the Ministry might be requesting your presence at the trial itself.”
“Why would they want me at the trial?” he asked warily.
“To testify, of course. What better evidence to put away a Death Eater than the testimony of Harry Potter himself?”
Harry let out a deep breath as he did his best to process everything. It had been a long time since he had troubled himself with thoughts of Draco Malfoy, but it was now clear that he would be facing his former nemesis again, sooner or later. After a minute or so of stillness in the conversation, Alex interrupted Harry’s thoughts.
“I must ask you Harry, if you are called to testify, what will you say?” she asked guardedly.
“What do you mean?”
“Forgive me, for I don’t know exactly what happened in Denmark last summer “ but from what I’ve heard, there is possible reason for you to excuse Malfoy for his past crimes.”
Harry closed his eyes as he, once again, was flooded with memories of the incident that had taken Ginny’s life at the end of the previous school year. Alex was right, however “ Malfoy’s actions at Voldemort’s former headquarters had been repentance enough for his crimes. Harry had only ever mentioned his feelings on the matter once; it had been just after-the-fact, and he had voiced his defence of Malfoy to Dumbledore, but nothing more had ever came of the matter; until now.
“He spared Katie’s life,” Harry said gutturally. “And Ginny’s too…”
“But Ginny “ ”
“Ginny was murdered by Bellatrix in the end, yes,” Harry said, speaking with more and more difficult as they moved further into the conversation. “But, before that “ before the Order showed up, Malfoy was ordered by his father to kill her, and he didn’t do it… at first, it seemed he was just afraid, but then… he was defiant; he said no. I’ve never seen him stand up to his father; but he did it in an attempt to save Ginny’s life.”
Harry finished his account of Draco’s deeds in a whisper that was barely audible to Alex, and she left him undisturbed as he gazed blankly into the empty fireplace of the office. After a short stillness, Alex once again disrupted Harry’s thoughts, pulling him from his miserable reverie.
“I apologize, but I must again beg the question “ if you testify, what will you say?” she asked him softly.
“What can I say?” Harry sighed. “Draco Malfoy made a mistake, and “ despite the fact I still don’t find him to be a decent human being “ he deserves a second chance.”
“That’s admirable of you, Harry.”
“I won’t let someone’s life rest on my conscience.”
“His life is not at stake.”
“Yes it is. A life in prison is no better than a life lost.”
“What makes you say that?” Alex pressed.
“Sirius,” he replied bluntly, wincing at yet another painful memory.
“Of course,” said respectfully. “Well then, Harry “ I think I’ll excuse you for the day. I’m sure you have plenty of schoolwork to attend to.”
Harry made an indistinct sound, before forcing himself to stand up and turn to the door.
“When is the trial?” he asked quietly.
“No set date at the moment, though it should be mid to late November.”
“I want to be there,” Harry said brusquely.
“Excuse me?” Alex asked, sounding as though she was sure she had heard wrong.
“I don’t care if the Ministry finds my presence necessary or not “ not only does Draco Malfoy appear to have thread of morality somewhere inside of him, but he’s also the reason Katie’s alive. I’m not going to let him go to prison for it.”