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Just Let Me Die	By : TalisRuadair Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 25097 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Series (1997-2007) and any characters and original locations within the books belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any profit from this, as this is only written for practice.

Chapter List
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Chapter Thirteen – Trials and Tribulations

During the couple of months leading up to Crabbe’s trial, Draco was happier than he thought possible. He had a beautifully pregnant fiancé, a relationship with his father he never thought feasible, and a little blond angel, who surprised him on a daily basis with his intellect. He was helping plan Elty’s upcoming third birthday, they still had five months, but as his mother always said it was never too early to plan a party. His mother, Hermione, and her mother were all busy looking through wedding magazines and planning the wedding. However, an inky shadow loomed over them, and he felt his life couldn’t go on until after Crabbe’s trial was over.

Over the past week, he’d spent several hours with both Blaise and Theo as they prepared him to testify. He knew that his memories would be presented to the Wizengamot as well; however he was relieved they wouldn’t be shown to the general assembly. He wasn’t looking forward to answering questions about his abduction and torture before the general population, including the Daily Profit reporters. He knew that somehow the defense would bring up his son. Theo and Blaise tried to cover all of the bases with hopes that he wouldn’t freeze up or have a blank moment from all the stress.

When the day arrived, the six grandparents offered to watch Elty. Hermione accompanied him into the basement courtrooms, which were reopened after the second Wizarding War. Many Death Eaters were being located and tried, which explained the bustling Auror department. Draco made it a habit of writing down all of his worries and nightmares in his journal. He tried to pour his thoughts into the page, so he could better organize them. He started to see how writing them down and talking about them with Hermione, made him feel better. When he was too down, he’d take Elty out on his toy broomstick and watch him fly around the field. He couldn’t help but smile knowing the kid had a natural talent for flying and perhaps even one for Quidditch. It was the memories of his son on a broom that keep the despair at bay, as the two of them moved into the open court room, and his eyes saw Crabbe chained to a chair in the middle of it. Those happy thoughts were what kept the ghastly memories away. It didn’t keep the knots from forming in his stomach when the man looked directly at him and smiled, being in the same room with him, only made his skin crawl.

Hermione sat next to Blaise and Theo in the prosecution section of the room, as she watched Draco take the stand. The barrister representing Crabbe resembled a slimier version of Professor Snape. One could easily tell his love for the Dark Arts, but he lacked all of the redeeming qualities Snape possessed before his death. The man locked eyes with her and his gaze made her throw up her mental shields. She didn’t want that man anywhere in her mind for fear that he’d use the information to break Draco on the stand. She didn’t want to see that happen, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to give the man any ammo. She quickly broke eye contact and whispered to Blaise, “I don’t know about that man representing Crabbe. I think he just tried to invade my mind. I fear he was looking for something to make Draco look unreliable.”

Blaise nodded his head, “That is a tactic that man tends to use as a form of defense. I guess it’s a good thing you’ve learned Occlumency. Narcissa’s been working with you, hasn’t she?”

Hermione nodded, “Yes, she said ‘as the future Lady Malfoy,’ I needed to learn how to protect the family secrets by protecting my mind from intrusion.”

Theo smiled and teased, “Of course, being the brightest Witch of our age, you mastered it quickly.”

Blaise cleared his throat and approached the now sworn in Draco, “Mr. Malfoy, could you go over the events on May 2, 1998 with us please?”

Draco nodded, “I had returned to Hogwarts after visiting the Manor for Easter Holiday, where I lost my wand to Harry Potter and had to borrow my mother’s. As one knows, a borrowed wand never works as well for a wizard because the wand chooses the wizard. When I heard that Harry had arrived at Hogwarts and that the final battle had arrived, all I could think of was my selfish need to retrieve my wand. I waited outside the Room of Requirement with Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. When I noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione were going into the Room of Hidden Things, we followed. I knew how to get in because I’d spent the majority of the previous year fixing a Vanishing Cabinet, to perform the task given to me by Voldemort under the threat of death. Once inside, I requested that they surrender and that Harry return my wand.”

Draco rubbed his temple and sighed, “Things got out of hand quickly. I ordered Crabbe not to kill any of them because we were ordered to bring Potter to the Dark Lord alive. He didn’t listen to me and blatantly told me that my family held no standing with the Dark Lord and that he was done listening to me. He then began firing the Cruciatus at Harry and the killing curse when he saw Hermione. Harry disarmed Goyle after my mother’s wand was knocked out of my hand by Crabbe bumping into me, and then the dolt, Crabbe junior that is, decided to cast Fiendfyre. He and Goyle both failed their O.W.L.s in Defense; I don’t know what made him believe he could control such an advanced dark curse.

“In the end, it was too much for him and he was consumed by his own curse. Goyle and I would’ve been dead if Harry hadn’t had his hero complex and decided to save our sorry arses. After we made it out of the room, Goyle and I slumped and were already feeling the grief of losing our friend. The two of us were still wandless and managed to end up in the fray of the fighting again. I ended up near the main stairs and a Death Eater had his wand pointed at me. In my helplessness, I begged for my life and told him that I was on his side. Someone stunned him, I think it was Harry as he was invisible, then someone punched me and yelled about it being the second time they’d saved my life. Yeah, after hearing that comment, I knew it was the Golden Trio that’d saved my life a second time. I managed to find a place to hide from the battle but it didn’t stop Crabbe from finding me. My eyes were shut tight because I was consumed with so much fear, pain, and I couldn’t stand watching anymore death.”

Draco choked up for a moment, “It didn’t do me any good. Everything happened so quickly, I felt a hand on my shoulder and before I could even open my eyes, I felt the sickening sensation of side-along apparition. When I opened my eyes, I was in an underground dungeon with an angry Crabbe Senior. His black soulless eyes stared at me before he started berating me for the death of his son. Soon the verbal lashing turned physical, when he dragged me across the cold stone floor and into the cell that became my home for five years. He punched my face and kicked me in the gut before casting the Cruciatus Curse on me. The mind numbing pain of the torture curse gave way to,” tears streamed from his face as he cleared his throat, “rape. This was the ritual I lived with for the next four years, except for the isolated months when he disappeared, and the nine months I managed to keep Sofia hidden from him. She was my solace before he killed her. The last year I was all alone except for a house elf who, fed me, healed my self-inflicted wounds, and gave me my sleeping draughts. It’s safe to say I was a right mess when I was finally found and brought to St. Mungo’s eight months ago.”

When Blaise spoke, his voice seemed less composed, “Thank you, Draco. No further questions.”

Hermione’s heart sped up as the demonic barrister approached her loving fiancé. If anyone was going to harm all of the progress Draco made, it would be that man. Hermione only hoped some of her Gryffindor bravery had rubbed off on Draco over the past few months. “Mr. Malfoy, is it true that you participated in and enjoyed raping and murdering the muggle women Crabbe brought to you?”

Draco’s gray eyes widened at the accusation and he vehemently shook his head no, “I never did it willingly. I was either physically forced onto the woman, as Crabbe took me from behind or he used the Imperious curse on me.” Tear tracks formed on his cheeks as Draco didn’t even seem to notice the liquid slipping from his eyes, “Why do you think I wanted to die? I hated what that man made me do. I hated the monster he tried to make me out to be. He wanted me to believe that I like it, but he used spells on me that made me sexually aroused instead. Don’t you dare, try to make me look like the villain!” His voice sounded with anger as it continued to rise. “I’m nothing like him! I’m not the one who abused my son over and over again and then performed the memory charm on him so frequently that he was dumb. Vincent was so stupid that he cast Fiendfyre in a closed room without understanding how to control or stop the curse. I’m sure he wouldn’t have been that way if it weren’t for the side effects of the overuse of memory charms on a still developing mind.”

“You enjoyed the company of Sofia, did you not?”

Draco’s hands were balled into white fists of fury, “I never treated her like a toy. She was a person; she was the first person I ever loved. She cared for me and we tried to make the best of the situation that man put us in. Then that bastard came back when I didn’t have the means to hide her, and he killed her before my eyes. In that moment, the only good thing in my life disappeared and he broke me all over again. So don’t you dare, try to turn my loving relationship with Sofia into something disgusting and perverted.”

“Do you honestly believe this court will see you as an innocent in this situation?”

“I have done things in my youth that I’m not proud of, and those include treating my fiancé poorly while we were going to school together. I may have been a git; I may have done what I had to in order to survive under the rule of Voldemort; however I have never been a sadist like my aunt Bellatrix. I was nothing more than a reluctant follower of beliefs I was raised with. I am one of the innocent victims of this man. I am, Vincent was, and who knows how many muggles fell victim to him before they lost their lives at his cruel hands.”

“Surely you understand how distraught a father can get when he loses a child. You’ve been recently reunited with your son, have you not?”

Hermione felt her heart race as she watched Draco’s face fall. The tears stopped and his face reddened with rage, “Don’t compare me to him. I love my son and I’d never do anything to hurt him. I fought to make sure that he could be brought into this world. If Crabbe had his way, he would’ve killed Sofia when my son was still in her womb. Vincent was never really a son to Crabbe. He was merely a play thing; why else would a father physically and sexually abuse his son for years? He was angry with me because I cause the death of his toy, and he decided to replace Vincent with me. I was to be his shinny new toy until he grew tired of me and killed me, but for some reason he never tired of me. Hmm, maybe it’s because he had a taste of me when I was a young adolescent and he enjoyed messing with my memories. He enjoyed torturing me to believe that my own father, who loves me dearly, was capable of the horrible acts he put me through.”

“Don’t you worry that you’ll do the same thing to your-”

Draco jumped to his feet and tried to rein in his anger behind a cold shield of indifference, however the rage still boomed from his voice, “I’m done with this. I will not answer anymore of your absurd questions. I strongly suggest you try to find a way to explain away your clients damning memories instead of attacking my character and trying to paint me as anything but the victim I am.” Draco shook as he walked across the stone floor and collapsed next to Hermione.

Hermione whispered in his ear, “It’s okay,” as she ran her fingers through his hair. He shook and Hermione could only interoperate the tremors were sobs and possibly from fear. She lifted his face, and noticed his eyes had the gray film of an absent mind. “Shite,” she swore loudly drawing everyone’s attention. She looked directly at Minister Kingsley, “Minister, may Draco and I be excused from the rest of this trial? I fear the verbal attack the defense barrister has broken through the plaster on Draco’s emotional and mental wounds. I need to get him home.”

Kingsley nodded his head, “Yes Miss Granger, please take Young Mr. Malfoy home.”

The six adults looked up from their afternoon tea, when Hermione walked into the Parlor. Narcissa’s concerned eyes focused on her, “How is he doing?”

Hermione sighed as she sat on the sofa next to her mother, “He’s pretty shook up. I had to give him a dreamless sleeping draught because I was afraid he was going to hurt himself. I haven’t seen him this bad since he first came home. He was filled with the false memories of Lucius abusing him, and he attempted to take his life with a letter opener.” She rubbed her temples, “I’m going to speak with Harry and Theo about investigating that slick git who decided to treat Draco’s testimony like the Spanish Inquisition.”

Her father furrowed his brow, “Well, in our world many tend to believe that perverts stick together. It wouldn’t surprise me if the man is found guilty of the same crimes he’s defending Crabbe against.”

Hermione was drawn to the noise of the pitter patter of footsteps. She was surprised when she recognized little Teddy Lupin running around with Elty. She smiled, “Why didn’t anyone tell me that Elty’s cousin Teddy was coming over today for a visit?”

Narcissa smiled, “Well, it wasn’t exactly planned. You see, Andromeda wanted a little bit of a break from the dear boy, and when she heard we had a grandson a couple years younger than him; she couldn’t help but suggest they have a play date. Well, I couldn’t deny the opportunity for Elty to have a friend, and I’ve missed my dear sister. I think it’s time we make her a staple in our lives.”

“I wonder if Harry told her about Elty’s return. He’s over there frequently to see his godson. It wouldn’t surprise me if Harry made the suggestion,” Hermione mused. She couldn’t help but smile watching the two boys run up the stairs and return with two toy brooms.

Teddy’s hair was the same shade of blond as Elty, to where they almost looked like brothers. He smiled, “Aunt Cissy, do you think we could go play outside with our brooms?”

“Yes Teddy, but wait a moment so that we can watch you two.”

Hermione cleared her throat, “I think I’m going to go have that discussion with Harry.”

A couple days passed before Harry stepped out of the fireplace in Malfoy Manor. Hermione pulled him into a hug and gave him a questioning look. He looked overworked and more tired than he was at the end of their Horcrux hunt. “What happened?”

He smiled, “We got permission to perform a raid on Crabbe’s defense attorney. We got him.” The smile was quickly replaced with a look of revulsion, “We quickly located his dungeon and found at least fifteen young adult muggles in rather compromising positions. They were abused, underweight, and looked so broken inside. He’s been taken to Azkaban to await trial and the muggles have been taken to St. Mungo’s for treatment and a heavy memory modification.”

Hermione gasped, “That’s horrible. I cannot believe he was able to get away with something like that for so long. Speaking of trial, has the verdict come back for Crabbe yet?”

Harry looked around the room, “Where’s Draco?”

She smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, “He’s out back throwing around the Quaffle with Elty. It’s quite similar to playing muggle catch, really. I’ve told him not to toss it around on brooms until Elty is at least five.”

Harry nodded and his green eyes locked with hers, “He was found guilty and was sentenced this morning to Despair Island. I can only hope Crabbe’s death will help Draco get over what he’s been through. How is he coping after that public stoning?”

Hermione’s shoulders sagged, “He’s doing better, but it’s like he’s taken ten steps back. He’s stopped talking about how he feels and his journal entries have turned dark. I think the only thing keeping him here is his love for Elty and his desire to see his daughter born. Oh, I forgot to tell you that we found out the sex at our appointment yesterday. We’re having a girl, Harry, and I think I want to name her Rose.”

Harry pulled her into a hug, “That’s wonderful Hermione. “ He kissed her temple, “When it comes to Draco, don’t worry too much about him. Sometimes one needs time to digest events like what he’s been through before improving. All you can really do is be there for him, and calm him when he wakes up from the nightmares that are sure to plague him.” He stared off in remembrance before shaking his head, “I think the nightmares are the worst symptom of surviving a traumatic event.”

A/N: Okay, so we had a bit of drama here. I understand that Draco’s getting stronger, but when someone is put under that much stress, one can buckle. So, we once again feel sorry for our favorite little ferret. Yes I feel this story has reached its arch and all we have left are happy moments, right?
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Just Let Me Die