[HP] Three thousand days of innocence

Nothing provides a sense of distance like time.Ginny had spent Friday night alone after seeing Oliver in Kenmare, eating supper, watching a boring program on Channel Four, and going to bed early after failing to read a novel.Draco was waiting for her in her dream, laughing and playing rugby with his friends in a sunny park.He looked down at her as before, as if nothing in his world was more important than her, his gray eyes sparkling with desire and admiration.She loved him so much that it almost pained her, her heart was about to burst.

But on Saturday morning, as soon as the sunlight fell on her eyes, she woke up, and the task was heavy and difficult, weighing on her like a tide.She agreed to defend Draco, the admittedly unforgivable man, hated by the wizarding world, wanted for murder, who couldn't remember his guilt any more than he could fly without a broomstick.The charges against him were so numerous, ranging from murder to assault, she simply didn't know where to start.Ginny didn't regret for a moment that she had agreed to take on his case—she certainly didn't regret quitting a job she hated in the first place—but she couldn't do it, and she knew it.

Her prayers were quickly answered.On this day, Ron invited her to lunch at his and Hermione's home outside Hogsmeade, and Ginny held little Hugo in her lap while Rose and Hermione played a teaching game.She loves the peaceful and welcoming atmosphere of their home, and her nieces and nephews always make her happy.

"Mum," said Rose imperiously, sounding like a little Hermione. "Please tell me what ten times ten is.

Hermione frowned, pretending to be thinking. "That's a problem, Miss Weasley," she said. "I am not very sure."

"Mum, it's a hundred!" Rose cried, putting her little hands on her hips. "One hundred! It's very simple!"

Hermione and Ginny both laughed, and even Hugo giggled too. "Why don't I play the teacher, Rosie?" Hermione suggested.

"But you're asking hard questions, Mom," Rose grumbled.

"There's no question that can't be answered," Hermione said softly. "I told you how to find out, didn't I? You have to look in the right book."

It was as if a Muggle light bulb had been lit inside Ginny's head.She's been fretting, not knowing what to do with Draco's case, with the smartest witch she's ever met sitting next to her.If Hermione couldn't help her, no one could.

Later, after Hermione had prepared lunch for Rose and Ron - who had just finished the garden - Ginny turned to her. "Hermione."

"Ron told me about you last night," she whispered.She called out to Ron, "Honey, Kim and I are going to eat on the back porch. Can you make sure Rosie and Hugo eat it all?" Ron nodded with his mouth full. Picked up Hugo's spoon.

Ginny followed her sister-in-law to the picnic table and sat down facing each other. "Ron disapproves, you know," said Hermione, putting a clean napkin on her lap. "He thinks you've given up on your life and your career."

"I know," said Ginny darkly, cutting into Hermione's pie. "He made it very clear yesterday."

"He just wishes you well." They ate in silence for a while. "What are you going to do now?" Hermione asked. "Have you thought about what to do next?"

Ginny spoke excitedly about her tryout arrangement with the Kenmare Kestrel. "Honestly, I don't think I can make the team," she admits. "Because the Kestrels play a more aggressive game than I'm used to. But to get this opportunity, it means I could potentially get tryouts with other teams. I know there are vacancies for both the Rangers and the Harpies."

"That's great news," said Hermione sincerely. "I hope you can find a job."

They fell silent again, and Rose asked Ron a math question from the kitchen. "You know you're overdoing it, don't you?" Hermione asked. "Defending a suspected Death Eater when you're not even a lawyer?"

Ginny fiddled with her fork. "I'm not delusional that he's completely innocent," she said softly. "If that's what you're asking."

"yes."

"I'm well aware that Draco may have done all the things he's been accused of—" She felt out of breath and had to stop and swallow before continuing. "I know that no matter what I do, he could still spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. But I can't let this happen without fighting for him." She looked up into Hermione's eyes. "No one else would do that. He's just me in the world."

Hermione took Ginny's hand across the table. "You have a long way to go," she said. "The trial is a long and exhausting process."

"I know, I don't care." Ginny said, shaking her head. "I have to do it for him."

Hermione smiled, watching her family through the kitchen window.Ron bewitched Rose's spoon, making it fly around like a broom, and Rose grinned and opened her mouth as the spoon came flying.Ron smiled and stroked her curls as she chewed.

"Ron told me Malfoy is different now," said Hermione.

"Yes. You don't even recognize him."

“I think the war changed us all — some more,” she said wistfully, looking down at her plate. "Ron's been telling me about the Malfoy case, where he's staying, dissociative fugue. I've read some books on Muggle psychology, and what happened to him sounds horrific."

"Will you help me then?" said Ginny. "I'm not asking you to stand up and join us and sit next to him, but if you can help me find the right direction—"

"Of course I'll help you, Ginny," said Hermione. "I know the trial starts on Monday. Maybe I can let Ron babysit the kids. We'll go to the library this afternoon."

Ginny couldn't help smiling. "Thank you so much," she said. "You don't know how much you'll help me. How much you'll help us."

"Then finish the pie." Hermione blushed a little. "We're going to be in the library for a while today."

A weight seemed to be lifted from her shoulders.Ginny hurried through her lunch and told Hermione that she would meet her on the library steps as she returned to the apartment to get Draco's file.Hermione agreed, and Ginny Apparated near her house and ran up the stairs.

As soon as she hit the front door, she knew something was wrong, but she kept thinking about meeting Hermione in the library, too quickly, without stopping to think.So when Ginny opened the door, she was surprised to find Lucius Malfoy standing in her living room.

Immediately Ginny took out her wand, and stepped inside warily, ready to cast the deadliest spell she knew.And Lucius didn't even bat an eye.

"Close the door," he said quietly, raising his eyebrows at her as if she were an annoying child. "I don't want to attract the attention of Muggles."

"You tell me what you want, or the Secrecy Act goes to hell," Ginny hissed.

Lucius frowned and waved his wand; Ginny tensed, but then relaxed - slightly - and he just closed the door without cursing her. "You know very well that I will not attack you." He said disapprovingly. "I know you know."

He is right.After the war, no matter how Lucius Malfoy clarified his crimes, he was a law-abiding citizen of the wizarding world like everyone else.Rushing his clean record would only hurt his son's chances of being exonerated, and Ginny knew that Lucius would never do anything to harm her own children.

Ginny lowered her wand very slowly, and straightened herself up again. "Go ahead," she said. "I don't have much time. There are people waiting for me," she added.

Lucius pursed his lips in disgust, and sat down on a chair; finding it inappropriate, he chose to remain standing. "I'm not going to pretend that since the end of the war the relationship between our two families ... has been friendly," he said. "Nothing has changed. Just like your family is not rich, we are not friends."

Ginny ignored his sarcasm about her parents' poverty. "you mean?"

"I mean, while I'm in favor of you representing my son at trial"—a line that seemed to be too much for him to say—"I need reassurance that you have his best interests at heart." Lu Xiu Adams smiled sarcastically at her, a look that reminded her of Draco's similar look. "How do I know you won't hand him over to the guards in Azkaban directly?"

"Why do you agree with me?" Ginny asked.

Lucius frowned. "Draco trusts you." He snorted. "I'm not blind. I saw him... in your eyes."

She shuddered.It was one of her worst fears that Lucius would discover the depth of her and Draco's affection for each other. "He loves me," she said boldly. "I love him too. Does that bother you?"

"What does it matter?" Lucius said angrily, making it clear that he did mind. "I can't change anything. All I care about is that he stay out of Azkaban."

"It's also my top priority," she said. "I promise you, I will do everything in my power to set him free."

Lucius nodded and tugged on his robe. "Then let's discuss the issue of compensation," he went on. "I intend to--"

"I don't want money."

He raised his delicate eyebrows. "What?"

"I won't ask you for anything," she said. "I didn't do this for you, but for him."

"Whatever your motives are - well, so be it." Lucius strode toward the door, but turned to give her one last look. "I'll only make this proposal once," he warned.

"Then I only have to say no once," said Ginny firmly.

Lucius nodded again. "See you on Monday." He opened the door, and before it could close he disapparated away.

About 10 minutes later, Ginny met Hermione at the library door with Draco's file in hand. "Sorry, I got a letter while I was away," she didn't elaborate.Hermione smiled and led her into the library foyer.

Ginny sheepishly admitted that she had never been to Agrippa von Nettelheim's library in Diagon Alley.Every corner of the hall exuded grandeur and intellectuality; they walked across the marble floor of black and white tiles, past the black columns supporting the vaulted ceiling, and overhead a magnificent chandelier made Ginny Breathtaking.A black marble library desk was placed in front of them, and several witches and wizards were busy sorting books and registering customers waiting in line one by one.

As Ginny had expected, Hermione knew a young librarian very well, calling each other by their first names. "We'll need a private room if it's not too much trouble," Hermione explained after they exchanged pleasantries.

"No problem." The librarian said brightly.He took a tarnished key from under the table and led them out of the hall and into the library.As far as Ginny could see, endless huge bookshelves were lined up one after another, extending all the way to the ceiling.Ginny gasped, relieved that Hermione's help had softened the pressure here.

The room the librarian took them to was small, not much bigger than a storage room.There is only a table and a few chairs inside. "Great," said Hermione happily.The librarian left after wishing them luck.

"Okay." Hermione cast a few spells across the room. "We're going to start over. What are the allegations against Malfoy? We're going to focus on severity."

"You know the first one," Ginny whispered. "Colin's murder."

The happy smile disappeared from Hermione's face. "Oh," she said. "Yes." She bit her lower lip, then regained her composure. "The evidence against him is the testimony of two eyewitnesses, right? That means they might offer memories for the Wizengamot to use 'picture eyes' to watch in court. But Malfoy doesn't remember if he did have this happened?"

"As far as the memories related to those allegations, he only remembered the Vanishing Cabinet," Ginny said. "He doesn't even know why it's important, just what it's supposed to mean."

"Yeah, it's going to be hard," said Hermione thoughtfully, sounding undaunted. "I'm afraid the accusation is irrefutable unless you can prove that the witnesses were unreliable or falsified. Let's start there. I think I may know of a few cases that would serve as good precedents..."

Over the next few hours—maybe days; Ginny lost all sense of time in her windowless study—she and Hermione pored over the Wizengamot's previous judgments, some dating back centuries. centuries ago.Hermione quickly filled three sheets of paper with beautiful small characters, and marked the title and page number for easy reference.She thought of details that Ginny might have forgotten, like what wand Draco had used the night of his duel with Tom Riddle.

"I know Harry has Malfoy's wand," murmured Hermione. "It's from hawthorn, isn't it? I think it's still in Harry's hands. It might have been stuffed somewhere."

Ginny looked at her helplessly. "I don't--"

"But Malfoy did have a wand that night," she said. "He said it was—ah! His mother's. Where will that wand be when Narcissa dies?"

"I think it's with Lucius," Ginny said.She wrote it down and reminded herself to ask him. "We can cast a Flashback Curse and see if it cast a Killing Curse."

Hermione smiled at her. "You're thinking like a lawyer now," she said proudly.

They methodically dealt with the ten charges against Draco one by one, only one of which was easy to resolve. "The Ministry of Magic clearly defines a Death Eater as someone who received the Dark Mark from Tom Riddle," said Hermione. "They knew very well what the Death Eaters were doing, and knew that some of the people who helped them didn't join them."

"Draco doesn't have the Dark Mark," Ginny said. "I've seen his arm with my own eyes. No."

"I think what's really in your favor is that Malfoy did most things when he was under 17," said Hermione thoughtfully. "Except for Colin's murder and the attack on Padma, everything else happened in our sixth grade. But this may mean that Lucius is instead responsible for his son's crimes."

"If it's going to get Draco acquitted, I don't care," Ginny said.

Hermione paused as they moved on to the next charge - the attempted murder of Ron Weasley.Ginny cursed inwardly when she saw the accusation. "I'll take care of this." She said hastily, pulling a stack of books over. "you should not--"

"I can't believe I forgot," said Hermione softly, her eyes widening.She looked blankly at the wall. "He almost died that day."

Ginny swallowed hard and lowered her head.It was a terrible day for all of them.She remembered seeing Ron lying pale in the school hospital, struggling to breathe.She had never been so scared in her life.It was the man she loved who did that to him. "He's different," she insisted. "Draco doesn't hurt anyone, he's changed, Hermione. He's a good guy, he has friends who love him and would do anything for him, and he treats them—"

"Of course," said Hermione, her voice trembling a little.She smiled and stroked her hair. "I know. I just... I believe you. I read the story in the Daily Prophet—" She frowned thoughtfully, then sighed. "It's a pity his friends aren't wizards," she said. "Because they would be excellent character witnesses..."

Seeing Ginny's expression, she stopped. "Really?" she said with a smile. "Someone is a wizard? Why didn't you say so sooner!"

"Because he's Australian," said Ginny. "Permanent resident. Not a British citizen."

Hermione leaned back in her seat. "Oh fine."

"His other roommate was a Kincaid."

Hermione jumped up with astonishing speed, Ginny had never seen her so shocked. "What's the other one?" she exclaimed, eyes widening. "Merlin, Ginny, that's the point! The Wizengamot will trust Kincaid immediately! But—Logan and Graham don't live in Muggle London—unless he's a distant relative? In that case— "

"It's Simon," said Ginny.

Hermione frowned. "There is no such person," she said immediately. "I've read about them, and I know that Hiram and Coim had two sons and two daughters, and Hiram's three brothers each had a son..."

Ginny's heart skipped a beat, but she calmly explained to Hermione the story of Simon's abandonment. "He told me he was willing to testify," she concluded. "He knew what he was dealing with."

"A Squib prophet," said Hermione in awe. "Merlin—I really want to know how he reacts? I really want to..." She twisted her fingers. "Please don't mind. He's invaluable to you, Ginny. Squib or not, he's a Kincaid, and his name is a stone in itself. Can you guide him in answering questions?"

"He probably already knows what I'm going to say to him," Ginny joked, and they both laughed.

"I didn't even expect this to happen," said Hermione, a twinkle in her eye. "Ginny, you've got a character witness. That's much better, and I'm glad about that."

She smiled.Ginny's enthusiasm increased as they continued to work.