[HP] Three thousand days of innocence

Ginny turned to see John striding towards her with a concerned look on his face. "Is he all right?" he asked, nodding towards where Draco disappeared.

"He needs a quiet place to meditate," Ginny said. "John, though, he saw Yaxley after he had dissociative fugue."

"Really?" John raised his eyebrows as he listened to Ginny tell him that Draco had asked them to look through his scrapbook.

"My God," she said, when he cut her off suddenly.His tanned face turned white. "That bastard already knew."

"What? Who?"

"Kinzie," John said, sounding both happy and angry. "When I was packing Draco's clothes, Kinzie suggested that I put the scrapbook together. I don't know why, and Draco didn't look at it much, but he insisted that I do."

"Merlin," Ginny said softly. "Simon told me he had foreseen Draco's verdict—"

"I'll break his neck," John said reluctantly. "I know he can't tell us what he sees, but—this Kinzie. It's no fun being friends with someone who knows the future."

"I've got to get that scrapbook back," Ginny said. "There's no time to waste. I must get it back before the Wizengamot makes a decision."

"Given what we've just seen, they'll probably make a decision soon," John agreed sadly, putting his hands in his pockets. "I never would have thought Draco would do such a thing. Never would."

"I know. I have to go."

"Do your best," John said. "Be strong. Send us an owl if you need anything, don't hesitate."

"I will." She hugged him tightly, and walked towards her family with him.

"Is everything all right?" Percy asked.He and Ron both blushed a little, and she guessed it was because they found themselves playing a big part in Yaxley's memory.George stood beside Percy, his eyes brighter than usual.

"There may be new evidence," Ginny said hastily. "I'm looking for something. I might have to go to Paris. Tonight."

"Tonight?" Molly repeated in surprise. "But Ginny, you can't get a Portkey—"

"I can get it through my connections," Percy said aloud thoughtfully, touching his lips. "I'll see what I can do."

Ginny threw herself on her brother and hugged him. "Thank you," she whispered. "How is your French?"

"Of course fluent," Percy replied. "A bit of a Belgian accent, but—"

"Then get a portkey for two." She let him go. "My French sucks. You're my translator." She turned to Ron again. "I'm going to the guard station in the holding cell."

"I have a set of keys in my office," said Ron immediately.

"Sorry to leave so suddenly," she said to the others, "really, but I've—"

"There's no time to waste," said Molly immediately. "Let's go. George? Arthur?" She urged them to leave, but she stayed and hugged Ginny.

"Thanks, Mom," Ginny said, leaning on her shoulder.

"Is that him?" Molly asked, letting go of her a little. "The one you love? The one who loves you?"

Ginny was taken aback. "How do you—"

"A mother always knows," she said, her eyes shining.She smiled. "You always like people who are in trouble, don't you?"

"No one will fight for him anymore," Ginny insisted. "Nobody cares."

"But there's you. I can see that." Molly patted her on the shoulder. "Then fight for him, dear. I won't stop you."

Ginny gave her mother a final hug, then caught up to Ron and made it back to the Auror's office.This place is exactly the same as the day she proposed to resign, but she didn't have time to sigh.Ron immediately opened a messy drawer in the desk, found a bunch of rusty keys from it, and handed it to her.

"What if it all fails?" he asked her suddenly.

Ginny, who had already reached the door, turned around. "What?"

"You saw that memory," said Ron. "He did it, Kim. He's going to be in Azkaban for a long time."

She smiled hopelessly. "This is my fight, Ron," she said. "It's not over yet."

He just shook his head. "Well," he said as she strode through the office, "you can do it!"

It seemed years before the rickety elevator took her to the bottom of the Ministry of Magic.Ginny walked down the corridor, down the stairs leading to the holding cell, and turned right before the door where Draco and Yaxley were being held.The bright room not far away is a cozy little rest area where the guards can chat and eat during their breaks.When Ginny rushed in, the three of them were sitting around a broken wooden table drinking tea.

"Hello," one said with wide-eyed eyes.The others just stared at her. "Uh, we—"

Ginny went straight to the corner where there was a small closet next to the sink.She found the right key and opened the closet.The shelves inside were crumbling and filled with banned books, dangerous items and other items confiscated from prisoners.On top was Draco's near-new scrapbook.

"Hi," said the female guard.Ginny heard her chair scrape against the stone floor. "You can't touch those things."

"I can." Ginny said back. "Henry v. Dodson, 1823, 'The evidence is to be presented to them before the Wizengamot pronounces final judgment.'"

"but--"

"1705 Spotiswood v. Division of Sports and Sports. 'All evidence, however obtained, except by torture or extreme means, shall be valid and shall be brought into the consideration of the Wizengamot.'" King Ni said without hesitation that she was getting impatient. "Sorry, I'm in a hurry right now."

"Okay, of course." said the guard witch, thoroughly taught.

Ginny picked up the scrapbook and locked the closet behind her again.She ran into the elevator, and when the grille clanged open, she burst into the foyer.

Ministry staff came and went around her, arriving and departing by the fireplace, chatting about the news, the weather and Quidditch results, or going to the cafeteria for lunch.Sitting on the edge of the pool around the Dumbledore statue, Ginny began flipping through her scrapbook, oblivious to the world around her.

Apart from the motionless Muggle photographs, there were no decorations, but Draco had labeled each of them in his unique and elegant handwriting.The first photo shows a young Draco with his arms around Simon and John, both of them laughing.They appeared to be at King's Cross Station, standing in front of a Muggle train.She rolled over.

The photographs include the English countryside, Brighton, the English Channel, continental Europe and Italian landscapes.Restaurants, food markets, people Draco met on his "big adventure"; Ginny even caught a few of the shopkeepers she'd questioned in the photo, with static smiles on their faces.She also flipped through pictures of Milan and Florence.

Photos of Paris took up the last third of the scrapbook, and Ginny slowed down, studying each photo in turn.She scrutinized everyone who appeared, even if it was only faintly in the background, and she wished these were magic pictures, so that she could push the people in front of her and call the people behind.

She would not have bothered to study the photographs.When Ginny was halfway through the pictures of Paris, she turned a page and saw Yaxley looking at her in four different places.

Startled, as if the man was right in front of her eyes, she looked again.Draco was smiling, standing in his disheveled chef's uniform and apron, shaking hands with the well-dressed Yaxley.Draco's sleeves were rolled up, while Yaxley's were down and buttons were buttoned at his wrists.He was dressed in Muggle clothes, just like a real Muggle.

The caption reads: My first commenter and fan.

Ginny was dumbfounded.She looked at the next photo, of Draco and Yaxley sitting at a small coffee table drinking.Good wine and good company.The other two photos are similar, both have a guy named OC Yaxley.

As she turned the page, Yaxley reappeared.

The restaurant—the one Ginny had been to when she was in Montmartre, where Draco was said to go for orange soda and omelets in the morning.What did the restaurateur say to her—what?When she asked about Draco, he seemed irritable and annoyed at being interrupted, and it took Ginny a long time to get him to talk.Why?

Percy appeared beside her, two folders in hand. "Three o'clock this afternoon," he said simply.

"I need a Pensieve," she replied.

Percy took her to his office, which was the floor of the Minister for Magic's personal staff and his aides.Ginny found a door across the hallway with the name Senior Undersecretary Hiram Kincaid written on it, but it was closed and there was no light underneath.

"What's going on?" Percy asked.Unlike Ron's office, which was a mess, Percy's was immaculate, with every surface spotless as if it had just been wiped down.He went straight to a large cabinet behind the desk and opened it.Ginny saw the Pensieve on the top shelf.

In response, Ginny opened the scrapbook, turned to the page where Yaxley appeared, and placed it on the table.When Percy turned and saw the picture, he gasped and almost dropped the Pensieve on the floor.

"Damn Merlin's underwear," he yelled.

"I need to think back to the night I interviewed him," she said, pointing to the restaurant owner, "because I think he said something important."

He pointed to the glowing basin on the corner of the table. Ginny chanted a spell, trying to remember that day in Paris. She carefully extracted the memory and put a shiny silver thread into the Pensieve.The liquid inside swirled immediately, and they all looked down to see Ginny arguing with the arrogant Frenchman a few weeks ago.

"Just give me an affirmative or negative answer." Ginny said angrily in memory. "Have you seen this man?" She waved a picture of Draco.

"I've answered this question enough." The boss looked down at her. "I haven't seen him since last time. You either buy coffee or go."

"Oh, my God," said Percy, eyes widening in excitement.He looked up at her. "'I've answered enough of that question.' Strange statement. Very strange."

"Who else would ask about Draco besides the Ministry of Magic?" Ginny agreed, her brain working hard. "Sturgis Podmore took the case first, then I, and I asked everyone a few months ago. But there was a gap of five or six years, so it shouldn't be a big deal. I don't know why it didn't occur to me at the time. a little."

"Someone asked about Draco," Percy said.

"It's Yaxley," said Ginny, pointing to the photo. "He was looking for him, too, and he found it. He'd realize right away that Draco didn't know who he was and couldn't remember anything. So what did he want? Why did he stay with him? And they were at war China is on the same side - why didn't he tell Draco who he really was?"

"Ginny - this is serious," said Percy in awe. "This casts serious doubt on the memory Yaxley showed to the Wizengamot."

"I know." She couldn't control the tremor in her voice. "But is it possible to change the memory? The job had to be seamless. You were there and everything looked real."

"It's only happened once since the picture eye was invented," Percy said. "Resetting one's memory, or at least altering events in order to persuade others, requires real mental strength."

"But he can do it," Ginny said softly, her mind racing. "You heard what Dad said. Yaxley's all right, he's not crazy like the others. He looks perfectly normal."

Percy looked at the clock on the wall. "We have to go to the Department of Transportation," he said dryly. "Our portkeys are leaving shortly. Have you got everything you need to question the restaurateur?"

Ginny looked at the scrapbook, hesitated, and tore out the clearest picture of Yaxley's face. "It's fine now," she said.

Percy put the Pensieve back in the locker and locked it, and walked with her out of the ministerial staff office and into the Department of Transport.He nodded to the wizards sitting at the reception, showed him their tickets, and made it into the office; Ginny followed.He walked down a hallway with a determination that encouraged her, and made her forget for a moment that she was exhausted and wanted nothing more than sleep.

He stopped in front of a half-open office door and knocked on his knuckles. "Tricia?" Percy smiled, softening the corners of his usually serious mouth.Ginny followed him into the office, saw Patricia Dumpson sitting behind her desk, and smiled at him.She suddenly remembered that they were dating.

"Back so soon, Percy?" Patricia asked.She clearly adores Percy, and this scene makes Ginny proud of her brother.

He went around behind her desk and kissed her lightly. "The port key activated within three 10 minutes," he said. "Thank you so much for arranging this for us."

"It's all right," she said, "willing to do anything for you."

Percy blinked and gestured to Ginny. "I'm sorry. Tricia, this is my sister, Ginny Weasley. Kim, Patricia Dumpson, my girlfriend."

Patricia stood up and shook Ginny's hand. "Percy always mentions you," she smiled warmly. "You know, he's very proud of you."

Both Ginny and Percy blushed. "Nice to meet you at last," Ginny said. "Thank you very much for your help. I didn't think it would be possible to get a French visa in such a short time."

"This is for a Death Eater's trial, isn't it?" Patricia said. "The whole wizarding world is watching the story. I just told our ambassador in Paris that it was about Draco Malfoy's criminal trial, and he cut red tape with astonishing speed." She looked at Percy. "Remind me to send Stanley a fruit basket, okay?"

"Of course." He kissed her again, turned and walked out. "We're off to catch the portkey, dear. See you later."

"Nice to meet you, Ginny," Patricia said.They smiled at each other, and Percy urged Ginny out of the office and down the corridor.

The Portkey Dispatch Room was at the end of the corridor, a large, airy room with false windows on one wall letting in the sun.Several groups of people were already waiting by the Portkey, holding shrunken luggage and chatting with each other.Percy showed their ticket holders to the traffic officer on duty, who, after checking their visas, pointed to an old copper pot with a hole in the bottom on a small round table. "Paris at three o'clock," he said in a dull voice. "The port key will start soon, please pay attention to the time."

Before the clock in the room struck three, Percy and Ginny were at the table getting ready, putting their fingers on the copper pot.The familiar feeling of her belly button being hooked suddenly came, and before she could react, they had already arrived at the British Magic Embassy in France.Another clerk noted their arrival on a clipboard.

"Okay," Percy said, leading her out of the building briskly, showing that he was familiar with the place. "I'm a government official, so in this trial, I should be on the side of the magical public. However," he said, taking off his magic robes to reveal the Muggle clothes underneath, "I'm also an interpreter , it is my duty to come here today."

"You're not going to play Hiram Kincaid on me, are you?" said Ginny dryly.She took off her robes and smoothed out the Muggle top and trousers underneath.

Percy frowned. "Sometimes I'm proud to be pureblood," he said simply, "and sometimes I'm not."

They put their robes in a locker on the first floor of the embassy, ​​Percy pocketed the key, and they walked together into the busy streets of Paris.Once Ginny figured out where they were, she led the way, oblivious to the crowds, shops, and traffic around her.She looked up after they passed the arched sign, which meant they had finally come to the famous 18th arrondissement, Montmartre.Percy followed right behind her.

"In the name of efficiency," he said, "since you don't speak French, why don't you tell me what you want to ask, give me a picture of Yaxley, and let me do the talking?"

"He might know me," agreed Ginny. "If he saw me, he probably wouldn't say a word. I admit, I didn't treat him very well."

"Indeed," said Percy coldly. "After you show him to me, go and stand on the other side of the street."

Ginny gave him the picture she had ripped out of Draco's scrapbook, and pointed him to the restaurant a block away.Knowing that Percy was meticulous, she told him in detail the questions he needed to ask.After knowing his destination and mission, Percy straightened up proudly, straightened his clothes, and walked away slowly. His slender body disappeared into the crowd, only his red hair was occasionally exposed.

Ginny could only wait now, and she felt a little tired again, so she went to another cafe to buy a cup of coffee and drank it while waiting.She wondered if Percy had found the owner, if he would have preferred to speak to anyone other than her.Percy is a seasoned diplomat, often representing the Minister of Magic at international summits.If anyone could make a man tell his secrets, it was Percy Weasley.

What if he found something useful?Ginny took a deep breath, took another sip of coffee, and began to think.Whatever Percy discovered, he couldn't take the witness stand because he worked for the Ministry.There were laws that said he didn't have to testify against his family, but there was no law that would allow him to speak out against the Ministry.Draco needed to defend himself, tell the Wizengamot about his previous relationship with Yaxley - how far it had gone.Judging from the number of photos in the scrapbook and the description below, Yaxley had eaten Draco's dishes more than once when he was in Paris, and their relationship was deeper than their casual acquaintance in a foreign country.And Yaxley had to tell the story of the memory he had shown.

It must be fake.Although the sun was shining brightly, Ginny shivered as she cupped the hot coffee.She didn't believe Draco killed Colin at all, because it was impossible in her mind.However, she remembered what Percy had said to her a few months earlier, when Yaxley had first accused Draco of being a murderer: the public was not on their side.Seeing the memory of him killing Colin Creevey only strengthened the Wizengamot's conviction that he was guilty.It will be an uphill battle to convince them.

She thought about Draco.He has withstood the scrutiny, persecution and apparent prejudice of some officials.Sure, there were hours of dark moments, but he remained strong, clear-headed and determined.If he could stand against the vortex of fate that threatened to drag him down, so could she.She had no choice but to persevere.

It seemed hours before she saw Percy walking towards her again.She noticed his striking hair first, then his freckled face, as he weaved through the crowds, the streets and cafés filled with drunken diners chatting happily.

Ginny put a few euros on the table and stood up immediately, her heart beating fast.She meets Percy at the side of the road, and he returns Yaxley's photo to her.The ex-Death Eater was looking at her maliciously, and she put the photo in her back pocket.

"How?" she asked, barely daring to breathe.

"Now I know why Ron said you were one of their best Aurors," said Percy, grinning proudly. "You're lucky, Ginny. I'm going to tell you a story."