The defender
The gray-eyed man remained silent, slowly moving his fork over the edge of his plate without touching the food. The brunette next to him never stopped watching him out of the corner of her eye. She knew that things weren't right, that something had changed inside draco that night , they had touched one of those sensitive fibers that she herself avoided touching even when she was angry with him (which was most of the time), and not because she didn't want to bring up his time with the Death Eaters, his almost murder of Dumbledore or... his father , but because he also respected her limits, the sensitive fibers that he somehow knew about her.
While the redhead ate and cut the meat on her plate without taking her eyes off for a minute, Blaise took the floor "hey, mom, me..., I'd like to introduce you to Ginevra Weasley, Ginny , my... girlfriend."
Ginny's hands stopped moving at that instant, the sound of cutlery on the entire table ceased at the same time.
No one at the table had said a single word for the first ten minutes after the elf appeared the plates in front of them.
The silence that followed Blaise's statement was almost tangible, as if the air itself had become heavy in the room. Ginny, her cheeks slightly flushed, dropped her fork on the plate with a dull sound, trying to hide the discomfort she felt as she finished chewing the large morsel of food she'd put in her mouth that now made her look classy (which it really was).
they hadn't expected Blaise to make that announcement so abruptly, let alone in the midst of that tension that was already almost unbearable.
Savannah Zabini was the first to react. Her dark eyes fell on Ginny with an inquisitive, but at the same time warm look. "Weasley, you say, are you by any chance related to Charlie Weasley?" she remarked, with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, but showed politeness.
Ginny nodded briefly, noticing the slight discomfort in the air, but maintaining her composure. "Yes, Mrs. Zabini, he is my older brother," she said in a low but firm voice. "Nice to meet you."
Savannah, always shrewd, smiled slightly as she sipped her glass of wine. "Well, it's always interesting to meet another Weasley, Charlie is a fierce and determined man, I guess if you go out with my son it's because there's some of that in you too. Blaise has always been... difficult to tame."
The joke was obvious, but the tone was still serious. Blaise, for his part, seemed uncomfortable with the way his mother was conducting the conversation, but he didn't say anything, he wasn't going to deny something that was true, so he opted to observe his girlfriend's reaction.
Ginny, instead of feeling intimidated, smiled slightly and responded with a small spark of mischief in her eyes. "I don't consider myself someone who tames, Mrs. Zabini. But let's just say I have my methods to keep him in line."
There was a faint murmur of laughter around the table, though fraught with tension, and of course, the loudest laughter was that of pansy that made up for the missing laughter of his parents. Even Hermione allowed a small smile to appear on her lips, grateful for the distraction from the previous situation. Draco, however, remained rigid beside him, his attention still fixed on the plate, but his fingers no longer fiddled with the fork, although his forearms remained resting on either side of his plate.
Savannah studied Ginny for a moment longer, as if she were evaluating the statement, and finally nodded gracefully. "You've got guts, Weasley. I like that ."
Ginny nodded, keeping the older woman's gaze without hesitation. But under the table, her hand gripped the napkin more tightly than he would like to admit.
The sound of glasses and cutlery filled the air again, but the discomfort was still latent. Everyone at the table was trying to return to a certain normality, but there was a subtext in every look, in every movement. Blaise's introduction between his mother and girlfriend had been unexpected, but now it was mixed with the previous tension.
The man in the black suit and pale complexion finally looked up, glancing sideways at Blaise, and then at Ginny. His gray eyes locked on the redhead for a long second before tilting his head slightly. He didn't say a word, but his tacit approval was clear. If his friend had chosen to be with weasleatte, Draco wasn't going to reproach him, not when he had a "relationship" with a granger, regardless of whether it was fake or not.
The dark-skined man, who had been waiting for that silent gesture from his friend, seemed to relax a little. He took Ginny's hand under the table, as if by that simple act he could dispel the discomfort he had caused. The freckled woman returned the squeeze, firmer than she expected, fixing her gaze on hermione for a moment who was also looking at her.
Narcissa, always so observant, took a small sip from her glass and broke the silence. "Well, pansy, my dear, I think I read in the newspaper that you have a very interesting case on your hands." Her words were aimed at normalizing dinner as best as possible.
Hermione, who had remained silent for most of the conversation, shot a quick glance at Draco, who seemed to be in another world. Her eyes softened a little at the sight of him like this, but she knew that it was not the time to force him to speak, although she preferred much more when he used his sharp tongue and his ability to debate until the end.
The jaw-deep black-haired woman smiled and drank from her glass of wine "I am, I'm working on the defense of a woman named Katherine, she's Muggle and definitely not sane, she murdered a man one day in a bar, but that man turned out to be a magician, so... He faced a problem of jurisdiction, because that happened in the Muggle world and was committed by a Muggle, but the Ministry wants him to be tried in the wizarding world and Azkaban is sentenced."
The case caught the attention of the brunette in the red dress, Pansy smiled at her when she saw that it had made her curious. "So the woman was assigned two lawyers, a Muggle one who normally handles jurisdiction issues, so we don't have to force him later, and me, of course; What the defense is seeking is not to be acquitted of innocence, because she murdered the poor wizard in front of a bunch of monsters, but to be given a Muggle sentence in a Muggle prison."
"And what about the man's family, if it's from a wizarding family I'm sure they'd like justice to be done here," the redhead commented looking at Pansy firmly.
The black-haired woman smiled "yes, that's what they want, but... The woman is confused, she is not well in her head, since she saw a wand for the first time her psychotic breakdowns have worsened, if she were taken to Azkaban she would suffer a heart attack."
The blond man next to hermione smiled slightly and shook his head a little, "you forgot to mention that there is jurisprudence on the matter."
Blaise frowned in confusion: "jurisprudence?"
The brunette was quick to respond "it means that in a past case the wizengamont ruled against the defense and therefore it has to be done in the same way now, otherwise one of the cases would be..."
"Unfair," Draco replied seriously.
"But it 's already unfair, that case of the past was in '52, the minister at the time was indicted some time later for having accepted bribes during his time as head of the Wizengamont, jurisprudence does not count if the methods that were used to judge are questioned," replied the black-haired woman directing her electric blue eyes towards Malfoy.
The air in the room seemed to become denser as the conversation took a serious turn. Draco, who until that moment had remained with his eyes fixed on the table, raised an eyebrow slightly, showing that, despite his apparent disinterest, he had been paying attention to every word. As a member of the Wizengamot, his opinions on the subject were not only important, but also carried a weight that others at the table could not ignore.
"The problem," the platinum blond began with a firm but controlled tone, "is not whether the jurisprudence counts or not. The problem is that this precedent, although corrupt in its origin, is still part of the legal framework that we continue to use. And the Wizengamot is rarely inclined to challenge his own decisions, even when the original process was... vitiated."
Pansy, far from being intimidated, leaned forward slightly, clearly ready to debate. "But if we know that the ruling was influenced by bribes, shouldn't we try to change it? The magic system has been reformed since the fifties, draco, we are no longer in an era where the Wizengamot's decisions are untouchable. You've worked there for years, you should know more than anyone, I've heard you complain a thousand times when an injustice is done from your side of the courtroom."
Ginny, who had been watching the conversation with growing interest, decided to intervene. "But what about justice for the victim? The fact that the system was corrupt does not change the fact that someone lost their life. If this man was a wizard, his family will want justice that reflects our community, not Muggle."
Malfoy turned his head slowly towards her, and though his expression was still imperturbable, there was something in his gaze that showed some regard for the point Ginny had just made. "Justice... It's a complicated word in our world, Weasley ." Hermione was internally thankful that he didn't call her Weasleatte "What you and I consider fair can be completely opposite depending on which side we're standing on. The dead magician's family, for example, will want magical justice. But we cannot ignore the fact that this woman is a Muggle and that her crime occurred in her world, under her laws in the eyes of many Muggles who will want to see her go to their prison."
Hermione, who had been quiet for most of the discussion, decided to join the debate, as she always did when discussing rights and justice. "And what if it is a double injustice? If this woman is sick, condemning her to Azkaban would be condemning her to die. On the other hand, ignoring crime because she is a Muggle and treating it only under her system could be seen as disrespectful to our community."
Draco's eyes drifted to her, as if he weighed her words more carefully than others, as if her opinion was more important, which didn't go unnoticed by the red-robed witch who suddenly felt too observed. "Exactly. It is a dead end. No outcome is going to satisfy all parties."
"But then what do you propose or what does the wizengamosnt propose?" Blaise interjected, intrigued. "You can't just let things stay the way they are. Especially if the jurisprudence (or however it is said) in this case is in doubt."
Draco rested his elbows on the table, interlacing his fingers and taking a deliberate pause before speaking. Hermione felt a current of electricity and breeze rise all over her back giving her goosebumps, so she lowered her gaze and tried to settle better at the table by diverting her gaze to her plate, hoping that no one would notice her blush.
"What I propose, unofficially , is that a motion be presented to the Wizengamot to review the rulings under the leadership of that corrupt minister. If they manage to have the original case reevaluated, we could prevent that obsolete jurisprudence from being applied. And then, we would have the opportunity to judge this woman's case in a way that respects both our laws and Muggles."
Pansy narrowed her eyes, considering her proposal, letting her lawyer's mind evaluate the off-the-record words of her friend and her "rival to beat" in this case. "And do you think they'll agree to reopen those cases?"
Malfoy smiled sardonically, lowering his elbows from the table and crossing his arms under his chest, casting a discreet glance at Granger, trying to figure out why she seemed so interested in food at the moment. "It won't be easy. But if we succeed in linking this case to corrupt precedent, the Wizengamot will have no choice but to revisit it, at least in part. And if things go for me as they are at the moment..." He let the hint fall into his fake girlfriend 's ears : "I can get some of the most influential members to support the motion, we could be a game-changer."
Hermione felt a small spark of hope. This was the part of Draco that I quietly admired: his ability to navigate the magical legal system, his sharp mind that saw solutions where others saw only barriers. But he also knew that it would not be an easy path, and that confronting the old ways of the Wizengamot could bring more difficulties than any of them imagined.
"And what if it doesn't work?" asked Mrs. Parkinson, in a skeptical and rather tense tone. "I mean, if I'm not wrong, a lot of Death Eaters were summoned to be sentenced in the Muggle world, but the Ministry didn't let that happen. Some even did not receive... a conviction."
Hermione's bushy eyebrows furrowed at Pansy's mother's comment, he knew that the woman didn't know much about it and that her opinion didn't matter at all, but the fact that he mentioned the Death Eaters and hinted at Draco 's case, in which thanks to Harry's testimony and her own, she had come out unharmed, she made her blood boil (for some reason he didn't understand and preferred to leave in the shadows), she was practically biting his tongue so as not to speak, hoping that Draco would say something to defend himself.
The blond tightened visibly, stared at the older black-haired woman, his expression more serious than before, but not aggressive at all. "If it doesn't work, then justice will be served the way it has always been done in our community. And that woman will end up in Azkaban. But," he paused, looking at everyone at the table, "if we don't try to change it now, we will continue to perpetuate a system that has failed more than one of us."
<< Why the hell hadn't he defended himself? >> Hermione couldn't help but let her disbelief reflect on her face as she watched Draco let the comment pass without even defending himself. Her eyes examined him, waiting for some spark of the biting that characterized him, some sign that he would not let such a serious insinuation overlook him. But all she found was the same tense serenity, almost controlled on the edge of the abyss.
Mrs. Parkinson didn't seem to catch the brunette's woman internal reaction, and her face remained unperturbed as she took another sip of her wine, as if her comment had been casual and not one that had touched on such a sensitive subject. But Hermione couldn't let him go so easily.
"Draco..." She said in a low tone, trying to keep her composure, but clearly annoyed, she knew she was making her request to the gray-eyed to defend herself too obvious, but he didn't care at the time.
The blond glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, his jaw clenched. There was a storm in her gray eyes, but he hadn't let it loose yet. "It is not always necessary to respond to every provocation, Granger ," he said in a restrained, almost calculated tone. "Especially when that provocation doesn't change the truth of what happened."
"And what truth is that?" interjected Mr. Parkinson, who gloated that he had not actively participated in the war on Voldemort's side, but he had not done so for the right side either, which made him a coward in every sense of the word. "We all know that, after the war, things were ... softened for some people. And not everyone received the justice they deserved."
The comment ignited a spark in the brunette that she could no longer contain. "Justice?" she repeated, his voice rising slightly, just enough for the others at the table to feel the change in the atmosphere
she could see that out of the corner of his eye Neville was putting a hand to his face understanding what was happening when Hermione Granger was provoked. "Merlin's beards..." muttered the man with the beard Dirty Blonde.
"You mean we should have sent everyone to Azkaban, no matter the circumstances? Even those who tried to redeem themselves, who were forced to act under threat of death?" The brunette woman asked
Blaise, who had been silent until now, shot Pansy a glance, a silent warning to rein in her father who was touching dangerous ground. But Pansy didn't seem to understand how to react.
"What I'm saying," Pansy's mother replied, undeterred and continuing her husband's remark, as energetic as hers. "is that many in the Wizengamot decided to close their eyes because they themselves were being judged. And now they intend to change the system, when conveniently, it no longer affects them."
Draco narrowed his eyes, finally looking at Mrs. Parkinson with an icy calm. "I've never closed my eyes, Mrs. Parkinson, I didn't join the Wizengamont until some time later." He explained as if the woman didn't know it beforehand. "We all have sins to atone for, some more visible than others. But if you think that my participation in the Wizengamot is an attempt to protect me, you are wrong. I'm there because I know what the system can do when it fails. And that includes both the Death Eaters and the innocent, what I want to do is justice, not the other way around."
The red-robed witch felt a mixture of relief and admiration upon hearing her answer. Although it wasn't an explicit defense of his past actions, it was honest enough for her to know that Draco wasn't hiding from the truth. she was willing to face it, even if others didn't understand.
Narcissa, who until that moment had remained in an elegant silence, decided to intervene gently, as was her custom when conversations began to escalate. "The past will always be a shadow in our lives, but what matters is what we do from now on. Draco has decided to work within the system to improve what has been done wrong. And I don't think anyone at this table is in a position to judge his motives."
Mrs. Parkinson opened her mouth to reply, but her daughter silenced her with an annoyed look. Blaise, for his part, let out an audible sigh, clearly wanting the tension to go away and mentally regretting subjecting his girlfriend to this.
Hermione, her heart still beating fast from the confrontation, leaned back a little in her chair, allowing Narcissa's words to settle the atmosphere once again. But as she did so, she couldn't help but let a small smile form on the corner of his mouth. The Slytherin next to her had spoken with the conviction she had been hoping for, and although it was to defend himself, she compared the feeling to that of the history teacher at Oxford agreeing with you in an auditorium with a hundred people inside (although he hadn't been to Oxford).