Buildup
There had been a public outcry over the past few days.
The people had wanted to know who these two mysterious figures were? How had they apparated into the ministry? Was there any way to stop it?
The public’s fascination only grew as a statement by Ginevra Weasly was printed in the Daily Prophet on the first day. She did not state who they were, or even give anything that the public could us to try and figure it out for themselves, and instead referred to them as the ‘true heroes of the 2nd wizarding war’, revealed that these were the people whom had protected her since the war was lost, and that ‘if not for their contributions to the war, not only would the order of the phoenix have lost much faster, but Voldemort would never have died in the end.’
The public went ballistic at her proclamation, calling on the International Confederation for more answers, and leading the Supreme Mugwump Babajide Akingbade to release a statement that they would hold a full trial in front of the entire Council an unprecedented three days after Ginnevra Weasly called for a trial.
And so it was with bated breath that the wizarding world waited as an International Confederation guard opened up the door of the surprisingly clean, large, and well lit cell that Draco and Hermione were staying in, and let Ginny in just before they brought the two prisoners to the trial room.
The two women rushed towards each other and crashed into a hug, the guard’s wand flicked up and pointed at Hermione before he realised that the highly awarded war heroine was not being attacked. Ginny stayed in the hug for a second, before stepping back, grabbing Hermione’s hands, and running her thumbs down Hermione’s thankfully unshackled wrists. That had been one of the requests she had made of the Confederation when she went before a small section of the Council three days before, but she had not been certain that it would be followed.
“Everything going to plan?” Hermione asked, eyes tilted up towards the slightly taller witch’s face.
“Everything’s going to plan.” Ginny confirmed, before stepping back, and giving Draco a much quicker hug.
“So, shall we go inform the world of the truth?” Ginny continued after a long second, a playful smile on her face.
“Let’s” Hermione responded, an identical smile on her face.
The two smiles were almost enough to mask the sadness in the two girl’s eyes.
Almost.
As Hermione followed the woman who had become her best friend out of the cell, she reflected on how different her two experiences in a cell had been. In the first one, she had been in a small cell, with no light, no sound, the manacles around her wrist cancelling her magic, and she’d had to use what meagre scraps of magic she could drag up to make her mind forget the man she loved, for his own protection, where she had spent 16 months before being dragged out, stupified, and crucioed in quick order. Now she was walking out of a large clean bright cell, nothing on her wrists, her magic unbound, even if she didn’t have a wand, after a mere three days, the man she loved right behind her and holding her hand in an almost desperate embrace the entire way.
The almost silent tread of their two trainered feet was surrounded by not only the sound of Ginny’s boots against the floor, but the sharp retort of the boots of all the guards that surrounded them.
The three had no need to chatter outside of the short sentences they had already exchanged, having already prepared for the trial together beforehand.
They walked that way for five minutes, until they reached the large door to the room the International Confederation was using for the trial.
Ginny walked up to the grand double doors, and placed her hands on them to push them open, before looking back and saying one word to her best friend. “Ready?”
“Ready” Hermione confirmed, and so Ginny put her weight behind it and threw the doors open.