Chapter 19
"He seriously said that to you?!" Ginny was staring at Hermione, wide-eyed with disgust.
Hermione slowly nodded. It was the morning after she had visited Ron at St. Mungo's. She was at Ginny's apartment and told her everything that had happened.
Of course, that wasn’t the only reason why she was here. Ginny had called Hermione up when it was near midnight, frantic about some important news she received from her father about Snape and Bellatrix. After the shocking and sudden reveal of how the two of them had been under an unbreakable vow to Umbridge, to help that loathsome woman oust Arthur from his Minister position so that they could gain the position and run it the way Umbridge wanted them to, Hermione had been overwhelmed with the revelation that she was glad Ginny allowed her to crash at her place that night.
And this morning, since Ginny kept asking, Hermione had told her about how things went with Ron when she visited him in his recovered state of mind. The two of them were on the sofa together, and Hermione was staring dejectedly at the floor.
"To be real, we've always had trouble over this sort of thing," Hermione said. "Ron always complained about how judgmental I was with him. And in general. He said I always acted like I was some entitled, self-righteous moral authority who saw herself as above everyone and patronized those who weren't perfect. Which is basically everyone."
Ginny huffed. "Hermione, you have a sound sense of right and wrong. And sure, you can be bossy about it at times, but you're NOT self-righteous or entitled. My brother is just too sensitive and insecure with himself."
Hermione slowly nodded. "I guess I always knew that…."
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "So why'd you stay together with him for so long?"
Hermione sighed. "I was too infatuated with him. And he was too infatuated with me."
Ginny crossed her arms. "Hmm…." then she snorted and put an arm around Hermione. "Despite all the crap he just went through, he still had no right to treat you that way. I'll curse my brother back into a worst state of mind than he was."
Hermione gave a wry chuckle. "That wouldn't be necessary."
Ginny snickered. "Okay maybe I won't curse him for real, but would you like me to at least punch him in the guts for you?"
Hermione laughed and slowly shook her head. "Honestly, the arsehole just needs time to grow up."
Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Huh? Where's this coming from? Since when did you prioritize mercy over justice?"
Hermione thought of Draco, feeling a sudden warmth in her. Then she turned to Ginny and gave her a small smile. "Sometimes being merciful is the fair thing to do." She paused, then added, "There's a good reason why loving your enemies is such a powerful thing to do. It's not fair to give harsh treatment to someone who's treated you harshly-- it shows that you've sunken to their level and have therefore let them win."
Ginny blinked, looking dumbfounded. Then she smirked. "Hermione….you've been bonding with Malfoy lately, haven't you?"
Hermione blushed. But she kept the mild smile on her face and said, "Hey, when I say love your enemies, it doesn't always have to include falling in love with your enemies. If you've fallen in love, there's a fondness that develops so that you're no longer enemies anymore. But when I say love your enemies, I'm referring to the unconditional care you show toward those you aren't very fond of."
Ginny was still smirking on her. "You're in love with Malfoy. He doesn't count as an enemy for you anymore. Loving your enemies is different from loving Malfoy now."
Hermione rolled her eyes, smiling. "Hey, don't get on my case, Ginny. You were on a date with Blaise last night when you two bumped into Arthur Weasley, Snape, and Bellatrix, and heard the whole story together."
"Hehe….we've been dating for a while, actually."
Hermione smirked. "This you'll have to tell me more about….after Umbridge's hearing."
The hearing turned out to be quite a smooth court case. It turned out all the footage Hermione and Draco had gone through included tons of hidden info that proved Snape and Bellatrix were working for a third party-- there were many moments where they had mentioned being "cursed" or "under a vow", and when put into perspective, it all made sense now that it was known that they were on an unbreakable vow to Umbridge.
And hours before the hearing, Hermione and Draco had worked together to come up with the spell that would reverse their unbreakable vow-- it was challenging, but it turned out to be less of a challenge than they expected, since Snape and Bellatrix were reprogrammed into a vow rather than having consciously made the vow themselves.
And another part that made it less challenging than expected: Malfoy was quite a smartie. Hermione admitted she was rather impressed with how keen he was when it came to researching and putting the pieces together. She never expected to have worked with him so smoothly.
When the hearing was over, Umbridge was escorted out of the room with a guard on either side. She was screaming as they took her down the aisle of the courtroom.
"You all will perish, I tell you! PERISH!" She yowled. "Arthur Weasley! You and your fascination with shitty muggle devices and muggle tech makes you PATHETIC! I will oust you-- Snape and Bellatrix may no be under my vow, but I never needed them anyway! I can kill you myself!"
She kicked the shins of both guards, snatched their wands and punched them both, knocking them unconscious.
A murmur of gasps waved through the room.
Umbridge smirked and held both wands up. "Even without magic I am undefeatable! And with it, I am more powerful than any witch or wizard will ever be!" She pointed her wand in Arthur's direction. "Avadakedavra!"
A blue blast suddenly emitted from the wands, though instead of going in Arthur's direction, it went straight to Umbridge. The woman let out a quick scream and suddenly, she was dead on the floor, wide-eyed and motionless.
Hermione and Draco were standing beside each other at the front left of the courtroom, staring wide-eyed at her body in the distance. As people gathered around her body, Hermione turned to see that Snape was just putting his wand away.
Draco laughed beside her. "He used some mirroring spell I could never understand how to use."
Hermione stifled a laugh. "Oh? So Snape just bounced Umbridge's curse back at her….and saved Arthur's arse. Even after everything that Arthur had put him through." She stared at the dark-haired man, suddenly finding herself respecting him.