Chapter Text
June, 1998
Hermione Granger had a secret.
A secret she had kept hidden from Harry and Ron. From Ginny. From Neville, Luna and frankly almost everyone in her life.
It was a secret that she would be forced to reveal in approximately sixty second’s time.
“Please state your name for the court.” The prosecutors shrill voice echoed through the court room and Hermione shifted uncomfortably on her wooden seat.
The courtroom was exactly as she remembered, walls made of dark stone, dimly lit by torches. But this time, the benches on either side of the room were not empty. Today’s trial in front of a full Wizengamot had drawn quite a crowd with many witches and wizards eager to bare witness to the trial of the heir, or perhaps more correctly, new Lord, to one of the oldest and wealthiest wizarding families. And many more faces in the crowd were here demanding retribution.
By default, he was considered a sympathiser to the death eater cause. And with so many actual death eaters dead or missing following the battle of Hogwarts, justice had been sparsely served. Whatever brought the many faces of the wizarding community here today, every one of them had something in common. A trait shared by her oldest friends who were staring back at her just as confused and intrigued as everyone else as to why she had felt so compelled as to have demanded to speak in today’s trial. And more importantly, where she had been since the battle and why she had kept her desire to testify a secret until this very moment.
Hermione took a deep breath and wiped her clammy palms against the skirt of her black dress. She recalled how earlier that morning; the solemn faced wizard had helped her zip up the back before placing a featherlight kiss to her neck before parting with her through the floo.
“Hermione Jean Granger.” She kept her voice as strong and steady as she could manage. It wasn’t often nerves got to her like this and she hoped it wasn’t obvious to the rest of the room.
“Could you please state for the record your intentions at today’s trial as this is quite unprecedented.”
“I wish to act as character witness and provide evidence proving the innocence of this wizard who is accused of sympathising with Voldemort and the Death Eater cause. I wish to ask for his full pardon.”
Since there was little evidence of any crimes committed by him, she was confident the worst-case scenario would be a year or two in Azkaban. That is if they indeed chose to overlook the smaller matter of patricide. But in her eyes, even a day would be too greater sentence for this wizard.
She could feel Harry and Ron’s gaze burrowing into her skull trying to figure out what she was doing. The prosecutor continued her questioning, “Miss Granger, perhaps you could help the court understand why you, specifically, feel able to provide this evidence when neither Mr Potter, Mr Weasley, nor any other member of the Order of the Phoenix were inclined to also come forwards in defence of this individual?”
The heat began to rise on the back of her neck beneath her unruly curls. There had been no hope of controlling them today. They always joked her curls were sentient, feeding off her emotions but perhaps there was some truth in it.
Hermione closed her eyes briefly to avoid rolling them, “Because they didn’t know,” she ground out.
The prosecutor was growing tired of her evasiveness already. Hermione knew it was pointless and she lost her Gryffindor courage only for a few seconds, knowing the ramifications of her next words could be her undoing. She was clinging to the last few moments of life as it was.
“Didn’t know what exactly, Miss Granger?”
She took a deep breath.
“They didn’t know Theodore Nott is my best friend.”