She really hadn't thought that seeing Malfoy would have affected her this much, the last time she saw him he had been sitting at one of the tables in the great hall with his parents, awkwardly watching everyone around them. And in that moment she had felt sorry for him, sorry for what he had gone through, what this war had put him through. She knew what he had done, knew that it was his fault that Dumbledore had been killed but she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Just that once, four years ago, pity flashed across her eyes as she looked at Draco Malfoy.

But more memories of Malfoy flooded her brain, his cruel taunting laugh all those years at school, it had been he that had identified her when she, Harry and Ron had been taken to Malfoy Manor. It had been he who had stood by and done nothing, watching as his aunt tortured her. Tears pricked her eyes and she ground the heels of her palms into them.

She opened her eyes, she was being stupid and silly she thought, to let those years of torment bother her now, just because she happened to run into him. Her initial hatred upon seeing him returned in tenfold.

Speaking of which, what the hell had he been doing here?

She closed her eyes again, he had been speaking to Harry and Ron, Harry had asked her about the dementors kiss sentence. Was Malfoy on trial? No that would've been over with years ago, Hermione knew that Harry had personally fought to keep both him and his mother out of Azkaban...his father then! Yes, Hermione thought, that makes sense, his father would've either been sentenced to receive the kiss or to life in Azkaban. That would explain Harry wanting to save someone in Malfoy's family from having their soul ripped out. But the war was four years ago, why hadn't the sentence been carried through yet? And the kiss was most certainly illegal now, she and Harry had made sure of it. She frowned, nothing else made sense but the gap in the timeline was giving her pause, she knew that court proceedings would move slowly, but the ministry had made it a priority to finish handling death eater cases so she couldn't think of anything that would drag legal proceedings out four years.

But this was the only explanation that she could come up with that fit the broken information she had gotten from Harry and Ron. So, Malfoy is trying to save his family, she thought to herself in conclusion. The thought was oddly sickening, she wasn't sure how she felt about it. On one hand, she understood the impulse, it was after all the same thing she was trying to do. But on the other hand, well, it was Malfoy, he and his family were responsible for so much suffering, why did they deserve a happy ending. What made them more deserving than the many people's families that had been torn apart but Voldemort's hate and violence?

Her internal rant against Draco Malfoy was broken when Harry entered the room, never once taking his eyes off her as he sat down in the chair to her right, both of them angled somewhat towards the desk.

She swiped her fingers underneath her eyes quickly, hoping there were no tears there, she didn't want Harry to know she had cried, even if just for a moment.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly, kindly.

"Yeah," She said, her voice came out a little hoarser than she intended but otherwise held no indication that she had been crying.

"Right so what was it you were saying about the Helerean charm? Can it be broken? And who should we be looking for, who would be capable of breaking one? What would they need?" Harry asked calmly as though he was reading from a list.

Hermione opened her mouth to answer but Draco Malfoy's face swam before her eyes. "What was he doing here Harry?" She asked, keeping her voice steady.

Harry looked at her, a painful sort of expression crossing his face, "'Can't tell you that." He said shortly.

"How about I guess then?" Hermione said, irritated, her voice rising slightly, "Lucius is about to get the kiss isn't he? And so he's sent his son here to beg for his soul?"

"Hermione-" Harry started.

"Harry, that man stood by that when Voldemort came back and watched a grown Wizard torture you in that graveyard and did nothing, you, a boy who was the same age as his son," Hermione said with an angry sort of vehemence behind her words. Ron had entered the room while she spoke, he moved around Harry's chair and leaned against the desk, facing the both of them.

"Hermione, he-I- you can't-" Harry stumbled over his words unsure of what to say to her, "you shouldn't even know about this." He finished rather weakly.

Hermione opened her mouth to retort but Ron was quicker; "That's beside the point mate and you know it."

Not entirely satisfied with Ron's point, Hermione added, "If you didn't want me to know you shouldn't have asked me whether it was legal for them to administer the kiss or not."

Harry shifted back in his seat, raising his hand to massage his temple, "Yeah well that seemed wrong to me and I figured you would know and it'd save me a lot of time." He said back, his voice also picking up, "I figured you would see how wrong it was 'Mione, it's not even legal anymore!"

Hermione opened and closed her mouth once before speaking, for a moment she felt betrayed by Harry, how could he stand to help the Malfoys anymore, after everything they had done, after what Bellatrix had done to her, after Fred, Tonks, Lupin, and Sirius. But she stopped herself, telling herself to stay calm. "I'm not saying it's not wrong, I'm saying that he doesn't deserve your help, there are proper channels and he doesn't need you to navigate them for him. I'm saying that you might agree with him in principle but you don't have to help. You don't owe him anything Harry." She finished.

Harry paused, Hermione had hit the nail on the head, he felt that he owed Draco Malfoy in some weird illogical way. He reasoned in his head that he was alive because Draco was alive because he had told Narcissa that Draco was alive. She really shouldn't be surprised by Harry's reaction to Malfoy's request, this was Harry after all and he was ruled by his emotions, and right now guilt was high up on the list.

He thought back to Narcissa's trial after the war, he had gone to her cell in Azkaban where she was waiting for her court date to be set and she had begged him, begged him to save Draco from Azkaban. Harry wondered if Draco knew.

"She's right mate," Ron said, as though he could read Harry's thoughts, "you don't owe him anything. We saved his life twice that night Harry. Tomorrow you could tell him that you don't think there's anything that you can do, and tell him to take it up with the prosecutor's office or something."

Hermione looked at Ron and then back at Harry, "You said there was a process, said there were 'proper channels' just tell him to use those and leave it be. The system will work without us meddling in it."

Harry looked between his two best friends and nodded. He didn't owe Draco Malfoy any more than that. They were right. He didn't owe Malfoy anything.

Ron and Hermione both leaned back relieved that he agreed with them and turned the conversation back to the Helerean charm. They ended their meeting on a much lighter note, Hermione saying she would look into how to break the charm and anything else she could come up with, and that she would meet them both at Grimmauld place for a working dinner of sorts.

"You sure Gin will be alright with that?" Hermione asked as she stood to leave, "It'd make it two nights in a row."

"Yeah, I hope so," Harry said scratching the back of his head, "this is work though, so it's different."

****

Back in her office Hermione frowned and began going through her notes from when she had been working with Unspeakable Smith. She wasn't entirely pleased that she would have to put off her own research but this fiasco with the aurors and Kingsley clearly took precedence.

She had checked in with Jocelyn, letting her know that she would be helping the auror department with research and would need Cassie's help. Apparently Jocelyn was already aware and merely nodded at her, too engrossed in her own book.

Hermione grabbed Cassie from one of the labs and filled her in on what they were trying to do on the way back to her office.

"Ok," Cassie began, "so we're just gonna try different ways to break a Helerean charm that one of us casts?" She asked in summary.

"Essentially," Hermione answered, sitting down at her desk, "I have some of Smith's notes, so that'll give us a jumping-off point if you will. At the very least we should be able to rule out what won't work before we begin."

The Helerean charm was clever, it was specifically designed to contain dementors, designed to be like them while still providing a barrier, it was borne of dark thoughts. And so it didn't matter how many hexes or jinxes were thrown at it because those spells, while typically short-lived and harmless, were borne of darker magic too. Hermione had even tried a few darker curses that she had learned from certain restricted texts during her time at Hogwarts, even throwing a 'Sectumsepra!' at it to no avail.

"Perhaps," Hermione began as she paced back and forth, "the answer is to attack it with light,"

"You mean a Patronus?" Cassie asked, pulling her sleeves back as she stood.

"Yes," Hermione said nodding, "that is the purest of magic. But it would completely oppose the Helerean charm, by nature the two are contradictory."

"Is it true?" Cassie interrupted suddenly, "That the death eaters couldn't cast Patronuses? Because you need to feel love to do it?"

Hermione frowned, thrown by the irrelevance of the question.

"Sorry," Cassie said quickly, realizing she had interrupted Hermione's thought.

"Don't be." Hermione replied, "questions are good," just maybe work on your timing she added to herself, "Patronusses exist in opposition to the fear and hatred that dementors represent. To say you cannot produce one without love is a misnomer, happiness and love are subjective, their definition varies from person to person. In order to produce a Patronus you need to love the things that dementors hate and you need to do it with a memory that reflects that."

"So you're saying someone who loved inspiring hate and fear wouldn't be able to cast one? Like the death eaters?" Cassie asked, curious now that her boss had entertained this line of questioning.

"Yes I suppose," Hermione said, considering Severus Snape. "They would need a memory and feelings that were indicative of real love and of true happiness. The happiness inspired by torture or murder wouldn't work because once again, those are the same things that dementors derive happiness from."

"So would you say that anyone who could produce a Patronus would be inherently good?" Cassie asked, her brow furrowed.

Hermione's thoughts flashed once again to Snape, but she sensed the conversation straying too far, "We're a bit off-topic," She started, not wanting to discuss her former potions professor at the moment, "but it is important to consider that producing a full Patronus is very difficult, I myself struggle with it even though I am lucky enough to have my pick of happy memories. There are many witches and wizards who struggle with it, not because they aren't good people, but because of the difficulty and complexity involved in casting such a charm."

Cassie nodded, sensing that her line of questioning had been brought to an end for now.

"So do you want to cast the Helerean or the Patronus?" Hermione asked with a smile, raising her wand.

It hadn't worked. Two hours later and they still had nothing. By now both witches were exhausted, sweaty, and frustrated at the lack of progress. Hermione had been hoping to have had some good news to give Harry. It was just a few minutes past 6 and she didn't think she had it in her to run any more tests.

"Go home Cassie," She said "get some sleep, we'll try again tomorrow."

"You going home?" Cassie asked.

Hermione looked up, "Yeah, I think I'll grab a few books that might help and try to read at home but I don't think I'll do anyone any good by staying here."

Cassie nodded, said goodbye, and left. Hermione leaned back in her chair, her eyes closed, thinking. The ministry library had some fairly dark texts that she could grab because the Patronus charm had not worked and it was the epitome of 'good' or 'light' magic. She wrinkled her nose at the terms 'good' and 'light' disliking how subjective and restrictive they were. She made her way out of her office, if she wanted to grab some books and fit in a quick shower before dinner, she would need to leave now.

****

"Gin!" Harry called out as he walked through the door of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, "I'm home, and wait till you hear about my day!" Harry called up the stairs as he hung his coat on an old hat rack.

"Harry!" Ginny came down the stairs, her fingers tying her flaming red hair up into a knot on the top of her head, "Why? Is everything alright? Is anyone hurt?" She asked, worry creeping into her voice.

"Kingsley," Harry said somewhat hoarsely. He knew he was supposed to be keeping that information quiet but Ginny had known Kingsley, all of them from the order had. Harry hadn't really had a moment to process how much this was affecting him, he had had to take control of the situation the moment he had gotten to work that morning.

"What?!" Ginny asked sharply, her eyes going wide, she had also known Kingsley, fought beside him at the Battle of Hogwarts.

"Dementors," Harry said, shaking his head, "Him, Stokes, Lopez, and 7 MLE officers are in Mungo's right now. They don't know what happened. They won't wake up. 'Cept Lopez, they said she'd be alright, she's probably awake now."

"Does she have anyone with her?" Ginny asked quickly, wanting to make sure that she didn't wake up alone in the hospital.

"Her brother I think," Harry said, smiling at his wife's immediate concern.

"I'll let mum know about Kingsley, she'll make sure someone's always there in case he comes to."

"No, Ginny, you can-" Harry caught himself, "we're trying to keep it quiet, not let too many people know that the head of the auror department is unconscious in the hospital with no apparent cause."

"Oh, right." Ginny said, her face falling slightly, "I really do hope he's alright, and I know Lopez from that Christmas party last year, so I could go visit..." She trailed off as Harry shook his head.

"Closed ward." He said shortly.

Ginny's face fell again, "Sorry Gin," Harry said, pulling her into a hug, "but that's not actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

She raised her eyebrows curiously.

It was maybe an hour later, Ginny leaned back on the couch, Harry sat in an armchair across from her, he had just explained everything that had happened with Draco Malfoy that day. And what had happen on the day he had gone to visit Narcissa Malfoy nẽe Black in Azkaban before her trial.

"Wow, that's-I mean- wow," Ginny said when Harry had finished.

"Yeah," Harry breathed, leaning back now that he had related the tale.

"And Ron and Hermione don't think you should help him?"

"No," Harry sighed, "They were both pretty against it."

Ginny looked to be deep in thought so Harry prompted her to speak, "...Well?" he asked.

"Well? Well nothing I suppose, I mean I know he was awful to you lot in school but don't you still think that he deserves a chance at a relationship with his father?"

"I do!" Harry defended himself indignantly, "That's why I'll be telling him to speak to Bayard, he's the head of the prosecution department."

"And do you think that'll do anything?" Ginny asked, sitting up.

"I-I don't know," Harry said, "but Ron and Hermione don't wan-"

"Don't worry about Ron and Hermione," Ginny said lightly, "will you be alright if you let this go? You know that no matter what they are your friends, but what about you Harry?"

Harry took a deep breath, thoughts spinning around in his head, "I-I don't know Gin, I don't"

"You should find out before you let it go." She said, standing, "You said they were coming over for dinner right?"

Harry nodded and answered, "Yeah, yeah I'll ask Kreacher to set the table for five again."

****

For the second time in as many days Hermione stepped out of the fireplace in Grimmauld Place, she had forgotten a cloak this time so she hopped awkwardly in the grate trying to dust the soot off until she remembered that she had a wand.

She walked into the dining room, her beaded bag swinging loosely from her shoulder, Ron hadn't gotten there yet it seemed and Harry was poring over reports.

"What're those?" Hermione asked, sitting down and pulling a large glossy book entitled 'Turning the Tables: Curse them back!'

"The original incident reports that Blaise took down." Harry said, looking up, smirking slightly had the book in her hands, "Gotta hand it to them, that title almost makes the dark arts sound approachable."

Hermione nodded at him, not ready to discuss her views on what made things dark and light, instead she asked, "How is Blaise?"

"Alright I think." Harry said shrugging, "He went home to get some rest, he should be back tomorrow, if you think he might be able to help with your research."

"Oh, right well that's good," Hermione started, truth be told that hadn't been why she asked, "I er- well I meant how did he feel about Malfoy is all? They used to be friends I thought." Hermione had been curious to know what the former Slytherin had thought of his old friend's predicament, she had wanted to know what Blaise saw when he looked at Draco Malfoy, because unlike her, Harry and Ron, Blaise had actually known Malfoy during their time at Hogwarts.

"Oh!" Harry said, a little taken aback, "I dunno, I hadn't really thought about it. I-well Blaise left before Malfoy'd shown up." He had put his papers down, "Why?" He added curiously.

"I-oh-nothing," Hermione said, "I just thought he might have a different perspective was all." She said, hoping to end the topic, "What time do you think he'll be in tomorrow? He might be abl-"

Harry cut her off, "I had a different perspective, Hermione. Different than you and Ron at least."

"Oh Harry-" She began, stretching his name out.

"Do you think he deserves it Hermione?" Harry asked suddenly.

"No!" Hermione said quickly, outraged, "Of course I don't Harry, I don't think anyone deserves that. You know that!" She finished, almost accusingly.

"I do." Harry said, "Which is another reason I was expecting you to want to help him."

"Obviously I think the ruling should be changed," Hermione said very quickly, "I just don't want to be the one to do it." She finished hotly.

Harry raised his eyebrows at her, and she sank back in her chair sheepishly, realizing what she had just said.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Hermione's mind a muddle of thoughts; yes she thought, there was no situation in which she could condone the kiss. Her brain finally caught on to the rest of what Harry had said, "What do you mean, 'another reason'?"

"Well, I figured you of all people would understand the notion of trying to bring your family back together." He answered his voice low.

That certainly was a notion she understood and she swallowed, before opening her mouth to retort but Harry cut her off before she could speak, "Do you still think I shouldn't help?" He asked, in that same quiet sort of voice.

Hermione was quiet for a moment, she wanted to shout out, 'of course not, Harry!' but she didn't, she took another breath. The situation wasn't ideal but that was no excuse for her not to do the right thing, if she didn't, well that made her no better than Malfoy. And besides it wasn't like she, herself would be helping him, she doubted Malfoy would accept her help, it would be Harry that would be helping anyways. She would not be involved in the process at all, merely supporting the effort from a distance, a very large distance. Just because she couldn't stomach being in the same room as Malfoy didn't mean he didn't deserve help.

Harry took advantage of her silence and tentatively started speaking, "Thing is Hermione, since this isn't an official ministry thing, I've already sent a letter to Bayard, and he wrote back, said he recognizes the merit of the argument but it was standing law. Says that if we could find precedent for overturning law he'd consider overruling the prosecutor. Or assigning us a new one." Harry hesitated slightly before continuing, "That's the sort of thing you're good at." He finished, somewhat leadingly.

Hermione blanched, she had been warming up to the idea and then Harry had to go and say something like that, well there went all that distance.

"Harry-"

"Well I was going to talk to you and Ron about it first. Listen, I'm not excusing what he did to us, or what his father did to us, what that family did to the people we care about but," Harry took a breath, readying himself, "if we don't help him and they do administer the kiss, " Harry took a breath, "I don't want to know how I would feel then, if we try and fail, well I think I might be able to live with that." He finished, holding his breath, waiting for her to respond.

"You heard him today," Hermione said, "he didn't want to be anywhere near me. And even if he did I don't think I could be anywhere near him Harry, I'm sorry I really am I just-" She stopped herself, the last bit of what Harry had said sinking in, how would she feel if she did nothing and Lucius ended up getting the kiss. How would she feel knowing that she could've stopped something terrible, something awful and knowing that she had chosen not to act. Knowing that she would be partially responsible for Draco Malfoy losing his family. She started again, "If he agrees to work with me, and to be respectful and civil and to not do what he does on purpose to rile me up, if he promises not to call me that word, then yeah, yeah I'll try to help."

Harry smiled, looking relieved, "Great well that was the easy part,"

"What?" Hermione asked.

"I vote, you tell Ron." He finished.

Hermione looked at him, corners of her mouth raised, "No." Was all she said before burying herself back in her book.

****

Please comment ad let me know what you think!

Were you surprised by Hermione's initial reaction to Malfoy's plight?