Judgement

Scorpius waited until the door shut behind them before turning on Albus.

"That was stupid of you. I see what you mean now, that I may not agree with what you are saying. Now we could both end up in Azkaban. What good will that do?" At least Rose hadn't landed herself in the cauldron with them. Was this what they had planned all along? No wonder they didn't want to tell him.

"I don't think we will. We made quite a good show. The only real charges you are facing is the attempted murder of the Minister, and the Unforgivable Curses. The first I think we explained well, so it will probably be cleared. The Curses should also be cleared. The kidnapping was never going to go through. The escaping custody argument was the best. Did you see the look on my father's face?" Albus laughed.

"You can laugh," Scorpius said. "But you did well. I noticed that you really have prepared. All those legal terms…"

"Yes. They did give us a long time to prepare and learn phrases like that. Rose really can study a lot in a month. Most of the scenarios we planned for did not happen, luckily. The chains did not bind you. And our "worst-case-scenario" was if Hermione herself tried to be the interrogator. I am glad Dad persuaded her not to do that. I didn't want to make her look bad in front of everyone."

"Yes, I didn't want to bring her down either. That is why I didn't mention the beating she gave me when we returned to the Burrow. I am not even sure she knew it was me she kicked. It wouldn't help me much to mention it, but it could hurt her a lot."

"You spoke for yourself quite well too. I had planned to interrupt a lot more, but you managed to say the most important things on your own. I am glad you took my hint on agreeing to being the executioner to try and save the minister. We only came up with that argument a week ago, or I would have mentioned it when we visited," Albus said.

"You aren't the only one who has had time to prepare what to say. I had a lot of time to think, and this last week especially I have planned my defence. That part about agreeing to be the executioner just to save her was not strictly true, but it was not wrong either… You really think this will work?"

"Yes. Maybe not everyone will believe you, but there is no way that a majority of the Wizengamot will convict you."

"There is the matter of the Unforgivable Curses, though."

"Yes, there is a case there, but as you mentioned, you deliberately willed the spell to not work. That should count for something."

"It should," Scorpius agreed, but not daring to be as hopeful as Albus yet.

They sat and waited. Scorpius went over the trial in his head, wondering if he could have said something differently, or had forgotten something. He hoped that no matter what happened, he would at least get to see Rose one last time.

Albus tried to portray complete confidence on the outside, but he had to admit, this was a huge gamble. He was literally playing with his own future. But he would do it again in a heartbeat. He owed Scorpius as much. They had started this together, hopefully they could now finish it together as well.

Finally, after what felt like days, a knock came at the door. The Wizengamot were ready to pass judgement.

***

Scorpius and Albus entered together. As Scorpius sat down again, the crowd were also allowed back in. Rose, James, and Professor McGonagall were at the bench right behind Scorpius.

Harry started the proceedings again. "The court will now pass judgement on Mr. Scorpius Malfoy. He has already been acquitted on the charge of kidnapping Rose Granger-Weasley.

First charge, that of the attempted murder of the Minister for Magic, Hermione Jean Granger. All in favour of conviction, please raise their hand."

Not a single person on the bench raised their hands. Not even Hermione, who just looked down on the floor. The crowd started cheering.

"Quiet please," Harry said louder. "Scorpius Malfoy is cleared of the charge of attempted murder." He knocked the gavel.

"The next charge is the usage of Unforgivable Spells. All in favour of conviction, raise their hand."

Again, no one raised their hand. Harry knocked the gavel again. Scorpius breathed a little lighter. That was the one he had worried about the most. He allowed a sliver of hope to come through the worry.

"In the case of escaping custody, it is the opinion of the court that Mr. Malfoy was never arrested. And his reason for fleeing from where he was detained was well- intended. The court therefore dismisses this charge." Third knock on the gavel.

"The last charge is the participation in activities with the group called Death Eaters. All in favour of conviction?" No one raised their hand at this either.

"Scorpius Malfoy is cleared of all charges and may leave the courtroom," Harry declared. One last knock with the gavel.

Enormous cheers erupted from the room. Cameras started flashing once again. The members of the Wizengamot started to file out.

Scorpius at first just stood there, hardly daring to believe it. Then a wide smile showed on his face, and he went out the door to find Rose who had had to leave with the others instead of rushing forward to hug him like she wanted to. He was immediately surrounded by people who wanted to congratulate him, touch him, or shake his hand. It was completely overwhelming. Albus quickly came to the rescue. He had some experience moving through crowds of people, since he was a Potter. He quickly moved Scorpius into a smaller hallway, and they made it out of the Ministry.

There, the people he was most anxious to meet waited for him. Rose jumped into his arms.

"You did it! You were marvellous!" Scorpius cried into her ear. Rose had no room to form a reply, she just happily held on to Scorpius while crying. But they were happy tears this time.

Ginny eventually walked over to them, smiling. "Unless you want to be surrounded by all your fans again Scorpius, we need to get moving. I understand if you want to stay though. You have well deserved some praise."

"No," Scorpius said quickly, "I've had little to no human contact for the last few weeks. To suddenly be surrounded by people like that was completely overwhelming. But where do we go?"

"Home to us, for now at least. Your father will also meet us there," Ginny said.

***

Harry found Hermione where he expected her to be, in her favourite area of the Ministry archives. She sat on the floor, crying. Harry sat down next to her.

"Thank you," Hermione whispered. "Thank you for insisting that I should not be leading that trial. You are right, I would not have managed it."

"Are you disappointed by the result?" Harry wanted to know.

"No. I knew deep down that I was wrong. The arrest was an act of anger. I should have dismissed the charges weeks ago. I don't know what I would have done if he had actually been convicted. I hope they can forgive me. Both he and Rose, and all the rest of you." Hermione broke down in tears again. Harry sat with her until she was finished crying.

***

In the Potter house the mood was jubilant. Ginny, Ron, Draco, James, and Albus were all sitting discussing the trial. Rose and Scorpius, however, just sat and held on to each other tightly. There were still things to work out. But for now, they were simply there, together, for the first time with no fear of death or arrest. Or any chains.

"I must say, you are a brilliant orator Albus. You managed to interrupt and redirect the line of questioning at precisely the right moment. And using their own legal terms against them," Ron said.

"Thank you. But that was mostly thanks to Rose. She spent the last month buried in research. She wanted to lead the defence herself, but we discussed it and thought that it would be less effective, that she would work better as a victim. So, she spent the last weeks tutoring me on what to say, how to react to different scenarios. Luckily, most of them didn't happen."

"My favourite moment was when you asked about the escaping custody charge. Dad was really unprepared for that one. The look on his face was priceless!" James laughed.

"Yes, that was the best one. I think we both knew that the kidnapping charge was never going to go through. The only real problem we faced was the one for attempted murder, and the Unforgivable Curses. And we knew that if we got a chance of explaining the attempted murder properly, he would probably be acquitted for it. But we were a bit worried about the Unforgivable Curses. There, our best defence was that I had also done that, and not been held accountable for it."

"You really made quite a show. When you just casually went up there at the end and tested the chains on yourself as well? Do you think they would actually have sent both of you to Azkaban, if you had lost the case?" Ron asked.

"There is precedent for such things happening, but I don't think they would have done it. Besides, by the time we got there, I was 90% sure we would not be convicted. Rose seemed almost disappointed that the chains did not react to her, so she could go into the other room with us. It certainly got Aunt Hermione's attention," Albus replied.

"I was a little disappointed. But mostly because I hoped that if I were there as well, Uncle Harry and Mum would let the matter drop. But I suppose we were too far in by that point anyway," Rose replied.

"I am sure that it had nothing to do with being able to be near Scorpius sooner," James said teasingly.

Rose pretended she hadn't heard him, but when the others laughed, she blushed.

"I am not surprised that the chain did not consider you guilty, Rose. What you did was small, and under torture. Not at all comparable to what Albus and Scorpius had to do or pretend to do," Ginny added.

"The chain only rattled. Does that mean that I did things that can be punishable, but not so bad that I have to be punished for it?" Scorpius asked, curious.

"Yes, as far as I can determine, that is basically the idea. It binds on to people it notices have done the crime they are charged with. It rattles if the deed is done, but for the right reasons. How it knows that, I have no idea. That is a question that you should rather ask Hermione. Though, you may not understand the answer," Ginny answered.

Scorpius' smile faded. Rose also looked sad.

"We should go," Rose said. "Before my mother gets here."

"But why would you leave?" Ginny asked, surprised. "It is all over now."

"If you really believe that, then tell my mother where I am. She is welcome to visit us in the house at any time. So are any of the rest of you. Will you come too, Draco, or will you stay a bit longer?"

"I'm coming," Draco said. He said goodbye to the others after explaining where Rose had been in the last month.