[HP] The pros and cons of home arrest #13

Chapter #13: The audience.

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Daphne was nervous but happy at the same time, she was outside the ministry and she was surrounded by guards, including her personal guard who was none other than Harry Potter, but that was beside the point, even if she was this guarded, she was able to see a bit of Diagon Alley and even if she was in the ministry due to her legal situation, it didn’t change the fact that she felt good being outside from her home, it was a very interesting sensation for the blonde witch.

It has been so long since she has been outside her home, at the start of her sentence, she thought that being stuck in her family’s ancient home was going to be a better experience than being locked up in Azkaban, however, it came to a point in which desperation took over her mind that made her feel like home arrest was so boring that, and she eventually wished she would’ve gotten the dementor’s kiss instead of being stuck in that house.

That’s why being here in the ministry made her feel good despite this being a place she didn’t like so much when she was growing up, a place she was forced to visit because of the meetings her father had with some very important people, so, as the heir of the ancient Greengrass house, she had to be there too, she needed to learn how politics worked after all, she hated all those visits, but right now, she felt blessed for being able to come here today.

“Come on Daphne…Let’s get you to the room where your audience is going to take place,” Harry said with a calm and cheerful smile.

The blonde blushed a little but she nodded in the end and soon, she and her guards were already on their way to move her to the hearing room, and when they arrived in the waiting room, not only Hermione was greeting them but there was also an older woman with curls that reminded Daphne of Bellatrix Lestrange, she was carrying a toddler.

“Andy…Teddy!” Harry said as he hugged the older woman alongside his godson.

“Harry…Harry!” Said the child as he hugged Harry back happily.

The hero of the world then decided to take the child from the older woman’s arms so he could carry him.

“It’s good to see you, Harry,” Andy said with a happy expression.

She was wearing a black skirt and a long-sleeved black blouse alongside a pair of black high heels, she had a hand on Hermione’s shoulder that she quickly moved to caress one of Harry’s cheeks.

“It’s good to see you too…And also, it’s good to see you as well Hermione,” Harry said as he shared a handshake with his best friend.

“Hey Harry…Please take this in case you need it while you wait in the stands,” Hermione then handed him a bag full of things for the baby.

“Grandma Hermione!” Said Teddy with a happy expression and Hermione smiled at him.

“Yes, wait with your godfather dear, your grandmas need to take care of something important,” Hermione said to the toddler who nodded like a good boy.

“Don’t worry Hermione, Teddy and I are going to have lots of fun while you two work,” Harry told her as he grabbed the bag before he entered the hearing room, he was going to be in the audience stand, the ones that were going to work were Andy and Hermione.

“Well, it seems like we’re going to work together this time, Daphne,” Hermione said with a happy expression, and suddenly, the two of them were sharing a handshake.

“Thank you so much for helping me with this Hermione,” Daphne was so grateful. “However…Grandma Hermione?” Asked the blonde with a raised brow, even if Hermione always acted like an old person during their schooldays, even Daphne thought she was just too young to be a grandma.

Hermione couldn’t help but feel embarrassed and after hearing Daphne’s words, she couldn't help but chuckle.

“Yes, well, Teddy is Andromeda’s grandson and I’ve been dating Andromeda for more than a year and well, things are getting serious, so, it’s natural for him to think that I’m going to be his grandmother too, right?” Asked Hermione with a nervous look.

Daphne then looked at the figure beside Hermione, the older woman had a cool and calm expression, she looked to be in her fifties but she looked so stunning, now she could see why Hermione fell for her, and judging by the way the younger woman was looking at her, she could deduce that this Andromeda woman must be someone amazing for her to make one of the members of the golden trio look at her with those loving eyes.

Daphne couldn’t help but think if one day Harry would look at her in the same way Hermione was looking at Andromeda, but she quickly shook her thoughts off after blushing heavily, this was a very important meeting and she needed to be as concentrated as she could, and it was the right timing to do it because the older woman suddenly extended her hand.

“Andromeda Black, it’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m going to represent you in your audience, I’m a lawyer and I also happen to be Hermione’s fiancé,” the older woman said with a slight smile and a blush, Daphne was also surprised to hear about her last name, it seems like she was related to master Bellatrix.

Hermione was blushing too but they quickly recovered because this was a very serious situation, so, they decided to put their feelings aside and get to work.

“Well, congratulations to you two I guess, I’m sorry I sound so cold, I think I’m forgetting how normal human interactions work,” the blonde said with a weak smile on her face.

“Don’t worry about it…We have more important things to discuss though,” Andy said with a calm expression. “I reviewed your case and Hermione’s report, so, I think this could work, but, let’s fix some last details, okay?” Andromeda said with a slight smirk and the blonde nodded.

Meanwhile, in the audience room sitting in one of the seats for the public, Harry was watching his godson change the color of his hair, he was growing so fast, so, at this age he wasn’t someone who could throw tantrums or randomly scream and cry, however, he still decided to cast a charm to make it soundless for everyone but him in case Teddy decided to do that out of nowhere.

It seems like the boy admired him and wanted to be like him because it was a little shocking how at some point he was able to make himself look like a mini version of him.

Not that he complained that he did that though, but he was worried some death eaters out there would think that Teddy could actually be his son because they could try to avenge their master by harming him, that was a thought that always worried the hero of the world, however, he couldn’t continue thinking about that because suddenly, the jury and the judge entered into the room.

This wasn’t the first audience Harry attended, after all, he loved seeing torturing with his presence all those death eaters that were saved from his wand, he loved seeing their reactions after hearing their sentences, and in different circumstances he’d be grinning as he did with those people, however, this time things were completely different, Daphne could be considered his friend now, so, he wanted to hear everything, he didn’t come here to mock the criminal today.

The first hour was for the judge to talk with extreme details about Daphne’s case, her background, the reason why she was sentenced to home arrest, the evidence or more like the lack of evidence from the prosecutors to prove the claims that were being said about her and how the previous jury ended up sentencing her to home arrest after her father took the blame for her.

But there was also a lawyer who was representing the many families who suffered losses during the war, he was the one who tried to give Daphne a harsher punishment and this time he was telling everyone about the horrors the death eaters did to innocent people and surprisingly, Daphne was showing signs of regret after hearing all those things.

Andromeda, of course, like the excellent lawyer she was, the woman tried to defend her client as much as possible because even though Daphne was forced to join the death eater ranks before she was an adult, there was a lack of evidence that could prove she harmed other people, it was crazy but without evidence, you can’t even accuse the devil of being evil.

Hermione then was called to the stand and she gave a very detailed analysis of the accused, an updated psychological profile that was compared with the one that was presented when she was trialed first, but also, Hermione talked about the progress she showed.

It was tiring, but Harry and Teddy managed to stay and hear everything during the eight hours the audience lasted, however, the jury had to take the time to decide if she could get her sentence reduced or even dismissed.