The Three-Word Phrase (A Drarry Fanfic)

The Right Thing

The Right Thing

The room was full of wizards, some of them I knew, some others I had just met a few days before at the Ministry. We were sitting in our places at the Wizengamot, waiting for the next trial to begin. We were tired and demoralized, as the war had ended just a few weeks ago and we had not been able to leave the Ministry because every day Death Eaters were caught, and we had to put them in the right place. We knew they were all guilty, but the magical protocols had to be followed and they still had the right to be judged. The little cowards usually tried to appear innocent, and a few of them we had to let go because there weren't enough proofs of the opposite. Those got lucky.

The Minister cleared his throat, indicating the trial was about to begin, and the whispering voices that filled the air of the room diminished into total silence. The Minister spoke:

"I call to trial Draco Lucius Malfoy."

A blonde young man, pale and with sullen face, was escorted by two Aurors into the room. He was wearing deep black clothes, like a hole that had eaten up his whole body. I felt like throwing up when he sat down on the chair where so many black wizards had been judged before, in the chair of a criminal.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, you have been accused of murder and torture of muggles Joan Roman and Tim McKenzie and of wizard Remendus Shaw," I heard the disapproving mumbling of everyone around me, including my friends, Ron and Hermione, whose bodies were leaning towards the scene and looked as if they were going to fall from their sits. The Minister continued, "What do you have to say to that? Is it true you murdered and tortured these people, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes, I did," his face showed no emotion, no regret, no sorrow, no doubt.

"Were you under the effect of the Imperius Curse?"

"I wasn't."

"Were you under the effect of any sort of potion or spell?"

"No, I wasn't."

"Do you accept, Mr. Malfoy, you murdered and tortured muggles Joan Roman and Tim McKenzie and wizard Remendus Shaw in full use of your mental faculties?"

"Yes, I did. I murdered consciously. They were mud-bloods, and the wizard was in my way."

"Did you commit these crimes following his orders?" the Minister looked fiercely at Draco, astonished by the insolence of his declarations. Voldemort's name was still not spoken, because the war was still too fresh in everybody's minds to be completely absorbed and processed.

"Every man loyal to his Master knows what he has to do, when it is required. They were no direct orders to murder any of the three, neither to torture them. I did the latter just for fun," he showed a cynical smile and I almost fainted when the familiarity of it reached my heart. This was Draco, my Draco. No, he was never mine. And he had done terribly wrong.

The Minister's face was so severe the arches in his forehead were prominent and visible even from afar. He gazed at us, at the Wizengamot, and said:

"Well, the verdict is very clear. Mr. Potter, would you please make it official?"

I felt Ron's painful elbow crashing my ribs, as I had not reacted when I heard my name be spoken out loud. I stood up, and my whole body was cold and lifeless. I realized I had stopped breathing since the beginning of the trial, but for some reason I didn't feel the lack of oxygen. Draco was looking at me, with his dark countenance, but as handsome as I remembered him to be.

I gulped, because my throat was dry. Everybody was staring at me, expectantly.

"The Wizengamot declares Draco Lucius Malfoy guilty of murdering and torturing muggles Joan Roman and Tim McKenzie and wizard Remendus Shaw."

"I, Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic, sentence Draco Lucius Malfoy to life imprisonment in the wizarding prison of Azkaban."

As the Aurors escorted Draco out of the room, my knees betrayed me and I fell abruptly into my chair. I had done the right thing, I knew I had, and deep inside, in spite of everything, I also knew I was still in love with him.