[HP] Three thousand days of innocence

When Ginny returned to the Auror's office after lunch on Monday, she found it in complete disarray.Aurors in scarlet robes running around, sending memos to other departments and the Daily Prophet, yelling at each other about courts and press conferences, so many people yelling at once, some things she couldn't hear clear.

Ginny looked at Angelina, the only one in the room who wasn't shouting. "In Merlin's name, what's going on?" she asked.

Angelina grinned. "Harry can cross more Death Eaters off his list. Bout, O'Connell and Chambers arrested Labastan Lestrange and Traver in Stirling hours ago S!"

Ginny's heart trembled slightly. "My God—that's great!" she exclaimed. "That - but they were the last on Harry's list, which means we got them all!"

"Of course, except Draco Malfoy." Angelina corrected her. "But yes, that's all they have left, except for Malfoy, and we've done it much faster than we thought. When did Harry make this list five years ago? can catch them all."

She forced herself to keep smiling. "Yeah, that's—that's awesome." Angelina squeezed her shoulders, and then joined in the chaos that nearly turned the Auror office upside down.

Ginny sat blankly in her workshop.The moment has come.The era of the Death Eaters is finally over, and with it the lingering fears left behind by Tom Riddle's brief reign in the wizarding world.From then on, their day-to-day work will focus on minor cases, upholding the Secrecy Act and protecting the safety of the minister and his staff when they travel abroad.

There were no other Death Eaters to distract them, which meant all eyes would be on her, judging her ability to catch the last of the Death Eaters: Draco Malfoy.

But he doesn't have the Dark Mark.The question has been debated years ago, whether Draco would still be considered a Death Eater if he didn't have the Dark Mark.They are not yet conclusive.Ginny had seen his bare left arm many times, and while she hadn't had the chance to look closely, Draco's skin was so fair that even with the Dark Mark faded it could still be seen.But no—all that was left on his skin were the scars from his sixth-grade scare, and a strange burn on his upper arm, which she now guessed was from the devil flame Crabbe had set in the Room of Requirement in seventh grade.

Since it was only him left, and she almost "caught" him once - which means that Harry might push Draco's case to a higher priority, and he doesn't guarantee a change in the priority of the case If not, he would still let Ginny take charge of the case.Priority cases would go to Aurors like Ron and Angelina, or Danny O'Connell, but hopefully not Romilda Vaughan.

If she was sent to work on Draco's case, Ginny would wring the slender neck of the nervous witch with her bare hands.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, and even joined the department in cheers when Boot, O'Connell, and Chambers all walked into the office exhausted but elated.It wasn't long before Harry showed up too, and he was all smiles at everyone.Ginny hadn't seen him so happy since his victory over Tom Riddle, and even then his joy was tinged with sadness.It proved what she had told him all those years ago: that Harry was only truly happy when he was saving the world.

Romilta walked right up to him, hugged him in front of everyone, and planted a dramatic kiss on the lips. "Congratulations, Harry," she said, giving him her sexiest smile.

"Congratulations to us all!" he cried, putting an arm around her waist and gesturing to the department.There was another round of cheers. "Really, I have to say, I'm very proud of what everyone has achieved over the past five years. We made a promise at the time, we set out to start, we wouldn't give up until the wizarding world was safe again, and we kept that promise. We did it! Now Tom Riddle is really dead, really gone!" The Aurors clapped loudly, and there were cheerful boos and whistles.

Ginny clapped along with the others, expressing heartfelt congratulations to the three who captured Travers and Lestrange, but her celebratory mood was all superficial.She was waiting for Harry to come talk to her about Draco.She had planned what she was going to say to him when he came, and she was going to be prepared for any possible outcome—whether he would let her stay on the case, find someone to help her, or Just get her out of the case.If the Boy Who Lived stopped letting her run her case, he'd have a chance to feel a bat fly out of his nose.

He didn't disappoint her.After kissing Romilda again, Harry let go of his new girlfriend and walked between the tables, patting people on the back and shaking hands as they passed.Finally, while the rest of the room went on to arrange court appearances and press releases, Harry arrived at Ginny's workshop.

"Great, right?" he said, pointing to O'Connell, Boot and Chambers.

"Yes." She agreed.Over his shoulder she saw Romilda staring at her jealously. "The Auror Office couldn't have done better."

"It could be better, actually." Harry tried to sound contemptuous, but failed. "Let's go to my office, Kim."

Damn Merlin panties, here they come.She smiled hollowly and followed him, even after he closed the door, taking a seat on the other side of his large desk like a well-behaved little Auror. "Can I help you, Harry?" she asked.

"Two words: Draco Malfoy." Harry leaned against the table, looking down at her with those bright green eyes that had once been irresistible to her.She found now that it was so easy to resist him. "He's all alone, Ginny."

"Hmm," she said, pretending to be thinking. "Look, it would make sense if Malfoy was a Death Eater - but he's not."

"He helped them." Her tone made him frown. "He brought Death Eaters into Hogwarts, and in the final battle, he didn't fight them. That was enough for me."

"Then what the hell am I here for?" she said irritably, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm still dutifully looking for him, and I don't think the requirements will change."

"I had some news for you just now—I should have done so earlier, but I was distracted by Lestrange and Travers." He moved to the other side of the table and pulled the a drawer.He rummaged through it for a while before finally finding a crumpled piece of parchment. "According to the higher order of the Law Enforcement Department, when there is a murder charge, it is up to the family of the victim whether to prosecute."

"It's not up to the Ministry?" said Ginny, raising her eyebrows.

Harry shrugged, running his hands through his messy hair. "Apparently not. I remember Hermione saying that it goes back to the days when wizards dueled to the death - that sort of thing. Anyway - since Malfoy was accused of killing Colin Creevey, Creevey The whole family knew about it, even though they were Muggles."

Ginny didn't feel too good about it. "And then?" she asked.

"They've decided to sue," Harry said excitedly. "So it's already official, King - even if Malfoy can get away with attacking Padma Patil and evading the Ministry of Magic, he definitely won't get away with killing Colin."

Ginny sighed and looked away, feeling a sudden chill.Eight years had passed since Colin's death, and she was still amazed by how much she missed him.His death was nothing compared to Fred's, but Colin had been her good friend.They help each other in Transfiguration class year after year, and his honest and innocent personality hides a wonderful dry humor.

Oh Colin. Died at the age of 16, his great life lay in front of him - if he was still alive, he would have achieved great things.

"I'll add it to the file," she said finally.

"I'm going to back you up," said Harry, confirming her worst fears. "I want this to end as soon as possible so the Minister for Magic can announce some good news in his annual speech."

"Do you really think I need backup?" Ginny asked. "Malfoy isn't particularly dangerous."

"Yes." Harry said with a smile, and she had to suppress the sudden surge of anger in her heart. "I guess he still remembers the bat spell you cast on him."

Ginny frowned at his casual taunt. "Don't forget I arrested Dolphin Roll," she said sharply. "Roll is far more dangerous than Malfoy."

"Yeah - that's why I've assigned Ron to help you with this case, because the two of you have worked together before," said Harry. "I told him this morning that the case has been raised to the highest priority. He said he would help you."

She said a silent prayer.If she had to take on this case with someone else, she should at least be thankful that it was Ron.Ron had grown up with her and knew her eccentricities; if she told him she wanted to continue working alone before arrest, he would take it without question.

"Good to know," she said briskly, standing up and smoothing her scarlet robes. "Anything else?"

"Catch him quickly, Kim," Harry said again. "I don't want to give you a deadline, but... please find him and bring him back. If not for me, then for Narcissa Malfoy. Think about why you started this case."

You must find my son, Miss Weasley.He will always come back.He belongs to Wiltshire, it's in his nature.

And she unexpectedly did.Ginny left Harry's office and walked slowly back to her desk, thinking back to the tea with the dying woman in June, the first time she had asked Ginny to find her beloved only son.She remembered the dead silence in the corridors of Malfoy Manor, without hope, without joy.It's hard to imagine how the Malfoys have survived in a place like this for so long.

I remember a stupid bird, but I don't remember my mother?

Merlin, why did she get so much power?Why should this important decision be made by her alone?Apart from a brief duel with Bellatrix Lestrange, she was a bystander in the battle - she had nothing to do with the Malfoys or Colin who fought knowing that spells were not his forte. relation.Why does she have to deal with this kind of thing?If John Palmer - and the Walcotts, now that she remembered - knew that Draco was a wizard, why didn't they say anything?

For heaven's sake, why didn't they say anything?

Because of the excitement surrounding the arrest of Lestrange and Travers, no one wanted to work that afternoon.Finally, noticing that the Aurors had gathered around O'Connell, Boot, and Chambers asking about the arrest, Harry gave them an afternoon off.

Ron walked towards Ginny almost immediately. "I think we should get to work right away," he said businessily, sounding nothing like her brother. "This afternoon we can—"

"I've already planned it," Ginny interrupted him. "I've got a ton of errands to run - and, uh, besides that, I think you should go through Draco's file first and get familiar with it. See if you can spot anything I haven't noticed. "

"Okay." Ron hurriedly took off his Auror robes and stuffed them into his bag, revealing his baggy jeans and Weird Sisters T-shirt. "Actually, I promised Hugo to take him to Puppdemere United's training ground this afternoon, so I won't be able to either. But we can start working tomorrow."

"No problem. Say hello to Oliver for me."

"Okay." He turned and walked towards Hermione's office, waving her goodbye.

Before Ginny left the Ministry of Magic, she turned on her phone and immediately dialed Draco's number.On the third ring, he picked up the phone. "Hello, honey," he said, and his voice penetrated her skin, filling her with warmth.

"Hello," she said, smirking as she walked from the public toilet to the busy street. "It's all your fault. I will think of you in everything I do today."

Draco laughed. "Yeah, I just found out that tonight's main course was either red or brown, so you're at fault too."

"I want to see you."

"I'd like to see you too, but I'll be in the kitchen tonight and I'll be at the market tomorrow morning. How about Wednesday?"

Ginny grumbled, "Okay - if I have to."

He laughed again. "If I had my way, we'd be in bed every day, but I tried my best."

"Call me when you have time. I miss you already."

"I miss you, honey. See you on Wednesday."