~Ashley Carter
I stood with my wife in a waiting area at the Ministry for Magic. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement (I believe that is what it was called). The halls were blue, only warmed by the periodic orange glow of torches. I was feeling under the weather, but I wanted to be there. I was asked to speak on Eleanor's behalf. Since part of her hearing was focused on whether she was safe to be around Muggles, I was the best choice when it came to proving her case. Sarah Beth would also speak on her behalf.
Sarah Beth was also under the weather. Her aunt had been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against Muggles just the week before. She was being sentenced to the Wizards' prison, Azkaban, for life. This meant that neither of us would see her again. Sarah Beth had explained to me that visitors outside of Aurors or the Minister were absolutely prohibited since a family of Ministry officials smuggled out their son back in the 1990s. Sarah Beth did not even get to say goodbye. She cried for the first time in the three weeks since we were married. "I know that she was terrible. I experienced it firsthand for years." she explained from a tear-stained pillow. "But she was the only member of my family I had. After her, there are no Umbridges or Cumberlands left. I was the last one."
In the following days, I had been rehearsing and re-rehearsing my statement for the Wizengamot on and off, with occasional visits from the Malfoys. Sarah Beth urged me to practice even more after she heard which judges would be presiding over the case.
"Harbing and Frey? They wouldn't!" Sarah Beth sighed as she pours a fourth packet of sugar into her tea. It was early morning at the Brew, and we had not yet opened. Light was sifting through the blinds of the shop window.
Eleanor Malfoy rocked in her chair, her hands shaking. They looked like that of a much weaker woman than she. "They'd might as well just take me now. They're going to arrest me. They're going to send me off..."
"They're not going to send you off, Elle." Sarah Beth placed her hand on her friend's. "Those two are bullies. They're just trying to scare you."
"If that's the case, it's working." Eleanor pulls her hand away. Sarah Beth took a quick breath.
"Your hand is frozen! I'm going to pour you some tea."
Elle shoots Sarah Beth a look of refusal, but blinks and sits back. "Th- thank you. Sarah Beth."
"Any time. Breakfast tea?"
"Darjeeling, please. Nothing to eat, though, please. I wouldn't be able to keep it down." Draco sat next to his wife, his arm around her chair but not actually touching her. He was deep in thought. "Of all the Wizengamot, they choose the two I had hoped would stay far away from it..."
I had stopped pacing. "Who are Harbing and Frey?"
Sarah Beth finished pouring her friend's tea and began to let it steep. "Hogelby Harbing and Kepburn Frey are senior members of the Wizengamot. Very conservative. Very... harsh judges after the war."
"Harsh?"
Eleanor looked at me. "Miriam Langstrom was an inkeeper who was forced to turn her business into one of the largest headquarters for Death Eaters in... his army. So many of them came through her inn that she was unable to give any names that the Ministry wasn't already aware of. Therefore, she had no real defense. Hogelby Harbing sent her to Azkaban. She never even took the Mark! Kepburn Frey didn't send quite as many people to Azkaban, but he did send several people on hearsay. People that never killed anybody were sent to the worst prison in the Wizarding world."
"But you have a defense, don't you? You have me, and you didn't even attack Dinkleberry with magic."
"But they don't like me. I never faced a trial after the War, and that angered some of them."
