BANALITY : Draco Malfoy

76

Hermione and Ron do come to see me as soon as I have been examined by no less than five separate healers. My arm is fractured, but the healers repair it in under twenty minutes. In private, I tell Hermione and Draco that Draco is gone, and I also tell them that Blaise is in custody. They had already heard about Blaise from Harry. However, they hadn't expected to see me. Ron offers me a curt nod but no words. Knowing that my fractured arm was healed so quickly, he is worse for wear than I expected. Only Hermione talks. She tells me not to speak to anyone, not even a healer like Robbie. Eventually, they call in a wizard named Hestia Jones to act as my solicitor. Hermione sits with me as we recount the entire story to the solicitor, knowing she will keep the details secret.

While Hermione did not want me to know, I learn from Ms. Jones that there are nearly a dozen reporters outside which St. Mungo's is keeping at bay. It seems Robbie had explained to the receptionist what had happened, and then the story spiralled within an hour. Hermione leaves while Hestia explains to me our plans of action. Once it is all done, she sends a letter to Hermione via owl, telling her what we have discussed.

If Hestia judges me for what I have thought or what I have done, she does not mention it. Most of her time is spent thinking about how to best present the narrative to protect Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna from their part in harbouring the last Death Eater. I do notice that when I talk of Draco, she tightens her upper lip, just enough that I know he is a subject that she would rather avoid.

Hestia shows me how to use occlumency, because though legilimency is considered a dark art, it is possible that someone will try to pry into my head, especially when the nature of my injury is noticed. I tell her that Robbie already pried into me, but she didn't find anything. This doesn't seem to bring much comfort to Hestia.

After explaining occlumency, Hestia attempts to use legilimency on me, and knowing what I know, I block her. I nearly puke in the process. She is surprised that, even with my condition, I am better at occlumency than most wizards and witches. Even though I do not remember it, I imagine I had practice at Hogwarts, when I was trying to hide my relationship with Draco. Bringing him up is out of the question.

Soon enough, there is an auror who steps into my small room.

"Good evening, Miss Turner," he says, closing the door behind him. "I'm Auror Dawlish. Would it be alright if I asked you a few questions?"

I nod my head, looking over at Hestia for confirmation. She doesn't even look at me.

"So, I'd love to hear your version of events," he says.

There is no further prompt, so I furrow my brow, "where should I begin?"

"Where you see fit."

And consequently, I tell him what Hestia told me to say. Since after Easter of 1998, I have been living as a muggle named Jane Miller in Inverness. After some time, I was discovered there by Terrence Boot, an old mate from Hogwarts, just a few weeks ago. He was there to do research on Inverness' use as a port town to sneak in supplies from Denmark during the war. After finding me, he abandoned the lead and turned to help me. He got in contact with Luna and asked for augurey tears, which she provided with no knowledge of his need for them. I remembered meeting Blaise at a bar. At some point, Blaise came to Terry's home and kidnapped me. I used a Patronus to contact Harry Potter, having done research with Terry and knowing he would be able to help me.

"And Harry Potter came, no questions asked?" Auror Dawlish speaks for the first time during my version of events.

"Well, Terry had just contacted him to inquire about me," I explain.