Legilimens [Dramione]

Truth

Dolores Umbridge. 

Hermione felt like a fool. How had she not recognised that annoying cry? There had been something familiar about it that had made her skin crawl. Yet she had been so caught up in all her other problems...

If the person behind it all really was Dolores Umbridge... it made sense, in fact. Everything was making sense and taking shape now. She tried to remember what had actually become of her after the war. She hadn't known anything about it. The woman had kept such a low profile that the magical society had forgotten about her. 

"That's not necessarily the case," Draco resumed, pacing back and forth nervously. "I could be wrong, but-"

"But it makes sense," she finished for him.

 Draco nodded. 

"But does that change anything?"

"What do you mean?"

Hermione swallowed, "I'm afraid... I don't know. I feel like every move I make is pointless. That whatever I do, she ends up winning."

Draco leaned closer. "She doesn't. Don't think that for a second. She's hiding, she can't even openly show herself. We just have to hunt her down and prove her connection to what happened to you." 

Hermione clasped her hands together, biting the inside of her cheek as she reflected. "They're all her pawns," she began. "From the Prichett brothers, to whoever is in the upper echelons of the ministry. She directs them all from behind the scenes." 

Draco nodded, encouraging her to continue. 

"So we have to bring down the pyramid she has built around herself, one step after another."

***

Pansy had noticed that no one looked anymore when she walked through the hallways of the ministry offices at David's side. 

They probably thought she was his client, and Bellini had become famous for his tendency to  accept only the noblest causes. So the mere fact that people thought he had accepted her case was apparently enough to redeem her in the eyes of society for wrongs she had not even directly committed, but merely suffered at the hands of her family. 

Even Potter didn't go beyond a fleeting curious glance in her direction as he pulled out a set of documents for them. He had even allowed them to work undisturbed in his office, which he rarely used anyway. 

"There is no official complaint against Hermione for this alleged incident," sighed the boy who lived. "I don't know if you'll find anything interesting in those documents." 

"I'll just have a quick look," the lawyer continued. "As there is nothing official, I would be curious to see the medical report from St Mungo's. I would also like to understand what happened to Hermione's parents. Strange what that nurse told you." 

Harry brought a hand to his disheveled hair, then sighed. David had told Pansy all the details of what had happened to Hermione, or at least what he thought was useful to investigate. When she had offered to help him, however, he hadn't been clear on what she could do. Even now, she still didn't understand what use her presence was. 

"Alright, call me if you need anything," the former Gryffindor finally sighed, leaving them alone. 

Pansy walked over to the pile of papers. "What can I do?"

The lawyer grabbed a few of the files, casting a vague glance over them. "Let's just have a look. I don't think we'll find anything interesting, but..." he swallowed. "I'm interested in finding out if indeed official complaints ever started from the ministry, and at the same time if any of the other employees in the past have ever been defamed in a similar way to Hermione. It would be useful to have some basis, some precedents to build a case."