Once the door shut behind them, Hermione let out a shuddering breath. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, and pushed back her frustration.

She'd done the best she could. She'd forced them to listen to her.

Dropping back into her chair, Hermione waited. After twenty minutes, she decided to accept the offer of tea and poured herself a cup. After nearly an hour, she grew anxious.

The clock on the wall indicated that an hour and forty-five minutes had passed when finally the door opened again.

General Jacobs strolled in with a jubilant expression that turned Hermione's stomach. Pierre followed a pace behind him, hovering like a hawk.

"Well, Miss Granger," Jacobs said. "It seems our potions team can indeed confirm that a mysterious source provided them with a breakthrough for the antidote. It appears to match your description perfectly. Congratulations."

The wave of her relief was cut short when she realized that Jacobs must be smiling for other reasons. Pierre loomed, his eyes boring into her.

She pressed her lips together. "Where are George and Hestia?"

"Occupied," said Pierre.

"Let's say the Malfoy family did allow use of their potions laboratory," said Jacobs, condescension dripping from his voice. "Let's say Lucius Malfoy did know you were conspiring against the Great Order, in his very house. Let's even say he supported that." His gaze locked on her, and his head tilted. "Does that really balance the scales against the 10,000 dead on Baffin Island? Or the people he helped murder in Switzerland and France?"

Hermione's spine stiffened. "I think you'd have to examine the evidence to see who was responsible for deploying that weapon, and who created it. I know at least two other Lots who can corroborate my memory of Lucius Malfoy decrying the death toll on Baffin—"

"And the True Order soldiers and civilians in Switzerland?" Jacobs pressed. "Can you explain away those lives, too?"

Hermione clenched her jaw. She couldn't. She could only trust Draco's word that it had been deployed when his father was Austria. "Like I said, there is plenty of evidence at Malfoy Manor that should be carefully weighed when determining these charges—"

"You have your evidence, and we have ours. If the Malfoys did assist you, it was only a last ditch effort to save their skins."

Hermione rose from her chair. "Your opinions are irrelevant. Any court worth a damn understands the importance of evidence and proper representation—"

"Don't be rash, Miss Granger. We have convened"—he nodded at Pierre— "and have agreed to allow you to represent whoever you'd like. If the accused can defend themselves, we see no reason not to allow someone else to do it for them."

Hermione gaped at them. Her jaw clicked shut.

"You can begin with Lucius Malfoy," Jacobs continued. "He turned himself in not two hours ago."

The room reeled beneath her feet. She steadied herself on the table with her fingertips table. "Turned himself in?"

"To the Magical Republic of Czechia," Pierre added.