As the courtroom began emptying, Hestia gestured for Hermione to follow her out of the gallery. "I was hoping I'd see you here."

Hermione nodded, folding her hands.

Something itched at Hermione as she let Hestia lead her through the corridor and out of the building, squeezing past the frenzied reporters. It wasn't until they began walking down the cobblestoned street together that Hermione looked up at the skyline and realized what it was.

"What happened to the other five Muggles at Edinburgh?" she asked.

Hestia's boots clipped twice on the stones. "All six are being kept in a safe house at present. Their care is excellent, I assure you."

"And what will be done with them afterward?"

Hestia's lips thinned. "We're still in deliberations."

Hermione stopped cold, forcing Hestia to face her. "'We?' You mean you and the rest of the Provisional Government?"

"That's actually what I wanted to talk with you about," Hestia said. "Someday soon, the Provisional Government will have to become less provisional. An election will be announced soon, and General Jacobs has already made it quite clear that he intends to throw his hat in the ring."

A jolt ran down Hermione's spine. "No. He can't—"

"I agree," said Hestia, glancing over her shoulder. "That's why I intend to throw my hat in as well."

Hermione stared at her, her brain clicking in the silence. "And you want my support?"

Hestia shrugged one shoulder. "In a way. I want you to name your position in my administration."

Hermione's mouth opened and closed. "Name my position?"

"What do you see yourself doing after these trials are done, Hermione?"

She blinked, staring at the stone wall behind Hestia. She thought of the Malfoy money, and the fact that she didn't have to do anything if she didn't want to. Her mind spun as she tried to remember her dreams before all of this — before she'd needed to pack a bag and Obliviate her parents — but the ideas slipped through her grasp like sand through a sieve.

Everything was different now.

"Think about it," Hestia said eventually. "I like working with you. I think we'd make an effective team. And you'd have a chance to make a difference."

Hermione's eyes flicked to her.

"Our country needs people who want this new world to be better than our old one."

Hestia tilted her chin and turned, walking to the Apparition point. Hermione watched her disappear, her stomach sinking to the cobblestones as she tried to imagine a future that might not include Draco.

~*~

The days leading up to Draco's trial date were a blur of owls and meetings. Hix was in a constant state of irritation over the owl droppings, and Remmy glared at the soiled marble where visitors flitted in and out of the Manor's Floo—Pansy, Oliver, even Boggleben.

After consulting with Narcissa, Hermione had decided to hire Shrapley as her personal lawyer. When she told Shrapley about inheriting the Manor, she had the pleasure of seeing him stunned into silence for the very first time. It took him a full minute to spring into action, asking her to write Gringotts for a meeting at the earliest opportunity.