Disruption

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Harry pulled Lucius from his seat with an unforgiving grasp on his upper arm. It was odd to watch as the shorter man hustled the taller from the main hearing room and into an antechamber reserved for the young hero's use.

Lucius was still disturbingly calm even as Harry turned on him with pure fury.

"What in the fucking name of Merlin do you think you're doing?"

The blond blinked at the profane blasphemy and gave a deceptively mild Gallic shrug.

"I am atoning for my sins."

"But you didn't do those things!"

Lucius stepped close to the younger wizard until the hem of his robes, far less ornate than his previous custom, brushed Harry's shins. Harry was forced to tilt his head back to meet the icy silver gaze.

"Didn't I?"

He reached out gloved fingers, brushing mussed inky dark hair away from a faded scar.

"I stared down into your impossibly green eyes, lauded my Master, and sneered at the memory of your parents. I treated my son abominably and risked the lives of every student within Hogwarts' walls."

Harry clung stubbornly to his stance.

"That wasn't you."

Lucius' eyes flickered down at the platitude spilling from cotton candy lips.

"I exulted when Bellatrix sent your godfather tumbling through the Veil."

Harry's jaw clenched reflexively but he stood firm.

"You did not choose to do those things."

Lucius' hand drifted to the shorter man's throat, thumb tracing the pulse fluttering impossibly fast.

"I killed your best friend and my own son while they begged for each other's lives because their love was an unacceptable stain on the Malfoy name."

Harry swallowed heavily, hesitating. His voice broke once, then remained steady.

"You would not have done any of those things of free will."

The blond's voice was whisper soft, his hands safely at his sides.

"I thought you didn't trust me."

The young hero shook his head. "I never knew you before I cast that spell. No one really did. All they'd ever met was your father's pawn."

He paused, breathing in his courage with the subtle scent of the older wizard. "But I know you now and I know you are innocent of those crimes."

Lucius smirked, cynicism creasing his handsome features.

"To be innocent is to be not guilty; but to be virtuous is to overcome our evil inclinations."

Harry frowned.

"Sounds like something a Hufflepuff would say."

"A Muggle, actually. William Penn. Once I knew the value of both worlds."

"If you can quote him now, then you still do. No one walked away from this war with their virtue intact, Lucius. No one."

Lucius stared down into those earnest green eyes and, for the first time since waking from the nightmare of his life, felt the urge to smile. The communion between the two wizards was broken as an Auror looked into the room.

"The Wizengamot is ready for you now."

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