Chapter 11 – By All Means Necessary

I could not be more out of my league.

My 'family' was threatening the Potters. How could I get them out of this safely without Tina getting custody of me? The options I could think of were slim to none, so I did the one thing I could think of, asked Mr. Potter.

'Harry? Can I talk to you for a minute?' my attempts at calm were not working, especially on Al whose feelings of worry were almost unbearable.

For his part Harry seemed to know what I was feeling. I suppose it had to do with his own court hearing before his fifth year. Sometimes it's scary how much we have in common.

'Chelsea, did Tina threaten you in some way? When she talked to you outside the courtroom, you looked freighted and you haven't eaten a bit of your lunch. What did she say?' I was really glad Harry could read me so well.

'She threatened you, the family really. I think that if they don't win then she will stop at nothing in order to, for lack of a better word eliminate the competition. I have no doubt that everyone in the court room has illegal weapons on them and the fact that she is threatening to use them on you and your family is more frightening to me than going back to live with them.' I took a deep breath to calm myself before the tears began to flow. That would only help to prove my lack of sanity. 'Please tell me what to do. I don't think I would be able to function if anything happened to any of you.'

Harry's face was hard and unforgiving, but I knew it was not directed at me. 'Chels go try to eat something, I will take care of this, you have nothing to worry about. If I do not end up back in the courtroom in time just go and tell the truth about your story. Don't worry about the consequence, that's my problem now.' He said this so fiercely that I simply nodded and went back to the table.

Al, who also had not touched his lunch, began to as he saw my attempt at eating. Neither of us was very convincing though, which lead to James trying to break us out of our funk.

'You lot are the worst table mates I have had in years. You need to loosen up. Chels isn't going anywhere we know that because her mom is a crazy psycho bitch and her family tries to user her as a pawn in property dealings. Let's be honest the worst we have ever done to her was prank her on April Fools.' He had the trademark smile on his face, and for a second I forgot my worries and laughed.

Harry did make it back right before the doors to the courtroom were closed and I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't know if I could have testified without him there. After being sworn in the questioning began.

'Miss DelMare, you are currently enrolled in a boarding school in Scotland is that correct?'

'Yes sir that is correct.' I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible.

'Why is it that you chose a school so far away from your home? It seems a little odd that a child of eleven would want to move so far away from her loving family?' My mother's attorney smirked at me with this statement. I knew then that he knew of my abilities, and from the look on Al's face he knew it as well.

'Well sir, to be honest I did not really chose the school, it chose me.' I fibbed using the famous line about wands choosing the wizard. 'Professor Longbottom traveled to Buffalo all the way from Scotland to ask me to join the school. He said my marks were excellent and that Eden' the fake name we chose for Hogwarts, 'would be lucky to have me.' I finished with a smirk of my own. I didn't make it into Ravenclaw on my smarts alone; wit was another one of my stronger characteristics.

The attorney seemed flustered by this and shot a look at my mother. She had obviously told him that I was not very smart. She never did pay attention to my grades. He recovered quickly though. 'Congratulations on that achievement Miss DelMare. How did your family handle the news that one of their youngest members was traveling to a school on another continent?'

The answer did not come to me as quickly as I would have liked, but it sufficed none the less. 'My family seemed supportive to my face sir, but I felt that there was some tension on whether or not I had the ability to get the education that the family wish I have if I was at school in a foreign country.' At this the courtroom erupted with whispered comments and camera flashes. I had basically just thrown my family under the bus with a simple inflection on a word. The city knew my family was suspicious and somehow involved in illegal activities but I had just confirmed the suspicions.

The judge called for order, and slowly the courtroom quieted once more. The Potters looked at me with awe that I would have the guts to do something so blatant to my family's reputation. Al's face held the Potter smirk I have come to love. He loved it when I was witty.

'Miss DelMare,' the attorney continued as if nothing had happened, 'what type of education do you get at your school? Is it not the same as one you would have received here?' At this my mind raced how to answer without giving away a whole community of people I was now a part of?

'Oh I am sure there are schools like it here in the states as well sir, but my school is focused on more practical learning rather than book learning.'

'And what is your favorite topic in school?' He asked slyly, the smirk returning to his face.

'Defense is, sir.' The sir was forced. 'I quiet like learning how to defend myself, seeing as though no matter where you go women are seen as the weaker of the sexes. Defense helps me prove that I am just as strong as any of the men I may encounter.' I finished with a smile and I could feel the delight rolling off of Al in waves as he tried desperately not to laugh.

The attorney seems to be annoyed and a little scared at this statement and continued on with his questioning quickly. 'Now that we know a little about you Miss DelMare, why is it that you did not return home at Christmastime? Your school, I believe, has a month long break during the holiday? Plenty of time to come home, even with the long journey.'

'Well my first year at school was wonderful. For the first time in a long time I felt like I was around people who could really understand me. I never felt that way with my family here. When I had left my mother made it clear that I would also not be missed if I did not come back for the holidays.' I said trying to keep the hurt from my voice.

The room was silent for a moment before the questioning continued. 'What did your mother say to you that made you think that she did not want you around for the holiday break?'

I raked my brain trying to think of the exact words. 'I believe the exact words were "You are the spawn of Satan, get out of my house, should you ever come back you will not be welcome here or at any other relatives house.' I said in a bored unattached tone. 'Of course she said it with much more conviction and hatred. I took her words to heart and didn't bother to show up for any school breaks.' The family seemed to be angry but somehow I knew it was at Tina and not me. The Potters had guilt hanging over them, probably wishing they could have protected me before they even knew me. Tina though had pure rage in her eyes. She knew she had lost and she wasn't going down without a fight. I saw her reaching for her purse.

I quickly looked around to where the potters were sitting hoping that they could get away quickly, but they weren't there. As I looked around for them someone quickly pulled me down below the stand just as a shot rang through the courtroom. I looked up to see Harry protecting me. His smile was forced but sincere as he gave me a look that stated that everyone was safe. The one shot was all that was fired as the court police secured my mother's handgun and placed her under arrest. They began taking her through the door that was next to the stand when she stopped and looked me dead in the eyes and calmly announced to the whole courtroom, 'I hope your happy now Chelsea. You and your wizarding world won't be safe for long though.'

I froze. She single handedly just told a courtroom full of reporters that there was a wizarding world. Luckily Harry was not as stunned by this and quickly as if he did so for a living calmly told everyone that they needed to remain seated and locked all the doors so that no one could escape. He then sent a patronus to the New York Ministry of Magic and asked for a few Obliviators. Other than my family everyone remained calm as if in a trance, I quickly looked for my real family and noticed they were nowhere to be found.

I shot a glance at Harry and he motioned for me to go out the doors which the guards allowed. The Potters were all outside waiting on the bench looking nervous, all except for Al who was pacing and yelling expletives at the floor. Hearing the door click shut and lock once more, Al looked up and quickly ran towards me lifting me off my feet and holding me close. I felt the worry and anger drift and be replaced by love, happiness, and a hint of questioning. The questions would have to wait because the Obliviators had arrived and I quickly explained what had happened only moments ago. They quickly entered the room and Harry joined us only moments later.

'I have good news Chels. The judge pulled me aside and said she was granting us full custody and we just have to come and sign some papers in the morning to make it official.' Harry announced with a smile. I couldn't contain my happiness and quickly ran to hug him. 'Thank you. For everything.' I whispered so only he could hear. He responded with a squeeze and a chuckle. 'I hope this doesn't ruin anything with you and Al. My tattoo has never changed this color before and I wouldn't want to ruin it.' I looked him in the eyes and winked as I walked towards Al and hugged him again while he began questioning what had been so funny. I silenced him with a look and heard James laugh loudly and say, 'mom she already has your look locked down! She's a natural Potter.'

I couldn't have agreed more.

A/N: I am so sorry that this has taken so long to get up. I could come up with excuses but I won't bother. Please accept my apologies

~PurpleAurora