Title: Stars, Hide Your Fires
Author: Aristide Cauquemaire
Pairing: HP/DM
Rating: M for grown-up language, some hotness and a sh*tload of drama
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Did you read chapter 19 already? I also uploaded it today.
Another short one, but I couldn't deny myself that cliffhanger. Sorry, guys! Please enjoy :)
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-/Chapter 20/-
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He does his best to ignore the looks Boothe and his lawyer, a dourly-looking brunette who introduced herself as Agnes Kennedy with a bone-crushing, ice cold handshake, are giving him as well as their hissed conversation. They are currently the only three people waiting for the doors of courtroom 14b to open. The blackboard hanging below the brass '14b'-sign reads 'Potter v Boothe, pres, HH Gardenia Mafalda Higgs, 3:40pm'.
It is 3:38pm, and Potter isn't there.
Draco's stomach is in knots.
All or nothing. A life with or without his son. Victory or shame.
"Miss Na'amah and your dear wife Astoria send their warmest regards, Mr Malfoy," Boothe jolts him out of his thoughts, and before Draco can come up with an answer, someone says, "How lovely of them. Send our regards in return, will you, Plutus?"
Potter walks down the stairs at an almost leisurely pace. His movements and the Auror's uniform he is wearing under a normal cloak speak of dominance and a self-confidence that make it very hard indeed to take one's eyes off him.
"Potter." Kennedy is the first to break from the trance. "I hear you still didn't find yourself a lawyer. I thought we talked about this after the prelim."
"Lawyer, Schmawyer, Agnes," he drawls back with a dismissive hand gesture. "Who needs a lawyer when he's got truth on his side, anyway? Now if you'll excuse me."
Without giving her another second, he walks over to Draco and pulls him along by the shoulder, away from the other two.
"You're late," is the first thing that comes to Draco's mind that is actually safe to say. I'm so glad to see you is swallowed back down right along with Please don't touch me and appreciative comments about his attire.
"I know," Potter concedes hastily with a low voice, all his swagger gone. "Sorry 'bout that. Listen, the tests runs with the veritaserum went well, so things are looking good. I hinted at the nature of the material in the prelim and Higgs went all pale, so there's a chance it'll never come up at all. The only thing we'll absolutely have to avoid, anyway, is you having to testify under serum. I honestly tried to persuade Higgs to leave you out of this entirely, but Kennedy talked her into it, so now we'll have to deal with it. At least you're only a visitor for now."
"I suppose you have a plan?" Draco had been supposing that from the day he got the summons, just as Potter had prophesied he would, but he hadn't had the nerve to send an owl to Potter to ask him about it. The See you at court had been so definite.
"Four, actually, depending on the situation, and a contingency plan." He clears his throat. "Let's just hope she'll question me first to make it quick."
"What does that contingency plan consist of?" Draco is just asking as the doors open from the inside with a rumble and a squeal. An announcer steps outside with a scroll in hand and reads the names of all four persons within earshot. "This hearing is closed to the public," he informs the thin air when they have already stepped inside, "as per Wizarding Court Law of 1284, paragraph seven, sub-paragraphs seven A to D-"
The courtroom is large, cold and empty but for a court recorder sitting as if in a pulpit to the side. He is busy sharpening his quills and doesn't even glance at them.
Kennedy and Boothe walk through the gate in the low balustrade that separates the gallery from the well and take their seats at the left hand table, so Potter takes the one to the right. Both tables are at an angle, arranged to face the judge's seat on the podium.
Draco chooses a seat to the left of the aisle, so he can see most of Potter's profile while the other two would have to turn around to look directly at him.
A young woman in a midnight blue robe who turns out to be the courtroom deputy comes into the room from the head side and steps onto the podium. "All rise for the judge."
The procedure gets under way. Attendance registers are checked, the context is expounded, charges are read, laws are specified.
Draco studies Potter's profile and posture.
Things start out well enough.
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"Your Honour, I call Mr Draco Lucius Malfoy to the witness box."
Draco freezes, then braces himself to rise. His heart is pounding. One question. One question and everything will fall apart.
Boothe's testimony, not under veritaserum, because his lawyer had deemed it unnecessary and Potter hadn't objected, had been the censored version of what had really happened. All the things, from the moment Daphne had talked him into considering calling on his service, to the making of the contract that has been presented in detail – always withholding the functions of the paragraphs seventeen and twenty-one – and the usage of the morpheuspheres, and finally to the dissolving of the contract and Potter staking out a "baseless claim".
During his talk, Draco had tried to make eye contact with Potter several times, tried to signal him that he should cross-examine him – a pointed question or two would have been sufficient to expose Boothe's vile scheme.
But Potter had remained silent, and he even declined to interrogate Boothe at all when given the opportunity. He generally hadn't said anything much, and Agnes Kennedy had got into her sensibly-heeled stride without so much as an interruption.
Draco glances at the glittering little flask of veritaserum on the judge's desk, then at Potter in his bench and pushes a thought at him. You said everything would be-
Before he can get all the way to his feet, Potter shoots up from his seat. "And I object," he calls with what Draco recognizes as his Auror voice, then clears his throat and adds, "Your Honour."
"And why would that be, Auror Potter?" Judge Higgs asks with a somewhat bored tone that veils the annoyance beneath. Draco wonders if Potter can hear it, too.
"Because Mr Malfoy is personally involved with the claimant. With me. And therefore exempt from examination."
"Mr Potter, with all due respect," Kennedy pipes up from her seat and gestures toward him, then turns to Judge Higgs, "Not calling Mr Malfoy to testify would be ridiculous. He made the contract with my principal, and the object of this entire case pertains to him."
"Allegedly," Potter interjects and throws Kennedy a poisonous glance which she pointedly ignores.
"I believe, Your Honour, it would be wise to include Mr Malfoy here."
"Wise, maybe," Potter nods and raises his voice, "but also unlawful."
"Auror Potter, do not presume me to be ignorant of the rules of my own courtroom." Higgs gives him a look that reminds Draco of a displeased magpie.
"I wouldn't dare, Your Honour. However, I'm not so sure when it comes to Mrs Kennedy," he says and Mrs Kennedy promptly rises with an indignant 'Mr Potter!'
Potter doesn't allow her interruption and raises his voice again. "Mrs Kennedy seems to have forgotten that witnesses can refuse to testify in the case of personal involvement. This is the case with Mr Malfoy, since he is indubitably personally involved with me. Thus he would be a biased witness anyway, and he is furthermore entitled to protection from questioning."
"Judge Higgs," Kennedy scoffs and Draco can hear the eye rolling even though he can't see it, "what Mr Potter is trying to say is that every single person he attended Hogwarts with is automatically unsuited for the witness box in any case involving himself." She throws Potter a steely glance. "This behaviour is alarming especially if we take into account the possibility that some sort of collusion between Mr Potter and Mr Malfoy has taken place to obscure the situation to the detriment of my client."
"Allegedly. Again," Potter responds acidly with a steely glance of his own. "Also, I'd appreciate if you could desist from calumny, Mrs Kennedy."
"Mrs Kennedy, some discipline, please," Judge Higgs stares at the lawyer over the rim of her glasses, then turns toward Potter. "Then again, Auror Potter, Mrs Kennedy does indeed have a point. We all know that Mr Malfoy and you have a past, this sort of personal involvement is not a sufficient reason for an objection of this kind, as I'm sure you know."
Draco breathes and straightens to get up, but freezes when he becomes aware of Potter's eyes on him. There is an unspoken word that hangs between them, before Potter breaks the connection by turning his head toward the judge to say, "Actually, Your Honour, the relationship between Mr Malfoy and me has changed considerably since the Hogwarts days, which is why I object to him being called to testify."
"Mr Potter, unless you are trying to tell us that Mr Malfoy and you are-"
"That is exactly what I am telling you, Mrs Kennedy. Your Honour. Mr Boothe."
There is a short, stunned silence that is only interrupted by Draco's breath catching in his throat. He clenches his teeth and wishes Potter would stop talking which, of course, he does not.
"The object of this court case – the concrete object - encased in the core of the two morpheuspheres, are thoughts – fantasies, if you will, but most of them consist of actual memories. My own memories of sexual encounters between me and my partner. Mr Malfoy and I have an intimate relationship." He pauses for a heartbeat, as if for effect. "He is my lover."
/ TBC
Have a good weekend, everyone! See you on Sunday, that'd be awesome.