Squib 17 Clauses in Motion
The ride back to Hogwarts was quiet. Remus stopped by to tell Lily and Sev to be careful, that James was fuming in a front compartment. A large number of the study group stopped in, so there were always several people with Lily. At Hogsmeade they disembarked as a group, and headed toward the carriages. Miriam was walking with Lily and Alice when James found them at the edge of the snow covered platform.
James shouted, "Lils, I have to tell you I love you! I always have! I want the chance to prove it!" He grabbed her loose cloak and yanked her close, laying on a big, sloppy kiss. James could not have told you what happened next, though everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Tiny Lily stomped on his foot, raising a knee into a very tender part of his anatomy, and as his head came down she shoved the heel of her palm up into his eye socket so hard his head spun to the side. As his head spun his chin met Sevi's left fist at the same time Sevi's right fist landed in his breadbasket. James spun completely around, teetering on the edge of the platform just in time for Alice's open palm coming from the opposite direction to meet his other eye. James blacked out as he flew off the platform, landing in some mysterious muddy substance in front of a carriage. Horseshoe marks appeared on his shirt.
James woke in a dark room which smelled like a hospital. He hurt everywhere! When he groaned a light came up, right in his eyes. He realized his father and their family healer were there when they spoke, "Keep your mouth shut. You've said enough already. We have a lawyer coming."
"Why do I hurt so much? Please give me a pain potion!"
A third shadow moved closer, showing a red robe. "We cannot give you pain medications until you have been questioned. Your own Healer is here to confirm that you were not seriously damaged."
The next morning, James was taken in front of the full Wizagamot. His lawyer sat with him, but his father and his Healer had to sit behind them. "James Charlus Potter, you are brought here on charges of Attempted Line Theft. We have seen the memories and spoken to the girl you assaulted. You may speak in your own defense now. Do be careful not to lie, even by omission, if asked a question."
James, coached carefully, took a deep breath and began, "Is it a crime for a boy such as myself to admire and flirt with a pretty girl? This girl did not grow up in our traditions, but we liked her so much my family attempted to Betroth her to myself when we were younger. That offer fell on her family's deaf ears, but we meant well. I am now Betrothed to another, and I have been told Lily is also Betrothed to someone else, though I have never seen any documents and do not know who. Still, I continue to admire the girl, and Betrothals can be broken. My family still like hers and have attempted on several occasions to extend the hand of friendship. I took a last chance to show her exactly how I feel before I am married."
The stiffly formal Dumbledore, in his Chief Wizard robes, stood. "I believe we have heard enough, am I correct?" The others nodded. "We can dismiss all charges here. Mark the boy's Record as 'Cleared.' There will be no penalties imposed by the Court. Court Dismissed."
Fleamont slumped as the Healer finally moved to give James some relief, wiping balm on his bruised face, handing him vials of assorted colors to drink. Many Light members and Allies stopped to speak to Fleamont. Dumbledore, now out of his plum and back into stylish rainbow robes with a beaded macrame sash, asked, "Are you ready, my boy? I can take you back to Hogwarts with me, through the Floo in my office, so you will miss the fewest possible classes."
Fleamont said, "Just a moment, please, and he can go with you. James, no more. The Court imposed no penalty, but there was an automatic fine imposed the moment you touched the girl forcefully. The Goblins have already transferred that fine to the girl's parents. They didn't want our presents, but they certainly did accept our money! Stay away from her! We are preparing for your wedding, and that is expensive enough! Now we will need to add a major Gift of Apology to the Bulstrodes. I will not send another to the Evans." Fleamont turned away from his son, and left.
High in the Neutral voting seats, Alexander Prince mused to himself, 'They were really desperate to get this out of Court and swept under the rug! They didn't even ask who Lily is betrothed to!'
In the Dark seats, thoughts were in another direction. Bulstrode and his cronies were wondering about this strange Clause James had fallen foul of, shaming himself and his Family without breaking either his own nor Lily's Betrothals.
Pollux Black was also in the Dark section but apart from these, was considering what would be needed for an Infidelity Clause. All of them decided consultation with their own Lawyers and possibly with the Goblins would be necessary before another Contract was signed!
At school, it was surprising how little people cared about what James had done. Of course, the children didn't know about the fine and most didn't know about the trial, so everyone laughed at James getting beat up by girls. Life went on.
Sevi and Lily did know, but they weren't saying. They were much more interested in what was going on at home. Their mothers were having babies, and they were stuck in Scotland! At least Petunia was home!
Catherine was also checking on Eileen regularly. With Hogwarts back in session, there was no Watcher in the neighborhood to avoid. She told Eileen she had been denied the chance to do these things when Sev was born, so she was making up for lost time. She had one of her elves slipping in to do housework and cooking without magic, though it was not allowed to work outside.
Tobias was rushing home from work to spend as much time at home as he could. He now did all the shopping. Eileen was encouraged to walk, so Tobias was happy to walk in the Park with her every afternoon. He did the yardwork – the yard had never before been so tidy! The garden in the back had few weeds and plenty of healthy vegetables. He fixed many of the broken boards on the fence, and painted. It was still an old, broken house, but it was better.
"Toby! When's the baby due? Yer wife is enormous! Ye ain't been to the pub in weeks! Ye don't need to hover over her. Ye never did before. Come on, let's go have a few."
"The baby is not due until June 15, but might come early because it's twin girls! I shoulda done more hovering! I never realized she was sick all that time. No wonder she was so useless – she was doing all she could. She almost died last Easter! Since the Docs figured out what was wrong, and fixed her up, life at our house is a lot better. Now we have something to look forward to! Yeah, I'll stop in for a bit between jobs. Still working the night job at the warehouse, ya know. Sev's school still ain't cheap."
Unknown to Toby, the guys at the Pub (most worked with him one place or the other) set up a pool on when the babies would be born. Half the pool would go to the winner, and half would be a baby gift. The guys would bet on anything, and babies were always good for a pool. One guy's wife had three consecutive babies on the same date, and was expecting again – there was a lot of interest in that one!
Life for Petunia was more fun than ever! She rushed home from school to fix dinner, getting to use what she had learned in culinary school. She continued her karate class, and became teacher's helper in the women's self-defense class once the teacher was sure she knew enough to not get hurt because someone else moved wrong. She went to Eileen's for tutoring now, rather than risk Eileen on the bus to the Library, and Rose often came along to chat with Catherine. Petunias' embroidery was being noticed because her threads were such quality and of unusual colors. Working with fine materials really motivated her to do her best on every stitch. She did a lot of her embroidery on Saturday afternoons tending counters at the shop. She was assigned to the front section now, where the Sappington products were displayed, so she dealt with most of the Squibs who came in. They knew what kind of threads she had, and sometimes brought her some of theirs. She was wearing a blouse she had embroidered with a chain of petunias around the collar and cuffs, and gathered many compliments. Over it she wore a knit yellow cardigan.