CHAPTER 34
"It's unfortunate, Ms. Zhao, that we have to meet again in such unpleasant circumstances," the man across the table said. He glanced from Genevieve to the handsome quidditch player who sat next to her.
"Yes, I… I'm not planning on making a habit of it," Gen replied, laughing nervously, in hopes of easing the deeply uncomfortable tension. She felt nervous. And numb. Perhaps this was the only way that she'd feel before doing what she had to do. "Pardon me." She apologized quickly to the Chief Warlock for the quip.
He shook his head, understanding of the situation before pushing a piece of parchment paper and quill towards her, "I understand that after the war you signed an immunity agreement. This here is just an immunity agreement guaranteeing you safety from anything that is said or exposed during the trial. Sign it and then pass it on to your witness as well." He gestured towards Oliver, surprising the two of them.
"Sir, I thought ehm, my father was planning on signing as my witness," Gen said, hesitantly.
"Any witness must be present as the document is signed. In addition to the rule, your father has not only been on the search team for the accused, but will also be acting as an Interrogator. Therefore he is ineligible to be a neutral witness," the Chief Warlock explained.
"Oh," Gen sounded, letting out a nervous sigh.
"I'll do it," Oliver said, swallowing. He looked at her with a small smile on his face. He had meant it to be reassuring, though he himself hadn't expected to be a part of this other than to support her. This was… official.
"Are you sure? You don't-, we can find another-," Gen stammered.
"No, no. I'll do it. I'm sure," Oliver said back, finding more confidence in his voice.
He watched as his girlfriend signed the piece of parchment paper before looking at him as if she were giving him his last chance to get out. Knowing the weight that his signature held in her agreement, he took the quill from her before scribbling his name down on the parchment paper next to hers.
"Thank you," she said softly, glancing at him again. He nodded, before squeezing her hand under the table. The Chief Warlock examined the piece of parchment paper once more before beginning to roll it up.
"Very well then. I'd like to explain how this will work. Ms. Zhao, we will place you in a secure holding room before your testimony. When you are summoned, you will be given a warning before we invite you into the courtroom. You must answer any and all questions that the Interrogator, the Council, or the Minister of Magic may have, truthfully and to your best ability. After your testimony, for your safety, we will return you to the holding room until the trial is over and the accused has been secured," the Chief Warlock explained.
"I understand," Gen agreed.
"Excellent. Well, Mr. Wood, you may leave and join the rest of the onlookers for this very important, very public trial. Ms. Zhao, I'll have to have you wait here before being called forth as a witness for the prosecution," the Chief Warlock said.
Gen nodded, nervous to let go of Oliver's hand.
"Can we have a moment? We'll step outside," Oliver asked. He wasn't even sure he felt ready to let go.
"Of course," the man replied. Gen and Oliver stood up, quickly yet politely leaving the room. Oliver closed the door behind him and faced his girlfriend, immediately pulling her into a hug.
"Ollie," she whispered. "I'm scared."
"I know. Me too," he said back. "You're going to be fine. You're safe here. This-, this is the safest place in the world now that Shacklebolt is rebuilding the Ministry of Magic. Your father is here and so is Pucey and… I can only imagine there's all kinds of security."
"I know, it's not that," Gen said. "I'm-, I'm scared. To see him. To face him. The last time I saw him I almost-." She couldn't finish the sentence.
"I know. Just breathe, m'love. I'll be here. The whole time. If you get scared… look at me," he said firmly, trying his best to be her rock.
She nodded, "Okay. Okay. You've got to go. I've got to go."
"I love you," he said.
"I love you too."
"And do you swear to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth while on the stand?" the lead Interrogator asked, her voice bold and steady. Gen had suddenly appeared in the courtroom, looking around nervously. She wasn't sure she was ready to see him.
"Yes," Gen nodded in agreement, glancing around the courtroom.
Next to the Lead Interrogator sat the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and the Chief Warlock that had done her paperwork earlier. Behind them sat the Wizengamot in plum colored robes and hats while the Council of Magical Law wore black ones. Gen locked eyes with her father, seated a few seats behind the Minister of Magic in all black robes. He sent a nod of confidence her way. She spotted Adrian too, seated next to the Chief Warlock, acting as scribe for the trial, writing furiously away as the prosecution continued. Cepheus Mackenzie was nowhere to be seen and she was grateful for it. She felt more and more confident as she realized he wasn't in the room - at least yet.
"You attended Hogwarts from 1988 to 1995," the lead Interrogator began.
"That's correct," Gen said.
She nervously glanced to the side, spotting Oliver in the courtroom, seated with the rest of the people who had come to watch the trial. Among the spectators were a few familiar faces: Hermione Granger and Percy Weasley were there as well. They sat on opposite ends of the spectator seats, but she was surprised to see faces from school.
"In your seventh year, you began dating a boy, Perseus Mackenzie," The Interrogator continued. "That was your introduction… and eventual abduction by him - the Mackenzie family - and Cepheus, who stands trial here today."
"From my understanding you are… a very powerful witch - the kind of witch with magic that can be performed without a wand. Is that correct?" She asked.
Gen, surprised, nodded slowly, "Yes. That's correct."
"Will you show us?" The Interrogator asked. Before she could answer, a stack of books appeared in front of Gen.
"I'm not sure if-, I didn't know that-, am I-," Gen began to stammer.
"It's alright. We must see what you can do before we proceed," she heard her father's voice ring out in the courtroom, reassuring her that it was okay to move forward with the trial. It felt safer coming from him.
"Alright," she whispered to herself. "Anything?"
"Yes, that will do," The Interrogator replied.
Gen took a breath. She hadn't expected to be asked to show her magic, especially to the highest court in the wizarding world. The war was over but what if someone got the wrong idea about her? She knew she had to do this for the trial, but was ambivalent about the security of her powers. With the wave of her hand, the book began to flip through pages on its own. She waved her hand once again and the pages began to turn faster. As the book ran out of pages to flip, she let it close, before sending it right to the Interrogator.
"Brilliant," The Interrogator replied, marveling at what the girl had just done, taking the book that was floating before her.
"Do you believe that Cepheus Mackenzie was a Death Eater?"
"Yes."
"Is it true that Cepheus Mackenzie and his family held you hostage and used your powers of telekinesis for their own gain?" The Interrogator asked.
Gen nodded, "Yes."
"And what did that include?" The Interrogator asked once more.
"I…" Gen started. She took a breath, reminding herself that no matter what came out of her mouth, she was safe. She knew she was doing the right thing but it took every fiber of her being not to crumble. She inhaled then exhaled, feeling brave, knowing what she had to do. "I chose to stay with them. I was in love with him. Perseus. My boyfriend."
"I knew that they were a powerful family but I didn't know that they had connections to the Dark Lord - that they were Death Eaters. When I found out…" She took a moment to collect herself. She wasn't going to lose it on the stand.
"When I found out, Cepheus Mackenzie held me captive. He tortured me for three days and then wiped my memory. It was as if nothing had happened and everything was back to normal. I got to be with the boy that I loved. But then he… he began using the Imperatus Curse… to do their bidding. They used me, they used my powers… to do the bidding of You Know Who. Whatever task their family was given… if it was something outside of what you could do with a wand or something they didn't want traced back to their family… they used me to do it."
The Interrogator nodded, as Gen watched her best friend scribble away. Adrian looked up from his enchanted quill that was scribbling away, pain in his eyes. He knew it had to be difficult for her to relive this.
She continued on, beginning to get emotional, "It went on like that for some time. They received a task. I was cursed… then my memory was wiped. It was only when both spells had been used on me so many times that their effectiveness began to wear off. I built up a tolerance for them. I began to remember… horrible, horrible things. Things I had done. Things they had done to me."
"And how long did this go on for?"
"After we graduated Hogwarts… that autumn is when it began. I think… I think it could've been six months, maybe? It was… well I can't remember, February maybe, by the time I was rescued and recovered by a team of Aurors and Hit Wizards," Gen replied, trying her best to collect herself. For the most part, she had shed a few tears recounting the horrors that she had experienced in the Mackenzie household, but she knew she was delivering her testimony with bravery and sureness - enough to put him in Azkaban for good.
"Thank you, Ms. Zhao for your honest testimony. There is one last part of your testimony that we have to go through," The Interrogator said. The entire courtroom looked to the floor where it had opened up. Out from the floor arose a man, chained to a chair. It was like all of the wind had been knocked out of her as she saw him for what she hoped was the last time. She stood her ground, staring him down. She felt like her body was going to explode into a million pieces, her heart pounding so loudly in her chest she wondered if everyone could hear it.
"Is this the man that held you captive, tortured, and used you as a weapon for the war?"
"Yes."
"Thank you, Ms. Zhao."
And with a pop, Gen was back in the holding room, many floors up from the courtroom she had just been in.
Knock, Knock, Knock!
Gen heard the click of a lock and the door swung open to reveal her father, Adrian, and Oliver standing in the doorway.
"We got him, Gen. There was no question about whether or not he was guilty, but your testimony secured a unanimous decision from the council. It's done. It's over!" Adrian cried out triumphantly.
"We really did it, Dad?" she asked, immediately looking to her father.
"Yes. We did, kid," he nodded. He sighed out in relief, opening his arms to her. This was the day they had been waiting for - the day he dreamed of seeing ever since he captured the criminal in Brazil.
"Oh my God!" Gen said, her eyes lighting up, immediately jumping into her father's arms.
"I'm just sorry you couldn't see that sorry son of a bitch be put away one last time. But you know… your safety and all," Adrian added, hugging her. Last but not least was Oliver. Gen hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. The long hug gave Thomas Zhao and Adrian, both a part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to begin discussing the trial.
"Are you alright?" Oliver asked, sadness in his eyes.
"I'm fine," Gen said, quickly.
"How?" he asked, softly. "How could you be fine after-?"
"I'm tired, Ol. I don't want to talk about it," Gen snapped, cutting him off. She took his hand in hers, leading him to joining the conversation with her father and best friend. "Besides, we have good news after all. It's all over now and… and we should celebrate." Oliver was unconvinced, but held his tongue.
By the time Oliver, Gen, and Thomas had made it back to the Zhao loft, it was late afternoon. The three of them ate dinner and Oliver was confused at how well Gen seemed to be carrying herself. It was like nothing was wrong. He knew that she must have felt relieved that this man was going to Azkaban for the rest of his life, but he wasn't convinced that she was as okay as she had been. But there she was, the night before, sitting at the dinner table and laughing with both him and her father, like she hadn't just recounted a series of horrific and traumatic events.
After dinner, she had made excuses to hurry upstairs, mumbling about how tired she was. Oliver could only imagine that she was exhausted, but he was confused. She hadn't wanted to talk about and she wasn't asking to be comforted. It's like she had just moved on. He couldn't understand it.
"Something's wrong," Oliver said, worriedly. His brows were furrowed as he looked up from the quidditch plays he'd been working on at the kitchen table. Thomas Zhao stood at the stovetop, bottling up a few tonics . "It's like… it's like after the trial she just shut down. She says she's fine but she can't be fine. Not after everything she-, she went through - everything she said. Seeing him again."
Thomas sighed out, resting the last few bottles on the kitchen table. He lined up the turmeric nightmare tonic, next to a few bottles of something purple. This next tonic was clear. Thomas said lightly, "Oh don't worry. I'll label these for you so you don't have to remember which one is which."
Oliver grunted in frustration, "No it's fine. It's not that. I'll… I'll manage, thanks. How are you not concerned?! How are you… how are we not doing more? How are YOU not doing more? We're not doing anything!"
Thomas chuckled, "Wood."
Oliver, nervously, looked up at the man standing before him, at his wit's end, searching for answers.
"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to-," Oliver stammered.
"No, no it's not that," Thomas chuckled, pushing the stopper into the last bottle of tonic he had filled. He left a silence between them before putting the stovetop cauldron in the sink and joining Oliver at the kitchen table. "You're right to be worried about her. I'm glad that you do - worry about her."
"Then why are not-," Wood began.
"You know my daughter quite well. You care for her. You love her. And if you love her, really love her for who she is… you know this: You can't push Genevieve to do anything," Thomas explained, calmly.
Olive nodded slowly, "I know but… it's frustrating. She's so damn-."
"Stubborn?"
"Yes."
Both men chuckled.
"She'll come to you when she's ready. Give her space. She's a runner and pushing her to face something before she's ready will only push her further away from it… and you. She runs from the things that scare her and… the feelings she has about what happened. They're unimaginable. Let her come to you," Thomas advised.
Oliver sighed out, slowly coming to terms with what he had to do, "Alright."
Thomas nodded, "Give her time, Wood."
"I will," Oliver replied, feeling defeated that he couldn't do anything but wait. "I just hate it. I hate that I can't help her. I hate him - that that family did that to her."
Thomas chuckled softly, "Welcome to loving my daughter," causing Oliver to laugh too. "And Wood? She hasn't run from you. Don't forget that."
"Thank you, sir," Oliver replied. It felt like this was as close to approval as he could openly get from Thomas Zhao.
The two men sat in silence for a while, letting the conversation set in.
"Hmmm," Thomas sounded.
"What?" Oliver asked.
"If you put your chasers here," he said, pointing to the pieces of parchment paper that still lay on the table. "Here." He pointed once more. "It puts your final chaser open and as close as you can get to the goal posts without going out of bounds."
"Oh… I never thought of it like that. Huh," Oliver said, pensively, as they turned their attention to quidditch.
Later that morning, Thomas Zhao had run out to get a few things for dinner that evening. Oliver heard Gen upstairs but was taking her father's advice and was giving her space. As much as he wanted to run up there and push her into talking about what had happened, he was going to give her the space she needed. It wasn't easy.
Oliver lay on the couch, stretched out, reading the old copy of Quidditch Through the Ages he had found on one of the bookshelves. He had checked out the Hogwarts library copy at least seven times and would never get tired of reading it. He glanced at the clock in the living room, wondering where Thomas had gone. It had been a while since he was gone and hoped the man wouldn't mind if he borrowed his book.
He had to get his mind off of what he had heard during the trial. The things that she had been through were unimaginable and he was disgusted by that family. He was also in awe at her. He couldn't believe, after everything she had been through that she was still here. He couldn't imagine going on with life and it made him realize even more than before why she needed to take their relationship slowly at the beginning.
He returned his attention to the book for comfort, hoping to distract himself once again.
"Ol?" he heard a voice say, causing him to look up. He saw Gen at the top of the staircase in an old t-shirt and pajama shorts.
"Hi. You've been sleeping for a while up there. You alright, my love?" he asked. He watched as she hurried down the stairs, avoiding the question. She walked towards him, staring at the floor. "Gen? You ok?"
Finally, she looked up at him, tears swelling in her eyes.
"No. I know I said I was and I wanted to be. I wanted it to be over. I wanted it all to be over, like-, like if he was found guilty and sent to Azkaban that I would finally feel some kind of peace or closure or something," she said, unable to get through the sentence without wiping tears away.
"Come here," he said softly, beckoning her to him. Gen took a few steps towards him. Oliver grabbed her hands, leading her to the couch. She stared at the floor, still unable to make eye contact with him.
"I thought maybe I'd feel like Dad and Pucey. Like it was an end. But yesterday just made me remember all the things… that I wish I could forget. I don't-, I don't know if there's ever an end for me. For this. Of the pain. The… things that he-, that I-, and Perseus is… is gone. Is dead," she cried. Gen let out a sob, as Oliver pulled her into him, holding her tightly to his chest.
"I know," he whispered, rubbing her back, hoping to calm her down.
She let out a scream of anger and began to pound her fists against his chest, "It's not fair! It's not fair!"
"I know," Oliver repeated, holding her tighter to him.
"He doesn't deserve to live! He-," she screamed, pushing Oliver away from her.
She wasn't mad at him, and she reminded him to thank him later for putting up with the fit that she was throwing. She interrupted her sentence with yet another scream. But Oliver was persistent. He wrapped his arms around her, this time with his chest facing her back, holding her still to him. Her knees buckled as she crumbled once more, Oliver holding her while she continued to sob - while she got it all out. She was terrifying, yet he loved her still. He was relieved that she finally cracked. Everything she was feeling felt right to what had happened. He was glad that it was sooner rather than later and that she was letting him in.
