Note: I changed the previous chapter slightly so that now the wizengamot doesnt know something crucial which Bill reveals to the public in this chapter. I guess what he and the psychiatrist spoke of has been kept in secret til the day in court. She'll speak in the next chapter. Cheers.
[Chapter 8: Blood Sanctity]
~o~
The Wizengamot head judge sneered down from the benches to the man in crimson robes at the podium.
"Do not let your arrogance or pride presume to besmirch the sanctity of our laws, the righteous lawfulness of our courts nor besmirch the sanctity of the blood of wizarding society. Or do you pretend to have no understanding of the foundations on which our great society is built?"
"I am well aware of the laws, sir," Bill bit back his temper. The psychiatrist could tell that the struggle of temper was real when the full moon was so near.
The judge peered over his half moon glasses with furrowed brows. "Then you are aware of the importance of blood sanctity?"
The psychiatrist thought she caught Bill laugh in contempt for a split second before the young man opened his mouth and answered as favourably as his own temper, and pride, could allow.
"I am aware of its apparent importance. But I find its actual importance rather wanting."
"Do not question the law!"
"I know. I am part werewolf, that's the real reason why I'm here. The Ministry distrusts anything it does not understand. Once this was muggleborns, now that they have rights, it has resigned itself to bullying the remnant outcasts of wizarding society, werewolves chief among them-"
The judge pummeled his gavel til splinters seemed to eschew from it. "Enough!"
"Am I not right?"
"You are this close to being locked up in Azkaban, on full charges, without a trial."
He fell silent. Though his eyes remained churning with flakes of liquid amber; the vein in his temple pulsing, his hands barely restraining the urge to lash and scratch out at the world like the inner wolf demanded.
Yet Bill Weasley restrained himself this much.
The psychiatrist let out a breath of relief. The man had been so close to dooming himself, and Hermione by extension, to the cold light of day.
"Now do you wish to have a trial or not Mr. William Weasley? You may face time in Azkaban for your complete lack of conduct towards wizarding society and its rules. Though I am not without sympathy for your services during the war. These charges come from your brother himself, who has done far more as a war hero..."
All eyes turned to Ron who sat fuming, also refusing to meet the eyes of his brother.
"Do not be so brazen Mr. William Weasley," the judge said more calmly. "You have broken the Werewolf Code of Conduct. You attacked a witch. Are you aware of the seriousness of the charges brought against you by your brother? He says you attacked his wife and tried to make her a werewolf?"
Bill smirked and the psychiatrist wondered what move he would pull next.
"The only thing I did was kiss and lightly bite my lover," Bill announced to the whole world finally.
The whole of the Wizengamot erupted in shock.
Scandal. Among the Weasleys. War heroes. Betrayal. Among brothers. How shocking. Who would've believed...Hermione Granger...
The whispers grew furiously in volume. Even the judge was temporarily unsettled and turned to discuss with his advisor.
No doubt these whispers now would make the headlines of every newspaper by tomorrow.
Ronald Weasley's cheeks burned scarlet in fury.
The psychiatrist read intense humiliation in the younger brother's face. No doubt Ron would've liked to keep this aspect a secret while he punished his brother privately for his actions.
But now the whole world knew of the betrayal.
The psychiatrist stared across the room at Bill who stood at the centre of this fiasco; his eyes were calm like the look of a predator chasing down a rabbit.
Perhaps she understood him now completely. He truly did have a wolf inside him.
Perhaps before Bill ever fought a werewolf, he'd always had that streak in him -wild and untamed-as he'd chased dragons through the sky in Romania.
~o~