Disclaimer I am not JK Rowling, and I do not own Harry Potter. Only this particular story line and original characters belong to me. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling, and I make no money from the writing of this fanfiction

A/N: Shout out to nikkistew2 for being the 100th reviewer!

Chapter Twenty Eight

Arthur Weasley stood staring at the Floo for a moment after his daughter and son in law spun away. He couldn't get the image of the tears in Ginny's eyes as they left out of his mind. Straightening his spine, he turned and walked back to the table, just as Molly exploded in a temper.

"After everything we've done for Harry; taking him in to our home, treating him as one of our own even before he married Ginny, and that display of disrespect is how he repays us?! Well, just wait until I get a letter written. A Howler always brought Ronald back in line and what's good enough for one of my own children-"

"MOLLY! That is enough! Harry is a grown man and soon to be a father. You will not send him a Howler for telling you the truth! I just watched our daughter leave this house with tears in her eyes; tears that you, with your absolute need to always be right, caused! Harry has already said that if Ron's behavior doesn't change, if he is allowed to come here instead of going to Azkaban that we have to go to his home to see the baby when he or she arrives. Do you really want him to say that you aren't allowed to see the baby because of your own behavior?"

"My behavior? Arthur, I'm not the one who was so completely disrespectful, Harry is the one who did that."

"What I saw was Harry standing up to defend his wife and one of his best friends, while you were doing your best to see to it everyone saw things your way. And it could very well have cost this family the privilege of getting to know our first grandchild from Ginny. No more. Your tirades against members of this family who disagree with you are over. Am I making myself clear?"

"Privilege? What do you mean, 'privilege of getting to know our grandchild', Arthur? That baby is our grandchild, so we have a right to get to know him or her. No matter what Harry says."

"Molly, do you even hear what you're saying? Despite being the baby's grandparents, if Harry and Ginny decide they don't want us to see the child, they can keep us from seeing the baby by simply removing our Floo access to Grimmauld and setting the wards to keep us from apparating there. Yes, we have family dinners here every week, but they aren't obligated to come to those dinners. And before you even try to say that the Ministry could simply order them to allow us to see the baby, you're wrong. A member of this family has been proven in the Wizengamot to be violent; do you honestly think they would simply tell Harry and Ginny to let us see the baby, knowing that? No, they wouldn't."

Bill spoke up, seeing the anger and confusion on Molly's face.

"Mum, Harry was right. Yes, Ginny is my sister, but the day she married Harry, she became his to protect and care for. If Harry were friendly with someone outside our family that had a habit of flying off the handle in anger on a regular basis, would you want Harry to let that person be around Ginny or the baby just because the person was a friend of Harry's?"

"No, of course not, but this is different."

"Why is it different, Mum? How is it different? Because the person in question is Ron, and Ron is a member of the family? That isn't a difference, and it isn't a reason to say Ron should be around Ginny or the baby. It's an excuse because Ron is the youngest son. Harry has already seen Ron hit Hermione, and has no guarantee he wouldn't try to hit Ginny if he lost his temper. And I'll guarantee you; if that happens, it would be a race to see who would rip Ron limb from limb the fastest for it; me or Harry."

"Since it's obvious that no one is interested in what I think anymore, I'm going to go to bed. I never thought I'd see the day when my family would turn on me like this, just as I never thought this family would turn on another member of this family. I'm absolutely disgusted and ashamed of both of you for that. Good night," Molly sniffed, before turning and leaving the dining table.

"Dad," Bill began, "Harry meant what he said. If Mum wants to see Ginny or the baby, she needs to see someone about her anger. I can try to find some names of people we could afford for Mum to see, if you want."

"Thank you, Bill. That would help tremendously. Then the only obstacle is actually getting your mother to see the person. Ginny is our only daughter; I can't and won't lose her because your mother can't control her temper."

OoOoOoO

Ronald Weasley was waiting in his cell for his solicitor to arrive. It wasn't something he was looking forward to, since the man was bringing a Mind Healer with him for Ron to talk to, hoping that it would help keep Ron out of Azkaban. He still couldn't believe they found him guilty. It wasn't long before a guard escorted him to a room where his solicitor waited, a dark haired wizard beside him.

"Mr. Weasley, this is Connor Abbott, a friend of mine who works as a Mind Healer. Connor, this is Ronald Weasley."

"Mr. Weasley, how are you today?"

"I'm sitting in a jail, Mr. Abbott; how the fuck do you think I am?"

"I am going to be asking you several questions in order to make my evaluation. Also, to insure that our discussion is private, I will be silencing the room, to prevent anyone outside from overhearing, and your solicitor will be doing the same for himself. In this way, he can remain in the room, yet won't know anything about what is discussed. Clear so far?"

"So even Mr. Stimpton won't know what I say to you, even though he's in the room with us? I can live with that. Go ahead."

"I also want you to know that yours is not the first legal case I've been asked to give an evaluation on a defendant. I will tell you now, if at any time I sense you aren't being completely honest with me, or that you are attempting to, shall we say, spin the story to make yourself look good, I will withdraw from this case, refuse to do anything more to assist, and communicate that to your solicitor. I need your complete honesty, both in your answers and your responses such as body language. Clear?"

"So if I get mad, and start to make a fist…?"

"Then I want you to let me see that, since it is an honest response to an emotion you're feeling at the time, yes."

"Fine, I guess I can do that."

Connor Abbott nodded then looked over at Mr. Stimpton, who waved his wand around his head, silencing all sound around himself. Then Mr. Abbott drew his wand and did the same for the room as a whole. Satisfied no one would overhear anything, although someone looking into the window on this room would still see them, he turned back to Ron.

"To begin, Mr. Weasley, since I've been told you're an avid player of the game, what in your opinion, is the overall goal of a chess game?"

"To use your own pieces in a strategy to discover the other player's weakness so you can use that weakness against them in such a way to manipulate the way the opponent plays so you win the game."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Mr. Abbott made a notation on the parchment in front of him.

"Now, going back to your school years for a moment. What were you hoping for the day you boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time?"

"Well, I was hoping to get into Gryffindor, since that's where my whole family got sorted, and since from Mum's stories growing up I knew we were about the same age and he'd be on the train too, I was hoping to meet Harry Potter."

"Expand on that a bit for me, Mr. Weasley. Why were you hoping to meet Harry Potter on the train? You could easily have met him during the sorting at Hogwarts, correct?"

"I knew from Mum and Dad he didn't grow up in the Wizarding world, so wouldn't know anything. I wanted to make sure he didn't make friends with people that might go to Slytherin, since that house is always full of evil, dark gits. Plus, he was the hero of the Wizarding world. If he was my friend, then people wouldn't always look at me and compare me to my brothers. People would see me as important, too, with Harry Potter as my best mate."

Again, Mr. Abbott made a notation on the parchment, and then asked his next question.

"You met Hermione Granger on the train that day as well, didn't you? What was your first impression of her?"

"We weren't even at Hogwarts yet, and she fixed Harry's glasses, showing off. Then she tells me I have dirt on my nose before leaving the compartment. Like she was trying to make me look bad in front of Harry or something. I thought she was a know it all bint, is what I thought of her at first. Then she has to answer every bloody question the Professors ask in class, proving she was nothing but a know it all. I hated she was put in Gryffindor with Harry and me."

"Yet you began seeing each other in later years. Why start dating her if you hated even the fact you were in the same house at Hogwarts?"

"I knew from not recognizing her name at the sorting she was probably a Muggleborn. I'm a Pureblood, and most Pureblood girls don't like to just do as they're told by someone they're dating; they save obedience for their fathers, Heads of House, and husbands."

"Having a witch do as she's told is important to you, isn't it? Why is that?"

"Because I spent my whole life as the youngest son in my family. Hardly anyone listened to what I had to say until I met Harry, not even my baby sister. So I wanted a witch who would do what I told her to do, when I told her to do it. I wanted to be the most important in that witch's life. I couldn't control anything growing up; not the fact we were poor, not the fact all of my school stuff was second hand, nothing. A witch doing what she's told puts me in control for once."

"You look as though you're getting angry. Why?"

"Because all of this stuff you're asking me should be obvious. So I don't know why you're asking about it. Fuck! Why do I have to keep explaining about this? Things would have been just fine if Hermione had just done as she was told!"

"Thank you for your honesty, Mr. Weasley. I think our discussion has lasted long enough this visit."

Mr. Abbott looked over to Mr. Stimpton and gave a signal, then lowered the silencing spell on the room.

"You finished your evaluation, Connor?"

"Yes. I'll have my report ready for you in time for the sentencing. Before you ask, yes, I'll give the panel my opinion on the evaluation before the sentence is passed. Just have me called as an expert witness, as usual."

OoOoOoO

Amelia Bones sat in her office, looking over the evidence she had so far in her investigation on the missing reports that were later found. She knew she would be arresting at least two people, but needed more than circumstantial evidence.

Hopefully she would find the evidence needed before someone was severely hurt or killed.