Did I say two weeks? I meant three... *sigh*

Warning: reference to physical/emotional/sexual abuse

Chapter 9- The Trial

"No further questions," Rodrick Jones said. He stepped away from the witness stand, smirking blatantly across the open space. He was every bit as horrible as Lucius had warned, his persecution style aimed to humiliate.

"This is ridiculous," Harry muttered, watching Amelia Woods stand and approach the stand. She'd been expensive, concise, and Lucius had promised she was as good as they could get, but Harry couldn't stop himself from wishing she was better. That she would just tear Jones' case apart instead of asking careful question after careful question. He just wanted this to be over.

"Mr. Weasley," Woods asked. "You're saying you feared for your life."

"I am," Ron Weasley answered. His lips were pressed tight together like he was trying to keep himself from smiling, and Harry wondered how much he was enjoying being the center of attention for once. "I mean, I did fear for my life. Draco Malfoy almost killed me, and no one did anything about it."

"I see," Wood said, clipping the words just enough to make it clear how ludicrous she found his statement. "And did you, Mr. Weasley, ever approach Severus Snape about your concern during his time as Headmaster or before?"

"Well, it wasn't like he would bloody listen if I did say something."

"I simple yes or no will do," Woods answered, and Harry bit his lip to hide his smile of satisfaction as Weasley's face went bright red.

"No, I didn't."

"And did you ever confide your concerns in Dumbledore when he was alive?"

"I didn't know Malfoy was—"

"I simple yes or no, Mr. Weasley," the judge interrupted.

"…No," Weasley muttered, sinking down into his seat sullenly.

"Did you talk to any adult about your fear?"

"Well, no, but—"

"And you are, of course, aware that there are no rules against Werewolves attending Hogwarts?" Woods asked.

"….Yes."

"So, unless Headmaster Snape was informed of your discomfort, how could he be expected to act on it?"

"I…" Weasley flicked his eyes around, sinking even lower in his chair. "I think it should have been obvious."

"Ah, yes, thank you," Woods answered, turning away from him. "No further questions."

"She's doing well," Lucius said, his knuckles white against his walking stick.

"She made a good case against Severus just letting me run around during the full moon earlier too," Draco answered. He sat very still in the seat beside Harry, his hands folded carefully in his lap like he was afraid to move them and draw too much attention to himself.

Harry shifted in his seat, brushing his hand along Draco's wrist. Woods was doing a good job. He just hoped it made a difference to the Wizengamet. There was still a lot of prejudice against Werewolves, and that didn't go away just because Weasley was stupid or Lucius bribed them.

"What is McGonagall doing here?" Harry asked.

"What?" Draco answered, leaning forward to watch as McGonagall climbed the witness stand. "The persecution called McGonagall. Why? They already had that spy Justin Adarins practically lying on the stand."

"They probably want someone that can't be accused of being biased," Lucius said, tapping his walking stick against the ground. "McGonagall has no reason to lie for the ministry while Adarins does."

"You're a teacher a Hogwarts?" Jones asked. "The head of Gryffindor house to be precise?"

"I am," McGonagall answered.

"The house Harry Potter was sorted into?"

"It is."

"And is it true that Harry Potter stayed at Hogwarts over the summer months?"

"After his fourth year, yes, he did."

"He was in your care during that time?" Jones asked, and McGonagall pressed her lips together.

"No."

"No?" Jones asked. He leaned against the witness stand, tilting his head toward McGonagall with a sly knowing smile on his face that made a shiver go up Harry's spine. What exactly did Jones think he knew? "His head of house didn't supervise him while he stayed at Hogwarts?" Jones asked.

"Severus Snape supervised Potter during the summer months," McGonagall answered, leaning all the way back in her seat like she was trying to get away from Jones.

"And why was that?"

"Headmaster Dumbledore felt Professor Snape had a connection with Potter," McGonagall answered. "Besides, I was otherwise engaged for much of the time."

"And did he? Have a connection with the boy."

"Potter did seem to be much more comfortable around Professor Snape than anyone else," McGonagall said, and Jones hummed. Harry thought it was supposed to be a sound of affirmation, but it sounded more like a sound of scorn.

"Why?"

"I was told Potter's home situation was…" she flicked her eyes up, and Harry met her look evenly. He hated how he was being used to make Severus look guilty, but if her telling the truth was the only way to get him out of this mess, then he would make sure she did. "Potter was being abused at home," McGonagall said, talking over the hushed whispers that fell over the room. "Severus Snape was the one who discovered what was happening to him and took him away."

"So," Jones said, tapping a finger against the wood of the stand. "It's fair to say that Potter was in a delicate state of mind when he met Severus Snape?"

"I…" McGonagall hesitated. "I wouldn't say that."

"And why not?"

"Potter was never… He was never timid toward me."

"Toward you," Jones said.

"I'm sorry?"

"He was never timid toward you." Jones clarified. "As if he didn't like you? As if, perhaps, someone told him not to? Someone like Severus Snape, perhaps?"

"Are you suggesting Severus Snape deliberately tried to make Potter hostile toward anyone who wasn't him?" McGonagall asked, and at least she sounded appalled, even if she had walked herself right into his trap.

"Since you brought the question up, do you think it possible?"

"I—Of course not," McGonagall answered. "Professor Snape loves Mr. Potter. He would never—"

"Speaking of Severus Snape's love for Potter. How often would you say Potter stayed in Headmaster Snape's private rooms during the night," Jones asked. Severus stiffed in his chair, his head bowed in the middle of the room, and Harry wished Severus could just leave. This whole thing was ridiculous.

"I… couldn't give a precise number."

"But it is policy for students to be in their dorms at night? Not teacher's private rooms."

"It is…." McGonagall said, and she sounded warier now, her answer trailing off at the end, as if she wasn't sure she should say anything.

"And what do you suppose happened in Snape's private rooms at night?"

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Well, if Snape had tried to take advantage of Potter, would Potter have been in the right state of mind to deny him?'

"How is any of this relevant?" Woods asked, standing with her hands flat against the table. "This trial is about Severus Snape's ability to be Headmaster at Hogwarts, not whether or not he mistreated Harry Potter."

"And yet, if he mistreated one of his students while he was Headmaster, doesn't that prove he was abusing his position?" Jones answered.

"I'll allow it," the judge said, gesturing for Jones to continue.

"This is bad," Lucius said.

"The problem is that we don't have a solid enough defense for the accusation of Headmaster Snape's relationship with Mr. Potter," Woods said. Severus kept his head down, his hands clasped together on top of the table. This whole thing was so exhausting. He wanted to be back at Hogwarts, wrapped around Lucius. He wanted to be getting married. He wanted to not regret to way he'd let Harry stay so close to him for so many years. Harry had needed him, and that shouldn't have made him look guilty, but few things about his life had been fair.

"What can we do?" Lucius asked. Severus shifted his leg under the table, his thigh pressing up against Lucius'. Lucius looked a mess, bags under his eyes and his hair thrown up haphazardly with strands falling loose. He was trying so hard, and Severus really didn't know if it mattered.

"We could play the angle of your relationship with Headmaster Snape," Woods said, tapping her finger against her forearm as she paced. "But there's also the fact that the two of you have been having trouble until recently. That could also open the door for them to accuse Headmaster Snape of being distracted because of your relationship."

"What about Harry and me?" Draco asked. He leaned his elbows onto the table, his chin tilted up towards where Woods was standing across the room. "Couldn't you put me on the stand to talk about us?"

"I hesitate to put you on the stand, Mr. Malfoy," Woods answered. "Right now we have a good handle of their accusations regarding you, but if you go up and answer one question wrong, there may be no salvaging the case."

"So, put me on," Harry said, and Severus closed his eyes, holding his sigh in check. Harry should never have been put in the position where he felt he needed to protect Severus, especially when he was already struggling.

"That could work…" Woods said, the swoosh of her robes sounding against the stone floor. "But you need to be sure Mr. Potter. I'm going to have to ask you questions you might not want to answer."

"I'm sure," Harry answered.

"Harry," Granger's voice called from behind them. Draco's fingers wrapped around Harry's wrist, and Harry resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. What exactly did Draco think he was going to do?

"Granger," Harry answered, half-turning toward her. They'd returned to Hogwarts for the night, the trial restarting in the morning. Lucius had disappeared with a hand pressed to each other their shoulders, white blonde hair falling out of his ponytail and around his face in wisps.

"Harry, I'm so sorry," Granger said, stepping closer. "I really didn't know that Ron was planning to testify against Headmaster Snape. I…" she hesitated, her lips parting as she sighed. "Ron is wrong about this."

"What do you want?" Harry asked.

"I've been researching wizarding law," she answered, twisting her hands in her robes. "I thought I could find something to help, and I—Harry, is it really true you're going to be testifying tomorrow?"

"Where did you hear that?" Draco asked, his hand tightening on Harry's wrist.

"Blaise told Neville." She shrugged.

"What about it?" Harry answered, twisting his wrist so Draco had to let go, and then sliding his hand down to twine his fingers through Draco's.

"They're going to ask you a lot of questions," Granger said, her eyes lighting up like he'd just given her a fascinating book or something. "And I've been studying. I thought I could help you prepare."

"Why?" Harry asked

"We used to be friends," Granger answered, and she sounded so sincere, shifting her feet across the stone floor as if offering to share her research with Harry was really going to change his mind about her. "And I lost that without even realizing."

"This won't make up for that," Harry said.

"I know," Granger said. "But maybe it's a start?" And he almost said no; he almost threw her offer in her face, but he did need the help, and it wasn't him who would be hurt if they never talked against after this. Besides, he was so tired of being angry all the time.

"Alright," Harry said.

"But—" Draco started. Harry squeezed Draco's hand; maybe it was time to start moving on.

"If you want to try," Harry said. "But I won't just forgive you. I don't have it in me."

"I don't expect you to."

"I never thought I'd see the day Lucius Malfoy asked me for help," Kingsley Shacklebolt said, and Lucius tightened his fingers around the head of his cane, refusing to move from his spot in the alley. "What was it you called me during the first war?" Shacklebot asked. "A blood traitor?" Lucius smiled grimly; he was actually pretty sure he'd used stronger language.

"I'm sure you understand the necessity to let by-gones be by-gones, Shacklebolt," Lucius answered.

"It's Head Auror Shacklebolt now," Shacklebolt said, and Lucius could tell exactly what he was doing. He wanted Lucius to bow and scrape to him. He knew exactly the position Lucius was in, and he wanted Lucius to beg him for help.

"Of course," Lucius bowed his head slightly. He'd spend half his life pretending to respect idiots in positions of power. If Shacklebolt thought it hurt him to play the political game, he was more than wrong. "Head Auror."

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Shacklebolt asked, not looked near as satisfied as he had a minute ago.

"I hear you're very popular within the ministry," Lucius said. "If something were to happen to the current Minister, you might stand a chance at getting elected yourself, don't you think? I could even help."

"Are you trying to bribe me for information?" Shacklebolt answered, his robes swishing across the ground as he paced closer.

"I'm saying that we could help each other," Lucius said. "You work with Scrimgeour—"

"No one works with him," Shacklebolt interrupted. "He does everything by himself."

"All the more reason to want him gone," Lucius answered, and Shacklebolt narrowed his eyes. "You must know something," Lucius said. "Anything that can give me a leg up on him." Shacklebolt pursed his lips, tilting his head as he considered Lucius.

Harry settled himself into the seat behind the witness stand, planting his feet flat against the ground and wrapping his hands around the edge of the chair were no one but the judge could see. Draco was in the same spot as yesterday, his silver-grey eyes reflecting the court room lights back at Harry with Lucius sitting pencil straight beside him.

"What was your relationship with your Aunt and Uncle like?" Woods asked, and even though her voice was gentle, Harry still had to stop himself from jumping. He was suddenly glad for Granger's help the night before. He'd almost left when she'd asked him about his Aunt and Uncle, but he'd known he'd have to talk about it. And if they hadn't already talked about what he would say, Granger analyzing the situating and Draco's grip tight around his fingers, he would have froze.

"Abusive," Harry said.

"Can you give examples?" Woods asked, and again he was glad they'd picked the examples beforehand, because no, he didn't want to tell her or the courtroom anything about the Durleys. They didn't have any right to hear.

"There was a cupboard under the stairs they would lock me in for days without food if they were angry," Harry said, and he was tell that the wood of the witness stand had been enchanted to stop it from rotting. He could feel the shimmer of a charm lingering around surface. "They would hit me if I didn't do what they said or if I did something they said not to." There were so many other things he could have said. They didn't care what Dudley did to me. They made me work till my hands bled. They—

"And did they ever touch you inappropriately?" Woods asked, and Harry couldn't stop himself from flinching.

"Yes," he said, tightening his grip on the edge of his chair.

"Mr. Potter, I know this is difficult," Woods answered. "But can you describe—"

"Uncle Vernon—" Harry took a deep breathe, hating the way it shook against his throat. "It was right before my second year at Hogwarts. Severus was…" he trailed off. Severus had his head bowed over, his shoulders bent as he sat in the center of the room, and Harry wished he could tell him that he didn't blame Severus for what had happened. "Severus had been staying with us, but he'd left, and I – My Uncle was angry…" Harry shivered, forcing his hands to stay against the wood of the chair. He'd once told Draco that the worst part of being raped had been the feeling that he was nothing—that he really didn't matter to anyone. He knew that wasn't true now, but he could still feel that feeling pressing against the back of his mind, and he didn't know if that would ever really go away.

"What did your Uncle do, Mr. Potter?" Woods asked, and the swoosh of her robes against the floor was the only sound in the court room.

"He—" he cleared his throat. "He raped me."

"And did Headmaster Snape ever touch you inappropriately?" Woods asked.

"No."

"Did he ever manipulate you?"

"No."

"Would you have known if he was manipulating you?" Woods asked, and Harry jerked his head to meet her gaze. Her eyes glittered with triumphant certainty that Harry didn't understand. She wouldn't have asked if she didn't think she already knew his answer, but how did she know his answer?

"Yes," Harry answered, and Woods raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, and how could you be so sure? Was there perhaps someone else manipulating you, which gave you the ability to see when you were being manipulated?"

"Objection," Rodrick Jones said, standing so abruptly his chair skidded backward. "She'd leading the witness."

"Mr. Potter?" the judge prompted, ignoring Jones.

"There was someone..." Harry said. He hesitated, but Woods' lips curled, and she seemed sure. "Albus Dumbledore," he said, ignoring the collective gasp that went around the room. "He knew I was being abused and did nothing." And again, there were other things he could say. He knew I would have to die to defeat Voldemort and waited to tell me. He knew Voldemort was coming back and didn't do anything.

"But Severus Snape did?" Woods asked, and she brushed her hand along the wood of the witness stand, the magic thrumming against her own.

"When he found out what was happening, he did everything he could to take me away from them," Harry answered.

"So, you don't believe Headmaster Snape helped you only out of some nefarious purpose?" Woods asked. "He wasn't manipulating you or using you in your opinion."

"He wasn't," Harry answered, and his fingers were beginning to hurt from gripping his chair. "Severus was there for me when no one else was. I don't think he's perfect, but he's… He's done nothing to deserve this treatment."

"Yes, I agree." Woods smiled, her triumph cold and calculating in her eyes, and it was suddenly easy to see how she'd once been a Slytherin. She turned to the judge and bowed. "No more questions."

"It's the prosecution's witness," the judge said, waving his hand over the courtroom. Jones was still standing, shuffling his hands through the papers on his desk with his face pale.

"Right," he said, twisting his hands behind his back. "I have a few questions about your relationship with Headmaster Snape, Mr. Potter."

Thanks for reading. There will be one more chapter. I've already started on it so it will be posted soon.