Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

If You Can Help Her – Chapter 31 – Parents

"The hearing for the custody of Harry James Potter will now come to order, the honorable judge Alyssa Buchanan presiding," announced the ministry official acting as bailiff while Harry watched. It had been two days since he'd left Hogwarts, and he already missed Ginny. She had wanted to come to the hearing, but was not allowed to attend because one of her aunts was visiting with her family for a few days and Ginny had to help her mother prepare the house for their arrival the next day. Harry had been staying at the newly redecorated Black Manor, located at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

A severe-looking red-haired woman who appeared to be in her thirties wearing black official-looking robes was sitting in the judge's bench. She proclaimed, "Sirius Black, Harry Potter's godfather, whose name has recently been cleared, has requested that he be awarded legal custody of his godson. The Ministry of Magic sent a notice to Mr. Potter's muggle guardians," she looked down at a scroll in front of her, "…the Dursleys, and they sent it back with a note that said, and I quote, 'If someone else wants the freak, they can have him!'" She then put down the scroll and faced the court. "Anyone who can write that about their own nephew is obviously an inappropriate guardian." She then asked, "Sirius Black, would you take the stand?"

"Certainly," Padfoot responded as he got up and walked to the center of the courtroom. After he'd been sworn in and taken a seat, he looked to the judge expectantly.

"According to your petition," asked Judge Buchanan, you were a close friend of James and Lily Potter, and they asked you to be Harry's godfather. Is that true?"

"Yes ma'am."

"It also states that the day after their tragic death, you were framed and imprisoned for betraying them, thus making you unable to fulfill your role as Harry's godfather, until you were recently cleared of all charges. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"Harry Potter is a celebrity in our world, and so many people would wish to adopt him. Can you tell me why you would make a good guardian for Harry Potter?"

Sirius sighed. "First of all, I gave my word I would to his parents, long before he was a celebrity. Secondly, I love him. I've loved him like my own son since the day he was born."

"According to the petition, you're very well off financially, so that won't be a problem."

Sirius smiled, as did Harry. Black replied, "That's also true, but even if I were poor, I'd still be making this petition. I think it's important that Harry be raised by someone who knew his parents. The Dursleys usually refuse to speak of his parents, except to speak ill about them. The Dursleys told him that his parents were alcoholics who died in a car crash before he got his Hogwarts letter."

"Very well. You may be seated, but I must inform you that someone else has filed for custody, and he is about to enter the courtroom."

"What?" asked Sirius as he walked to his seat.

Harry looked where a ministry official opened the door, allowing the entrance of…Lucius Malfoy.

Harry glared at the pompous Death Eater as he strutted in, carrying his awesome walking stick with a snake handle (just because Harry despised the man didn't mean his wand-holder wasn't cool). For a few seconds, Harry felt rage that this…thing…was trying to ruin his life, and then suddenly, for no apparent reason, he felt calm again.

-IYCHH-

At the Burrow, Ginny was drying a glass plate, when suddenly an incredible rage came over her, and she threw the plate down and grabbed another, intent on breaking that as well. Before she could, she felt arms grab her from behind. Ginny's face was red with anger as she struggled against her mother holding her arms behind her back.

"What's wrong dear?!" asked/yelled Molly.

"I…he….I…I don't know!" shouted Ginny as felt herself breathing heavily, feeling furious for some reason. "Harry! There's something wrong….I…I don't know what, but he's very angry."

"Come now, sweetheart," Molly replied, calming down, "I know you want to go his custody hearing, but you just can't. I'm sure that everything will go fine and you'll be celebrating with Harry soon enough. You can't let yourself give in to your anxiety and start imagining things." She pointed her wand at the broken plate. "Reparo. You see, no harm done. Now, I really need you to keep working."

-IYCHH-

Lucius had been sworn in while Harry and Sirius both glared at him. The judge inquired, "Mr. Malfoy, why is it that you believe you would make a better guardian for Mr. Potter than Sirius Black?"

Lucius gave a charming smile. "I've always been concerned about the welfare of young Harry Potter, and was quite distressed when Professor Dumbledore put him someplace that no one knew until Harry started Hogwarts. I was further concerned to learn that he'd been placed with muggles who despise our world. All that young Harry knows of our world, he has picked up at Hogwarts. I can teach young Harry of our ways. I'm also concerned that poor Mr. Black may suffer some long term affects from the Dementors because of his long, unjust imprisonment in Azkaban. He may prove to unintentionally affect Harry adversely…"

As Harry sat there listening, he was surprisingly calm as he imagined how much manure Lucius had filled the room with during his speech. Because he was calm, he was able to realize he would be able to have his say before the hearing was over instead of standing up and screaming, which is probably what Lucius wanted – to prove how 'out-of-control' he was, and therefore in need of a 'proper family.' After Malfoy had gone on and on about how wonderful his family was (and Harry could almost smell the manure now) and how terrific life with them would be, Harry was finally called to the stand and sworn in.

Judge Buchanan remarked, "Well, Harry, you've been offered two different homes today. One with just a father, and the other with a father, mother, and brother. What do you think of this?"

Harry calmly considered what he could say. He knew that, at the moment, the Malfoys were held in high regard, and the accusations of a teenager would get him nowhere. He smiled at the judge.

"While I certainly appreciate the generous offer of Mr. Malfoy, I truly don't believe I'd be happy there. I'm not very familiar with his family, apart from his son. He may be unaware of the fact that his son Draco and I have been rivals since the day we met on the Hogwarts express. We do not get along very well. I believe that it would place both of us in a difficult position if we had to live together. I certainly wouldn't wish to disrupt his home.

"I also believe that my parents were aware of the fact that Sirius was single when they asked him to be my godfather. The fact that he is the guardian that my parents chose means a lot to me, not only because it would fulfill their wishes, but because Sirius is better equipped to tell me about my parents. You see, I never got the chance to talk to them and am always eager to learn more about them from others.

"I have had many opportunities to get to know Sirius better since his name was cleared, beginning with the celebration that we had. We have regularly corresponded since then, and I feel truly close to him, and he hasn't seemed strange or emotionally unstable to me. Sirius asked for my permission to apply for guardianship, while Mr. Malfoy, no doubt in his zeal to try to help me, did not. That consideration also means a lot to me. I have no wish to insult the Malfoys, and truly appreciate their kindness, but if I get to choose my guardian, I choose Sirius."

Harry serenely watched Mr. Malfoy's face turning redder and redder as Harry's speech kept on going. He didn't know why Lucius wanted to adopt him, but he knew it wasn't out of concern for his well-being. After being dismissed from the stand, he took his seat and looked back at the judge.

The judge announced, "While the court, as well as Mr. Potter, does appreciate the generosity of the Malfoy family, we place the child's wishes in the highest regard, because forcing a child to live where he does not wish would only serve to make the transition that much harder. Many children in that situation have even run away. Therefore, I have decided to award custody of Harry Potter to Sir…"

"WAIT! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" shouted Malfoy, losing control. "The boy is obviously unstable and doesn't know what he wants! He needs…"

"Mr. Malfoy! You are out of order!" shouted the judge over Malfoy's rant. "Harry Potter seems to be one of the most well-adjusted and polite young men I've handled a custody hearing for. If you think that he's unstable, then I'm glad that I decided to award custody to Sirius Black. Case closed."

-IYCHH-

At the Burrow, the unexplained rage Ginny was feeling was replaced with joy. Molly watched her daughter's countenance change from angry to happy in a matter of seconds. "Ginny dear, are you all right?"

Ginny blinked a few times, confused about her feelings. "I-I'm fine. Everything's fine! Everything's wonderful!"

-IYCHH-

As Sirius and Harry made their way out of the fireplace at Grimmauld Place, Sirius complimented, "You handled yourself very well in there. For a moment, I thought you were going to lose your temper when Malfoy said he wanted to adopt you."

Harry looked in his godfather's eyes. "For a moment, I thought I was going to, as well. I almost started screaming when Lucius Malfoy took the stand, but then suddenly I felt calm, and was able to think."

"I thought I was gonna lose control and start laughing when you talked about how you appreciated Malfoy's generosity."

"I figured that if I simply said what they are, the judge wouldn't believe me, and would think I was crazy. I'd have ended up at St. Mungo's or the Malfoy Estate."

"I'm pretty sure that's what Lucius expected. What I don't know is why he wanted you in the first place."

Harry answered thoughtfully, "Either to kill me, torture me, or use me. My guess is that he'd try using the Imperius curse on me to do whatever he wants. If that didn't work, he'd torture me." Harry took a deep breath. "I think I'll call Ginny to tell her how it went."

-IYCHH-

Ron was taking a break from degnoming the garden, reading a letter (more like a novel) from Hermione in the living room when Harry's head appeared in the fireplace. "Hey, Ron," he called, getting Ron's attention.

Ron looked up. "Oh, Hi, Harry." Ron then shouted, "Ginny! Harry's on the floo!" He turned back to Harry. "How'd the hearing go? It's all Ginny seems to be talking about."

"Sirius Black is now my guardian! I never have to see the Dursleys again!"

"That's great!" replied both Ron and Ginny (who'd just entered the room).

"That's wonderful news!" commented Mrs. Weasley, who'd also come when she heard Ron yell. She then glanced at her daughter and asked, "So, Harry, dear, were there any problems at the hearing?"

Harry's face became expressionless. "Lucius Malfoy showed up and tried to get custody of me."

All three redheads' eyes bulged out at that statement. Ginny spoke. "I'll bet you were upset to see him there, huh?"

Harry looked deep in thought for a few seconds before answering. "I was at first, but then I somehow calmed down and was able to think. Something just came over me. Anyway, things worked out fine, so we're having a party here tonight at seven. You're all invited!"

"I-I'll be there if we can finish up here by then," Ginny responded, "and I'll want to talk to you about, er, about the hearing, in private."

"We'll all try to get there, Harry-dear, but right now we've got to get back to work. Congratulations!" said Molly.

"See you, Harry!" stated Ron.

"I love you," declared Ginny, earning a look of concern from her mother and a glare from her brother.

Harry blushed at that statement, but knew he'd regret it if he didn't answer in kind, so despite the fact that Mrs. Weasley was in the room, Harry replied, "I love you, Ginny," and vanished quickly out of the fireplace.

Molly gazed at her daughter appraisingly. "You-you've been dating Harry for a long time now, haven't you?"

Ginny smiled. "One and a half happy years."

"We, er, we should talk about, er, boys soon."

At that moment, Ron snorted, earning a death glare from both Molly and Ginny. Ron quickly muttered, "Sorry."

"Are you quite done making that racket, yet?" shouted Percy from upstairs.

"SHUT UP, WEATHERBY!" shouted Ginny, "If you want quiet, go back to work! This is a house!"

"What's bothering you, Ginevra?" inquired Percy condescendingly.

"YOU!"

"Now children," said Molly, only to be interrupted by Percy.

"Now, mother, I can handle this. I'll find out why my baby sister is upset with me. I probably stepped on a stuffed animal."

"You're the only Weasley who didn't come to my defense at the Yule Ball! I don't need anyone to defend me, but it was nice to see Ron, Fred, and George joining Harry when that git tried to…"

Molly had a look of shock in her face but said nothing.

"I was embarrassed by the way you made a public spectacle of yourself and that boy. Slapping him and shouting like that. It was completely inappropriate. You should have dealt with him more discretely! I was further embarrassed when our brothers walked toward him looking ready to kill. I expected it of your boyfriend. He does tend to be a bit of a hot-he…ouch!"

At that moment, Ginny slapped Percy even harder than she'd slapped Corner. "That git Michael wouldn't take no for an answer! BUT YOU'D KNOW THAT IF YOU'D CARED ENOUGH TO EVEN SEE IF I WAS ALL RIGHT!"

Without even bothering to answer, Percy turned around and retreated to his bedroom as Molly asked, "What happened at the Yule Ball?" Once Ginny and Ron had explained what had happened, Molly suggested angrily, "We should call Percy down again so I can slap him!"

-IYCHH-

Chapter end