You Can Live: Chapter 36
Spring classes have started up and I'm already beginning to question my choice of major. So much work! However, this is why I worked so hard throughout January...to be able to bring you guys new chapters! Hope you enjoy. :)
We have finally gotten to the trial! I would also like to make it clear now, that while I am vaguely familiar with the justice/court system of the US, I have no idea exactly how JK Rowling figured these things worked. I've kinda just went with...whatever this is.
Disclaimer: you know I don't own HP. A very rich, brilliant lady does.
Warnings:No graphic cutting in this chapter, though it is mentioned.
Justice
When Severus arrived at the Ministry, it seemed like business as usual, until he reached the hallway outside the courtrooms. It was eerily quiet and devoid of life, compared to the bustling rooms he had flooed into.
No one met him, until he reached the door of his appointed room. A middle-aged wizard came out and looked him up and down. The man raised a brow.
"Severus Snape?" Severus breathed out through his nose slowly, needing to remain calm around Ministry officials.
"Who else would it be, Clyde? Let the man in, so we can get started." Snape smirked as the other man scowled at his superior behind the door. It seemed like the officials wanted this trial over soon as well, which would hopefully lean in his favor.
As predicted, the only ones in the room were the officials running the trial, the collective voting party as well as the Minister and Draco. While Kingsley kept his face neutral, his godson made no effort to disguise his disgust at being called there. The presiding official watched as Severus approached the seat in the middle of the room. The ex-spy tried to keep his scowl to a minimum when the wrist clamps shut automatically around him once he was seated.
"Severus Snape, can I assume you know why you were summoned here today?" Severus nodded solemnly.
"My guardianship over one Harry James Potter is being brought into question. Some seem to believe I am unfit to care for him." The judge nodded, then pointed to a rat faced man standing off to the side.
"Officer Smythe, state your evidence against the defendant." Smythe bowed deeply, and Severus could see the judge's eyes rolling. He could not help but question for the fiftieth time why any of them were there.
"Witches and wizards, it was brought to the attention of my client, Fredrick Strant, that Severus Snape used force and threatened the officials at the Magical Children's Wellness division to gain guardianship of Mr. Harry Potter. When he investigated, he also found that Snape's godson, Draco Malfoy, a known healer's apprentice, was called upon multiple times to Snape's home. We have brought the young Malfoy to testify. When Officer Strant made a personal call to Severus Snape the man was defensive and rude, further adding to the officer's suspicions. We move to have Harry Potter taken from Severus Snape's care and returned to his living, blood relatives."
The potion's master scowled at every word the man spoke. The judge kept his face neutral, though he gave Severus some assessing glances throughout the speech. The other's on the voting party had mixed reactions, some of complete disbelief and others of disgust.
There was one thing, though, that Snape found particularly interesting, as he looked around the room once more. Fredrick Strant was not present.
In the meantime, Smythe bowed again.
"I would like to have Draco Malfoy testify, if you would…" The judge tore his eyes away from the ex-spy in the center of the floor and nodded. Draco then stood, and just pulled back a smirk at the excited prosecutor. The man would not be getting the answers he was looking for.
The blonde was directed to a seat near Severus, though he was not bound to it as the potion's master was. As Draco was a witness, he had been bound by the courts to swear to tell the truth beforehand, rather than forcing him to take Veritaserum. Godfather and godson shared an encouraging look, before turning back to the officials in front of them. Smythe stood off to the side, a smug grin present, and he began his rather…dramatic questioning.
"Mr. Malfoy, you are Madam Pomfrey's apprentice at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, are you not?" Draco nodded.
"Yes, I am training to be a healer under Madam Pomfrey." Smythe nodded like this was extremely valuable information.
"So, when Madam Pomfrey is not available, you stand in for her and provide medical assistance." Again, Draco nodded, and raised a brow, waiting for the man to get to the point. The judge was feeling the same way.
"We all know what a healer's apprentice does, Smythe. Move it along." Flustered, the man fiddled with his robe buttons before collecting himself and nodding.
"Of course. My client Fredrick Strant has witness testimony stating that you have been called away to the home of Severus Snape and his charge Harry Potter multiple times in the past month. Is this true?" Draco sat up a bit straighter, preparing for the ruckus he was about to stir up.
"Yes, I have visited my godfather and my friend multiple times, and yes, before you ask, I went in my capacity as a healer's apprentice a number of those times." Whispers rippled through the voting crowd, until silenced by a glare from the judge. Smythe looked entirely too smug, and Draco couldn't wait to knock his smirk from his face.
"Can you describe the injuries or illnesses you were called upon to help with?" Severus's nails dug into his palms, as he had to listen to the grand list of his ward's injuries again.
"Harry had, on two separate occasions, deep gouges in his neck. On another, he and multiple bruises on his legs. The third time, we weren't sure what was wrong, but I soon found out that Harry Potter had sustained a concussion that made him extremely confused, uncoordinated, and nauseous." More whispers, and this time even more dark glares directed at the potion's master.
"Did you ever have any suspicions that Severus Snape was the cause of these injuries?" The room grew silent, everyone waiting for the accusation to validate the trial. Then Draco opened his mouth.
"None." Smythe smiled and opened his mouth, when the answer finally registered in his head. His gob fell open, and he bobbed his jaw like a fish, completely shocked that his star witness just destroyed his case. Draco smirked at the ugly little man, then turned to address the equally shocked officials.
"Harry Potter suffers from intense, horrifying nightmares, not only of the war, but of his time suffering at the hands of his aunt, uncle and cousin. The first time I was called by my godfather, he was attempting to reach Madam Pomfrey, because Harry had gouged his own neck in an attempt to stop his demons from chocking him. Skin on the neck is extremely delicate, and must be handled very carefully even after healing spells are performed and the injuries closed. The next time, Harry had accidentally scratched his recently healed neck and opened up his wounds again. Harry also suffers flashbacks at times of his uncle or aunt abusing him, and I have had to treat the bruises that come from his running up the stairs to escape."
Severus greatly appreciated that Draco left out the circumstances that led to Harry's flashback. Though understandable once explained, the full truth would not have been looked upon favorably.
"Finally, as I'm sure most of you know, Harry Potter has, what you would call, a Hero's Complex." There were a few smirks and nods among the body of officials. Many on the council had fought at the Battle of Hogwarts and knew of the boy's heroics. "Well, he got his concussion when he stopped a group of bullies from torturing a harmless cat. The boys had punched him a few times, and then thrown him into a wall, which was where he got the head injury." Draco leaned forward then, elbows on his knees. "Each and every time Harry Potter has been injured, Severus Snape has immediately called for me to give his ward proper medical care. Even though he is my godfather, I would not hesitate to take Harry from him myself if I thought my friend was begin mistreated. However, I do not find that to be the case." Smythe had lost complete control of his witness and was off drowning in his own tears in the corner. Draco meanwhile, had taken over the courtroom, Malfoy style.
Kingsley was biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
"Another thing I believe should be mentioned, while I have the floor…" Here he paused. He was being completely unorthodox, and could, technically be given time in Azkaban for taking over the trial as he was. However, the judge was intrigued at this point, and gave the blonde a nod to continue.
"A couple of weeks ago, I visited my godfather. He seemed distressed and said that it was urgent. Once there, I was informed that he had been harassed by a MCW official. The official, I later found out to be Strant, had mentioned that he had been informed that I had made several calls to his residence, all of which I have explained to you. Severus told me, he believed I was being watched. When I returned to my quarters at Hogwart's, I scanned for any scrying spells or listening spells and found none. I did, however, find out that Fredrick Strant was threatening one of the third year students staying over the summer months." He allowed the present the appropriate amount of time for shock, before he moved on.
"The boy's mother was killed in the war, and his father is currently serving time in Azkaban prison. He is due out in three years time. Strant gave the boy the impression that if he did not spy on me and report back to him, Strant would ensure that his father would never be released. It is therefore, my opinion that we should waste no more time throwing false accusations at Severus Snape's guardianship over Harry Potter, but instead there should be an immediate investigation into Officer Fredrick Strant for false accusations, intimidation of a minor and harassment to name a few." For a moment, everyone was stunned, until Smythe grew a spine for a second and sneered at his 'star witness'.
"You can't just start throwing around charges and accusations, Mr. Malfoy. You have no proof." Draco scowled back and pulled up to his full height, ending up just an inch taller than the rat-faced prosecutor.
"You had no evidence that my godfather had hurt his ward at all, and Strant intimidated a young boy to give him information on myself which you saw fit to use in this trial. I also know for a fact, that Severus Snape's guardianship over Harry Potter was conditional, on the point that Severus never reveal to the public that the MCW left Harry Potter in the hands of abusive relatives for years. Those initial years could be swept away as being forced by Albus Dumbledor, but that would not excuse the past summer. Harry Potter was forced to return to the Dursley's abysmal care, and would have returned there again this summer, if Severus Snape had not intervened. Your client, Fredrick Strant, was one of the officials in charge of Harry's case. Now that the public is begging for more information of Harry Potter's childhood and home life, those officials don't want it known how badly they screwed up. This trial is their only hope to maybe fix some of the damage that will be done to their own reputations, when everything eventually comes to light."
Draco finally ended his tirade when the Minister of Magic stood from his spot in the stands and cleared his throat. Once he had everyone's attention, he gave them all a satisfied smile.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, I think everything has been explained rather thoroughly thanks to Mr. Malfoy. I highly recommend Severus Snape be released from his bonds, and this Fredrick Strant taken in to custody. An investigation must be started right away." The voting body and judge nodded and immediately dispersed, and Severus was freed from the chair.
He stood and scowled at his reddened wrists. Draco walked over and glanced at them, before batting his godfather's hands away.
"Don't rub them; they'll get worse." Severus rolled his eyes, but laid a hand on Draco's shoulder and squeezed.
"Thank you, Draco." Kingsley came up behind the blonde and gave him a hearty smack on the back.
"Perhaps you should go into Law instead of Healing, young man. That was very well done. Long winded, but well done." Draco smirked, but before he could respond a couple of distressed Aurors flew into the room and headed straight for the Minister. The smile quickly fell from Shacklebolt's face.
"What is it?" One of the Aurors, a wizard with a bushy brown beard and matching eyebrows, nearly toppled into Draco and Severus in his haste.
"Sir, we went to Strant's office to bring him in for questioning, but…" The man had gone pale, and the other Auror looked like he was about to lose his lunch.
"What man?!" The first man finally opened his mouth.
"He…he's dead, Sir. Murdered." None of them knew what to say, they were shocked. How could this possibly be a coincidence?
"You're sure of this?" Kingsley held back the need to shake the Auror in front of him to get answers.
"Absolutely, Sir. He was practically…butchered." The Minister of Magic then quickly ushered the Aurors out, calling behind him for Severus and Draco to leave but be available for him to contact.
That left Severus and Draco alone in the courtroom, speechless. Neither of them could explain the sudden chill that had fallen over them.
There are still dark things ahead...dark things...
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