Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot
Pairings: Harry x Voldie, James x Sirius, James x Lily
Warnings: Slash, Mpreg, light bashing
AN: For this chapter, I know Lucius Malfoy lived off his family fortune but for the sake of this fic he is a lawyer for the ministry.
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If James wasn't stressed about the trial before, he was now. Harry had woken up crying in pain at three in the morning with a childhood wizarding flu. Luckily the flu only lasted a day but unfortunately that day had to be the day of the custody trials.
The flu was known to attack the child's magic core and if not properly taken care of could result in a damaged core. It was a good thing that James knew how to take care of it.
Harry screamed and sobbed as pain flooded his little body. He squirmed and yelled and tried to do something to make the hurt go away.
"James, go shower and get ready for the trial, I'll take him." Sirius said, the man was showered and dressed already. He had already woken and fed Abby and Matt and was now just waiting on James.
The three year old was passed to Sirius and the dark haired man carried the boy downstairs to give James some time to collect himself and relax.
Harry whimpered as Sirius pressed a tip of a sippy cup to his lips. Sirius did not dare give the boy anything other than water.
"Slowly," Sirius advised as the boy drank the liquid. He put the bottle down and pressed a dummy to his lips and rocked him. "shh, just close your eyes."
Harry glared up at him and whimpered again. He wanted the pain to go away. His dummy, something he hadn't used in a long time, bobbed frantically. Sirius soothed the boy's eyes shut and continued rocking him. He covered the boy with his precious blankie and prayed the boy would fall asleep.
He sighed in relief when Harry's breathing calmed. His body was still flinching and shivering as pain racked through it but the boy was too exhausted to wake up.
Sirius placed the boy in his stroller, lying down and covered the boy's face with the hood. He packed a small container of goldfish for the boy so he could eat if he wanted to when he woke up. He placed the sippy cup in the cup holder.
Abby and Matt were both standing by the door waiting. They had been instructed to stay quiet.
James ran downstairs, frantically putting on his robe. He shoved his feet into his dress shoes and sighed. Sirius handed him a warmed bagel and a coffee mug.
"What would I do without you?" James asked. He offered him a small smile.
"Come on, we don't want to be late." Sirius said as he adjusted James' robe. He tried to fixed the man's untamable hair but gave up after a second.
James agreed. Lucius Malfoy, his new lawyer, would not tolerate tardiness. The man hardly took on cases but once he heard of a 'mudblood' trying to gain custody of two purebloods he stepped up. James just worried about Abby and if the man would defend her as well.
The two apparated to the phone booth outside the ministry, James, Abby and Matt taking one and Sirius and Harry taking a seperate one. The group met up and walked to the courtroom. Lucius was waiting there impatiently.
"There you are, the Ministry wants Abby and Matt on the floor first," Lucius said as he led them towards the courtroom. He led them to the front and had James and Sirius sit on the left and middle seat. Harry went to the far left next to Sirius.
Lucius frowned at that, "you're letting your son sleep in so late?"
James answered, "he woke up at three. He has the wizarding flu. Hopefully he will sleep through the whole trial. If he does wake up then Sirius will take him outside."
"Then I'll put in the request to have Sirius testify first instead of the kids." Lucius said. "I know how awful the flu is. My son had it a month ago."
"Thank you." James mumbled. He kneeled by Matt and Abby and frantically attempted to fix their already neat clothes and hair. He caught Lily's eye and frowned.
Lucius returned, "it's done. Sirius will testify first. The judge is now aware of Harry's condition so if the boy wakes up and starts crying he will be willing to pause the court for a moment for Sirius and Harry to leave."
Lucius took his seat at James' right. The judge cleared his throat and gained the crowds attention. He began talking, something James was too nervous to listen too. As promised, Sirius was called to the stand first.
The woman who was speaking on Lily's behalf was working the one and only Arthur Weasley. The woman, Andromeda Black, was a retired lawyer and needed help with some of the newer laws. She was also a really good lawyer though.
James watched as Sirius answered all her questions honestly and nervously.
"I love him and the kids."
James felt his heart expand at that. He would never get tired of hearing that.
After his questioning Sirius was called down. He took his place at the end of the table.
Matt went up next. He nervously clutched his favorite teddy Sirius let him bring.
"Matt, what do you think of your daddy?" Andromeda asked softly.
Matt hid his face for a second.
"Is he nice to you?"
"...yes…"
"Does he ever do something you don't like?"
"...he makes me eat broccoli." that comment earned some giggles.
"How about your mommy? Is your mommy nice?"
"...yes…"
"And if you had to choose between living with your mommy and daddy who would you choose?"
"...no…"
"No? What do you mean?"
"I like living with both daddy and mommy. Mommy plays with me and daddy takes care of me."
"What do you and mommy play?"
"Umm, I like when we play outside."
"Does your daddy ever play outside with you?"
"Sometimes."
"So if you lived with just your mommy and no daddy how would you feel?"
"I like mommy so I wouldn't mind. I would miss daddy a lot though but mommy sneaks me a cookie or lets me have ice cream after dinner."
"Matty, she's asking you about old mommy not new mommy." Abby piped up, quieting down when she was shushed.
Andromeda turned to the boy, "who is the mommy you're talking about?"
Matt pointed at Sirius, "that's my mommy."
"You give them cookies and ice cream after dinner?" James asked. Sirius just shrugged.
"What about her?" Andromeda pointed at Lily.
"Old mommy?"
"Yes? What do you think about her?"
"Oh… she's mean. She only ever played with Abby and she made daddy sad. New mommy plays with all of us and he makes daddy happy."
After Matt was finished being questioned Abby went up and answered some questions.
Sirius looked down when he heard a squeak. Harry rolled around waking up. Sirius reached down and tried to sooth the boy. He lifted Harry into his arms and frowned at how cold he was. He wrapped the blanket around Harry and sat him in his lap.
"Hey, are you feeling better?" Sirius asked softly. He rocked the boy softly and tried to lull him back to sleep.
Harry whimpered and scrunched his face in the way Sirius knew meant he was about to cry.
Sirius stood and cradled Harry to his chest. He grabbed Harry's diaper bag and leaned over to James, "I'm taking Harry. Hopefully I'll be back before it ends. If not then I'll be the one frantically pacing outside."
James nodded and pecked Sirius' lips. He kissed Harry's head, feeling bad about not being with the boy while he was sick.
Sirius nodded at Lucius who at turn nodded at the judge. Abby noticed and stood, "is Harry alright?"
"He's fine, just a little sick, okay? You do your best answering this nice lady's questions and then you can see him, okay? Have someone bring you to us."
Abby hesitated and nodded. She had heard Harry screaming earlier and did not like it. They had to be dressed and fed and by then Harry was asleep so they had to be quiet.
"Can I come?" Matt asked.
Sirius frowned. He wanted to clean and hopefully calm Harry before the other two interrupted. "why don't you cheer on your sister here like she cheered on you and then you can come find me together. Okay?"
Matt accepted that answer and nodded.
Harry whimpered again. Sirius quickly exited the room and rubbed the boy's back.
He entered the bathroom and changed Harry's diaper before giving the boy some more water. Harry seemed content just staying still, not being the smiling happy baby Sirius knew. He wasn't crying anymore so this was an improvement.
Sirius sat outside the hall feeding Harry goldfish. Abby and Matt exited the courtroom soon after and sat next to Sirius.
"Hi Harry," Abby said kindly, "are you okay?" she reached out and rubbed his head.
Harry blinked at her and whimpered. He buried his head in Sirius' chest. Sirius just offered her a smile. "he's not feeling well. Tomorrow he should be back to normal."
Matt frowned and took Abby's hand.
"Come on Harry. Finish these goldfish and we can go back inside."
Harry swatted away the fishes and rubbed his head against Sirius' chest.
Sirius frowned but stood. "lets get back in. Hows the trial going so far?"
"It's boring," Abby said. Matt agreed.
Sirius sighed. Normally he would just take the kids home or for a walk but he really wanted to support James right now.
He opened the door and let the kids in before walking in himself. Lily was up on the stand. Abby and Matt raced to their seats. Sirius sat down and sat Harry on his lap.
"Abby isn't even James!" Lily shouted.
Sirius looked up shocked. What?
"What?" James exclaimed.
Lily blushed as if just realizing what she said.
"What do you mean she isn't mine?" James demanded, standing up. "whose is she?"
"James, I didn't mean it like that." she said weakly.
"Is she my daughter or not?"
Lily looked down, "she might not be your daughter."
"Lily!"
"No! No she isn't!"
James blinked at her, shocked. "explain."
Lily took a deep breath, "I'm sorry."
"Tell me why. You told me that she was mine. That's why I married you. You knew that didn't you?" he accused.
"Yes I knew that! That's why I told you she was yours. I knew you would feel responsible and take charge!"
"Whose is she?" James growled.
"She's Sev's." Lily admitted quietly.
"Snapes? She's Snapes?" James shouted.
"Yes!"
"Does he know?"
"No. I asked him if he had ever wanted kids before and he told me he didn't. You did though and it made you so happy. The look in your eyes when you held her the first time. You looked so happy."
James growled. Sirius put his hand on James' shoulder, calming the man down.
"I think it would be best if we ended the trial here for now. As for custody. Let's see, Harrison and Matthew shall go to James since Lily has no blood relation to them and in return Abigail will go with Lily since James has no blood relation to her."
"No!" James yelled.
Lucius quieted him, "the trial is still on. We might be able to get Abby back but the chances aren't good. You have no claim on her and if we argue about you raising her as your own then Lily can argue about raising Matt and Harry as her own. Then you could lose all three of them. Lets go back to my mansion and we can discuss what you want to do." he offered.
James just nodded. He quickly pulled Abby into his arms. She might not be his but he still loved her.
Lily pulled the girl into her arms and glared at James. "I expect all her belongings by tomorrow. I am staying with the Weasley's."
"Lily, are you ready to go?" Arthur asked.
Lily nodded, "come on Abby. Let's go."
Abby frowned and resisted, "I want to stay with daddy though. I want to stay with Matty and Harry."
Lily frowned at that, "you will have new brothers and a sister soon. Ginny is two. You'll love her."
Abby frowned. She wanted to stay and make sure Harry was okay and she wanted to see Matty rehearsing. She wanted to dance in front of Harry and Matty and watch their cute faces brighten up.
She wanted to see daddy smiling. She liked playing with him and she liked it when he read her stories and tucked her in at night. She even started to like Sirius. He was funny and nice and he made Harry and Matty giggle. He made daddy happy and he told her funny stories about daddy. He even took care of Harry when he was sick.
Lily lifted her up and began walking away. Abby frowned, her heart felt heavy.
"Daddy! Don't let her take me!" she cried out. Why was her mommy making her leave? It wasn't fair!
James' eyes flashed in pain. He reached out for her but someone held him back.
"James," Lucius said in a warning tone.
James growled. He frowned as Abby left his sight.
"Come, we shall go to my house."
James lifted Matt into his arms and kissed the boy on his forehead.
"Daddy? Why did mommy take Abby?" Matt asked, clutching onto James' shirt.
Sirius had already shrunken Harry's stroller and put it in his bag. He cradled Harry to his chest.
"We'll get her back," Sirius said as he rocked Harry. The boy's eyelids were drooping again.
James sighed, "let's go," he whispered as he followed Lucius to his home.
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Review for my love and because I know you really want to review deep in your heart. It's just one button and then typing in a couple of words about what you thought and you know, the fact that all the characters lives are in my hands and I can kill anyone whenever I want if I don't get reviews. Don't believe me? Read Forbidden Love. I killed off an innocent seven year old who was one of the main characters...
Thanks for reading
Lilac ;)