"So, are you ready old friend?" Lucius asked him.
"As ready as we can be, I think, given what we're about to endure" He responded, as Hermione finally approached from upstairs.
"Well then, let's go"
And with a deep breath, they made their way to the ministry.
Rose did not like the ministry atrium. It was far too busy and hectic, mulling with people. Even with a promptly placed 'notice me not' charm so that nobody paid attention to the group as they made their way through the crowds to towards the private courtrooms, they were still surrounded by hastily moving witches and wizards.
"muh muh up plees" Rose was quickly begging Hermione to be carried, which she did straight away. Over the past couple of days as Rose had been mimicking more and more noises, she'd started to speak to her mother, frequently addressing her as muh (mum), muh muh (mumma) or muh mee (mummy). Hermione of course was thrilled for Rose to finally be addressing her in any form, but at the same time Rose couldn't understand why sometimes her mother was tearing up when she spoke to her, though Severus knew that for Hermione, having her daughter finally speaking and to call her mummy, just as she was about to go to court to possibly have her parental rights snatched away from her, was almost too much to bare.
Hermione held onto Rose tightly as they walked through the ministry's halls, and Severus walked beside her, his hand resting on the small of her back. Nothing of his inner gut wrenching turmoil showed on his face, as he fought to occlude his true emotions and give a brave front for the women beside him. They needed him to be strong right now.
Scorpius, though usually exuberant, was also quiet in Draco's arms. Sensing the tension in all the adults, even if he didn't understand the reason behind it.
They reached the waiting area for the private rooms and Hermione exhaled a shaky breath, as she held Rose tighter to her.
"With any luck, this nonsense will all end here" Draco spoke to her, but Hermione snorted. "Because we've had so much of that so far" and even Lucius's eyes softened in sympathy.
With the Slytherin connections behind them, Lucius had managed to get Molly to agree to a private pre-trial hearing. With any luck they would be able to settle this between them without it having to go to a public wizegamot.
Severus was practically shaking, and only the sheer force of his occlumency was keeping his facade from crumbling. Though it was an atrocious act that brought them to him, having them back in his lives the last few months had made him happier than he had ever been, and the mere thought of Rose being dragged away from Hermione and himself to live in abject fear with the Weasleys was tearing him apart.
On entering the room they were met with Molly, Arthur and Percy all seated together on one side of the long table. Percy sniffed haughtily and looked on disdainfully, as Molly sent a tight lipped glare towards the Slytherin contingent that surrounded her. Arthur just offered a soft smile to Hermione and waved softly to Rose, he looked older than the last time she'd seen him. Scorpius, being the boy he was also waved to Arthur with a smile, Arthur smiled softly and waved to him too, until an elbow in the ribs and a vicious scowl from Molly stopped him.
There was silence for a while, as the judge asked if all who were attending had arrived, and they were informed by Molly (who had yet to acknowledge Hermione in any way) that they were still waiting for more 'character witnesses'. Just as she finished speaking, the door banged open and in walked George Weasley sporting technicolor hair and surprisingly enough Charlie.
"Sorry we're late your honour but there was a niffler and goblin outside Gringotts and..."
"Oh just sit down will you George!" Molly snapped.
"Righto" He said with a salute, and promptly deposited himself in a seat.
On Hermione's side of the table.
Charlie swiftly followed.
"Boys, you're supposed to sit with the people you side with!" Molly snapped gesturing to the empty chairs beside her, and it was Charlie who answered, calmly and levelly.
"We are."
Molly looked apoplectic, while Arthur just nodded in greeting to his sons.
The judge wasn't going to wait any longer, and so they began.
oOo
It was bad. In fact it was awful.
She twisted all the facts to suit her needs, about how Hermione had heartlessly insisted on abandoning Rose and leaving to work, leaving her poor Ronald sole carer for the girl, which she would neglect upon her return.
Molly was on the warpath, and damningly enough she'd managed somehow to get hold of the fact that Hermione had hexed a nurse at St Mungos. She continued to bolster at full steam ahead, about Hermione's many flaws, even bringing out old copies of the prophet from the time of the triwizard tournament when Rita Skeeter was posting damning stories about her as though she was some bed hopping harlot.
When she finally ran out of steam, Severus was at last able to offer their side of the argument. Under veritaserum, he swore to what he'd seen in Rose's mind and they had the medical records from St. Mungo's.
"These are filthy lies!" She'd spewed, though was interrupted by the entrance of another Weasley. Bill.
"Stop this Mother, this needs to end" Bill spoke in the calm and commanding tone of voice he was known for. The cursebreaker was a formidable wizard.
"William, she's spreading filthy lies about our Ronald and trying to take Rose away from me!"
"They're not lies Mother, I believe Hermione and so should you."
Molly's face turned red with anger as she snapped back at her eldest.
"You can't possibly know that, Ronald wouldn't do that, these are all lies to cover up the fact that she's a no good-"
"I do know it mother, and this ridiculous farce ends here now, Hermione doesn't deserve this and you're upsetting Rose!"
"There's no way you could know that William, how could you possibly-"
But Bill cut her off before she could finish protesting, and her face turned ashen at his words.
"Because he tried it with Victoire too."