Since Draco and Daniel had given their evidence the previous day, they were both in court when Hermione took her place in the stand. The presence of her husband and her eldest son, along with her parents-in-law, helped ease Hermione's nerves as she prepared to answer the questions that would be coming her way. As she took her place in the witness box her focus was on her family, but she had noticed Molly, who was glaring daggers at her, and Arthur sitting several seats away from the Malfoys, and obviously she couldn't miss Ron, who was keeping his head down and wouldn't meet her eye.
Hermione had never met the older wizard who was in charge of the prosecution, who introduced himself as Lawrence Grey, but both Draco and Daniel said he'd seemed pretty tough. Although since she was giving evidence for the prosecution, she was thinking he wouldn't be too hard on her, but she couldn't be too sure given the fact he'd brought up Draco's past so unexpectedly.
"Mrs Malfoy, could you start by giving us some background to your relationship with the defendant," Grey said.
"We were friends," Hermione said. "Best friends. We met when we started Hogwarts and became friends that year, along with Harry. The three of us were friends for the next seven years."
"And what ended your friendship with the defendant?"
"My pregnancy," Hermione replied. "He didn't take the news I was pregnant very well, and it got worse when I revealed that Harry was the father. He and certain members of his family made it clear that they were done with me and our friendship was over."
"Why did he react so badly to the news of your pregnancy? You weren't together, were you?"
"No, we were not a couple, and we had never been a couple," Hermione replied. "Ron did like me, but the feeling wasn't mutual. But he still took it as an insult that I'd chosen Harry over him. Especially as he thought Harry should be with his sister."
"But Harry wasn't with his sister, was he?" Grey pressed.
"Not at the time we were together," Hermione said. "They had been seeing each other, but Harry had ended it a few months previously. I don't know if he hoped to get back with Ginny once the war was over as he never mentioned it to me. But Ron seemed to think they would get back together and that Harry and I had betrayed him and Ginny by sleeping together."
"Did the defendant make any efforts to restart your friendship after he had calmed down?" Grey asked.
"No," Hermione answered. "Instead, he went behind my back and tried to get custody of my unborn child. When the Ministry wouldn't support his claims, he turned to the press and tried to turn the public against me in a further attempt to gain some sort of control over my son."
"And did he do this because you were carrying Harry Potter's child?" Grey questioned.
"That's what he claimed," Hermione answered with a shrug. "He claimed that Harry had through of his family as family, so they deserved the chance to get to know his child."
"Did you believe that?"
"No, because they never came to speak to me and try and make amends," Hermione replied. "They only showed an interest in my son once they discovered the Malfoys were part of my life."
"You believe the defendants hatred of the Malfoy family triggered his desire to see your son?"
"I believe it had a lot to do with it," Hermione admitted. "Maybe when he calmed down, he realised he did want to get to know Harry's son, but he only wanted to do so on his own terms. He made no effort to fix things with me, yet he expected to have access to my son."
"And how was his reaction to Draco's presence in your life?" Grey asked.
"He wasn't happy at any of the Malfoys being in my life, or more accurately Daniel's, but he was especially angry with Draco being in our lives," Hermione answered.
"Why?"
"They'd never gotten along in school," Hermione replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders.
"And then Draco stopped him from taking your son from the hospital once he was born," Grey said. "That must have made him even angrier."
"I don't know as I never saw Ron after the incident," Hermione admitted. "He plead guilty to the kidnapping charge and everything was dealt with by the Ministry without me having to give evidence."
"And when did you next hear from the defendant?"
"I didn't," Hermione answered. "Part of his punishment for kidnapping Daniel was a restraining order, meaning he couldn't get anywhere near Daniel or I. When Daniel got engaged to Ron's niece, Ron sent a letter to Daniel begging him to revoke the restraining order and I discovered that it wasn't the first letter he'd sent to Daniel."
"Was your husband mentioned in these letters?" Grey asked.
"Not by name," Hermione said. "But in the second letter Ron pretty much claimed that Daniel had never had a father, and that he could take that role in his life. In fact, throughout the letters he implied that his family was the only one Daniel had."
"So he resented the role the Malfoys, Draco in particular, played with your son?"
"It appeared that way," Hermione confirmed with a nod.
"Was that letter the only contact your family had with the defendant?" Grey asked.
"No, he and his mother turned up at a hotel Daniel and Victoire were viewing as a potential wedding venue. The place was large enough so that Ron wasn't breaking his restraining order, and he wanted to prove he could attend the wedding without it needing to be revoked."
"What did their appearance at the hotel mean for your son's wedding?"
"It led to Daniel and Victoire deciding to hold a private wedding over in France," Hermione answered. "They only invited a small number of people."
"And what was the defendants reaction to this news?"
"I don't know, but his mother wasn't happy. The next time I heard anything about Ron was after Draco had been stabbed, and he told me who had done it."
"You then spoke with the defendant after his arrest," Grey stated. "Did he mention his feelings towards your husband?"
"He made several less than complimentary remarks about Draco," Hermione said, well aware that they had reached the crux of the questioning and her next words were what the prosecutor were after. "He then said the only thing he was sorry for was that he didn't kill Draco when he got the chance."
"Thank you Mrs Malfoy," Grey said, a small smile appearing on his lips as Hermione delivered what he'd wanted.
As the prosecutor sat down, Ron's legal counsel stood up to cross examine Hermione. She didn't know what to expect, and how things would be twisted around, but Ron's solicitor announced that he only had one question for Hermione.
"You have known Ron for a long time, Mrs Malfoy, and I am sure you also know people speak without thinking. In your experience of Ron, is he likely to say things he doesn't mean? Is he likely to say something in the heat of the moment that he didn't think through clearly? Can you honestly stand there and say that he meant everything he said about your husband?"
"Firstly, I have not known Ron Weasley for over twenty years, if I ever truly knew him at all," Hermione replied. "The Ron I thought I knew would not have abandoned me when I needed him the most. The Ron I thought I knew, would not have tried to kidnap my newborn son. So I cannot say how he meant his remarks about Draco, as it is clear to me that I know nothing about the real Ron Weasley. All I can tell you is what he did say, which is that he was sorry that he didn't kill Draco when he had the chance."
Ron's solicitor gave Hermione a frosty glare as he reluctantly thanked her and announced he had no more questions for her. As she left the witness stand, Hermione could feel hostile eyes on her and when she looked around she found both Ron and Molly were glaring at her as though she was the lowest form of life. Clearly they had not been happy with how she had handled the question Ron's solicitor had given her, but she had answered honestly and she was pleased with how things had gone. Now all that remained was for Ron to take the stand in his own defence.
After a break for lunch, Hermione was back in the courtroom beside her family. Ron was next to take the stand, and the witch who had been on hand to aid them seemed confident that the trial would wrap up once Ron had finished giving his evidence. However, she didn't expect the verdict and sentence to be delivered until the next day.
When Ron took the stand, his solicitor immediately brought up Harry and the relationship Ron had with him. For what felt like an eternity Ron spoke about loving Harry as a brother, and therefore loving Daniel as family. Hermione herself was only mentioned briefly, with Ron claiming to be sad that their friendship had broken down and was seemingly irretrievable.
"This is complete and utter drivel," Hermione hissed in her husband's ear. "I know he loved Harry, but he's certainly never acted as though he loves Daniel. He's certainly never put his best interests first."
Draco nodded in agreement as he and Hermione continued to listen to Ron talk about Harry and Daniel. According to Ron, he'd been heartbroken over his lack of access to Daniel, and it was that heartbreak that led to him trying to snatch Daniel when he was just a child. He expressed his remorse at the incident, and his continuing despair that he wasn't part of Daniel's life.
"And how do you feel about Daniel's stepfather, Draco Malfoy?" his solicitor asked him.
"We've never been friends, and never will be," Ron answered.
"Do you resent him being part of Daniel's life when you're not?"
"He's not someone I would choose to have in Daniel's life, and I know Harry wouldn't approve," Ron answered. "But it's not my choice to make. It was Hermione's choice, and while I don't approve of it, there is nothing I can do about it."
With a satisfied smirk, Ron's solicitor changed the subject and started asking Ron about the knife he'd been carrying at the time of the attack. Ron insisted the knife had simply been a memento of happier times, and he was adamant that he'd never intended to stab Draco. All the time he appeared calm and collected, and by the time his solicitor sat back down, Hermione was thinking that he might just have done enough to be found innocent.
"How reasonable you appear, Mr Weasley," Grey said as he got to his feet. "You seem like a very sensible wizard. So how can someone with such a sense of awareness, lose his temper so badly that he almost kills someone? Which is the real you, Mr Weasley? The calm and reasonable man we've met this afternoon, or the hot headed wizard who almost killed a man?"
Ron frowned at the prosecutor as he opened and closed his mouth, seemingly not knowing what to say to his questions. However, the older wizard didn't give him a chance to find his words as he continued to go on the attack.
"You say your desire to know Daniel is because of his father," Grey said. "But if that was the case, why didn't you want to meet him when you first found out Hermione was pregnant? Why did you only become interested in Daniel once Draco was on the scene? Draco is the reason you want to be in Daniel's life, isn't he? You're jealous of him, aren't you Mr Weasley?"
"I am not jealous of that bastard," Ron spat, showing the first signs of his rash temper.
"Oh, I think you are," Grey taunted. "I think you're jealous that Daniel calls Draco his father. You can't stand that Draco is his Dad, can you?"
"He is not Daniel's father," Ron yelled. "Daniel's father is dead. That scumbag is nothing. He is nothing to Daniel."
"But that's not true, is it?" Grey pressed. "Yesterday you heard Daniel say that he considered Draco Malfoy to be his father. In every way that counts, Draco is his father. And that just eats you up, doesn't it, Mr Weasley? You are nothing to Daniel, nothing, but Draco is everything to him."
"He is not," Ron screamed. "He is the one who is nothing. I am Daniel's family, not him. I am the one who Harry would want in his son's life, not that bastard Death Eater."
"And that is why you tried to kill him," Grey stated triumphantly. "You'd finally had enough, hadn't you? You finally snapped and let your jealousy take over. You tried to get rid of the wizard Daniel thinks of as his family. You tried to get rid of your rival."
"He is not my rival, he is nothing," Ron spat angrily. "I am Daniel's family, not him, never him. I am what Harry would have wanted for his son. I am the father Daniel should have had."
"And so you tried to get rid of the wizard he calls Dad," Grey said calmly, not showing how pleased he was at Ron's show of temper. "In that moment you wanted Draco Malfoy dead at your feet, didn't you, Mr Weasley? You wanted him gone."
"Yes, I wanted him gone," Ron answered quickly and angrily. "I mean… mean…" he stuttered as if suddenly realising that his mouth had ran away from him.
"I think we all know what you mean, Mr Weasley," Grey said with a shake of his head. "And I also think you've shown us your true self. A wizard who is easily fired up and who easily loses his temper. And I believe that is exactly what happened when you ran into Draco in Diagon Alley. You clashed, your temper rose and you lashed out, wanting to get rid of him once and for all."
"No," Ron protested feebly, shaking his head.
However, the feeling in court was that Ron had shown his true colours. He'd crumbled under questioning from the prosecution, and quite likely had damned himself with his own temper and his hatred for Draco. Not to mention the dangerous obsession both he and his mother seemed to have formed with Daniel. If only they had accepted Daniel's choices then everything would have been so very different. But they'd pushed and pushed their own agenda, and now Ron was once again paying the price for his actions where Hermione and her family were concerned.