Author's notes: I'm apologize that I do not know much about the British Legal System as far as specific terms or protocols. In fact, everything I know about what happens in a courtroom is based on one short stint of jury duty and a lot of Law and Order. Please bear with me, if anyone sees any error that is too glaring to ignore, please let me know.

Also, because I personally believe it was a crime that she didn't have a part in Harry Potter, Madam Greenslade is being played by none other than Dame Judie Dench. Just thought you all should know.

Harry Potter and the Wizarding World belong to JK Rowling

Chapter Sixteen

Heather's skin crawled, and it had nothing to do with the temperature of the courtroom. This was the fifth trial she had been deposed to testify in the last two weeks. Only yesterday she had watched as Lucius Malfoy had been led from this very room in chains, bound to finish out the life sentence in Azkaban he had escaped from over a year ago. That was the first time since Hogwarts that she had seen Narcissa or Draco, both of whom had both been acquitted, primarily on Heather's own testimony.

Now today was a brand-new trial, and it was the one Heather had been dreading the most. She was seated in the witness chair of Courtroom Ten, facing the large chamber with her back to a high bench. Unlike the morning of her hearing, the benches lining the four walls were crowded with witches and wizards. Behind her, taking up an entire wall and spilling out onto the benches on either side, was the full Wizengamot, dressed in their black robes and hats and looking grim. Crammed into every other seat were scribes, reporters, and finally, spectators, who had come to see justice done. Until fifteen minutes ago, Heather had been seated on a bench in the corridor outside the courtroom. Now she was looking around at the many familiar faces filling the stands, trying to avoid staring at the reason they were all here.

That reason was sitting in the central chair, wearing a pink cardigan, and matching bow in her iron gray curls. For whatever reason, her arms were not bound by the thick chains that ringed the chair, which in Heather's opinion was a mistake. Being bound to the chair might have wiped the smirk from her face. If Delores Umbridge was uncomfortable, she didn't look it. She sat in that chair like it was a throne, staring at Heather with that same, pallid face, her lips twisted into a smile that, to someone who didn't know her well, might be taken as innocent. On Umbridge's left, behind a table, sat her lawyer, a tall wizard with slicked down black hair named Howe.

In what had been regarded as a series of unpopular moves, Kingsley had insisted that each and every one of the accused was given complete protection under the law, including that of a fair trial. On the surface, Heather agreed with this course of action. Too many people were still out for blood, and Kingsley had to establish that for his Ministry, the rule of Law was for everyone, even death eaters. That was primarily why it had taken more than a month since the Battle of Hogwarts for the trials to begin. It had taken a good deal of explanation for the public to accept this however, and more than once there had been calls for Kingsley's replacement.

For weeks now, every scribe, clerk, and secretary in the Ministry had been enlisted to compile evidence gathered by the DMLE, cross reference everything, and assist the Ministry's solicitors to organize it all into criminal cases that would stick. The word from Level One was that if someone had to be convicted solely on hearsay or public opinion, then the trial would be thrown out. Additionaly, each of the accused had been provided with a lawyer, particularly those whose families did not already have one on retainer. One way or another, it looked like Kingsley had learned a lesson from Barty Crouch Senior after the last war. Rushed and illegal trials were not the answer, no matter how they sated the bloodlust of the wizarding public.

Of course, granting such protections to people like Umbridge meant that these trials took days instead of hours. Days that Heather had to sit here in this chilly courtroom and answer questions, most of them the same from one trial to the next, from slimy lawyers. So far, with the exception of Narcissa and Draco Malfoy, no one had been acquitted. After all, with the amount of evidence against the accused, the court's rulings were almost guaranteed, almost.

If anyone had told this to Umbridge's lawyer, he hadn't believed it. Before appearing this morning, Proudfoot had taken Heather aside and warned her about him. "He's a slippery one. Be careful." Howe, a weasely man that reminded Heather strongly of Peter Pettigrew, rose from behind his desk. "If it please the Wizengamot, I would like to address the witness."

At some gesture from the high bench behind Heather, Howe strode into the open space between her and Umbridge. His beady black eyes were fixed on Heather's, silently challenging her to blink.

"Miss Potter…or should I say Mister. I'm sorry, I'm somewhat confused on that score." He said in an oily voice, stopping a few feet away from her and adopting a look of polite interest.

"Auror Potter will do just fine." Heather replied evenly. She wasn't going to let him get under her skin that easily.

"Yes, Auror Potter." Howe laid particular emphasis on her title. "I'd like to begin by asking when you came to know my client."

"It was right here in this courtroom, during a trial in which she was attempting to have me thrown out of Hogwarts." Heather said in a carrying voice.

"And what was the charge of that trial?"

"Relevance?" asked the Ministry lawyer prosecuting Umbridge. Heather had heard her name, but it hadn't stuck in her mind.

Howe made a small bow to the high bench behind Heather. "I am trying to establish a relationship, Madame Greenslade."

"Continue," replied the curt voiced Head of the DMLE. She was an older witch, short even compared to Heather, who had preceded Amelia Bones in that position many years ago. She had returned from retirement at the personal request of Kingsley to help reshape the Law Enforcement Department and preside over these trials. Heather had only encountered her twice before today, and both times had been left with the distinct impression that there was little that could phase or surprise the woman.

"Auror Potter?" prompted Howe, looking back down at her.

"Underage Magic."

Howe smiled again. "Ahh, yes. Something for which you were repeatedly cited during your youth, am I correct?"

"Objection" said the prosecutor, standing again.

"Withdrawn" said Howe with another little bow. His smile had not shifted an inch. He turned away from Heather and began to walk back and forth, addressing his next comment almost to the bench to her right. "Auror Potter, did you have any run ins with my client during her tenure as High Inquisitor and Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

Heather adjusted herself on the chair before saying, "Yes, I did." The skin on the back of her neck crawled again. Where was he going with this? Umbridge's eyes bored into her.

"Quite a few times, based on the testimony of Madam Umbridge here" Howe replied, turning and striding towards the opposite bench.

"I suppose so." Heather replied noncommittally. Before each trial she had been reminded to say as little as possible, so as not to give the defense any room to pry into her accounts.

"I do say so. Based on disciplinary records prepared by, among others one Argus Filch, it would seem that you spent most of your Hogwarts career in detention or having run ins with the teaching staff. With my client in particular."

"And? I didn't hear a question in that." she stated, forcing herself to breathe. This was starting to get on her nerves. More than half of the students sitting in the gallery had had run ins with Umbridge. Most of them were former members of Dumbledore's Army after all. So, what did it matter if she had too?

"Would you say that you hate my client?" asked Howe almost casually.

The prosecutor stood once more and called for an objection. Howe addressed the bench across her. "Madam Greenslade, if Mister Potter, pardon, Auror Potter has strong prior feelings about my client, it calls into question his…their testimony here today." Heather tried not to crane around in her chair to watch Madam Greenslade's reaction. "Proceed, Mister Howe, but exercise caution," she said at last.

"Hate is a strong word." Heather temporized, trying to cool her temper before it got her in trouble.

"What word would you choose then, Auror Potter? Despise? Loathe?"

"Loathe works for me."

"Then is that why you specifically targeted my client during your brutal and violent attack on Ministry personnel last September?"

Heather gulped while whispering broke out across the courtroom. There it was. The only charge the Ministry had against Umbridge was the fact that she had headed up the Muggle-Born Registration Commission that had sent so many innocent people to Azkaban. That by itself should be enough to earn her a life sentence in the prison itself, but it also meant that almost the entire list of witnesses were Umbridge's victims and could hardly be called unbiased. The prosecution was relying on the few other witnesses, like Heather, who had observed Umbridge's crimes but hadn't been personally affected by them.

The crunch here was that, while most of Heather's doings while on the run were still considered highly classified, this protection did not extend to her covert entrance of the Ministry last year. Too many employees had seen enough that day for it to be a secret, even if Heather had been disguised with Polyjuice potion the entire time. Not even the death eaters had been able to cover it up, so there was no way Kingsley's Ministry could either.

That didn't mean that all the facts were widely known, particularly the reason for which they had broken in in the first place. The fact that none of it had found its way into the papers yet was something short of a miracle, though if Howe pursued this as far as he could, that might be about to change. He had a choice here, and Heather didn't even want to think about what would happen if he chose to take it. One way or another, she was going to have to walk a very fine line here.

"That isn't exactly true." She said when it was clear that the prosecutor was not going to try and intervene.

"Oh? Forgive me, perhaps I have my facts wrong." Howe made a great show of digging through rolls of parchment on his desk until he picked up one that had already been set to the side. "According to this, you and two of your compatriots illegally entered the Ministry of Magic on the second of September last year, and that you, among other things, vandalized my client's office and attacked her person in this very courtroom. In fact, it would seem to me that revenge against Madam Umbridge was the entire reason for entering the Ministry in the first place."

The entire courtroom broke out in excited muttering. Umbridge's face was now glowing with malicious glee. Howe was watching Heather's reaction closely while she tried to force her mind to think. As far as she knew that particular detail had not been included in any report. Certainly, Yaxley would ever allow the fact that he had been taken down so easily to be recorded on paper. No, Howe could only have gotten that from one person, and she was staring right at Heather.

"I am unable to answer that question." Heather replied.

"On what grounds do you believe that, Auror Potter?" asked Howe snidely.

"That information is classified."

"If that is the case Auror Potter, then I move that your entire testimony be stricken from the record," Howe declared triumphantly, looking up at the bench.

Madam Greenslade conferred with her colleagues to either side. Heather locked eyes with Howe. Was he really about to do what she thought he was, even though it would end any chance of defending his client?

"The witness's refusal to answer is sustained due to matters of security. The witness may however answer any question as to what she saw or did that day but may not give any explanation for her reason for being here or why she performed any action." Heather breathed a sigh of relief, hoping no one noticed it.

If Howe was put out by this, he didn't show it. "Very well. Auror Potter, can you please tell the court what you observed on the date in question?"

Heather gulped. "I, and two of my friends did enter the Ministry on the date in question, for reasons that have already been stated to be classified." How long would it be before court records from that day were dragged up and printed in the newspaper?

"Pardon, Auror Potter, but may I ask. Just how did you and your friends manage such a feat?" Howe asked. He was leading her along like a fish on a line, and she knew it now.

Heather looked back at Madam Greenslade, who nodded. "We used Polyjuice potion to disguise ourselves as three Ministry employees."

"And which employee did you take the guise of?"

"Mafalda Hopkirk" Heather replied quietly.

"Ahh, I see. You asked Madam Hopkirk if you could impersonate her for the day, did you?" Howe pressed.

"Not exactly. We stunned her and took the hairs." She didn't even notice the muttering or the scribbling quills now. Her eyes, trying to look anywhere but at Howe or Umbridge, had found the one person she had been dreading to see. If fate could have chosen a seat for Dennis Creevey, it could hardly have picked a better one. He was in the front row of the bench directly across from Heather, just over Umbridge's left shoulder. The distance between them did nothing to diminish the cold fury in his eyes even as tears ran freely down his cheeks. Whether the reporters had figured it out or not, Heather knew that Dennis had put the pieces together.

"So, you and your friends violently assaulted not one, but four Ministry officials that day. Is that correct?" With a force of willpower, Heather broke the visual link between her and Dennis, and was almost surprised to find herself sitting in a crowded courtroom. For those brief moments, she and Dennis had been completely alone.

Step by painful step, Howe led her through that day, dragging out every detail he could, particularly those that put Heather and her friends in a bad light. "And so, you observed my client judging and convicting these muggle-borns?" Howe asked patiently.

"Yes." Heather replied.

Howe picked up another piece of official looking parchment. "At this time, I would like to ask the witness to examine this list. It is a record from the Muggle-born Registration Commission's courtroom proceedings on the day in question." He handed Heather the list. It looked like the papers wouldn't have to worry about searching for the list after all. "Auror Potter, are these the muggle-borns that my client allegedly convicted and sentenced to Azkaban on the second of September last year?"

It didn't take long for Heather to read it. "Yes, it is." She said aloud, handing it back to him.

"For the record, the witness has acknowledged that my client allegedly convicted the following names." In a loud voice he listed off the names. He made sure to speak slowly and left long gaps between each name so the reporters, who had probably run out of space on their parchment by now, could keep up. Heather tried to avert her eyes when Dennis' name was called out, but she couldn't. Her eyes found his again, but what stared back at her was no longer Dennis Creevey. Instead the broken boy, screaming for mercy as he was dragged from the courtroom stared back at her, the lines of Azkaban etched into his face as though with a chisel.

When he was done, Howe rolled up the parchment and turned back to face Heather. "Auror Potter, I have only three questions left. Would you please reaffirm that you witnessed my client try and convicted each name that I just read out while you sat next to her and watched?"

Heather couldn't speak. Her throat was locked shut. She managed a jerky nod.

"I would ask that the Wizengamot please accept the witness has nodded in the affirmative? Very good. Now, for my last questions, Auror Potter. You have now repeatedly testified that my client carried out these proceedings next to you for several hours that day. And all the while, what did you do to stop her?"

"Nothing." Heather mumbled.

"I beg pardon, Auror Potter," said Howe maliciously. "If you could please speak up."

"I said I did nothing." Heather replied, glaring daggers at the man.

"But you didn't do nothing, did you Auror Potter. No, you attacked my client, but not until so many had allegedly been convicted. So, what gives you the right to condemn her for a crime you are just as guilty of?"

"Objection!" shouted the prosecutor as the courtroom broke out in a cacophony of cries.

"Sustained! The Wizengamot will strike that question from the record!" shouted Madam Greenslade vehemently. "Mr. Howe, may I remind you that the witness is not the one on trial here."

"Apologies, Madam Greenslade. No further questions." Howe gave the bench a bow, fixed Heather with a snear of absolute victory, and turned towards his desk. Heather didn't need to see Umbridge's face to know she was gloating. After being released from the witness stand, she started across the courtroom, seeking the safety of the corridor outside. She kept her gaze on the floor, forcing herself not to run. She could feel every eye in the courtroom on her retreating back.

Ron met her at the door and followed her out. Other witnesses were sitting there, waiting to be called and looked up suddenly at her entrance. Tears stung Heather's eyes and rolled down her cheeks. It didn't matter that Umbridge's lawyer had just intentionally sunk her defense. Umbridge had known before she even walked into that courtroom that she was going to Azkaban. And what did that really matter anymore? Without the dementors surrounding it, the prison had lost most of its inherent terror. No, what mattered to Umbridge was that she had done what she had always wanted to. She had taken down Heather Potter. Tomorrow morning a front-page editorial would be printed, elaborating in lurid detail just how Heather had sat there and watched innocent people be hauled away, some of whom had later died in prison. Would the Ministry be called on to press charges against Heather next? What would it matter to the wizarding public why she was there and how it had been necessary in the long run. And how could she ever explain it all to Dennis?