Vendetta

Chapter 16: Dudley's Trial, Day 1

This time the proceedings would need to take place in a Muggle court, but it really didn't matter to Harry as long as Dudley finally got what had been coming to him for years. He had contacted the Muggle doctor he had taken Ginny to and made sure he brought along his findings on her medical exam, not to mention the DNA findings from the Muggle hospital, the only ones his erstwhile relatives would put any credence to whatsoever. Of course, considering that it was against Dudley, they might try to do everything they could to discredit them too, simply because they came from Harry. Well, they could discredit them all they liked; it wouldn't change the fact of their truth one iota. The law would know that and act accordingly, and that's what mattered to him.

As in the first trial, he intended to testify, just as he intended to have Ginny testify, and at least one of his friends as a character witness. If not Ron or Hermione, Fred or George, maybe one of the older Weasleys. He also planned to have some of the Order discreetly keep an eye on them because he wouldn't put it past Lucius to attack them even here, and he wanted to make sure they were as safe as possible.

He had also made some discreet inquiries and learned to his scarcely-concealed delight that it was perfectly legal to use sodium pentothal in order to get the truth from defendants; it was polygraph (lie detector) tests that were inadmissible in court as evidence. He couldn't be sure if the substance would work on him or his wizarding comrades, but he still intended to take it (and have them take it, in an attempt to offset claims by Dudley's side that there was lying going on).

The solicitor in this case was a Muggle friend of C. Thomas, who had already contacted him and again offered to work pro bono, effectively donating his time and services unless the case was won--and he assured Harry that he would do everything in his power to see that it was. If he could manage to see Dudley led away to life in prison for what he had done to Ginny, Harry would be immensely thankful--for as long as he lived.

The trial was due to start fairly early in the morning, at nine a.m. February 23, 1999, in the Muggle court in the township of Little Whinging. Since it was a very small township in the Surrey province, space was limited in the observers' (most of which was taken up by the Weasley family) and witnesses' section on the prosecution's side, most of it taken up by Harry and Ginny, his friends and the Muggle doctor.

Harry was unable to stop smiling when he saw Dudley led inside to the defendants' chair in handcuffs, Vernon and Petunia the only ones on his side since the members of Dudley's gang had long since been incarcerated themselves. Even though Harry had had nothing to do with their having been arrested, he couldn't help thinking that their arrests were merely forerunners of Dudley's own, which he had definitely had plenty to do with.

He wasn't sure if they were aware of his presence or that of his friends, but with a part of him hoped they were, wanting them to be every bit as apprehensive as they deserved to be after what Dudley had done.

It was precisely at 9 a.m. that the proceedings began; the judge's (and a female judge at that) voice rang out clear and true, "This court is now in session, this trial to determine whether one Dudley Philip Dursley of Number Four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey, is guilty of twelve counts of sexual battery, the latest one having occurred twenty months ago, against Miss Ginevra Molly Weasley of Ottery St. Catchpole, Devonshire, fiancée of one Harry James Potter, also of Ottery St. Catchpole, Devonshire. Counsel for the prosecution, call your first witness."

"The prosecution calls Harry James Potter to the stand," the Muggle solicitor for the prosecution called out. Harry felt the cold, sharp eyes of his aunt and uncle stabbing into his back as he made his way to the witness stand, although he pretended not to feel anything, as he had many times in the course of his life with them, sometimes necessary in order to simply survive another day in their custody.

Once Harry took his place in the witnesses' box, the solicitor asked him to raise his right hand. "You swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

"I do, sir," Harry assured him after taking an injection of sodium pentothal.

"You may sit." Harry did so. "Now, young Mr. Potter, if you would kindly give us some background information on this case ..."

"Gladly, sir. My fiancée, Miss Weasley, was going to a practice game of our favourite sport, a form of polo, when she was allegedly abducted by my cousin and an accomplice of his. These actions were observed by a friend of mine, who reported that the latter rendered her unconscious, tied her up with ropes and escaped with her and Dudley to his, the accomplice's, family home. There, they both sexually assaulted her, by the accomplice's own admission--an accomplice who is now himself in jail."

"Can you offer proof of this ... sexual assault?"

"Yes, sir. Once my fiancée had been released from the hospital, I took her for a medical exam with a Muggle doctor I know; he is present in this courtroom and is willing to offer his findings in said examination on the prosecution's behalf."

"Thank you, Mr. Potter. The prosecution now calls Dr. William Thomas Billingsley, M.D., to the stand. You are excused, Mr. Potter."

Harry smiled, stood up and left the box, passing the doctor on the way, acknowledging him with a nod.

Once the silver-haired, hazel-eyed physician had been sworn in and the injection of sodium pentothal given, the prosecution solicitor said, "How long have you been a physician, Dr. Billingsley?"

"Twenty-five years, sir," came the calm, softly accented reply.

"You first met young Potter and his intended on the afternoon of July 8, 1997, at two p.m., is that correct?"

"That is correct," the doctor confirmed. "He had contacted me with a request to examine his intended to confirm that she was ... healing properly from the injuries sustained in her sexual attack three weeks before."

"And you did so?"

"I did."

"Please tell us your findings."

"I discovered that she had been brutally assaulted, both vaginally and anally, minor surgery having been necessary to close her wounds."

"It is said that the alleged accomplice gave her an hypnotic suggestion that it was her intended, young Potter, who had assaulted her, but that this conflicts with your findings."

"It does," the doctor confirmed. "I found evidence of two attackers, not just one, and in both places on Miss Weasley's body."

"It is now commonplace to use DNA to discover the truth regarding sexual assault. Were there any tests made of the bodily fluids found in her body?"

"There were."

"Were you the one who performed these tests?"

"No, it was a colleague of mine," Billingsley admitted. "However, he has given me power of attorney to speak in his behalf, since he is unable to be present in this courtroom at this time. He discovered that although there are ... similarities between the DNA found in Miss Weasley's body and that of young Potter, none of the latter's DNA was found in her body. Rather, it was that of the two alleged attackers, one of them being the defendant."

"You know the defendant personally, do you not?"

"I do. He and his parents have been regular patients of mine for seventeen years, ever since his birth."

"Did you ever treat or examine young Potter during those seventeen years? He lived with them for the majority of that time."

"I did. Usually it was for things like a black eye, broken arm or broken nose; young Potter claims it was as a result of ... physical altercations with the defendant, who is considerably larger and heavier than himself."

Harry stole a quick look in his uncle and aunt's direction; Petunia was white with suppressed fury and Vernon was a most satisfying shade of purple, which usually meant he was ready to almost literally explode with anger. He was sure they'd have loved to be able to say that he was lying about said altercations; unfortunately nothing and no one could refute the doctor's testimony because of the fact of the sodium pentothal.

"Have you any explanation for why young Dursley would assault Miss Weasley?"

"I was given to understand that it was done primarily to obtain revenge against young Potter, young Dursley's cousin," the doctor replied. "Up to this point, young Dursley had been unable to obtain a girlfriend of his own. His accomplice promised that he would be able to have Miss Weasley, his cousin's girlfriend, if he assisted him in abducting her. What he and his accomplice were unable to do to young Potter physically, they were able to reach him emotionally by the assault on the girl he loved."

"I see," the attorney remarked quietly. "Is there anything you can add, Doctor?"

"Not at this time, sir."

"Very well. You are excused, Doctor." Billingsley smiled, stood up and left the witnesses' box to return to his seat in the witnesses' section.

The prosecution attorney then called out, "I call Miss Ginevra Weasley to the stand."

Ginny exchanged glances with Harry and her family; he gave her a reassuring hug and smile, which gave her the strength to make her way to the witnesses' box.

After being sworn in and taking the sodium pentothal, Ginny began her testimony.

"You are presently engaged to the plaintiff, one Harry James Potter, are you not, Miss Weasley?"

"Yes, sir. We have been engaged since August of this year."

"You were not engaged at the time of your assault?"

"No, sir ... although we had been steady dates for some weeks prior to my assault."

"How many weeks, may I ask?"

"Five, sir."

"Had you ever met either of your attackers prior to your assault?"

"I had met one, sir. He was a fellow classmate of Harry's and myself at our ... former school. Harry's cousin, however, I had never met before, although Harry had told us, myself and my family, about him." She stole a quick glance in the direction of the witnesses' box in order to obtain strength to speak further from both Harry and her family.

"How old were you at the time of your assault?"

"Fifteen years and ten months, sir," Ginny replied.

"How old are you now?"

"I turned seventeen three months ago."

"Were you aware that you had been sexually assaulted when you first awakened in the hospital?"

"I had felt sore and in some pain, but had no idea what had happened to me. It wasn't until two months after my attack that I was told."

"Who informed you of the details?"

"My ... fiancé, Harry, my brother Ron and his own fiancée, one Hermione Granger, both friends of Harry's."

"What did they tell you?"

"That I had been rendered unconscious, tied up and taken to Dudley's accomplice's home ... then assaulted there. I was also told of the hypnotic suggestion that was designed to make me believe that Harry had assaulted me, not to mention the swallow of a powerful drug, similar to a love potion, also given to me by the accomplice."

"What else?"

"Harry said that the accomplice admitted to what he and Harry's cousin had done to me, but there was nothing he could do to change what had happened. Both my brother and his fiancée demanded that I be brought to them, and I finally was. The accomplice brought me out, wrapped in a blanket, I'm told, and gave me to Harry. They then took me to the hospital for treatment."

"That is all you were told?"

"This is what happened," Ginny declared.

"Did you need any follow-up treatment?"

"Once my ... physical injuries, already documented today, had been healed, I began having nightmares about my ordeal and it was decided that I needed psychiatric counseling in order to put them to rest."

"Who decided this?"

"Harry and my family, sir. Harry was also the one who covered the costs of my medical care."

"Do you believe the counseling has been helpful to you?"

"Very much, sir, although I was reluctant to have it at first."

"Why were you reluctant?"

"Because I believed it to be unnecessary at the time."

"You now know otherwise, do you not?"

"I do, sir."

"Is there anything you can add?"

"Only this, sir. That it was nauseating to learn who had actually assaulted me, and that the hypnotic suggestion didn't work, because I knew Harry too well to believe that he could ever be responsible for my assault. He has always been gentle and loving with me; I feel certain that he could ... never harm me, unlike my attackers, who didn't seem to care how much they hurt me as long as they got ... satisfaction."

"Thank you, Miss Weasley. You may step down."

Ginny smiled, stood up and left the witnesses' box, returning to her seat next to Harry in the witnesses' section. He hugged and kissed her in welcome, as did Hermione; Ron hugged her.

"You did great, Gin," they whispered to her with congratulatory smiles.

"I did my best," she assured them.

"That's all you can do," Harry assured her. "Coupled with all the other evidence on our side, I feel sure that your testimony is going to be the clincher, the key to put Dudley away for life. Best of all, my aunt and uncle won't be able to do a thing to stop it, no matter how they try ... and I have no doubt that they will."

"But there won't be time for their side today, will there?"

"I don't think so," Harry replied. "They'll probably adjourn now and the trial will resume sometime tomorrow."

As it turned out, he was right. A short time later, the judge said, "That concludes this trial for today. Arguments for the defence will commence at ten o'clock Friday morning. This court is now officially adjourned."

With that, everyone filed out of the courtroom, Dudley again being led away in handcuffs while Vernon and Petunia simply gave Harry killing glances and departed without speaking to him, which suited him just fine. He was sure they were saving their worst venom for the following day, and vowed to be prepared for whatever they might come out with, whatever accusations they might make. For the time being, he had no complaints with how things were going and frankly felt ready to celebrate, but knew it was premature to do so until and unless Dudley was actually convicted and led away to prison.

"Ready to go home, everyone?" he asked, eyes sweeping over everyone in his immediate vicinity.

"Ready," they answered as one, then everyone joined hands and Apparated out of the room, heading back to the Burrow to discuss the happenings of the first day of Dudley's trial and speculate on what might possibly happen on the second (and hopefully final) day coming up tomorrow.