Father and Son

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I keep trying to find my way
and all I know is I'm lost without you
I keep trying to face the day
I'm lost without you

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~Chapter 12~

Mrs. Potter the Second

August 2015

Harry arrived at the Ministry of Magic at nine o'clock in the morning. Even though he worked here since many years, it felt strange today. Something of the old nervous feeling that he'd felt in his fifth year when he'd been here for the first time had come back to him.

Luna seemed to sense his nervousness and took his cold hand in hers. Harry squeezed it, immediately feeling safer.

'What a nice fountain,' Luna remarked when they passed the Fountain of Magical Brethren, as if she'd never seen it before. 'Even though it hides the entrance to Minister Bones secret bunker, where she hides her illegal Gettecour Bass breeding.'

Harry had to laugh. 'What is a Gettecour Bass?' he asked, looking curiously at his wife.

'A bright, red fish with silver fangs from South-West Africa. You know that silver necklace she always wears? It's made of Gettecour Bass teeth. And she drinks Gettecour Bass blood every morning, because it enables her to look through people to see their skeleton.'

When they stepped into one of the lifts, Harry whispered to her, 'You better keep this a secret, love, or Minister Bones will send her private secret-service after you.'

Luna's already protuberant eyes popped out even more and she nodded seriously. 'You're right. It's bad enough that they want to send one of us to Azkaban.'

'Yeah, thanks for reminding me!' Harry growled.

The lift ascended slowly, stopping at every level to take in several wizards and witches or let others get out.

'Potter!' A bald, black wizard, leaning on a crutch, entered the lift. 'Got yourself into trouble again?' he asked with a strict, deep voice.

He shook Harry's hand and smiled warmly at him.

'You know me, Shacklebolt. I just can't stand boredom.' Harry grinned. Kingsley had been the Head Auror since long before Harry came to the Ministry. He'd been badly injured a year ago and had to retreat because of his leg. He had gone into early retirement, but still acted in an advisory capacity to the new Head Auror.

'Boredom is not a reason for abusing a little girl!' a small witch with short, fuzzy hair exclaimed, obviously outraged.

'She's sixteen,' Luna offered indifferently and went on staring at the ceiling of the lift.

'She's still a girl at sixteen. And who are you anyway?'

'I'm his wife,' Luna smiled dreamily and offered her hand.

The little witch seemed stunned for a moment.

'It's all a lie I assume,' Kingsley Shacklebolt said, looking seriously at his old student.

'Of course it is. This whole story is just ridiculous.'

Kingsley nodded and patted him on the shoulder. 'That's what I thought. I'm here to testify for you as your former superior about your character and attitude and so on.'

'Thanks, Kingsley.'

'Potter, you are the last wizard that needs to assault a child. Half the female population of the Wizarding World is at your feet. Not to speak of the lovely wife you have.'

'Thanks,' Luna smiled brightly.

The lift came to a halt and a cold female voice said, 'Department of Mysteries.'

Harry and Luna walked slowly along the corridor with Kingsley, while the fuzzy-haired witch hurried past them.

Suddenly, Harry stopped.

Diana and David were coming towards them.

'Potter,' David addressed him in the same drawling manner that Draco had always used for his name. 'Where's Ginny?' he asked. 'I mean, mum,' he corrected himself.

'She wanted to meet us here,' Luna informed them, smiling.

'Why? Are you here to ask her if she has taken the oath? Don't waste your time; she'd never do something like that!' Harry snapped at them.

'The oath is ridiculous. My father is out of his mind,' David told him.

'I'm not gonna let him ruin our family and my reputation,' Diana said grimly. 'But he'll try everything to prove you are guilty. He has witnesses - all bribed, of course - and a few of the judges are good friends of him.'

Harry stared at them in disbelief. Why were they telling him this? On which side were they? What were they playing at?

'But don't worry. We have the ultimate plan. Something he can't refute.' David smirked at him and held out a parchment to him.

Harry enrolled it. 'What is it?' he asked.

'It's our family's traditional betrothal contract. You just have to sign it to be legally betrothed to Diana.'

'I don't trust you.'

'Well, have it your way then. Say hello to the dementors for me, will you?' Diana scoffed.

'You can't beat a Malfoy. Not at an unfair trial,' David said. 'And if you lose the case, Mum will perhaps take the oath just to save you of Azkaban. Do you want that?'

'It's not gonna work. I am already married. How could I have a fiancée?'

'It's an old law. In the wizarding world, bigamy is legal if your first wife can't give you any children. You can say your wife doesn't want any children. Nobody can force her to. That would be a reason why you'd want a second wife.'

'This plan is the biggest rubbish I've ever heard of,' Harry exclaimed.

'No,' Luna said, shaking her head. 'It's brilliant. You could even tell them I can't get any children. That I'm infertile.'

Harry looked at her with a pained expression.

'I swore that I only love you!' he said quietly.

'You still do. It's only an engagement,' Luna said and smiled warmly at him.

Harry sighed. 'I don't like this at all,' he said.

'Come on, the trial starts in a few minutes. You've got to sign the contract,' Diana said, sounding desperate.

Harry still hesitated.

'Whom do you mistrust more? Us or our father?'

'Your father,' he growled and took the quill David was handing him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

What Harry didn't know was that the boy who now took seat next to Diana wasn't David but the younger Draco Malfoy.

Draco smiled to himself, self-satisfied. The man he was going to be wasn't able to care for anybody else but himself anymore. He had forced Draco to take over the lead.

But when Ginny Malfoy entered the courtroom with Harry and Luna Potter, he felt something he hadn't expected. His heart skipped a beat, his stomach fluttered, and his mouth fell open. He had thought the future Ginny would probably be less beautiful than his Ginny, but she was her equal in every way.

Of course you couldn't compare a sixteen-year-old girl with a woman in her thirties. But Ginny Weasley had grown into a beautiful woman. Her body had full curves, pronounced through the elegant burgundy-red dress she wore. Her face had more lines and wrinkles which gave her strong, expressive features. Especially her laughter-lines gave her full face a cheerful and gentle appearance, although at the moment the lines on her forehead deceived this impression.

'Wow!'

'Excuse me?' Diana asked from next to him.

'Look at her, she's beautiful!'

'Who?' Diana asked, although her eyes were fixed on her mother as well.

'Ginny,' Draco whispered.

Diana was stunned.

Sure, she knew that her mother wasn't ugly, quite the opposite. But she'd never heard David or one of the boys in their age say something like that.

'She's thirty-four!' Diana exclaimed in a hushed voice.

'So what? She's beautiful all the same.'

'You really love her, don't you?' Diana asked admiringly.

To her surprise Draco went silent at this.

After Ginny, Harry walked in, his wife on his right side.

Luna Lovegood!

How Potter could have married her was a mystery to him. As much as Draco knew of her, she was barking mad. A Ravenclaw, but always along with the Potter-gang. For some obscure reason, Ginny thought very highly of her. On the other hand, Ginny was in love with him: a Death Eater, an enemy of her family, and in the eyes of her friends, a truly despicable man.

Of course, love had made him betray his family, his beliefs, his Lord, his destiny - but for a better life. Because she was good for him. Like a healing charm for an open wound.

But what did she get out of it?

Draco could understand the fear of his elder self; he had seen the pain behind his indifferent expression as he watched Harry, Ginny, and Luna. Draco was sure Potter could give Ginny things he'd never be able to. Potter was a hero, a loving husband, and probably a better father than he could ever be. Ginny, of course, denied all his assertions when he'd tell her of his fear.

She always said he was everything she wanted.

But he was still not sure he was everything she needed.

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In the middle of the front row of the highest benches, Susan Bones, Minister for Magic, rose to her feet and the chattering crowd on the benches went silent.

'Mister Potter, would you please take seat so we can begin the hearing?' she said and indicated to the chair in the middle of the room; one of those chairs of which the arms were covered in chains to have highly dangerous convicts under control.

Harry squeezed Luna's hand one last time and went to sit down.

He felt sick and guilty, even though he was completely innocent. He had brought many people onto this chair. He'd seen the chains spring to life, chain the people to sit upon the chair, only to release them again when they were sentenced to imprisonment in Azkaban.

And now he was being compared with one of them. With somebody who'd taken advantage of a child. He felt rage well up inside of him. Malfoy had done many things to him during the years they'd know each other, but this was the limit!

'Hearing of the criminal proceedings on August the ninth, 2015,' Minister Bones opened the hearing, 'into offences committed under Paragraph B of the Ethical Wizarding Law by Harry James Potter, resident at Potter Hall, Shipdham, Thetford. Interrogators: Susan Angela Moira Bones, Minister for Magic; Ophelia Dorothy Castlewood, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.' To Harry's horror, Ophelia Castlewood turned out to be the small, fuzzy-haired witch from the lift. 'Calvin O'Donald, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister; Hestia Innocence Freerich, Junior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court scribe, Carlton Theodore Gobstone.'

Minister Bones sat down, and Ophelia Castlewood stood up unfolding a parchment and then reading out loud:

'The charges against the accused are as follows: Harry James Potter was seen in Knockturn Alley, London, on August the seventh at half past five, by several witnesses kissing the sixteen-year-old Diana Maria Malfoy, daughter of Ginevra Molly Malfoy neé Weasley and Draco Lucius Marcus Malfoy. The Wizengamot also suspects him to have taken further advantages of the girl. This constitutes an offence under Paragraph B of the Ethical Wizarding Law, after which it is illegal to have a physical relationship with an under-aged witch or wizard.'

'You are Harry James Potter, resident at Potter Hall, Shipdham, Thetford?' Susan Bones asked.

'Yes,' Harry confirmed.

'And you were at Knockturn Alley on August the seventh at half past five with said Diana Malfoy?'

'Yes, but...'

'And you kissed her?' Ophelia Castlewood cut him off, accusingly.

'No!' Harry said emphatically.

'How do you explain then, that Mister Draco Malfoy, as well as at least ten other witnesses testify the exact opposite?' Ophelia inquired.

'They lie,' Harry said stubbornly.

'Why should we believe you?'

'Ask Diana. She'll testify that it's a lie.'

Draco Malfoy rose from his seat. 'Ladies and Gentlemen, I remind you that my daughter is still under his influence. Therefore her testimony would not be objective.'

Murmured agreement came from the benches of the Wizengamot.

Diana rose from her seat as well.

'Minister Bones, I'd still like to make a statement, because I think I have excellent evidence that will proof Mister Potter's innocence.'

Harry glared at her. She had agreed to wait with the contract until the last minute. Harry had hoped he could convince the Wizengamot without it.

Susan Bones nodded and conjured a second chair next to Harry's.

But instead of sitting down on it, Diana walked to the Minister's row and handed over a parchment to the surprised Minister for Magic. Then, without a word, she turned and sat down next to Harry. 'Harry and I didn't kiss each other in Knockturn Alley. But we were seen walking hand in hand,' she lied. 'It is true that Harry and I have a relationship which was until now a secret.'

The room broke out into roars of indignation.

'But our relationship is not illegal in any way. You will find that after clause 2 of paragraph B of the Ethical Wizarding Law a witch or wizard is allowed to have a relationship with an under-aged witch or wizard.'

'Miss Malfoy, this clause says you have to be married or engaged,' Ophelia Castlewood contradicted in a motherly voice. Obviously, she saw Diana as the victim of the whole affair.

'Ophelia, they are engaged,' Minister Bones said holding the unfolded parchment in her hands. 'Miss Malfoy and Mister Potter have a betrothal contract,' she declared loudly.

Diana watched her father, who looked completely stunned by this new revelation, with a smug smile.

'But that's impossible!' Ophelia Castlewood exclaimed. 'Potter is already married.'

'Ah, Misses Castlewood, this is where you're wrong!' Diana said and stood up. 'As much as I know, there's an old law that says a wizard may marry a second time if his first wife is unable to give him any children. It's a law that was made in 1377 to prevent the extinction of old wizarding families and the wizarding community in general.'

The night before, Amaris had given Draco and her a history lesson concerning this topic. She'd helped them to make up the whole plan as well as nicking the contract from her father's office while he was in there, a performance Diana and Draco were equally impressed of.

Of course they hadn't told her how they planned to get the original signature of Draco Malfoy under the document.

'I fear she's right, Ophelia,' Minister Bones agreed.

'This contract is void. Without the agreement of the second parental part, the signature of my wife is valid. And I certainly will not agree to this engagement!' Draco exclaimed angrily.

'Mister Malfoy, the contract doesn't bear the signature of your wife. It bears yours!'

Harry was as stunned as Draco looked. When he had signed the contract there hadn't been another signature on it, and now the Minister claimed Malfoy had signed it as well.

Draco went to the front row and snatched the contract from the Minister who held it out to him. Next to Potter's name there was another one. His own.

'It's forged,' Draco said calmly. 'I don't use this signature anymore.'

He snorted. If his children thought they could trick him with a badly forged signature they better had another thought coming.

Minister Bones took her wand from her long plum-coloured robes and tapped it on the parchment saying: 'Revelio auctor!'

Next to the signature appeared a second name. The same name: Draco Lucius Marcus Malfoy.

'The signature is yours,' the Minister said.

'Revelio veritas!' Ophelia Castlewood said, tapping her own wand twice on the paper. 'Was this signature given of free will?' she asked the parchment.

Only seconds later a 'yes' appeared on the parchment.

'That can't be true!' Draco said and turned to his daughter.

Diana tried hard not to smirk. She looked back at her father with the most innocent face she could muster.

'Is Miss Malfoy's mother present?' Minister Bones asked loudly.

'Yes.' Ginny stood up.

'Do you agree with the engagement of your daughter and Mister Harry Potter?'

Ginny smirked at her husband. 'Yes. By all means, yes,' she said, not taking her eyes from Draco's face that had contorted with anger.

The noise in the room increased immediately.

'Silence!' the Minister roared. 'Everybody sit down again. Mister Potter, is your wife present as well?' she asked.

'Yes, she's here.'

'Mrs. Potter, would you be so kind and take a seat next to your husband?' Minister Bones asked and conjured up a third chair.

Luna walked up to them with dreamy eyes and a smile on her face.

'Your name is?' Ophelia Castlewood inquired. She looked as if the milk in her morning coffee had suddenly gone sour.

'Luna Potter.'

'Your maiden name?'

'Luna Lovegood.'

'I expect you live in the same house as your husband.'

'Of course I do.' Luna smiled at Harry.

'I know the question is a very intimate question, but I have to ask if it is right that you are not able to give birth to a child,' Minister Bones enquired.

'Yes,' Luna said. 'And since Harry so desperately wants a child, I offered him to marry someone else.'

'Can your Gyn-wizard or witch confirm this?'

'Of course,' Luna said.

'Mister Potter, what I don't understand is why you didn't tell us this before?' Minister Bones asked.

'I didn't want to make it public. First, to spare my wife the shame of having to admit that she can't bear a child, and second because the engagement was meant to be secret until Diana had finished school. I'm sorry to have caused this trouble. But if Mister Malfoy didn't have a current grudge against me, he surely wouldn't have accused me although he knew of my engagement with Diana.'

The Minister sighed. 'I think a verdict is not necessary in this case. Mister Potter, you're cleared of all charges as soon as you submit a medical report from your wife's Gyn-wizard about your wife's infertility. I do understand your wish to have a child, Mister Potter. But although it is legal, I personally do not approve of the way you chose to have children. I don't see why it would be necessary to marry a girl that is nineteen years younger than yourself. Case closed.'

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After everybody had left the courtroom, Draco went over to his twins who were waiting in the corridor.

'What the hell did you do?!' Draco spat at who he thought was his son.

'I defended my sister's reputation! I won't have you make her out to be Potter's whore,' Draco answered coolly.

'You made her Potter's whore! Now she's engaged to him!'

'Don't you get it? It doesn't matter that Potter was cleared. Ginny won't come back to you anyway if you blackmail her! Would you rather have her hate you than lose her?'

'It's the same for me!' Draco roared. 'You are too young to understand this. I need her!'

'You just think you need her. If she'd really taken the oath, you would have found out that you really need her to love you. You wouldn't be able to stand it if she hated you! And you know what? I am ashamed of you. You're pathetic!' Draco said disparagingly.

The next moment he felt a hand in his face. Draco had hit him.

They were staring at each other, eyes blazing.

'I hate you,' Draco said and left him standing there.

'Dad, how could you!' Diana screamed, horrified, because her father had never hit one of them. Neither his wife nor his children.

'Don't give me lectures, young lady! You are an embarrassment to the family name. Getting engaged with Potter. You are a disgrace as well as your brother!'

'You said I'm a Malfoy, and I could deal with it on my own. I did deal with it on my own!'

'You ruined our family. I don't want to see you again. You are no longer my daughter!' Draco said with such a firm and calm voice that it frightened her.

He looked at her as if she was the only a bit of scum on his shoes. Then he turned and went of into the direction of the elevators.

Diana broke down in tears.

She knew her father could be cruel, but she'd never experienced it herself. And the worst of all was that she felt that he was right. That she had failed. That she was not worthy of being his daughter.

Upon seeing Diana break down, Draco rushed towards her and picked her up from the floor, taking her into his arms.

'He hates me! He said I'm not his daughter anymore!' she sobbed hysterically.

'So what does it matter to you? He's not sane anymore!'

'No, he's right. I failed. I was... I was always just second-born dirt. Amaris is his everything and I'm nothing. And now I've ruined my chance to get into his good grace again!' she cried. 'David is the Malfoy heir and Amaris is his first-born... and I'm... just nothing. You heard him. He didn't disown you! He didn't tell you that you're no longer his son! But I'm dispensable!'

'Diana, you are my daughter!' Draco whispered, holding her close to him. 'You did what I would have expected of you. You defended yourself and your mother. And your father will come around again. I'm sure he didn't mean what he said. If he hadn't lost against you, he would be awfully proud of you. You made up a plan, you saw it through, and you got what you wanted!'

'What I wanted was him being proud of me for handling it myself like he told me to. I thought he wanted to challenge me.'

'I am proud of you. As proud as a father-to-be can be on his sixteen-year-old daughter that isn't even born in his time.'

But Diana didn't stop crying. And so they were standing there in the corridor for fifteen minutes, Diana crying and Draco comforting her in vain, until Ginny, Harry, and Luna came to search them and took them to Potter Hall.

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