Chapter Text
Lucius let out a soft sigh as he settled himself in one of the seats of the booth they'd been provided with within the courtroom, feeling how stiff Harry was in his arms. He bounced the tense lad gently, kissing his head and gently combing his hair back off his forehead, "It's alright Harry, no one will be looking at us" He soothed, realising the Notice-Me-Not charms woven into the booth.
Severus nodded in agreement and ran his fingers through Harry's hair as they waited for everyone to get settled, Neville joining them in the booth instead of sitting within the other witness seats, mainly comprising of his professors and Madame Pomfrey. He sat quietly with Draco, discussing their plans for which subjects they wanted to take in the upcoming school year.
Harry slowly nodded in response to Lucius, before his whole body stiffened even more and he visibly flinched as the Dursleys were guided into another booth, letting out a short high pitched noise and hiding his face in his bunny.
Lucius immediately cuddled Harry to his chest, tucking a blanket around him and rubbing his hand up and down his back slowly, humming soothingly and rocking lightly from side to side. "They can't see you love" Severus soothed softly, leaning down to kiss Harry's head, "and they definitely can't hurt you anymore" he said firmly, no doubt in his tone.
"If everyone could take their seats!" Kingsley announced, waiting for the lawyers, witnesses, accused and spectators to settle and sit down before nodding to himself, brandishing his wand and waving it at the largest set of doors, "Bring forth the Lords and Ladies!"
The men and women of the Wizengamot slowly filed into the room, taking their seats along the courtroom walls, looking down upon the accused in the middle, dressed in their ceremonial plum robes, heads covered by hoods and faces doused in shadow. The trial robes were heavily charmed, to hide which Lord/Lady sat where, or who was speaking at any given moment, to allow them to speak freely when judging crimes. Even the seats normally left symbolically empty during normal proceedings were vanished during court cases, preventing those who knew the layout from determining those who were absent.
"Firstly, due to conflict of interest in this case, proxy votes for the Houses of Black, Malfoy, Potter, Prince, and Longbottom have been named by the respective Lords, Ladies or Heirs of those houses in order to maintain fair judgement. Thank you to the Houses of Bones and Abbott for holding that responsibility" Kingsley announced solemnly before taking his seat at the head of Wizengamot, level with Madame Bones who once again took the mantle as Proxy Chief Warlock, rising from her seat.
"Lords and Ladies, we are called here today to judge in two trials, both of which occur against the same victim. Given the nature of the accused crimes and the evidence to be seen, the courtroom has been sealed with privacy charms and no-one may speak of the trial other than the verdict with those outside this room. The first trial shall now commence!"
The court reporter stood, lifting a piece of parchment and slowly announcing, "We bring forth the case of the Wizengamot of Britain versus Petunia Dursley, Vernon Dursley, and Marjorie Dursley."
Harry flinched at each of the names before frowning a little bit in confusion, "I-is Dudley okay?" He whispered, voice mostly muffled against Lucius' robes. Lucius cooed softly at the nervous words and cupped the back of Harry's head, "He is. He's being taken into foster care with some squibs and being taught right from wrong" He explained gently.
Harry nodded and relaxed a little bit against Lucius, glad his cousin wasn't being punished for only doing what he had been taught to do. He kept his hand tightly around his bunny and tried to tune out the noise of the courtroom, not wanting to hear the charges against his relatives as they were announced, the words 'child abuse', 'neglect', and 'fraud' all drifting over his head before one set of charges made him pause, "W-what's 'magical suppression' dada?" he whispered, not even realising what he'd called Lucius
Lucius froze and held Harry closer for a few more moments, looking up at his fiancé in a panic as he tried to figure out how to answer, glad when Severus leaned over to explain gently, "magical suppression is charged when someone tries to force someone else to not use their magic or make their magic go away." Harry flinched in realisation but nodded a little bit, hiding his face again after softly thanking Severus for explaining.
Harry let out a soft whine when Severus gently lifted him into his arms, frowning in confusion when Lucius straightened his robes and stepped out of the booth, letting out a little whimper when he figured out he was leaving for his turn to give evidence. "He'll be back soon love" Severus soothed, rocking Harry gently and nudging Draco to pass the bag they'd prepared, "Let's have your bottle shall we?" he crooned, shaking the bottle of formula and gently nudging it to his lips.
Harry fussed and shook his head a few times before letting Severus push the nipple into his mouth, starting to suckle slowly on the warmed up formula, humming a little bit at the gentle vanilla taste. He couldn't stop stop his eyes from slowly drooping at the warmth filling up his belly, blinking slowly up at his Papa and whining lightly when the bottle was finished.
Severus smiled and sat Harry up a little bit, patting him firmly on the back to coax out a few burps before cuddling him back close, stroking his cheek and gently pressing a pacifier into his mouth, nudging it a few times until it started bobbing under his nose. "Good boy" he murmured softly, rocking Harry lightly back and forth and hoping that the court case wouldn't interrupt his routine too immensely.
Harry tried his best to stay awake but the gentle rocking and warmth in his tummy won out, his eyes drifting shut and his head dropping to rest against Severus' chest, fast asleep before Severus could even tuck the blanket back around him. Severus added a soft muslin over Harry's head to help block out the lights and settled in to listen to the testimony of his fiancé, which was thankfully short. The beauty of a trial of this magnitude was that the witness seat was charmed to force people to speak not only the truth but also to speak to the point and efficiently, providing all the necessary details to answer the question without talking around in circles. That's why they expected to get through both trials in one day.
Harry slept through the testimony of Lucius, Professor McGonagall, Madame Pomfrey and Neville, waking up slightly with a soft whine when he was carefully transferred back into Lucius' arms so Severus could take the stand, the witnesses almost wrapped up for the first trial with only the Dursleys left to take the stand in their own defense. Lucius shushed Harry gently and stroked his hair, rocking slowly to try and coax him back to sleep, humming soothingly to him, smiling when he relaxed back against his chest before Severus returned.
Lucius and Severus both sat their gritting their teeth through the Dursley's testimony, lifting silencing charms over Harry so he couldn't hear the vitriol coming out of the charmed chair, glad that their testimony was forced shorter by the charms, especially when Vernon tried to start on a rant and was forced to sum it up in just one sentence.
"The Lords and Ladies will now deliberate" Kingsley announced before a thick wall of magic appeared in front of the Lords and Ladies, blocking sound from passing through and allowing the adjudicators to discuss in privacy.
Harry woke whilst they were discussing behind the wall, stretching a little bit and rubbing his eyes clumsily before trying to lift his head and see what was happening. He flinched back when all he could see was Vernon's red face and Petunia's harsh mouth, squeezing his eyes shut before he saw Marge's clenched fists. "Almost done love, then we get a break for lunch" Severus soothed gently, stroking Harry's head and tucking his bunny back into his arms, "You did so good, had such a good nap!" He praised.
The barrier disappeared suddenly, revealing the Lords and Ladies all sitting solemnly with their hands on their laps, faces hidden once more.
"Does the council have a verdict?" Kingsley asked, his voice carrying easily across the silent room. Madame Bones, as the only unhooded of the sitting members, stood and nodded, "We do Minister" her voice rang out.
"Then let the Chief Warlock read the verdict and sentence" Kingsley nodded, returning to his seat.
"On all counts before this court, we the Lords and Ladies of the Wizengamot, do find the defendants, Petunia Dursley, Vernon Dursley, and Marjorie Dursley, guilty. Petunia Dursley is sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 10 years. Vernon Dursley is sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 15 years. Marjorie Dursley is sentenced to 10 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 5 years. This is the decision of the court, and this decision is final."