Chapter 26 - The Custody Hearing
The following morning was the custody hearing. Harry recalled his parting with Hermione the previous night after they returned from Godric's Hollow. She had squeezed his hand and wished him luck before going into her house. Harry looked forward to a time when he didn't have to part with her at night and they would be able to live together as an official couple, and if he was lucky, she would be his wife.
When he and Anthony arrived in the court room, he noticed Ron was nervously fidgeting on a bench near the back. Harry gave him a nod of encouragement, and Ron nodded back, looking like he wished he was anywhere but here at the moment. He also spotted Mrs. Parkin, who gave him a tight-lipped smile.
Ginny and Gloria marched into the courtroom with a purposeful stride and sat down at their table in front of the judge's bench. Ginny did not acknowledge her brother or Harry, but nodded at whatever Gloria was saying to her.
Judge Woodall entered the courtroom and the proceedings began.
"We are here for the custody hearing of Potter vs. Weasley-Potter. Mr. Potter is seeking joint custody with primary physical custody, is that correct, Mr. Goldstein?"
"Yes, your honor." Anthony replied confidently.
"And Mrs. Weasley- Potter is seeking sole custody of her three children, correct Ms. Redall?"
"Yes, your honor." Gloria said, with equal confidence.
"Okay, then. Mr. Goldstein, you may call your first witness."
"I call Mrs. Sylvia Parkin."
Mrs. Parkin approached the bench and took the oath. Once she was settled, Anthony stood up and approached her.
"Mrs. Parkin, please state your name and address."
"I am Sylvia Eloise Parkin, and I live at 7 Burrow Way in Ottery St. Catchpool."
"Are you a neighbor of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Weasley?"
"Yes, I have been living there for over twenty years. I have known the Weasleys and their children and their grandchildren well. They are a very large family. I was present at the weddings of their children, including Ron and Ginny."
"So you know them well?"
"Yes, they are very nice people."
"Mrs. Parkin, please tell the court what happened on October 20th."
"Well, I was in my kitchen making lunch when I heard a child scream. I ran outside to my back garden and I found little Lily Potter unconscious. She was lying atop my mulch pile and her broomstick was a few feet away from her."
"What did you do?"
"Well, I was very scared. I didn't want to move her because I didn't know the extent of her injuries. I thought perhaps she had been playing on her broomstick and fell off so I ran next door to see if her relatives were home. I banged on the door but there was no answer. I couldn't understand how such a large and loving family would leave a nine year old girl alone with no supervision. So, I went back to my garden and very carefully took Lily in my arms and disapparated to St. Mungo's. Lily came around when I got her to hospital. Once I left her in the healers' care, I sent owls to inform her parents of the accident."
"Do you know what Lily's condition is now?"
"Well, I know she had a concussion and a broken arm, but she seems to have healed nicely in the last two weeks. I went to visit her when she returned to the Burrow."
Anthony seemed satisfied with her answers. "That's all I have, your honor."
"Ms. Redall, do you wish to cross examine the witness?"
Gloria stood up. "Yes, your honor."
"Mrs. Parkin, you say that you've known the Weasley family for twenty years."
"Yes."
"How well do you know Ginny Weasley?"
"Well, my husband and I moved in right after the war ended. Ginny was nice young lady, and I remember she introduced me to her fiancé, Mr. Potter soon after. I was very pleased to know them as Mr. Potter was a big hero. They seemed like a nice young couple."
"What kind of mother would you say Ginny Weasley is?"
"Well, I've seen her with her children at holidays and she seems like a good enough mother. However, I was very surprised that she would leave her daughter alone unsupervised."
"But other than that one time, your impression was positive?"
"Well, yes, but I only saw her and the children at holiday times."
"So you don't know her parenting skills then?"
"Well, not up close, no."
"Then how can you be a good judge of Ginny's skills as a parent, when you've barely observed her?"
"Objection, your honor." Anthony interjected.
"Sustained. Ms. Redall, what is your point in this line of questioning?"
"I'm trying to show that this witness is not a fair judge of my clients parenting skills and her assessments should be questioned."
Judge Woodall looked nonplussed. "I think the witness should step down, as this line of questioning is pointless."
Anthony raised his eyebrows at Harry who tried to suppress a grin. His side was winning.
"Mrs. Parkin, you may step down." Judge Woodall paused. "We have another witness present."
"Yes, your honor." Gloria said, trying to recover from the judge's ruling. "I call Ronald Billius Weasley."
Ron stood up and walked towards the bench to take his oath. Harry was reminded of how he used to look before a Quidditch match at Hogwarts. He hoped Ron wasn't going to throw up on the witness stand.
"Mr. Weasley, please state your name and your relationship to my client and Mr. Potter."
Ron swallowed nervously. "Um, Ginny is my younger sister and Harry is my friend and brother-in-law, well soon to be ex-brother in law."
"How long have you known them?"
"Well, I've known Ginny since the day she was born, which would be thirty six years and I've known Harry for twenty six - we met on the train to Hogwarts and became friends."
"Just friends? I thought Harry was your best friend?"
"Well, we aren't that close right now." Ron said in a low voice.
"Can you explain why you are not close?" Gloria stepped closer to the witness stand.
"Well, we had a bit of a falling out when my marriage ended."
"Can you elaborate?" Gloria said, moving even closer to Ron.
"Objection, your honor." Anthony said. "This line of questioning is irrelevant to the issue of custody."
"Overruled." Judge Woodall said. "Mr. Weasley, please answer the question."
Ron looked very uncomfortable and looked over at Harry, who nodded at him encouragingly.
"Well, I thought Harry was sleeping with my wife." He said sheepishly.
Gloria looked like the cat that ate the canary. "And why did you think that?"
"Well, they've always been very close friends and confidants. I was always jealous of their bond because Hermione, my wife, felt more comfortable talking with Harry than she did with me. But I realized later, that's all they were doing, talking. There was no affair."
"Do you believe that Mr. Potter was in love with your wife?"
"Objection! How is this relevant?" Anthony asked.
"This is relevant to show that Mr. Potter is an unstable individual who strays from his wife to spend time with another woman. He cannot be a good role model for his children."
"Overruled, please answer the question, Mr. Weasley."
Ron's face turned pink, he knew he couldn't lie. "Yes, I believe that Harry was in love with my wife, but he didn't realize it," he said reluctantly. He took a deep breath and continued.
"I think they were friends for so long that he didn't recognize his feelings. But that doesn't make him a bad parent. It just makes him human. You shouldn't take away his kids just because he married the wrong witch."
Ginny audibly gasped.
"I'm sorry, Ginny, but it's the truth. Harry shouldn't have married you in the first place and I
shouldn't have married Hermione. Your honor, Harry is a good father, and everything I wrote in that letter is true.
Harry didn't bribe or threaten me, he just came by my shop and asked me to write him a letter. I decided to write
the letter because I don't want my niece and nephews to grow up without their dad. I'm a dad myself and know
that losing my kids would devastate me. Ginny, you are my sister and I love you, but what you and your lawyer are doing
is wrong."
Ron sat back looking pleasantly surprised at himself while Harry smiled at him appreciatively.
Meanwhile, Gloria seemed unprepared for this turn of events. She had expected Ron to cower and make all sorts of sordid accusations towards Harry.
"Ms. Redall? Do you have more questions for Mr. Weasley?"
She shook her head. "No, your honor."
Ginny stood up, outraged. "Ron, how can you do this to me? I'm your sister! Blood is thicker than water!"
Judge Woodall banged her gavel. "Ms. Weasley-Potter, please sit down. You are out of order."
A fuming Ginny sat down and the judge looked at Anthony. "Mr. Goldstein, do you wish to cross-examine Mr.
Weasley?"
Anthony shook his head. "No your honor, I think he's had enough pointless questions."
Ron looked at Anthony gratefully as the judge let him step down and he walked back to his seat.
"Are there any more witnesses?"
Neither side had any so Judge Woodall folded her hands. "All right then, we will recess for twenty minutes while I consider the evidence presented here today and will announce my ruling when we resume at 11:30 AM."
She banged her gavel.
Once the judge left the courtroom, Ginny got up and ran out towards the ladies room with Gloria following close behind. Harry could tell that she was on the verge of tears.
Meanwhile, Anthony could hardly contain his excitement. "Harry, we have this in the bag. Gloria did a terrible job, but then again, she had nothing to back up her line of questioning."
"I hope so," Harry said fervently. He looked around to thank Ron for his testimony but he had gone. He hoped he could thank him later.
Fifteen minutes later, Ginny returned to the courtroom, her eyes red and face puffy but she still wouldn't face her soon to be ex-husband. Gloria was not with her.
Soon Judge Woodall returned to bench and announced that the hearing was once again in session.
"I have made my ruling in this custody hearing." She looked around. "Where is Ms. Redall?"
Ginny stood up. "Judge Woodall, may I address the court?"
"As long as you are not out of order, you may." Judge Woodall answered, noticing how emotional she looked. "But where is your lawyer?"
Ginny sniffled. "I fired her."
She cleared her throat. "First of all, I want to apologize to everyone here for wasting their time and money. I thought I could win custody of my children, but I see now that I was wrong. I did leave my daughter alone in the house two weeks ago, so I could see my brother to ask him how he could betray me. In trying to keep my children with me, I wound up almost losing my baby girl, who now is barely speaking to me. My other kids hate me, too - James ran away to be with his father and Al wanted to go as well. As much as I hate to admit it, they love him more than they love me and it's obvious that they want to live with Harry."
Ginny took a deep breath. "And I want the kids to live with their dad. I think I need to work on myself for a while, and hopefully my kids will learn to love me again and want me actively involved in their lives."
"Is that all?"
Ginny nodded. "Yes."
"All right then. I am awarding joint custody of the children to both Mr. Potter and Mrs. Weasley Potter, meaning you both will be involved in the major decisions in your children's upbringing. I am also awarding primary physical custody to Mr. Potter. However since Mr. Potter works full time for the Ministry, there will need to be daycare arrangements made for Lily Potter until she is old enough for her formal education."
Harry stood up. "Judge Woodall, if I may?"
"Yes, Mr. Potter?"
"I have decided to resign my post at the Ministry to be a stay at home dad for Lily, so we will not need to seek daycare arrangements."
"Yes, that is agreeable. I have reviewed your finances, and although you have given half of your assets to your wife, you have enough money to live comfortably with your children without additional means of employment."
"Thank you, your honor. Being a dad to Lily will be my full-time job, and of course the rest of my children when they are home."
He glanced towards Ginny's profile, which was no longer haughty but contrite. "And I will be willing to work with Ginny to arrange visitation arrangements when the children are home during the summer months."
Ginny turned towards Harry and gave him a grateful look.
"All right then. But before we adjourn, I want to say something to Ms. Weasley Potter. You were right; you have wasted our time and your money with some of the accusations you have leveled against Mr. Potter. Falling in love with a person other than your spouse is not a crime, and while unfortunate when there are children involved, does not warrant the type of smear campaign you have waged in the Daily Prophet."
"But that was Gloria's idea." Ginny protested.
"Do not interrupt me, please. The point is you were her client and you should be calling the shots. If you didn't agree with her idea, then you should've spoken up. In all honesty, I was going to award Mr. Potter sole custody in this case as I think you've demonstrated yourself to be an unfit parent. However, since Mr. Potter generously offered joint custody to you and you seem willing to better yourself as a person and a mother, I will support that decision."
"Yes, your honor." Ginny said in a small voice.
"All right then. This hearing has concluded and court is adjourned." Once again, Judge Woodall banged her gavel and left the court.
Harry stood up and Anthony gave him a congratulatory hug. "Wow, she was planning to give you sole custody, Harry."
Harry nodded, relieved that the hearing was finally over. "Yeah, but I'm glad it turned out this way. I don't want the kids to grow up without their mother, even though she's been pretty horrible over the last few weeks."
Harry had looked over towards Ginny's table, but she had rushed out of the courtroom. He almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
TBC
-->