Bewitched | wolfstar au

Fifty

"This is outrageous," Severus frowns, "What kind of hearing is this?"

On a cold Sunday morning, the four of them—Remus, James, Lily and Severus—are seated at the only occupied table of a cozy little café near James and Lily's place. It's a nice place, decorated with lots of little flower pots hanging from the ceiling, from which tiny-leafed plants spill down and wave about in the air.

It would've been much nicer if Remus felt a little bit above absolute shit. Even the hot chocolate isn't helping him today, although it tastes like heaven in a cup.

"A private one," James huffs, "like it says in the letter."

Severus gives him a nasty look, and Lily puts her face in her hands.

"Well," Remus sighs, "It is what it is. The Ministry makes the rules."

Last night, the Ministry owled Remus to let him know that, despite the clear lack of evidence, Remus was going to be very generously granted a court hearing. Except there wasn't much of a court, either, just a judge.

And he wouldn't be allowed to bring anyone, except a third party representative if he wants one—which Remus assumes means lawyer—to avoid scandalization.

"An attack on free journalism is what it is,"

Remus almost jumps when a tiny voice angrily cuts through the air. He looks at Severus' phone which is on the table, suddenly remembering that there's a fifth member with them.

Not the phone, obviously. The voice coming from the phone. The editor of the Quibbler, Lovegood.

"What do we do now?" James pinches the handle of his empty mug and gives it half a spin, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't know," Lily offers helpfully.

"Me neither," Severus admits.

"We should just burn the Ministry down," the phone says.

Remus gives the phone a look that feels a lot like his Sirius, no look, which reminds him of said boy, and then leaves him feeling even worse. As if that was even possible.

"That's not going to solve anything, Xeno," Severus says.

"It could be cathartic," the phone says in a helpful tone, "Don't you think so, Remus? Unless you want to go all Wolverine on the Minister. Which might get you killed, so don't do that. Burn the place down instead, we'll help you cover it up."

"And when you go to Azkaban, we'll write another article about you. And light candles in front of your house," Severus rolls his eyes at the phone.

"No, we'll put pictures up. Candles are for dead people, Sev."

Remus gives a miserable smile, dropping his head in his hands. "I think I'd rather just... go there and see," he says, brushing his hair back.

"I don't think there's any other option," Lily agrees, "At least not without earning you a lifetime stay in prison. You need a lawyer, though."

"That's..." James looks almost embarrassed, "That's not a thing, Lily. We don't... Wizarding lawyers aren't really a thing."

This earns him an incredulous look from both Lily and Remus.

"What does that mean?" Lily asks.

"That means," Severus says, "We don't have lawyers. Most people usually talk for themselves at court."

"That's horrible," Lily says, looking thoroughly offended.

"I know," Severus says, "But like Remus said, it is what it is."

"So... I have to go alone? What do I even say?" Remus frowns.

"You don't have to go alone. You can have a representative. And witnesses."

"I don't have any witnesses," Remus sighs.

"You have me," James says, reaching forward to pat his hand, "I did find out some of the names, didn't I?"

"But that's... that's the problem. It's just what you heard, James, and you can't prove it. No one else saw what happened, except for the people who did it, and..." Remus gives a dejected sigh. "It shouldn't be our job to find out who did it anyway."

"Exactly. That's what we have Aurors for," the phone sighs disappointedly.

"No, That's not what he have Aurors for," Severus says, sounding a little bitter, "We have them to kiss the Ministry's figurative arse."

"Can't argue with that."

"This isn't looking too good, is it," Remus frowns, tracing his mug with a finger.

"Well... we never know until we try, right?" Lily smiles at him. "I can be your representative if you want, Re. And we'll take James as witness. And Auguste, maybe? Didn't he find the rest of the names? And you can't forget Sirius, he's the only one of us who actually saw what happened."

Remus tries not to wilt like a day-old flower upon hearing Sirius' name.

"We'll look into it and see if there are other people who heard something," Severus offers, giving Remus a small smile. "This kind of thing couldn't have been done in complete secret... if we find a couple people who can testify, it will help you out a lot."

"Yeah, don't worry, Re. I'm sure we'll find a way." James squeezes his hand.

Remus nods, feeling a little better. Not about this whole mess of a so-called court procedure, because in all honesty, he doesn't have much hope for it. But he feels so good about his friends. And their support, always so steady and unwavering, because he knows he'll have that until the very end.

***

Author's Note

The more I read about the Wizarding World, the more I'm glad to not be part of it.