Anthony was led in by the guards and his eyes roamed the front of the room for Megan. Spotting her, his hands tried to move to pat his hair down to make sure it was in place, but they couldn't in the handcuffs he was wearing. He settled for just looking at her, taking in her every feature. It had been too long since he'd seen her last, over a month. He was guided and cuffed to his chair at the opposite end of the table from Megan. He glanced around. Not a big turnout for what he assumed was the biggest trial since the war aftermath.

The defendants having been brought in, Miles gave them a brief rundown of how the trial would progress. Opening statements, then the Ministry's witnesses. Anthony and Megan would not speak until the end, right before closing arguments. He reminded them both firmly that they needed to remain quiet during the witness testimony, and only to speak to him unless they were on the stand.

Miles glanced across the room at Padma, suppressing the smile that threatened to form. She looked lovely in her conservative skirt suit - likely one of her sister's designs - and fully focused on the case file in front of her. Any nervousness she felt was well-hidden. His attention was drawn back to the front as court was called into order, and Maria LeGrot stepped forward to begin the proceedings.

"Ladies and gentleman of the Wizengamot," she stated. "You are called here today for the trial of Anthony Goldstein and Megan Jones, who have been accused of murder most horrendous. You will hear testimony from both the prosecution and the defense, from both sides of the coin, so to speak. Listen to the testimony carefully and decide within your own hearts as to the sentence that must be passed down." She settled back into her seat and motioned for the Ministry's lawyer to begin.

Justin was staring at Megan. It was times like this that he wished he could light people on fire with the power of his stare. If he thought he could get away with it, he'd hex her where she sat. Because of her, he'd never hear Ernie laugh again. He wasn't one for killing, but he firmly believed she deserved to die.

Hestia's heart was pounding in her chest. She had failed her brother. She had not protected his little girl. Somewhere, somehow, she had failed Megan. Megan Hestia, named after an aunt who couldn't help her get past her grief. At least Megan looked tolerably well. Hestia was glad she had pleaded her niece's case. She could not bear to lose another person. Even if she was a crazy bitch who had tortured her for a little over two months. She was still her older brother's child. Tom wouldn't want his Meg to suffer.

Harry tried his best to maintain the passive look on his face. The fact that someone who had murdered people and cast the Cruciatus on his partner was waving at him made his stomach roll. He wasn't sure if this was even needed. He'd cast a patronus and almost gotten kicked out of school and his trial had been harsher than this. It was ridiculous. These two had killed. Numerous times. It was rubbish. Madame LeGrot had been right in telling him he wouldn't be serving on the Wizengamot for the case because he we too invested. He was. He wanted to see them both locked in Azkaban and never released.

She tried not to look at it from a personal angle. Lavender was here to document the case and write down what had happened. Honest. Unbiased. Truth of the matter was, she wasn't unbiased. Before it had been simple. She'd liked Ernie as a person, and Jones had killed him like it was nothing. She'd been sad and angry about it, but it had been a small pain from someone who mourned the loss of a casual friend. Now, she actually knew some of the people she'd hurt. She tore her eyes from where they'd settled on the back of Justin's head and listened as the proceedings began.

Natalie was a little nervous about this. She was looking from Jones to Goldstein and recalling the pain of the Cruciatus curse. She was hoping she didn't say something wrong, hurt the case. These two deserved Azkaban. She didn't want to mess this up. It needed to be right.

Simone ducked into the courtroom as the trial was about to begin, sitting in the back row. She glanced around the room and found her gaze landing on Maria. She smiled approvingly, the plum colored robes of the Wizengamot suited her.

Cormac sat in his seat, staring dumbly first at Megan and then at Anthony. While it was true he had questionable morals, taking the life of another person was unfathomable to him. He shook his head, breaking eye contact with Anthony and cleared his thoughts as he turned to look at Padma Patil.

Padma closed the file she was looking at, took a deep breath and went to stand before the Wizengamot. "Minister LeGrot, members of the Wizengamot," she began, "I present to you this morning Ministry of Magic v. Megan Jones and Anthony Goldstein. While this case is highly disturbing, it is very straight forward, as confessions have been obtained using Veritaserum.

"Anthony Goldstein, employed by the Ministry as an Obliviator, confessed to causing the murders of Roland Fuller, Wesley Rodin, Alicia Spinnet, Mafalda Hopkirk, Hugh Dawlish, and Muggle Franklin Asher. He was also culpable in the murders of Wayne Hopkins and Rufus Scrimgeour, and unlawfully Obliviated both Auror Jones and Unspeakable Keegan.

"The murder of the Minister, ladies and gentlemen! The murders of people who had mothers, fathers, loved ones! All human life is to be held under the same regard, it is true, whether the person is a high-ranking Ministry official or not. What is clear to me, and I hope it will become clear to you, is that Megan Jones and Anthony Goldstein have no regard for human life--for any but their own. It is for this reason that I am requesting that when they are convicted, and I am sure they will be, that they be given The Kiss. Thank you."

Padma returned to her chair, shaking slightly. During her remarks, she had glanced over at Jones and Goldstein several times and had felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. I don't look forward to speaking to them tomorrow. Her stomach turned at the thought.

Miles waited to rise until Padma had taken her seat. Standing before the Wizengamot, he swept his gaze across the fifty or so assembled wizards and witches, making brief eye contact with as many as he could.

"Minister LeGrot, ladies and gentlemen of the court, as Miss Patil has said, my clients are accused of shocking and terrible crimes. Crimes against Muggles, against a famous and beloved Quidditch player, esteemed Ministry employees. Against a solicitor much like myself, serving his client to the best of his ability. And even against the Minister of Magic himself. They are accused of crimes so heinous in nature that we, as reasonable and moral people, cannot fathom how they could do such things."

He'd been pacing slowly along the Wizengamot box, but stopped in front of the group and looked at them intently.

"Whether or not Megan Jones and Anthony Goldstein committed the crimes with which they are charged is not in dispute. They do not attempt to deny their actions. What is in question is whether Miss Jones and Mr. Goldstein were of sound mind at the time these crimes were committed. Or if, as I intend to show, they had lost their grips on reality and the respect for life that we all, as reasonable and moral people, acknowledge as proper and right.

"You will hear testimony of the traumatic losses that shaped the defendants minds and twisted their ability to reason. You will hear testimony of the irrational behavior that was somehow overlooked and disregarded by those around them. You'll hear from the defendant's themselves as they explain their illogical motives. And then we will ask you not to overlook these things as others have before. We will ask you for mercy. We will ask you to spare their souls. Thank you."

With a short bow, Miles returned to his chair, trying to not cringe at Megan's overly cheerful expression. If they can't see that's she's a nutter, they're all blind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Padma stood up, resisted the urge to smooth the non-existent wrinkles from her skirt and walked towards the center of the room where Hestia was seated. Padma smiled encouragingly at her and began her line of questioning. "Auror Jones, thank you for joining us here today. How do you know Megan Hestia Jones?"

"She's my niece, my brother's daughter."

"And your brother and his wife, Megan's parents, died in the War against Voldemort, correct?"

"Yes," Hestia replied.

"Am I stating accurately then, that you have tried to guide Ms. Jones since, and watch over her as any other family member would in this situation?"

Tried and failed. I'm not the mothering type. Never have been, never will be. I share some blame here. "Yes. I did my best."

"So it must have come as a tremendous shock to you when you realized that your niece, your own blood, was using Unforgiveable curses on you, abusing you?"

Her left hand twitched. She could practically feel that fork biting into her flesh again. "Yes."

Padma's eyes were sympathetic as she asked her next question. "Could you please relate for the members of the Wizengamot what Megan Jones did to you?"

I'd rather not. "She used the Imperius curse to control me. Through it she used me to help her gather neighborhood animals for practicing the Cruciatus curse on. She also liked to cause me to inflict harm upon myself. When I started to develop a tolerance to the Imperius, she started using the Cruciatus as well to break me down. She used my wand to kill Minister Scrimgeour while I watched then had her lover Obliviate me."

"How long did this continue?" Padma asked.

"She was in control of me from early October until Scrimgeour's murder."

"When did you first realize what was happening to you?"

"After my obliviation? In Madam LeGrot's office when my wand was the one that produced the echo of the killing curse. Before I was Obliviated, I was aware of what was going on but could not stop it."

"Thank you, Auror Jones. That's all," Padma said and returned to her seat.

Miles approached Hestia with a solemn expression. Clasping his hands together, he shook his head sadly. "It must be very difficult to look at your niece, knowing that she's not the person you thought she was, Auror Jones. Was there never a time as Megan was under your care, that you noticed her tendency towards violence, or malevolence towards others?"

As much as she had known today would come, Hestia didn't know if she could do this. Watching the memories that had been recovered had been bad enough. Talking about it with a room full of people, most of them strangers to her, was worse.

"No," Hestia answered. "She kept her true nature very carefully hidden."

"I see," he said, nodding. "As you've testified, after the loss of her parents you did your best to fill that role of mentor and guide to Miss Jones. In that capacity, did you encourage her to seek medical assistance or counseling to deal with her grief?"

"Of course, and Megan did for a while. "

"Did you feel that you were close to your niece? A confidante?"

"I thought I was."

"So, would you say you were in a better position than most to notice changes in her behavior?"

"Yes. I should have, but I-"

"And yet you did not." Without pausing to allow a protestation, Miles moved on to his next question. "During the time that you were under the Imperius curse, Auror Jones, you were able to continue performing your duties as an agent of the MLE quite capably, is that right?"

"Megan had me preform the duties she thought I needed to perform. The Misuse of Magic Office works closely with the Aurors, so it was nothing for her to be around me most of the time."

"You hold a position of some rank in that office, do you not? In fact, don't you oversee the Auror training program?"

"Yes, I do."

"And is withstanding and avoiding the effects of Unforgivable curses part of that training? The training you supervise?"

"Yes, but Megan is extraordinarily adept at the Imperius curse, and no one is perfect. Even with all their training, the most skilled of Aurors can be caught unaware or be worn down by repeated attacks."

"Thank you, Auror Jones. I have no further questions for you." With a polite nod, Miles returned to the defensetable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day had passed rapidly as they had made good progress questioning witnesses. Padma glanced quickly over at Miles as the next witness, Samuel Proudfoot, was called to testify. Remembering it wasn't a time to be pondering on the handsomeness of her opponent, she blushed slightly and turned to the witness.

"Auror Proudfoot," she began, "I understand that you were in charge of the interrogation of Anthony Goldstein?"

Sam nodded in affirmation. "Yes, I was."

"Could you tell us what he revealed under questioning?"

"Anthony Goldstein was questioned about a series of murders that took place. Details surrounding the murder-why and how-were answered by Goldstein when under Veritaserum."

Padma tried not to show her frustration with the witness. They had been over these questions before and she wondered if there were someway to feed him some extra IQ points. "Auror Proudfoot, please share with us which murders Anthony Goldstein confessed to under Veritaserum."

"Certainly. Goldstein admitted to killing the muggle found with Alicia Spinnet, who he also murdered, and also admitted to forcing Mafalda Hopkirk to kill Hugh Dawlish. He was also said he was present and aided in the murders of Wayne Hopkins and the late Minister."

"And what did he have to say about Megan Jones? The murders she committed?"

Sam sneered in Megan's direction. "He told us about the details behind the late Minister's murder. More specifically, he told us that Megan Jones put her aunt under the Imperious curse, took her wand and killed the Minister, after which he obliviated Hestia Jones. He also told about the murder of Wayne Hopkins. Goldstein did not kill him, but Jones did with Goldstein's suggestions. With the Hopkirk murder, he confessed that Jones forced her to drink poison."

Anthony glared at Proudfoot, trying to remain calm. The man is purely trying to get a rise out of me, surely. Remembering Bletchley's words, he lowered his gaze and focused on not saying a word, which was no easy feat, as Proudfoot kept talking.

"And he confessed all of this while under Veritaserum?" Padma asked, wanted to remind the members of the Wizengamot that this confession was irrefutable, as it had been procured under Veritaserum.

"Yes," Sam said. "He tried to resist at first, trying to confess to the murders Jones committed, but eventually gave up."

"Thank you, Auror Proudfoot. That will be all."

Miles stood and approached the witness. This man was a disgrace to his position. Fortunately, his arrogance would likely help Miles' case.

"Auror Proudfoot, during your interrogation of Mr. Goldstein there were a number of times you intentionally provoked him. Specifically, you made derogatory remarks about the other defendant, Miss Jones. What was Mr. Goldstein's reaction?"

Sam was instantly uncomfortable. "He struggled and tried to choke me. He had to be pulled off by an Unspeakable."

"Did that strike you as a rational response to your taunts?"

Sam sneered. "Perhaps. Although shoving a table against my neck was a bit much. But I-" He didn't get to finish because Miles had already waved him off and started toward his bench.

Miles face held the barest hint of a sneer as he dismissed the witness. "Thank you, Auror Proudfoot. I have no further use for you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His role here was simple. Just affirm what Proudfoot, idiot extraordinaire, had said. Short, bittersweet, and to the point. Justin happened to look over at Megan though. She was sneering at him. He very nearly sneered back, but managed to just quirk an eyebrow at her. She was enjoying this. It made him a bit sick.

"Please state your name and rank for the Wizengamot," Padma began.

"Justin Finch-Fletchley, Unspeakable."

"You were present when Anthony Goldstein was interrogated?"

"Yes."

"And he admitted to the murders and other crimes as previously mentioned?"

"Yes."

"Thank you," Padma said. "Nothing further."

Taking his place, Miles looked at the laconic Unspeakable. Muggleborn. Friend of one of the victims.

"Mr. Finch-Fletchley, what was your opinion of Auror Proudfoot's interrogation technique?"

Dammit  "Honestly?"

"Yes, Mr. Finch-Fletchley."

"In my opinion, it was a bit too provoking, but it did garner the necessary information."

"But you would've handled it differently. What specifically made you feel that Auror Proudfoot's technique was not appropriate when dealing with Mr. Goldstein?"

Hell. "He spoke of Miss Jones in a way that clearly did not pertain to the case. It was obviously upsetting to Mr. Goldstein, but perhaps that was not obvious to Auror Proudfoot. I would not have mentioned her at all. Still, it did result in getting the necessary confession of guilt."

"Would you say that Mr. Goldstein overreacted to the slurs made against Miss Jones?"

"Personally? No. Professionally? Perhaps, but I might be biased."

"Biased because you were close to one of the victims, Ernest Macmillan?" Miles asked in a sympathetic tone.

"Yes."

"On a personal level, though, you don't see strangling an Auror as an overreaction to name-calling?"

"Well, I have better control of myself, but I could understand it. Would I have done it? No, so yes, it was a bit of an overreaction, in my opinion."

"Thank you, Mr. Finch-Fletchley. That's all I have for you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maria stood after both barristers had returned to their seat, casting a look around the people gathered in the room. "Thank you for your attendance today, members of the Wizengamot, as well as fellow employees of the Ministry. The trial will resume tomorrow at eight in the morning, sharp. In the intervening time, I ask that you do not discuss this case with anyone outside this room. These are closed proceedings, which calls for strictest of confidences. Thank you once again, and good evening."

She nodded to everyone and led the procession of Wizengamot members out of the courtroom. It had been a trying day. She was beginning to wonder if Jones could be used at all, or if she had fallen too far into insanity. The fact that she was attached to her mudblood just made it all the worse. Still, during desperate times one did not reject a weapon just because the weight was off. If they ever needed a sharp blade, she would be available, and all the more loyal for releasing her and sparing her lover.


Summary: The Anthony Goldstien and Megan Jones trial commences with Maria Legrot leading the Wizengamot, Padma Patil as prosecutor, Miles Bletchley as defender, Cormac McClaggen as a member of the Wizengamot, Hestia Jones and Justin Finch-Fletchley testifying. In attendance are Harry Potter, Natalie McDonald, Simone Capper and Lavender Brown.