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Chapter Twenty Nine: Truth Brought Out

"When it's the end, justice will prevail."

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Early next morning, Ron, Hermione and Savage were positioned at the entrance of Isabelle and Aunt Muriel's house. Proudfoot and Harry were backups, standing near the opposite alley.

Ron recollected everything that he wanted to before rapping his knuckles on the door. It opened to reveal the bed-haired Isabelle. Ron wanted to smirk at her laziness but then he remembered that he was no better, save for occasions such as this.

"Oh, look who's here? My dear cousin! What's the news, then, Ronniekins?" she asked, stretching. Ron grimaced before answering.

"We are on official duty here, Miss Weasley," he answered.

"Thank you, Ron. I will take it from here. Miss Weasley, you are accused of holding a confiscated item from Gringotts and we are here to raid your house," Hermione said, holding out her Law Enforcement badge. Isabelle's eyebrows shot up, something that Ron had come to expect. Bill had already informed them that the curse would have been possible to place only if they had a special gem. This gem was extremely rare and all, save a few, were locked away in Gringotts to prevent such damage. The unrecorded ones were suspected to be involved in some sort of trickery in Knockturn Alley.

"There is no such thing in my house. I can guarantee you that. Besides, isn't Gringotts one of the most secured places in this world? Or did you ruin it, Miss Granger?" she teased. She was starting to get on Ron's nerves but he forced himself to stay silent. His wife was well capable of defending herself and he was spoon-fed the fact several times before.

"It's Granger-Weasley to you and to inform you, the Goblins have taken proper security measures to defend themselves. Auror Weasley and Proudfoot, proceed!" Hermione ordered. Ron smirked at his cousin before making his way in. Proudfoot followed him and they were soon in the living room. Aunt Muriel, who was drinking pumpkin juice, looked up at the sound.

"Ronald?! What are you doing here?!" she hissed.

"Ministry business," Ron answered, not quite bothering to talk respectfully. He was sure that his mother would disapprove of his mannerisms at that point but he really could care less. Proudfoot took to Aunt Muriel's bedroom despite her protests.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hermione motion towards the kitchen. He nodded slyly before making his way to the kitchen. Aunt Muriel was one hell of a cook hence it would have been much easier to hide something there under the pretence of an ingredient.

Unfortunately, nothing was found in the kitchen even after a good ten minute long search. Ron was beginning to lose hope when Proudfoot shouted. "Auror Weasley! Madam Granger-Weasley!"

Ron ran to the room he was summoned to. It was the storeroom: quite a tough place to rummage through. Proudfoot waved his wand at something which glowed red. Ron inspected it closely without touching it as Hermione performed some spells which Bill had taught her to identify the curse inducing gem. Isabelle and Muriel stood by the doorway, barely breathing. "What is it, Hermione?" Ron urged.

Hermione turned towards Isabelle. "You are arrested for holding the Cursio Gem in your custody. Aurors Weasley and Proudfoot, escort her and Mrs Muriel to the Ministry. Expecto Patronum!" A silver otter jumped out of her wand. "The presence of Aurors Potter and Savage is requested at Courtroom Ten for an emergency trail!" The otter flew away. Ron disarmed Isabelle and Muriel with a self satisfied smirk just as Proudfoot magically bound their arms. Justice for Ginny was finally going to prevail.

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The courtroom had wand drop silence. Isabelle was bound to a chair in the middle of the big room.

"State your full name, Miss Weasley," Hermione said. The Veritaserum was given to Isabelle by Savage.

"Isabelle Catastrophe Weasley," she said in a monotone.

"Do you agree to have kept the Cursio Gem in the storeroom of your house?"

"Yes." Hermione wrote something down before looking at the accused.

"How did you come across this gem?"

"It was on retail at the Knockturn Alley. The trader said about it being one of the souvenirs present in the Lestrange Vault."

Ron let out a groan. The Lestrange Vault reminded him of something really unpleasant. He forced himself to look at Hermione, who was concealing her disgust quite professionally. Harry, on the other hand, just looked lost.

"Who might the trader be?" Hermione questioned after noting down Isabelle's answer.

"I don't know." It was the sad truth. People under the influence of Veritaserum could never lie. It was up to Ron and his Auror team to find out the miscreant.

"I see. . .Did you put this gem to any use? Any use at all?" Ron's breath caught in his throat. This was the highlight of the trial; Hermione had twisted the question to bring out the truth about the fire. "Miss Weasley?"

"Yes. Yes, I did," Isabelle replied, reluctance etched in her voice.

"May I know how?"

"I used it to - to manipulate two aurors and kill Ginny Potter."

"What?!" Ron and Harry shot up at once.

"Silence!" Hermione ordered, causing the two men to sit back. The Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt took up the questioning.

"Who were the two aurors?" he boomed.

"Aurors Proudfoot and Savage."

Expressions of shock and horror were heard all around the courtroom. Ron was no exception; he was standing with a horrified face. "B-but I was at Mexico at the time of Mrs Potter's murder!" Savage exclaimed in his defense.

"How would I be sure about that?! Ron and I were not there until late evening owing to buy the car!" Harry reasoned, getting off the sidelines to confront the two senior aurors. Ron followed him, eyes narrowed and suspicious. Were the murderers near him the whole time and he never realized it? "What if you both Disapparated from the hotel when we were away to kill my Ginny? Tell me!" Harry was totally furious that Ron was afraid he would perform uncontrolled magic soon enough. As much as anger bubbled inside him, mixed with feelings of regret and betrayal, he wanted to keep his head in situations such as this like Hermione always said.

"Mr Potter!" Hermione interrupted. "Mr Weasley, do something!"

"Harry, mate, hold on-"

"How do you expect me to be calm when feeling cheated?" he asked, his voice giving away the emotion.

"Order!" Hermione commanded and silence fell over. "Guards, kindly confiscate the wands of Aurors Proudfoot and Savage!" The two hefty looking men marched in, hands outstretched for the wands. The two aurors provided theirs with no reluctance. Simultaneously, Hermione had finished discussing something with Shacklebolt. A patronus was sent and the two aurors were bound to chairs and dosed with Veritaserum. A few minutes later, Bill entered the courtroom and bowed to Shacklebolt and Hermione.

"I was summoned," he said.

"Yes. We have a curse-breaking question over here. Mr Weasley, what can actually be done using a Cursio Gem?" Shacklebolt asked. The reporters standing on the sidelines poised themselves to jot down Bill's words.

"Firstly, it is an illegal item to be used by anyone lacking the knowledge of ancient runes and dark arts. Using a Cursio Gem, the most sane of minds can be driven to insanity, the sturdiest of people can be manipulated. Several other extremely dark uses are known to be associated with this stone. However, not all of its uses is well known to the humankind and the goblinkind. Nothing can be predicted when using this gem," Bill explained. Hermione exchanged a look with Shacklebolt before proceeding the questioning.

"Did you manipulate Aurors Proudfoot and Savage to kill Ginevra Potter, Miss Weasley?" She directed the question to Isabelle.

"I never meant to kill. I meant to maim her," Isabelle admitted. Ron wondered why but before he could even ponder on that, Hermione started.

"For the sole reason of your infatuation with Auror Potter, I presume?"

"Not completely true," Isabelle answered. "Aunty Muriel never quite liked Harry and for him to be married into her family was disliked by her. I wanted to do something about it and when you get two fruits with one stone, why not? I wanted to maim Ginny so that Harry would leave her, under the impression of being a curse to her. Aunt Muriel's purpose as well as mine would be fulfilled then."

Harry paled considerably, leading Ron to grab his shoulder. His anger at Aunt Muriel just increased for causing his family so much of pain. "Then, how would you defend that you never meant to kill Mrs Potter? That's what the aurors have been manipulated to do, after all."

Isabelle was about to respond but Bill cut in. "If I may?" Shacklebolt nodded instead of Hermione and he started. "The gem is said to be intellectual, one that has a mind of its own to manipulate the manipulator."

Hermione jotted it down and Kingsley sighed. "This is partly why I never wanted to take ancient runes," he put in for a comic relief. Hermione coughed to reprimand her boss. "Proceed, Mrs Granger-Weasley."

"To Mr Proudfoot and, Mr Savage, where do you think you were when it was precisely eleven in the night in Britain?" she questioned. Proudfoot and Savage exchanged looks, arising more doubts in Ron's mind.

"As far as we know, in Mexico," Proudfoot replied for both of them.

"Do you feel any different after the night passed?"

"I, for one, remember to have been in the lobby instead of my room with a bad cold," Savage responded, scratching his head.

"It wasn't winter at that time. What caused the sudden cold?" Shacklebolt pondered.

"Do you remember being attacked by bats?" Ron asked weakly, remembering his sister's trademark hex.

"Oh! Oh yes!" Savage exclaimed, realization dawning on him. "I had a nightmare in which bats flew out of my – well, this sounds gross – nose."

"That must be the bat bogey hex Ginny loved to cast," Ron winced in remembrance.

"Neither of you both remember anything apart from that?" Hermione probed. The two aurors thought for a while before shaking their head in negative. She sighed and turned towards Isabelle again. "Miss Weasley, did you or did you not set fire to Number 607, Potter Manor, Northampton last evening?"

"I actually did, yes." Hermione started to interrupt but Isabelle continued forcefully. "When Harry said he would not fancy starting anew with me, my heart burned which led me to do some really unforgivable things which I now regret. . ." She answered slowly, her head hanging.

Hermione wrote on her parchment and handed it to Shacklebolt. "This will be the end of the investigation. I would like to give the following observation.

"Miss Isabelle Weasley, knowingly set aurors of the Ministry to kill the Quidditch Prodigy, Ginevra Potter. Furthermore, she has, with the use of Cursio Gem, manipulated the dwelling of one of the Ministry's aurors to catch fire. With this, I ask of the Wizengamot to vote for what they think should be done to Miss Weasley. The first option would be to place her in Azkaban for no less than fourteen years for murder of a Quidditch star, attempted murder of several lives, use of illegal gems, and manipulation of two ministry officials. Those in favor of the aforementioned, kindly lift your hands."

More than two-thirds of the Wizengamot voted against Isabelle, including Hermione and Shacklebolt. "I would like to close this case. Miss Isabelle Weasley will be sent to Azkaban for fourteen years. Guards, kindly escort her to the waiting room. Make sure to disarm her completely." The guards nodded and took Isabelle away from the courtroom. "I thank you for your cooperation. Court is done for the day."

Ron smiled to himself before hugging Harry. Justice finally decided to prevail. Perhaps everything would be alright, if not good, from hence. That night as Ron sat below the stars with Rose sleeping on his legs, Oreo curled up in front of him and Hermione beside him, he only missed Ginny's presence. But the Weasley knew that his sister would be happily skipping around in the afterlife, glad to have finally gotten rid of him and his tantrums. Only, Ron hoped it would be more of a joke. . .

An epilogue to go to the end of the book!

Thank you for reading!

Miyoko x