Lover ; George Weasley

Eleven

"The last time I saw you, you were okay with joined custody."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair before looking at my lawyer.

"I've changed my mind. I don't trust him as their father."

"Do you have a specific reason?" He asked, folding his hands on the desk. "Because if it's only because you don't like him... that won't get very far with the Minister."

I shook my head.

"The reason for the divorce is that he hit me... he'd come home drunk and he'd hurt me. I don't trust him near my girls. I want— no I need full custody."

"But you told me you weren't worried? Did something happen? Did he hurt one of your girls?"

I sighed and shook my head.

"Not as far as I'm concerned." I said and sat up straight. "I just... I want to file for custody. It's that simple... just tell me how to prove to the Minister that I'm the better parent."

"Dahlia." He says, trying to catch my gaze. "If you think about your own needs instead of your girls, the court will give him custody."

"Wha—" I laughed, throwing my head back while I ran a hand over my face and into my hair. Then I looked at him again, raising my voice. "...are you fucking kidding me? All I ever do is for them! This is not because of me, this is because he's a horrible fucking person and if he gets drunk just once in their company and I'm not there to protect them, he's going to hurt them! My oldest daughter saw him hurt me! She's gonna grow up with that memory so you know what? I don't need the full custody but my girls need me to. I'm doing it for them."

"Okay." He nodded, probably just to shut me up. "If you want to show the Minister that you're the better parent... there're different things we need to go over."

I nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

"First of all, are you spending available time with your girls? I'm not just talking about when you have them for a week. Do you drop them off at school, pick them up? The more flexibility you show, the more time you make for them, the better chance you have at winning the custody case."

I nodded.

"I always drop them off. Elsie doesn't like me walking her to class so when we get to her school, I hug her goodbye and she runs inside, but I always walk Leah to class and makes sure her teacher has her."

"What about your time when you don't have them? What do you spend your time doing? If you have some drinking issues or something related to drugs... if you've been arrested before, that's something he can use against you to show that you're an unfit parent."

I shook my head.

"I don't have problems with either alcohol or drugs, and I've never been arrested." I said. "Well..."

I sighed again and ran a hand to my neck.

"I was arrested once but that was a mistake. You see, my dad was a death eater shortly sometime during the war and when I was nineteen, I got arrested because they thought I was one... even years after the war had ended."

"So you've been arrested?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. "Do you think that's something Mr Baddock would use against you?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know."

"We can always try and start a custody case." He suggested. "But if he uses that against you, I can't assure that you'll win."

I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"And it's the same with living arrangements. He's got a mansion where the girls have their own space. You live in a flat where they share a room and you sleep in the living room." He said. "I can't assure they'll choose you as a fit parent."