Kendis had known the moment Draco Malfoy apparated on her doorstep that trouble wasn’t far behind. There was an ugly look on his face that usually meant she had pissed him off, which Kendis was uniquely talented at doing, or that a nasty legal problem had dropped into his lap.

“Well, well, look what the Ferret dropped in,” Kendis smirked. If they were still rivals in high school, that remark would have gotten her hexed. These days, he just glared at her and pushed past her with a glare so strong it could curdle milk.

“Well, come in.”

“Where is the Muggle?”

Kendis followed Draco down her foyer, his Italian leather briefcase in one hand and his expensive dragon-hide boots stomping on her chevron floors.

“If you mean my beloved husband?” Kendis called out as she trailed behind him. “Then he is in the kitchen.”

Tony was sitting at the kitchen island, holding a mug that said “Mentally Spicy” in one hand and typing rapidly on a tablet with the other.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Tony balked.

Draco took a bunch of rolled-up parchment from his briefcase and slammed them onto the counter.

“Parchment, really? I thought we were a civilized people.” Tony frowned as he picked them up.

“Muggle—”

Kendis shot Draco a hard look, then turned to glare at Tony, pinched the bridge of her nose, and took a deep breath. “Not now, Tony.”

Kendis picked up one of the parchments and unrolled it. “What is this?”

“They cannot punish you for exposing unlawful marital dissolution, memory theft, coerced separation, and bloodline interference,” Draco replied angrily. “So they mean to punish you for telling your friends the truth.”

Kendis quickly scanned the parchment, her anger rushing through her. She knew that had been a possibility when she told the Cerebral Flush. But she had no choice at the time. A wannabe Voldemort thought it would be a grand idea to target Tony and his friends. Thankfully, Kendis and Wei Ying managed to fight them off, but that ended up revealing her magic to them.

Jarod and Cristopher had been fascinated, but Lana and her wife, Kimberly, had been surprisingly nonchalant about it. Still, Kendis knew that she had given MACUSA and the British Ministry a vulnerability to exploit.

“This is ridiculous,” Tony said as his eyes scanned the parchment. He turned to Draco. “Do you know how they found out?”

“No,” Draco shrugged. “I have people looking into it, but Lady Black is a public figure. It could have been anyone.”

Kendis gave an incredulous laugh that made Tony give her a concerned look.

“Sweetheart—”

“No, because MACUSA has learned everything about me and decided the angle is I’m too honest.” She leaned against the counter, arms folded. “That is adorable.”

Draco slid the formal charge toward her. They were charging her with violation of the International Statute of Secrecy through unauthorized disclosure of magical identity and governance to non-magical persons.

The names listed underneath made her vision sharpen.

Richie, Cristopher, Lana, Kimberly, Jude, and Jarod.

“They’re calling them civilians,” Kendis said.

“They are, technically,” Draco replied.

Kendis looked up, but to Draco’s credit, he did not flinch, which was wise of him.

“They are not just civilians,” she said. “They are my people.”

Tony took the parchment from her before it could smoke. “They lost the big fight,” he said, scanning. “And I hate to say it, dear, but you gave them an in. You technically did break the law, and this gives them room to retaliate. It’s easier for them to pull the public’s attention away from the part where magical governments erased spouses, stole children from records, and wiped people out of their own marriages.”

Kendis’s hands flattened on the counter.

She could still hear the testimonies. The musician with grief and no memory. The swimmer whose wife had been removed from every photograph. The actor who had not known he was widowed. The worst testimony was from the footballer whose children were hidden because fame made him a threat.

She had made two governments admit what they had done, both under oath, under a truth spell, and in front of witnesses. They had stolen marriages because old bloodlines were frightened of cameras, money, public love, and non-magical spouses with lawyers.

Now MACUSA wanted revenge, and as much as she hated to admit it, Tony was right. She had broken the law and had refused to Obliviate her friends. Because somehow along the way, the Cerebral Flush had gone from being just Tony’s friends to being Kendis’s people too, and she would burn the world for her friends.

“Who’s the judge?” Kendis asked, crossing her arms.

“Ephraim Graves,” Draco said. “He’s old money, conservative, and a bloodline preservationist. He believes secrecy law is discipline and that you are too visible to be trusted.”

Kendis let all of that settle as her mind whirled with the possibilities and ways to maneuver in front of a Lucius Malfoy wannabe.

Tony put his coffee down, and Draco gave her a put-upon sigh.

“Do not make that face in court.”

“What face?” Kendis asked innocently.

“The one that suggests you have already buried the man and are deciding whether to plant flowers.”

Kendis’s grin only continued to grow, and she exchanged a look with her husband. Tony’s smile was just as sharp as hers. MACUSA hadn’t learned their lesson about what happened when they fucked around with Kendis’s people, but she was all too happy to make them find out.

The MACUSA courtroom was exactly as smug as she expected. The room was all dark wood, high ceilings, gold seals, and carved eagles. The judge’s bench loomed over the court in an obvious attempt to make people feel small.

It reminded her of the time she had faced the Wizengamot just before fifth year and how Cornelius Fudge had tried to humble her. Kendis knew that if she hadn’t been useful to Dumbledore, she would have been expelled from Hogwarts and had her wand broken.

But Kendis was twenty-nine years old now, and she was no naive child.

She entered the courtroom in one of her black Savile Row suits. She wore a dark green tie that made her eyes pop and polished wingtip boots. Her cornrows were tied neatly into a severe bun, and her wand was holstered beneath her sleeve. Tony walked at her left, arc reactor glowing faintly through his shirt. Draco walked at her right, pale and bored enough to be dangerous.

Behind them came the people MACUSA had named, and Kendis couldn’t help but feel them like a hand at her back.

Their friends weren’t hiding, and they sure as hell hadn’t been erased. They had all agreed that they would stand tall together in a united front.

Judge Graves entered with the severity of a man who thought robes counted as a personality. Kendis rose only because Draco murmured, “Do not begin with contempt of court.”

“Lady Black,” Graves said, looking down at her. “This court convenes to consider charges that you knowingly violated the International Statute of Secrecy by revealing magical knowledge to non-magical persons without authorization.”

He paused, eyes cold. “Given your recent involvement in politically destabilizing proceedings, this court expects discipline and respect.”

Kendis barely bit back a snarl, but she pushed down her rage at his language. As if the problem wasn’t that magical communities were violating people’s minds because they were terrified of exposure. This man did not give a single shit about all the lives magical governments had ruined. Judge Graves simply saw it as “politically destabilizing.”

Draco rose before Kendis could speak. “My client pleads not guilty. We will demonstrate that this charge is retaliatory, politically motivated, and in direct conflict with the emergency reform accords MACUSA signed after Lady Black exposed decades of unlawful marital dissolution and memory tampering.”

Graves’s mouth thinned. “The court will determine relevance.”

“Of course,” Draco said. “I look forward to assisting the court in that struggle.”

Kendis bit the inside of her cheek as she kept a tight rein on her temper. Beside her, Tony’s shoulders went suspiciously still. Any person who didn’t know Tony would think he was calm, but she could see the rage in his stance.

Because these were his friends, and one of the many things both Tony and Kendis agreed upon was that their friends were to be protected at all costs.

The prosecutor, Helena Voss, stood and made her case as if it were simple. Kendis had disclosed magic when she clearly had not filed the necessary permits for it. And by not filing the permits, Kendis had endangered secrecy at a time when MACUSA was recovering from pressure caused by her prior conduct.

Prior conduct, Kendis inwardly snorted to herself. Kendis kept her hands folded as she noticed that Graves watched her as if he was waiting for an outburst.

She had survived boarding school, pureblood politics, serving as an Auror, aristocratic racism, wizarding transphobia, and Tony Stark before coffee.

Kendis could sit still while men underestimated her.

“MACUSA would like this court to believe Lady Black revealed magic because she is arrogant,” Draco began his rebuttal. “In reality, she revealed it because secrecy itself had become the weapon.”

A hush came over the courtroom as Draco continued.

“For decades, magical governments identified marriages between magical citizens and famous non-magical spouses as inconvenient. They dissolved lawful marriages, altered photographs, erased memories, hid children, and called it protection.”

The first witness was an Obliviator, and Kendis immediately realized that was MACUSA’s first mistake.

Marcus Bellweather looked like a man who had trusted paperwork to launder sin. Kendis watched as Voss led him through the dangers of exposure.

And the thing was, Kendis didn’t disagree. She knew her history. She knew about the witchcraft trials that had almost led to the destruction of magical kind. Secrecy mattered. It was one of the things that had kept them alive as a community for so long. But secrecy without accountability had become a predator.

Then Draco stood. “Were you employed by MACUSA’s Department of Memory Integrity between 2001 and 2009?”

“Yes,” Marcus Bellweather replied.

“Did you participate in memory modifications connected to the Marital Risk Containment Program?”

Voss immediately objected, but Graves, interestingly enough, hesitated. Kendis could speculate as to why. There were too many observers and reporters in the audience because anything with Kendis’s name attached to it was prime entertainment. After Kendis exposed the Marital Risk Containment Program, the scrutiny of MACUSA’s every move was higher than ever.

“Allowed,” Graves said.

Bellweather went pale as Draco continued to press the man.

“Did you remove memories of magical spouses from non-magical husbands and wives?”

“Yes,” Bellweather replied, sweat dripping down his forehead as Draco cross-examined the Obliviator.

“Did you remove memories of children?”

Bellweather closed his eyes. “Yes.”

Tony’s hand found Kendis’s beneath the table, and she held on hard. It was the children that always got to her. The faces of the kids who had been violated. The kids who would never know half of themselves. Kendis had grown up with the Dursleys, never knowing about her Ghanaian/Nigerian father, but this was an Obliviator ripping away not only memories, but parents out of their children’s lives. It was sick and inhuman, and Kendis despised it.

“Did MACUSA obtain informed consent?”

“No.”

“If magical spouses objected, what happened?”

Bellweather looked down. “They were detained.”

When Tony took the stand, she hated that too.

Not because he could not handle it, because Tony could handle a hostile room with a smirk and a footnote. She hated it because magical institutions kept treating him like a complication attached to her instead of a person they would have erased if convenient.

The oathstone glowed beneath Tony’s hand.

“Mr. Stark, do you agree to tell the truth?” the clerk asked.

“Sure,” Tony said. “But if this thing shocks me, I’m reverse engineering it.”

The stone pulsed as if it was offended, and Kendis pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing.

“Mr. Stark,” Voss asked. “When did Lady Black reveal magic to you?”

“That depends on what you mean by reveal,” Tony said. “I knew my spouse was extraordinary before I knew physics was having a nervous breakdown.”

Voss tried to corner him, and Tony, like the chaos gremlin he was, let the prosecutor walk directly into it.

“I believe adults should be able to tell the truth to spouses, partners, immediate family, medical providers, attorneys, and trusted support networks when secrecy would put them in danger or make consent impossible,” Tony replied calmly. “I believe governments that erase marriages should not be the sole authority over who gets to know those marriages exist.”

“You clearly couldn’t understand the danger of revealing magic, Mr. Stark,” Voss said with a huff. “You are only a Muggle.”

“I’ve had my body used, my technology stolen, my mind manipulated, my captivity broadcast, and my autonomy treated like a public resource,” Tony replied with a flat stare. “So while I am not magical, counselor, I understand what happens when powerful institutions decide a person is more useful as an object than a citizen.”

The room went still, and Kendis couldn’t look away. Her impossible, wounded, brilliant man sat in a magical courtroom and explained personhood to people who should have known better.

By the time Kendis took the stand, the air had changed.

She placed her hand on the oathstone, and it glowed dark green.

Voss approached. “Did you reveal magic to Richie Ramsey, Cristopher Dry, Lana Foster, Kimberly Carlson, Jude Alvarez, and Jarod?”

“Yes.”

“Did you seek authorization from MACUSA?”

“No,” Kendis coolly replied.

“From the British Ministry?”

“No.”

“So you admit the disclosures were unauthorized.”

“I admit they were not authorized by institutions actively under investigation for using authorization as abuse,” Kendis pointed out.

Graves leaned forward. “Lady Black, answer only the question asked.”

She looked at him and saw every man who had mistaken a seat for superiority. Kendis bit back all the words she wanted to say to him and nodded. “Yes, Judge Graves. The disclosures were unauthorized.”

Voss lifted her chin. “You believed your judgment superseded magical law.”

“No. I believed magical law had been corrupted by unlawful practice, institutional self-protection, and human rights violations.”

“The Statute is not optional.”

“No.”

“Yet you violated it,” Voss replied, with a smug smile that made Kendis want to slap it off her face. But that type of violence wouldn’t help her right now.

“I exercised necessity.”

“That is not recognized here.”

“It is when governments create the emergency.”

Draco rose before Graves could snap. “The defense will address necessity, diplomatic status, cross-jurisdictional immunity, and the reform accords in closing.”

In that moment, Graves’s expression changed because the trap hadn’t been built around her. No, the trap had been built under him.

Draco questioned her gently after that.

“Lady Black, can you tell the court why you disclosed magic to these six Muggles?”

Why had she told them?

Kendis looked toward her people.

Richie gave a small nod. Cristopher watched, sharp and steady. Jude’s expression was soft with support. Lana looked like she remembered older wars. Beside her was Kimberly, their fingers laced as both women gave Kendis a supportive look. Jarod had gone quiet and still in that way that showed her a peek into the man he had been before he collided into their lives.

Kendis turned back and told them the story of the wizarding fascist who thought he could use Tony and their friends against her.

“And because I had to choose between keeping a secret or protecting my friends. The lives of my friends are more important than pretending that magic doesn’t exist.”

Voss opened her mouth to speak, and Kendis spoke over her.

“But in the end, secrecy had already touched their lives. Because the investigation could not be honest if the people helping me were denied the truth. Because several of them knew what institutions do when they kidnap, classify, erase, and call it necessary. Because they are my family, and informed consent is not possible in a room full of lies.”

Draco let the silence settle, and then he drew out the paperwork.

“Lady Black is a British peer,” Draco said as he put the paperwork on his desk. “And as such, she is a protected diplomatic reform envoy. MACUSA had already acknowledged her status during the accords and never revoked it. As such, retaliatory prosecution related to reform disclosures required ICW review before domestic proceedings.”

The courtroom erupted, and there were flashes from the reporters all around them.

Kendis watched Graves go still, and she knew in that moment she had won. Men like Graves hated paperwork, especially paperwork that could be used against them.

“I am calling for a fifteen-minute recess,” Graves called out as he slammed his gavel on his desk.

Tony took her hand and led her away. They found the side chamber, and Kendis leaned against the wall. She closed her eyes and sighed.

“You okay?” Tony asked her softly.

Kendis wanted to say yes. She had built years on yes when the answer was no, but Tony knew her well enough to tell when she was lying. And to be honest, she didn’t have enough energy to even try.

“I hate them,” Kendis finally said with a sigh.

“I know,” Tony said as he took her hand.

“I hate that they made me defend telling the truth to people I love,” Kendis continued in a whisper. “I hate that they say secrecy like it’s holy after what they did. I hate that those people had to hear again that their marriages were paperwork to these bastards.”

He kissed her wedding ring, and Kendis sighed again.

“And I hate that for one second I wondered if telling everyone put them in more danger.”

Tony shook his head. “That danger was already there. Glinda, you didn’t create it by naming it. You just gave everyone more context.”

Draco cleared his throat, looking like sincerity caused him physical pain.

“You did not violate trust by giving people what they needed to protect themselves,” Draco said with a sigh. “My family history is a monument to what happens when secrecy, bloodline anxiety, and cowardice breed in the dark. You were right to drag this into the light.”

Kendis stared because Kendis and Draco had been friends and lovers, but this was the most honest he had ever been with her.

Draco looked away. “Do not make it emotional.”

Tony smiled. “Too late, Legally Blonde.”

“I will hex you.”

“You’ll bill me first.”

Kendis laughed, and the knot in her chest loosened as she did her best not to let her dread get the best of her. This was not the time for a downward spiral, and Kendis had to believe that despite the odds stacked against her, she would come through this. Besides, Kendis was used to being the underdog.

When they returned, an ICW envoy entered before Graves could finish burying himself politely. The envoy’s scroll confirmed everything Draco had sprung: Kendis’s diplomatic reform status remained active. MACUSA had failed to obtain required review, and her disclosures fell within protective support and investigative necessity provisions. The prosecution carried a substantial appearance of retaliation.

“I recommend permanent discretionary disclosure immunity for spouse, family, counsel, medical care, personal safety, investigative necessity, and diplomatic reform work,” the ICW envoy said as they addressed the court.

Kendis stopped breathing for half a second because Draco’s brilliant plan was actually working. Tony squeezed their laced fingers.

Draco stood, calm as death, and moved for dismissal, formal recognition of her status, and mandatory ICW preclearance for any future challenge.

Tony leaned toward her. “I think Draco just legally pantsed an entire government.”

Kendis kept her face straight through sheer force as she watched Graves stare at the scroll and then back at Kendis.

Graves lifted the gavel. “This court dismisses the charges.”

Once again, the audience erupted in a roar, the flashing lights of the cameras bright enough to blind her.

Graves struck the gavel again. “This court recognizes Lady Black’s protected diplomatic status and discretionary disclosure immunity as outlined by the ICW emergency review and reform accords, subject to independent review in cases of alleged malicious exposure.”

For one second, Kendis sat frozen.

Tony turned to her, eyes bright. “You won.”

She looked at the victims crying in the gallery and their friends watching them with bright smiles. Then she looked back at Tony.

“No,” she said softly. “We won.”

And together, with her husband by her side and her friends joyful around her, Kendis Black walked out of the courtroom exuberant with happiness and grateful for Tony, Draco, and all the people who loved her enough to fight with her even when the odds were stacked against her.