"After much consideration and discussions, the Council have decreed that Draco Malfoy is guilty of all charges, and is to be imprisoned in Azkaban for 7 years."
Azkaban. For 7 years. Draco stared at the shackles circling his ankles, feeling nothing. He was completely drained, physically and emotionally. All he could think of were his parents; how Lucius would laugh in ill-concealed delight at the knowledge that his betrayer of a son would be placed in a cell at the same place he would be residing at, and how his mother would just raise an eyebrow at the news before fleeing Britain with more than half of what was in the Malfoy vaults in her pockets. Draco supposed he should feel some…panic or perhaps desperation at the thought of spending the next 7 years in Azkaban but he just couldn't drum up the energy to. His thoughts veered towards a certain boy with messy black hair and he bit down on his lips hard-hard enough to draw some blood-to remind himself what was associated with that boy. It was because of him that he was here, here in this stupid court room with everybody staring at him-some with pity, some with delight and some with no emotions. Anger was an easier emotion to focus on than despair because despair would just tear you apart, peer into the darkest depths of your heart and rip apart all the good in you. So Draco focused on anger. It was all that git's fault. He had broken a promise to Draco, breaking the latter's heart in process and- Draco flinched. He did not want to be reminded of his past. Azkaban was his cold, unfeeling future and he welcomed it. It was the peace he never had.
HPDM
Harry waited outside the grey, looming gates with his hands stuffed in his jeans back pocket. He wanted to storm into the dark castle but he resisted. His impatience would not get him anywhere. A hand fell onto his left shoulder in comfort and he turned, flashing a grateful smile for his best friend, Ronald Weasley. The tall, broad-shouldered ginger smiled back. Ron had grown up a great deal over the past few years, for the better. He wasn't as thick-headed and prejudiced as before. The youngest male of the Weasley family had supported Harry's actions throughout the bleakest 7 years of the latter's life and had stood strong against all odds with the raven haired and Hermione Granger. Even when the world seemed to turn against the three of them, they had stuck together and prevailed against all their enemies. Hermione gripped Harry's arm and nodded towards the gate.
Two wizards were walking towards the gate with a thin, hunched figure between them. Harry's heart leapt to his throat. Was that… The mighty gates unlocked with a woosh and the small man paused, uncertain. One of the two wizards accompanying him nudged him forward roughly and Harry nearly took a step forward, mouth open in indignation, only to be stopped by Hermione's quick reflexes. She held him back with an arm across his chest and she shook her head, eyes fixed on the blonde before them.
He took a hesitant step forward, body tensed, head down. Harry's heart ached at the sight. He wanted to see the old Draco Malfoy again, the proud, arrogant man who would die first than to bow his head in front of people. He took another step, and unable to hold himself back any longer, Harry rushed forward with a sob and his heart in his mouth, arms outstretched. The huddled man looked up, saw Harry barreling towards him and stumbled with a broken cry, his arms raised to protect his face. Harry stopped, his eyes filling with tears.
Hermione and Ron rushed past him and knelt beside the shivering blonde. "Draco. Draco. Can you hear me, Draco?" Hermione asked gently, hands on her lap. Draco nodded meekly. "Good. I'm Hermione Granger. Do you remember me?" Another nod. "I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I'm going to bring you to a safe place, a place where no one will hurt you. This is Ronald Weasley. He's a friend of mine, so he's not going to hurt you too, okay?" Draco nodded once more. "Can you stand, Draco? We need you to follow us."
Draco rose unsteadily to his feet, accepting Hermione's and Ron's supporting arms without a comment.
"Thank you, Hermione, Ron," He whispered, his voice hoarse and small, as if he had not used it. And he probably didn't, Harry reflected, accepting the wave of guilt that rose within him at the thought. What was one more rush of guilt when he had already felt a million rushes of it?
He stood uselessly at the side, watching his two best friends help Draco walk towards the small boat waiting for them at the shore. He wanted to take Draco into his arms, to envelope him in a hug and never let go, but knowing Draco, he would never let Harry touch him, not after what he did. Or rather, what he did not do.
And so he stood, watching helplessly as Draco's knees buckled too many times and nearly bringing all three of them to their knees. He wanted to die, when Draco walked past him without glancing at him, or even acknowledging him.
I deserve this.
HPDM
It was cold, unbearably so. Draco couldn't see anything in the darkness, and so he huddled into himself. This was his…10th day in Azkaban? He wasn't sure. He couldn't see the sun or the moon from his cell, and it was forever drenched in darkness, kept afar from civilization. He rocked himself, trying to remember the lullaby his mother used to sang to him at night, when he was a baby, before he grew up and before everything went wrong. He wanted to go back to those days, when he didn't need to worry at all, when his parents used to smile at him and play with him. He wanted to go back to prevent The Dark Lord's return so that his parents would forever love him and prevent his father from devoting all his time to the stupid snake of a man, and stop his mother's withdrawal into herself. He wanted to go back to spend more time with Harry, to tell him how much Draco loved him, to show him, and to keep the Gryffindor in love with him.
Draco let out a sob, and he pressed the back of his hand to his mouth in surprise. He rarely cried. The last time he did was when he was five, when his father had began preparing for the Dark Lord's return.
He scrubbed his hands over his face as the tears just kept pouring out, desperate to stop the torrent of tears. Malfoys don't cry, Malfoys don't cry, he chanted to himself. Malfoys don't cry, Malfoys don't cry, Malfoys don't cry, Malfoys don't cry…
HPDM
Draco woke up with a start. His cheeks were damp, and salty. He was surrounded with familiar darkness, and he relaxed for a while, taking comfort in the fact that he was safe in Azkaban-
Azkaban didn't give their prisoners a soft, comfortable bed to sleep on.
Draco debated between getting up to investigate and staying in bed. The bed was comfortable, after all-
Ouch.
A sharp twinge ran up Draco's spinal cord and he shifted in response, only to have more twinges of pain racing up his spine. Biting his lip, he slid to the edge and stood unsteadily. The dark room spun in circles. He slowly sank to his knees, and drew his knees to his chin, settling into the position he was used to for the past 7 years. The twinges of pain stopped and he breathed a sigh of relief. It was obvious that he was out of Azkaban, which meant his sentence was over, and he was free.
Draco paused. He was free. Free. What did that mean? The thought of being in a crowd terrified him, he didn't want to touch or be touched willingly by another person; if he walked down Diagon Alley, everybody was going to spit on him or throw hexes and curses at him; the moment a person saw his Dark Mark, they were going to freak out and probably kill him in the process. He was much better in Azkaban.
The door was thrown open, flooding the room with bright, intense light that hurt his eyes.
Oh yes, he was much better in Azkaban.
HPDM
"What do you mean by 'he might not want anybody touching him and that includes me'?" Harry whispered as loud as he could, afraid to wake up Draco who was sleeping upstairs. They were gathered at Grimmauld Place, discussing their next move.
"Mate, did you see the way he treated you on the ride back, before he passed out? He ignored you, which means he doesn't want to have anything to do with you," Ron grunted, taking a huge bite out of his sandwich.
"Very tactful, Ron." Hermione chided gently before setting a mug of steaming coffee in front Harry.
"You have to understand, Harry, that Draco has been in Azkaban for 7 years, with no human contact at all. He would be feeling very skittish around people, especially with crowds. He only accepted Ron and my help just now because he wasn't really himself, and he needed help. Plus, it doesn't hurt that Ron is right too," at that, Ron beamed at Harry, causing Harry to raise his mug as a mock threat. "He ignored you the whole way, Harry, which means that he doesn't want to be near you, like what Ron said. So you just can't touch Draco. In any way. Not even a slight brush. Are you listening to me, Harry?"
Harry gave a start, breaking away from his intense eye game with Ron. "Wha..?" Hermione huffed in exasperation and strode from the room, muttering about Peter Pan or something under her breath. Harry shared a bemused look with Ron.
"Girls," they sighed in unison. "Which," Harry continued, raising his mug in a mockery of a toast, "is why I'm gay."
"I thought you were Malfoy-sexual, not gay."
Harry blinked.
"Harry. You do know that you did not even glance at a bloke in a…romantic way before you fixed your eyes on Malfoy, right? I mean it even came as a surprise to us! Honestly, we thought you were asexual. You didn't even spare a look for the girls nor the boys, but when Malfoy walks past, your eyes bug out and your tongue hangs out of your mouth and you start drooling.."
"Okay, okay!" Harry laughed, raising his hands. "I admit, I am Draco-sexual. I love him, Ron. How am I ever going to explain to him why I did what I did? When he won't even look at me for Merlin's sake."
"Tie him up, gag him, and force him to listen to you," Ron said. He grimaced a second later. "Yuck. That totally created a mental picture I so do not want to have." Harry threw his head back and laughed. Merlin, he loved having Ron as his best friend and he was grateful for the fact that he had come to terms with the fact that he was in love with Draco.
The front door slammed open, and Harry only had a moment to exchange alarmed glances with Ron before a feminine redhead appeared in the kitchen doorway.
"Is it true?" She panted, her fingers gripping the door frame.
"Is what true?" Harry acted dumb.
Ginny barely spared him a glance before she ran up the stairs leading to the bedrooms.
"Ginny! Wait!" The two men yelled.
They chased after her as she threw doors open. "Ginny, please. He needs rest!" Harry pleaded desperately.
"Oh. All of a sudden you're so caring. You were never this concerned about my health when you were with me, Harry! I can't believe that you're actually letting him stay here with you. And I can't believe that you're letting Harry do this, Ron! I thought you knew better! Have you forgotten how he treated us in the past? He mocked us, Ron. He called us names. He killed Dumbledore."
"All of us know that that isn't true, Ginny. Snape was the one who killed Dumbledore. And he did it because Dumbledore asked him to. Don't try to twist the facts. It's time for you to let go of the past." Hermione said, stepping in front of Ginny, blocking the way to Draco's bedroom.
Ginny's face twisted. "I won't be manipulated by you or anyone else. You think that everything is fine, now that everyone else's have let go? You're wrong. There are things happening, Hermione, things beyond your imagination. And you know what's the best part? You're helpless to stop it."
The Golden Trio stared at her, shocked. She immediately took advantage of their lack of action and ran to the door Hermione was guarding and flung the door open.
"Ginny!" All three of them yelled, running towards her. But it was too late. Light from the hallway spilled into the perviously dark room to illuminate a huddled figure beside the king-sized bed. He was facing the wall, his back to them, and his shivering was obvious from afar.
"Malfoy," Ginny hissed, and the man in question shuddered, back still facing them and he huddled more into himself, if that was possible. A low whine escaped from his throat and the three best friends snapped into action. Hermione rushed to Draco's side, speaking to him in low tones, careful to not touch him in any way or to kneel too close to him. Harry and Ron stood in front of the blonde and the brunette, arms folded across their chests, a hard gleam in their eyes.
"Fine," Ginny snarled. "I just want Draco to know this. Nobody is going to accept him in our community even though he's been released from Azkaban. In fact, the only way we will ever accept him is if he fucking dies."
Harry lunged forward, a second too late as Ginny danced nimbly out of his reach and sped down the hallway, her laughter ringing in the tense silence that followed.
A choked sob filled the air and spurred all three ex-Gryffindors into action. Hermione started murmuring soothingly to Draco once again, and Harry nearly placed his hands on Draco's quivering back in comfort before Ron halted him with a shake of his head.
Harry let his useless hands fall to his sides, eyes fixed on the shaking blonde. He clenched his jaw in determination.
"Draco. Listen to me. You shouldn't listen to a single word Ginny says. You're better than her, Draco, trust me." He whispered hoarsely.
A pause.
"I trusted you, and look at what happened." Was the reply.
Harry felt as though he had been sucker punched. Draco drew more into himself, resting his head on top of his knees, still not looking at Harry. The latter wanted to cry, but he knew that it wouldn't help at all. Draco being in Azkaban for seven years was his fault after all, no matter how noble his intentions were.
"I-I'll be in my room if you need me," Harry murmured before rushing out, his eyes filling with hot tears and guilt threatened to choke and drown him.
I trusted you, and look at what happened. I trusted you. I trusted you. I trusted you. I trusted you. I trusted you.
Harry ran into his room, ready to slam the door close but remembering Draco being two doors down, closed it gently instead and collapsed onto his bed.
"Hey mate, you alright?" The door creaked open slowly and Ron peeked in.
Harry sat up and gestured for Ron to enter. "No, I am not alright. I feel like dying, quite frankly. Draco hates me. And I love him, Ron. Merlin, you know what? I wanted to slam the door when I came in, but I didn't because I was thinking of how Draco would be startled by the sound." He laughed at himself, the sound harsh in the quiet room.
"I shouldn't have let him to go Azkaban, Ron. Look at what it did to him. I destroyed him, Ron. He can't stand to be in the same room as me, he can't withstand body contact, he won't look at me for a fucking second!" Harry scrubbed his hands over his face, suddenly tired.
"Harry, maybe you should tell him the truth. Tell him why you didn't testify for him when he was on trial. Maybe-"
"NO! The truth will only kill him, Ron. No matter how evil or how bad Narcissa Malfoy was, he is still Draco's mother. And although Draco claims to hate Narcissa, he still cares for her, for his mother. Azkaban was the place where her wrongdoings wouldn't reach Draco. I just- Did I make a wrong decision to send him there, Ron?"
Ron opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment Hermione pushed the door open.
"Draco's sleeping again. I managed to get him to calm down. He's not as bad as we thought he was, Harry. He's strong. He allowed me to touch me, and he even told me that the bed is uncomfortable to him."
"Uncomfortable?" Ron yelped. "What do you mean by uncomfortable? Harry spent like thousands of galleons for it! It's the best bed there ever is!"
"Think Ron, think. He has been in a cell with no bed. Of course he got used to sitting on the floor to sleep. Lying down horizontally is uncomfortable for him."
Harry looked away as guilt swamped him once more. He had tried to insist for the guards to place a bed in Draco's cell but they had refused to do so, saying that it was against the rules. He also tried to bring the matter up to the Minister but Kingsley couldn't do anything too, as the rule was archaic and would need all of Wizengamot's voting. A unanimous voting was close to impossible to get, even with all of Britain's support behind them. Harry knew that, because he had tried regardless of all the warnings and he had failed. Miserably. So he had tried to do the next best thing. By taking care of Draco surreptitiously through the guards at Azkaban. Again, he failed. They refused to accept bribes and did not even waver at the thought of having a lifetime supply of Harry Potter autographs and being The Man Who Didn't Die Again's best friend. Up until Hermione had informed him, he wasn't even aware of the fact that the guards barely communicated with the prisoners.
"So what now?" Harry asked. Hermione sighed gustily. "We think of mainly two-no, three things. One, how to get Draco to start talking to Harry again. Two, how to slowly assimilate Draco back into the Wizarding World and three, what the hell is Ginny up to." The three of them sobered at the thought of Ginny. Whilst everybody had moved on, it seemed like she was the only one who hadn't, and refused to. After the war, Ginny was part of a group that aimed to kill all Death Eaters and their sympathizers. They used cruel and vicious means to capture and kill the Death Eaters. What was even more terrifying was that most of the public didn't mind the use of Dark magic against the Death Eaters. In fact, they had encouraged it. When the members of the group were rounded up, Molly and Arthur Weasley were heartbroken to find out that their youngest was part of the group that helped to destroy even more lives and yet, had begged for Harry to ask the Wizengamot for a lighter sentence. So Ginny was placed under house arrest for 3 years, and it had only been half a year since her sentence was served.
"Do you think the group is back?" Ron voiced their inner fears, face pale. "I'm not sure, but it seems as though Ginny knows something about them, and Harry, you have to let Draco fight his own battles. No more shielding him." Hermione snapped.
Harry stared at her, his mouth opened. Sure, he was thinking of maybe shipping Draco off to the Bahamas or something, but… "It's for his own good, Hermione," he tried.
"Yeah, and look at him now. You said that sending him to Azkaban was for his own good 7 years ago, and I went along with that because the danger was very real but I've learnt my lesson, Harry. Look at him now. He can barely string a sentence together! Tell him the truth."
Harry looked to Ron for support but the redhead was avoiding his gaze. He knew that sending Draco away again was a bad idea, but Harry couldn't help wanting to protect the blonde in any and every way he could. Draco didn't know of his parents love while going through Hogwarts and every accomplishment he had was only attained to let his parents see that he was valuable, that he was worth their time, and Harry's heart ached very badly for him. When Draco finally made a decision for himself and not for his parents, they had disowned him. As much as Harry wanted Draco to make a decision based on what he wanted and not on whether it would make his parents sit up and take notice of their son, he didn't want Draco to be disowned, to not have a family. And to make it worse, Harry was the reason why Draco was disowned. So he had bounced between being thrilled that the first decision Draco made was to date him in public and being guilty because Draco no longer had a family. In the end, he settled on somewhere in between and had resolved to love and take care of Draco with everything he had. Apparently, his 'love and taking care of Draco' included sending the mentioned man to Azkaban, the safest place in Britain, for 7 long years. 7 very long years.
"Okay," he conceded.
"You have to understand that- What did you say?"
"I said okay," Harry repeated, emerald eyes flashing with determination. "I trust you, Hermione. If you say that telling him the truth is the best thing for him, then I'll tell him the whole truth."
"By tomorrow."
There was a pregnant pause.
"By tomorrow," Harry sighed.
End Chapter
A/N: WHOOT! I smile whenever I think of this story. :) So excited for it. Please excuse any inaccuracies leave reviews behind cos the unicorn in my bedroom loves them. Thanks! BTW, how do you reply reviews? I'm a noob -.-