A/N: Okay, this is the first chapter in the sequel to "A Winter's Kiss". I know a lot of you are heartbroken about Draco having fallen from the hand of Lucius, but some of you are excited about the kiss that Harry and Hermione shared at the end of graduation. I ask all fans to give the sequel a chance; it will be confusing until the second or third chapter, so just give it a chance.

Unto the End, Into the Beginning

Chapter One: The Man Within Those Walls

There is a man, they say, that sits within those haunting walls, the ones full of voices that would drive a sane man crazy. Yet there is one man who is still sane, or as sane as he ever was, with one intention in his corrupt life within his cell. He mutters four words in a murderous tone, as loud as they will allow. He says it in all tongues, so that every wizard within will know his intent. Many have fallen before his wand, but there is one he wishes to kill with a passion that is known even to the Dementors that guard his cell. For two years he has sat in wait, strong enough to resist the Dementors.

You see, he has a strong mind, one taught to resist all temptations. This man was once a Death Eater, second in command, just a step away in power from the Lord who calls himself Voldemort. He failed his Master, and he was severely punished for it. Abandoned by his master to the ministry, he was sent to Azkaban within an hour of his trial. He remembered like it was yesterday,

"Lucius Malfoy, you have been brought before this council on several charges. You are accused of the bribery, possession of illegal artifacts and dark magic objects, altering Ministry documents, blackmail, the use of Unforgivable curses on muggles, muggleborn witches and wizards alike and finally, the use of the killing curse on your son, Draco Malfoy. Do you have any words to defend yourself before this council makes it final decision, Mister Malfoy?" The Minister of Magic asked, his eyes burning into him down in the large pit where the prisoner was held during their trial.

The other eleven council members, all ministry officials were starring at him as well, some even holding their breath, in anticipation of what he might say.

Lucius smiled, he loved having the audience's attention. "I am appalled by these charges, as my name had been cleared many years ago…."

"That doesn't mean anything, Lucius! You were a death eater then, and you're a death eater now!" Shouted a hooded wizard from the crowd.

"You've been loyal to the Dark Lord since the beginning, you're a vicious murder!" yelled another.

"Silence!" ordered the Minister as he rapped his gavel.

"The audience is poisoning the mind of this council, I demand a fair trial!" Lucius screamed.

"The only thing that is poisoning our mind is having to listen to a man that killed his own son! Give us your plea now, Mister Malfoy!"

"I did what was necessary, Draco had become a lunatic! I only stopped him from wreaking havoc on our world!"

Hermione rose from the crowd, holding her now very large stomach, and shouted,

"You're a LIAR! You killed him after you tortured him! He didn't even have a wand to defend himself with, you deserve to die Lucius Malfoy! I hate you! I hate you! I'm going to make you pay!" She lunged toward him, but Harry pulled her back.

The crowd was in uproar, half booing, and the other half cheering. The Minister rapped his gavel several times to quiet the crowd, which did little to calm them.

He raised his wand to his throat and bellowed, "If the crowd will not be silent for Mister Malfoy's sentence, you will all be removed!"

The room fell silent, everyone's gaze fixed on the Minister.

"Lucius Malfoy, you are to be given the Dementor's Kiss! You will remain in Azkaban until it is time for such! This session is adjourned!"

Half a dozen Aurors immediately rushed to escort Lucius from the room is shackles. As he passed Hermione and Harry, he could see Harry's smug look. Lucius couldn't wait for the day when he would personally be able to draw the last bit of life from Potter's body. Of course, he was just a bonus in addition to his real target. He did his lord a favor by riding the world of his son, who was too weak and insufficient to fill his role and he waits for the day that he can kill his one last victim and return to his master to serve him well. This man within the walls of Azkaban mutters "The Heir of Malfoy".

Hermione stood at the counter, slicing the warm carrots into small, bite size pieces. She could hear the meaningless jibber of her son who was occupying himself with his spoon in his high chair.

"Alright, Remus, I'm coming, hold on sweetie." Hermione said, setting a small plate down in front of the toddler. She stroked his cheek gently, and then kissed his light brown hair, "You're mommy's little angel, Remus."

The life of her son had been a miracle, she had been visiting Draco's grave when she had gone into labor. He had been buried in the forest on Hogsmeade grounds; it was near the place where they had shared their first kiss. It was early in the morning, leaving her stranded in a forest with no one around, or so she had thought. Coincidently, the night before had been a full moon and a werewolf was still lurking within the trees. But as the sun rose higher, the werewolf transfigured into none other than Remus Lupin.

He hadn't recognized Hermione, as he hadn't seen in four years, and wasn't expecting her to be in labor. She, however, had recognized the Professor in his tattered robes immediately. He knew that she was in too painful a state to apparate, and flying her to Saint Mungo's had been out of the question, so he was forced to deliver the child himself. That's why Hermione chose to name her son after the man who helped bring him into the world, and into her awaiting arms. But two years had passed from that time, and she had only seen him two or three times, not nearly enough. She knew Harry missed having him around, but he and his Godfather finally had time to spend together. Harry had entered the most prestigious Academy in London and would soon be graduating with the proper certification to become an Auror, something he had been dreaming of becoming since fourth year.

"Hermione..." Harry called, his voice echoing within the large house that the three of them shared.

"I'm the kitchen with Remus," she said in response, her voice reaching the entrance hall where Harry hung his cloak and then kicked off his shoes.

"Hey little tyke," he said, patting his fair brown hair.

He set his briefcase down and gave Hermione a kiss, taking her into his strong arms. They had been seeing each other ever since they had shared their first kiss at graduation. It had been the end of something, but the beginning of another. Harry knew that Draco would always have a place in Hermione's heart, but Harry's spot continued to grow, and he hoped that someday he would know for sure that Hermione and he would share the rest of their lives together.

"How was work?" she asked, placing a pan on the stove.

"Awful, seven raids last night. Ron and I are up to our elbows in paperwork, I hate paperwork. I'd have Seamus do it, but he's already backed up from the last raid when we sent eight Death Eaters to Azkaban."

"How's Ron handling it?" Hermione asked.

"He's swamped with paperwork as well, but we try and help him out so he can actually see his wife once in a while." Harry finished with a chuckle.

Ron had met a girl named Marie at the Academy last fall. She, like Ron, came from families that were some of the last decent pureblood wizards. The fell in love instantly and were married in the spring. Harry took a seat on one of the kitchen bar stools and looked outside onto the vast grounds that they could call their "backyard." The leaves were beginning to turn brown and there was already a small pile of fallen leaves below their large oak tree. It was September...and already a few months had past since the third anniversary of Draco's death. The first year he could hear her crying into her pillow through the night. The second year they lit a candle together for Draco, but this year...there hadn't even been a whisper of his name. No one wanted to bring it up.

"I'm so glad Ron found somebody," Hermione said, putting her arms around him, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Me too," he said, "and I'm glad I've found someone as well," reaching for Hermione's lips, catching her in a kiss that was quickly growing in intensity. Remus giggled loudly, and the meat in the pan began to sizzle, forcing Hermione to break from Harry's lips and tend to the pan.

"What?!" Cornelius Fudge asked the face that the flames in his fireplace were illuminating.

"Lucius Malfoy has escaped, Sir. The Dementors reported it right before I called you. I don't know how they could have let it happen. According to the report the guards were changing shifts, and when the new guards took their station Mr. Malfoy was gone...and there was a large hole in the wall," reported the man, trying to remain calm.

"How is the search coming?" Fudge asked, not expecting a very delightful answer.

"Well Sir, they followed the tunnel and it led into Hogsmeade...they can't be too far behind him they suspect."

"They suspect? I think we should re-think the Dementors keeping guard at Azkaban! We can't have these escapes...especially by murderers...Mark; take them off of this case. I want the Aurors on this one, get me the best. Get me Potter."

Hermione glanced at the clock: 4 a.m., she groaned quietly and again attempted to fall asleep, but it was useless. She looked over at Remus, who was sound asleep in his crib, and smiled. She had this odd feeling that things were going to go well...every time her life took a turn for the better it was followed by a turn for the worse. She hoped her son wasn't in danger. Her son...she knew how badly Harry wished it could be his son as well, but Remus wasn't...he was Dra…no, that was too painful to think about. But that wouldn't stop Harry from raising him. As if he knew she was thinking about him, Harry pulled her closer to him and tightened his grip.

"Can't sleep?" he asked groggily.

"No," she replied, trying to sound like she just wasn't tired.

"What's wrong Hermione?"

"Nothing," she sad, faking a smile, "I'm fine."

"I wish that were the truth," he said, planting butterfly kisses down her neck.

She lay back, enjoying how he always seemed to kiss away her worries. His kisses led him back up to her lips and he rolled over so that he was on top of her. His hands dropped to her thighs, causing her breathing to quicken. Moans escaped her lips as their nightclothes were quickly discarded. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he slipped into her comfortably. He wasted no time in moving his hips to meet with hers, and the friction they created was incredible and everything seemed perfect to Hermione as they made love for the rest of the night. The cloaked mans eye's never left the ground as he exited the busy streets of Hogsmeade and set out onto an abandoned road to take the long journey to Godric's Hollow, a small town where nothing horrible ever happened. That is, not since the deaths of James and Lily Potter. Lucius Malfoy got whatever he wanted...and by tomorrow night he wanted the heir of Malfoy dead, along with the woman who carried it in her womb for nine months, and the pathetic excuse for a wizard she had fallen for. His balled his hands into fists to try and clam the rising hate inside of him. His body language said hate and his eyes said murder, and they echoed in the night sky.

"Fear, hate, revenge, murder" was carried by the winds, no louder then the gentle swirling of leaves as Lucius passed each man, woman and child and in exactly 23 hours they would no longer be a whisper, but reality. Hermione continued to sleep, entangled in the sheets, even when the bright morning sun rose and shone into the large window of the bedroom they all shared. A familiar smell brought Hermione out of her sleep. She sat up against the stack of pillows and rubbed her eyes.

"Good Morning," Harry said, offering her a cup of coffee just the way she liked it.

"Good Morning," she replied, taking the warm cup into both of her hands. Harry sat down beside her, holding coffee of his own, and handed Hermione that day's edition of The Daily Prophet. Hermione allowed her eyes another moment to adjust to the light before she turned her attention to the paper, and the headline jumped out at her:

'MURDERER ESCAPES FROM AZKABAN, DEMENTORS STUMBLED.'

The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, announced early this morning in a special news conference that indeed a murderer has escaped from Azkaban. He also noted that this was the first escape since Sirius Black and that everything was being done to locate and obtain the fugitive. The Minister's assistant, Mark Henson, says that they are stumbled as to how the prisoner escaped without the Dementors instantly being aware of it. He also assured us that the Aurors and Dementors are on the trail of this murderer. The prisoner was on the highest form of guard and is very powerful, which explains how he was able to perform something of this magnitude. Suspect is considered VERY DANGEROUS and it is assumed that he is armed.

Henson also says that he will keep the wizarding public up to date as more information becomes available. This reporter believes that the rumor of adding this prisoner to the watch list of the muggles is true. While the Ministry will not confirm or deny this, this reporter and many others believe that the fugitive is none other than Lucius Malfoy, who had been charged with the murder of his son, Draco Malfoy, just three years earlier and was the only prisoner on highest watch. When asked to comment, Arthur Weasley, the Head of the Department of Muggle Relations, had this to say "I know that this had literally turned the wizarding world upside down overnight and this is be handled with the utmost caution. The Ministry is being so strict that they haven't told anyone the prisoner's name. Therefore, I cannot confirm or deny the likeliness of it being Lucius Malfoy who has escaped. This reporter finds it likely that the Ministry is just trying to do damage control and they aren't telling us everything that they know, including the identity of the escapee.

Hermione's eyes remained glued to the newspaper, as the ink began to run once the tears hit the freshly printed paper. Harry turned to Hermione to ask her something and realized that she was crying, "Hermione, what's wrong?"

Hermione couldn't find it in her to reply and handed Harry the slightly smudged (but still legible) article. Within just a few moments Harry had finished reading the article, and the parchment fell from his free hand, the other was still holding his coffee. He set the coffee on the night stand and brought a sobbing Hermione into his arms.

"Its only rumor that Lucius Malfoy escaped," he said in attempt to comfort her, picking up the paper, he noticed that the article had been written by Rita Skeeter, a pesky reporter that had made his life miserable all of his fourth year at Hogwarts.

"Look, Rita Skeeter wrote this article, you know how she can fabricate things..." but nothing he said seemed to provide any comfort for Hermione, but that didn't stop him from making numerous attempts, "I'm sure it's not Lucius...they have him under such high guard...a different part of Azkaban and Rita Skeeter will say anything for a good story..."

Hermione turned to Harry just as he stopped and smiled, "look how sweet you are," she said, lifting a hand to his face, "I...just get afraid when I hear about things like this.."

"I know," he said, getting up from the bed and walking over to the crib to pick up a sleepy Remus in his strong arms. He returned to the bed and they held Remus together.

"I'll protect us Hermione, no matter what happens...I'm not going to let anyone hurt our family. No one is going to take Remus or me away from you."

Hermione smiled and rested her head on Harry's shoulder. Remus stepped onto and stood up on Harry's legs, attempting to wrap his tiny arms around Harry's neck, "daddy," he said sleepily. Harry put his arms under his legs and held Remus against his stomach and Hermione thought she could see a tear fall from Harry's eyes as she stroked Remus' light brown hair softly.

"Not much longer now," he whispered to himself, almost out of breath.

The only thing that kept him going was knowing that in a few hours he would have the chance to do what he had been praying for. His robes were torn and his face was bloody from were branches had scratched him. His knees were getting a little weaker, and he needed to stop to rest more than he did when he was young and a fresh death eater. None of that mattered now though, he had become wiser with age and was now more experienced with his wand. By the end of the day he would change the Wizarding world forever...he would kill the heir of Malfoy.