Thank you for my beta, Sebie
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Chapter IV
Later that night, Harry spent some more time with Ginny on the porch back at the Burrows. They were both sitting on a bench, facing the Chastire Hill.
"How is he?" Harry asked.
Ginny smiled tiredly, relief was evident in her smile. "Still a bit of a mess, but he'll make it."
They both stayed quiet for a while.
"What you did at the river was brilliant. Who came with the idea?"
The girl threw her gaze on the far meadow. "I did."
Harry's eyes opened wide and he started to feel a new respect for Ginny. "It's surely helping him to cope with Fred's death."
"Well it's a start." Ginny answered with a little smile on her mouth. They looked into each other's eyes, then without no one leading, leaned towards each other, their lips touching. Harry's insides felt warm and happy. Ginny's kiss tasted different and unique, building up a strange desire from within him to grasp more and more of her.
After a long moment, they broke apart, catching their breath. Ginny was a bit red. Well, officially, Harry was still an ex-boyfriend. But their relationship came to a halt since the burial of Albus Dumbledore nearly a year ago and they still had not resumed it. Well it wasn't like they stopped loving each other when the relationship was over.
Harry coughed. He felt really good, knowing that they no longer needed any status, or even words. He loved her and he knew she loved him back. Their affection to one another was transparent. Everybody expected them to be a couple, now that the threat is gone.
"Ginny," said Harry, confident and calm. "Would you be my girlfriend… again?"
The girl laughed. "Silly!" as if you ever returned my heart, she added mentally.
But when she looked at Harry's eyes her laugh faded. She leaned forward and kissed him again.
"Yes." she whispered, and continued kissing him. Harry moved from his sitting position, now facing her. One hand wrapped around her waist and the other hand on the back of her hair, and kissed her like he never did before, felt fire rose from within him and he pressed more of his body against her.
"Harry, can you come in, we—" a familiar voice broke in and ruined the moment. The two love birds snapped and broke apart. Harry turned away from Ginny, looking flustered while covering his mouth, his heart pounding fast. He cursed Ron for choosing only the perfect time and place to show up.
Ron's face reddened. Hermione stood behind him, looking awkward and cursed Ron too for dragging her there.
"Oh.. you're with Ginny. Oh yeah… I suppose…" he mumbled. "Oh come on, Ron!" Ginny placed her palm on her forehead, looking torn between anger and amusement. She stood and spoke to Harry, "Let's go Harry, Ron is apparently requesting your presence." with an unpleasant tone she was eyeing her brother from the corner of her eyes. Ron's face was now had the color of his hair.
Harry sighed and chuckled. Oh well, there will always be another time, he thought. He wondered if he should put a spell on Ron next time he planned on snogging Ginny, just for precaution.
Harry followed Ron and Hermione into the sitting room. Suddenly he felt like forgiving Ron for butting in just then, after he saw the people who were present; Percy, Fleur, Bill and Charlie, Mr and Mrs. Weasley, and two more surprising guests.
"Oh, good evening, Mr. Shacklebolt, Mrs. Hopkirk." he greeted politely. The atmosphere was stern and serious.
"Hello, Harry. Please have a seat." Kingsley said. Mafalda smiled and nodded rather nervously.
Harry wondered what was going on, this was pretty late and very unlike the Minister himself to be around at this hour for nothing. He took a seat and waited. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny also sat. The living room was indeed packed.
Kingsley coughed.
"Well Harry, I'm sorry to interrupt your evening. We have some news we would want to share with you."
Harry was all ears.
"As you know, the trial for Death Eaters would be carried out on the day after tomorrow. We have been questioning them for the past few weeks, and we have this… situation that might interest you." Kingsley said. "Yesterday, we were questioning the Malfoys. Narcissa Malfoy claimed that she had helped you, lied to Voldemort when she was asked to check whether or not you were dead. She said she was the reason you're still alive and managed to return to Hogwarts that night."
Kingsley did not move his stare from Harry when he said this.
Harry responded almost immediately. "It's true, Minister. When I was… miraculously survived, after Voldemort attempted to kill me, he sent her to check up on me. She knew I was alive. She asked me if Draco was all right, and I said yes. And then she lied and proclaimed that I was dead!" Harry said abruptly.
The Minister exchanged stares with Arthur Weasley.
"Honestly, if she didn't care so much for her son and did not lie to Voldemort, I don't know if I would still be alive. Sir!" Harry said again, right now with more urge. Mafalda Hopkirk wrote fast on her note everything Harry had said.
Kingsley coughed. "Well, it was certainly a major act. Why haven't you mentioned any of this before?"
Harry hesitated for a moment, "I never got the chance. I didn't say at the conference, I think the Ministry should be the first to know. But I know that a time like this would come. I've been saving it for today I guess."
Kingsley nodded in understanding. "All right, Harry. I suppose, you could give your statement on the trial the day after tomorrow?" It wasn't a request, apparently. But Harry was planning to do it, anyway.
"Of course, sir. Definitely. I'll be there." Harry agreed immediately.
And then he remembered something. This matter had been on his mind ever since he watched the three Malfoys getting escorted out from Hogwarts.
"Draco Malfoy, Sir. How—how is he?"
Ron, Hermione and Ginny looked at one another, apparently surprised to see Harry—worrying about Malfoy. Kingsley however, made a small smile and said, "The young lad was… pretty much in a better condition than I thought he would be. In fact, that is another thing we want to talk to you about." The Minister paused, as if to make sure the rest of the audience listened. "Draco gave us his statement. He was ready to testify against the rest of the Death Eaters."
Harry's eyes widened. But to be honest, he wasn't actually shocked by this news, if at all. Little did anyone know he had been… sympathizing for Draco, even caring, ever since the fateful night on the Lightstruck Tower. He was wrong about Snape, and he didn't want to be wrong about Draco too. He understood that Voldemort only meant to use him to do his bidding, under the threat to murder him and his family. And after all that had happened, including the fact that he was nearly killed by a Death Eater in the Hogwarts battle, it was only natural that he would turn his back on them.
Ron scoffed. "Should've seen that coming - coward."
Harry winced. He wanted to say something to defend Malfoy, but he figured it would sound strange, so he held back.
"Are you gonna release them, Minister?" came the voice of Ginny. Everyone's attention was now to her. "You're not gonna let some Death Eaters purposely escape Azkaban, will you?" she asked again, expression was stern and bitter.
Everyone sat still, some holding their breath, waiting. Kingsley returned her stare, calmly.
"Everything will be decided after the trial, miss. As for now I cannot promise anything." he said with a tone of authority, apparently bothered by Ginny's query. Harry started to worry whether he might be the only one who wished a better future for the Malfoys. But he knew it was the right thing to do. This might be silly, but they had never actually did him any harm. Yes, they were Death Eaters, but they did nothing to actually hurt him. But he needed to be sure. If he must oppose at least Ginny and Ron need to know what he was planning to do, then he needed to be sure he did not do it in vain.
"I want to have a word with Draco and Narcissa. Tomorrow, if possible." Harry heard his own voice.
The Minister blinked. "Very well, Harry. In fact, I've expected you to do so. That's why I came here tonight, instead of tomorrow."
Blimey. He really was not a Minister for nothing. Harry smiled rather uneasily, and Kingsley spoke again. "I've already arranged a meeting for you—or more people, if you wish for Ron or Hermione or someone else to accompany you. By 9:00 AM tomorrow morning, be at the Ministry for Magic. We will take you to Azkaban."
Harry lost of words for a moment. Somehow, Kingsley last sentence brought chill upon him. Tomorrow will be his first visit to Azkaban. And even though he wasn't the least afraid of Dementors—because he knew he can always conjure a Patronous—but still, the very idea was not to his liking.
"Okay, Sir. I'll be there."
And with that, the matter was solved. Kingsley and Mafalda Disapparated, leaving Harry with the Weasleys.
"Harry, word. Upstairs." Ginny said briefly, stood and marched to her room. The rest of the Weasleys seemed to understood while Ron, Hermione and Harry followed. In there, a heated discussion is non escapable. Ginny was clearly opposing the idea of him defending the Malfoys, and Ron look puzzled. Only Hermione seemed to side with him.
"Draco Malfoy is a bad guy, but he's not evil." she said, trying to defend Harry on his opinion, "He was a Death Eater, but not by choice. I say let's give him a chance." she said, with a very final tone.
Ron rolled his eyes, Ginny was white. "But he was mean to you!" she almost shouted in disbelief. "He called you—mudblood." she lowered her tone at the last word, as if she was afraid it might hurt Hermione. The latter waved her hand nonchalantly and claimed, "Yes! Yes he did, and I hit him once on the face, so I guess we're even. He never actually hurt me—or anyone—physically, though. Always verbally."
"Yeah, because he's such a coward." Ron interrupted. Hermione laughed and shook her head, placed her hands on her waist and looked around tiredly.
Harry too, feeling a bit tired by this petty quarrel. The last thing he wanted is to have their small group divided. Really, when he just restarted his relationship with Ginny, this is not something that needs to happen.
"Listen!" he broke in. Everybody stopped and fell silent. "I was there when Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore, I heard them. I knew he was forced to do—whatever they planned for him to do. And I tell you, Dumbledore was willing to help him! He offered him his help and that Malfoy was not—a killer. Snape and Dumbledore—they both protected him at the Tower, don't you see? They didn't want him to be tainted forever for committing a murder!" he too, almost shouting, desperate for Ginny and Ron to see his point. Since no one seemed to oppose him, he continued.
"For someone who was once protected by both Hogwarts' Headmasters with their lives, could I just turn my back on him now? I want to believe in Dumbledore, as he always believed in Snape, that Malfoy—Draco—is not an evil man."
No one had spoke. Ginny looked confused and torn. Ron looked like he wanted to say something but on second thoughts, he might not.
"As for Narcissa… I know I owe her my life. Even if I don't care much about Lucius, I do care about her and Draco." Harry said. "So, anyone would care to come with me tomorrow? Azkaban, anyone?"
Ginny didn't answer. Ron mumbled, "Sorry Harry, not ready yet—you go with 'Mione…"
Hermione rolled her eyes, but then said, "Yeah, Harry… I'll go with you. Azkaban right?" and smiled, mostly to assure herself. Harry wanted to hug her, and he would if only Ginny and Ron weren't this sour, "All right!" he said eagerly.
"Just keep close to me, Harry. My Otter isn't likely to stay very long." she said with a worried tone. Harry grinned, Hermione never really mastered the Patronous charm. "We are not prisoners, Hermione. The Dementors won't bother us." he said, and with that, their little meeting was over.
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It was 9:00 in the morning, Harry and Hermione walked through the Ministry lobby and greeted the receptionist. Soon they were both escorted to Department of Law Enforcement, at Kingsley's office on the 5th floor.
"Good morning, Harry, Hermione. You're right on time. Ready for a small trip?" Kingsley smiled. He stood motionless for a moment, and then stretched his hands to cover his desk. "I'd love to take you there myself, but I have tons of matters need tending by now."
He looked at Harry, "You will be accompanied by Zephyr Grants, our young Auror. I believe he already graduated Hogwarts when you were on your fourth year." he said, touching a yellow board placed on his desk with his wand, and muttered, "Cora Zephyr Grants!"
The yellow board glowed for a moment then faded.
"A new invention from Department of Research and Magical Development—a Department found by the late Amelia Bones—to summon anyone under the Ministry building. They're now developing a trick for two ways communication though, now this only works one way." Kingsley was eager to explain, proudly.
Harry grinned and muttered to Hermione, "Like a speed dial."
Hermione fought a laugh, but not quite successful. "More like a pager." she whispered, enjoyed this small distraction. Hermione was apparently pretty nervous to visit Azkaban, let alone to meet Malfoy.
They didn't wait long. A man in his early twenties knocked and presented himself. He looked cool, with dark hair and tan skin, relatively handsome too. Harry had a vague collection of this guy from his early years in Hogwarts. That man was a Gryffindor Prefect.
"Minister." he nodded.
"Ah, Zephyr, have you met Mr. Harry Potter and Miss Hermione Granger?" obviously, a rhetorical question. But Zephyr turned at Harry and stretched his hand in friendly gesture, "How do you do? I'm Zephyr Grants." he said with a casual smile, and then shook Harry's hand and then Hermione's. They exchanged greetings and Harry implied that they never actually introduced before. At this Zephyr laughed, "I am four years your senior, unlikely to have anything in common to discuss back in Hogwarts." he smiled, looking content. Nice man, thought Harry immediately.
"All right, then if you're ready, we can go now. Azkaban, right? Narcissa and Draco Malfoy, appointment at 9:20." he turned to Kingsley. "Yes yes, please, don't waste another moment here. You only got 30 minutes each with Narcissa and Draco, mind you." Kingsley reminded Harry.
Harry and Hermione followed Zephyr and entered the elevator. Once in the elevator, Zephyr touched a small screen on the panel with his wand and muttered, "Zephyr Grants." The tip of his wand glowed and the screen turned red. Zephyr touched the screen again, this time carefully with his index finger. The elevator moved down to the lowest basement—apparently, hard to say because there wasn't any button or sign—and soon be delivered to a cold room with hardly any lighting. They were greeted by four guards, to whom exchanged formalities with Zephyr, and proceed.
They continued walking through a series of confusing turns and arrived at shabby door signed "Remember Your Happy Place". Zephyr muttered, "Hogwarts, seventh floor." and with that, the door swung opened.
Harry blinked. "What just happened?"
Zephyr smiled. "Password, Harry. I believe you are familiar with the usage of passwords at locked doors? It reacts to my happy place, because it was my identification we gave on the elevator."
Harry nodded. "Yea.. but, Hogwarts, seventh floor?"
Zephyr chuckled. "I referred to the Room of Requirement, Harry. Let say… a lot of interesting stuff happened in that place when I was student." Harry can't help but noticed a big grin and a hint of satisfaction at Zephyr's look, and wondered what actually happened in that Room of Requirement. Hermione though, seemed to suspect something, as a bit of red shade flashing on her cheek. Harry's rose his eyebrows in curiosity, completely clueless.
They entered and arrived at a dead end in a square-like room with a circle inside. It was pretty much an ordinary room, but what made it remarkable was a presence of Dementor's replica in the middle of the circle. Pretty much unnerved. Hermione instinctively grabbed Harry's arm in shock.
"Oh, don't mind the statue, it was Fudge's idea. Funny man, he was, making a portkey look like that. The previous portkey was a dull, triangular huge stone. This is far more interesting." Zephyr grinned. Hermione though, especially, failed to see the funny part. "Even though… perhaps this one too, would soon be replaced." Zephyr muttered, as if to himself.
"Pardon me?" asked Harry, Zephyr looked at Harry, and then to Hermione with amused expression.
"Oh, you guys didn't know? I guess you didn't. The Dementors—are no longer guarding Azkaban."
Harry's eyes widened, jaw dropped. To this, Harry and Hermione spoke in unison, shocked.
"What??" For as long as they knew, Azkaban had always identical with Dementors. Without those horrible creatures, Azkaban would never be… Azkaban anymore. How could this be possible?
The older man smirked. "Kingsley Shacklebolt ordered it. He said that after those Dementors deserted Azkaban and joined Lord Voldemort, it only proved that it was a wrong choice since the beginning to make them guard that place. The Minister believed their use having always been a mark of the underlying corruption of the Ministry."
Of course! Now it all made sense, Harry should guessed just that.
Zephyr then smiled genuinely to the younger ones. "You do know that the Ministry is restructuring, right? We should have a chat later about it. But now… we shall proceed."
The man marched ahead and waited for the two young adults to follow him. Harry was occupied with what he just said. The Ministry is restructuring! Won't that be a perfect moment for him to enter the Ministry as an Auror? He had worked so hard for his N.E., and he was positive he was more than qualified—well, except maybe for the fact that he never actually had graduated from Hogwarts.
But all thought must be halted for now. With Hermione still reluctantly clinging to Harry's arm, Zephyr commanded them to touch the portkey.
After the usual sensation of using portkeys, they arrived in a cave-like sort of mining ground. It was ahuge cave with high ceilings and an abandoned feeling lingered around. The air was humid and the lighting was dim. Harry saw railroad with carts, similar to the one Gringgots had. There was a small hut with four standby guards.
"Can you believe there's ocean above us?" Zephyr asked to no one in particular. Harry recalled that Azkaban was indeed, in the middle of the North Sea. With a very uncomfortable feeling of realization he stared at the high ceiling. The fact that they were burried under a vast ocean amused him, and also bothered him to some point.
" This is the first base to Azkaban, we'll take cart from here." Zephyr explained to both of them.
"Good morning, Micah. I'll need a cart to Azkaban, with two visitors." he said to one of the guard. The guard was not nearly friendly, had a long, straight face and bored expression. He only gave a curt nod and walked passed them to a cart, setting it loose and attached itself on the rail. The cart was not very big, with capacity of maximum four people.
Zephyr jumped into the cart first, and then Hermione and last Harry. "You two are familiar with muggle's roller coaster, right?" he asked. The truth was, Harry never had the chance to ride on one—since he was deemed to live with the Dursleys—but nodded anyway. "Well, this is similar to it." Zephyr smiled as the cart slowly moved forward. But it was barely a start. Next time they knew, the cart was already racing with super speed, up and down the railroad, dove in every slope, and jolted at every turn. Harry narrowed his eyes in thrill, couldn't stop grinning. Hermione too, sitting beside him, looked pretty much amused and excited. They remembered their journey to Bellatrix vault not long ago at Gringgots. It was also similar to this, but the circumstances were very different and much less enjoyable.
Five minutes later they landed at Azkaban's rail base. It was very similar to the first base, still with huge cave and high ceiling. Harry and Hermione were rather stumbled after the journey, but Zephyr looked unaffected. They followed him, entered a small hut and inside, they found another Dementor replica—much to their dismay. As they had done with the first portkey, they grabbed this one and transported.
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A/N This chapter is more like a filler, Draco will show up next week!! ^-^