Disclaimer……….. All characters are the copyright of JK Rowling

Chapter 14

Azkaban

The Port key placed them rather fiercely at the forbidding entrance to what had once been a huge fortress. With a quick check Hermione informed them that they would not be able to dissaparate once inside the huge edifice. The six friends joined the very small queue as they slowly moved toward the entrance gate where a really ugly scarred wizard thoroughly searched all those entering.

On reaching the head of the queue Harry was searched, then his box was searched and several tests were carried out on the ferrets to check that they were authentic. As the tests were nearing the end a young man appeared from a small doorway to the left. "Harry Potter. Well bless my soul, never thought we would see you here," the man called out as he walked toward them.

"Joshua, is that Joshua Ivanhoe Davies?" Harry replied.

Harry recognised the ex quidditch player from the Hufflepuff team of his first year at Hogwarts, Joshua had been in his third year when Harry and the others had been in the first, he had been one of the first players Harry had admired.

"So Harry, the guard reported you were trying to bring in some animals," He announced still smiling broadly.

"Yeah we came to see Malfoy," Harry said as he handed the box to Joshua.

Joshua opened the box then almost dropped it as he burst out laughing, "Oh Harry, how well I remember that day," he gasped tears streaming from his eyes. Joshua nodded to the guard and signalled for him to press his button to summon the rest of the wizard guards, within seconds they were surrounded by several burly and stern looking wizards, most of them were covered in duelling scars of some sort or other. "Right lad's gather around," Joshua said as he held up the box, "remember my telling you all about Malfoy when he arrived, how he had been turned into a ferret for trying to curse Harry Potter while his back was to him."

There were several nods and a few murmurs of agreement. "Well this is Harry Potter and he has come to visit Malfoy," he nodded at Harry, "Harry has bought some other visitors to see Malfoy," he said as he opened the box.

The guards all looked over the rim of the box and began to laugh. "Never realised what a wicked sense of humour you had Harry," Joshua said between snorts and chuckles, most hysterical laughter came from the older guards. "I suppose you just want to cheer Malfoy up, bringing his family in to visit and all that," one of the bigger wizards laughed.

"Yeah, something like that, cheer him up, that's what I hope to do," Harry laughed along with them.

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Fred and George had been keeping a watch on Harry, Ron, and their wives, they were still not sure that they were safe George especially wanted to make sure Hermione was safe, so they set off to keep an eye on them, they could see the island of Azkaban about a mile in front of them.

"Time to make some height brother," called Fred as they skimmed across the wave tops of the North Sea on their broomes.

George blew his warm breath into his cold hands as he nodded to his brother. Together they rose above the cold daunting building that was Azkaban. Circling slowly they tried to pick out where Harry and the others were, once they had sighted them they kept their eyes locked on them.

Harry and his friends were escorted to Malfoy's cell where they were greeted by a filthy unkempt skeleton of a man they once knew as Draco Malfoy. The visiting time was forty five minutes, but thought Harry this had thankfully been shortened by the guards wanting to talk with the great Harry Potter, the man who had vanquished Voldemort. With only twenty minutes left of the visiting time Harry, Ron, Neville, and the girls sat on a bench outside Malfoy's cell, as a special treat solely in honour of Harry's visit Malfoy had been allowed to join them. Malfoy only said one thing to them and that was just to ask if they had come to gloat. Harry answered him honestly. "No Malfoy we came to get you out of here."

Hermione did her part in freeing Malfoy by casting an obliviate charm on him, so with his mind totally empty Malfoy just sat there unmoving for the remaining time. Hermione her inquisitive mind working overtime decided to wander around a little. She was interested in the possible origins of the fortress and as she explored further a field she was soon parted from the group of prison visitors and was walking around the palisade looking down at the layout of the whole place.

Hermione never saw it coming though she felt it as it neared her. The Dementor swooped on her seemingly from no where. One second she was looking out to sea the next she was having the life drained from her as the evil being closed in on her.

The first thing Fred knew about it was when his brother screamed. "HERMIONE! Nooooooo." looking around Fred watched as George hurtled toward the fortress wall three hundred feet below.

George was watching Hermione walk along the battlement's thinking how beautiful she looked with her long brown hair blowing out behind her then from the corner of his eye he had seen it as it closed in on her. At first he thought it would just pass her by as it patrolled the fortress but it made straight for her, without hesitating he launched himself into a dive, he did not recall having screamed her name, he did not recall conjuring up a sorcerer's sword, one of the most powerful magical weapons known.

Hermione felt her life being sucked from her as all the horrors of the war filled her mind, she tried hard to think of some thing happy but she found she couldn't it was too late she was about to be destroyed here in this cold dank and evil place. She collapsed to the ground as the dark menacing Dementor hovered just a few feet from her.

George charged at the Dementor like an old fashioned cavalry man, the huge magical sword began to glow an electric blue as he swung it at the evil that was engulfing the woman he loved. The sword and its magic severed the head from the Dementor as George roared some primeval war cry at it. Turning as fast as he could for another attack he saw the Dementor shrivel as the numerous souls it had devoured escaped their captor, then the evil that had once been supposedly invulnerable crumpled onto the stone slabs. As it slowly changed from its ethereal form it turned into a wrinkled ancient wizard.

George landed as close as he could to Hermione and then very tenderly he lifted her, he was joined at that moment by his brother Fred who used an enervate charm on her, as Hermione began to revive Fred pulled from his pocket two chocolate frogs and handed them to her, Hermione gratefully took them and began to eat. Five minutes later Hermione was feeling a whole lot better, George left his brother Fred to take her back to Harry, while he went in a storming rage to the office block, George had petrified four guards who had tried to stop him, before he arrived at the governor's office, not stopping to knock he kicked open the door and in a flash he had grabbed the governor from behind his desk and then he frog marched him to the corpse of what had once been a Dementor.

"This thing tried to kill my friends' wife," George said pushing the governor's head down for him to get him a good close look. "What the hell are Dementors doing roaming around when there are visitors here you moron."

The governor struggled into a standing position, "Do you know who I am," he shouted at George. "I am the governor here, do you hear me the governor."

"Correction you were," George almost screamed, "the woman this thing attacked the Minister thinks of as his daughter, the wife of Harry Potter, she is someone we all love dearly."

At that point the governor felt that George might just kill him he was so angry, then the words George had just used sank into his head. "THE Minister, and Harry Potter's wife, oh heck, oh crap," he mumbled. As the faint governor's knees wobbled they were joined by Harry, Ron and Neville. Closly followed by Joshua. Harry and Ron had been told by Fred what had happened. "Who's this?" Harry asked.

"This, so he tells me is the governor," George said, pointing at the mortified looking wizard with the sword he had conjured still held in his hand.

"George would you mind putting that sword away," Ron asked, as he eyed the weapon George was swinging around.

"Fred said you actually killed a Dementor. I thought they were immortal," Neville said with an admiring look at George. "How did you do it?"

George now feeling a little calmer looked at the sword in his hand. Once more it began to glow, this time it glowed a brilliant green before it just vanished.

"I've heard tell about a wondrous sword, made by a sorcerer over a thousand years ago. It was made solely to kill evil things like Dementors. I thought it was a legend," Joshua said.

The governor had recomposed himself and started to demand to know who they all were.

"This is Mr Harry Potter, and these are his family," Joshua informed him.

Once more the colour drained from the governor's face, "Then it actually was Harry Potter's wife the famous Hermione," he stuttered. He could see years of his life's work vanishing right before him, this was an unmitigated disaster for him.

Harry pulled George to one side and asked what he had said that so upset the governor, George told him how he threatened to have him fired in a round about way. "Hang on George we could use this to our advantage," Harry said thinking quickly, having said a few more words to George they rejoined the group of wizards who were now watching as the released souls soared around them, George swallowed hard before holding out his hand to the governor, "I may have been a little hasty," he mumbled.

Relieved the governor shook hands then ordered Joshua to give the Potter party all the help he could. Returning to the women Harry watched as his wife gave a hardly visible wink, he knew she had done as he had asked. They all said goodbye to an unmoving unreactive Malfoy then they all left as the guard placed Malfoy back in his cell, Joshua carried the box with the ferrets in for them till they reached the port key that would take them back to civilisation. After saying a quick goodbye the Potter party departed from Azkaban, each of them wearing a huge smile.