The Lovers of Azkaban

Disclaimer: All characters, entities, magic and scenarios associated with the Harry Potter series belong to JK Rowling. Any additions to the foregoing were achieved by my twisted mind.

Summary: Slash Harry/Draco. Sent to Azkaban together, the pair finds themselves immersed in the Adventure of their lives and in something else completely unexpected...

A/N: Happy New Years everyone! Thanks for the notes!

Chapter Twenty - Five: Tricky Questions

Harry and Draco fell lightly onto the floor of the Room of Requirement and the Portkey shoe hit Harry in the head as it landed with them after the journey.

Draco looked around, his amazement overcoming his feelings of ire for the moment. 'How did we end up here? Why don't we have to pass by the room entrance?'

Harry rubbed his head looking askance at the shoe, 'the Portkey – that is why it is important that we use this particular one' his tone carried strains of arrogance as he retrieved the shoe from the floor and stood up, 'it alone allows only you and me direct access to this room.'

The Slytherin nodded, clearly falling back into his previous state of anger. He stood and stalked to the bookshelf, scanning it for a moment before pulling out a book. He immediately turned and stormed into the private room, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Harry sighed. He understood how his roommate felt. He would have likely felt the same way had someone picked up on Draco at the bar. However, he thought, he wouldn't have over-reacted as the Slytherin had and he had no intention of being the one to make amends. He flung the Portkey rather carelessly onto the sofa table.

It was still fairly early, so Harry walked to the bookshelf and too pulled a book down to read. He carried it back to the sofa and plopped onto the cushion, shoving his body comfortably into the corner.

Harry became engrossed in his book; it discussed the Ministry and gave details about past officials and workers, including Aurors. Harry noted that certain names were significantly missing from the roster and he wondered at it. He read for nearly two hours before the sound of the private room door opening distracted his reading.

Draco walked out of the private room and replaced his book on the shelf. He moved to the kitchen area and made himself a cup of tea and sat at the table drinking it in silent contemplation.

Harry stood up and closed his book then walked rapidly to the bookshelf and stuffed it roughly in between two tomes. His ire was once again on the rise in the wake of his roommate's continued silence. Draco, he thought, must realize that he had acted irrationally and that it was up to him to patch things up between them. Harry moved quickly to the bed area and sat on the bed, jerking his shoes from his feet before falling heavily against the mattress.

Draco finished his tea, performed a cleaning spell and then moved into the bed area. He took his time changing out of his clothes, cleaning them and stepping into his pajamas; anger stemming from jealousy was still flowing through him – although it had diminished to some extent.

Harry watched Draco changing – in every sense of the word – the effect of the polyjuice potion juice was popping away. He looked down and noticed that his body had also reverted to normalcy and his clothes were those he had put on before they left. He was once again a little awed by how unnoticeable the change was unless you were taking special note of it.

Draco walked arrogantly to the bed once he had his pajamas on; without a glance at his roommate, he stretched underneath the coverlet on his back.

After a few moments of silence Draco stole a glance at Harry and blinked; used to seeing the red head all evening, he hadn't been prepared to see the real Harry lying next to him. Although, he thought, he should have realized it; he had noticed his own body reverting to its normal form and his clothes changing form before his eyes while he prepared for bed.

It was terribly easy to stay angry with the not-so-good-looking, red-headed stranger that had been Harry earlier, but at the sight of the real Harry, the last vestiges of Draco's anger began to flow away.

'Sorry' Draco snapped, his tone a little sharper than he would have liked. He wasn't accustomed to apologizing.

Harry looked at Draco noting that his roommate had completely re-transformed. His ire had fled the moment the Slytherin apologized, but he still felt the need to chastise. 'That wasn't very wise of you. I mean, what if someone saw you change to your Animagus form?'

'I changed form in an empty hallway in the back of the club. No one saw me.'

Harry's eyes started to sparkle a little and suddenly he began laughing rather uproariously.

Draco's brows furrowed a bit, but a small smile crossed his features.

'You should have seen Bill's face when you let go of the bird droppings on his head' Harry gasped.

Draco began laughing as well and turned onto his side to face his roommate.

Harry's laughter eased, but his face was still creased with mirth, 'you were jealous and for no reason whatsoever' he said matter-of-factly.

Draco's frown was arrogant, one of his eyebrows cocked slightly above the other, 'I was merely upset because I thought it…dangerous for you to speak with that bloke, Bill so much.'

Harry lifted his brows, 'dangerous?' he tilted his head, smiling, 'you were jealous' he began laughing again and poked Draco lightly in the chest.

Draco shook his head, looking like a spoiled child being denied a treat, 'no, I just thought you were being very careless.'

'Jealous, admit it' Harry gasped, continuing to laugh and poke Draco in the belly.

Draco hunched his body at the touches and laughter began to ring through his voice, 'I was not.'

Harry began nodding, 'oh yes you were.'

Draco began laughing in earnest; all five of Harry's fingers were dancing against his belly.

Harry leaned in and stole a quick kiss from his momentarily defenseless roommate and then desisted from tapping his fingers along the Slytherin's belly.

Draco's laughter ran down and he moved hand across his face, 'that club was pretty interesting actually.'

Harry slid off of the bed and moved to his chest of drawers to pull out his pajamas, 'yeah it was. Not exactly what I expected.'

'You? When I went to the loo, there was a couple inside, in one of the stalls. They didn't bother to shut the door and they were going at it without a care in the world.'

Harry met Draco's eyes as he began pulling off his clothes, 'going at it?'

Draco nodded, his lips sweeping into a wry smile, 'going all the way, standing in the stall.'

Harry's eyes widened slightly, 'really?'

'I was kind of amazed, but other people walked by and saw it and didn't seem very surprised. I guess that kind of thing happens all the time there.'

'Yeah well' Harry added his tone ironic, 'Bill tried to kiss me on the dance floor. I discovered that was a customary practice as well.'

'Well somebody decided to tell him we weren't together.' Draco frowned a little.

Harry's expression took on a more serious look, 'yeah' he said slowly, 'I didn't mean we weren't, it is just that we …I should have said we were, I didn't realize he would take that to mean I was available.'

Draco narrowed his eyes, 'well he did and you…aren't.'

A slow smile spread across Harry's face, 'no, I'm not' he confirmed.

Draco bit his lip, 'that is-'

Harry cut Draco off, 'that is, whatever we are, we are together.'

Draco smiled and nodded. He was terribly glad Harry had spoken. He had been about to backtrack, he had once again felt like he had put himself out on a limb indicating that Harry wasn't available. If Harry hadn't concurred he would have looked foolish. Mainly, he was glad that Harry agreed he wasn't available.

Harry had put his pajamas on and cleaned his clothes, folding them neatly before placing them into the drawer. He then moved to the salon area, grabbed the wand and returned to the bed. Once he had climbed beneath the coverlet, he dimmed the lights, removed his glasses and then turned to face Draco.

'What really amazed me was to find that there are wizards out there who support us – who don't think we are guilty of the crimes we were charged with.'

Draco nodded and smiled a little, 'well they believe in you anyway'.

'I think their support is for the both of us. It not only made me happy, it also infused me with determination. I don't want to sit in here idly waiting for Snape to see to our freedom, Draco. I think we should try to help ourselves if possible. We now have a means to go out without detection and we can do something about our situation.'

Draco felt a small ball of anxiousness began to form in his stomach. He was very comfortable awaiting Snape in the Room of Requirement, but somewhere deep in his heart he had always known that Harry would never be able to sit and wait, perhaps for months, while Snape did all of the work on their behalf.

'What do you think we can do?' Draco asked wearily.

Harry narrowed his eyes, 'I was thinking about that Auror that tried to kill you during our last escape – you said he was perhaps tied to dark forces that are still prevalent. What did you mean exactly?'

'There will always be dark forces at work, Harry.'

'I know that, but were you speaking of something specific?'

'Well' mused Draco, 'I was thinking in terms of those who were friends to the death eaters we killed and the old Minister, Rufus Scrimgeour. The Auror who tried to kill me said he was avenging their deaths, I assume he was speaking about that lot.'

Harry nodded, 'It is highly likely. You know, I am almost certain that those death eaters and Scrimgeour were after our blood that day. They were only waiting to assure themselves that we had defeated Voldemort. That is why they did not immediately attack us. You recall them asking what happened just before we attacked them?'

'Yes, I am certain of it. I recognized many of them; they were dedicated death eaters, Harry. The Minister was lying when he began screaming about their having crossed over to the good side when we drew our wands against them.'

'That is what went through my mind in those few seconds' Harry agreed, 'it was impossible that all of them had crossed over – and I had always had doubts about Scrimgeour in any case.'

Draco smiled, 'that was amazingly brilliant and quick thinking on your part. They were still trying to draw their wands against us when you cast that freezing spell allowing us to act first.'

'War reflexes I guess' mused Harry.

Draco narrowed his eyes, 'they were all beholden to the Dark Lord, including Scrimgeour and that proves that the death eaters had infiltrated the Ministry.'

Harry placed his head against his hand, his emerald eyes animated, 'Scrimgeour, acting as Minister, likely appointed a number of death eaters to positions within the Ministry – some of whom were not among those killed. That is probably why we were immediately charged without a fair trial.'

Draco nodded, 'and many of those death eaters are likely still in place at the Ministry.'

'What we need is proof' Harry said pensively, lowering his head against the pillow once more.

'Proof' Draco's voice ran down, 'I don't see any way for us to get it. Where would we even begin?'

Harry shrugged in the semi-darkness, 'I don't know, but it is something to think about.'

Draco nodded, sighing a bit, 'I'm too tired to think right now.'

Harry turned onto his stomach, also feeling extremely tired, 'well we can sleep on it.'

The room was silent for a few moments and then Harry lifted his torso and leaned slowly toward his roommate, 'good night, Dean' he said giving his companion a quick, but meaning-filled kiss.

A quick, deep chuckle escaped Draco's throat, 'goodnight Ron.' The Slytherin turned slowly onto his other side, his back to the Gryffindor.

There was another rather longer session of silence between them broken by the sound of a very soft voice, almost a whisper, drifting through the air.

'Perhaps I was a little jealous' there was a tinge of haughtiness in the pitch of Draco's tone.

Harry smiled and began scooting his body sideways until it was pressed against Draco's. He scrunched down a little and threw an arm around his roommate's torso, snuggling close until their bodies lay like a pair of spoons.

Draco lifted an arm to cover the one draping his body; a small contented smile creasing his features.

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Hermione stared at Blaise in frank amazement. They were sitting on the bed in their hotel room talking about the Believers, something they did on a fairly constant basis. Blaise had just told her that he had admitted to Armand his belief that Voldemort would never return.

'But Blaise, you have told me that is one of their major tenants' Hermione said in hushed tones.

'It is, however, Armand is a good friend. He is ranked high among the Believers and I don't relish the idea of his going down with them. He will have to decide for himself in the end, but I wanted him to know my sentiments.'

'Why?' Hermione's tone expressed the fact that she thought Blaise mad to have done such a thing.

Blaise sighed, 'Armand has been sucked into the belief that the Dark Lord will return, but he is an intelligent man and I think he'll realize I wouldn't say something so blasphemous unless I truly believed it. I think he may begin to wonder why I believe it and ask me, at least that is what I hope will occur.'

Hermione nodded, 'but it puts us in a perilous position; surely you see that?'

'I wouldn't endanger our position, Hermione. I know what I am doing.'

Hermione's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't reply. She began wondering if Blaise wasn't being a bit too self-assured. She looked down and her fingers began toying with the thumb of her other hand.

She could feel Blaise looking at her, but she didn't meet his eyes; her eyes would certainly reflect her doubt and uncertainty.

'Trust me, Hermione' he said softly, standing to disrobe and returning to the bed in only his boxers. He turned his bed light out and moved underneath the covers, resting his head on the pillow and closing his eyes.

Hermione sat looking at her worrying fingers while Blaise undressed. When he was in bed once more she moved to her chest of drawers and pulled an evening gown from it. She moved into the restroom and changed before joining Blaise in the bed. She flipped her bedside lamp off and lay in the darkness thinking about all of the little things that kept her from completely trusting Blaise.

Hermione awoke with a start, early morning light filtered into the room and something was tickling her face. She turned her head toward the origin of the sensation. Hermione wasn't prepared for the lips that softly captured hers or the tongue that brushed her lips a moment later, demanding entrance.

Blaise's closeness, the feel of his lips and the aura he pervaded were like an intoxicating wine that hit her still groggy, senses all at once. Hermione's mind was swept into a state of confusion. There was so much mystery about Blaise, the things she had been thinking about when she fell asleep rushed back to fill her mind.

Hermione did not have a great amount of trust in Blaise's motives and actions. However, there were other things that attracted her to him fiercely; he could be charming, he could be compassionate, he could be considerate. He was strong, brave and most importantly, intelligent; in short, perfect except for the fact that half of her requirements were met by what he could be, rather than what he was for certain.

However, Blaise's kiss was cutting through her tumultuous thoughts. Hermione found herself giving in to the feeling of intoxication his kiss engendered and she parted her lips beneath his. She began kissing him back, meeting his insistence and ardor. Her head was swimming, all of her senses were captivated; One of Blaise's hands came up to softly caress her cheek and the other moved gently along her arm, his musky scent was flooding her nostrils, the spicy taste of his mouth was delicious and soft sighs, issued by them both were filling her ears. Her eyes were closed, but an image of the beautiful man before her was deluging her brain.

Blaise directed their kiss, but Hermione had never felt so much power. His nearness filled her with strength built on desire and left her feeling an odd sensation of control – over Blaise, over their every move.

Blaise's hand fell from her arm to lightly move over the fabric covering her breast; he teased and toyed with her nipple until it became taut and sensitive. Easing from their kiss, Blaise dropped his head slowly, his lips moving along her neck and then along her chest to replace his hand with his mouth. He closed his mouth over the material of her gown, his hot breath against her nipple sending fiery chills down her spine.

'Blaise' she cried out softly, arching her body and hugging the back of his head with her hands.

Blaise made his way upward again and looked into her eyes; the twilight lighting did not obscure the desire within his. 'Make love with me, Hermione' he whispered softly, seductively.

Hermione's eyes grew luminous and her lips parted as she stared at the gorgeous creature before her.

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A large crowd was gathered outside of the ministry, holding signs, chanting loudly and making calls at the building. It was a huge, early morning manifestation on behalf of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy. The Daily Prophet had published an article two days before announcing that Potter and Malfoy had been captured and killed by Aurors in France. Several individuals in support of the two had quickly arranged for a rally to protest their deaths in front of the ministry. Word had spread far and wide and an impressive number of people had turned out to take part in the manifestation. The rumor had been proven false and the Daily Prophet had retracted its story in its early edition the morning of the manifestation. However, the demonstration had taken place as scheduled, those present now demanding examination of the evidence supporting the charges against Harry and Draco, something they claimed had not happened during their trial.

Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks and Molly Weasley, stood at the edge of the crowd. No one could see them however, because they were hidden by invisibility spells. The spell had been taught to various members of the Order by Dumbledore prior to his death and most of them had perfected the spell during the war.

The three stood impressed by the great number of people who had come out in support of Harry and Draco. There had never been any kind of display or census to determine just how many wizards felt that the hero and his heroic assistant had been wrongly charged. While the group represented a vast minority of the total number of wizards in England, the number was far greater than anyone thought. Most of the crowd was made up of young, renegade types who were not held in high regard by the Ministry. A great number of them were impersonating Potter and a few even impersonated Draco. Almost all of the younger participants wore t-shirts or carried signs in support of the escapees.

There was also a sprinkling of well respected, reputable wizards in support of the two young men. Naturally none of the members of the Order were present, at least visually, as they supposedly backed the ministry's decision to hold Potter and Malfoy accountable for the crimes committed. There were numerous Aurors everywhere, milling about the crowd and trying to ensure that nothing got out of hand.

The crowd, though peaceful, was loud and rambunctious, calling for the Ministry to 'do the right thing and examine the evidence!' Wanting to break up the crowd, the Minister himself appeared on the steps of the building and confronted the crowd. He announced that the evidence would be re-examined – not ready to admit that it had not been examined in the first place – and a great cheer went up. The crowd began to disperse shortly after his speech and people moved away from the building.

There were muggles milling about, after all, the Ministry was located underground in the heart of London. However, not one of them appeared to notice that they were in the midst of a huge demonstration of wizards or that the Minister of magic was making an important announcement before them.

Upon hearing the Minister speak, Tonks face was swathed in happiness, something very rare these days. Remus John Lupin had still not come around to agreeing that the two of them should pursue the romantic feelings they held for one another.

It is really nice to see you smiling Tonks' Remus said looking down at her pretty, heart-shaped face.

Tonks lost her smile almost immediately, 'I am happy for Harry and Draco, but my soul is still not at all happy.'

Remus closed his eyes dismissively and Tonks looked at him for a moment before suddenly storming away.

Lupin looked at Mrs. Weasley whose expression provided him with little sympathy and then toward Tonk's disappearing back. His feet began to move forward after the fleeing figure.

Remus finally caught up with Tonk's after a few minutes of rapid walking, 'Tonks wait; listen to me' he said a little breathlessly.

Tonks stopped suddenly and turned to face her pursuer, 'you are impossible' she said, her tone livid with rage and angst, ''I understood putting our personal interests on hold during the war, but now you've come up with the same old arguments you used before the battles! Don't you know that it doesn't matter to me at all, none of it; that the full moon calls you to animal form, that you're a few years older than I, that you don't have a ton of money-'

'Well it should matter to you' Remus cut in, speaking rather sharply, 'I am far more dangerous than you give me credit for. I live in a shell for the most part, Tonks, and I don't intend to drag anyone else into my pitiful existence.'

'Poppycock!' exclaimed Tonks, 'since you have been taking the Wolfsbane potion, you are not dangerous at all – not that we couldn't find a way around it even if you were. You are hardly living in a shell, Remus, during the war and even now you are far from the hermit you claim to be.'

'The war was a special circumstance and we have an equally important task to do now, but this is not my customary way of life.' Lupin's voice grew soft, 'you are young Tonks, you still have many things to learn, many things to experience and those things will change you. You will make many friends and find a… a man…who you can…admire.' Remus' voice had grown somewhat small by the end of his short statement.

Tonk's narrowed her eyes, 'I won't even address the ignorant implication that I can't admire you, Remus. It just doesn't make sense to me' she continued, her voice growing unsteady, 'you allowed Sirius, James and even Peter Pettigrew-' the last name was uttered in a derisive tone and Tonk's voice broke on a sob, 'you let them all into your life; you shared everything with them, but you hold it all back from me' tears began running down her cheeks, 'all the while you have no idea what it is doing to me. I am not that young, nor am I innocent.'

Lupin closed his eyes and breathed deeply, a worried frown crossing his features. He reached out hesitantly and slowly pulled Tonks against his chest, hugging the crying young woman. 'You speak with the heart of the young Tonks; you have no idea what you would be getting yourself into.'

Tonks jerked herself free from his embrace, 'I'm not getting myself in to anything because you won't allow me to do so. It is as if you get some kind of thrill watching me pine away for you.'

'You know that is not true' he murmured softly, 'it is just that-'

But Tonks cut him off, her voice slightly hysterical, 'just what? I have felt the same about you for three and a half years, Remus – three and a half years! My feelings haven't changed and…and I don't think yours have either. I love you, Remus.'

Remus flinched as if she had struck him, 'I-'

Noting his reaction to her declaration, Tonks broke in again, 'that's it, isn't it? You no longer have feelings for me and you simply don't want to hurt me by telling me so.'

'No' Remus said loudly, 'it is the love I have for you that is guiding me, Tonks. I know I am doing the right thing; I have to save you from yourself.'

'Well you are doing a lousy job of it, I am slowly driving myself insane if you haven't noticed' Tonks said morosely, her expression sour.

Remus looked as if he might say something more, but Mrs. Weasley approached the pair at that moment.

'We had better get back to headquarters' said Remus shortly, walking away from the Ministry building. They would have to move out of the area surrounding the building as apparation was not allowed within a certain distance.

Mrs. Weasley placed and arm about Tonk's shoulders and followed the fast moving Lupin at a steady pace.

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Harry and Draco landed with a firm bang on the ground of the forest, the shoe falling between them. Harry stood up rubbing his bottom and bent to pick up the shoe.

'Ouch' Harry whispered turning to face his roommate, 'give me the wand.'

Draco handed Harry the wand, 'it is possible to land on one's feet' he whispered back, 'I guess it just takes getting used to.'

Harry nodded and then carried the shoe to a large tree near where they stood. He sent the shoe levitating onto a branch high within the confines of the heavily leaved tree. The shoe settled on the branch in the crevice where it met the trunk, wobbling slightly before settling.

Harry handed the wand back to Draco who pocketed it in his robe and then accepted a small flask of change of essence potion from his roommate. The pair had already taken the polyjuice potion in the Room of Requirement and had transformed into new individuals. They had taken a less potent brew as they didn't figure on being out for more than an hour.

The now tall, blonde, Harry signaled to the rather short, dark haired, Draco to follow him. He began leading them out of the forest toward the village of Hogsmeade.

They had come to buy a copy of the Daily Prophet; Harry was determined that the first step in their attempt to do something on their own behalf would be to find out as much as possible about what was going on in the wizard world. He suggested they obtain a copy of the newspaper to give them some idea of what was taking place.

Draco, somewhat less enthusiastic had agreed, although he pointed out that the Prophet was often less than accurate.

Harry had nodded his agreement, but argued that it was the most accurate over all – none of the papers went for accuracy, they generally went for sales which meant enticing headlines and less than true articles. However, even rumors and suspicions could perhaps help them at this stage.

'Why don't you wait in Honeydukes while I get the newspaper?' Harry suggested as they moved toward the village, 'they sell them two doors down at that little newspaper store. I'll draw less attention if I go in alone; I should only be a couple of minutes.'

'Alright' agreed Draco. Then he frowned and looked at Harry, 'how will you purchase it? Do you have money? You can't use your account.'

'I know, and no I don't. Don't worry, I'll get it' Harry said with confidence.

Draco had little doubt that Harry would find a way to do so; his moments of doubting Harry's ability in any regard were on the decrease.

They came into the town and Harry felt a sense of happiness at being out and about again. He noticed that there were few people around and that some of the stores were closed with signs in the windows. He read one of the signs as they passed and glanced at Draco upon reading it, 'closed for protest rally' it said in bold letters.

'Protest rally?' Harry questioned, never having heard of such a thing.

'The people find causes to protest about from time to time and they gather at the ministry to let their feelings be known. It doesn't happen often; I wonder what they are protesting this time.'

Harry shrugged as they approached Honeydukes; 'I'll see you inside in a moment' he said lightly and continued walking toward the small newspaper store.

Harry entered the store and stood before the rack where the Daily Prophets were located. There were two other patrons in the shop looking at Magazines and paying no attention to Harry at all. Praying that his plan would work, Harry sent a large amount of energy toward the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper immediately bent behind his counter as if looking for something. The Gryffindor smiled and lifted one of the newspapers from the stand and careful to ensure that the other two patrons were still not looking at him, he moved rapidly out of the store, the newspaper clutched in his hand.

Draco watched Harry enter the store and was about to enter Honeydukes to wait, when he saw Pansy Parkinson walking toward him, her blond hair gleaming in the sunlight. She was with another woman he did not know and she looked the same as always. Her glance fell across his polyjuice potion form, but she didn't take special notice. He figured his new persona must not be very good looking. He turned to enter the sweet shop and then froze as his glance swept by the entrance of the newspaper store.

The now tall, blonde Harry had just alighted from the store, newspaper in hand and three Aurors in full dress with their wands drawn, formed a triangle about him. Harry stood frozen in the entrance watching the Aurors approach, his eyes widening with fear.