If this was the Great Beyond, Ezekiel felt scammed. There was no peace. There was certainly darkness, but that was it.

Oh, and pain. Specially on his back.

And for some reason his ass itched.

And it smelled awful.

And it was chilly.

And could someone tell that asshole to stop yelling?

Wait.

Oh, great.

He was alive.

Hurrah.

No, wait. He was alive! Yes! He would've jumped from wherever the hell he was in joy if it weren't for the fact that being conscious alone was tiresome. But, hey! Alive! Now, if only he could get what that noise that woke him up was. It was clear that it was a discussion. Two, maybe three people were arguing loudly, but it was as if the sound was muffled. He tried to open his eyes but his eyelids didn't even budge. Magic was coming back to him albeit slowly since it was being used to help the healing on his back. He had also received several hits to the chest, not to mention that his throat hurt a bit from when the muggle tried to choke him with the fire iron.

What a day.

He tried to remember anything after that, but it was mostly a blur. He spoke to Harry and then directed him to Dora, that much he knew but why was the entire house hit with that spell. Ezekiel tried to remember anything else but the only thing that came to mind was the red light that hit him, after that, nothing. He couldn't help to wonder what kind of spell was, as it had blew up a door off its hinges and covered everything as far as he could see. Granted he was on the floor looking at said door being blown away but, still. It was red, that was certain, the voice that casted it was so loud that he couldn't pick up what was said. Who the hell just yells their spell? He was grateful that he wasn't the guy in charge of handling that disaster, the Obliviation Squad must have their hands full.

As much as he tried he couldn't get rid of that though. Red. He didn't knew much about the Healing Arts, apart from the training that he received during the Auror formation so he couldn't say that he was 100% sure, but red wasn't a color usually seen in magic medicine, so that left the Stunning Spell. Some arse had stunned an entire muggle house. It wasn't Dora, that much he knew, she preferred Charms over other methods. So, who did it? Well, it didn't matter much, he was probably in St. Mungo's, the discomfort that he felt was a clear tell.

Funny thing is that as an Auror he had a exclusive bed, as the rest of the department had for emergencies but as a Black, he had the worst care possible. A Healer was a wizard that, as the name implies, specializes in the Healing Arts. Once the lengthy and hard training ends they take a magical oath that prevents them from harming a patient and to care until the patient was healthy. Him being a Black meant that they fulfilled that oath to the bare minimum. They'll examine, treat and heal him, but that's it. Forget basic comfort, bedside manners, all those things that people took for granted. Oh, and anesthetics, those were gone too. So what if he experienced pain and discomfort during the treatments, he was alive and healthy, right? Thank Merlin that he was rich and could afford Gringotts, they provided all kinds of services for a fee. A rather large fee, if one was honest, although the fact that his family was one of the oldest ones in existence and one of the first customers in the bank, as well as the interest that the gold, other properties and lands generated made it possibly to cover it. Speaking of which, why wasn't he in Gringotts already?, he wondered. He had made arrangements that any and all medical issues should be handled there,

He waited for what it seemed to him an eternity, during which the argument seemed to calm down, before trying to move again. This time, he was able to open his eyes, albeit slower than he'd liked. Still, progress. What welcomed him was a blurred vision and dizziness, along with the urge to throw up the content of his stomach, which he now realized was quite empty. It wasn't until his sight focused again that he understood where he was, and that his problems hadn't been resolved. He was on a stone bank, on what was clearly a cell. He knew this place, almost intimately, he just hadn't seen it from this side. This were the infamous holding cells of the DLME, where criminals were thrown into before being sent to the Wizengamot.

His eyes opened wide as he tried to sit up, but only managed to fall off and bang his head on the stone cold floor. His groans of pain must have alerted the Auror in turn, as he head the muffled sounds of steps coming his way. The annoying part of this cell was that the door was enchanted to being unbreakable as well as muffle the sounds from either side, this had allowed him to make small "plays" in the past and made so the accused would get scared and mess up his testimony in the chamber. This however, didn't seem to be the case as the Auror in charge of the cells stood before him.

Corban Yaxley could be described in many different ways, but the one that always stuck with Ezekiel was blunt. The man itself was a bit taller than the average man but as for the rest, he was a blunt copy of Lucius Malfoy, but as Lucius had some grace and finesse, Yaxley looked as if he had been made with a hammer. The man even had the same long blonde hair, the only difference being that Yaxley tied his in a neat braid that hanged down his lower back.

Ezekiel looked as Yaxley scoffed at him through the door and started talking to him, no doubt taunting or insulting him. It was quite amusing for Ezekiel that the man that was assigned to the cells because he screwed up even the most basic tasks couldn't remember that the doors were enchanted. He gathered his strength and managed to sit himself against the bank, quietly watching as the man in front of him continued speaking with a smug expression, no doubt taunting him. Had it been any other wizard, Ezekiel would've felt hopeless, the terror would have sinked in and he'd really be a mess on the floor but, strangely, seeing Yaxley robbed him of his dreadness and replaced it with plain tediousness. He continued watching him as Yaxley appeared to reach his peak, attempting to appear terrifying and laughing to what Ezekiel could only assume was a sad copy of his uncle.

Yaxley ended his gloating only to find that Ezekiel was looking at him with a bored face while tapping his fingers on his knee. With an exaggerated sight Ezekiel pointed towards his ear without saying a word, awaiting for the epiphany to arrive, which took a good 20 seconds more than it should have, before mouthing very clearly Moron. Yaxley's face reddened as he took out his wand and moved to open the door when a muffled noise stopped him. Finally, Ezekiel thought, someone with brain would explain him what was going on. What he didn't anticipated was someone running at Yaxley and decking him hard. The blur that had lunged towards him had red hair, but before he could see anything else the view was blocked by the concerned figure of Ted Tonks. Ted looked as he had aged 10 years since he had saw him at the chamber, but the smile that appeared on his face once he looked at Ezekiel brought him a warm feeling to his heart.

Ted started talking but Ezekiel stopped him with a gesture before pointing to the door and then to his ear, this time it took no time as Ted nodded and looked away from were Yaxley laid on the floor grabbing his jaw. The witch that was standing above him turned and her hair changed into a light brown to reveal Dora's concerned face. Both her and her father started struggling with the door but were shoved off by one Amelia Bones. Once it was opened both launched themselves and hugged him. This made Ezekiel both happy and concerned, as they had made a rule for public appearances. As far as the world knew Ted had duped Ezekiel into giving him his seat at the chamber as his proxy, thus allowing Ezekiel to vote without having his family's reputation affect negatively the outcome, so he and Ted and by extension his family need to appear as if they were in bad terms. This display of affection, even in front of Madam Bones who was surprised that they even cared about each other, was against those rules.

"Thank Merlin that you're alright" Said Ted with relief.

"We need to hurry. Dumbledore is saying that you attacked a Muggle family and is pushing for a trial against you. I've never seen him like that" Said Dora, taking a vital from under her black robe. "Drink this potion and get up, if this keeps going he'll accuse you in absentia. He's fuming and screaming everything to everyone. Not even Malfoy is opposing him."

Ezekiel drank the potion and awaited "What happened? I sent you a Patronus with my location but it took you forever to apparate." He asked to Dora.

"We we going to follow the trail after you vanished, but then Dumbledore fainted. The chamber went nuts before we could calm them down and we had to wait until he had his personal nurse from Hogwarts bring him something. Then we got your message and once Dumbledore heard it he went mental. He rounded almost half of the Auror department and tried to apparate to the address that you gave us. Me and Madam Bones tried to stop them but Dumbledore wasn't hearing any of it. He even threatened her that he'd remove her from her position." Said Dora.

Ezekiel couldn't believe what he was hearing, he looked at Madam Bones hoping that she would dismiss this as an exaggeration but she simply nodded and said "It's true, most of the Aurors summoned were with him the second he ordered them. Some hesitated a bit but were pressured by the others. Those who didn't go were some of those I believed to work for the Dark, but I wouldn't discard that some went with him to avoid that we couldn't stop him we followed him when he finally decided to apparate but we weren't able to go to where you pointed us. It was almost as if we hit a wall, but it felt more like a vacuum. Many of the Aurors fell once they arrived, they didn't even stumbled on anything, they just fell where they apparated and laid there, as if someone had taken the life out of them, they almost couldn't blink or breath. Some even tried to hug themselves for some sort of comfort but the more they moved the more I could see them wither. I've never seen something like that in my entire life"

"Yes, sorry about that one." Said Ezekiel with a guilty look on his face. "I got into some sort of ward that was tearing me apart and I got carried away"

"YOU did that?" Said Bones disbelievingly " Nevermind, if I never see that again it will be too soon. Dumbledore almost fainted again but he eat something that he had left over from his nurse and we had to wait again. The man wouldn't allow anyone leave, not even to take the the injured to St. 's. Once whatever he ate started working he had us run towards your location. I've got to say that for a man that's over a hundred years old he's quite spry. We went towards you but it just got worst, we lost a quarter of our men just on arrival and almost all of them the closer we got to you. For some reason she " pointing at Dora " wasn't affected but the rest fell like flies, and it wasn't just us. Muggles looked like zombies and most didn't even noticed us, not even when some of us crashed with them trying to keep up with Dumbledore. Then he summoned his phoenix and took the few that remain where you were, but before we could enter the house a child ran out. He looked at us and ran towards Auror Tonks, he even screamed her name but Dumbledore stunned him an-"

"Dumbledore stunned Harry!?" Ezekiel interrupted her "What the hell was that man thinking! Harry was the one that called for me!"

"What?" Said Dora. "Called for you? How could a child even do that? He's a Muggle for Merlin's sake!"

"No, he isn't. Harry Dursley is a muggle-born Wizard. He's the one that was crying when we were in Madam Bone's office. I don't know how or why he was able to do it, but his uncle was beating him when I apparated. Hell, I took a fire iron on the back that was meant for his face. I was the one that told him to get Dora to Andi and to keep them safe."

"You did? Why?" Said a confused Dora.

"Well, I wasn't sure I was going to make it." He said sheepishly. " I had to make sure that he wouldn't go back to those people and you, Ted and Andi were the only ones I could think of"

"Why did you think that you wouldn't make it?" Said Dora still confused, but before Ezekiel could say anything he was cut off by Madam Bones

"I found Black at the house while you were screaming at Dumbledore, he was on a small pool of his own blood and going into shock. Lucky I still carry my vials with me, a habit that I developed from my field days, and was able to provide the first aid. We need to move now, Dumbledore is summoning everyone to the chambers again and setting the trial. Some are even saying that he's looking to name you a Dark Wizard."

Ezekiel didn't knew if the potion had kicked in but that woke him up completely. Dora and Ted helped to lift him up and to get him to the chamber. Once they arrived they heard Dumbledore's voice on thundering through the chamber.

"I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards name Ezekiel Black a Dark Wizard.I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, name Ezekiel Black a Dark Wizard. And I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Order of Merlin First Class, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, name Ezekiel Black a Dark Wizard"

Fuck.

I don't own Harry Potter, all characters except OC belong to J. K. Rowling.