Disclaimer: The characters and places and stuff belong to JKR. But for now, they are at my mercy. *evil grin* I'll return them as soon as I'm finished…maybe.

Nicky: Nope, no trial for the Dursleys. I'm evil. I don't remember which chapter it was, but it said that the Dursleys have been thrown into some prison or another. Terrible of me, but I didn't want to get into that because I have so much other stuff to write.

In this chapter: The trial, an incident with Veritaserum, panic and tears, and a threat

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Chapter 13

The next morning, Remus, Sirius, and Harry went to the Ministry Court Building. Harry looked around and saw the Weasleys, the Grangers, several teachers and, surprisingly, Severus and Draco.

"I asked them to come," Sirius told Harry, seeing the surprised look on his face. "In case you need something and Moony and I aren't around."

Harry nodded and went to sit with Remus, Ron, Hermione, and other witnesses, including Albus. Harry looked around the room some more and found Peter Pettigrew sitting across the room, looking completely miserable.

Serves him right, Harry said to himself, glaring at Pettigrew.

Precisely at ten o'clock, Thomas Epstein came in and sat in the judge's seat, next to the witness box.

"We are here for the trial of Mr. Sirius Black, accused of the murders of thirteen Muggles on October 31, 1981," Epstein announced. "As well as being the secret-keeper for the late James and Lily Potter and revealing their whereabouts to Voldemort. Mr. Black, how do you plead?"

"Not guilty, Your Honor."

"Will you please approach the witness stand?"

Sirius obeyed and went to the stand, where he was given Veritaserum. Epstein turned to him and began to ask him questions.

"Can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"What is your full name?"

"Sirius Orion Black."

"Were you the Potters' secret-keeper?"

"No, I wasn't."

"Who was the Potters' secret-keeper?"

"Peter Pettigrew. It was going to be me, but I convinced James to switch at the last minute. I thought that everyone would assume that I was the secret-keeper and not even consider Pettigrew. And I was right."

"What happened after you found out that Lily and James Potter had been killed?"

"I went to Godric's Hollow to see if it was really true. I couldn't believe it. And then I found James lying on the ground, and he was still alive. He told me that Peter betrayed them, and he told me to take care of Harry; he somehow knew that his son hadn't been killed." A tear streamed from Sirius's eye. "I'm sorry, Harry, I'm so sorry I didn't take care of you...

"I stayed with James until he died a minute later. Then I went upstairs and found Lily was already dead, but Harry was on the floor, staring at me. He wasn't even crying. I took him back outside with me, and that's when Hagrid showed up. He had strict orders from Dumbledore to take Harry, so I gave him Harry and my bike... Then I went to find Peter. I wanted to kill him, no doubt about that.

"When I found him, he looked at me and screamed 'Lily and James, Sirius, how could you?' to make it seem like I was the one who'd betrayed them. Then he cut off his finger and made an explosion, killing the Muggles and making it seem like he was dead, too. But he's an Animagus, a rat, and he transformed as soon as he made the explosion. And I was left alone in the middle of the street. The Aurors came and assumed that I did the damage. They took me to Azkaban without a trial."

"Thank you, Mr. Black. You may step down."

Sirius went back to his table and sat down, and Mrs. Weasley, who was sitting behind him, handed him a tissue.

"Our next witness is Mr. Harry Potter," Epstein stated. "Mr. Potter, please approach the stand."

Harry went to the stand and sat down, and he was surprised to see Severus stalking up to Epstein's bench.

"He can't take the Veritaserum," Severus told Epstein, firmly. "He has the Ecilam Potion in his system, and if he takes any kind of truth potion, it will react with the Ecilam Potion. Even a small amount could kill him."

Suddenly, Severus heard a tiny gasp from where Harry was sitting. He turned, and his eyes widened when he saw that Harry's face had paled. The man who administered the Veritaserum to all the witnesses was standing in front of Harry, holding a vial. Shock was written on his face.

"Did you already give it to him?!" Severus hissed.

Harry suddenly choked a little and began to fall from his seat. Severus caught him before he hit the floor, and Harry's eyes rolled back into his head as his body went into a fit of convulsions. Almost immediately, Sirius was on the other side of Harry, touching his godson's cheek.

"Black, stay here," Severus ordered him. "I'll take care of him." Sirius was about to protest, but Severus cut him off. "Don't jeoporadize your trial. Harry needs you. Don't mess it up by leaving. He'll be all right, as long as I get him the remedy. I'll take him back to Hogwarts."

With that, Severus left with Harry in his arms, Draco trailing behind them. They went to Severus's lab by Floo, and Severus lowered Harry's shaking body to the sofa. After instructing Draco to get a cloth and a bowl of water, Severus knelt down next to Harry and touched his cheek. It felt like it was on fire, and Harry's lips were turning blue as he gasped for breath.

"Harry, you're not going to leave us," Severus muttered, unbuttoning Harry's shirt and exposing his torso. "You're not going to leave me..."

~~~

Oh, shite, shite, shite, Draco thought to himself as he rushed to get a bowl of water and a washcloth. Stupid Ministry idiots, if he dies, I'm going to kill them! I'm not losing anyone else, damn it!

When Draco returned to the lab with the water, he found Severus carefully removing Harry's shirt and talking quietly.

"You're not going to leave me..."

He really does love him, Draco thought as a tear slipped out of his eye. It seemed as though Severus was crying a little, as well. The older man quickly wiped his eyes when he heard Draco come in.

"Try to bring his body temperature down," Severus said, hoarsely. "I think he can hear us; help him control his breathing. If he stops breathing all together or loses consciousness, tell me."

With that, Severus rushed around the lab, finding ingredients and mixing them together. Draco, meanwhile, was pressing the wet cloth to all of Harry's exposed skin. He used one hand to run his fingers through Harry's hair, to comfort him, as the boy's eyes expressed the terror he was feeling. Harry had stopped convulsing, but he was still having trouble breathing. Every other breath he took got caught in his throat.

"Shh, you're going to be all right," Draco murmured, massaging Harry's scalp with his fingers. He leaned over and kissed Harry's burning forehead. "Sev's going to make you better, Harry, you're going to be fine soon. Just try to stay awake and keep breathing."

"Hurts..." Harry's lips formed the word, but no sound came out. Still, Draco understood.

"I know it hurts, love," he murmured. "I know. But you'll be fine, and it will stop hurting soon. Try to focus on something other than the pain." He lowered his voice a little. "Can you see Sev?" Harry nodded slightly. "Try to focus on his arse or something. You know you'll like that."

Harry laughed a bit, but it came out as a cough. He closed his tear-filled eyes and let out a quiet whimper of pain. Draco gently ran his hand over Harry's chest, trying to ease the pain in any way he could.

"Open your eyes, Harry," Draco requested, softly. "Keep them open so I know you're awake." Harry opened his eyes a little, and Draco smiled. "Good. Now don't close them again, okay?"

Harry nodded and lifted a shaky hand, as a sign for Draco to hold it. Draco did so and brought Harry's hand to his lips.

"You'll be just fine, love," Draco murmured. "You've been through so much already. You won't be taken away from us just like that."

"Draco, come stir this for me," Severus requested. His hands were shaking too badly to stir the potion. "I'll sit with Harry."

Draco nodded and went over to stir the potion--"counter-clockwise for three minutes," Severus told him--and Severus sat on the floor by Harry. He picked up the washcloth and gently pressed it against Harry's face and neck. Harry smiled weakly when he saw Severus, and he reached a hand up to the older man's face. Severus took Harry's hand in his own and lightly held it against his cheek.

"The potion's almost finished," Severus murmured to Harry. "Just hold on for a little while longer, all right?" Harry nodded a little, staring at Severus's eyes. "What are you looking at?"

"Your eyes..." Harry whispered, weakly.

He was about to say more, but instead, he gasped a little and began to choke again. Severus quickly lifted him into an upright position and gently rubbed his back. The coughing quickly lessened, but when Harry lay back down, there was blood on his lips and dripped from his mouth and nose. He slowly closed his eyes and began to drift into unconsciousness.

"Draco, it's been three minutes!" Severus said, sharply. "Fill the phial on the table, and give it to me now!"

Draco obeyed and gave the small phial to his godfather. Severus then lifted Harry, still semi-conscious, back into the sitting position and put the phial to his lips.

"Come on, Harry, drink it all," Severus whispered as the potion made its way down Harry's throat.

As soon as the phial was empty, Harry's head dropped to rest on Severus's shoulder. Severus just held him for a moment, letting out a sigh of relief. Then he lifted Harry into his arms and carried him into the bedroom. He lowered Harry to his bed, covering him up to his chest with a light sheet.

"Now what?" Draco asked from the doorway. Severus looked up and saw that his godson's face was streaked with tears.

"Now we wait," Severus replied, softly. "He might be unconscious for a while. It will take a few hours for the symptoms to completely disappear. All we can do now is make sure he's comfortable and just wait."

Draco brought the water and cloth over to the bed and sat next to Harry, pressing the cloth over his burning skin. Severus conjured another cloth and dipped it in the water before using it to wipe away the blood that was dripping from Harry's mouth and nose.

"Will he be okay?" Draco asked, quietly.

"I hope so," Severus sighed, his voice no more than a whisper. "God, I hope so..."

"Sev?" Draco reached over and touched his godfather's shoulder, but Severus shook him off.

"Go to my lab and clean up, please," he requested.

A short while after Draco left, Severus sensed a presence behind him. He ignored it and continued to try and bring Harry's body temperature down. After a moment, he heard Remus's voice.

"You really care for him," Remus said, softly. "More than you think you should." Severus didn't reply. "You should talk to him about it."

"And you're telling me this, why?" Severus asked, tiredly. Remus came to sit on Harry's other side, stroking his hair. He smiled a bit at Severus.

"Because I had the same conversation with him yesterday, Severus." He changed the subject as the other man stared at him in surprise. "How bad was it?"

"Burning fever," Severus replied, quietly. "Seizures...he couldn't breathe... He was in a lot of pain. He passed out twice. Coughed up blood and got a nosebleed before I gave him the potion. It was just barely finished in time; he almost died in my arms..." He gave a bitter smile. "Draco said something to him that made him laugh, but even that hurt him."

"I told him to focus on your arse instead of the pain," Draco put in from the doorway. He folded his arms over his chest and smirked at Severus, who was slightly blushing. "He seemed to quite enjoy that idea." Remus chuckled at that, then looked back at Severus.

"Everyone's worried about him back at the court building," he told the other man. "Sirius won't be out for another hour or two yet, but he's going to try to get here as soon as he can." Severus nodded.

"Are you staying?"

"If that's all right," Remus replied. "And Severus?" Remus gave him a glare worthy of the Potions Master, himself. "If you hurt Harry in any way, shape, or form, I will castrate you. I will cut out your tongue with a knife, and I will remove your eyes with a spoon. Then I will remove your brain--through your nose--with a fork. And that's nothing compared to what Sirius will do to you."

Severus just stared at Remus for a moment before the corners of his mouth turned up into a slight smile.

"If it was anyone but you who'd said that, Lupin, I might have been scared." Remus just gave him a dark, evil smile.

"Oh, but I'm completely serious, Severus. And if all else fails...I could accidentally forget to take my potion and set the wolf loose on you during the full moon."

The look and the tone did it.

Severus was scared.