Spinning Backwards

Chapter 2: You Can't Pull Back

By anonymous sins and July 1st

The Minister threw Harry's wand down on the desk. Harry stared at it. Soon enough that wand would be broken, and Harry would be in Azkaban reliving the night he had received his scar, over and over until he himself had been broken. No body would believe him. Hell, he wasn't sure he'd believe himself.

Sinking into a chair, the minister put his face in his hands. "I can't believe this has happened..."

"The one time we agree," thought Harry. "But it's not happening. It can't." Dumbledore wasn't dead. Dumbledore couldn't die, he was too powerful. Harry certainly couldn't have killed him, but it appeared that everyone here thought otherwise.

"Let's give him a chance to explain himself, at least," McGonagall said.

"There's proof enough right here!" Fudge argued.

"Physical evidence only. It would not have been the first time someone was to force their way into the dorms," she retaliated.

"Ask the Portrait," supplied Snape. "But if someone had forced their way in surely she would have said something the minute you arrived to get Potter the first time."

As the others argued, Harry continued to stare at his wand. Before anyone could utter another word, it was in his hand and he was shooting out the door. "Come back here, Potter!" he could hear McGonagall screech as he ran down the hall. The normal silence of the halls at this time of night was broken by the stampede following him.

"What hall is this? Where am I?" Harry didn't remember which way he had gone to get into the room he had just departed. Suddenly, he spotted a familiar statue. The One Eyed Crone was sitting just up ahead. "A way out!" he thought. Harry ran to the statue and quick as his feet would carry him as he yelled out "Dissendium!" He saw the witch's back open and threw himself inside. The taller adults would have to bend over double to fit with the low ceiling in the tunnel, and Harry could move much faster than they could. He was sure he could outrun them at this point.

Harry scampered along until he reached the basement of Honeydukes. He didn't hear any voices behind him, and he doubted any of his followers knew where the tunnel led. Feeling he was safe he stopped to catch his breath, and replaced the trap door.

"Just what have I gotten myself into?" Harry wondered. The whole wizarding world would probably be after him now. Would anyone believe him? He chanced maybe Ron and Hermione would, but he had no way to get in touch with them. "Brilliant, Harry, bloody brilliant," he thought. "Can't stay here much longer in any case," he said out loud this time. "They'll be coming up through the door any time now." But where could he go? Snape would probably go straight to the Shrieking Shack, and the Three Broomsticks would be over run as soon as Honeydukes was deemed empty.

"I can't travel far. I don't really have anything with me," Harry mused. "Azkaban here I come. And I'm not strong like Sirius, two days and I'll go insa..."

Sirius. Sirius had managed not to get caught hiding in Hogsmead. Of course, he was an Animagus, but hey, Harry didn't have that many choices right now. He had stayed in a cave, so Harry would go look for the cave. Granted it about one in the morning and Harry had only been there once, but he could find it, he was sure.

Now, just to get out of the Honeydukes basement.

Harry warily climbed the stairs, listening for creaks as he stepped. He sighed. He was free of the basement, now he just had to hope that wizards didn't have their own version of security alarms. That would be a bad thing. He did not want an alarm going off the minute he tried to open the door.

But the door was nice and opened with a simple 'alohamora.' Luckily the Ministry seemed to ignore his blatant underage wizardry outside of Hogwarts.

"Good, no one's here," Harry thought, too afraid to pierce the silence of the dark room with spoken words. His footsteps sounded loudly on the wooden floor, making him feel like someone would obviously hear it. He took a few chocolate frogs from a jar, seeing as though he'd probably need them if he was to stay in the cave, and exited the building, only to run into...

"Hagrid?!" Harry gasped, too surprised to keep the reaction in.

"'Arry? Whatcha doin' out here, this time of night?" Hagrid glanced around suspiciously. "Why ain't yeh at Hogwarts?"

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you, no one else does," Harry grumbled.

"Harry, yeh know I'd believe yeh even if yeh were lyin'," Hagrid responded.

Harry stared at him. "They think I killed Dumbledore," is all he said. There was silence for a moment, as if Hagrid was expecting him to say something more.

"What'd yeh say?" Hagrid asked, unbelieving.

"I have to go into hiding," Harry said. "It'd be great if you could bring some food to the cave up on the hill," Harry pointed to it. "That is, if you're not going to kill me or turn me in."

"Harry, I'd never!" Hagrid said. "I'll talk some sense inta those Ministry mongrels, you'll see. You kill Dumbledore. That's a load of codswallop!" Harry just nodded. "What are you doing here, anyway?" he questioned Hagrid.

"Oh, well, I, uh..." Hagrid started. "I was going to... well, you see..."

"Meet someone here for a creature of sorts?" Harry guessed.

"Harry, please don't tell! If you keep my secret I'll keep yours!" Hagrid pleaded.

"Your situation isn't really life and death," Harry said glumly. "Well, I'd ought to be going, just incase someone sees me and decides to off me on the spot," Harry said and started running again, to the cave that his godfather had once inhabited.