CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: THE LIBERATION
"Let me get this straight," he began slowly, looking at Harry, Ron and Hermione incredulously. "You want me to go into Azkaban, to see if Buffy, who is Voldemort's daughter, is being kept there?"
Harry nodded nervously.
Sirius Black couldn't believe what he was being told. He knew that his godson and friends lived a far more interesting life than even the Marauders had when they'd been at Hogwarts, but this was just unbelievable.
"What I wish to know is why you never told me that you were dating Buffy. And why you didn't tell me, oh, I don't know…that she was Voldemort's daughter!" Sirius yelled.
Harry flinched. He'd been meaning to tell Sirius, but had never really found a proper time to do so. Sirius and Remus Lupin had taken off for a remote region in Tibet where Remus had been attempting to learn to control the wolf inside of him. Sirius had gone with him as moral support, and so had been unable to contact Harry for any information after Voldemort's downfall. Harry had assumed that Sirius had known that Buffy was related to Voldemort, considering it had been the most talked about fact in all of London, but Sirius hadn't been in London for a long time.
"I forgot," Harry replied pathetically.
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Well…I don't envy the girl, that's for sure," Sirius said. "No one deserves to be placed into Azkaban if they're innocent. Especially considering how many of the Death-Eaters are going to be rather miffed that they ended up in there because of Voldemort's demise."
"I still don't believe that this plan is at all viable," Snape put in.
"Your plan wasn't exactly viable either," Giles interjected angrily.
Sirius and Giles glared at Snape angrily. Sirius didn't understand why Snape had to be there in the first place.
"The Ministry will never stop," Snape continued. "What happens if, and I do use the word if we even get Miss Summers out? What then? The Minister is not going to stop just because of a botched attempt at keeping her imprisoned."
"I bet you'd like that wouldn't you Snivellus," Sirius said.
Dumbledore put up a hand to calm to two enemies. Sirius and Snape glared at each other. Harry and Ron couldn't help but enjoy the animosity between the two men. They knew that the could never et away with saying anything like what Sirius was saying to Snape, so watching it was almost as good.
"Gentlemen, perhaps you could both calm yourselves," Dumbledore suggested. "This petty bickering is going to get us nowhere closer to having Miss Summers back on Hogwarts grounds."
Draco sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes tired and a headache pounding between his ears. "I think Snape's right."
Harry and Ron turned murderous glares on Draco. "What?!"
"I didn't say I liked it," Draco defended himself. "But he's got a good point. What does happen when we get her back? Fudge won't stop."
"We have to prove her innocence," Hermione stated succinctly. "If we can do that, in front of the entire school, we've got nothing to worry about. Fudge can't lay a hand on her if everyone knows who really was guilty."
The group thought about Hermione's statement for a moment, knowing there was truth to it.
"Perhaps we should be trying to do both," Giles suggested. "If Sirius doesn't object, perhaps gaining an insight into the goings on at Azkaban isn't a bad idea. The rest of us could attempt to prove that Buffy is completely innocent."
"I want to go with Sirius," Harry said firmly.
Sirius and Dumbledore were the first to protest. "Harry, you can't," Sirius said.
"I don't believe that to be a good idea," Dumbledore said gently.
Harry glared at his father and grandfather figures.
"Why not?"
Sirius looked at his godson sympathetically. He understood that Harry was worried about his girlfriend. He could sympathise somewhat, but he didn't want Harry to put himself in an unhappy situation because of Buffy.
"Harry, do you remember what you hear when the Dementors are around?" Sirius asked gently.
Harry froze suddenly. He'd forgotten about the Dementors. It had been so long since he'd had to face one. He hadn't quite equated the fact that the Dementors would make him relieve his parents deaths. He shook his head stubbornly.
"You can't stop me," he said adamantly.
"No, we can't stop you," Dumbledore agreed. "But perhaps your efforts would be better used here."
Harry glared at the Headmaster.
"If anyone can lure the truth out of the real guilty party, I believe it will be you Harry," Dumbledore explained. "Chances are, if the guilty party holds Miss Summers in contempt for defeating Voldemort, it would follow that you too would be held somewhat responsible. You may not have had a hand in killing him directly this last time, but it was you who caused Voldemort's downfall so many years ago."
Harry scowled. He still didn't understand how he could be held responsible for such a mammoth task when he'd done nothing but sit still while Voldemort had tried to curse him. It was his mother who was the true heroine of the story.
"You think that I can get Zabini, Bulstrode, Crabbe and Goyle to confess?" Harry asked.
"I believe that you can, with the help of your friends," Dumbledore said, indicating Hermione, Ron and Draco.
"Well, Crabbe and Goyle will be easy enough," Ron commented. "They're idiots."
Harry and Hermione were quick to agree, but Draco's expression turned thoughtful.
"I don't think they will be," Draco mused. "They were put in Slytherin for a reason. And not just because they're parents used to be in Slytherin. They're cunning. All of them."
"Well…what if we used Polyjuice Potion again?" Ron asked.
"Again?" McGonagall repeated.
Ron suddenly flushed bright red. Harry and Hermione shook their heads at him, surprised by Ron's lack of care.
"We uh…pretended to be Crabbe and Goyle to try and find out who the Heir of Slytherin was," Harry explained.
Draco cast his mind back several years and the memory shifted into place. He smirked, remembering the strange behaviour of his two friends, who had later had no memory of having stomachaches and visiting the hospital wing.
"You produced a successful Polyjuice Potion in your second year?" Snape asked incredulously. "I may have grossly underestimated you."
"Actually it was Hermione who did it," Ron explained, proud of his girlfriend's achievements. Hermione flushed under the praise and Snape nodded, as though he should have known that it had been Hermione who had performed such a difficult potion.
Sirius glanced at the clock on Dumbledore's cluttered wall and clapped his hands to gain everyone's attention.
"It's well past midnight, so…seeing as you four have classes tomorrow, we'd best wrap this up," Sirius said.
Dumbledore, McGonagall and Giles nodded their agreement. Snape nodded, hating to agree with Sirius, but in desperate need of sleep. The group dispersed quickly and quietly, going their separate ways when they hit the top of the stairs at the Entrance Hall.
Harry, Ron and Hermione walked to the Gryffindor Common Room, each of them lost in thought. They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, and Harry found himself unable to bring himself to walk through. He looked sadly at Ron and Hermione.
"I'll see you two and breakfast," he said.
Ron went to question where Harry was going, but a sharp jab from Hermione kept him quiet. He simply nodded and watched as Harry walked back to the staircase. He turned back to his girlfriend, frowning deeply.
"Those two never seem to get a break," he said quietly.
Hermione nodded her agreement. "They do seem to never get a quiet moment," she replied.
Ron sighed and muttered the Gryffindor password. They walked to the top of the stairs and lingered for a moment, hugging each other tightly. While they may have envied certain aspects of Buffy and Harry's relationship, they definitely liked the calmness they always seemed to have between them.
"Love you 'Mione," Ron whispered, kissing Hermione's cheek softly.
She smiled and returned the kiss. "Love you too Ron."
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With tears in his eyes, and too many jumbled thoughts running through his mind, Harry paced the length of the hall of the seventh floor three times. A door appeared opposite the tapestry and Harry breathed in deeply. He touched the knob of the door and pushed it open.
Instead of the red themed room that he was so used to, inside the Room of Requirement, it was pitch black. He squinted in the darkness until a single candle was suddenly lit. Next to the candle was a photo frame and Harry felt his tears fall as he saw the photo of Buffy within the frame. The picture moved, smiling at him softly and waving at him. He moved towards it and reached out to touch the outline of Buffy's face.
"Why does everything always have to happen to us?" he whispered. "Why can't we ever just be together?"
He wiped angrily at his tears and felt the intense desire to pummel something. His wish was granted, as another flame lit up behind him, and a punching bag seemed to materialise out of thin air in front of him. He stood and picked up the two gloves that were below it. He hesitated a moment longer before finally unleashing his anger in a flurry of blows, kicks and punches.
Before long, Harry was sobbing fully, but maintaining a fast rhythmical dance with the punching bag. When all of his energy had been expended, he collapsed to the fall, curling into a ball and letting the tears cascade in what seemed to be a torrential flood of despair.
"Please, please…you have to be okay."
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Sorry for the delay in posting. Things have been kinda hectis between going back home and going back to work. Have had seriously little time to do anything at all. *sighs* Kinda depressing really. Ihave more time to do stuff at uni then I do when I go home on 'holidays'. Life it seems has a funny sense of irony.
Many thanks to everyone for all of your awesomely encouraging words.
And to all those Aussies watching Idol: Guy Sebastian all the way!!
Toodles.
DKG.