Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, nor do I own Harry Potter. (J.K Rowling owns them, lucky woman.) I only own my original characters and my own original plot.

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Chapter 33: The Aftershock

Dumbledore quickly made his way out of the small library, limping slightly, his wand and sword in one hand. Tonks hurried towards Jesabelle, pulling her up. Ron and Neville quickly moved toward Dumbledore for support.

"I'm all right, don't worry." Dumbledore said, grimacing as he pulled the piece of wood from his side.

Luna and Ginny helped balance Harry between them as Hermione helped Tonks with Jesabelle.

They heard the shouts of Ministry workers as Fudge appeared, looking at them with repressed anger.

"We'll explain later. Cornelius." Dumbledore said firmly. "Right now, medical attention is needed."

Harry's legs failed him. The room was spinning. Steadily, he passed out.

"Harry." Jesabelle said, wincing.

"Don't move Jesabelle." Tonks said as Remus, Moody, Shacklebolt, and various other Ministry workers skirted through the corridor.

"You lost a lot of blood." Remus said, lifting her in his arms.

Shacklebolt lifted Harry up in his arms as Moody approached Dumbledore.

"That leg looks like a piece of work." Moody said, nodding at Dumbledore's bleeding leg.

"Yes, it has been a while since I fought with a sword. I'm afraid I'm a bit rusty at the ends." Dumbledore said, drawing in a shaky breath, smiling at him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jesabelle winced as Remus lowered her into the bed. They were escorted by the Ministry to Hogwarts. Fudge didn't want the media to be picking around, as it would have been if they had gone to St. Mungo's. Reluctantly, Fudge had agreed.

Harry, still unconscious, was lowered onto the bed beside her as Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, and Tonks were being given potions for their recuperation, they had only sustained minor cuts and wounds.

"Welcome back, Ms. Potter." Madame Pomfrey said, smiling at her, despite the pain she knew she was enduring. "My goodness." She continued, lifting her arm up and surveying the wounds.

"My goodness is right, Poppy." Dumbledore said, closing the door.

Two healers from St Mungo's were called earlier and were now busy attending to Dumbledore.

"Is Harry going to be all right?" Jesabelle asked, her voice soft and unsteady.

"He'll be fine." Pomfrey said. "Don't worry about him. Now," she continued, walking briskly over to a cupboard not too far from the bed, opening it and pulling various potions out.

In a flash, she was feeding Jesabelle Anti-Vampire Repellant and tending to her cuts.

"My gods." Pomfrey said, cleaning the wounds on Jesabelle's back. "What happened here?"

Jesabelle kept silent, choosing to ignore everything that went on around her, wincing as Pomfrey gently turned her over.

"You'll be fine in a few days." Pomfrey said as Jesabelle propped herself against the head of the bed.

"Thank you." Jesabelle said softly, looking at Harry worriedly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was midday by the time Harry woke up, rubbing his head. He and Jesabelle had already been changed into their pajamas.

Harry looked around, Ron and the others were talking with Dumbledore as Jesabelle fought with Madame Pomfrey.

"I'm not hungry, Madame." Jesabelle said, pushing the tray away.

"You haven't eaten all day!" Pomfrey said in frustration.

"Please!" Jesabelle said forcefully, startling the old nurse. "I'm sorry." She said softly. "Thank you, but I'm not hungry."

Pomfrey nodded, skittering off with the tray. Harry noticed that various other trays of food had gone untouched. He guessed that none of them had eaten as Jesabelle turned toward him, realizing her was awake.

"Harry." Jesabelle said, diverting everyone's attention towards him.

"Harry!" Ron and Ginny said, quickly walking towards his bed.

"Are you all right?" Hermione asked as she, Neville, and Luna followed.

"I'm feeling better." Harry said.

The door opened slowly, revealing Tonks, Jones, Shacklebolt, Moody, Remus, Molly and Arthur, Andrew, Snape, and surprisingly, Fred and George.

"Fred!" Ginny said, "George!"

"Hello, love." George said as Ginny ran up to him, hugging him tightly.

"Don't I get one of those?" Feed asked, smiling. Ginny returned his smile and hugged him tightly as well.

"Harry, dear!" Molly said, running over to Harry's bedside, fussing.

"I'm all right Molly." Harry said, smiling.

Jesabelle gave them a small smile, turning to look out the window.

"Jesabelle." Remus said, walking over to her and sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Remus." Jesabelle said, struggling to sit up at a better position.

Seeing her wince, Remus waved her away. "Don't worry about sitting up straight for me, Jesabelle."

"How are you?" Arthur asked, appearing next to Remus.

"I'm all right, Mr. Weasley, thank you." Jesabelle said, giving him a small smile.

Molly was busy fussing over Ron and the others. They all laughed as Neville tried to push Molly playfully away. Their laughs, however, were quickly pushed aside when everyone grew quiet, looking at Dumbledore, who had cleared his throat.

"Now that everyone is well." Dumbledore began. "I think it's time to talk about what happened, if you're willing to tell us, Jesabelle."

Jesabelle felt everyone's eyes on her as she turned away from the window towards them.

"Where should I start?" she asked softly.

"From the beginning, if you would like." Dumbledore said.

Jesabelle cleared her scratchy throat and winced at the obvious pain of her sore body.

"The Siege." Jesabelle began. "They injected me with Vampire Repellant, and branded me. Then Voldemort took over, and came to see me first." She paused, gathering her breath.

"Take as much time as you need." Harry said as the rest nodded.

"He tried to poison my mind, and I couldn't fight. His effect on me did not go unnoticed." She continued, lifting her arms. "In the time I was there, Narcissa Malfoy, helped me keep going, and kept me company."

"Narcissa?" Luna asked.

"Narcissa Malfoy is a double agent for the Ministry of Magic." Jesabelle replied. "She was the one person who took care me while I was still living in Voldemort's grasp. The only friend I had among the Death Eaters."

Harry nodded, understanding the statement.

"I hardly ate, barely slept. The Dementors were never around; there were just Death Eaters guarding my cell." She continued.

"But one, night, I guess on of the Dementors were getting hungry, so he decided to take a piece out of me."

Hermione, Harry, Ron, Neville, Luna, and Ginny held their breath.

"It came by my cell, made me relive the night Lucius Malfoy tortured me as punishment from Voldemort for a weakness of some sort."

Everyone in the room eyed the cuts and wounds on her arms.

"A Death Eater fought him back, and healed me." Jesabelle continued.

"A Death Eater?" Neville asked.

"Yes." Jesabelle replied. "Few days later, Voldemort started sending most the Death Eaters back home. Then, just hours ago, Voldemort took me away to the Execution Room and placed The Curse with No Name upon me."

"The Curse with No Name?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Jesabelle said again. "But, in order for the process to work properly, the victim had to be under the worst emotional torture possible."

She stopped then, the events of that night, flashing again through her eyes. She breathed heavily, her eyes filling with tears. She inhaled deeply, shakily.

"He then brought Draco forward." Jesabelle said, shivering. "He, he, he tortured him."

The others exchanged glances. Jesabelle's tears began to fall down her cheeks as she struggled to keep herself together.

"He whipped him." She said, her sobs beginning to interfere with her voice. "Then, he killed him, completing the curse."

Jesabelle clutched her chest suddenly, breathing heavily. Everyone in the room panicked as she let out raspy breaths, jerking forward. She quickly jumped out of the bed with amazing speed that surprised everyone as she gripped her head, hearing Draco's screams of pain.

"No!" she screamed, her back turned to everyone in the room. "No!"

"Jesabelle." Remus said, reaching out to her.

"Ah!" she screamed as she felt again the whip fall upon her back, every wound and cut reopening as she relieved Draco's death.

Everyone watched in terror as Jesabelle, still gripping her head, banged it against the wall, in an effort to get Voldemort's cold laughs out of her head.

"Draco!" she screamed, fresh blood beginning soaking through her bandages.

They watched helplessly, unsure of what to do as Jesabelle ripped off the bandages in her arms, barring for all to see the bleeding Dark Mark and Azkaban brand.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Jesabelle screamed, banging her fists on the wall, jerking forward again.

Harry quickly got out of bed, rushing towards her, and gathering her sobbing form into his arms.

"He's gone!" Jesabelle screamed into Harry's chest. "Draco's dead. He's not coming back!"

She continued mumbling into his chest as Harry ran a hand up and down Jesabelle's back, in an effort to comfort her.

Jesabelle clutched her chest again, backing away from Harry, then in one gasp, she passed out, falling to the ground.

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Hours later, around nine thirty in the evening, Jesabelle opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by unfamiliar faces.

"You're finally awake." Fudge said, appearing next to her.

"What?" Jesabelle started, trying to get up. "What's going on?"

"We've come to decide what we're going to do with you." Fudge said coldly.

"Cornelius." Dumbledore said, looking tired. "Apparently, Ms. Potter is still recuperating from her run-in with the Dark Lord, show some courtesy."

Fudge angrily sat down in an armchair nearby, the five other officials who accompanied him standing close by the windows and doors. A few seconds later, he stood up, looking at Dumbledore.

"We will have to take her in for the hearing the first minute we know that she is well." Fudge said.

"May I ask a favor?" Dumbledore asked.

"In favor of the Death Eater?" Fudge asked.

"Don't call her that!" Harry said angrily.

"Silence, Potter." Fudge said. "What is it, Dumbledore?"

"I will agree to hand her over when the time comes, but on one condition," Dumbledore began.

"And what is that?" Fudge asked.

"That she graduates the proper way from this school." Dumbledore finished.

"Do you think that your staff will accept that?" Fudge asked, as if unable to believe what Dumbledore was asking, "Do you think the students will accept that?"

"The staff is on her side, as are most of the students who know her personally." Dumbledore said.

"What makes you think that I will agree to your proposition?" Fudge asked smugly.

"I don't." Dumbledore said simply, locking his eyes with Fudge's own.

The room was silent as they bored into each other's mind. Fudge turned away suddenly, blinking. Straightening up, he looked at Jesabelle.

"All right." Fudge said in defeat. "She will graduate from this school the proper way, but she is not to leave the Hospital Wing, unless it is to gather her things, and she is not permitted to go to the Graduation Ball."

"Agreed." Dumbledore said.

"It's not I like was planning on going in the first place." Jesabelle said, eyeing Fudge with disgust.

"You're lucky, Potter." Fudge said in disgust. "I don't usual grant requests like this."

"Oh, my I am very much obliged, Minister." Jesabelle said, sarcastically feigning surprise. "I just feel so special, but no, wait, I'm not supposed to be special, I'm just another low life Death eater, right?"

Fudge narrowed his eyes before leaving, closing the door behind him.

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Harry and the others were ready to leave the Hospital Wing by Tuesday, the next day.

Jesabelle had not spoken to them since, preferring to stare out of the window next to her bed and into the sky. She barely ate either. But, they all thought it best to leave her alone.

The whole school was abuzz with excitement as Harry and the others reached the Great Hall that night.

Upon realizing their arrival, the Hall grew silent, watching them with interested eyes.

Harry and the others took no notice of them and sat down at the Gryffindor table, inviting Luna along, they didn't want her to deal with all the questions by herself.

Seeing that Harry and the others would not do anything else other than eat, the Great Hall grew noisy again, the students' laughs filling the air.

"How's Jesabelle doing?" Seamus asked.

"She hasn't eaten for days." Hermione said, not moving to put any food on her plate.

The others didn't make any other move either.

"So," Ron said, "you think Jesabelle's innocent?"

"Why not?" Dean said. "Of course she is! She just go it in with the wrong crowd, that's all, it happens all the time."

"But," Ella Bell said, inching over, "is it true-"

"That she's the Dark Lord's daughter?" Harry asked, finishing for her.

"Yes." Ella said. "Sorry for asking."

"No, it's all right Ella, and yes, it is true, she is his daughter." Harry replied.

They grew silent as Dean passed Lavender a biscuit.

"You all should eat; I'll bet you're hungry." Dean said, trying to sound cheerful.

"No, thanks Dean." Neville said.

They paused again.

"So, Draco Malfoy." Seamus said. "He's really, dead, isn't he?"

"Yes." Ginny said. "He is."

Seamus, Dean, Ella, Paravati, Colin, and Lavender sighed.

"He was a good guy." Colin offered.

"How's she holding up?" Paravati asked.

"She's not eating, and she hasn't spoken much to us for a while." Harry said sadly.

"She loved him." Luna said.

They all looked up at her, somewhat shaken up by her latest statement.

"Yeah." Ron said, breaking the silence. "She sure did."

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"Here Harry." Colin said, handing Harry a brown envelope.

"What's this?" Harry asked, Colin walking in step with him up to the Hospital Wing.

"It's the copies of the pictures I took a little while ago of all of you." Colin said.

"Oh, that's right." Harry said, remembering the day. "Why don't you give it to her yourself?"

Colin smiled sadly. "I would, but I would much rather you give it to her. Just send her my love."

"Sure." Harry said, watching as Colin turned a corner.

In a few minutes, Harry entered the Hospital Wing slowly. The clock nearby the door signaled eight thirty in the evening. Tonks and Remus were standing by, guarding the doors and windows.

"Hello Remus, Tonks." Harry said.

"Evening Harry." Remus said.

"How are you?' Tonks asked.

"Could be better." Harry said, lowering his voice, he continued, "How is she?"

"Not a word spoken since this afternoon." Remus said.

Harry nodded, sadly looking at Jesabelle, who was looking out the window and into the night. "Has she gotten any sleep?"

"She drifted off for a bit, but woke up screaming. Madame Pomfrey had to change her bandages afterwards, ghastly marks." Tonks said.

Harry sighed and thanked them, slowly walking towards Jesabelle's bed.

"You know." Jesabelle said softly. "My mother always told me that the stars were lucky."

Harry took a seat right beside her, in her vision range.

"How so?" he asked.

Jesabelle turned toward him, her eyes tinges pink, dark circles penetrating her light skin.

"All they had to do was shine and just be there, as some sort of special form of comfort." Jesabelle said.

Harry nodded, signaling for her to continue.

"Where are the others?' Jesabelle asked.

"They're having a meeting with Dumbledore." Harry said.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the both of them as Remus and Tonks shuffled around.

"Why are you here?" Jesabelle asked, surprising Harry. "Remember, you're in the presence of a Death Eater, you wouldn't some of me to rub off on you."

"I didn't mean that." Harry said, moving the chair closing to Jesabelle's bedside.

"Then why did you say it?" Jesabelle asked, her voice shaking with repressed sadness.

"I was angry." Harry said, admitting to the truth. "How would you feel if you found out your cousin was a Death Eater? And Voldemort's daughter. And that she plotted against you because she didn't know she was related you?"

"I'd feel terrible." Jesabelle said, her face straight.

"I'm sorry about that." Harry said, taking her hand in his. "We're sorry about everything. We should have never doubted you."

"It's all right." Jesabelle said, looking out the window again, "I didn't even expect you to save me in the first place."

"You may have been a Death Eater." Harry said. "But you're also part of our family."

Jesabelle inhaled heavily, her eyes swelling with tears.

"Here." Harry said, handing her the envelope Colin gave him. "Colin wanted me to give that to you."

Harry released Jesabelle's hand as she opened the envelope, removing the large picture from it.

"It's the picture we took," Jesabelle said. "the day before I tried to leave."

She traced a finer upon the faces of each person in the picture, all of them making funny faces.

"I remember that day." Jesabelle said softly. "Hermione caught the ball and was nearly trampled on by Ron in that football game."

"She was so scared." Harry said, laughing softly.

For the first time since she was rescued from Azkaban, Jesabelle smiled at the memory. Harry realized for the first time how much he missed that smile and smiled as well.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thursday came around, the night of the Graduation Ball.

It was five o'clock by the time Harry and the others came by to stay with Jesabelle.

"Go ahead Jesabelle." Fred said, handing her a fake wand.

"Try it." George said.

The whole Weasley family, excluding Ron and Ginny, who had just walked in, were visiting with Jesabelle.

"It's not going to explode, is it?' Jesabelle asked uncertainly, looking from Bill to Charlie for support.

"Fred and George already used up all of the exploding ones on us Jesabelle." Charlie said, pointing his thumb backwards towards Bill. "I don't think you have to worry."

Jesabelle slowly gripped the end of the wand. In a flash, fireworks appeared, red and gold, forming a lion.

"Get well soon!" The Weasley family said.

Jesabelle laughed, smiling at them.

"Thank you." She said, sniffling slightly.

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I'm sorry I took so long! (Ducks, narrowly avoiding missiles.) I'm grounded. I was finally able to sneak up in here though. I hope you all liked the chapter!

Please read and review!

Coming Up...................Stay Tuned!

Chapter 34: Graduation.