Chapter 23- One True Thing

Harry was already so sick of almost every person in this bloody castle after only a week of being back, that he could hardly contain himself. A small part of him desperately wished that he could just return to the cabin with Remus and forget about his life here completely. But he knew he couldn't, so that was why he was walking down this stone corridor with nothing but anger in his heart.

He stalked stealthily towards the one location where he was capable of finding solace in this wretched place. He was greatly relieved that his sanctuary had reassembled itself once again so that it was similar to Ville de Luna in decor. Harry had been extremely grateful that he had yet to see the room that he usually found himself in; the one that was equipped with a four-poster bed that he and Draco would often snuggle in. The very sight of that bed now made him shudder with fear, reliving the awful things Draco had said and done on the birth of the New Year. The new cabin-style room had made him feel much more comfortable, and he didn't find himself dwelling on that unfortunate event all that often anymore.

Finding the Room of Requirement unoccupied, he threw his shoulder bag to the ground and quickly searched for his journal and a pen inside of it. He flipped through the pages until he found one that didn't contain his messy scrawl. Not really caring about being comfortable at this point, Harry sat down on his knees before the coffee table and began scribbling furiously on the blank page of his notebook before him.

DEAR JOURNAL… THEY ARE ALL SO FUCKING STUPID! THE WHOLE LOT OF THEM! THEY THINK THEY KNOW ME BUT THEY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING! DON'T THEY KNOW THAT RUMORS AND GOSSIP ARE RARELY EVER TRUE? WHY CAN'T THEY JUST LET ME BE? WHY AM I NEVER ALLOWED A MOMENT OF PEACE? WHY DO I ALWAYS FEEL THE NEED TO CUT MY ARMS IN ORDER TO FORGET WHAT IS HAPPENING? WILL THIS NEED EVER GO AWAY? I AM SO FUCKED UP! X X X X X X X X X X X XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X X X X X X X X X X X X X

He stopped slashing at the page for a moment and reflected on what he had written. He was amazed to find that he had nearly covered an entire page with the dark, angry X marks. Each one had been written with such force that the page on the other side seemed to be embossed with his anger.

Remus had taught Harry to use the action of writing X's in his notebook when he was feeling angry or particularly overwhelmed with need to cut himself. He had read about it in one of his tomes on healing mentally. Making the slashing motion of the X on the page was supposed to simulate cutting, without the nasty side effect of bleeding all over the place. He had been reluctant at first to try the method because it seemed stupid to him, but it had had some surprising results. It usually calmed down him as it gave him a healthy way to vent his frustration, but not tonight. Tonight he just couldn't shake the awful feeling. It was an ache deep inside of him that didn't seem to want to go away. He knew that if he left this room right now he would inevitably give in to the craving and find some quiet corner to release the crimson fury.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he never even heard Draco enter the room. The blond had watched his beloved intently as he scribbled furiously into his notebook. It wasn't until Harry threw his journal across the room in frustration that he noticed his presence.

"D-Draco? Sorry… I-I didn't see you…" Harry muttered, rising from his position on the floor. He retrieved his journal from across the room and returned it to his bag beside the couch. He then leaned on the back of the sofa and waited for the other boy to speak.

"I noticed… Are you alright?" asked Draco coming closer to him.

Harry looked away and folded his arms over his chest. He hoped that Draco wouldn't feel the anger rolling off of him. "Not really…after Quidditch practice this evening I got into it with some third years from my house. I had to return a book I had borrowed from the library and I overheard them spreading rumors about our so called scandalous relationship behind one of the bookshelves. I had nearly hexed them when I got kicked out by Madame Pince."

"Really? You seem pretty angry. Is that why you threw your journal across the room?"

Harry nodded, but remained silent fearing that he may somehow say something that he would regret later in this heightened state of anger. He closed his eyes and concentrated on calming down. The urge to cut was still pretty fresh and he had to suppress it before it took him over completely.

"I also got into a fight of sorts… only I think you fared much better…" said Draco. Harry hadn't heard the odd slurring in his speech before, and he looked up at him curiously. It was then that he noticed that Draco's lip was split and swollen painfully and that he was sporting a developing black eye.

"Merlin! Draco, what happened?" asked Harry with concern as he lifted his hand to touch the offended flesh gingerly. Some of the anger he felt earlier immediately dissipated when he saw that Draco was hurt. He was now totally focused on figuring out what happened to his boyfriend.

"Two words… Crabbe… Goyle…" said Draco with utter disdain in his voice.

"You have got to be kidding me? Those oafs are back already…" asked Harry in disbelief.

"I'm afraid so. They thought it would be fun to jump me to teach me a lesson for getting them into trouble. Those two are so stupid that they used their fists instead of their wands. Once I realized what was happening I hexed the both of them and levitated their unconscious bodies into the broom closet. They won't be waking up for quite a while," said Draco with a light chuckle.

"Draco…" Harry looked as if he wanted to scold him for such behavior, but he knew that the blond had no choice in the matter. It was either that or be beaten to a pulp. "You should really go see Madame Pomfrey. She can fix you up in a jiffy."

"I'd rather not. She will just get suspicious. I'm hoping that my former goons will forget that I have bested them yet again. If I don't say anything, I'm sure they won't either."

"You can't let them get away with this… not after… not after what they did to us…" said Harry softly. He looked up into Draco's pale eyes and hoped that he would see that he was blaming them not him.

Draco looked back down at him with sadness and guilt. Harry knew that he still couldn't stop blaming himself for attacking Harry on New Years. He took a breath and contemplated the situation.

"Listen, they have already been punished in Dumbledore's eyes. There is not much else I can do, and I'd really like to avoid having to receive another detention this year."

"But what about your face…" Harry said studying the red and purple blemishes on Draco's pale face.

"I'm fine," said Draco. He raised his hand to touch his now swollen eye and winced in pain. It was obvious that he was hurting much more than he was willing to let on.

"Will you allow me?" asked Harry pulling out his wand. The urge to cut was starting to pass as their conversation was played out.

"Allow you to do what?" asked Draco in playful matter. He raised one eyebrow suggestively and smiled.

"Heal you, of course…" said Harry rolling his eyes. He smiled back at the blond knowing that Draco didn't know about this particular ability of his.

"I didn't know that you knew how..." said Draco in shock. "Why didn't you…."

"Ever heal myself…" said Harry finishing Draco's sentence. "Believe me… I have tried. I taught myself a few simple healing spells my third year. I was hoping that I could use them before returning to Hogwarts each year, but things went badly when I tried. Let's just say that it isn't easy to heal your own body…" Harry shuddered at the thought. "Concealing charms are just as useful…"

Draco nodded thoughtfully and looked as if he wanted to say something more. He remained silent instead, and sat down on one of the couches beside the fireplace. Harry followed him and sat down beside him, noticing that Draco was sitting rather stiffly.

"Where else are you hurt?" he asked intuitively.

Draco sighed heavily and replied, "Well, my stomach hurts a bit too." He then took of his shirt carefully, his face contorted in pain.

Harry winced inwardly when he saw Draco's torso. He hadn't been badly beaten, but it was clear that he was in some pain. Harry knew exactly how those injuries felt all to well.

Determined to help his love anyway that he could, he grabbed his wand from his sleeve. He raised the wand and saw that Draco was looking at him with some apprehension. Harry laughed lightly at his expression as it reminded him of how he must have looked when Lockhart de-boned him while trying to heal his broken arm during his second year.

"Just relax," said Harry softly as he pushed Draco back gently. He then pointed his wand at the boy's abdomen. He whispered, "Medicor malum," and the purple bruising that marred his pale skin slowly vanished. He then repeated the procedure on Draco's face. His lip had healed nicely, but there was still some discoloration around Draco's grey-blue eye. Harry was reluctant to try healing it again as he wasn't a trained healer, so they decided to allow the bruise to disappear on its own. It was certainly less noticeable than it was before and Draco was no longer in pain.

"Thanks," said Draco licking his lips to find that they were no longer swollen or bleeding. "You're amazing. What would I do without you?"

Harry actually took a moment to think about what he had said. "You would probably be a whole lot happier…" said Harry sadly, sitting back against the plushy cushions. "Then you wouldn't have to deal with people talking about you behind your back all the time." Some of the frustration and anger Harry felt earlier was starting to return.

"Oh, come on now… You know how happy you make me. Don't let all those other idiots out there make you think any different…" said Draco wrapping his arms around Harry. Harry nodded morosely but remained silent.

Draco rested his head on Harry's shoulder and decided it was time to ask him something he had been thinking about earlier. "So you really taught yourself those healing spells because of the Dursleys…"

Harry took a breath and seemed to hold it as he listened to Draco's question. Exhaling slowly he muttered, "Yeah…"

"Will you tell me about it?" asked Draco quietly.

Harry's heartbeat quickened slightly and he began to feel a little nervous. He hated even thinking about the Dursleys much less talking about what had happened in their house. "Why do you want to know?" he asked curiously.

"Because it's a chapter in your life that has obviously affected you a great deal and I want to understand you better," Draco explained.

Harry thought about what he said and it sounded reasonable. After all, Draco had been more than candid with him when it came to his own private experiences with his own parents. Draco hadn't gone through nearly as much as Harry, but he wasn't without the emotional scars that abuse was associated with.

Part of him wondered why Draco would bring up his past now, when the rest of the world seemed to hate him and bent on making his life hell. Didn't he understand that he had enough to handle without having to think about all of that? But he realized that his life had always been one big drama after another, and there was probably never a good time to start a conversation like that. His experience with Remus had helped him somewhat and he wondered if sharing his story with Draco would help him at all. Deep down, he knew that he would never truly heal until he talked about it all so he decided to give it a go.

"What do you want to know?" asked Harry, turning his head to look down at Draco who was still snuggling him.

"Anything… I just want to understand..." said Draco whispering into his ear.

Harry contemplated what he said for a while. "Well, I really don't want to talk about some of that… you know… stuff…" said Harry. It was probably best that he didn't talk about the sexual abuse, especially since he hadn't spoken to Remus about it yet. Draco already knew how fragile Harry was about it because of their somewhat basic level of intimacy and the fact that Harry had reacted so badly when Draco had inadvertently attacked him on New Years. Besides, Draco had been there with him in Limbo when he relived the memory of being "touched" for the first time.

"I know…" said Draco sadly. "Just tell me whatever you feel comfortable with."

"I don't know really when it all started… It seems as if that was always the way things were in that house. I guess I was treated differently ever since the day I was left on their doorstep. My first inclination that something was wrong should have been the fact I lived in the cupboard under the stairs instead of a proper bedroom. And it wasn't like they didn't have the extra room for me. But not really having a sense of what's normal, I truly thought that I had deserved the treatment I got somehow…"

Draco kissed Harry's cheek and willed him to go on. "They expected a lot from me, even at an early age. I was responsible for most of the chores and for making breakfast and lunch. Petunia some times made me help with dinner too. I was expected to perform everything perfectly, every time. Any little slip up on my part warranted a slap or a kick. I don't think there was a day that I lived in that house in which I didn't have one bruise or another. One time, when things seemed to be getting worse, I tried to tell a teacher that I had in school what was happening to me. She took me under her wing and tried to help, but the social worker that came to the Dursleys' found that my relatives were 'upstanding citizens.' Because the paperwork took so long to process, most of my telling bruises had faded. She was convinced that my teacher and I had concocted the whole story to get attention."

"What happened?" asked Draco curiously. He sat up a bit to look Harry in the eyes.

"She was fired… I never saw her again. I was beaten with a belt and locked in my cupboard for two weeks…I learned the hard way that no one could help me… and it wasn't worth trying."

"Oh Merlin…" said Draco, putting his forehead against Harry's to show that he understood how horrible life had been on him. He then slid back down and rested his head on Harry's shoulder and listened to the rest of the story.

"Things didn't get really bad until my magic started to manifest itself. I had no idea at the time that I was a wizard so I had no explanation for all the weird stuff that would happen to me. It used to really scare me that weird things seem to happen to me but nobody else. My aunt and uncle told me on a daily basis that I was a freak, just like my parents, and for a long while I truly believed them."

Harry felt his throat become thick and he struggled to swallow the lump that had formed at the back of it. "Sometimes I would stand in front of the bathroom mirror and try to see what they saw in me. I thought that I might look different from other kids or something, but I seemed like a pretty average kid, besides my scar. I would stand there and stare at myself for what seemed like forever, but I never saw what they did. I knew that it must be something inside of me that only my relatives could see. Maybe I really was a freak… maybe that was why they were so cruel to me… and why I never got any Christmas or birthday presents… and why they would hit me and lock me up for days…and denied me food… and maybe that was why I didn't deserve to be loved…"

"Oh Harry…" said Draco blinking back the tears. "I hope that you know that isn't true. You are not a freak, and you deserve to be loved just like everyone else."

"I'm starting to understand that now, but for a long time… that was all I knew," Harry admitted. It had taken an enormous amount of energy to reveal everything he just said and he was feeling rather tired.

"At least you never have to go back there again… you have a home of your own now," said Draco trying to sound cheery.

"Yeah… I know…" said Harry.

"What is it?" asked Draco, hearing the defeated tone in Harry's voice.

"I don't know… things are great with Remus… but I can't seem to escape my past no matter how hard I try."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know… it's hard to explain. The pensieve has really helped with the dreams and my journal has given me a way to vent my frustration, but little things seem to still trigger bad memories…"

"What kind of triggers?" asked Draco curiously.

"Random stuff… the smell of whiskey… enclosed places… crowded places… touch… loud voices… the sound of a zipper…" said Harry, his voice trailing off.

Draco nodded in understanding. Everything Harry had said made sense from what he knew about his past with the Dursleys. Harry was silent for a long while after that and it was clear that he couldn't say anything else tonight. It had already been quite an ordeal to admit everything he just said.

"Thank you for telling me Harry…" said the blond squeezing him tighter.

For once Harry didn't feel the tears begin to prickle at the corners of his eyes. As much as he hated talking about everything that had happened to him he did feel a sense of release, like he had unburdened his soul. He mildly wondered if that was what it was going to feel like when he and Remus finally got around to discussing the sexual abuse.

"Can I kiss you?" asked Draco rather suddenly. He turned around to face Harry properly and waited for his reply.

Harry looked at him quizzically as if he were out of his mind. How could Draco think of kissing him after everything he just said? It seemed a little inappropriate. "Huh?" Harry muttered.

"I said… Can I kiss you? I suddenly feel the need to kiss you very badly… to show you how much you are loved," said Draco really sweetly. Harry grinned at him sheepishly. How did Draco always know to say just the right thing to put him in a better mood? He loved that about him.

"Do you even have to ask?" Harry questioned him lovingly. Upon seeing the knowing look Draco gave him, he had to admit that it had been a thoughtful question. He smiled again slightly and responded by kissing the blond gently on the lips. "Does that answer your question?"

"Indeed," said Draco taking the hint.

The blond shifted his position again so that he could kiss Harry more easily. His soft pink lips touched Harry's and he began to kiss him with utter adoration. Harry had to admit, it was hard not to feel loved when Draco's kisses were capable of making him feel so tingly inside. It was amazing how much one little kiss could convey. Harry liked to think that their souls were never happy until their lips were locked, passing copious amounts of positive energy back and forth between them.

Harry responded by slipping his tongue into Draco's slightly opened mouth. They continued to kiss each other lovingly, and each felt the frustration and anger that each had felt earlier ebb slowly away. Their little snogging session that evening was very innocent and loving; not lust filled or passionate. They each needed to feel the soft caresses of their hands over each other's bodies as they kissed and embraced one another softly.

In the end, Harry found himself draped over Draco's body as they lay with each other on the couch. His head rested on Draco's chest, and he could feel the blonde's fingers entwining themselves in his unruly hair. He listened to the sound of Draco's heart beat as his head gently rose and fell with each breath the taller boy took. This was just what he needed. A moment's peace in the chaos that was his life.

If nothing else went right in the rest of his life, he knew that he could always depend on Draco. He was his one true thing that he could believe in. Feeling content, he felt himself just begin to fall asleep when the door to the Room of Requirement slammed open.

Hermione came running in and stopped suddenly when she saw the compromising position she had found the two boys in. Harry and Draco were both startled by her sudden presence.

"Ah…" Harry shouted as he fell off of Draco and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Sorry to barge in here like that… but I have important news," she said. She seemed very out of breath, like she had run all the way there. Suddenly, a tall red head appeared in the doorway looking very put out.

"Honestly 'Mione, was it necessary to run out of the library like that? You could have had the decency to wake me up properly… I was having a nice nap," Ron said as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He spied the other two boys looking a little embarrassed and he grinned madly. "What were you two up to before my lady here interrupted you so rudely?"

"Shut up Weasley," said Draco, whose face was now bright red. This caused Ron to start laughing. They hadn't really been doing anything to warrant embarrassment, but the way they had flown apart from each other was enough to cause suspicion.

"What is it? What did you find out?" asked Harry who seated himself next to Draco again after picking himself off the floor.

"I have translated the runes, Harry. I had to ask special permission to use some books from the restricted section, but I finally figured it out. Where did you see these runes, Harry?" she asked him suspiciously.

"Tell me what they mean first," said Harry, not willing to play her game.

"Fine," she replied huffily, plopping down on the couch across from the lovebirds. Ron sat beside her, looking completely bewildered in his sleepy state. Harry and Draco leaned forward intently, placing their elbows on their knees and clasping their hands in synchronization. They waited patiently for Hermione to reveal her part of the mystery. She pulled out the paper that Harry had originally given her and placed it on the coffee table between them.

"I must say Harry, you certainly had me intrigued. I have spent the better part of this week in the library trying to figure these symbols out," she said excitedly.

"Don't I know it…" said Ron. Apparently he was a bit irritated that his girlfriend had ditched him for books yet again.

"As I was saying," said Hermione, ignoring Ron's remark, "I find runes in general to be quite fascinating. They have been always closely associated with magic and foretelling the future, and each rune holds a special power. We have studied runes from various cultures in class, but I have never seen anything like these." Hermione pointed to the paper Harry had written the strange symbols.

"These ancient runes are so old that they predate the Germanic writing called Futhark, which was once thought to be the earliest form of a rudimentary alphabet in Northern Europe. I couldn't even find a proper name for the language for the runes on this paper, and I had some trouble translating them. I found one book that translated the ancient runes into Old English, but I couldn't find an Old English to English dictionary here in our library. Luckily, I discovered a rather old and decrepit Latin dictionary that had a translation for the ancient language."

"Well… what do the runes say…" said Harry carefully. He eyed Hermione and knew that whatever she said, it was going to be quite powerful.

Hermione pulled out another piece of paper and turned it so the boys could see the words she had written on it in her perfect penmanship. "Ligatioanimus damno infinitas. Justitia celer…" said Hermione in a clear voice. She had obviously already memorized the translation.

"Which means?" asked Harry, Ron, and Draco in an annoyed tone. None of the three boys were very adept at translating Latin, despite the fact that many of the spells that they cast were derived from the dead language.

"Well… a loose translation would be Imprisonment for souls who are damned for eternity. Swift justice." She turned over the paper as she spoke the translation in English so that the boys could see for themselves. Draco and Ron didn't seem to know what to make of either translation.

Harry grabbed the paper from the table and looked at the vague message in disbelief. He had had some wild suspicions about what the Veil could really be over the last few days, and it seemed as if his assumptions may have been correct. Could it really be? Does it mean that there may be a way to bring Sirius back? Harry's mind boggled at all the possibilities.

"What's up mate?" asked Ron. "Does any of this make sense to you?'

"I'm not sure…" said Harry sighing. He sat back and ran his hands through his messy mop of hair several times trying to think.

"Well, maybe if you explained what was going on we might be able to help you," suggested Draco.

"You're probably right…" he replied. Hermione and Ron looked at each other surprised that Harry was actually going to reach out to them for help yet again.

"I need you guys to just listen to what I have to say right now… please don't say anything until I'm finished…It's hard enough thinking about it all the time let alone having to say it out loud."

"Sure, mate," said Ron supportively. Hermione and Draco also nodded in agreement.

"The night before the custody hearing, Remus finally told me some information that he had been keeping from me about Sirius's supposed death…"

"Supposed?" asked Ron quickly, cutting Harry off. The dark haired boy eyed his best friend warily, and Ron got the hint. Shut up and listen or I won't continue.

"As I was saying… Remus explained to me that as far as he knows, the Veil that Sirius fell into is actually a portal to Limbo." Harry paused here to glance at his friend's faces. Sure enough, they were just as surprised at this information as he was.

"I got pretty angry with them for lying to me and we had a row." Harry left out the part where he almost cut his arms again. He didn't want his friends to worry about him anymore than necessary, and it was important that they focus on the Veil, not his awful habit. "I started to think back to all those dreams I had about him and the voice calling out to me, and I think that I must have made some type of connection to Sirius when Draco and I were sent to Limbo last Halloween… I remember that entire experience quite vividly and I'm positive that I felt his presence while I was there. I just didn't know that it was him at the time.

When Remus and I went the Ministry the next morning I made sure that I brought my invisibility cloak and my journal with me. At the first opportunity, I sneaked out of the hearing and made my way down to the Department of Mysteries and found the Veil room."

"Oh Harry…" said Hermione softly. It was clear that she didn't want to interrupt but was saddened by the fact that he had chosen to return to where he had seen his godfather die. The look Harry gave quieted her instantly.

"I studied the archway and the surrounding dais carefully and that is where I got all of those runes," he explained. He reached beside the couch and took his journal from his bag that was still on the floor. He flipped through the pages until he found the rough sketch that he drew that day.

Ron, Draco, and Hermione studied the drawing intently, each one focusing on the strange symbols that decorated it. Across the top of the archway Harry had copied the runes that he asked Hermione to investigate. The three of them eyed Harry carefully wondering what he was going to say next.

"While I was there, I used a breathing technique that Remus taught me and I was able to put myself in a trancelike state. I received another dream memory… this time about the night that Sirius… er… died…" Draco looked at him worriedly. He knew about each of the dreams Harry had, and he knew how much each one affected him. Nothing could have been worse than seeing his godfather die yet again. Hermione and Ron had not been with Harry when Sirius fell, but they remembered when they found out a short while later. Both of their eyes looked somewhat glassy as they relived the horrors of that night. "When the dream ended I somehow managed to make a connection to Sirius through the Veil… It was like this light had shot out from both of our souls, connecting us together so that we could communicate."

"What?" asked Draco in disbelief. "Harry, you had no idea what you were doing! What if you'd been pulled into the Veil or something?" he asked somewhat angrily.

"Well, I didn't. Just listen. I t-talked to Sirius…"

"But Harry… you can't… Sirius is dead…" said Ron sadly. He looked as if he thought his best friend was going crazy.

"Don't you see… he really isn't! Remus tried to explain it to me, but I don't think that he even truly knows the mystery behind the Veil. He said that Sirius fell into Limbo body and soul, where as Draco and I only entered as souls. He says that there is supposedly no way to bring him back because there is no body for his soul to come back to."

"Do you mean to tell me that Sirius is actually alive… and stuck in Limbo forever…" asked Hermione quietly. Harry was getting a little irritated at all the interruptions, but he knew that his friends wanted to understand what had happened to Sirius as much as he did.

"Yes… reliving his memories over and over for an eternity…"

"But that sounds like hell…" said Ron.

"I know," Harry replied sadly.

"Harry, you said you spoke to him… What did he say?" asked Draco.

"Not much… we really didn't have a lot of time because Remus and the others came looking for me. Just before our conversation was cut short though, Sirius said two really important things to me…" This was the hard part of the conversation. Sirius's words had echoed through his mind over and over again since his visit and it was all he could think about. The guilt had been almost unbearable this last week. "He s-said that he d-didn't want… want to be t-there anymore…"

"Oh Merlin…" said Hermione dropping her face into her hands as she began to weep. Realizing that a trusted friend was suffering so badly was almost too much for her to bear. Ron put his arms around her and buried his face in her hair.

"And secondly…he said to 'use the veil' when I asked how I could help him get out of there."

"Did he say anything else?" asked Ron looking confused by Harry's last revelation.

"No… he just kept saying 'use the veil' over and over again…"

"What does all this mean?" asked Draco taking Harry's hand.

"I'm not sure, but I think that it's all starting to make sense now…" Harry looked back down at the paper he was still holding and began to think aloud. "The runes said that the Veil was Imprisonment for souls who are damned for eternity. Swift justice. I think that could mean…maybe… maybe the Veil is some type of prison for people that have been judged guilty. "

"I don't know, Harry," said Hermione. "We really can't make any assumptions."

"I understand, but… didn't you wonder why that room had all those circular rows of seating? It was set up like an amphitheatre or possibly some ancient court room. In fact, the whole room is similar to the courtrooms the Ministry has upstairs. The dais in the room was directly in the center too, just like where the chair with the shackles was in the courtroom I was in the summer before our 5th year."

"Harry, I don't understand what you are trying to say…" said Ron dumbly.

"I think that the Veil was what ancient wizards used before we had Azkaban Prison. What better punishment could there be than for someone to relive their sins over and over again for eternity?"

The others looked at him with understanding. Everything that Harry was saying was starting to make sense. "What are you trying to say Harry?" asked Draco.

"Sirius has been wrongfully imprisoned, once again, and I am going to do everything in my power to help him get out of Limbo."

A/N: Sorry to leave it there, but it felt right. I hope there was enough fluff in here to balance out the angst. I think I would like to highlight at least one more therapy session with Remus before this story goes into "action" mode. They may even explore some of the sexual abuse. What do you guys think? I know it seems like it is moving slow, but I hate it when things are rushed.

A/N2: I am sure that my Latin translations are a bit inaccurate, but I tried my best. I used an online English to Latin Dictionary. I couldn't remember if there was actually a healing spell used in any of the HP books so I made up my own. Medicor malum means "heal injury."

Many thanks to all my reviewers! You keep me going with your thoughtful comments and rave reviews.