Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling. The rest of us can only dream...
Of The Horrors Thine Eyes Have Seen...
The young woman was about twenty-two. She wore dark blue jeans, a sweatshirt, sunglasses and a newsboy cap. She blended well with the crowd and could have been anyone. As she walked, she thought about the red-haired boy who had fought so bravely, whose life had been so cruelly taken. She thought about their best friend, recovering in the hospital since the fight had ended... She was on her way there now.
She could have taken the train, probably should have, but right now the last place she wanted to be was inside a cramped, stuffy compartment full of noisy muggles, happy and oblivious...And then she saw him. At least, she thought she did…
Just because he should be out by now, she thought.
The young man made his way slowly down the crowded street. He was different, he knew. Jeans and a black sweatshirt replaced his usual robes. He too wore sunglasses as well as a black baseball cap pulled low over his eyes—eyes that had turned dark and dull. Four years in Azkaban had taken the swagger out of his walk and he hunched over, trying to be invisible... And then he saw her.
No, it couldn't be, he reasoned. No way would she be out here. It was just because he was remembering...
She thought for a second that the man she had mistakenly thought she knew, had seen her, but a second glance saw him looking elsewhere. She remembered the last time she had seen that boy, two years ago, her, the bearer of bad news. She even remembered why she had been the one to go—all too vividly...
"Someone must go to break the news to him," Dumbledore said, his piercing blue eyes blazed as he gazed at the small assembled group. No one responded. "I would myself, were it not for other conflictions. And I don't think that I am the one he would accept it from."
"Why not send someone else?" someone suggested tentatively. "Another teacher?"
"With Severus gone I doubt that any other could convince him, and anyway, they too have their obligations."
"I'll go, Sir," a girl stepped forwards. Gasps went up around her. No one could believe she'd dare to step foot in such a place, but now that her mind was made up, no one could stop her.
She shivered in the cold wind as the magic boat took her across to the island. Even at this distance, she could tell the place was a fortress, and as she stepped through the gates, she wished she had never volunteered. There was nothing happy about this place, only horror and madness, both of which were reflected in the people's eyes as she passed them.
She was led to a cell deep in the center of the fortress and left to deliver her message to its occupant. She cleared her throat, not sure if this person was even going to be sane enough to understand her. A tattered bundle in the corner shifted and then sat up slowly. The girl was shocked speechless.
His clothes were a wreck and both he and they were filthy. His blond hair was matted with dirt and blood, and his once flawless features were now masked under a hunted look. He sat and stared at her for a moment.
"Yes?" His voice was hoarse from not being used.
"I- I've come with news for you..." Something in him seemed to lighten suddenly.
"What news?"
"I was sent to tell you...To tell you that...Your parents are dead. Someone torched the mansion. Their bodies were found in the rubble." She watched as whatever hope he'd had vanished, and the barely-perceptible spark of life left him.
"Oh," his voice was toneless. He turned away from her. "Is that all?"
She nodded, but somehow couldn't bring herself to leave. She slid her hand through the bars and brought it to rest on top of his, noting with a pang how cold he was. He looked at her hand, turning it over in his. A sudden energy took over him and he was up right next to the bars, his face less than a foot from hers.
"I never killed him," he whispered desperately. "They made a mistake!"
She looked disbelievingly at him.
"I may not have liked him, I may have hated him, but I never would have killed him!"
She looked into his eyes and saw the pain behind them—pain and suffering, but no madness. She thought of another who had been here long, long ago, who had kept his sanity knowing he was innocent.
"I believe you," she whispered, knowing it would mean the world to him, but also saying it because she meant it. He slumped back again and was silent for a moment. Then:
"How long?"
"What?"
"How long have I been in this hell?" he asked wearily.
"Going on eighteen months."
The boy pulled himself up to the bars again. "Tell them I'm innocent!" he begged. "Tell them!" He screamed. The black creatures came almost instantly, blocking her view. He screamed again and then fell silent. She felt the tears falling down her cheeks.
"I'll tell them," she whispered, and she turned and ran, wanting only to leave the gloom and madness behind. Over two years later, it still haunted her...
He could scarcely remember her visit; the past years were a blur. The only thing he could remember clearly, resonated over and over in his mind, like a broken record:
"He, wrongly convicted for two and a half years, detained a further four and three quarters months, is now ruled free, cleared of all charges…"
He knew that not everyone had accepted the news the day it appeared on the front page. Not everyone believed that he was innocent. They thought he had been let off because of his family...But had they actually bothered to think about it, that wouldn't be a reasonable explanation, not after his father had been caught...
He looked up and saw the young woman again. She turned to check a crossroad and he got a good look at her face: He hadn't been mistaken after all. He quickened his pace and fell in step beside her. She looked up, and then stopped dead in her tracks.
"It is you," she said in an awed voice.
He nodded, removing his sunglasses. She removed hers as well and stared at his dulled eyes. The horrors of the young man's past reflected in them.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, not sure, however, exactly why she was apologizing.
"I thought you hadn't told them."
"I did, the moment I got back, but they weren't sure if I was telling the truth. They thought I was just upset at how awful the place was..."
"You don't know what it's done to me..."
"It was almost a year. It might have been longer except that they caught the person who really murdered him. Even then, it took several months of review."
"Don't I know it," he said bitterly.
"It's good to see you," she said, looking into his eyes with sincerity.
"It's good to see you too. I missed you, though I can scarcely believe it..."
The girl smiled slightly and then asked him where he was going. He said he wasn't sure exactly and then asked if he might accompany her to her destination.
"It would be a pleasure," she replied. They both put their sunglasses back on and disappeared into the crowd together.
They entered the hospital and were directed to a room on the fourth floor. It was separated from the others for a couple reasons: One, because of the occupant, and two, because of what had happened to him. They pushed open the door and the girl ran to the man sitting in the bed and hugged him hard. The man hugged her back.
"How have you been?" he asked her, pushing his bangs out of his face, revealing a lightning-bolt-shaped scar.
"You know the answer to that," she said. "I've been better.
"It's not been a joy ride for anyone," the man said softly. He saw the blond man standing awkwardly near the door and shook his head. "No, it's not been a joy ride for anyone," he repeated. Then he addressed the other man directly. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's good to see you."
The blond man gave a sudden smile—his first real smile in over three years—and it felt good. He came up to the bed and held out his hand. "We've all been through so much, and maybe it's too late, but I think we could start over…"
"No time like the present," the other man replied, his green eyes bright with a happiness that had been a long time in coming. He shook hands with the blond man and the girl burst into tears of joy and hugged both men, and for the next several hours, they who had once been enemies, sat together and chatted, laughed, and cried about the days they had once known...
Around mid-afternoon, the young woman and the blond man headed for the exit of the hospital together.
"Harry will be released from the hospital soon," girl said suddenly. "We're planning to find a small house and room together. I speak for us both when I say it would be a pleasure to add a third person..."
"If you're sure it would be fine, then I would love to join you."
Hermione and Draco smiled at each other. Then they put on their hats and sunglasses and went back out into the muggle world together.