Disclaimer: All HP characters don't belong to me. Some sentences are quoted from "Harry Potter" by JKR and "Fred and Edie" by Jill Dawson.

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Chapter 2: Company

Present

"…we will continue next time." said the Minister of Magic, snapping Hermione out of her thoughts.

"Harry James Potter and Hermione Jane Weasley will be taken to Azkaban prison for confinement until the next trial." He banged his hammer. "Dismissed."

"Will we be kept together in a cell?" asked Harry suddenly to the Minister.

Some members of the Wizengamot shook their heads at his question.

The Minister's face darkened. "No. Take them away."

Immediately, guards of Azkaban (definitely not the Dementors, I assure you) came and grabbed Harry and Hermione around the hands. They dragged them off their chairs and Hermione could hear her parents calling her.

Hermione looked up and saw her parents, who were looking back at her sadly. Her mother reached out, as if she could touch her if she stretched long enough.

"Mum…" whispered Hermione and she wanted to walk towards her but the guards held her back with a firm grip.

Mrs Granger started to weep. "Hermione, how could you do this?" she asked, shaking her head. She reminded Hermione strongly of Winky, the house elf. Mr Granger patted his wife and stared at Hermione with disappointment.

"I, I'm sorry, Mum, Dad…" said Hermione quietly.

Before her parents could say anything else, the guards dragged Hermione off the court.

The guards brought Hermione to a cell in Azkaban and pushed her gently into it before closing the door behind her. Hermione looked around. The cell had a tiny window, bed, sink and toilet.

Hermione sighed and sat down against the wall. She couldn't imagine that she was in prison now… wait until Ron and the others hear about it… Hermione laughed bitterly. She suddenly remembered Ron was dead. That's why she and Harry were sent to prison in the first place.

Speaking of Harry… Hermione stopped laughing. The guards had taken Harry away from her and she didn't even know which cell they had taken him to. She could really need his company. She wanted to see his smile and feel his kisses on her…

Hermione got up, walked to the steel bars and looked out of her cell. Maybe Harry was just across her…

No, there's no one staying across her. Hermione sighed in disappointment and sat down again, leaning against the bars tiredly. She wondered when she and Harry would be free again… She couldn't understand what's going on. She was lost and confused by what's happening to her. Upset, she started to sob.

"Hermione?"

Hermione looked up immediately. That sounded like…

"Hermione, is that you?" asked the voice again.

Hermione gasped. She clutched the bars and looked out. "Harry! Yes, it's me!"

Hermione couldn't see Harry, but she could hear him clearly. She tried to find the voice's owner, but she couldn't. "Where are you?"

"In the cellat your left, I think." said Harry. "Can you reach out your hand to your left?"

Hermione looked across her and found that the wall between two cells was thin. If the wall across her was thin, then that means…

Hermione pushed herself against her wall, slipped her right arm out of the gap between the bars and stretched it towards the cell next to her.

Hermione could feel her fingers brushing against someone else's.

"Try harder, Hermione." said Harry with encouragement. "I could feel your fingers."

Hermione tried all her might to touch Harry's hand. She pushed herself against the corner of her cell, stretched her arm longer and finally, she could feel Harry's hand against hers. Harry grabbed her hand.

"Can you feel my hand?" asked Harry in the next cell.

Hermione gave a short sigh of relief and she held on to Harry's hand. "Yes."

Harry held her hand as if it was the most precious thing on Earth. "Are you feeling all right?"

The sound of Harry's voice gave Hermione comfort. How she longed to see him directly… "Yes, now that you're here…"

"You will be all right, Darling," said Harry firmly. "You didn't kill Ron, I did. You will be out soon enough. They can't hang you for loving me… Me, on the other hand…"

Hermione gasped. "Hang?"

"That's the punishment for murdering someone. Since the Dementors are gone, I guess they decide to punish the criminals in the muggle way…"

"Harry!" said Hermione, clutching onto Harry's hand in fear. "They can't hang you, they just can't!"

"But I have killed Ron, Hermione! That's murder!"

"Did you do it on purpose?" asked Hermione.

Harry was silent. "No. The spell just comes out from my mouth, I didn't kill Ron on purpose, I just want to reason with him…"

"Then that's it." said Hermione. "It's just voluntary manslaughter. You will be at least be in prison for a few years…"

Hermione heard Harry laughed coldly. "Yeah right, since when the Ministry started to act fairly? I got a warning letter when I was 12, and that wasn't even my fault. At 13, I blew up my aunt and I escaped without punishment."

"Barty Crouch Jr. had his soul sucked out before he could go to court and testified against the Death Eaters. When I was 15, they nearly expelled me for using magic in front of Dudley and they didn't even ask me why I did it in the first place! They threw Stan Stunpike in here once, and he was innocent! Give me one time that the Ministry has done something right."

Hermione was silent.

"Who would have believed me that I killed Ron by accident?" asked Harry. "I will be dead next year…"

"No!" said Hermione stubbornly. "You won't! They can't hang you for manslaughter!"

Harry was quiet.

"Harry, I, I don't want you to die." said Hermione and tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke. "T-They can't hang you. You killed Ron, just for me. You killed him because you love me."

Harry tightened his grip on her hand. "Yes. But you don't know how unfair the Ministry is… anyway, I'm sure that they will release you soon…"

"If I'm released and you are sentenced to death, I'll kill myself." interrupted Hermione. "I don't want to leave you alone in the underworld."

"…I'm glad that you're with me, Hermione. I feel more peaceful now." said Harry softly.

Hermione sighed and sat down without letting go of Harry's hand. "Me too." she said.

Harry and Hermione remained in their cells, their hands together over the wall that separated them.

"I felt like that guy in that story you told me in Flourish and Blotts, what's his name again?" asked Harry.

Hermione giggled. "Pyramus. If you are Pyramus, I will be Thisbe."

"They have a wall that separated them, just like us." said Harry.

Hermione smiled. "Unlike them, we could hold hands over the wall."

"And we could talk to each other for days." said Harry.

"Harry, why don't we chat?" suggested Hermione. "You'll sit in your cell, I'll sit in mine and we will just talk about the past."

"Then we have to let go of our hands then." said Harry in disappointment.

"At least we get to talk." said Hermione.

"Okay." said Harry and he let go of Hermione's hand.

Hermione pulled back her hand and sat down on the hard cold floor of her cell. "Harry, have you sat down yet?"

"Yeah." said Harry's voice. "What shall we talk about?"

"I thought about the night when we first made love just now during the trial." said Hermione, drawing her knees to her chin.

"Ah, that's the best night ever." said Harry.

Hermione giggled. "What happened in the next few weeks after that, do you remember?"

"Hm, I remember the fight that Ron and I had…" started Harry.

"Argh," said Hermione in disgust. "That incident is awful, think of something else before that."

"Hm, how about the time when you come and visit me during my Quidditch practice?"

"Oh that was fun!" said Hermione happily.

"Sure it was."

Soon, Harry and Hermione started to chat about the time when Hermione visited Harry during his Quidditch practice. And as they did, Hermione replayed the past in her head…