Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.
Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Here's the next chappie, Enjoy!!
Chapter Thirty Three
James pulled on his Auror robes and checked his appearance in the mirror. It had been a long time since he dressed in his blue Auror robes. His uniform had been left hanging in his wardrobe for almost a year now. James buttoned up the robes and cast himself a last look in the mirror. He really enjoyed being an Auror. When he was in younger and in Hogwarts he wasn't that bothered about his future. He was the only heir to the rich Potter family and knew he could live comfortably even without working. But it was Sirius that had convinced him to take up the subjects that were needed to become an Auror. Now James couldn't see himself as anything else.
James moved to pick up his wand and carefully placed it inside his robes pocket. He thought about the teaching opportunity he had. He really enjoyed his time teaching as the Defence Professor at Hogwarts. He had not imagined himself to be a teacher but he was quite surprised at how comfortable he felt. He would have liked to keep on teaching but Snape was scheduled to come back next term.
James had received a fire call last night asking him if he could come back to work early. He wasn't due back for another few weeks as he was still supposed to be at Hogwarts but with the school closing early, he was asked to resume his Auror post early as well.
The door opened behind him and Lily walked in to see her husband lost in thoughts.
"Wow, I forgot how handsome you look in those robes." Lily said as she wrapped her arms around him.
James smiled and turned to embrace his wife.
"Now I remember why I became an Auror." He teased as he kissed Lily.
"I can't believe you're going back to work already." Lily said.
Despite what she told James, she loved working in the same place as him. Having James at Hogwarts was a blessing. Usually she hardly got a chance to see her husband as she was at Hogwarts, teaching and James was always away on Auror duty.
"I know but I'm actually thankful for getting called back." James said quietly.
Lily looked at him questioningly.
"What? Why?"
"I just can't stand the tension between Harry and Damien anymore. I think even a few hours away from it will help. I'm hoping anyway." He said glumly.
Lily silently agreed with James. It was getting unbearable, the way they kept bickering with each other. Despite the heated warning Lily had given Harry, he hadn't apologised to Damien or made any attempt to make up with him. Instead he kept his distance from everyone. He took Lily's words seriously and didn't attempt to talk to her at all. He was either in his room or in his training grounds. Lily knew he was frustrated and annoyed with all of them and that was the reason he was spending so much time training. He was taking out all his aggression by training.
Lily felt saddened by his behaviour. There just didn't seem like an end to this tension. The two brothers were acting horridly to each other. She knew that both were stubborn and wouldn't give in to each other, even though they missed each other.
"Did Harry not speak to you either?" she asked James.
James shook his head.
"No. when I went in last night to ask if he needed the sleeping spell he told me he was fine and didn't want any help. I tried to help him but he was adamant that he was fine. It is so obvious that he wasn't fine. He hasn't slept since we came back from Hogwarts, and that was two days ago. But you know Harry, when he's in a mood he just shuts off an there's nothing anyone can do to get through to him." James said miserably.
Lily knew exactly what James was talking about. She had tried to get Harry to eat something yesterday as he had missed all his meals, but Harry just ignored her. She was concerned that Harry was not eating but at the same time she was annoyed that her seventeen year old was acting like a kid. She figured that he would eat when he was hungry. It was no use forcing food down his throat. Harry always said not to treat him like a kid so she wasn't going to spoon feed him. He could eat whenever he wanted.
"Just give him a few days. I'm sure things will work out. Once Harry and Damien make up, Harry will be in a better mood. They'll work out things between them soon." Lily said in an encouraging way.
"I don't know, Lily. The way they talk to each other. They're so hurtful to each other. I don't think they'll get over this fight. I don't want their long term relationship to be affected." James said with worry.
Lily laughed at the serious expression James was wearing.
"You're blowing this out of proportion. This is what sibling do. They argue and fight with each other like there's no tomorrow and then when they make up, they're each others best friends again." Lily explained. James still looked unconvinced so Lily tried to explain further. "I know you can't understand it, you were an only child but trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Me and Petunia used to fight and argue all the time."
James raised his eyebrows at her.
"Um, honey, you and your sister have an awful relationship. You only speak to each other two times in the year and both times, it's you who calls her. She doesn't even know Damien's name. She addresses him as 'boy'. I bet she doesn't even know that we moved home and that Harry is back with us."
Lily was quiet for a few minutes, her expression changed from calm to worry.
"I better go find them both." She said and rushed towards the door.
"Why?" James called after her.
"I'm going to find them and make them apologise to each other before they grow apart and get to a point were they can't stand each other." She said in a rush before running out the room.
James sighed to himself, so much for Lily making him feel better. He left the room as well, heading to the living room so he could floo to work.
xxx
Lily looked for Harry everywhere. She couldn't find him anywhere. It was as she was passing her lab that she caught the scent of a potion being brewed. She quickly walked over to the doors and gently pushed them open. She sighed with relief as she saw her eldest son standing next to a cauldron. Harry was busy filling up empty vials with an orange coloured potion. He didn't notice her standing by the door.
"What are you doing?" Lily asked as nonchalantly as she could.
Harry looked up at her but didn't answer. Lily tried again.
"Harry, what are you doing here?"
Again Harry didn't answer her.
"Harry, I'm asking you something?" Lily said, beginning to lose her temper.
At this, Harry looked up at her, a blank look on his face.
"You told me not to talk to you, so I'm not talking to you." He answered.
Before Lily could answer that, Harry waved his wand at the cauldron and the remaining potion disappeared. He gathered up his vials and left the potions lab, walking past Lily without giving her a second glance. Lily would have followed him but she was too angry with his behaviour and knew she would only make matters worse if she followed him.
Instead she retired back to her kitchen and started preparing lunch. Cooking was always a good way to occupy a worried and angry mind.
xxx
Lily was sitting alone in the living room, flipping through the latest potions journal. Both of her boys had locked themselves inside their rooms and refused to leave so Lily was left by herself. She vaguely wondered what time James would be back tonight. She had really gotten used to having him around.
Just as that thought came to her, a sound was heard from the hallway. It sounded like the door had been spelled opened. Lily heard footsteps coming down the hallway.
"James! Is that you already?" Lily asked as she got to her feet. She thought that maybe James had come back early, after all he wasn't supposed to be at work at all yet. Maybe he was sent home early.
Before Lily could reach the door, it opened and Lily was more than surprised to see who walked in.
"Kingsley! Oh, this is a pleasant surprise. What are you doing…" she trailed off, the smile slipping from her face as she saw eight Aurors follow Kingsley, all holding out their wands, their expressions hard and unforgiving.
Lily stared at the strange sight before looking back at Kingsley. That was when she noticed that the Auror was looking really upset and wasn't quite meting her eyes.
"Kingsley, what's going on?" she asked, her heart thumping madly in her chest. A strong sense of forbidding engulfing her.
Kingsley gestured to the Aurors behind him to stay where they were and walked further into the room.
"Is Harry home?" he asked, his voice deep as always but Lily noticed the tension in it right away.
"He's upstairs, why?" she asked.
The Aurors behind Kingsley looked towards the door and three of them even moved towards it but Kingsley turned around and told them to stay put. He turned back around to face Lily, his dark eyes meeting hers worriedly.
"Lily, I need to…Harry has to…" Kingsley couldn't get the words out and it was the sight of the cool and collected Auror losing his nerve that panicked Lily more than anything.
"Kingsley, what's wrong? What's happened?" she asked.
Before Kingsley could answer, the door from the kitchen opened and Harry walked inside. He stopped at the sight of all the Aurors standing in his living room. Harry's eyes travelled from the eight Aurors, who all had their wands gripped tightly in their hands, all eyes focused on him, to the upset looking Kingsley standing next to his mum.
Lily looked at Harry's bewildered expression back to Kingsley's upset one and tried to ask what was wrong again but Kingsley didn't answer her, instead he walked over to Harry.
"Harry Potter." Kingsley said in a strained voice. Harry looked at him as if he were crazy. Why was Kingsley addressing him like that? Kingsley took a deep breath and then looked straight at Harry before continuing.
"You are under arrest for the murder of Theodore Nott."
The words came like a tidal wave and hit Lily and Harry.
"What?!" Harry asked, his face showing the initial surprise and shock at the allegation.
"You have to accompany me to the Ministry of Magic where you will be given a chance to…" the rest of Kingsley's words were drowned out by Lily.
"No! No! You're not taking him anywhere! Harry didn't kill anyone! This is absurd!" she yelled as she came to stand before Harry protectively.
That seemed to break Kingsley's resolve and he turned his troubled eyes to the red haired woman.
"Lily, I have to take him in." he tried explaining.
"No! Harry's hasn't killed anyone. He's been home the entire time! He hasn't left the Manor at all! He couldn't have killed Nott!" she cried.
The Aurors standing at the door moved forward and one of them, a blond haired man, started addressing Lily.
"Mrs Potter, we have undeniable evidence that Mr Harry Potter was involved in the torture and murder of Mr Theodore Nott. You will have to step aside and allow us to arrest Mr Potter."
"Jeffrey, will you please let me handle this!" Kingsley snapped. Jeffrey threw Kingsley a cold glare but stepped back.
Kingsley turned to face Lily and Harry again. He searched Lily's face before turning to look at Harry.
"Harry, I'm sorry but you're going to have to come with me. What Jeffrey just said is correct. We have evidence that you were involved and you need to…"
"What evidence!?" Harry interrupted angrily.
Kingsley looked at him for a moment before taking out his wand. He pointed it to the coffee table behind him and muttered a spell. At once a bright light erupted from the end of his wand and travelled to the table. It formed a ball before an image was seen inside it. Harry looked closely at the image. He couldn't make out what it was at first but then the image became clearer and Harry let out a gasp of surprise.
The image was of something that Harry never thought he would ever see again.
"My wand!" he whispered, his mind screaming at him that this wasn't possible.
Lily looked confusedly at him and then the image.
"Your wand? But you have your wand right here in your…" Lily trailed off as she spotted Harry's wand tucked in his pocket. She looked back at the image of the wand and gasped out loud. She realised that the image wasn't of the wand that James had got Harry. The image that Kingsley was showing them was of Harry's old wand. The wand that was given to him by Lord Voldemort. The wand that only Harry could use.
"Where did you get this?" Harry asked, pointing to the image of his lost wand, his voice sounding more menacing than he meant it.
"It was found next to Nott's dead body." Kingsley said heavily,
Harry's head was spinning. Next to Nott's body? His wand was found next to Nott's dead body? But how was this possible? Harry hadn't seen his wand ever since the day he went to Riddle Manor, last year. It was taken from him by the Death Eaters and most probably handed over to Voldemort. Harry was certain that his wand was destroyed either by Voldemort or was on him when he died. The fire that took Voldemort's life has surely destroyed his wand as well. That was what Harry had always assumed had happened. Never in his wildest thoughts had he considered the possibility that his wand was still in one piece and was safe.
"How, how is this possible? I thought it was destroyed." Harry told Kingsley.
"It was found next to Nott's body. This is what links you to his death. There is an arrest warrant issued in your name. I have to take you to the Ministry to…" again Kingsley was cut off by Lily.
"This is absurd! You can't think Harry's the murderer just because his wand was found next the body! It could have been planted there! It was most likely planted there by the real culprit. Kingsley, you know as does the Ministry that Nott was the one helping the so-called Dark Prince! He was nearly caught and brought to the Ministry by Sirius and Tonks but he escaped. Can't you see that he was killed by this Dark Prince? He wasn't needed anymore as his cover was blown so the maniac killed him! As for Harry's wand, Harry's not seen this wand since last year, since Voldemort took it from him! I can vouch for that!"
Harry could see that although his mum was making a good point, it wasn't going to deter the Aurors here to arrest him.
"Lily, it's not as simple as all that. I don't believe Harry did this either but you have to see this the way the Ministry does. Harry threatened to kill Nott in front of the whole of Hogwarts, everyone heard him say that he would kill him. Then Harry finds out Nott is the one helping the fake Dark Prince. In the next few days, Nott is found dead with Harry's old wand next to him, the wand that can only be used by Harry. I'm sorry, but there is no way out of this. Harry has to come with me."
Lily was shaking her head, not moving out of the way.
"Mrs Potter, we have authorisation to use force if needs be. We will not ask you again to move out of the way." Jeffrey said harshly again.
But Lily made no attempt to move. Instead she pulled out her wand and held it before her.
"You're not using my son as a scapegoat! I'm telling you he hasn't left the Manor since we all came back. It is impossible for him to have slipped away and committed murder!" she yelled at the Auror.
"Lily, don't do this. Please understand that we have no other choice." Kingsley begged. It was difficult for the Auror to perform his duty and hurt his friends at the same time. He was very fond of Harry, so it made this arrest all the more difficult.
"When was Nott's body found?" Harry asked suddenly.
"Last night." Kingsley answered.
Lily looked at Harry and both understood the urgent fire call made to James last night. That was why he was asked to come back so suddenly. Fudge had wanted him out of the way when they came to make the arrest. Fudge must have known that James wouldn't let Harry get arrested. A deep feeling of hatred forced its way up inside Harry. He had grown to hate Fudge almost as much as he hated Dumbledore.
Kingsley was still asking Lily to move out of the way when the other Aurors stepped in. They were getting very restless waiting for Kingsley to make the arrest. He had asked them not to do anything until he had explained everything to the Potters. But after everything was explained, Lily Potter was still not allowing the arrest. The blond haired Auror, Jeffrey moved towards Lily, his wand pointed at her.
"That's enough now! Mrs Potter you are the wife of a fellow Auror. That is the only reason we have been so civil towards you. You have been asked numerous times to move out of the way. If you don't move away right now I will have to stun you!" he shouted at her.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Harry hissed venomously to him.
The Auror's hand shook a little and he slowly lowered his wand, his eyes darting fearfully from Lily to Harry.
Harry had hardly spoken during this whole encounter and the Aurors had taken that to mean that Harry was perhaps afraid. But now when they saw the rage in his eyes as Jeffrey had made to attack Lily, they all understood that Harry wasn't afraid and wouldn't hesitate to attack them if they hurt Lily.
Kingsley looked at Harry before facing Lily again.
"Lily, you have to move. Please, don't make this more difficult." He pleaded with her.
"I'm not letting you arrest Harry! He hasn't done anything!" Lily yelled, tears of frustration coming to her eyes.
She didn't trust the Ministry in the sense of what they could do to Harry. If the Minister had gone through the trouble of having James out of the way so they could arrest Harry, then he could do almost anything to Harry once he was brought to him. Lily didn't put it past the Minister to have Harry 'accidentally' kissed by a Dementor.
Kingsley looked at Harry, a desperate pleading look on his face. The Aurors behind him were getting restless and Kingsley didn't want this to get out of hand.
"Harry, please." He whispered to him as the Aurors began moving towards them.
"We have authorisation to bring him in by force! If you stand in the way you can land yourself in trouble. We won't hesitate to arrest you as well." one of them repeated, his wand aimed at Harry, rather than Lily.
"I don't care! Harry's not going anywhere with you." Lily said more determinedly.
She felt Harry shift behind her and suddenly he was standing next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder, a strange sort of calm look on his face.
"Mum, it's okay." He said quietly.
"No! No, you're not going with them. Harry, you can't!" Lily said, her hands were wrapped in his robes, holding him back from the going with the Aurors.
"Lily, I have to take him in but I know he didn't do anything. His wand can't be used by anyone else. All he has to do is cast the Priori Incantanteum spell and show that the last spell the wand performed wasn't the killing curse. That will be proof enough that he's not responsible for Nott's murder." Kingsley explained quietly. He had been trying to say that since he arrived.
Lily didn't look convinced. She didn't trust the Minister to let Harry go once he got him.
"Kingsley, wait, jut wait for a minute. Just…please don't take him. He didn't do anything!" Lily was in tears now as she tried to grip onto Harry's robes, to stop him. "Just, just let me call James! Let me contact him, please." She knew James would be able to save Harry. He had to.
"James can't do anything to stop this. You can't ignore an arrest warrant! You will land yourself in trouble as well. " Jeffrey told her.
This made no difference to her. She continued to hold onto Harry tightly, not allowing anyone to come near him.
"Arrest her." Jeffrey said and a dark haired Auror moved towards her. He stopped in his tracks as Harry gestured for him to stop. The dark haired Auror had his wand pointed at Harry and was looking at him warily but Harry didn't pay him anymore attention.
He turned to his mum and reached up to her hands and gently pried her fingers away from his collars.
"No, Harry! You're not going with them. Harry, no." Lily continued to cry as Kingsley took a hold of her and as gently as he could, he moved her away from Harry.
Lily tried to get out of Kingsley's grip and ignored the comforting things he was saying to her. She watched as the Auror, Jeffrey, hesitantly approached Harry, his wand along with the other seven Aurors wands were pointed at Harry, to warn him not to try and escape.
"Hands behind your back, Mr Potter." Jeffrey said.
Lily cried out and tried to fight of Kingsley but the tall dark Auror had a tight grip on her.
"Lily, please. Don't make this worse. They'll gladly arrest you too." Kingsley urged.
Lily closed her eyes and moved her head away as Jeffrey handcuffed Harry's hands behind his back. It was too much to bear. Harry wasn't a criminal but he was being treated like one. Kingsley let go of Lily and walked over to Harry. He took a hold of Harry's upper arm and began to lead him out of the room.
Lily felt like the air around her had vanished. She was having problems breathing. They were taking Harry away. They were arresting him for a crime he hadn't committed.
Lily rushed behind the Aurors, trying to get in front of them. She had to stop them. Just as Kingsley led Harry out of the door and into the hallway they saw Damien coming down the stairs.
Damien had heard his mum's shouts and at first had thought she was having a go at Harry. He didn't want to get in the middle of anything so he held back. But the fight was going on for a while now so he was on his way to investigate. The first thing he saw was Kingsley and the team of Aurors surrounding Harry. At first Damien didn't see Harry properly but as he hurried towards them he caught sight of Harry's hands cuffed behind his back. The colour drained from his face at once.
"What's going on? Where are you taking Harry?!" he asked, directing his questions at Kingsley.
Kingsley didn't answer him and instead tried to rush Harry out of the door. The sooner they got to the Ministry the better.
"Harry! Harry! Let go of him! Harry!" Damien yelled as he rushed towards his brother. He was stopped by one of the Aurors. "Get off me! Mum! Mum! Where are they taking Harry? Mum, do something! Stop them!" Damien's yells were ringing in Harry's ears.
Harry turned around to see the Auror drag Damien away from the door. Damien was fighting him off and tried to reach for his wand. The Auror grabbed Damien's wand before he could grab it and threw it away. He had Damien's arms pinned behind his back to stop him from attacking. Harry shouted at the Auror retraining Damien.
"Let him go!" he yelled.
Kingsley looked behind him and told the Auror to let Damien go. The Auror let go of Damien's arms but gripped a hold of him from his upper arm to stop him from following Harry.
Harry didn't know what happened next as he was pulled out from his house. They were heading for the edge of the wards, so they could apparate to the Ministry. When they reached the edge of the wards, Kingsley tightened his grip on Harry.
"Please, Harry, don't fight this. If you cooperate, everything will go a lot smoother. When we get to the Ministry, all you have to do is perform the Priori Incantanteum spell. Once they have proof that your wand wasn't used to kill Nott, they'll have to let you go. They can't keep you in. Just cooperate with them. Don't give them a reason to hurt you. Please." He whispered to him.
Harry nodded his head and held still. He knew things weren't going to be as simple as that but he hadn't thought about running away. He could easily apparate away right now but he didn't. It was for one simple reason. The same reason he let the Aurors arrest him. He didn't want his family to get in trouble because of him.
xxx
"Mum! Mum what's going on?" Damien yelled, panic blossoming in his chest at the sight of Harry being taken away by Aurors.
The Auror holding him was telling him to calm down but Damien didn't pay any attention to him. The Auror only let go of Damien when he saw Kingsley apparate away with Harry. He let go of Damien and left without saying another word to him. He joined his fellow Aurors and they all apparated away as well.
Damien turned around to see a tearful Lily grab her bag from the hallway closet and dump the contents on the floor. Perplexed by her strange behaviour, Damien continued watching her as she frantically searched for something, her hands shaking the whole time. Her eyes lit up as she caught sight of the object she was looking for. Damien saw her grab the handle of her mirror and pull it up to her face.
"James!" she cried hysterically into it.
xxx
As soon as Harry arrived at the Ministry he knew things were a lot worse than Kingsley had said. He was taken away from Kingsley at once and a Bartra bracelet was forced around his handcuffed hands. He was dragged to the interrogation room and then it started. Question after question was asked and no matter how many times Harry answered them, the same questions were asked again and again.
Harry's head was thumping with pain and his headache was growing more and more as the Aurors yelled and shouted at him. He wasn't at all surprised that the Aurors with him were not from the Order. It seemed that the Minister had worked out who belonged to Dumbledore and was keeping them away from him. Harry was waiting for the Minister to show his face. He was curious to see how the coward acted with him now.
But so far it was only his Aurors that took turns to interrogate Harry. They asked him again and again where he was last night and who could vouch for his whereabouts and when was the last time he saw Nott alive. Harry stopped answering after a while, refusing to repeat himself. That only encouraged the Aurors to force Harry to talk.
Harry wondered where his dad was while all this was happening to him. He knew he couldn't be inside the Ministry. He would have heard about his arrest by now. Harry was certain his dad had been sent on an assignment to keep him out of the way. It turned out that James, Sirius, Remus and Tonks were all sent out on various missions. Fudge had worked out all the people that could cause trouble and had sent them out to keep them out of the way.
It was after two hours of interrogation that Fudge made an appearance. He walked inside with a few Aurors in tow, Moody being one of them. Harry didn't know if having Moody here was comforting or not. Fudge was careful not to look Harry in the eye but the silly triumphant smile he was wearing was very annoying. Harry growled at him but didn't say anything.
"Has he admitted anything yet?" Fudge asked his Auror, a balding man named Jason Lang.
"No Minister. He claims to have been at home with his parents and brother." Lang answered.
"Rubbish!" Fudge exclaimed.
Harry gritted his teeth in anger.
"Have you administered Vertiserum?" Fudge asked.
"No Minister." Lang answered.
Fudge looked at Harry, looking at him for the first time since coming into the room. Harry glared back at him.
"Administer Vertiserum." He ordered.
Harry could have stopped them from giving him the truth potion but before he could do anything, Lang pointed his wand to the Bartra bracelet and Harry only just stopped himself from screaming in pain. The familiar jolt of electricity rushed through him, leaving him breathless. Lang pulled up Harry's head and forced three drops into his mouth, making his mouth sting. Harry recovered from the pain and blinked up to see Fudge smiling at him. Moody was looking rather sick and glared at the Minister.
The questions started again and Harry answered them truthfully. Fudge grew angrier as Harry told the truth of his whereabouts.
"He must have the antidote to Vertiserum. His mother is a potions mistress. I wouldn't be surprised if she gave him the antidote!" Fudge said, his face growing red.
"I think it would be best for you to leave my mother out of this!" Harry hissed at him.
Fudge acted like he hadn't heard Harry but his face grew red. He told Lang to administer more Vertiserum. Lang did so in the same fashion as before. Harry wasn't even planning on resisting the potion but the Auror wasn't taking any chances.
It continued like this, Harry was telling the truth that he was at home in Potter Manor at the time of Nott's death but Fudge was not accepting that as the truth and kept ordering more doses of Vertiserum. After the fourth dose, Moody stepped in.
"Minister, if you give him anymore Vertiserum you will end up poisoning him. If four doses won't make him tell the truth then nothing will!" he growled.
Harry realised that Moody was trying to make it seem that he was not in Harry's favour. Otherwise, Fudge would send him away from Harry's interrogation.
Harry's shoulders were staring to ache as his hands were still cuffed behind him. They were too afraid to untie him and so had left him with his hands tied behind his back. Harry could hardly take the pain building in his head anymore. All the truth potions he was forced to drink were making him feel ill as well.
"I have an idea, Minister." Moody said after a few minutes. "Why don't we ask Mr Potter to perform Priori Incantanteum on his wand? That will force the last spell he cast to be revealed."
"Have you lost it, Auror Moody? I'm not allowing a wand anywhere near him." Fudge exclaimed.
The chair nearest to Fudge suddenly went crashing to the wall behind it. The chair smashed into the wall and collapsed in a heap of wood. Lang and the other Aurors in the room had their wands pointed at Harry instantly. Fudge jumped nearly a foot in the air before realising that he was unharmed. He whirled around to face Harry, breathing like a wounded animal. His eyes were wide and fixed on Harry's smirking face.
"I don't need a wand, Minister. If I wanted to break your sorry neck I could from where I'm sitting. The only reason I'm putting up with this freak show is so you can have your fun and then let me go. I haven't done anything and you know it. So, release me so I can cast Priori Incantanteum and prove that I didn't kill Nott." Harry said everything with such venom it made the hairs on Fudge's neck stand.
He gave the orders for Harry's wand to be brought and for him to be untied. Moody took the handcuffs off Harry and gave him a lopsided grin when Fudge wasn't looking. Harry smirked back at him.
One of the Aurors brought Harry's wand into the room. He placed it on the table so Harry could pick it up. Harry felt all sorts of emotions rush through him at the sight of his wand. It didn't look scratched or damaged in any way. It looked just as new and perfect as it had the first time he had seen it. He remembered the first day it had been given to him. It was given to him by Voldemort. It was very special, this wand. It was the brother wand to Voldemort's wand. He had presented it to Harry with so much love and Harry had felt honoured to have the brother wand to his father's. He remembered how much Bella had moaned and groaned for the rest of that day.
With these memories, Harry reached over and took the wand from the table. As soon as his fingers wrapped around his wand he felt the magic inside him sizzle. He had a lot of love for this wand. Your wand was a part of you, an extension of your body. It was awful to have it taken away from you.
Harry looked up and saw five Aurors in the room with their wands trained on him. Harry cocked up an eyebrow at them.
"You do know that I can take all of you out if I wanted to, right?" he asked them.
The Aurors looked at each other before calling for back up. Another five Aurors rushed inside and trained their wands on Harry.
"Better" Harry mocked before returning his attention to his wand.
"Now, Mr Potter, don't even think about attacking anyone. You are inside the Ministry of Magic, you won't be able to escape from here." The Minister rambled on.
Harry didn't bother even listening to him. He held out his wand and closed his eyes, concentrating on the spell he needed to perform.
"Priori Incantanteum." Harry said the spell quietly.
At once two jets of light came out from the end of Harry's wand and lit up the room. The forms of Ron and Hermione appeared standing in the middle of the room. They were pearly white and looked like transparent ghosts. Everyone in the room watched as the two forms collapsed on the ground after a red light glowed around their chests.
They faded away to leave the room looking darker than before. Harry was feeling very sick with the excessive Vertiserum in his system and his chest ached from the numerous times his Bartra bracelet had been activated but he still found a smile. He had proof that he wasn't involved in Nott's murder.
Fudge was looking rather put out. He stared at Harry and couldn't find any words to say.
"Well, I think this sorts things out. I guess I better be going." Harry said.
"I don't think you will be going anywhere." Fudge replied.
Harry looked momentarily surprised.
"Why not? I just gave you proof that I didn't kill Nott. The last spell performed by this wand was two Stupefy spells that were cast a year ago." Harry said.
"Then explain why your wand was found at the crime scene?" Fudge replied.
"I think that is the Aurors' job, not mine." Harry answered back.
Fudge stared at Harry before his expression hardened. It looked like he had come to a decision.
"Lang, Hartford! Take Mr Potter down to his cell."
Harry stared at him in disbelief.
"For what? What is my crime?" Harry asked.
"For the murder of Mr Nott. You can't fool me. You've done something to your wand. You've altered it so it somehow hides the last spell it performed! I'm not stupid, I figured it out!" Fudge told him with a smug look.
"Figured what out? What are you on about!?" Harry asked heatedly.
"Your wand! You altered it so it only responds to you. If you can do that then you can do pretty much anything to it! Isn't it possible for you to hide the last performed spell so it will only show the second last spell?" Fudge said.
"No! It isn't! You can't do that. It's not possible to alter your wand like that!" Harry spat.
"It also isn't possible to manipulate powerful wards such as the ones placed on Hogwarts and yet you managed to do that! It's unheard of to contain so much raw power and yet here you stand. You were almost killed last year in the battle of Hogsmeade but you healed yourself. That is virtually impossible but you somehow managed to do it! You're somewhat of an anomaly, Mr Potter and I'm not going to fall for one of your tricks. I know you are guilty for Mr Nott's death and I'm going to let you get away with it!" Fudge finished with his eyes bulging out of their sockets.
"You've completely lost it! You don't have any right to keep me here after I have proved to you that I'm innocent!" Harry yelled.
"Oh, innocent! I don't think you and that word can ever come together!" Fudge said while gesturing to his Aurors.
Harry couldn't fight off the Aurors as they used the bracelet to get a hold of him. Harry was sure his chest was going to burst with pain. His arms were pinned to his back again and the handcuffs were back on.
"Take him to his cell and he can wait there until we have run some tests on this wand of his." Fudge said as he pocketed Harry's wand.
The sight made Harry's blood boil. He had his wand. Fudge had taken his wand!
Harry was wrestled out of the door, as he passed Moody he saw him wink at him. Harry knew that he was going to go to Dumbledore but he didn't think there was much he could do for him.
xxx
Harry sat in his cell. It was cold and damp, which only made Harry feel more unwell. He brushed a hand through his hair and rested his head against the wall. At least the Aurors had taken his handcuffs off. He stared at a spot on the wall. He didn't know what the Minister was playing at. How long did he think he could keep him here?
Harry wondered what would happen when his dad found out where he was. Could he do something to help Harry? He figured the answer was probably no. What could he do?
Harry saw a shadow cross his door. The metal door flickered and then changed to a door with metal bars. Harry looked up to see a smirking face and at once he felt fierce hate explode inside him.
"Ah, Mr Potter. How nice of you to join us again!"
Harry smirked as best he could and answered.
"Blake, I see you still have that annoying habit of breathing. I will have to put a stop to that."
Blake narrowed his eyes at Harry but continued to smirk at him.
"You know, for someone at my mercy, you shouldn't be talking like that." He said.
Harry laughed.
"At your mercy? What are you going to do? Glare at me until I cry?" Harry teased. "You don't have the guts to come near me."
Blake's smirk deepened.
"I don't need to be near you to hurt you. I wanted to show you something. It's actually a gift from the Minister. He got it especially for you." Blake said and then pointed his wand out of Harry's line of vision.
Harry waited but nothing seemed to be happening.
"Are you sure you said the spell right? Are you holding your wand the right way around?" he mocked.
Blake glared at him but didn't respond. Harry was about to say another insult when he suddenly felt cold. Really, really cold. It felt like an icy hand had closed around his throat, freezing all of his insides. Harry struggled to breathe. It was getting difficult to take in a breath. He saw his breath mist in the air before him.
Harry knew what was happening. He could almost hear the rattling breath and the horrid stench was filling his nostrils. Harry looked up horrified, to see Blake smiling broadly at him.
"Surprise! We got Dementors to come and stand guard over you. Isn't this going to be fun!" he said.
Harry's body was tensing up. He could feel despair and sadness fill up inside of him. His head was thumping painfully as was his heart. He pushed himself further into the wall behind him.
"You…you can't so this!" Harry managed to hiss at Blake.
"Oh I think we can. You really didn't think the Minister was going to hold you in a cell without proper arrangements, did you? We all know how you can use your powers to escape. This way the Dementors will keep you nice and weakened until we decide what to do with you." Blake informed him.
Harry was shaking already. He tried to stop his trembling but it was no use. His breath caught in his chest as he saw the two dark cloaked figures appear behind Blake.
"Well, I guess I should go and leave them to their job. Enjoy!" Blake laughed and turned to leave. He changed the door back to the blank metal door, blocking out the Dementors appearances but sadly not their effects.
Harry pushed himself further into the wall behind him. He had his hands pressed against his ears, trying vainly to stop the sounds of his own screams ringing in his head. He tried to use a wandless patronus charm but he knew that it wouldn't work. He needed a wand for that to work successfully.
Harry fell on his hands and knees and he bit his lip to stop himself from crying out as his most terrifying and worst memories all came at him in full force, at once.
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I know, awful cliffie but I'm forced by habit :)
Please review to tell me what you think! Cheers!!