Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.
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Chapter Thirty Four
The fireplace at the Burrow erupted in green flames before Damien came tumbling out. He landed on his hands and knees. The only person in the kitchen at the time was Molly Weasley. She hurried over to him.
"Oh, Damien dear, what a nice surpr-" she was cut off mid sentence as Damien looked up at her. She saw his tear soaked face and felt her heart skip a beat. What had happened now?
"Mrs Weasley!" Damien's voice was horribly choked.
"Damien! What's wrong?" she asked in concern as she picked the boy up from the ground and steadied him to his feet. "Is everything alright? Is your mum and dad okay? Is Harry okay?" Molly asked to try and determine why the boy was so upset.
At the mention of Harry, Damien tensed up and his words failed him. He shook his head, as he was too choked up to say anything.
"What did he do now?" Mrs Weasley asked, thinking that he had probably run away again.
"He was arrested and taken by the Ministry!" Damien managed to say through the lump in his throat.
Molly wasn't expecting that. She was stunned speechless. She quickly ushered him into a chair.
"What happened?" she asked worriedly.
"Kingsley! He and his team of Aurors came and accused Harry of Nott's murder. They took him away! But Harry's innocent! He didn't do anything." Damien told her.
At hearing Damien's voice, Ron and Ginny came into the kitchen. They heard what happened and both were by Damien's side in an instant.
"Nott's dead! He was murdered?!" Ron asked looking very pale. He may have been a Slytherin and the one responsible for Harry's suffering, but he was still only a seventeen year old boy. Seventeen was hardly an age to die.
Damien nodded his head.
"The Ministry thinks it was Harry who killed him but Harry didn't! I know he didn't, he was home the whole time. The Ministry are pinning this on Harry because they don't have any other suspect!" Damien said emotionally.
"Where are your parents?" Molly asked in concern.
"Mum's trying to get a hold of dad. He's not answering her calls. She doesn't know where he is! She's gone to the Ministry to try and see Harry." Damien replied, his heart thumping madly with worry.
"Why is she trying to get a hold of your dad? Where did your dad go?" Ron asked.
"He was called last night and told he had to come back to work early. Fudge only did that so he wouldn't be home when they came to arrest Harry." Damien told them. He was furious at the Minister for playing such a dirty game with them.
"Why did Harry go with the Aurors?" Ron asked, confused as to why Harry would let the Aurors arrest him. He could have easily fought them.
"Mum was trying to stop the Aurors from arresting Harry, they were going to arrest her as well so Harry, he…he let himself…he…" Damien couldn't go on. He put his head into his hands and tried futilely to calm down.
"It's a good thing Harry didn't fight them. It would have only made things worse. They would have suggested that Harry was undeniably guilty as he was resisting arrest." Molly said while rubbing Damien's back in an effort to calm him down.
Ron and Ginny shared a look with each other. They didn't know Harry could do something like that to save his mum.
"We have to do something! We have to help him." Damien said urgently. He turned to look at his best friends. They all knew that despite what Mrs Weasley said, the situation couldn't be any worse. It was no secret that Fudge wanted to get rid of Harry. Merlin knew what the Minister would do to him.
Damien tried not to think about what Harry was going through right now. He knew his brother could easily piss the Minister and his Aurors off. He was too hot headed to know when to stop pushing others. He prayed Harry was okay.
"I'm calling Hermione." Ron said and hurried off to use the mobile phone Hermione had got him. Hermione had spent a few weeks teaching Ron how to use it properly. That way they could keep in contact the muggle way.
"I'm going to call your father. He might be able to tell us what's going on." Molly said as she got up from the table. She was just reaching for the floo powder when the fireplace turned green again and Lily stepped out from the flames.
"Lily! What happened at the Ministry? Did you find out what's happening to Harry?" Molly asked, hurrying to her friend's side.
Damien and Ginny had rushed from their chairs and were at her side instantly. Damien noticed that Lily was looking both worried and angry beyond belief. That couldn't mean good news.
"The Aurors won't let me speak to Fudge. He refused to see me! They won't tell me where Harry is or what's happening to him! They won't even say where they sent James! Sirius, Remus and Tonks are also missing. Kingsley said they were all sent on bogus missions to keep them out of the way! I swear when I'm finished with Fudge, there'll be nothing left of him!" Lily spat in anger.
"How can the Minister get away with doing something like this? It's outrageous!" Molly said, feeling anger and worry on behalf of her friend.
"I don't know what he thinks he's doing!" Lily said.
She turned to Damien and saw the look of terror on his face. She reached out and hugged him, offering comfort to him as well trying to get some herself.
"Don't worry, Damy. Harry will be fine. He's strong. He'll be fine." she whispered to him.
"I was just going to contact Arthur, he could tell us what's going on." Molly told Lily as she reached for the floo powder.
Again, before she could grab the box holding the sand like powder, the green flames came to life and Arthur Weasley's head was sitting amongst the flames.
"Arthur! I was just about to call you." Molly said, surprised to see him. Lily, Damien and Ginny dropped to their knees at once so they could speak to Arthur.
"Dad! Have you seen Harry, is he alright?" Ginny asked at the same time as Lily and Damien asked the same question.
Their sentences came out over one another, making no sense at all but despite that, Arthur knew what they were asking.
"I haven't seen him, Fudge is insistent that only his chosen Aurors deal with Harry. From what I've heard from Moody, it seems that Harry's given evidence to suggest that he's not connected to Nott's murder. But the Minister isn't accepting it. He has his mind set on Harry being Nott's murderer. He's imprisoned him until he can figure out a way to condemn him." Arthur told them heavily, his face showing his distress.
"He can't do that!" Ginny cried at once.
"He's the Minister, he can do anything." Arthur replied miserably.
"But he can't hold Harry there if he's innocent. If Harry's given evidence that he's not guilty then the Minister has no grounds to keep him imprisoned." Lily cried.
"Well that's just the thing, isn't it? We know that Harry's innocent because Moody is from the Order and told us the truth. Fudge is saying that Harry couldn't prove his innocence. He's not going to disclose the fact that Harry gave him proof and he just ignored it. And by the time an enquiry takes place, it would be too late." Arthur answered grimly.
"But Arthur, surely there's…" Molly started but was cut off.
"Molly, I can't talk for long." His eyes fixed on Lily and she felt a shiver run through her. He was looking at her with such urgency it was making her skin crawl with dread. "Lily, you have to get back here right now and don't leave until you speak with Fudge and get to Harry, no matter what they say to you! We're trying to find out where James and the rest were sent so we can bring them back. Moody has already alerted Dumbledore. He should be at the Ministry as we speak."
It was in that moment that Lily knew something awful was happening to Harry. She could feel it in her bones after Arthur looked at her with concern. Arthur wasn't the type to suggest to anyone that they come to the Ministry and badger the Minister until he spoke to you. This had to mean the worst.
"What's happening to him?" Lily asked, her voice coming out in a whisper, her eyes fixed to Arthur's worried face. "What is he doing to Harry?"
Arthur looked at her before his eyes darted to Ginny and then Damien, uncertain if he should tell them. He gave in and took a deep breath.
"Fudge has Dementors guarding Harry."
xxx
The air was so cold it felt like he was submersed in an icy lake. His breathing was heavy and constricted. The more he tried to fight the cold the deeper it penetrated. Harry moaned painfully as memory after memory came at him. It was futile to try and fight them. He had tried again and again in the last few hours to block his memories and to try and conjure a mind block, a defence of some sort that could protect him. But mind blocks didn't work on Dementors. They were still there, standing in front of Harry's door, their presence causing all of Harry' past horrors to come to life once again.
Harry saw Voldemort die, he saw Bella get Kissed by the Dementor Voldemort had conjured. He saw her lifeless eyes staring beyond him in Hogsmeade, her funeral, her grave. He saw Nagini's bloodied, severed body in his bed. His past came roaring back to life and he could see himself getting beaten when he was only a child. He could feel the blows as if they were raining down on him at this moment. His body ached and throbbed and his head felt like it was about to burst. He was in sheer agony.
Harry knew he would be driven to insanity if this went on any longer. It was perhaps fear of that happening to him that kept him fighting. He couldn't produce a patronus without a wand so the only defence he had was to try and fight through the fog of nightmarish memories and try and anchor his mind to the few happy memories he had. He tried thinking about his life when he was with Voldemort but all that did was make more hurtful memories rush at him. He knew that Voldemort only pretended to love him so all his happy memories were tainted with his deceit.
Harry cried out as another memory of his childhood resurfaced. He winced and braced himself against the beating that had happened thirteen years ago. Harry saw James come at him with his belt and the memory of the metal buckle ripping into his back was making Harry physically sick.
"It's not him. It's not dad. He didn't do this, he didn't do this." Harry repeated to himself again and again.
Suddenly the image of James changed and Harry saw Voldemort standing in his place. The sudden change made Harry lose his breath. How did that happen? He saw the memory as it truly was. That had never happened before.
Harry could feel the effects of the Dementors getting stronger, almost as if they could tell Harry was fighting it. Harry desperately started thinking about James, and about his mum and Damien, of all the good times he had shared with his brother before they had fallen out. He forced himself to withdraw from the memory of being beaten and instead focused all his strength into remembering the first time he had seen Damien. He remembered how he had snuck into his room in Grimmauld place just so he could see him. Harry focused hard and through the fog of nightmarish memories came Damien's face, bright and clear.
Harry kept bringing up different memories. He forced to bring up memories of the good times he had had with his family. The rare times he had not fallen out with his dad. He fought to remember the day they had spent in a muggle town, the shopping trip Lily had taken them on and the way she laughed when all three men were in matching outfits. The sound his mum's laughter was cutting through the sound of his own screams. He could feel the grip of terror ease slightly from his chest. He didn't know if he was imagining it or if the air around him was getting warmer. It was only a small difference but it was something.
Harry started bringing up memories of how James would coach him and Damien in Quidditch moves. The way James and Damien would spend enthusiastic hours talking to him about Quidditch teams and which was better.
All of a sudden, in the midst of memories of family came another memory, one that he held very close to him. He saw Ginny lying next to him, smiling and teasing him to get up. He could almost feel her warm breath on his face, see her eyes sparkle with mischief as she leaned closer to him. The memory changed to later that same morning when Harry had grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her close. 'I don't care what anyone thinks, that was the best wake up call I have ever received.' His own words rang in his ears. Harry forcefully brought up memories of him and Ginny, the way they had danced at the Christmas Ball together, all the times Ginny had wordlessly comforted him even by just being next to him, the way she used to lean her head against his shoulder and sit with him. He remembered the way she used to kiss him, it always filled him with so much warmth. Harry was certain that had he had a wand with him at this moment, he would have conjured the most powerful patronus ever.
xxx
Ginny was sitting in her kitchen, amongst the other three teens. Hermione had rushed over at once following Ron's phone call. All four were worried into silence. None of them could find anything comforting to say. Harry was being guarded by Dementors! If there was one person in this world that should never have to face a Dementor it would have been Harry. His past was filled with nothing but horror.
Lily had rushed to the Ministry instantly after learning what was happening to Harry. Molly had contacted as many Order members as she could. Most of the members that were Aurors were already as the Ministry. There was still no contact made with James or the others. Ginny cast a worried glance around the room. Her mum was sitting with Alice Longbottom, Nigel playing quietly beside her. Neville had arrived with his mum and baby brother. He hadn't said anything to anyone. He stood in the corner, keeping an eye on Nigel while his mum was speaking with Molly. Many other members were sitting in the room, speaking quietly with one another.
"We have to do something! We can't let Fudge get away with this! It's atrocious that he thinks he can treat Harry like this!" Alice was saying heatedly. Ginny caught the unshed tears in her eyes and looked away. She knew that Alice cared a great deal about Harry.
"Mrs Longbottom is right." Hermione said, looking up at Ron and Damien. "We can't just sit here and wait until someone else does something about this! We have to do something to help him!" she finished.
"What can we do, Hermione? If Professor Dumbledore can't do anything, what can we do?" Ron said dejectedly. They knew that Dumbledore had failed to get Harry out because otherwise Harry would have been home by now.
"I think if we've learnt anything from last year, it's that we can do a lot more that Professor Dumbledore and the Order." Ginny said quietly.
The other three shared a look with each other. It was true. They all had teamed with Harry and together they had figured out, tracked down and destroyed all of Voldemort's Horcruxes. The Order of the Phoenix and Professor Dumbledore hadn't managed to even figure out what they were.
"I've had enough! I'm going to the Ministry, and I'm not leaving without Harry!" Damien said as he shot up from his chair.
"Damien, wait! Don't do that. They'll just end up arresting you as well!" Hermione said, getting up from the table and grabbing a hold of him.
"I'm not going to sit here any longer! If things were reversed and I had been taken by the Ministry, I can bet my life that Harry wouldn't have sat around and waited, he would have risked everything to help me, that's exactly what I'm going to do!" Damien shouted and freed himself from Hermione's grip.
"Damy, wait!" Ginny said and stood up.
"I'm not listening to any of you. And you of all people, shouldn't stop me, Ginny. Not after all the times Harry's saved your life!" Damien said, upset that even she was trying to stop him.
"I'm not stopping you. I'm coming with you." Ginny said, giving him a strange look, as if to say 'why would I stop you?'
"None of you are going anywhere. The last thing we need to do is give the Aurors more people to arrest." Mrs Weasley spoke up from her seat.
"But mum, we have to do something!" Ron said, he too had decided to go with Damien and Ginny.
"What good will it do to have you there? How's that going to help Harry?" Mrs Weasley asked.
There was no answer to her question. All four teens looked glumly at the ground, trying to rack their brains into coming up with a successful plan to help free Harry. Unexpectedly, Neville stepped forward.
"I have an idea that might help Harry." He said quietly, leaving the rest to stare at him in surprise.
xxx
Lily and Dumbledore were standing in the main atrium, arguing with the Aurors. They hadn't managed to speak with Fudge yet as the Aurors weren't letting them past.
"I'm sorry but the Minister is unavailable!" the Auror named Davidson told Lily and Dumbledore.
"Make him available then!" Lily snapped at him. "I'm not leaving until I see him! He's in for a world of pain!"
"Is that a threat to the Minister's life?" Davidson asked, reaching for his wand. The surrounding Aurors already had there wands pointed at Lily.
Dumbledore took over, speaking remarkably calmly for how he was feeling.
"I assure you Auror Davidson, Mrs Potter is not threatening anyone's life. But I am sure you can understand her frustration. You have arrested her son and are not allowing her the right to see him when the law clearly states that until a sentence has been passed, family members of an accused can meet with them. And on top of that you are abusing your power by keeping him imprisoned and guarded by Dementors." Dumbledore's tone had hardened so much that by the time he finished speaking, Davidson was looking at him like a school boy looks at his Headmaster after getting caught doing mischief.
Composing himself the best he could, Davidson stuttered back a response.
"I…I assure you sir, there are no Dementors here at the Ministry. I don't know why you would think that." He laughed nervously.
Dumbledore continued to look at him, without a hint of laughter or pleasantry.
"I want to see my son!" Lily said, her heart tearing at the thought of him suffering. Dumbledore had told her that Moody and Kingsley were looking for Harry's cell to remove the Dementors from there. So far, there had been no success. They couldn't find where Fudge had placed Harry.
"As I have already told you, it is impossible to meet with him as he is still being questioned." Davidson said without meeting Lily's eyes.
"You're lying! It's been five hours since he was arrested! You're telling me he is still being questioned?!" Lily asked with venom.
Davidson had had enough. He fixed Lily with a hard stare.
"I'm not going to repeat myself again to you, Mrs Potter. Your son is accused of murder and will not be permitted to speak to anyone until the first part of the investigation is completed. I'm afraid you are going to have to leave as you are just wasting the Ministry's time."
"I'm not going anywhere until you let me speak to Harry or to Fudge!" Lily spat at him.
"Minister Fudge is not available to speak to at this moment." Davidson corrected her.
"Then we will wait here until he is available to speak to us." Dumbledore responded before Lily could say anything.
Davidson looked at Dumbledore, apparently unsure of how to speak to the legendry wizard.
"Look, Dumbledore sir, I respect you just as much as the rest, so I really don't want to escort you out of the building. Please take your leave." He said with a sincere look at Dumbledore.
"I appreciate your request but I'm afraid that I can't leave without speaking to the Minister or to Harry. Thank you." Dumbledore said.
"The Minister is a very busy man! He can't drop what he's doing to come and speak to two people!" Davidson said with irritation.
Before either Dumbledore or Lily could respond to that, there was a loud noise heard behind them. They turned around to see the phone box come crashing down. It opened to reveal Damien, Neville, Ron, Hermione and Ginny. They walked out of the phone box, hard scowls on their faces. Before anyone could say anything, numerous fireplaces erupted and began spitting people out. Lily turned to see Fred and George Weasley come out after each other, Bill and Fleur came out of another one. David and Darrell Bones appeared out at the same time from two fireplaces.
As Lily watched in numbed belief, more and more people started coming out from the fireplaces. Most were students from Hogwarts. Lily recognised her students. As she watched, Parvati and Padma Patil, Dean, Seamus, Justin, Susan, Angelina and even Colin and Dennis Creevey came out from the fireplaces. They stood up, dusting themselves off. There were many, many more appearing from the fireplaces. It seemed most of the seventh years had arrived, with the exception of the Slytherin house. Just as she realised this, she saw another figure appear from the green flames, Draco Malfoy brushed his robes off and looked around the atrium. He spotted Damien and hurried over to him, his expression one of worry and concern. So that was one Slytherin amongst the rest. The phone box had made another trip and had brought with it, Molly, Alice and even young Nigel.
Lily didn't know what was going on and one look at Dumbledore and she knew he didn't either. She saw Damien, Hermione, and Neville pull out something from their pockets and waved their wands across it. Suddenly large banners and posters enlarged themselves and appeared in their hands. All had one thing written across it, 'Free Harry Potter!'
Lily turned to look at Davidson with a smirk. The Auror was gaping at the large crowd that had appeared in the atrium. All the Aurors were staring at the sight dumbfounded at the angry crowd.
"I think the Minister is going to have to make time for all of us." Lily said, enjoying the look of distress flicker across the Auror's face.
xxx
Harry didn't know how long he had been here with the Dementors. It felt like days to him. He continued to fight their effects but was losing the battle. His happy memories were staring to drift away as the strength to keep them at the forefront of his mind was draining him. He could feel the cold seep into his lungs and every breath he took seemed to cost him more and more strength.
Slowly, he realised that the cold started to ease and he could feel the icy air warm up. The Dementors were leaving. He could hear their rattling breaths fade away, as if they were moving away from him. A shaky gasp of relief left him and it was then he realised he was trembling from head to foot. His body was covered in sweat and he was sure that there were tears mixed with sweat on his face. He brought up a shaky hand and tried to wipe his face clean.
The door opened and Harry found that he was wishing for his dad to appear at the door. He never realised that he was subconsciously calling out to James this whole time. But it wasn't James who appeared at the door. It was Blake.
Harry tried to look more composed and collected but after suffering hours of torment with Dementors, he wasn't in any shape or form to look collected. He was lying on the dirty ground, his body still trembling from the after effects of the Dementors. He was covered in cold sweat and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't speak without his voice shaking.
Blake grinned broadly and walked inside. He slowly circled Harry's fallen form and jeered at him.
"Ah, Mr Potter. You don't know how good it feels to see you like this." He said as he stared down at Harry, smiling so hard, you could see every one of his teeth.
With great effort, Harry glared back at Blake.
"Careful, you don't want to wet your pants now." Harry taunted. His voice was shaky but the comment still wiped the smirk off the Auror's face.
Blake glowered before kicking Harry in the ribs. Harry held in his cry and instead turned to glare at Blake.
"You're just as stupid as your big headed father! Both of you don't know what's good for you!" he spat at Harry.
Harry panted to get his breath back. He looked up at him.
"As big headed as he may be, he could still kick your sorry ass any day." He said, enjoying the way Blake turned red at the insult.
"Why you son of a bitch!" Blake yelled and aimed another kick at Harry, this one aimed at his head.
This time, Harry was prepared. He caught Blake's foot and pushed him back, causing the Auror to lose his footing. As soon as Blake was on the ground, Harry rolled away from him.
"Accio wand" Harry cried out, trying to get Blake's wand.
Unfortunately, Blake had a tight grip on his wand and blocked Harry's wandless spell. He hissed another curse and Harry cried out as agonising pain shot through his shoulder and into his chest. Harry couldn't breathe due to the pain caused by the Bartra bracelet.
"You really think you can outsmart me?" Blake asked as he kicked Harry repeatedly while holding him under the curse.
Harry could hardly feel the blows, the pain from the Bartra was much worse. Finally Blake released him from the curse. He watched as Harry tried to recover, enjoying every minute of it.
"You don't get it do you, Potter! It's over. You and your father have had all the good luck up until now. Now it's time to start suffering. I can't wait until he comes back from that mission of his and finds out that his son was tortured and Kissed by Dementors." He let out a laugh at his own words. "The famous Auror James Potter will finally break when he hears that!"
Harry was finding it hard to breathe. He couldn't believe the Minister was going to arrange for him to get Kissed by a Dementor.
"Does Fudge really think he will get away by doing this?!" Harry asked him.
"Fudge? He doesn't even know it's going to happen. I'm going to tell him after the Dementors are done with you. He'll believe me. 'Oh so sorry, Minister but the Dementors, they went out of control. Before I could do anything they swooped in and gave Potter the Kiss. Oh, so sad, yes I know.' I'll feed him the usual rubbish and he'll buy it. He always does." Blake finished with a smug look.
Harry couldn't believe Blake was going to do this. He was going to risk everything and kill him, just so he could get to James. Before Harry could do anything, Blake turned to the door and called out to the Dementors.
"You can come in now, he's ready." He yelled.
Harry felt the cold seep down his back and it felt like he was paralysed. Within a matter of seconds, the Dementors had come inside his cell and were darting towards him. It seemed they were eager to get their hands on him. Harry broke out of his trance and backed away as far as he could go. He had no strength left inside him. He had been weakened by being held in a cell with Dementors for so long now.
The memories were already blinding Harry, taking over his senses so all he could see and hear were the dying screams and images of Voldemort. He could smell the stench of the rotting flesh belonging to the Dementors as they swooped over him. Through the screams Harry heard a sound that made his blood boil. He heard Blake laughing as he enjoyed watching Harry suffering.
Harry's eyesight cleared up at he looked over to see Blake standing in the corner, laughing at him. The two Dementors were hovering over him, one of them had already lowered it's hood to reveal the ghastly gaping hole that was it's mouth.
It all happened in a moment. Harry was never able to control when his powers took over. It was linked with his instinctual magic and perhaps that was why he couldn't control it. Harry's emerald eyes darkened until they were black. Blake stopped laughing and the look of fear on his face was very rewarding. Harry reached towards Blake and made a slashing gesture towards him and Blake went flying across the cell. He smashed into the wall and fell to the ground in a heap. He had been knocked out. Harry's attention went back to the Dementor that was trying to hold him down so he could administer the Kiss.
Harry reached out and hissed, "Accio wand" and Blake's wand came flying into Harry's outstretched hand.
Harry pointed the wand at the Dementor, who was so close to him that Harry could almost see into it's wide stretched mouth.
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry yelled as loud as he could. He brought the image of Damien training with him to his mind and that was all it took for Harry's patronus to come thundering out of Blake's wand.
The silver serpent slithered and twisted it's body in the air and wrapped itself around the Dementor nearest to Harry. The Dementor let out a horrid sound of pain and flew away from Harry instantly. The silver serpent turned and hissed angrily at the other Dementor. It bore it's fangs at the Dementor as if giving a warning, it's loud hiss ringing in the cell. The Dementor didn't wait for it to come any nearer. It took off at once, leaving Harry alone in the cell.
Harry was breathing hard and shaking from head to foot. He slowly stood up, his legs trembling under him. He moved painfully towards the silver patronus that was already starting to fade. He looked at the form of his patronus and felt a stab of pain in his chest that had nothing to do with the Bartra bracelet. His hand rose and he petted the large serpent's head lovingly. The snake moved into Harry's touch.
"Nagini" Harry hissed in parseltongue.
The serpent looked up at Harry. It was already fading away into silver mist.
"Young Master" it hissed just before it faded into nothingness.
Harry's hand was still outstretched and he let it fall to his side. He looked around at the fallen body of Blake and he could feel hate boil inside him. He decided not to think about what to do with him right now. He had to get out first. He gripped tightly onto his wand and hurried out of the cell, his legs trembling so badly he had to grip onto the wall for support.
xxx
Fudge thundered his way into the atrium. This was ludicrous. Never before had a protest been staged in the Ministry of Magic. It was downright disrespectful. And for whom, for Harry bloody Potter! It was unacceptable.
Fudge came to stand at the doors and saw that his grand atrium was filled with Hogwarts students, holding up posters and banners. His eyes narrowed in anger as he spotted the Headmaster of that very school standing with Lily Potter, looking amusedly around him.
"What is the meaning of this!" he asked as he walked over with his usual army of Aurors surrounding him.
"What does it look like, Minister? It's a protest for how you have treated Harry!" one of the students shouted out.
Lily and Dumbledore hurried over at the sight of the Minister.
"Fudge! Where is Harry? How could you allow Dementors to guard him?!" Lily erupted as soon as she was near him.
The Aurors that were protecting the Minister moved forward to stop her from getting near him.
"Don't even think about it!" she spat at an Auror as he took out his wand.
"You are forgetting who you are speaking to Lily Potter. I am your Minister! You will address me as such!" Fudge seethed.
"Minister? You haven't acted like a Minister. You're acting like a tyrant!" Lily yelled at him, trying to get past the bodyguard.
"How dare you!" Fudge said, appalled at how he was being spoken too.
"Minister, you have to tell us where you are keeping Harry. It would be in your best interest to let Harry go. He's given you evidence of his innocence and you have to take that into account. Keeping him locked in a cell, guarded by Dementors isn't going to do you any good." Dumbledore said in his usual polite way. "In fact, I think it may do you more harm." He added as he cast a glance behind him at the angry crowd.
Fudge looked at the protestors and paled slightly.
"I am doing what is best for my people. He is dangerous and has a past record of…"
"His past is in the past. Since Harry killed Voldemort he has done nothing to harm anyone. If anything he has helped the wizarding community. You saw what happened on Valentine's Day in Hogsmeade. Harry saved numerous lives that day." Dumbledore said the last part loud enough for everyone to hear.
Fudge's eyes dilated in obvious fear. He remembered that day very well. He had never been more afraid in his life.
"I remember that day perfectly well. And it would do all of you well to remember how he killed those Vampires! The dark magic he displayed was highly disturbing. He is capable of doing terrifying things, and I'm not going to sit back and let him follow in his 'father's' footsteps!" Fudge finished, fear clearly present in his eyes.
Lily was struggling with the Auror restraining her. If she could have, she would have slapped the Minister for saying such a thing.
"Voldemort was not Harry's father. Harry's accepted that, perhaps you should too." Dumbledore said in a low and dangerous voice.
xxx
Harry struggled to keep on walking. He didn't realise that the Dementors had affected him this badly. He tried to think of the best route to escape. The problem was that he had no idea where he was. He was in a secluded part of the Ministry. He remembered when he was brought in last time, he was held in a wing that had numerous cells. He was in a different place this time.
He was walking painfully, guiding himself along by the walls. Just as he reached the end of the corridor he felt like someone had plunged him into an icy lake. His whole body numbed with cold. He fell to his knees and cried out as pain engulfed him. So many images were flashing in his mind that he couldn't make sense of any of them. He could tell only one thing, they were all bad memories.
Working up the remaining strength left in his body, Harry looked up and saw what was wrong. The two Dementors had come back, and this time they were mad. Harry didn't know how he could tell as they had no visible features but somehow he could just tell. The way they were coming towards him, Harry could tell they weren't going to leave him alone until they had devoured his soul. Their effect was almost ten fold and it weighed on Harry, pushing him deeper and deeper into despair.
Harry gripped onto the wand and pointed it at the Dementor. Before he could say anything, the Dementor swooped over him. Harry's breath caught in his chest and he fell onto his back. He was completely exhausted. He had been fighting these Dementors for the last four hours now and they had drained him of all his strength. The wand rolled out from his slack fingers but Harry couldn't muster up any energy to hold onto it.
The Dementors were hovering over Harry, they reached out with their rotting fingers and grabbed a hold of Harry's face. They were pinning him to the ground. All Harry could do was struggle to breathe. Many images flashed in his mind, all the memories he had been forced to live through in the last four hours came back at him.
The Dementors leaned in closer to Harry, forcing his mouth open. Suddenly the Dementor was pushed aside and a silver blur passed over Harry's eyes. He coughed painfully, forcing himself to focus on what was happening. He could tell that the Dementors were being driven away from him. With every muscle in his body protesting, Harry pushed his head up and saw the silver patronus in the form of a great shaggy dog. It was chasing away the Dementors, away from Harry's fallen form.
Harry knew he had seen that particular form before. His pain racked mind wasn't clearing up enough for him to figure out where he had seen it. As the Dementors fled away from the bear like dog patronus, it came to Harry, where he had seen it before. The patronus was very similar to Sirius' animagus form. It was his dad's patronus. It was his James' patronus. Harry remembered seeing it the night Nagini was found in his bed. His dad had sent his patronus to get help. That meant that his dad was here. He had chased away the Dementors.
Sure enough, Harry felt strong hands grab a hold of him and turn him over. He saw the very pale and terrified face of his dad looking at him.
"Harry! Oh, God! Are you okay? Oh, please be okay!" he said in a shaky voice.
Harry couldn't find his voice to answer. He nodded his head to show he was okay. James took Harry into a strong embrace, thanking Merlin that he was okay. Harry could hear the fear and relief in his dad's voice. Harry hugged James as well. He realised how close he came to never seeing him or his mum or Damien again.
Harry was trembling, he felt like he would never get rid of the cold that had seeped inside of him. James unbuttoned his cloak and in one swift move he had wrapped it around Harry.
"Come on, Harry. We're going home." James said as he helped Harry to his feet.
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There you go. No cliffie this time. Let me know what you think. Cheers.
Note : I was going to make the chapter longer but my kids wanted my attention. Zara is six months now and is cutting her first tooth, so she's wanting my attention more than usual. Please excuse any mistakes as I wrote this while taking care of a screaming six month old and a three year old!
(I have a note on my homepage for all of those who reviewed the last chapter and complained about the angst. Please read it. Thank you.)