Hi! Sorry i'm a bit late with this. I didn't have this chapter done yet so i had to finish it.

Please read and enjoy!

Walking Free

Telling

'Are you sure this is ok?' Harry asked Remus as they made their way to Remus and Tonks' house.

'Yes, Harry, I'm sure!'

'And Tonks said yes?' Harry asked Remus for the third time that morning.

Remus turned his head away from Harry before answering, 'Yeah, she's fine with it' he muttered. 'Though, maybe you should just wait outside while I go in first.' Both men were silent for a while.

'You didn't ask her, did you?'

'I…well, I did, but she didn't exactly say yes. Then again, she didn't say no either!'

'Right, er…maybe we shouldn't do this?'

'Don't worry, Harry. Everything will be fine.' Remus put an arm around Harry's shoulders and gently propelled him forward.

'Well, this is the place.' Remus said, pointing to the house in front of them. He didn't wait for a reply before entering. Harry stared up at the white stone that sparkled in the autumn sun. The front windows were covered by white lace curtains and decorated with tubs of brightly coloured flowers. The house was quaint and looked as if it had just come out of a child's story book. It even had a white picket fence to finish off the picturesque scene.

Harry was pulled from his thoughts as Remus beckoned him through the front door. The man patted him on the back and led him into the sitting room.

'Just wait here, Harry. I'll be right through.'

The werewolf disappeared off into the kitchen, were Harry supposed Tonks would be. After a few moments of silence, a loud clatter shook Harry from his seat. Then came the shouting.

'Remus! What did I say?'

The man muttered something in response but was too quiet for Harry to hear. Harry had never really heard the man raise his voice to anyone and couldn't imagine Remus would do so to his own wife.

'Oh you'll be sorry when I get my hands on you, mister!' Tonks almost growled. 'I said that I didn't want him here. I know how much you want to help and I do too, but not in my own home.'

Despite feeling hurt at Tonks' words, Harry's inquisitive side pulled him closer to the kitchen door, hoping to get the whole of the conversation.

'Tonks, please. I need your help. Harry needs your help. I know this seems like a lot to deal with but it's only for a short while.' Remus' voice seemed to sooth the irate woman as she gave a tired sigh. 'Anyway, I thought that you believed Harry was innocent?'

'I do, Remmy, you know I do,' Tonks cried out then lowered her voice to a whisper. 'but I just don't want to risk anything, now that we had Teddy.'

'Harry won't harm him.'

'Yeah, I guess but what if You Know Who sends his Death Eaters after him? Or what if He comes himself.' she cried frantically.

Through the crack in the door, Harry could see Remus pull his wife into a fierce hug, placing delicate kisses atop her head. He soothed her with gentle words and rubbed her back until her tears stopped and she stood straight.

'I'm sorry.' she whispered.

'Don't be.' Remus held her face in his hands and kissed her softly.

Harry scuttled back into the sitting room, not wanting to spy on the couple's private moment and settled himself into an armchair.

When Tonks entered the room minutes later, Harry stood to greet her.

'Hello, Harry.' she said, surprisingly cheerfully.

'Hi. Sorry to barge in on you like this. I can leave if you want. I don't want to cause any trouble.'

'Nonsense.' Tonks waved a hand in dismissal of the idea. 'You can stay here as long as you like.' She gave Harry a once over before smiling up at him. 'You sure have changed since I last saw you!'

Then Remus appeared and placed a hand on her shoulder. 'He has changed, hasn't he?' he agreed with a smile.

Harry felt his cheeks heat up and was about to make a feeble reply when a muffled cry made the three of them jump in surprise.

'Oh, Teddy.' Tonks gasped. 'I need to go feed him. I totally forgot!' She ran from the room, leaving the two men to themselves. After a few moments they heard a loud thump followed by a hissed curse. 'It's okay!' Tonks called down the stairs, 'I just tripped on the stairs again…stupid steps…getting in the way all the time…'

Remus tried to hold back a grin as his accident-prone wife's mutterings drifted away upstairs.

The three adults sat at the dinner table, sipping on their rather thick tomato soup. Harry nearly choked on a large lump of…something, and almost spat it out but noticed Remus' pleading look. The man had warned Harry of Tonks' concoctions before they entered the kitchen for dinner. Apparently her cooking wasn't quite up to scratch yet but that she was teaching herself for when Teddy was older. Sadly, the many hours of practice had not paid off and on many nights Remus found himself going to bed hungry.

Harry surreptitiously swallowed the large chunk before placing his spoon down and starting up a conversation, giving him reason not to eat anymore.

'So, when's Teddy's birthday?'

Tonks didn't seem to hear him as she was rather engrossed in an unidentified, black lump sitting on her spoon.

Remus tapped her arm to get her attention and indicated to Teddy who was dropping off to sleep in his bowl of baby food.

Tonks jumped up and began to dab at her son's face. 'Sorry, what did you say?'

'When's his birthday?' Harry repeated.

'Oh, um, he'll be two in June. The 15th, right?' she said as she turned to her husband.

Remus nodded, suppressing a smile.

'You can hold him if you like?' Tonks suggested to Harry.

The raven grinned and held out his hands for the young child. Tonks placed him gently into his arms where the boy soon fell asleep, snuggled up to Harry's sweater.

'I think he likes you!'

Not long after dinner, Harry had decided to leave the couple and their son alone for the night. He trudged up the stairs, towel in hand, to the bathroom. Once he had turned on the taps and the bath water began to rise, Harry went to the spare room to undress. Wrapping the towel round his waist, Harry walked back into the room and froze, terrified. The bath water rose up the sides of the tub as he stood and watched it. His heart pounded in his chest and breathing became painful. His eyes unfocused and his head began to ache. His body swayed and he gripped the wall tightly. Resting his face against the cool tiles Harry tried to get his body back under control but the memories started flooding back.

His face was covered with some sort of bag. He could see slight movements through the holes in the fabric and was only able to hear his captors when they stood above him. A rough hand grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him up into a kneeling position. At the same time, another hand ripped the bad from his head. He closed his eyes and groaned as the bright lights from wands were pointed in his direction. Taking a few moments to adjust to the light, he recognised the faces in front of him. Lucius Malfoy had his hand firmly gripped on Harry's upper arm as he dragged him across the room to a basin full of ice cold water while Bellatrix stood beside him; a large smile spread across her face.

Before he could understand what was happening, his head was forcibly submerged into the freezing water. Harry sucked in air as his face entered the liquid. A big mistake. He began to choke, struggling to be released from the grip on his head and arm. He started panicking; he could breath. His face began to go numb. He couldn't move. He couldn't breath. He was going to die. Just as this thought crossed his mind, the hand released the pressure on his skull and his head shot out of the water. He coughed and spluttered, struggling to get enough air into his lungs. He tried to move away from the two figures but his hands were tied together behind his back and Lucius Malfoy refused to release his grip. The only thing he could hear was Bellatrix cackling in the background.

'Did you not like that baby Potter? No? Perhaps another go would change your mind?' And it happened again. The hand thrust his head forward and the torture started once more.

Harry collapsed onto his knees as the darkness encompassed him.

Tonks carefully made her way up the stairs, Teddy sitting on her hip. The small boy yawned as Tonks approached the landing. Upon nearing the bathroom, she heard the sound of running water.

Wanting to check that Harry was alright, Tonks knocked gently on the bathroom door. As her hand made contact with the wood, it swung open. Finding this odd, she pocked her head through the crack, eyes widening at what she saw.

From downstairs, Remus heard his wife's scream. Immediately dropping the diner plates, Remus ran up the stairs, two at a time. He stopped outside the bathroom, where Tonks was stood, clutching Teddy. He followed her gaze into the bathroom and gasped at the sight.

'Harry!' Remus pushed past Tonks and knelt on the wet floor, beside Harry's head. A trail of blood flowed out of the boy's mouth, forming wispy patterns as it met the bath water that flooded the floor.

Harry stared at the steaming mug of tea in his hands, afraid to ask the question on the tip of his tongue.

'What happened?' Harry looked across the kitchen table to Tonks and Remus. 'I mean three and a half years ago.' He added when Remus raised an eyebrow. 'All I can recall is that it all had something to do with Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. I don't actually remember what happened to me or why I went to Azkaban.'

'Oh!' Tonks replied, 'You mean you have no idea what happened that day?'

Harry shook his head as he looked back down at the table.

'What you've got to understand, Harry, is that no one really knew what was going on.'

'Just, just tell me everything you know.'

'Umm . . . where to start? Hmm . . . well, Tonks heard Ginny talking to Molly about Fred and George's joke shop. She wanted to know when they could go and visit, you see. Molly refused at first, saying that it was only right to wait to go with you, but, well, we got a letter from you informing us that you were going away for a while with your relatives and that you probably wouldn't be back until school started again.' Harry remained silent throughout the explanation. He didn't remember sending any letters, but then again, he didn't really remember much about that summer.

Remus continued, 'The Weasley's decided on a date to go and Tonks asked me if I wanted to tag along. I agreed. I hadn't had much to do at the time and, well, it was after Sirius.' Remus stopped for a moment as Harry cringed at the mention of his deceased godfather. 'I was lonely and upset and I thought that a bit of a laugh wouldn't hurt.'

Tonks took over, 'It was just a normal day, really. Diagon Alley was pretty busy, as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary. Anyway, we went in and looked around and then I noticed some sort of commotion outside. It was only when I had left the shop that I realised that there were death eaters everywhere.

'I did what any auror should do and called for help. Within minutes, aurors surrounded the area along with a few Order members as well. The death eaters were winning though; several aurors were down within minutes of arriving. Killing curses were flying around all over the place and numerous aurors claimed that it was you who hit and killed Trevors and Blueman.' she paused for a moment as she thought of her colleagues, 'We kept on going, regardless of the cries that you were fighting with the death eaters as apposed to against them. Then, everything stopped when we heard Ginny screaming and saw you standing over her, casting crucio on her.'

'Chaos ensued.' Remus said with a sigh. 'The whole of the Weasley family, except Fred and George who were stood by me, near the shop at the time, went to Ginny. Aurors were doing their best to catch death eaters and you seemingly disappeared. Then, you reappeared, but something was wrong. I could immediately tell that you were hurt; however, you had been perfectly fine not two seconds ago. No scratches or bruises anywhere, then, all of a sudden, you could barely stand, cuts and bruises covered your face and your blood was splattered everywhere; however, only a few of us noticed the difference. The moment you fell to the ground, the aurors took you away.

'The court case was hurriedly put together and so a bit of a shambles. Even though the ministry knew that Voldemort had returned, there were still a few people that were determined to show everyone that you were no more than a boy who craved the spotlight. You were accused of the murders of the aurors Brian Trevors and Nicholas Blueman and the torture by means of the cruciatus curse on Ginny Weasley. You had no chance really. Dumbledore had been away at the time and had done his best to find a way for you to be released but when a witness to the events showed him what had happened; he had to agree with the ministry. He was devastated.' Remus looked down at his hands before continuing, 'I tried to tell them what I saw, but, you know my status in the wizarding world as a werewolf meant that it was pretty much impossible for me to do anything for you.' Harry gave the man a reassuring smile. He was glad that he had tried to help even though it had not resulted in anything.

'Everyone who was close to you could tell that there was something wrong. You looked ill and well, you weren't acting yourself during the conviction. It was like you had been drugged or something.' Tonks added this, trying to think of a reason why Harry would not remember any of the events that took place.

'So then I was just sent to Azkaban? Did no one speak on my behalf?' Harry asked in an almost accusing manner.

'Yes, Dumbledore did but the evidence against you was far too much for Dumbledore to side step.' Remus said quietly. 'He tried Harry, we all did but you have to understand that there was nothing more we could do.'

'I know you want to help but I'm just finding this so difficult. I can't remember what happened and it's killing me! I need to know but nothing's coming. I want the memories to come back so I can prove that I'm innocent.' Harry rested his face in his hands, shaking his head in defeat.

'They will come back Harry.' Remus whispered. 'You just have to wait a little longer. Don't give up yet.'

Yay! Just so you know, Trevors and Blueman are made up, they are not very important.

RubysQuill- Thank you. I'll keep trying! PLease review. :)

Allen Pitt- OH MY DAYS! I love it! I so should have made him just take a room without paying. I like your ideas. I think it is so cute that Remus and Tonks have a baby! Yay baby! :) PLease review!

It may take a bit longer for updates because i haven't writen the next chapters yet. Sorry.