Harry didn't know if he was relieved or not at George's absence when he got home. The only thing he knew was that he had to put an end to whatever was going on between them; he couldn't go on when he knew he'd never be able to give the inventor what he wanted. Waiting for him to return, Harry packed his few belongings and took a shower. His bags were on the bed and he was in his towel when George arrived.

"You're leaving."

His friend's voice was resigned, his face defeated, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I think it's for the best. I realized what you were telling me half-heartedly yesterday and I don't... feel that way about you.''

''I know."

Harry felt like less than nothing, like he'd kicked a man who was already down.

"I'm going to ask Lee to come and help me in the store until I find someone. Thanks for clearing the studio.''

''I'll see you at the Burrow.

''Probably."

The lack of a joke or any attempt to conceal the inventor's grief finished off Harry's morale, and he dressed himself in the first cloths he could find and apparated to Ron and Hermione's house. They didn't seem surprised by his presence and offered him a drink, no questions asked. The two young men drank well into the night, until they fell asleep drunk on the sofa. Hermione had abandoned them much earlier and breathed a sigh of tireness when she found them like this the next morning. She shook them shamelessly and handed them each a vial of hangover potion, reminding them that they had thirty minutes to be ready.

Harry swallowed the potion with a grimace and staggered to the table to slump into a chair and swallow the coffee offered by his friend. It took a good ten minutes for the potion to take effect and for her headache to disappear.

"Did you tell George it was over?" asked Hermione as Ron was in the shower.

''Yes, at last he understood on his own.''

''How are you feeling?''

''Like shit, I should have listened to you.''

''What's done is done. Make sure you're at peace with your emotions before you go going for Jasper."

Harry sighed, why did the vampire have to be an empath? Failing to find an answer to this question, he dipped into his cup of coffee and recalled good memories to soothe his emotions. When Ron got out of the shower, it was time to leave, so the redhead took three buns to eat while he waited for the group to return to fetch Jasper, and they entered the fireplace one after the other.

When Harry emerged from the fireplace into the living room of the square, he saw that they were the last to arrive, but didn't much care. He put his travel bag down in a corner of the room and went to pour himself a second cup of coffee while Kingsley reminded them of the organization of the operation.

At last they were ready to leave. Shacklebolt handed a parchment to those who were to come with him, and while Hermione, Percy, Arthur, Flitwick and Harry took it without hesitation, this was not the case for Carlisle and Edward, who didn't understand the connection between the piece of paper and their departure. They took it after some encouragement, and couldn't hold back a hiccup of surprise when the minister uttered the password to activate the portkey and they felt the sensation of being hooked through the navel.

They arrived directly in the doorway, and prepared to open Jasper's cell. They'd come in greater numbers than the day before, in case the vampire hadn't calmed down yet and turned aggressive on them. Harry grimaced at the sight of them all dressed up as Death Eaters and pushed back the memories of the war that were reeling in his head. He took a deep breath and signaled to Kingsley that he was ready. His heart sank as he spotted Jasper's silhouette huddled in the same corner as the day before. His fist clenched on the large rusty key Kingsley had given him. He sensed the others entering after him, but he couldn't look away from the two onyxes staring back at him. He advanced cautiously, as he would have done with a wounded animal, which the vampire was in his own way. He knew he could attack at any moment, and Flitwick had bewitched his clothes to protect him from the sharp fangs, but he hadn't feared that the vampire might attack him. Deep down, he knew Jasper wouldn't try to kill him. The latter stood up when Harry was only a step away and adopted a defensive posture. The Survivor froze, no one moving behind him, it was as if they were trying to breathe as little as possible.

Harry raised his hand to the prisoner's eye level and opened three fingers so that he could see the key. He could see the two black balls move from his face to the key and back again, but nothing else moved. It was as if he were facing a statue of a man in agony, wrapped in a kind of animal dignity.

As slowly as possible, the wizard brought his hand to the chained wrist nearest him, but when he placed it on the bracelet, the vampire seized his arm and squeezed. Harry thought he was going to break his arm, but even then he motioned to the others not to interfere.

"I mean you no harm," he murmured, looking at the man, a shadow of his former self who, despite his worrying state of health, retained extraordinary strength and speed.

The seconds were long until the grip on his skin released him, but the vampire kept his fingers on his skin as a warning of what he was going to do if Harry ever made the slightest wrong move. The young man made sure his hands were still visible and opened the first bracelet, the skin underneath was raw and he realized he'd hurt Jasper when he'd turned the ring earlier.

Gently, he undid each of the other restraints without incident.

"Don't move," Harry murmured when he'd freed him from the last one.

He could see a shiver run through the empath's skin as he was finally free of his chains. Harry straightened up and realized that some kind of dangerous aura was coming from the man in front of him. He swallowed with difficulty; this face of the vampire frightened him, but he tried to hide it. The sneer that stretched his opposite number's lips proved to him that he was failing, but he didn't let it destabilize him and clung to his Gryffindor courage.

"I want to help you."

The aura stopped growing.

"Let me take you somewhere else." he whispered, holding out his hand.

The sound of apparating made the vampire turn his head toward the onlookers of the scene.

"That's how we're going to leave," Harry added, still in a low voice. ''It feels strange, but it won't hurt you."

Another person apparated out of the room and Jasper finally took the outstretched hand.

The vampire panicked during the ride, but Harry held on. The landing was painful though, as he'd concentrated so hard on the vampire to make sure he didn't injure himself gesticulating like that, than it was the wizard who ended up with a dislocated elbow.

The vampire leapt at him as soon as the wound opened, but Edward stepped in just in time. Harry felt himself being pulled backwards by a spell and fell onto his back as soon as he was through the door, short of breath, his arm aching, but his gaze riveted on the fight between Jasper and Edward and Carlisle.

These two vampires were fighting together to immobilize the third without hurting him more than he already was, but the latter was an outstanding fighter. He held out for long minutes before his condition gave the advantage to the fit men, who immobilized him with their bodies.

Flitwick levitated a bag of blood to Carlisle, who grabbed it, sank his teeth into it and slipped the opening into Jasper's mouth, where he drank it in great gulps. They needed four more pockets before the wounded body relaxed and Edward and Carlisle released him. Seeing that Jasper was calmed by the blood he had drunk, they left the room. Molly finished treating Harry, who couldn't take his eyes off the skeletal body as it skirted the walls, and let out a cry of despair when he realized he wasn't free. The vampire cowered in the darkest corner of the room, but locked his gaze on the green eyes that couldn't take his eyes off him.