Chapter 22: prison
"With the destruction of Grimmauld place, Mr. Hale must return to prison."
Jasper felt his vampire stir inside him, he refused the idea of going back there, in that gloomy windowless room being tortured. He'd rather flee, put the country to the sword. However, he held back the Major, kept him under control, after sensing a strong sense of revolt emanating from Harry and his friends.
"Kingsley, you saw what he was going through over there, you can't order him to go back."
"Where do you want him to go? He can't stay at the Burrow and I can't let him go free until I'm sure he's no danger to the wizarding population."
"Sending him back to prison will only make him worse," Edward grumbled.
Jasper didn't like people talking about him as if he wasn't there, but in this case, he understood that he had more to gain by keeping quiet. The aurors had tightened their grip on him and on their wands.
"What do you suggest?"
The minister was weary; he didn't want to put Jasper back in prison, but the vampire represented a worrying danger.
"You know as well as we do that he wouldn't have been a danger to anyone if the redhead hadn't attacked him."
"Miss Weasley will have to answer for her actions, as will Mr. Hale." the minister snapped.
Jasper tensed, emotions beginning to run high around him and his control remaining rather thin.
"The confiscated manors?" suggested Hermione.
"What are you talking about?" asked Harry.
"The Ministry has confiscated the manors of the families who followed You-Know-Who. The protections on these manors prevent anyone from entering or leaving the estate. All these manors are huge, the Cullens could stay there and still not feel imprisoned.''
Kingsley took a few moments to consider this solution and review the possible estates.
"Would this solution suit you?" he asked a little of everyone.
The Cullens, Jasper and Harry nodded in agreement.
"Very well, but this solution will require a little time to set up...''
Edward grunted, Jasper stood guard as best he could, Carlisle laid a hand on the telepath's shoulder while Harry stepped in front of his mate and laid his hand on his.
"I'm going with him, lock us both up." he declared.
Surprise flashed across everyone's faces, but for Jasper and Edward, relief mingled.
"Harry, you're not going to jail, you're not thinking about it," Kingsley protested.
"If Jasper's going, I'm going. That way you've got as long as you want to put a manor ready and Jasper and his family are reassured about how he'll be treated while he's in cell.''
The empath clasped his hand over the wizard's fingers, to show his gratitude. He couldn't let him feel his emotions, but he hoped his gesture would be understood. The embarrassment that escaped the young man confirmed this, and he refocused on the minister. The man wasn't happy with the Survivor's intervention, but was also impressed.
"Very well, put them together in a discreet cell," he ordered.
The aurors were surprised, but complied. They apparated them in front of the minister's office, activated a painting facing the door, and ushered them in. The room was small, dark and sparsely furnished. There was a spring bed, a stone basin, a toilet area and a small window. Jasper's face closed at the same time as the door and he went to sit in front of the window, his eyes fixed on the outside as his arms, still handcuffed, encircled his knees. He didn't know how to act around Harry; the young man was uncomfortable, which didn't help him deal with his own discomfort at being back in prison.
Harry didn't know how to act; this man was very different from the one he'd begun to discover, at once much more attractive and colder. He hesitated for a moment and finally went to sit down opposite the vampire.
"Thank you."
Jasper looked at him in surprise, trying to understand why the young man was thanking him. He plunged his gaze into the emerald one and felt like drowning in it. He wanted to touch Harry, feel his skin beneath his fingers, kiss him, but he didn't move, everything about the young man's posture screamed at him not to.
"What for?"
"George."
"It's normal, I shouldn't have done that."
Harry shivered. He liked the fact that Jasper made sentences longer than before. He also liked that he admitted he'd been wrong.
"Thank you, for going out of your way for me," Jasper added before the silence returned.
"No one should have to go through what they did to you."
"It didn't mean you had to bring me books every day, put your life on the line for mine or come to prison with me."
"It was the right thing to do.''
Jasper was a little frustrated at this answer, which he didn't feel was entirely sincere, but he didn't dig in, he didn't want to brazen Harry out any more than he already was. Indeed, the young man was still battling inwardly between his desire to kiss the vampire, if not more, and his desire not to rush into anything. Silence fell between them, a silence in which each of them was immersed in their own thoughts, questions, doubts and memories. It was after replaying several times in his head the kisses they had exchanged that Jasper asked the question that was beginning to obsess him.
"Why are you so distant now that I'm free of the spell when we exchanged several kisses before?''
Harry hesitated for a long moment before answering, unintentionally stressing Jasper; he was struggling to find his words and didn't want to hurt the vampire's feelings.
"It's just that I don't know you.''
This answer confused Jasper more than it cleared up the situation.
"I don't understand."
"When you were in control, you never gave me sentences longer than three words, and if you did, I had to deal with your vampire, who hurt me several times.''
Harry blamed himself as soon as the words had passed his lips, but it was too late for him to take them back. He could see from his face that he'd hurt him, and he had; Jasper, in addition to being horrified at the idea of having hurt his companion, understood even less why he'd kissed him earlier in the day. He replayed the events in his mind and his face closed.
"You kissed me so I could help your lover," he said tartly.
Harry felt miserable at having done this and especially at seeing jealousy distort the vampire's handsome face. He wondered if he was going to lose control again, but Jasper held his ground, even though the Major was very close to regaining the upper hand.
"George is my ex, we split up when I met you and I've never had any romantic feelings for him, you've no reason to be jealous.''
The firm yet gentle tone surprised Jasper, who was surprised to feel both sadness and attraction coming from the young man.
"It's true that I'd have preferred to do things differently, to get to know you before kissing you like that, but to be honest, I really wanted to.''
The phrase warmed Jasper's heart and made him want to do everything he could to show his soulmate that he wasn't the violent man he'd been under the Major's control. He almost asked if he still wanted to kiss him, but his senses told him he did, and he preferred not to push his luck.
"What would you like to know?" he asked instead.
Harry'd never really thought about it, but it occurred to him that he knew almost nothing about the vampire's life before his abduction. His family had described his personality or their relationship with him, why they missed him, but they had never gone into the details of his life. So he asked him to tell him what he'd been through. Jasper was happy to tell him about the memories he had of his life before his transformation, then about the time he had spent at Maria's side, what she had led him to do and how much he regretted it, about his escape with a couple of vampires who had become his friends, about his meeting with Alice and their integration into the Cullen family. He explained how the clan went about blending in with humans, their vegetarian diet and the difficulties he had conforming to it.
He didn't stop talking until he reached his abduction, he didn't want to think about it again and Harry didn't ask him to. Night had fallen and the young man was fighting sleep. Jasper offered to settle against him if he wished, without getting his hopes up, but Harry was tired of fighting his attraction to the man and gladly accepted. He slipped between the handcuffed wrists and marble torso, hid his face in the pale neck, placed a kiss there and let himself sink. Jasper let his gaze wander over the sleeping city, marveling at the well-being of having his soulmate in his arms.