Chapter 26: Trial

Harry sat in the waiting room of the Prime Minister of Magic's office, perplexed. Ginny's trial had just ended, a month after Grimmauld place fire, and the young woman's sentence was not at all what Harry had hoped for. She had received a ten-year suspended sentence and had walked free with a simple restraining order, forbidding her to come within a kilometer of Jasper or Harry. The wizard found this sentence hard to understand, especially as he didn't believe that Ginny would respect the restraining order.

As for Jasper, despite being found not responsible for the injuries he had inflicted on the aurors, he was still confined to the house arrest.

The hero of the wizarding world was angry at the way the vampire was being treated. Under the pretext that he was a Muggle vampire and not a wizard, he hadn't been allowed to come to the hearing and now Harry had to tell him that he was going to remain a prisoner for an indefinite time, for no reason. He waited impatiently for Kingsley to join him and explain his decision. Harry knew it would hurt the empath too much if he returned without being able to give him a justification for his imprisonment.

Time seemed long as he lost himself in thought and recalled all that had happened in the previous month. Jasper, for one, had opened up to him and the two of them had grown closer. Harry considered himself in a relationship with this man, whom he found sexy as hell, and this was one of his main problems with the handsome vampire. They kissed, passionately, caressed each other, under their shirts, through their clothes, but never below the belt. Jasper was afraid of losing control and turning or hurting him if their activities became more sexual. Harry thanked him for taking this precaution, but he died of frustration almost every day. The other thing that bothered Harry was that he felt the empath was hiding something from him in connection with what he'd been through all these years. The vampire now entered the manor, even in dark or cramped rooms, he controlled his vampire and his powers with no problem, he even had a smile on his face again, but there were whisperings within the Cullens. The family seemed to disagree about something, but none of them would talk to Harry about it, which was beginning to annoy him.

After Blaise, the two former Hogwarts students had learned to trust each other and sometimes spent whole evenings talking, with or without the Cullens. The Slytherin had taken the opportunity when George had come to ask him if he could use some help in the store, and had been working there for two weeks. He and George got on very well, and the older man had been to the manor on several occasions. Whenever he visited, the wizards, plus Jasper, who never left Harry's side on these occasions, spent their evenings playing wizarding board games, drinking and laughing. Ron and Hermione often joined them, and it had become their Friday-night habit. The couple would bring drinks for the wizards and vampires, and the younger Cullens were increasingly joining in. It had been difficult at first for George to see Jasper's arm wrapped around Harry's waist, but he'd got used to it and his eyes were increasingly turning to someone else.

Harry, for his part, was a little confused about his future. He couldn't imagine it without Jasper, but he couldn't imagine Jasper agreeing to stay in the wizarding world, at least in England. The vampire was looking forward to leaving the European continent!

Kingsley interrupted his reflections and invited him into his office. The minister had a closed face and didn't say a word until they were both seated.

"I know you don't understand," Kingsley began.

"Indeed, the guilty one is free to move and the victim imprisoned."

"The jury chose to consider Ginny's status in their verdict, but that has nothing to do with Jasper. I alone made the decision not to release him."

"Why not?"

"Because Percy managed to list those involved in torturing him."

Harry was speechless at this statement; he couldn't see the connection.

"Harry, can you assure me that Jasper won't try to kill those who tortured him if he's free to move?"

The young man didn't answer, he wasn't sure, and now that Kingsley was raising the possibility, he wondered if this wasn't what Jasper was refusing to tell him about.

"The list is long, and includes important people. We can't risk them dying, Jasper has to be seen as their victim."

"Because if he's seen as a wizard-killer, he's the one who'll be condemned."

There was a pensive silence, interrupted by Percy entering with a roll of parchment in his hand.

"If that's the list, I don't want to see it," Harry declared.

The other two men looked at him surprised, so he resumed his thought.

"Between Jasper's powers of empathy and Edward's telepathy, I won't be able to keep it from them. If I don't know the names, I'm sure not to let them slip."

"That's wise, Harry," Kingsley replied. "However, we need you to talk to Jasper. So far, we've managed to ensure that nothing leaks to the media, but I'm afraid we won't be able to do that when we start making arrests."

"The documents I've used to compile this list," Percy continued, "won't be enough to ensure the conviction of everyone. Some have weight and the jury will need a lot to find them guilty."

"You want Jasper's memories," Harry concluded.

He didn't like the idea; he knew the process might bring back the Major and he wanted to avoid that at all costs. He didn't, however, have time to ponder this point, the look on his interlocutors' faces did not herald good news.

"We'll need Jasper to come to the aurors' office so no one can accuse him of giving false memories."

Harry swallowed, expecting what was coming next.

"He'll have to be handcuffed again for security reasons."

"This is unfair."

"Harry, if he goes rabid, no one will be able to stop him, not even you."

"Besides, it would be better if you weren't seen together."

"Sorry?"

"The press might turn this against him."

To say the young man was shocked was an understatement, and worst of all, he felt that all these news were going to destroy the balance they'd built up.

"I'm going back to Zabini Manor with you, Harry," Kingsley declared. "Percy, we said you'd go, but I don't think you can stop Edward reading your mind."

"No, I don't."

"Go to the aurors' office and assess who to choose as a trusted person to take Jasper's memories, even if it means asking Master Kangae to intervene."

Harry was relieved that the Minister was coming with him to break the news to the Cullens and answer their questions, but he sensed that the end of the day was going to be painful.

Kingsley exchanged a few more moments with Percy, then the young man excused himself. The minister held out his hand to Harry and they moved into the grounds of Zabini Manor. The Cullens joined them within seconds. Even though he'd immediately thought of putting up his occlumency barriers, Harry could see in Edward's face that he'd had time to read him. Jasper's face also closed as he took in the emotions of the two wizards as well as those of his brother. He, who would usually have come right over and hugged him, stood at a distance, unsure of what was to come, but already convinced that he wasn't going to like the news.

"Let's move inside," Kingsley offered.

Tense, they all took their seats in the manor's drawing room. Blaise, seeing the minister arriving and the stern faces of the assembly, preferred to leave. Everyone sat down in pairs, but Harry hesitated for a moment before settling on the armrest next to his companion. Jasper gave him a look that was both worried and hurt, before turning his gaze to Edward, who whispered a few words so low and so quickly that the wizards couldn't catch them. The tension rose a notch and Harry wished he were elsewhere when Kingsley spoke.