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Die A Virgin	By : eumenides Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 2290 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Die A Virgin
- 1
Title: Die a Virgin Harry no. Lupin�s thin smile did not
touch his weary grey eyes. It never did
anymore, not since that day, over three months ago, when they had returned from
the Wizengamot hearing.

�I know.� He
rested his hand briefly on Harry�s shoulder.
�Just indulge me � I may not be your parent, but I worry like one.�

Harry rose. He was
taller than Lupin now. He was almost as
tall as Sirius.

�I think you have enough to worry over. Go on, I�ll be okay.� Harry had hoped that
some essential errand would draw Lupin from the cottage that had been his
self-imposed prison. Too much time spent
shut up in the darkness had left the man thin and shaking, paler than
normal.

�I�ll only be a few hours. I don�t exactly know why Professor Dumbledore
wants to see me.�

That was a lie.
They both knew. Dumbledore had
been clear on more than one occasion that in his opinion, Harry and Remus both
needed to let go. Not yet, Harry�s eyes
pleaded silently.

�No,� Lupin replied.
�Not yet. But
I�ll hear him out � I owe him that much.�

Remus was gathering up the last of his parchments,
shoving them into his battered case, the case that Harry had first seen on the
Hogwarts Express at the start of his Third Year. The case that Sirius had given him before
Harry was even born.

A piece of parchment lay wedged behind a cabinet. Harry passed it to Lupin.

�Thanks,� he said, then scanned the contents. His face reddened and the parchment crumbled
in his fist.

�What is it?� Harry took it from the older man�s clenched
fist and began to read. �The Ministry of Magic is pleased to inform you that in
light of recent testimony and evidence, you are hereby exonerated � � his voice broke off.
It was the Ministry decree clearing Sirius.

Lupin closed his case and left the kitchen for the back
bedroom where he slumped against the doorframe.

�How could they, Harry? After all he did in the war, all
his service for the Order. He nearly
died at the Department of Mysteries. He
fought against the Death Eaters even though he was ated ted man. And this is his reward � a worthless scrap of
parchment and this living death.� Lupin walked to the bed, gazing down. �And did you hear Fudge
that day?�

Harry had no need to ask what day. For all of them, those words had but one
meaning.

�At least he wasn�t Kissed.� Lupin�s voice was a cruelly accurate imitation of the
pompous Fudge. ��How was I supposed to
know he�d react this way?� As if that fucker didn�t know exactly what he was
doing.�

Harry made no reply.
He didn�t trust himself to talk about Fudge.

They stood in silence, watching the slow, regular
breathing of the silent man on the bed, then Remus
Lupin bent down, brushing his lips gently against his lover�s forehead.

�I shouldn�t be more than three or four hours. Harry will stay with you, love.� He closed his eyes, brushing back a stray
tear before leaving.

'> Harry stood quietly, continuing to watch as Sirius Black
lay silent as death, but yet still alive.
Remus was right. It wasn�t
fair. It was a travesty. It was Death snatched from the jaws of Life.

******

It
had been the month before he was to leave Hogwarts permanently that Dumbledore
had agreed to let him spend a weekend with Remus and Sirius. He hadn�t explained the privilege, but then,
Dumbledore rarely explained anything, so Harry had gone gratefully.

They had been sitting at dinner when he finally
registered the strained silence between his godfather and his friend. Looks exchanged across the table, words
addressed carefully to Harry, but not to each other.

�Okay, give over � what�s wrong?� he finally asked.

Sirius caught Remus�s eye. �I told
you he�d notice, Moony. The boy�s as
smart as we ever were.�

�Smarter than you, apparently Padfoot. I doubt he�d trust those Ministry wankers any further than he could throw them.�

�The Ministry? What�s going on?� the rising panic in Harry�s
voice was met with stony silence.
�Please � no more secrets.�

Remus rose from the table and shoved his dishes angrily
into the sink. �This is your decision �
you tell him. I�m going to my study, I have an article to write.�

It had been a beautiful early summer ni �Sit down, Harry.
I do have something I need to tell you.�

Harry�s heart began pounding � nothing involving the
Ministry of Magic was ever good.

�Peter has been captured.�

Relief. �Then you�re free!�
Harry jumped up and caught Sirius in a big hug.
His godfather stayed strangely still in his arms. �What�s wrong? Surely you can�t be held accountable for
murdering a man who�s alive?�

Gently Sirius pushed Harry back onto the wall. �There�s still the matter of the dead Muggles. There�s
some confusion about that. I can�t be
completely cleared of all charges without a hearing.�

Harry didn�t understand.
�So they hold a hearing, they question Wormtail under Veritaserum and you�re cleared.�

�Harry! Harry
Potter!� An annoyingly familiar voice
screamed his name over the din. Harry
turned around and groaned. Barreling
down the aisle towards him, Quick Quotes Quill at the ready was Rita Skeeter.

�So, Harry, any comment for our readers today?� she
asked.

Hermione let go of Harry�s hand and stood up. �Bug
off.�

�Yeah,� Ron joined in.
�Stop bugging him.�

Skeeter blanched at their unmistakeable intent.
She cast her eyes around the room, desperately seeking another
victim. Remus Lupin had appeared at the
doors of the courtroom. He looked like
pure hell.

�OOO!� Skeeter shouted. �Mr Lupin! Rita Skeeter
for the Daily Prophet. Is it true
that you are Sirius Black�s lover? Do
you have a comment for our readers? Are
you aware that the Ministry is considering charging you as an accessory to
Black�s escape? What do-� She got no further as Tonks rougly shoved her aside and led Remus to the bench to join
Harry and the others.

�Stupid cow,� Ron muttered. �What kind of filthy mind does she have that
can�t imagine two blokes can just be good friends?� Hermione gave him a strange
look. �Ron�� she began, but Harry had picked up on Skeeter�s
last question.

�Are they really charging you? You didn�t help Sirius escape.� He asked
anxiously.

�No, but I have been helping him since,
and the Ministry bloody well knows it.
Don�t worry, though. My immunity
was one of the bargaining points Sirius used to negotiate his surrender. Yet another thing we were arguing about on
Sunday.� Lupin fell into gloomy silence.

The judges had entered, the full Wizengamot,
less Dumbledore who would be speaking for Sirius. Amelia Bones, looking exactly as she had for
Harry�s hearing almost three years before was presiding.

She rapped her gavel sharply against the high bench. �Before we begin, I need to be perfectly
clear. This is a court of high justice, not
a street fair. I will not tolerate any behaviour that disrupts these proceedings. I will not hesitate to clear this courtroom
if I feel it is necessary. I hope that
is understood?� She fixed Rita Skeeter with a stony
stare. �Very good,
then. Bailiff, if you please?�

The Bailiff, a rather large wizard with a beefck, ck,
stepped forward. �The Ministry of Magic
versus Sirius Orion Black will come to order.
Bring in the accused.�

All eyes turned to the left of the courtroom where Sirius
would appear. But then, something unexpected had happened. The torches illuminating the courtroom
flickered and died. Harry shivered with
cold.

�Not Harry, please not Harry!� he heard his
mother�s voice, echoing in his mind.
Shaking his head, forcing the vision back, he looked up.

Two dementors, an unconscious man suspended between them,
glided into the room.

Remus and Harry were both on their feet, wands drawn, but
Dumbledore was faster. Eyes blazing
fire, arms outstretched, he cried, �Expecto Patronum!�

A shining silver phoenix shot from his wand, driving the
dementors away and Sirius collapsed on the floor and lay as though dead. The room exploded into chaos.

Harry could not clearly recall the details of what
followed. He knew that at one moment,
Remus was frozen at his side, wand out, and then seemingly without moving, he
was cradling Sirius in his arms, tears covering his normally reserved
face. He remembered dimly that Ron and
Hermione had helped him forward, had kept the press back as he knelt beside his
godfather, begging him to get up, his voice swallowed up in the din of the
room, the gavel pounding, the shouts of the press.

Very clear, however, was the self-satisfied smirk of
Cornelius Fudge as he faced down Dumbledore�s wrath. Harry had known that despite the apparent
peace between the two men, Fudge still hated and resented Dumbledore as well as
Harry himself. He couldn�t openly attack
the beloved Headmaster or the Boy Who Lived, but he could hurt them through
Sirius.

�How could this have happened?� Dumbledore�s voice was
quiet, but Harry shivered at its intensity. �Prisoners awaiting trial are never
housed near dementors.�

�Ah,
yes, my dear Dumbledore, but Black was already convicted, and the rules are
quite clear that Azkaban prisoners must be guarded by Azkaban guards.� Harry was amazed that the officious and
ineffectual seeming Fudge had the courage to meet Dumbledore�s eyes. �I don�t know what happened. He seemed lively enough the first few
days. Well, judging by the screams,
anyway.�

It was only Harry�s Seeker fast reflexes that had allowed
him to catch hold of Remus�s robes as he lunged for
Fudge. Now, looking at the devastation
that Remus�s life had become, Harry thought that it
might have been better to let his godfather�s partner go down fighting.

Harry shook his head, freeing himself from the burdens of
memory. Now was what mattered. And now, Sirius was a prisoner, not of
Azkaban or of public opinion, or even of Grimmauld Place,
but of his own mind.

He watched the gentle rise and fall of his godfather�s
chest. Even comatose, the man was
beautiful. The chiseled features were at
peace, the strong body, kept clean and fed by spells, had not yet started to
atrophy. His hair glowed like a black
pool, spilling across the linen pillow cover.

One strand lay askew.
Harry gently replace it, and at on his godfather�s bedside. It was now or never.

�Professor Dumbledore says you can hear us.� Harry�s hand continued to gently stroke
Sirius�s hair. �I hope that�s true. I hope you�ve been able to hear all of us �
we all miss you so much.�

His hand followed the line of Sirius�s hair, down his
shoulder and onto the bare arm that lay atop the sheets, lovingly positioned by
Remus.

�I need you, Sirius.
I need you here with me. I finished
at Hogwarts, you know. I was supposed to
start Auror training this summer, but I just can�t bring myself to work for the
Ministry after-� his voice broke, and he swallowed
convulsively, fighting for control.

�Ron and Hermione both work there, though. I expect Hermione�ll
be Minister for Magic someday. They�re
getting married, next spring. I�m to be
best man, just like you were for my mum and dad.� His hand continued its gentle stroking,
feather light touches up and down Sirius�s arm.

�They�re disgusting really, can�t keep their hands off
each other, and Ron keeps trying to set me up with Ginny.� Harry allowed his fingers to trace along
Sirius�s cheek, revelling in the rough feel of the
stubble, stroking softly.

�He�s always after me about it. So�s Hermione. How can I
tell them that I�m just not interested?�
There was, of course, no answer.

�I�>�I�ve got something to tell you, Sirius. I was going to tell you after the Leaving
Feast.� His throat tightened. �They invited family this year, because of
the war. I wanted you to be there. Everybody else had family there, you
know.
- 1
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Die A Virgin