Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

All is fair in the game called love	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 29071 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 8
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor profit from it. J.K. Rowling owns everything.

Chapter List
- 26
- 27
- 28
Author's note: Sorry for the delay, my internet connection failed the whole night yesterday *huffs*

Thanks to the following reviewers: delia cerrano (that will be explained now); cocobyrd87; Sammy; Amelia

I hope you'll like this one!

Chapter 27: Trials and accusations

Numb. That was how Harry felt. This couldn't be happening. It was just impossible. Soon, someone would jump up and yell 'Early April's fool!' It just had to be. But it didn't happen. Minutes went by and the Aurors still stood there waiting.

"Mister Black, do hurry up, please." The Auror in the middle spoke again.

This seemed to snap Sirius out of his shock. "Excuse me, but this is a mistake. I don't abuse Harry, never have, never will." He said coldly and his eyes narrowed.

Quiet chatter rose up in the hall; students were looking at Harry and at Sirius, wondering what was exactly happening.

"Mister Black, we have a Pensive with memories to prove it." The Auror replied sternly.

"That's impossible; Sirius would never harm Harry. Those memories are false." Remus protested, dread filling his body.

"Memories never lie. I ask you for the last time, Mister Black, give me your wand and follow us." The Auror's voice got colder.

Sirius opened his mouth to protest again – and possibly try to curse the Aurors – but he was halted by Dumbledore, who shook his head and murmured something in his ear. Sirius' face got cold and closed off and if looks could kill, there wouldn't even be ashes left of the Headmaster. Stiffly he handed over his wand and stood up. Remus whispered something in his ear and he squeezed his hand before Sirius turned around and walked over to the Aurors, who grabbed his arm and tugged him alone with another Auror keeping his wand trained on his back.

They had only taken a few steps before Harry had made his way to them, effectively cutting off their path to the exit. He wanted to grab his godfather, but he was held back by an Auror with dark hair, who grabbed his wrist and held him back.

"Let me go!" Harry snapped and kicked his foot backwards, hoping to hit a leg, but the man was faster, jumping out of the way while still holding the boy back.

"Mister Potter, please calm down. We're here only to help you." The man said irritated.

"I don't need your help, because there's nothing wrong." Harry hissed, still struggling.

"Listen, I know you want to protect your godfather because you're afraid of him, but you don't have to be afraid anymore." The man continued patiently. "We're here to arrest him and once you have given your statement of what happened, then you don't have to see him again."

"No, you fucking listen to me! Sirius never abused me! I don't know where you got that shit from, but it sure as hell isn't true!" Harry snapped furiously, his magic starting to crackle.

The whole hall gasped in shock when they heard him swearing that much and the whispers got louder.

Draco and Snape appeared next to him, Draco pulling him into his arms, tugging him against his chest.

"Let me go, Draco." Harry bit out.

"Calm down first before you destroy the school." Draco whispered, his hard glare trained on the Aurors.

"What is going to happen with Black?" Snape asked calmly, but his dark eyes were glaring at the Aurors and they had to stamp down their urge to fidget under the Potions Master's glare.

"We're going to take him to the Ministry where we will question him." The man answered and nodded towards Harry. "Mister Potter needs to come with us too to give his statement."

"Fine, we will join him." Snape said, giving the Aurors no other option.

When they wanted to protest, Snape shot them a glare that promised an extremely painful death and they closed their mouths again, not wanting to take the risk.

Remus appeared next to Snape and the dark haired man turned towards him. "Warn Lucius and tell him to go to the Ministry immediately, to the department of the Aurors." He murmured.

Remus bit his lip, torn between insisting he joined his cub and his mate and doing what Snape told him. Half a minute later, he decided to do what Snape told him. Lucius had quite a lot of power in the Ministry – he would be able to pull some strings.

He hurried out of the hall, ignoring the disgusted glares two of the Aurors sent him.

"Let's go." Draco said through clenched teeth. He felt the invisible body of Ruby stroking against his leg and because he was still holding Harry, he felt Garin slithering his way up Harry's arm, probably settling himself in Harry's neck. After Garin was settled, Draco felt Ruby disappearing with Sapphire following him. It was probably impossible for them to follow them without problems.

He sighed and followed the three Aurors who had handcuffed Sirius while trying to calm down Harry who was on the verge of either hyperventilating or blowing everything up. Snape followed behind them, keeping his hand on his wand. They left the school with many stares directed at them and as soon as they passed the wards, the Aurors Apparated away, leaving Snape to side-Apparate with Harry and Draco.

Dumbledore hid his smirk behind his cup of tea. It seemed like Sirius Black wouldn't return to the school for a very long time. What a shame.

When they arrived in the hall of the Ministry, Harry jerked himself out of Draco's hold and marched after the Aurors, determined not to leave his godfather out of his sight. He was furious and his fists were clenched. All he saw was red; whoever was responsible for this sick joke would pay dearly. Draco and Snape followed him, one looking passive and the other worried.

Harry was halted by another Auror who had stepped out of his cubicle.

"Mister Potter? I'm afraid we have to take your statement now." It was a man with deep red brown hair and light blue eyes with freckles on his nose and cheekbones. Wrinkles marred his forehead and he had a tired look on his face. He was a head taller than Harry.

"But I want to be with Sirius." Harry protested, tensing.

The man shook his head. "We can't allow you to stay with him now. You'll need to give your statements separately." The name tag on his chest read Jason McCormack.

"What will happen to Sirius?" Harry asked fearfully.

McCormack blinked confused. "He'll be questioned and then put back in Azkaban where he stays until his trial." He explained.

"But he didn't do anything wrong!" Harry pleaded.

McCormack sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Let's find a room where we can talk quietly." He beckoned Harry to follow him and led him and his two shadows a bit further down the hall, stopping in front of a closed door with a number "three" painted on it. He opened the door, but held out his arm to stop Snape and Draco from following Harry.

"I'm sorry, but you aren't allowed to follow the questioning in this room." McCormack told them.

"Excuse me, but Potter is still a minor and the last time I checked the law, it stated that someone has to be with a minor during a questioning." Snape said through gritted teeth.

The Auror looked at him blankly. "Are you a relative of Mister Potter?"

"No, but …" Snape grounded out.

"Then I'm sorry, but you can't go in. If you can get a relative or a guardian, then they can join the questioning." McCormack said, dismissing them with his voice.

Before either Draco or Snape could voice their protest, the man had closed the door in front of them, showing only a glimpse of a worried and terrified looking Harry.

"Fuck!" Draco growled and punched the wall, not even registering the pain shooting through his arm.

"I can't believe this." Severus said frustrated and shook his head. "Get his guardian; one of his bloody guardians is questioned right now on charges of child abuse and the other one is a werewolf."

"Do you think they will let Lupin join the questioning?" Draco asked worried.

Severus sighed. "Like I said earlier, Lupin is a werewolf. The chance that they will let someone like him join the questioning is very low."

"Then who can we call? We can't leave Harry alone there!" Draco ran a hand over his tired face. Would this never end? Who was behind this this time?

"I think Lucius is the best choice we have now." Severus sighed.

"Let's wait for father then." Draco murmured.

Harry glanced around him nervously, taking in his surroundings. There wasn't a lot to take in. There was a black table with only three chairs around it: two on one side and one across of the two. The walls were a dark blue, almost black and completely bare. There was only one small window, looking out at a grey air, clouded over.

"Please take a seat, Mister Potter." McCormack said calmly and chose the chair across of the two.

Tense, Harry sat down, folding his hands on his lap beneath the table.

"All right, because this is a case of child abuse, we have asked for a Mediwizard to come down and do a checkup on you." McCormack explained, softening his voice. "Once the checkup is over, we will need your statement of what happened and if you can handle it, you will need to repeat your testimony on the day of the trial."

"There's been a mistake." Harry began again, desperately wanting the Auror to believe him. "Sirius has never abused me and he won't ever do that. I don't know who told you this, but that person is lying."

McCormack sighed and something akin to pity and sympathy passed over his face, making Harry bristle in annoyance. "I understand why you would say something like that, Potter. More often than not, someone in your position will try to defend the person who hurts you out of love and misplaced loyalty, but you won't have to do that any longer. Once the court has heard your testimony, Black will be locked up, far away from you. You don't have to be afraid any longer."

"You need to listen to me! I'm not afraid of Sirius, because he never hurt me!" Harry repeated furiously.

The Auror leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "How do you explain your bruises then?" He asked mildly, having encountered this kind of cases before. It was sad, really, how children like Harry tried to defend their attacker because he was considered family. Some children just drew back in themselves and only with a lot of coaxing could they manage to extract a testimony out of them; others could calmly tell the Aurors what had happened and were genuinely grateful when their attacker was locked up. And then you had children like Harry Potter, who got angry and tried to defend their attacker. Jason didn't know which sort of children he pitied more.

"Bruises?" Harry frowned; momentarily confused at the direction the conversation had taken.

"The person who told us about the abuse showed us the memory where you had bruises all over your chest and arms." McCormack replied.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, but then a look of understanding flashed over his face. He shook his head. "You got it all wrong. Those bruises I got from a fight with another student."

McCormack raised an eyebrow. "Which student?"

"Ron Weasley." Harry replied.

"I'm sorry, but I find that hard to believe. You two are best friends, why would you get into a fight that would leave you with bruises?" McCormack remarked.

"We're not friends anymore, not since the moment that I chose Draco over him." Harry replied huffing.

"Draco? Draco, as in Draco Malfoy?" McCormack repeated.

"Yes, I'm sure you already read everything about us." Harry couldn't help but snap.

"We have a memory as proof of the abuse, Mister Potter." McCormack sighed.

"That memory is a lie." Harry bit out.

"Memories don't lie."

Harry snorted. "They do. At least in this case."

McCormack opened his mouth to argue, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. He stood up to let the Mediwizard in. The Mediwizard was a dark blonde woman with light brown eyes that had little golden specks in them. Her long hair was tied back; she seemed to be in her thirties.

"What seems to be the problem?" She asked; her voice was soft and rather high. Her eyes caught sight of Harry staring at her and her eyes widened a bit before she turned back to the Auror.

"We have a case of child abuse and we need you to examine Mister Potter." McCormack explained.

"Damn it! I'm not abused!" Harry snarled.

The woman pursed her lips and walked to Harry, stopping in front of him. "My name is Helena Wooding and I'm going to examine you. Could you please remove your shirt for me?" She asked, pulling off her coat and scarf.

Harry crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I told you: I'm not being abused." He said through gritted teeth, his patience wearing thin.

"Then you won't have any problems with showing me your chest." Helena smiled warmly.

Harry clenched his jaw, but slowly unbuttoned his shirt, knowing he would lose anyway as soon as she saw his bruises. Damn Ron to hell. And whoever was behind this.

McCormack narrowed his eyes when he saw the purple bruises on Harry's chest and arms, most of them were already fading to yellow.

Harry sighed and turned his head to the side when the Mediwizard started to prod in his bruises and examine his ribs.

Helena tsk'ed. "You had one nasty beating, Mister Potter. Am I correct in assuming you also had broken ribs?"

"Just a few cracks." Harry mumbled, glaring at the opposite wall. "They are already healed."

Helena sighed and stepped away. "Is there anywhere else on your body where you acquired wounds?" She asked, eyeing him critically.

Harry shook his head, tugging his shirt back on.

"Well, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you more. Obviously someone has given you treatment already." Helena remarked. "Who nursed you?"

"Poppy Pomfrey, the school nurse." Harry replied stiffly.

Helena nodded pensively. She turned towards the Auror and beckoned him outside the room. She waited until he had closed the door before saying "Well, he obviously has the bruises, but to be honest, I can't really tell if it's because of abuse or if he just got into a nasty fight. Those bruises don't have any sign of being made by hands." She looked at him. "What did he tell you?"

Jason sighed annoyed. "What they always tell us in this case: Black didn't do it, he hasn't abused him and he would never do it."

"Maybe he's right and Black isn't abusing him?" Helena suggested softly.

Jason looked at her sharply. "He has bruises and we got a witness with a memory. Isn't that enough proof?"

"Listen, he goes to Hogwarts; who says he just didn't just got into a fight that turned nasty and left him with those bruises?" Helena sighed. "I know you have to be careful and you're right, in most cases children lie about the abuse to protect their loved ones, but I don't see why Harry Potter would lie about that. Besides, this abuse happened in school; I think people would notice it when Harry Potter was abused. Did you question the other teachers?"

Jason shifted uncomfortably. He had forgotten how critical Helena could be about his work. "We're questioning Potter and Black right now." He answered unwillingly.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically. "Careful or one might think this is a set up to get Black back in prison."

Jason bristled. "We're giving him a fair trial!"

"It's only a fair trial when you have questioned everybody who could have heard about the abuse." Helena reminded him.

He looked at her sourly. "Since when are you a defender of Black?"

She straightened her shoulders. "I just don't want someone innocent to go to Azkaban."

"We have a very reliable witness." He replied annoyed.

"And what if that witness has a grudge against Black?" She suddenly remarked.

He glared at her. "It isn't your job to question our tactics."

"No, you're right, it isn't. It's my job to determine whether Harry Potter was abused or not and so far all the signs point towards a stupid fight with another student and not abuse." She huffed.

He narrowed his eyes. "You're sure?" He asked skeptically.

She looked at him icily. "Unlike others, I do my work according to the rules." She replied and turned around. "You can expect my report in a couple of days."

Jason cursed; she had always been an infuriating woman from the moment he met her in Hogwarts.

Sirius glared back at the man who had introduced himself as Tom Wels. He was handcuffed to his chair and his wand was confiscated.

"How many fucking times do I need to repeat myself before it gets stuck into that hollow thing you call a brain that I'm not abusing Harry!" He snapped.

Tom slammed his hand down on the table, the clap resounding through the interrogation room.

"And how many times do I have to repeat myself before you realize you're busted? We have the fucking evidence, you son of a bitch!" He hissed, spit flying through the air.

"Then that evidence is false because I never hurt Harry and I will never hurt him!" Sirius growled back.

"So you don't want to admit it?" Tom said eerily calm and stood up.

Sirius glared at him. "I'm not admitting something I haven't done."

"Fine, a little bit of time spend in Azkaban will refresh your memory then." Tom snapped.

Sirius' eyes widened. Azkaban. The one place he had sworn he would never enter again. The place that had almost made him loose his mind. They were going to send him back? They couldn't do that!

"You can't do that!" He yelled, panicking.

Tom sneered. "You bet your ass we can. Take him away." He nodded to two other Aurors standing in the room.

Sirius struggled as hard as he could, but one Stunning spell made him lose consciousness and the Aurors were finally able to take him away without risking getting a fist or a foot somewhere in their body.

Lucius had just arrived at the Aurors' department when the Aurors had disappeared with Sirius through another door. Oblivious to this fact, Lucius walked further, having received the hurried message of Remus. His face was blank, but on the inside he was stewing. Who the hell was behind this stunt this time? How many enemies did Black have?

Draco looked up when he heard familiar footsteps and sighed relieved when he noticed his father coming towards them. He and Severus were waiting around the corner of the interrogation room where Harry was seated. They had tried to listen in when the Auror had exited the room for a moment to speak with a woman, who Draco assumed was a Mediwizard, but there had been too much noise in the corridor.

"Can you please explain what happened?" Lucius sighed annoyed. "Lupin was too emotional for me to understand him. All I could manage to make out was that Black is in trouble again and that is has something to do with Harry."

"Black is accused of abusing Potter." Severus explained, frowning. "They say they have evidence, but they didn't tell us who delivered that evidence."

Lucius sighed, tapping his cane against the marble floor. "This is rather unfortunate. Where is young Harry?"

"One of the Aurors took him away to let him give his testimony." Draco replied scowling.

"And who's with him now?" Lucius asked curiously.

"No one, they wouldn't allow us in based on the grounds that we aren't his relatives or his guardians." Severus glared.

"This is getting ridiculous. How are his guardians supposed to be there if one of them is being interrogated?" Lucius shook his head.

"Can you do something about this, father?" Draco asked, crossing his arms.

Lucius sighed. "I can try to make us listen in to the interrogation of Harry and Black, but I'm not sure if they would allow us that. I can, however, demand to see the so-called evidence they have. Because the evidence is false, there has to be something about it that we can use to our advantage in court."

The three looked up when they heard the door of room number three open and both McCormack and Harry stepped out of the room, both having a look of frustration on their faces.

"Harry!" Draco hurried to his boyfriend and pulled him into his arms.

Lucius stopped next to him. "Ah, it's you, Auror McCormack." He greeted him idly.

Jason glowered. He hadn't had much encounters with the senior Malfoy, but the ones he had had, made him loathe the man with all he had in him. A year ago, he had had a case concerning a dark wizard that had been smuggling illegal potion ingredients in the country. Jason had been able to catch him, but the man had been released four days later, the evidence having disappeared. Before the man had been released, Jason had seen Malfoy talking to his superior and he had heard the man had had paid a visit to the Minister. After a few more encounters where Jason had lost his suspect, a deep loathing for everything that had to do with the name Malfoy had rose up.

"To what do I own the pleasure?" He asked through gritted teeth.

Lucius tapped his cane against the floor again and looked at him pensively. "It came to my attention that Sirius Black is arrested on charges of child abuse." He paused for a moment and his steely grey eyes stared at the glaring Auror in front of him. "I want to see the evidence."

"You're not allowed …" McCormack began, but was interrupted by Lucius.

"But I can. I can inform you why exactly I'm allowed to see this evidence, but that would be a waste of my precious time and frankly I have better things to do than standing here, convincing you to show me the evidence." Lucius replied calmly.

For a couple of minutes it was agonizing silent with Draco and Harry staring at the two men, waiting with bathed breath.

McCormack turned around with a snarl and he stamped down the hallway. "Fine, I'll get that evidence!"

Lucius smirked in triumph. It paid off to have power in the Ministry.

"Where's Sirius?" Harry asked worried, fiddling with his sleeve.

Severus shook his head. "I don't know. I assume they put him in another interrogation room."

Harry bit his lip and leant back against Draco's chest, feeling his arms tightening around his waist.

McCormack returned after five minutes. "If you want to take a look at the evidence, you need to follow me to the Pensive room." He informed them curtly.

"The evidence is a memory?" Lucius raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I assure you that memories are perfectly legal to use as evidence – in fact, they are the best considering you can't lie in memories." McCormack sneered.

"Unless you're powerful, then you don't have any problems lying in memories." Lucius informed him in a bored tone.

McCormack clenched his jaw, but beckoned them stiffly, leading them to another corridor where nobody was walking around and everything was quiet. There were only three rooms in the dimly lit corridor and the Auror led them to the second door on their left. He grabbed a silver key and roughly opened the door, beckoning them in the room.

Harry looked around. There were five Pensives standing on one shelf; a bookcase stood next to it, filled with files and another bookcase was filled with small, clear bottles filled with blue smoke. There was nothing else in the room. He bit his lip again and tightened his grip on Draco's hand, who squeezed back briefly.

McCormack made his way to the bookcase filled with bottles and searched through them, before selecting a bottle that was standing on the third shelf on top. He grabbed it and walked back to the two men and the two boys, roughly trusting the bottle in Lucius' hands.

"Here, this is the memory." The Auror muttered annoyed.

Lucius studied the bottle. "Why is the name of the witness not on the bottle?" He asked calmly, but inside he got a feeling of dread. The memory bottles always had the name of the witness engraved in them, even if the witness had to stay anonymous. Why wasn't that in this case?

McCormack snorted. "Don't worry about that. You wanted to see the memory, well, feel free to use one of the Pensives." He gestured towards the large bowls.

Lucius narrowed his eyes, but otherwise his face was blank. He turned to Harry. "Harry, would you like to see the memory too?"

Harry nodded immediately. He wanted to know what was in the memory that let these people think he was being abused. Draco released his hand and stepped back, next to Severus. It would be too crowded if they all watched the memory.

Harry and Lucius walked to the Pensive on the left and carefully Lucius opened the bottle, tipping it over in the basin, watching how the blue smoke swirled in it before becoming clear again.

"Ready?" Lucius asked and looked at Harry.

He nodded.

"Let's go."

They took a deep breath and dipped their heads in the basin. Like the other time, Harry felt himself falling before suddenly landing on familiar tiles. One look around him confirmed his suspicions: he was standing outside the infirmary, right in front of the door. He studied his surroundings. The person to whom this memory belonged should appear soon.

Both he and Lucius startled when Remus exited the infirmary before hurrying out of the corridor. Harry frowned and turned to peak in the room. He took a deep breath when he realized this memory was of the night where he was attacked by Ron. He saw himself sitting on the bed, still half-naked, with bruises marring his chest and arms, looking at his pacing godfather nervously. Next to him, Lucius furrowed his eyebrows.

Harry was startled again when the memory Sirius smacked his hand down on the nightstand. He swallowed when he relived the fight again. He saw himself standing up, intend on walking away, but Sirius grabbed his arm, stopping him.

Harry didn't understand why the Aurors would classify this as abuse. He knew what happened afterwards: Sirius would let his arm go, they would yell more at each other, then Poppy would come storming in, threatening to sedate them if they didn't shut up and then Remus would return with Draco. So what seemed to be the problem?

However that wasn't what happened. Instead of Pomfrey storming in the room, Harry noticed a slight haze about the setting, barely noticeable except when you concentrated on the memory. What was going on? He felt Lucius tensing beside him. What happened next in the memory made Harry gasp in disbelief. The Sirius in the memory was gripping his arm even harder and suddenly, the man raised his arm and slapped Harry hard in the face, making the boy fall back on the bed where Sirius gripped his throat and started hissing something in the younger one's ear. The Harry in the memory paled and nodded weakly before Sirius released his throat and stepped back.

"Good boy." He heard Sirius saying in satisfaction.

Suddenly the haze cleared up and Pomfrey stormed to them, yelling.

"I think we saw enough." Lucius muttered and grabbed Harry's upper arm to pull him back out of the Pensive.

When Harry's feet touched the floor again, he gasped and trembled, wobbling a bit. Draco rushed towards him, pulling him in a hug.

"What happened? What did you see?" He asked worried and glanced at his father, who was even paler as usual.

"Where is that Auror?" Lucius asked, leaning against the wall.

Severus studied him. "He went back to his office; he got a call from another one. He said to leave this room immediately as soon as you saw the memory and not to touch anything else."

"What happened, Harry? What did you see in that memory?" Draco repeated his question, his lips brushing against Harry's temple.

"Someone screwed with that memory." Harry said with trembling voice. "That wasn't how that night happened at all."

"According to that memory, Black would have slapped Harry's face and gripped his throat." Lucius elaborated more.

Harry shook his head against Draco's chest. "But that isn't what happened! Sirius never hurt me!"

"We all know that, Harry, but it will be difficult to prove that. After all, they won't believe Black's testimony and they will probably say that you're just trying to protect him when you defend him." Lucius replied darkly.

"Did you discover who the memory belonged to?" Severus asked.

Lucius shook his head. "I never saw the person." He frowned. "There is something fishy going on here. Why would someone produce a false memory of Black and would have the power to remain undetected in the memory? It has to be someone of Hogwarts, because it happened in the Infirmary."

Severus breathed out slowly. "What are you going to do now?"

Lucius sighed and placed the bottle back in the bookcase. "I'm going to get some of the Aurors I trust to study this case and try to find out how we're going to proof that this memory is tampered with."

"I want to see Sirius." Harry muttered, blinking tears away.

"Let's go ask where they are keeping him." Severus suggested.

However, when they finally tracked down McCormack, they were informed that Sirius was already sent to Azkaban to wait there for his trial. When Harry heard that, he had to sit down because his legs trembled too much. They had sent his godfather to that awful terrible place. How could they do that to him? Sirius had just been recovering for real; would he survive another stay in Azkaban? Would it be this time that Azkaban managed to get to Sirius' head and make him insane?

Harry's teeth started to shatter and he began to tremble terrible, wrapping his arms around him. He was only vaguely aware that Draco warned Severus and that he was being led to the fireplace downstairs where he was Floo'd to Dumbledore's office.

The Headmaster had wanted to say something when Draco, Harry and Snape appeared in his office, but one dark look of Snape had made him shut his mouth, raising his eyebrow.

It was only after the trio had left that Dumbledore smirked and folded his hands. On the desk was the rapport of the Ministry, stating that Sirius Black had been sent to Azkaban to wait for his trial in three weeks. It was such a shame that the Aurors had forgotten about interrogating McGonagall and the school nurse. Oh well, it wasn't his fault that he kept forgetting to warn the Ministry to interrogate these women too, was it?

As soon as Harry was brought into Snape's office and had been forced to swallow a Calming Draught, Ruby and Sapphire appeared seemingly out of nowhere and curled around their master, sharing their warmth and company. Low hissing told the two cats all they needed to know and their eyes burned dangerously. Their master had been hurt again – and this time they couldn't do anything about it.

Salazar looked at the boy with concern. He had heard about what had happened in the Great Hall and he couldn't help but feeling that it was all too coincidental.

"What is your next course of action?" He asked Severus who looked at him with tired eyes.

"Lucius is going to call in some Aurors he trusts to study the case and he's going to try and find a way to prove that the evidence provided is false." Severus sighed.

"It's going to be okay, Harry." Draco muttered, pulling Harry on his lap. "Father will make sure Sirius stays out of prison. Father won't lose; he never does. We're going to win this case, I swear."

Harry placed his head on Draco's shoulder and didn't reply. He didn't have the same confidence that Draco had. All he could do was hope that Draco was right and that Lucius would be able to win this case.

The following weeks were spent in a daze for Harry. He had asked to visit Sirius in Azkaban, but hadn't been allowed because he was the victim in this case and they didn't want to 'give Sirius a chance to hurt him again'. It didn't matter that Harry kept saying he was never abused; they wouldn't listen to him. It frustrated Harry to no end. He was being treated as a child who didn't know what he said. He hated that feeling.

True to his word, Lucius had sent some Aurors to do his own investigation and they had visited McGonagall and Pomfrey to collect their memories. Draco had tried to win some information about the case through his father, but Lucius didn't want to risk anything and kept quiet.

Remus had been allowed to visit Sirius briefly and only because Lucius had threatened to withdraw his donations. The visit had barely lasted for half an hour. When Remus returned, he had hugged Harry to his chest and told him that Sirius had made him promise not to worry too much and that everything was going to be okay.

Harry had taken to stay the night in Remus' quarters with his animals, not being able to stand the jabs Nott threw at him. That and he needed the comfort of knowing that at least one of his guardians was still with him.

March made his entree and the sun began to appear more and more, but Harry was not in the mood for the light atmosphere that the castle exuded. Students had taken to stay out of his way, lest they risked a curse if they made fun of his godfather. Ron had been keeping his distant too, but if Harry had to go by his constant smirk, he knew that Ron was enjoying himself immensely now that Sirius was in jail.

Ginny had tried to comfort him once, but Garin and Ruby had taken care of that unwelcome touch by attacking her. Draco had been fairly amused with that.

It was four days before the trial started that Lucius made a breakthrough with the case. He leaned back in his chair and smirked. The 'witness' had been smart, very smart, faking a memory, but he had forgotten one tiny thing that would make the difference between jail time and freedom. Too bad for him, but Lucius had found that tiny difference. He couldn't wait to see the faces of those Aurors when he showed that evidence.

It was Friday, the day of Sirius' trail. Harry swallowed nervously and adjusted his tie. He wore formal grey robes and he was waiting for Remus to join him. He had almost being forbidden from going to the trial because it was a school day, but one letter of the Ministry had fixed that. Seeing as he was the 'victim' he had the right to know what would happen with Sirius and so he had been given permission to attend the trial.

Draco had wanted to join him to support him, but he had been refused. It had angered the blond young man, but he had eventually calmed down and had promised Harry to wait for him in the dorms when he came back from court. His magical pets would stay in Hogwarts too because Harry would have Remus and Lucius with him in case something went wrong.

"Everything will be all right." Draco murmured behind him and kissed his neck.

Harry sighed and leaned back against the strong chest of his boyfriend. "I hope you're right." He murmured, fear starting to claw at his insides. "I can't lose him again."

"You won't, my father will make sure of that." Draco assured him and turned him around. He gripped his chin and tilted his head up, placing a soft kiss on his lips. "I'll see you in a few hours, okay?"

Harry sighed again and kissed him back before stepping back. "All right, I'm going to Remus now." He muttered and exited the dorms.

He found Remus standing on the fourth floor, waiting for him at the top of the stairs. He was dressed in dark blue robes.

"Are you ready?" He asked softly, his amber colored eyes showing his concern for his cub.

Harry bit his lip and nodded. "Let's go."

Dumbledore looked up when they entered his office. "I hope the trial will work out in Sirius' favor." He said gravely.

Harry nodded stiffly and made his way to the fireplace, not wanting to spend any more time with the old man than necessary.

Remus joined him in the fireplace and they Floo'd to the Ministry. The last thing Harry saw before the fire took him away was the intense weird look in Dumbledore's eyes.

Harry sighed in relief when he saw Sirius sitting in the middle of the courtroom, bound to his chair. His hair was tangled and a mess, his clothes were dirty and his cheekbones were more pronounced and he looked tired, but he looked sane. His eyes didn't have a crazy tint to them and he smiled weakly when he saw Harry and Remus.

Harry looked up when a shadow blocked his view and saw that it was Lucius.

"Did you find anything that could help Sirius?" Remus asked urgently, grabbing Harry's hand, squeezing it.

Lucius smirked and with that one action he managed to reassure Remus and Harry. A Malfoy only smirked when they knew they were the winning party. Harry never thought he would be one day relieved to see a Malfoy smirk.

"Don't worry; the witness was smart, but he forgot one tiny thing." Lucius informed them smugly.

"And what was that?" Harry asked curiously.

"Just wait and watch." Lucius settled himself in the chair next to Harry, putting his cane next to him.

The whole room went silent when the jury entered the room. Like last time Madam Bones was sitting there and she looked at Sirius with a frown and a huff.

"I declare this case open. Sirius Orion Black, thirty-seven years old, accused of child abuse. Victim: Harry James Potter, sixteen year old."

Harry got a shock when he saw Percy reading the accusations. He felt ill at the pleased look in Percy's eyes.

Madam Bones looked at the Aurors. "You may present the evidence." She said in a grave voice.

McCormack placed a Pensive on a table in the middle of the room and poured the memory in it. This time the memory was played outside the Pensive and Harry looked down at the floor, avoiding the shocked gazes of the other witches and wizards who were staring at the memory in disgust.

Harry felt the grip on his hand tighten and when he stared at Remus, he saw how pale the man had become. Sirius himself was looking at the memory in loathing, sneering when some wizards glared at him.

The memory ended and McCormack put it back in the bottle before addressing the jury. "I think it was fairly obvious what happened that day. Mister Black lost his temper and decided that it was a good idea to turn his anger towards his godson. He is the godfather and the guardian of Harry Potter, yes, but we can't allow him to go away with this. Next time, he may seriously injure the boy or even kill him in his rage. We can't allow that to happen." He said coolly before going to his seat again.

The jury began to murmur and by the looks they threw at Sirius; it wasn't in the man's favor.

Madam Bones looked at Lucius. "Do you have anything to say in defense of Sirius Black?"

Lucius stood up, smirking. "As a matter of fact, yes, I have." He gestured towards one man who was sitting one row below them. "I had other Aurors investigating this case; Aurors who interrogated everyone."

McCormack's eye twitched and his jaw clenched.

The Auror who Lucius mentioned was a man with shaggy brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. He had a slim built and was a bit shorter than Lucius.

He came forwards and put two bottles on the table. He picked one up. "This bottle contains the memory of Minerva McGonagall, professor Transfiguration at Hogwarts. She knows how Harry Potter acquired the bruises. This is her memory of that evening." He poured the substance in the Pensive.

The memory started. McGonagall was walking through a corridor when suddenly her head shot up when she heard yelling. She hurried up the stairs and when she came to a standstill, she saw Harry lying on the floor, holding his ribs with Ron flying towards him with his fist raised. Ron was held back by Sirius.

They jury saw how McGonagall brought Ron into her office and made him sit down.

"Ronald Weasley, what on earth possessed you to get into a fight with Mister Potter?" She snapped, her eyes sparkling in fury. Harry shivered when he saw that.

Ron glared. "He insulted my mother!" He hissed.

"And you thought the best reaction to that was fighting him? I'm deeply disappointed in you, Mister Weasley; I had thought you would be more mature. Hundred points of Gryffindor and you'll be serving detention with me next Thursday." McGonagall told him sternly.

The memory ended.

"As you could see, it was Ronald Weasley who put those bruises on Harry Potter, not Sirius Black." The Auror said calmly. "It happened in a stupid fight."

"Then how do you explain the events in the infirmary?" One of the witches asked coolly. "It may be true that Mister Weasley caused those bruises on Potter's arms and chest, but it was clear from the other memory that Black tried to strangle Potter and slapped him across his face."

"We interrogated the school nurse, Poppy Pomfrey too." The Auror began. "She examined Potter and after she came back to the room to tell the men to keep it quiet, she didn't notice any sign of attempted strangulation or a bruised cheek. I could show you her memory too, if you would like."

"Maybe Black used charms to hide the bruises." Another wizard suggested.

"In such a short time?" The Auror replied skeptically. "The Mediwizard who examined Potter here during the interrogation was a hundred percent sure of the fact that Sirius Black never punched Potter, nor slapped him or tried to strangle him. If he had made an attempt to strangle him, the trachea would have been crushed and Potter would have had difficulty breathing. This was not the case."

"Are you implying that Black was framed?" A witch in the back asked skeptically.

"Let's face the facts, madam. Why would Black wait a whole year to abuse Potter in a public place when he had so many times where he was alone with the boy? Abuse takes place in private settings – an infirmary isn't that private. The school nurse was right next to them in her office, she would have heard the slap if Black had hit Potter."

"If people lose their temper, they won't wait to take their chance in a private setting." Another wizard argued.

"Let me ask you a question: is Harry Potter powerful?" The Auror asked calmly.

"What kind of question is that?" The wizard asked frowning.

"Just answer please; it's relevant to this case."

"Well yes, I think we can consider Potter to be powerful." The wizard replied warily.

"So we all agree on the fact that Potter is powerful. We can't deny that; he has after all survived He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named many times. If he survives such an evil and dark powerful wizard, why on earth would he just lay there and let his godfather hit him?" The Auror asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Children often let people who they consider as family abuse them because they love them." An old wizard in the front remarked. "Potter probably refused to defend himself because it was his godfather who was hurting him and he didn't want to hurt his godfather."

The Auror inclined his head. "That's a plausible possibility. But even if Potter didn't want to hurt his godfather intentionally, his magic would have reacted and defended him."

"Potter is sixteen; he doesn't have magical outbursts like a child anymore."

"When a wizard or witch experiences deep and heavy emotions, such as fear as Potter would have felt if Black tried to strangle him, his or her magic would have reacted, regardless of how old one is."

The court room went silent again.

"Are there any more questions or witnesses?" Madam Bones asked, looking around. The jury all shook their head. "Then it's time to decide whether or not Sirius Black is guilty of child abuse."

Harry held his breath and tensed. This was the moment of truth. Now they would know if he would lose Sirius again or not. He wiped his clammy hand off on his pants and swallowed. Next to him Remus was trembling slightly.

"Who thinks Sirius Black is guilty of child abuse, raise your hand."

Forty-one people raised their hands and Harry's heart sank and he bit his lip so hard that he tasted blood.

"Who thinks Sirius Black is not guilty, raise your hand."

Fifty-nine people (including Madam Bones) raised their hands and Harry's heart made a jump.

"Sirius Black, you are hereby free of all charges. You are free to go." Madam Bones smiled.

The cuffs keeping Sirius bound to the chair disappeared and he jumped up. An Auror came to him and handed over his wand.

Sirius rubbed his wrists, but was immediately attacked by a black blur who hugged him tightly.

"I hope this won't be something regular: you hugging me when I'm being freed of an accusation." Sirius grinned weakly, but hugged Harry back fiercely, keeping one hand free to clasp it around Remus' neck, drawing him in to kiss him full on his mouth.

"I missed you so much." Harry whispered, wiping his eyes free of tears that had escaped when he had heard the verdict.

"I missed you too, kiddo." Sirius whispered back. "Thank you for defending me, Lucius."

Lucius scoffed. "Please, the accusations were too weak, it was easy."

Sirius shook his head but grinned. "Still thanks."

"Come on now, Sirius, let's go home." Remus smiled.

"Home, I like the sound of that." Sirius mused and with his arms around his lover and his godson he left the courtroom, but not before swearing inwardly that he would find the person who had done this to him and he would make him pay.

AN2: See, I didn't let him suffer too long LOL I hope you liked it, even if it was a bit OOC at some points ^^; Please leave your thoughts behind in a review!

Normally I should be able to update this Friday

Love and cuddles

Melissa
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