Harry watched helplessly as the Aurors manhandled Draco out of Dumbledore's office. He looked at the old wizard hoping he would say something, hold them back, but Dumbledore said nothing. "You can't do this," said Harry. "Draco hasn't done anything."

But it was as if he were invisible. He looked down at himself. No, he wasn't wearing his invisibility cloak. He cast a quick glance at McGonagall and tore out of the room. He ran after them, grabbed Tonks by the arm, and whirled her around. "Tonks! What's going on?"

She looked down at his hand on her and Harry let her go. "Look Harry. Best stay out of this. It looks like Draco isn't who you thought he was."

"No! Draco. Tell them!"

Draco raised sorrowful eyes to Harry. "They won't believe me, Harry. They won't ever believe me again. It's over. It was lovely, but now it's over. I should have known nothing good would ever happen to me. It's just not meant to be. I should have stayed in that ruddy tea shop."

Harry watched Draco lower his head, and Tonks and the other two Aurors turned and led him away.

Harry couldn't breathe. He fell against the wall and slid down. This was a nightmare! What could possibly have happened for Draco to lose all hope like that? What were they accusing him of? Suddenly Harry became angry. He had suffered a lot in the last nineteen years. Finally some happiness had come his way. He wasn't about to let it go without a fight. He picked himself up and marched back into Dumbledore's office.

He didn't mean to-or did he?-but he pushed McGonagall out of the way. "I demand to know what happened?" he said in a low, deadly voice to Dumbledore.

The old wizard looked at McGonagall and Sprout. "Could you leave us, please?"

Sprout and McGonagall gave Dumbledore and Harry stern looks before they complied, shutting the door behind them.

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "Before you say anything, please listen to the facts as they have been presented. Now. Draco was seen moving about the corridors at night when he had not been assigned to patrol. Death Eaters were discovered in the corridors and they apprehended a student. They knew Draco, called him 'Lord Malfoy' in allegiance to him-witnessed by this same student-who also attested that Draco told his Death Eater colleagues that he needed no help in disposing of you. It seems by Draco's own admission that he had met this same Death Eater on two separate occasions. A Portal Scarab was found in Draco's room. This was how these men entered Hogwarts. Can you give any explanations about any of these events? If you can, I should be most grateful to hear them."

Harry was dumbfounded. He simply couldn't believe it. Of course it wasn't true. But he had no idea how all these facts fit together. He shook his head. "All I know, headmaster, is that it cannot possibly be true. Draco would never try to hurt me. He couldn't."

"And why do you find that so impossible to believe? The witness said she saw Draco in the corridors not far from your rooms. Twice. What was he doing there at night?"

"What was this witness doing there? I'm assuming it's a student. What were they doing out of their rooms at night?"

"Harry."

Harry tucked his chin down and stared at his feet. "I know that Draco is innocent."

"And how do you know?"

"Because Draco wasn't skulking near my rooms. He was coming out of my rooms. Because…because he's my lover."

Dumbledore's brows disappeared up under his hat. He walked thoughtfully around his desk and slowly eased into the chair. "Well! I have been an accomplished Legilimens for well over seventy years, Harry. But I can honestly say…I didn't see that one coming. And that is saying a lot." He settled his gaze on Harry. "So Draco's comings and goings-"

"Have been to see me. If he had wanted to kill me, he had more than ample opportunity for over a month. No, there's something else going on here. Who was the Death Eater?"

"Minx Mercer."

"Mercer? I thought I saw him last week, but I was certain he was in Azkaban. When did he break out?"

"He didn't. He never made it there. Again, the Ministry hushed it up. Didn't want a panic."

"Damn them!" Harry paced. "What about this Portal Scarab. What is that?"

"I am beginning to feel we were woefully inadequate in preparing you for the outside world. A Portal Scarab-a husk of a beetle-can be charmed to use as a portal."

"Like a portkey?"

"No. A portkey is charmed to actually take you to specific locations, but a Portal Scarab becomes a gateway, much as the Vanishing cabinets were, but it is obviously much more portable. It is designed for use in places like Hogwarts or other citadels protected from entry, because it can be carried in. But it must be carried in willingly or its magic fails. Draco-or someone-had to bring it in on their person to initiate its power. And it was found in Draco's room."

Harry couldn't fathom it. But there had to be something he could do for Draco.

Harry was so absorbed in thinking, that he didn't notice Dumbledore approach and lay his hand on Harry's shoulder. "We will do our best for Draco. Don't give up hope. And Harry, in the future, you must surely be aware that the floo network within Hogwarts-though not connected to the outside world-does connect to every fireplace within the castle. As long as permission is granted, you can even floo from private room to private room."

Harry looked up with a weak smile. He hadn't known. "Thanks, Albus."

* * *

Draco sat in the small cell on the floor, very grateful the Dementors were no longer guarding Azkaban. He studied his surroundings, figuring he'd better get used to them. Funny how he finally ended up here for something he hadn't done. But in a way, it was fitting. He never really got over his guilt for not going to prison for all he did before. He blamed himself for the deaths of his parents and for Snape. Perhaps this is where he belonged all along. And the other-the parts that belonged to Hogwarts and Harry-had all been a lovely dream.

Harry's face rose up in his mind. Harry's scent. Harry's touch. Harry's lips. Draco had fallen so completely for him when only a little over a week ago he hadn't even a clue that he was gay. How had such important information eluded him for so long? He supposed his life had been so absorbed with Death Eaters and the Dark Lord that he hadn't time to notice a little thing like his sexuality. How horrible it would have been to be married to Pansy and never have known the utter joy he experienced in Harry Potter's arms. Who could have dreamed that? His former enemy now his lover? Except that there was no hope of that ever happening again while Draco rotted in this prison the rest of his life.

When they questioned him he hadn't bothered answering. What good would it do? They wouldn't believe him. They asked him how that damned Portal Scarab had gotten into his room. He wanted to know that too. It looked familiar, though. Where had he seen it? The whole thing was cloaked in so much mystery and fog- Wait a minute. Cloak. He pulled a dead beetle off of Harry's cloak, the one he borrowed to shop in Diagon Alley. And when he ran into Mercer in Knockturn Alley, Mercer had touched him, put his hand on his back. Isn't that where he found the beetle? Stuck to the back of the cloak? "The bastard! The bloody bastard!" Draco had worn that cloak when he flooed into Hogwarts, flicked that damned bug off of it, and simply forgot all about it. And those lunatics thought they were helping Draco. Swore their allegiance to him. He'd show them. If he ever got out of here, he'd bloody well show them. You never crossed a Malfoy. Never.

Draco watched the moonlight make its way across the cell floor. The low wooden bed with its straw-stuffed mattress didn't look particularly comfortable and Draco didn't feel like getting up right now. What did it matter if he slept or not? Every day was going to be like every other from now on. No use it getting into a routine like sleeping and eating. Maybe he could simply waste away. It would have been easier to do with Dementors, but he reckoned it was possible to do so with enough despair. And he certainly felt full of that at the moment.

Footsteps. He heard what he thought was a bang and some sizzling. New prisoners coming?

There was a sound at the lock of his door. Draco snapped to his feet and shrank against the wall. What now? Did they do torture in Azkaban? He wasn't certain. So much was unknown about the Wizard's prison. They could torture him if they wanted but he wouldn't have anything to tell them. And then his heart seized. If he didn't have anything to tell them, what would make them stop?

Suddenly, the door flung open with a loud bang and a puff of smoke. When the smoke dispersed Harry Potter stood in the doorway, his wand in his hand. He looked at Draco. "Coming? Or do you prefer to stay?"

"Harry!" Draco moved forward and looked with amazement at the opened door. "How did you convince them to let me out?"

Harry took his arm and moved quickly with him down the passage, his wand following where he turned his head. "Well actually…I didn't quite convince anyone. We're sort of…sort of…breaking out."

"What?"

"Well the legal way takes so long-"

"Harry! You can't do this. You're jeopardizing your career. I can't let you do this."

"Uh…Draco, could you keep moving. They might recover any minute and we need to get out in the open."

"Harry, are you listening to me? We're talking about the rest of your life! You're ruining everything!"

He spared Draco a quick, concentrated glance. "Look, Draco. In case you haven't noticed, you are my life. Without you, I really don't give a damn for the rest of it. So I suggest you move your arse so we both don't end up in here forever."

"But Harry! What would Dumbledore say to this? To you?"

"Who do you think is standing as lookout? Now will you come on!"

Draco followed obediently and they emerged into an open courtyard outside under the moonlight. Harry took a small object out of his pocket. It looked to Draco like a dead beetle.

"Harry. Is that-?"

"Ready?" Harry took hold of Draco's arm, and then the world around him misted, stretched, and disappeared.


On to Chapter Sixteen
"The Gathering"

Back to Chapter Fourteen
"The Accused"

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