Here it Starts
Harry was on the run. Again. This time it was from those he would have least suspected. Riddle had been defeated almost a year ago to the day. The aurors had made it to Hogwarts once Riddle recalled all those holding the Ministry to help with the Battle of Hogwarts. They rounded up all the Death Eaters after Riddle’s demise, including the recently turned Malfoys and immediately shipped them all off to Azkaban.
Most couldn’t care less, the war was over, He Who Must Not Be Named was dead, finally and utterly, no take backs dead, and as you can imagine there was the grandest party in history in celebration. Harry didn’t particularly feel like participating. He had killed someone, not a man, that thing that came out of the cauldron was no man, but it had intellect, it could think, and regardless of horrors committed, Harry still could barely reconcile the need for murder in his mind.
He went into reclusion for a couple weeks before he was found by Ron and Hermione who demanded he come and celebrate with them at the party that was still going weeks later. They ignored any and all of his objections and dragged him back into the Wizarding World. People were revelling left right and centre, spread all across the main street of Diagon Alley and it was evident that no one here had been home in at least 3 days if the overwhelming aroma of those around him meant anything.
Ron and Hermione dragged him to the makeshift bar that had been set up in the middle of the alley to cater to the revellers, there they all ordered some fire whiskey, well the others ordered some, and he sat in silence when asked what he wanted until they eventually just got him one too.
He sat in silence for a while more before he realised that they were gone. After all their pestering about him being here, as soon as he was, they ditched him. Honestly, he hadn’t really expected any better, he’d found in his reclusion that he didn’t really miss their companionship, in fact he was quite happy with the distinct lack of disbelief that he knew anything reliable from Hermione and the lack of useless childish conversation he had long outgrown with Ron.
Just as he began to relax slightly in his own little corner of this useless party, he saw her. Ahhh, he though, this was probably the reason they’d made themselves scarce. Ginny was walking towards him clad in what was less a dress more scraps of fabric sewn together to just be on this side of all out nudity. Honestly, he usually didn’t care what people wore, as long as it suits you, you can pull almost anything off spectacularly, but what Ginny was wearing, that would only look good on a dumpster fire.
“Harry!” she exclaimed, running up to him and hugging him tightly, pushing her scantly clad chest right into him in a way that was more uncomfortable then was probably intended.
“Where have you been Harry? After your defeat of You Know Who you just disappeared! I was...” This was where he interrupted, “Ginny honestly, Voldemort’s dead, the least you could do is speak his name, fear of the name of a dead man is even more ridiculous than a living one.”
“Oh but Harry, he’s just so terrifying, even in death, its like you never know.” she said, with a look that was probably supposed to inspire a bout of protectiveness and a rigorous reassurance but instead did quite the opposite.
“Yet, somehow I manage to know, because believe it or not Ginny I’m pretty sure I actually killed the man that I cast the killing curse on!”
“Oh Harry don’t exaggerate! Everyone knows that you would never cast something so evil. It was You Know Who’s own killing curse cast at you that rebounded on himself because of your mother’s sacrifice when you were a baby.”
“And just how on earth would you know that?” He replied, last he’d checked he was only one still left alive who was aware of the nature of his protection from old Voldy. Most of the Order knew that he had some protections around him, and that they were maintained by his continued presence at Private Drive every summer, yet he was sure Dumbledore had only told him the specifics, and since Dumbledore was gone, he was the only person alive that should know about his mother’s sacrifice.
Meanwhile, Ginny herself was confused at his statement, “Earth?” she questioned, “What’s earth?”
“Oh, come now Ginny, even Malfoy knows what earth is. Surely even if you were wizard-raised you would have been taught the basics of our own planet?” he exclaimed in return
“What’s a planet?” she asked
The effort taken to restrain himself from face palming should be commended. “Merlin Ginny, read a book every now and again. Did you even complete Astronomy? We went over the planets, including Earth in our first lesson. Regardless, how do you know about my mother’s sacrifice?”
“Oh, everyone knows Harry! It’s not like it’s some secret. Dumbledore told everyone after you disappeared these past weeks all about what happened that Halloween when you were a baby, and how your disappearances every summer was actually needed to help maintain the protections around you, so you were sent back to your family, who raised you happily away from the wizarding world to help further protect you.”
Ignoring the absolute lie of being ‘happily’ raised by his ‘family’ he focused on the most ridiculous part of that statement. “Dumbledore? But he’s dead. How could he have told you? I didn’t know there was a way to talk to dead people besides ghosts and paintings?”
“Oh, Merlin no Harry!” she cried, incensed, “That’s necromancy, one of the darkest magics! It’s evil and corrupts the soul. How could you ever speak of such an evil thing? I thought better of you! Honestly how could you…”
“Ginny focus! I wasn’t asking about necromancy. How did a dead man tell you about something only he and I know?”
“Oh, don’t be silly Harry!” she said, immediately happier off the topic of the evil magics of the dead. “The Headmaster was never dead, he had to fake his death to give He Who Must Not Be Named a sense of security, so he would take over and feel assured in his position so he would relax enough for the Headmaster to launch a surprise attack and kill him. Of course, that wasn’t needed as you killed him yourself! You must tell me what it was like! I can’t imagine having the power to vanquish a Dark Lord. You’re so powerful Harry, and so inspiring.” She continued, draping herself across him.
“Enough Ginny.” He stated, pushing her off, trying to stall while he digested the information. Dumbledore was alive, and he told everyone that it was all according to plan, that everything that had happened needed too for the ‘greater good’. Everyone that is, except for him! The teenager that was left to kill the greatest wizard of this age after seemingly being left alone without the light side’s greatest fighter and the only thing old Voldy was afraid of. To say he was furious was an understatement.
“Where are the Malfoys?” was his next question. He had though often of them in his isolation and was concerned when he realised, he left them to fend for themselves in a world where most thought they were willing in their role in the war. He had told very few of their change in allegiance before he left. Ginny’s responding expression didn’t inspire any hope in their situation.
“What about those Death Eaters? They’re rotting in Azkaban as they should be!”
“Ginny, I told you, Ron and Hermione before I left! I told you how Narcissa saved me! None of us would be here without her!” The shouting was starting to draw attention from the drunken party goers, they had yet to notice who he was, but he was sure as soon as they did, he would be swamped for hours with questions about recounts of that night and autographs and a lot of crying women throwing themselves at him like Ginny was still trying to do now. He dragged her back into the Leaky where there was less partying and less potential listeners.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone? Why didn’t Ron and Hermione tell anyone? I told all three of you before I left that night about what the Malfoys had done.”
‘Oh Harry, I know it was a stressful night and that you were truly so relieved to be rid of You Know Who, we all collectively agreed that you were just being delusional in your post battle haze. We understand you made a mistake, you don’t have to try and cover, we understood the circumstances and made sure that those scum would be sent straight to Azkaban. You don’t have to worry anymore.” She said, stroking one of her hands down his face and started to use the other to tug him towards the stairs. “I’m sure if you just come with me, we can talk this out, and maybe even get to talk about some other things, more fun things.” She continued, suggestively, continuing to tug him towards to the stairs.
“No Ginny.” He said, freeing himself in the process, “What do you mean ‘straight to Azkaban’? As in no trial?”
“Of course! As if there is any doubt to their guilt. If we offer them a trial, they will just find a way to squirm out of punishment like last time. Without a trial they have no chance of escape. They will be punished for their crimes.” She claimed happily
“Ginny! Sirius was sent to that hell hole without a trial! What if there are others like him amongst those sent to Azkaban? We’ll never know! They all have a right to defend themselves in a court of law. You can’t just send them to prison all willy nilly cause you think you are certain of guilt. It’s not your decision to make.”
“Oh Harry, don’t you think that…”
“Stop ‘Oh Harry’-ing me! I’m not some delusional, mentally scarred child who can’t be trusted to make their own decisions!” He was mentally scarred but that wasn’t something she needed to know.
“But Harry, realistically Sirius was a Black, they’re all crazy or evil, most of them both. You reall…”
Harry interrupted again, he was okay with her jabbering off about him and his role in all this, but Sirius? If she wanted to come after Sirius, she had another thing coming and he told her as such before taking off to the bar where Tom was drying a glass in such a cliché way that he probably would have laughed under different circumstances, but instead he just asked for a room for the night, slammed down some galleons out of his pocket, grabbing the offered key and storming upstairs, barely checking the room number attached to the key before storming in, locking the door in case she got the idea into her head that he would appreciate some company.
He flopped down on the bed and just lay there fuming trying to hold off the urge to hex everything and everyone. He quickly decided to just go to bed and then make plans tomorrow as too what to do from here. Obviously one of the first stops would be the Malfoys, he knew that imprisonment without a trial was illegal, but he didn’t know how to go about rectifying that. Lucius would know and then he could start trying to free them. Another key stop would be Albus bloody Dumbledore. He didn’t know where the old coot was, but he would find out, and when he did, there would be a lot of questions asked that had better be answered or so help him. But for now, he decided to get some sleep and let it be a tomorrow Harry kind of problem.
Everything was a blur from then on, he’d walked out of the Leaky to go fill up his money pouch in Gringotts and it had taken 30 minutes to walk the length of the alley as he was constantly being stopped to be fawned over or thanked profusely or propositioned. He’d eventually made it to Gringotts, retrieved some money from his vault that was worryingly depleted, he’d need to work soon. He then had made his way to the Ministry, and some name dropping to the lady at the front desk ensured he was quickly led to the Department of Magical Transportation to receive a portkey to the island.
He could briefly remember some concern for the ease with which someone who had provided no ID or reason being so easily let onto the island. Looking back now he realised it was because they thought he was going to go lord his victory over the Death Eaters and the employees wanted to make them suffer.
When he arrived, he was led to the Malfoys cell. He noticed the distinct lack of dementors, he remembered making a mental note to ask about that when he returned.
The squalor and complete lack of any form of cleanliness disgusted him when he arrived. It was a dark, dank cell, open to the elements and the battering of the North Sea. The Malfoy’s were in no better state, their usually almost white hair could barely be seen through the caked-on grime.
He got his business over with as quickly as possible, Lucius outlined what he would have to do, after much convincing as to his intentions, he told Harry a excellent lawyer he was sure would still be free that Harry could go to. All he would have to do is tell the lawyer that Lucius was calling in his favour, and they would take care of everything. He left as soon as he had what he needed. Before he left the made many promises of freedom, just as soon as he was capable but the look in their eyes let him in on their doubts.
Harry quickly went about finding the lawyer, which he did and was surprised to find it was a Bones, Blanche Bones, a distant relative of Susan and the recently deceased Amelia Bones. She told him that she would take care of everything just like Lucius said and he wouldn’t even have to pay her as she owed Lucius one.
From then on, he spent almost every waking moment trying to track down Dumbledore. The Daily Prophet seemed to have a new interview with him almost daily, and everyone was praising his ‘self-sacrificing’ decision to fake his own death for the ‘greater good’. The first tine he had heard someone express the old codgers actions that way he had to remove himself from the room before he blew up it and everyone in it. But despite all this no one seemed to be able to tell him where the headmaster actually was.
Two months passed since his forced return from reclusion and three since the Battle of Hogwarts, and he still hadn’t managed to find the old man, when Bones reached out to him telling him that she had managed to get a court date set for that day, but in order to get the Wizengamot to listen she had had to tell everyone that Harry was the one pushing this through, meaning he would have to be present for the trial and showing his support. He had no problem with this and was planning on attending anyway, and he told her as such.
The trial was passed through quickly once Bones demanded the use of veritaserum, the prosecution accepted easily, they had obviously thought that this would be in their favour and have condemned them easily and it would have been a quick trial. Instead, it revealed the truth that Narcissa and Draco only committed any actions under duress, and they were then grudgingly freed since the Wizengamot no longer had any reason to hold them.
Lucius however was a different story. He admitted that his actions during the first war and the start of the second were mostly done of his own accord. At this the Wizengamot moved for immediate dismissal as it was clear that he had done everything of his free will. Bones challenged and got the dismissal denied. Honestly Harry thought that the Wizengamot only allowed her to continue because they just wanted to watch her dig a deeper grave for herself and her client.
Bones then asked some key questions that revealed his actions were also under duress after Voldemort took his family hostage in their own home, and his eventual change of heart at the Battle of Hogwarts. Most of the Wizengamot still pushed for immediate re-imprisonment as he had admitted to committing crimes of his own free will. Bones again, the absolute blessing she was, somehow managed to convince them that they should put him on probation and house arrest for 5 years to ‘keep an eye on him’. Really she just subtly told them that they would have Lucius Malfoy in their debt if they voted in his favour, and despite the loss of basically all of his political pull, the Malfoy’s still had a lot of money that was unable to be seized upon their arrests as the goblins refused to turn over a family’s vaults without proof of every surviving member being legally imprisoned, and has they had all been imprisoned without a trial, these standards were unable to be met.
Three quarters of the Wizengamot agreed to five years of house arrest with three-year probation. In the end, Harry and his support of the case was never brought up once and he began to doubt whether his presence had really been required, but he was quickly assured by the recently freed Lucius that if he hadn’t shown up they would have immediately dismissed the case as the only reason they bothered was because Bones claimed his support, if he hadn’t shown up they would have though she lied and refused to hear anything they had to say and just sent them straight back to Azkaban.
When the trial of three ‘Death Eaters’ and their subsequent release was reported in the paper the next day, there were mixed feelings about his involvement. It severely decreased his public image, which with how much people loved him mainly just meant that he could go places without being swamped by everyone, now it was just 90% of everyone.
Within the week the daily Dumbledore interviews had condemned his decision, not him, but his decision. Most went along the line of ‘I am severely concerned for Harry; I hope his absence after that tremendous day was not for worrisome reasons. Of course, this can not be seen as his fault, he is an impressionable teenager after all and what we need to do is not condemn his actions but guide them to ensure this does not occur again.’ Or some other bullshit.
Harry put absolutely no stock in Dumbledore’s opinions any more after the hundreds of unanswered owls and attempts at contact that the old man surely had to have been aware of by now, and he told this to any who asked for his opinion on his ‘mistaken’ actions.
The Malfoys, despite their irrefutable innocence, were not seen in public once since their release, which was a commendable decision on their part. There had been many an attempt to attack the Manor since everything went public, none succeeded of course, nobody outside of the family even knew where it was.
It was when his statement on Dumbledore’s opinion about the trial was publicized that the cogs slowly started moving, slow enough that Harry didn’t notice until it was almost too late. It went from his mistaken actions to his actions, to his ‘dubiously thought through’ actions, to his deplorable actions.
Over the course of months Dumbledore cemented himself and his position, standing in as Acting Minister while they waited to get everything together for an election. He told everyone that Hogwarts would be shut for two school years following the Battle for repairs and corrections to the curriculum.
Eventually, coming up to the anniversary of the Battle the paper printed the story that ended it for Harry. It basically accused him of being in cahoots with Voldy since the beginning, that was why he wasn’t killed when he was a baby they claimed, that he actually hadn’t killed Voldemort, but in fact for any of those there, it was clear Dumbledore arrived at the last moment and defeated the Dark Lord when Harry was about to join the dark side openly and start killing his fellow students.
It included multiple statements from his supposed friends about how they had always been sceptical and from Ginny who stated that she had only been in a relationship with him to try and prevent any others having to suffer the horror that was their relationship. She ‘nobly sacrificed her own happiness, in order to protect any misguided girl at school who may have accepted his affections’. She went on to explain that after the ‘death’ of Dumbledore she had finally had all she needed to be sure of his darkness and had broken it off at the funeral. The final nail in the coffin was Dumbledore’s statement, he revealed all about the horcruxes, the fact that he had a piece of Voldemort’s soul within him, that he could be corrupted even further by the ‘darkness within him’
This was where Harry realised what was happening. He hadn’t minded the public turning on him, he was used to it, and at least they left him alone, but now? Now he was being painted as a criminal, a Death Eater that was a Dark Lord in the making all along. He immediately grabbed his overnight bag he kept with him for when it wasn’t safe to come home because of reporters. As soon as he had his bag, he stood and that’s when he heard the door being bashed in and the calls of the aurors telling him to surrender peacefully.
He felt them move towards his room and instinctively apparated. When he looked up he found himself in a place he had hopped to never see again, the Little Hangleton Cemetery. He was back on the run. Again. Everyone had turned on him. They all thought he was a Death Eater, the next Dark Lord. His shock morphed into anger, they thought he would be a Dark Lord like Voldemort? He would show them, he would show them a Dark Lord.