Betrayal of the Best Kind
Exit
By Draco664
Exit
Harry quickly scanned the story, noting in passing that even the capture of the infamous Sirius Black was pushed off the front page by the events of Harry's successful ambush. He sighed in relief.
"Hermione! You nearly killed me!" he exclaimed.
His friends looked at him as though he had suggested they go and pat Hagrid's latest pet.
He laughed. "It's OK. Skeeter is probably annoyed that she can't write anything bad about Mr. Weasley, so she didn't name him."
"What about my Dad?" asked Ron.
Harry put the open paper on Professor McGonagall's desk and pointed to a part of the story. "Listen to this. 'A ministry official yesterday dragged the convicted murderer into the headquarters of the Ministry's Auror division.' Ha! Ron, you Dad is the interim Minister, yet he only rates as a 'ministry official' when no bad press can be hung on him."
"My Dad captured Sirius?" Ginny squeaked
Harry smiled at her. "No, Gin. Your father came to see me yesterday in the hospital wing. He and Sirius had been introduced before by Dumbledore, and they decided that with all the good news recently, why not add to it by giving himself up and getting a trial." Harry turned to Ron. "By handing himself to your Dad, he is going to be safe, get a trial and his name cleared. Not only that, your Dad will get the credit for bringing in the 'Infamous Sirius Black', and will get enough support behind him to be formally declared Minister."
"How can you be sure he will be cleared?" asked Hermione, concern evident in her voice.
Harry smiled. "I understand they contacted Remus and Professor Snape. The two of them will join professor Dumbledore to give testimony." Harry again sat down and faced professor McGonagall. "While I was at Voldemort's 'lair', I managed to send information back to the headmaster, a list of all the Death Eaters and minions. Mr. Weasley will also be able to use that to further justify that Sirius was never a Death Eater."
"How?" asked the professor.
"By matching up the names on the list with the prisoners they took after the ministry raid and from the corpses from the ambush I set." replied Harry.
"But Harry, they are having trouble identifying some of the remains." said Hermione. She blushed as Harry turned to face her. "It was in the story on the front page." she finished.
Harry shook his head. "They shouldn't be now. I suggested using poly-juice potion. Pluck a hair from the remains and drink the potion. You should be identifiable then."
Hermione's blush deepened. "I should have thought of that."
Harry laughed. "So should have Mr. Weasley. He was blushing as much as you when I suggested it to him yesterday."
The four students laughed, while Professor McGonagall tried hard not to let amusement show on her face.
It was several days later, and Harry watched as his godfather was escorted out of the holding area. Sirius was pushed into the very seat in which Igor Karkaroff, Barty Crouch, Jr. and Ludo Bagman had sat during their trials, which Harry had watched in Dumbledore's pensieve.
Harry shuddered as the cold from the dementors touched him, even from this distance. Sirius didn't struggle as he was shackled to the chair. His godfather looked around and saw Harry perched on the back of Dumbledore's chair. He smiled weakly.
Harry took a deep breath and gave a long, beautiful, musical and unearthly trill. Immediately all murmuring in the chamber stopped, as the phoenix song washed over all those present. Sirius visibly straightened as his heart swelled with courage and love, fortified by the beautiful sound.
Dumbledore turned and gave Harry a smile. Though everyone's eyes were on them, Harry didn't care. To the world right now, he was Fawkes, Dumbledore's familiar.
To the world indeed, Harry thought. He was shocked at just how many people had come to see the belated trial of the mass murderer, Sirius Black. The chamber was full beyond capacity, to the point where wizards were standing shoulder to shoulder in the aisles between the seats. Harry turned his head all the way round like an owl to see the selected students who had been invited to attend the trial. Harry's friends sat next to each other, Ron and Hermione holding hands in the middle, Ginny and Cho on either side of the couple. Most of the other prefects were present too, including Draco Malfoy. The mood of the crowd seemed to have a rather vindictive edge. These people had been glutted recently with tales of Voldemort's rather spectacular loss of power, and were desperate for more.
Mr. Weasley himself stood in front of the crowd and began the proceedings.
"Sirius Black, you have been brought here in front of the Council of Magical Law to answer charges relating to your activities of fifteen years ago. At the time, you were placed into Azkaban without trial. Though you escaped and have evaded capture for three years, I have decided that you should stand trial now, to show the wizarding world what justice really means."
Harry smiled to himself at Mr. Weasley's carefully chosen words. He had never suspected Ron's father of being so duplicitious.
"May I request to be given veritaserum?" asked Sirius, his voice easily carrying all over the chamber. "I wish to ensure you all hear the truth."
A soft, surprised murmur drifted through the chamber at this request. A prisoner could not be forced to take veritaserum, and most refused to do so. Only those who were giving testimony were required to take it. Asking for it at the outset of a trial was unheard of, since the interrogator could in theory ask anything of the prisoner, bringing out any deep secret from their lives.
Mr. Weasley struggled to keep his face passive, but Harry's sharp eyes picked out a slight turning of the corner's of his mouth. "Granted. Would the potion master of the court administer the requested potion."
An elderly wizard, clean shaven, but with hair longer than even Dumbledore slowly made his way towards Sirius. He asked Harry's godfather to tilt his head back and poke out his tongue. Sirius complied, and three drops were placed on his tongue. Sirius swallowed and his expression became peaceful.
Mr. Weasley started questioning Sirius, starting with a run of simple questions, dealing with the events leading up to the night they were murdered. Finally, he got to the start of the questions designed to clear Sirius' name.
"Sirius Black, it is documented that the Potter's were to be placed under the Fidelius Charm and that you were to be their Secret Keeper. Albus Dumbledore has testified to this. Do you dispute any of this?
"No, I do not."
"So you were their Secret Keeper when the charm was cast?"
"No, I was not."
Mr. Weasley managed to put on quite a respectable expression of surprise, but the reaction from the rest of the chamber distracted attention from the interim Minister. Everyone was staring at Sirius in disbelief.
"How is that possible?" asked Mr. Weasley, once the chatter in the chamber had died down.
"A few people knew that I was to be their Secret Keeper. Everyone else could quite easily guess that I would hold that honour. That made the choice a stupid one. Over James' objections, I suggested that another friend of ours become their Secret Keeper. I was going into hiding, so any of Voldemort's forces who wanted them would come after me, leaving the real Secret Keeper safe."
Murmuring in the crowd increased at this, most expressing disbelief, but annoyed at having to accept it as truth, while some few were nodding their heads at the reasoning.
Mr. Weasley again waited for the crowd to settle down. "Did you inform anyone else of this decision?"
"Of course not. That was the point. No one was to know, that way, no one could betray them. Not even Professor Dumbledore knew of the change."
"But they were betrayed."
Sirius nodded. "Yes, the Secret Keeper we selected betrayed them."
"Who was their Secret Keeper?" Mr. Weasley thundered.
Immediately, the crowd silenced, waiting for Sirius' answer.
"Peter Pettigrew."
For a second, no one in the audience said anything. Suddenly, an enormous roar of mixed anger, disbelief and surprise filled the chamber. Sirius sat calmly as the noise washed over him, his eyes locked on Mr. Weasley.
Harry swept his eyes over the crowd. With that one question, Mr. Weasley and Sirius had forced everyone in the chamber to change their perceptions. The 'monster' Sirius Black had done everything in his power to keep the Potter's safe, while the hero Peter Pettigrew was made out to be a villain.
The shouts and taunts continued for several minutes. Through it all, Mr. Weasley and Sirius stared straight at each other.
Finally, a single demand seemed to take up through the crowd. Everyone wanted to know that Sirius was indeed under the influence of Veritaserum. One of the auror's stepped forward and waved his wand over Sirius. Harry's godfather glowed silver. The auror turned back to Mr. Weasley and nodded. "He is still under."
Ten minutes later, order was still not restored at this announcement. Items were being thrown down at Sirius, but bounced off a shield surrounding the chair. Most looked outraged that not only had a hero been slandered by such filth, but Sirius was allowed to get away with it. Harry searched for Rita Skeeter and surprisingly, found her with a wicked smile on her face, scribbling furiously.
It took several aurors together casting silencing spells over the crowd to finally restore at least the illusion of calm. For show, Mr. Weasley authorised another dose to be given to Sirius, making his testimony beyond reproach, no matter what.
"It was Peter Pettigrew who betrayed the Potters to the Dark Lord?"
"Yes. I was to go into hiding that night. I went to his hiding-place to check on him after the charm was cast, but he had disappeared. I felt something was terribly wrong, so I went to Godric's Hollow. But I arrived too late. The James and Lily were already dead, and Harry was crying, a cut on his forehead."
For the first time, Sirius looked around the room. "Hagrid had arrived before me, and was carrying young Harry out of the ruins. I was crushed, but I knew my duty. Since I was his godfather, I asked Hagrid to give Harry to me; but he refused, saying that he had orders to bring the boy to Dumbledore. We argued briefly, but no one argues to much with Hagrid." Sirius chuckled.
Harry looked around. If it wasn't for the silencing charm over the crowd, dry laughter would have been heard from everywhere. Several witches and wizards were openly grinning at Sirius' last statement.
"I gave him my flying motorcycle, I certainly didn't need it any more. Then I went and hunted down that traitor, Pettigrew."
Mr. Weasley again spoke up. "Several eye witnesses claim to have seen you and Peter duel, and claim that you killed him."
Sirius shook his head. "I finally cornered him, well, I thought I'd cornered him. It was actually an elaborate trap. Peter called out ‘Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?’ before cutting off his own finger and setting off an explosion, then escaping down a drain."
Harry again looked around, and again saw disbelief and confusion on the faces of the crowd.
"How in Merlin's name did Peter manage to escape down a drain?"
Sirius looked Mr. Weasley in the eye. "James Potter, Peter Pettigrew and I all gained a special ability we learned at school. We are animagi. Unregistered animagi. I am a large black dog. James was a great stag. Peter is a rat."
Most of the rest of Sirius' trial didn't hold any other bombshells of that caliber. Sirius was removed from the witness chair, and Remus was called up to testify that, yes, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter and Sirius Black were in fact illegal animagi.
It came out that Sirius' wand had been snapped before a prior incanteum spell had been cast. That he had been thrown into Azkaban without even a cursory investigation. That in the fervor that swept the wizarding world in the aftermath of Voldemort's first defeat, Sirius was overlooked, and forgotten. Sirius had finally become to be seen as a victim, rather than a criminal.
Sirius sat back into the chair, though now without the shackles. He took some more veritaserum, and prepared himself to be interrogated once again.
Mr. Weasley again stood. "Sirius Black, you infiltrated Hogwarts after your rather famous escape. Up until now, it was assumed you did so to find and possibly kill Mr. Harry Potter. What was your motive?"
"Before I escaped Azkaban, the then-Minister Fudge visited. He spoke with me briefly, and I asked if I could have the paper if he was finished with it. I wanted to do the crossword. On the front page was a photo of a family that had won a competition, and had spent the winnings on a trip to Egypt."
Mr. Weasley coughed, blushing slightly. "I am familiar with the issue in question." he said.
Sirius gave him a smile. "The photo showed a large family, I know now it was your family, Minister. But what caught my attention was the pet your son Ron had on his shoulder."
Mr. Weasley frowned. "Scabbers? Percy's old rat?"
Sirius nodded. "The rat had a missing toe on his right front paw. I had seen Peter transform often enough that I could recognise him easily."
Mr. Weasley stood stunned. "Scabbers was Peter Pettigrew?" he asked, trembling.
"Yes. Peter had himself adopted into a wizarding family with contacts to the Ministry, so he could keep an ear out for the return of his master. I escaped from prison by squeezing through the door in my animagus form when I was fed one evening, and swam to the mainland."
With the end of the silencing charm, murmuring could now be heard throughout the chamber, though the general tone was no longer disbelief and abuse. Now, interest and curiosity was the dominating tone.
"Hogwarts had not yet started, and there was one thing I really wanted to do first. To lay eyes on my godson, to make sure he was safe and well."
Sirius' eyes flickered over to Dumbledore and Harry. "I think I may have startled him. I met him near his Aunt's home one evening. He was dragging his trunk after getting into an argument which resulted in the Magic Reversal squad being summoned. After I saw him get on the Knight Bus, I made my way up to Hogsmeade, where I stayed in the Shrieking Shack, Remus Lupin's old monthly home."
Mr. Weasley seemed uneasy. "You met up with Harry before he reached Diagon Alley that night?"
"I didn't meet up with him, I just saw him, and I think he saw me. He looked thin and abused. My heart went out to him, but he was safe, and I needed to get to Hogwarts to get Wormtail."
"Wormtail?"
"Peter's nickname."
Mr. Weasley nodded and continued. "Can you tell us about your attempts to enter Hogwarts?"
Sirius spent the next half hour detailing the events of Harry's third year. He told of his abduction of Ron and Peter, and how Harry and Hermione tried to rescue their friend. Of Snape's interruption and threat to have the dementors administer a kiss. The audience visibly shuddered at this, realising that a possibly innocent man could have been given an irreversible punishment.
"Harry and Hermione saved my life that night." He told the court after his account of the dementors attacking both him and Harry. "They somehow managed to save a hippogriff who was scheduled for execution, and flew on his back up to the office I was locked in. I climbed on Buckbeak, and flew off. Harry and I wrote to each other occasionally over summer and got to know each other better."
Harry turned his feathered head to look at Professor Snape. The potion master's eyes were bulging, his lips pressed into an almost invisible line. His head snapped around and stared at the headmaster. Dumbledore simply nodded sadly in confirmation. Snape coloured, and looked back at Sirius in anger.
What he did next stunned Harry. With a deep breath, Professor Snape hung his head and began to chuckle quietly to himself.
Harry's thoughts whirled through his head. The working relationship built between Snape and Sirius must be stronger than he thought.
Sirius was still talking. "Ever since that time, I have been working for Albus Dumbledore and with Severus Snape. He has had us infiltrate meetings of Death Eaters and eavesdrop, examine new recruits for patterns and trends to help identify possible new potential recruits and other espionage activities. My animagus form gives me the ability to scent people after the fact, giving the Professor intelligence that he would not otherwise have."
Dumbledore stood. "Indeed. Since Sirius told me his story at the end of young Mr. Potter's third year, he and Severus have been instrumental in keeping me informed of Voldemort's activities and plans as well as keeping Harry safe."
Mr. Weasley asked Sirius one final line of questions. "What made you give yourself up now?"
"Voldemort's power structure and minions have been crushed, because of a spy for the ministry. It was due solely to this person that we could identify the Dark Lord's London headquarters and training base. This person managed to give us a comprehensive list of Death Eaters and minions. With this intelligence the ministry mounted its highly publicised and successful raid. Less than twelve hours later, the spy sprung a trap that killed all but two of Voldemort's followers, and crippled Voldemort himself. With such success against him, there is no need for me to stay undercover. I would like nothing more than to be free, free to complete the duty a friend asked of me."
Harry again turned round to look at his friends. In his wide field of vision he saw Draco colour with anger. His parents had both died at Harry's ambush.
"Do you know the identity of the two surviving followers?" asked Mr. Weasley
"Yes. Peter Pettigrew and Victoria Pritchart."
Mr. Weasley appeared to think something over. Smiling with his decision, he asked, "Are you aware of the identity of the spy?"
Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise, but had to answer. "Yes, I am."
An excited babble spread through the crowd, now firmly intrigued in the events of Sirius' past. Mr. Weasley took a breath to steady himself. "I believe it is time that the identity of the heroic spy be revealed. Could you please name that person."
Complete silence filled the room.
Sirius smiled in understanding. "Harry Potter." he whispered, his voice somehow carrying across the room.
There was an incredibly raucous party that night. The jury had taken just seconds to determine that Sirius had been wrongfully imprisoned. That was good news in itself, but with the announcement that Harry was single-handedly responsible for the death of seventy dark wizards had sent the audience into what could only be described as a frenzy.
Harry was dancing with Cho, laughing at one of Fred and George's pranks. He looked around the room. The Great Hall of Hogwarts hadn't seen so much fun before. In recognition of Draco Malfoy's contribution to Harry's freedom, the twins had released a new line of just tested sweets, aptly named Ferret Funnies.
Several people had inadvertently eaten one, and had spent the next few minutes bouncing around in the form of a white ferret.
Every single student and teacher at Hogwarts were enjoying themselves to the limit. Hundreds of former students had returned for the night's festivities. Half the Ministry officials were also there, chatting away, all desperate to get to speak to either Harry or Sirius.
Colin Creevey, new camera in hand, had started desperately restocking his collection of photographs of Harry, snapping him from every angle.
The middle of the dance floor was dominated by the massive figures of Hagrid and Madam Maxine. Dumbledore and McGonagall were rosy cheeked and laughing, the normally stern professor's pointed hat slightly askew.
With his arms around Cho, Harry thought back to the events of the day, and watching through phoenix eyes as first Dumbledore, and then Snape gave testimony of Harry's innocence.
Draco had to be dragged down by aurors to give testimony, and had been, remarkably, forced to take veritaserum. Everyone else had willingly taken it and had presented evidence that suggested Harry's innocence. Now Draco's account of the day of the murder shed new light.
Draco testified that he hadn't known that his father intended to kill Crabbe, and that was the only thing that kept him out of Azkaban. The Slytherin student had been grilled at why he had not come forward to tell of Harry's innocence, Draco repeating over and over that he was afraid of his father.
Draco now sat sullenly in a corner, shunned by all, while the wild party flowed around him.
Someone tapped Harry on the shoulder. He turned and came face to face with Hermione. "May I cut in?" she asked.
Cho smiled at her and pushed Harry into her arms. Leaning forward Cho whispered, "I'll get us some drinks." into Harry's ear before leaving the two friends alone.
Harry put his arms around Hermione's waist and holding her close, started a slow dance. "Productive day, eh?"
Hermione just smiled at him. "Yes, and profitable too. Do you think you and Sirius will fit in at Malfoy Manor? He is going to fulfil his final 'duty' to your father isn't he?"
Harry laughed. "I think the name has officially been changed to 'Black's Pad'. The way Sirius is flirting with those witches over there, I'd say it was an apt change."
"Did you see Draco's face when the jury decided that you and Sirius would get Voldemort's and Malfoy's impounded fortunes split between you?"
Harry shook his head. "I missed the announcement. I was just too happy at the news that both Sirius and I had been exonerated. It was only when Mr. Weasley asked me when I planned to move in to the Manor that I realised I'd missed something."
"So suddenly being one of the richest wizards in England means nothing to you?" she asked slyly.
He smiled fondly. "Of course not. It doesn't change who I am, or how I feel about anyone."
Hermione rested her head on his shoulder. "That's what I love about you Harry. No matter what happens to you, no matter the fame or fortune, you will always be Harry."
The pair danced in silence for a while before Cho returned with three bottles. The trio left the dance floor and found some empty chairs. For about the hundredth time, Harry declined to be interviewed by yet another reporter who had managed to infiltrate the party.
That's starting to become very annoying." Cho mused, sipping her butterbeer.
"Better get used to it, Chang." came a familiar voice from behind. The trio turned to see the smiling face of Ron Weasley. "If you want to be the girlfriend of 'The-Boy-Who-Lived', you are going to have to learn to put up with that."
"Where have you been?" hissed Hermione.
"You just can't help yourself, can you 'Mione?" Ron replied.
Just before Hermione started berating her boyfriend, Ron leaned forward and planted a tender kiss on her lips. Leaning back, he turned to Cho and said, "You were right, it is better to start the making up during the argument."
Hermione narrowed her eyes, and leapt at Ron, tackling him to the ground where she proceeded to cover his face with kisses. Harry and Cho just laughed at the pair.
"Miss. Granger! Mr. Weasley!" came the shocked voice of Professor McGonagall, who had made her way over to the group of friends. "Show some dignity!"
Harry jumped to his feet and bowed to his head of house. "Professor, may I have the honour of a dance?"
The surprised expression on McGonagall's face made Harry smile. "I-, Well-, Very well, Mr. Potter." she said finally.
Harry took the professor onto the dance floor and started a slow waltz.
"I've been meaning to thank you, Professor, for keeping my location a secret for the last few days." he said.
A rare smile touched McGonagall's face. "You are welcome, Mr. Potter. I did want to ask you something. You are going to register your, ahem, ability?"
Harry smiled. "I have a special dispensation from the Minister himself. I don't need to publicly register until Voldy is gone for good."
The professor frowned. "Your rather flippant use of a nickname for You-Know-who is not entirely appropriate."
"I disagree. I am not trying to be disrespectful to those he has killed or had killed. Rather, I am trying to dispel the aura of fear the mere mention of his name generates. Professor Dumbledore agrees with me. Hopefully, people will start to again use his name, rather than perpetuate the fear."
Again, a smile touched the stern teacher's face. "You do belong in Gryffindor."
Harry blushed at the compliment. "That is another thing I need to talk to you about."
A momentary flicker of alarm crossed her features. "You are coming back to school, aren't you?"
"Yes, of course. But the Headmaster had decided that I need to placed in fifth year, if only so that I get my OWLs." Harry took a deep breath. "I was hoping to stay in the sixth-years dorm though, with my friends."
Professor McGonagall nodded. "I'm sure I can make those arrangements." She raised her eyebrows suggestively. "Speaking of the sixth-year dorm, Mr. Longbottom came to me a few days ago with a rather fantastic story. Apparently, each of the boys in that dorm with the exception of Mr. Weasley had the same dream. Someone matching your description appeared in the dorm. They all tried to stun him, but were all stunned themselves. When they woke, their wands were on their bedside tables, and they were tucked into bed."
Harry swallowed. "Sounds like a coincidence."
"Yes, well, I think you'd better have a word with Messrs. Thomas, Finnegan and Longbottom before your sleeping arrangements are finalised." For the third time in a minute, a smile appeared.
That must be a record, thought Harry. "Thank you, I will." The song stopped, and Harry bowed to the professor.
Professor McGonagall curtseyed, and said, "Thank you for the dance, Mr. Potter. I enjoyed it very much."
"Likewise, Professor." Harry replied. As they went their different ways, McGonagall was collected by Sirius and whirled out onto the dance floor again, here eyes wide with surprise. Harry smiled to himself, until he also found himself captured and dancing again, with none other than Rita Skeeter.
"Harry! Lovely to finally get a chance to speak to you." she gushed, gripping Harry's hand tightly.
Harry's mind briefly debated transforming in order to escape, but his common sense overrode that instinct. He sighed and started to dance.
Skeeter's face lit up. "I know you weren't at the trial today, so you probably don't realise exactly what went on when your godfather was being interrogated." she started.
Harry smiled evilly. "I thought your reaction to when my godfather was confirmed under the influence of veritaserum was interesting; the smile on your face was almost scary."
The expression of shock on her face was priceless. Harry continued before she could regain herself.
"You had almost the same smile as when you were covering Ludo Bagman's trial. That green pen you had then, where did you get it?"
Rita Skeeter stood still, absolutely speechless.
"Well, if you want to keep it a secret, I don't mind. I liked the way you had your hair then, short and blonde."
If Harry had been a goldfish, he could have been excused for thinking it was looking in a mirror. Rita's mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out.
"I am sorry, however, I understand my godfather has organised for an exclusive interview of both of us. He told me he didn't want a 'rag' like the Daily Prophet from twisting our stories. Thank you for the dance." Harry disentangled himself and left the shocked reporter on the dance floor.
Harry finally made it back to his friends, having managed to politely decline dance offers from both Patil twins, Blaise Zabini, Professor Trewlaney and Hannah Abbott. He plonked down with no grace at all and sighed.
Cho looked at him fondly. "At least you can dance with your head of house. Professor Flitwick is too short to dance with."
Harry made an adoring face. "I'd rather dance with you."
Cho giggled and the pair stood. Ron and Hermione joined them and the four friends went back to join the party.
Cho lay dreamily on soft white sand, watching as the sun slowly dipped into the ocean. Harry knelt next to her gently rubbing the tears he just shed as a phoenix into her smooth, firm legs. The brands she had carried for weeks flaked off, leaving smooth, unblemished skin behind.
The party at Hogwarts had gone on through the night, and into the morning. No one seemed ready to quit. Harry had allowed himself to be dragooned into dancing with only a few other selected people, including Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and the three Gryffindor Chasers who had graduated at the end of last year.
Finally, Harry had managed to sneak off with Cho. He grabbed a basket Dobby had prepared for him, and transformed. Cho took hold of his tail, and less than half an hour later, the pair had landed on a deserted beach, an hour before sunset.
"This is beautiful, Harry. Where are we?" Cho had asked.
"We are on the western coast of Australia, just in time for sunset."
Harry had suggested removing their clothes so he could finally heal Cho's scars.
"But what if someone comes by?"
Harry had smiled. "There isn't a single person for about three hundred kilometers."
Now, the naked pair sat on towels, looking out to sea. Gently, Harry continued to rub his tears over Cho's taut skin, removing the final reminders of that horrible time.
As the last of the scars disappeared, Cho looked deep into Harry's eyes. "I love you, Harry Potter. I love you with all my heart."
Harry slowly ran the back of his fingers down Cho's beautiful cheek. "I love you too, Cho. Never forget that."
Harry slowly lowered his face to Cho's, and they shared a chaste kiss. Pulling apart they looked at the love evident for each other in their gaze. The next kiss was passionate.
As the sun dipped below the red-stained Indian Ocean, the pair lovingly gave their virginity to each other. They lay in each other's arms and lightly dozed as the warm, gentle wind from the vast inland desert caressed them.
Nothing could disturb their peace; nothing could intrude on the feeling of safety they felt, holding each other close. If betrayal brought them to this place, then it was betrayal of the best kind.
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