Harry looked down at the cuffs on his wrists as he waited in his cell. He could have easily broken out and left but he didn't. He couldn't find it in himself to fight this. He felt empty at what he'd come so close to doing and shuttered to think about what could have happened if Severus hadn't been there. He could have killed Albus and so many more.
"In some ways, I thought you would end up here."
Harry didn't raise his head at Dean Albert's words as he stared at his cuffed wrists. The Aurors had placed him in the nicest cell in the Ministry and had come in the back way to avoid him being seen. Harry had just followed along without a word.
"Harry?" Albert whispered and slowly Harry lifted his head. "I'm sure that we'll have this all sorted out shortly."
Harry just nodded lifelessly and Albert frowned at him in concern. The other man held out a bottle of water and a paper bag through the bars but Harry just stared at it. Albert sighed and placed them down on the floor of the cell. The Auror watching him didn't say a word but Harry was sure that that had been against the law.
"Have they had a medic look at you?" Albert questioned in concern.
"Yes," Harry answered, roughly.
"You don't look well," Albert stated and turned to the Auror. "Perhaps we should get the medic back down here?"
"I can do that," the Auror conceded.
"I'm fine," Harry whispered and looked back down at his bound hands, they still shook.
"Are the cuffs necessary?" Albert questioned.
"Sorry, sir." The Auror replied. "Head Auror Greengrass wants them kept on. Swift did kill You-Know-Who with dark magic."
"How else was he supposed to do it," Albert bit back. "I'm going up there to talk to the man. This isn't right."
"Isn't it?" Harry pressed as he looked back up with dull green eyes. "I think he is correct-"
"Harry," Albert cut in with a dark glare and Harry found it amusing how the man had changed. "They are celebrating the death of You-Know-Who up there and you are down here in this cell."
"Where I belong-"
"Get over yourself!" Albert snarled as he grabbed the bars of the cell.
"Go away," Harry snarled back as he rose to his feet.
The Auror shifted stance but didn't do anymore. Albert stared at him long and hard as Harry stared back. Something uncurled within him and Harry shoved it down. He could not let the Deathly Hallows get a grasp on him once more.
"You killed the darkest wizard of the age and you wallow down here-" Albert went to say
"Wallow!" Harry snapped and stepped closer and held his cuffed hands up. "I have been arrested, Dean!"
"You let that happen-"
Harry laughed bitterly at that and Albert flushed red.
"Would you rather that I fought through the Aurors and confirmed what they are saying?" Harry questioned and the Auror glanced over in amusement.
"We were half expecting that," the Auror said with a quirk to his lips and Harry paused.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"As the Minister just said," the Auror commented. "You have just killed the Dark Lord with dark magic. We thought that you had fallen to that side then you just calmly let yourself be arrested."
The anger and frustration left Harry in a rush and he slumped his shoulder as he looked down at the floor.
"As I said, Harry." Albert said into the silence. "We'll have this sorted out soon and you can go back to Hogwarts."
Harry just nodded his head and walked back to the steel bed and sat down. He leaned back on the cold brick wall and ignored the two men before Albert got fed up and left.
"He's only trying to help," the Auror said.
"Aren't they all," Harry whispered. "Right up until you fall to the gallows."
"I don't think it will come to that," the Auror commented but Harry found it hard to agree with him.
xXx
Severus sat next to Albus Dumbledore outside of the Head of the Aurors department's office door. He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Harry had been arrested for defeating Voldemort.
"How could they arrest him," Severus said, not for the first time.
The door suddenly opened and Gareth Greengrass stood there, looking even older than his years.
"For that was the best way to make sure that we could keep him contained while this mess is sorted out," Greengrass stated and waved his hand at the open door. "Please, come in."
"Greengrass!"
They looked over to see an enraged Dean Albert storming towards them and the Auror department went quiet. Greengrass straighten up as Albert came to stand before him.
"Have you been down to see him," Albert demanded.
"Not yet," Greengrass sighed. "I wanted to talk to Mr Snape and Headmaster Dumbledore for their side of the story-"
"He's a mess," Albert cut in. "You need a medic to go down there and see him and at least give him a chance to have a shower!"
"Soon," Greengrass replied and glanced around. "A medic already looked at him."
"Doesn't look like it," Albert said sharply. "He's still a member of my department, Greengrass!"
"Medic Featherly," Greengrass called out and an Auror nodded and headed out of the room. "If you could all come into my office. We'll try to get this all sorted out quickly."
They all piled into the office and Greengrass quickly conjured chairs for everyone.
"What is the charge against, Mr Swift?" Albus questioned.
"Use of Dark Arts and an Unforgivable curse," Greengrass replied as he flipped a file open. "Anyone else and it would have been a lot more."
"He didn't use Dark Arts," Severus said softly and the others in the room looked over at him. "He holds the Deathly Hallows."
"Dean, did you know this?" Greengrass demanded.
"Yes," Albert said, mildly. "He was cursed by the Deathly Hallows at the age of seventeen."
"That was the magic that he used," Severus continued. "He didn't use Dark Arts."
Greengrass looked down at the file and wrote that down.
"How much does the Department of Mysteries know about the Deathly Hallows?" Greengrass questioned.
"About as much as the story," Albert sighed. "But the three parts are Dark in nature."
"Last that I knew," Albus added. "James Potter held one of those parts."
Severus looked over at the Headmaster in interest.
"He may now," Albert grumbled under his breath. "Perhaps we can move on to the fact that Harold Swift in down in the holding cells?"
"Just a few more questions," Greengrass announced. "I'm sure he'll be fine down there until then."
xXx
Harry looked over to the paper bag that Albert had placed down and the bottle of water. He slowly stood and picked up the bottle. The Auror watched him but didn't say a word. The man was tall with a mop of brown hair. He had a wand on his belt and a knife on the other side. He would have been in his late forties and Harry didn't know his name. Nor did he really care to know it at the moment.
Harry unscrewed the top to the bottle and drank it down. He didn't realise how thirsty that he was until he started drinking. He finished the bottle and lowered it down to the floor and picked up the paper bag. He placed the bag down on the bed then looked at the dirt and blood on his hands and arms. He walked over to the small sink then looked into the mirror.
A stranger stared back at him and he could understand Albert's concern. He had blood down the side of his face and he wasn't sure if it was his own or not. His skin was on the pale side under the dirt. Harry sighed and washed his hands with care, three times. He felt stiff and sore and the dirt and blood was starting to crust on his skin. He headed back to the bed and looked into the paper bag. A simple sandwich and an apple greeted him.
He was just finishing up the meal when a man arrived at the cell.
"How are you, Mr Swift?" The man asked with a smile. "I'm Medic Andrew Featherly, Head Auror Greengrass sent me down to have a look at you."
"A medic already saw me," Harry said, roughly.
"Minister Albert voiced some concerns," Featherly continued as his eyes swept over him. "I can understand why now that I see you."
"I'm fine," Harry retorted, but could tell that the medic didn't believe his words.
"He also gave permission for you to have a shower and to clean up," Featherly added.
"To look good for my execution?"
The medic shared a look with the Auror and Harry swallowed down what else he may have wanted to say. He stood from the bed and looked at Featherly and the medic quirked a smile. He knew when he had to stop fighting and this was the moment.
xXx
Harry felt more like himself as he was led up to the Auror department. The cuffs were still around his wrists but they didn't concern him. He walked on steady feet and had rested after he'd showered and dress in clean clothes. He stood tall as he walked into the Auror department.
Silence descended then clapping started up. Harry held his head up as the people around him clapped and cheered. Greengrass stepped out of his office and clapped his hands along with the others. Voldemort was dead and the war had ended. Harry felt something in him ignite at the feeling. So many would not die and the wizarding world could move on from this and would hopefully remember what lead to the making of Voldemort and learn from it. He wasn't holding his breath.
Greengrass pushed away from his office door and headed towards him as the Aurors quieted. The man stopped before Harry then reached out to his cuffed hands.
"It would seem that Dark Arts were not used," Greengrass intoned and the cuffs fell away from his wrists. "Severus Snape provided information on the magic that you used to defeat You-Know-Who-"
"Voldemort," Harry snapped and the department went quiet. "That is his name and he is now dead with no chance of return. His name is Voldemort and he stood for what we cannot become. Everyone with magic in them should stand the same in our community."
"Yes, well." Greengrass stumbled on his words. "The use of an Unforgivable was also levelled against you-"
The Aurors hissed around them at Greengrass's words.
"We have agreed," Greengrass continued. "That the use of that spell was warranted in the situation."
"You are dismissing the charges?" Harry drawled.
"Yes," Greengrass agreed and was drowned out by the Aurors cheering. "Now you just need to face the press."
Harry groaned and Greengrass gave him a smirk with a glint in his eyes. Facing the press, it would seem, was Harry's punishment. Harry straightened up and looked down his nose at Greengrass with a smirk on his lips that any Malfoy would be proud of. Greengrass paled at the expression.
"Very well," Harry said. "It would seem that I have to do all the dirty work around here."
xXx
Harry looked up when Aberforth placed two beers down on the table then seated himself in the seat across from him. Harry quirked a smile at the feeling of Deja vu and picked up the beer before him.
"Congratulations," Aberforth commented as he stared at him steadily. "You defeated You-Know-Who and escaped being sent to Azkaban."
"Yes," Harry agreed. "I suppose that this is the time that we have that talk?"
"Perhaps," Aberforth remarked. "Or we could share a drink and remark on your achievement?"
"And after?"
"There is always a battle somewhere," Aberforth said with a groan as he leaned back in his seat with his glass clasped in his hands. "It is best to take what wins come our way."
"That seems like a different tune from last time?"
Aberforth gave him a rough grin that had a shiver running down Harry's back. He was sure that there were people out that would ensure that he never fell to that dark side again and if he did...there were those that would put him right. Whether that was by his death or not was uncertain. Aberforth then gave him a nod and held his glass up in a toast.
"To the further," Aberforth announced and Harry snorted.
"And to what may come," Harry added and they touched their glasses together with a soft 'tink'.
The bar was busy around them in celebrations even a week after the Dark Lord fell and Harry was sure that would continue for some time yet. Severus would be finishing his schooling next month and Harry had agreed to Albus's request to continue on as the Defence teacher. He had made himself a home, once more, at Hogwarts and with Severus. He took a long drink of the beer and was looking forward to what life now held for him.
A firework spell suddenly went off at the next table with a loud bang as red, green and gold sparks flew around the bar as people ducked out of the way. Aberforth jumped to his feet with a growl as he pulled out his own wand and Harry had to laugh. At least the future looked brighter than it had before.