A Moment in Time

A Moment in Time

Chapter Seven - Innocent

(Almost four years after Harry has escaped from prison, June 2003)

Once more Draco found himself back in the Phoenix Chamber, being summoned to a previously unscheduled meeting was typically not a good thing. Draco stole a quick look around at what remained of Dumbledore's elite fighting council. To say that the war was not going well would be the understatement of the century. You just have to look around at the worn and worried faces to see that. The Light Wizards were being overpowered, it was just that simple.

Voldemort and the Death Eaters had continued to grow in strength after their attack on the Ministry of Magic. Hogwarts was practically the only place left in England that still was considered to be relatively safe. Many light wizards, witches and their families had left their homes to come to Hogwarts to seek sanctuary, including most of what remained of the Weasley family, Hermione and Ron electing to maintain a home in a muggle part of England so that they could be close to her parents. Both George and Arthur had been lost to the cause over the past two years, George fairly recently, and Ron had been severely injured. Ron had eventually recovered, but his permanent injuries kept him from participating on the front lines, of which he was very bitter.

Severus' cover as a spy had been blown during a mission six months ago and he had almost been lost. Thanks to some quick thinking by Draco, he was able to save Severus who continued to work, only now openly, for the Order of the Phoenix.

One of the biggest changes was in the leader of the Order himself. Gone was the wise, kind, caring old wizard that many people believed was all powerful. Mistakes had been made during this war, and some of the biggest ones were made by Albus Dumbledore.

Draco remembered back to when over a year ago at his omission of one of his biggest errors of judgment.

Flashback - April 2002

Silence surrounded a tired and sad Headmaster as he rose at the head of the table in the Phoenix Chamber. "My friends, I have an announcement to make. I have just learned of a grievous injustice that has been served. And I am sorry to say that I failed to follow what my heart told me to be true, and as such a great friend and perhaps the only hope for our way of life has been lost to us."

The Council waited patiently for the Phoenix to continue, knowing that the only way to get the Headmaster to speak so that anyone could follow what he was saying was to wait until he was ready to share whatever it was that needed to be shared.

The dull blue eyes didn't twinkle at all as the old man stated, "Alas, it has come to my attention that Harry Potter is innocent."

'So that's what this is all about.' Draco thought with a satisfied smirk, 'it's about damn time that they realize Harry didn't kill those kids.'

"My Godson was innocent, he was fucking innocent and you sent him to Azkaban," snarled Sirius as he leaped up out of his chair.

Of all the people in the room, Draco pitied Black the most. The ex-convict had been declared innocent after Fudge had been killed and Peter Pettigrew was seen by many Aurors and Order members. However, the dream Sirius used to hold on to, about having his Godson come live with him while the two of them finally got a chance to be a family, had died years earlier when Harry had been convicted and then later escaped. Sure, Black continued to fight, mostly out of a sense of duty than anything else, but you could tell that his heart just wasn't in it. With Harry gone, Sirius Black didn't have much to live for and everyone knew that he was just biding his time until he could rejoin his friends that had passed on before him. Even his one remaining friend from Hogwarts, Remus Lupin couldn't seem to pull the man out of his depression.

Lupin grabbed Sirius by the back of his robes and held onto the struggling man. He was thankful for his extra werewolf strength as Sirius certainly was stronger than he looked.

"Let go of me Moony," Sirius spit as he glared at his old friend.

"Not until you calm yourself down Padfoot. We all need to hear what Albus has to say and you're going to let him finish." Lupin gently reprimanded the other wizard.

Unfortunately as Sirius had started to recover from the shock, Ron and Hermione were just starting to process what was being said. "But how...I don't understand...we saw him...how can you now say that he is innocent? He's not, he's a fucking killer, he killed my sister and if I find him I'll fucking kill him."

"You know Weasley, I keep thinking that one day you'll eventually grow up and then you open your mouth and try to speak; I realize that today just isn't the day and it isn't likely to be anytime in the near future." Draco said, disdain dripping from every word.

Hermione pulled Ron into a hug. "Shut up Malfoy, Ron's just had a big shock. You'd do well to keep your pathetic comments to yourself."

Draco opened his mouth to make a scathing comment in response to the Mudblood when Dumbledore called for order to return.

"I know that this is a great shock to all of you but I know for a fact that Harry was innocent of the murders that he was sent to Azkaban all those years ago. Several hours ago three death eaters were captured torturing a muggle family in London. Those death eaters were brought to me and to Minister Diggory. Using Veritaserum, we interrogated them to see if we could learn anything about Voldemort's future plans. During the session one of the death eaters admitted to having been part of the group that killed Miss Weasley and Mr. Creevey and framed Harry Potter. It appears that the murders and set up where a successful ploy by the Dark Lord to shake our confidence in young Mister Potter. He had never thought that the community and I would turn on Harry like we did. His plan succeeded more so than he had ever imagined."

"But we saw him, we saw Harry and it couldn't have Polyjuice Potion because I did the spell to make sure that it wasn't," Hermione interrupted Dumbledore when he had stopped to catch his breath.

"No, Hermione, it wasn't polyjuice potion, but it wasn't Harry either. It appears that Voldemort has discovered a new very powerful illusion charm that makes the person who sees it believe whatever the caster wants them to. It doesn't respond to finite incantatem, either. You had no way of knowing that it wasn't Harry and that he was really out for a walk like he said he was."

Still not satisfied that she could have been so wrong, Hermione continued, "But what about his magical signature being found at the crime scene?"

"Alas, that was also a stroke of genius really on Voldemort's part. As he and Harry share a bond, both through Harry's scar and through Harry's blood that was given at the time of Voldemort's resurrection, Voldemort was able to exactly duplicate Harry's magical signature at least on the surface. Had we chosen to look into the matter closer there would have been some tests that may have proven that the signature had been forged. But not knowing that it was even possible for create a fake magical signature, those tests were not done." The obviously exhausted Headmaster sat down.

Draco watched as the Council members started to whisper excitedly amongst themselves. A sudden cry of "you mean that Harry was innocent all this time and we sent him to prison?" caused him to roll his eyes. "Keep up Weasley, yes that's exactly what Dumbledore's been telling you. You and your wife sent your best friend in the whole world, who happened to be completely innocent, to the foulest place on this planet. Kinda gives you a warm fuzzy feeling doesn't it, especially when you know what kind of reaction he had to the guards they kept there."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you Malfoy?" Hermione cried as the tears started to run down her cheeks. "You always said that Harry was innocent, how did you know? Maybe you had a first hand account of this plan to frame Harry, maybe you were even in on it."

Dumbledore looked sternly across the table. "Enough, Hermione, I know that you are in pain right now, we all are. But that does not excuse your behavior; you will apologize to Draco immediately. Draco does not have to defend himself to us or to anyone. He has proven himself repeated in this conflict and without him much of the information that we were able to gather about the Dark Lord's movements would have been lost to us."

Hermione looked properly chastised. "Your right Albus, I was wrong." Hermione turned to face her old adversary across the room. "I'm sorry, Draco. I know that you are loyal to the cause. It's just hard to accept that you were the only one that believed in Harry when those of us that were the closest to him didn't. I feel terrible for him, for what we did to him, and what he had to have gone through. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive myself." She finished softly, unable to continue as her tears started to fall faster.

"Well I wasn't the only one that believed he was innocent. Severus also knew that he couldn't have killed, not in cold blood anyway. And I always thought that maybe Sirius also believed that Harry wasn't guilty," Draco replied.

"But with all the evidence against him, how did you know Draco? How did you know that he didn't kill those students?" Draco was surprised to see the anguish on the werewolf's face.

"I knew because I knew Harry. I was astounded that all of his so called friends and family couldn't see past all of the physical evidence to really see what was going on. Harry hates violence. Sure, he was probably the strongest wizard I had ever met. His ability at defense against the dark arts and dueling was unparalleled to anyone else's that I have ever seen, even now. But deep down, underneath all that, was the same little boy that was always looking for approval, wanting everyone to like him and be proud of him."

"His time spent with those awful muggles left him with little self-confidence and the need for others to continuously reaffirm his need for existence. All he ever wanted was to be accepted for who he was unconditionally."

"I mean, you're talking about the same boy who as a twelve year old, armed only with his wand, ventured into the Chamber of Secrets alone knowing that there was a basilisk in there just to rescue the Weasley girl. Had their relationship really changed all that much in the next five years to the point were he would kill her? It never made sense to me."

Draco paused and then added one last thought. "I always believed in Harry, the problem with you lot is that you all believed in Harry Potter 'the Boy Who Lived' and never really got to know Harry. If you had, you could never have believed him capable of doing the things that you sentenced him to prison for."

The stunned silence was broken by a few muffled sobs.

Dumbledore, his heart heavy with the deepest regret, surveyed the impact that this impassioned speech had on his follow Order members. The sight of the broken Sirius Black troubled him greatly, that man had been through entirely too much in his lifetime. Clearing his throat he waited for the Order to quiet down so that he could once again speak and be heard. "I am aware that the large majority of us will have much to answer for, if not to Harry personally than at least to our own consciousness, but now is not the time for that. Now, I must ask what it is that we should do with this information."

Sirius looked up at the older wizard from where he had his head buried in his hands, "What do you mean do with the information? Harry needs to be cleared of these crimes."

Dumbledore offered him a small wave, "Of course Sirius, I have already put into motion the process to officially declare Harry innocent. He should be absolved of any wrong doing no later than tomorrow afternoon. But that isn't what I meant..."

Knowing exactly what it was his former Headmaster was driving at Draco interrupted. "You want to know how we can use this information in the war. You want to find him and use him, don't you?" the young man snarled angrily.

Although some wizards had started to lose some of their respect for the aging man, Albus was still a very powerful wizard, especially when angered. Draco held his breath as Dumbledore's eyes narrowed menacingly. After a moment, the Phoenix seemed to regain some semblance of self-control and spoke calmly. "Yes Draco you are partly correct, I do believe that we should find Mister Potter, but I do not think, nor have I ever thought, that we should use him."

Sirius snorted in disbelief. "Go ahead and live in that fantasy land Albus, but just don't expect the rest of us to live there with you. You have done nothing but mold him to be the perfect weapon, to be used by you if such a situation as the one we are facing now would arise. And when it looked like your weapon may not have been everything you thought he was, you abandoned him. You were planning on using him the same way you used James." Sirius spat the last part out bitterly.

Albus looked around him in surprise and saw agreement on many of the faces at the table, Draco he expected this sort of reaction out of, but not from Sirius. "May I ask who else here shares these views?"

Albus was shocked to his core when he saw Draco, Severus, Minerva, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Fred, George, Bill and Charlie Weasley raise their hands. He suspected that Hermione and Ron would most likely have raised their hands also but they were still struggling to come to terms that they were largely responsible for sending their innocent best friend to Azkaban. Over half of the Council believed that he had planned on using Harry Potter. This would bear some thought and some introspection. Planning a date with his pensive for later that night, the Headmaster knew that he needed to try to save the situation from becoming any more confrontational.

"I am truly sorry that you feel that way. In spite of what you believe, I genuinely liked Harry very much. What I am suggesting is that we step up our search efforts to locate him, if nothing else to apologize and to let him know that he was no longer considered a fugitive." Sitting back in his chair the Headmaster let that sink in before continuing. "As you all know, Harry is one of the most powerful wizards alive, if not the most powerful; he is also the Heir of Gryffindor. Don't forget that Harry hates Voldemort; after all, the Dark Lord did kill his parents and tormented him for many years. Ultimately, Voldemort is even the one responsible for Harry being the victim of the plot to frame him and send him to prison. If Harry would choose to forgive us and aid us in our cause, we might have the resources necessary to finally rid this world of the darkest evil that it has ever seen. And if that means that we need to beg Harry to get him to help us, then I think that it is worth it."

Seeing many heads on the Council nod in agreement with him, the Headmaster continued. "I think that the first step in locating Mister Potter is to fully understand how he escaped." Ignoring the looks of confusion on the Council members faces, as they had discussed the escape a hundred times over the last four years, Albus turned to look directly as Draco. "Draco, I think that it's time that you were honest with us about the role you played in Harry's escape, don't you?"

Draco was floored. He couldn't believe that Dumbledore had figured it out and had obviously known for some time.

Giving the blonde time to think of a proper response, Albus went on to add, "Despite what you may think of me Draco, I truly did like Harry and thought of him almost as one would a grandson. His arrest and conviction were like a knife through my own heart. I didn't want to believe that he could have done it, but with all of the evidence to prove that he did, I ignored what was in front of me and I shall regret that as long as I live. I've suspected for some time that you had an instrumental role in Harry's escape. I've kept silent until now out of my fondness for Harry, not wanting him to have to return to prison or worse yet, be killed, but now I must ask you to please share with us what you know. We really must find Harry. If not for our own sakes, at least to offer him what protection we can from Voldemort."

Draco caught Severus' eye from across the table, and made up his mind to come clean. "Fine. You want to know how he escaped I'll tell you." Ignoring the incredulous expressions on the Order Member's faces, he continued. "It was easy, really. I knew that Voldemort was planning an attack at Azkaban and that he wanted to gain as many potential new followers as possible. During the attack, the normal wards around the prison would be down, so I made Harry a portkey. All I had to do the day of the attack was find him, before anyone else did and once I did that, I gave him the portkey, which activated and took him away from there to a safe place."

"And the sheep dog that everyone remembered seeing?" Albus questioned softly.

Smirking Draco replied, "Since you had informed everyone at the Ministry about Harry's animagus form I just used that information to my advantage. I transfigured a mouse into a dog that resembled Harry's form. I put the animal under Imperious and commanded it to escape and to jump into the sea and try to swim for shore. I figured it would keep people busy looking for Harry locally, thinking that he left the prison on foot when actually he was far away."

"That was an ingenious plan really Draco, I must commend you. You have once more demonstrated how your ability at strategic thinking has aided us time and time again. But I must know; where did you send Harry?"

Clearly, Draco didn't want to tell them this. Even though he knew that Harry was no longer there, the time spent in New York with Harry was private and deeply personal. They were some of the best memories that Draco had and he didn't want to share them.

Seeing the obstinate expression on the young man's face, Albus decided that some additional encouragement was needed. "I promise that we won't pry, but I need to know where he was and what condition he was in. Please Draco, help me find him."

With his resolve breaking, not so much at Dumbledore's words, but the hopeful expression on Black's face, Draco decided to tell them what they wanted to hear.

"The portkey took him to a studio apartment in New York City. After my debriefings both here and with the Dark Lord, I joined Harry. All he did in the beginning was sleep, but he eventually recovered and before I left him the last time, I was sure that he would be okay on his own."

"How was he mentally, Malfoy? Was he very mad at us?" The Slytherin glared at the Weasley twin that he thought had asked the question, not knowing which one it was, as he had never cared enough to learn how to tell them apart.

"What do you think, Weasley? He had just spent eighteen months in a dark cell, with no human contact, and was guarded by no less than two dementors around the clock. How do you think he was? Was he insane? No, he wasn't, but if you think he was the same person that you used to share a house and play quidditch with, guess again. He changed."

Remus raised red-rimmed eyes. "How had he changed Draco?"

Draco sighed, there seemed to be no way to avoid this conversation. He knew that the Council wouldn't let go of him until he told them what they wanted to know. The blonde closed his eyes, reliving the images of his time spent with Harry in New York. Merlin, he missed him so much, trying not to focus on how Harry had tasted and how he had felt in his arms, Draco reached for the memories that would aid this group in their efforts.

"He was darker, not nearly as trusting, almost paranoid in the beginning, he didn't smile or laugh much, he was quiet and he spent a lot of time just thinking or staring out the window." A soft smile crossed the young man's face as he become lost in him memories. "He loved to be outside though and we used to take a walk every day. Toward the end of our time together, he seemed better, happier. Before you ask, he left the apartment in New York. I went back a couple of weeks later to check on him, but he had moved out. I had given him some money to get him started and documents so that he could change his identity. I suspect that he had also changed his appearance." Draco tried to fight down the lonely feeling that he got every time he thought about that empty apartment. There was one more thing that he needed to say and then he would be done. "You need to know that he was very angry at the entire wizarding world for turning on him, and most importantly, he had no desire ever come back here. I don't think he will react well to being found."

"So why did you do it Draco? You're not the type to just help someone out of the goodness of your heart. What was in it for you?" Draco met the redhead's glare with one of his own.

"What's it to you why I helped your best friend escape the hell you made for him? All that matters is that I did."

"So that's it, isn't it?"

"What the hell are you talking about, Weasel?"

"You love him, don't you? You want him for yourself. You were always watching him during our seventh year; I thought something might have been going on between you two, but I never expected this."

Severus Snape had remained remarkably silent for most of this exchange, deciding to sit back and watch the events unfold in front of him; however, now he felt the need to intervene. "Mister Weasley, please spare the rest of us and put a stop to the senseless dribble that constantly seems to flow out of that thing you call a mouth. Draco's reasons for helping Mister Potter are just that, they're Draco's, and as I see it, bear no impact on our current efforts to locate him."

When Ron tried to protest, Dumbledore stopped him, "I agree with Severus. The relationship between Harry and Draco is private and it will remain private, as are his reasons for helping Harry. We should just be immensely grateful for the assistance that he provided to Harry in his time of need, when the rest of us did nothing. Do you understand me, Ronald?"

Seeing the red head's nod, Dumbledore went on to ask for suggestions on how to go about locating Harry. Unfortunately, every effort that was put into locating Harry came back empty. For fourteen long months the Order tried to find Harry, but every lead met with a dead end.

End Flashback

Draco's private thoughts were disturbed when a smiling Albus Dumbledore cleared his throat, bringing everyone's attention to him. The annoying twinkle that had been missing for so long from the Headmaster's bright blue eyes was back in force. 'Well, at least it isn't more bad news.' Draco thought.

The energy in the Headmaster's smile was contagious. "My dear friends, after searching for so long, I am happy to report to you that we think that we may have located Harry Potter."

To Be Continued.