the miracle of us || drarry

06 | telling alastair

"Minister," Harry called as he walked towards him.

The plump man turned around, eyebrows raised. "Harry! How are you, m'boy?"

"Good. How about you?"

"Good, good, thanks for asking. Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Uh, yeah, well..." Harry didn't know why, but he was nervous about talking to Hugh. It was a first. "I just wanted to say, um, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. Death Eaters could very well be good people. Say we found a Death Eater, in the woods somewhere. If I knew him, or her, and I knew they were innocent, and I could prove they were innocent, would you consider holding a trial for them?"

The Minister's smile faded. He narrowed his eyes. "Who did you find, Harry?"

The way he said it made the sentence seem almost like a threat.

"Wha-- No, sir, I just... I mean, it would be bad for everyone if you put an innocent in jail. So say if I were to find someone I could prove was innocent, would you be willing to--"

"Harry, who did you find?"

Nice job screwing up, Harry thought to himself.

"Er, no one sir. Yet. Alastair and I... erm, we found some scraps of clothing and whatnot that can probably lead us to the Death Eater. But I was thinking, and if they're innocent, it's not morally correct to put them in Azkaban."

Hugh raised an eyebrow. He stared at Harry for a few more seconds, as if trying to figure out whether or not he was lying.

Finally, he seemed to decide not to continue badgering Harry.

"Okay, boy. But prove it."

Harry's heart leaped with nerves. "Erm, how exactly do I--?"

Hugh fixed his stare to someone behind Harry, and smiled. "Alastair!"

Alastair was a handsome, endearing fellow, with a winning smile and brown hair that sometimes fell into his stormy eyes. He had a charming personality and joked around a lot. He also happened to be Harry's partner.

"Minister! How are you today?" He grinned at Hugh. Turning, he flashed another smile at Harry. "How are you, as well, Chosen One?"

Harry rolled his eyes, but was too nervous to laugh. It was a running joke for Alastair to call Harry either Chosen One or The Boy Who Lived, because he knew that Harry hated those names.

"Good, Alastair. Harry here was just telling me that you two are close to finding a Death Eater. Scraps of clothing and such that stand as clues? Is he correct?"

An expression of confusion crossed Alastair's face for a split second, but one look at Harry stopped him.

Harry fixed him with a pleading stare, and Alastair squinted for a second before fixing Hugh with yet another white smile.

"Yeah, actually, we found a lot of clues. We should find that Death Eater soon. We'll inform you when we do."

Hugh looked almost surprised, and he raised both eyebrows before grunting. "Ah, that is very good, Mr. Alastair. Thank you. You may go."

"Yes, Minister. Have a good day." He turned away, but not before giving Harry one last perplexed look.

Harry tried to put a Thank you so damn much you just saved my arse in his eyes. He wasn't sure if Alastair understood or not, or if Harry just looked insane.

"Erm, Mr. Potter, I don't know what compelled you to ask me this so abruptly, but my answer is, yes, if you can prove he's innocent, I would be willing to hold a trial for him."