Drarry- It Was All Just a Game (Old Version)

Chapter 54- The Trial

Harry thought he'd be together with Draco again on Draco's birthday, a few weeks later. He wasn't.

Instead, he spent it in bed at Grimmauld place, Draco's smell barely lingering on the sheets, and memories of kisses and hugs around each and every corner. And with each aching step as he surveyed the room, looking for a piece of clothing that he might have missed, or simply an indentation in a bed that they'd shared a night in, he knew for certain that they'd be together by July.

They weren't. 

Instead, Harry had to move into the Weasley's because his nightmares got so bad, he didn't sleep for days. And as the months passed, he lost himself more and more. A sane part of his head wondered if he'd be as lost if Draco was there. And it was war, he knew he'd be a mess. But not to the point where functioning was horrible.

But Draco had to be back by Harry's birthday. It was his first birthday without the Dursleys. And Draco had promised to make it special. But he wasn't there. And even though the Weasley's made him a cake, Harry never saw it because he stayed in bed all day, his stuffed snake in his arms.

But finally, a week into August, Harry got a trial date, two weeks later, and the depression snuck away just enough for him to feel a small sense of hope. But still, everything felt wrong and weird and strange. And maybe that was his body, maybe that was because he and most of his relationships with everyone around him was strained, and Draco was a part of it.

"Tomorrow's the big day, huh?" Ginny was at Harry's door, leaning on it, her hips digging into the wall. It was the break of darkness, and night time was emerging over the almost purple sky. Harry was welcomed to stay at the Weasley's after he finally explained his and Draco's entire relationship to the family. It was, honestly, horrifically awkward, the first few days or so, but they eventually accepted him- just not Draco, fully anyway. Not as the mourned for Fred. It was one of those see it to believe it things. The sight of Draco Malfoy being nice and loving is probably at the top of that list.

"Yeah, it is," Harry replied quietly, playing with the necklace he refused to take off. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, which was adjacent to Ron's.

"Nervous at all," she asked, biting her lip. It was a very stupid question. Oh course he was. How could he not be? One day, out of the million of his lifetime, to decide whether or not he spends the rest of his life with his only love. One day that sets a man free or barricades him forever. One day to determine both of their futures.

The trial.

"Terrified," Harry replied, biting back a sarcastic comment. Not only was he scared to actually go to the trial, but also worried about Draco. Thoughts raced through his head 24-7. Is he okay? Will he look like a skeleton? What about bruises? Has he eaten at all?

He couldn't even dare to think of the dementors, the hell he's being put through.

But then he looks back to the times when he rescued Sirius, and how he looked-- and that was after 12 years.

How bad could 3 months be?

Well, to Harry, a lifetime.

It was 13 days after Narcissa's and Lucius's trial. The two went separately, and Harry defended Narcissa automatically. Thanks to him, she was sentenced to only 5 years under house arrest. That was torture in itself as Draco put it back on their first day together; it was hell being with Voldemort with all the stuff that went on. Each and every room had a horrid memory, as his love put it.

Harry left the second the trial was over, only to get a dirty glare from Lucius Malfoy before the doors shut and his trial occurred. Like hell he'd defend someone who use to hit his boyfriend, who put him through everything he had. He was sentenced to life in Askaban.