Azkaban - 19

"Draco!" Pansy shrieked from the top of the stairs. She sprinted towards them taking the stairs two at a time.

"Pansy?" Malfoy said blankly, confusion clearly written on his face. He was pale and his shoulders drooped, although Ginny could read genuine pleasure in his expression. Maybe he really did care for the rude Slytherin girl. Who'd have thought?

"Are you all right?" Pansy cooed, leading Draco away from the others.

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked, his voice scratchy and hoarse.

"It's a long story. Mother and Iris are here, too. Come upstairs and join us, and I'll explain everything," Pansy said as they climbed the stairs. She turned and cast a victorious look over her shoulder, as if expecting that everyone else wished they'd been the ones to lead Draco away.

The rest of the Order emerged, and everyone gathered in the entrance hall. Remus hurriedly approached Tonks, wrapping her in a fierce embrace.

"What happened?" he asked, leading her towards a chair.

"Oh, Ron! Harry!" her mother cried, rushing towards the two boys. She stopped mid-stride, casting anxious glances at each of them. She looked lost and out of place realizing that Ginny and Hermione were already hovering over each of the boys, taking care of them as she usually did. Ginny's heart momentarily constricted in sympathy for her mum, seeing the pain of letting go clearly written on her face.

"Scrimgeour happened," Tonks said sourly.

"And Percy," Ron replied, grimacing.

"Percy?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her eyes opening wide. "What does this have to do with Percy? Sweet, Merlin. They haven't stationed him at Azkaban, have they?"

"He was there on Scrimgeour's orders," Moody said gruffly, lifting his wooden leg onto the footstool her dad had brought to him. "Scrimgeour sent along a stack of necessary paperwork that had to be filled out before we could leave. He's just trying to learn what Potter was doing there."

"Wouldn't we all like to know," Tonks said, shooting a glare in Harry's direction. "We've got problems with the remaining Dementors; they're unstable. They attacked Harry and Draco."

"What do you mean 'attacked' them?" Remus asked, his eyes widening. He glanced at Harry, who still hadn't spoken.

He'd rested his head on Ginny's shoulder. His eyes were closed, but she could feel the tension in his body and knew he was still listening to every word they said.

"Two of them that were supposed to be on patrol cornered Harry and Draco after they'd left Lucius's cell. It was only Draco's shouts that alerted us that something was wrong. Neither Draco nor Harry had wands, so I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't got there when I did," Tonks said, shuddering. She leaned into Remus's chest and blissfully shut her eyes when he began to stroke her pink hair.

"We can use the kitchen fire to Floo Kingsley. He's at the Ministry this evening," Professor McGonagall said briskly.

"Dinner's waiting, you must be famished," her mum said as the adults moved towards the kitchen.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny didn't follow them, but instead retired to the room that Harry and Ron shared. Ginny led Harry gently to his bed where he collapsed without even removing his jacket.

"Was it horrible?" Hermione asked, biting her lip. She helped Ron to sit on his own bed and sat down beside him, gently brushing the hair from his face.

"It was bad," Ron replied, cracking his neck and causing Hermione to wince. "After the Dementors attacked Harry and Malfoy, we had to search through the entire holding area. That place was stuffed to the ceiling with rubbish. It took forever, and we were only allowed in one at a time."