Chapter 3 - Double Trouble

Ellis knew that he was going to have to face the consequences for his actions. He wondered if he was going to be executed for his crimes. Or worse, go to prison. Ellis would rather die than be trapped and chained against his will. To be unable to see Harry and inhale his comforting aroma. Frankly, having Ellis's heightened senses in prison would be a fate worse than death.

Either way, waiting was excruciating, especially for Harry. He knew that Ellis had done wrong and needed to pay, but that didn't make it hurt any less. It was Harry's job to keep Ellis safe and he failed. While he failed at a lot of things, he never knew keeping his brother out of harms way would be one of them.

Dumbledore wasn't surprised by much. However, being called into the Wizengamot headquarters for Ellis Potter's trail certainly did. When he arrived, he expected there to be a bit of an uproar among the people in the stands. However, this was not the case. Everyone was calm, some intrigued, but that was the most interest anyone saw in the case.

Maybe it was because Ellis wasn't his brother. After all, there was nothing special about Ellis Potter other than his lineage. Of course, Dumbledore knew better, thanks to Hagrid telling him about Ellis's 'unique magic'.

When Ellis arrived, he sat in the chair in the middle of the room. The magical restraints made him ill, and for a moment the room spun. As said before, Ellis hated being trapped. Even worse, the restraints felt like they were bonding his very soul. He writhed against his invisible bonds, clearly in agony.

Ellis's instincts tried to release him from his bonds, which in turn would end his suffering. He kicked and thrashed, animalistic noises escaping from his throat. His body contorted, trying to change forms to escape. One minute, his hands were lion paws, the next his back split open to reveal spider legs.

The situation was quickly quelled after Dumbledore fired a few stun spells. Ellis's unconscious body soon reverted to human form with only the occasional twitch.

"That was unexpected."

-+-

Ellis woke up in a hospital bed.

Peter Pettigrew was apparently labeled a criminal, especially since they now knew that he had actually faked his death, which was extremely suspicious. Someone would only really do that out of desperation, or if they were trying to hide something. The fact that he was also an unregistered Animagus also helped, since he would have gone to Azkaban anyways. Apparently, the Ministry didn't really care for criminals.

So, Ellis was let off with a slap on the wrist. Sometimes he wondered why they let him go. Despite the victim being a criminal, he still killed someone.

Harry was just glad to have his brother back. They had never been apart from each other for more than an hour, and each second that passed that he didn't see Ellis was pure torture. He was never leaving his side again.

Everything felt kind of fuzzy, like he was on a lot of drugs. Ellis looked left and right, searching for someone. When he found Harry, he smiled, "There you are."

They embraced, and Ellis soaked in the familiar feeling. He was safe, and that was all the mattered.