Reformation (Book 4 of The Corruption Sequence)

Chapter 1. The World Knows

Harry woke slowly, which, these days was unusual for him, and opened his eyes feeling rested and relaxed. That feeling lasted about three seconds until he realised that he was alone. He sat up with a frown.

He remembered falling asleep wrapped in an embrace with Draco, but now his lover was gone, and that annoyed him on several levels. Ready to storm to the bathroom, he moved back the cover on the bed, at which point he found the note stuck to the pillow with a charm that released the moment he touched it.

Harry,

I tried to wake you, but you must have really needed the rest, because all I got was a grunt for my trouble. Dobby brought the special edition of the Prophet in, which is what woke me. Seems that the whole paper is full of you, and I mean cover to cover, from pictures of you as a baby to the pictures their photographer snapped after the hearing. I had a quick look and left it on the desk for you; I think you may be pleasantly surprised, and I suggest you read it. I'll see you later: send Dobby when you've finished with the werewolf.

Draco

The annoyance lessened, although it did not go away completely; he had been looking forward to waking up beside a warm body. Part of him did not take disappointment well. Climbing out of bed, he stretched leisurely and walked across the room to his desk. The paper was folded in half with the headline and a very large picture of Harry fainting into Remus' arms upwards. To his surprise the words were not a condemnation of what he was. For a moment he stared at it.

"Down But Not Out" he read it over again just to make sure and picked up the paper to find out what the article with the headline said.

Earlier today Harry Potter made his first public appearance since his heroic defeat of He Who Must Not Be Named. It could clearly be seen that The Boy Who Lived is still suffering after his encounter with The Dark Lord. In a later press release the Ministry revealed that after his kidnapping, Harry Potter was subjected to a version of the Crevitemero ceremony in which magic from several dark creatures was forced into his body. The hearing which The Boy Who Lived attended today concluded that he bore no responsibility in this situation and cannot be considered a danger to society. The corruption of Harry Potter failed.

Harry stopped reading and slowly sat down; this was not what he had expected at all. Spreading the paper out on the desk, he ignored the fact that he was completely naked and just began to read in earnest.

~*~

"Hello, Remus," Harry greeted as soon as his friend entered the room.

He had finished reading, had a quick bite to eat and then sent the message he was available for visitors while he dressed. Remus had come straight away and Harry had the craziest urge to wag a tail he did not at the moment possess, and he found himself smiling broadly. The werewolf in him acknowledged the werewolf in Remus and Harry felt completely at ease as Remus smiled back and bowed his head slightly in greeting.

"You're looking much better," Remus said in a warm tone.

That was enough for Harry and he crossed the room and wrapped his ex-professor in a hug. There were few people he felt as close to as Remus anymore—they shared something no one else he knew could understand. The only person he felt closer to was Draco and that was for entirely different reasons.

"Thank you for this morning," he said, so incredibly glad Remus had been there for him.

"You're welcome," Remus said in such a genuine tone that it made Harry's heart hurt. "How are you feeling now?"

"As close to sane as I get these days," he replied, leading his friend over to the arm chairs and sofa. "Draco is very good at putting me back together."