"Azel Milani?"
I looked up at the sound of my horribly mispronounced name. I was tempted to correct whoever said it, but at the sight of the intimidating figure in front of me, I held my tongue.
He was obviously from the ministry, his uniform pointed that out to me immediately. But, beneath that uniform was an extremely tall man with the outline of bulging muscles beneath his robes. Before I could stop myself, my body began to tremble in my seat. Had they found out what I did? Was he here to arrest me?
Closing the book I had open, I quickly glanced around the library and asked, "yes?"
My voice shook throughout the short word, giving away how nervous I was. The wizard looked at me strangely, but continued on nonetheless.
"You are Miss Azel Milani, friend of Azazel Auslaufen?"
Azazel? Why did he ask me about Az?
"I am," I responded with more curiosity than fear, even if I could still feel my hands shaking on the table.
He nodded then began speaking. His tone sounded as if he had given the same message many time before. He probably had.
"My name is Weston Furnlos, I am from the Improper Use of Magic Office, which punishes violations in the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy."
He knew. He knew what I did.
"This includes underage wizards and witches intentionally using magic."
I gulped. I was going to Azkaban. I was going to be expelled and never get to see Calla or-
"And I am here to tell you we have arrested your friend Azazel Auslaufen."
Az?
"Wh-what?" I stuttered, "Why? Azazel didn't do anything!"
"We have evidence that over his Christmas holidays he participated in illegal uses of magic. But, I am telling you this because he has requested that you are present to defend him in his trial."
Illegal magic. My illegal magic.
"Thank you," I said, my voice hollow, "and, uhm, where is he?"
"He is still here at Hogwarts, but in a separate room. He will be kept isolated from all other students until his trial," Furnlos said, "All students, except yourself, will be forbidden to see or talk to him for the next week. But, none will know the reason he is missing this next week. Understood?"
I nodded frantically, not willing to tell anyone even if I was able to. The guilt that was building up was beginning to overwhelm me.
He quickly informed me where to find him then left quite abruptly. All I could do was walk in a daze to the empty classroom Azazel was staying in, my mind flashing back to what had actually happened that night.
~*~
It was Christmas Break, and since I lived in a house full of Gryffindors in the town of Godric's Hollow, I tried to stay out quite a lot. My family tended to be extremely prideful. Being the stuck up Gryffindors they were, and living in the birthplace of Godric's Gryffindor usually pushed them over the edge, making me the obvious outcast.
I escaped them by staying outside most of the time. I only came in to eat and sleep. the cold never really bothered me despite the brisk winter weather. But, the boredom would begin to drive me mad so I did the only thing I could to entertain myself.
Magic.
Living in a town with other witches and wizards meant the trace would not even sense the magic I performed, leaving me free to do what I wanted. And I wanted to cause trouble.
I never did anything too noticeable. I would cause a muggle to slip here or there but they always attributed it to the slippery ice, or that they had simply tripped. But, even that began to grow old.
So, the next week I invited Calla and Azazel to stay over. Of course, my parents weren't pleased to have two more Slytherins in the house, but they were polite enough. Az's gentlemanly manner seemed to offset my parents, since he seemed to be the exact opposite of a Slytherin. And Calla was very sweet to my family. Seeing it made me want to gag for it was the last thing my family deserved.
But, we still stayed out as much as possible that weekend. At first, we only caused small amounts of mischief, the same kind of things I did without them, but the activities were made more fun with my friends by my side. But soon, even the enjoyment in that faded and changed to something more interesting and noticeable.
Muggles feet would mysteriously become frozen to the ground, or their legs would begin to twitch out of control. It was all we could do to silence our laughter to not get caught. I was having the time of my life. It was beginning to seem like we could do this forever and not get caught.
Until I messed up.
I wanted something bigger. I wanted to do something so huge we would never forget it. So, I decided to go all out on the next muggle to walk by.
He was shorter, with a giant coat pulled up around his face. He also wore a knitted hat that was pulled all the way down to his eyes. When I looked at him, the only part of his body I could see was his eyes. The coat he wore was green, ragged and torn, but still warm enough, especially since a blue sweater could be seen peeking out the bottom. His brown pants were a little too short and would have shown his ankles had he not been wearing knee-high, purple, wool socks. He looked so ridiculous that I couldn't help but mess with him.
I started with his ugly knit hat. It was a burnt orange color but faded to red at the bottom, as if they had ran out of the horrible orange color and switched to red to cover it up. Pointing my wand from behind the bush I was hiding in, I muttered quietly a charm and waited for it to work.
We had to hold our breath to silence our giggles as the hat started to shrink. The man began to shriek as the hat tightened and became harder to slip off, but he managed to. And, by the time it stopped shrinking, the only thing that hat would have fit was a doll.
The man looked around curiously, in shock from what had happened before slipping his gloved hands inside his coat. He began shuffling away from his shrunken hat, but not before I could cast another charm.
Suddenly, steam began to curl up from his feet. The man began to jump around, ripping off his shoes and soon after his purple socks came flying off in a smoking pile. Starting from the bright purple toes, the socks began to smolder and disintegrate all the way up their long length until all that was left was a pile of orange ash.
The man was in an outrage. He looked left and right, trying to find the reason that these strange things were happening. But, then he did something I did not expect.
He pulled out his wand.
My eyes went wide as I looked to Calla or Az for support, almost begging them to say that this wasn't real. That the man in front of us wasn't really a wizard and that this was all just a joke. But, they looked just as shocked and scared as I did.
The man looked left and right once more, not only searching for us but also checking for muggles. When he discovered nothing, he called out, "I know you're around here somewhere! Now come out and I won't report you to the ministry!"
I had no intentions of showing myself to this man. Not only would we get busted for using magic on him, we'd get busted for being underage and using magic! No, there was no chance I was going to do that. So we did the only logical thing at that point.
We ran.
I sprinted out from my hiding place and ran in the opposite direction of the man. Azazel and Calla followed only seconds behind. The wizard obviously heard our escape as he also ran after us, shooting silent stunning spells in our direction. I looked behind me to see Calla right on my heels, but Az was just a little farther back, as if he had fallen behind just the slightest amount. It was him that the wizard could see, not myself of Calla.
And it was him who had taken the blame.
~*~
We got away. The wizard started to slow down when he realized he couldnt keep up with us, but he obviously got a good look at Azazel and reported him because now he was in trouble for my doings. Yes, he was there and he watched, but in the end it was me who preformed the magic. It was my actions, not his. And, as I finally arrived at the empty classroom Az was staying in, the guilt in my chest made me sure that I was not going to allow him to take the blame for me.
As I pushed open the door, I discovered that the room was not empty at all. On one wall there was a large bookshelf stocked full of books, and in the middle of the room was a nice sized bed, larger than the four poster beds in the Slytherin dormitory. And sitting on that bed crosslegged was Azazel, a book propped open in his lap and his brown hair falling in his face, blocking his eyes. But, as I shut the door behind me, his head whipped up, his eyes landing upon me.
I thought he would be mad. But, instead he smiled at me, only heightening my guilt that he was here because of me. Granted, the room was very nice, and even had its own bathroom, but that still did not make up for the fact that he would be going to Azkaban.
"Az," I croaked, unable to push any other words out of my mouth.
"Hello Azel," he said, as gentlemanly as ever. "Would you care to join me?" he asked, patting a spot on the bed next to him. I nodded and slowly walked over towards him, sliding myself onto the large bed next to him. It was extremely comfortable, which only made me feel worse.
We were silent for a while, until I finally mustered up the courage to say, "I am so sorry Az, I never meant for any of this to happen. It's all my f-"
He cut me off by putting one of his fingers to my lips. I turned towards him pleadingly, my eyes beginning to fill with unshed tears. He, on the other hand, looked extremely calm, content even.
He smiled ever so slightly before saying, "My dear Azel, it is not your fault. Do not blame yourself for this."
"But it is my fault!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet, "I was the one who did the magic, not you! I was the one who preformed the spells! Yes, you were there but you didn't do anything! I should be the one in trouble, not you..."
His expression remained unchanged throughout. "You hurt my pride Azel," he joked, "making it sound as if I did nothing."
"This isn't the time to joke Az!" I said, panic beginning to envelop my mind, "Sure, you did some magic before to the muggles, but it was me who preformed those jinxs onto the wizard! I don't want you taking the blame for my actions, Az! You'll go to Azkaban for it!"
His face paled ever so slightly, yet he still held up his demeanor. "And what would you expect me to do? Let you go to Azkaban for it?"
I began to tremble. "Yes, I'm the one who did it, I should face the consequences for it, not you."
"And how on earth do you expect me to just let them take you to Azkaban? How Azel? I won't do it. I would confess that I did it before I would allow them to take you."
My eyes began to sting as the tears rolled unashamedly down my cheeks. I was cornered. A part of me was almost grateful that he cared so much to do that for me, but at the same time I could not step aside and let him take the fall for my actions.
"I can't allow you to do that Az. You can't go to Azkaban for me."
His eyes took on a hopeful gleam. "But, I'm not going to Azkaban yet."
"What do you mean?" I questioned.
"I mean, there is a trial still. A chance to prove I am innocent. I would like you-"
"To confess?" I asked with complete seriousness.
For the first time he became angry. He cursed, and I realized how serious he was, for Azazel never cursed, then said "Azel, how many times do I have to say it? 'You are not confessing!' No, I would like you to defend me in the case. We can still prove I am innocent without you being found guilty."
"How?" I asked skeptically.
"I am not sure, but I know it is possible."
Overcome by emotion, I crawled back into the bed and buried my face into his shoulder, finally allowing all my tears to run freely. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly as all my guilt and regret came out in chocked sobs.
Finally, I couldn't stay any longer due to the beginning of dinner. Az was adamant that I go and eat, he wouldn't even consider the choice of me skipping. So I left quietly, my mood downcast and my eyes red.
Calla noticed immediately that something was wrong.
"Have you been crying?" She asked louder than I would have liked. I quickly made motions to silence her and, glancing around, was pleased to see no one had noticed what she said.
Nodding, I leaned in and said, "do you remember our incident with the strangely dressed man over the Christmas Holidays?"
She nodded with a curious look on her face.
"Well, Az..." I leaned in even closer, "he got caught."
Calla did not need to question my meaning. She knew immediately what I was talking about. Her eyes widened in an emotion akin to fear as she looked at me questioningly, silently asking how we could help him.
Asking the same question I was asking myself.
~*~
For the rest of the week I returned to Az's secluded room to try and figure out a way to prove he was innocent. Without confessing. Az was very unwavering on that fact.
As the days slipped away I began to realize how little time we actually had to come up with a plan. I spent so much time with him, I even fell asleep in that large bed one of the nights I stayed over, talking late into the night about facts. Az didn't seem to mind though, and the bed was very comfortable.
It wasn't until the day before the trial that I finally figured out what to do.
I was sitting at the Slytherin table, not eating my breakfast but instead pushing it around my plate. Despite my terrible mood, I could not help but listen in to the conversations around me. Two girls were gossiping about guys, three boys were talking about how they cheated on an exam, but one conversation stood out to me.
It was a third year boy, and he spoke to his best friend about his summer holidays. Normally, I would have dismissed the conversation as novel and unworthy of my attention, but something stood out to me.
"My mum had to report it to the ministry. I mean, I know she works there but I'm her son!"
"What happened to you after she reported it?" The second boy asked.
"I only got a warning this time, but if I do any more magic outside of school, then I will be expelled."
My head whipped up. That was it. That was the solution.
Not even waiting to finish my breakfast, I sprinted out of the hall to the classroom Azazel was staying in. Calla had become used to my sudden disappearances so she didn't even question my leaving.
I burst into the classroom and before the door had shut behind me the words had come spilling out of my mouth.
"Prior Incantato!" I shouted, thoroughly startling a still sleeping Az.
"What are you yelling about?" He mumbled, sitting up. His hair was a mess and the loose shirt he wore to bed was slipping off one shoulder. It was quite attractive mixed with his sleep filled voice.
Focus Azel, I scolded myself.
"That's how we are going to win your case. Prior Incactato!" I said jumping onto the bed next to him. But, instead of becoming excited, his expression was still doubtful.
"That solves the case of me performing magic on a wizard, but what happens when they see the simple jinxes I used on those muggles?" He asked, his voice taking on a hopeless tone.
"I've already thought that through," I responded, angling myself towards him, "you say you used the slipping jinxes on myself and Calla. Then, because you've never been busted for using magic outside of Hogwarts before, you will only receive a warning!"
"How do you know I've never gotten in trouble for using magic outside of Hogwarts before?" He said playfully, but the new gleam in his eye and his growing smile gave the answer away.
"Because you would have told me if you did," I said with a laugh. Soon, we were both laughing on the bed, and for the first time that week, we were not worried and could actually be happy.
"I don't know how I can thank you for this Azel," Az finally said when we finished
"Well seeing as I'm the one who caused this mess... A simple 'thank you' would be fine," I joked. Even though the guilt still bothered me.
"Thank you, Azel."
I smiled, thinking that would be it, but was surprised when he pulled me in for a hug. I was a bit tense at first but relaxed after a second and enjoyed the warmth of his arms.
"You're welcome," I mumbled into his shoulder, not yet ready to let go.
Az chuckled and made no move to pull away. But, finally, I needed to speak clearly so I leaned backwards.
"Your trial is tomorrow?" I asked even if I already knew the answer.
"Yes, and I wish you could be there," he responded.
"I know, but you'll be fine. There's no way you can lose now."
And it was true. He would win the case and I would never have to worry about losing him.
"What are you smiling about?" He asked me.
"Nothing," I responded, but my smile didn't fade for the rest of the day.