No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Disclaimer:

AN: This story is a slight AU, as in the last book ended a little differently. Also a warning, the beginning of the story may be a little confusing at first.

No Good Deed...

Her black boots made a sharp sound on the stone floor with every step. A piercing clap that echoed down the halls. The sound radiated a confidence that was easily reflected in her stride. Each step brought the rattle of boot buckles and a swish of a silk green kimono. She wasn't trying to hide her presence, she didn't have to. She was not someone to be trifled with.

~ OoOo ~

The room was crowded. Sounds, voices of all pitch and tone were yelling and shouting at each other, each one trying to be heard above the rest. Each flesh coloured mass was flailing, hands animated, heads shaking. Their crowd of colourful robes and manners of dress created a kaleidoscope for the lone observer. The observer, one isolated boy shackled to a hard chair in the middle of the court room.

~ OoOo ~

The hallway was cold. A gray mist settled inches above the floor carrying the salty pungent scent of the nearby ocean and the stench of human feces and other decaying matter. There was little light streaming in from the high bared windows and even the light seemed cold in the barren hall. It was murky, rank and appalling but she and her two companions cut through the prison without a second thought or look. It was making their guide nervous.

~ OoOo ~

The chair was hard, cold and very uncomfortable to the tired young man forced to sit on it. The shackles rub at his raw, bleeding wrists. The straps holding his legs unmovable were causing pins and needles to shoot up and down them. He kept his head down trying not to draw any attention to himself from the assembly of people surrounding him. Fruitless, though, was the endeavour. He couldn't escape their accusing eyes.

"Order, Order."

~ OoOo ~

The group of six kept a steady pace though the dreary dank halls. The two weary guards lend them deeper and deeper into the prison. The chill of a dementor invaded the air. Soon they would be forced to call forth a patronus or be lost in the howls of cheerless memories. Her guide, the minister himself continued his uninspiring monologue. Telling her and her associates the story of every prisoner they passed. From murderer to rapist to users of the black arts, they all had a gruesome story. But women never even blinked.

~ OoOo ~

It took a long time before the crowd of people stopped talking but the silence that followed was almost as deafening. The newly elected minister of magic was a prideful and obese man of whom the lone scarred man in the center of the room had never bothered to learn the name of. He stood up and called out to the audience for anyone willing to stand witness for the defence. The chained green eyed man tried to look around at the blurry figures but he already knew there wouldn't be a friendly face among them. Anyone willing was either barred entrance or had died. Died to save the glaring and jeering people surrounding him, died for those who would have never of died for them. Those who were completely content to destroy and condemn others for their own failings now that they were safe.

"You have been brought before us on charges of dark magic and several accounts of treason to the wizarding world. How does the defendant plead?"

~ OoOo ~

The corridors were getting narrower, the air tighter. The echo of her boots grew louder still, intensified even more by the fact that her two associates never made a sound themselves. Their slippered feet glided silently across the cold floors. They walked on either side of the women. On her left was a young girl, blanked faced and very pale. She was dressed all in white including her almost florescent white hair. She was holding a small round mirror in front of her with both hands. On the right was a taller woman, dressed in a red patterned kimono. She was tapping a decorative fan against her hip with every step. Her face was also kept emotionless but unlike the girl in white, who had vacant eyes, the women in red had eyes that could cut through steal.

~ OoOo ~

"Not guilty."

Cries of outrage and disgust filled the trial room. Words such as, 'traitor, murderer and Dark Lord,' hailed down upon the weary teen. Shouts for his death, slurs against his being and even shoes were all thrown at him. No one moved to help, even the guards turned a blind eye. The minister started to laugh. A man, who had never fought a battle in his pudgy life stood there mocking the man once hailed as the Savoir, The Chosen One.

"I find that hard to believe but if that's how you want to play it, then fine. Madam, call your first witness."

~ OoOo ~

They walked farther into the stone castle, no windows, no sunlight. The halls were being lit only by the guard's patronuses, an ox and a tiger, and the cool blue glow of heatless torches. It was here where Britain kept the infamous inner circle of the Death Eaters, the prized jewels of Azkaban prison. The minister boasted with pride, telling sly lies and wording misleading tales about the grander and power of his defence force. He was a true politician. The woman in the middle couldn't have cared less about the words spilling from the mouth of the pompous fool. She knew the truth.

~ OoOo ~

He didn't know the person on the stand, never met the guy before in his life. But the man claimed to know him and know him well enough to stand witness in a trial and swear that Harry Potter was turning into the next Dark Lord. Told the jury how he only defeated Voldemort to replace him. Others sang the same tune. Classmates in other years and houses he'd never so much as said, 'hello,' to, were suddenly his school yard confidents. Stringing stories of the horrors he brought to school, how he would whisper his dark deeds and plans into their innocent ears and how he threatened to kill their families if they so much as murmured a word to another. Torturing students, forcing the dark arts down his friends throats, all under the deceased Dumbledore's nose. In fact, Harry was the one who orchestrated the headmaster death in the first place. Lies, all lies but no one cared. He was too powerful to be free, too popular. He was a threat, not to the world as they claimed but to the politicians ready to reap the benefits of the war.

~ OoOo ~

Her clear blue eyes caught the tension mounting on the Wind Witch's face, made obvious by a small tick in her left eye. She tried to send a subtle warning glare but it went unheeded. She gave a quick look at their guide, he was stopped in front of a cell containing a long blond haired aristocrat, pointing and gloating, paying no attention to his three guests. The guards themselves were also lax in their visuals, attempting to warm their hands on a heatless torch. Seeing no potential for witnesses, the long black haired beauty rested a small hand on the Witch's arm and gave her a small shock of pink power. The woman in red gave a tiny jump and turned to the miko. She was gifted with a look that said to calm down. They didn't need any altercations, even if the minister was a giant idiot. Not when they were so close.

~ OoOo ~

"How does the jury find the accused?"

Harry never heard the final verdict, he didn't have to. The cheers and looks of elation on the people's faces told the truth. Praises to God could be heard, screams of pure happiness, about a good forth of the people were crying in joy. The hopeless saviour smirked in humourless irony, as if the verdict would have come out any differently. This wasn't a trial. It was nothing more than a show put on by those desperate for his power.

"Harry Potter in accordance with your horrendous crimes and for your betrayal against the wizarding world, you are here by condemned with our most severe sentence, the Dementor's Kiss. To be carried out one week from today at dawn." The minister sneered a satisfied smile at the resigned hero. "I hope your last days are hell."

~ OoOo ~

"Are you and your companions fairing well, Lady Higurashi?" The porky man turned from his gloating and addressed her. He gave her a surprisingly charming smile that turned her stomach. "I still cannot believe that the Japanese ministry would send ladies such as yourselves to a place like this. Azkaban prison is not a place for ones of such beauty."

Kagome was quick to grab Kagura's arm in warning, through she almost had to force herself to. The minister had been making comments like that since they arrived as envoys three days ago. Trying to flirt with her, all the while making remakes about, 'A man's job,' and, 'no place for a lady.' The chauvinistic pig. She was surprised the stick up his ass didn't split him in two, especially as he was weighted down by his swelled head of an ego.

She looked down at the shorter man and spoke in a cool manner. "As representatives of the Japanese ministry, it is our duty to investigate all matters of concern before we sign any treaty with Britain." She eyed the dirty, bleach blond man sneering at her behind the bars of his cell and the crazed black haired women giggling and whispering to herself in the next. "Our Minister is still concerned about the potential alliance. Your recent troubles with a man named Tom Riddle and his followers have made us... apprehensive about your countries capabilities to handle any future troubles. Japan does not ally themselves with the weak."

The guards listening in shifted uneasily. The minister faltered slightly in his smile, becoming more forced and sarcastic. "I assured the minister in our last communication that Britain's forces are more than ready to handle any danger that may appear. We were able to take down the strongest dark lord in centuries after all."

Kagome graced the minister with a disgustingly sweet smile. "And our job is to see whether or not you were lying."

The minister puffed up like a roster, a look of outrage on his face. He clutched his fists and trembled in suppressed rage. The howls of laughter and taunts coming from the nearby cells didn't help his composure any, but he surprised the three women as he was quick to calm down. Well maybe not surprised, the British wizarding community was in dire need of economical assistance. He couldn't afford to insult these three women.

He took in a deep breath of stale air. "My dear lady, I assure you, I never lie."

Kagome kept that slightly mocking smile on her face. "Then our job will be quite easy." She turned away from the steaming man and caught an amused glance from Kagura. She looked back down the shadowed hall. "Is the tour finished?" She asked.

At her words the minister gained a dark gleam in his eyes. "Not quite, if fact we have saved the best for last."

"Oh?" Kagome raised a single brow and turned back towards the arrogant man.

"Yes indeed. It was lucky that you scheduled your tour of our fine prison today. For he has been sentence for execution by Dementor's Kiss tomorrow at dawn. He is a budding dark lord of immense magical power." He turned around and motioned for the guards to continue deeper into the dark prison. The guards faltered for a moment but were quick to pick up the pace when the minister shot them a hard glare.

"He was very clever. Thought he had everyone convinced he was on our side but we at the ministry weren't so easily fooled. My crack team of experts were able to see through his dark plans. He even had the late Albus Dumbledore fooled, God rest his soul." Kagome could almost imagine the desolate hall warming up from all the hot air the minister was blowing. The portentous man sauntered after the guards leaving the annoyed women to follow behind through the ghostly halls.

"And who is this budding dark lord?" Kagome asked, though she already suspected the answer.

The minister halted and turned around. His face held a patronizing smile. "You mean you don't know?" He didn't wait for a response. "Why, Harry Potter of course."

Finally! Kagome almost smiled but forced her face to look shocked and confused instead. "Harry Potter? But I thought he was your nation's hero? Isn't he the one who killed Tom Riddle? He also helped end the terrorist group calling themselves Deatheaters with the help of a vigilante group called the Order of the Phoenix, correct?"

The minister shook his head and gave her condescending smile. His eyes glinted. "Ah, I see Japan was also fooled. The Order of the Phoenix was not a vigilante group but a secret team of highly trained aurors and hitmen working directly under the ministry. It's a common mistake so don't feel as if your country's intelligence is lacking in any way." He smile could have rotted your teeth. He turned back around and continued to walk farther into the freezing prison. It was lucky he did as Kagome had to grab a furious Kagura to stop her from committing murder.

The conceited man continued, "As for Harry Potter, it is true that he was the one that killed He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. However, he did it using dark arts taught to him by You-Know-Who himself. He was his secret right hand man during the war until he decided he wanted power for himself and murdered his mentor." The minister lowered and shook his head putting on a bogus display of disappointment. "Such a bright young man too." He sighed.

"Could you imagine what would have happened had his plan worked? I am proud to say that my office was able to expose the boy for the traitor he is." The man came to a stop right before a turn in the hall along with the guards. "The cell is right around the corner ladies. We can turn back if you wish. I don't want to force you ladies into doing something you can't handle."

"Minister if we couldn't handle it we would not have been chosen to be Japan's envoys." Came Kagome's sharp reply, she moved to take a step farther but paused, a look of concentration on her face.

"Actually minister, I would prefer if we could meet Harry Potter alone."

The minister was not expecting that, he sputtered for a response. "W-What, Why?"

"One of our hopes when coming to Britain was to have a private audience with one Harry Potter. We are disappointed that he was not what we had suspected but that does not change our goals." She turned and tried to look the minister straight in the eye. The minister refused to look back and instead stared at a point over her left ear. "As a veteran solder against Tom Riddle, his opinion was to play an important part in our decision on whether or not we believe you are capable of fighting other forces of darkness should they appear in Britain again."

The guards looked very nervous, glancing at each other with the corner of their eyes. Kagome also caught to growing look of amusement of Kagura's face, even Kanna seemed to be enjoying the growing tension.

Kagome faked a sigh. "Of course since he was found guilty of his crimes, his word will not have the same standing. The Japanese minister will not be happy with this turn of events." Kagome shook her head. "The hero of a nation turned out to be a villain. It must have been a very sad day for Britain."

"Ye-yes of courses, a very sad day." The minister looked a little panicked. He raced ahead of Kagome blocking her path. He cupped his hands together and tried to fix his face into what he hoped was a convincing smile. "I'm confused. Why would you want the opinion of a traitor? You do realise all he will say are lies?" Kagome's keen eyes were able to see the beads of sweat along the minister's receding hairline.

"Well of course, I am not an idiot minister." Kagome was enjoying this. "But never the less, we request to see the traitor Harry Potter without an accompanying escort. If you will minister?" Kagome indicated for him to move out of her way. The minister had no choice. It wasn't an unreasonable request. The three women were in no danger and they themselves have had their wand removed for the duration of the tour. What harm could it really do?

"All right then, the British ministry will grant you your request." He continued to block the path for a long moment before moving out of the way. "We shall wait here."

Kagome smiled, "We at the Japanese ministry thank you." She bowed her head, not in thanks but to hide her sly smile and walked around the pudgy man. She turned the corner, followed by Kagura and Kanna, and walked deeper into the depressing prison. Soon, part one of the plan would be complete.