Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Intangible	By : ChimaeraChan Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 9795 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-CH1
- 2-CH2
- 3-CH3
- 4-CH4
- 5-CH5
- 6-CH6
- 7-CH7
- 8-CH8
- 9-CH9
- 10-CH10
- 11-CH11
- 12-CH12
- 13-CH13
- 14-CH14
- 15-CH15
- 16-CH16
- 17-CH17
- 18-CH18
- 19-CH19
- 20-CH20
- 21-CH21
- 22-CH22
- 23-CH23
- 24-CH24
- 25-Ch25
- 17
- 18
- 19
Author's Notes: Hey lovelies, sorry for the absence. I became distracted... It happens, you just don't always notice. I've actually written two whole fics in the middle of this one, 'Sleeping Dogs' and 'The Slow Unintended Seduction of Lucius Malfoy' (requires a bit of editing before posting the rest.) It's a problem, I suppose. I cannot just do one thing ever. I get bored, I lose direction, then everything feels stale. I'm hoping these chapters have more life in them than I feared they would lack now that I stepped away a bit. It was a difficult spot in the story, a lot of tension being drained before the final conflict at the end. Information revealed, a completely different world suddenly explored. Very easy to slip in this spot, I feel like, and lose too much energy. We'll see how it goes.
Starr: Yeah, Hermione is a force of her own in this. I always liked her character, just completely clueless about her interaction with people, and yet such a good person. I actually have a friend like her... she's difficult, to put it nicely.
Tommy-Lane: I'm hoping the Vesper become a bit more sympathetic in these chapters. I feel like the unknown is always worse than reality... unless it's a horror fic! Harry waking up is going to be freak'n fun! and I can't wait, but have to because so much writing in between. As for me feeling down—I think it's a thyroid thing, or a PTSD thing, or a bipolar thing. There are just too many things, but in the end it's less important than doing something to distract and enjoy life.

Chapter Eighteen
“You're overreacting,” Remus warned, his voice still warm even as he grabbed his lover by the waist and tackled him to the ground. Sirius snarled in reply, considered transforming back into Padfoot to make things difficult on Remus, but then relented and merely flipped the man.
“I'm going after him, and the sooner the better! Now either support me, or get lost!” Remus was definitely a better wrestler than Sirius, even with his shorter reach, and Sirius could feel his face going red from the effort of fighting the werewolf's strong grip.
Ron quietly stepped out of the way as Remus grunted and fell back from Sirius's shove, nearly toppling into the door he was trying to keep Sirius from escaping through.
Sirius, not only a manly crier, also had a terrible temper, and was particularly protective of Draco since Harry had asked for his help in caring for the boy. At his furious insistence, Blaise and Pansy had taken him to Draco's room, the man transforming into a large, black dog to scent around and follow to the castle exit. Remus had then appeared and tackled Sirius before he could run out the castle and into the forest to chase after Draco and Hermione.
“If you would listen to a bloody word—Siri, the numbers are too great!” Getting Sirius into a brutal headlock, Remus held the man as still as he could, even though Sirius insisted on thrashing his legs in an attempt to kick him. “Twenty. Possibly more in the woods unseen. Enraged by human scent. We need a plan, not a damn sacrifice!”
“The only sacrifice... will be those... bloody dragons!”
Ron waited patiently, peering out through the dark windows in the direction Draco and Hermione had left over half an hour ago. If he thought it was odd that two grown men were fighting like first years, he gave no sign. His own brothers were the same—all of them—and likely weren't going to change no matter how many years passed.
“You will put them both in danger. You need to calm down and take the time to plan.” Remus was always extra persuasive when inflicting pain.
Sirius gritted his teeth, very much not wanting to give up just yet. Harry was injured but alive still. The only other living soul Sirius had sworn to protect was now off with a bunch of blood thirsty dragons that, from what Harry had suggested, would enjoy Draco in many carnal ways. That Sirius had allowed himself to be distracted worrying about Harry was inexcusable. Draco need him now.
“I know you're worried, Siri,” Remus murmured in his ear, relaxing his hold but not releasing his steel grip. “But we're going to find him. We'll clean a room out just for Draco.”
“Remi...”
“Harry can sleep right across. We can all go camping like you wanted by the lake. You just have to give us some time to plan.”
Sirius huffed in annoyance, glancing sideways at Remus's questioning look from the hold he was still trapped in. “How much time?”
“How much ya got?” Remus was smiling his 'I know I've won' smile, and Sirius sighed, relenting.
Ron watched cautiously as the two men got up, careful to make sure he didn't catch them doing anything too gooey. That was something he never worried about with his brothers, thankfully. “So, as I was saying, the spell Hermione crafted seems to be working. The creatures don't like humans in general, but without the smell they will hopefully not break out into killing rages.”
“Aye... Right, that.” Sirius combed his hair back into some sort of order, eyes blazing. “Clearly they're on a higher level of intelligence. Enough to manipulate Draco out the door through blackmail... and possibly other ways. He was still wearing the ring, right?”
“Yes. Harry mentioned that Mr. McVicar was working on a spell to keep it attached, but I don't know if he ever succeeded. His barrier sure seemed to work.” Except Draco had willing walked outside it when hearing Harry was in danger.
Remus sighed, turning towards the Great Hall. “There is no guarantee by the time we find him that Draco will still have the ring in his possession. We must plan for that possibility as well.”
Ron nodded, following to keep up with the men's long strides. “Hermione understands the importance of the ring. As long as she is there, I'm certain it will remain on Draco.” They fell silent, no one voicing how much danger the girl was potentially in.
Blaise and Pansy were already in the Great Hall, along with McGonagall, Severus and a number of the medical team that had helped heal Harry. They were catching a late dinner after the difficult evening events.
Harry was stabilized, medics still working on him in the hospital wing under Madame Pomfrey's critical eye. Right now it looked like he would be keeping his arms and legs, and potentially tail. The wings and antlers were still a toss up, and since they were less important for his immediate survival, no one was too concerned about it.
Ron felt strangely lonely, sitting down across from Blaise and Pansy. Hermione was not there, and Harry... well, Harry had not been there for a very long time. Hermione had been Ron's rock, his inspiration to stay strong, if only to help the girl through the same difficulty he had been going through. Without her everything felt empty.
“Has anyone heard about McVicar?” Sirius asked, sitting down and grabbing a plate of food. He was worried, but not to the point that he couldn't eat. He saw it as a good sign that he believed Harry would live. “He's spoken to one of those creatures face to face, so I heard.”
“He will recover. Poppy is keeping him under observation.” Severus sipped his tea, his hand still revealing a small tremor. He was sore, but nothing worth going to bed over.
“Did the Vesper attack him?” Ron asked, having only heard snatches of what had happened during Harry's spell.
“Not that he can remember. He felt an interference in the spell, as if a power was trying to prevent him from continuing. But once he completed his part, the pressure suddenly relented. He passed out from the change.” Severus studied the swirling dark liquid in his cup, his thoughts straying. “He was lucky... They both were. Zabini saw the creatures surrounding the room. They had plenty of opportunity to attack. By the time it would take to fight through the wards in place for the spell, the beasts could have killed them both with ease. That they honored Mr. Malfoy's agreement is a wonder, and something we need to consider when dealing with these Vesper.”
They had made no deal about Hermione, and Ron suppressed a shiver of fear.
Blaise, who had been pushing his food around on his plate, had to join in. “It was only because Draco asked. The shifter Matten controlled all the others. And he... I think he almost had a control over Draco. It was strange. He nearly did everything Draco asked. He would get this look on his face, almost like he was enthralled by him. But every time Draco got upset, or started yelling, the shifter would move his lips a certain way, and Draco would get weak and complacent.”
“It sounds like how Harry was with him,” Ron pointed out. “We were so worried Harry was going to, um, get a bit too rough with Malfoy. But all Draco had to do was ask the 'right way,' as they both put it, and Harry was putty in his hands. And hell, Harry was the only one that could make Malfoy do anything, half the time without even being able to talk.”
“It does sound like the species has some sort of basis in manipulation,” Remus mussed. “I've heard of techniques being used on prey, especially allure, but never interspecies like that.”
“Knowing Hermione, she'll have a book written on the subject by the time she gets back,” Pansy joked weakly, also pushing her food around on her plate.
They all turned, Dumbledore walking in through the Great Hall doors, looking as exhausted as the rest of them were feeling.
“He is well, but things are still unclear as to what will be left of him,” Dumbledore said, his hand raised before anyone could think to ask questions. “I would like the students to come to my office so we can go over the events that transpired while we were engaged helping Mr. Potter. Remus and Sirius, you are of course welcome to stay the evening. I'm grateful to see you have not ended up in the forest just yet, and hope you will help in our efforts. Minerva, if you would join me for a moment?”
Ron's head of house got up stiffly to speak with Dumbledore about notifying Hermione's parents about her absence. Blaise and Pansy finished up their pumpkin juice before getting up as well and joining him on the other side of the table to wait.
“Do we tell him what Potter had said? About Draco being his mate?” Pansy asked, eyes darting to where the headmaster was talking.
“Depends if Draco's mother comes knocking again,” Blaise said. “If she finds out, she'll kill Potter before he gets a chance to heal, school full or teachers or not. I think she'd rather give Draco to the Vesper than to Potter.”
“Is it important?” Ron asked lowly. “Honestly? Pretty sure McVicar knows they're having sex. What the hell does being a mate have to add to anything?” Harry had only mentioned it once while they were pulling information about Draco's breakdown the other day in the infirmary. Harry had seemed almost reluctant to reveal it, and Ron didn't know if it was something to share.
Pansy bit her lip, stepping closer and speaking under her breath. “Didn't it ever strike you as odd? I mean, it's almost obsessive. That's why we were all worried, after all. What do you think Potter is going to do once he finds out Draco is gone? Not just gone, but gone with the Vesper? It was all he talked about before the return spell.”
Ron inhaled deeply, thinking of his friend objectively. Harry had been mad last year, in a lovestruck, testosterone riddled, still sweet intentioned way. Anything that concerned Malfoy had pulled reactions from Harry that had seemed bizarre from his normal behavior. Even compared to just normal human behavior. Hermione had actually started suspecting that Harry might have a beast, if only to explain his weird demeanor, but Ron had shrugged it off. Voldemort had been increasing his attacks, and Ron had assumed Harry was just worrying over the boy he had fallen for hard.
Given what the four friends had pulled out of the two boys about the last couple weeks, maybe Pansy did have reason to worry. What exactly would Harry do once he woke up and realized Draco was off with the Vesper? Harry had transformed to defeat Voldemort all those many months ago—and he had won. The power that would have taken was now at Harry's grasp.
Harry's human personality and body had been preserved, held back by the odd time lapse of being thrown in the other realm. He had been nearly human while invisible. Now he was fully transformed. Awake, crazy powerful, and no longer human, Harry was going to be wondering where his mate was. If Draco was not there when Harry finally woke, the entire school might suffer the consequences.
“That could be dodgy...” Blaise muttered, having come to the same conclusion as Ron and Pansy had.
Hermione had mentioned her books being destroyed when Harry had thrown around raw magic. Ron was wondering about the stone bricks used to keep the castle together. It would all be the same to someone as powerful as Harry. Especially when angry.

The Vesper made no complaints when Draco and Hermione lit their path with twin lumos. They did not follow any walking trails in the beginning, moving through heavy underbrush until coming to an old stream bed. Dried up and filled with small stones and soft silt, they followed that for what felt like an hour. Only to crawl up the bank and twist and whirl through a network of trails and paths deep in the forest. Once surrounded by trees, Draco would not let Hermione stray, even though he had a feeling she was far from terrified. After the Vesper killed the first of the silent creatures foolish enough to not get out of the invisible pack's way, Hermione was more willing to take Draco's arm and walk with him in the sheltered location.
The shifters brought Draco water, which he shared with Hermione. It had gotten cold, the girl huddled in her cloak until she had the good sense to use a warming spell. Draco didn't need one. The three shifters and ten dragons around him all the time gave off huge amounts of heat. He actually felt too warm, the constant exercise and press of bodies leaving him to feel flushed and fiery.
“Are you feeling okay?” Hermione whispered when Draco stumbled again and nearly dropped his wand. Far off to the right of them were sudden screams, an animal falling victim to the Vesper. It was just as suddenly muffled and silenced, the air growing heavy. “Malfoy... you're shaking.” She pulled her eyes away from the darkness to glance up at the boy beside her. He was sweating, eyes dark in the dim light, a strange smile twisting his lips.
“I'm fine,” Draco murmured, eyes losing focus only to sharpen again when he nearly tripped. The ground was clearer here but roots and decay still littered the ground in places and stole his footing.
“You're not.” Hermione slipped the glasses she had been resting on her forehead down to her nose. It was disconcerting to watch herself walk through the Vesper surrounding Draco. They did not move out of the way for her, and the boy was insistent that she stay close and away from the sounds of the dying. She watched, biting her tongue when Draco nearly took a header, the shifter Matten quickly catching him before he fell off the path.
At first she thought the shifters were taking advantage of the situation, hands moving over Draco's glowing beast form in lingered caresses every time Draco stumbled. Perhaps that would have been easier to believe. But then the shifters would withdraw, fingers brushing ever so lightly on Draco's shoulders and back, and soon enough Draco's glow would pulse, and the boy would get dizzy and the shifters would catch him again.
“Malfoy... are they doing something to you?”
Head tilted and eyes downcast, it took Draco a moment to respond. “Doing?”
“To make you fall. You keep getting... dizzy...” He was stumbling again, and this time Matten grabbed Draco boldly around the waist, his strong arms keeping the boy upright and going right through Hermione.
“Ah... they're just humming a little,” Draco admitted. He stopped trying to walk, Matten's purr thrumming in his ear as the man held him still.
You are tired, lovely halfling. Has the walk been too much?
Draco's body didn't feel tired, but his head did, his eyes wishing insistently to close. He knew he should be wide awake, alert to the dangerous forest around him. He should be protecting Hermione, making sure the girl was safe among the sea of invisible Vesper. He should be seeking out landmarks in case they took his wand and he needed to walk back instead of apparate. Draco had noticed Hermione discretely marking their path as they wandered through the dark. He had wanted to do the same, but such exhaustion had descended on him and he could not seem to fight it.
Draco, you are not answering. Don't tell me you've fallen asleep?
Draco fluttered his eyes open, grasping at the hand moving too familiarly over his waist and touching him. “I'm just a little tired.”
We can rest if you like. I will hold you, and you can close your eyes. The pack will protect you even in the deep of the forest.
Draco smirked sleepily. “You are not my bed.” But he didn't pull away, eyes falling shut and breathing slowing. Matten held him steady, his body warm and hard behind Draco, strong chin resting on the top of his bowed head. In the dark, the pack was tangible to him, a strong presence that ghosted away whenever moonlight broke through the trees. It was probably very wrong to feel so safe, the night a blanket around him while standing in the middle of the most dangerous forest Draco had ever known. They had been walking for hours and Draco had no idea where they were, or how to get back. But the pack was powerful when together, a force that could not be injured. This was their domain and Draco was safe.
“Matten, is he sick?” Hermione asked worriedly, watching Draco fall asleep while the shifter held him upright. The other two beautiful shifters brushed Draco's hair with their fingers and then moved out towards the edges of the pack. They were called back and forth, to give direction when needed to the dragons, and then to return, somehow just as important, and touch Draco's flesh.
I don't believe so. He was upset earlier and that can raise much power. It will tire young ones.
Hermione nodded, not sure whether to believe the man. Malfoy was supposedly the first halfling the pack had met in many years. Would they even know if something was wrong with him? Draco was glowing with a golden light, looking nearly ethereal. And sometimes, Hermione feared, a bit angelic and dead. “So... we're just going to stand here until he wakes up?” She asked, trying to keep her disbelief down.
He would not like it if I carried him. Matten replied after a moment, his face lowering so that he could press his cheek to the sleeping Draco's.
“He wouldn't like that either,” Hermione pointed out, Matten only smirking dismissively and kissing Draco's cheek.
He is one of us. He likes it.
Hermione shook her head, huffing. “He doesn't even know you. And you know him even less. If all your kind does is kill the humans you come across, how can you understand any of our customs?”
Why do you think your customs have anything to do with how we react to one another? Matten asked in counter. He is Vesper, like us. That is who he is when he is with us. Halfling yes, but Vesper still. All adore him, and he will adore all.
“That is a huge assumption to make. Especially considering he's been terrified of your kind since the moment he knew you existed. And let's face it, you haven't really done much to prove you're trustworthy.”
Matten pressed his palm to Draco's chest, fingers spreading wide. He knows it in his heart. He cannot ignore his own, just as we cannot ignore him. No one will hurt him, human. It would be like injuring ourselves. His type strengthens us, unites us. We cherish that in our kind.
Hermione was not convinced. She didn't truly think the Vesper wanted to hurt Draco, but she had a strong suspicion that the things that Draco felt were acceptable did not even reach the realm of what the Vesper wanted from him. The other shifters kept returning, running fingertips and palms over Draco while he slept. The dragons curled possessive at his feet, a blanketing field of scales and feathers.
“You make it sound like he is some sort of prince,” she mussed aloud, looking out into the dark forest where the rest of the Vesper glowed among the trees, facing out into the darkness watching for signs of danger.
That is too human a concept. Matten replied, fingers gliding down to Draco's hand and the ring that glittered there. Think of a mother, with many cubs... A gentle treasure, that provides warmth and affection, that you wish to see and caress whenever you return home. Fierce when needed to keep the rebellious in line. But mostly a powerful soul that pushes the dark and chill away whenever he is near. He would be our village fire. Our hearth.
Hermione bit her lip. Half of her wanted to laugh out loud at the idea of Malfoy being anyone's 'mother' as Matten had put it. Draco's mother was as cold hearted and distant as they came, and it was unlikely the boy knew how to be any different. But Draco was different. Different in a way that made Hermione begin to worry that the Vesper might have more power over him than she had first thought. It would not be one shifter, or even the three present that would be calling to Draco. It would be an entire village. It would be the family the boy had never had, but probably had always dreamed of. Even as strange and bizarre as the Vesper were, that sort of promise could be attractive to anyone. Especially someone that had been so alone and unloved for as long as Draco had.
Another shifter, the tallest of the three, approached again, Hermione noticing for the first time that it lingered too long on Draco's hand. The one with the ring that kept him human. They could touch it, and here was Draco, fast asleep and unable to prevent anyone from removing it. Flinching as she reached her hand right through the shifter's arm, she threaded her fingers with Draco's, locking the ring in place.
Matten noticed, his cheek resting on top of Draco's head while he held the boy, breath ruffling the blond's silky strands. He traced his hand down Draco's arm, something shifting and changing in the man as he did. When he reached where Hermione was holding Draco, Matten pressed his fingertips firmly to her knuckles.
She stiffened, tightening her grip and meeting his gaze challengingly. Was it a warning? A reminder that the Vesper could harm her whenever they chose to? She would fight him if she had to—Her magic would hurt them. She would wake Draco, curse as many as she could, and apparate them as far away as possible if the Vesper thought to force this issue.
You are a fiery thing, like him. Matten said, eyes searching over Hermione's face. It will do you and him no good. You will see. He will come to us. He wants to. He released her hand without incident, wrapping his arm around Draco's chest again.
Hermione's flesh continued to tingle where the shifter had touched. They stood in the dark, surrounded by glowing, patient creatures, waiting for Draco to awake.
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Intangible