Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Seasons of War	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 9694 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
Thank you again for all the reviews!

Chapter Twenty�Dangling
Over the Abyss

�� Draco could
practically hear Harry hissing behind him, but he knew what he was doing. That
was Nemo out there, and they wouldn�t get another chance to capture him if they
messed up the first time. He tossed and caught his wand as he ran, to make sure
that it was in his hand when he needed it, and concentrated on the flicker of
movement in front of him.

�� One moment,
he saw nothing but the darkness, broken here and there by faint shafts of
starlight and the glow from the glamours that Granger had placed around the false
book; then, as if his eyes had suddenly adjusted, he could make out the tall
man in the black cloak who was studying the book with his head bowed.

�� Draco managed
to get within three feet of him before the man seemed to realize that something
was wrong. He spun around, one hand rising, and the night at his feet shifted
and coalesced into heavy dogs. They didn�t bark before they hurtled forwards at
Draco, lean and rangy as wolves, but with the heavy jaws of mastiffs. Around
the neck of each was a thick collar of what looked like metal protecting the
throat.

�� Draco
raised a Shield Charm around his legs, focusing more on Nemo than his beasts.
Nemo might take the chance to flee while they were engaged with the dogs, and
their trap would have been for nothing. If Draco was lucky, though, he would be
too much intrigued by the book to run until he�d got through the wards.

�� His first
sign that something was wrong came when jaws closed on his legs and shook him
hard enough to spill him from his feet. His wand nearly flew free, but he
clenched his hand down on it instinctively and rolled. He came back up,
panting, and found that the wolf-dogs had leaped straight through his shield as
if it wasn�t there and were now on him, flinging themselves on his chest in
deadly silence.

�� Confringo!�

�� With a
snapping noise and a nasty-sounding whimper, the creature on top of him flew
away. Draco scrambled back up and nodded his thanks to Harry before he stepped
forwards to confront Nemo again.

*

�� Harry
cursed under his breath. First Draco didn�t check to be sure that his Shield
Charm had actually stopped the dogs�which Harry had kept a sharp eye on because
he knew that Nemo�s beasts had all sorts of surprising abilities�and now he was
acting as though he didn�t need to pay attention to the rest of them. There had been four dogs, and Harry�s spell had only
defeated one.

�� But they
were partners, and Harry knew they should work together rather than spend time
yelling at each other. He finished off the rest of the dogs with direct
offensive spells, since it seemed as though defensive charms didn�t work on
them, blasting one apart from the inside, opening another�s jaws so wide that
the last one ran down its throat, and then bursting that one with the stuffed
stomach open while it was still trying to figure out what had happened. Then he
turned to go after Draco.

�� Nemo was
fighting back not with a wand but with handfuls of drifting dark powder that
flashed and sparked around him like immature fireworks. Each of them formed
into small bat-winged creatures that circled around Draco�s head, getting their
wings in his eyes and their feet in his hair. Draco was dodging them with no more
than exclamations of annoyance so far, but Harry, standing behind him, could see
what he didn�t think Draco could. The swirls of creatures were forming into a
larger pattern, one that had wings of its own, and taloned feet, and hungry
jaws.

�� Harry cried
�Confringo!� again, and the creature
lost a patch of its left wing. The rest of the hovering swarm turned towards
him, looking suitably malevolent, and Harry repeated the spell. At least he
could distract the thing�s attention from Draco if he couldn�t do anything
else.

�� Not that I would have to do this if Draco
had waited for me and not jumped headlong into taking risks as if he was me, he had to add, if only in the
privacy of his own head.

�� The
bat-like creatures split up as they came after him, flapping their wings in
random patterns and swerving whenever he thought he had a clear shot at them.
Harry swore at them so they would know he was displeased and then rolled
himself into a ball as a small flock came in behind him. The flock swept over
his head and collided with the larger one. To his disappointment, Harry didn�t
hear any shrieks or crashes that would indicate the breaking of tiny bones.

�� He promptly
scrambled back to his feet and fell into the rhythms of battle, give and take
and sting and cast, and hoped that Draco would have the sense and luck to take
care of himself for a few more minutes.

*

�� Draco had
never fought such a skilled opponent before. It seemed strange, because he was
used to thinking of Nemo as the weakest of the three after Nusquam and Nihil,
but then again, he had never exactly closed in battle with Nihil. And perhaps
Nusquam�s prowess had been in areas other than battle.

�� Whatever
the cause, he found himself on the defensive, or rocked on his heels and forced
to retreat, far too often. His one advantage was that Nemo still seemed to
think that the book was real, which meant he wouldn�t want to retreat too far
from it. And whenever Draco had to stop and deal with one of the problematic
animals that Nemo flung at him, Nemo would turn back and start trying to break
through the glamours again. That gave Draco small pauses of breathing space.

�� Smarter and stronger than I thought, but
he�s still not all that smart, Draco thought as he swatted the bodies of
some crawling bugs with painful stings out of his hair and once again shot a
curse at Nemo�s back. Otherwise, he would
hammer me until I dropped and not care how long it cost him to do it. Or he
would have sensed by now that the book�s a fake.

�� Draco
smiled. It was always a comfort to know that one was smarter than one�s enemy.

�� Nemo didn�t
seem to realize that he was coming back this time. He was standing above the
book with one hand extended so that the fingers fit in between the illusory
wards stretched above the cover, his lips moving in what was probably a chant.
Draco struck from the side, hard enough that Nemo nearly lost his balance
before he whirled around with a sort of wordless yell.

�� Bastard,�
Draco said, on general principles, and began to incant a long and complex
binding charm that should prevent escape in another form as well as ordinary
escape. Nemo had got out of custody the last time they had him, and Draco
wasn�t minded to let it happen again.

�� Nemo
laughed aloud, a hollow, booming sound that seemed to roll in from a much
greater distance than he actually stood from Draco. �Fool!� he said. �Look into my eyes.�

�� Draco
jerked his head up because he had no choice; it felt as though someone had dug
long fingers into his neck and forced him to do so. He found himself looking
into Nemo�s large, dark eyes, moist, like the eyes of a seal.

�� The void
was waiting behind them.

�� Draco
didn�t struggle that much at first as he went in, partially because the hands seemed
to be holding him still, and partially because he had done something like this
with Nihil, who was stronger, and survived it. But quickly he discovered that
this was a different part of the void than what he had seen before, or so it
seemed. The flickering shadows that he was familiar with didn�t dart past him.
The chilling sensation sank deeper and faster into his bones than it ever had.

�� And then he
began to lose himself, piece by piece and bone by bone, the way Granger had
described.

�� It was no
more pleasant to experience than it had been to listen to. Draco could feel
links that ran between the parts of his body, links that he had never known he
had, weakening and splitting. His bones splintered, and the splinters floated
through his flesh and dug into his eyes. At the same time, his skull seemed to
be drifting free, as if the breaking of the links in his lower body was a
prophecy of what would happen to him later. The pain was worse than the cold,
and Draco knew he was screaming.

�� He did not
know how to escape.

�� He could
feel his thoughts stuttering and slowing, and one of the last he had was that
he wished he had listened to his own advice to Harry about not dashing into
dangerous situations.

*

�� It took
Harry longer to get rid of the bat-creatures than he had thought it would,
since they continued to break into smaller and smaller groups just when he�d
thought he�d eliminated one of them. After the destruction of that first group
with the Breaking Curse, Harry thought, they�d learned, and now they never
stayed still long enough or formed into clumps large enough to present a good
target.

�� Finally, the last one turned into
drifting ash that couldn�t claw out his eyes or tug his hair out of his scalp
no matter how much it might want to, and Harry turned, panting, to face the
rest of the battle.

�� The first
thing he saw was Draco, lit weirdly from within by a smoky light that made him
look like a statue made of frosted glass. One hand was lifted as if to shield
his face, and his eyes were wide with pain and horror.

�� Harry
dashed forwards. No matter what promises he might have made to Draco in the
past, there was no way that he could simply leave this alone.

�� Nemo faced
him and made a careless gesture. The air between him and Harry filled with
flying insects that bore a pattern of a skull on their backs. Harry ducked
under them, rolled across the grass, and came up in front of a surprised Nemo.
He had started to turn to the false book, and now he started to turn back,
raising his hand and frowning as if it was very tiresome of Harry to require
him to actually pay attention to the
battle.

�� You do not
know what you are doing, boy,� Nemo said, in a voice that clacked and rustled
like a room full of the insects he�d conjured.

�� Yes, I
do,� Harry said, and took another risk, because Draco wasn�t here to stop him.
�I know where the real book is hidden, for example, which is more than I can
say for you.�

�� Nemo paused
and cocked his head. �This book is not the real one?� he asked doubtfully. �But
it looks real.�

�� Nihil must not have put that much of his
brain into this one, Harry thought, and decided that he should pursue the
advantage while he held it. Nemo might stop believing him and kill him at any moment,
or Nihil might show up. �I know,� he said. �It was meant to. But that�s just an
illusion. I can give you the real one,
if you care enough.�

�� Nemo
whispered something, and then reeled back as though someone had slapped him.
�Yes, it is fake,� he said, and studied Harry. �What do you want?�

�� Release my
partner,� Harry said, with a nod to Draco. He hoped that he looked less frantic
than he felt, and that Nemo hadn�t inherited Nihil�s extreme grudge against
them, which would probably make his tendril kill Draco instead of release him.

�� Nemo bit
his lip for a moment. Then he said, �I would do much more for that book. Are
you sure that you would simply like him released?�

�� Unless you
would both release him and betray Nihil, then I don�t see any reason to ask for
anything else,� Harry said, and his voice was dry in spite of himself.

�� Not my
elder brother,� Nemo said, which Harry decided made no sense, unless that was
the way he referred to Nihil. �But tell me one thing first. Have you read the
book? Do you know what it contains, and will the notes stay with you if I
destroy this copy?�

�� We read
it, but we didn�t understand it, so we couldn�t take notes,� Harry said. He
knew that was the sort of lie that wouldn�t have fooled Hermione for a moment,
but it was becoming clearer and clearer that Nemo wasn�t as smart as she was.

�� I see,�
said Nemo. �Then I will release him, and you will bring me the book. I will
accept no tricks, mind,� he added, and sounded like nothing so much as a stern
parent. Harry hoped that he didn�t look as though he was going to laugh, the
way he had suddenly felt in that moment.

�� I
promise,� Harry said.

�� Nemo
nodded, and then faced Draco and passed his hand up and down, as though waving
a fly away. A swarm of the insects gathered behind his head, hovering in
agitation. Nemo didn�t seem to notice them, or perhaps he had such complete
control over them that he didn�t need to. There was a sigh, and then Draco
stopped glowing and looked like himself again. He staggered backwards, though,
and his eyes were shut, his head shaking as though he needed to shut out
whatever it was he had seen.

�� Harry
leaped forwards and caught him. Draco moaned and turned his head back and forth
uneasily. �Where am I?� he whispered.

�� Here,
where the trap was, in front of Nemo and me,� Harry whispered back, and cradled
him gently down to the ground. Draco moaned again, and Harry�s hands tightened
on the sides of his head. He wondered what sorts of horrors Nemo had showed
him. When Nemo was speaking�and sounding�like a stupid child, it was hard to
think of what he had done, but Harry didn�t think that he was willing to take
the risk with Draco�s health. Nemo was still powerful and dangerous, and he had
to remember that.

�� The book,�
Nemo said commandingly.

�� Harry
nodded and stood up. They were lucky that Nemo and not Nihil was here tonight,
but Nihil might be able to reach through this servant the way he had through
Nusquam when she was in the tent. Best to act at once.

�� I have to
Summon it,� he said warningly, �and then it will need to come through the wards
that my friends have on it, so it�ll be a few minutes getting here.�

�� Nemo made a
negligent gesture. �So be it.�

�� Harry held
up his wand and said loudly, �Accio real
book!� He had no idea what, if anything, that would bring, but the point was
that he had Nemo�s trust for a few fragile seconds�as he saw when he turned
around and realized that Nemo had relaxed, enough to smile and beam at him
approvingly.

�� You have
better sense than most of your friends,� Nemo said. �A pity that you have
chosen to fight against us.�

�� Harry
hesitated, while his heart drummed. He was playing this by ear, and he had
never been good at lying. But he thought what he was doing now was right.
�Actually,� he said, �there�s a concession you could give me that would bring
you to my side.�

�� Nemo
laughed in delight. �What?�

�� Can I come
closer and whisper it to you?� Harry looked around and then down at Draco lying
at his feet. �Someone might hear it otherwise, and I don�t want them to, just
in case you�re unwilling to give me the concession and I have to stay on their
side.�

�� Nemo cupped
a hand invitingly round his ear. Harry stepped closer and spent a fleeting
moment wondering if Nihil had ever regretted not giving this particular piece
of himself more brains. Well, perhaps Harry�s actions would be the ones that
made him regret it.

�� All
right,� Harry said, and licked his lips as if nervous. �Incarcerous maximus!�

�� The ropes
snapped out and around Nemo�s limbs. Nemo hissed and tossed back his head, dark
hair suddenly flying, eyes so deep that Harry thought for a second he would be
captured as Draco had been. But he danced back in time, and lowered his gaze,
and then kept repeating the charm, which added not only ropes but
anti-Apparition wards in the air around the prisoner, psychic locks to slow
their thoughts, and a gag.

�� Nemo was
thrashing on the ground in instants, so buried under ropes that it was
difficult to make out his face or the color of the clothes he was wearing.
Harry just kept repeating the spell, never varying or lifting his voice, and
stopped only when he heard Draco sit up, wheezing, behind him.

�� What
happened?� Draco whispered.

�� Harry added
a Stunner, hoping that Nemo would be less likely to escape if he was
unconscious, and then knelt down next to Draco and hugged him hard. Draco put a
hand on his shoulder as if for balance, his eyes cloudy, and glared at Nemo. At
least he knew who was responsible for his predicament, Harry thought in
satisfaction. He would have hated to suddenly end up with a wand under his
throat.

�� I captured
Nemo, after he tortured you,� Harry said. �I think he won�t escape now. What
about you? What happened?�

�� I felt
myself being ripped apart bone by bone, the way that Granger was,� Draco said
simply. He never took his gaze from Nemo, and his eyes were wide and hostile
with a rage that Harry had only seen in them a few times before.

�� Harry
swallowed. �I�m sorry,� he said, which didn�t seem adequate, but was true. �Do
you think that you would benefit from talking to Raverat? He looked into my
mind and seemed to do a good job.�

�� Draco
turned a scathing glance on him and opened his mouth, probably to resume the
argument they�d been having before Nemo interrupted, but at that moment
something bumped Harry�s elbow hard enough to make him yelp. He turned and
caught at it, wondering if one of Nemo�s beasts had escaped his control, though
he�d thought they all vanished when he cast the charms that imprisoned Nemo.

�� It was a
book, bound in thick leather and tooled with black letters that made Harry feel
ill looking at them. He turned it over, trying to find a name on it, and saw a
small brass plaque. Harry squinted at it, feeling ridiculous and almost wanting
to hand it over to Draco for a glance. He couldn�t believe there was someone in
the camp who put brass plaques on their books.

�� But he
understood when he saw the name. Gawain
Robards.

�� What�s
that?� Draco demanded, predictably enough.

�� A book
belonging to Robards,� Harry said in a daze, passing it over. �I told Nemo that
the real book was elsewhere and cast a Summoning Charm that said the real book
should come to me. I didn�t know that it would summon something like this.�

�� Draco
turned it over twice. Harry was just starting to notice that there didn�t seem
to be a way to open it�and no sign of pages, either, as if the book was all one
spine�when Draco touched a section of the left side and made the book hiss and
sigh and fall open to a set of thickly creased parchment pages.

�� What is it
about?� Harry asked, craning his neck.

�� This is a
book of plans in Holder�s handwriting,� Draco said in a voice so quiet that
Harry wondered if he was suffering from some of the effects of staring into
Nemo�s eyes, at least until he started to pay attention to the words. �It�means
that she must have written down the orders as Robards dictated them to her.
Yes, that sounds like a division of labor that would make sense to them.� He
turned a few of the pages, and others were revealed behind them, the number not
diminishing at all. Harry wasn�t sure if that just meant the book was stuffed
full of them or if it was some magical effect. �It�s a book of war plans. What
they plan to do, as far as coordinating with the War Wizards and other Aurors,
to fight Nihil.�

�� Harry stared
and asked the first question he could think of. �But why would it come to my
Summoning Charm?�

�� Someone�Robards
or Holder�must have thought of it as the �real book,�� Draco said, and ran a
possessive hand over the cover. �Perhaps they have other plans that they�ve
been convincing someone they don�t trust are real, but these are the ones they
intend to put into action.� He was touching the book like an adored child now,
and with a dreamy smile on his face.

�� Well, we
can�t keep it,� Harry said, because he was really afraid that Draco might try.
�They�re sure to miss it.�

�� Oh,
keeping it is out of the question, yes,� Draco said, returning to himself. �But
there�s nothing saying that we can�t copy
it.� He began to chant in Latin, moving his wand over the parchment pieces
and turning them over slowly as if showing them to the wand. Harry wasn�t
familiar with the spell and glanced uneasily at Nemo, thinking they should
probably move him into a more sheltered area as soon as possible. He wondered
if Draco would want them to keep this capture secret from the other Aurors, as
they had with Nusquam.

�� Potter?
Malfoy?�

�� Harry
turned around. It was Gregory�s voice, and only then did he remember that she
and Ketchum were next on guard. He stood up and stepped around Hermione�s
still-glowing platform�Nemo hadn�t had a chance to dismantle most of the
illusions�to explain the situation. He wasn�t sure what should happen yet with
the book they had retrieved from Robards and Holder, whether Draco would want
anyone else to see it. The Aurors had helped them so far, but betraying their
leaders this directly could be a breaking point.

*

�� Draco sped
up his copying charms when he heard the voices of his instructors. He didn�t
know if he should show the Aurors the �real book� or not, but he did know that
he wanted the choice, rather than having it revealed to them by default.

�� He wondered
if he should have told Harry not to mention it, and then snorted and dismissed
the notion. He could trust Harry that far, he thought.

�� And I can trust him to save my life and
capture Nemo and do brilliant things without planning them on purpose. I just
can�t trust him to spare his own life.

�� Despite the
ache in his brain, despite the pressure of tremendous and terrible dreams
behind his eyelids, Draco was burning with excitement and the temptation to
consider the evening a success.

�� In this
book was the key to a different kind of power�among other things, the power he
needed to punish Holder and Robards for the humiliations that they had
inflicted on him and Harry.

*

�� Shadow
Lily: Thanks! I really did think it was the best place to stop, though.

�� SP777:
Jealous of what?

�� And I don�t
think Robards and Holder would appreciate the comparison!

�� thrnbrooke:
Thanks!

�� polka dot: I�m
glad you had fun.

�� Anon: Thanks
for reviewing. I think Harry will find Raverat a lot easier to work with than
Portillo Lopez.
- 19
- 20
- 21
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Seasons of War