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Harco Empire	By : Toddy Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 34430 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or films. I do not make any money from the writing of this story, just enjoyment.

Chapter List
- 228
- 229
- 230
[Note: “x-x” = speech & ‘x-x’ = thoughts & *x-x* = telepathy & #x-x# = Parseltongue]
~~~DECEPTION ~~~
Harry and Draco had a problem. That of the two Warringtons. They felt that if Johann could be separated from Cassius there would be hope for him. There was also a need to misdirect Cassius. They both agreed that it was not politic at the time for either of the brothers to realise that the sought-for Abdulmuralla had been opened-up. They realised that that was information delaying tactics, because it was now obvious that someone in Carlos’s contact group was leaking information, even if inadvertently. However, once properly established and protected it would become common knowledge anyway.
D: *I suppose it’s inevitable that information gets to your competitors, when you indulge in such a publicity campaign as Carlos obviously has.*
H: *Yes, but even when Zonkos improved their sales items, the Weasleys still beat them.*
D: *I’m sure our product beats my father’s, by a long chalk,* he sent ironically.
H: *Let’s encapsulate the pair of them separately and transport them elsewhere.*
D: *Do Cassius first. It’ll intimidate Johann.*
It took a couple of minutes to, stupefy, release and encapsulate Cassius in front of an open-mouthed Johann, especially as they were not using wands.
“That’s awesome! Are you going to do that to me?”
“That depends on how you behave.”
“Oh! I’ll behave well, I promise.” Johann was shaking – presumably in fright.
“We’ll see,” Draco replied drily.
“What are you going to do with him?”
“Were we in Great Britain we would send him to the aurors, but we’re in Spain, so we’ll have to deal with him ourselves.”
F: *My son, ask him where they were searching. He’s still under your Veritas.*
“Tell me, Johann. Was this the only place where you thought Abdul’s palace might be?”
“We knew it was somewhere in the mountains overlooking Granada. This was just one of the possibilities. We planned staying here and exploring for a few days and then returning to one of the other sites in the Sierra Nevada.*
D: *Thanks Fawkes. Now we can misdirect them.*
F: *That’s what I thought. You Malfoys are good at misdirecting people.*
D: *I’m not sure that that was a compliment.*
F: *I shall let you decide upon that.*
H: *He’s got you there!*
Instead of replying to Harry’s jibe Draco looked craftily at Johann: “Perhaps you would like to show us one of the other sites, Johann. Maybe one of those is the correct site.”
“Okay, but we’ll need to wait for dusk, then we can fly there. Cassius kept the apparition co-ordinates to himself and side-alonged me. However I left a trace there because I thought he might be planning to abandon me. He was becoming more and more critical of my actions and attitudes; now I understand a bit more; I’m glad I did. I’ll be able to sense the trace when we get closer. Err … Have you any food please, I’m hungry.”
Pop: “You seers would forget your arses if they weren’t attached to you. Why did you go gallivanting off without taking your food packs? I’ve brought some for your guests, too. It’s taken me ages to find where you are in all these mountains. This place doesn’t look very promising for a palace.”
“Thanks Robbie, you’re a life-saver. Sorry, we thought we had a promising lead and just followed it while it was fresh.
Robbie gave them a disapproving look and popped away. They then opened the pack he had left. There was ample to share for their tea – it was really a much delayed lunch.
H: *We must thank Robbie for helping in the deception.* “Johann, will you do anything foolish if we release you to eat some of this food?”
A still shaking Johann nodded his confirmation and was released.
D: *I will thank Robbie … Later.* “Johann, tell us how Cassius thought there were sites relating to Abdul around here?”
“Well … He said that the Seignior had heard that some documents had been found relating to the last days of the Nasrid dynasty. They were the last Muslim rulers in Spain, you see. They had a magely advisor called Abdul something and he outlived them. The informant had heard that Mage y’Azimbura was recruiting shopkeepers to set up there, if it was found. Nobody knew exactly where it was except that you could see Granada from it. According to Cassius that information narrowed down the field and we were scouting for ruins that fitted this criterion. This place was one of the sites. Other mountains also have ruins on them with decayed thaums evident. This appears to be a hermit’s cave. The one I’ll take you to has some possibilities, but is probably more dilapidated.”
A: *We understand what you’re doing. We’ll keep the others away. Did Robbie behave as we asked?*
H: *Yes thank you. Thank him for us, please. We’ll make a broom exit via the broken window. Is the glamour in place?*
A: *It was never removed. I’ve had a look outside nothing untoward can be seen. The hanging ivy screen outside the entrance is natural. So it wasn’t affected by the change in the central thaumic presence. Give us half an hour’s warning and everything will be quiet when you leave.*
H: *Fine. Thanks.*
Draco and Harry encouraged Johann to tell them about his adventures since leaving the Academy. They worked out that they were fairly mundane until his avaricious brother discovered that Johann’s allowances from the family’s coffers had not been claimed. Then, it seemed, on his brother’s behalf Cassius had claimed them. However he had not told Johann. Obviously pretending that it was a goodwill payment from an elder brother, thereby forcing him to follow Cassius around like a lap-dog.
After they had finished eating, they opened the encapsulation so that Johann could hand-feed his still manacled brother. Remembering a naked Justin tied by his tackle to the tiller, Harry and Draco were averse to taking any chances whatsoever with Cassius.
Eventually it started to grow dark. Warned in advance the populace of Abdulmuralla observed a shut-down of all activity until the seers indicated that they were clear. Cassius was sealed up again, given a lifting charm, and attached to Draco’s broom. Harry forced Johann to be tethered to his broom – not that he needed that much forcing. Then the group set off. They flew south into the Sierra Nevada taking about quarter of an hour before Johann recognised his trace and directed them towards it. It was the first site that D&H had visited. Within the remains of the monastery, there were some hermit’s caves. It was to one of these that Johann led them.
“This is where we stayed. You must admit that the ruins are impressive.”
“From what I can see, they could resemble a palace of sorts. Maybe this is what Carlos was referring to. If so, I don’t think he’ll be using it all that soon. There’re a lot of repairs to be done to make it habitable. It think it’s time for us to sleep.”
Harry conjured four sleeping bags. He reopened the encapsulation and allowed Cassius his ablutions under guard. For some reason the satrap was fairly docile. Once in the sleeping bag he was re-encapsulated, but lightly. With Johann the encapsulation was equally less stringent. However alarm charms were set on the two miscreants before D&H went to their own slumbers. Instead of their usual fuck sequence they discussed internally the subterfuge Draco had in mind, ready for action once they awoke.
“I need to pee! I need to pee, urgently,” was Draco’s wake up call.
Harry was still sound asleep. Draco cast a tempus, it was just before dawn. He suspected a Cassius ruse.
“Well I’m not releasing you yet,” he replied callously.
“I’ll wet the bed if you don’t let me out.”
“So? Wet the bed! Now shut up and let us go back to sleep.”
There was a groan from the encapsulation enclosure, but nothing else was said.
At a more agreeable time Draco woke first. His mental activity awoke Harry. Using the trickle of a waterfall they managed a rudimentary shower and dressed. Then it was Johann’s turn at the ablutions. Only once Johann was secured was Cassius allowed to arise.
“Your bed doesn’t appear to be wet!”
“No it isn’t,” Cassius was surly in his reply: “It was worth a try whilst you were sleepy.”
“It’ll take something much more complicated than that simple ruse to fool a Malfoy, and a Seer at that.”
Cassius shrugged under the mean waterfall-shower: “So I found out. Now what?”
“We’ll let you know after breakfast.”
Over breakfast Harry and Draco passed derogatory remarks about the sites they had visited. Implying, though not specifically stating, equal disgust with the real Abdulmuralla location.
The first step was to remove Johann from the site. Leaving Cassius safely encapsulated they took the other brother into another of the hermit’s caves. With promises to return they secured the cave and thaumically sealed him in. Without his wand he could do little.
Back in the first cave they opened up the encapsulation and caused Cassius to go to sleep. This was the tricky bit. Draco laid his palms on the unconscious Cassius’s temples. With Harry touching his mate’s skin for thaumic assistance. Draco used his legillimensing powers to search for certain memories inside Cassius’s mind. He did not go too deep into that cesspit. Being recent memories the ones Draco wanted were fairly close to the surface. The crashing through the window memory was altered into bursting through a curtain of ivy. This curtain was re situated to represent one they had seen in the present ruin. Thereafter the sequence of events took place where they were now. The other main memory was about finding and rejecting the real site as just another ruin. That done, the seers allowed Cassius to slowly become conscious.
“What have you done with Johann?” he demanded sleepily.
“Taken him away from your bad influence.”
“Oh! What are you going do to me?”
“Send you back to the Seignior with a message.”
“What if I don’t go?”
“You will have no choice if you want your wand back. We’ll send that first and you afterwards.”
“He’ll torture me, you know.”
“Yes, we do. That’s what being a loyal satrap is all about, isn’t it?”
“Have some mercy, please.”
“He might be merciful if you give him this message unopened. I can guarantee he won’t be if you don’t, or if you’ve tampered with it.”
H: *That’s an empty threat, Draco.*
D: *Yes, I know it is, but he doesn’t. So he’ll do it just in case.*
H: *What’s in the message?*
D: *I’ve written it in the Malfoy-code, basically telling my father that we know his game and we will be seeding all the adjacent ruins with nasty surprises for him.*
H: *So we’ll have a lot of work to do then.*
D: *No! You remember the Spanish aurors we freed when we liberated Cerroverde.*
H: *Yes?*
D: *They’re the ones guarding Abdulmuralla. Carlos says they’ve been itching to get back at Lucy. I thought they might like to set the thaumic traps. They could place a few to defend Abdulmuralla as well. Father won’t know which is a real defence and which the trap.*
H: *I like it. They’ll be defending their own territory, won’t they?*
D: *Quite!*
They set a time limit on Cassius’s bonds and then prepared to make a modified ‘In Locum Redito’ on him. It was an experiment, but the ‘In Locum Domus Seigniorensis’ made the wand vanish and a repeat had the Warrington Satrap disappear also. If it had not worked they were not too bothered. At least they were rid of the troublesome Warrington.
The seer-pair returned to Johann in his cave. He was pale and trembling again.
“I thought you were going to leave me here to rot.”
“We may have appeared callous to your brother, but we aren’t that severe with one who seems to be on the way to reform.”
“I am … I assure you … I’m prepared to take a magicians’ oath to that effect.”
H: *That has possibilities!*
Draco looked piercingly at Johann: “A magicians’ oath, eh? Well now … Let me see … Hmm … ‘I Johann Proclus Warrington, swear on my honour as a wizard and upon my wand that I will never disclose anything about the business or membership of the Harco Trust or any of the organisations that they support to anyone except another Trust Member, on pain of my immediate evisceration.’ How does that sound?”
“Evisceration … Ugh! Alright, I’ll do it.”
Harry gave Johann his wand.
“I Johann Proclus Warrington, swear on my honour as a wizard and upon my wand that I will never disclose anything about the business or membership of the Harco Trust or any of the organisations that they support to anyone except another Trust Member, on pain of my immediate evisceration.” He shuddered as the oath took hold: “Erm … What is the Harco Trust?”
“The international organisation that we, with others, are directors of. The Trust members are, at the moment, helping Carlos to develop Abdulmuralla. So that information is covered by the oath.”
“So it does exist!” Johann concentrated for a couple of minutes mouthing previous conversations and ticking them off on his fingers. “Oh! You never did say that you hadn’t found it, did you? Very clever. Do I suppose it was where we found you?”
“Yes!”
Johann chuckled: “Cassius will tell the Seignior otherwise. He’ll be in a load of shit when your father finds out, won’t he, Draco? Serve him right for denying me my allowance and forcing me to do things I’d rather not have. Will one of you go with me to Gringotts and help me sort out mine inheritance, please?”
“Either that or we’ll find another member to help. Come along, let’s apparate back to Abdulmuralla. You don’t know the co-ordinates so we’ll side-along you.”
They landed on the front edge of the semi-circular platform. The one they had first found. It was a good thing they had side-alonged Johann because they felt the tingle and guidance of the new wards as they approached. They also noticed that, despite the occlusion showing dilapidation, the reality had been swept clean. Fine stone paviours led towards the screen of ivy, which had been trimmed to allow people passage. There were also low walls enclosing two seated areas; in between which, under a sun-umbrella, sat a uniformed official behind a table.
“Good morning gentlemen, state your names and business please?”
“Harry Potter-Blake and Draco Malfoy-Blake.”
“So sorry gentlemen I didn’t recognise you. You look a lot older than when last I saw you. Perhaps I was stressed out and suffering from heatstroke too. Please accept my apologies. Who is your companion?”
“I’m Johann Proclus Warrington, under oath to the Harco Trust.”
“I take it, gentlemen that you’ll vouch for him.”
“Of course. Tell me … That uniform doesn’t look like a Spanish auror’s.”
“No, it isn’t. Our group retired early in order to help Carlos manage this new set up. One of the monks’ cells is now our office. The other will be for the priest, when he’s appointed.”
“Why do you need a priest?”
“We’ve discovered a crypt chapel. I would show you, but I am on duty at the moment. Ah! There’s Carlos, I’m sure he’d love to.”
Carlos rushed over: “These two are to be allowed in any time.”
“Yes I know, I was just telling them about the crypt.”
Draco was watching Johann do a double take between the two lookalikes.
“Practically the same, aren’t they?” Draco whispered.
“I know Harry’s taken, is Carlos?” Johann whispered back.
“I’ve not heard that he’s been with anyone recently.”
“Good! Then I have a chance. Would you introduce me, please?”
Draco chuckled at the young man’s impetuousness: “Carlos, this is Johann Warrington, a young mage who we’ve recently rescued.”
Carlos shook hands: “You must tell me, from what they rescued you. Not now, perhaps over lunch?”
“Thanks, I’d love to.”
Whilst Carlos was taking them down some steps, Johann whispered again to Draco: “Is he a member of the trust?”
Draco chuckled again: “Yes, you’re quite safe with him.”
Johann chuckled back: “I wonder if he’s safe from me, though.”
“Don’t rush at it. Don’t scare him away, use your wiles.”
“Oh! I fully intend to, Harry’s given me a taste for something I didn’t think I’d enjoy.”
The crypt was arched and had a holy air about it.
“We think that Abdul probably converted,” Carlos told them: “Maybe that or, the bishop used it when he visited. These are all original Christian symbols.”
“Your colleague mentioned having a priest living here.”
“Yes. Monsignor Riccardo is working on it for us.”
“So you envisage people living here as a community?”
“Of course, Willie uses the postern and looks after the spiritual welfare of the shopkeepers in Diagon Alley – Those that’ll accept him, that is. I doubt he goes into Knockturn Alley. He visits in St Mungo’s too; now it has an entrance there. So, we want a minister here. I suspect there’ll be people taking up residence as well.”
“Why’s that?”
“The caves. Not the ones below reserved for Gringotts, but the ones on each side. Abdul had a few converted and the Iberian building team say they’ll build more apartments if needed. I’ll show you after the swimming bath.”
“There’s a swimming bath?”
“Yes. Not as long as the one at the cottage but wider. It’s in the cave next door, but we have to go back up again to reach it.”
They trailed up the stairs after an enthusiastic Carlos. On the platform they found some more enthusiasts in the form of Teddy, Ganymede and Alexandrou.
“Hi, Dads, isn’t this exciting!”
“Exactly what do you mean, Teddy?”
“The water system. As it cools the air by trickling down the terraces where it picks up heat. That gives us a reasonably warm swimming bath. We’ve got a lot of work to do on the aqueduct system, but we’ve cleared a bit of it out.”
“Shouldn’t you be studying for your NEWT’s?”
“It is half term, and I’m up-to-date with my assignments. This is like a certain water supply system that the family knows, only written large. We’ll get to practice our temporary wards too when we go out and clear the external leats and aqueducts.”
The enlarged party went down some steps on the other side of the apparating platform. Unlike the cottage, there was just one tiled footway at the end of the bath. The walled other end followed the semi-circular course of the apparition platform above. To one side, in a wide dead-end passageway, there were a number of changing booths with pegs.
Draco looked at Harry. There was no need to spell it out. They were hot and sweaty. Hanging their clothes up, they quickly stripped and jumped in. A slightly nervous Johann was last in, but he’d managed to have a good ogle at the slack goods on display, especially Carlos’s.
At the far end of the footway there was a shower-like waterfall – useful after the swim and before casting drying charms. They climbed the stairs to find the outside platform further disguised. There had been some more sun-umbrellas erected over the seated alcoves. A number of elves were laying-out a lunch buffet on two shaded tables against the cell walls. There was a strange elf organising it.
“Good day Seers, I’m Leon. Reeve Kreacher has asked me to take charge here. At least for the time being.”
Draco eyed the food on display: “Well you seem to be doing well so far.”
“Thank you Seer Draco. So nice to have praise instead of kicking.”
Harry noticed that the elf had two prosthetic legs and quietly drew Draco’s attention to them.
“Was this food imported, Leon?”
“Most of it was prepared here, Seer Harry. We have discovered a well equipped kitchen and it has elf-quarters above it. They look as comfortable as the ones at your cottage.”
“So you’re hoping to make your mark here and become Mordomo.”
Leon looked bashful and dipped his head: “We’re hoping the position will become permanent, Seer Harry.”
“You have a wife then, is she likely to become the Cocinera?”
“I understand that that might be possible, then we can train our children to follow us. We have two.”
Harry sussed, by the way Leon intoned that last statement that the lost legs probably meant the loss of his reproductive equipment as well. ‘Like Cardio’, he mused.
D: *At least he has two. Cardio has to make do with cousins. Still, he does a good job with them. I also know of mages who Voldie emasculated just for his warped amusement.*
H: *Let’s be happy for Leon. He has a place and a family. I’m sure Kreacher wouldn’t have put him here, just to whip the rug from under his feet.*
D: *Bad epithet, that, for an elf without any, but I know what you mean.*
H: *Oops!*
There was a gong-like sound and magicals of all shapes and sizes started to congregate in front of the gate and start choosing food from the tables. Harry, prodded by Draco, put on his best ‘Noblesse-oblige’ air and mingled. During that time he found Gallus and introduced Johann to him, telling him about the young mage’s need to sign some forms. He also saw Gregory there.
“Hi Greg, has Ollivander given you the day off?”
“A bit more than that, Harry. I’m to be his agent here. It’s relatively easy to keep in contact using the portals and posterns and there are new types of trees to probe. There’s a small shop next door to the Gringotts branch-to-be. It has an underground flat attached to it. I admit it needs some work doing on it, but Pansy and I will have a place to set up house. Living with Ollivander was cramping our style, if you see what I mean. Pansy can come off the contraceptive potions and we can try for a family. We’ve been enjoying our sex-life together, since our cores have adjusted. Now it can be productive, as well.”
“I’d like to see your apartment to be.”
“It’s messy, as you’d expect it to be after lying idle for a few hundred years. May I show you after we’ve eaten?”
“No need to rush, we’re here for a few days yet.”
They chatted for a few more minutes, then Harry moved on. He noticed that Johann had returned to staying fairly near to Carlos, not that his lookalike was registering any discomfort at the closeness. Gallus caught him and brought him up-to-date on the Gringotts branch development. At least they were now connected via the phaeton system. He also told of a forthcoming interview with Johann to sort out his affairs.
“It’s not just his allowance, Harry. There are other matters that need sorting. We’ll probably need and affidavit each from you and Draco, that his eldest brother is a satrap. There are precedents now that assume a satrap is a person of diminished responsibility. That could open up the possibility of Johann taking over the administration of the estate. I’ll keep you informed.”
“Thanks. Go slowly, he’s a bit impulsive at the moment. Could be, he needs a wise guardian to counsel him.”
“Putting yourself into that role, are you?”
“No, I was thinking of you, or maybe Hamish.”
“Thanks for the warning, I’ll look into it further. There are a number of magicals like that at the moment. Perhaps the Harco Trust should appoint a board of guardians jointly with Gringotts. So that they can act in ‘Loco Parentis’ to such young magicals. I’ll put something together for a couple of meetings hence. Young Caius is a suitable candidate. There’s a considerable estate at stake, some, I think, in Germany, once we’ve sorted out the rigmarole of a paper-chase. Francis thinks it’s almost as complicated as your inheritance was.”
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Harco Empire