Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Survival of the fittest	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 18501 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 9
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor profit from it. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling

Chapter List
- 25
- 26
- 27
Author's note: I'm tired as hell and this week seemed intent on sapping all my energy. But I decided to finish this chapter tonight, so that I could give you guys something.
Fair warning: in a couple of weeks I need to study for my upcoming exams (which take place during January), so updates may be slower. I still try to work on this fic as much as I can, but if you don't see a chapter appearing in two weeks or so, then you know why.
Also, I posted the Valentine's day oneshot for Severus and Lucius, in case anyone is interested. It's called Remember the promise we made. Some information pertaining Harry's pregnancy is mentioned in that oneshot, which won't be mentioned in this story. It doesn't really affect this story, but if you want to know a bit more about Harry's pregnancy, then you can check out that oneshot.
Thanks to the following reviewers: staar (I was tempted to let Ron die, but then decided that would be too easy)
Warnings: angst, drama (yeah, we're back to those tags; we all know you were missing those, right? *coughs*); a bit of offscreen violence
I apologize in advance if there are mistakes left behind - I'm tired and mistakes tend to slip through when I'm sleep deprived. I'll probably go back to this chapter later to see if I missed something.
So, I hope you enjoy this chapter, despite all the drama happening in it (damn, I don't think I've ever written a story with so much drama and angst before)

Chapter 26: Buried
28th of February
"My family's graveyard?" Sirius repeated blankly, his whole body still.
Ravenclaw gave a slow nod. "Yes – at least that is what we received through the ritual. However, we did not receive the exact location you will need to Apparate there, which is strange. The ritual has never failed before." Her voice gained a frustrated lilt at the end.
Sirius snorted harshly and shook his head impatiently. "That is not strange at all. That graveyard is warded off completely; only blood relatives are able to access that graveyard and anyone else wanting to visit it needs to be accompanied by a Black."
"If that is the case, how did Dumbledore manage to hide her portrait there?" Lucius asked, raising an eyebrow perplexed.
"Hell if I know," Sirius retorted broodingly. His eyes had turned dark and seemed to close off. "I'd say my dear mother told him, but I highly doubt that – she never was fond of him." A bitter chuckle escaped him. "Guess that was one thing I should have listened to when she was still alive."
Disregarding the issue about Dumbledore for the moment – it wasn't like they would get far trying to wonder who had taken him there – Harry asked, "So does that mean you can take us there?"
His godfather threw him an unreadable look and sighed. "Sorry, pup. Can't do that. I was never told about the location."
"One starts wondering whether you are capable of ever doing something useful," Snape muttered; his dark eyes piercing.
"What's your fucking problem, Snivellus?!" Sirius bared his teeth and shot up, his hand going straight to his wand.
"Sirius, calm down!" Remus snapped and bore down with his hand on Sirius' dominant hand, preventing him from extracting his wand. He then threw a warning look at Snape. "Severus, you keep quiet as well."
Snape snorted softly, but didn't retort.
"Well, we have quite a situation now," Slytherin hummed, clasping his hands together.
Draco stirred. "Does mother know the location?" he asked Lucius.
His father nodded slowly. "She probably does; she is a full Black and I believe Sirius' mother was quite fond of her. Even if her own mother didn't confide the location in her, her aunt most likely did."
"How many people can one Black take to the graveyard?" Harry asked curiously. If the graveyard was that specifically warded, would there be a limit to the amount of people travelling with a member of the Black family?
"The only time I heard my mother mentioning the graveyard was when she was talking to her sister, discussing how many people they each would take along," Sirius answered flatly. "I believe she mentioned that only two people could travel along with a member of the family."
"Well, that's at least better than only one person able to accompany a Black," Lucius sighed. "I'll ask Narcissa about it when I return home."
"Sounds good," Remus murmured. "I'll talk to Minerva and ask her when she can cover for us again."
"In the meantime we will be looking up the ritual," Slytherin announced and the other two Founders murmured their agreement.
With that, the meeting in Snape's quarters was done and the man urged them to leave, reminding Harry and Draco about their curfew.
Before they left, Lucius placed a hand on Draco's shoulders. "Your mother was ecstatic when she received your letter," he told his son softly and his eyes gleamed.
Draco smiled and curled an arm around Harry's waist, so that his hand came to rest on top of his stomach. "I thought she would be."
They said their goodbye's and left the room; Draco accompanying Harry to his quarters.
"Why would Dumbledore hide Hufflepuff on the Blacks' graveyard?" Harry mumbled; his nose wrinkled.
Their footsteps were the only sound in the cold dungeon.
Draco shrugged half-heartedly. "I have no idea. Hiding Gryffindor in the Potter Manor made sense and putting Ravenclaw in his house makes somewhat sense as well, because he had a connection to both these locations, but the Blacks' graveyard …" he trailed off and grimaced. "The Blacks have never been portrayed as a Light family and aside from your godfather, I doubt the old coot spoke to anyone of that family. Maybe he thought nobody would ever think of searching there?"
"Well, if that's the case, then he's right," Harry muttered. "I doubt anyone would suspect that Hufflepuff is hidden in a graveyard of a dark family."
They arrived at the portrait that hid the entrance to Harry's quarters and Draco bent his head slightly to drop a kiss on his mouth.
"I can't stay tonight," he murmured against his lips, giving another peck. "Some of the Slytherins are wondering where I'm going every night."
Harry nodded. "Good night."
"Good night."

A couple of days after the meeting with the Founders, Lucius sent Draco a letter. The blond student waited until he and Harry were huddled together on the couch in Harry's quarters to read it.
His father had talked to his mother about the information the Founders had given them and his mother had confirmed that she knew the location. Unfortunately, due to some rule in the Black family, members of the family could only reveal the location to other members, so she couldn't tell Lucius about it. That meant that instead of Lucius, Narcissa would most likely join them on their search for Hufflepuff and Draco tried to imagine how that would go. He knew his mother wasn't weak – one had to be brainless to think that – but he had a hard time imagining her in a situation like the ones they had encountered before: where they had to dodge traps, dangerous spells and even more dangerous animals.
He would have to wait to see her, however, as McGonagall had informed them that she could only give them the green light for leaving on their search in two weeks. Draco didn't really mind that – he wasn't particularly keen on visiting that graveyard, even if it contained the graves of his family.
That and he was worried about Harry. Of course he had known that his lover would need his presence more than before once the pregnancy progressed further – both the books his mother had sent them and his father had informed him of this fact. He had foolishly thought they would only need to worry about Harry's magic acting out once he entered his seventh month. Harry had just entered his sixth month and already his magic was behaving erratically. Now that Draco was aware of this, he had started paying even closer attention to the dark haired male and he noticed how sometimes his spells would be a bit too powerful – this was often the case during Curses and Defence against the Dark Arts – or he wouldn't be able to do anything for at least a few minutes. He had experienced this a couple of times before during Transfiguration, but luckily nobody really paid any attention to someone else, busy as they were trying to perfect their own work.
Harry tried to pretend that nothing was wrong, but Draco could practically sense his frustration whenever his magic didn't act like he wanted it to do. The blond knew Harry wasn't fond of relying on someone else – he supposed it was because Harry had become too used to protecting someone else and having that person rely on him, but it wasn't like he had much choice now. Draco tried to not be too overbearing; the last thing they needed was a fight, because Harry became annoyed. It was difficult however to keep himself in check. During the few classes they didn't have together, his mind often drifted towards what Harry could be doing and how he was feeling; whether he was having trouble with his magic or not.
Whether Weasley had found Harry and taken revenge.
The nurse had released Weasley a week after he had been attacked by Garin. Both Harry and Draco had become tense when they saw him sitting in the Great Hall, poking in his breakfast and they had expected the brute to come charging at them and trying to fight with Harry again. Only, so far, nothing of the sort had happened. It was as if Weasley had decided to lay low; he seemed to ignore Harry, save for the few foul looks he threw him during classes and in the hallway.
Draco had the feeling, however, that Weasley was simply biding his time and this made him restless. That was why every time they had separate classes, he made certain to wait for his lover, so that they could walk together. His mother had sent two pins with the Malfoy crest etched into the metal plate; she had woven a net of strong protective charms around the pins and had added an extra layer of offensive spells on top of the net. Her instructions had been clear: both young men had to wear the pins on their robes, so that they were extra protected.
Draco trusted his mother's spell work and was grateful for the added level of protection – something Harry really was in need of, despite his pets' presence – but he preferred being near Harry in case of danger, instead of entrusting Harry's safety to a pin.
After the fight with Weasley, Harry seemed to finally grasp the fact that he needed to rely more on Draco and to stay clear of dangerous situations – granted, it wasn't like Harry actively searched for danger; it seemed to find him to Draco's great concern.
But before the fight with that insane idiot and his momentary loss of magic, Harry had been more prone to keep acting on his own, not willing to let Draco protect him. Now Harry made an effort to rely more on Draco and he seemed to have accepted the fact that for the next couple of months, he had no choice but to rely heavily on Draco's magic, as his own had become very erratic at times.
While Draco sympathised with Harry's plight – he would be prone to moods of irritation too if his magic acted out – he was relieved that Harry finally accepted his protectiveness without making too much fuss about it.
Perhaps they could live through the last stage of Harry's pregnancy without fighting over the whole protectiveness issue again. They already had too much to worry about without arguing about a senseless issue.
"Thanks for waiting." Harry's voice broke through his musing and he blinked.
Draco offered a quick smile and reached out to grasp Harry's hand. "You hungry?"
"Starving," Harry admitted sheepishly.
"It's still a few hours until dinner starts, but I'm sure the house elves won't mind us visiting the kitchen," Draco chuckled and they made their way to the large kitchen, where they were welcomed with great enthusiasm.

15th of March
There were times when Draco thought he would never understand the way Harry's mind worked.
Today was one of those times.
"You are joking, right?" Draco asked deadpanned from his place in Harry's bed.
Harry turned around to face him, continuing to button up his shirt. He looked faintly bemused. "No, I'm not," he answered calmly and stepped out of his pyjama pants.
Despite the gesture being considered uncouth, the blond couldn't help but gape in shock while his lover continued getting dressed. Discreetly, Draco pinched his arm; the sharp sting assured him he wasn't sleeping and that he unfortunately had heard Harry correctly.
Two days ago McGonagall had informed them that she could cover their absence on Sunday. Severus had contacted Narcissa immediately and she had agreed to join their search on Sunday.
They had decided on leaving early in the morning, like they had done the previous two times.
Draco had naturally assumed that Harry would stay behind. Being six months pregnant and having unstable magic, it would be dangerous for him to join the search.
Draco had thought Harry realised it would be better for him to stay in the school, but when the alarm spell had woken him up, he was met by Harry dressing himself and dryly informing the Malfoy heir he wouldn't be left behind.
"You can't come with us!" Draco exclaimed when he recovered from the shock.
"Why not? I went with you to search for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw," Harry pointed out impatiently.
"Seriously, Harry?" Draco stared at him incredulously. "You're six months pregnant! You can't join us in your state!"
Green eyes narrowed. "I'm not an invalid!" he snapped. "And I'm not a child either, who you can lock up in a room!"
"Who said anything about locking you up?" Draco answered exasperatedly and dropped his hand heavily on the mattress. "It's just safer for you to remain here behind the wards."
"So you can skip into danger? I can help you find the portrait," Harry insisted.
"Use your fucking brain, Harry," Draco bit out. "I'm not letting you risk your life or that of our son's."
Harry's cheeks flushed. "I'm not risking our son's life! Why do you always think that?" he cried out angrily.
Draco shot out of bed and gestured wildly at Harry. "Because you keep throwing yourself in danger!" he snapped.
"I'm not …"
"Do you seriously think going to that graveyard is safe?" Draco hissed, cutting off Harry's protest. "You know what happened the last two times! Why do you keep being stubborn?"
"I know that the graveyard won't be safe – that's why I want to help! We can …"
"Your magic is unstable! Sure, most of the time you still have control over it, but you have seen what happens when it grows out of control! What do you think will happen if your magic acts out on the graveyard? You're playing with your own life, Harry!"
"Weren't you the one who said I needed your magic to support my own? Who knows how long you'll be gone – what happens if I stay here and my magic grows out of control here? Do you remember how many times other people have tried to attack us? It's not like it's that safe here!" Harry snapped angrily. "My magic is most stable when I'm near you and you think that keeping me here would be better?"
Anger was burning slowly in his stomach and Draco clenched his hands. He wanted to argue further, but he couldn't exactly continue without contradicting himself. It was true that he had said Harry needed his magic to stabilise his own – and to do that, they needed to stay near each other. Normally a few hours apart shouldn't really matter – but when had things ever be normal when it came to Harry Potter? Those few hours could easily be long enough for Harry to find himself in trouble or even worse.
What was he supposed to do?
If he took Harry with him, then he could protect him and be there to act as an anchor for his magic – but he would be taking his lover and their unborn son into dangerous territory; for there was no doubt in his mind that the graveyard would be full of peril.
The smartest thing would be to keep Harry here in the school – but that also had a drawback, because people could try to attack him and if his magic refused to cooperate, it could end very badly.
Fuck, was there no way in which he could keep Harry completely safe?
Harry broke the tense, heavy silence by stepping forwards, halting in front of Draco. Hesitatingly, he reached out and slipped his hands around Draco's wrists, holding them loosely. "Look, contrarily to what you seem to think, I'm not keen on going to a dangerous place," he said softly. "But just like you don't want me in danger, I don't want to see you in danger. How can you expect me to stay behind and wait here where I won't know if something happens to you? I don't want to wait hours for you to come back and wonder whether you're coming back safe or not. I don't think I'll be able to handle that." His voice hitched a bit at the end.
Draco bit his lip and his own arms stretched out to envelope Harry in a loose hug. "I'm coming back, you know that," he murmured, feeling the anger draining out of him. Instead exhaustion started to creep up. "Nothing bad is going to happen to me, I promise."
Harry's eyes gleamed strongly. "Either you're right and nothing bad is going to happen to you – in which case, your argument about danger is void and I can come with you. Or it is dangerous and there is a possibility that something will happen to you – in that case, I definitely need to come with you, so that I can help you." He wore a deviant look. "I agreed that I need to let you protect me more – but that doesn't mean I stop wanting to protect you."
"You are a fucking bastard, Potter," Draco said flatly and he pressed his lips together. He had been driven into a corner and he very much disliked that. No matter what he said or did, he knew there was no way he could keep Harry here.
If he used a spell to keep his lover in the school, that would make Harry distrust him and a whole new slew of arguments would start. They had just managed to mend the gap that had risen between them after the events in Dumbledore's house and Draco wasn't ready or willing to test whether their relationship could survive another hit – bounded by magic or not, Harry would not stand for being forced to stay behind even if it was for his own safety and he wouldn't let the bond hold him back if he decided to call it quits.
Harry wasn't given him any choice and he resented that; why couldn't Harry just understand that he wanted to keep him safe? Why did he feel the need to put himself in danger, even when it wasn't necessary?
Why couldn't Harry just listen to him for once?
Knowing there was no way Harry would back down, Draco abruptly dropped his arms and stepped away.
"Draco, what …"
"Fine, do what you want," he said coolly and gathered his clothes; his movements stiff.
When he passed by Harry, a hand shot out to grab his wrist and he jerked his head around.
"Look, Draco, I don't want to make you angry, but …"
"But you're still not going to listen, right?" Draco let out a bitter chuckle and shook his head. "Like I said: do what you want. It's not like I can change your mind."
Leaving a pale Harry behind, he made his way to the bathroom and closed it with a loud 'click'. His head fell against the cool wood of the door and he stared at the ceiling.
He could only hope that the retrieval of Hufflepuff would go easier than the previous two times.

They met at the entrance of the dungeons – this part of the castle was rather dark and nobody was willing to linger near it on their way to the Great Hall, save for maybe the Slytherin students, but they knew better than to hang around these days.
Draco hadn't said anything to him since their argument in his room. The blond hadn't even looked at him and seemed intent on ignoring him as much as possible while they were waiting for Remus and Sirius to join them.
Snape had arrived with Narcissa shortly before them and both adults were talking in a soft tone to each other. Narcissa had greeted him with a kiss on his cheek and a short, but tight hug. Harry had seen her casting a look at his stomach, but thanks to the belt he was wearing, she didn't see anything that even resembled a bulge.
If she or Snape had noticed the tense silence hanging between the couple like a thunder cloud, neither of them remarked on it and Harry was oddly grateful for that. He hadn't wanted to start an argument with Draco; he knew it wouldn't be easy to convince him, but he hadn't expected the other boy to be so set against it.
It wasn't like Harry didn't realise how dangerous this trip could become – and how stupid he was by still following despite being six months far. He had no problems admitting that this was probably a stupid idea – but what else was he supposed to do? Sit in his quarters all day, worrying about his family and boyfriend? Wondering whether he would see Draco alive or brought to the hospital? How could Draco expect him to stay behind while he faced the possibility of risking his life?
If something bad would happen to Draco, Harry wanted to be there to help him. During the past two search trips, they had helped each other out and they made a good team.
Harry had probably not made it very clear, but he was terrified of losing sight of Draco. It probably had a lot to do with this mysterious bond between them, but the truth was that he was scared of losing the blond. He couldn't just stay behind without knowing what was happening to Draco. Draco couldn't ask that of him.
How would Draco feel if he had to stay behind without any knowledge about what was happening? Harry doubted that the Malfoy heir would like that.
He did understand that Draco preferred to keep him safe – but really, was he even safe in the school? It had become very clear that students would try to attack him if they thought they could get away with it.
His hand brushed along the long, sleek body of Garin, who was wrapped around his entire upper body. Ruby was standing behind him; every time he shook his head, Harry felt his fur brushing against his trousers. Mara was waiting behind Draco, having chosen to wash her face out of pure boredom. The only ones who would stay behind were Sapphire and Rowen.
Both Ruby and Garin hadn't said anything when Draco and Harry had had their argument; they had simply followed him out of his quarters, reminding him gently they would protect him and his baby.
Draco had given no sign that he had heard that particular message, but Harry had seen his fingers twitch for a few seconds while the blond marched ahead.
If they had more time, Harry would have tried to talk to Draco – he didn't like the way the argument was still hanging between them – but as it was, their talking would have to wait until they were back in Hogwarts.
"Good morning." Remus' soft voice cut off the conversation between Snape and Narcissa.
Narcissa offered a small smile. "Good morning, Remus, Sirius." Her eyes turned piercing when they focused on her cousin. "Do you still remember the coordinates?"
Sirius huffed and scowled. "Of course I still remember, 'Cissa." He rolled his eyes.
"See that you do, because who knows where you will end up otherwise," she retorted coolly.
Sirius glanced at his godson; a frown marring his forehead. "Harry, you're joining us?" His tone clearly stated what he didn't say out loud.
You're joining us despite being six months pregnant?
Harry stiffened and his hand stilled on Garin's head. "Yes; Garin and Ruby are joining us too," he murmured, hoping that there wouldn't be another argument.
Draco shifted his feet, but when Harry looked at him, Draco was simply staring in front of him; his arms crossed in front of his chest.
Sirius looked like he wanted to protest, but the look on Harry's face must have told him that would be useless. He simply sighed and nodded. "Fine, though you'll have to cast a Protection bubble once we're in the graveyard."
Harry felt the urge to protest, but instead of giving in to it, he simply nodded and bent his head, shifting his foot back and forth. He thought it was ridiculous to use so much protection – he had his two pets, the Malfoy pin and a layer of protection charms on the belt he was wearing – but he figured that he was already treading on thin ice and it would be best if he just kept his mouth shut for now.
"Let's go before someone sees us," Snape said brusquely and they quickly made their way out of the castle.
They halted right outside of the enormous gates; the sun was slowly coming up, bathing everything in a soft orange light.
"If it's all right with you, Narcissa, I'll take Harry and Remus," Sirius stated.
Narcissa nodded. "No problem; I'll be escorting Severus and Draco." She glanced at the two large cats. "How are you two going to travel?"
Mara showed her large, sharp teeth in her own version of a smile. "Do not worry about us; we have our own ways of following our masters."
"Harry, grab my arm and don't let go until I say so," Sirius murmured and held out his arm.
Harry grabbed his arm tightly and Remus joined Sirius' other side; Harry noticed Draco and Snape doing the same with Narcissa.
When they had been discussing the search, Harry had waited until Narcissa had been left alone for a few minutes to ask whether this special manner of transportation would hurt the baby. She had admonished him that it would be best for him to stay behind – until she had apparently remembered on her own that the school wasn't exactly a safe environment either – but had informed him that this manner of transportation was safe for pregnant people. The members of the Black family didn't wait until nobody was pregnant to die, so there had been instances when a pregnant Black woman had visited the graveyard through this way of transport.
Narcissa had urged him to stay in his quarters, despite her own reservations about the school's safety, but after hearing Harry's reason for joining the search, she had looked conflicted and eventually she had nodded, whispering that she understood.
Harry wished Draco could understand why he didn't want to let him leave on his own. It certainly didn't have anything to do with playing a hero or something stupid like that.
Right before Sirius flicked his wand in a peculiar pattern, Harry caught Draco's eyes and was struck by the amount of frustration and worry that whirled around in those silver grey eyes.
The next moment, an ice cold, rubber shield seemed to surround him, forcing his eyes to close. The shield wrapped itself around the contours of his body and seemed to double itself around his stomach and over Garin's long body. Garin let out a discontented hiss in Harry's ears, but didn't attempt to bite in the shield or even wiggle his body around, so the wizard figured there was no need to panic.
A soft whisper reached his ears – it seemed to belong to a woman, but try as he might, Harry couldn't understand a thing she was saying. A loud, heavy bell sound followed the soft whispering suddenly and the rubber shield disappeared abruptly, taking the cold with it.
Harry opened his eyes and blinked rapidly a few times to adjust to the light after seeing intense dark just now.
They had all arrived safely in front of a huge, black gate, which seemed in urgent need of repair. Mara and Ruby were already sniffing along the gate and their tails swished back and forth in agitation.
Garin raised his head and his tongue came out to taste the air. "It smells Dark," he said with an underlying tone of disgust.
"Amazing how the graveyard seems to fit with my dear home," Sirius said sarcastically; his eyes narrowed in distrust.
Narcissa clucked her tongue, releasing the hold she had on Draco and Snape. "It looked a lot better when I last visited," she murmured, glancing at the gate critically.
"The air feels heavy," Draco muttered, taking a step forwards.
"Well, it is the graveyard of the Black family," Narcissa murmured. "My family wasn't exactly known for being welcoming to others."
"It's astonishing how you still managed to become a good host," Sirius said dryly.
Remus sighed and spoke up before Narcissa could offer a retort. "Let's not keep standing here."
"Can we just go inside?" Harry asked dubiously and looked warily at the dark gate.
The atmosphere of this place felt completely wrong – it was as if something was telling him to return, to not take one step further.
"Yes, there are no deflection spells present," Narcissa answered calmly. "My family did not think it was necessary to create such spells as only people with Black blood can find this graveyard."
Harry still felt uncertain, but he decided that Narcissa knew what she was talking about and quickly casted a protection charm on himself.
"Be on your guard," Snape murmured while his sharp eyes flitted from one side to the other. "I doubt Albus has neglected to put up traps here."
"He shouldn't be able to, but I have long ago ceased to wonder what that man is capable of," Narcissa said with a light frown marring her forehead.
The gates let them pass without any spell or curse activating. When they were completely inside, Harry couldn't supress the shiver going through his body. The air here seemed colder than outside the gates and there was something else that didn't feel right.
It took him a couple of seconds before he realised that it was utterly quiet in the graveyard. He hadn't expected a lot of noise – not given how isolated this place was – but there was no sound at all. Not the sound of the wind; no small animals scrabbling around the place.
Nothing.
"I don't like how quiet it is," Harry spoke up and his voice seemed unnaturally loud.
"Has it always been this quiet here, mother?" Draco asked and he sounded strangely subdued.
She slowly shook her head, her lips a thin line on her face. "No. While it certainly has never been noisy, there was at least the sound of the wind and even sometimes the sound of traffic from far away."
"Can't think of a better sign that something is wrong than this quietness," Sirius mumbled and his hand tightened around his wand.
As far as the eyes reached, there was nothing but gravestones – some on the verge of crumbling at the slightest touch – and a couple of tombs, dark outlined against the grey sky. On either side of the gate, there were trees planted, but they seemed completely rotten; one strong gust of wind would probably suffice to push them over. Their gnarly, naked branches reached upwards to the sky, as if they were pleading for something to take them away.
Once the ground probably had been covered by grass, but now only a couple of patches with brown grass remained, making the graveyard look even darker than it already was.
Various gravestones had empty vases; some still contained the remains of dead flowers, while some laid shattered on the ground.
Right in the middle of the graveyard – or at least Harry presumed that was the middle of the place – a large statue stood, looking worn by the harsh weather. It resembled a woman with long, wavy hair and her face was pointed towards the sky while one hand laid on her chest and the other hand pointed towards the ground. A small child was standing in front of her and he was looking towards the north. They both wore blank expressions, but their faces were already showing cracks from undergoing the weather's abuse and years of no care.
"Someone you know?" Remus asked lightly.
Sirius snorted and shook his head. "Nope. Can't say I ever saw her face or his when I was looking through photographs," he replied idly. "You, Narcissa?"
"No, sorry. I usually can recall every face in our family line, but I have never seen her before," she murmured, studying the woman's statue intently.
"Where are we going to start our search?" Harry asked, looking away from the imposing statue. Something about it made him reluctant to look at it.
Was there nothing normal in this graveyard?
"If I was an old bastard," Sirius mused out loud, "where would I want to hide the portrait of a Founder?"
Snape snorted. "Trying to think like Albus tends to never give you the answers you need," he said primly.
"You got a better idea?" Sirius shot back.
"Maybe one of those old tombs?" Draco suddenly spoke up and shifted his feet when everyone stared at him. "What?" he asked defensively. "I doubt he would hide the portrait behind an ordinary gravestone."
"Good point," Remus muttered and narrowed his eyes. "How many tombs are there?"
"In total? Seven," Narcissa replied and she sounded vaguely bored. "Although the biggest one is placed in the back of the graveyard."
"Why there?" Harry asked surprised.
"Who knows?" Narcissa shrugged calmly. "I believe it contains one of our most important ancestors."
Sirius made a noise of disgust, but didn't add anything to it.
"Are we going to keep standing here?" Snape snapped irritated.
Before either one of them could offer a retort, a low sound resounded through the graveyard and they all froze.
Harry slowly turned around, barely daring to breathe and his hand shot up to cover his mouth, while his teeth bit on his lower lip in order to keep his noise of fright inside. He felt Sirius stiffing next to him and thought he could hear Remus clenching his teeth.
About ten feet away from the group, one of the gravestones was trembling; bits of stone crumbling and landing on the ground.
"What the …" Draco breathed out, right when the stone crumbled down completely, making a thunder like sound.
The dust was still settling when the earth seemed to shake and Harry's grip around his wand grew tighter to the point that his fingers started to cramp.
A torturous groan cleaved through the silence and the earth seemed to erupt, shooting gravel and sand up in the air as if a mini volcano was trying to burst through.
Harry's breath stopped when a dirty, claw like, grey hand shot out of the disturbed earth, followed by a bony arm, barely covered by threadbare cloth. A second arm appeared and the hands buried themselves in the ground on each side of the hole. The bones cracked and bent and then something else popped out of the grave, clawing forwards while the thing kept groaning lowly; the bones straining and cracking sharply.
It finally stopped moving when it finished crawling out of the hole.
Harry was now looking at something he had thought he would never encounter in Great Britain.
The reanimated corpse of a male Black swayed back and forth. His entire body was grey, covered with some black spots and in various places, his rotted skin had already disappeared, showing dirty bone. His once shiny black hair was now tangled and dirty, reaching his hips while his long nails nearly caressed the ground.
"This is not good," Sirius whispered.
"Can't we just blast it apart?" Harry asked, being careful to not raise his voice.
For now the corpse was still standing there, staring blankly ahead as if it wasn't sure what to do now that he was out of his grave.
"No," Draco murmured; his eyes were trained on the corpse and his pale skin had become even paler. "Reanimated corpses are protected from any spell that can blast things apart. They are also resistant to fire and water."
"Not only that," Remus murmured darkly. "But he can also draw strength from the earth as this is his burial ground."
"So in other words, we're screwed," Sirius added tensely.
"There must be some way," Harry protested, chancing another look at the dead body. "Can't we just run past it? I mean, it's dead, so it's not like his motoric reflexes will work perfectly."
"If this was a creature sprouting forth from a Muggle fantasy, then yes, running past it would work," Snape spoke, his lip curled up in disgust. "As it is, reanimated corpses in the Wizarding World have honed motoric reflexes and the moment it starts to chase, it will be faster than anyone of us."
"So what? We're just going to keep standing here, until it starts attacking?" Harry hissed furiously and his free hand unconsciously gripped his robes tighter.
Garin raised his head and his eyes zoomed in on the corpse, while his tongue came out. "It smells rotten," he complained and lowered his head again, though he kept his gaze fixed on the body.
"We can distract it," Mara spoke up for the first time since they had left Hogwarts. Contrarily to her calm voice, the hair on her back was raised and the fire on her tail had grown brighter and larger.
Ruby took a step forwards and he sniffed the air. "Distracting it won't do much if we cannot locate the Founder," he murmured; his paw patted the ground agitatedly.
"It's not like we have the time to casually look into each tomb." Draco frowned and he took a step closer to Harry.
"Mara," Ruby said.
It wasn't an order or a question, yet she snorted and sighed. "Yes, I'm on it."
"On what?" Narcissa asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
Mara's eyes gained a brighter glow and she scanned the entire graveyard, swaying softly back and forth.
"I sense a faint aura coming from the left in the back," she announced and her bright eyes dimmed again.
"You're certain the presence isn't another dead body?" Snape inquired sceptically.
Mara snorted and glowered. "If it was one of the undead, their aura would not be pulsing."
"Can we reach the tomb without alerting that zombie?" Harry asked, lowering his voice as much as he could.
The undead man groaned again, a low rumble rolling from deep within his mostly absent chest. His hands were grabbing at the air; his head turning slowly from left to right. His rattling breath cut through the air.
"I don't know," Remus answered slowly; his jaw set. "Can this zombie be part of the defence the Blacks set up? If so, it won't attack if any of you know the counter charm."
"No; the Blacks never used the dead in their defence line," Narcissa said firmly. "I would have been informed about this."
The small spark of hope which had flared up after Remus' question was extinguished again and Harry grimaced.
"Can we distract it?" Draco suggested softly.
Snape nodded contemplatively. "Normally we can. It may have quicker reflexes, but it's even dumber than the majority of the students," he drawled.
Remus threw him a sharp look. "We can't run, though," he pointed out. "That will make too much noise."
Ruby huffed. "Mara and I will distract it, while you sneak past it."
Harry didn't like any of the animals coming near that shuffling corpse, but they had no other options left.
"We'll start moving as soon as the zombie looks the other way," Remus instructed.
"Harry, stay between Remus and Narcissa," Sirius ordered grimly. "I'll be next to you."
Harry thought he could feel Draco's gaze burning in the back of his head, but he simply nodded in agreement; his heart beat quickening despite his will.
Ruby and Mara sneaked forwards silently, looking like the predators they were. As soon as they were less than three feet away from the corpse, Ruby opened his mouth and a large fire ball escaped him, searing the miserable patches of grass. A curtain of all consuming fire sprung up a bit further and the corpse turned around, releasing a blood curling scream, filled with rage.
The moment the dead body was distracted, the group started moving; swiftly, but silently hurrying past the decaying graves.
Despite being guarded from three sides, Harry kept his wand ready; a curse waiting on his tongue, ready to be released in case another grave was forced open. Garin's eyes were roving around, alert.
Harry winced when another furious scream tore through the silence. The scream was quickly followed up by the murderous growls of the two large cats.
"Almost there," Garin hissed. "It's the furthest one on the left."
"It's the furthest one on the left," Harry relayed the information out loud.
"Good, we're almost there," Remus murmured and hurried to the left side.
Something glowed faintly on the right side and Harry whipped his head around, alarmed.
"Wait, Sirius, don't …!"
His warning came too late. Sirius jerked to a stop immediately, but the edge of his robes was caught on the spiky branch of a dead bush and it triggered a spell. A loud screech wailed up and they froze in their tracks, staring horrified at the innocuous bush.
For a few seconds – which felt like an eternity – all was deadly silent.
Then a murderous roar resounded and loud, heavy steps quickly decreased the distance between the dead creature and the group. Two sets of footsteps hurriedly joined, but it became clear that no attack from the two cats would deter the zombie from his murderous rampage.
"Run!" Snape barked and they broke into a run, while the corpse was quickly gaining on them.
Without any preamble, Remus used a Blasting curse on the heavy door of the large, grey tomb and it flew open with a 'bang'.
"Get inside now!" Sirius snapped and Harry and Draco were pushed in the large tomb first.
The couple stumbled down the narrow steps, their breathing haggard, while their hearts seemed intent on jumping out of their throat.
Harry groaned and leant against the wall for support. His legs trembled – both from the sudden sprint and the fear coursing through his veins – and he felt light headed.
"Master?" Garin hissed concerned, rubbing his cool head against Harry's heated cheek.
"Harry, is something wrong?" Draco asked sharply.
The dark haired wizard looked up and only then realised that both his hands were rubbing over his stomach, while he was hunched forwards. His son was fussing, delivering several soft kicks. Harry must have startled him when he broke into a sudden run.
He shook his head, a bit dazed and straightened his back. "Yes, sorry, I'm fine," he replied, taking deep breaths to steady himself.
Draco opened his mouth, but was distracted by the others coming down the stairs; the flames on the cats' tails illuminating the dark hallway.
"That was a close one," Sirius gasped and steadied himself against the wall.
"Is everyone all right?" Remus asked, looking grimly.
They all nodded.
"What happened to the zombie?" Harry asked.
Aside from their ragged breathing and shuffling of feet, all was silent again as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"We used a spell to decapitate him and put him in an air tight bubble," Narcissa replied and brushed dust off of her sleeve. "Hopefully the bubble will quicken the rotting process."
"What if it doesn't?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
"We will deal with it when that happens," she answered lightly.
Now that they were safe – for now anyway – Harry took the time to look around.
The inside of the tomb was larger than expected; dustier and full of grime and something resembling the small skeletons of vermin.
The place they were standing in was a long, narrow hallway; the walls darkened with age and some of the plaster had cracked off and was littering the ground. The air was stale and smelt musky.
"Dare I ask how large this tomb is?" Harry asked faintly. Obviously this wouldn't be a quick search through one large room and shifting through caskets if there was a need. Why the hell did a tomb need a hallway anyway?
"Large," Narcissa smiled faintly.
"Larger than it should be," Sirius added darkly, looking warily.
"Have you ever been in here, Narcissa?" Snape asked. A streak of something dark was splashed across the white shirt he wore and Harry had to look away before the urge to vomit rose up.
"Only once," she replied to everyone's surprise. "Mother was insistent that I paid my respect to our ancestor. There are quite a few hallways and separate rooms, so we need to be careful that we don't become separated."
"How many people are buried here?" Draco asked and looked a bit uneasy.
Harry couldn't blame him; he wasn't exactly fond of being in close quarters with a bunch of dead people and who knows how many traps.
"Around six or seven, I believe," she answered and cocked her head slightly. "Let us proceed. I'd rather not take the entire day roaming around in this place."
Ruby and Mara went first, using their tails to illuminate the hallway. Soon the Lumos of their wands joined their fire and this made it easier for the group to not trip over small stone particles which had dropped off from the ceiling.
The narrow hallway brought them to a hold in a small circular space. Two narrow hallways were in front of them; each had a vase with dead flowers waiting next to the entrance.
"Which one are we supposed to pick?" Draco asked and sounded slightly frustrated.
Mara sniffed and cocked her head. "The right one. That one has the strongest presence," she declared.
Without arguing the group immediately chose the right hallway, brushing past thick spider webs.
A grimace tainted Harry's mouth when he stepped on what had once been a rat, but was now nothing more than a skeleton. The soft crunch sound of bones being crushed underneath his shoe made him shiver in disgust.
This hallway ended in a large, triangular room. It held one large coffin, standing proudly on a marble, rectangular plinth with two broad steps leading up to the coffin. The name engraved in the upper stone step revealed that one Elladora Black had found her final rest place here.
Strangely, there were quite a few boxes collected in this room and several vases, varying in sizes, occupied the rest of the empty space against the walls. A portrait of a stern looking, brown eyed woman hung up against one of the walls, but it seemed frozen, as if the painter had never gotten around to cast the spell on it which would make the painting able to interact with the outside world.
Then again, Harry mused silently, he supposed that a painting in a tomb would have no need for conversation.
"Let's search through the boxes first," Remus murmured after looking around. "Be careful to not touch them if it's not necessary. Who knows what kind of spells are on them."
Draco and his mother went to the furthest wall, casting spells on the boxes to open them and move them around. Snape and Remus were busy inspecting the stuff placed against the wall next to the pair, so Harry and Sirius chose the other wall, where a bunch of large, golden and silver chests were placed.
"Why is there so much stuff here?" Harry mumbled, casting a spell to open the first chest. It revealed nothing but various smaller, wooden boxes filled with jewellery.
Behind him, he heard Mara and Ruby padding around, using their paws and noses to move stuff around.
"It was once a tradition to be buried with your most precious assets," Sirius murmured, riffling through a box full of documents. "Most Pureblood people were stingy bastards even in their deaths after all," he added lightly and Harry chuckled softly.
"It's so pointless to let all this gather dust in a tomb," he murmured and checked the next chest. This time they were filled with a bunch of robes.
He didn't know whether one of them had triggered a ward or if the stone used for the tomb had become too brittle.
Before he could open the next chest, a strange sound came from above and he looked up in reflex.
Only to see the ceiling coming down on him and Sirius.

AN2: Longer chapter than I originally intended, but oh well. *shrugs* So what do you think of it? Please leave your thoughts behind in a review! (And make my crappy week better!)
Next time: When someone thinks nothing can get worse, there is an unwritten law that states it will become worse. Will they succeed in finding Hufflepuff? Or will this graveyard be the last place for some of the group?
See you all next time!
Cuddles
Melissa
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- 27
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Survival of the fittest