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Frozen Love	By : Emeline Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 9129 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
A/N: I wrote this the day before the book came
out, but I got too involved in the book to post �til I finished.

Thrnbrooke: not a long wait this time! Tada, and
thank you for reviewing.

At some point, exhaustion grabbed Alyssa and forced
her to sleep. She did not dream, and she woke up uncomfortable and cold. Her
first thoughts were of her father. Painful loneliness thudded in her; she drew
her legs up to her chest and willed herself to not cry. She didn�t think she
had any tears left, anyway.

There was nothing she wanted more
than to have her father there. He would make everything okay. He would make her
feel safe again. She sniffed and tightened her hands into fists. She had to be
strong, had to stay strong.

She wished that the silence would go away. Its
oppressive weight did nothing to quell her. The silence trapped her in a watery
grip and pulled her down. She felt like she couldn�t breathe, but she did. She
took in a loud gasp of air. The silent waters stirred, rippled, then returned
to their stillness.

Mr. Malfoy didn�t matter anymore.
She just wanted to be safe in her daddy�s arms. She was a lost, frightened
child, and she did not care about strength.

A key slid into the lock of her
cell door. Alyssa looked up in hope, then backed up in fear. Lysistrata was
back. Alyssa told herself that she would resist Lysistrata�s will. She would
not obey her.

�Come now, Spirit,� Lysistrata
said. �It is time for the final ceremony.� Her golden eyes beckoned Alyssa.
Their pull was too strong for her; she arose and followed Lysistrata.

�We are so pleased that you�re
being obedient, Alyssa,� Lysistrata said as they walked. �It will make
everything much easier.�

Anger flashed up in Alyssa. It was
promptly buried under the calm of subservience. Once again, they entered the
horrible room; once again, she was shackled to the altar.

Lysistrata ran her fingers over the
chains. �They�re probably not necessary at this point, but it�s better to be
safe.� She stepped back. �Adrastos, the Cruentas de Machera.� She held her arms
out expectantly, and Adrastos presented her with a cloth-bound object.

�Do you know what this is, Alyssa?�
Lysistrata questioned.

Alyssa tried to say no with
contempt, but it emerged meekly. She hated herself for that tone, and she hated
Lysistrata even more.

�It is a dagger called the Cruentas
de Machera. Roughly translated, that means the blood of the sword,� Lysistrata
explained. She pulled back the cloth and held the dagger lovingly. There was
something in that manner that disgusted Alyssa, but she couldn�t look away. �It
belonged to Sophronia. It can withdraw the magic of a person. In doing so, the
dagger takes the soul.�

She continued in a distant voice.
�This is what must be used to awaken your soul. Normally, the dagger would only
take the soul and that would be that. Your soul, however, belongs to the one
who made this dagger. Because of that, the dagger will take your soul and
restore its identity. You will be revived, and you will awaken as Sophronia.�

Real, raw fear was unleashed in
Alyssa. She wasn�t Sophronia, so even if this could work, it wouldn�t. She was
going to die. Say something, say something! her mind screamed at her.

�I�m not Sophronia!� Alyssa cried
hysterically. �It won�t work!�

�But you are.�

A part of her submitted to
Lysistrata and calmed. A stronger part arose. �No! You�ll kill me!�

Lysistrata raised the dagger, her
eyes wide and wild with joy. �Revive the Veneficus Eximo!�

Alyssa squeezed her eyes shut and
waited for the pain.

Suddenly, there was the sound of an
explosion. A semi-familiar voice called out a spell. Alyssa heard a grunt, then
a strange gurgle. Cautiously, she opened her eyes. She screamed as she saw
Lysistrata.

Lysistrata�s eyes were still wide,
but now with surprise. The Cruentas de Machera was buried deep in her chest.
She drew back her hand, and found that it was covered with blood. Her mouth
opened, and her Unity necklace glowed. Then she fell forward, her body landing
on Alyssa.

The other members of the Eximo too
fell to the ground. Their eyes were open, and their necklaces glowed. They were
all dead.

Alyssa shook, staring at the dead
body of Lysistrata. She would have screamed again, but the body was removed,
and relief, surprise, and joy overtook her.

�Daddy!� she gasped and began to
sob uncontrollably.

�I�m here,� he said. �It�s okay
now.� He released her and she sat up and clung to him desperately.

�So afraid, so afraid,� Alyssa
whimpered. �Wanted to kill me. I tried�I tried�� Her voice now refused to work,
so she resigned herself to crying out all her fear and relief. Her father�s
voice was the only thing that kept her from total hysteria.

�Don�t leave me,� she finally
choked out. �Don�t leave.�

�I�m not leaving. I�m here, Alyssa.
I�m here.�

She didn�t know how long she sat
there. It could have been minutes; it could have been hours. She didn�t think
that she would ever feel okay, but eventually she took in a shuddering breath
and slid off the altar. She saw again the dead bodies and she turned back,
focusing on her father. �All dead?�

�Yes,� he said. �Let�s leave and
get you out of here.�

Alyssa shook her head. �No!� The
necklaces�Abby. She ran off to the basement, her father calling after her.
�Abby! Abby!� Alyssa cried. She saw Abby lying prone on the bench in the cell
with her eyes shut. �Abby!�

The sixteen-year-old girl jumped
and opened her eyes. �Alyssa?�

�Oh my God,� Alyssa said. �I
thought you were�� Unwilling to finish that sentence, Alyssa commanded the cell
door to open. It did, and she rushed in. �You�re all right?�

�I�m fine.�

�Alyssa��

Alyssa looked up at her father. She
did not know what to say to his questioning eyes.

�Who is this?� he asked.

�Abby,� Alyssa said. He wanted more
information, but she couldn�t give him any.

Abby stared wide-eyed at the famous
Harry Potter. �I�m Abby Smith,� she said. �I was a part of the Veneficus Eximo,
but�� Her gaze shifted to the crushed Unity necklace on the floor. �He came,�
she whispered to Alyssa. For once, her eyes were alive. This warmed Alyssa.

�I told you he�d come,� she
whispered back, smiling. �And now we�re going to escape together, just like I
said.� She held onto Abby�s hand and looked back to her father.

�Part of the Eximo?� he repeated.

�Was!� Alyssa fiercely said. �As in
they beat her and used her and now she�s with me!� She tugged on Abby�s hand,
and Abby reluctantly got up. �Let�s go.�

They returned to the altar room,
and Alyssa noticed that Hermione, Ron, and Mr. Malfoy were present. They were
taking care of the bodies. Abby involuntarily squeezed Alyssa�s hand as she saw
that the only family she had ever really known was dead.

�It�s okay,� Alyssa murmured.
�Let�s go home, Dad.�

* * * *

The first thing Harry did when they
returned home was summon a healer.

�Well, your younger daughter�s
perfectly fine physically,� the rosy-cheeked woman said. �Your older daughter
had some cuts and bruises. They�ve been healed, and I think she�ll be quite all
right.�

�Abby�s not mine,� Harry told her.

�Oh, sorry, sir,� the woman apologized.
�They�re both rather traumatized, but the only thing that�ll fix that is love
and comfort.� Her cheerful disposition quieted. �Both of them also seem to have
some power. It�s very strange. I�ve been doing this a long time, and I can feel
these things about people. Are they psychically gifted?�

�No.�

�I see,� the woman said. �Well,
I�ve done all that I can do. Best thing to do now is feed them and let them
rest.�

Harry thanked the woman
distractedly and paid her. He moved to go back into Alyssa�s room and heard a
rather alarming statement.

�Can you burn it, Abby?�

He opened the door and found that
Alyssa, clad in her bathrobe, was holding the red dress up for Abby to take.
The two of them looked up when he entered.

�You can burn it,� Alyssa said and
held it out to him. �I�m going to take a shower. Do we have anything Abby could
wear? Those robes seem horrid.�

Abby started to speak: �Alyssa, I
don�t��

�Shush,� Alyssa said. She turned
and rummaged through her closet, returning with a set of clothes that was too
big for her. �Ron tried to buy me clothes as a gift once,� she explained and
handed Abby the clothes. �Dad, can I use your shower so Abby can use the other
one? She�s all covered in blood, poor thing.�

Abby didn�t look like she knew what
to do with herself.

�Sure,� Harry said.

Alyssa led Abby to the bathroom;
then she turned back to Harry. �I�m okay,� she said. �Nothing�s going to happen
to me.�

Yet he couldn�t help but guard the
door while she showered. He felt anxious the entire time she was in there. The
wound was far too fresh to be overlooked, and it was an immense relief when
Alyssa emerged intact.

�You were worrying,� she commented.

�Can you blame me?�

�No, but I am okay.�

�I know.� Harry sighed. �Alyssa,
about Abby.�

She eyed him suspiciously. �Hmm?�

�She can�t stay here, Alyssa. She
was in the Veneficus Eximo, the organization that kidnapped you and almost
killed you.�

�Yes, she was,� Alyssa said. �Do
you know when she was brought to the Eximo? Do you know the conditions? Do you
know why she stayed?�

�No, but��

�She was four years old,� Alyssa
went on, ignoring her father. �Lysistrata came to her home and killed her
parents in front of her. Then she brought Abby to the Eximo. She made Abby into
what she wanted her to be. They were the only family she ever really had. And
yes, they were evil, but where else could she have gone? She would have been
hunted down and killed. Betrayal is unacceptable in those groups.� Alyssa
looked down. �She was used, but she tried to help me. She�s a good person.
She�s my friend.�

�It�s not as simple as that,� Harry
said. However, he stood in awe of the depth of his daughter�s understanding and
her wisdom. Her eyes eluded his, though, and he saw that there was something
she wanted to tell him.

But then she brightly smiled and
said, �Mrs. Weasley�s downstairs, isn�t she?�

�I wouldn�t doubt it.�

�Ron and Hermione are at the
Ministry?�

�Yeah. They�re straightening
everything out,� Harry said.

�And Mr. Malfoy?�

There was a slyness to her voice
that he didn�t understand. �He�s with them, I suppose.�

Alyssa studied him musingly. Again,
she broke off and galloped down the stairs. Harry followed her closely
downstairs to find that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were both there along with Remus
and Sirius.

�Oh, Alyssa!� Mrs. Weasley hugged
the youth tightly. �Merlin, we were so worried. But I knew you�d be all right.
You�re a Potter, after all.�

Alyssa beamed at her. �I missed you
all.� She glanced at Sirius. �Even you.�

�Alyssa,� Harry said.

�He�s a bully,� Alyssa sniffed and
crossed her arms.

�Your cat�s a wimp,� Sirius
replied.

Deeply affronted, Alyssa put her
hands on her hips and started to give Sirius a piece of her mind. Sirius cut
her off by picking her up and hugging her. Alyssa pretended to pull away, but
then she started to laugh and hugged him back.

�All right! So I do like you,�
Alyssa admitted.

�Thought so.� He put her back down.
She launched herself at Remus, and, standing on her tiptoes, kissed his cheek.
�Missed you tons of tons,� she declared as she hugged him. She then hooked arms
with Mr. Weasley. �Before all this, I put together all our muggle media stuff
by myself. Dad was hopeless at it. I�ll show you.� She led him to the living
room.

The whole party watched silently as
Alyssa proudly showed off what she had done.

�She�s amazing,� Sirius said.
�After all she went through, she�s fine.�

Harry wasn�t as sure of this, but
he didn�t say anything. He was going to have to tell Alyssa why she was
kidnapped. He was going to have to explain a lot to her.

And then there was the matter of
Abby Smith. She was indeed the daughter of the Smiths, but that didn�t mean
much. Alyssa obviously assumed that Abby was just going to live with them, as
if she were her sister.

But perhaps those things could wait
until tomorrow. She�d already been through a lot. He didn�t need to force
anything more on her.

Yes, for the moment, he could
pretend that everything was resolved.

* * * *

�I can cook.�

Those were Abby�s words, the few that she spoke to
Harry. He was reluctant to let her handle Alyssa�s food, but Alyssa gave him so
severe a look that he relented.

�I�m much better at cooking than I am at magic,�
Abby said in a soft voice as she prepared the meal. �I used to cook all the
time for�for� them.� She closed her mouth, her expression voicing her shame.

Harry watched her as carefully as he could without
drawing Alyssa�s suspicion.

Alyssa lapsed into silence after
their company left. She was quiet, almost brooding at the table during dinner.
She complimented Abby on her cooking, then returned to the quiet. This
reticence was something Harry had expected to happen eventually. He would
definitely have to speak with her tomorrow.

Abby continued her servility after
the meal, insisting with uncharacteristic force that she would clean up. Alyssa
still helped her out.

Harry noted that Abby did not use
her magic at all. She was a part of the Eximo, so surely she had wandless
magic. �You don�t use your magic?�

�Ah, no. It�well, it hurts to use
magic, actually,� Abby said.

�How so?�

Abby thoughtfully looked up. �It�s
like holding your hand over a fire and bringing it closer and closer until you
get burned. Magic�s supposed to feel good, but mine doesn�t.�

�Wandless magic, right?�

She nodded.

Alyssa stopped and stared at Abby,
looking as if she was seeing beyond her friend. She opened her mouth to speak,
but closed it just as quickly.

Once the clean up was done, Alyssa
made sure that Abby was comfortable in the guest room before she even
considered putting herself in bed.

�You�ve been through a lot,� Harry
said once she finally went to her room. �Will you be able to sleep?�

Alyssa looked at a point behind
Harry and shrugged.

�I could make up a potion for you.�

�No, that�s all right,� Alyssa
responded listlessly.

�Are you sure?�

She nodded. She barely responded
when he hugged her. Only when Harry was leaving did she say, �Why did they all
die?�

He didn�t want to tell her why. He
didn�t want her innocence to slip any farther away from her. Yet he told her.
�We think that it was a safety mechanism,� he said. �The necklaces were
connected to Lysistrata. If she were murdered, they�d all be killed.�

Alyssa�s eyes widened. �If Abby
hadn�t� she would have�� She closed her eyes. �But she did.� She opened her
eyes, slowly. �Goodnight, Dad. Don�t stay up all night watching me. I�ll bet
you didn�t sleep at all while I was gone.�

�Yes I did.�

�Hermione drugged you, eh?� Alyssa
almost smirked.

�How did you know that?�

�I just know these things.�

�Goodnight, Alyssa.� He shut off
the light and closed the door. He didn�t move away from the door for a long
time.

�I know you�re still there,� Alyssa
said from within her room.

Harry smiled a little and went
toward his bedroom. Changing his mind, he turned and went downstairs. The whole
house was dark and silent, but Harry didn�t turn on any lights.

He had Alyssa back, yet she had
gone through such an ordeal. He wished he could take all that away from her. He
wished that his power as a parent were enough to make everything better. But it
would take a long time before she was really okay. He could take away her
memories, but what good would that do? She had to let this go on her own�with
his help. He couldn�t force all this to go away, but he could help her. Like
the healer had said, the only cure was love and comfort.

A strange feeling crept up Harry�s
spine, and he went up to the window. Someone was walking by the house�and that
someone had very blond hair.

Harry knew that he should just let
him keep walking. He�d never actually come up to the house, Harry knew. It was
over, and Draco was back where he� where he had chosen to be. Harry almost told
himself that Draco was back where he belonged, but those words didn�t seem
right.

Draco was almost out of sight. Just
let him go.

Yet Harry opened the door and stood
there. The movement attracted Draco�s attention, and he turned back. Harry read
his eyes like a book, and he knew that Draco was going to walk away and pretend
that nothing had happened. Again, Harry recognized that he should let him go.

He nodded at Draco. �Come on.�

The soft command was accepted, and
Draco strode up to the door. He paused there, as if afraid to go any further.

Harry only glanced at him; he
continued in. Harry turned on the light in the living room and sat, motioning
for Draco to join him.

�It�s all over now,� Draco said
when Harry did not speak. �Alyssa�s back.�

�It�s not over, and you know it,�
Harry responded. �You came back here.�

�And now I�ll leave again. I got
what I came for.�

�No, you didn�t,� Harry disagreed.
�You didn�t because you don�t know why you came back.�

�I wanted to see her,� Draco said.

�Is that it?�

�Yes.�

That response was spoken with a
hint of contempt. It reminded Harry of the old days. �I think there�s more,� he
said. �I think you came to me for the same reason you came to me all those
years ago.�

Draco waited for Harry to go on. He
no more knew the reason behind their original connection than he knew why he
had come to Harry.

�It wasn�t because of rejection; it
wasn�t because of curiosity,� Harry continued. �It was because of something you
said to me once.�

Confusion was plain on Draco�s
face.

�Back in Hogwarts, I figured you
out. And I told you so. I told you that hate was something that you were born
with, but you had the choice, and you had the responsibility to decide whether
or not you wanted to be your own master. Well, you practically gagged at the
speech, but you accidentally spoke a grain of truth. You replied, �And I
suppose love has to be earned.�

�You had a choice to see the world
in hate or in love. That night you came to me, you didn�t choose a side in the
fight. You were looking for a different way to see the world. And you weren�t
ready. Of course, that�s just what I think.�

Draco looked into Harry�s eyes, and
Harry did not look away. Words seemed to be straining to be spoken. Neither man
spoke.

They tried to push away the moment;
they couldn�t. Instead, Draco tried to break it. �I�ll walk away right now,
Harry,� he said. �I won�t turn back. Alyssa will never have to know.�

It was the best course of action. But before Harry
could agree, another voice spoke. �Well, you�re a bit late for that. I know.�

Alyssa walked into the room, eyes
filled with distrust. �I know you�re my other father, Mr. Malfoy. Now I want to
know why you never told me.�

Echoes of emotion

And the visions of a fool

Echoes of forbidden ground

And it's too good to be true, too good

To be true
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Frozen Love