Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

A Pirate's Tail	By : SamHill Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Slash - Male/Male Views: 3181 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Not in any lifetime does Harry Potter (and his universe) belong to me. They are the sole property of J.K. Rowling, et al. I make no money and I mean not copyright infringement.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
A/N: See Chapter One for all disclaimers and warnings

Chapter Nine:

The cacophony of voices filling the room would have been a pleasant reminder that he still lived, but his body was in far too much agony for him to feel gratitude even for the small things. Cracking one eye open, Harry swore loudly for the people milling about the room to shut up. He would have said more, but the sudden appearance of an angel’s face hovering above his own chased all other thoughts away.

“You arse! I thought for certain you were dead! Don’t you dare ever do something like that to me again! Do you realize what that would have meant? I would have been forced to deal with them.” Draco hitched a thumb over his shoulder at the anxious faces of Harry’s friends.

“And to think I likened you to an angel. Who am I kidding?” Harry chuckled then winced. “Bloody hell I hurt.”

“That’s because you very nearly died, Harry Potter,” Ginny and Hermione snapped in unison. Another female voice laughed gaily as its owner came into view.

“Aye, you’re lucky Cedric and Hannah found you on their way to the castle, Harry,” the whimsical looking young woman said.

Harry’s face broke into a broad smile. “Luna, you got here safely!” He had been worried about her travelling alone. He struggled to sit up, but the sudden movement jarred his wounds and he felt the blood drain from his face. Draco was on him in the blink of an eye.

“You shouldn’t move! You nearly died out there, do you realize that. I thought you were dead. Lady Hannah, can’t you do something!”

There was a ghost of a smile on Harry’s lips as he lay back on the soft bed. ‘So you do care, Draco. But do you care enough? How much seduction will it take to win you over completely?’

“Now see here,” a loud voice boomed. “Where’s the fun in mobbing the practically dead? Remus has tea ready, everyone, and Molly made a cake to celebrate everyone returning nearly whole.” Sirius peered down into his godson’s face, noting the barely contained grin. “No cake for you, Harry. Idiots who thrust themselves upon their enemy’s sword are not rewarded.”

“I’m not hungry, thank you.” Draco’s words were polite to the point of painfulness and it was clear he did not like being in the presence of a known criminal. That the Prince Regent had also declared Sirius Black mad no doubt added to his unhappiness.

“Well then, we’ll just leave the wounded to you, shall we?”

Harry cracked an eye open and sure enough his godfather was sending Draco an icy glare. “Water?”

“Oh, just a moment Harry,” Hannah Abbott-Diggory called out. A moment later she was helping him to sit up with one hand holding his bandages in place while she raised the cup to his lips. “You’ll be right as rain in a few days, Harry.”

“Days?” he asked in disbelief.

“Well,” she hedged, “Your body will need lots of rest…”

“How many days are we talking about, Hannah?”

“It’s not like you can’t give directions from your bed, Harry Potter,” Hermione snapped as she stepped into view once more.

“Oh gods. We’re talking weeks, aren’t we?”

“It’ll be a month before your moving freely and the wound to the shoulder… I was able to remove the bullet but it damaged the bone. You’ll feel it when the rain is due and it’ll be sore even years after all is said and done. I did the best I could,” Hannah added sadly.

“Of course you did, love,” Harry said on a sigh. “I don’t doubt that for a moment. Go on you lot. Cake and tea are waiting. Gin, you’ll tell Molly I’m doing all right, won’t you. I don’t want her to worry unnecessarily.”

“You’re one of hers now, Harry. She’ll always worry. However, I will make certain to mention that you’ve a guest with you.”

“Come on people!”

“We’re hungry-”

“And Ronnikins will eat-”

“All the food!” The twins shepherded their friends out of the room with Neville shutting the door softly behind them all. Harry saw the look shared between his friend and the airy Luna and smiled. ‘Good for you, Neville ol’ boy,’ he thought cheerfully, before returning his attention back to Draco.

“Did ye weep for me?” he inquired and was rewarded with a disgruntled snort. “Ah, ye did. No doubt ye had all the wenches mixin’ their tears in wiv yer own?”

“Shut up, you idiot. You sound so low-class when you talk like that.”

“It bothers you that much?”

Draco shrugged. “Mostly it insults my refined sensibilities.”

“Ah, and we wouldn’t want that, would we? Nay, never that.” Harry reached out carefully and took the cold pale hand within his own warm one. “I didn’t mean to make you worry. I promise I won’t do it again,” he murmured, setting aside his commoner’s speech.

“You better not. I almost killed that idiot Seamus when he came barging in here blabbering on about beheading some man named Rookwood.”

“Augustus Rookwood?”

“That’s the bloke. You know him?”

“I’m surprised you don’t. He’s a spy for the Prince Regent.”

“Hmm, he may be a part of the Council’s inner circle. I thought I knew everyone within it, though.”

“Mayhap he’s new. Mayhap he’s just a dog for the Prince Regent and therefore never registered on your radar. Either way, he’s now dead. Any other casualties?” His voice was light; he had seen the faces of his friends for himself and knew them to be alive and well.

“I can’t expect my aunt to have survived long with the bullet wound in her side. Uncle is dead, as is his brother. Weasley said Antonin Dolohov was killed by their stallion. I don’t mourn his loss at all.” He shuddered indelicately. “I think that’s it. No one was saying much while we waited for you to come ‘round.”

“Not much of protector, am I?” Harry asked ruefully.

“The odds were against you. You might be good, but Aunt Bella is mad. Mum was her sister and she was terrified of what Aunt Bella would do to me once she was gone.” He shook his head. “Did you know the strange woman, Nymphadora Tonks, is my cousin as well? Her mum is – was sisters with mum and Aunt Bella.”

“And you never knew her?”

“Mum never mentioned her. Tonks,” he shuddered at the horrible name, “told me that her mum, Andromeda, left home at 16 to marry a merchant’s son rather than a lord’s son. They made a nice home for themselves, but she was disinherited by the Black family.”

“Mmm. Did you learn anything else?” He could feel his strength ebbing away, the prying fingers of sleep pulling him down into the comforting darkness they afforded, but he wanted, needed, to hear Draco’s voice still.

Draco studied the pirate’s face, noting the frown lines between the brows and the pale skin beneath the tan. “Weasley has the most atrocious manners,” he began, laughter in his words. As he talked, he watched the other man settle into sleep. Even when it was clear he wouldn’t stir again, Draco continued to sit at the bedside, his thin, delicate hand still clasped within a larger, tanned one.

~ * ~

“What is the meaning of this?” Prince Regent Voldemort demanded.

In front him, collapsed on the stairs leading up to his throne, was Bellatrix Lestrange. Her eyes were wide and glassy, her breathing shallow and the short, squat man beside the Prince Regent knew her to be close to death. Pettigrew shifted in his steps and worried at what his master would do. Behind the dying woman stood the few men to have survived their search for the Potter lad. ‘Not a lad any longer. He’s a man now and one with dangerous friends.’

“Your Highness, if I might call for a doctor?” Lucius Malfoy stepped forward, pale blond hair caught back in a tidy ponytail and face a mask of distaste.

“Bellatrix, darling,” the Prince Regent called, “What news have you for me? Where is Potter?”

“He escaped me, my liege. There was naught that I could do,” the woman wheezed out. “That boy,” she spat venomously, despite her lack of strength, “saved him when I would surely have killed him.” She turned her fading murderous gaze on Lucius. “My Lord, it seems my nephew has strayed from the Prince’s grace. You have done well to cut your ties with him.”

Lucius fought for control as he glared down at his late wife’s sister. “Look, my Prince, she is bleeding on your new rug.” He used his walking cane to press on the wound, opening it further. Bellatrix’s eyes grew wide with pain and he smirked. “Allow me to take out the trash, Prince Voldemort, before we begin our plans.”

“And what plans are those, Lucius?” Voldemort’s frightening red eyes narrowed dangerously and Lucius knew a moment of fear.

“Why, to put a stop to Potter’s little rebellion once and for all. Entrusting such a large task to these fools without proper guidance was an oversight on my behalf. I shall rectify the situation immediately.”

“Very well. Bellatrix, I am disappointed in you. You claimed to be my most loyal subject and yet you failed me in this. Lucius, take her-” He broke off as she made a gurgling sound and looked down upon her body with contempt. “Take her to the courtyard and leave her for the vultures.” He waved a scaly looking hand and two guardsmen leapt forward to drag her away. “Do not fail me, Lucius, or your fate shall be worse than your sister-in-law’s.”

Voldemort stepped down from his throne and swept through one of the side doors. Lucius remained where he stood for a moment, eyes staring intently at an object unseen by all but him. “I pray, Draco, that you are not caught further in this madness,” he whispered into the empty room. “God save you and that pirate of yours, for Fate has taken the matter out of my hands.”

~ * ~

tbc
- 8
- 9
- 10
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

A Pirate's Tail