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Ragnarok	By : Lomonaaeren Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male > Harry/Draco Views: 11309 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Ragnarok
- 2-Strike
- 3-Assault
- 4-Counterstrike
- 5-Backblow
- 6-Clash
- 7-Collision
- 8-Blast
- 9-Jab
- 10-Rush
- 11-Unite
- 12-And Conquer
- 8
- 9
- 10
Thank
you again for all the reviews!

Chapter Nine�Jab

�� How are we going to modify their
memories?�

�� Draco blinked in pleasure, though he
doubted that Potter could read the signals. Potter was sitting on a couch in
front of his two friends, studying them with darkened eyes. Now and then a
flick of magic, colored scarlet or gold, crept down his arm or through his
fingers. It always faded again, and so far Draco had seen no scorch marks on
the material of the couch. He saw no need to scold Potter until he did.

�� We�re going to use a combination of
lies and truth that we should prepare beforehand, so that we can feed it into
their ears while they�re still groggy and suggestible from the Obliviate,� Draco said. �Did you know
that that period, the period when someone will listen to you and implicitly
believe everything you say, is much shorter than generally acknowledged? I know
any amount of people who have been caught because they believe that they can
babble on for half-an-hour and still fool someone whose wits have returned long
since.�

�� Potter nodded, but not as if
interested in that incredible statistic. �We�ll have to tell them about my
magic, I reckon. That�s something that will probably return to them anyway when
they see us go public if we don�t.�

�� Draco tilted his head in respect
this time. �That�s not something many people know.�

�� Potter gave him a brief smile
without humor. �You forget that I�ve had to execute victims of the Obliviators
who had poor training or were in haste. The Memory Charms, when they don�t
apply them properly, slice up the mind. People have different memories at
different times, and if something reminds them of one, it tends to show up no
matter how deeply the magic should have buried it. Ron and Hermione might
suddenly remember the whole conversation when they see me if we�re not
careful.�

�� I would never apply Memory Charms
improperly,� Draco said.

�� Potter ignored the dangerous tone in
his voice. �I know that. But sometimes the charms work like that with the best
degree of skill in the world. And someone like Hermione, who makes every effort
just to find a word that she can�t
remember, is particularly prone to suddenly having the memories you thought
she�d suppress.�

�� Draco nodded slowly back. He
reckoned that he should listen to Potter if he was going to have his help.
�Very well. They have to know about your magic. That will be the reason that
you avoided contacting them for this long. Should they know about your
imprisonment by the Wizengamot?�

�� Potter stared at him. �You�re
leaving that element of the decision up to me?�
he muttered. �How generous.�

�� Draco shook his head in irritation.
�You�re the one who knows your friends. Would they accept that with the same
dreamy belief that we need them to accept everything else, or would they simply
reject it or use it as the basis for more investigation?�

�� Potter grimaced as though he�d
swallowed a piece of rotten meat. �Use it as the basis for more investigations,
almost certainly. Ron really took to the Auror training that tells you to
memorize and check into anything suspicious. And I think Hermione was born that
way. We�ll leave the idea of my avoiding them up to my guilt. After all, if
we�re going to leave them the memory of my having changed my magic with the
ritual, we can leave them the memory of my killing those Aurors.�

�� He looked so pained about it that
Draco stood up and moved across the room to him. �You have a strange sense of
guilt, Potter,� he murmured. �Here we are, ready to take over the wizarding
world, and those deaths still bother you? It�s not as though you knew what you
were doing or could control your magic.�

�� Potter was silent for some time,
eyelashes fanned across his cheeks, though now and then Draco caught a glitter
of green from beneath his eyelids. Then he took a quick breath and said, �This
is going to sound strange, but I think of my life as divided into two parts.
Before the ritual, I was one of the most moralistic people you could find, and so
I still feel guilt about the deaths I caused then. But living under the
Wizengamot killed something in me. I can do things now that the old me would have felt guilty about. But the old
memories continue to live in me.� He lifted his head. �Does that make sense?�

�� Draco bent and kissed him, tongue
leisurely exploring Potter�s mouth, hand tightening on the back of his neck.
Potter resisted after a moment, so that Draco couldn�t force him back and pin
him against the couch as he would have liked to. Potter�s tongue was darting
out, his eyes brilliant with lust and anger, and he surged up against Draco�s
restraint, taking control of the kiss.

�� Draco laughed into his mouth, and
Potter pulled back, partly offended, though with the way his gaze kept
returning to Draco�s lips, Draco thought the anger was cut through with other
emotions.

�� Listen to me,� Draco said. �I won�t
give you validation for your guilt. I can understand what you mean, and I can
offer you power and pleasure, but my faculty for sympathy has declined through
lack of use. If you work with me, then you�ll have to be the person you became
under the Wizengamot, and live as that person for the rest of your life.�

�� Potter was silent and meditative.
Then he said, �I�m afraid.�

�� Of what?� Draco demanded
incredulously. �You have the power to destroy anyone who criticizes you, to
turn them into less than ashes.� He still burned hot with envy for that
particular power, he had to admit. Simply performing the rituals wouldn�t grant
it to him, since the disastrous ritual had made a change in the nature of Potter�s
magic itself.

�� But I need the criticism,� Potter
said. �Or I thought I did. Or I�m only slowly growing used to the notion that I
don�t. I don�t know.� He had a bright, peculiar smile on his face, and he was
touching his brow as though a headache was coming on.

�� Draco had offered understanding, but
he was not sure that he understood this particular problem. �You�ve left the
need for criticism behind now?� he hazarded. �You think that you�re leaving
your conscience behind?�

�� I felt that die when I agreed to
modify Ron and Hermione�s memories,� Potter said impatiently, as though Draco
should have been in his head and known that. �But yeah. I feel frightened to go
without the criticism, but I won�t turn back now.�

�� Draco decided that was good enough, and
kissed Potter again. Potter twisted beneath the kiss like a serpent, doing his
best to bring his tongue into play, his eyes hotly gleaming.

�� Draco would have liked to have him
on the floor, but they had the Memory Charms to apply. After a few more questions
to Potter to make the story straight in his head, he raised his wand and
released Granger and Weasley from the hypnosis charm that had so far kept them
motionless.

�� As they blinked and looked up, he
whispered, �Obliviate.�

�� His strength was great enough that
the single spell hit both of them, and their jaws dropped open and their faces
softened. Draco waited precisely three heartbeats after that happened�research
had been done that showed the most powerful part of the suggestible period
didn�t begin until then�and then he murmured, �You met Potter today after ten
years of silence. He explained the ritual that corrupted his magic, making it
more powerful but only destructive, and how he avoided you because of the guilt
he felt over killing Aurors when his magic ran free. It�s guilt that leads him
to avoid you now.�

�� Three sentences, packed with
information, the kind they could handle. Draco paused and watched their faces
twitch and bound until they had absorbed the information and looked as if they
would think that was reality from now on. Draco nodded in satisfaction. It was
true that he had left out a few of the details, such as why and how they had met
Potter, but he had found it was best to leave holes. The mind would fill them
in later and make the false memories seem stronger.

�� He Stunned Weasley and Granger just when
they reached the point where they might have been able to ask questions, and
then turned to Potter as their bodies slumped over each other. �We�ll be
returning them to their homes?�

�� Yes,� Potter said. He was staring
wistfully at his friends, and Draco could see the flicker in the back of his
eyes where he, possibly, wanted things to be different.

�� But the flicker burned out, and
Draco was satisfied by the determination that took its place, though it was a
bit too self-consciously cold, as if Potter was acting the way he had heard
ruthless people should act rather than because he felt ruthless himself.

�� They were committed now.

*

�� Harry was asleep when the summons
came.

�� A loud iron bell clanged right
beside his head, and Harry sat up immediately, obedient to that sound although
it seemed a long time since he�d last heard it. The door to his room was
already opening, and he blinked and started pulling on his trousers; he usually
slept in his pants and shirt.

�� Mr. Potter?� Madam Gilfleur�s voice
was tight and throbbed at the edges, as though she was on the verge of a heart
attack.

�� Harry swallowed. This is about Malfoy. And we�re not
prepared. The only other strategy he and Malfoy had agreed on tonight was
to perform a ritual tomorrow�that was, later today. They wouldn�t rebel yet,
not until they could be sure that they had a chance of winning against the
Wizengamot.

�� Yes, ma�am,� he said, and sat up,
trying his best to smooth the tangles out of his hair and the wrinkles out of
his shirt. But when Gilfleur came pounding across the floor and into the light
of the fireplace, Harry decided she probably wasn�t going to notice such things
anyway.

�� Her hair was fuzzy with magic,
sparks popping and flaring out before they hit the floor. She wore not the
elegant robes he had seen her in a few days ago, but brilliant red-gold ones
that were thinner than normal. Harry thought she must have gone to sleep in
them and not bothered to change them before she sent the summons. Her eyes had
a kind of frantic anger in them, and Harry decided again that this was about
Malfoy.

�� Ma�am?� he repeated gently when she
halted in front of him and stared, keeping his feelings under iron control.

�� Gilfleur latched onto the title and
waved her wand, transforming her thin robes into more standard ones. Harry felt
his nostrils flare as the rush of magic swept past him. It was more powerful
than it should have been, with an edge that he had felt only twice before. He
smiled grimly. She was another user
of the rituals.

�� Listen to me,� Gilfleur said. �It
is important that you understand every word I am about to say and take them
extremely seriously. There is a threat to the wizarding world�s safety that
depends on your immediate cooperation.�

�� Yes, ma�am,� Harry said. Those were
two of the four most useful words ever invented, he thought, the other ones
being, �Yes, sir.� It sounded as though you were swearing obedience when you
were really just acknowledging that you heard someone else. He thought of
trying for an encouraging smile and decided against it. Gilfleur might calm
down and think that was suspicious.

�� I thought we had more time before
we must deal with this,� said Gilfleur, apparently to herself. �But I should
have known better.�

�� Ma�am?� Harry made sure that he
seemed as alert, courteous, and deadly as possible, considering that he was
still sitting in bed with bare feet and hair that probably looked like it had
been through a war.

�� Gilfleur pulled herself back
together with a visible jerk and took a breath that seemed to vibrate through
her body. �I need you to execute someone,� she said. �You will need to destroy
powerful wards to reach him and make sure that you don�t alert anyone else. His
house is not near any Muggles�, luckily, so you won�t have to shield against
their notice.�

�� Keep
your face still, Harry snapped to himself, and hoped that he really was. He
had never been as good at controlling his expressions and emotions as Malfoy
seemed to think he should be. �Yes, ma�am,� he said. �What�s the name?�

�� Draco Malfoy.�

�� It�s
coming. It�s here. The only question now is whether I pretend to go along with
her crazy plan and then go and warn Malfoy so we can figure out what to do
next, or whether I make sure that she doesn�t get the chance to propose
something like this again. Harry knew the Wizengamot had other enforcers,
though not ones as deadly as him, and Gilfleur might have decided to send extra
people against Malfoy since, from what he had said, she was aware of his extra
magic.

�� Yes, ma�am,� he said, and gave up
the option of an immediate kill. He simply didn�t know enough. Maybe other
people on the Wizengamot wanted Malfoy dead, too, and would be suspicious if
Gilfleur didn�t reappear. �Give me time to get dressed, and I�ll go.�

�� Gilfleur�s fear, and the dulling of
her senses and mind by her fear, seemed to have worn off. She narrowed her eyes
and cocked her head. �What�� she began, but answered her own question before
she got that far. �Why do you not need directions to Malfoy Manor?�

�� Harry gave her a wide smile. �I was
there during the war, ma�am. Bellatrix Lestrange tortured one of my best
friends there, and another friend, a house-elf who helped us, died in the
escape. I�m not likely to forget.�

�� Ah.� The cloud on Gilfleur�s brow
eased. �Of course.� Then it bent down again. �But you should need directions in
how to destroy wards.�

�� I�ve done that plenty of times,
ma�am,� Harry said, still smiling, and hoping that the edge he thought was creeping into his tone
really wasn�t. �And as powerful as I remember the wards on Malfoy Manor being
during the war, I haven�t found anything yet that can stand up to my magic.� He
extended a hand in demonstration, although he didn�t lift it high enough for
her to feel threatened, and destroyed part of the mantle above the fireplace.
So close was he and so precisely focused was his magic that the mantle simply
blinked into nonexistence, rather than going through a cloud of dust or ashes
first.

�� Gilfleur nodded, but she left the
room with several suspicious glances backwards. Harry stayed sitting in the bed
until she was gone. He wasn�t going to rise to his feet in front of this woman
when he had no trousers on.

�� He paused in surprise when he
realized that, though. A few weeks ago, he wouldn�t have cared. What did he
have to be modest about? With no lover in ten years and with employers who
thought of him as a thing, not a human being, he probably could have danced
naked through the room without a concern about who was in it.

�� But
I have a lover now.

�� Harry offered another grim smile up
to the empty air of the room and the force of his own thoughts, and then rose
to dress.

*

�� A tremble of magic, a wedge driven
through his wards, woke Draco in a hurry. He had prepared emergency measures
for what might happen if one of his enemies attacked long ago. He only had to
flick his wand once to dress himself and then reach his hand out to clasp the
enchanted knife on the bedside table.

�� As his hand came to rest on the
hilt, however, he tasted a familiar flavor to the magic and narrowed his eyes. Who could have convinced Potter to change
his allegiance to them in a single evening?

�� Potter appeared in his bedroom a
short time later. Draco saw no reason to move, although he had undressed
himself with another flick of his wand. Nakedness could be advantageous with
this particular foe, and the knife would be in reach if he could not persuade
Potter otherwise.

�� I�m sorry I had to do that to your
wards,� Potter said, which rather put paid to the idea of his having changed
loyalties. Draco smiled and took his hand off the knife. Potter�s eyes followed
the movement, but he didn�t ask for reasons. �But I had to convince anyone
watching from the Wizengamot that I had actually destroyed them, and that I was
coming here to destroy you.�

�� Draco nodded. �Gilfleur came to you
and requested a formal execution?�

�� Yes. And she was suspicious as to
why I didn�t need directions to the Manor or instructions on how to burst
through your wards. The disruption of the wards is for her.� Potter tilted his
head to the side, eyes so wild that Draco almost felt the need to rise from the
bed and calm him. But Potter would be of no use to him without some elementary
self-control, so he stayed still. �What do you want to do?�

�� Draco closed his eyes and thought.
He was in no position to begin the rebellion at this moment; he needed more
rituals performed to heighten his magic, and Potter needed, at the very least, a
ritual to give him more restraint. They could, perhaps, perform those tonight,
but they would be rushed and hasty, and Potter was a living example of what
could happen when a ritual went wrong because of a mistake�and lucky to be a
living one, at that. No, there was no way it could be done.

�� The best solution was to lean on
what he knew of the precautions Gilfleur had taken to conceal her magic, and,
with it, doubtless the source of her enmity to him. Without revealing her
heightened power, she had only weak excuses to offer Risidell, such as Draco
enjoying his new position too much or his feud with Kellerston. That meant
Risidell and other Wizengamot members were unlikely to have agreed that Potter
should kill Draco.

�� We turn her trap back on her,� he murmured.
�We kill her. Tonight.�

�� Potter�s silence made Draco open his
eyes. Potter was staring at him, body so still that Draco felt the stillness as
a painful lump in his own belly. Then Potter�s eyes melted back into some of
their brilliance and wildness, and Draco could breathe more easily. He frowned,
wondering if that stillness was a mark of the weapon the Wizengamot had tried
to make Potter into. He already knew that he would do a great deal not to have
to see it again.

�� So you want me to act as executioner,�
Potter said. �As I did for them.�

�� You need a course in grammar,�
Draco snapped, and slid fluidly from under the sheets of the bed. Potter�s eyes
widened. Draco turned his back deliberately and conjured pants and robes that
would cover him. He saw no need to wear more than that on such a short
expedition. �Pronouns are important. I said we
are going to kill her.�

�� Oh,� Potter said.

�� Draco shook his head and refused to
turn around until he was completely dressed and had smoothed the wrinkles out
of his robes. Then he smiled at Potter, and didn�t care it was the kind of
smile Potter knew well enough to flinch from. �What? Did you think that I would
let you go alone? That I would use you as they did?�

�� Potter gave him a look as sarcastic
as his smile. �I think you�re certainly capable
of it.�

�� Ah,� Draco said. �But I want you as
an ally. Using you as a weapon would hurt that aspect of our relationship.�

�� Potter muttered something that Draco
couldn�t hear clearly, and gave him a dubious look. �Do you think we can kill
her tonight? She may be prepared if I return too early�or what she thinks is
too early�and if she sensed your magic when you didn�t mean her to. She might
feel us coming.�

�� I think we can,� Draco said, and
reached out to put a hand on Potter�s arm, calling his magic up as he had done
other times. Potter�s eyes became those of a lazy cat who had seen a mouse dart
across the floor once too often. Draco smiled and flexed his fingers, sending
individual jabs of magic like lightning deep into Potter�s veins. It was a
trick he had used on one lover previously, but that man hadn�t had anything
like Potter�s power or sensitivity to power. These results should be
entertaining.

�� Potter gasped, his lovely eyes
opening wide enough to satisfy Draco�s deepest dreams of drowning in that
green, and then shutting again. A low sound made its way out of his throat.
Draco didn�t know whether it was a growl, a purr, or something fiercer than
either. Potter leaned nearer and fastened his teeth in the shoulder that
Draco�s robes left exposed.

�� Draco had to shut his eyes. The rush
he felt from feeling those teeth lock home was hard enough to make him hard, the blood surging,
dancing, rearing up in a cascade of sparks and then falling like colored rain
over his head.

�� Do that again,� he whispered, �and
we won�t make it out of here.�

�� Potter stepped back. Draco opened
his eyes in disbelief, and found the bastard smirking at him.

�� Well, I wouldn�t want to do that,�
Potter said. �Since we do have a
Wizengamot member to kill and all.�

�� And he turned, and walked away with
his smugness trailing behind him like a banner.

�� Draco decided that the most
effective way to get what he wanted was simply to pick his jaw up and follow.
The sooner Gilfleur was dead, the sooner he could go to bed with Potter.

*

�� polka dot: Harry hoped they might
propose a course of action that he could honestly adopt.

�� SP777: No. Geas is a word from
Celtic myth that I became acquainted with through looking at the myths.

�� Ron may have been able to come up
with a better thing to do, given time, but he�s not going to get that time now.

�� W�lkchen: I can understand what you�re
saying, but one way or another, the old Harry is gone. The only alternative he
has is to die, apparently. He hoped that Ron and Hermione would come up with a
plan that could help him, but they�re not going to do things in a way that they
can keep secret from the Wizengamot, and his ten years acting as an executioner
have changed him. He probably can�t go back to the way he was.

�� purple-er: You�re welcome!
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