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

Chapter List
- 96
- 97
- 98
[Note: conversation =: “speech” & ‘thoughts’ & *telepathy* & #Parseltongue# & {telephone}]
~~~ SEASIDE ~~~
Tuesday of the half term holiday had the two Blakes felt quite chipper; probably because they had had a long lie in.
“Let’s see if we can connect Guéthary to the Portal system,” suggested Harry: “We have a few days left this week to relax in and I fancy you teaching me how to surf. I’d rather like to use the new cabinet we’ve gained.”
“Isn’t it too early to be trying again?”
“Yesterday wasn’t that taxing? If we make it, our friends could enjoy their holidays there as well.”
I’m a bit worried, I’m sure that there must be an upper limit to portals. My suspicion is that it will be ninety-one magi leagues.”
“Why’s that?”
“The upper limit of the multiplier of two of the three base numbers.”
“Arithmancy again, is it … Let me see … seven into ninety-one … That’s thirteen, isn’t that unlucky?”
“No … Why do you think that?”
“Muggle upbringing … Um … I suppose it’s their aversion to things magical.”
“Quite likely! You see I know that the upper range of cabinets is thirty nine – three times thirteen.”
“That leaves twenty-one … That must be a deadline too.”
“Yes … You should know it; after all you’re a Quidditch player … Speed of a broomstick.”
“Of course, well over a mile a minute, in muggle terms. Quite exhilarating! C’mon, we’re getting side-tracked.”
“So we were … Hmm let’s get a map out and see where ninety-one magi-leagues lands us.”
They needed a map that showed enough detail, but did not need a Quidditch pitch to spread it out on. In the end they opted for an atlas and a local sheet of the area. Of course the ones in the Duindhu library were the best. They set the divider to the required distance; put a map pin on Le Chateau’s position and another on Guéthary.
“I don’t think we could stretch the portal distance that far, Harry.”
“There’s nothing written about the portals … Um … what’s the total distance?”
“Hmm … One Hundred and twenty-eight magi-leagues.”
“So, if your theory is correct, that gives us a leeway of two magi-leagues … Um … That roughly equals one portal plus one cabinet. So if we had an island in the River Vienne we could use it as a staging post … Um … Lussac-les-Chateaux is almost on the straight line between the two”
Draco looked dreamy: “Hmm … Lussac-les-Chateaux … That rings a bell … Hmm … Something about an Island … Hmm … Merlin, I wish I could remember.”
“Why not ask Defrag?”
Defrag was summoned and questioned: “It was close to where a battle in the Hundred Years War was fought, Masters. The Malfoys were part of the defeated English army. There’s still a tiny bit of the old French possessions left. Master Draco, I’m surprised you don’t remember it.”
“Sorry Defrag, it’s buzzing around in my brain, but I cannot recall it.”
“L’Isle de Gétorac, Master. The defeated Malfoy lord and his group retired there and put up an occlusion, nearly killing himself through the effort. It wasn’t very big, so once the French had gone away, his retainers escaped with him to Guéthary where he recovered from his wounds before sailing back to England. That Island was never officially ceded to France – that is if they could find it behind its occlusion. Do you remember being taken to Chauvigny as a child?”
“Not really, why?”
“There was a vanishing cabinet on the Island connected to La Maison … Mmm … Maybe it was your grandfather taking your father and not you. They would take a boat down river; the outing would last all day. I was a young elf then, we looked after the boat when they went shopping in Chauvigny.”
“So, if we could find the Island, Draco,” Harry sounded excited: “We could include La Maison at Guéthary in the wards. Take the remaining pair of cabinets and make them into a portal from here to the island and use the Malfoy cabinets from there on.”
“It’s an idea … Oh … Maybe that’s where father is holed-out, L’Isle de Gétorac, I mean.”
“From what I remember, Masters. There was a small shelter with a brick fireplace, more to keep the rain or the sun off than for living in. Twenty of the family including the elves made it feel crowded. The island was shrouded with trees. It’ll be a jungle by now.”
“So, we need to check out the island first. If there are no satraps, we look for the shelter and a vanishing cabinet. If it’s there we check that it works. If it does, then we can connect our seaside villa.”
"Hang on … We need to be sure that La Maison is satrap-free, first.”
“Quite right Harry … Hmm … I’m recognised in France as head of house now, so I should be able to summon the chamberlain.”
“It’s Nigèrre, Master.”
“Thank you … Nigèrre!”
Pop: “Maîtres bonjour.”
“En Anglais, s’il vous plait Nigèrre. Mon Conjoint n’a pas français.”
“Votre Conjoint Maître, tu es sur?”
“Yes, Nigèrre, quite sure, he is Harry Potter.”
“Zut alores! What an honour to meet you Master-who-lived-twice. How can I be helping you?” The elf kept looking from one to the other as if unsure who to regard as the prime mage.
H: *I think I’ve heard this conversation before*.
D: *Yes, very much the same*. “Nigèrre, is my father or any of his satraps in residence at La Maison?”
“No Master. No-one has visited for over four years.”
“Do you know of a vanishing cabinet in the house?”
“Yes Master, it used to lead to L’Isle de Gétorac.”
“Where does it lead now?”
“You misunderstand me master; it has not been used since before your Grandfather died. Your Father was nearly drowned there when on a picnic, he had it boarded up.”
“I understand.” *Because of that it’ll not be likely he’s hiding out there*.
H: *We still need to check; it could be a camouflage or subterfuge to stop us looking*.
“Why are they silent, Defrag?”
D: *Very well, we’d better go to Lussac. I wonder if there’s a railway station*.
“Kreacher, their Reeve says that they communicate brain-to-brain.”
H: *Why by train? It won’t have a steam engine*.
“That’s quite an achievement. They must be very strong.”
D: *I was thinking of appearing to be muggles, in case he’s around there somewhere. That aura hiding charm you invented would help*.
“Purple pair, from what Elder Kreacher says.”
H: *It’s still experimental, you know*.
D: *So this could be a field trial, couldn’t it*? “Defrag, where is the nearest railway station, please?”
“At Mézy, Master; your Mother knows the squib station-master there. Madam Lapalme has a muggle telephone if you want to use it.”
“Thank you, Defrag.”
“I’d like to get Herms involved; she has some kind of theory on thaumic power lines.”
“Why not, Father may be looking for two mages snooping around. Nigèrre, when you return to La Maison, please unblock the vanishing cabinet. However only make it open when Harry or I are present in the other one. Make so that we can lift the block if we find that everything is alright.”
“Yes Master,” Nigèrre collected hair samples from both Blakes and popped away.
When they found her, Hermione looked slightly put-out, but even so; they asked her.
“Thanks, I’d love to. Ron’s gone to a treatment centre for two days. It’s to get his muscles working properly – no girlfriends or wives allowed. Do you think we could get Probes involved, he’s very interested in wards and goblins know a lot about travel thaums? He’s been helping me with the ley line theory.”
“Fine, why not?” Harry replied with Draco nodding affirmatively.
###
Probert was at his parents’ post office.
“Our present thinking says that once a node is formed, it attracts portal making thaums,” Probert informed them, as they walked back to the cottage: “We can measure the magical activity at the nodes and it builds up towards the thaumic equinoxes. In the weeks either side of that the travel thaums are at their most potent. There are also minor fluxes just after the new moon.
“So when was the new moon?”
“Yesterday Harry.”
“That’s probably why we could make the cabinets into portals. What exactly is a node, Probert?”
“You create them when you join two portals at the same place. Thus the Cottage, Number Twelve, the Mill and the shop are all nodes. We have a theory that parallels them with ley lines, only those lines have much smaller distances between nodes.”
“So what about Guéthary?” asked Draco.
“It’s on the Avebury to Cartagena ley line where it crosses the Santiago to Florence ley line and we suspect there’s another one from Lisbon to Chaumont. However, that’s too far for you two to communicate; isn’t it?”
“How far is it then?”
“Something like two-hundred and sixty-two magi-leagues.”
“That’s as long as Hogwarts to the Burrow. We’ve tried and we can’t hear each other at that distance. We think it’s one-hundred and sixty-nine magi-leagues – thirteen times thirteen.”
“What you need is a staging node; it needs nothing more than a cupboard halfway.”
“Fine … That’s where Draco’s island comes in.”
“Where’s that?”
“In the River Vienne.”
“We have a good set of maps at the Chateau.”
They all ported there and had a map of Europe out that more than covered the dining table. With pins and string they set about plotting ley lines.
“The Manor’s close to Avebury and I bet the Draigdu Temple is another ley node too.”
“Quite right, Draco; the standing stone in the Hogwarts grounds is another. Note that your portal nodes are adjacent to ley-junctions, not directly upon them. The same holds for the route theory, of which one striking example is Watling Street where it crosses the English midlands running parallel with a ley line; although our theoretical power line is on the other side.”
“Why are these lines so important, Probes?”
“One theory is that they were ancient direct routes marked by holy places, stones and hill notches. Another theory, one which we favour, is that they are lines of travel-thaum power. So the correct place for the lines to cross at Guéthary should probably be the church. So far all the portals you have made seem to closely parallel ley lines.”
“La Maison is almost alongside the church.”
“That’s all very well but we haven’t checked out the island staging node yet.”
“What’s its name?”
“L’Isle de Gétorac”
“There’re some unidentified islands there.” Hermione pointed on the map.
They agreed that as a staging post they were just in the right place. There was even a ley line crossing at a marked dolmen nearby.
“We’ve developed a travel-thaum tester, would one of you like to come to Guéthary with us and see if there is a ley-junction there?”
“After we’ve investigated L’Isle de Gétorac, yes.”
After lunch, Hermione and Probert went to get their equipment, while Narcissa went with D&H to see the station master. He had a child at Beauxbatons, and that was one reason why he knew Draco’s mother and Madame Delacour. He suggested that the travellers went to Chateau-Thierry – the next station towards Paris – to start their journey. There was a long catch-up conversation until tea-time, including tickets being booked for the following day. He also telephoned his counterpart at Lussac whose wife ran a small pension and arranged for them to be booked in for two nights.
Their timetable caught the local train from Chateau-Thierry at ten o’clock. They took the Métro from Paris Est to Montparnasse stations where a fast train left at twelve-thirty. A quarter of an hour change at Poitiers had them in Lussac by a quarter to five.
###
They were met in Lussac by a charming couple, he in his uniform and she in a delightful flowered dress. La Maison des Fleurs was in Rue de la Chateau and had a garden terrace above the road that gave the impression of overlooking the lake and the ruins directly. After a quick exploration of the town the quartet were happy to share in an evening meal under a trellis of vines. The main subject of conversation were umbrellas, of which Madame had quite a collection; all made locally.
The following morning had them in hiking boots and walking northwards along the river bank. The track was gravelled and had delightful hedges on both sides. The trouble was that they only gave glimpses of the river. They found a long island which appeared to have been quarried at one time, but now was covered in creepers. Draco tried his blood-call on it, but there was no response.
They had walked for about two hours when Harry felt an ancient emanation. He drew the company’s attention to it, so they slowed their walking down. The feeling grew stronger and then began to fade.
“Stop, we should go back a quarter of a mile; it’s getting weaker.”
They did so and, once Harry said the signal was the strongest, scrambled through the bushes to the water’s edge. On the other side of the river appeared a wooded island. Draco tried out his blood call. To their amazement there was a flicker and the island was now on this side of the river.
“Some concealment, that,” remarked Probert: “I bet, from the other bank, it appears over here. Are there any negative thaums, Draco?”
“No, exactly the opposite it feels as though I’m welcome.” Draco fished the duple broom out of his pocket and resized it: “C’mon Harry jump on.”
“Be careful Guys.”
“Yes Herms, we’re going to use the vanishing cloak.” There was a swish of cloth and the pair of mages disappeared from sight.
The banks of L’Isle Gétorac were surrounded by an almost impenetrable forest of birches with holly and brambles growing beneath them. In the centre there was an overgrown clearing which held a rustic roof supported by two wooden pillars and a brick built wall containing a fireplace; there were no other walls. Whilst hovering they saw, on a nearby hill, a small dolmen, as Probert had suggested might be expected. D&H carefully reconnoitred the area before landing.
“I don’t remember any of this,” said Draco: “I think Defrag was recalling Father as a child. Let’s get the others.”
Once the party was in the clearing Probert and Hermione checked and brought the wards up-to-date; marvelling that not all the ancient thaums had leaked away. Meanwhile D&H were clearing drifted leaves and broken branches away from the shelter. On one side of the fireplace there appeared to be a pile of logs, stacked as if to be kept dry in the corner between the short wall and the side of the fireplace.
“That’s where it’s most likely to be, Draco.”
“Yes, I agree, but where’s the door.”
“Revelio Armarium!” Hermione waved her wand suitably.
A vanishing cabinet melted into sight.
“Honestly Boys! Try the simple idea first.”
“Last used in about twenty-five years ago,” Draco remarked, showing Harry an old newspaper that had been trapped under the logs.
“Fine … Let’s check the cabinet to Guéthary is secure.”
“Yes; if you like.” Draco entered the cabinet.
###
Within a minute Draco inhabited Harry’s consciousness saying that all was clear. Quarter of an hour later, after being greeted by Nigèrre, the two Blakes and their guests sat on the terrace, overlooking the beach at Guéthary, eating the excellent picnic Madame had supplied. After a suitable post prandial pause, all four of them were for trying out surfboards, but a cold drizzle set in. So they sat and chatted around a newly lit fire in the lounge. It was probably a good thing, because D&H had already expended quite an amount of energy.
Half-past four had them using the cabinets to regain L’Isle de Gétorac and the road. It took less time going back because they were not stopping to search for Islands and emanations. Just after six they arrived at le Pension des Fleurs.
Madame saw them glowing: “Have you taken too much sun, my dears?”
“We had a marvellous time thank you and found some trees to shade us whilst we ate your excellent picnic, thank you.”
D: *I didn’t know Hermione could lie like that*.
H: *She’s friendly with a certain Slytherin now, maybe it’s catching*?
Even so, Draco produced a sun-salve potion from his bead bag and all four of them carefully applied it in the privacy of the bedrooms.
In the morning after breakfast – “We will be continuing our walking tomorrow and hope to find somewhere to stay further down river,” Draco lied with a straight face whilst paying Madame: “Thank you very much for your hospitality, the beds were very comfortable and the food excellent.”
He left with a list of known pensions in the valley. Reaching the island mid-morning they assembled in the clearing and mass-apparated to the Chateau des Sorciers. Hermione and Probert returned to Godric’s Hollow. It was Harry’s turn to apparate so, after they had carried the pair of miniaturised cabinets in a stasis box to the chateau, He took one of the pair to L’Isle. After recovery time sitting on the river bank he revealed the cabinet and opened its door; entering without chanting the travelling charm. He advised Draco where he was and Draco took the stasis box into the focus cupboard.
The ‘whump’ had an echo this time.
H: *We’ve made them both into portals*.
D: *I feel dizzy*.
H: *So do I. Ask Defrag for three dozen chocolate fancies, please*.
D: *He’s here with four dozen. Winky’s made some special chocolate for us. Defrags mugs now resemble vases*.
Still chuckling, Harry stumbled out of the portal.
The afternoon was spent sitting under a rose arbour in the sunlight. They ate the four dozen in relays, snoozing gently in between snacking.
###
At about five they ported back to the cottage to be met by some very curious Dumbledorians.
“So you’re saying that in less than quarter of an hour we can be on the south coast of France?”
“Not the south coast, Seamus, but the south of the Atlantic coast, quite close to the Spanish Border.”
“Somewhere near Perpignan,” Dean suggested.
“Other end of the Pyrenees, Near Biarritz,” Draco corrected.
“Got it – Is it warm enough for a beach party?”
“OH YES PLEASE,” prompted the others.
It took three quarters of an hour to hand everyone through. Kreacher covered Number Twelve to the chateau; Harry covered the chateau to L’Isle, and Draco the last portion. Luckily not all the Dumbledorians were present. There were enough to fill the house plus a few more, but not enough to alert the muggles by excessive numbers because D&H had heeded John’s earlier warning. They never reached the beach, for the weather had turned overcast and uninviting. Instead they enjoyed the view from the wide terrace that the house stood upon; there was a glass canopy to sit under when it started to spit with rain. Dean and Seamus started to plan extra rooms, mainly by division of the ones already there. Narcissa put her foot down about dividing her room, as did Harry and Draco in their almost attic room which had a small covered balcony overlooking the beach. Pullet and Phealey appropriated the space adjoining, and made a snug holiday accommodation there; using D&H’s balcony for access.
###
Early on Thursday morning Harry thought he felt a slight rumble beneath them. It didn’t wake up Draco. The Gryff probably would not have heard it either, but for the fact he had woken to have a pee. In the morning he spoke to Nigèrre about it.
“Yes Master you did hear a rumble. It was a tour train backing into the siding beneath us. It’s only used by the very exclusive companies. Will you excuse me, I need to put on my muggle persona and see if any of their guests would like some surfing instruction. You see: Master Abraxas, Master Draco’s grandfather, suggested that when the family was not in residence; we should be seen as muggles inhabiting the place. I happen to be good at surfing so I took up instructing as part of the illusion. I will return and explain more, if you don’t mind.”
“No, you do what has been arranged, I doubt we will want to change things too much.”
“I agree with Harry. After breakfast we’ll have a look around the property.”
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