Ame's Insanity (amejisuto) wrote in the_playground, @ 2008-07-22 16:53:00 |
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Entry tags: | ame's fics, drarry |
Haven HP/DM Rated R 7/?
Title: Haven
Chapter Seven
Author: amejisuto
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco, various background pairings but the main one will be Fred/George/Lee.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. .
Warnings/Squicks: Manipulative!Dumbles. I wouldn't go so far to say Weasley!bashing but um, I'm close. A few minor character deaths are mentioned, but not any of the main characters. Mpreg of secondary character. More warnings may be added as I write the story.
Summary: Harry's graduated from Hogwarts, turned eighteen and defeated a Dark Lord. Now what is he going to do with his life?
Find the previous parts here.
Beta'd by the wonderful suki_blue. Thank you dearest!
Notes: First of all, I tend to totally ignore HBP and DH. I tend to think JK lost the plot sometime halfway through OotP, but that's just my opinion. So yeah, this is a total AU after book five. Don't look for quick updates with this story, I'll try to put up a new chapter once a month. Oh, and for any HP reading that haven't read my Spander epics, I tend to suck at writing smut so there will be much on the friendship and THEN the relationship and then a tiny bit of smut. LOL Hope y'all enjoy the show!
Chapter Seven
Malfoy Manor was a diamond in the ruff of the downlands of Salisbury Plains. Located outside of the Muggle town of Amesbury, it was nested in between two rolling hills. Off in the distance there was a stand of trees, and at least one of the hills were covered in red flowers. It was a beautiful even if it was hidden in the middle of a highly populated area. It always struck Harry as odd that Malfoy Manor was in such a Muggleish, touristy area but then he realized it was probably built when the Normans first came to England, long before people started selling tee-shirts and key chains with Stonehenge on them.
The Manor itself was beautiful. Manicured laws surrounded the enormous house that gleamed white in the bright summer sunshine. There were while pillars and fancy windows that most likely had fancier names and other architectural details that Harry had no names for that made the Manor look incredibly posh.
There were no gates around the Manor, just wards, and either they recognized that Harry meant no harm to anyone in the house or at some point in time Draco had set them up to allow him in. Either way, nothing stopped him as he walked up the long gravel pathway lined with flowers and potion ingredients to the front door.
Well, Harry assumed they were potions ingredients. What else would an old Slytherin family like the Malfoy's have?
Before Harry could reach the door though, a ward stopped him and he heard a popping sound from behind him. He turned to find an androgynous house-elf in a flowered pillow case behind him. The Pillow case was clean and looked freshly ironed, and the corners were carefully pointed with made the little elf look even odder since it was too big for it and it's shoulders didn't fit into it.
"Daisy is sorry, Sir, but Master Malfoy is saying that no ones be disturbing him."
Part of Harry's mind registered the elf's name was Daisy, either that or the Malfoy elves were really weird. But most of him was worried about Draco. "Daisy, does your Master say that I can't visit him, or is it everyone he is refusing?"
The little elf twisted her hands for a moment and then started pulling at her ears in agitation. "Daisy does not know, Sir! Master say no one, but since winter no one else has come."
Harry sighed. Something was going on. "Daisy, can you get the Head House-Elf for me? I need to speak to them."
Daisy didn't acknowledge his request per say, but she did squeak and pop out of view. A few minutes later an older female appeared. Her skirt was made of dish towels, and tea towel with the Malfoy Crest had been made into a shirt.
"What can Mimsey be doing for the great Harry Potter, Sir?"
Harry smiled at the little elf's dignified greeting. "Hello, Mimsey. I'm a friend of Draco's," at least he'd thought he was. "I haven't heard from him for over a month, and I'm worried. Pansy and Blaise are out of town and Snape ... " Harry still hadn't heard from the snarky professor. He'd probably either burned Harry's letter or thought it was him being arrogant again. At least Harry knew he'd done the right thing, that was all that really mattered. "The first day of school is tomorrow and with everything that's happened I bet Snape has been so busy he hasn't had a chance to even try to talk to Draco. Tell me, is Draco all right?"
Mimsey looked at him, and Harry had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. The look on her face was a cross of Molly Weasley and pure Malfoy snobbishness. It gave Harry a kick to see that not all the Malfoy elves were downtrodden. Then again maybe it was the position of Head Elf that gave Mimsey such independence. Alfie had it too.
"Tell me, Harry Potter Sir, does you knows what happened when you killed the Bad Wizard again? To the peoples that followed Hims?"
Harry could only shrug. "I know it banished the Dark Mark from them, and released them from servitude." That was one of the reasons that Dumbledore used to force him back to the Dursley's, the fact that there were still Death Eaters loose and no one knew who they were. With a few exceptions of course.
Hopefully Pettigrew was scurrying about in the sewers somewhere. It would serve the bastard right.
"Yes, Sir Harry Potter, you released their spirits. All of their spirits." At Harry's confused look the little elf's composure broke and she started twisting her hands together worriedly. "The former Masters ... Young Master's friends. They be back."
Harry could feel the blood draining on his face. "Draco's parents are here? Are they doing something to him?" Without even thinking about it, Harry loosened the reins he kept on his magic. Normally he kept a tight control over his magic, unwilling to let others know what he was truly capable of, but if Lucius Malfoy was doing something to Draco ...
"Harry Potter Sir is not listening! Mimsey can say no more though!" Mimsey was giving him a look that said he was an idiot, but Harry didn't stop to think about it. Draco was in the Manor and either unwilling or unable to talk to him.
Harry gathered his power and started searching for a crack in the wards. If the little ferret didn't want to talk to him, he'd have to tell Harry to his face.
After Harry tore down the Manor to find the bastard.
Without even thinking about it, Harry's hand held the comforting wand of holly, and instead of trying to find a good counter-charm or hex to bring the wards down, he instead just worked on focusing his power through it. One of the magical properties of holly was the ability to tear down old authorities. Malfoy Manor was centuries old, he figured their wards counted.
It had been this type of magic that had allowed him to defeat Voldemort. The older wizard had many protections against all known hexes, curses and spells. But he couldn't protect himself from Harry's willpower. It had been that power that knocked the bastard out of his head in the Department of Mysteries and it was Harry's will that banished both his soul and his physical form from this dimension.
The wards around the estate started to glow due to the power he was channeling into them, and clouds started to encroach the sky. A wind was beginning to whip, his hair flying about his eyes. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt, so there was no cloak or robes to whirl around him and for that Harry was glad. His robes always seemed to get in his way.
Harry was so focused on the wards themselves, that he never noticed the front door opening or the pale figure standing there watching him. Beads of sweat began to trickle down his forehead and into his eyes but he ignored it in favor of trying to batter his way into the house.
Suddenly the wards were down and Harry fell forward, his magic keeping him from falling even as he worked to bring himself back under control. He didn't understand, he hadn't broken through ...
"I should have known you'd be too nosy and wouldn't just piss off."
Harry dusted himself off and glared at his friend. "Yeah, well excuse me for thinking you might be laying dead in a pool of blood or something. Here I thought we were friends. If you just wanted me to piss off you should have told me; the silent treatment doesn't really work with me."
"I'm here and I don't have a massive head wound so you can leave now."
Harry took a good look at Draco Malfoy. His hair was longer but it was slightly unkempt. Oh, it wasn't dirty or anything but it didn't have its usual luster. Draco's hair usually shone and Harry had wondered if he had some nighttime ritual of brushing it for an hour a night to get it so ... shiny. Likewise Draco's skin was still flawless but he was pale and if Harry concentrated he could see the shadows and bags under his eyes through the glamors.
And what Draco couldn't hide was his nervousness. He'd gotten jumpy after the winter hols, but by Easter he'd calmed down. Now Draco reminded him of a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Wary and waiting for something to happen.
"There's something making you hurt, Draco, so I'm not going to leave unless you throw me out on my arse. Besides, I thought you'd love to hear about the fact I've gone shopping for a new wardrobe."
Draco still made no move to invite him in, but he did give Harry a glance to see what he was wearing. "Still buying off-the-rack, eh? Still, it's better than your usual rags. I hope you haven't gone insane and done something stupid like buy a pair of leather trousers or, Merlin forbid, got a tattoo. That would be so gauche and nevue riche."
"You know, it doesn't do any good to insult me if you're going to do it in a different language."
Draco opened his mouth, most likely to argue or insult him some more but Harry stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Malfoy ... Draco ... please, tell me what's wrong. If I can, I'll help. But if you just shove me off your front step, I'll do the unthinkable."
A blond eyebrow rose as if asking just what Harry would do.
"I'll pop over to Italy and interrupt Pansy's trip and tell her that you've not been talking to anyone. Who do you think she'll blame if she has to come back here and deal with you? During fall fashion week or whatever the bloody fuck it is in Milan?"
Harry would do it too. It was either that or Pansy would find out that something was wrong with Draco and Harry hadn't done anything about it. He'd much rather have Pansy pissed off at Draco, thank you very much. He was a Gryffindor, not stupid.
That knocked the wind out of Draco's sails and the other man sagged for a moment. He then turned and walked outside, leading Harry away from the door and through the garden to a patio with fancy deck chairs and a table. Without words Draco waved for him to sit and Harry did so.
He remained quiet. Harry knew just how annoying it was when someone was pestering you to talk when you didn't have the words. The threat of Pansy had been made and now Draco would choose to say something or not.
Without anyone asking, Mimsey popped in with a jug of lemonade and some biscuits before popping away again. They were the high quality kind, with ginger and dark chocolate, and Harry got the feeling that Mimsey approved of him forcing Draco do talk.
He wasn't prepared for what he heard though.
"In a way, Potter, it's all your fault."
Harry groaned. "This I've got to hear."
"Seriously, Scarhead, do you know how difficult it is for someone to throw off the effects of the Imperious? Grown men couldn't do it, and there you are a scrawny little Fourth Year not only telling Crouch where to get off, but telling the Dark Lord to sod off as well! It just wasn't done. So Pansy, Blaise and I set about doing the same."
Draco was quiet and Harry wasn't sure what to say. Suddenly he laughed. "Figures that would be your attitude."
"What?"
"Anything you can do, I can do better; I can do anything better than you ... " Harry sung the lyrics under his breath. His primary school had put on a production of Annie Get Your Gun. It had been worth the beating he'd gotten from Dudley when caught snickering at his cousin. Obese, talentless Dudley had tried out for the part of Frank Butler, just so he could kiss Jessica Brently who was Annie Oakley. The problem was, Dudley refused to sing and dance, since that was for sissies and poofters.
Seeing Mrs. Watson, the substitute music teacher, trying to explain to the boy that it was a musical had tipped Harry over the edge and into a fit of giggles.
Draco perked up. "Exactly! Where'd you get that anyway?"
Harry waved him off. "You don't want to know."
"Still, that was exactly what I was feeling. If you could throw of the Curse, I'd learn how to do it too. I could just imagine how proud my father would be ... "
Draco fell quiet again and this time Harry waited him out. Still the hair on the back of his neck was rising. He knew how much Draco loved his father, how much he worked to make the elder Malfoy look at him with approval. Harry had never seen Malfoy Sr. even smile at his wife or son though. Maybe it was something Slytherins did in the privacy of their own homes.
Maybe Lucius Malfoy wasn't capable of it.
"It took a while. Not everyone has your hardheadedness and unwillingness to listen to people. We learned the basics of Occulmency, meditation, finding the center of our magic ... You've got to understand, Pansy and I, we've been taught since we were young to listen to our parents, to our betters ... the Dark Lord. Blaise's family, not so much but Pansy and I had been indoctrinated into the Death Eaters before we could walk. At first it was just wanting to resist the Imperious but after Father was in Azkaban, we started to think."
Draco laughed bitterly and glared at Harry. "Of course we couldn't talk to anyone, much less you. Not that you and your shadows at the time would have listened to anything we had to say."
Harry snorted. "So sorry for not looking past the death threats, you prat."
"Yeah, yeah." Draco stuck up his middle finger and Harry found himself snorting lemonade through his nose. It was so common, so Muggle, Harry was surprised that the Malfoy Heir even knew what it meant.
"You're just so smooth, Potter. No wonder people throw themselves at your feet and offer to bear your first born."
"Shut up." Harry found himself coughing up a lung and his sinuses burned from the lemon. "Fucking hell."
"Tell me, Harry, can you breathe and think at the same time?"
Finally Harry subsided. "Excuse me for being surprised that you know such a common rude gesture."
"I had to learn the language if I was going to hang out with the likes of you, didn't I?"
Harry let that go ... for now. He'd get the blond later. Right now he could tell his friend was trying to say something but was looking for any excuse not to. He was going to wait Draco out.
It felt like it had been at least an hour but it was probably only five minuets before Draco continued to talk. "You know how Lucius claimed he'd been under the Imperious? It's the truth. Sort of. You see, in order to be able to claim deniability, the Dark Lord did place him under the Curse, but Lucius was willing. The same with my mother, Pansy's parents, Crabbe's, Goyle's ... It was part of the ritual of getting the Dark Mark. Of course if you had the skills, like Professor Snape, you could break it but most of the Inner Circle didn't want to, and didn't even try."
"That led you to thinking about Voldemort, didn't it?"
"Yes. I knew I'd have to choose if I was going to serve Him or not soon. We eavesdropped that summer, after Lucius was arrested. I was angry and upset and confused why the Dark Lord wasn't doing anything for him. After all Lucius Malfoy was his right hand man, and no one was as powerful as the Dark Lord ... He could do anything." Again there was a pause. Getting this story out of Draco was like pulling teeth.
"Blaise owl-ordered one of those Extendable Ears from the Weasley Twins. They don't care whose galleons they take. We heard my Aunt Bellatrix talking to someone else, her brother-in-law I think, about how you said the Dark Lord was a Half-blood.
"She was dead within the week."
Harry couldn't find it in himself to care too much about Bellatrix. She had killed his godfather. Still it had been his words to Bellatrix that had caused her death and that left Harry feeling ...
Well, amused at the irony really. Not that he was going to say anything to Draco. If Harry was going to tell anyone it would be Neville, who had his own score to settle with Bella. The quiet boy would never say anything but it might just let him relax. They had both been nervous about the fact that no one had seen Bellatrix LeStrange and this tied up one more loose end.
"That's why I started talking to you, Potter. If Aunt Bella had been insane and just spouting off, she'd have just been Crucio'd and be done with, but instead the Dark Lord had her killed. He protested too much, there had to be a germ of truth in it."
"Then you started talking to me."
Draco nodded. "And the more I, we, learned the less we liked what we heard."
Harry found himself smiling. "I could never understand how your family followed Him. I could never imagine you submitting to anyone."
"That is something both Lucius and Abraxas forgot. A Malfoy bows before no one. My great-grandfather died somewhat young. I think Abraxas must have looked to Riddle as a friend, or a brother figure, at some point in time and possibly Slughorn as a father figure. I know that my great-grandmother coddled Abraxas, her portrait still fusses over his in the Portrait Gallery. He died of dragon pox supposedly but I sometimes wonder if he was right in the head, even before that."
Harry heard the meaning underneath that statement. While many Muggle diseases did not affect wizards, and vice versa, there were some wizarding diseases that mimicked their Muggle counterparts, including several sexually transmitted diseases. Dragon pox was sometimes used as a euphemism in polite society rather than saying the Lord of the Manor died of some variety of crotch rot.
"Still I hadn't understood, or expected to what lengths my fa-- Lucius would go to. Or Narcissa. Lucius finally bought his way out of Azkaban by Samhain of last year, as you know, and commanded me home for Yule ... I'm not some stupid Hufflepuff, I knew what they wanted, they wanted me Marked. I didn't plan on going but I forgot that while Crabbe and Goyle weren't good at thinking for themselves, they were good at taking orders. Including slipping compulsion potions in my goblet at the table. Well, actually they had a house-elf do it, but the result was the same. The two idiots plopped down on either side of me and the next thing I knew, I was on the train going home, and my former bodyguards were my keepers."
Harry tried to keep his face from showing what he was thinking. He was sure that Draco didn't want his sympathy, pity or feelings of disgust. The thought that his parents would do such a thing, and to be subject to the whims of Crabbe and Goyle ... ewww. That would be just about as bad as having Dudley order him about. And while Crabbe and Goyle weren't smart, they were Slytherin, they probably took advantage of Draco somehow on the ride home from Hogwarts.
Right then and there, Crabbe and Goyle's names went on the list Harry kept in his mind of Death Eaters to be on the look out for. Bellatrix was dead so there was room.
Draco found his biscuits interesting once again. He didn't even look up at Harry when he resumed talking. "Having some ugly tattoo from a psychotic megalomaniac wasn't my idea of a Solstice gift. The Dark Lord was intending to Mark me at a meeting on the 31st, and then send me out on my first revel. I managed to beat the potion though, days before that, and got out of my room. Crabbe and Goyle tried to stop me ... I grew up knowing about the Unforgivables, and Lucius made sure I could cast them all before Fifth Year. And I had never really considered Vincent and Greg as my friends, more like my minions ... still it was a shock to see their looks of terror as that bright green light hit them square in the chest."
Harry couldn't take it anymore and found that he was scooting the iron lawn chair he was in closer to Draco, ignoring the screech of metal on pavement. He had to do something, anything, to make this easier for his friend. He put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. It was the least he could do.
What Harry really wanted to do was pick Draco up, sit him in his lap and give him a cuddle. Which would have been odd since Draco was at least four inches taller than he was and much more muscular. He wanted to tell Draco it would be all right, but Harry couldn't promise that and he refused to give his friend false hope.
It wouldn't be alright. Draco had killed his friends.
"Funnily enough, Lucius wasn't that difficult to deal with. Arrogance I suppose. The prat assumed that my obedience was so well ingrained that I wouldn't even think of fighting him. He used Crucio at first, but then he made a mistake and switched Unforgivables."
Harry squeezed Draco's shoulder again. "He used Imperio." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes. I fought it off immediately. He didn't even notice the fact that my will was greater than his. It was sad, he didn't even put up a fight when I managed to get his own wand away from him and used the same Curse on him. Narcissa found us in his study as he was making a port key. I still haven't got the hang of making those. Surprisingly, Narcissa was the hardest to deal with. She was usually so reserved, so elegant. That night though, you could tell Narcissa was Bellatrix's sister. I swear to Merlin, I've never seen that look in her eyes before, as she Crucioed Lucius to get him aware. I was either going to stand down and swear my loyalty to the Dark Lord, to Voldemort, or I was going to die."
It was only the second time Harry could remember Draco saying Voldie's name. He was so very proud of his friend in that moment. Draco had gone against his family. He could have buckled under and been the sniveling ponce Harry and Ron had always accused him of being when they were young. Instead he's stood up for himself and fought for his life, even if it cost him his parents.
Everyone called Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, a hero, but in that moment Harry realized that Draco Malfoy was his hero. Harry could almost feel himself falling in love with this sad, lonely boy that sat so dejectedly in front of him.
Harry clamped down on the feeling hard though. He couldn't act on it. He was here as Draco's friend. For that matter he doubted the other boy could even feel anything like that for anyone right now. He was miserable. Draco had killed his family over eight months ago and had been living with it ever since.
"Does Pansy know?"
"No. At first I was afraid ... the wards at the Manor responded to me and the elves helped dispose of the ... still if the Dark Lord found out, he would have wanted revenge. The Ministry would have jumped at the chance to throw me in Azkaban, they still would. I even erased the memories of all the house-elves except Mimsey. Oh, Pansy knew I'd been dragged home. She went to Snape and then the Headmaster. Bloody bastard said there was nothing he could do for me until I stepped back onto Hogwart's grounds but 'once he returns Marked he will be offered the same protections I give Professor Snape.' As if that old coot protects Severus at all! Turned him into his lackey is more like it. Probably gave the old man a stiffie thinking he'd have me in his power as well."
Harry's nose did crinkle up then. "Okay, ick. Considering how long the Coot had me under his power I really don't want to think about that." Then Harry remembered what Mimsey said earlier, about how once Voldemort was dead, his servants spirits were set free. "Oh fucking hell! After I offed ol' Snake Face! Their spirits ..."
Draco nodded. Now that he'd told the worst of it, he seemed to be relived, as if a giant stone had dropped from his shoulders. "Yes, Malfoy Manor has four new ghosts. Crabbe and Goyle don't really bother me. Well, anymore than they did in life. They mainly wander around the Manor looking confused. Or constipated, who can tell with them. Lucius has taken to following me around, berating me over everything I'm doing that has 'Disgraced the Malfoy Name.' The tosser has a ghostly vein that pulses in his forehead when I tell him it was he who did most of the disgracing. Again it's Narcissa who is the biggest problem, she's somehow managed to come back as a poltergeist. I can't go into a bloody room without having books and vases and ink pots tossed at me. Forget trying to sleep, the bitch keeps me up all night long no matter what wards I place in my rooms."
"Merlin." Harry finally removed his hand from Draco's shoulder, and since the other boy wasn't paying attention he ran that hand through his hair on the off chance he could get the wonderful scent of Draco to stick with him for a bit.
Well, he was a randy teenage boy and while he wanted to comfort his friend, Draco did smell yummy. The twelve-year-old fangirl part of his brain wanted to take a bath in whatever cologne the blond used or do something even more stupid like buy some to spray on his pillow.
Yeah, now that the serious part of the day was over, Harry's brain was taking a vacation. To get back on track he scooted his chair away from Draco. Despite the warm summer breeze he felt somewhat colder with the added four inches between them.
"Right." Harry had to focus. "I'm going to skip over the curse breaking and banishing rituals, because I assume you're smart enough to think of that on your own ..."
"Thank you for that. I'm not stupid you know."
"You are partially stupid for staying here alone for so long. And if you'd told Snape he'd be here or you'd be back at Hogwarts or somewhere else."
"One of my ancestors in the Portrait Gallery mentioned it was a Family Curse of some sort. Something about when Malfoy turns on Malfoy ... I haven't been able to find anything in the library though."
"Yeah, but you've not been sleeping and aren't getting a moment of peace. I bet she comes into the library every time you try to figure this out, doesn't she?"
"If I didn't know better I'd say Narcissa had Banshee blood in her, as much as she's screeching."
Harry winced at the thought and remembered the portrait of Sirius's mother back at Grimmauld Place. "There might have been, somewhere in the Black Family. I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway, you need to get some proper sleep, and I bet Mimsey has been forcing you to eat but still you need a bit of a holiday. Think of something else for a bit. Then we can come up at the problem from another direction. There's no other way, you'll have to come stay with me for a bit."
"I am not staying in some tatty Muggle flat in the middle of Surrey of all places."
Harry grinned. "Too bad you've been such a prat and not answered my mail, otherwise you'd know I've moved. Just for that, you'll have to wait to see where you're staying. I'm not telling you a thing!"
Harry would have to contact Alfie and Penny, let them know they were going to have a guest. Maybe the bedrooms in the Family area of the castle would be ready, that would be nice. He just couldn't see Draco Malfoy staying in a tent, even if the tent was fancy enough for a Rajah.
The thought of having Draco over made a huge smile want to appear on his face and Harry struggled to keep it inside. He didn't want to look like an idiot or, worse, a besotted, lovesick teenager.
Still he couldn't wait until Draco saw Caer Gwydion. The look on his face was going to be priceless.
*****