A Wing And A Prayer Harry/Draco/Severus Rated R 5/?
YAY! A new chapter, wherein I embrace the cliche! HEE!
Title: A Wing And A Prayer Author: amejistuo Fandom: Harry Potter with a hint of a crossover to be reveled at a later date. Pairing: Eventual Harry/Draco/Severus 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: Total break from canon after OotP. Misguided!Dumbles, Not so good!Order, bad language and misuse of feathers. Abuse of Chalk Horses. Watch out for a Snickering!Snape as well, although he's usually laughing AT Harry, not with him so hopefully he's not too OOC. Summary: Harry's about to turn seventeen and is planning on making a few changes. Problem is, there are certain changes he isn't expecting, and they'll alter his life more than he could have ever imagined. Find the previous parts here. Beta'd by the wonderful suki_blue. Thank you dearest!
Notes: First things first, while this is a Harry has wings fic, it is NOT a Vanterra or Veela fic. He's got wings for a totally different reason, but the reason will be reveled later on in the fic. You'll figure it out with Harry. I do have to admit that a lot of the ideas of how Harry looks, wingspan, weight, height, all that good stuff, comes from three different sources. One is Warren Worthington III, also know to X-men fans as Angel. Another is Carter Hall, aka Hawkman.
The third is a secret, because I'm using bits of that fandom for a crossover. Not any characters or anything but for historical background.
This is gonna be another slow story folks. I'll be updating about once a month. And yet again I ignore the last two books pretty much altogether. I may use some bits of, say, Severus's back story with Lilly, but there isn't any horcruxes and there was never any oath between Severus and Narcissa to keep Draco safe. Sorry folks, but the last two books aren't my favorite. For god's sake JK made Draco BALD! That's just so wrong.
Chapter Five
Harry saw a gyrfalcon on one of the perches in the aviary of Malfoy Manor and found himself in a state of confusion. "I thought you were Magus."
Draco followed his gaze and snorted. "What use is a disguise if there isn't a real bird to help me follow through with it? Severus has several rooks actually, and they're all quite intelligent. I think one of them is supposed to follow you and tell him when you’re out of the Lion's Den at night."
Harry laughed. "That bastard! I should have known. Still, your bird looks just like you, or your Animagus form looks just like your bird, I'm not sure which it should be. How did you do that?'
Draco wrinkled his nose and looked around. "Get your owl and let's go out to the back garden. Despite the house-elves cleaning this place constantly, it still smells of birds."
Harry looked around the aviary. Malfoy Manor had a flock of impressive post owls of different breeds and sizes, plus Magus and two other predatory birds that Harry assumed had belonged to Draco's parents. And sure enough, there were three or four rooks mixed in, watching him from the shadows. There were even a few exotic birds, parrots and the like. While there was the general smell of birds, there were no droppings on the floor and the perches and the water dishes were clean and fresh.
Harry held up his arm and gave a short whistle and from one of the corners, near one of the ravens, a white shadow disengaged herself and soared down. Harry grinned at his friend. "Hey there, girl, you liking it here okay? Hot and cold running mice for you to catch?"
Hedwig blinked at him and gave a short little hiss. As a Snowy Owl, Hedwig didn't hoot really, her loud call was more of a barking sound. Most of the time though she clicked her beak at him or hissed, the loud cackles and shrieks of her breed being too loud and conspicuous at the Dursley's. They had both got used to being as quiet as possible, so as not to draw attention.
Hedwig was also more of a daytime owl. Hermione had told him the fancy name for it once but Harry couldn't remember. All he knew was that Hedwig was usually awake when Harry was, which was nice because they were able to keep each other company. He didn't know what he'd do without Hedwig; she kept him sane when no one else even noticed he was upset.
"If you're quite finished cuddling your owl, let's get out of here. I'm allergic to feathers."
Harry glared at the blond. "You are not! Your bloody Animagus form is a bird for fuck's sake!" Then Harry gave a wicked grin. "You're just jealous I like Hedwig better than you!"
The owl in question preened and fluffed up all her feathers in pride and both boys laughed at her as they exited the aviary. As soon as they left the building, Hedwig took wing but flew just a few feet in front of Harry and Draco, almost as if she was trying to show Harry how it was done.
They were following a gravel strewn path on the west side of the house to one of the lawns that was clear of any trees or bushes. Draco had said that it was used for croquet at one time, but Harry couldn't see the other boy running around after the ball.
Running around trying to hit people with his mallet was more Draco's style. Probably why there weren't any wickets up.
"Magus didn't look quite like my form when I bought him. I did, however, wait to see what exactly my form looked like to purchase him. There's a potion that will bind a wizard's familiar to them, give them greater intelligence, a longer life span and it sort of makes them whatever their wizard needs in a familiar. It's commonly used ..." Draco trailed off and looked over his shoulder. "And by the look on your face no one has actually told you this before. Damn. Well, no worries, I have some extra, I'll just have the house-elf fetch one of the bottles." They had reached the lawn, and the pavilion Draco had ordered the elves to set up. It was a linen colored awning like tent with the sides open. Two deck chairs and a small table with refreshments sat in the middle.
"Wow. This is posh!"
"No, you've been deprived. Now, I'm just here to make sure you don't break your brain, not that that's possible considering how thick your skull is. So ... flap your wings or whatever and get flying."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Wow, thanks for the encouragement, I feel like floating away just listening to you."
Draco just waved him away and picked up a glass of water. "Fly away, birdie."
"Bastard." Harry ignored the irritating blond and walked to a clear area. This was a good place to practice flying, the grass was soft and springy and while there were trees around the clearing, if he fell there was a good chance he wouldn't hit anything.
Harry thought for a moment and then took his wand out of his pocket. If he crashed he didn't want to break it, or worse, hex his knackers. He also slipped of his shoes and the shirt Draco had given him to wear. It was transfigured around his wings but Harry didn't want anything restricting him. He bundled them up and put them out of the way.
Then, for the first time really, Harry unfurled his wings and stretched them as far out as they would go. It felt bloody wonderful! Like stretching after a good sleep. The warm sun felt wonderful as well, and Harry turned his face up to look at the bright blue August sky.
He then jumped when something flickered over his eyes. He looked down and they seemed the same but when he looked up it felt like something was covering them. He could see clearly though, so he didn't get it.
Hedwig took advantage of his wings still being stretched out and landed on one, blinking at him rapidly. "What? They're supposed to be there?" Harry vaguely remembered a report for primary school about how some birds of prey had extra eyelids to keep the sun out of their eyes. Hawks had deep set eyes for that reason as well. "Damn. I guess I know why my eyebrows look like hedges then. Blast." It was more creature traits to hide. And he so wasn't going to pluck his eyebrows like Draco suggested, the poofter.
Harry shrugged it off for now. He didn't really want to hide his wings or his eyes to tell the truth. They were part of him now, and he was tired of hiding exactly who he was. He turned his face to the sky again and enjoyed the fact that he could see in the bright sunshine without being blinded. Hedwig bounced a couple of times on his wing and then took off slowly, showing him just exactly how her wings worked before flying up a few hundred feet and circling overhead.
"Here goes nothing." He flapped his wings a few times to get the feel of it and then suddenly found himself in the air.
If just stretching his wings felt good, flying was orgasmic.
It was a million times better than flying on his broom. There weren’t words for how wonderful it was. He finally rose high enough that Malfoy Manor looked like a child's toy on a blanket of greens and golds. He circled a few moments, following Hedwig in a short game of tag before flying back down and landing carefully, bending his knees to absorb his weight.
Harry's face ached from grinning and he was a bit out of breath, but that didn't stop Harry from running to where Draco was sitting, throwing himself into the other chair in his exuberance and nearly pulling off his own wing.
He ignored it though. He was just too excited to care.
"Did you see that, Draco! It was fucking brilliant!"
Draco gave him an actual smile. "It is, isn't it? I don't think I'll ever forget my first flight in my Animagus form. That's why I let you go this one alone."
"You so need to come with me the next run. I stopped because I wasn't too sure about just, you know, flying away and worrying you, but if you come with me then you won't worry. And if I go too far I won't get lost. Maybe the Professor can come with us once he's finished making Dumbledore think he's looking for me. And boy does that sound odd."
"Later, first we need to get you and your birdie taken care of. Here, catch." Draco tossed a small dram bottle and Harry's eyes automatically tracked it and his hand snatched it out of the air. "Good to know sprouting wings hasn’t diminished your Seeking abilities."
"Ha! You wish!" Harry looked at the amber bottle. "This is supposed to do ... what exactly?" He wasn't giving anything to Hedwig that he didn't know about. He might be willing to risk his own health and down anything Draco or Snape gave him, but he wouldn't do that to Hedwig.
"Really, Harry, it isn't as if I want to poison her. You on the other hand ..." Harry glared and Draco smirked. "Seriously, what it does is sort of bond a wizard to his familiar. For instance, Magus will come when I call him mentally, and while he can't quite communicate in words he can show me pictures of what he's seeing. It also changed the pattern of his plumage to match mine when I'm in my animal form, and it gave me some of his characteristics. The way we fly is exactly the same, and we both like our backs scratched in the exact same place. But it will be different for you, because it makes your familiar what you want or need. Severus's ravens spy for him, and keep watch on certain students in the castle or what have you. I wouldn't be surprised if the buggers also bring him potions ingredients, they have a tendency to collect things."
Harry had a mental image of Snape, standing in a clearing of the Forbidden Forest, a flock of ravens swirling about him, each with a different plant or bug in their grasp. He couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Severus Snape, Master of Potions and Master Spy with his own army of rooks to do his bidding. I can see that!"
They both laughed for a moment and when it trailed away Harry was left with the decision of if he should use the potion or not. "You promise me this won't hurt her?"
Draco sighed. "You're making me break a family rule, here, Harry, I hope you appreciate that. I promise, on my magic no less, no harm will come to Hedwig. I'm not sure what it will do for her, especially since you've had her for a few years and you’re so close already. If you would have been in any other House, your Head would have approached you about it by the end of Second Year, if not earlier, since it's quite clear you'll never have another familiar. Why that old pussy McGonagall didn't, I have no clue."
Part of Harry felt he should call Draco out on his degrading term for his Head of House but most of Harry's brain felt like Draco had a point. Plus, with an Animagus form of a cat, it wasn't all that wrong. "Right. What do I do?"
Draco smirked as if he'd gotten away with something and Harry fought the urge to kick him in the shins. "Simple. You feed Hedwig four drops, and then you drink the rest. Then you focus on what you feel for Hedwig, or what you need from her. The magic connects you and does the rest."
Harry held up his arm and Hedwig flew over and delicately landed on it. "Do you want to do this, girl? It's up to you." Hedwig looked at Draco and then Harry and bobbed her head up and down. Harry laughed. "I don't know how this will help us, girl, but I'm willing to give it a go if you are."
"At the very least it will increase Hedwig's life span, and perhaps give her some additional awareness of other wizards and magical beings."
"Right then. Open up, girl." Hedwig hopped from his arm to Harry's thigh, freeing up his arm so he could open the bottle. There was a dropper in it and he carefully measured out four drops into her open beak. Harry then made sure any excess from the dropper went back into the bottle and he quickly downed the rest.
It wasn't that bad of a flavor, rather like apples in fact. Harry shoved that fact from his mind and closed his eyes, his hands stroking Hedwig's feathers on her back. The one fear he'd always had was that something would happen to Hedwig. Every one of his friends had abandoned him at some time or another, by circumstance or choice, but Hedwig was Harry's one constant. He didn't know what he'd do without her.
Harry focused on that love he had for the snowy owl, the thrill he'd gotten when he'd first saw her, the fear that Vernon or someone at school would poison her or hurt her somehow, that Dudley would get his air pistol out and shoot her, or that now that Ron hated him he'd take his revenge by hurting her or ...
He stopped that train of thought and tried to focus on the friendship and love Hedwig had given him. The nights when he was at Privet Drive and had no one but his owl to comfort him through his nightmares. The times when he'd been hungry and she'd brought him mice. Not that he'd been that hungry, but it was the thought that counted. Hedwig was always there for him, and he let that feeling of love and warmth he had for her flow from him and into his friend.
More than anything he wanted Hedwig to be safe and able to protect herself.
That feeling of love he had for her was warm, and then Harry started feeling hot. It was as if his magic was heating up and it flowed from his core down his arms and into his hands, bathing Hedwig in warmth. She gave a bark of astonishment, and fluffed up her feathers, the magic washing across her being. Harry's eyes were closed but they opened when he heard Draco gasp.
Hedwig was surrounded by magic, so bright it made looking into the sun earlier seem dim. Draco had covered his eyes and even Harry with his nifty new eyelid had to squint.
Suddenly there was a song, and Harry knew it was bursting from Hedwig. It was so happy, so wonderful that it made him want to laugh out loud and fly across all of Britain. It made him want to jump for joy and sing and run. It was the most wonderful sound he'd ever heard in all his life and something eased in Harry's heart. He could almost feel his connection to Hedwig and it was bursting with love for him and Harry found tears of happiness running down his face.
It was the same sort of feeling he'd always associated with how being loved by a parent might feel, and to Harry it was wondrous.
And when the light dimmed, and the magic had finished Harry found himself with a completely different bird, but it was still Hedwig just the same. Only instead of a snowy owl she had changed to ...
"Bloody buggering hell! She turned into a phoenix! Merlin's Pants! That's impossible!"
Harry found himself reaching forward and grabbing Hedwig up in a cuddle, not caring that she was a fire bird and was hot to the touch. "I don't care if it is impossible, it's bloody perfect! She's safe! No one can hurt her now, well it's nigh on impossible. She's safe and she won't leave me!" Harry still had tears running down his face and they sizzled when they hit the warmth of her feathers.
oO"Silly fledgeling! As if I would have left you before! Still, keeping track of you will be much easier now, you're quite hard to take care of, my chick!"Oo