Disclaimer: Characters belong to JK Rowling. Just having fun.
Feedback: Comments are very welcome. I haven't written for HP in a long time, so please be kind.
Be Still My Heart
by Xedra
Harry stood in the wooded clearing, in the stillness that comes only at midnight, and drew his wand.
With a sweep of his arm and a murmured incantation, a flat circle of polished obsidian three feet in diameter shimmered into existence. The full moon directly above glowed in its reflection, perfectly centered.
He drew off his robe and dropped it behind him and the rest of his clothing soon followed. His movements were sure and steady, having performed this ritual twice before. If he did not get an answer this time, he would try again on the next full moon. And the one after that. And the one after that.
He would send out his Calling until he was answered, no matter how long it took.
He put the tip of his wand to his ribs, over his heart. "Cordis Sanguis."
Harry pulled his wand slowly away from him and sucked in a deep breath at the strange, fluttery lurch his heart gave as a drop of blood was taken directly from it and appeared at the tip of the wand. He held the wand over the obsidian disk and the blood dropped onto the reflected moon.
"Cordis Voca"
The blood seeped into the stone, turning the reflected moon bright red. After a moment, the red faded back to white and the image of the moon began to expand until it filled the surface of the stone.
Harry dropped his wand behind him on top of the pile of clothes and stepped onto the disk. The power of the spell vibrated under his feet. The vibrations traveled up to his ankles and legs, over his buttocks and groin, through his chest and arms, up his neck and out the top of his head. Over and over the vibrations pulsed, like a heartbeat.
The spell was ancient. It took him over a year to find and while it was rooted in Dark Magic, there was no evil in it. Dark Magic, he learned, was a primal kind of magic that tapped into a human's basic emotions, urges, and needs. It was often used for malicious deeds, but was also well suited for the spell Harry used on this night.
The Calling Spell used his own heart's blood and the power of the full moon to seek and find his soulmate. The soul that complemented his own would hear the Call and be urged to answer, to seek out its mate, to find Harry from wherever in the world they may be. There was no guarantee, however. While the spell may be incredibly strong, it could be resisted, ignored, or even rejected if the one it found chose to. Twice already Harry had received no answer, but he was nothing if not persistent.
He stood on the stone disk and allowed the spell to pulse through him, Calling. Every beat of his heart Calling. The very depths of his soul Calling.
*CLANG*
The sudden toll of a bell sounded, not through the air, but through his body, shaking him to his core and dropping him hard to his knees. The moon's glow was gone from the stone, its surface now clouded and rough. Harry got to his feet, his heart pounding. The magic had been spent, and this time there was an answer.
Across the clearing, a figure robed in black stood among the trees, wand in hand.
Draco.
His pale face and hair practically glowed in the dark of the wood, lit by the moon high above. His eyes were guarded, his expression closed.
The surprise and confusion of seeing Draco Malfoy standing there was quickly overcome by a sudden sense of knowing. Oh, there you are.
Harry stepped off the stone toward Draco, made no move for his wand or his clothes. He stood there, naked in the moonlight, and waited.
Draco's eyes swept over Harry's body, but did not linger. He closed his eyes briefly and nodded to himself, then took a step forward. He quickly removed his own clothing and placed his wand on top of them. The grass was soft under his bare feet as he crossed over to Harry, stopping only an arm-length away.
"I heard your Call. I'm here."
The history between them, the years of animosity, it all shifted firmly and finally into the past. They could start over. They could start now. Harry accepted this with a profound sense of relief. He held out his hand.
"Hello, Draco."
Draco looked down at Harry's hand and recognized the gesture for what it was - a reversal of their first meeting, an invitation to begin something new. He had tried to ignore the Call that had pulled at him for so long, but now standing in front of the one person in his life he could never ignore, he could only feel immense satisfaction at the outcome.
He took Harry's hand and smiled.
"Hello, Harry."
Author Note:
"Cordis Sanguis" - Heart Blood
"Cordis Voca" - Heart Call
Literal translations in Latin of the specific words. I don't know how Latin works, so I just put the words together. *shrug*