November 17th
Harry was stunned. He had just turned in the paperwork for his last case when Kingsley had asked him for a word. They had retreated into the head aurors office and hadn't even sat down yet when Kingsley broke the news.
"We found you a new partner." Harry fell down into his seat and let out a shocked sigh.
"What? When did this happen?" Harry asked.
"Johnson came in to request a new partner two days ago. This is the seventh one Potter." Harry scoffed at the comment, it was actually the eighth. Harry was shocked though, he and Johnson had been working together for a little over 8 months now. He thought that this partnership would last. The other 7 had been over in less than two months.
"You do realize there is only one other person who is currently partner-less, yes?" Kingsly continued. Harry contemplated protesting this sudden change, surely as head auror Kingsly could deny Johnsons request, but thought better of it. Of course he knew there was only one other person, the other went through partners almost as fast as Harry did, but he suspected it was for a completely different reason.
"Johnson said you needed to speak with me?" Draco Malfoy was a thing of wonder. He was tall, with blonde hair that was stylishly fashioned just to his chin, and long lean muscles that seemed to be magnified by the auror robes, that on everyone else, looked modest. Unfortunately, his personality was not as beautiful as his looks.
"Malfoy, please have a seat. I need to discuss your new partnership with Potter before your next mission pops up." Malfoy gave a curt nod and sat down in the chair next to Harry's. That was another thing about Malfoy; he never questioned Kingsley's decisions. No, he just annoyed the mickey out of anyone he didn't want around until they were forced to request a new partner before they lost their minds. "I am going to make this very clear right now. This is the last time I am going to deal with either of you. I don't care if you are ready to kill each other. You will not get new partners. This. Is. It. Are we clear? Good. Malfoy I believe you are currently on a case, fill Potter in on the details. Potter your affects will be moved into Malfoys office by the end of the afternoon. Good day."
Harry realized then that he should have protested earlier. He didn't think that Kingsley would make Malfoy his permanent partner, especially since the older man new their history. Harry chanced a glance at Malfoy and saw a grimace on his face. It seemed his counterpart was less than pleased as well.
December 19th
It had been a month. Harry was amazed that they had made it this long without killing each other; they had even managed to successfully complete two cases. They were currently working on a murder case that they had been assign two weeks previous. Two months ago a young girl had been taken from her home and a ransom had been placed on her safe return. The parents agreed to pay right away but when the Aurors previously on the case arrived at the scene to retrieve the girl, they found her mangled body hanging from a rope. She hadn't been the last though, there were two more. The second was retuned safely and the third had been found dead.
Harry sighed and looked down at Malfoys case notes. The fourth child to be taken, a five year old boy named Ayden, was a little more difficult to figure out. The boy had been orphaned from birth and left with no significant sum of money. What was stranger was the kidnapper returned the child, but they soon found that any hope that the culprit had given up were in vain.
A curse had been placed on the child. Upon further research they discovered that the curse could only be removed by the caster. That was all the information St. Mungos staff could provide though. They didn't know what the curse was. A week had passed since the child's appearance.
"Good morning, Potter. You're here early," Draco said as he walked in to the office.
"You say that every morning, have you ever considered that you just show up late?" Harry smiled. Not only had they managed not to kill each other, they had become rather close friends; but as Draco rationalized, with the amount of time they had been spending together, even if it was for their cases, it was impossible not to become close. Harry fully agreed with this. He had learned more about Draco in the last month than he ever though possible.
Malfoy smirked and sat down at his desk. "Impossible Potter, as a Malfoy, I am nothing if not punctual about when I arrive for work." He pulled a file out of his desk and started shifting through it. "The papers arrived from St. Mungos last night. I haven't looked over them yet but from the note Pansy left me, they discovered something interesting."
"I'm sure you'll read it and fill me in, I have to finish the report on the last child and have it to Kingsley by noon."
Later that day Harry walked into the office to find a stack of papers sitting on his desk, but Malfoy was nowhere in sight. He glanced to the top of the stack and saw a note written in Malfoys elegant scrawl.
Potter,
I ought to kill you! You said you would be gone for five minutes. It has been three bloody hours and twenty seven minutes! None the less, I have to go to St. Mungos and talk to Pansy about some things. Then I plan on taking the rest of the afternoon to search the Manor library to look for anything that might help. YOU NEED TO READ THESE PAPERS!!! I have taken the liberty of sorting out the less important ones for you. Once you finish that I expect you to floo to the Manor and help me with this research.
Malfoy
Harry set the note aside and let out a low chuckle, it didn't surprise him that his partner had timed his trip. He moved his eyes to the first piece of parchment and started to read.
Name: Ayden Redgraive
Sex: Male
Age: 5
Parents: Aron Blake and Madison Redgraive
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Violet
Other Notes: The curse seems to be dormant at the moment, but from the patters it is showing in the little activity there is, it seems that it will take effect and kill the child in about two months. We are unsure as of yet the exact curse that has been placed on him but, further tests are being run to determine it.
After reading that Harry leapt off the chair, grabbed his cloak and race for the floo.
December 20th
"Potter. POTTER. WAKE YOUR LAZY ARSE UP AND LET ME THROUGH YOUR FLOO!" Malfoys voice echoed across Harry's apartment at about seven in the morning. Harry rolled his eyes and got up from where he sat in the kitchen.
"If you want me to let you through you might want to be nicer about it," Harry chuckled as he entered his living room. Draco's head appeared back in the floo to scowl at him. "Alright, alright, give me five minutes to dismantle the wards."
"You might want to put some trousers on while your at it, not that I mind the sight of you galloping around naked, but I'm sure your Granger friend might find it a bit startling," Draco winked and pulled his head back out of the fire place. It was only then that Harry noticed his current state of undress and, blushing, made his way to his room to put cloths on and bring down the wards.
Five minutes later Harry walked out of his room to find Hermione and Draco sitting on chairs in the living room, in deep discussion. Hermione looked up as he walked in and gave him a kind smile.
"Long night Harry or did you normally give Malfoy a show before work?" Harry's blush returned full force at Hermione's comment as he sat down.
She, Ron, and Ginny were really the only three who knew the state of his personal affairs regarding relationships. After the war he and Ginny had tried to work out what was left of their romance but to no avail. Harry spent a year touring the world before he came back to join the auror academy. Along his journey he met Jason, a 20 year old wizard who was traveling, like Harry, around the world. They had spent a few nights together, clubbing and having fun, but decided that it couldn't go any farther and parted ways. Since then Harry had only been on a few dates with men that he met in the muggle world, but nothing had worked out.
"So what was so important that you were in the office two hours before work?" Harry asked as he took a sip of tea from the cup Hermione had conjured him.
"Well, Malfoy came down to the archives a couple days ago asking for anything that we might have concerning your case. One of my assistants had looked for him and found nothing. Later, she and I were having a conversation and she off handedly mentioned what she had looked for. I realized that she had looked in the wrong place and decided to search myself. I went through some files and found these." Harry took the file she handed to him and opened it. Inside laid three letters.
"Those are copies of the original letters sent to the families of the kidnapped children. The originals had been charmed to burn up as soon as those who were supposed to read it had read it. Someone was able to get the memory of the letters and view them by pensive. Because they were acquired by less than legal means they were not submitted to the auror department but sent strait to archives. We technically cannot use these letters to prove the case but, we could use them to help us," Draco said with a smirk on his face. He knew as well as Harry did that if they were caught with the letters they would be suspended for a week.
And knowing Draco, he will be suspended for longer than that for illegally procuring memories. Harry though to himself as he read through the contents of each slip of paper.
"Well," he stated after a short while, "at least whoever we are dealing with had the decency to use the name Nathaniel Blake each time. It definitely makes this a little easier for us."
"I'm sorry Harry. I have to go, but if you need anything else, just ask me. I'm sure I will be able to find more information for you. I will look for mare records of Nathaniel Blake as soon as I get back to the ministry," Hermione said as she stood to leave.
"Thanks Hermione."
"Goodbye Granger." Hermione turned to scowl at the smirking Draco and then left the apartment. "So, now what?" Draco continued after a few second of silence.
"We should go back to the office and look into this lead, which you so illegally came up with." Draco gave him a smile that momentarily took his breath away.
"Admit it, if you were in my position, you would have done the same thing!"
"Position, what position? Oh are you referring to the ex-death eater with no morals position?" Harry threw back jokingly.
Draco's smile turned from innocent to predatory in a matter of seconds. "Actually I was referring to the 'I am trying to impress Harry Potter so I can shag him senseless' position. Which bring up a list of other positions I might like to try."
Harry sat there stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say or do. Suddenly, as if pulled by a magnate, Harry found himself standing in front of Draco, their lips barely centimeters apart. He looked deeply into the grey eyes that were placed so close to his own and he knew that if he were to lean forward just a little bit-
"Harry!" Ron's voice made the two aurors jump apart as if burned. Harry, again, blushed and turned towards the floo to talk to Ron.
"Hey Ron, what's up?"
"Well I just came into your office to ask you a question but you weren't here so I floo'd you to make sure you were awake. Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt your discussion!"
"It's about time Malfoy and I got to work anyway Ron. We will be there in a minute." Ron's head disappeared and Harry turned back to look at his partner. Draco was already collecting his robes and making his way to the fireplace.
"I need to grab some things from the Manor. I will be there in a bit," Draco said as he passed Harry. He flashed the younger man one last smile and floo'd away.
I think I could get used to that smile.
December 23rd
"I have looked at Ayden's file and found something interesting in his inheritance," Draco said as he placed a file on Harry's desk. "According to this, the Redgraive's had a dagger in their possession. There is a legend about it. Apparently the dagger, known as The Dagger of Agrippa, has magical properties and when placed in the right hands, it is undefeatable. "
Harry looked at the paper in front of him. They had yet to find any reason as to why Blake had kidnapped the child, but if what Draco said was true, it might be the lead they had been looking for.
"Can we access the vault to examine the dagger?"
"I put the paperwork in this morning for an escort to the Redgraive holdings," Draco smiled as he replied.
"That's great. Thank you." Harry set down the quill he had been using to take notes on the case. "You know, you are more like a secretary than an auror." The second the words were out of his mouth Harry was faced with Draco's wand.
"Want to say that again Potter?"
"I like my tea with two scoops of sugar please. No milk." Draco gave him a hard look and walked out of the office with a quick 'I have to talk to Granger or Weasley or whatever her name is.'
December 29th
"All three letters were signed Nathaniel Blake but, after looking into it further there is no Nathaniel Blake registered in all of London. The only information we have is a) he is poor and seeking monetary gain or b) he is, in fact, rich and chooses to seek revenge for being wronged in the past while expanding his wealth. Other than that we have nothing." Draco said as he sat down it the chair on the other side of Harry's desk. The dark haired man looked at the other and noticed, for the first time, the bags underneath his eyes.
"You forgot the dagger," Harry stated looking at the other.
"As of now, the dagger means nothing; we have no proof that whoever this Nathaniel Blake is, wants it. It just doesn't make sense."
"Lets' go out on a limb here and say that the dagger is the 'The Dagger of Agrippa'. Would there be reason then that Blake would want it?"
"Yes, admittedly there would be then. It was said that the dagger contained a spell that made it almost impossible for an enemy to defeat you. Once it pierced the enemy's skin, it would outline the weakest points on that person's body with a golden light, so the wielder would no exactly where to strike to kill. After Agrippa's death his son came to own the dagger but, it was lost after he was wounded in battle. There has not been any record of the actual dagger since but there has been copies made, none of them with the power of the original. It seems highly unlikely that something of that power would find its' way into a Gringotts vault, no?"
"Don't be fooled, just because it seems unlikely does not mean it isn't real. I have a feeling that it is the key to this entire case. Or at least, Ayden's part."
January 15
"Potter look at this." Malfoy gestured him over to the book he was reading. They were sitting in the library at Malfoy Manor, researching the spells that may have been placed on Ayden or anything else that might help them trace Nathaniel. They had little luck thus far except for finding a few more books that mentioned dormant curses. The information had been practically worthless and seemed to have the same symptoms as those that Ayden had been exhibiting.
Harry looked down at the text in Draco's hand and gasped. 'Single Signature spell works for a ribs amount of time and can only be used once to determine who cast a spell or curse.' Harry smiled and hugged Draco tightly.
"Don't sing my praise yet, we don't know if it will work." Harry still giddy shook his head smiling.
"You did it!" Harry took Draco's face in his hands and kissed him hard on the lips. Harry stopped abruptly but with one look into Draco's eyes, he leaned back in and kissed him again.
The kiss got deeper and more passionate as Draco ran his tongue over Harry's lips and the younger's boys' lips opened to allow him entrance into his mouth. They moved over to the couch, and laid down, Draco on top of Harry. Harry could blame it on the euphoria of finally having found something that would further their investigation and save the child, but he knew deep down that it wasn't just that. These feelings had been lying dormant in his system for a while, waiting for the opportune moment to take control of his mind.
"That's it!" Harry yelled, pushing Draco off of him.
"What's it?" The blonde man asked getting up off the floor where Harry had so gently shoved him. He turned and saw Harry scurrying about the bookshelves, pulling out random books only to shove them back where they came from. "Potter, you need to calm down. What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the curse, Draco. Didn't you find it strange that every account that we have read of it the effects have been different? I remember reading a diary type entry somewhere, but at the time I passed it off as nothing. It said 'I have had these insecurities before, but for some reason they are now magnified. The pain I feel is unbearable; I don't have the will to fight it any longer.' That's the key. Insecurity, but more specific, the victims' fear of death," Harry announced as he came running back over to where Draco was standing, holding a leather bound book. Sure enough the words on the page were exactly what Harry had recited.
"How did this person die?" Draco asked.
"She is the one that was stabbed."
"'So how does this prove anything?"
"It said earlier in the book, hold on," he flipped back, about to the middle of the book and scanned the pages until he found what he was looking for. "'Lyra dropped a knife today, I was terrified, I can only imagine what it would be like to get stabbed. That would be the worst way to die.' She was afraid of being stabbed to death, but in the end that is exactly what she did, she put a knife through her heart."
"But what about Anderson, he died in a fire?"
"When he was young, about nine if I remember correctly, his house caught on fire and everyone but his sister escaped. She died in the fire and he could only stand outside and hear her screams. It would be reasonable to say that he would be terrified of dying in a fire." Harry looked at the other man to see a look of triumph cross over his face.
"That's right! I remember reading an article about the girl who drowned. Her husband said she hated water. She had refused to go in the lake when they went on vacation. That is why he suspected murder. That's it! You figured it out!" Draco pulled Harry in for another deep kiss before letting him go and running (though not as frantically as Harry had) to go find a book that might hold the spell they were looking for.
January 16th
"I have compiled a list of suspects that seem to be, in some way connected to the Redgraive's and would have motive to take revenge." Draco said and handed Harry the file. Hermione looked up at Draco and smile as he took the seat next to her at Harry's desk, across from Harry.
"I finally got them to release the Redgraive's will to me. The dagger was willed to their eldest heir, and in the event that something happened to them, or their heir, the dagger was to be given to Barty Crouch Jr.," she told them both as they got settled in.
"Barty Crouch Jr.? Why him?" Harry asked.
"Apparently Darren Redgraive and Barty Crouch Sr. were very close, the later being the godfather of Redgraive's two year old daughter, Madison, and Redgraive the godfather of Barty Crouch Jr.," she explained, "being only four at the time they could not have foreseen that Barty's son would join Voldemort. The Redgraive's died before Barty was accused of being a Death Eater and Madison never knew he was in the will, so even after his conviction he was never written out."
"Do you know of him having any connection to anyone named Nathaniel Blake?" Draco asked.
"The only record of Nathaniel Blake is a letter he sent to Gringotts before his accusation. It said in the event of anything happening to him all his inheritances were to be willed to Nathaniel Blake."
"We discovered a spell last night that we think might help. Single Signature, have you heard of it?" Harry asked Hermione.
"I have heard of it once or twice. It's considered a dark spell though. You would definitely need permission from a higher up in the department to do it. Possibly even the Ministers approval."
"I put the request in this morning." Harry looked at Draco, shocked. "I knew we would need Minister approval and I thought it would be safest if my name was on the form since he still doesn't like you."
"Who did you put as your second?" Hermione asked. "Surely he would still find it hard to approve if you put Harry as your second?"
"Which is why I put you, Granger," Draco smirked.
January 26th
Hermione, Harry and Draco stood around the hospital bed in the test room. Ayden's eyes stared up at the aurors standing around him. Hermione raised her wand and cast a sleeping Charm on the boy.
"Are you ready?" She asked looking at both Harry and Draco. They each held three files in their hands. Harry opened his and got the pictures of the signatures that he was to compare. Draco did the same and they both nodded their heads. "We only have thirty seconds to compare them."
She cast the spell and after a couple of seconds a black band reached out and surrounded the child's frame. After that followed a green and after the green a deep blue, leaving three distinct bands, a band of each color. The two auror quickly analyzed each picture as Hermione held the spell for as long as she could. As the spell started to fade, Harry grasped desperately at the hope that Draco had some luck finding a match, because all of his suspects had auras that were absolutely different from the one that surrounded Ayden.
He tried even harder to stave off the feel of crushing defeat when he saw the look of despair on his partners face. Draco directed his eyes towards the ground and Harry could tell he was trying to control his breathing.
"At least we tried," Harry said in hope of cheering up his partner. "There are still other things we can do. We ill solve this."
Draco's eyes lifted off the floor and looked intently at Harry. "You're right. We'll solve this."
"There is a spell I have heard of, that we might be able to use. Draco you might know it, the Soul Searcher spell?" Draco gasped and stared at Hermione, shock evident on his face.
"Granger, are you crazy? That could land you a year in Azkaban if you're caught!" Harry looked between the two, trying to figure out what was happening.
"What is the Soul Searcher Spell?" He finally asked, trying to break the glaring contest that was going on between his best friend and his partner. Draco sighed and looked away towards Harry.
"Soul Searcher is old, very dark magic, blood magic. The ministry banned the use of it and many spells like it because the level of pain involved in the ritual. I will say that Souls Searcher would probably work very well in this case, but do you really want to risk it?" He asked turning back to Hermione.
"We got permission to use Single Signature didn't we? We could at least try. I will talk to Kingsley about it and see what he has to say. You two probably have a mountain of paperwork to fill out." Hermione sighed and got up to leave. "I have faith in you two." With that she walked out of the room. A nurse came in to retrieve Ayden and Harry and Draco went back to their office.
February 2nd
Harry and Draco walked through the crowded plaza. Hermione had been bale to track the signature even without the name and said that the last reading of the signature had been in a hotel right outside of Oslo, Norway. They had taken an international port key to an alley way about a mile away form the location in question.
A lady with black hair, who was bundled up in warm clothing approached them. She gave them a kind smile.
"Hei, Er du på ferie her??" The women asked. Harry got a panicked look on his face. In all the rush of tracking Crouch he had completely forgotten that he would have to speak the language. He looked at Draco for help only to receive the second shock in two minutes.
"Yea, Hva hetter du?" The blonde asked with a perfect accent.
"Jeg hetter Clariys."
"Vi har mistet kan du sende oss til dette hotellet?" Draco asked and handed he the paper with the name of the hotel.
" Ta til høyre og deretter til venstre her," she directed gesturing to the map, " og det er det der."
"Takk," the blonde answered and took Harry's hand. He lead harry in what the brunette assumed was the direction in which the women had pointed them.
They arrived at their destination to find a run down old shack of a hotel, with dim lighting in the lobby and tables and chairs that looked like they were about to fall apart.
Harry sighed in relief when no one came into the room, and made his way around the receptionist desk and looked through the computer for Nathaniel Blake.
Draco heard footsteps down the hall and started to panic. "Potter, someone is coming!" he whispered quickly Harry looked up quickly before turning back to the computer and searching two times quicker that before. Just as the footsteps reached the door to enter, Harry jumped over the counter and ran toward the stairway across the room, Draco close behind him.
They reach the first landing and sighed; Draco leaned up against the wall and looked at Harry.
"Did you find it?"
"Room 237." Harry smiled. He and Draco made there way up another flight of stairs and found room 237.
They got into position and opened the door. There inside they found Barty Crouch Jr., wand drawn with a muggle child bound in a chair in front of him. He gave a cold smile and looked at the two Aurors.
"I was wondering when you would get here," he said as his tongue flicked out to the side of his lip. The child on the chairs' eyes widened and she let out a low whimper.
"Are you here to save me?" Her small voice carried in the tense room. Crouch's wand went from pointing at the Aurors to pointing at the child.
"Crucio!" He yelled and the girl's cries of pain filled what was silence just seconds before.
Thinking quickly Draco cast a stupify in Crouches direction, trying to catch him while he was distracted. The curse sailed towards Crouch but stopped about a foot in front of the man, rebounding off some sort of shield.
Crouch looked up with an evil smirk. "You didn't think I would be that vulnerable did you? And here I was, ready to make a deal and release the child. But if that's the way you are going to act. I guess I have no choice. Avada Kadavera!" A green light went racing toward the young child sitting it the chair. Harry watched as the life left the girls eyes. Draco growled from behind him and went to lunge forward only to be stopped by Harry's arm.
"It's over Crouch, come with us. Release the curse you have put on Ayden Redgraive." Harry said in a commanding voice.
"No, it's just started," Crouch said, "try to find me if you can." With that Crouch disapperated.
Harry could see the protection spell shimmer as it disappeared and he rushed forward trying to track Crouch. He managed, just barley, to get a track on the spell and within seconds Harry and Draco found themselves standing in the middle of a forest. The darkening sky told them that night was quickly approaching.
They heard footsteps to their left and raced after them, running as fast as they could to catch up to crouch. They ran down a path that looked promising, with broken twigs and crunched leaves littering the ground. They had lost track of the sound of footfalls but it looked as if they were heading in the right direction.
They approached a break in the trees and looked around. Draco walked forward only to be stunned be a shimmer of light. With a rush of wind ropes appeared and wrapped themselves around the blonde. Draco fell to the ground struggling against the bonds that were slowly tightening around his throat. Harry rushed forward and tried every spell he knew to break the bonds, but when that proved ineffective, Harry started grabbing at the ropes with his hands. It wasn't until he was in an absolute state of panic, because Draco had passed out from lack of oxygen, that he remembered the knife. He pulled it out of his pocket and in an act of desperation he sliced at the rope.
To his surprise the rope split in half and disappeared, giving Draco the ability to breathe again. The blonde took in deep breaths and then went still, breathing steadily. Harry sighed and collapsed down beside his partner.
A few minutes later Draco's eyes opened and blinked a few times. He looked over to Harry and gave him a tired but grateful smile. Harry returned the smile and took Draco into his arms. They lay on the forest floor for a bit before Harry broke the silence.
"Sleep, love," he coaxed Draco rubbing his back.
"What about Crouch?"
"I'm sure he's figured out by now that we have a track on all his magic. He knows better than to apperate somewhere else. Sleep, we will continue in the morning."
Draco gave Harry one last smile before he closed his eyes and fell back asleep. Harry ran his hand through Draco's hair for a few more moments before falling asleep as well.
February 5th
It was raining. They had been running through this god forsaken forest four days looking for Crouch. Every time they though they were getting close, they found that their lead was just another fake trail. He had obviously anticipated this and in the years of his 'death' had prepared for one hell of a fight.
Harry and Draco approached a house that looked like it was about to fall in on itself. The windows were cracked and some were covered with planks of wood. The front door was hanging off its hinges and the entire place looked like it was built of vines.
It had been a day and a half since they ran into their last false lead. Harry felt like crying. Draco suddenly stopped next to him and went stiff.
"This is it." He stated simply. Harry turned and looked at the other. His blonde hair was plastered to his face and his cloths were soaked through. His shirt was torn and his pants were covered in mud but Harry couldn't help and think that the blonde still looked like and angel. He figured he was probably as worse for wear as his counterpart but, unlike Draco, looked as shitty as he felt.
"How can you tell?" Draco looked up and walked over to him. He pulled Harry into his arms and gave him a searching look before leaning down and giving him a languid kiss.
"The magic. It's old blood magic. The feeling of it is a lot stronger that the other trails we encountered, there is more protection here," Draco said glancing at the house. He turned his head back to Harry and gave him one more look before releasing him and walking toward the house. Harry made to follow but stopped when he noticed the other, once again stop walking. Draco turned around once more, a nervous look on his face. "If anything happens in there, just know I love you. I understand that you don't feel the same, but I need you to know." He turned around to start walking away but stopped short at the sound of Harry's voice.
"I love you, too." Draco swiveled his head and flash Harry a small smile before they both walked into the house.
The interior of the house was as dark and dreary as the outside, the floor, cracked wood, was covered in a thick layer of dust that had been cleared out in some places. Harry realized quite abruptly that the distortions in the dust were footprints.
"Draco, stop and take your shoes off." Draco turned around so quickly Harry feared he would fall over. The look of utter disgust on the pale face made Harry smile a bit. Let it never be said that Draco Malfoy tolerates anything less than perfect cleanliness. The dark haired man stooped down and removed his shoes and gestured to the mark in the dust beside him.
"There are footprints in the dust. Take your shoes off so we can distinguish those from our own." Draco gave one last reluctant look around him before stripping his feat bare. Harry walked to stand beside him and they followed the footprints to a set of stairs that looked to lead to a basement.
Draco let a shudder roll down his back when he reached the stairs. The dark magic rolled of them in waves and the blond could feel it trying to reach in and posses his very soul. "He is down there. I am sure of it."
Harry looked at him and noticed the shivers running through his body. "Let's go then." They walked down the stairwell, with there wands drawn. When they reached the bottom they came to a glowing red door. The shimmering glow looked like a fire burning around the frame. Harry had the sudden urge to touch it and see if it was as hot as the fire it resembled. He swiped his hand through the glow. He felt as if ice had frozen around his arm.
Desperate to relieve himself of the pain, he pulled his arm back towards himself, only to find he couldn't pull it away. He turned his head to look at his partner, but was shocked to see that the blond just stood there staring in fascination.
"Young Malfoy seems to be enchanted by that little spell I used." Crouch's voice sounded from behind Harry. The black haired man turned to see that the door had disappeared and a large, dimly lit room came into view. "Malfoy, come here and sit down." Crouch commanded as he walked into view next to a chair that was placed in the middle of the room. Draco walked forward and sat down just as he had been told.
"I must admit though, this isn't the way I thought this would happen. I figured Malfoy would be the one to get himself trapped in the spider-wed charm, not you Potter. But, none the less, it still works to my advantage." Crouch gave Harry an ugly sneer, before charming a coiled rope to tie Draco's hands to the back of the chair. He walked over to wear Harry stood and sent a full body bind at him. He released Harry's arm when he felt the other couldn't move.
He positioned Harry's body against the wall so he could clearly see Draco and then took the knife from his pocket. Walking back over to Draco, Crouch chuckled to himself.
"Now what to do with you?" He asked, taking in Draco's star-crossed expression. He pulled the knife down the front of Draco's body, and the sides, in a motion that Harry realized, to late, was supposed to cut off Draco's shirt. Crouch knelt in between the blondes legs and kissed a trail down his chest. Harry watched as Draco's face contorted in pleasure as crouch took one of his nipples into his mouth.
Harry was fuming, Draco was his damnit; no one was supposed to bring him pleasure like that but him! He could feel the pools of magic gathering around him as the seconds passed. Just a little more and he would be able to break free and kill the bastard in front of him for daring to touch his Draco. Crouch's hand moved lower to unzip Draco's trousers and take out the blonds erect cock.
"See this Potter?" He asked as He stood and moved to Draco's side to give Harry a better view. "You want that don't you? I saw you two out there. Disgusting! 'Oh Harry I love you' 'I love you too, Draco'. It's just wrong." He circled around behind Draco and let his arms fall over Draco's shoulders before taking the blonde into his hand again. "I wonder, what the world will think of their Hero when they find out that, AHHH!"
A bright light flashed through the room as Harry quickly broke free of his bonds and stunned Crouch. He quickly rushed forward and untied Draco, who was slowly coming to form the charm. Draco stood quickly and fixed his pants before helping Harry gather Crouch and aparated out of the house and back to the ministry.
February 7th
"Disciplinary of the seventh of February," Minister Scrimgoeur's voice rang through the huge room. Every seat that could be occupied was occupied, and there were many more people standing all wanting to see the trail of the man that, up until now, they thought to be dead. "Has the virteserum been administered?'
"It has been, Sir," said the Auror standing next to Crouch.
"What is your name?"
"Barty Crouch Jr."
"Were you ever a convicted Death Eater?"
"Yes."
"Very well then, let us commence with the criminal trial of Barty Couch Jr. The charges against the accused are as follows: The he did knowingly, deliberately, and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions murdered two innocent and unarmed wizards and one muggle. The accused has also been brought before you today on five counts of kidnapping, four wizards and one muggle all under the age of seven. He is also being charged with the stealing of an overall amount of eight-hundred and thirty-two thousand galleons from the guardians of the aforementioned kidnapped children." The room was still as the charges were being read off. There had not been many details of the case posted in the Daily Prophet so most of the observers were just then learning of what had happened.
"How do you plea to the murders of Emily Greengrass, Austin Nott, and the muggle child, Bella Swan?"
"Guilty." Crouch stated in a monotone voice. There were a few gasps heard throughout the audience.
"Do you hold the same plea to all three murders?"
"Yes."
"How do you plea to the kidnappings of Emily Greengrass, Peter Goyle, Austin Nott, Ayden Redgraive, and Bella Swan?"
"Guilty on all counts."
""How do you plea to the stealing of the aforementioned amount of money?"
"Guilty."
Harry and Draco stood then and made there way down to stand in front of Crouch.
"Alright then, we shall begin with the questioning. How did you come to find yourself out of Azkaban Prison?" Harry asked first.
"I was sent to Azkaban for the murders of many muggles and wizards alike. I was to be given the kiss but escaped before the kiss was given." The look on his face showed that he was trying hard to fight the effects of the truth serum, but when he failed decided to give the least amount of detail as possible.
"How did you escape the kiss, there were witnesses at the time of the kiss as well as when the body was disposed of?"
"McNair, a fellow death eater, helped me escape. He had been called to Azkaban as an executioner to over see the kiss. He was acting under the orders of the Dark Lord to help me escape, so he stunned one of the guards and used a pollyjuice potion to mimic my body. The guard was then imperious to act as I would and sent to kiss death. He received the Kiss in my place and I escaped." He reluctantly told after a few minutes of silence.
"How did you come to have the name Nathaniel Blake?"
"After my escape from Azkaban, I was left with virtually nothing, I ran to Norway where I started planning my revenge as well as coming up with my plan to get the Dagger of Agrippa. I took the name on shortly after my arrival in Norway, seeing as I could no longer go by the one given to me at birth."
"We have records of a letter being sent to Gringotts before you imprisonment, declaring Nathaniel Blake as the one to receive your inheritance should you be unable to." Crouch stayed silent. "Do you deny sending this letter?"
"I sent it."
"Had you planned your escape before your imprisonment?"
"I had planned to leave the country and change my name before my imprisonment, because of the accusations that were rising against me."
"What was your relationship with the late Aron Blake as well as Madison Redgraive? Did you kill either or both of them and if so, what was your motivation for doing it?"
"He was an idiot, a fellow follower of the Dark Lord. He and I had done raids together. We struck up a sort of friendship. A few months after our meeting, he admitted to having feelings for a friend of mine, Madison Redgraive. I introduced the two of them and not long after that the bastard betrayed the Dark Lord, so I killed him. I had every intention of killing her too, but she was pregnant. I knew that if I killed her while she was with child people would think I had done it because I was after the dagger. So I put a curse on her that would kill both her and the child during its birth. Sadly, only Madison died and the child survived. I was sent to Azkaban for being an active Death Eater."
"Why did you take on the last name Blake?"
"I chose Blake because I thought it would be less suspicious. No one knew who the child's father was except for Madison and me."
"Why did you flee to Norway?"
"I could not stay in England and I had been researching the dagger for a while. The only two places the dagger could possibly be were in the Gringotts vault of Madison Redgraive or hiding in Norway."
"How did you come to learn about the existence of the dagger?"
"My father told me about it."
"How did you plan to use the dagger, had it come into your possession?"
"I would have killed the minister as well as Harry Potter and taken my place as Lord over the new world. I was supposed to use it to carry on the Dark Lords Legacy."
"I have no further questions."
"I hereby rule that Barty Crouch Jr. be given the Will Stealer potion in order to remove the curse from the child, Ayden Redgraive, at the end of this proceeding. He shall receive the Kiss tomorrow at eleven a.m. sharp. Court dismissed." Minister Scrimgoeur's stood from his seat and left the courtroom.
Harry and Draco entered St. Mungo's with the bound criminal floating behind them. They made their way up to Ayden's room and came to a halt outside the door. Draco pulled a bottle out of his pocket, uncorked it and put it to Crouches lips. "Drink it."
The prisoner did so unwillingly and after a few seconds a glassy sheen came over his eyes. Harry released the body bind and Draco smiled a bit. "Punch yourself in the face," he said and Crouch gave himself a good hook to the face.
"DRACO!" Harry shouted incredulously.
"What? I was making sure it worked." Harry gave him a stern look and opened the door to the young boy's room. The three entered the room and once the door was shut Harry reluctantly handed Crouch's wand back to him.
"Remove the curse you put on Ayden Redgraive." Harry could hear the trepidation in Draco's voice. His eyes had the same nervous gleam that they held right after they cast the signature finder curse and none of his suspects matched. Crouch raised his wand at the child and chanted the counter curse.
A grey mist surrounded the child. Harry knew from his investigation that the mist was supposed to pull the curse from the body and turn blue when the curse was fully lifted. The mist swayed and morphed around the small boy for long minutes before slowly changing color. The new shad started off as a light pink and mutated into a deep indigo before turning into a bright red, that burned like fire around Ayden's body.
Harry heard a cry that he knew wasn't Draco's and was positive sounded nothing like Crouch. It was only moments later as he felt strong warm arms circle around him and felt another cry tear from his throat that he realized it was his own.
February 15th
Harry looked into the casket and felt the tears running down his cheeks. Just as he was about to turn from the sight he felt arms wrap around him form behind. He smiled a little and rested his hands on top of Draco's and leaned back into the comforting embrace.
"We did our best. That's all we can do," Draco's voice whispered in his ear. He nodded his head and turned around so he was looking at Draco's face.
"Can we leave? I think I'm ready."
"Alright." Draco took his hand and led him outside of the viewing room to the apperation point. He once again wrapped his arms around Harry and disapperated from the building.
Harry felt a little light headed as he and Draco landed in the entry way of Malfoy Manor. He looked up and saw Draco smiling at him.
"Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe we have some unfinished business to attend to." Harry smiled and raised his hands to Draco's neck and brought the other man into a deep kiss.
"I think that sounds about right." They kissed again, though this time more forcefully. Draco's hands moved up Harry's chest and unclasped Harry's robes before throwing them to the ground behind him. Harry's hands mimicked Draco's and they soon found themselves cloak-less, leaning against a wall, with Draco pushing Harry's hands above him.
"Draco, bedroom." Harry said and pulled his wrists out of Draco's hands. Draco closed his eyes for a second, trying to regain his composure. Just the sight of Harry leaned against the wall, eyes wide, hair a mess, cloths rumpled and breathing hard was enough to drive him crazy. He took Harry's had in his and kissed it softly.
"Alright, let's go." He and Harry walked up the stairs, hand in hand, towards the bedroom. Once they reached the room Draco pulled Harry into his arms. "You're beautiful," he said.
His hands reached to the buttons on Harry's shirt and undid them all and slowly removed the article of clothing. Moving his hands to Harry's waist he kissed his way down Harry's chest. He stopped at each nipple, kissing the dusty buds and then taking it hands into his mouth and sucking. Harry let out a low moan and moved his hands into Draco's hair. He tugged the older male up and kissed him deeply.
He then unbuttoned and removed Draco's shirt and dropped it on top of his before giving the boy the same attention he had been given. Draco was growing impatient and pushed Harry toward the bed. Harry fell on his back his head falling on the pillow. Draco clawed at the buttons on Harry trousers and finally managed to push the elusive button through the hole, and unzipped them. He went to pull them off but they got caught on Harry's shoes. The dark haired wizard laughed and Draco gave him a scathing glare. The blonde took out his wand and spelled the shoes, as well as all their other cloths away.
Draco looked at Harry laid out before as if the boy was a buffet set out for Draco only to feast upon.
Harry squirmed under Draco intense gaze. Draco's eyes fixed on Harry's thick erection that stood proud between the man's legs.
"What's this? Where have you been hiding that Harry?" Harry's face and neck went red.
"Not so bad your self there Draco," Harry said gesturing to Draco's own large cock. He suddenly felt nervous, how was Draco going to fit. The other man was surely going to split him in half. Draco sensing Harry's nervousness, leaned down over Harry, causing there bare skin to come into contact. Harry hissed at the skin on skin and thrust his hip upward trying to get more friction. He let out a loud moan when his length came into contact with Draco's thigh.
"Relax, I'll be gentle." Draco reassured him while kissing his neck. Harry relaxed and Draco took his wand and conjured some lube. "This will feel awkward," Draco said. He massaged Harry's entrance a bit and then slipped his finger inside the younger boy. Harry squirmed some more at the feeling. It didn't hurt it just felt different. Draco moved his finger around a bit loosening harry some more before he added a second finger and the a third. After a while harry got used to the feeling and started to ride Draco's fingers.
"Oh God, Draco!" Harry yelled and arched his back impossibly high. Draco smiled, he had found Harry's prostate. He withdrew his fingers and Harry whimpered at the loss of the appendages inside of him. Draco gave another kiss to Harry's neck and covered his aching cock in lube. He positioned himself at Harry's entrance and trust in just enough to get his head past the tight ring of muscles. Harry gave a load moan and breathed hard.
"Draco, it hurts," he panted. Tears sprung to his eyes and Draco leaned down to kiss them away and whispered a soft 'relax' into Harry's ear.
Harry took deep breaths and gave Draco a small nod. Draco took Harry's hand into his and laced there fingers together while slowly pushing the rest of the way in.
"Fuck, Harry you are so tight," Draco moaned loudly once he buried himself to the hilt inside Harry's arse. After a bit, harry gave a sharp thrust down, giving Draco the okay to continue.
Draco pulled out almost all the way and trust back in. they quickly created a pace, Harry meeting Draco thrust for thrust.
Draco was close, he could tell. He could see by the way Harry was thrashing for more that he was to. He grabbed Harry's neglected cock into his hand and pumped it. It only took a few of the quick motions and Harry was coming hard; his semen coated his and Draco's stomachs. Draco felt Harry's tight walls squeeze around him and that was all he needed to come, deep inside Harry.
Draco gave Harry one last chaste kiss on the lips before pulling his spent cock out of Harry and Laying down beside the boy. Harry snuggled up beside him and kissed his collar bone.
"That was amazing," he murmured, wrapping his arms around the brunette. Harry's smile widened impossibly.
"I love you," he replied closing his eyes and surrendering himself to sleep.
"I love you, too," Draco said and followed Harry into the land of nigh.