Disclaimer: JK in all her brilliance owns HP and his fellow characters, I own everything else
Authors Note: Seriously, I can't believe how popular this story is, so thank you one and all. I also thought I should add some warnings, so here they are. These warnings are for anywhere in the story, just so you know and so I don't have to write them again.
Warnings: Strong language, strong violence, scenes of a sexual nature, contains slash (same sex pairing), sensitive topic/issue/theme, substance use and/or abuse.
Chapter One: Now
Four years have passed in a world changed by war beyond recognition...
It was hot, incredibly so, for so early in summer but the heat of the night outside was nothing when compared with the heat building in a top floor bedroom of the mansion. Inside two lovers were moving in a perfect rhythm known only to them. It is a rhythm that is known by all lovers everywhere but is still different to all those who experience it. So, these two were moving in their own unique rhythm of thrusting harder and harder towards each other. Lips and tongue would meet in a passionate kiss, and then they'd move to the neck, shoulders and chest of the other where they'd be joined by the teeth in a fierce bitting, licking, and sucking action before returning once more to each other's mouths.
The hands, when they weren't being used to grip the bed, ran with an almost feverish intensity over the body of the other. Feeling, touching all that they could as the passion built, the hands drew almost as many groans, gasps and shouted, vaguely coherent words as the intimate action caused. The act that the two were enjoying so much continued to intensify, as it had been doing for a while now, until the two reached climax and collapsed against each other, their ragged breaths the only sound to be heard.
Almost as soon as the two climaxed the storm that had been building outside, climbing in intensity in perfect sync with the two lovers, broke, bringing much needed rain to the summer parched land. With the sound of the savage storm outside reverberating throughout the mansion the two lovers drifted into a peaceful sleep, each wrapped around the other and that is how they stayed throughout the night.
Bane was the first to awaken the next morning and he found to his amusement that either he was wrapped around Draco or Draco was wrapped around him, it was impossible to distinguish which. With a small smile that failed to reach his eyes, Bane leant over and placed a tender kiss on the corner of Draco's mouth. Leaning back Bane watched as Draco's eyelid's fluttered and a small smile graced Draco's features as he slowly woke from slumber.
"Morning" said Draco softly, opening one eye in a completive way before closing it again.
"Morning" replied Bane, a faint warmth entering his otherwise lifeless tone.
When there was no further response from Draco, except a faint delicate snore as he drifted back to sleep, Bane did the only thing he could do in the circumstances, he untangled himself with difficulty from Draco and got up. Draco uttered a faint sound of displeasure as Bane's comforting presence left the bed and then, with a hopeless sigh, he forced his sleepy mind to wake up. After stretching and cracking the exertions of the night from his body, Draco blearily opened his eyes to behold Bane standing next to the bed. Shaking his head slightly at the fact that Bane was without a stitch of clothing Draco sat up, ran his right hand through his hair and gave Bane, his very reason for living, a smile full to overflowing with the warmth and love he held. Draco's smile intensified, lighting up his whole face, making his silver eyes sparkle and his jaw to ache, when Bane returned his smile with his own incredibly rare but unbelievably devastating smile.
The reason why Bane's smile was so rare, and quite possibly why it was so devastating, was that it didn't happen that often and it was the 'only' time that Bane's eyes showed any feeling. Draco was the only one to ever see this smile, the smile that filled Bane's eyes with warmth and love, because he was the reason for this smile and he was Bane's everything. While Bane and Draco were totally lost in each other's eyes, the bedroom door opened and two men walked in.
"Do you ever wear clothes?" asked the black haired, grey eyed, dark skinned man exasperated.
"It depends, do you ever knock?" replied Bane turning around and all traces of emotions left his eyes and voice.
"He's got you there Blaise" said the other man with a warm smile at his mate.
"I suppose the fact that he walks around naked half the time doesn't bother you at all, does it?" asked Blaise returning his mate's warm smile with one of his own.
"Now why would it bother me that someone as good looking as Bane likes to walk around naked?" asked the other man and now that we look closer we realize that he looks familiar, with his honey blonde hair and baby blue eyes. Very soon we're about to find out why.
"That's enough Neville, there's no need to make Blaisey-boy jealous, now is there?" said Bane in his dead voice and even though his eyes remained devoid of life his lips twitched faintly in a sign of amusement.
"Oh I don't know, he does become more fun when jealous" replied Neville with a wicked smile.
"Hmm" said Bane, his head was tilted slightly to one side and he was examining Neville carefully, as though he didn't know what to make of him anymore. Then with a shrug he turned and walked into the connecting bathroom, from whence the sounds of the shower being turned on soon reached the ears of the three in the bedroom.
"So, how's he doing?" asked Blaise sitting down on the end of the bed where he was quickly joined by Neville, who leant against him.
"What do you mean?" asked Draco curiously, while making sure that the blankets covered him completely from the waist down.
"Does he still refuse to turn against those that turned on him?" asked Neville calmly.
"Yes, I'm afraid he still says that even though his parents and the others no longer want anything to do with him, he will not forsake them" explained Draco then, almost as an afterthought, he added "but then, as though he's talking to himself, he always adds 'unless they do something extremely foolish'".
"What do you reckon he considers to be extremely foolish?" asked Blaise curiously.
"I have absolutely no idea" replied Draco with a shrug.
"You do realize that it probably has something to do with you, don't you?" said Neville wrapping his arms around Blaise's waist and watching Draco closely.
"Why do you think that?" asked Draco bewildered.
"Because when it comes to you Bane is both highly possessive and incredibly protective" explained Neville.
"He's right you know" agreed Blaise.
"Are you saying that Bane would turn against his friends and family if they threatened me?" asked Draco incredulously.
"Yes" answered Neville and Blaise as one.
"Their right, if anyone so much as looks at you funny then they'd regret it for the rest of their short, pain filled lives" said Bane.
Draco, Blaise and Neville all looked towards the door of the bathroom and were greeted with the sight of a still wet Bane slouching, with a white cotton towel around his waist, against the doorframe.
"Pain filled how?" asked Draco with morbid curiosity.
"Well, seeing how magic is only limited by someone's imagination there are quite a few delightfully inventive ways to cause someone pain" replied Bane with an evil smirk.
"Okay then, name a…" Draco started to say before he was interrupted by Bane crossing to the bed where he joined the other three, wrapped his arms around Draco's waist and planted a smouldering kiss on Draco's neck. You could tell that it was smouldering because Draco lost his train of thought, his eyes unfocused slightly and it is highly possible that he was remembering a time about four years ago when Bane had given him a hickey in the exact same spot.
For a few minutes Draco sat lost in his own world, with the faint movements of his chest rising and falling in time with his breathing his only sign of life. Then with a firm shake of his head and an exasperated glare at Bane, he collected his thoughts enough to finish what he had been saying.
"Now as I was saying, why don't you name a few inventive ways to cause someone pain?"
"One way is to boil their blood, cooking them from the inside out and of course since you're using magic what you do is keep the person alive until the last second, it's much more fun that way. Another way, and this is one of my favourites, is to slowly break every bone in the body, starting with the toes and working your way up" replied Bane with a malicious smile, that was altogether more creepy for the fact that it did nothing to bring any life to his eyes.
"Is that all?' asked Blaise disbelievingly.
"Well it all depends on how long you want them to live for and how much pain you want to put them through, you could always make them chop off their own private parts and eat them, I suppose" answered Bane thoughtfully.
"I hate to be the one to change the subject from this fascinating topic but I have a more important question I'd like the answer to" interrupted Neville.
"What is it that you wish to know?" asked Bane switching his dead eyed gaze to Neville.
"I know that this is probably a bit late but why did some of the spell quit working?" questioned Neville curiously.
"Shit! I knew I'd forgotten something!" stated Bane bewilderingly.
Then as Draco, Blaise and Neville looked at him in shock, he dropped his false look and waved his right hand in a nonchalant way. All three men felt staggered and slightly bruised as a tremendous force seemed to rip through them and out into the world.
"What the fuck was that?" asked Blaise shaken.
"Every Light Demon, Dark Angel, Demon and Angel everywhere in the world felt that" said Bane returning to his false 'Harry Potter' look.
"That's very interesting to know but it doesn't answer the question" said Draco a tad reproachfully.
"Sorry" said Bane looking at Draco and giving him a small smile that gently warmed his face though it didn't touch his empty eyes.
"So what did you do?" asked Neville curiously, when it became apparent that an explanation wasn't forthcoming.
"I just destroyed pretty much the whole spell, the only part that is still active and which I have strengthened is the part that stops you all from being killed by anything but one of the four species" explained Bane tearing his eyes away from Draco's.
"So does that mean that we're not going to die when we hit a hundred?" asked Draco.
"Yes" replied Bane simply.
"Great! Now how about you two get dressed and come down for breakfast?" suggested Neville getting off the bed and moving towards the door.
"Oh and apparently we're having a meeting just after breakfast to discuss our next move in the war" added Blaise following Neville out the door.
"I guess I should have a shower first" said Draco climbing out of bed.
"Want some company?" asked Bane
"Come on then" replied Draco with a smile and the two of them went into the bathroom to have a nice long hot relaxing shower together.
