Coming out of the obisculous trance felt about the same as waking up after a tumble down the side of a mountain, then being hit by a train, with a dash of hungover-migraine injected straight into the brain. At least, that's the best that Harry could rationalize the pain he felt when he woke up on his back, next to the obisculous while Draco knelt over him with wide wild eyes, beads of sweat rolling down the side of his forehead and breathing heavily. At first, Harry barely noticed the cramping in his chest along with the other pain, but after a while the need to breathe had him coughing violently and sucking in large breaths. Harry tried to sit up, but Draco's hand kept him firmly pressed into the cool stone. When the coughing subsided enough for Harry to talk, he hoarsely asked what had happened. Before Draco answered, he shot Mal a deprecating look. Harry followed his gaze and found Mal standing near the wall looking like a kicked sodden puppy.
"It—it's my fault." Mal started, not meeting Harry's eyes as he fidgeted. Harry raised a brow and waited for him to elaborate. "The potion I made contained Mungsford Root. It's a common potion ingredient so I didn't think much of it, even with high levels of legilimency it's harmless. Usually legilimency is only auditory and visual, I was counting on whatever kind of communication that thing uses, that it wouldn't use such powerful legilimency, but I could feel your consciousness traveling to another place. That much legilimency—which, might I add is practically unheard of—had an adverse reaction with the Mungsford Root and stopped your heart when you ended the spell. It wasn't the magic from the obisculous that almost killed you . . . it was my potion. I'm sorry, Harry." At the end Mal seemed to fight up the nerve to be able to look at Harry again, but Harry only held his gaze for a moment before turning to look at Draco.
"You resuscitated me?" Harry sounded more awed than anything else, though the effect was a bit twisted with the hoarse voice. That did account for the focus of Harry's pain being in his chest. Chest compressions break ribs all the time, add in to the fact that they were performed by a frenzied Izaki and you get a nice little cocktail of "holy shit this hurts!"
"For nearly half an hour. . ." Draco's voice was weak and exhausted. Harry reached up—even though the muscles in his arm dully throbbed like he'd been holding something heavy above his head for hours—and brushed his thumb over Draco's cheek, wiping away moisture that looked suspiciously close to a tear, though for Draco's sake, Harry dismissed it as a bit of sweat.
"Look, Harry I—" Mal began but was interrupted by Draco, who didn't even look up at Mal when he spoke.
"Leave, you've done enough." Draco's venomous tone made Mal flinch in the corner of Harry's eye. He felt sympathetic toward the Izaki and would be confronting him later to make sure that he knew that he was forgiven, but for now Harry couldn't think about much more than telling Draco about what had happened in the obisculous.
By the time Harry had managed to sit up—with the help of Draco—Mal was gone and they were alone. Harry let Draco help him back up the stairs—though that's where it stopped, Harry refused to let Draco carry him up the stairs like a child—because of the immense soreness over his entire body. Harry wasn't sure if it was from the Mungsford Root, or if Draco had tried shocking his heart like those crash panels in the muggle world, but that wouldn't account for the soreness of his entire body, so it must be the former.
Once back up in Harry's room, Draco helped him limp over to the bed and sit down, then pulled his desk chair up close to the side of the bed so that Harry could stretch out and relax. Harry launched into the retelling of what he'd experienced in the obisculous since Draco had only gotten vague mumbles from him while he was talking to Gail. Not exactly the clear one-sided conversation he'd witnessed in the memory, but perhaps that would come with time and practice. After he'd finished, Harry asked Draco what he thought they should do next.
"Well, we don't know much about the place, so until you can talk to Gail more about that, the only thing we really can do is prepare." Draco paused, looked around like he wanted to say something else but wasn't fully sure if he should. Harry waited until Draco finally met his gaze again. When he did, Draco looked decided about something. "I think we should tell the others." Was all he said, but for all the weight behind those words, they impacted Harry quite effectively.
Draco watched blank-faced as Harry's face morphed from confusion into incredulity.
"What? Draco, we can't bring them with us, they're only wizards. They know nothing of this world!" Harry sat up more fully when he spoke, despite the protest of his ribs.
"So are the guards. Look, I know you're very protective of your friends, but—" Harry cut Draco off with a scoff.
"What's that supposed to mean? Yes, I care about whether they come back in body bags or not, but that doesn't mean that I'd compromise what we're trying to achieve because of it. I won't be able to babysit a bunch of children. I'm not being irrational about this, Draco. They're wizards, yes, but they're also very young. If you're implying that I'd be concerned enough to protect them the whole time and stay away from any danger then you—"
"You know that I wasn't implying that. They may be young, but so are we. They can be trained, aided in defensive spells, but we are also talking about the same group of students that have been parading around battle fields since first year. You know better than I do that those Gryffindors and Slytherins have plenty of experience dealing with adult wizards. Plus, it would be better to have several people with us that can't be poisoned by Jade Vine, which I'm sure they have their own personal gardens there teeming with the stuff." Draco was firm in his argument, not budging in the slightest as he held Harry's glare.
Draco was rarely so assertive with Harry, but he'd be lying if he said it truly upset him. In all honesty, Harry had kind of missed the give and pull that they sometimes had in their earlier Hogwarts years. No matter how many inheritances Harry went through, his stubbornness would always be a part of him, and he needed to know that Draco wouldn't just melt to his will on every little thing. As much as Harry enjoyed the power he held over Draco sometimes, he needed to be challenged as well. He isn't arrogant enough to think that he'll always be right, and he needs Draco to be able to keep him from making astronomical mistakes. Still. . .
"You're sure that they'll be safe? You really believe that they can protect themselves?" Harry asked skeptically. More than just having to bring along his schoolmates, Harry was reasonably wary of the thought of telling the people he'd been surrounded by for the past couple of months about what he gets up to in the dead of night. It's one thing to tell friends that you've been doing something illegal, it's another to tell them you are something illegal.
"With a bit of practice they'll be able to affectively protect themselves, also, I think it would be wise to bring Severus as well." Draco answered, a smirk on his lips. Harry snorted softly and shook his head, some of the tension leaving his body as he did so.
"Oh I'm sure he'll just love that! Can I please be the one to tell him?" Harry's sarcasm pulled a wider smile from Draco's usually composed face. Leaving no evidence of the events that had taken place not long before. Draco stood from his chair and came to sit on the edge of the bed, turned to face Harry.
"You agree then? I don't want this to turn into more than it is, but I also think that this is the best way to go about this." Draco searched Harry's face, looking for a sign of resentment or anger, but he found none.
"I know, and I also know that you're right. I don't like it much, but they would be helpful. I suppose we should tell them soon, then." Harry sighed deeply and leaned fully back on the pillows. "The sooner we get this done the sooner that we can begin moving forward. You round up the ones you think would do well and meet me in the room of requirement—no Crabbe or Goyle, though, we need wit and stealth, not brute force." Harry dismissed the two that still gave him confused and slightly resentful looks when Draco wasn't around. Draco could surround himself with anyone he liked, but with a task as sensitive as this one, Harry wasn't taking any chances on the pair.
"After you rest!" Draco shot him a chastising look and Harry rolled his eyes again.
"It's the Room of Requirement for Merlin's sake! If I want to sit down I'll have plenty of options available to me. I'm not fragile, Draco, I already feel half way to normal. It's not like talking really takes all that much energy anyways. Stop coddling me and go gather the others, we've got work to do."
Hermione barely gave Malfoy a second glance when he walked into the library, she'd seen him slip in and out plenty of times to get books for his assignments. As evil as he'd seemed throughout the years, the Slytherin was a devil when it came to his studies, it seemed. He never lost a shred of composure in the face of their OWL's, never fidgeted or looked even slightly perturbed when taking tests. The only time he seemed to react to anything academic was when he did exceptionally well on a test or paper that everyone else did horrible on, or whenever Harry succeeded at anything. It was rather sweet in Hermione's opinion, the way Draco openly adored Harry. It was subtle, yet for anyone who looked close enough at the times when they were together and when they were apart, the difference was blatant.
However, Hermione did look up again when her peripheral vison was filled with sleek black school robes and white blonde hair. Draco stood next to her table, waiting to gain her full attention, but apparently could not be bothered to put any effort into catching it. She closed her book and gave him her full attention, trying not to be effected by how dauntingly tall the Slytherin was. It had been a shock to the system to see Harry at the beginning of the school year, just months previous he'd been an inch or so shorter than her, then he shows up at Kings Cross at the astonishing height of six feet—about the same as Ron—and looking like he'd been incubating all summer to come out as some sort of super model! It was rather unfair from her perspective.
"Follow me," is all that Draco said, jarring her from her thoughts, before quickly striding out of the library on long and elegant legs. Hermione scrambled to shove her books back into her bag so that she could catch up to Draco before he disappeared completely. She received a blistering glare from Madam Pince for running through the library, but Hermione couldn't waste any time on trying to fruitlessly regain the librarian's approval, she had a Malfoy to catch!
Hermione finally caught up with Draco at the stairs, but then came the climb. Her legs were burning and she had one hand gripping the railing while the other gripped the top of her thigh—which was on the verge of cramping—by the time they reached the seventh floor. Had the snake not been dating her best friend, she probably would have ignored him in favor of finishing her charms homework, but the fact that Harry wasn't with him and he seemed to have places to be, she figured it would be best to play along for the moment.
They traveled through several hallways that were suspiciously familiar, before entering a corridor already full of people. Hermione slowed her steps as she took in the others milling around and leaning against walls. There was Neville, Luna, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, and Blaise Zabini. They all seemed like they had been waiting there for a while, but knew just as much as she did about why they were there. Hermione quickly joined Neville against the wall and flashed Luna a friendly smile as she avoided looking too hard at the Slytherins. She knew that Harry spent a lot of time with these people, so she should try to at least try to make nice with them, but she'd just had too much experience with blood-purity bollocks from Slytherins to just forgive and forget.
Draco walked up to a black wooden door that they were all loosely gathered around and opened the door. Hermione was one of the last to enter, but when she did, she realized that she'd just entered the room of requirement. For a split second, she wanted to feel shock and apprehension about Draco knowing how to find the room so easily and sharing it with his friends, but then she spotted Harry sitting on a black leather couch facing them with a large fireplace roaring behind it.
Harry was smiling at them and the heat from the fire had brought a bit of pink to his cheeks, but Hermione could almost immediately tell that there was something off with him. He looked more tired than usual and paler despite the warm lighting on the edges of his face. Hermione knew that something must have happened, but she wouldn't ask him in front of the others, when they were alone perhaps.
The room was rather simple, other than the couch and fireplace, there were several couches and chairs around the room for leisurely sitting, large Persian rugs here and there over dark wood floors, and a small table in front of Harry that held a delicate china set. Spreading out a bit, they all stood in front of Harry and watched as Draco went to stand next to where Harry sat, sipping his tea with his slender legs crossed over in a relaxed yet poised fashion. If Hermione hadn't known Harry before this moment, all she would have seen was a young pureblood couple about to tell them that they had just bought all the land their family owned and would be using it to build their empire.
"Hello, I'm sure you're all wondering why Draco brought you here today. You are here because Draco and I think very highly of you, we trust you and there is something that we need your help with. Before I get into details, I would like to warn you; the task I am about to ask of you is dangerous. It is quite possible that anyone of you could die, we are not going to have the safety net of Hogwarts, if you decide to stay you are risking far more than your house points. If you do not wish to take such a risk, I ask that you please leave before I begin explaining everything, after I start explaining no one will be able to opt out without being obliviated. I will take no offense, so please think carefully before deciding." Harry's voice rang out around them, calm and powerful.
The group hesitated, looking around at each other to see if anyone would actually leave. When a full minute passed and not a single person so much as looked at the door, Hermione found herself stunned by the devotion on the Slytherins faces. She'd seen that look directed at Harry so many times from Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs—even from several adults—but never Slytherins. Hermione had just always figured that Slytherins were only loyal to themselves, how easy it was to forget that they were all just students when it came down to it, different houses doesn't mean they were a whole different species.
"Good! Then I shall begin by disclosing something to you that Draco and I have kept secret since this summer. This secret . . . it is of the utmost importance that nobody outside of those who are here today ever hear of this, I am not exaggerating when I say that our very lives depend on it." Harry's voice changed from light and excited to severe and chilling in a matter of moments. The temperature seemed to drop a few degrees in the room as Harry slowly set down his tea and caught them in an Avada Kedavra gaze. When he finally spoke, ice slowly bled into their veins and nobody dared move.
"Over the summer Draco and I received more than independence for our birthdays. We received creature inheritances as well," Hermione sucked in a quick breath and that little part of her brain with an insatiable curiosity reared its head. "Both of us received the rare species inheritance of a creature called an Izaki. For those of you who don't know what an Izaki is, they are an ancient species that was enslaved and persecuted by magical humans for centuries upon centuries because they couldn't control the Izaki, so the only other option was to fear them. At this moment, 98% of all Izaki are living in labor camps and death camps disguised as 'facilitated living areas'.
"We have recently discovered at a very real danger is on the horizon, not just for Izaki but for the rest of the world as well. I've managed to make contact with someone within one of the compounds and it became very clear that they need to be retrieved immediately. What we are asking of you, is if you will join us when we go to free our people. We will be training you first, of course, putting your defensive spells back into practice. Now, will you stand with us?" Before any of the Slytherins or Gryffindors could even open their mouths to answer, a melodic twinkle of laughter sounded from the far right side of the room and everyone turned their gaze on the grinning Ravenclaw.
"Of course we will Harry! Silly boys always ask such silly questions. Now, can we see them?" Luna leaned forward excitedly, eyes flitting between Harry and Draco expectantly. Harry raised a black brow at his friend's quickness to speak on everyone else's behalf.
"See what?" Harry indulged Luna, knowing that she wouldn't settle until her curiosity was sated.
"Your wings, of course!" Luna exclaimed with masterful casualness that Harry had always admired. A few people sputtered and coughed in the small group at the reminder that creature inheritances meant that they were no longer human and perhaps what they were seeing was not what they truly looked like anymore.
Draco slipped Harry a disparaged look, knowing that there was nothing he could do to stop his lover from indulging even if it wasn't particularly a good idea.
Harry ignored his mate and stood with a flourish of dark robes and finesse. Perhaps he was becoming a little bit too much like Draco, enjoying the thought of a little chaos and intimidation. No one looked much at ease from the grin that appeared on Harry's face, no one but Luna of course. With a single pause to allow the tension to mount in the air around him, Harry dropped his glamour's all at once. Harry had expected shock, fear, and apprehension, but that was not what he saw when he took in the faces of his classmates, it was awe. Even the eloquent purebloods that prided themselves on their refined mannerisms seemed to lean in closer, eyes glazed over and moths hanging open slightly. Harry turned to Draco, confusion twisting his brows closer together. Draco huffed a condescending yet endeared laugh as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Really Harry, how can you be surprised? Your allure could rival a Veela's." Draco's sinful gaze ran up and down Harry's body so slowly it made him blush, despite all that they've done. Harry sank back down onto his couch with a frown on his unsullied lips. He narrowed his eyes at his entranced friends. His bright green eyes glittering and glowing from the darkened depths of his sockets, the shadow carving a devastating angelic and wicked beauty out of porcelain skin. Obsidian wings flicked irritably behind him almost as a deadly reminder of what he is.
"Well that just won't do." Killing curse green eyes landed on Draco, sending blissful shivers up his back. "What the fun of being alluring if you're not also just as frightening?" The couple shared a smile as the others seemed to recuperate and get a hold of themselves.
It will be interesting to see how these next few weeks play out. Harry thought to himself as each of his friends declared that they would be right beside him, no matter what the danger. Very interesting. . .