Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, characters, universe, etc. I make no money from this.
Acknowledgement: Standard notice that this was beta'd by the extremely dedicated bluefirefly5. Not snow nor sleet nor hail... Thanks for all your help and suggestions. Instrumental, as always.
Chapter XI
"We'll Make Him Regret It"
x_x…R_W...x_x
23 July 1996 - Tuesday
1642. The infamous Merrybrook Massacre. A force of forty aurors had attacked the headquarters of the then-reigning dark lord, Kimberley Pritchard – not surprisingly, he'd rechristened himself with a name he'd found more menacing. Not that Ron thought "The Hand" sounded menacing, but the people of the time had found it terrifying. It was meant to mean the hand of death or some such.
Regardless of the stupid name, ol' Kim and his followers had been holed up in some little keep at the center of town. The aurors had gone in after him, and it had turned into a massacre. Twenty-seven aurors, thirty-four Reavers (The Hand's fingers, evidently), and sixty-two civilians had died that day. They said the streets literally ran with blood. Ron wasn't sure if that was poetic license or not. That was a lot of dead people.
He wasn't concerned with how many died though. His concern was why it had all gone sideways. What did they do wrong? What might they have done better? That's what Harry wanted him to be learning. How to avoid that kind of stuff.
So far, Ron had found reference to the Merrybrook Massacre in four different books. Each had given him a slightly different angle with which to build the scene in his mind. He pictured it like a chess board, the town of Merrybrook laid out in his mind, each piece a force of combatants and civilians moving about the board – the town.
He closed his eyes and played the battle out in his mind's eye. Where had it gone wrong…? The aurors had advanced through the town from two directions to block the Reavers in while a smaller forced had waited to collapse a tunnel they'd discovered out of the keep. When everyone was in place, the tunnel was collapsed while the two main forces advanced on the main entrance to the keep and the smaller, rear entrance. They'd cut off retreat and attacked fast and hard. No mercy. They'd been authorized to use deadly force first and only take prisoners if they voluntarily surrendered.
The Reavers had fought like wild beasts. The Hand had used the greater power that had made him the dark lord and he'd not only slaughtered the attackers, but thrown Fiendfyre out into the surrounding town with abandon. In the end, the Ministry had killed or captured nearly every Reaver, but the Hand had escaped, punching a hole through the anti-apparation wards about an hour into the battle and killing the four aurors who'd been struggling to hold it.
Stupid name or not, Kimberley had been downright scary powerful. Like Voldemort. Like Harry. The kind of man that most people are too scared to even think of fighting. Those aurors had some bollocks to go into that fight, but they'd clearly made mistakes or their courageous battle would have had a more flattering name after all these years.
Just as Ron was beginning to feel like he was onto something, his thoughts were shattered by the sharp pop of a house elf arriving not a meter away from him. He flinched and scowled at it.
The elf bowed deeply. "Gabby is apologizing for disturbing Master Weasley," she said immediately. "Master Lord Sir is being summoning the house to the drawing room, sir."
Ron sighed and rubbed at his eyes. How many hours had he been at this? Had he missed dinner or something? He blinked. He couldn't remember ever missing a meal before. Not unless he was forced to do so, and he'd never have not realized it.
He drew his wand and cast a quick tempus. Oh good. He hadn't missed dinner yet. "Okay, I'm on my way," he said to the elf, standing and stretching when the elf popped away. He wondered what Harry wanted. He wondered at the fact that his best friend of five years now summoned him. He wondered why it didn't bother him more.
Well, the answer to that was easy enough, he mused as he started out of the library. He only made it three steps before going back for his book. He tucked it into his pocket. He might have time to read a little, depending on what was going on.
What was he thinking about? Oh. Right. His new status as a minion. He chuckled at the thought. He kind of liked being a minion. He wasn't just Harry's less-useful friend anymore. As a minion, he had a job to do. He had responsibilities. Harry counted on him. He could only imagine what their future was going to be like. Harry wouldn't have given him the task he did if he didn't think that there would be battles and stuff involved. It might be a while before that happened, but when it did, Ron was going to be ready. He was going to be everything Harry needed and more. Because this was something that he could do. This was something that he was good at. The more battles he dissected, the more convinced he became. He wasn't just another pawn on the board anymore. He was Knight now. Always his favorite piece on the board because its power was the most easily overlooked. The Knight could be in position to take a piece before his opponent ever realized it, and he used that mercilessly.
He could do the same in real life.
He slowed to a stop in the corridor as that thought percolated in his mind. The Knight…
Of course. That was where the Merrybrook aurors had gone wrong. They'd underestimated their opponent. They'd not even considered that he could attack the civilians from within the keep. They hadn't planned for it. When it had happened, their force had been unexpectedly divided in trying to tame the Fiendfyre and evacuate the muggles while still waging the battle.
They'd known that the Hand was incredibly powerful and utterly merciless, yet they'd overlooked that possibility that he'd do something like that. Pillocks.
"Ron?"
He blinked and looked up to find Ginny looking at him with concern from a little further down the hall. "Huh?"
"Are you okay?" she asked warily.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" he frowned.
Her brow rose. "Um. You're standing in the middle of a corridor staring at the floor?"
She was looking at him like he was barmy. He scowled at her. No one took him seriously. "I'm fine," he said gruffly, brushing passed her to enter the drawing room.
"Ronnikins!"
"Oi! More of the fair folk!"
Ron froze in his steps as he took in the occupancy of the room. Harry was lounged in the chair at the head of the table, his feet kicked up carelessly on the corner. Luna was sitting next to him, staring off into space. And Fred and George sat across the table from her, ridiculous expressions of shock and joy on their faces.
"Ickle Ginny!"
"We've missed you-,"
"-something awful!"
"Too right, brother mine. Mum's been-,"
"-insufferable."
"Impossible."
"Inconsolable."
"Intolerable."
"In… I can't think of any more 'in' words."
"Impossible wasn't an 'in' word. It was an 'im' word."
"You have a point."
"Of course I do. I always have a point."
"Yeah. What's your point right now?"
"That I always have a point."
"That's redundant."
"Well, you asked."
"You stated."
"Boys." Everyone stopped and looked at Harry as he spoke. He was looking at them with fond exasperation. "I will silence you," Harry said gravely.
The twins exchanged looks, then both their faces turned into pitiful pouts that they directed back at Harry. "You wouldn't," they both said together.
Harry just stared at them.
Fred opened his mouth. Nothing came out.
George tried with the same result.
Ron sat down next to Luna, trying to ignore the twins. Merlin, what were they doing here? He thought about asking, but then decided that he'd rather not give Harry a reason to let them talk again. He took out his book instead. He'd read until everyone else showed up.
x_x…G_W...x_x
Ginny frowned at the twins, but they remained silent. After a moment, she smiled cautiously down the table at Harry. Green eyes met hers and he gave her a grin and a wink. She relaxed a little. She still wasn't quite sure what to think of him. He really frightened her sometimes when his eyes went red and the whole room got so thick with his magic that it seemed like he might suffocate them all with that alone. Hermione had done her best to explain what had happened to him, but she'd used a lot of muggle terminology and Ginny wasn't sure she understood it. There was something about a psychic break or something like that.
No, she didn't really understand that. What she did understand was what Severus – she still wasn't used to that – had said about it. Maybe this was who Harry needed to be. That made more sense. After all, Ginny had always known that Harry Potter wasn't normal. Long before she'd met him, she'd known that he was meant to be something more than everyone else.
And even if he was scary, he hadn't hurt any of them. He'd not hesitated to kill those Death Eaters, but he'd not hurt any of them, just as he said that he wouldn't be able to betray anyone who was loyal to him. She believed that. Really, if he was going to hurt any of them, he'd have hurt Remus when he was being so stupid about Dumbledore because of those compulsions. But he hadn't hurt him. He'd just petrified him and when the compulsions were discovered, he'd decided to help him, even though it was difficult for him. Severus had mentioned how draining it was, and they still had a long way to go.
Yes, she was going to try to avoid angering Harry, but she wouldn't turn her back on him. Maybe this was who he needed to be. After all, none of the greatest wizards were completely sane, were they? Just look at Dumbledore and Voldemort and Grindelwald. Okay, those were all bad examples. But then, even Merlin was rumored to have been a little off. Just look at what happened with Arthur and Guinevere and Lancelot because Merlin thought it would be fun to experiment with love potions.
The rustle of a page turning drew her attention to her brother sitting next to her. Ron was something else that had been worrying her lately. Since when did he read? She knew that Harry had given him the job of learning about battle strategy or whatever, but she hadn't expected him to actually do it. Not with this kind of dedication. Well, none of them had expected anything like this. Just last night they'd been talking about the possibility that Harry had compelled Ron into doing it – maybe without even meaning to. Considering how he was suddenly so powerful and so good without his wand, it seemed possible that he could have compelled him without trying.
She had no idea what else could have done this.
x_x…D_M...x_x
Draco frowned when he entered the drawing room and took in the seating. Everyone was seated nearest to Harry. He considered the closest available chairs. He could sit next to Ginny or whichever twin that was. Or he could sit at the foot of the table. He chose the latter and was just moving toward a chair when Luna stood up, drawing everyone's attention. "I saved this one for you, Draco," she said with a not-quite-there smile, already moving around to sit on Ginny's other side.
Draco hesitated, wondering why Luna had taken it upon herself to save him a seat next to Harry. Surely Harry wouldn't have told her anything about… No. No, he wouldn't have. Harry hadn't even mentioned it to him since it had happened, so why would he have said something to Luna? Deciding that he was only going to make everyone wonder even more if he continued to hesitate, he just lifted his chin and moved to take the seat.
Harry gave him a small smile when he sat down, then returned to what seemed to be a thoughtful examination of the chandelier over the table.
Draco made an effort to avoid staring at him. It wasn't easy though. He was really confused by what was and wasn't happening between them. Most of the time, Harry seemed to just ignore him. He'd kissed him the first night, and that had been… well, the best kiss of his life, in all honesty. There was just something about Harry… And it had been there as long as Draco had known him. That hadn't seemed to change since… everything else had changed. Draco had noticed it right from the very first time they'd met, though he hadn't really understood it then. He'd just known that he wanted to talk to that strange boy in the robe shop – not that he'd been able to find anything to talk about.
Harry had confounded him then, he remembered. He'd looked almost wild with his hair going in every direction. Draco had first wondered if he might be poor, or worse, muggleborn. But he'd said that his parents were magical, and the more Draco had talked to him, the more aloof Harry had seemed. It hadn't been like he was trying to act like he was better than Draco. That was the problem. He wasn't acting. He was just… so mature, even though they were obviously the same age. Draco had been captivated. Then, on the train, he'd discovered that the captivating boy from the robe shop was the Harry Potter, and Draco had tried so hard to be impressive. He'd wanted Harry to know that Draco was special.
That hadn't worked out. All he'd ended up doing was annoying Harry by – he winced internally – reminding him of his muggle cousin. And then Harry hadn't just insulted and refused him, he'd seemed to dismiss him. Like he'd already ceased to matter. Nothing could have hurt worse than that, so Draco hadn't had any choice but to devote himself to making Harry feel just as wretched. He wasn't sure if he ever succeeded in five years of animosity. Harry had always been quick to get angry – confrontational – but he never seemed to get hurt. Probably a lucky thing, or Draco may not be alive now.
Draco fought the urge to sigh and he let his eyes drift back to Harry's face. Merlin, he was gorgeous. Draco had spent far too much of the last two days remembering what Harry looked like naked. What he tasted like. Those wonderful noises that he made in between swearing like a drunken commoner. His hot breath on Draco's ear, ordering him to come. And then there were those other moments. When Harry had apologized for kissing him the first time. When he'd promised Draco that he'd stop if asked – that he wouldn't be angry. Like he really cared…
Damn it all to hell, he seriously needed to stop thinking about that, Draco realized. He was sitting at a table overrun by Weasleys, and he was getting hard thinking about Harry. He should probably just give up on ever understanding Harry, because it was definitely a lost cause. Harry seemed to care about him as more than just a convenient shag, but Draco had woken up alone in Harry's bed the morning after. And then, the next night, Harry had pulled him into his lap and held him, and that had been… nice, if a little unexpected. Since then, however, Harry had treated him exactly the same as everyone else.
Blessedly, everyone else picked that moment to arrive, distracting Draco from his brooding. Lucius, Narcissa, Severus, and Hermione came in together with Neville trailing a bit behind them. Neville sat on the other side of Luna while Hermione braved the seat next to the twins. Severus sat next to Hermione with Narcissa on his other side. Lucius took the seat at the foot of the table, though Draco didn't miss the way his eyes assessed Draco's place next to Harry. Draco did his best to pretend that he hadn't noticed the scrutiny.
Harry finally took his feet off the table to sit up, bright green eyes running over each person that was now watching him expectantly. Nervously.
"Well, as I'm sure you've all noticed by now, Fred and George have joined us," Harry began. "Luna was kind enough to bring them here and they've both taken the Vow. Of course, as they have a business to run, they won't be staying here full-time. For those of you who weren't here yesterday, Remus' behavior prompted me to have him checked for compulsions," he nodded toward Severus appreciatively. The older man just returned the nod faintly. "Unfortunately, he was under the influence of compulsions. A lot of compulsions. We are in the process of removing them now, but it will take several months to complete. Evidently, Albus had been layering compulsions into his mind for twenty-five years."
He paused a moment, letting his eyes drift around the solemn faces at the table. Even Fred and George had completely lost all sign of humor in their faces.
"With that in mind," Harry continued, "I want all of you checked for compulsions. "Since we're all here now, it seemed a good time to do it. Severus, why don't you start with George," he nodded to the twin nearest him.
Severus rose from the silent table and moved around to look into the twin's eyes. Everyone watched in silence for a couple minutes until the eye contact was broken. "He is clean," Severus announced.
More than one person sagged in relief. Harry just gave a grim nod and Severus moved on to the other twin. Two minutes later, Fred was declared clean of compulsions. Hermione was next, and she trembled when Severus put one finger under her chin to turn her face up to his.
When Severus emerged, he bowed his head and sighed quietly.
"Severus?" Harry prompted.
"Two," Severus said quietly.
Everyone at the table tensed as Harry's magic swept through the room, flavored by his anger. Draco cautiously shifted his focus to find Harry's face was hard, his eyes gleaming red, his shoulders stiff. He took a slow, deep breath. "What are they?"
"Respect of authority figures and an urge to report to Minerva or Albus anything that she finds concerning with respect to you, my Lord," Severus said quietly.
Harry let out a low string of hisses under his breath that Draco was pretty sure was in parseltongue. "I see," he bit out. "How long have they been there?"
"Since the beginning of her third year."
Harry was silent for a moment, then he gave a brief, sharp nod. "Continue, Severus. We'll see about removing compulsions once everyone has been checked."
Severus gave a nod and moved around to Narcissa, his hand resting briefly on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione, Draco noticed, had tears in her eyes. She looked like she was fighting with everything she had in her to avoid breaking down right then. Draco couldn't entirely blame her. He couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to find out that someone had mucked around in his mind. That even his own thoughts and convictions couldn't be trusted.
Narcissa and Lucius were both soon proclaimed to be free of compulsions. Neville was another story. When Severus broke eye contact with him, he met Harry's eyes and the magic in the room that had just begun to wane slightly flared back hotter and angrier than ever.
"Just one," Severus said quietly, a hint of weariness in his tone that Draco didn't think was related to checking minds so much as what he was finding there. "It has increased his natural timidity and made him more prone to doubting himself. It seems to have been installed at the end of his first year."
Harry hissed quietly again and Draco fought the urge to loosen his collar since he knew that that wasn't actually the reason that it was difficult to breathe. The chandelier was beginning to lend small tinkling sounds to the thick silence as it literally trembled under the force of Harry's anger. "After you stood up to us when we went after Quirrell," Harry said quietly to Neville, who looked simply terrified, though Draco wasn't sure if it was at what they'd just learned or simply a reaction to Harry's palpable fury. "That bastard has much to answer for," Harry growled, and his words had a seal of an oath beneath them. Draco almost felt sorry for Dumbledore when Harry got his hands on him. Almost.
Finally, Harry gave Severus a nod, and the man moved on to Luna, who was soon declared clear, though Severus did look at her very strangely when he emerged from her mind. She just gave him a brilliant smile and a shrug. Severus blinked a few times and shook his head before moving on to Ginny.
He spent almost twice as long in her mind as he had any of the others, and the magic in the air grew more and more potent with every additional second. Finally, Severus turned grim eyes on Harry. He swallowed once before speaking. "Respect for authority figures, like Hermione. A second has been slowly and steadily increasing her interest in Quidditch. There is a watch and report compulsion similar to Hermione's. One is focused on you. Another, slightly milder, is focused on Fred and George. And…" he hesitated very briefly, " the last is affection toward you, Harry. Romantic affection."
"What?" Ginny blinked. "No. I'm not… I mean… I'm over that," she blushed.
Severus nodded. "That one seems to be dormant, though it could be activated again whenever Albus wishes."
Ginny's jaw dropped as her eyes widened in horror.
The magic in the air abruptly spiked so high that, for one terrifying moment, Draco was certain that it would be a repeat of what had happened when Voldemort had died. Then, though Harry did not move or speak, the tension in the magic just… snapped. The stifling heat that had been surging through the magic turned, in one instant, icy cold. It didn't become less intense, but it was much more tolerable. Draco wasn't the only one to take a sudden, deep breath as it was once again possible to do so.
But that magic was still there. And it felt even more dangerous now. It didn't feel like it was about to go out of control and level the manor, but like it might just slink through every room and snuff out all signs of life.
Draco turned his head slowly to look at Harry, hopefully without drawing attention to himself. Harry's eyes were colder than Draco had ever seen them, but there was something… Well, something else off about them. They were too dilated, Draco realized uneasily. As though it was very dark in the room even though it wasn't. The red was barely even visible around the pupils.
Draco's eyes widened when he realized that the red wasn't visible anymore. At all. And… He watched in silent astonishment as the black continued to expand outward until it had blanketed the entire surface of his eye, iris and sclera.
He was suddenly missing the red. Salazar, how had he ever thought the red was scary. This was scary. Those yes were utterly dead.
"When," Harry said simply, but Draco couldn't fully contain a shudder at the lifelessness that had invaded his voice as well. It was cold and hard and merciless and… otherworldly.
"Following her first year," Severus almost whispered. He, too, seemed to sense the danger.
"He…?" Ginny gasped in horror. "No… He was… He helped me. After Tom… Oh Gods. I… I let that sick son of a bitch in my head, and he…" She, evidently, was disturbed enough by her own problems to have not noticed or processed Harry's eyes.
"We'll fix it, Gin," Harry said in that dead voice. "We'll fix it, and we'll make him regret it. I promise."
Ginny's brown eyes burned with fury that was steadily replacing the horror. "I want to be there," she growled, her tone venomous enough that Ron actually leaned away from her. "I want to be there when you do it, Harry."
The black-eyed young man inclined his head to her in agreement before nodding to Severus.
Ron was next, and Severus did not take any additional time on him before declaring him clean.
"What?" Ron demanded immediately. "None? But…" He looked at Ginny, then Neville, then Hermione, all of whom still seemed to be in various states of shock. "Why would he compel them and not me?" He directed the last to Harry, though he did flinch slightly as his eyes met those lifeless black orbs.
Harry's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he considered Ron. "He underestimated you," he said quietly, then his lips twitched slightly toward a smile that was utterly wrong without any life in his eyes. "Won't it be fun to demonstrate the gravity of his mistake, Ron?"
The redhead in question seemed to consider that for a moment, and then he smiled. "Yeah, Harry. Yeah, it will."
Another nod from Harry, and Severus stood in front of Draco. Truly, he didn't think there was much chance that Dumbledore had messed with his mind. He'd started training in Occlumency under Severus when he was six and he had never in his life let down his guard around that old lunatic. Still, he was slightly nervous as he felt Severus slip into his mind. He was familiar with his godfather and didn't find it difficult to relax his shields. He made an effort to just unfocus his mind and let Severus explore as necessary. It only took him about a minute to pronounce him free of any compulsions.
"Okay," Harry said after a moment. "Anyone not under compulsions may return to your duties. Gabby."
The house elf appeared instantly, looking at Harry expectantly. "Please show Fred and George to the rooms they'll be using while they're here. I'd like for you two to stay through dinner. Then you can stay the night or leave if you want."
Draco joined the others in leaving the room, trying not to visibly sag under the relief of being out of that stifling magic. Merlin, Harry could be overwhelming. And it was wrong on so many levels that that turned him on. He just hoped that his eyes went back to normal. That black was really disturbing.
Fred and George were evidently relieved of the silencing charm now as they were whispering together while they followed the elf toward the guest wing. Luna literally skipped down the hallway after them, apparently unaffected by anything that had happened in that room. Ron was muttering to himself under his breath as he headed back toward the library.
Draco joined his parents in slipping into Lucius' study. Once they were closed inside, Lucius raised silencing and locking wards, then sank heavily into his chair. Mother moved around the desk to grip Father's shoulder. Draco sank into a chair in front of the desk.
"I understand, now," Lucius said quietly. "That… That magic…"
Narcissa nodded her agreement.
Draco said nothing. That magic. He quite agreed.
x_x…D_M...x_x
Three hours after leaving the drawing room, Draco was silently cursing himself for going toward the danger as he stopped outside Harry's suite. He didn't really think that Harry would hurt him, but he didn't fully know what to make of this new development with his eyes either. He'd heard of expressive eyes before, but this was ridiculous…
He shook the bizarre thought and lifted his hand to knock on the door before he could talk himself out of it. Just before his knuckles touched the door, it was yanked open and Draco didn't even have time to check Harry's eye color before he was pinned to the corridor wall opposite Harry's door, being thoroughly snogged. Harry's body seemed to mold itself to his and Draco forgot about silly things like eye colors as he responded to the almost desperate tenor of the kiss.
Harry tasted like firewhiskey again. "Draco," he breathed as their lips parted and Draco quickly pressed his lips to Harry's again. The other man didn't hesitate to return the kiss as he fisted the front of Draco's robes and dragged him back into his room without parting their lips again.
Once the door was closed, Harry pressed him up against it and disengaged their mouths so that he could bury his face in Draco's neck. He didn't kiss him. He didn't speak. He just rested his face there, his breathing gradually slowing.
"Harry, are you okay?" Draco asked uncertainly after several minutes. Harry almost might have fallen asleep standing up.
There was a concerning pause before he felt Harry nod slightly. "I will be. I have to be."
Draco frowned and tightened his arms around the warm body keeping him pressed into the door.
"Come to bed with me," Harry whispered. "Not… Just to sleep, I mean. It's easier when you're there. Sleeping."
Draco wasn't sure that he liked the sound of that as it pertained to Harry's mental state. Most of him, however, was doing a victory dance. He really had no idea why he'd been so worried. He was a Malfoy after all. Like Harry could possibly sleep with him once and get over him. Not a chance.
Harry pulled away enough to look into his eyes and he actually looked worried that Draco might refuse. How adorable. Not least because Harry's eyes were green again, which was now Draco's favorite color. Well, it had been before, but now it didn't even have anything to do with Slytherin. Draco just nodded.
Harry sighed in relief and kissed his lips once more, briefly, before leading him into the bedroom.
x_x…S_S...x_x
Severus stepped cautiously out of the shadows at the end of the corridor when Harry's door was closed behind the boys. He stared at it for a moment.
Salazar… Harry and Draco? Well, he'd noticed Draco's fixation, of course, but he hadn't really expected him to act on it. And he honestly hadn't thought that Harry had even noticed. That hadn't looked like a first kiss though…
Morgana help that boy… The Malfoys had never had the good sense to learn that sticking your hand in the fire tended to leave you burned. He could only pray that Draco actually had feelings for Harry, because Severus was pretty sure that the latter was still Gryffindor enough to take it badly if he didn't. And Severus would be very concerned for his godson should this end badly.
He finally shook himself and turned back toward the guest wing. He could absolutely wait until tomorrow to talk to Harry.
A/N: Thank you so much to all of my lovely reviewers. Seriously, have I mentioned how much I love you guys? 'Cause it's like... A LOT! You're beautiful! Keep them coming and I will do my very best to keep the chapters coming!
