Harry Potter and the World Beneath

by Tellemicus Sundance

Running away from the Dursleys at a young age was a turning point of his destiny. Now he lives alone in the wilderness of a land long forgotten by the passage of time. And this is the story of his discovery in the lost world beneath. DISCONTINUED.

14. Lingering Effects

Harry Potter and the World Beneath
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Chapter 14—Lingering Effects

27 November 1994
Sunday, 7:46am

His touch was like firm but gentle. His skin was rough yet warm. Anywhere he touched, it was like he was sending ripples of liquid fire through her nerves, sending goosebumps and shivers up her spine like lightning. And he was not shy as he held her, caressed her, as he kissed her. Every part of him that she could feel pressed up against her back was hard like a rock and yet completely open and welcoming. Young, inexperienced, and hopelessly ignorant as he may have been, he learned extremely quickly just by mimicking her and interpreting her subtle reactions to his explorations of her body. Her reservations against such intimate actions had long since vanished like smoke in a windstorm. All that existed within her now was raw, instinctive desire.

The pair of them had at some point lowered themselves to the soft, moist ground below them. Fleur had her eyes closed as she leaned back into his naked chest as he held her secure in his arms. His lips were trailing feather-light kisses along her exposed shoulder and neck. She could smell the scent of the forest clinging to him, and her, as he buried his face into her golden-blonde hair at the nape of her neck. His long, dark hair fell forward over her shoulders like rough, flowing drapes. Her body was shivering in excitement and ecstasy yet was sweating from the humidity and all his caressing.

Currently, he was lovingly groping her breasts, examining them to the best of his ability and coincidentally adding to her enjoyment of the situation. One of his rough, calloused hands was slowing sliding down her stomach to forbidden parts. The slow, tantalizing pace of his progress was drawing a large amount of blood to her head as her face darkened into considerably deeper hues of red from embarrassment and lust. It felt like she was on fire and about to spontaneously combust. Then his fingers finally touched a little nub and her world exploded in a blinding flash of light, visible only to her, as a tsunami of pleasure washed her away.

Sitting up, gasping heavily, sweat pouring down her flushed face, Fleur's arms immediately encircled herself as she hastily gazed around herself. It took a moment for her to see and comprehend the fact that she was back in her tent, alone, with her bed sheets a tangled, disorganized mess around her legs.

"C'était un rêve," she told herself resorting back to her native French tongue, trying to get the image of Harry out of her head. It was a futile attempt at best. "C'était un rêve, Fleur. C'était un rêve."

Finally regaining some semblance of her mental balance back, she swung her legs over her the bed as she prepared to climb out. But, much to her immediate surprise, she was suddenly awash with a wave of exhaustion that was sweeping through her body. Her body ached and throbbed something fierce, especially her legs, thighs, and feet from all the walking and physical activities done yesterday. Her lungs were burning, a fiery throb that she normally associated with long-distance running. It actually pained her to take deep breaths as the burning seemed to deepen by the increase of oxygen volume within her lungs.

"Fleurr!" an increasingly familiar voice purred, catching the blonde's attention immediately. Looking up, she instantly spotted Harry standing in the open doorway with a strange, almost content expression on his face. A small, hesitating smile crossed his face as he suddenly gained a look of concentration. "Fleurr… Waaake…now… Eeeaaat… Hooome."

Fleur raised an eyebrow at his words, but made no immediate movement. "So, you're really trying to talk now?" she said, more to herself than him. "That's good. This'll help us considerably from now on."

"Geeet up!" There was no mistaking the stern command in his expression or voice. "Sun up! Eeeaaat now!"

Sighing slightly, and wincing from the dull burning of her lungs, Fleur waved her hand towards the door in a silent request for him to leave. Harry just stared uncomprehendingly as she waved her hand in the air in a familiar but not-quite-recognizable gesture. Seeing his bewilderment, Fleur had to forcefully suppress her habitual need to scowl at ignorant males and remind herself that he was a jungle savage who probably didn't understand much of what she said or did anymore. Standing up and further wincing at the screaming aches of her legs and thighs, she came over and pointedly pushed him out of the room and closed the door.

Looking down at her sweaty nightclothes, Fleur's frown came out full force. She'd need a shower before she got dressed and she'd need to clean her clothes of the dirt that got smeared up in them after last night. The sudden memory flash of her unintentional kiss with Harry, along with still potent images of that vivid dream, brought an immediate blush to her face that she was unable to suppress as she hurried to the restroom.

Harry Potter – The World Beneath – Harry Potter

7:56am

Harry stood motionless waist deep in the river that was flowing next the massive tree. He wore nothing but his long, leather pants and had his shaggy hair pulled back into a braid that he'd wrapped into a ball at the back of his head. His assortment of daggers and weaponry were lying close by on the shore, though they weren't necessarily needed this deep into the heart of Allie's territory.

Behind him, he could hear the sounds of Allie and the hatchlings once again gorging themselves on the remains of yesterday's kill. They'd probably have enough to last them the rest of the night, but they'd need to go hunting tomorrow for sure. And Harry knew better than to try and sneak a piece of meat off of the meal of a hunger hunter and her babies as they ate. Alas he'd resigned himself to picking his teeth of fish bones as his after-breakfast chore.

But though his body remained motionless, his ears were able to pick out the sounds normally foreign in this setting. His trio of visitors were having their own meal and he could smell it all the way from his current position, not to mention the sounds of crackling fire, metal burning tantalizingly good-smelling meat, and the clatter of utensils on plates. It was a small wonder to him that they'd even survived long enough to almost ambush him in this jungle. Everything they did was loud, obnoxious, and attention-grabbing! Even the lady—Fleur, he reminded himself—had been disturbingly loud last night after he'd showed her the tree cave. Not that he didn't find it amusing to watch…at least until she'd somehow conjured a fireball and threw it at him. Idly, he wondered if he could do that with his power as well.

A small flash of scaly silver in the warm waters near him caught his attention. The fish were finally starting to come out and begin their seasonal swim downriver. Calming his nerves, Harry focused his mind, concentrating on the circumference on his reach as he felt his awareness of the river's flow around grow. Visible only to beings of magic, two transparent spheres of glowing white energy (a smaller one inside the larger one) surrounded Harry as he leaned ever so slightly forward in preparation. This was a trick he'd learned only recently. But while it was somewhat dangerous to expose himself by standing in the river unprotected, it still yielded better results than using a fishing line and struggling to drag the captured fish out of the water before it or he attracted unwanted attention.

Glancing over his shoulder to where he sensed several fish moving through the first sphere he'd created around himself, he watched closely as some of them began approaching his range of reach. Slow breathing, he chanted to himself. Calm the mind. I am a stone in the river; unmoving, unchanging, nonthreatening. Slow breathing. The fish was…almost…in his reach—now! Quick as a bird snatching up a worm, Harry's hand shot into the water, aiming for where the fish would instantly dash to, catching the slippery thing, and flinging it safely onto shore.

Without pausing in celebration, he repeated the process two more times, adding his number of catches to three fish that were thrashing in the grasses and dirt. Smiling largely at his awaiting meal, Harry quickly leapt from the water and pounced upon the doomed river creatures.

Harry Potter – The World Beneath – Harry Potter

Up in her tree cave, Fleur was once again sitting at her table with her journal out. She was busy adding in a new entry to record last night's events in the base of the tree, where Harry had shown her those glowing gems and his memories of his past. As she was approaching the part of where she'd kissed him on impulse, her hand froze as a faint blush crossed her face and the ink of her quill began to leak and stain the page.

Thankfully for her peace of mind, neither of the Weasley brothers seemed to notice due to the hot flush that was already gracing her features thanks to the already rising humidity and air temperatures. Unlike what she'd hoped would happen, the incessant burning in her lungs and throbbing pain of her body hadn't lessened in the least since she'd woken up. In fact, it seemed to be slowly spreading and worsening!

Rather than continue writing, she glanced up to watch the brothers. Charlie was at the small stove that he'd conjured and was busy cooking frying some eggs, sausage meat, and hash-brown potatoes. He seemed to know what he was doing, which she was quite grateful for. For all her beauty and magical skills, Fleur couldn't cook a decent or even edible meal, with or without magic, if her life depended on it. And, if the tantalizing smells she was picking up were any indication, then the younger Weasley was clearly an exceptional cook in her opinion.

It was as she was glancing over at the other brother that she gave a start of surprise. He had taken a seat across the small table from her and was blatantly looking down at her journal, clearly attempting to read the upside-down French. Paying no mind to the still damp ink coating the page, Fleur snapped the book shut as she shot an accusing glare at the young man when he glanced up at her. From his expression, she could clearly see that he was not even the least bit repentant of his invasion of her privacy. How much and how well had he been able to read before she caught on?

"I wouldn't have thought you were a girl who was interested in young boys," Bill said in a mild tone. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she could've sworn she detected a certain level of anger and jealousy in his voice.

"Il n'est aucune de vos affaires, Monsieur Weasley!" Ignoring the fire in her lungs as she reflexively drew in a deep breath of air, Fleur's glare deepened defensively as she maintained her gaze on the older man. "Ne lisez pas mes choses sans ma permission!"

"I don't have the faintest clue of what that meant," Charlie piped up from the stove without turning to look. "But she sounds very angry. Maybe you should back off a bit, Bill?"

Bill snorted slightly as he glanced at his brother. Returning his gaze to Fleur, he said, "Cristaux Ardents? What 'glowing crystals' are you talking about, Ms. Delacour?"

Fleur's glare darkened slightly. If he truly thought she was going to answer that question after reading from her journal without her permission, he was greatly mistaken! Resolutely turning her gaze away in an act of obvious refusal to answer, she opened her journal (purposely keeping the pages out of Bill's line of sight) and brought her wand up to begin cleaning the mess that the wet ink had caused when she'd closed it. As she was doing so, Fleur noticed something. Why were her hands and arms beginning to flinch and tremble?

Bill just gave the Veela a halfhearted glare before turning his attention down to the dinosaurs below them. What little he'd been able to discern from her diary seemed to hint that there was a cave at the base of the tree where those 'glowing crystals' were hidden. Now, where was that cave? Ah! There it was! So easy to miss when you weren't aware of it or looking for it.

A sudden ragged coughing instantly returned Bill's attention to the beautiful blonde across from him. He quirked an eyebrow as he watched her bring a delicate hand up to her mouth to cough into. At first the coughing didn't seem anything worth worrying over. That is, until she unexpectedly leaned forward, dropping her wand and journal to the ground as her coughing turned into violent wheezes and frantic gasps for air.

"Miss Fleur, are you okay?" Bill asked standing slightly to move closer to her. All his jealousy and anger aside, he was genuinely concerned as he watched the girl brace herself against the table with one hand and continued coughing to the side. After several long moments, the violent wheezing finally lessened down to small coughs again. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Fleur didn't answer immediately. Instead, she seemed to be staring at something in her hand but he couldn't see what it was due to it being hidden under the table. "N-No," she managed to gasp out. Looking up, Bill gasped slightly himself as he saw her face had turned ghostly pale and there was a trail of blood seeping out the corner of her mouth.

Rushing to her side, Bill immediately laid her flat on the ground, pressing one of his hands upon her forehead as his other drew his wand. It was a visible sign when Fleur offered no resistance to his administrations. Fleur's skin was frighteningly cool and clammy to the touch. As he waved his wand through a diagnostic spell, Bill found himself growing increasingly alarmed. All her organs, but most especially her lungs, were suffering from internal bleeding. Her muscles were contracting and seizing at an alarming rate. And her bones seemed to be becoming increasingly brittle and weak.

"What's going on here?" Bill demanded, very alarmed as he finished his diagnostic scan.

"What's wrong?" Charlie asked, walking over with a skillet of omelets.

"I don't know," Bill answered. Turning to Charlie, he said in his best big brother-no nonsense voice, "Get out my potions and remedies while I take Fleur to her room. Move!" Charlie quickly set the skillet upon the table and rushed to the side of the balcony where he and Bill's brooms were resting. Without a word, he took off and flew up towards their tent in the tree canopy.

"N-N-No," Fleur groaned out slowly. "I…I'm…fine!"

"This is no time for your pride!" Bill said sternly, glaring forcefully down at the sick and weakened Veela. "Something's wrong here and we need to find out what and why!"

Fleur just stared up at him for a long moment. Bill decided not to wait for her reply as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her back to her bedroom. As he was laying her upon the bed, he caught a faint whisper from the girl. "G-G-Get…Harry…he know… what wrong…"

Despite himself and the situation, Bill couldn't help but turn to glare slightly at the young woman, not that she saw it since her eyes were closed and her consciousness seemed to be drifting towards sleep. She wanted that little savage's help instead of a fully trained and experienced wizard like himself and Charlie to heal her? What was she thinking?

Harry Potter – The World Beneath – Harry Potter

Dressed in just his leather pants and undershirt with his usual cloak and weapons set off to the side, Harry sat over by the edge of the river. In front of him was a small fire he'd built to cook the fish he'd caught for breakfast. Alongside the small fire was a collection of various fruits and edible plants he'd collected shortly after catching his fish. Harry watched as one of the red-haired men flew up into the tree canopy at an incredibly fast speed. What was he doing up there? And why did he seem to be in a hurry?

Shrugging to himself, Harry turned back to the fire and three sticks that were holding his gutted and descaled fish close to the fire. The smell of cooking fish, though normally a tempting and mouth-watering scent for Allie and most other predators, was scarcely noticeable over the much stronger scents of the visitors' food that still hung heavy in the air. Harry couldn't help but feel strangely grateful for that. It meant that he didn't need to constantly ward off Allie and prevent her from stealing some of his food. Though as friendly and a proud hunter as she was, Allie never passed up the chance to steal food when it was available, even if it was sometimes Harry's.

Grabbing the fish that smelled the most done, he eagerly bit into it and returned his attention to the far up tree branches. Idly munching his meat, he watched as the red man reappeared and raced back down the tree trunk at staggering speeds before slowing down enough to safely land at Fleur's tree cave. Then he heard the man start loudly talking in a voice that sounded…worried? What was going on up there?

As he was finishing up his second fish and was biting into some dried, bitter red roots he'd dug up a while ago, his curiosity finally won over. Grabbing the last fish and a ripe bomba fruit, he stuck them into his hip pouch as he doused the fire with a flick of his wrist and power. Jumping lightly up on a tree root near him, he ran and leapt along its length until he reached the trunk and scaled it with a relative ease, reaching the balcony after only a few moments.

Inside the tree cave, the scents of the cooked meal were overwhelming, drowning out all others. The door to the girl's…thing was open and that's what quickly drew his attention. He could the men's slightly raised voices inside and, if his assumption was correct, they were intended…worried about something. Cautiously entering the thing, Harry's easily followed the voices to the source, in Fleur's sleeping room. One of the men was standing off to the side, his posture making his concern obvious to even Harry. The other man, the one who always seemed to glare at him, was hunched over Fleur's body, which was lying upon her bed.

Coming forward without invitation, Harry ignored the startled red man who yelped slightly when he finally noticed Harry's presence. The other man by Fleur turned to look curiously at the first, only to glare heatedly at Harry, who ignored with ease as he focused his attention upon the girl. As he was reaching his hand towards the girl's chest, the man caught his wrist and pulled it away, his glare intensifying.

Finally, Harry returned the man's glare as he yanked his arm free of the grasp. As the man began speaking, he focused his attention upon his lips, mesmerizing the sounds and structure as the man spoke, trying to translate it as best he could from his fragmented memory. For some reason, it was…harder to do so than it was with Fleur. But there were a few that he did recognize. Well, it was more the meaning than the actual words.

He wasn't needed here? He should go away?

Harry's eyes narrowed as the meaning began to sink in. He could see that his Fleur was sick. But this man didn't want him here? He didn't want his help to cure his Fleur? Who did he think he was to keep him from his Fleur? A slight growl was the man's only warning to move aside as Harry turned his attention back to the yellow-haired girl on the bed.

As he was reaching forward to feel the girl's chest again, the man once again caught his wrist, in a grip that was much tighter than the previous. Dangerous leaf-green eyes shot to the man as Harry's patience finally snapped and he lashed out with all his strength. Rather than break free, Harry turned his body slightly away from the man before jabbing the elbow of his captured arm backwards into the man's gut just below his ribcage, leaning into the blow as he did so for added power. The unexpected attack caught the man by surprise, forcing the wind from his lungs as he was knocked backwards and crashed to the ground. As the man tried to climb to his feet and suck air back inside his lungs, Harry spun and forcefully pushed the man back to the ground. Sending a wave of his power into the wood under his feet, he caused branches to suddenly spring to life and bind the man's arms and legs to the ground, trapping him.

Seeing the man trying to use his little stick to channel his power through, Harry quickly snatched it from his hand as he glared contemptuously down at him. The man was growling and loudly demanding his freedom, looking over towards the other one for assistance. When Harry's gaze shifted over to the second man, the second one merely held his hands up, showing them to be empty, as he stepped back a few times. Accepting his surrender, Harry turned his attention back to Fleur while stuffing the little stick into his hip pouch, blatantly ignoring the downed man's cries of anger at the second one.

Reaching for her chest for the third time, Harry's hands glowed a warm red as he used his power to discern what was wrong with the girl. After only a moment, he nodded to himself, knowing what was wrong. It would seem that he hadn't healed the girl as well as he'd originally thought he had after that Megalosaurus' attack yesterday. Megalosaurus were unlike most of the predators in the jungle because they had poisonous venom in their drool. It was how they hunted; deafen the prey with their sonic shrieks and, if the prey was still able to fight them off, poison them. The problem was that not all Megalosaur had the venom, and because the venom was usually slow to take effect, it was even harder to spot.

Reaching to his waist, Harry withdrew one of his daggers and opened a cut upon Fleur's wrist. Ignoring the heightened yelling of the trapped man, the red glow of Harry's hands returned as he gently grasped the girl's wrist and let the blood seep out and through his fingers. He concentrated upon the blood, using his power to seek out the telltale yellow venom among the red blood cells. As his power slowly began to fill Fleur's body, searching every vein and cell for the poison, the Veela's body began to adopt a similar faint red glow to mirror the light that surrounded Harry's hands.

Pulling the venom out of its hiding places within her body, he drew it out down the vein of her arm to the cut in her wrist. With one hand maintaining his grip on her wrist, he gently pulled the other away as the venom began oozing out. He faintly heard a small gasp of surprise from the free man as he stepped cautiously up behind Harry to watch what the kid was doing. The venom began to become steadily visible, dripping out into the air before floating over to and collecting into the palm of Harry's withdrawn hand.

The entire process of sucking all the venom out took at least ten minutes, but the amount of venom was surprisingly small, considering the normal quantities that the Megalosaur use on their larger prey. Ten minutes for barely a handful's worth of the poison was floating almost benevolently above Harry's palm. It wasn't until the slow, steady dripping of the yellow fluid out of her wrist stopped that he finally deemed it safe to close and heal the wound.

"Bloody hell," the man behind him whispered in an almost-awed voice.

Maintaining his concentration on the floating poison in his palm, Harry turned to the man with a raised eyebrow. He found himself moderately surprised that he honestly recognized the words spoken and the meanings behind them; bad words too, if he remembered properly. Slight movement below him caught Harry's attention and he stared down at the trapped man. The man thankfully wasn't yelling anymore, but there did seem to be some kind of strange expression on his face that Harry didn't recognize as he stared at the floating mass of poison.

Snorting in dismissal of the man, Harry marched past him on his way outside to properly dispose of the venom. He paused only long enough to contemptuously drop the man's little stick next to him before leaving.

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(Author's Note) Big thank you to SulliMike23 and FictionReader98 for helping me brainstorm on this chapter and the ideas within!

I know this chapter is rather slow, especially given the long time between updates. FictionReader98 even mentioned that I just seem to stagnating with the storyline, something that I quite agree on. Yet there is a silver lining this slow chapter. You see, originally, I wanted to make this chapter a bit longer and push the plot along with the start of the journey downriver for the egg recovery, but obviously something different happened. This whole 'poisoning' was an idea that came completely out of left field and while it may have seemed to slow the storyline down even more, but I liked it. Plus, it's actually very fortunate of me to have come up with this idea. It'll help me greatly accelerate the overall plotline, starting with the next chapter, I promise you!

Before any of you ask, I added in that dream scene at the beginning for my own amusement. I wanted to try my hand at writing an 'almost lemon' scene, since I've never actually done one before. Please tell me what you think of it. Oh, and before you start asking for more of them, I will tell you all right here and now that I will NEVER write a full blown lemon scene/story. I don't wish to degrade myself by having to resort to such tactics in order to write an 'acceptable' story. Sorry, all you perverts.