Chapter 46 – New Hosting Duties
As the days passed, Draco grew more and more concerned about Harry and a handful of those they had rescued. It was finally the evening before the first of the families arrived and all of those involved had gathered in the room that was now frequently called the Story Room. Harry, as well as roughly nine of those rescued were beginning to look like inferi in their nightmare-induced lack of sleep.
"Before reading tonight," Harry announced, slightly slurring his words, "Draco has decided I need a potion that will promote easy sleep and good dreams. After many hours of discussion, it was decided that everyone will have a choice of the same potion I am having or dreamless sleep."
Harry raised a hand for quiet when everyone started objecting at the same time.
"The potions were made by Potions Master Snape, who has kindly agreed to vow on his mastery that he has not tampered with any of them in any way," he stated once the noise level had gone down. "The three Healer's Guild Leaders agreed with this decision as the level of stress we have all been under the last few days has been high. We all need at least one decent night's sleep before the families start arriving or we may just scare them off by walking towards them muttering 'braaaaaiiins'."
The other teens started to laugh at the thought of that actually happening as the previous afternoon they had watched some old-time movies from the non-magical world and understood the reference.
Harry laughed tiredly along with them before turning serious.
"Everyone over the age of eleven can choose what potion they get, but those under will all receive the same potion I do with the possibility of getting a little bit of dreamless sleep if necessary. Hedwig, Willa and Gabby will come around with small vials of the potions. Those taking the sleep promoter will have it now while those with dreamless sleep will have it at nine or nine thirty. Now, let's get this over with so we can have story time."
As the younger children cheered at the idea of story time on a day that wasn't the allocated day for it, Harry dutifully swallowed the potion that Draco gave him, grimacing at the aftertaste. Seeing Harry take his potion without problem, those who had already chosen, or received their potion, did the same without complaint. Once all potions had been consumed (or placed on the bedside table for the few who chose dreamless sleep) everyone settled into their positions and stared hopefully at the book that seemed to have appeared in Draco's hand from no-where. The book itself was thick and large in size. All eyes watched greedily as the blonde vampire slowly opened to the first page.
"This is a book I have not read in many years," Draco stated as though it was only him and Harry in the room. "My grandfather, Abraxas, bought it for me when I was young. It is a collection of children's classics. I found it in a box of my things in the attic and thought I would bring it to share. The first story is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
He tenderly flicked through the pages to find the beginning of the story and softly cleared his throat. As he read, he barely noticed those surrounding him as he remembered a time back in his past when it was he who was curled into the side of an immaculately dressed elderly vampire, listening to his soothing voice as he read about a land of fantasy not even magic could replicate.
He didn't realise that his content feelings he was experiencing through his memories was being felt and broadcast by his mate, which, in turn, lead to all those who had taken the potions to fall asleep much faster than expected.
~~~NotevenhalfpastsevenandI'mreadyforbed~~~
The following morning found the Sanctuary House a hive of activity. As no one knew which families had been found, nor who would arrive first, everyone was running around trying to clean faces, neaten clothes and make beds and getting dressed and ensuring the greeting rooms were both warded and spelled against escape, telling the truth and keeping those inside separated from those outside until Harry decided they were safe.
Hermione was working with Blaise, William and Sephtis, moving from room to room adding runes to every possible opening they could find that would allow no-one who desired to harm to pass while capturing them and sounding an alarm to those who held the wards: in this case, Harry, Remus and Hermione.
Draco, Bellatrix, Lucius, Severus and Hedwig were with Sirius and Remus going over and through one of the least damaged Black properties in preparation for habitation, while the remaining members of the ICMB continued searching for the Weasley's and sorted out what William and Dreyquim had found in the abandoned house they had searched.
A bell sounded just as everyone had settled down to eat a late lunch and everyone, no matter their age, froze. The first person to react was Harry, who reached for the mild calming potion in his pocket. Once he had taken it and vanished into the shadows that had reached for him, the silent stillness of the other's broke.
Ten minutes after he had left, Harry returned to bedlam. Kids were crying, food was everywhere and Hermione looked to be about to pull her hair out.
"What is going on in here?" he yelled once he got over his shock.
Once again, everyone froze – even those who were crying stopped mid-bawl. Harry had never yelled at them before and, even though all he did was raise his voice above the noise they were making, it was still scary to them.
"I was gone for ten minutes, at the most," he continued as his usual volume now he had everyone's attention, "so what happened to my nice, clean puppies?"
"Food Went BANG!" one of the under five-year-olds said with a sniff, hands over his ears. "My ears ouchie."
"He's right," one of the teens slightly older than Gabby stated. "We were all talking a little louder than necessary due to stress then a loud bang came from the middle of the table and all the food went everywhere, setting the younger kids off."
Harry looked around once more and let out a soft giggle. Soon, he was laughing merrily while everyone else in the room watched on in disbelief.
"I'm, I'm sorry for lar-laughing," he stammered as he tried to calm down. "I believe that, that what hap-happened was accide - accidental magic, so how about we get, get everyone cleaned up?"
"Sounds delightful," one of the slightly younger kids stated, wrinkling his nose. "I have sauce in my hair and meat in my ear."
"I think I have cheese up my nose," the girl next to him whispered in horror, "does that mean when it goes mouldy, my brain will too?"
"Why food go BANG?" one of the smallest children asked.
"Okay everyone!" Harry clapped, getting their attention once more. "The food went bang because someone got stressed and the food reacted to it. Anyone who has anything stuck in their nose, use the napkin provided to try blowing it out. If it doesn't work, come see me. Those with something in their ears, stay where you are and I will come to you to see how bad it is. Those who are just covered in food, go have a bath or shower. Under five's in the baths, everyone else have a shower. I'll see what I can salvage, then have Rinie make some egg sandwiches for those who are still hungry afterwards."
As quickly s it was possible for them to move, they did as they were told. Those who had been hit with the least amount of the spaghetti bolognaise offered to bathe the younger members so those teens hit with the worst of it could shower first. Many of those who would shower first would take one of the younger toddlers into the shower with them to clean them down, then once they were dried, they would fill a baby bath and wash those too young, small or weak to share a larger bath. Harry easily sent Hermione, who had burnt any mess that got on her Away before he had returned, into the kitchen to start the process of boiling eggs for the sandwiches he promised before carefully checking each child's ears and nose before sending them to join those who had escaped a similar fate.
By the time everyone had been showered and dress in clean clothes, Hermione had finished making the sandwiches and Harry had cleaned the room as well as salvaged what he could of the meal, thought, sadly, the amount salvageable was only enough to those two and under. Thankfully, Harry and Hermione knew from experience that everyone in the household loved egg and lettuce sandwiches. They were always the first item to vanish when they had a picnic lunch.
Instead of sitting down with them to eat like he normally would, Harry made a platter up of egg sandwiches and some of the fruit Hermione had thoughtfully added to the table. Only once he had completed this and covered it, he sat and began eating, humming in delight as his tastebuds detected a small amount of curry powder and mayonnaise.
"Who was at the door?" Hermione asked once half of his plate was empty.
Harry politely wiped his mouth and smiled.
"It was Lady Evangeline," he replied. "She will be bringing the first family here after I contact her to let her know everyone else have arrived back from their jobs. The platter is for them to snack on during the meeting since they will all be eating something provided by wherever they are working."
"When are they going to be coming back?" Clarissa asked. It may have taken a while, but the older teens had begun participating in their conversations on their own behalf. There was still a long way to go, but it was a start.
"Probably during or just after dessert," Harry shrugged. "That means while playtime is occurring, we will be meeting with the first family."
He paused to take a bite of his remaining half sandwich, chewing it slowly as he thought of what to reveal with so many tiny ears listening.
"She also gave me a list revealing who they are related too," he admitted. "She also revealed what tests she did on them, the results of those tests and what order they will arrive. She has told them I will do a mental and physical check of my own and each family will come only when the previous family has been reunited and comfortable around each other."
"Why?" Brexton, the oldest of the teens asked. On his lap was his three-year-old daughter, Prezqual (pronounced Prez-Squall).
Harry smiled at the other older submissive, remembering how, the first few days, he had locked himself and his daughter in a room and refused to come out. Hedwig had explained the girl had been removed from her bearer's presence as soon as she was born and he needed time to connect with her.
"My sake of mind, mostly," Harry admitted without sham, knowing the other male would understand. "If I feel I need to leave someone in the room with them, then I won't be focused on the next family and may miss something."
"Of the 'run off with the kid' variety?" Fleur asked as Gabby jabbered in French to her father.
"Of the 'we have this hereditary disease' variety," Harry replied. "Lady Evangeline will not allow anyone who may be a threat near me, let alone near the kittens and puppies."
"This Lady Evangeline … she is close to you?" Apolline asked hesitantly. She had been careful of everything she said to and about Harry since their first meeting and Gabrielle threatened to move to Zabini Manor in shame for her horrible behaviour to their host.
"She is," Harry smiled, "she was my mentor and Mistress through my years of medical training. It was her that recommended I attend far younger than I was supposed to and she is the one who taught me to circulate my magic through a patient's body to both diagnose and treat illness and injuries."
"She sounds special," Brexton mused softly in deference to his daughter's almost asleep form.
"It also explains her protectiveness towards you," Fleur said with a soft laugh, "she would be seeing you as a part of her family, having trained you."
"I do indeed, young Mrs Delacour," Lady Evangeline stated from the doorway she just walked through, "and though I may be blind, I will seek and find all evil that threatens him and his; there will be no way for it to hide."
"As well as whoop my tail if I slip and call you 'Mistress' again," Harry cheekily added.
"Of course," she replied smoothly, "You are never too old for a tail whooping."
Harry and Hermione laughed along with her at that, much to the bemusement of everyone watching them. They then greeted the older elf with a hug.
"Oh, I have missed you, young one," she said as she released Harry. "Unfortunately, I am not here for a social visit."
"What is wrong?" Harry asked, immediately serious.
"And how can we help?" Hermione finished for her brother as they both fell into their professional personas.
"Not here," Evangeline said, indicating it was a medical problem and required privacy, "but I will need the help of you both."
"Will we need anything in particular?" Hermione asked as Harry nodded and returned to his place at the table to give emergency rules to the older teens who would be taking over the duty of caring for their younger compatriots.
"Just yourselves," Evangeline sighed. "I have everything else we will need in the rooms I was given for this."
"Okay, let's go," Harry stated as he walked towards the two women, revealing why Blake was adamant on training Harry as his eventual replacement.
Without much fuss, since Harry just vanishing had become rather common place, the three of them left. Once they were away from the dining room, Harry pulled both his companions into the shadows and teleported into Evangeline's rooms: Right in front of a scared and slightly nervous woman and another who was trying to calm her.
"This is Emalya," Evangeline introduced. "Emalya, sweetheart, this is Harry and Hermione."
The way Evangeline's voice softened when she spoke immediately put the siblings on edge.
"They are here to help with this. I promise everything will be okay."
"What if it isn't though?" Emalya hyperventilated.
"Hey, hey, hey," Harry soothed, sending out the same calming hormones he used on the children, "we don't know what to expect with this, Sweetheart. We can't promise it will be okay from the very beginning, but if we don't get to the bottom of this problem, then nothing will be okay."
He gently cleaned the woman's face with a wet wipe Hermione gave him without needing a spoken que. When he moved her hair behind her ear, he got an idea of what may be wrong.
"There now, that's better. I can see your pretty eyes now," he verbally cooed as he mentally told Hermione that they may, eventually, need to intrude, once again, on Willa's time. "I'm not sure if you caught Lady Evangeline before. My name is Harry. The lovely girl next to Lady Evangeline is my sister, Hermione. We are here to help fix whatever problem has come up. May I enquire about the lovely lady standing behind you?"
"I apologise," the unknown lady sighed. "I'm Emalya's younger cousin, Azill. I convinced her to come here today for tests because for nearly a year after my fifth Solstice celebration, she disappeared and no one would tell me where she was and when she came back, she was confused."
"An elfling may only attend a solstice celebration once they enter puberty. For females and submissives it is when they begin menstruation," Evangeline explained. "And they may only attend the years they bleed until they reach their fifth Century."
Harry nodded as he gently ran his fingers through the newly shaking elf's hair, checking for past injuries as much as soothing her.
"Had you attended any solstices before Azill, Miss Emalya?" he asked, keeping his voice soft.
"Only one," she stammered, trying to calm her shaking. "I'm not quite a half century older than her."
"I'm going to assume the problem Lady Evangeline encountered was a memory block she cannot get through."
As his newest patient nodded her head, Harry made a mental list of what he thought he would need and barely registered that Hermione began collecting the items.
"I will be completely honest with you both," he stated once he was finished. "The sign that Lady Evangeline called for our aid in this case doesn't give us good vibes. If it was just a memory block placed by yourself, she would be able to break it alone. Same for if the block was meant to be a temporary thing. That she can't means the person or people, who placed it never intended for the memory to ever be released."
Emalya let out a sob and tears gathered in his eyes. Behind her, Azill gripped her shoulders firmly in an effort to ground her cousin, thought she also had tears in her eyes.
"If the memory is what we suspect it to be, then another person will be added to the people to aid in your recovery. We won't allow you to suffer alone," Evangeline added.
"Before we start, there are some things we need to discuss," Harry stated as Hermione mirrored Azill's position behind Harry. "The first is anything we learn from you will not leave this room unless it is via your mouth. I'm assuming Azill is something you trust, so she can remain."
"Azill grounds me," Emalya admitted, almost shamefully. "There are times I lose control of my emotions and magic. She seems to be the only person who can calm it."
"Hermione does that for me as well," Harry admitted. "The only person who I think could do it better than her is my mate, but I will not involve him in my job. This does, however, bring up the second and third things we have to discuss. As you can tell, Hermione and I are not biologically related, however we blood-bound ourselves to each other when we were younger. One of the results is we have no secrets from the other as our minds somehow joined. We can close it off for short periods, but once it is open again everything of importance is released."
"So, everything you learn, she will learn?" Azill asked, curiously.
"Yes," Hermione chuckled, "and vice versa. Not exactly the way you want to discover what sex is."
Both elves burst into shocked laughter as Harry blushed and Evangeline chuckled. She remembered that day as it was her that had to explain that no, neither participant was hurt.
"The third," Harry quickly added, in an attempt to change the subject, "is there is a high probability I will get angry. I want – need – you to know that I will not be angry at you. It will be at what I am witnessing happen to you. It can be anything from someone ignoring you to someone touching you without your permission."
"He won't get violent," Evangeline stated when both younger elves flinched at his words. "He will rant. He will rave. He will start yelling in hisses and the shadows win the room will dance like flames."
"And if he ever comes face-to-face with those responsible," Hermione smiled slyly, "he will probably spank them like he did with the Hogwarts's poltergeist."
Once again, the three elves laughed, but this time, Harry scowled and crossed his arms.
"He made a kitten cry. No-one is allowed to hurt kittens for their own amusement."
After what seemed to be minutes, everyone had calmed and resumed their previous activities, not that anyone knew what Lady Evangeline was doing to begin with.
"Is there anything else we need to discuss?" Emalya asked, finally no longer shaking as badly.
"Not right now, but possibly once I investigate the blockage personally," Harry stated.
Emalya took a deep breath and held it briefly.
"Let's do this," she exhaled. "I'm about as ready as I'll ever be."
"Okay," Harry breathed, closing his eyes. He knew that what was about to happen was going to change the lives of both the women before him. "Just relax. I'm going to place my hands on your temples and feel out the block. Depending on what I find, I will discuss options with you."
When Emalya nodded her understanding, Harry placed his fingertips on her temples and closed his eyes.
The result of Harry's magic entering his patient's mind was immediately noticeable. First, she tensed at the unfamiliar touch in her mind, then everything in her relaxed as though all tension had been sucked from her body. After several long, anxious minutes, both Harry and Emalya took in deep breaths and returned to the real world.
"There is both good and bad new I can give you," Harry stated as he sent Evangeline a thankful nod for the drink she handed the both of them. "The bad news is that someone tried to completely erase one or more memories without your permission. Spells like Obliviate are commonly believed to completely removed memories. This, however, is not true – as any master of the mind arts will tell you. What the spells actually do is lock the memory away in a part of the mind that is unreachable without outside help."
Harry took a few sips of his drink to allow this knowledge to sink in before continuing.
"That is the bad news. The good news is that since it has been placed, your magic has been trying to break it. Unfortunately, it is taking chips off it while it is slowly healing itself to protect its secret. There are several things I can do to help get rid of it. The first is I can use shadow magic to shatter the barrier completely. I don't like doing this except as a last resort as sometimes there are defences built in that will render the victim's mind destroyed in the event that the barrier is forcefully broken."
Both elven women winced at that news. Neither of them liked the sound of that.
"As I said," Harry stated, "it is a last resort and it will be both Hermione and myself with the aid of Lady Evangeline who would do it to reduce the damage. The second one would be that I spread my magic over the blockage as a kind of sealant. This will prevent the blockage from healing as thoroughly as it has been doing and will give your magic a chance to break through on its own. If the block had been placed recently, I would strongly recommend this treatment because it is better, in the end, for you to break it yourself so the memory, or memories, start to slowly leak in rather than hit all at once. We can still do this way if you really want to, but your magic is exhausted from fighting it for so long without a break. The possible result of us doing it with this process is that both of us will end up put on bed rest while our magic returns and then need to start again on a fully fixed barrier."
"that sounds … unpleasant," Emalya grimaced.
"It can be," Harry admitted, "but it wouldn't be the first – or last – time I did it."
"Is there another option?" Azill asked. She didn't like the sound of either treatment so far.
"Hermione and I can alternate between holding back/removing the anchor point of the black while the other attacks the barrier while your magic rests for a while," Harry stated.
"Why will it take both of you?" Azill asked. "Wouldn't it be easier to do it alone?"
"It isn't," Hermione deadpanned. "One person can either attack it in an attempt to break through enough that the memories overwhelm the gap and destroy the barrier or one person can work on separating the curse – or charm, in this case – so it no longer uses the host's magic to stay up."
"Oh … but why do the other only take one of you?" Azill asked, making Hermione forcefully slap herself in the face and Evangeline to cover the younger girl's mouth with one hand while she handed a folded sheet of paper to Harry.
"The other two procedures involve Emalya," Evangeline stated calmly as Harry read what she had given him and closed his eyes in resignation. "That is why it seems Harry could do it alone. This procedure could use either myself or Hermione as both of us are used to working with Harry."
"Then why did he only state her name?" Emalya asked, making Hermione scowl from behind Evangeline's hand.
"Because Lady Evangeline has a job she alone is doing," Harry stated firmly, "I cannot volunteer her for anything that she will not be able to see through. Once we start, we will not be able to stop until everything is over, regardless of the level of magic we have. While Hermione and I do have other duties to attend, our hours are more flexible: me in particular thanks to my mate not minding if I 'sip' – for lack of a more appropriate term, at his magic supply while we have reading time."
Both younger elves looked away in shame at the slightly scolding tone of Harry's voice and they remembered that neither of the younger healers were duty-bound to aid them.
"How long will the last option take?" Emalya eventually asked.
"It depends on the spell used, as well as how long it has been there," Hermione answered now that Evangeline had removed her hand from her mouth. "The easiest spell to break through is 'Obliviate' as it is a human created spell, meaning demonic magic is like a strong acid to it."
"Elven magic acts as an enhancer to human magic," Evangeline explained, placing a tray of five cups onto the low table that magically appeared between them. "If an obliviate was used, then your own magic would strengthen it, even as it tried tearing it down."
Harry was the first to reach for a cup and smelt it with a smile.
"The sparkle water?" he asked, making Evangeline laugh.
"Yes, Youngster, the sparkle water. A different flavour this time, and it is specially designed to slowly increase magic development in those who use it for long periods of time, like Healers, warders and curse breakers."
Harry took a sip and hummed his delight.
"Mandarin ... mint … and is that powdered raw cacao?" Harry asked, his attention shifting.
"Correct on two counts Youngling," Evangeline chuckled, "There is mint and mandarin in there, but the item you confused with raw cocoa is an Ayurvedic herb called Ashwagandha. I'm not surprised you haven't come across it yet."
"It's rather … bitter," Azill said with a look of distaste on her face.
"I agree," Hermione stated with a wrinkled nose, "unlike Harry, I'm a mind healer, so I haven't developed a taste for the nastier tastes."
Harry ignored the three whining women and took another sip of his drink, eyes twinkling mischievously as he let out another hum of delight – this time from the amused pulse of magic Draco sent him, letting him know his mate knew what he was doing and wanted the full story when they met up.
"In your investigation," Evangeline asked Harry, "did you manage to discover which spell was used?"
"Not really, thought I have s suspicion that the offender used either a hybrid spell or two separate people cast two separate spells at the same time. It holds characteristics of both Obliviate and one of the Elven memory spells."
While they drank their drinks, Azill and Emalya silently watched as the trio of Healers began discussing the magic that may, or may not have been used on one of them. They started coughing when the, to them, slightly snobbish Hermione pushed her hand into a glowing ring of fire and pulled out several slim volumes with titles in a language they couldn't read
"I think I may have something," she said, not even five minutes later. She had then proceeded to talk in a seemingly foreign language that only her brother seemed to understand.
"Have you thought about what you want to do?" Azill asked her cousin softly.
"Do I have to choose?" Emalya asked softly. "It hasn't harmed me having it there."
"Are you sure about that?" she was asked, "Your behaviour has changed since you vanished, Em. You get periods of time where you lock yourself in your room and cry for days at a time and since you vanished, you have not once attended a solstice. Something is seriously wrong, and we need to know what it is."
Emalya sighed and nodded her head in resignation.
"If I had to choose, I would choose the last one," she admitted. "I'm tired, Az. So so, so so so tired."
"Getting rid of the block will help with that," Evangeline told her, making them both jump. "You are tired because your magic levels are so low. As for the other things, we will not know unless we either do a full body scan or break that barrier."
"Okay, okay," Emalya sighed, rubbing her eyes. "the third option sounds best, though I am unsure about the other female going into my mind."
"Why?" Harry asked. "I'm not judging you for it, I am curious and it will help us all in the long run. So why does Hermione make you unsure, but I do not?"
Hermione, though hurt, remained silent.
"She comes across as a little … aloof … when it comes to people," Azill answered, drawing her cousin into her side with one arm. "Like people are below knowledge in her scale of importance. The way she looked at me for asking as simple question concerning a procedure was enough to convince us of that. How can we be sure she won't do the same in Emalya's head?"
Without realising it, Hermione reared back as though she had been slapped. She wasn't expecting that explanation, but then again, she did normally only have adult or fellow intellectuals as her patients, unlike Harry.
"I know that you will do your best to both remove the blockage from my memories," Emalya continued, bolstered by her cousin's comforting embrace, "and I know you will not do anything to ruin my mind, but I don't trust her to not get so involved in getting to my memories and forgetting to protect my mind from possible damage."
"You aren't the first person who has had these worries about of the Healers that participate in this procedure," Evangeline stated. "It can be sorted out quite easily."
"How?" the younger elves chorused.
"I can swear on my credentials from the Healer's Guild to do my utmost to protect your mind as well as destroy the memory barrier," Hermione stated in a small, sad voice. "A Healer's credentials are the most important thing to them, beside family, and to lose them via vow means being shunned by the Healing community for the rest of their life."
"Do it," Azill ordered. "Once you do, we can get this underway – before our family gets suspicious."
"I, Hermione Granger, swear on my Healer credentials and my position in the Healer's guild to protect Emalya's mind as well as do my best to remove whichever spell is blocking her memories. So mote it be."
When the flash of magic vanished, Hermione buried her hurt feelings behind a locked door as her professionalism took over and she followed her brother to their work site.
~~~AmIbeingtooharshonHermione?~~~
Draco followed the crowd he was working with into the house Harry had renamed 'Sanctuary'. He was tired, sore, dirty and wanted nothing more than to have a shower, then snuggle with his mate while Harry soothed him with softly read words from the poetry book the younger male had found for cheap at a second-hand shop. It wasn't until he was in the sitting room that he noticed something odd about the place.
"Where's Harry?" he asked out loud. "He isn't in the house. Is something wrong?"
"Peace Young Vampire," a lady he vaguely recalled as Gabby's mother attempted to soothe him. "Young Harry and Hermione were called away by the lovely Lady Evangeline for an emergency. It is my understanding that Lady Evangeline came across something she couldn't fix on her own."
Her words had managed to calm Draco to the point he remembered that he had a way of ensuring his mate was alright and he sent a non-invasive wave of magic down their bond. When the magic returned with the same feeling Harry gave off when he was deep in healer mode, Draco visibly relaxed.
"Thank you for your help," he stated with a small vow of thanks in Apolline'ss direction, "and I apologise for my lapse of control."
"Nonsense Youngling," Apolune stated with a wave of her hand. "You have all the reasons in the world to be worried when your unclaimed mate disappears without warning. I would have been suspicious if you hadn't reacted in that way."
Draco paused before answering as he felt a wave of amused annoyance come from his mate. He sent a wave of his own emotions back before sheepishly smiling at the incredibly beautiful woman before him.
"My apologise, once again," he stated, "it seems something amuses Harry at this point in time."
Apolline let out a laugh at his words before laughing harder when the teen let out a jaw-cracking yawn.
"Go shower and rest, youngster," she said when she had clamed down, "I think young Harry laid out some clothes for you in his room, so you can use his bathroom."
"Thank you," Draco yawned, "If I'm not down in thirty minutes, send a search party. It means I'll have fallen asleep somewhere."
Apolline once again let out a rich laugh as the blonde stumbled up the stairs, hoping to make it to Harry's room before he collapsed.
~~~Ineedtea~~~
Harry stared at the giant obstruction before him determinedly. He could see a tired impression of Emalya struggling to damage it and walked towards it.
"You can rest now," he soothed as he grabbed hold of her metaphysical hands. "You no longer have to do this alone. We will take over until you are strong enough to continue."
The younger-looking impression of his patient slumped to its knees in exhaustion.
"Thank you," it said, "it has been … so long … since I've rested."
Harry stroked its hair while it slowly vanished into a strand of magic and sank into the walls surrounding them. Once all of Emalya's magic had been pulled away, he returned to looking at the barrier with a calculating gleam in his eyes.
"Digging or destroying?" he asked Hermione when her magical impression approached him, having completed her own investigation of the structure.
"Digging," Hermione replied without hesitation, "I've found three places where it is anchored in her mind. With how far apart they are, I suspect another two at least."
"Okay, here's the plan," Harry exhaled. "Together we inspect the area, placing protections for Emalya's mind and marking each spot this monstrosity is anchored at. Once that is done, I will choose a spot almost opposite the marker you are working on and begin to destroy it while you slowly untangle the first root. When you have finished and have begun the healing of the area, you start destroying the area above where the root was by injecting your magic while I begin to remove the root closest to my position and do the same. WE can keep track of how we are going by comparing the sizes of the chunk I remove in the first part."
"Sounds good to me," Hermione gave a blood-thirsty grin. "It has been a while since we worked on something this big."
"It won't be our last either, dear sister," Harry countered with his own grin. "Now, let's put a hole in some arsehole's plan."
With an answering giggle, Hermione linked arms with Harry and the both of them set off to lay down protective wards around their newest obstacle.
~~~Whyiseverythingsoboringlately?~~~
Azill watched her cousin with her hands twisting around each other. Emalya looked as though she was sleeping as roughly ten minutes after the two younger members entered her mind, she had slumped in her chair. It was only Lady Evangeline's assurances that this was normal that prevented her from trying to kill the two intruders in her cousin's mind. Something of her thoughts must have been present in her magic because right after she had that thought, the older elf had laid into her verbally about what would happen to Harry, Hermione and Emalya if anyone harmed any of them as they were connected like they were, and what would happen to her should she attack a healer while they were working: especially as one of them had made a vow on their credentials in front of an older member of the guild.
The memory made her shudder. What made it even worse for her was the older woman's promise that she, personally, would see to it that every healer who was loyal to the Guild and what it stood for knew it was her who destroyed the minds of their potential future heads. It had shocked her that the two seemingly unimportant kids who were bought in to help were so highly thought of, and decided it was in her best interest to focus on Emalya and nothing else.
Her decision was proved to be the correct one when, not even three minutes later, both younger healers let out blood-thirsty grins, followed by a flare of magic that had the shadows and candle flames flair and dance. The fact their faces remained emotionless otherwise and their eyes completely blank terrified her more than she was willing to admit.
Behind her, Evangeline smirked, knowing that her words coupled with her old apprentice's revelation of magic was enough to scare the brain-washing of many, many years from the mind of an elven maiden. The thought was thrilling.
~~~Ihopeyouareenjoyingthissofar~~~
It had taken a long time for the two of them to adequately ward their area of work and then almost twice that to discover the areas of all six anchorage points. Harry glanced to his right and grinned at the grinning Hermione beside him.
"Where shall we start, sister?" he asked, high on the magic surrounding them.
"I think you would be fine right here," she replied giddily. "There is a wonderful little spot on the other side that will be perfect for me to begin." She then giggled and vanished to the other side of the dome.
Almost as one, they struck. Harry flung balls of demonic magic at the spot between two anchorage points, eyes lighting up with the desire to destroy as he viewed the sizable chunk that fell at his feet. He then struck once again in the same fashion, staring enthralled at the minute cracks that were slowly beginning to form around the abused site.
Hermione, however, lay her hands flat on the floor of the room they were in and sent her magic through it in gentle waves until it found the pool of foreign magic that was attached to the now shield-like obstruction. Once found, she forced her magic into the shape of a screw and slowly began breaking through the protective layer that prevented outside interference. While her job was less brutal than Harry's, both acts were just as important as the other. Hers was to find where, in this nodule, the foreign magic had set its parasitising roots and remove its barbs. She would then have to place runes on the damaged areas for protection and healing while slowly injecting her magic into the mass in a bid to slowly poison it. She would know when she was successful when veins of poisoned substance began to leak into the surrounding barrier.
Harry, on the other hand, was not making his mark in the barrier in an attempt to break through it, but to distract it so the magic would be less powerful when fighting Hermione. With it split between attempting to eject Hermione and healing the major damage Harry was doing to it as far away from her as possible, it failed at both. Once she had completed her infection of this site, she would move until she was opposite Harry and begin hammering away at her side while he repeated what she had done to the nodule to his left.
Even though Hermione was musing over the plan she and Harry had concocted once they knew what was ahead of them, she still managed to find the first nodule without any difficulty. Snapping back to the present, she inhaled deeply, closed her metaphysical eyes and gently inspected the surface before her for any flaws. Finding one, she giggled softly and used it as the focal point for her now spiralling magical thread. Slowly and carefully, she pushed her magic into the almost solid casing that was keeping her from her goal.
After several minutes of careful and tedious concentration, she broke through with a soft 'whoop' of triumph. Focusing once more, she tentatively sent small waves of magic through the soup-like mix, doing her best to find the spot where the foreign magic had latched itself onto the magic of its host.
"Gotcha," Hermione growled in triumph when an anomaly showed itself to her. She moved closer to it and froze. She had been expecting a lump, or mass, of Emalya's magic with foreign tendrils of magic surrounding it What she found, however, was amass of threads containing both forms of magic entwined together like rope and held together with hooked filaments. Silently bemoaning the loss of her short-lived triumph, she settled into a more comfortable position to untangle the mess before her, privately imagining it to be the same yarn Harry got himself tangle in when he was four.
~~~LolKittyHarrytangledinyarn~~~
Azill jumped in surprise when a hand holding a syringe appeared in her line of sight.
"Slide the tip along the bottom gum and then gently and slowly push the bottom to empty it into her mouth," Evangeline instructed, doing exactly that to first one, then the other of her fellow healers. "It's a mixture to help fortify their magic. In Emalya's case, it will help build her reserved faster while she rests."
"How did someone like her become a healer?" Azill blurted out as Hermione let out a whoop of excitement then a giggle.
"I beg your pardon?" Evangeline frowned.
"I-I mean … well … " Azill took a deep breath to calm herself in the face of the older woman's displeasure. "She's abrupt, snobby and egotistical about using language no one else understands."
"There is an easy way for me to answer you there," Evangeline said with a bland smile, "and that is Hermione is a mind healer for adults and intellectuals; not children."
"I'm an adult," Azill scowled.
"Only in terms of age," Evangeline stated. "Your behaviour is that of a spoilt elfling of a decade old. You treated Hermione as though she was the child of a maid who dared touch something that used to belong to you and you suddenly decided you wanted it back. As for her talking in esoteric language … she was talking to her brother – a fellow healer – not you or your cousin, so she didn't need to pander to your need to understand what she was saying as they were discussing possible HUMAN spells that could have been used in conjunction with elven magic."
Evangeline finished making sure her fellow healers were comfortable before returning her attention to the only other person who was conscious.
"The way Hermione treated you was the way she would treat any adult, even the look of disdain at your question of why the other procedures could be done alone when each time Harry stated he would be there to aid Emalya in destroying it. Both have been surrounded by intelligent people from a young age. Both you and your cousin responded better to Harry than Hermione because he treated you both like he treats all scared young children he encounters."
"He probably treats everyone like that," Azill waved negligently, "he is a submissive, after all."
"Did he treat me or Hermione like that?" Evangeline asked pointedly before leaving the room to talk to whoever it was that had started to gently knock on the closed door, leaving behind a speechless elven youth.
~~~Aren'tdreamsfunnythings?~~~
Harry grinned manically as he felt the last nodule give way to his magic. It had taken them longer than he had hoped, but together, he and Hermione had separated Emalya's magic from the foreign magic feeding on it and allowed it to poison the barrier due to them substituting their magic instead. They had also weakened the barrier further still by feeding small amounts of their magic into the tiniest cracks they formed with each explosive impact they made.
He glanced across at Hermione, who was smiling at him in triumph and stood. Their job here was complete and all they needed to do now was wait for Emalya to break the remaining barrier herself. With a cheer of celebration, he removed the magic keeping Emalya's magic away from the area and waited.
"You have finished?" Emalya's magical impression asked.
"We have," Hermione answered as Harry blinked dazedly at the new comer, grinning like a madman. "All that needs to occur is you breaking through it. We weakened it for you, but the final push has to be done by you."
"It doesn't have to be now," Harry added, blinking away whatever had come over him beforehand, "but it will have to be soon. For now, let's return to the real world for food, drink and discussing what will happen next."
Before Emalya could ask what he had meant by that, Harry and Hermione pulled their consciousness out of her mind, leaving her to follow at her leisure.
~~~Biologyisaweirdaspectofnature~~~
"Welcome back Younglings," Evangeline smiled, being the first to notice their return to the real world. "Everything is well?"
"It is, Lady Evangeline," Hermione answered as both she and Harry stretched frozen muscles.
"We will need sustenance rather soon," Harry added as his stomach let out a growl of complaint.
"I have already ordered for you all. Once our patient is fully with us, the first course will be served."
"Thank you," Harry stated, moving into another position and moaning in delight as those muscles loosened.
"Why isn't she waking up?" Azill demanded.
Harry turned cold eyes to her, making her flinch.
"We have just spent goodness knows how long destroying a foreign body that was parasitizing her magic for a long period of time," he stated, "Her magic has finally been released from its death sentence and is currently out of her control. She will also be attempting to break the barrier and only when she accepts she is not yet strong enough to do so will she wake up."
"If she isn't awake in fifteen minutes, I'll douse her in water," Hermione stated as she handed Harry a piece of parchment and a quill.
Harry nodded his thanks and immediately began sketching the intrusion they had found.
"You will do no such …"
"You will sit down, zip your mouth and stop acting like a five-year-old," Hermione snapped, eyes blazing. "Cold water will shock her awake immediately which, if she is stubborn enough, or stupid enough, to continued trying to break the barrier with weakened magic, she will need. We told her we all need to be present out here to eat and drink to replenish our reserves. We cannot eat until she is awake, which endanger us, as well as her."
"Whoever your family and tutors were disgust me," Harry stated, talking over Azill's attempt at responding. "the first thing you should have been taught was to respect your healers because they were specially chosen and trained for the purpose of ensuring your health. Neither of us, nor Lady Evangeline, have experienced such disrespect from a patient in our lives."
A soft moan from Emalya made Harry pause and watch her closely. When her eyes opened, blinking blearily, he offered her his aid in sitting up and steadied her as Evangeline called for food and drink to be delivered.
"From the very start you have been condescending, arrogant and demanding. That stops now," he stated when Evangeline was once again sitting at her desk. "Where you two will be staying has already a variety of people staying, many who have suffered more than you both have, and I will not allow either of you to treat them or us the way you have been."
"Hold on," Emalya was now wide awake. "What do you mean 'where we will be staying'?"
Hermione stood when someone knocked at the door and returned with a familiar woman pushing a food trolley. Harry's stomach growled at the wonderful scent coming from it, making her laugh.
"Merry met, Young one," she greeted as she began to pass out cutlery, "still hard at work, I see."
"Merry met, Myrrn," Harry replied, his weariness showing itself momentarily. "You know what they say … no rest for the wicked."
"Stop ignoring me!"
Everyone stopped and stared at Emalya.
"You," Myrrn bit out, "are incredibly rude."
"And you are of no importance," Emalya snapped before her head snapped to the side. She and Azill stared, wide-eyed at the enraged black-haired teen before them.
"If you don't apologise this second," he whispered through gritted teeth, "then both of you will be in solitary confinement when we deal with your problems before I dump your arses on the pavement outside the ICMB building for them to deal with you."
"Harry…" Hermione tried cutting in.
"No, 'Mione!" he stated, "everything we have done for these … these … argh! I can't even call them what I want to because then the name will stick and I can't say it in front of the kittens!"
Lady Evangeline carefully made her way to Harry and pulled him to her bosom like she did when he was younger to calm him.
"Hush young one," she soothed, rubbing the skin at the base of his skull. "You are hungry, thirsty and exhausted. I apologise for adding to your over-burden. You and Hermione follow Myrrn and have a restful re-fuelling and I will deal with the ingrates."
"Are you sure Lady Evangeline?" Hermione asked, noticing for the first time just how exhausted her brother was.
"Yes. I should have known this would happen, what with the way the Elven community has become since I left. I also should have asked for Blake, Emma and Jacob to help rather than you two. I know how busy you both are, and I'm assuming that with the news I gave recently has made it harder on you."
"Not so much Hermione," Harry yawned, "it is evident to everyone that Hermione is more suited for working with adults, so the kids come to me. I was also silly enough to offer to babysit for Willa and Nicholas so they could catch up on sleep."
"Come Young One, allow us to spoil you a bit in repayment for what you've done for us," Myrrn coaxed.
"You don't need to pay me back," Harry argued weakly, allowing himself to be guided from the room.
"We know, but we want to."
Hermione silently followed the two of them, firmly closing the door behind her, her ears twitching as Lady Evangeline began tearing strips from her patient's hide with a sharp tongue and sharper words.
~~~Arrogantlittletoerags,ain'tthey~~~
Hermione watched Harry as he dozed on the armchair he had chosen to sit in. After leaving Lady Evangeline's rooms, they had been bought to what looked to be a comfortable meeting room and a large mug of what turned out to be a rich beef broth was placed before them. Myrrn had then left to serve the rest of their group, but not before rustling Harry's hair.
It had been nice, sipping the broth and chatting about things they had discovered in their personally knowledge gathering. It had also proven to Hermione just how much time Harry dedicated to their charges compared to her: and it left her ashamed of herself. She had sworn to herself that she would attempt to do more to help, even if it was just researching new activities to help them learn.
Not long after the broth had been finished by them both, Myrrn re-appeared with a starter salad of lettuce, cucumber, some form of dried ham and melon chunks. Both of them had enjoyed the sweet-salt combination of the ham and melon and the lettuce and cucumber was crunchily refreshing.
They were now waiting for the main dish to arrive and Harry was taking the opportunity to snatch a few moments of peaceful rest while he could. To help him along, Hermione pulled their incomplete work into their room via a portal and continued to describe the procedure in a report-like manner that would be replicated with the original going to the Guild filing room and the copy being added to the file Harry was sure to start for her.
The silence was broken by Myrrn opening the door. Harry's nose twitched as the savour-sweet scent of roasted root vegetables filled the air.
"It smells delicious," Hermione complimented, "what is it?"
"Baked salmon with herb crust and roasted vegetable."
"Did I hear someone say salmon?" Harry asked, blinking in exhaustion.
"You did," Hermione answered as Myrrn cooed at him. "Our main portion is here."
Harry replied by stretching before sitting up.
"It looks delicious," he complimented as it was placed before him.
"Hopefully it will taste so as well," Myrrn laughed. "You will also have guests for dessert, I'm afraid. It was decided so you could get home faster and get a proper sleep."
"Sleep sounds good," Harry blinked, then he purred through his first bit of fish.
"That means he likes it," Hermione giggled, making Myrrn chuckle.
"Good to know," she replied, "I'll see you both in a little while. There isn't much there because it is getting late."
"No worries at all," Hermione responded, "we are grateful for everything you have prepared and served us: It is well beyond time the kitchen be cleaned and prepared for the morning business."
"That is true," Myrrn replied, "but we always have a skeleton crew in case an emergency occurs, like tonight. You eat up and I will be back later with a nice, refreshing fruit salad."
Once again, the two of them were left in relative silence to enjoy their meal.
It was almost midnight when Harry, Hermione, the Guild heads and six strangers appeared in the silent manor.
"If you will follow me," Hermione stated, "I will lead you to your rooms. It is unfortunate that such an emergency occurred tonight, but it cannot be helped."
"We understand," one of the women responded with a soft smile, "medical emergencies occur at any time. My grandmother always said they always occurred at the most inopportune times."
"She sounds like a smart woman," Emma stated, "this is where we leave you for now."
"We will be back at around ten for your meetings with Harry before we allow you to see your missing family members."
"I still don't know why we have to go through all this," one female muttered, "just give us our brat and we can go."
"If that is your attitude," Harry hissed, the fur on his ears and tail puffing out in fury, "then you can walk out the door you just entered and forget about seeing them. I'm not going to endanger them more than necessary just to appease your self-centred belief that everything will be run by your schedule."
The woman who had spoken spluttered as Harry stalked towards her, the shadows around him dancing.
"The most important thing to us is the well-being of those who we have managed to rescue and if that isn't your priority, even though they are yours by blood, then you can buy a one-way ticket to Hell and give Satan my blessing to tear you apart from the inside out."
"Harry, Sweetie," Hermione attempted. "Your demon is showing."
"And for good reason, I should say," a familiar voice stated.
Everyone turned and the guests paled at the sight of an unimpressed congregation consisting of a vampire, an owl demon, two dark elves and a family of absolutely furious Veela.
No one made a move as the vampire made his way towards the trembling female, only to ignore her and wrap his arms around Harry's waist, burying his face in his neck.
"Calm, Love," he soothed, "we won't allow anything to happen to your kittens and puppies, and, if they do anything that resembles endangering them, they won't have to buy a ticket to hell, because I will send them there free of charge."
The sound that came from the instantly calmed cat-demon was one that all, bar the veela in the room, believed would haunt their dreams.