Author's Notes: I am so sorry for how long it has taken me to get this
chapter out, but I was struck down by the dreaded plague of writer's block.
But it has passed, so here is the chapter. Hopefully chapter ten won't
take so long to write, but I'm nearing the end of this fic now. Many
thanks to Roz, Rachel and Lauren for persuading me to keep writing instead
of chucking the whole computer out of the window.
Disclaimer: See part one for full disclaimer: none of it is mine if you recognise it.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The rest of the day had passed swiftly, and Thor had spent the night tossing and turning in his bed. With dawn had come the armies of a dozen magical beasts and beings, and Thor had spent the past two hours helping to divide the armies into hundreds of smaller groups. Now, finally, they were ready to leave Hogwarts for battle.
As the separate groups assembled on the grass in front of Hogwarts, Thor lay on an old, disused bed in a room he hadn't returned to in the few weeks he had been at the castle. His eyes were closed; he breathed in a decade's worth of dust. Heavy red curtains around the bed were bound back against the posts of the four-poster bed. The windows of the room had all been flung open, so a gentle breeze brushed over Thor. He knew that he would be missed, that the armies were ready to go. He knew that Draco needed him - he knew that he needed Draco, but in this moment of time, he ignored all of that.
The door of the Gryffindor dormitory, that had last been used for third year boys, swung open, and Thor opened his eyes to see Hermione move towards him and sit on the bed. For a long moment there was a comfortable silence.
"I miss those times, 'Mione," he said finally. "It was so simple back then. You, me and Ron, having fun, going to lessons, losing points, talking to Hagrid..." He sighed. "I miss Hagrid so much. He was my first friend."
"We all miss him," Hermione said quietly. "And I know what you mean - I miss those times too. Although I'm not so sure that they were simple."
"Simpler than now," he reminded her. "Now there's so much to complicate things." He sat up and met her eyes. "Hermione...I love you. You know that, right?"
She smiled slightly. "I know, Harry. I love you too. Now come on, everyone's waiting for you."
"Hmm." Thor stretched. "Has Mage Ivory talked to you and the others yet?" She grimaced. "Good. Has she put illusions on you already, or will they be done once we enter the Dragon-realms?"
"They've already been put on us," Hermione told him. "She said that they'll activate once we enter the Dragon-realms. Harry, why didn't you ask for an illusion to be put on Dumbledore as well?"
"Because putting illusions on nine people simultaneously would be too much for the Illusion Mages," he explained. "Besides, Dumbledore would never agree to it." He grinned, although the humour didn't reach his eyes. "I'm not stupid enough to try it. At least, not yet."
"Of course," she said wryly. "Come on, Harry Potter. Let's go." She rose, and he followed her down to the unused common room. He paused with one foot through the portrait hole, and gazed around at what had once been his home. A small smile flitted onto his face.
"I wonder," he said softly to the ghosts of the past, "what would have happened had the Sorting Hat put me in Slytherin." Don't think about it, he admonished himself. Don't think about anything except getting Draco back.
When he reached the lawn, the group that would be going with him to the Dragon-realms turned towards him. Dumbledore, Sirius, Snape, all the Weasleys, Hermione, Mages Zodiac and Seraph, three unicorns - who had apparently decided that they needed to meet Draco - a Half-Elf and a sprite would apparently be coming with him, and he met all of their gazes with a little trepidation.
Then he looked towards the thousands of creatures assembled before him. Slowly, his fingers curled around his wand, and he raised it, then muttered a spell under his breath that until a few moments before he had had no knowledge of. A stream of silvery mist shot out of his wand; it swirled higher and higher in the sky, then grew and became opaque as it coalesced into the form of a soaring dragon. As all of Hogwarts watched the silvery dragon, Thor murmured another word. The silvery mist was shed like a skin from the real, gold-green dragon that burst from it. Thor watched with a small smile as the dragon circled in the air, then flew in low over the armies towards him. He ducked as the dragon breathed fire at him, then landed with half a foot of space between them.
'I can carry only half your party, my king,' the dragon warned him. 'Will you have two journeys, or shall I call another of my kindred?' Thor glanced back at his group. 'Can you call another?' he said finally. 'We need to be there quickly.'
The dragon nodded, then lifted his head and screeched. Thor turned back to his group as he waited for the second dragon.
"He's fetching another," he explained. "So we can all go together. Professor Dumbledore, could you please signal to the armies that it's time for them to go? Thanks." He turned back to the dragon and the female who had joined him. 'Can we go?'
'Yes,' the female confirmed. 'I will take the red-haired people and the Mages. The unicorns can find their own way.'
'I suppose that means I get the others,' the original dragon said gloomily. 'How is it you always get first choice, Selysyma-rytekvia?' Thor looked away towards the rapidly disappearing groups and hid a smile. These dragons were barely five centuries old, and it showed in the way they talked, especially Selysyma-rytekvia.
"Right," he exhaled. "All the Weasleys, and Zodiac and Seraph, Selysyma- rytekvia will take you." He gestured to the female, and the seven men and women moved to her - Charlie could scarcely conceal his excitement, which Thor found amusing. He looked back at the others. "The rest of you will come with me on the other dragon," he explained. They moved to the male dragon, and he looked at the unicorns. "You can find your own way there, and meet us in the Dragon-realms?"
"Yes," one of the three answered in her own tongue. "We will meet you in the Dragon-realms when you arrive." Together, the unicorns turned and walked away, disappearing before they had left his earshot. Thor returned to the dragons, climbed up to sit just in front of his wings, and leant forward.
'Thank you for doing this,' he said gravely. 'I am aware that the Dragons have no wish to get involved in this war.'
'No thanks are necessary, my King,' the dragon told him brusquely, following his companion into the skies and beginning to weave around her in the spell that would take them all safely to the Dragon-realms. 'We do this as a personal favour to - ' He hesitated, but Thor knew the name he would not say.
'She asked you to come?' he demanded swiftly, as the magics around them swirled and pressed into his skin, and they began to cross the barrier between the realms. 'Will I see her again?'
The dragon did not answer for several minutes, too busy concentrating on the powerful spell he was weaving, then finally he shook his green head. 'No, my King. You will not. She told me to tell you that when you have the Crown, she will visit you, and not before.'
Thor put out of his mind what he could not fathom, and looked around in appreciation as the two dragons burst through the barrier into the pearly skies of the Dragon-realms. He heard gasps of wonder behind him, and he allowed himself a grin. He himself had only been into this realm three times, and although that was more than most others, he knew he would never feel any less awestruck when he came here.
The Dragon-realms were beautiful, for lack of a better term. The earth below them was mountainous, interspersed with lush green valleys and wide blue rivers. It stretched for as far as the eye could see, and farther. There were few clouds in a sky that was pearly white in colour. Dragons were visible everywhere.
Thor twisted around to see towards the east, and his breath caught in his throat for a moment. A dark smudge on the skyline showed him where Voldemort and Draco were, and it took only a moment for the dragons to see it too.
'It has been there for many days,' Selysyma-rytekvia observed, unusually grave for her age. 'The Elders don't like to talk about it, and we aren't allowed to go there anymore. Ygrivaine-Morpugra told us that you would do something about it, only Lyli-"
'Hush,' snapped the dragon Thor rode on. 'Don't be stupid.' The dragons both fell silent, and began winging their way towards the east, and the dark smudge that indicated a pollution of the purity that was the Dragon- realms.
"Thor!" Zodiac called from the other dragon after a while. "Do you actually have any plan for when we get there?" Thor glanced over at his old teacher, a small smile on his face.
"Oh yes," he called back. "I plan to brutally kill Voldemort. That all right by you?" Zodiac grinned, and resumed his conversation with Seraph. Thor looked behind him as Sirius touched his shoulder. "You alright, Sirius?"
"Oh, it's not so different from motorcycles and hippogriffs," Sirius replied wryly. His illusion, Thor noted absently, had been activated, and he now looked like a short, fair-haired man, strongly reminding Thor of Peer Pettigrew. "I just wanted to make sure you're not going to get yourself killed," Sirius continued.
"Oh, I don't think Draco would forgive me if I did," Thor smiled, a trifle bitterly. "Don't worry, I have every intention of coming out of this alive." He slipped his hand into his pocket and fingered the small vial of Veritaserum that Snape hid given to him earlier, and lost himself for a moment in his thoughts.
He shook himself as the pearly sky gave way to darkness. It was worse than night, for no stars shone down on them, and Thor shivered involuntarily before leaning to the side and searching the ground below them for any sign of Voldemort.
They flew for minutes on end, the darkness subduing the entire group into silence. Finally Fred - or possibly George, Thor couldn't tell which at that distance - gave a triumphant yell. "Thor, down there!" Thor craned his neck around to see where George - or Fred - was pointing, and smiled. Several small lights were visible on the ground below them.
"You lot land down there," he called, loud enough so that everyone could hear. "Take out the Death Eaters - and remember what I said. Kill them if you have to. I'll meet you down there."
"Thor, what are you doing?" Zodiac demanded, but Thor only flashed him a grin before unsteadily rising to his feet on the scales of the dragon, and leaping clear. He could hear screams from the people on the dragons who seemed higher and higher now, but he ignored them as he twisted his body into a dive, his arms stretched below his head, which he bent forward to make himself as streamlined as possible. He muttered a quick incantation under his breath, and he quickly knew how far it was to the ground.
He waited until he was only a few metres from the ground, then he twisted his body again, cast a levitation spell, and gently landed on his feet on the rocky earth. He crouched quickly, pressing as close to the ground as he could, and looked carefully about.
"If this is what it's going to be like, it should be easy," he muttered, raising his eyebrows. There was absolutely nobody in sight, even through the window of the building he could see several metres away. He made a symbol in the air and cast an invisibility charm on himself, and as an afterthought added a shielding spell.
Walking easily now towards the building, he peered through the window to see inside. He bit down hard on his lip to keep from making any sound when he saw Ron laughing with several other men and women who he didn't know. He moved quickly on to the next building, and again looked through the window into the well-lit room.
"Jackpot," he muttered with a small smile. He could see Draco, huddled in a corner with chains around his wrists and ankles. Thor couldn't see Voldemort, but that didn't mean that he wasn't there. Thor pulled out his wand, and edged around the building, trying to find the door. It was on the third side he came to, and it was not locked, so Thor pushed it open, and slipped inside.
Draco looked up sharply, searching the air, and Thor remembered with a start that he was invisible.
"Who's there?" Draco demanded sharply. "Show yourself." Thor smiled, and took off the invisibility spell without speaking. Draco's eyes lit up. "Harry," he breathed. "You came."
"Hush," Thor told him, careful to keep his voice quiet. "You knew I would." He crossed the room and knelt by Draco, quickly examining the chains. "Are you alright?" he tapped the heavy locks with his wand, and the chains fell away with a clunk.
"As well as can be expected," Draco murmured. "But Harry, he knows you're coming, he's waiting for you..."
'Good," Thor said curtly. "I need to have a little chat with him." He helped Draco to stand, and ran a shaking hand through his hair. "Dragons, Draco, you don't look good."
Draco managed a lopsided smile. "You don't look so good yourself," he pointed out wearily. 'What have you been doing?"
"Oh, you know," Thor shrugged. "Trying to get myself killed, being proclaimed Dragon King, the usual." He slipped an arm around Draco to hold him up. "Now come on, I'll get you to the dragons - or maybe the unicorns are here by now, they'd be able to look after you better whilst I find our mutual acquaintance Voldemort, and beat the living daylights out of him."
"Do you know," Draco began conversationally, as Thor helped him towards the door, "I have never seen you this intent on something."
"He's never taken my love before," Thor said without thinking. He met Draco's eyes and blushed. He opened his mouth to say something, but Draco lifted his hand and traced Thor's jaw line.
"Don't apologise," Draco said softly. "Don't apologise." Thor frowned faintly, but nodded. Their silence was broken by a shriek from someone nearby.
"We'd better get out of here," Thor muttered. "Come on." He helped Draco towards the door, only to freeze when someone pushed the door open and stepped into the building. Draco gave a low cry and backed away, leaving Thor and Voldemort face to face, barely two feet apart from each other.
"I've been waiting for you, War Mage Thor," Voldemort said slowly, taking a deliberate step closer to Thor, who narrowed his eyes. "I must say, you recovered your control faster than I anticipated.although you took longer to get here than I had expected."
"I'm surprised you and your Death Eaters haven't been ejected from the Dragon-realms," Thor commented. "Dragons, as you should know, do not take kindly to strangers in their land."
"Aren't you and your motley collection of idiots strangers also?" Voldemort countered. "I wonder how long it will be before you are 'ejected'."
A strange smile flickered onto Thor's face. "Didn't you hear?" he inquired with delight. "the dragons wouldn't kick me out, not before, and most certainly not now."
Voldemort's eyes flickered. "Indeed," he murmured. "I had suspected as much." He glanced at Draco, who was edging towards the door, then he looked back at Thor. "And it certainly explains some things."
"Really?" Thor said, trying to keep Voldemort distracted whilst Draco eased himself out of the door. "Well, as much as I should probably ask what all those things are, I'm not going to. I'm actually a little bored of you, Voldemort. You've fucked up my life several times, and I'm here to make sure you can't do it again."
"You think you can?" Voldemort sneered. Thor's eyes flickered, and a moment later the walls around them exploded; the roof disintegrated into a fine dust that covered the two Mages.
"I don't think I can," Thor said, his voice deathly cool. "I know I can."
And then the area around them for about fifty metres seemed to explode. Draco, scrambling to escape with a broken arm and, he thought, a broken ankle, barely managed to escape the danger of their fully-fledged Mage battle before he collapsed against a rock face. Someone grabbed his shoulder, and he flinched away.
"It's alright," a familiar voice soothed. 'It's me, Draco." Draco looked up at Zodiac, and exhaled. "Is Thor in that?" Zodiac demanded.
"Yes," Draco breathed. "Harry, and Volde-Voldemort." His head fell back, and he closed his eyes so that he couldn't see the flashes of light, dust and magic that emanated from Thor and Voldemort. "He...he..."
"Draco, don't even try to speak," Zodiac chastised him. "Don't worry, Thor can handle himself. All the other Death Eaters have been captured or killed." He looked up over the rock that Draco was leaning against. "Everyone's fine, don't worry about us."
"I'm not," Draco rasped. "Too tired. Harry?"
"I can't see yet," Zodiac told him. "Look, I've got to go and check on the others, you stay here." He disappeared before Draco could stop him, and the young Mage-in-training was left alone to watch the results of the fight. A flash of green made him wince; that particular colour was only used by the killing curse.
Something nudged his arm, and he blinked wearily at the beautiful beast that stood next to him. The horse-like creature nudged him again with its nose, then lay down next to Draco. Draco realised that it was a unicorn when a huge wave of peace was over him. He stretched out his arm - the one that wasn't broken - and carefully touched the unicorn's horn. His hand moved down, to gently stroke the unicorn, who was watching him intently, as if waiting for him to say something.
"Oh," he sighed at last. "I hope Harry's alright." And then he lapsed into unconsciousness.
More than an hour later, Thor pulled himself up from a roll and faced Voldemort again.
"Getting tired, Harry?" Voldemort taunted. "How glorious it will be to deprive the world of a king just when they've found one."
"You wish," Thor bit off, brandishing his wand again. "I was about to ask you the same thing - it's a pity you're so old, *Tom*, it isn't doing you any favours." He made a symbol in the air with his wand, and Voldemort was blasted backwards through the air. Thor took a few steps towards him, then thought better of it and levitated himself.
He was, he had to admit to himself, getting a little desperate. Avada Kedavra had no effect on Voldemort, but he hadn't really expected it to. And although he was no longer bound by the Circle rule of not killing other Mages, Thor really didn't want to kill if he didn't have to - and that personal directive included Voldemort. What he needed to do now was find some way of destroying Voldemort without actually killing him.
And that, Thor reflected absently as he leapt to one side to avoid a curse, was not going to be easy. Voldemort continued to send curses and hexes to him, but so far he hadn't used any physical attacks, and gradually a pan began to form itself in Thor's mind.
One hand still gripped his wand, but the other slipped down to his waist and pulled out his dagger. It was, he realised, the dagger that had been given to him by a dragon, the one that Draco had commented on so many days ago. It was strangely fitting. His eyes fixed on Voldemort, who hadn't taken his eyes from the younger Mage.
"You can't win," Thor told his enemy calmly, moving closer. "I'm more powerful than you are, and I can tell that you know it." He gestured to the rubble around them. "This fight...it's all about appearances, isn't it? It's all about Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, fighting from my birth to your death."
"Are you so sure it won't be your death?" Voldemort sneered.
"Oh yes," Thor nodded, moving still closer. "I don't have any doubts that I will be the one to walk away from here, from this moment. Why, do you?"
Voldemort snarled, and raised his wand, his mouth forming the words of another curse. Thor didn't waste any time. He pushed himself forward into a dive, the dagger raised and ready. He reached Voldemort, pushed him to the ground, knocked his wand from his hand, and plunged the dagger deep.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Blood...there was blood everywhere, and Thor realised that he was lying in a pool of it. He lifted himself up by his arms, but collapsed again, exhausted.
Something - someone - turned him over, and he blinked wearily up into the scaled, long face of a dragon. A small smile ghosted across his face.
'You came,' he whispered. 'They said...they said you wouldn't.'
'I came,' the dragon confirmed. 'My poor child...you did what was right, and you will be the better for it.' Thor reached up a hand to touch her black scales, and frowned faintly. 'No, don't think about it,' she advised him. 'It will come easier when you are rested, and with Draco again.'
'You know about him...how?' Thor asked distractedly. 'No, stupid question,' he muttered, anticipating her reply. 'I...the dagger...'
'Will be cleaned and returned to you, little King,' she promised him. 'I will tell you again, do not worry.'
Thor relaxed for a moment, then another thought entered his head, and again he tried to lift himself up. 'Draco - is he alright? I have to get to him...'
'Hush,' the dragon said, exasperated. 'All is well, except for you. And all you need is rest, your Unicorn-born, and several days of peace. Be still and silent, my little dragon.'
'Yes, Mother,' he murmured obediently, already beginning to fall asleep. 'But I...but Draco...'
"Thor! Thor? Harry?"
The dragon nuzzled him gently. 'They come for you, Harry. I will see you soon.'
'Promise?' Thor demanded.
'I promise, my child.'
He slept.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Disclaimer: See part one for full disclaimer: none of it is mine if you recognise it.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The rest of the day had passed swiftly, and Thor had spent the night tossing and turning in his bed. With dawn had come the armies of a dozen magical beasts and beings, and Thor had spent the past two hours helping to divide the armies into hundreds of smaller groups. Now, finally, they were ready to leave Hogwarts for battle.
As the separate groups assembled on the grass in front of Hogwarts, Thor lay on an old, disused bed in a room he hadn't returned to in the few weeks he had been at the castle. His eyes were closed; he breathed in a decade's worth of dust. Heavy red curtains around the bed were bound back against the posts of the four-poster bed. The windows of the room had all been flung open, so a gentle breeze brushed over Thor. He knew that he would be missed, that the armies were ready to go. He knew that Draco needed him - he knew that he needed Draco, but in this moment of time, he ignored all of that.
The door of the Gryffindor dormitory, that had last been used for third year boys, swung open, and Thor opened his eyes to see Hermione move towards him and sit on the bed. For a long moment there was a comfortable silence.
"I miss those times, 'Mione," he said finally. "It was so simple back then. You, me and Ron, having fun, going to lessons, losing points, talking to Hagrid..." He sighed. "I miss Hagrid so much. He was my first friend."
"We all miss him," Hermione said quietly. "And I know what you mean - I miss those times too. Although I'm not so sure that they were simple."
"Simpler than now," he reminded her. "Now there's so much to complicate things." He sat up and met her eyes. "Hermione...I love you. You know that, right?"
She smiled slightly. "I know, Harry. I love you too. Now come on, everyone's waiting for you."
"Hmm." Thor stretched. "Has Mage Ivory talked to you and the others yet?" She grimaced. "Good. Has she put illusions on you already, or will they be done once we enter the Dragon-realms?"
"They've already been put on us," Hermione told him. "She said that they'll activate once we enter the Dragon-realms. Harry, why didn't you ask for an illusion to be put on Dumbledore as well?"
"Because putting illusions on nine people simultaneously would be too much for the Illusion Mages," he explained. "Besides, Dumbledore would never agree to it." He grinned, although the humour didn't reach his eyes. "I'm not stupid enough to try it. At least, not yet."
"Of course," she said wryly. "Come on, Harry Potter. Let's go." She rose, and he followed her down to the unused common room. He paused with one foot through the portrait hole, and gazed around at what had once been his home. A small smile flitted onto his face.
"I wonder," he said softly to the ghosts of the past, "what would have happened had the Sorting Hat put me in Slytherin." Don't think about it, he admonished himself. Don't think about anything except getting Draco back.
When he reached the lawn, the group that would be going with him to the Dragon-realms turned towards him. Dumbledore, Sirius, Snape, all the Weasleys, Hermione, Mages Zodiac and Seraph, three unicorns - who had apparently decided that they needed to meet Draco - a Half-Elf and a sprite would apparently be coming with him, and he met all of their gazes with a little trepidation.
Then he looked towards the thousands of creatures assembled before him. Slowly, his fingers curled around his wand, and he raised it, then muttered a spell under his breath that until a few moments before he had had no knowledge of. A stream of silvery mist shot out of his wand; it swirled higher and higher in the sky, then grew and became opaque as it coalesced into the form of a soaring dragon. As all of Hogwarts watched the silvery dragon, Thor murmured another word. The silvery mist was shed like a skin from the real, gold-green dragon that burst from it. Thor watched with a small smile as the dragon circled in the air, then flew in low over the armies towards him. He ducked as the dragon breathed fire at him, then landed with half a foot of space between them.
'I can carry only half your party, my king,' the dragon warned him. 'Will you have two journeys, or shall I call another of my kindred?' Thor glanced back at his group. 'Can you call another?' he said finally. 'We need to be there quickly.'
The dragon nodded, then lifted his head and screeched. Thor turned back to his group as he waited for the second dragon.
"He's fetching another," he explained. "So we can all go together. Professor Dumbledore, could you please signal to the armies that it's time for them to go? Thanks." He turned back to the dragon and the female who had joined him. 'Can we go?'
'Yes,' the female confirmed. 'I will take the red-haired people and the Mages. The unicorns can find their own way.'
'I suppose that means I get the others,' the original dragon said gloomily. 'How is it you always get first choice, Selysyma-rytekvia?' Thor looked away towards the rapidly disappearing groups and hid a smile. These dragons were barely five centuries old, and it showed in the way they talked, especially Selysyma-rytekvia.
"Right," he exhaled. "All the Weasleys, and Zodiac and Seraph, Selysyma- rytekvia will take you." He gestured to the female, and the seven men and women moved to her - Charlie could scarcely conceal his excitement, which Thor found amusing. He looked back at the others. "The rest of you will come with me on the other dragon," he explained. They moved to the male dragon, and he looked at the unicorns. "You can find your own way there, and meet us in the Dragon-realms?"
"Yes," one of the three answered in her own tongue. "We will meet you in the Dragon-realms when you arrive." Together, the unicorns turned and walked away, disappearing before they had left his earshot. Thor returned to the dragons, climbed up to sit just in front of his wings, and leant forward.
'Thank you for doing this,' he said gravely. 'I am aware that the Dragons have no wish to get involved in this war.'
'No thanks are necessary, my King,' the dragon told him brusquely, following his companion into the skies and beginning to weave around her in the spell that would take them all safely to the Dragon-realms. 'We do this as a personal favour to - ' He hesitated, but Thor knew the name he would not say.
'She asked you to come?' he demanded swiftly, as the magics around them swirled and pressed into his skin, and they began to cross the barrier between the realms. 'Will I see her again?'
The dragon did not answer for several minutes, too busy concentrating on the powerful spell he was weaving, then finally he shook his green head. 'No, my King. You will not. She told me to tell you that when you have the Crown, she will visit you, and not before.'
Thor put out of his mind what he could not fathom, and looked around in appreciation as the two dragons burst through the barrier into the pearly skies of the Dragon-realms. He heard gasps of wonder behind him, and he allowed himself a grin. He himself had only been into this realm three times, and although that was more than most others, he knew he would never feel any less awestruck when he came here.
The Dragon-realms were beautiful, for lack of a better term. The earth below them was mountainous, interspersed with lush green valleys and wide blue rivers. It stretched for as far as the eye could see, and farther. There were few clouds in a sky that was pearly white in colour. Dragons were visible everywhere.
Thor twisted around to see towards the east, and his breath caught in his throat for a moment. A dark smudge on the skyline showed him where Voldemort and Draco were, and it took only a moment for the dragons to see it too.
'It has been there for many days,' Selysyma-rytekvia observed, unusually grave for her age. 'The Elders don't like to talk about it, and we aren't allowed to go there anymore. Ygrivaine-Morpugra told us that you would do something about it, only Lyli-"
'Hush,' snapped the dragon Thor rode on. 'Don't be stupid.' The dragons both fell silent, and began winging their way towards the east, and the dark smudge that indicated a pollution of the purity that was the Dragon- realms.
"Thor!" Zodiac called from the other dragon after a while. "Do you actually have any plan for when we get there?" Thor glanced over at his old teacher, a small smile on his face.
"Oh yes," he called back. "I plan to brutally kill Voldemort. That all right by you?" Zodiac grinned, and resumed his conversation with Seraph. Thor looked behind him as Sirius touched his shoulder. "You alright, Sirius?"
"Oh, it's not so different from motorcycles and hippogriffs," Sirius replied wryly. His illusion, Thor noted absently, had been activated, and he now looked like a short, fair-haired man, strongly reminding Thor of Peer Pettigrew. "I just wanted to make sure you're not going to get yourself killed," Sirius continued.
"Oh, I don't think Draco would forgive me if I did," Thor smiled, a trifle bitterly. "Don't worry, I have every intention of coming out of this alive." He slipped his hand into his pocket and fingered the small vial of Veritaserum that Snape hid given to him earlier, and lost himself for a moment in his thoughts.
He shook himself as the pearly sky gave way to darkness. It was worse than night, for no stars shone down on them, and Thor shivered involuntarily before leaning to the side and searching the ground below them for any sign of Voldemort.
They flew for minutes on end, the darkness subduing the entire group into silence. Finally Fred - or possibly George, Thor couldn't tell which at that distance - gave a triumphant yell. "Thor, down there!" Thor craned his neck around to see where George - or Fred - was pointing, and smiled. Several small lights were visible on the ground below them.
"You lot land down there," he called, loud enough so that everyone could hear. "Take out the Death Eaters - and remember what I said. Kill them if you have to. I'll meet you down there."
"Thor, what are you doing?" Zodiac demanded, but Thor only flashed him a grin before unsteadily rising to his feet on the scales of the dragon, and leaping clear. He could hear screams from the people on the dragons who seemed higher and higher now, but he ignored them as he twisted his body into a dive, his arms stretched below his head, which he bent forward to make himself as streamlined as possible. He muttered a quick incantation under his breath, and he quickly knew how far it was to the ground.
He waited until he was only a few metres from the ground, then he twisted his body again, cast a levitation spell, and gently landed on his feet on the rocky earth. He crouched quickly, pressing as close to the ground as he could, and looked carefully about.
"If this is what it's going to be like, it should be easy," he muttered, raising his eyebrows. There was absolutely nobody in sight, even through the window of the building he could see several metres away. He made a symbol in the air and cast an invisibility charm on himself, and as an afterthought added a shielding spell.
Walking easily now towards the building, he peered through the window to see inside. He bit down hard on his lip to keep from making any sound when he saw Ron laughing with several other men and women who he didn't know. He moved quickly on to the next building, and again looked through the window into the well-lit room.
"Jackpot," he muttered with a small smile. He could see Draco, huddled in a corner with chains around his wrists and ankles. Thor couldn't see Voldemort, but that didn't mean that he wasn't there. Thor pulled out his wand, and edged around the building, trying to find the door. It was on the third side he came to, and it was not locked, so Thor pushed it open, and slipped inside.
Draco looked up sharply, searching the air, and Thor remembered with a start that he was invisible.
"Who's there?" Draco demanded sharply. "Show yourself." Thor smiled, and took off the invisibility spell without speaking. Draco's eyes lit up. "Harry," he breathed. "You came."
"Hush," Thor told him, careful to keep his voice quiet. "You knew I would." He crossed the room and knelt by Draco, quickly examining the chains. "Are you alright?" he tapped the heavy locks with his wand, and the chains fell away with a clunk.
"As well as can be expected," Draco murmured. "But Harry, he knows you're coming, he's waiting for you..."
'Good," Thor said curtly. "I need to have a little chat with him." He helped Draco to stand, and ran a shaking hand through his hair. "Dragons, Draco, you don't look good."
Draco managed a lopsided smile. "You don't look so good yourself," he pointed out wearily. 'What have you been doing?"
"Oh, you know," Thor shrugged. "Trying to get myself killed, being proclaimed Dragon King, the usual." He slipped an arm around Draco to hold him up. "Now come on, I'll get you to the dragons - or maybe the unicorns are here by now, they'd be able to look after you better whilst I find our mutual acquaintance Voldemort, and beat the living daylights out of him."
"Do you know," Draco began conversationally, as Thor helped him towards the door, "I have never seen you this intent on something."
"He's never taken my love before," Thor said without thinking. He met Draco's eyes and blushed. He opened his mouth to say something, but Draco lifted his hand and traced Thor's jaw line.
"Don't apologise," Draco said softly. "Don't apologise." Thor frowned faintly, but nodded. Their silence was broken by a shriek from someone nearby.
"We'd better get out of here," Thor muttered. "Come on." He helped Draco towards the door, only to freeze when someone pushed the door open and stepped into the building. Draco gave a low cry and backed away, leaving Thor and Voldemort face to face, barely two feet apart from each other.
"I've been waiting for you, War Mage Thor," Voldemort said slowly, taking a deliberate step closer to Thor, who narrowed his eyes. "I must say, you recovered your control faster than I anticipated.although you took longer to get here than I had expected."
"I'm surprised you and your Death Eaters haven't been ejected from the Dragon-realms," Thor commented. "Dragons, as you should know, do not take kindly to strangers in their land."
"Aren't you and your motley collection of idiots strangers also?" Voldemort countered. "I wonder how long it will be before you are 'ejected'."
A strange smile flickered onto Thor's face. "Didn't you hear?" he inquired with delight. "the dragons wouldn't kick me out, not before, and most certainly not now."
Voldemort's eyes flickered. "Indeed," he murmured. "I had suspected as much." He glanced at Draco, who was edging towards the door, then he looked back at Thor. "And it certainly explains some things."
"Really?" Thor said, trying to keep Voldemort distracted whilst Draco eased himself out of the door. "Well, as much as I should probably ask what all those things are, I'm not going to. I'm actually a little bored of you, Voldemort. You've fucked up my life several times, and I'm here to make sure you can't do it again."
"You think you can?" Voldemort sneered. Thor's eyes flickered, and a moment later the walls around them exploded; the roof disintegrated into a fine dust that covered the two Mages.
"I don't think I can," Thor said, his voice deathly cool. "I know I can."
And then the area around them for about fifty metres seemed to explode. Draco, scrambling to escape with a broken arm and, he thought, a broken ankle, barely managed to escape the danger of their fully-fledged Mage battle before he collapsed against a rock face. Someone grabbed his shoulder, and he flinched away.
"It's alright," a familiar voice soothed. 'It's me, Draco." Draco looked up at Zodiac, and exhaled. "Is Thor in that?" Zodiac demanded.
"Yes," Draco breathed. "Harry, and Volde-Voldemort." His head fell back, and he closed his eyes so that he couldn't see the flashes of light, dust and magic that emanated from Thor and Voldemort. "He...he..."
"Draco, don't even try to speak," Zodiac chastised him. "Don't worry, Thor can handle himself. All the other Death Eaters have been captured or killed." He looked up over the rock that Draco was leaning against. "Everyone's fine, don't worry about us."
"I'm not," Draco rasped. "Too tired. Harry?"
"I can't see yet," Zodiac told him. "Look, I've got to go and check on the others, you stay here." He disappeared before Draco could stop him, and the young Mage-in-training was left alone to watch the results of the fight. A flash of green made him wince; that particular colour was only used by the killing curse.
Something nudged his arm, and he blinked wearily at the beautiful beast that stood next to him. The horse-like creature nudged him again with its nose, then lay down next to Draco. Draco realised that it was a unicorn when a huge wave of peace was over him. He stretched out his arm - the one that wasn't broken - and carefully touched the unicorn's horn. His hand moved down, to gently stroke the unicorn, who was watching him intently, as if waiting for him to say something.
"Oh," he sighed at last. "I hope Harry's alright." And then he lapsed into unconsciousness.
More than an hour later, Thor pulled himself up from a roll and faced Voldemort again.
"Getting tired, Harry?" Voldemort taunted. "How glorious it will be to deprive the world of a king just when they've found one."
"You wish," Thor bit off, brandishing his wand again. "I was about to ask you the same thing - it's a pity you're so old, *Tom*, it isn't doing you any favours." He made a symbol in the air with his wand, and Voldemort was blasted backwards through the air. Thor took a few steps towards him, then thought better of it and levitated himself.
He was, he had to admit to himself, getting a little desperate. Avada Kedavra had no effect on Voldemort, but he hadn't really expected it to. And although he was no longer bound by the Circle rule of not killing other Mages, Thor really didn't want to kill if he didn't have to - and that personal directive included Voldemort. What he needed to do now was find some way of destroying Voldemort without actually killing him.
And that, Thor reflected absently as he leapt to one side to avoid a curse, was not going to be easy. Voldemort continued to send curses and hexes to him, but so far he hadn't used any physical attacks, and gradually a pan began to form itself in Thor's mind.
One hand still gripped his wand, but the other slipped down to his waist and pulled out his dagger. It was, he realised, the dagger that had been given to him by a dragon, the one that Draco had commented on so many days ago. It was strangely fitting. His eyes fixed on Voldemort, who hadn't taken his eyes from the younger Mage.
"You can't win," Thor told his enemy calmly, moving closer. "I'm more powerful than you are, and I can tell that you know it." He gestured to the rubble around them. "This fight...it's all about appearances, isn't it? It's all about Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort, fighting from my birth to your death."
"Are you so sure it won't be your death?" Voldemort sneered.
"Oh yes," Thor nodded, moving still closer. "I don't have any doubts that I will be the one to walk away from here, from this moment. Why, do you?"
Voldemort snarled, and raised his wand, his mouth forming the words of another curse. Thor didn't waste any time. He pushed himself forward into a dive, the dagger raised and ready. He reached Voldemort, pushed him to the ground, knocked his wand from his hand, and plunged the dagger deep.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Blood...there was blood everywhere, and Thor realised that he was lying in a pool of it. He lifted himself up by his arms, but collapsed again, exhausted.
Something - someone - turned him over, and he blinked wearily up into the scaled, long face of a dragon. A small smile ghosted across his face.
'You came,' he whispered. 'They said...they said you wouldn't.'
'I came,' the dragon confirmed. 'My poor child...you did what was right, and you will be the better for it.' Thor reached up a hand to touch her black scales, and frowned faintly. 'No, don't think about it,' she advised him. 'It will come easier when you are rested, and with Draco again.'
'You know about him...how?' Thor asked distractedly. 'No, stupid question,' he muttered, anticipating her reply. 'I...the dagger...'
'Will be cleaned and returned to you, little King,' she promised him. 'I will tell you again, do not worry.'
Thor relaxed for a moment, then another thought entered his head, and again he tried to lift himself up. 'Draco - is he alright? I have to get to him...'
'Hush,' the dragon said, exasperated. 'All is well, except for you. And all you need is rest, your Unicorn-born, and several days of peace. Be still and silent, my little dragon.'
'Yes, Mother,' he murmured obediently, already beginning to fall asleep. 'But I...but Draco...'
"Thor! Thor? Harry?"
The dragon nuzzled him gently. 'They come for you, Harry. I will see you soon.'
'Promise?' Thor demanded.
'I promise, my child.'
He slept.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *