Disclaimer: Oh yes, of course they're mine. Just as the sun is made of ice
and money grows on trees. Miss Rowling? If you wish to sue please find
someone else, I can't even afford a lawyer let alone a settlement.
Warnings: Nah, nothing you can't handle.
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Blood & Nails.
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Part Twenty. Smell The Blood.
"Harry?" It was barely a whisper. Draco concentrated very hard and finally got his hands to move. He gently shook Harry's shoulder, ignoring the slimy slippery feeling. "Harry?"
He finger's automatically reached for the throat and he breathed easier as he felt the steady pulse under the skin. He watched as Harry's chest rose and fell rhythmically. "Sleeping charm?" He had already levelled his wand before he properly came to some of his senses.
He picked up the phone on the side table and dialled quickly.
"Lo?" The voice that greeted him did not sound happy.
"Weasley, wake up Granger and get over here now."
"Malfoy? Do you have any fucking idea what time it is?"
"Just get over to our apartment."
"Now listen here.. "
"Weasley, I learnt many things from my time as a Death Eater." Draco was proud that he managed to keep his voice calm and soft and not sound hysterical. "One such thing was this delightful little curse that caused excessive pain whenever the person was in close contact with the trigger. If you wish to be able to stand in the same room as your lovely girlfriend without having to worry that your skull will split in half, I suggest you get over here now."
Draco hung up before there was a reply and he dialled another number straightaway.
"Hello?"
"Morgan, get up, get dressed, get over here."
"Draco?"
"You're wasting time." He slammed the phone back into its cradle and, with one last look to the bed, went to sit at the table in the living room.
He sat there quietly as the shock wore off. He couldn't work out if that was a good or a bad thing. No shock meant he was about to go into massive overload of pure fury. He never liked people threatening what was his. Harry was his and he certainly took this as a threat of some kind. He wasn't quite sure what the fuck Mortel was up to, but that didn't matter right now. Whatever the psycho was up to it meant covering his Harry in blood and Draco wasn't about to just let that go anytime soon.
There was no knock at the door but Ron and Hermione turned up anyway. The redhead was not looking happy. "I swear Malfoy, if this isn't a life or death situation, I'll make it one. Now what the fuck was so important you had to drag us out of bed at four in the morning. Some of us have work you know? Where's Harry?"
Draco pointed to the door of the bedroom. "Go see for yourself. But don't wake him."
Ron threw another scowl and headed for the door. "Harry?" The end of Ron's word sounded strangled as Draco looked around trying to find some random thing he could destroy.
Ron and Hermione were now the closest people and that put them at the top of his list on who to take it out on. He couldn't see Harry being happy about his friend's being attacked, even if it did prove that Draco cared.
"Oh my god!" Hermione had obviously gone to check it out.
Draco looked up as Ron's stormed back over. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?"
"Nothing. I just found him like that." Draco grated his teeth together, causing a harsh, squeaking noise. "Just don't wake him."
"Why the hell not?"
"I don't want him to see it. Now kindly get out of my face before I kill you."
Ron twitched slightly and took a few steps back. Draco got the feeling that Ron must have learnt over time what the blonde could be like in tis mood. "Why did you call us?"
"Hermione is an Auror, and I thought you might have people you need to call. A Clean-Up crew would be a good idea for a start."
Ron nodded and looked to Hermione who was already in mid-dial. "Who else did you call?"
"Morgan, he should be here soon."
"It's Hermione, we need a CU crew at Harry's place and fast." She grunted a few times and hung up. "Few minutes."
"It won't dry." Draco said absently. He was slowly getting a hold on his anger and was now looking at his fingers where some of the blood hadn't been wiped off yet.
"What?"
"The blood. It won't dry. The writing did but the blood on him is still wet." He turned his hand over. "Mortel must have charmed it." He looked up sharply. "Can you trace the residue of the spell?"
Hermione thought for a second before nodding. "It's possible. Blood would hold spells better than human flesh, I'll get the guys to check it out." She took a seat and brought out a notepad. "So tell me what happened."
"I had a bad dream and went for one of my walks. When I got home it was dark. I gave Harry a kiss on the forehead and that was when I noticed something was wrong. I turned the light on, well, you can see what I saw."
"What was the dream about?"
"I don't remember. I don't even really remember getting up." He narrowed his eyes at her concerned look. "What?"
"No, nothing. So you got home, found Harry and called us? Who'd you call first? Morgan or us?"
"You."
A knock at the door and then the apartment was swamped with people as they wandered around checking everything out. Some had strange gadgets and were running them around everything as they let out soft hums. Readings were taken of the bedroom, Harry, the living room, and a couple even felt brave enough to scan Draco as he sat at the table glaring.
"How do you think Mortel would have gotten in?" Hermione was still going with her questions.
"Um, I had to close the window when I got home. I thought I had already done that when Steel came home for dinner."
"Where *is* Steel?"
Draco blinked and then looked around. "Um, I don't know. It didn't even occur to me. That was the most important thing on my mind at the time, the cat can fend for himself fairly well so I just don't think about it."
"Hmmm, well we look into that, I'm sure he'll be here somewhere. How's it going guys?" Grunts and murmurs came up from all the surrounding people. "Good, good. Just make sure we get as much of that blood as possible, there are a lot of tests we'll be requesting.. Don't suppose it'll be his."
"Doubt it." Everyone looked to Draco. "Well, it's probably from one or more of his victims. He's not just going to leave pints of his blood around now is he? He's insane, not stupid."
"We don't know for sure if he's insane."
Draco rolled his eyes at the Cleaner's comment. "Oh, and of course people who wander around hacking up small children and little old ladies are just perfectly normal." He muttered and then gave an intentionally fake smile when the man looked back.
The whole thing was nearly finished. Draco had said to get as much of the blood off and then he'd be the one to give Harry a shower. Ron and Hermione offered to stick around to help with the questions, which Draco didn't turn down. Pretty much everyone was gone except for the two remaining Cleaners that were charming for fingerprints.
Then the door opened again and a flustered Morgan rushed in. "What's up?"
Draco's eyes closed slowly and then snapped open. "What's up? WHAT'S UP? I called you over an hour ago, you fucking brain dead moron! Where's the fuck have you been?"
"I had to have a shower."
Draco was stunned into silence for a few seconds as it sunk in. "You what?"
Morgan noticed the soft tone and cringed. "Um, nothing?" He whispered and took a step back as Draco stood up.
"I called you in the middle of the night and told you to get over here, and you take a shower?"
"Um, yes?"
Draco clenched his hands into fists. "I am so very angry right now, Morgan. I think it would be best if you go cower behind Hermione."
Morgan nodded and did as he was told. Draco took a few deep breaths as Hermione muttered for the young man to go look into the bedroom. When Morgan came back from the doorway he was very pale. "Um, is he, well, you know, is he dead?"
Draco gave a short, harsh laugh. "Do you honestly think I'd be THIS FUCKING CALM if he was dead?"
Morgan nodded quietly in understanding. "I'm sorry, Draco. If I had known it was this important I would have come straight over. I just wasn't thinking. I was still mostly asleep and my brain just said you were dragging me over to yell at me about my assignments." Draco gave him an odd look. "Um, you used to do that a lot when you were my Trainer." He shot a look to the bedroom. "What do we do?"
The last of the Clean Up crew said their goodbyes and left as Draco headed for the bedroom. "We're going to clean him up. Thoroughly, with water and everything not just a spell. He's still asleep, I didn't want him to wake up and see it."
They all helped carry Harry into the bathroom and place him in the bath. Draco ran the water and the other three stood around uncomfortably as he got to work of wiping off all the blood that still remained. He sighed and he worked and finally turned around. "Morgan, could you please stop staring at me, it's unnerving."
Morgan blushed and looked away as Draco watched it slowly click in Ron's mind that the blonde still wasn't wearing a shirt. The redhead coughed loudly and then glared at his girlfriend. "You too."
"Ron Weasley I was *not* staring! I am just standing here being supportive." She gave a little huff at the end and then turned back to Draco. "So why do you think Mortel did this?"
"A warning? Who knows. The more interesting thing is why didn't he kill him? Not that I'm ungrateful or anything but still."
They all fell quiet as Draco finished up and summoned a towel. "I know one thing though. When I get my hands on him I'll kill him, I don't care if he's technically already dead, I'll find a way."
They all carried Harry back to the couch and lay him down. "Okay, we can wake him now." Draco got his wand and did the finishing spell and they waited. "Harry? Time to wake up and smell the blood." Hermione slapped Draco in the back of the head for that comment. "What? I'm trying to lighten the mood. I don't want to freak him out."
"No chance of succeeding there." Morgan muttered.
Harry's eyes opened after a few seconds and he smiled up at Draco. "Hey." He looked at where he was and frowned. "Why am I in the living room? Why am I on the couch?" He looked to Ron, Hermione and Morgan. "What are you guys doing here?"
Draco forced a cheerful smile. "Um, yeah. Funny story actually. No, no, you might want to stay lying down for this one."
To Be Continued.
Warnings: Nah, nothing you can't handle.
.
.
.
Blood & Nails.
.
Part Twenty. Smell The Blood.
"Harry?" It was barely a whisper. Draco concentrated very hard and finally got his hands to move. He gently shook Harry's shoulder, ignoring the slimy slippery feeling. "Harry?"
He finger's automatically reached for the throat and he breathed easier as he felt the steady pulse under the skin. He watched as Harry's chest rose and fell rhythmically. "Sleeping charm?" He had already levelled his wand before he properly came to some of his senses.
He picked up the phone on the side table and dialled quickly.
"Lo?" The voice that greeted him did not sound happy.
"Weasley, wake up Granger and get over here now."
"Malfoy? Do you have any fucking idea what time it is?"
"Just get over to our apartment."
"Now listen here.. "
"Weasley, I learnt many things from my time as a Death Eater." Draco was proud that he managed to keep his voice calm and soft and not sound hysterical. "One such thing was this delightful little curse that caused excessive pain whenever the person was in close contact with the trigger. If you wish to be able to stand in the same room as your lovely girlfriend without having to worry that your skull will split in half, I suggest you get over here now."
Draco hung up before there was a reply and he dialled another number straightaway.
"Hello?"
"Morgan, get up, get dressed, get over here."
"Draco?"
"You're wasting time." He slammed the phone back into its cradle and, with one last look to the bed, went to sit at the table in the living room.
He sat there quietly as the shock wore off. He couldn't work out if that was a good or a bad thing. No shock meant he was about to go into massive overload of pure fury. He never liked people threatening what was his. Harry was his and he certainly took this as a threat of some kind. He wasn't quite sure what the fuck Mortel was up to, but that didn't matter right now. Whatever the psycho was up to it meant covering his Harry in blood and Draco wasn't about to just let that go anytime soon.
There was no knock at the door but Ron and Hermione turned up anyway. The redhead was not looking happy. "I swear Malfoy, if this isn't a life or death situation, I'll make it one. Now what the fuck was so important you had to drag us out of bed at four in the morning. Some of us have work you know? Where's Harry?"
Draco pointed to the door of the bedroom. "Go see for yourself. But don't wake him."
Ron threw another scowl and headed for the door. "Harry?" The end of Ron's word sounded strangled as Draco looked around trying to find some random thing he could destroy.
Ron and Hermione were now the closest people and that put them at the top of his list on who to take it out on. He couldn't see Harry being happy about his friend's being attacked, even if it did prove that Draco cared.
"Oh my god!" Hermione had obviously gone to check it out.
Draco looked up as Ron's stormed back over. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?"
"Nothing. I just found him like that." Draco grated his teeth together, causing a harsh, squeaking noise. "Just don't wake him."
"Why the hell not?"
"I don't want him to see it. Now kindly get out of my face before I kill you."
Ron twitched slightly and took a few steps back. Draco got the feeling that Ron must have learnt over time what the blonde could be like in tis mood. "Why did you call us?"
"Hermione is an Auror, and I thought you might have people you need to call. A Clean-Up crew would be a good idea for a start."
Ron nodded and looked to Hermione who was already in mid-dial. "Who else did you call?"
"Morgan, he should be here soon."
"It's Hermione, we need a CU crew at Harry's place and fast." She grunted a few times and hung up. "Few minutes."
"It won't dry." Draco said absently. He was slowly getting a hold on his anger and was now looking at his fingers where some of the blood hadn't been wiped off yet.
"What?"
"The blood. It won't dry. The writing did but the blood on him is still wet." He turned his hand over. "Mortel must have charmed it." He looked up sharply. "Can you trace the residue of the spell?"
Hermione thought for a second before nodding. "It's possible. Blood would hold spells better than human flesh, I'll get the guys to check it out." She took a seat and brought out a notepad. "So tell me what happened."
"I had a bad dream and went for one of my walks. When I got home it was dark. I gave Harry a kiss on the forehead and that was when I noticed something was wrong. I turned the light on, well, you can see what I saw."
"What was the dream about?"
"I don't remember. I don't even really remember getting up." He narrowed his eyes at her concerned look. "What?"
"No, nothing. So you got home, found Harry and called us? Who'd you call first? Morgan or us?"
"You."
A knock at the door and then the apartment was swamped with people as they wandered around checking everything out. Some had strange gadgets and were running them around everything as they let out soft hums. Readings were taken of the bedroom, Harry, the living room, and a couple even felt brave enough to scan Draco as he sat at the table glaring.
"How do you think Mortel would have gotten in?" Hermione was still going with her questions.
"Um, I had to close the window when I got home. I thought I had already done that when Steel came home for dinner."
"Where *is* Steel?"
Draco blinked and then looked around. "Um, I don't know. It didn't even occur to me. That was the most important thing on my mind at the time, the cat can fend for himself fairly well so I just don't think about it."
"Hmmm, well we look into that, I'm sure he'll be here somewhere. How's it going guys?" Grunts and murmurs came up from all the surrounding people. "Good, good. Just make sure we get as much of that blood as possible, there are a lot of tests we'll be requesting.. Don't suppose it'll be his."
"Doubt it." Everyone looked to Draco. "Well, it's probably from one or more of his victims. He's not just going to leave pints of his blood around now is he? He's insane, not stupid."
"We don't know for sure if he's insane."
Draco rolled his eyes at the Cleaner's comment. "Oh, and of course people who wander around hacking up small children and little old ladies are just perfectly normal." He muttered and then gave an intentionally fake smile when the man looked back.
The whole thing was nearly finished. Draco had said to get as much of the blood off and then he'd be the one to give Harry a shower. Ron and Hermione offered to stick around to help with the questions, which Draco didn't turn down. Pretty much everyone was gone except for the two remaining Cleaners that were charming for fingerprints.
Then the door opened again and a flustered Morgan rushed in. "What's up?"
Draco's eyes closed slowly and then snapped open. "What's up? WHAT'S UP? I called you over an hour ago, you fucking brain dead moron! Where's the fuck have you been?"
"I had to have a shower."
Draco was stunned into silence for a few seconds as it sunk in. "You what?"
Morgan noticed the soft tone and cringed. "Um, nothing?" He whispered and took a step back as Draco stood up.
"I called you in the middle of the night and told you to get over here, and you take a shower?"
"Um, yes?"
Draco clenched his hands into fists. "I am so very angry right now, Morgan. I think it would be best if you go cower behind Hermione."
Morgan nodded and did as he was told. Draco took a few deep breaths as Hermione muttered for the young man to go look into the bedroom. When Morgan came back from the doorway he was very pale. "Um, is he, well, you know, is he dead?"
Draco gave a short, harsh laugh. "Do you honestly think I'd be THIS FUCKING CALM if he was dead?"
Morgan nodded quietly in understanding. "I'm sorry, Draco. If I had known it was this important I would have come straight over. I just wasn't thinking. I was still mostly asleep and my brain just said you were dragging me over to yell at me about my assignments." Draco gave him an odd look. "Um, you used to do that a lot when you were my Trainer." He shot a look to the bedroom. "What do we do?"
The last of the Clean Up crew said their goodbyes and left as Draco headed for the bedroom. "We're going to clean him up. Thoroughly, with water and everything not just a spell. He's still asleep, I didn't want him to wake up and see it."
They all helped carry Harry into the bathroom and place him in the bath. Draco ran the water and the other three stood around uncomfortably as he got to work of wiping off all the blood that still remained. He sighed and he worked and finally turned around. "Morgan, could you please stop staring at me, it's unnerving."
Morgan blushed and looked away as Draco watched it slowly click in Ron's mind that the blonde still wasn't wearing a shirt. The redhead coughed loudly and then glared at his girlfriend. "You too."
"Ron Weasley I was *not* staring! I am just standing here being supportive." She gave a little huff at the end and then turned back to Draco. "So why do you think Mortel did this?"
"A warning? Who knows. The more interesting thing is why didn't he kill him? Not that I'm ungrateful or anything but still."
They all fell quiet as Draco finished up and summoned a towel. "I know one thing though. When I get my hands on him I'll kill him, I don't care if he's technically already dead, I'll find a way."
They all carried Harry back to the couch and lay him down. "Okay, we can wake him now." Draco got his wand and did the finishing spell and they waited. "Harry? Time to wake up and smell the blood." Hermione slapped Draco in the back of the head for that comment. "What? I'm trying to lighten the mood. I don't want to freak him out."
"No chance of succeeding there." Morgan muttered.
Harry's eyes opened after a few seconds and he smiled up at Draco. "Hey." He looked at where he was and frowned. "Why am I in the living room? Why am I on the couch?" He looked to Ron, Hermione and Morgan. "What are you guys doing here?"
Draco forced a cheerful smile. "Um, yeah. Funny story actually. No, no, you might want to stay lying down for this one."
To Be Continued.