Penname: Page of Cups

Email: AndromedanPrincess@hotmail.com

AOL Screen Name: AndromedanQueen

Title: The Prophecy of Absconditus

Pairing: Ron Weasley/Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter/Blaise Zabini

Rating: R

Summary: Wherein Narcissa explains things and there are more questions than ever.

Please refer to previous chapters for information on archiving, disclaimers, and author's notes.

Chapter Nineteen:  Fontis de Sanguis Insontis

Pushing back the hood of her robe, Narcissa's blonde hair flowed down her back and she trained her eyes on Draco.

"Thanks, doll.  Couldn't have done it without you."

"How did you --" said Draco, but Narcissa held up a hand.

"Don't tell me you didn't bother doing your research before coming here."

"I researched.  How else would I be here?"

She sneered, her lips twisting in a horrible sort of way.

"Then you should have known, not that I'm complaining.  You don't know how long we've been trying to get here."  She tossed her hair off her shoulder, crossing her arms over her chest.  Rounding the fountain, she brushed by Draco, pausing to grimace at his deep black hair.

The other Death Eaters didn't drop their wands or their hoods.  With Narcissa, there were eight, each with a wand drawn and ready to strike.  From his peripheral vision, Ron caught Harry sneaking into his own robes, but Ron didn't dare move.  It seemed that it was he and Harry who they paid attention to, and Ron possessed neither the grace nor the agility to draw his wand without causing a scene.

"I see you've got it running, but how does it work?" said Narcissa, lifting a hand to her face and rubbing at her chin.  Long, painted nails scratched over her skin, raking pale crimson marks.  "Tell me you've gotten that far."

"We aren't telling you anything," said Harry.  He held his wand behind his back, his fingers itching over the wood.

"You will if you know what's good for you," said a second Death Eater.  His hood dropped back, and he switched targets from Ron to Harry.  For one fleeting second his dark brown eyes held Ron's, and then they turned to Harry.  Ron could've thrown up if he hadn't been caught so off-guard.  Ron would know those eyes anywhere.

"Kill me if you want.  I'm not telling you anything and they aren't going to, either."

Harry pulled out his wand, pointing it at the Death Eater.

Narcissa snapped around to glare at him, but Ron held his hand out to Harry.  His movements were slow and calculated; Ron forced his eyes to stay on the man.  Sudden movements would not prove effective.

"Put down your wand, Harry," said Ron.  "They've got the upper hand."

"Good of you to notice, Alcor," said Brown Eyes.  His wand stayed on Harry, but he shifted his focus back to Ron.  "So you received our little warning and yet you came ahead anyway.  Not that I'm surprised.  You weren't bright back then, either."

"What's going on?" said Harry.  His arm trembled, his wand shooting red and gold sparks.

"Harry, put your wand down."

"Listen to your boyfriend," said another Death Eater.  Ron felt his stomach shrivel at the voice and had to steady his knees when the hood fell back.  That rabid, hollow gaze haunted the back of his memories, and Rabid always had it out for Harry.

"My boyfriend?" said Harry.

"They know, Harry," said Ron.

"They know about what?"

"Us."

Later, Ron reflected it hadn't been a good idea.  He could've gotten his head hexed off if they suspected what happened.  He could've gotten his head hexed off if he startled anyone.  By this point, Draco and Blaise both drew their wands, and the other Death Eaters began to lower their hoods.  Still, Ron snapped his head to look over at Harry.

'Just play along.'

Harry frowned, meeting Ron's eyes.  At the thought, both Blaise and Draco looked to Ron.

'I don't get it.'

'They don't know the baby wasn't Ryan's.'

By that point, Ron assumed they didn't need to be told it was a vision.  With Ron skulking around, reading Latin and guiding them through underground cities, it didn't need to be said.  All it took was the look of realization to dawn on Harry's face, and then he grew hard, angry, and Ron never knew Harry could be such a good actor.

The Death Eaters split into two groups and rounded the fountain, crushing the four boys together, surrounding them.  Ramming back against each other, Ron grabbed Harry's hand and drew his wand.  One of the Death Eaters barked a laugh (Rabid, if Ron's memory served), and then they were closed in with nowhere to escape.  Harry's back heaved in rhythm with his breathing and his head fell against Ron's.

"Since you bothered coming here without doing your research, let me catch you up to speed," said Narcissa.  She shot a look to Brown Eyes and Rabid.  This was her show, and Ron thought she might attack if they dared to interrupt.  "I hate when things aren't a fair fight."

"Since when?" said Draco.

"Darling, don't be like that.  If things aren't fair, it makes me look bad."

"Do you only ever think about yourself?"

She sniffed, but didn't answer.  Her wand stayed pointed, but she didn't pay it much attention.

"There are three ways into Absconditus.  One is those vault doors.  I've known about them for centuries, but the four of you have made it very difficult for me to get in.  I admit, those binds you put on yourself and the city were impressive.  Alecto saved you once before, but she isn't here now, is she?

"The other two ways come in through the Absconditus Fountain."

"Fontis de Ortus Lux Lucis," said Ron.  Her eyes grew dark and Harry squeezed Ron's hand.  "That was its name."

"Despite what its name was, entering through that means proved difficult.  You see, to activate the connection, the Absconditus Fountain actually has to work.  Once again, a nice job on Alecto's part."

"What connection?" said Draco.

"You don't know much about this fountain, do you?"  Draco remained silent.  "The Absconditus Fountain, or the Fountain of Rising Light, was built in 307 A.D. by --"

"Rilian Alcor," said Ron.  "He was my great-grandfather, one of the greatest kings of Absconditus.  He was also a war hero.  Known for being unmercifully just."

"Anything else?"

A strange feeling of things clicking together filled Ron to a point where he almost lost sense of his surroundings.

"That's where the prophecy came from.  Rilian set down the magic of revenge in the city and the fountain embodied it.  Alecto knew that.  That's why we were able to use the fountain.  Because our magic was for revenge and with my being an Alcor . . . it made the bond that much stronger."

"Very good."  She cocked an eyebrow.  "Figure that all out on your own?"

"What's your point?" said Draco.

"My point is that if an Alcor relative invokes activity into the fountain, and the Mages are now tied to the fountain --"

"A Mage relative could access the fountain," said Ron.  "Only problem is you need a Mage to actually open the connection."

Narcissa didn't even look at him.

"There have been two fountains built since this one.  One has since been destroyed thanks to your good friend Potter."

"I never --"

"The Fountain of Magical Brethren," said Narcissa.  "Built in 1702 by Morgan Straker.  He was a direct descendent of Rena Lynx and Lux Dante."

"But Lynx wasn't a Mage," said Draco.

"No, but a Dante was."

"No.  There were Alcor, Veriatice, Mizar, and Merak."

"Mizar was my name.  Did it never occur to you that your father had a surname of his own?"  Narcissa raised an eyebrow, looking to Ron as if expecting him to pick up the explanation from here.  He didn't answer, and she looked back to Draco.  "Of course, Morgan never had any idea of the connection.  It was only when the fountain was moved to the Ministry of Magic and it wouldn't allow criminals near it that they discovered its magical properties."

"It did come to life and save me," said Harry.

"The other fountain was built in 1009 by Androcles Slytherin.  Androcles was the true heir of Slytherin.  He knew of the blood connection by then and was as determined to access the Absconditus fountain as his brothers.  Terence and Cane weren't successful, but Androcles managed to form some kind of connection."

"It's the Fountain of Innocent Blood," said Draco.  "That's where you came from.  The Slytherin Manor.  The engravings are connected."

"The what?" said Ron.

"I told you about it.  The Death Eater fountain.  It pumps the blood of innocent children."

Ron's head buzzed.  Everything seemed cloudy, fuzzy.  He gripped tighter to Harry's hand, wishing it was Draco's.

"You know, I've dreamt about this moment for centuries," said Narcissa.  "The moment when you were weak and helpless and I could finish what I set out to do.  When you're gone, I'm going to be a very happy woman."  She closed in, cupping Draco's cheek with her palm.  He tried to rip away from her, but she crashed his head back against Blaise's, and wrapped her hand around his neck.  "Especially you."

Her knuckles paled as she crushed her fingers into Draco's airway, and small, choked gasps whispered from his mouth.  He clutched at her arm with both hands, trying to pull away.

"You are the biggest disappointment.  You were supposed to be on our side.  No matter.  I always wanted to be the one who killed you and here's my chance.  Bade was worthless and so were you.  Lucius -- he thought we could fix you.  He, of course, didn't understand the Mage business.  All he understood was the Death Eaters, so I had to kill him, too."

She released her grip on Draco, smiling as he heaved.  Draco clamped onto Ron's arm, regaining his balance and breathing.  His skin looked pale and soft almost immediately, and Ron frowned, looking from Draco to Narcissa.

"Like father, like son," she said.

"I knew you killed him," said Draco.

"It needed to be done.  He got in the way just like Jude, just like Reegan, and just like Starvos."

"Jude?"

"Bade's father.  Would you do these things properly?"

"You killed him."

"Of course I killed him."

Draco must have forgotten there were seven wands trained on him.  He must have forgotten that he was sick and weak, because no sooner had things started to piece in Ron's head before Draco screamed, lunging himself onto Narcissa.  Wrapping his fingers around her hair, Draco ripped at her scalp, screaming obscenities.

Curses flew around them.  There were several times when Ron thought Draco was hit, but he didn't slow in his beating.  A few of the Death Eaters charged forward, grabbing Draco and ripping him off of his mother.  He put up a fight, kicking and screaming, his wand lay forgotten on the ground.  In the confusion, Ron darted forward, snatched it up, and he skirted a curse of dark, violet light.

"You should have died years ago," said Narcissa, rising to her feet.  Shoving her sleeves to her elbows, Narcissa pulled out her wand and trained it on Draco.  "You're all worthless without the Veriatice girl, anyway, especially the Merak boy.  Weren't good for anything, were you, Merak?  Just like in this life.  Probably a drunk just like Mummy and Daddy."

Harry ripped his hand from Ron's, his wand out, and the words spit from his lips.  Stunning spells darted through the air so fast that Ron found himself to be far more flexible than he ever knew.  Draco wriggled free in the struggle, but it was a sort of chaos.  Death Eaters and Mages alike hid in the debris of old market buildings, stepping out of place long enough to send a curse across the battlefield.  Ron passed Draco his wand in the confusion and ran for cover.

Several of the Death Eaters fell.  Harry was still on his feet, darting around to fight off the Death Eaters.  Ron had the same confused, woozy feeling from the Department of Mysteries (what he could remember, anyway, before going completely nutters and Accio-ing that brain).  It was hard to stay on his feet with the cloud around his brain.

Ron fell to his back, staring up at the crumbling ceiling of a tailor shop.  He remembered coming here with his father and brother.  Bade wasn't often allowed to be seen in public with the brothers and Reegan claimed him more of a charity case than a son.

His head hadn't felt this out of sorts since he got his first vision last year.  This is what it felt like when you fought them.  It couldn't be happening.  Ron clawed at the dusty ground creating clean rows where his fingertips raked away the dirt.  You didn't get visions in times like these.

Pushing off the ground Ron pulled up far enough to see Harry run from one of the shops and straight into Draco.  They collided, falling into the fountain.  Harry sat on Draco's chest, and pointed his wand at Draco's heart.

'What . . . doing.'

'The . . . us . . . merge . . . gifts  . . .'

'Only . . . kill me.'

'Plan  . . .'

'Three . . . curse  . . .'

'Won't . . . merged.'

' . . . '

None of their broken conversation made sense to Ron.  He wanted to scream but the vision trying to take him was too strong.  He watched as Harry smashed Draco's head back against the stone.

"You've betrayed us from the start!" said Harry.  "You were just waiting to hand us over to them!"

"So what if I was?"

Somewhere Ron thought Narcissa called Harry a foolish boy, but it didn't register, because at that moment, both Harry and Draco raised their wands.  In unison, they cried, "Avada Kedavra," and green light shot from both wands.  The light didn't go far; both bodies absorbed the rays, and Harry wavered, crashing to the ground, his wand rolling from his open palm.

Draco sat up, soaked, and peered to where Harry lay.  His face set blank, but the silence broke.  At their struggle, everything else died, but Blaise cried out, rushing to fall beside Harry's body.  His movement broke the reverie, and the Death Eaters were on him.  Just as fast, Draco moved from the fountain, scanning around the shops.

'Ron?'

'Tailor shop,' Ron replied, and Draco's eyes fell on his. 

Gathering what strength he could, Ron pulled his body up.  He tried to forget the pains screaming inside, the vision that was fighting to control him.  Ron ran across the battle space, threw his body over Harry's, and defended with every curse he remembered.  With the one look from Draco, Ron knew it was important that Harry be preserved.

The Death Eaters retreated to the fountain, and then they were gone.

Ron pulled back, laying on his side and staring at Harry.  He looked so healthy, so alive, and reminded Ron of Moody's (Crouch Jr.'s) class in fourth year with the spiders.  Harry lay just as unmarked, just as dead as the spider.  Draco collapsed behind him.

"Just a few minutes and then we can go," said Draco.

"What?"

"I need to rest and so does Potter.  The killing curse takes a lot out of you."

"Harry --"

"I'm not dead," said Harry.

"We'll explain, just --"

"Not now," said Harry.

"Not now."

"But --"

"Just a few minutes and then we can go."

Draco's head dropped to the ground and Harry inhaled, sharp and deep, his eyes squinted.

"Where's Blaise?"

"He's gone, Potter.  They've got him."