HARRY POTTER AND THE RISING OF THE DARK
by Meta4 meta4meta4.org
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:: Transit.
We were on our way. Various duffel bags had been packed with assorted essentials (clothes, food, the odd Crup) and we were out of Hogwarts and flying south. All four of us were on brooms as neither Harry, Ron nor Hermione felt particularly at ease flying without something to hold on to and, whilst I didn't strictly need one, I could take their point about it feeling a little more reassuring.
After a while, we pulled up through the immensely thick layer of snow-bearing clouds. In fact, under the crystal-sharp moonlight, clouds were all we could see. As we flew, I began to lose a feel for how far we were from the cloud layer as it looked fairly similar if you were ten feet above it or a thousand.
The wind was icy cold but thankfully whoever had designed the cloaks obviously had broom-flight in mind, the huge toggles and heavy material ensured they stayed firmly fastened and kept the majority of the cold out. However, a couple of hours' flying can soon take its toll and so we decided to try and kill two birds with one stone and stop at my house.
We dived through the cloud layer and back into the blizzard that was still in full force. As we flew over towns and villages, some of them now vaguely familiar to me, I noticed how the snow seemed to concentrate itself around them, ensuring the inherently warmer town centres got just as much snow settling as did the cooler, outlying countryside.
The snow did a magnificent job of obfuscating landmarks and roads that I knew like the back of my own hand, which only served to underline to me just how efficient a weapon the Dark was deploying.
Eventually (after a couple of detours) we found my house and landed with a soft 'crunch' into the thick carpet of snow.
"Can you hold on for a moment? I need to check this out first," I said.
"Do you want me to come with you?" asked Harry, looking extremely concerned.
"No, thanks... I'll be fine for the moment. I'll call if I need you."
There wasn't a single light on in the house, however my Dad's 7-series and my mum's X5 were parked in their respective garages. Treading carefully, I walked up to the back door which, as I approached, I could see was ajar.
I went to touch the door handle but, remembering what Bob had said, I took a moment to examine it. Sure enough, its aura appeared slightly different to that of the surrounding door. I pulled the glove from my right hand and tentatively touched the handle. Someone I didn't know - yet who seemed familiar in a very tenuous way - had indeed touched the handle before me. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the unfamiliar echo they had left.
It was a man. He had arrived not long after I had left for Hogwarts and had waited in the back garden, watching the house intently. My parents had arrived home and, as usual, launched in to a full scale argument the moment they came face to face.
The stranger stood and watched them through the kitchen window, just far enough away to remain out of sight. He watched and waited until they calmed down slightly. My father had opened the fridge and hence had his back to the door and my mother was sat down at the kitchen table, reading a magazine. It was then he chose to move.
Quickly and calmly, the man strode over the lawn and burst through the back door. With neither a hesitation nor a second thought, the man executed my father. The scream my mother let out was cut short as she too had her life taken.
Again with cool, calculating efficiency, their assailant dragged them together and issued a charm which caused their now lifeless bodies to lift into the air. As he pushed them from their resting place, he paused only to look into the mirror located by the back door.
With sheer horror, I recognised the trademark sneer and the blond hair of a Malfoy.
Shaking with emotion - both of sorrow for my parents and sheer, irrational hatred of Lucius Malfoy - I stumbled backwards and collapsed into the snowdrift by the back door.
Harry bounded over and landed next to me in the snow, quickly pulling off his own gloves and holding my hand.
"What happened?" he asked, concern written all over his furrowed face.
"It was Mah..." I could barely get the words out. "Malfoy. He killed my... my..."
"What? Draco?"
"No... His Father."
Harry gritted his teeth. "C'mon - let's get you out of the cold."
He hauled me upright and held my shoulders to steady me and guided me into the house. Thankfully, although all the lights had been shut off the heating was still running. Harry sat me down and waved the other two in, explaining what I'd told him in a hushed voice.
We decided to spend the night there, although I spent most of it sat on the sofa staring into thin air. Harry dutifully sat by me, periodically offering me a drink or something to eat before his own fatigue became the better of him. As he slept, head resting against my chest, I idly ran my fingers through his wild black hair and thought about what had happened.
Malfoy senior - Draco's father - had killed my parents in cold blood. The more I thought about it, the more I hated Draco: His smug, self-important grin. The posturing. The cruelty. The seeds had already been sown in order that he take after his Father. He had to be stopped and, before my own tiredness got the better of me, I vowed that he would not be allowed to follow that path.
==========
"Anyway, I'd better get back to Mrs. Pettigrew's - it's getting late."
"Can't you stay a bit longer?" Will asked raptly, having just been thrilled by Draco's tales of Hogwarts and the world of Wizards.
"Do you think you could... um... 'Telephone' Mrs. Pettigrew? She said I should let her know if I was going to be very late."
"Sure," smiled Will. He jumped off the bed on which he and Draco had been sat at opposing ends, took Draco by the hand (which surprised him, although pleasantly so) and dragged him off downstairs.
"Do you have her number?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, somewhere..." replied Draco as he dug through his pockets for the slip of paper Mrs. Pettigrew had handed him earlier.
Will punched in the number and explained to Mrs. Pettigrew that Draco would be staying for the night before wishing her a very merry Christmas and hanging up.
"So I'm staying the night now am I?"
"I thought you might like to," smiled Will.
"Being a bit presumptuous, aren't we?"
"Probably, but it saves you having to make up your mind."
Draco had to smile at Will. If only he knew some of the omitted details from his tales of Hogwarts...
As they stood chatting in the kitchen, Jim meandered through from the lounge and started rifling through cupboards.
"Jim, is it OK if Draco spends the night here?"
"Yeah I don't see why not. Why are you asking m... You want my bed, don't you?"
Will nodded, and Jim sighed. "I'll be on the other couch then,"
"You don't need to, Jim, honestly," Draco jumped in, suddenly feeling very awkward.
"It's fine, Draco - you two seem to get it on well together... I mean 'get on well together'," he smiled, and having found the pack of dates he was looking for, mooched back into the living room.
"You're a dead man, James!" yelled Will after him to the sound of chuckles from down the corridor.
"Shall we?"
"Shall we what?" asked Draco, raising an eyebrow.
"Go back up stairs!"
"Lead the way,"
==========
The next morning, I woke to find Harry shaking my leg gently. He smiled at me, eyes glistening behind his fringe, and offered me a cup of coffee. I took it gratefully and invited him to sit next to me.
"I know this sounds rather pathetic, but how are you?"
"I'm OK," I lied.
"No you're not," he smiled. "You don't have to try and protect me all the time, you know."
"I know," I sighed. "But you don't deserve any of this. I mean you've got enough on your plate without..."
"A wise man once said that he felt he could take on the world if his friend was with him, and he would take on the world to get to his friend should he need to. What makes you think I feel any different?"
I looked up from my coffee cup and into his eyes.
"I love you," he said. "Your worries are mine as well, Liam."
"I'm just not used to anyone paying me such attention," I sniffed. "I'm so used to dealing with everything on my own."
"Well, that's going to change. Starting right now, your problems are just as much mine whether you want them to be or not. OK?"
"OK."
"Good. I really do love you, ya know."
"I know. Thanks, Harry,"
"No need to thank me - just kiss me," he smiled. I complied immediately.
We hugged each other and then made our way to the kitchen where Ron was staring perplexedly at the toaster. A moment later, he jumped nearly a foot when the toast sprang up, then cautiously removed the slices and placed them in the toast rack on the table.
Hermione was whistling round the kitchen in her usual, horribly organised fashion and had managed to whip up quite a respectable breakfast. Monty was trotting around after her, fielding any morsel of food that escaped and was doing a fine job of generally getting in the way.
"Morning, Liam," she greeted cheerily.
"Morning... What time is it?"
"About half nine."
"Half nine? Damn..."
"What?"
"I didn't think I'd sleep that long..."
"You were shattered - we all were after that flight." She put the tray she was carrying down on the counter top and removed her oven gloves. "Ron and I would like to offer our condolences. I don't really know what to say except that we're here for you should you need us."
"Thanks, Hermione, that means a lot to me." I felt I owed Hermione and Ron a bit of an explanation, so I continued. "I don't know why I'm so upset about my parents being killed. I mean, they never really showed any real affection towards me and most of the time I was just an inconvenience to them..."
"But they were your parents," chipped in Ron. "Just that is enough to upset you."
"I s'pose..."
"Well, anyway, tuck in lads," said Hermione. "There's plenty to go around."
After we finished breakfast, Hermione had quite convincingly managed to prove that not only was she top of the year in her studies, she could also convincingly out-cook us as well!
The meal and the company had lifted my spirits quite significantly, gradually easing me from the terminal anger I'd originally felt into something more rational and targeted. Somehow, I now felt I shared the same grim, determined look that Harry seemed to wear perpetually.
I flicked on the TV on the kitchen counter. The picture was normally rather poor thanks to the useless little antenna perched on top of the set, but today it took more than the usual quantity of twisting and fiddling to get anything other than a load of static on the screen.
The topic of conversation was very much centred around the weather with various reporters in different parts of the country looking suitably cold and miserable as they stood out in the snow. London and the surrounding counties appeared to be worst off with Birmingham and the rest of the midlands coming a close second. I turned up the volume.
"...and despite the valiant efforts of local council workers, even the major road and rail links have been all but cut off, most motorways now being reduced to a single lane on the small stretches that are still open. The government has declared a state of national emergency, advising people to stay in their homes and conserve whatever food and water they have.
"The National Grid has said that the extreme load created by the cold weather, combined with the damage the snow has caused to the grid infrastructure, is placing unprecedented load on the system and warn that electricity supplies may fail for extended periods of time.
"Severn Trent water have also released a statement saying that the intense cold is starting to freeze reservoirs in the region as the cold begins to permeate the ground. Pumping stations in the more remote parts of the country have become inoperative due to power failures.
"Transco, operators of the national gas network, have said that though demand is high, supplies remain stable although they do warn that this is dependent on power to the pumping stations remaining on. Once again, I repeat that the Government has declared a state of national emergency and advise people t..."
Everything went quiet as the lights went out, flickered back on for a brief moment and then stayed off. We were now only illuminated by the cold, blue-white light streaming in through the kitchen window.
"Bloody hell," said Ron. "This is really bad,"
"Looks like the whole country'll freeze to death... I mean, what'll people do?" asked Harry.
"I dunno," I replied. "I guess the army will be called in to distribute food and stuff, but there's no way they can cope with the whole country. People in the little villages are totally screwed."
"What about Hogwarts?" asked Hermione.
"They'll be fine. They've got enough food in the kitchens to feed the whole school for a couple of weeks. If they need any more I'm sure the staff can conjure up something between them." replied Ron.
"So what do we do now?"
"Well, I think the plan remains unchanged - we go and see Malfoy."
"How are we going to get there? I don't really fancy another stupid broom trip..."
"You know you told me about your Dad's flying Ford Anglia, Ron?"
"Uh huh?"
"Wanna try a flying BMW?"
==========
Will woke to find his room strangely dark and extremely cold. So cold, in fact, that the glass of water on his bedside table had started to freeze round the edges. He peeped over the edge of his bed to see Draco curled up on the mattress, shivering.
"Draco?" he whispered.
"Mmm?" he replied from between chattering teeth.
"You'd better come up here with me. I think the heating's broken down again."
"T... Thanks Will," he shivered, gathering up his bedclothes around himself has he stood up. Will lifted his quilt to allow Draco to climb in.
"Bloody hell, Draco, you're frozen!" exclaimed Will as Draco's feet made contact with his shin. "C'mon, we need to try and get your circulation going again."
Will took Draco's hands and arms and began to rub them vigorously gradually bringing them back to life. After Draco assured him he could definitely feel his fingers again, Will moved on to his legs, rubbing from his feet upwards. He felt Draco jump slightly as the back of his hand quite innocently made contact with Draco's crotch, but he didn't go out of his way to ensure it didn't happen again.
"There, that ought to help," he smiled as he settled down next to Draco once more.
"Yeah, that's great, Will," Draco replied in a rather husky voice. "Do you, uh... I don't quite know how to ask this... Do you mind if I hug you? To help keep warm I mean..." he added quickly.
"Not at all," smiled Will.
As Draco wrapped his arms around him, Will couldn't help but smile. He'd never slept with anyone before and to have Draco so close to him caused him to get more than a little excited. Without trying to be obvious about what he was doing, he tried to keep his crotch away from Draco's.
In doing so, he felt sure he could feel Draco in a similar predicament to himself.
"I know this is an awful cliché, but is that a wand in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?"
"Well, it's actually my wand," said Draco, pulling it out from under the covers. If there had been any more ambient light, Draco would've been able to see Will blushing intensely. Draco had guessed what must've happened to Will as it was taking all of his will power to prevent the same happening to him.
Going for broke, he decided that the best way to break the tension would be to level the playing field and let the intimacy of their situation take effect. He felt his dick grow rapidly in his boxers, soon tenting them out in a similar fashion to Will's. He then hugged Will tighter to him and pressed his crotch forward, guaranteeing contact. Will gasped at this unanticipated move and soon found himself hugging Draco back.
"Are you OK with this?" whispered Draco into Will's ear, causing his spine to tingle.
"Oh yeah," breathed Will in reply, shuffling himself around slightly and a very poorly masked attempt to briefly hump himself against Draco. Feeling Will's hardness press into his own, Draco automatically did the same back. Before either of them realised what they'd initiated, they soon found themselves pressing and rubbing quite unreservedly against one another.
Draco let one of the arms that was wrapped around Will's back to move further down his new friend's body, gradually sliding them under the elastic of his boxers. Draco found the feeling of the muscles in Will's arse tensing and relaxing as they humped up against each other incredibly erotic and began pawing and squeezing his buttocks with each thrust.
"Draco, I think we'd better stop..."
"W... Why?"
"I'm... ah... I'm gonna cum soon," Will panted.
Before Will could even consider calling a halt, Draco rolled him over onto his back and began thrusting even harder against him. With gravity now playing its part, Draco found each thrust brought with it even more pleasure than their previous side-by-side arrangement. It also had the advantage that Draco was now very much in the driving seat and, not one to give up, he sure as hell was going to see this through to completion.
Will realised what Draco intended and after little more than a token objection, spread his legs wider and wrapped them around Draco as he pumped on. He could feel the little precum that he produced beginning to do its job by dampening his boxers, allowing them to slide most pleasurably over his dickhead.
Both boys could feel their respective orgasms building quite rapidly causing them both to increase the force and frequency of their actions. Draco's scent was sending Will almost insane with desire, causing him to buck up against Draco's downwards thrusts.
Will suddenly realised that no matter what he did, he was going to cum. Very soon. And hard, too. In that indescribable moment that immediately precedes a really good orgasm, Will surrendered himself completely to the feelings Draco was providing him. Just the weight of Draco's body on top of his provided a feeling unlike any other he'd ever experienced.
Will came, his erection sending spurt after spurt of his cum into his boxers. His orgasm was more powerful and seemed to last longer than any he'd ever experienced until then. With each spasm of his body he felt as if he were about to pass out with the acute pleasure radiating from his groin.
Feeling the hot dampness that was rapidly soaking through his own boxer shorts, Draco was totally powerless to stop his own orgasm. Within moments his own cum was mixing with Will's, forming an extremely pleasurable slimy, sticky mass through which their dicks slid easily. With a couple of final pronounced thrusts, Draco let the last of his weight fall onto Will. As he did so, he planted his lips on Will's kissing him for the first time.
Both boys now sufficiently warm to their very cores, they soon drifted off into a gentle, comfy sleep.
On Will's bedside table, the Sign Merriman had given him glowed slightly, the heat it produced singing the shape of a circle quartered by a cross onto the wooden surface while re-melting the glass of water.
==========
The incessant snow had ensured that we could no longer get out of any of the doors in the house, so we ended up climbing out of the kitchen window. I'd managed to pull a few bits and pieces together from around the place and loaded our bags, broomsticks and Monty into the X5. Ron and Hermione climbed into the back while Harry joined me up front.
"So how are we getting to Draco's house then? I mean I'm sure we can get to Surrey easily enough, but how do we find the house he's staying at?"
"I'd like to introduce you to a bit of muggle technology, Ron," I replied as I willed the 4x4 into the air, allowing it to clear the mountain of snow that had fallen behind it, otherwise locking it into the car port. "This is a GPS system - it'll tell us exactly where to go."
Ron watched, amazed, as I entered the address of Draco's relative into the car and it calculated the quickest route there. Obviously it wouldn't be particularly useful once we were in the air, but it would be invaluable when we reached the now rather nondescript outlying country lanes around Surrey.
"Oh wow - Dad'd love to see this!"
"What does your dad do, exactly?"
"He works at the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. Muggles really fascinate him."
"When I first met him, he wanted to know the 'exact function of a rubber duck'," chuckled Harry.
It had to be said that travelling by flying BMW was indeed far more comfortable than on brooms. As we cleared the cloud layer once again, I turned on the radio. It appeared that BBC Radio 4 had been turned into a public information channel, giving advice and news reports on the snow. Parts of London were now without power and the armed forces were now being mobilised to provide food drops for isolated villages that were now totally cut off.
According to the GPS, we were travelling at around two hundred miles an hour over the cloud layer, and hence reached London quicker than I'd expected. I slowed down as we approached central London and dipped us back down through the clouds, which seemed especially thick and dark here.
Beneath us, the densely packed streets that were usually heaving with people were nearly deserted. The office buildings and monuments that were usually brightly lit stood desolate, all covered with a thick layer of snow beneath the extremely murky sky.
We ended up over Mayfair and then St James' Park; soon I spotted Buckingham Palace, pointing it out to everyone else. The gardens to the rear of the palace were almost indistinguishable, all of their majesty and grandeur masked by the snow. I made a couple of passes before carrying on west towards Westminster Abbey.
"This is awful," whispered Hermione as we looked down on the streets of the nation's capital.
As the great twin spires of the abbey loomed ahead of us, almost none of its intricate architecture and decoration could be made out, instead presenting itself as a huge, glistening monolith of ice.
A moment later, the Houses of Parliament came into view. Although seemingly intact, there was no illumination of any kind, however the roads to the buildings had been kept clear by what looked like an army of military-green snow ploughs.
We flew over Parliament Square and turned left, following the Thames. To our right emerged the huge London Eye, motionless with its bottom section buried in snow and devoid of light.
As we flew on we saw that St. Paul's hadn't got off lightly, either: The huge trademark dome had been badly damaged, presumably having collapsed under the snow's weight. The once grand dome was now totally devoid of the crucifix that adorned its pinnacle, now instead having nothing but a jagged, dark hole.
As we reached an iced-over tower bridge, we turned south again and resumed our course for Surrey.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:: Transit.
We were on our way. Various duffel bags had been packed with assorted essentials (clothes, food, the odd Crup) and we were out of Hogwarts and flying south. All four of us were on brooms as neither Harry, Ron nor Hermione felt particularly at ease flying without something to hold on to and, whilst I didn't strictly need one, I could take their point about it feeling a little more reassuring.
After a while, we pulled up through the immensely thick layer of snow-bearing clouds. In fact, under the crystal-sharp moonlight, clouds were all we could see. As we flew, I began to lose a feel for how far we were from the cloud layer as it looked fairly similar if you were ten feet above it or a thousand.
The wind was icy cold but thankfully whoever had designed the cloaks obviously had broom-flight in mind, the huge toggles and heavy material ensured they stayed firmly fastened and kept the majority of the cold out. However, a couple of hours' flying can soon take its toll and so we decided to try and kill two birds with one stone and stop at my house.
We dived through the cloud layer and back into the blizzard that was still in full force. As we flew over towns and villages, some of them now vaguely familiar to me, I noticed how the snow seemed to concentrate itself around them, ensuring the inherently warmer town centres got just as much snow settling as did the cooler, outlying countryside.
The snow did a magnificent job of obfuscating landmarks and roads that I knew like the back of my own hand, which only served to underline to me just how efficient a weapon the Dark was deploying.
Eventually (after a couple of detours) we found my house and landed with a soft 'crunch' into the thick carpet of snow.
"Can you hold on for a moment? I need to check this out first," I said.
"Do you want me to come with you?" asked Harry, looking extremely concerned.
"No, thanks... I'll be fine for the moment. I'll call if I need you."
There wasn't a single light on in the house, however my Dad's 7-series and my mum's X5 were parked in their respective garages. Treading carefully, I walked up to the back door which, as I approached, I could see was ajar.
I went to touch the door handle but, remembering what Bob had said, I took a moment to examine it. Sure enough, its aura appeared slightly different to that of the surrounding door. I pulled the glove from my right hand and tentatively touched the handle. Someone I didn't know - yet who seemed familiar in a very tenuous way - had indeed touched the handle before me. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the unfamiliar echo they had left.
It was a man. He had arrived not long after I had left for Hogwarts and had waited in the back garden, watching the house intently. My parents had arrived home and, as usual, launched in to a full scale argument the moment they came face to face.
The stranger stood and watched them through the kitchen window, just far enough away to remain out of sight. He watched and waited until they calmed down slightly. My father had opened the fridge and hence had his back to the door and my mother was sat down at the kitchen table, reading a magazine. It was then he chose to move.
Quickly and calmly, the man strode over the lawn and burst through the back door. With neither a hesitation nor a second thought, the man executed my father. The scream my mother let out was cut short as she too had her life taken.
Again with cool, calculating efficiency, their assailant dragged them together and issued a charm which caused their now lifeless bodies to lift into the air. As he pushed them from their resting place, he paused only to look into the mirror located by the back door.
With sheer horror, I recognised the trademark sneer and the blond hair of a Malfoy.
Shaking with emotion - both of sorrow for my parents and sheer, irrational hatred of Lucius Malfoy - I stumbled backwards and collapsed into the snowdrift by the back door.
Harry bounded over and landed next to me in the snow, quickly pulling off his own gloves and holding my hand.
"What happened?" he asked, concern written all over his furrowed face.
"It was Mah..." I could barely get the words out. "Malfoy. He killed my... my..."
"What? Draco?"
"No... His Father."
Harry gritted his teeth. "C'mon - let's get you out of the cold."
He hauled me upright and held my shoulders to steady me and guided me into the house. Thankfully, although all the lights had been shut off the heating was still running. Harry sat me down and waved the other two in, explaining what I'd told him in a hushed voice.
We decided to spend the night there, although I spent most of it sat on the sofa staring into thin air. Harry dutifully sat by me, periodically offering me a drink or something to eat before his own fatigue became the better of him. As he slept, head resting against my chest, I idly ran my fingers through his wild black hair and thought about what had happened.
Malfoy senior - Draco's father - had killed my parents in cold blood. The more I thought about it, the more I hated Draco: His smug, self-important grin. The posturing. The cruelty. The seeds had already been sown in order that he take after his Father. He had to be stopped and, before my own tiredness got the better of me, I vowed that he would not be allowed to follow that path.
==========
"Anyway, I'd better get back to Mrs. Pettigrew's - it's getting late."
"Can't you stay a bit longer?" Will asked raptly, having just been thrilled by Draco's tales of Hogwarts and the world of Wizards.
"Do you think you could... um... 'Telephone' Mrs. Pettigrew? She said I should let her know if I was going to be very late."
"Sure," smiled Will. He jumped off the bed on which he and Draco had been sat at opposing ends, took Draco by the hand (which surprised him, although pleasantly so) and dragged him off downstairs.
"Do you have her number?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, somewhere..." replied Draco as he dug through his pockets for the slip of paper Mrs. Pettigrew had handed him earlier.
Will punched in the number and explained to Mrs. Pettigrew that Draco would be staying for the night before wishing her a very merry Christmas and hanging up.
"So I'm staying the night now am I?"
"I thought you might like to," smiled Will.
"Being a bit presumptuous, aren't we?"
"Probably, but it saves you having to make up your mind."
Draco had to smile at Will. If only he knew some of the omitted details from his tales of Hogwarts...
As they stood chatting in the kitchen, Jim meandered through from the lounge and started rifling through cupboards.
"Jim, is it OK if Draco spends the night here?"
"Yeah I don't see why not. Why are you asking m... You want my bed, don't you?"
Will nodded, and Jim sighed. "I'll be on the other couch then,"
"You don't need to, Jim, honestly," Draco jumped in, suddenly feeling very awkward.
"It's fine, Draco - you two seem to get it on well together... I mean 'get on well together'," he smiled, and having found the pack of dates he was looking for, mooched back into the living room.
"You're a dead man, James!" yelled Will after him to the sound of chuckles from down the corridor.
"Shall we?"
"Shall we what?" asked Draco, raising an eyebrow.
"Go back up stairs!"
"Lead the way,"
==========
The next morning, I woke to find Harry shaking my leg gently. He smiled at me, eyes glistening behind his fringe, and offered me a cup of coffee. I took it gratefully and invited him to sit next to me.
"I know this sounds rather pathetic, but how are you?"
"I'm OK," I lied.
"No you're not," he smiled. "You don't have to try and protect me all the time, you know."
"I know," I sighed. "But you don't deserve any of this. I mean you've got enough on your plate without..."
"A wise man once said that he felt he could take on the world if his friend was with him, and he would take on the world to get to his friend should he need to. What makes you think I feel any different?"
I looked up from my coffee cup and into his eyes.
"I love you," he said. "Your worries are mine as well, Liam."
"I'm just not used to anyone paying me such attention," I sniffed. "I'm so used to dealing with everything on my own."
"Well, that's going to change. Starting right now, your problems are just as much mine whether you want them to be or not. OK?"
"OK."
"Good. I really do love you, ya know."
"I know. Thanks, Harry,"
"No need to thank me - just kiss me," he smiled. I complied immediately.
We hugged each other and then made our way to the kitchen where Ron was staring perplexedly at the toaster. A moment later, he jumped nearly a foot when the toast sprang up, then cautiously removed the slices and placed them in the toast rack on the table.
Hermione was whistling round the kitchen in her usual, horribly organised fashion and had managed to whip up quite a respectable breakfast. Monty was trotting around after her, fielding any morsel of food that escaped and was doing a fine job of generally getting in the way.
"Morning, Liam," she greeted cheerily.
"Morning... What time is it?"
"About half nine."
"Half nine? Damn..."
"What?"
"I didn't think I'd sleep that long..."
"You were shattered - we all were after that flight." She put the tray she was carrying down on the counter top and removed her oven gloves. "Ron and I would like to offer our condolences. I don't really know what to say except that we're here for you should you need us."
"Thanks, Hermione, that means a lot to me." I felt I owed Hermione and Ron a bit of an explanation, so I continued. "I don't know why I'm so upset about my parents being killed. I mean, they never really showed any real affection towards me and most of the time I was just an inconvenience to them..."
"But they were your parents," chipped in Ron. "Just that is enough to upset you."
"I s'pose..."
"Well, anyway, tuck in lads," said Hermione. "There's plenty to go around."
After we finished breakfast, Hermione had quite convincingly managed to prove that not only was she top of the year in her studies, she could also convincingly out-cook us as well!
The meal and the company had lifted my spirits quite significantly, gradually easing me from the terminal anger I'd originally felt into something more rational and targeted. Somehow, I now felt I shared the same grim, determined look that Harry seemed to wear perpetually.
I flicked on the TV on the kitchen counter. The picture was normally rather poor thanks to the useless little antenna perched on top of the set, but today it took more than the usual quantity of twisting and fiddling to get anything other than a load of static on the screen.
The topic of conversation was very much centred around the weather with various reporters in different parts of the country looking suitably cold and miserable as they stood out in the snow. London and the surrounding counties appeared to be worst off with Birmingham and the rest of the midlands coming a close second. I turned up the volume.
"...and despite the valiant efforts of local council workers, even the major road and rail links have been all but cut off, most motorways now being reduced to a single lane on the small stretches that are still open. The government has declared a state of national emergency, advising people to stay in their homes and conserve whatever food and water they have.
"The National Grid has said that the extreme load created by the cold weather, combined with the damage the snow has caused to the grid infrastructure, is placing unprecedented load on the system and warn that electricity supplies may fail for extended periods of time.
"Severn Trent water have also released a statement saying that the intense cold is starting to freeze reservoirs in the region as the cold begins to permeate the ground. Pumping stations in the more remote parts of the country have become inoperative due to power failures.
"Transco, operators of the national gas network, have said that though demand is high, supplies remain stable although they do warn that this is dependent on power to the pumping stations remaining on. Once again, I repeat that the Government has declared a state of national emergency and advise people t..."
Everything went quiet as the lights went out, flickered back on for a brief moment and then stayed off. We were now only illuminated by the cold, blue-white light streaming in through the kitchen window.
"Bloody hell," said Ron. "This is really bad,"
"Looks like the whole country'll freeze to death... I mean, what'll people do?" asked Harry.
"I dunno," I replied. "I guess the army will be called in to distribute food and stuff, but there's no way they can cope with the whole country. People in the little villages are totally screwed."
"What about Hogwarts?" asked Hermione.
"They'll be fine. They've got enough food in the kitchens to feed the whole school for a couple of weeks. If they need any more I'm sure the staff can conjure up something between them." replied Ron.
"So what do we do now?"
"Well, I think the plan remains unchanged - we go and see Malfoy."
"How are we going to get there? I don't really fancy another stupid broom trip..."
"You know you told me about your Dad's flying Ford Anglia, Ron?"
"Uh huh?"
"Wanna try a flying BMW?"
==========
Will woke to find his room strangely dark and extremely cold. So cold, in fact, that the glass of water on his bedside table had started to freeze round the edges. He peeped over the edge of his bed to see Draco curled up on the mattress, shivering.
"Draco?" he whispered.
"Mmm?" he replied from between chattering teeth.
"You'd better come up here with me. I think the heating's broken down again."
"T... Thanks Will," he shivered, gathering up his bedclothes around himself has he stood up. Will lifted his quilt to allow Draco to climb in.
"Bloody hell, Draco, you're frozen!" exclaimed Will as Draco's feet made contact with his shin. "C'mon, we need to try and get your circulation going again."
Will took Draco's hands and arms and began to rub them vigorously gradually bringing them back to life. After Draco assured him he could definitely feel his fingers again, Will moved on to his legs, rubbing from his feet upwards. He felt Draco jump slightly as the back of his hand quite innocently made contact with Draco's crotch, but he didn't go out of his way to ensure it didn't happen again.
"There, that ought to help," he smiled as he settled down next to Draco once more.
"Yeah, that's great, Will," Draco replied in a rather husky voice. "Do you, uh... I don't quite know how to ask this... Do you mind if I hug you? To help keep warm I mean..." he added quickly.
"Not at all," smiled Will.
As Draco wrapped his arms around him, Will couldn't help but smile. He'd never slept with anyone before and to have Draco so close to him caused him to get more than a little excited. Without trying to be obvious about what he was doing, he tried to keep his crotch away from Draco's.
In doing so, he felt sure he could feel Draco in a similar predicament to himself.
"I know this is an awful cliché, but is that a wand in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?"
"Well, it's actually my wand," said Draco, pulling it out from under the covers. If there had been any more ambient light, Draco would've been able to see Will blushing intensely. Draco had guessed what must've happened to Will as it was taking all of his will power to prevent the same happening to him.
Going for broke, he decided that the best way to break the tension would be to level the playing field and let the intimacy of their situation take effect. He felt his dick grow rapidly in his boxers, soon tenting them out in a similar fashion to Will's. He then hugged Will tighter to him and pressed his crotch forward, guaranteeing contact. Will gasped at this unanticipated move and soon found himself hugging Draco back.
"Are you OK with this?" whispered Draco into Will's ear, causing his spine to tingle.
"Oh yeah," breathed Will in reply, shuffling himself around slightly and a very poorly masked attempt to briefly hump himself against Draco. Feeling Will's hardness press into his own, Draco automatically did the same back. Before either of them realised what they'd initiated, they soon found themselves pressing and rubbing quite unreservedly against one another.
Draco let one of the arms that was wrapped around Will's back to move further down his new friend's body, gradually sliding them under the elastic of his boxers. Draco found the feeling of the muscles in Will's arse tensing and relaxing as they humped up against each other incredibly erotic and began pawing and squeezing his buttocks with each thrust.
"Draco, I think we'd better stop..."
"W... Why?"
"I'm... ah... I'm gonna cum soon," Will panted.
Before Will could even consider calling a halt, Draco rolled him over onto his back and began thrusting even harder against him. With gravity now playing its part, Draco found each thrust brought with it even more pleasure than their previous side-by-side arrangement. It also had the advantage that Draco was now very much in the driving seat and, not one to give up, he sure as hell was going to see this through to completion.
Will realised what Draco intended and after little more than a token objection, spread his legs wider and wrapped them around Draco as he pumped on. He could feel the little precum that he produced beginning to do its job by dampening his boxers, allowing them to slide most pleasurably over his dickhead.
Both boys could feel their respective orgasms building quite rapidly causing them both to increase the force and frequency of their actions. Draco's scent was sending Will almost insane with desire, causing him to buck up against Draco's downwards thrusts.
Will suddenly realised that no matter what he did, he was going to cum. Very soon. And hard, too. In that indescribable moment that immediately precedes a really good orgasm, Will surrendered himself completely to the feelings Draco was providing him. Just the weight of Draco's body on top of his provided a feeling unlike any other he'd ever experienced.
Will came, his erection sending spurt after spurt of his cum into his boxers. His orgasm was more powerful and seemed to last longer than any he'd ever experienced until then. With each spasm of his body he felt as if he were about to pass out with the acute pleasure radiating from his groin.
Feeling the hot dampness that was rapidly soaking through his own boxer shorts, Draco was totally powerless to stop his own orgasm. Within moments his own cum was mixing with Will's, forming an extremely pleasurable slimy, sticky mass through which their dicks slid easily. With a couple of final pronounced thrusts, Draco let the last of his weight fall onto Will. As he did so, he planted his lips on Will's kissing him for the first time.
Both boys now sufficiently warm to their very cores, they soon drifted off into a gentle, comfy sleep.
On Will's bedside table, the Sign Merriman had given him glowed slightly, the heat it produced singing the shape of a circle quartered by a cross onto the wooden surface while re-melting the glass of water.
==========
The incessant snow had ensured that we could no longer get out of any of the doors in the house, so we ended up climbing out of the kitchen window. I'd managed to pull a few bits and pieces together from around the place and loaded our bags, broomsticks and Monty into the X5. Ron and Hermione climbed into the back while Harry joined me up front.
"So how are we getting to Draco's house then? I mean I'm sure we can get to Surrey easily enough, but how do we find the house he's staying at?"
"I'd like to introduce you to a bit of muggle technology, Ron," I replied as I willed the 4x4 into the air, allowing it to clear the mountain of snow that had fallen behind it, otherwise locking it into the car port. "This is a GPS system - it'll tell us exactly where to go."
Ron watched, amazed, as I entered the address of Draco's relative into the car and it calculated the quickest route there. Obviously it wouldn't be particularly useful once we were in the air, but it would be invaluable when we reached the now rather nondescript outlying country lanes around Surrey.
"Oh wow - Dad'd love to see this!"
"What does your dad do, exactly?"
"He works at the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office. Muggles really fascinate him."
"When I first met him, he wanted to know the 'exact function of a rubber duck'," chuckled Harry.
It had to be said that travelling by flying BMW was indeed far more comfortable than on brooms. As we cleared the cloud layer once again, I turned on the radio. It appeared that BBC Radio 4 had been turned into a public information channel, giving advice and news reports on the snow. Parts of London were now without power and the armed forces were now being mobilised to provide food drops for isolated villages that were now totally cut off.
According to the GPS, we were travelling at around two hundred miles an hour over the cloud layer, and hence reached London quicker than I'd expected. I slowed down as we approached central London and dipped us back down through the clouds, which seemed especially thick and dark here.
Beneath us, the densely packed streets that were usually heaving with people were nearly deserted. The office buildings and monuments that were usually brightly lit stood desolate, all covered with a thick layer of snow beneath the extremely murky sky.
We ended up over Mayfair and then St James' Park; soon I spotted Buckingham Palace, pointing it out to everyone else. The gardens to the rear of the palace were almost indistinguishable, all of their majesty and grandeur masked by the snow. I made a couple of passes before carrying on west towards Westminster Abbey.
"This is awful," whispered Hermione as we looked down on the streets of the nation's capital.
As the great twin spires of the abbey loomed ahead of us, almost none of its intricate architecture and decoration could be made out, instead presenting itself as a huge, glistening monolith of ice.
A moment later, the Houses of Parliament came into view. Although seemingly intact, there was no illumination of any kind, however the roads to the buildings had been kept clear by what looked like an army of military-green snow ploughs.
We flew over Parliament Square and turned left, following the Thames. To our right emerged the huge London Eye, motionless with its bottom section buried in snow and devoid of light.
As we flew on we saw that St. Paul's hadn't got off lightly, either: The huge trademark dome had been badly damaged, presumably having collapsed under the snow's weight. The once grand dome was now totally devoid of the crucifix that adorned its pinnacle, now instead having nothing but a jagged, dark hole.
As we reached an iced-over tower bridge, we turned south again and resumed our course for Surrey.