I don't know Latin, and I'm not going to butcher a refined language by jumping in blindly. (coughignoretitlecough) So use your imagination. ;
And, honestly, who didn't see this coming? Really. I mean really. I sure as hell did, and I don't doubt that most of you did.
And I don't think anybody misses Draco as much as I do ;.;
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Chapter 37…
…
Duo's eyes swept up and down the corridor before latching onto the door again. "This is it, eh?"
"Yeah, I think so," Quatre replied, speaking quietly. He watched Duo reach out and test the doorknob, and wasn't surprised when it was locked. Apparently Duo wasn't either.
The longhaired boy shot a look at Trowa. "Man. These people like to lock their doors." Trowa nodded with a frown. "Think you can beat your time?"
Duo grinned and knelt, Wufei and Heero moving to shield him from view, while the other three blocked Sirius from view. The dog watched Duo curiously.
"What was my time, anyway?" He was digging into his hair. Trowa hadn't seen him put the pin back into his hair, but apparently Duo had.
"Twenty seconds."
Wufei let out a short laugh. "That long? That's pathetic."
Duo scowled at the door even as he wedged the bobby pin into the lock. "Shut up, Wufei. These doors are so pathetic it took me about ten seconds to realize I didn't have to try as hard."
"Sure," Wufei replied dryly, shaking his head and smirking. As if to prove a point, Duo finished at the same time.
"Ha," he let out. "Nine seconds." He stood and opened the door, ushering the rest in before disappearing in after them. Duo looked around at the classroom, and noted how different it looked at night.
"We're going to need some lights," Heero told them. "Trowa, help me put the blinds down in the windows."
"Hopefully they'll hide the light," Trowa muttered, placing his parcel on one of the desks and easily reaching up to let the blinds cascade down. Behind him, Harry cast a spell and the room lit up. When Trowa turned back around, Quatre was digging through the items and Sirius was no longer a dog.
"Let me see this spell," the adult wizard told Quatre. Quatre obliged, passing the book over and allowing Sirius to see it. The longhaired man flipped through until he found it and was silent for a few moments as he read. Harry and Quatre pushed a few of the desks together to make a long table, and then they both began setting up the equipment. Wufei stood nearby and went over the list to make sure they had everything. Duo was standing by the door as a guard, and Heero and Trowa were leaning on desks and watching.
A few moments later, Sirius finished reading.
"This isn't an easy spell," he commented. He looked up at the boys, but none seemed surprised by his statement. "Mind telling me what the Bond of Lovers is supposed to be doing?"
His godson fumbled the cauldron he was holding, face reddening. He cleared his throat uneasily.
"It's supposed to create a telepathic bond between Harry and Draco," Quatre informed him. "That way, he can tell us exactly where he is and we won't have to rely on information that could be faulty."
"And if he doesn't know where he is?"
"He will," Harry insisted. "And if not, we'll find another way." His eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "We'll get him back."
"And how do you plan on getting Mr. Malfoy?" Sirius pressed.
"Portkey," Harry said with a shrug.
"On Hogwarts' grounds?"
"Obviously not," the young wizard replied with a frown. "I'm aware that we can't perform unauthorized spells like that within Hogwarts. A spell of this caliber, however, should go unnoticed. After all, this is the DADA room. I'm sure it has special wards around it."
"All right," Wufei announced, interrupting Harry's musings. "Everything is here." He looked at the older wizard. "Will you be able to do this unassisted or do you need us to do anything?"
"We could prepare the ingredients. See," Quatre said, taking the book back from Sirius. "It says the asphodel needs to be ground into a fine powder. One of us can do that."
"And the newt genitals," Wufei read, ignoring the snickering coming from both Duo and Trowa, "Have to be crushed into a liquid."
"Uh, yeah," Duo said with a laugh, walking forward. "How about you take care of that part, Wufei?"
…
It was almost twenty minutes later when everything was prepared, and Sirius was ready to start.
"I guess now would be a bad time to say I was never any good at Potions," Harry's godfather told them with a grin.
"Can't be much worse than me," Harry grumbled. After that, all small talk ended. Quatre and Wufei situated themselves next to Sirius and handed him ingredients as he needed them. It was a long, complicated process, and once in a while Sirius would stop and intone something in Latin.
Duo had taken a seat on the desk Heero was leaning back against, and they were both watching the process carefully. Trowa was watching both the process and Harry, because it seemed the wizard was getting antsy as time went on. His eyes were glued to the cauldron, and Trowa could see him swallowing convulsively.
The creation of the potion itself seemed to take hours, when in fact it had only taken forty-five minutes to get to the stage where the newt genitals would be placed in the cauldron. It seemed that they were the key ingredients – something Trowa and Duo found very amusing – and once they were in the cauldron a mist began to rise from the pot.
"Inhale it, Harry," Sirius ordered the green-eyed wizard. Harry grimaced but did as he was told. The mist seemed to surround him. Harry took a few steps forward, until he was standing in front of Duo, Heero, and Trowa.
Heero nudged his longhaired companion, and Duo leaned down. "Don't you dare say 'down in front'," Heero ordered in a hushed tone. Duo merely grinned and leaned back again, ruffling Heero's hair affectionately.
The ingredients were quickly running down, and it seemed they were in the final steps of the spell. When the last ingredient was placed into the mix, an eerie pink glow came from the cauldron.
"Put your hand in the cauldron," Sirius told her. "Now!"
Harry obliged, plunging his hand into the cauldron. Some of the ingredients spilled over the edge, and both Quatre and Wufei stepped back.
"Say his name," Sirius said quietly, eyes staring into those of his godson.
"Draco Malfoy."
…
Pain. It was everything. It was anything. If there was anything besides the pain it couldn't be felt, because all he could feel was the pain.
It hurt. Everywhere hurt. His eyes hurt. His legs – he couldn't feel his legs, but he knew if he could they would hurt. His arms throbbed. His torso had been hurting for so long he could barely remember a time when it hadn't.
His stomach was pain, too. Painful convulsions made his torso ache, because he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. Food was a distant memory, and was considered unimportant when compared to the mind-numbing pain.
Besides, anything he ate he'd probably just as soon upchuck.
Suddenly, a strange feeling came over him. He felt as though he'd been shaken violently. His stomach did not handle the feeling very well, and he threw up stomach acids all over the floor next to him, crying out in the process. The movement had caused burning pain to flare up all over his body.
Oh God, it hurt.
But then he could see. His eyes still hurt, but he could see something other than concrete and gray. He could see green. And green was his favorite color, because they were the color of his eyes. And he was so glad now, to have seen it, if only for a moment he would see it because it was there and he could almost feel him.
Was he dying?
'Draco.'
It was a voice. It must have been a hallucination. Another hallucination, sent to torment him. But this one, was it created by his mind or had it been sent to him? Was it another means of torture?
'Draco!'
Yes, it was, it must be. Because that was his voice. He hadn't heard his voice in such a long time, but he would never forget it. He must be dying. He hoped he was dying, because hearing his voice would make dying enjoyable.
'Oh God, Draco.'
Pain? Pain… in the voice. Not pain in his body, for once, although that was there too. Pain in his voice was wrong, so it must be a hallucination, because he'd never heard pain in his voice and if he had he wouldn't remember it.
Not now, when he was dying. He hoped he was dying.
It would have been nice to see him one more time, though. To see him… in his stupid glasses. With his stupid messy hair. In his stupid clothes that never fit him right. And… to see his eyes. Because that was everything, wasn't it? His eyes were everything and meant so much and to see them was enough.
It would have been nice to see him again before he died.
'I'm coming for you, Draco, I swear!'
Bloodshot gray eyes shot open.
"Harry?"
…
"What the fuck is going on?" Duo demanded, staring at the stock-still figure of Harry. He could only see his back, but from the horrified look on Sirius' face he knew something was wrong.
"He's crying," Sirius whispered. "He's… crying."
Duo hopped off the desk and moved forward until he was next to Harry. He peered at his face. Sure enough, moisture had gathered behind his lenses and tears were slipping down his cheeks. His eyes were wide open, but it was almost as if he was blind.
"Creepy," Duo muttered. He reached out, but Heero had moved forward as well and pushed his arm down.
"Don't touch him!" he ordered. He looked at Harry and took a step back. "Just don't touch him."
Trowa had moved up to the other side of Harry, and on the other side of their makeshift table, Sirius, Quatre, and Wufei had moved closer as well. Tears were falling faster now, and Harry seemed to be shaking.
"I… don't think he likes what he sees," Quatre whispered, eyes locked on Harry's pained expression. "Draco must be hurting."
Suddenly, Harry cried out and pulled away from the desks, pulling his hand out of the cauldron and staggering backwards.
Right into Heero.
The pilot of Wing moved out of the way, but Harry's eyes latched onto him. With a wail he fell at him, and instinct made Heero grab the wizard. Harry let out a pained sob, and Heero looked around desperately. Duo and Trowa had reacted immediately, pulling Harry upright and away from Heero. After making sure Trowa was holding Harry upright, he turned to Heero, only to see the soldier staring at his arm.
"Oh shit," Duo rasped. Covering Heero's arm was the substance from the cauldron. Blue eyes sought his and Heero looked pained.
"Duo," he began, but then realized his mistake a second too late.
Quatre was there to catch Duo when he staggered, but Heero fell to the ground, gripping his head. "Oh God, oh God, oh God," Duo was muttering, hands clamped over his ears.
"What the hell?" Quatre demanded, staring at Duo and then at Heero, who was shaking his head and mumbling to himself, trying to get back to his feet.
"Stop it," Heero said, more clearly now. "Stop! Stop it! Duo!"
"Oh God," was the reply. "Oh God, get out. Get out get out get out!"
"What the hell are they doing?" Wufei demanded, no longer worried about keeping quiet. Trowa and Sirius were crowded around Harry, who was sobbing into his godfather's chest. The Chinese soldier walked over to assist Heero to his feet.
"I think the fucking potion got to them," Quatre exclaimed, disbelief plain on his face. "How the fuck… damn it!"
Under his hands, Duo lurched forwards toward Heero, whose eyes opened and latched onto Duo.
In his mind, Duo saw himself doubled over a punch to the stomach. These were Heero's thoughts – a memory from the second war! A strangled protest wrenched out of his throat and he lunged forward at Heero, breaking Quatre's hold. He clasped his hands together in one big fist. He swung his arms at the disoriented soldier and cracked them against the side of his head. Heero staggered for a moment before his eyes rolled up and he collapsed in Wufei's arms. Duo fell to his knees, breathing hard, immediately after.
"What the HELL was that?" Wufei demanded incredulously.
"Something went wrong," Duo rasped. "I could…. Hear…. Everything. In his head. Thoughts." He panted from the exertion and the toll the momentary telepathy had taken on him.
"The spell was to connect lovers," Trowa muttered derisively. He wasn't happy with this turn of events. He glanced at Harry and Sirius. Harry seemed to be calming down, but was talking quietly to himself, it seemed. Sirius had an arm around Harry and looked confused, for the most part. "You and Heero have that relationship, basically. You simply haven't instigated the physical part of it. Damn it Duo, I told you!"
Duo laughed tiredly. "Of course," he muttered dryly. "I find out he fucking loves me by having his mind assault me like a buster rifle." He reached over and patted Heero's hair. He sighed and leaned back, where Quatre was there to support him.
"Well what the fuck are we supposed to do now?" Wufei demanded. "We've got two idiots who can't stay awake at the same time, and we've got another idiot over there crying and talking to himself."
"He's not talking to himself," Sirius protested. "He's talking to Malfoy."
Quatre turned and looked surprised. "It worked? He got through to Draco?"
"Tell me where you are. I know it hurts but you have to tell me!" Harry said, clearly, as though he were talking to someone in the room. "Tell me, Draco!"
He was silent for a moment. He shook his head and looked up at the group. "He's hurting so much," he told them. "He… thought he was dying, when he connected to me."
Duo leaned forward, breathing slowing down from its prior erratic pace. He grabbed onto a desk and lifted himself from the floor. He removed his weight from Quatre, leaning on that instead. "I can fucking sympathize," he said, grated. "It's probably a fucking good thing he's so far away."
Harry's eyes widened when he noticed Heero, and the disgruntled Wufei supporting him.
"What happened?"
"You grabbed onto Heero's arm," Trowa explained. "And then Heero said Duo's name. It seems the spell doesn't require a physical relationship to define lovers."
"Fucking peachy," Duo snapped. He rubbed his forehead tiredly.
"I think we should get out of here," Sirius told them. "It's dangerous. Someone could catch us."
"I am not carrying Yuy up those stairs," Wufei told them. "He has to weigh half a ton."
The others grimaced. They didn't want to carry Heero, either. Duo let out a laugh. "Maybe I should have let him knock me out. Then at least I'd be a lighter load."
"I'll carry him," Trowa said, resigned. He was the broadest, and likely the more muscular of all of them. He knelt and hooked an arm under Heero's knees and Heero's shoulders, picking up the pilot. He then put him in a fireman's carry over his left shoulder. "You're right. He is heavy."
Duo snorted. "I swear his bones are made out of Gundanium." The longhaired pilot made his way over to the ingredients, still spread out on the desk. "What do we do with the rest of this shit?"
"Snape's classroom has a disposal bin," Quatre mused. "This one doesn't."
"Well, we can't just leave this shit lying around. It's fucking dangerous," Duo protested.
"Let's take it back to the room and deal with it later?" Sirius suggested. "One of you boys help support Harry – I have to change back if we're going anywhere."
"Maybe somebody should take this stuff to the forest and dispose of it," Wufei muttered.
Duo snorted. "Normally I'd volunteer, but…" Wufei grimaced and shook his head.
"Yeah, right. The last thing we need is for you to start screaming at Heero in the middle of an open field, holding a stolen pot. I'll take it." Duo flipped him off for the comment, but agreed with the suggestion.
"Let's get going, then," Quatre told them. He moved to support Harry and Sirius transformed, while Wufei sealed the pot with a cauldron lid, and gathered everything in the blanket.
"So we're not going to return any of those ingredients?" Duo asked. "Snape'll notice for sure."
"Snape would notice if anything was missing out of the containers anyway," Trowa countered. So he'll notice either way. Why make more work for ourselves?" He shifted his weight impatiently. "Can we get moving? He's getting heavier by the minute."
"Yeah, yeah," Duo waved his hand impatiently, moving to open the door and praying nobody was on the other side. Behind him, he could hear Harry muttering quietly to himself and Sirius' panting.
"So all that's left is the rescue mission," he muttered to himself. He grimaced, reaching a hand up to his still sore head. "This should make things interesting." Lacking his usual flourish, he opened the door and ushered the others out.
As he closed the door, so quiet that none of the others could hear him, Duo couldn't help but mutter, "Damn you, Heero."
…
…
Bit of a wait this time. Vacation. Plus, making the most of what's left of summer (even though it's shitty weather) before school.
And… yeah…
Trowa is sexy. All those muffles… eeheee….. .
Also --- 300 REVIEWS! squeal I love you guys! Thank you!
