CHAPTER 12 – The Ways of Frenzied Wizards

Harry stood quietly in the underground chamber watching the scene as the tension and the heavy air of the room made it difficult to breathe. The black-clad wizards and witch on the screen seemed to be waiting for something, or someone. They didn't seem to care overly much about the pegasi corpse, instead turning their gazes to the cave opening.

"Harry Potter?" he heard the Russian man call to him. Reluctantly he turned from the scene to where the elder Anadyr stood. The screen he was looking at showed a green field with a black spot on it. Harry moved closer, in an attempt to figure out what Ivan had meant to show him.

"Zoom in," Ivan muttered. "Too much," he corrected when the view quickly closed in on the target, but the proximity had allowed Harry a closer look at the black spot.

"Death Eater," he hissed angrily. Then he drew a panicking breath. "Draco doesn't know!"

"He doesn't," the black-haired man agreed and in a weak moment Harry thought he resembled Snape – that would be, if Snape had had light blue eyes and a less foul mood. Quickly, he disregarded the thought and ran for the door. He heard a sigh and as he shot out he heard the heavy thuds of Ivan's feet as the man followed him.

Draco couldn't really tell how long it had taken them to walk across the lands of the ancient Malfoy family, only to face this. He stood between the Anadyr twins, where he felt safe. He had been engaged to their elder sister, once. It was certainly bad timing for bouts of remembrance, but all he could do was to keep concentrating on the several Death Eaters, including that hag Montgomery, while his brain reviewed that part of his life. I was kind of happy, now that I think about it… Akasya was at least not some stupid bitch, like my mother. We could have made ourselves a decent living if Akasya hadn't been so sure of what she wanted to do. She would never truly have accepted a marriage to me and then how could I, father? You never really cared anyway, as long as your son married in pure blood and had perfect little heirs. But you never knew her story… He smirked at the thought before his train of thought broke in favour of something more dangerous.

In one swift movement, one of the hooded Death Eaters that stood out of Nagini's line of sight pulled out his wand. As he pointed it at a slightly dishevelled Draco, just as Nagini realised something was happening behind her, a shadow shot past the three young men in the cave's opening.

"Avad-" Before the word ended, the voice had drowned in a horrible roar of animalistic rage. The shadow stopped, its sharp carnivore teeth burying deep in the mage's throat and then drawing back, ripping flesh and bone with a horrifying sound. In a weak moment, one of the other Death Eaters moved his hand in the direction of his wand and in a fraction of a second the great monster had dropped its prey to attack the threatening mage.

Draco heard the twins behind him draw in breath sharply and saw them come forth, one on each side of him, drawing their wands in deadly sync, holding them prepared but not aggressive and motioning to Draco to follow their lead. And they watched as the cave turned into a battlefield with shrieking pegasi, bleeding Death Eaters and a rampaging werewolf, greater and with more elegance than any other Draco had ever seen. It didn't touch the pegasi, the three youngsters or Nagini and when it stopped as quickly as it had begun they were the only ones left.

"How far?" Harry wondered, breathing heavily. He didn't know why he expected the older man to know what he couldn't even guess at himself, but asking wouldn't hurt.

"Two or three hundred metres," the voice behind him replied coolly.

"Thanks," Harry breathed. It was all he could do not to fall on his face. He estimated that they had run half a mile already and he was definitely out of breath. But somehow, the sureness of the elder man's voice made it easier. Just this last part and they'd be able to… well, he wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do. But I have to do something, I can't give up, knowing I send Draco into a trap. Nothing's over yet, I still have a chance… a chance to… oh, whatever, we'll see when… His train of thought was interrupted by the sight of black robes, billowing lightly in the breeze. They were mere metres from the trees. I have to get to them before that, he decided. Sweat was running down his face, his legs ached and his head pounded, Ivan's footfalls behind him resounded like hammers or thunder.

"Let's… get'em," he shouted, ripping his wand from its pocket and pointing straight at a Death Eater. Afterwards, he couldn't tell what Ivan shouted, and by that time nothing mattered. Nothing but him, his wand, his prey and the raw instinct of protecting Family. He could feel the emotions taking control like never before, but it didn't seem to matter. Something in his mind screamed at him that he was losing it all, but a thought he could not however much he tried recognize as his own compelled him turn to the one solution possible. And a thought without doubt his own broke his last defences: I'll take them on forever and give my life to it, if that's what it takes to protect… And as that final thought dissolved to be a simple feeling of certainty, so did his consciousness, losing control of who, even what, he was in the pure fire of rage that can only be born from the primal beast within.

"Fools, every last one of them," Nagini growled at her dead companions. "If they have neither knowledge nor wits they can just well be dead." At this, Draco raised an eyebrow at the twins, who smirked knowingly back at him.

"Of course she's bluffing," Vladimir said, almost laughing, just loud enough for all those few left in the cave to overhear, "only very few know the specifics of the Siberian werewolf and why it's so dangerous." He beckoned to the huge creature, which dried its bloodied snout with a great paw before moving with lethal grace toward the three. Draco could not help but back off a few steps as it moved closer.

"But… it's not even a full moon out tonight," he argued, panic not too far in his voice. "It won't be full moon for a week or more!" It was all just dawning on him. He hadn't truly realised what everything meant as he agreed to do this.

"No, that's one of the points with the Siberian-type werewolf," Antonin said with a smile, stroking the fur of the great animal – Draco realised it must be at least eight feet tall – but stopped when it snarled at him. "I'll tell you later when you don't have to attend to your guest." With a nod Draco circled behind Antonin to the right side, where he had Nagini in clear view again and not blocked from it by a furry killing-machine.

"Yes, I have to…" he hesitated a second, before smirking mischievously. "I have to 'take care of' my guest." A snort could be heard from the "guest" in question.

"Fool boy," Nagini grinned darkly, "you seem to have learned nothing during the years your fool father tried to tutor you." Then she smiled sarcastically. "Or you have something in store for me I have not yet thought of." Draco smirked.

"You think, Montgomery? Well, let's hope I have then, shall we?" With those words, Draco reached for a part of his belt and pulled – unveiling a hidden, one foot long dagger. He held it up and moved slightly toward her, swinging the dagger aggressively in exact half-circles in front of him, still careful that he didn't hit Antonin or the beast. She leaned back slightly and waited for him, ignoring the dagger completely and with her gaze fixed on his diamond eyes.

"What do think to achieve, little boy?" she taunted him. "You will never be your own, child, after everything that has happened to you. You will never be accepted amongst those who think themselves better than us." Draco seemed to hesitate half a second. Merlin, she has to take the bait, no matter how false it rings in my ears, he prayed while the sweat fought to break out on his forehead. She could not be hurt the ordinary way.

"They will find a place for me when I save their saviour," he growled. "A place you could and would never give me." His words made her laugh, a dark, mocking laughter.

"So you say, but think about it, child. Think about it," she suggested menacingly, a dark gleam in her eyes. Draco hesitated yet again, his steps faltering until he stood still, still ten feet from her. "I can offer you so much more. If you continue this foolishness I may have to make sure you don't try anything," she threatened, a vile glimpse flickering in her near-mad eyes. "But try, boy," she sneered, "I'd be impressed if your father taught you anything, being the fool he was."

"My father was no fool, bitch," Draco growled, his eyes narrowing. Or at least one of us didn't think so – you always had your weaknesses and one of them was trusting my father. She simply smirked and stood entirely still while Draco drew closer, now only a couple of feet from her with the swinging knife. There was silence, except for the swishing sounds of the blade cutting through air, for a few seconds. Then everything happened at once.

Draco changed the direction of a backswing, in the process cutting a deep scar in his upper right arm without blinking while the knife continued forward. Had the woman not turned it would have embedded itself in her chest, now instead hitting her arm. She let out a hiss of pain as he jumped back. There was shock in her eyes, mingled with fear, awe and pain.

"The blood poison…" she croaked, gasping for breath as she fell to the floor. Draco nodded sternly, eyes burning with a cold passion.

"The blood of one Voldemort marked before I was born… the potent blood of one born to be of the great family of Death Eaters." The words were uttered in a truly disgusted tone. "You know that blood, Nagini, even when you didn't want to remember it," he spit at the old woman with a dark sarcasm as she writhed in pain on the stone floor of the cave. "It assured I'd never be free of you – you were always envious of us, we who were bonded to your master and would have become his closest allies and best assassins, had we been marked in time. But he didn't really realise along the way that he would never be free of us, that the magical poison we could call for whenever we wished could be used against him."

He watched her in silence for a moment. Her breathing was not just laboured now, but wheezing and dying out, her cramps lessened when she had not the strength to fight them anymore. His true nemesis, the origin of his worst nightmares was dying in front of his eyes. Harry was a hero, he could never have killed her. Heroes killed archfiends and daemon kings in flashy one-on-one fights, but the smaller fiends, the daemon princes and underlings could not be killed with heroics. Why? He was guessing on the answer, after thirteen years of wondering. To shape the hearts of men you need heroics, but to build freedom you might need sacrifice that heroes are not prepared to give. To save more than morals and pride you need the spirit of Slytherin… the cunning and the readiness to do what is necessary – what must be done, he thought to himself. That must be the riddle's answer, the truest piece of the puzzle.

On the floor, Priscilla Nagini Montgomery let out a last, wheezing sigh and her body trembled one last time before going to its deserved rest.

"There will be a price to pay," Draco whispered. A slender hand, covered in the blood of Death Eaters, was placed upon his shoulder.

"There always is, Malfoy," Akasya Anadyr's shaky voice concluded. "There always will be. Killing is never without consequence." The blonde, paler than usual, turned to the dark-haired girl who stood where the beast had been and met the smile from her weak, blood-stained lips. Then the smile lightened up. "Now, let's go have a look at the rest of the world, shall we?" she suggested cheerily, the stains on her face and hands in bizarre contrast to her sudden cheerfulness. But the three men, though not quite as jovial as she, weren't late to pick up on her proposal, Draco first making sure the pegasi had enough food and water, levitating the corpse with a deep sigh, to where it could be properly taken care of later. There had been no other injuries, but today would not be a day of mourning – the grief would be in his heart, where it belonged. Akasya conjured up a handkerchief from somewhere to dry off the worst of the stain from her hands and face as the four walked together out into the shimmering winter sunlight.

"Looks like the rest of the day is going to be wonderful," Akasya said with a grin. The boys nodded with similar smiles, letting their gazes travel across the forest.

And a pillar of pure fire rose to the sky in the distance.

As the terrified Draco Malfoy rushed past the last trees he couldn't really find the relief he had been hoping for. Harry seemed alive, where he sat in the middle of a scorched landscape. Apart from his shaking, sobbing body there seemed only one thing alive; the severely burnt body of Ivan Anadyr, whose pained cries cut the air like white-hot fire. In a wordless agreement, Draco rushed to Harry's side as the other three begun the exhausting process of healing their beloved brother.

As he sat down he realised that something had happened to Harry beyond the few scratches that physical and magical attacks could have achieved. He breathed heavily between the desperate sobs. His words came in almost unheard whispers, creating a truly sorry sight.

"I… I killed them all, Drake… the world shook and the fire was so hot it burnt them to ashes… I don't know where it came from, I was just so desperate…" Draco placed a finger on his love's lips and the bright green eyes turned to watch their silver twins.

"I know, Harry. I've seen it before, in other dragon-possessed. When in rage or desperation, it works that way. You saved Ivan, at least. He's alive and he'll be well, not to mention so will you." But Harry seemed to have stuck halfway, on one word…

"Dragon-possessed?" he whispered shakily. Draco nodded calmly.

"I asked them to watch over my most precious and when you lunged headfirst into battle they couldn't very well fight alongside you – you'd have been burnt to ash. So the strongest of their kin here possessed you. You must have rushed into some frenzy, burning away as much as you have." Draco kept talking, knowing that Harry held onto every scrap of sanity he had to keep from going mad. That's what you get for being naïve, love… he thought to himself, as he kept talking nonsense. That's what you get for being a true hero, Har… pain and confusion. And as he picked the Azure Tear from the pocket where Harry had kept it, he watched the sky, his eyes glued to a black spot in the blue before deciding that it had to be done now or never. He only had to do as his mother had told him to. When you feel it – and trust me, you will, she had written. You have to make sure you're both prepared. You must have your soul-mate's agreement, first, and then this is what you must do…

"Har?" he said, cutting off his own monologue in mid-sentence.

"Yes?" Harry wondered.

"Could you accept being totally bonded to me? Like, no secrets now or ever and stick together for as long as we both live?" That should do it. He's theatrical, but if he's not onto it it'll be serious enough for him to neglect, or want to wait or anything. Draco didn't really want to think about what was going to happen if Harry denied this proposal. He himself… well, he would search for another mate. It had happened before, never to veela, but half-veela rather often found second mates to keep them from wasting away. Something about their human blood made them less picky. And honestly, why should Har… his thoughts were brutally interrupted as the most important answer of his life crossed Harry Potter's lips.

"I thought we already were?"

In later years, it would be a moment for them both to think back on, how they had been so innocent, never suspecting the simple truth of it all. How far apart they had been, even as they embraced, even as they accepted each other for who they were. Thinking back on that moment when Draco cut the Azure Tear in two, embedding one part of his soul in himself and the other in the only one his heart would ever more desire, feeling the shock of truth as they realised the depth of their agreement – that no bonding they had ever heard of, magical or otherwise, had dreamed to be so true. That there was in fact, no turning back.

They stood silent, watching the sky. There would never be any need for words. There would be need for adaptation, of course, but the words for it would be at a loss compared to the freedom of knowing exactly what they shared. This glimpse of truth woke then and there, as two dozen Aurors landed on Malfoy grounds, led by a grumpy man whose frown of disgust had been momentarily replaced by a frown of worry, turning to an extremely short-lived smile as the dark eyes hidden beneath greasy black hair beheld two young men, blazing with life as they were. He saw Draco leaning in, whispering a few words into Harry's ear before giving him a light kiss on the cheek that made the elder man sigh and shake his head in something very similar to pure disgust. Draco smirked as he realised – not without glee – how trying the day was going to be for his mentor, but the smirk slipped for a second and one could perhaps, if one was quick enough, glimpse a genuine smile as the words he had spoken resounded not only in his love's ears, but also in his own.

I sure do enjoy your company.

Ok, ppl. So this is it, next chappie is the epilogue. If I've found any loose ends (probably not half of them, really) I'll tie 'em up. It's placed weeks after the ending of this one… I'll say goodbye to My Azure Tear and read more of other people's stuff. I might come around, but it's going to take time (I've been onto reading this 162 chapter Hermione/Snape that's totally cool but kind of long (almost 1 500 pages))