THE ELF PRINCE'S MATE

AUTHOR: fantasylover12001

RATING: R/M

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, JKR and the WB do so please don't sue as I'm a lowly college student.

SUMMARY: Draco, Harry, and Ron make it to Voldemort's castle and the loom of the final battle draws near as Draco and Harry continue their tiff.

PAIRING: Um...don't you know this by now?

AUTHOR NOTES: Yes, I know, it's been over a month since I've updated. I have several excuses that I won't go into (if you want to know, read my LJ for further details, link is on my profile) but lets just say that my college professors are evil and leave it at that. I've also been lured by other fandoms (Naruto, xxxHolic, and Tsubasa mostly) and have a whole list of stories that I want to begin. Sadly, my Draco/Harry muse has seemed to have taken a break, which is namely another reason for the long wait between updates.

The good news is though that due to my eagerness to get to my other fics, this one is going to be finished before the new year starts as a Christmas present to you all because I refuse to be one of those authors that leave stories unfinished (I HATE that, it's a pet peeve of mine) so I'm camping out and finishing the last four or five parts of this and getting them posted within the next two weeks. So your patience has been rewarded, you finally get your ending. Now, onto Chapter Nineteen.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: BEFORE THE BATTLE

Draco had always been confused about his parents fights. Contrary to popular belief, the King and Queen did not always get along. Oh no, Draco could recall quite vividly some of their shouting matches. The two were stubborn souls, it was inevitable that they would argue.

What confused Draco about the fights was that even when they weren't speaking to each other they still claimed to love each other. To a child, this tended to be baffling; how could you be furious at someone, but still love them at the same time?

He had finally asked his father this when he was around ten and the two had had a row in which Narcissa called him a self-centered prick, slapped him, and stormed from the ballroom.

His father had smiled at him and said ruefully, "She is Narcissa. I couldn't do anything but love her. Even when I think she is being the most ridiculous creature in the world."

His younger self hadn't understood it then but now, he was beginning to understand. Harry was making him furious by continuing to travel with him and Ron, the blonde tried repeatedly, every day to get his mate to see reason, but the other man continued to ignore him. But he still found himself in love with Harry. With any other person he would have stopped talking to them ages ago, and by the end of the trip whatever relationship they had would have been ended or sour. But with Harry, he felt affection along with exasperation.

But the closer they got to Voldemort's castle, the more nervous Draco became about his mate and unborn child's safety. Now, an hour to the castle, he knew that Harry wasn't about to back down so he did the only thing he could think of: compromise. It wasn't something he was good at, but it would have to work.

"Harry, can I talk to you?" he asked cautiously.

His mate glanced back at him warily from his horse. "I'm not going back, Draco."

The blonde sighed. "I know. But could you please do something for me?"

Harry frowned. "What?"

Draco guided Nimbus to walk beside Harry and his horse. He then pulled out a shimmery cloth from one of his saddlebags. "Please wear this when we sneak into the castle."

Harry took the cloth and gasped as the hand that grasped it suddenly disappeared so it looked like he had no hand.

"It's an Invisibility Cloak," Draco explained, watching his mate hold up the cloth in fascination. "It's a family heirloom, made with elf magic. If you wear it, no one will see you. It will make me feel a lot better about you going in there with us and will offer you more protection."

Harry frowned. "What about you and Ron? Shouldn't you have one of these? I mean you are sneaking in."

The King smirked. "We have our own. I had two made for us. I just brought that one in case I happened to lose the new one."

Harry blinked. "So THAT'S how you're planning on sneaking in? You're going to use these cloaks?"

"More or less." Draco frowned. "What, did you think I was going to wing this or something?"

Harry bit his lip. "Um...well...kind of."

Luckily for him, Ron announced they were there before Draco could say anything more.

dmHPdm

December,

All right, I admit it. I'm scared.

Well, why shouldn't I be? Voldemort's castle is not exactly inviting. It's one of those dark and dreary looking numbers. I don't like the idea of Draco going in there. I don't like the idea of MYSELF going in there, but I'm not letting him do this alone.

I still want Draco to realize what he did wrong but I can't take this anymore. He might die tomorrow! Besides, I don't think I can stand another night alone. Not when he's sitting right over there...damn it all. I'm going over.

dmHPdm

Draco had been slightly surprised when Harry had suddenly come over to him and sat down. His mate had been pointedly been staying away from him which was admittedly frustrating him but had been taking the hint.

The three had decided to camp in a hill that overlooked Voldemort's castle and start heading towards the structure in the morning. That way they wouldn't be tired from travel when they faced Lord Voldemort himself.

He had set up his bedroll near a large old tree trunk that had fallen at some point figuring that would be far enough away to satisfy his mate. So it was a surprise to see Harry sitting down next to him on the log.

The two sat stiffly, looking at the castle from their viewpoint. Harry suddenly shivered and scooted closer to him. Draco hesitated, then put his arm around the other man.

"I'm still mad at you," Harry murmured softly, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

"Right," Draco said, not sure what else he was supposed to say.

Harry looked at him and glared at him. "And if you die, I'm never speaking to you again!"

The blonde raised an eyebrow and tried his best not to smile, it would only irritate Harry if he did. "Understood."

Harry suddenly wrapped his arms around Draco's waist and pressed his face into his neck. "So you can't die, okay?"

'He's scared' Draco realized. He drew Harry close and kissed his forehead. "I won't. I promise."

That answer seemed to satisfy Harry because he pulled Draco into a hungry and almost desperate kiss.

After almost two weeks of physical separation from his mate Draco was all too eager to respond and before either could stop for breath, he had his mate pinned under him on top of the bedroll which he had laid out behind the log. Their love-making had never been quite this desperate before but then, Draco reasoned as Harry yanked at shirt, they had never been about to face death before.

He smiled affectionately as Harry let out soft sound of frustration when his shirt buttons started getting in the way and pulled it off for him. He then proceeded to take care of Harry's shirt, kissing every bit of skin along the way as it was revealed.

For the first time in a long while battle plans, the future of his kingdom, and Lord Voldemort were far from his mind. All he focused on at the moment was his mate and how absolutely wonderful he felt.

He focused on the satisfying feeling of pulling down Harry's pants and admiring the hard length that now lay bare before him like a gift. He focused on the delight in Harry's eyes when his own length was bared and the small, yet strong calloused hands that closed around it boldly and started to stroke it.

He reveled in the feeling of strong thighs wrapping around his waist and the feeling of being engulfed by his mate's heat. He thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of slight power as he started to thrust down and elicited the most sensual sounds from his husband.

He made sure to touch every part of his mate and deliberately kept the pace slow simply to hear his name being cried out loud from those beautiful lips. He himself did not make many sounds accept for the occasionally groan of pleasure when he thrust down into that addicting tightness.

When they finally climaxed and he collapsed from exhaustion he vowed that he and Harry would make it through the next day just for the pure sake of being able to do this again.

dmHPdm

Draco knew that he should have been sleeping but he couldn't help but just stare at Harry as he slept. He had gotten up a long time ago and had quietly pulled on his clothes and sat on the log again.

Footsteps came behind him and Draco didn't bother looking at Ron when he sat down next to him.

"You two work things out, finally?" the redhead nodded at the still fast asleep Harry.

"Not completely, but we're speaking to each other again," the blonde frowned and looked at his friend. "You didn't hear..." he trailed off not sure how to voice the uncomfortable question.

Ron shuddered. "No. Funny thing; when you and Harry started kissing I felt the inexplicable urge to go the bathroom for thirty minutes."

Draco snorted and played along. "That's what you get for eating so much."

The redhead shrugged and the two elves looked ahead at the dark castle. "So, this is it, huh?" he asked.

"This is what?" Draco asked.

"The end of all it. The final battle."

The blonde nodded. "I plan on it ending here."

"Good," Ron said. "I was getting tired of all those battles."

Draco snorted. Only his friend would say something like that at a time like this. "So was I."

Nothing more was said between the two of them. Mostly because nothing more needed to be said. When dawn came the three men silently got ready, put on their Invisibility Cloaks, and towards Voldemort's castle.

AUTHOR NOTE: Yes, I know, another cliff hanger. I'll be updating around Christmas next. Happy Holidays to everyone! To the mods/readers of THIS IS NOT NC-17! READ IT PLEASE BEFORE YOU DELETE/REPORT IT! Sorry if I sound paranoid but I've seen fics get deleted for the littlest thing when there are much more risque scenes on the site so I don't want to take any chances.