Author's Note: It's a tad bit late, next update will be The Focus of a Healer.

Co-Authored by doenerkint, check out his profile, he does some great work.

Beta'd by Gamer0890, check out his page as well. I am currently doing some beta work for him, so keep your eyes peeled.

If you're interested in a great community, check out the Harry/Fleur discord, discord dot gg / flowerpot

Story Note: A major change incoming.

'Thoughts'

(Radio when in conversation)

FOUR - Blood and Rain

Harry followed Lara through the thicket of trees. He couldn't describe how relieved he was to have reached her in time. Whether or not she'd have gained the upper hand over the islander couldn't be said, but he'd rather not dwell on the outcome were she to have failed to do so.

"I meant to ask; do you know if any of the crew made it?" asked Harry. "The method I used to find you was kind of a one off, so I couldn't use it to check for the others."

"I— I think most of us washed ashore, I'd just found Sam with this man, Mathias… I passed out and when I woke, they were gone. That's when Jonah and others found me. We agreed to split up, the others continued on to Roth, while Dr. Whitman and I searched for Sam. That's when we were caught…"

"This Mathias," he tested, "you think he's related to the group who captured you?"

"I'm not sure. There were no indications that he and those other men were part of the same group. For Sam's sake, I hope not." She swallowed down the thoughts of the gruesome images that violated her mind. She wouldn't want Sam anywhere near those animals.

Harry squeezed her arm and was about to offer her a few comforting words when the radio on Lara's hip croaked to life, filling the silence with its shrill static.

(-Kchhhrrhh- Lara—Come in-)

Lara almost fumbled the radio in her rush to answer it. "Roth!"

(Lara! -Kchh- Are you alright? I'm seeing a lot of smoke coming from the ruins.)

"I'm fine. Whitman and I came across some strange men. Oh, dear God, Roth, they had already caught some of the crew. They were rounding us up," she told him but was incapable of telling him about the others' fate. Instead, she focused on the good news. "There was a commotion, a lot of fire, and I managed to get away. That's where I ran into Harry, he came for me."

(Jesus… Wait, so Potter made it? That's good, you're together now?)

"Yes, he's here with me, he's listening."

(Great, I'll stay put where I am. -Kchhh -Will you be able to reach me?)

Lara looked at Harry, she held her finger on the radio's button, showing it to Harry. "He's further up the mountain, we'd have to climb past the ruins. Unless, there's another way."

"We'll have to find out," said Harry, "We should move quickly then."

"You get that, Roth?"

(Aye, Loud and clear, I'll see you soon.)

Lara hooked her radio back onto her belt and hastily made to move when Harry noticed something.

"Wait."

She stopped and faced him, confused as to what the hold up could be.

"Your bow," he noted with a pointed finger. "You don't have any arrows. Let me."

Harry quickly searched around and found some wood and stone he could transfigure. "Thankfully, a quiver and arrows are relatively simple," he commented as Lara watched him wave his wand around in amazement. Before she knew it, he was presenting her with a fully stocked quiver.

"I don't know how balanced they are, test one of them in case I need to adjust it."

She drew one of the arrows and inspected it, "Can you make a little notch at the base?"

Another quick wave of his wand later had Lara nodding satisfactorily. With a swift movement, which betrayed just how talented she was with a bow, Lara knocked one of the arrows and took aim at a distant tree.

Harry watched as her entire demeanour stilled, her chest rose and fell in a steady motion. She let go of the bow string, sending the arrow off in a whistle of wind, followed by a thud as it rooted itself in the tree of her target.

She smiled, "They're much better than the arrows I had."

"That was brilliant," said Harry, impressed. "We ought to get moving now, tell me if you run low, I'll replace them. If we had more time, I could get it to refill by itself, but we'll have to leave that for later."

He stretched his arm out in the direction of where Lara had shot her arrow. Promptly, the wooden projectile visibly wiggled before it pulled itself out of the tree bark and flew back toward them, slowing as it neared, until Harry caught it.

Lara followed the interaction wide-eyed before being offered back her arrow.

"What did you just do?" She mouthed at him as they began to walk.

He shrugged sheepishly. "A neat trick I learned a while back. Comes in handy at times."

She studied the arrow and looked back at the tree at the far end of the area.

"Are you telling me you can remote retrieve every single thing I throw away?"

He nodded. "If it's not lodged too tightly and it's something I've seen before, then yes."

She eyed him carefully and then looked at her quiver, the created arrows now seemingly just another normal occurrence.

"So, instead of creating arrows, you could just," she gestured vaguely at a pulling motion.

"As I said, if it's not stuck and I've seen it, then yes. Although," he paused.

"What?" she prodded.

"I'm not exactly sure it would be a good idea to summon arrows that are in people. Might get messy…"

"So, I'd rather just make new arrows for you, for those," he suggested once more.

"It's probably better," mused Lara, "It's good to know that you can summon things at least. Must come in handy."

"Oh, it did, saved me from a dragon once."

Lara stopped and gaped while Harry kept on walking.

"Explain!" She yelled at his back as she rushed to catch up, hearing his amused chuckle in response.

"I'll tell you as we walk."

The trek to circumvent the ruins meant a slightly longer route, but the risk of passing through an area filled with armed men and burning buildings was far too high to reasonably consider. Harry and Lara moved through the trees, the smell of smoke blown by the wind tickled their noses.

"It can't be much farther," said Harry as they rounded a cliffside. As he said that, the tell-tale scent of pending rainfall warned him seconds before the first drops landed on their faces.

Lara sighed and pulled the zip on her jacket up. "Over here, there's a tunnel," she said as she inspected the opening in the cliffside. Right then, the sound of gunfire echoed through the hollow passage.

"Roth!" Lara panicked, and hurried along the path, with Harry quick on her tail. The crack of the gunshots got louder and were joined by a man's angered yells along with a cacophony of growls whose familiarity sent a wave of panic through her form.

Harry had his wand out while Lara drew the gun she had taken from the Russian. The pair turned a corner just in time to see Roth get pulled to the ground by wolves. His screams of pain echoed through the air. They rushed to help, Harry waved his wand in a wide arc, ripping the wolves from Roth and sending them hurtling through the air. One wolf slammed into a tree with a sickening crack, its form slumped to the ground in a motionless heap. Another wolf, not realising the danger, rushed them, only to be put down by Lara firing her gun in a panicked rage. While her aim was off, one of the shots found its mark, killing the wolf, and forcing the others to flee.

Lara slid to a stop at Roth's side. "No, no, no, Roth!"

Harry, after quickly scanning the area to ensure it was safe, rushed to join Lara. He grimaced at the sight, the damage was far beyond his capabilities. Roth was covered in blood and had been mauled considerably.

She felt him crouch down beside her. "Harry! You have to help him! Please, there must be something you can do!" Lara begged frantically.

Her pleas were deafening, cries of a hurt animal, almost. His eyes moved to study the hurt man's body only to confirm again what he already knew to be true. "I can't."

"What do you mean, you can't!? Please, Harry! You healed me! You can heal him, he's not even that hurt, please."

He shook his head stoically. "This is beyond me. I'm a curse-breaker, not a healer… There's nothing I can do to help him."

"B- But," she tried, the little she'd seen of magic had already instilled the idea that it had a solution to everything, so to suddenly find out that it did not…

"I'm sorry…"

"Lara," choked Roth weakly.

"Don't speak," she admonished with tears in her eyes. "Save your strength. I promise, I'll get you through this."

The dying man shook his head weakly. "Wolves got th' jump o' me," he gasped before his face contorted in pain.

Lara squeezed Roth's hand as she held herself back from breaking down. "Stop speaking, save your strength."

Harry felt like an intruder, witnessing Lara losing a man who had been the closest thing to a father figure since she'd lost her own all those years ago. It all reminded him of Sirius, he recalled his own grief upon losing the closest to him and didn't want to think about what Lara was going through right now. He tried to give them some space, opting to keep his eyes on the surroundings.

He tried not to listen in on what was being said, but still caught some of it. It all went quiet for a moment, causing him to glance back just in time to see Roth pushing his guns towards Lara who swallowed back a lump in her throat as she nodded.

Roth lifted his hand weakly, and touched the jade pendant around Lara's neck, before his hand fell back limply. He was gone.

Lara let loose a heart-breaking wail. Harry had his arms wrapped around her in an instant, she buried her face in his neck and cried for the loss of her family member. They stayed there for what felt like ages, when her tears subsided, the last vestiges of them, indistinguishable from the rain which relentlessly fell upon them.

Exhausted from it all, Lara let go of Harry, and turned her gaze down at Roth's still form. She stared at him, before finally speaking.

"We can't leave him there. I won't, not like this."

Harry was desperate to help, he'd been unable to save Roth, but at the very least, he would help with this.

"When curse-breakers die in the field," he started solemnly, drawing Lara's attention. She watched him retrieve something from his bag.

"It's rarely possible to bring the body home, there are places out there which are so steeped in dark magic that it seeps into the remains of the living, corrupting them… You see, there's power in having been alive. You don't have to be a wizard or anything like that, you've lived, that's enough."

Lara listened, enraptured, anything was better than letting her mind dwell on her loss.

"What we came up with," said Harry, showing her a tiny vial, "was this."

The liquid, Lara observed, was clear, but almost seemed to glow and flicker with the light of floating embers.

"Once it leaves the vial and touches anything, it burns until there's nothing left," explained Harry.

Lara shifted her gaze between the vial and Roth's form. "Nothing?" She asked, shifting to meet his eyes in search of confirmation.

He nodded, "Not even ash."

A moment of silence passed, as Harry waited for Lara's answer. The rain fell on them, neither even remotely fazed by it. Eventually, she came to a decision, with resolve in her voice, she spoke up.

"Do it, it's better this way."

"You should take anything you need to remember him by, it'll be gone otherwise."

The guns Roth had given her were still on his chest. Lara slowly lowered herself down and palmed them, feeling the cold steel, before retrieving them. The rain had by now washed away the blood from them. She picked them up, both guns, and held them to her chest like they weren't weapons but mementos of priceless value.

She still could smell the burned gunpowder, an uncanny reminder of the late man's own fragrance. A new tear rolled down her cheek. Or maybe it was the rain that tingled on her skin, she wasn't sure anymore.

"I'm ready."

Without another word, Harry walked in a circle around them, his wand moving in an elegant series of swishes. Lara could hear him whispering something repeatedly under his breath, as if he were speaking in tongues, Latin, she realised, but was in no state of mind to dwell on it.

In response to Harry's movements, the rain seemed to let up, but as soon it felt as if it would cease completely, it doubled down and poured harder, almost as if in response to his audacity to deny it. It wasn't as hard to ward against the rain the first time he'd done it.

She watched as Harry gave the wand a twist, and a visible exertion passed across his features. Right then and there, the rain stopped, but only in their immediate vicinity. Lara looked up and noticed what seemed to be an invisible dome around them, shielding them from the wind and rain.

Unfazed by his previous strain, Harry leaned down and over Roth's still body, and moved the older man's torn and bloody hands onto his chest. The blood did not seem to bother him in the slightest. He opened the vial, and Lara could have sworn she smelt fire for a second, before it seemed to disappear.

Before using it, Harry placed a steady hand on Roth's head and closed his eyes, a moment of silence and a sign of respect.

Lara watched on as he finally tilted the vial and let a drop of the strange liquid fall onto the unmoving chest. At first, nothing seemed to happen but then in an instant Roth's form was engulfed in a blinding fire, the tips of the flames a bright, blazing hot white. At her distance, she should have felt scorching heat, but there was none, not a wisp of smoke, nor an inkling of heat.

She looked on as the fire consumed the man who'd watched her grow to become the woman she was today. She loved her father, no doubt. But at times, Roth had been more of a father than her own. He helped to raise her, had taught her, listened, and advised her all her life and been the person who'd grounded and centred her. He was her mentor, and her family.

Now she watched as his mortal remains were eaten away by an unfeeling fire, removing him from before her. Like he'd never even existed.

"You'll be remembered, Conrad Roth," she spoke clearly, without a single quiver of her voice. "I'll keep my promise, I'll get off the island, I'll survive."

Harry walked around and stood beside her in silence, any words of his own then would have felt disrespectful. They just watched, protected in their little bubble, as Roth was given his final send off. The enraged storm battered against their dome, impotent all the while.

The rain had eased up by the time they began their trek back down, away from the site of Roth's passing. They'd taken everything that would be of use from the little camp Roth had been using, which included a proper climbing axe along with a radio transmitter. During his final moments, Lara said Roth had told her about a tower which could be used to boost it, and hopefully call for help.

Harry had stopped her there, until they resolved the situation with the island's wards, it was far too risky to drag anybody else there. The odds were that they would either be trapped, or worse, killed. Though his explanation was disheartening, it only served to further bolster Lara's determination.

Other than that, they'd barely spoken a word since Roth's death. Lara had taken to distracting herself by inspecting Roth's guns as they walked, while Harry observed her with a worried gaze.

"How do you plan to carry those?" asked Harry. She didn't exactly have the pockets for them, and it would be pretty useless if he stored them away.

"I–," she began, before she closed her eyes in frustration. "I forgot to take their holsters…"

Harry paused, "I could probably make one for you."

Lara looked up at that. "Can you have them fit on a belt?"

"Hmm, shouldn't be an issue." He opened his bag and scrounged around, pulling out a deep brown leather jacket.

"Transfigurations are easier to make permanent, well close enough to permanent as possible when you aren't changing the materials," he explained, more to take their minds off things.

"Hand me one of them please," asked Harry, holding a hand out.

Lara placed one of the twin guns in his palm. It was heavier than he expected, the weight felt as if it were reinforcing the lethality of the weapon in his hand.

"Remington 1911… Roth was always so fond of them," explained Lara, remembering how he used to take them apart and clean them.

Harry crouched down on the ground and cut two pieces of leather off the jacket, he wrapped one of them around the gun, shaping it into a holster. He tapped his wand against it, transfiguring it into the shape he'd made, as well as hardening it. He slid the gun in and out a few times, adjusting it slightly each time, until he was satisfied.

He replicated it with the other leather piece, before cutting some more leather from the jacket, this time in long strips, to fashion straps to keep the guns from falling out and to attach the holsters themselves to Lara's belt.

"May I?" asked Harry, holding out the holster towards her leg, still crouched down. "I need to adjust the strap," he added.

"Go ahead."

Harry slipped one strap through her belt, and fastened it, before wrapping another which connected to the front of the holster, around her thigh. He worked in silence, professionally, not allowing his hands to wander, or linger.

The serious concentration on his face, despite her grief, drew the tiniest upturn of a smile from Lara, she was so glad he was there with her.

He tapped his wand against the strap, slowly shortening it. "How's that?" he asked, as he tugged on the strap.

"It's perfect, thank you."

Harry looked up at that moment and found himself breathless at how beautiful she was. There was a softness in her eyes that betrayed how much she genuinely cared for him, and he found himself yearning for it. He stood and held out Lara's gun for her, she took it from her, her hand brushing his. Neither said a word, as she slipped the guns into her new holsters.

When she'd finished, and met her eyes, finding this sliver of pain within them. He surprised her, by reaching out and pulling her into his arms. Lara reacted a moment later, wrapping her own arms around him. They stood there, holding on to each other, a final moment of mourning and comfort before they returned to the reality of facing the island. Harry ran his fingers gently through her hair.

"Come on," said Harry with a sigh, "We oughta set up camp somewhere, can't stay here. We can use that small cave we passed through on the way up. It's near enough to the path that the others should be able to find us." They could have used the small camp Roth had been using, but the thought of sleeping mere metres away from where he'd passed, felt wrong.

"I hope they've managed to find Sam," said Lara softly, as they separated.

"So do I, maybe try and get in touch with them with that radio?"

Lara shook her head, "It's too noisy, we don't know what their situation is, we'll have to wait for them to get in touch with us."

The cave was right where Harry said it was. It was nothing special, but it would be enough. Harry summoned some wood which he lit with a quick flick of his wand.

"Camping must be pretty easy for a wizard," mused Lara, resting against the stone wall.

Harry chuckled, "I actually have this tent, on the outside, it looks like any old tent, but the inside is around the size of a small cottage, fully furnished too," he added humorously.

"Why aren't we using it then?" came Lara's incredulous voice.

"Believe me, I tried, but whatever 's causing this weather, did not like it."

"What happened?"

"Nothing, I packed it away, but probably wouldn't have been good had I persisted."

Lara watched as Harry removed some cooking equipment and food from his bag.

"You really have everything in there."

"One of my best friends, she's a bit of a worrywart. When she found out I was going to be doing fieldwork, she stocked my bag up with everything I could possibly need."

"You'll have to thank her for me."

"You can do that yourself. I'm probably going to need you to run interference when she eventually tries to kill me once she finds out I'm stranded on an island…"

Lara smiled softly. "I think I'd like this woman."

"I'm sure you would," replied Harry, a hint of fondness in his voice. He wondered how long he'd be trapped on the island; would it be up to Bill to inform everyone were he to be considered missing?

The pair fell into a silence, the sort that often made itself known again when the weight of emotion brought upon by the loss of someone like Roth hung heavily. The only sounds were the wind and rain from outside, along with the crackle of fire and sizzle of food being prepared.

Lara only realised how hungry she had been when Harry held a bowl of a simple stew under her nose.

Later in the evening, with their bellies filled, Harry had opted to take the first watch, letting Lara get some much needed rest. Compared to her, he'd had an easy time on the island. While she laid down on a bedroll, Harry began to speak, he wasn't even sure if she was listening or not.

"How do you feel?"

He felt her twitch to the question and roll onto her side.

"Numb," she offered. "Empty… Lost."

He gave her a knowing look and smiled wryly before looking into the distance, deep into the dark woods. "I know that feeling."

Silently, she raised herself into a cross-legged sitting position and gave him a ginger look that asked silent, unvoiced questions.

"I've experienced loss," he replied to the void. "Had to make my peace with it as well."

"Your parents?"

He shook his head. "No, I was too young. You can't really mourn someone you never knew, only the idea of them. No, my loss…losses came later in life. Not that long ago actually."

"Family?"

He nodded without much enthusiasm, still not meeting her gaze. "In a way, yes. My definition of family is a bit liberal but to me they were family."

Lara looked away, suddenly aware that his eyes had aged within moments. Eyes she had seen on people who had lived through real tragedy. Did she look like that now? Haunted?

"I'm sorry for your loss," was all she could offer, and considering their circumstances, it was an odd thing to say.

His hand moved in a wave, dismissing her condolences. "It was a long time ago and I've thankfully been able to grieve and move on."

"How did you deal with it?"

"Deal with what?"

She opened her mouth to tell him but couldn't give voice to her thoughts. Instead, her hands drew awkward circles over her chest. "This."

"Time," he muttered again. "Time and an endless amount of introspection. And help from those who mourned with me." He thought of Bill, of Ron and Hermione.

"And does it get easier?"

"Not exactly," he denied. "You never…forget what was lost. You simply begin to let things fade, dull their effect on you."

Somehow those words felt like balm to her pain, like a soothing promise that her suffering would someday lessen. She felt guilty for it.

"How long?"

It was a valid question and one that deserved an answer. Whether he had a good one in store, he wasn't sure, but he felt he should try and give her something else to dwell on.

"I can't say, it's different for every person. Some suffer harder than others, and some are so good at hiding their pain, you never realise they're wasting away." His thoughts drifted to Mrs. Weasley. "I think, I moved on when I finally accepted that it wasn't my fault. That I wasn't the reason they were taken from me."

Lara felt like she was slapped in the face, like a hot iron had stabbed her, like she was back in that grove with that rotten piece of metal piercing her back.

"I know," he muttered to her, finally giving her a sympathetic look. "The thought alone is cruel but it's not your fault."

She clenched her teeth and gripped her hands together, willing herself to fight the painful feelings. "Roth came here because he believed in me. Because he thought I needed him here with me."

"That was his choice," he reminded her.

"You're shit at this and a terrible liar, Harry," stated Lara.

"Doesn't change the truth," he insisted. "Conrad Roth came to this island because he chose to follow you. You didn't coerce him. He didn't strike me as the kind of man who answered to peoples' mere whims."

"I wasn't just anybody to him," Lara lashed out again. "He came here because he trusted me and now he's dead. And I just burned all existence of him. I robbed him of his right to be buried with his loved ones."

At this point, Lara was visibly fighting another sob, her shoulder spasmed with the rhythm of shallow inhales.

"Roth," started Lara. "He was always there. My father. After my mother died, he wasn't the same. He lost himself in his work, his obsessions. Roth? He worked with my father. They were friends. It was he who took me in when I had nobody."

Lara slumped. A soft smile formed; it was a sad smile, filled with memories. "Roth never really knew how to be a parent, and his work often meant I was left alone. But when he was around, he would spend hours teaching me everything he knew. It was he who taught me how to use a bow, to fire a gun–" Lara chuckled wetly, "When he found out some older girls at school were bullying me, he taught me how to fight."

"I wanted to be just like him – an adventurer."

"An adventurer, eh?" repeated Harry with a melancholic smile. "An old man I knew once said, 'death isn't the end, it's just the next great adventure'."

"Harry, wake up."

He was conscious in an instant, he'd never been a heavy sleeper, he sat up, feeling the warmth of the fire. His eyes opened now, he found Lara fiddling with her radio, when Alex's voice came through.

(Lara, come in–kchh)

"Alex, I hear you," responded Lara, she quickly glanced over to make sure Harry was up.

Harry wiped his face, shaking off the last vestiges of sleep, and came closer.

(We tried to reach Roth, but we got side-tracked. Kchh- Look, Lara, I overheard one of these goons mention Sam, this Mathias guy, he's with a whole group of survivors, they've taken her. We tracked them to this -kchh- old palace looking place)

"Shit, be careful, those men are dangerous. Whitman tried to reason with them, he and I were caught. I got away, I'm with Harry now, no idea where Whitman is."

(Harry made it, that's great, we'll try to stay low)

There was some commotion, a bit of background conversation that filtered through the radio before Alex spoke again.

(Reyes asked if you made it to Roth)

Lara closed her eyes, her throat tightened up at being reminded. Harry took the radio for her; he gave Lara one last glance. She nodded for him to go ahead. He took a breath and pressed the button to transmit.

"Roth didn't make it."

The radio was silent following Harry's news. Lara slumped into a sitting position beside Harry, as they waited.

It was Reyes whose voice broke the silence.

(How?)

Lara took the radio back from Harry. "Wolves," she said. "We were too late, there was nothing we could do."

When Reyes spoke again, there was an edge to her voice.

(We're going in after Sam.)

CHAPTER FOUR END

AN: And there we have a major change brought about by Harry's presence.