Hybrid Legacy
Chapter 10
"Draco, wait!" said Lucius urgently, grabbing Draco's wand arm and forestalling the curse.
"What the hell?" snarled Draco, yanking his arm out of his father's grasp. "This monster is hurting my elf, and you expect me to let him live?"
"Draco!" cried Harry, staring at his husband with relief shining in his eyes.
Draco rushed to Harry's side, pushing Colin out of the way and trusting his father to deal with him. Quickly unlocking the of the manacles securing his elf's arms and legs, Draco eagerly pulled Harry into his arms, rubbing the elf's back soothingly as he sobbed against his chest. As Harry's sobs abated, Draco turned his head and glared at Colin, who stood docilely within Lucius' grasp.
"Can I kill him now?" growled Draco with a contemptuous sneer aimed at Colin.
"No, Draco, you can't," said Harry softly. "Colin was trying to unlock the manacles when you showed up."
"What do you mean? He was trying to help you?" asked Draco disbelievingly. "Harry, the man is supposed to be dead, and yet he miraculously appears at the same time his brother kidnaps you. And you call that trying to help?"
"I can explain everything if you'll just give me a chance," said Colin softly.
"You need to see if Dennis is still alive first," said Harry, glaring at the crumpled body lying across the room. "I can't guarantee that he is because as soon as he ended the stupefy hex, I blasted him across the room with my elemental magic. He may have fractured his skull- he did hit the wall pretty hard."
Severus walked over to Dennis and cast a quick diagnostic spell before shaking his head. "He's dead. When he hit the wall, the head trauma killed him." He turned to Draco, who was still cuddling Harry, and said, "Bring Harry over here, Draco. I need to cast a diagnostic spell on him to make sure the baby is all right."
"Severus, we haven't even confirmed a pregnancy yet," said Harry wryly.
"You didn't take a contraceptive potion, and knowing your luck, it'll be another set of twins," said Severus, smirking as Harry teasingly stuck out his tongue.
"Could you speed things up a bit? We do have someone here who may have the answers we need," said Lucius sternly, still grasping Colin's arm in a tight grip.
Draco pulled Harry off the bed, straightening the elf's robes quickly, and pulled him towards the door. Severus quickly cast a diagnostic spell and his abdomen was illuminated with a bright blue light.
"Congratulations, Harry, you are indeed pregnant and perfectly healthy, as is the baby. You will be having a son in six months time," said Severus, smiling at Draco's whoop of joy.
Lucius rolled his eyes, pushed Colin towards the bed, and manacled his arms quickly. "Okay, explain."
"Two years ago I discovered that Dennis was in a relationship with Ginny Weasley and had been seeing her for a year before I found out. I only found out then because the night she died, he got roaring drunk and told me every detail of their torrid relationship. I asked him why he hadn't told me about the relationship, but he just said that he knew I didn't like her because of what she'd done to Harry. He then said that Ginny had changed and that she had gotten over Harry and loved him now. I silently disagreed because I still talk to Fred and George quite often, and they said that Ginny was still fanatic about getting 'her Harry away from that evil ferret.'"
"Well, after Ginny's funeral, Dennis seemed to be getting better. It was a little over a year later when I noticed all the photos that I had taken of Harry over the years were gone. I asked Dennis if he knew where they were but he insisted he didn't. I thought maybe I'd misplaced them or my parents had picked them up by mistake when they had last visited. Six months ago I accidentally stumbled into Dennis' secret hideaway/shrine. He had photos of Harry covering every inch of wall space, and every article written about him scattered around the room."
"I confronted him about his secret shrine, and he started ranting that Harry was so innocent and pure and that he deserved better than that disgusting Death Eater Malfoy. To say that I was surprised is an understatement. He'd always admired and respected Harry, yes, but this was different. This was a full-scale obsession- a stalker's obsession."
"I asked him to explain his reasoning, and he told me that Ginny had been right to try and save Harry from Draco's clutches. I told him that Ginny was insane and dangerous, and that he should have stayed far away from her, but he just said that Ginny was a means to an end. He then said that he'd already planned out a way to save his beloved, and he hadn't needed Ginny anymore. That was when I realized that he was also behind Ginny's death."
"I didn't know what to do. He was acting nuttier than Ginny had ever thought of being. He'd even murdered the girl, so I threatened to tell Harry about his plans. Dennis, my very own brother, grabbed a knife off the kitchen table and tried to stab me. I managed to knock him out and left. I called the Ministry to have Aurors pick him, but he was already gone when they got there," said Colin. "I did manage to put a tracking charm on his wand before I left, but he must have realized a spell had been cast on it because he bought a new one. It was only luck that he actually brought the wand that I had charmed with him when he planned Harry's kidnapping."
"If you knew that your brother was planning to kidnap my elf, why didn't you warn us?" asked Draco angrily. "We could have apprehended him before any of this ever happened."
"If I had warned you, my life would have been in even greater danger," said Colin calmly. "There is a reason that I staged my death. He had decided that I needed to be out of the picture before all his plans were ruined, and I was fortunate enough to witness him cutting the brake line of my car. I saw a chance to go underground, so to speak, and created a golem to take my place in death. Besides, how was I supposed to warn you? Your house is pretty much inaccessible, and then you took off to Hogwarts."
"Why would he tamper with your car?" asked Draco. "Surely that's not your primary mode of transportation."
"Well gee, Draco, I live in muggle London, despite my work for the Dailey Prophet, and my parents are muggles. So yes, I do a lot of traveling by car," said Colin sarcastically.
"But your parents know you're a wizard, so why can't you just apparate or floo there?" asked Draco.
"Does it really matter, Draco?" asked Harry irritably. He just wanted to hear the story without Draco's interruptions. "Maybe his parents are uncomfortable with magic. Quit interrupting so we can hear the rest of the story."
Colin smiled at Harry's chiding tone. "Harry is right. Despite having two sons graduating from Hogwarts, my parents are still uncomfortable with magic. They also entertain guests quite often, so apparating and flooing just aren't feasible methods of transportation. But back to my story, I faked my death three months ago, and Dennis felt secure enough to proceed with his plans to obtain Harry."
"I found out that shortly after my 'death' Dennis moved in with Neville. At first I couldn't understand why, but then I realized that as a medi-wizard, Neville stays in contact with quite a few of our Gryffindor friends. Hermione and Seamus are two such examples. With his association with Neville, Dennis could play the sympathy card with old school mates and gather information about Harry and Draco."
"While the Longbottom house was empty one afternoon, I cast tracking charms on all of the household owls, which included Dennis' owl Artis. I diligently kept track of where the owls were going and I saw three within that three months go to Godric's Hollow. Two went to a flat in London that I later discovered belonged to Ron Weasley."
"You mean that Dennis was actually working with Ron at first?" asked Harry quietly.
"At first, yeah. Apparently Ron's desire to kill you and your children changed his mind, and Dennis took care of the problem in what is now typical Dennis fashion. He killed Ron," said Colin sadly.
"So Dennis was behind it all, and you were trying to save me," said Harry, smiling at Colin. "We should notify the Ministry so they can collect Dennis' body."
"I'll do that," said Lucius. "You two just make sure Harry and Draco get home safely," he said to Remus and Severus. They just nodded in agreement and stepped outside the room to wait in the corridor.
"Come on, elf. We have a couple of children who are probably worried by now," said Draco, steering Harry towards the open doorway.
Harry allowed Draco to guide him to the door, but he could just feel his skin crawling for some reason. Something was wrong and he'd learned long ago to trust his instincts. He heard Colin take a deep breath and instinctively ducked, pulling Draco down with him.
"Harry, what the hell are you doing?" growled Draco, looking at Harry worriedly. He saw Harry facing the person behind them and mentally slapped himself.
"How do you do it?" snarled Colin. "How do you always manage to survive. No matter what's thrown at you or done to you, you still manage to come out on top. Because of you, my brother is dead."
"Your brother kidnapped me and tried to rape me. Did you honestly expect me to just lie there and let him do that?" asked Harry calmly. "At least his death was quick." Harry stealthily opened a portal behind Colin.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Colin. "Do you plan to torture me to death? You're too goody-goody to do that." Even though he honestly didn't think Harry would actually torture him, he still took a step back away from Harry.
"Why should I torture you when I can leave the job for someone else?" asked Harry, stepping towards Colin.
Colin quickly stepped back again, getting closer to the portal. "And just who did you have in mind? Draco? He's a pansy." Before he could say anything else, he saw a red glow above him. Tilting his head up to see what was emitting that glow, he failed to see the arms reaching for him until it was too late. The arms closed around his torso and pulled him into the portal, cutting short his final scream.
"Who said it was anyone in this room?" asked Harry quietly to himself, staring at the place the portal had been. He turned and burrowed into Draco's arms. "What is it with all the treacherous Gryffindors trying to destroy my life?"
"I don't know, elf," said Draco, kissing his elf on the forehead. "It's not really the fact that they tried to destroy your life because just as many Slytherins tried to do that. It's the fact that they were considered friends that makes the betrayal so deep."
"Yeah," said Harry simply. "Let's go home."
Severus and Remus escorted Harry and Draco home, and Harry immediately went to the fireplace and flooed Hermione. He was ready for Michaela and Liam to come home to assure himself that everything was all right once again. Within minutes Liam and Michaela were in the living room at Godric's Hollow, suffocating from the tight hugs their parents were giving them.
"Oh, Harry, thank goodness you're all right," cried Hermione, rushing towards Harry as soon as she cleared the fireplace. She pulled him into a tight hug, sobbing loudly. "I was so.. afraid that you.. would die because of meee," she wailed.
"It's not your fault, Hermione," said Harry soothingly, glaring at Draco when he opened his mouth to contradict Harry's statement. Draco quickly shut his mouth and cuddled the twins closer.
"Yes, it is my fault," said Hermione, brushing her tears impatiently away. "If I hadn't brought him here, he wouldn't have been able to kidnap you."
"Hermione, it wasn't just Dennis," said Harry softly. "Colin was still alive, and he helped."
"What!" she cried. "I hope he's rotting in Azkaban now." When Harry didn't answer, she glared at him and tapped her foot. "He is in Azkaban, isn't he?"
"Not exactly," muttered Harry, ducking his head to avoid Hermione's fulminating glare.
"What do you mean 'not exactly'?" she asked calmly.
"Well, not at all actually," mumbled Harry. At Hermione's screeched "What!", Harry hurried to explain. "It was an accident, Hermione. Well, Dennis was at any rate. But Colin tried to kill Draco, so I kinda sent him to a hell dimension. It's not like anyone will care, though. He was already supposed to be dead."
"Harry James Potter, I cannot believe you just said that. Of course, someone will care," said Hermione indignantly.
"Let me put it this way then. I don't care. He tried to hurt my family, so as far as I'm concerned, he got what he deserved," said Harry simply.
"Why, Harry, how Slytherin of you," said Severus admiringly. "I never thought I would hear you speak so dismissively of another person's death."
"You just haven't listened then," said Remus. "You obviously don't remember what he did to Bellatrix Lestrange."
"You're right, I had forgotten about her," said Severus musingly.
"Don't you feel bad at all?" asked Hermione.
"Would you feel bad if Blaise had been the one targeted?" asked Harry reasonably. Hermione bit her lip and refused to answer. "No, I don't feel bad. My family is my life. I will protect them at all costs. End of story."
"Lucius did inform the Ministry about Dennis, but he left before Colin exposed his true self," said Remus. "Harry and Draco are safe and that's all that matters."
"And speaking of which, we have seen you safely home, so we'll just be going now," said Severus, pulling Remus quickly towards the fireplace. Tossing the floo powder into the flames, he and Remus stepped into the fireplace and were gone with a whoosh of green flames.
"I'd best be going too," said Hermione quietly. She quickly hugged Harry once more and hurried to the fireplace. "I suppose you're right, Harry. Your family should come first."
As soon as Hermione was gone, Harry and Draco sat down with the twins and told them their happy news. Liam and Michaela squealed excitedly when Harry informed them that he was pregnant with their baby brother.
"When will he be here, mummy," said Michaela eagerly.
"The baby should be born at the end of January," said Harry, smiling at the twins' excitement.
"What's his name?" asked Liam enthusiastically.
"We haven't decided yet. We only found out today," said Draco with a small laugh.
"Can we name him?" asked the twins in unison.
