Disclaimer- While the plot is mine, the characters are not… I'm just playing with them.
A/N- Sorry again for taking so long, but good news is that I decided to keep posting here so… *grins*
I know it's a little short, but it can't be helped.. The next one should be longer- I promise.
Chapter 12
Ron could have thought of better things to do than to follow around a giant that was really a three headed dog in disguise. They met up with Tonks in Muggle London and get a portkey in form of an old top hat to arrive here, but fear was the only thing that was keeping him from voicing the doubts and complaints he was still feeling. With Hermione and the two remaining Marauders there he was not making the venture alone although Neville had decided not to go and Luna said that she had things to do but would with them later. What was more worrisome to him was the way they had looked at his little sister when they left.
Ginny Weasley did not deserve to be looked at like that. That particular stare was meant for Death Eaters, spiders and Slytherins. Still, he could not deny that she needed watching after and the twins wouldn't be able to do it for much longer. They were making it their mission in life to annoy the two Ministry Professors in way they could, and would most likely be expelled soon if the pair had their way.
He couldn't stay either while Harry needed him. There is no telling what could happen to his best mate without Hermione and him there to watch his back and Malfoy and Snape were already there. The two Slytherins were probably already trying to make life as miserable for him as they could.
"Welcome to Maeshowe," Tonks cheerfully announced as they haphazardly arrived and untangled themselves from the pile of arms and legs typical of their portkey landings. If only he had the grace to land on his feet as his parents and older siblings did...
They were standing at the base of a steep stone line grass-topped hill in the middle of a field and Ron thought for a moment he saw water also. Maybe there was a loch nearby? Hermione looked at her a bit skeptically, before saying, "Maeshowe is suppose to be a tourist spot but… Where are all the people?"
Fluffy merely chuckled, "They are at the false exit on the other side. You really think that our ancestors would let not Fae into the Underhill? Besides, the Muggles only gather normally at the solstice. We're several months too early for that."
"But…" Hermione began to protest so Lupin bent over to whisper to a few words in her ear to reassure her and made Ron grin.
"They are called Notice-me-Not and Muggle repelling charms," the werewolf said, amused before asking Fluffy. "I'm presuming that we're using the Maeshowe hill because it is closest to Sifra?"
"Nope," the hellhound said cheerfully. "Just the closest to Hogwarts. To get to Sifra we'd need to use an Irish mound. Didn't think ye lads and lasses would want to venture that far…"
"What?" Multiple protests sounded. "We're going to Ireland?"
"If Mum finds out about this, she'll kill us…," Ron muttered, ignoring the bemused looks that the adults were throwing him. He was already scared of the howler from his mother that was sure to follow once she learned that he was no longer at Hogwarts.
"You can always go back, you know," Tonks reminded him.
"No, we're going. We got this far; we are not backing down," Hermione grabbed Ron's arm and dragged him to where Fluffy stood, tapping rocks hidden in the long grass.
Ron had to agree. They got this far by blackmailing the adults. It would be rather stupid to quit now while there was a stone passage ahead leading into the depth of the earth and his companions already venturing forward.
"Hey, wait for me!' He yelled, running after them.
If there were any spiders in there, they better get out of the way of Ron Weasley.
cwn
The silence that spread through the room for the last hour Harry found unnerving and would rather do far more interesting things with his mate now that they had the time. They were not needed anywhere until morning so they had time to play. His pack had already taken into account the marriage and suspended his lessons until their return to Ælwyd.
His Sev seemed more interested in solving the problem with security of Grimmauld Place than him and that would not do. There was something he could do to put his asgre's mind back where it should belong: on him.
"Darby!"
Purple eyes widened as the familiar pop of a summoned house-elf resonated in the air before turning to the little elf dressed in an expensive pillowcase bearing Gryffindor colors chattering excitedly and threw its arms around the Wybir.
Laughing, he untangled himself from the eager little elf's arms before saying, "Darby, I need you to go to Kreacher and find out what he told Narcissa Malfoy, and then ask the other elves how much she told the Death Eaters."
Darby quickly reminded him, "Darby will do that, but Kreacher does not trust other elves, Master Leigheas. Kreacher's family hurt Kreacher too much. Kreacher's family made Kreacher a bad elf."
"Yes, but he will talk if you tell him that I sent you," Harry had to agree with the elf. He saw the madness in Kreacher's eyes during his short stay at the Order's Headquarters and had attempted to undo the damage while there. The hatred the elderly little elf felt for his house tenants had anchored deep in his soul and Sirius' cruel treatment of him undid much of that healing.
All Harry had been able to accomplish before his banishment was wipe away whatever hatred Kreacher felt for Fleur, Sev and him and that only succeeded because of the close ties they had with the Faerie Realms.
"Darby will convince Kreacher then," the house-elf said before vanishing before their eyes.
"Who is Leigheas and why is there a house-elf here?" Sev asked of Harry, intrigued by the conversation if the height of the erect eyebrow was any indication to the iompróir's state of mind.
"That is Darby, beloved, and he is the Potter family house elf and Leigheas is me. The house-elves named me it years ago," Harry said, intending to take advantage of his mate's obvious distraction. If he wasn't careful, he would end up with an angry mate instead.
"When did you find out that the Potters even had a house elf? I could have sworn that you had no contact with the Magical world prior to Hogwarts… and yet you still earn the name of healer? Not even Elf-friends have earned that right…" The iompróir said after a moment of frustration, intending to solve the newest puzzle he had been given. Harry was amused but said nothing. He doubted Severus would appreciate his passing resemblance to Hermione at the moment.
"Sev, not now," Harry whispered before deciding to act like a Gryffindor. "Questions later. Most of these will be asked later anyway so you can learn them with everyone else."
That earned him an irritated growl that sent his blood on fire and the rest of his body to respond with his hunger. His Sev should not be allowed to continue teasing him without payment in return. He was having trouble keeping himself in check and the only reason he was succeeding was fear that his asgre would carry through on his threat of castration if he pushed things.
"So you just sent your elf to spy on the Death Eaters AND the Order…?" Sev finally asked once he could think again. He had already fallen prey to the Wybir's aura twice already and Harry was not doing anything to restrain it now while wanting nothing more to kiss and nip every inch of the delectable body.
Harry couldn't help but laugh at his mate's dazed expression.
It was time to seduce a mate.
cwn
Lucius Malfoy was not having a good month. No, it was better to say that he was not having a good year. Everything should have gone according to his master's plans since the banishment of the Potter brat into the Muggle World, but instead it was the start of when things began to fall apart. The boy should have been easy picks for his master except he had disappeared into thin air, and the act of banishing the brat encouraged the pawn Minister grow a backbone that he did not have the time to deal with at the moment. In fact, the removal of the brat did less to lower of the morale of Dumbledore and his order of fools than it did the Wizarding World. The only good it had was that the weak-minded fools were afraid that damaging their precious Potter had created another Dark Lord in addition to his master.
As if the goody-two shoes boy would live long enough for that to ever happen.
If he wanted to be honest with himself, the true start began with his master's resurrection. It revealed not one, but two, traitors that day: Severus Snape and Igor Karkaroff, and another traitor to the cause one month later. If all goes well, they would be dealt with shortly, but he wanted her all to himself.
Narcissa had managed to use an archaic law to get out their twenty-five year marriage with not only her full dowry and the privileges that came with being born a Black, but the entirety of manor's house-elves and over half of the Malfoy fortune. He could care less about the house-elves and the money can easily be replaced (although the contacts granted through the Black name not quite as easily), but taking his son and heir was beyond excusable.
He had great plans for that boy and that woman had demolished them on a whim. His associates were still laughing at his newest humiliation.
For that, she was would die a very slow, painful death once he had his hands on her.
For now he would watch and wait as his master's newest plan came to being. Narcissa and her precious elves was not his lord's only eyes and ears, and they were certainly not his.
He looked up at the clock and grimaced.
When was that fool Rookwood going to show?
He could not afford any more delays while there was still much to be done.
As the office door opened, he grinned and rose to meet his guest.
It was time.
Notes
Maeshowe actually exists and it's location is on the Orkney Islands in Scotland. Maeshowe, like the vastly similar Newgrange in Ireland, are circular hilltop ruins from ancient times believed to burial mounds of kings of old. Although the exact origin for either mound is unknown, both are unique crafting as on the winter solstice a shaft of light will illuminate the lone corridor through the hill. This is the only time of year that this happens.
