I'm not trying to abandon this story, despite what people might think. It's just that I had a really long bout of writers block and then my laptop got temporary blindness and then I had to do a summer college program – without my temporarily blind laptop, which I am now naming Jinx Malfoy (Bad luck bad faith) – and then I DROPPED my laptop and had the worst fear ever that I'd have to replace her and if I did that I would lose all of my stories . . . so really you'd have to blame the series of unfortunately bad luck. Not my fault!
Disclaimer: So to avoid a lawsuit I have to put this up. I don't own Harry Potter or Fruits Basket and therefore have no copyright claims because if I did I probably wouldn't be writing Fanfiction.
Warning: slash, yaoi, boy/boy, Mpreg and such. Don't like don't read. Real simple. Also, Draco/Harry and all other canons.
A/N: I want to send out a huge shout out to Zuma12121. Your reviews made me laugh and pushed me to work hard to finishing this chapter. The Drarry scene in this one is for you, I originally wasn't going to put on in this chapter, but you changed my mind. Thanks a lot!
Chapter 10: Rescuing the Damsel-In-Distress
The stairs creaked ominously under the deceivingly thick carpet beneath Harry's feet.
So far that and the oh-so-careful breathing of the three men behind Harry were the only sounds being made. The four of them had been walking down the same narrow stairway for what seemed like hours. It was a little discerning, to be trapped in the low ceiling stairway, and the bright light emitting from the stones were not helping. In fact, it only served to make Harry feel more claustrophobic and like he was trapped in an insane asylum. And the downward spiraling was not helping dissuade that notion any.
"Can you see the end yet, mate?"
The whispered question came from Ron, who was bringing up the very rear and could most likely not see over Kyo – who was actually taller than him.
Harry made no move to comment, because, in all honestly, he was getting a little bit annoyed with the boring repetition of the décor.
The foursome walked on in silence, the sound of their breaths echoing off the walls in a manner that seemed obnoxiously loud. Harry kind of wished something – anything – would happen to break the monotony of it all.
An ear splitting shriek sliced through the air, make Ron jump and bang his head harshly against the low ceiling. Harry cursed under his breath, damning faith for twisting his wish. He had never actually heard Tohru scream before, but the icy cold sensation in his stomach told him he just had.
Damn it all, he swore in his mind as he began to pick up speed, no longer concerned if the pounding of his feet on the stairs could be heard. He was too busy cursing the damned werewolf to the deepest pit in hell.
It was with a sense of raising triumph – something he would later liken to the feeling given during a phoenix song – that Harry spotted the neat wooden door at the very bottom of the staircase. It was as if the sudden adrenaline rush had magically conjured the figure.
Harry burst through it and sprinted into the brightly lit room, hand clenching tightly around his wand.
Tohru was in such great pain, she was sure that she'd pass out any minute now – only she couldn't. Every time it seemed like she'd drift away, Greyback would speak some words she could just barely understand, and then she would suddenly be filled with energy again. And then the pain would come back and the cycle would be repeated.
She felt like she was going through an endless cycle of torment. Never before in her life had she ever wished so desperately for death to come and take her. And never before had she thought that it would take this long to get her. She hoped it hadn't been like this for her mom – that was a heartbreaking thought.
"Ah, ah, ah," Greyback's gravelly voice spoke in her ear, his musty breath ghosting over her face. Tohru felt an overwhelming urge to gag overcome her but she pushed it down. She felt his clawed hand run through her hair before getting a hard grip and pulling her head back hard so that she was looking up into his scared face. His malicious yellow eyes gazed down at her and a leer made its way onto his face, showing off the blacked pointed teeth.
"There's no giving up I'm afraid," he growled on a rumbling chuckle. He lifted his hand and ran a clawed finger run down her cheek. Tohru felt a welt form and hot, wet blood trickle down her cheek. Tears prickled at her eyes but she willed herself not to cry. She could at least try not to show him any more weakness.
What would her mother do?
"We have to keep you alive for our honored guest. I'm sure he'll be arriving soon – for your sake." He then barked out a loud bark of a laugh that had Tohru shivering in fear.
Still laughing loudly, he forcefully let go of Tohru's hair in such a harsh manner that her head crashed solidly into the stone walk. Darkness crept around Tohru's vision before Greyback said the magic words and suddenly everything the startling clear again.
"I'm not done having fun with you."
Dolohov rolled his eyes when, predictability, another annoying girlish scream arched its way up from the dungeons. From where he sat perched in the corner, Avery let loose a string of snickers that sounded a lot like wheezing; and Dolohov though it made him sound more demented than he was – or maybe not. Dolohov sighed and rubbed at his eyes – if only to cover up the fact that his eye was twitching.
Why did I team myself up with these two . . . scum? He wondered vaguely. Oh yeah, it was because anyone that was actually good was either incarcerated or dead – or they had deflected but he really didn't want to think about the Malfoys right now.
With another sigh – Merlin he was sounding old – and a shake of his head, Dolohov stood up, thinking that maybe a Calming Draught might help his survive this insanity.
He was just passing the door when it burst open.
Dolohov frozen and a spike of fear struck through him as he looked into the blazing green eyes of Harry Potter. It was like looking straight at a killing curse. Somewhere in the corner Avery let out a cowardly whimper and Dolohov couldn't even find it in him to blame him.
"Where is she?"
The low growl was definitely not what Dolohov expected from one Harry Potter – that and the murder in his eyes.
"Well?"
"I . . . I . . ." Dolohov stammered before remembering why he was doing this. Summoning courage from . . . well he didn't even know where from – the former Death Eater pulled himself together and threw the Boy-Who-Lived a cocky smirk.
"Well Potter, you certainly kept us waiting."
"I don't have time for your games, Dolohov. Now tell me where she is and I might just make your death painless." As he said this, Potter twisted his wand threateningly in his hand.
It wasn't raised however, so Dolohov didn't think to take the boy seriously.
"Now, Potter, I'm sure you'd rather cooperate, given the circumstance. You wouldn't want anything to happen to —"
Dolohov never got to finish for in that moment Harry exploded.
Even Draco, who could admit that even drunk he was a very sharp person, couldn't explain what had gone on in the next two minutes. All he could say was that there was a loud bang, a huge cloud of dust, some flash of light, and then everything was over.
Never before had Draco given a thought to how powerful Harry could be. But now, he could fully understand why everyone had claimed him as the Savior of the Wizarding World., and why the Dark Lord had claimed him as a rival.
Draco stood up, although he couldn't really tell you when he had dropped to the floor, and coughed on the lingering dust.
Harry was the only one still standing.
Ron had Kyo by the neck on the floor and Dolohov and Avery were tied up together at Harry's feet. The dark-haired man was panting heavily, his burning gaze fixed on the unconscious duo and his wand held so tight in his hand his knuckles were white.
"You didn't kill them," Draco spoke first, coming to stand beside the smaller man.
"They don't deserve to die. If I killed them I'd only be doing them a favor."
Draco was just the tiniest bit concerned with the hate coating Harry's words but then the Savior turned away from the bonded men and he was suddenly Harry again.
"Are you two okay," he questioned as he helped the two red-heads stand.
"Warn me next time you go power crazy, mate," Ron muttered, brushing off his jacket. Kyo merely stared at Harry, wide-eyed.
"Sure," Harry responded on a laugh before turning to face the nice metal door nestled into the far wall. "Well there's only one way to go."
That was all he needed to say before the four moved on – Dolohov and Avery forgotten for the moment.
Tohru was crying again, even though she had told herself she wouldn't again and that she would be strong like her mother.
It didn't seem to matter though. The pain was just too much and the torture . . .
Tohru felt like she was drowning. Everything swam dizzily around her and then became clear only to become a blur again.
Greyback's rough chuckle took over her mind until she thought that she would go crazy.
Would this be the last thing she heard as she finally died? Or would she be hunted by this forever? Could she even live with this voice running through her mind? Would she ever get out of here? Would anyone come to save her?
The pain suddenly stopped, leaving her body to tremble in its wake.
It took a few second for Tohru to realize that Greyback had stopped his torture, and with a quaking breath, Tohru opened her eyes fully to look around.
Greyback was standing right in front of her, but his back was turned to her. Tohru stared at the man's shoe for a moment, before moving her head a little to see around it.
What she saw had her entire body sinking with relief before she blissfully passed out.
The image of Harry – standing in the doorway of her cell, his face full of fury and his stance purely aggressive – was imprinted on the inside her eyelids.
Hermione paced nervously in front of the fire, back and forth, back and forth until finally, someone snapped.
"Will you please stop that? It's not exactly helping anything."
The tense exclamation from the normally put-together Hatori brought Hermione up and she turned to face the Sohma doctor. He was sitting in between Ayame and Shigure, the former of whom was rubbing Hatori's back in a soothing manner.
"Sorry," Hermione muttered sheepishly. "I'm just not used to waiting like this. Normally I'm right there with them in the thick of things."
Hatori waved her apology away and dropped his head into his hands.
What followed was tense silence as everyone wondered how things were going with the guys and with Tohru.
"This is stupid," little Teddy Lupin suddenly declared, throwing his hands up as he broke the silence. The twins, who sat on either side of him, nodded in unison. "It's obvious Dad's gonna be just fine. He's in— inv—"
"Invincible," Hermione supplied helpfully.
Teddy beamed his thanks as he said, "Yeah, that," and nodded his head enthusiastically.
"It's simple," Lily piped up. "Daddy will bet the bad guys, save his cousin, and then come back home with Father."
Luke nodded in turned with his twin's words.
Hermione smiled at the young ones innocence. It was obvious that they had a lot of confidence in Harry; it was a little inspiring to see. Hermione used to feel that way during the war – as a matter of fact she still held that kind of confidence in Harry. That didn't mean she wasn't allowed to worry about him, though.
With a sigh, Hermione turned to look at the clock hanging on the wall.
It was a Weasley family clock, given to her as a wedding gift. Everyone's hands were shown as being at 'home' except for Harry and Ron. Their hands were pointed at 'mortal peril'.
With a shake of her head, Hermione turned away.
"Who wants some lunch," she asked of the group.
Gwen and Molly immediately jumped up, latching onto the means of distraction like leeches. That being all she needed to say Hermione went into the kitchen to start fixing lunch, the two women trailing after her and swapping recipes.
It was after lunch that the door to the kitchen burst open.
Everyone still in the kitchen turned to look at the sudden intrusion. Hermione let out a loud gasp and dropped the plate that was in her hand. It crashed loudly against the ground, scattering into porcelain pieces and leftovers.
Standing in the doorway was Ron Weasley.
He looked perfectly alright, if not a little bit on the battered side. It was who he held that had Hermione gasping.
In his arms was the unconscious form of a tiny brunette.
She looked a whole lot worse off. Her entire face looked like one big bruise with splashed of red and brown blood upon it. What there was of her clothes were torn and hanging off her body, and her arms and legs bore witness to slashes that looked like either knife wounds or whip marks – maybe even both.
Hermione took all this in within seconds before Ron rushed into the house and disappeared to what Hermione had dubbed as the hospital wing – but was just a room she had set aside from whenever Harry came over with questionable bruises, and that had happened a lot in the past.
Kyo followed after Ron without even acknowledge anyone. He looked perfectly fine except that he had a small limp.
"Where's Harry," Hermione questioned out loud. But she need not to.
Malfoy was next through the door, carrying a pale looking Harry, bridal style, in his arms. Harry was awake and glaring up at the blonde, his arms crossed over his chest. There were a few bruises on his arms and face, but other than that he didn't seem to hurt.
Malfoy looked a little worse off, with red blood dripping from his forehead and coloring a little bit of his hair.
"What happened," Narcissa was the one to demand of her son.
"Nothing," Harry answered before Malfoy got the chance. "Greyback's dead, if anyone wants to know, and Dolohov and Avery are in the custody of the Aurors. Turns out Dolohov was behind the whole operation."
"That doesn't explain why Malfoy's carrying you," Hermione pointed out as Malfoy glared down at him.
"This idiot here went a little too far and is so exhausted magically that he can't even stand," Malfoy drawled out, almost sounding bored, but there was a fire burning in his eyes.
"Malfoy's exaggerating. I can walk perfectly fine. He's just being stubborn and won't let me because he thinks I hurt myself," Harry declared self-righteously with a roll of his eyes.
"I wouldn't have to think that if you hadn't literally thrown yourself in front of that curse," Malfoy said back in the same tone with an added glare.
Harry returned his glare with one of his own.
"I did it to save your life."
"I never asked you to save my life."
"Well fine then. Next time I'll let the curse hit you!"
"Fine," Malfoy just about shouted back.
"Fine," Harry repeated, throwing his hands up.
With that said the two lapsed into a glaring contest.
Hermione and just about everyone else watched the scene with a faint feel of humor.
"They've been like this sense we rescued Tohru," Ron voice came over the silence.
The Weasley strolled into the room and walked to his wife.
Hermione grinned and kissed his jaw before asked, sweetly, "Would you like to tell us what happened?"
Ron sighed and threaded his fingers through his hair.
"Sure," he finally agreed. "But let's do this in the living room and give these two their space." He pointed at Malfoy and Harry, who were still glaring at each other and ignoring everyone else.
With that said the group drifted out of the room, leaving behind the two mates.
Harry and Ron lead the group down the long hallway, wands raised at the ready and eyes trailing everywhere. Draco and Kyo brought up the rear, Kyo's body completely tense.
Draco thought he looked like a cat ready to spring up.
The hallways stretched out for what seemed like forever. The blonde was sort of getting sick of all these endless staircases and hallways. He knew magic could be used to make places bigger than they seemed, but this was just pointless.
There were no windows, or portraits, or doors.
Nothing.
It was just an endless hall of blank walls.
Draco reasoned that the place was created like this to keep people from finding what was hidden, but that didn't make it any less annoying.
Harry suddenly came to a stop, throwing his arm out to make Ron stop also.
Draco peered over the smaller man's shoulder and also spotted the door.
It looked just shy of ominous, just sitting there as innocent as ever. There was nothing else for what seemed like miles.
"Now what," Ron whispered lowly.
Harry grimaced, his hand tightening on his wand. He could feel the wards rippling around the door; it was what had made him stop. He could also hear what was on the other side of the door and he didn't like it.
It sounded like Greyback was torturing his cousin.
With a low, animalistic growl, Harry pointed his wand at the door and blasted it open.
The door shot inward, swinging on its hinges to crash into the wall. Splinters of wood fell through the air and Harry watched as Greyback whirled around.
It pleased him a little to see the fear that flashed across the beast's face, but that small pleasure was easily overshadowed by the absolute rage that came over him when he caught sight of Tohru.
She looked like a broke doll, her brown hair all tangled around her face and stained a rusty brown in some places. There were slashed all over her arms and legs and some dark purple bruising on the skin of her stomach. Harry could see it all too clearly because her clothes were torn beyond recognition. What was left of it was enough to cover her private and there wasn't a lot of that.
Harry knew the moment Tohru recognized him.
Her whole body seemed to melt and a tiny smile crept onto her face before she seemed to grow unconscious.
Harry was glad she was for he hadn't wanted to scar her mentally for what he was about to do – which was tear Greyback into tiny pieces.
"Ah, Harry Potter," Greyback growled out and then had the audacity to lick his lips. He seemed to have overcome his initial fear, but Harry was about to correct that.
"You're dead."
Greyback grinned, flashing off his blackish-yellow teeth.
Harry grinned back, his smile filled with menace. He felt Ron and Draco back out of the room, for which he was glad. If he was gonna go all out, he didn't want to hurt them.
And then it started.
Harry darted forward, crouched low with his wand held down at his side. Greyback moved a little to the side to avoid the charge, which was exactly what Harry had wanted as he casually waved his wand to cast a powerful ward around Tohru's body.
Greyback seemed to realize this and used Harry's momentary distraction against him.
Harry managed to dodge the sickly purple spell at the last moment; he even felt the heat of it flutter past his ear.
Rolling with the momentum that came with the dodge, Harry shot out three simultaneous Stunners. Greyback threw up a shield before shooting off another unknown Dark Curse. Harry ducked instead of chancing a shield, and as he dropped his shot off a Concussion Curse. Greyback dodged this and shot out a Conjunctivitis Curse followed by a low level Stunner, all the while being unconsciously backed into a wall.
Harry smirked, shielded against the two spells before dropping low to charge the werewolf. Greyback's eyes widened and he back up only to realize he was trapped.
Within seconds Harry had the beast bounded and gagged.
Realizing that it was all over, the other three men walked into the room.
Kyo immediately flew to Tohru's side as Draco and Ron joined Harry in standing over Greyback.
"Wow, that was fast," Ron muttered, sounding a little amused.
Harry shot his friend a glare to which the taller man shrugged.
"This was ridiculously easy," Draco drawled with pursed lips.
"That's 'cause Harry was in the zone," Ron told the blonde flippantly. "And these three were kinda stupid." Draco, however, still looked suspicious so Ron went on to reassure him further. "Look. Don't sweat it. We got them and Tohru's safe, that's all that matters."
"I don't need your words of reassurance Weasley," Draco spat out, turning to glare at the older man. Ron opened his mouth, retort ready, only to have it choked out of him when Draco suddenly collided with him.
Ron stumbled back and the two purebloods spun around just in time to see a well placed curse slam into Harry's body.
The Savior dropped to his knees, hunched over and eyes squeezed tight in pain.
Dolohov stood in the doorway, wand in hand and breathing heavily.
Within a flash Draco had his wand up and was in a duel with the heavy Death Eater. Lights flashed as spell after spell was thrown around the room.
Ron threw up a heavy shield as a stray curse came his way. It bounced off and headed for Kyo, who seemed oblivious of the fight as he leaned over Tohru. With a low curse, Ron ran toward the other red-head. He made it in time to divert the blunt of the curse, but Kyo still got hit in his leg.
The teen let out a low hiss and clutched at his leg. Red liquid seeped from between his fingers.
Ron pushed the teens hand aside to look at the damaged. It wasn't that bad, it would need a looking at but a simple patch-up would help. Ron was very much thankful at that very moment that Hermione had taught both him and Harry some basic healing spells. He applied it then and received a low thanks.
Ron shrugged the thanks away and turned back to watch the duel taking place.
Draco and Dolohov seemed almost evenly matched. Actually, Dolohov seemed just a little bit better. He had gotten a good one in on the Malfoy if the blood dripping from Draco's head was any clue.
Without any thought, Ron jumped up to try and help his former enemy.
He was knocked to the side by a heavy body.
Rolling with the blow, Ron grabbed onto his attacker to see that Greyback had miraculously gotten out of his bindings. The werewolf was snapping at him, trying to get in a good bite. The two rolled around on the floor, trying to get the upper hand. Ron got in a good punch, breaking Greyback's nose.
Blood gushed out between the two, splattering their clothes. Greyback growled and tried to claw at the Weasley's face. Ron was successful in avoiding the reaching hands long enough from someone to pull Greyback off of him.
Harry was there, he seemed to have recovered from the curse Dolohov had hit him with.
Ron noticed now that sometime during his fight with Greyback, Dolohov had been bonded and gagged again. Draco was standing over him now, breaking heavily and glaring down at the Death Eater.
Ron scrambled to his feet and looked over at Harry.
He was swaying on his feet and looking a little on the pale side, but his wand was steady as it was pointed in Greyback's face.
There was a long pause in which everyone wondered what Harry was going to do. The small man looked absolutely murderous, and with good reason.
"Give me, one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," Harry growled out.
Greyback swallowed thickly but said nothing.
Harry glared at him for a long time before lowering his wand.
"You disgust me," he spat and turned away from the werewolf.
It was the wrong move, as the beast jumped up and lunged at the Savior.
No one could really explain what happened next.
Harry had whirled around; eyes wide with shock, and some weird grayish green light had shot out of his wand and hit Greyback in the chest.
The werewolf's eyes bulged out and there was a moment's pause before he dropped with ground and began to writhe around in pain.
The quartet wasn't really sure for how long they stayed there watching the werewolf twitch around like some kind of mutated worm. But when the beast finally lay still, Harry announced that he was dead.
"How," Kyo wanted to know.
Draco moved to the werewolf's side and peered at the blood that was running from his mouth. He muttered a Lumos and examined it. The light reflected off of something silver and the blonde pulled back.
"Silver," he announced. Kyo had continued to look confused while Ron and Harry shot each other looks. "There was silver in his blood," Draco explained for Kyo's sake. "He was burned from the inside."
Harry looked a little green and swayed on his feet before dropping to his knees.
Ron made a disgusted sound and turned away from the dead body.
Kyo made a small 'Oh' sound.
Draco sighed and stood up, dusting off his pants.
"We should get out of here and turn in Dolohov and Avery."
Harry nodded vaguely and tried to get up, only to fall back to his knees. His skin looked almost translucent and even on his knees he was swaying.
Draco let out a breath muttering a low 'idiot', before he reached out and scooped the Savior up into his arms.
Harry made a sound of outrage and glared at the blonde.
"It's not like you can walk yourself," the blonde muttered with a roll of his eyes. Then he directed his attention to Ron. "You, go get the girl."
Ron glared at him but did it anyways as Kyo got shakily to his feet.
Draco nodded, satisfied, before flicking his wand at Dolohov and levitating the man out of the room.
It was silent in the room and everyone went over what Ron had just reencountered.
Hermione had a faintly mortified look on her face and Ron knew she was thinking the same thing he had thought – Harry had actually killed a person, or rather beast but still Greyback had once been a person just like any other.
Maybe it wasn't intentional, after all he had a history of doing magic he wasn't even aware he knew, but the action was still there.
The two shared a look as they wondered how this new development would affect their best friend.
"Would you please put me down," Harry asked as nicely as possible, but his irritation still came through. Therefore, he was a little surprised when Malfoy settled him down on the island. That wasn't exactly what he had wanted, but at least he was no longer being carried, which had been exceedingly embarrassing.
Harry sighed and made a move to get off of the island, only to find that he was unable to move. While getting over his brief shock, Malfoy had settled himself between Harry's legs.
Harry narrowed his eyes at the blonde aristocrat.
"Will you move," he asked when it looked like Draco wouldn't.
"No, I'm good here," the pureblood commented with a smirk.
Harry almost screamed in frustration but managed to contain it.
"What do you want from me Malfoy," Harry demanded. "You're not normally this annoying."
Draco arched a brow but brushed aside the last comment to answer the question.
"I simply want the truth."
Now Harry's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"About what," he asked slowly.
Draco sighed and shook his head a little before fixing serious grey eyes onto Harry.
"About that night."
Harry tensed a bit, but the confused expression didn't leave his face.
"I already told you about what had happened," he spoke slowly as if Draco was someone mentally challenged. "What more is there to say?"
Draco narrowed his eyes, the grey orbs moving around Harry's face as if searching for something.
"You claim," the blonde started slowly as if measuring his words, "that you didn't plan on . . . on that happening. But if you didn't . . . I just don't understand."
The blonde seemed to be struggling for words, which was a first that Harry had ever known. There was also a crushed look to him, like someone had . . . had . . . had ripped his heart out.
"What don't you understand," Harry asked carefully.
Draco let out a low oath and pushed away from Harry.
"How are the twins possible if none of that was planned," he finally demanded, shouting the words as he threw his hands up. "Did you . . . did you use me?"
Harry drew in a breath at the defeated look that crossed the normally confident blonde's face. He didn't understand it, where it came from, and it just about killed him.
"No."
"No what," Draco demanded, shouting the words into Harry's face.
"It . . . it wasn't planned. None of it was. I didn't use you. I would never."
The blonde didn't look the least bit convinced. In fact, he seemed even more hurt.
"I'm telling you the truth."
"Then explain to me how."
Harry hesitated, his eyes searching the blonde's.
He hadn't told anyone about what he was. He'd planned never too, but here was Draco, his mate for Merlin's sake, asking for an explanation. And didn't the blonde aristocrat deserve to know the truth, the whole truth. Harry owed him at least that, right?
"Alright," the Savior finally agreed.
Draco threaded his fingers through his hair as if he were fixing it then seemed to pull himself together, reconstructing his Malfoy mask as if he were preparing himself for Harry's confession.
"Well then Potter, spit it out."
Harry nodded and swallowed thickly while he tried to gather all of his courage, which at the moment didn't seem like a lot. Looking down at the island top beneath him so that he didn't have to see Draco's reaction, Harry finally spoke.
"I'm . . . I'm not human."
There was a long beat of silence.
Harry wondered what was going through Draco's mind, but didn't dare to look up. He didn't want to see if Draco was condemning him.
"Well of course you're not human," Draco finally said and Harry looked up at him in shock. "You're a wizard. None of us are exactly human."
Harry sighed at that and shook his head ruefully. Of course Draco hadn't gotten it after all.
"That's not what I meant," the Savior told him quietly. His eyes drifted to the side as he waited for the Malfoy to figure it out.
"I have a creature heritage," he finally said when the silence became too much.
Harry heard Draco inhale sharply and then it was quiet.
Harry began to panic a little when the silence became too long, but he was determine not to look at the blonde male until he was sure Draco would accept him.
"Well," the blonde finally said slowly. "That explains . . . a lot."
Harry chanced a look in Draco's direction and was surprised to find that the Malfoy looked curious instead of disgusted.
"So . . . what is your creature?"
"A Nyx," Harry found himself saying.
A shocked look crossed Draco's face and he suddenly looked even more interested in Harry.
"That's . . . extremely rare. I didn't even know men could be Nyxes." Harry shrugged. "I'm going to assume it was from your mother's side?"
"Uh . . . yeah. It was a recessive gene. It actually skipped about five generations. I only found out when I traced the family back," Harry said all of this in a rush, not even caring what it was that he was saying. He was just relieved that Draco wasn't treating him like a leper.
Draco smirked at him, like he could read Harry's thoughts.
"So . . . you're not . . . freaked out by all this?"
Draco shrugged.
"If it was someone else, I probably would be," he admitted. "But now that I think about it, you do happen to have the luck of a Nyx. And you've always been crazy powerful." As he said this the blonde moved back over to Harry, settling in between the Savior's legs once more.
"Well that's a relief."
"Really? Why," the aristocrat question, one brow arched.
Harry shrugged and avoided the blonde's gaze.
"You know," the taller man said after a moment's silence. "Nyxes have mates, don't they?"
It was more of a statement, but Harry answered anyways.
"Yeah."
"I wonder who your mate is," the blonde commented almost casually. Harry swallowed nervously and shrugged his shoulders. Draco continued speaking, "I think I read somewhere that it take a Nyx five years to find their mates before they go crazy."
"Yeah," Harry found himself saying again, but Draco didn't seem to be paying him all that much attention.
"I read that they also mate for life. In fact, I read that they don't get involved with anyone while they search for their mates. Did you know that they're repulsed by anyone trying to advance on them during that time period?"
Draco's eyes were gleaming now as he gazed at Harry, that one brow arched.
Harry held his breath.
Okay, so it was obvious that Draco now knew that he was Harry's mate. But what would he do with that information now.
"So, Potter," Draco spoke lowly. "Would you like to tell me something?"
And now it was obvious that the blonde was out to torture Harry.
Draco stared at Harry, like he was waiting patiently for news he already knew. Once again, Harry found himself scrambling to gather his courage.
He made a move to drop his gaze, but Draco reached out and grabbed his chin, making sure Harry was looking straight at him.
With a burning face, Harry said, "You're my mate."
"Ah," Draco said back, adopting a look of false shock.
Harry wanted to hit him, but he was too mortified and afraid the blonde was going to turn him down.
"Well, I suppose it's lucky for you that I just so happen to like you."
Harry blinked, taken aback, but before he could even gather his thoughts, Draco had pushed his glasses up into his hair and pulled him forward.
Their lips locked and Harry melted into the blonde. Draco made a humming sound of approval before running his tongue over Harry's bottom lip. Harry opened up his mouth, allowing Draco to plunge his tongue in.
This kiss was just as sweet as the first one they had shared, and every one afterwards. Harry was living on cloud nine as his hands immediately went to Draco's hair. In response, Draco's arms wound around Harry's waist, pulling their bodies close together.
They snogged for what felt like forever until they had to break for air.
It was then that Harry noticed Draco's hand creeping into his pants.
Harry weakly tried to swat the wandering hands away – they were in the kitchen after all; a place where people ate – but Draco was persistent. Harry actually didn't mind all that much, but that was probably because he was painfully hard at the moment.
Breathing heavily, the Savior allowed his mate slip those hands into his pants, and he let out a low moan when Draco grabbed his length.
"Someone seems very happy," Draco had the nerve to say.
"Sh . . . shut-up . . . Malfoy," Harry gasped out, unconsciously spreading his legs wider to allow Draco better access. Surprisingly the Malfoy did, for which Harry was grateful.
Feeling a little daring, Harry turned his head and nipped at the pale expanse of Draco's neck. The Malfoy let out a gasp that convince Harry he should do more. Trailing nips and kisses up and down Draco's neck, it wasn't long before his hit upon a spot that made Draco actually succumb to a moan.
Harry grinned, triumphant, and applied all his attention to that one spot, a tangle of muscles located just under Draco's ear. Draco, in turn, put his attention into jerking Harry off. It wasn't long before the Savior found himself exploding into the pureblood's hand – but Draco in turn had a dark bruise in the form of a hickey on his neck.
For a long moment the two stayed the way, both panting harshly, before Draco moved and murmured a cleaning spell.
He then pulled Harry into his arms, tucking the man's head under his chin.
"So . . . you like me," Harry asked for the lack of anything else to say.
Draco simply laughed.
Tohru awoke slowly and with the feeling like she was wadding through water.
Her back felt stiff and her throat was like sandpaper.
She couldn't, for the life of her, figure out where she was or what had happened. She vaguely remembered falling and a smattering of foreign words, but other than that everything was a blur.
With a small whimper of discomfort, the brunette shifted over on her very comfortable bed.
It took a moment for her eyes to focus on her surroundings.
Immediately she realized she was not in her room.
This room was painted, for one thing, in a nice warm yellow that kind of reminded her of the sunrise she viewed with Kyo and Yuki on New Years that one time. The furniture that surrounded her was all dark wood, not the painted white she was used to. Also, none of her possessions were in sight, not even – and she realized this with a sense of great alarm – her picture of her mother.
Pulling herself into a sitting position so that she could get a better look around the room, Tohru also came to two other realizations.
First, the scene outside of her window was rainy and depicted a wide expanse of empty plains with only one tree and a shed with flowers growing around it.
And second, she realized that she wasn't as alone as she had originally thought.
Sleeping in a chair next to Tohru's bed, with his head arched in what had to be an uncomfortable position and was sure to give him a crick later on, was Kyo.
A prickled of unease and the intense feeling of wanting to run away as fast as possible in the opposite direction came over Tohru; and for a moment she didn't understand where it came from.
Then, like a flickering film in her mind, the pieces fell into place.
The rain.
Chasing Kyo out into the front yard.
Her confession.
Kyo's rejection.
Her offer to Akito for them to start over.
The cliff face crumbled from under her feet.
Kyo's voice apologizing over and over in her head.
Waking up in a hospital.
The visits.
Greyback.
The torture.
Wishing to die.
Harry.
Tohru gasp and clutched at her head as everything flowed into place.
All the things that had occurred in the past couple of weeks came back to Tohru in a flash and she suddenly remembered what happened. Her head felt suddenly filled to the bursting point and she doubled over in pain, wishing intensely for the pain to go away.
A loud cracking sound had Tohru's head snapping up, despite the pain.
The crack woke Kyo from his sleep and he jerked up looking around the room with wide eyes. He and Tohru spotted the creature at the same time and they both stared.
It looked like the gremlin Tohru's mother once told her about when she was little. It had a large head that seemed to be balance on a body too small for it. Large, milky looking eyes stared up at them from out of a face that was composed of wrinkles. Its arms were long and thin, hanging like sticks and dragging on the floor. Its wrinkled hands were holding what looked like some kind of silvery blue substance in a glass flask.
"Master says the Muggle has to drink this when she awakes," the creature spoke suddenly in a gravelly voice, trusting the flask into Tohru's hand. Tohru stared from the flask to the creature, not entirely sure what she was supposed to be doing.
"Master says Muggle has to drink it," the creature said again with an urging motion of its hand.
"I-I have to dr-drink this," Tohru asked uncertainly, looking at the strange liquid in confusion. It didn't help that her head still felt like it was likely to explode.
"Tis what Master says and Kreature is doing as Master says."
Still not completely sure of herself, Tohru uncorked the flask and took an experimental sip and almost gagged. It tasted like undercooked meat and dirt.
"Yous is supposed to be drinking it," the creature scolded Tohru when she moved to put the disgusting liquid down.
Tohru frowned and looked over at Kyo for some kind of guidance but he just shrugged unhelpfully. Sighing, and wincing a little, Tohru took a good hold of the flask and tilted her head back, emptying it into her mouth and swallowing quickly.
With it empty, Tohru set the flask aside and grimaced at the sticky taste it left in her mouth. However, with great relief, she realized her splitting headache was gone, as well as the aches in her joints she hadn't noticed at first.
Tohru looked over at the creature, Kreature it had called itself – it was most fitting, who nodded its approval before disappearing with a loud crack. Tohru gapped at the place where it had disappeared before look at Kyo, wondering if he had seen the same thing she had.
Kyo didn't look as shocked or concerned at Kreature's disappearing act.
"Wh-what just happened," Tohru asked after a long stretch of silence in which Kyo just stared at her.
"I think Harry called it Apparating or something like that."
Tohru stared at him blankly, but Kyo either couldn't or wouldn't elaborate, so Tohru let it go for the moment.
Another uncomfortable silence issued throughout the room and in it that initial feeling of wanting to run as far away from Kyo as possible. Tohru now remembered the Kyo had really rejected her.
"Tohru?"
Kyo's voice was soft and low and filled with something Tohru couldn't quite identify.
It was irrationally, really it was, and Tohru knew it was irrational.
Maybe it was the emotional shock of suddenly remembering everything in one swell swoop, or maybe it was something else, but it still didn't excuse Tohru's reaction.
Really and she had thought she could have handled this lot better. Hadn't she practiced? Where had those hours alone of prep gone?
"Tohru!"
Kyo's voice called out from behind her.
Tohru jumped and ran even faster.
She didn't know where she was or how she got wherever she was, but at the moment that didn't matter. It took some maneuvering and maybe a bucket load of luck that she didn't run into any rooms or dead ends, but Tohru finally made it outside.
The sun was blinding and the pathway was made of cobble stone so that Tohru stumbled a little, but that didn't stop Tohru from giving into her irrational need to run, run, run.
Kyo was still yelling her name but she didn't slow, because she knew that when she did Kyo would want to talk to her, and she wasn't sure if she could handle another talk.
It was stupid, ridiculous, irrational.
And she was hopelessly in love with someone she couldn't be with, so really, she shouldn't have been blamed for her reaction – especially when the sound of his voice and the thought of him gave her the feeling that she was still being tortured by Greyback.
Tohru reached the edge of the property, given away by the low wall that seemed the surround the large area, and collapsed on it.
There were tears in her eyes and it wasn't from the wind blowing in her eyes on the run. Breathing heavily, Tohru looked up and then her breath caught in her throat when there was Kyo, standing not even a few feet away from her.
His mouth opened as he got ready to say something.
"Wait . . ." Tohru panted, throwing her hands out as if she was warding against something. "Wait . . . please. Just for a little while . . ." She chocked on a sob and whipped furiously at her eyes to get rid of the tears.
Stop crying, she willed herself. Stop crying! Stop Crying! STOP CRYING!
But the tears kept coming, no matter how much Tohru wished that they wouldn't.
Something curled around her wrist.
Startled, Tohru stopped rubbing her eyes and looked up to see Kyo standing over her. His expression was unusually somber.
"I wasn't thinking properly," he began softly, his hand moving to cover Tohru's. He moved so that he was kneeling before Tohru, his head bowed as he continued. "It was stupid and I should have thought about how my words would make you feel. And I should have realized that it could happen. That you could vanish and I wouldn't get the chance to apologize. It was dumb of me to not realize that it would happen. I keep making the same mistakes, over and over again. It's like I never learn."
Tohru opened her mouth, ready to defend Kyo against himself, but Kyo plowed on, not letting her. His voice was practically muted and yet so loud, like it was the only sound in the world, and Tohru was drawn to listen to every word.
"I'm sorry. That I made you cry. I hurt you a lot, and I'm sorry. But . . . this is the last time. I won't need a second chance. So please, just give me one more chance to be with you."
Kyo finally looked up and Tohru was able to recognize the feelings reflected in his crimson eyes. After all, hadn't she seen the same look in her eyes when she looked in the mirror? That hopeless love mixed in with a deep longing and coated with sadness.
"I want us to be together . . . from now on, living together, with you. I hate not being with you. Because, I love you," Kyo suddenly declared, his voice still muted but very much clear.
The word's vibrated in Tohru's mind to the point where nothing else seemed to make sense.
"So," she finally spoke slowly. "Does that mean . . . that being with you, is okay? Hand in hand, being together, it's all okay?"
Kyo looked a little surprised at her question and then he smiled and shook his head.
"Yeah . . . and see," he said, looking down at where their hands were clasped together. "We're already holding hands."
It was stupid.
It was ridiculous.
It was completely irrational.
But really, you couldn't actually blame Tohru for her reaction – especially when she was feeling so irrationally happy that everything seemed to spill over.
So the tears where actually necessary, because she was just so relieved!
It was like a dream come true.
And then Kyo was kissing her, just as soft brush of lips against each other that blurred Tohru's mind for just a moment. And that was like everything in the world suddenly making absolute sense.
It was just right.
"I have to say," Kyo said suddenly, looking just shy of smug. "This is the second time."
Tohru stared at him for a moment and then her entire face flushed a dark red.
"Ah," she exclaimed completely at a loss. "What! Wh-when?"
Kyo sighed and shook his head.
"Never mind," he said when Tohru tried to ask again when this supposed first kiss had happened. With little effort, the older teen pulled Tohru to her feet and then asked a question Tohru never thought he would.
"Do you mind . . . if I hug you?" He wasn't looking at her, but instead at his hands. "Even thought I'll quickly lose my human body and that . . . being together – with this body – might lead to suffering at times . . ."
He trailed off as if he wasn't completely sure of where he had been going with that.
"But don't you know," Tohru spoke into the sudden silence. Kyo looked up at her almost bashfully and Tohru smiled her radiant smile.
"I love you, Kyo-kun. I love you so much, it can't be beat!"
"Oh, well then I guess I can't be beat either," Kyo told her nonchalantly. "So there's nothing to be afraid of . . . if you're with me."
Tohru thought the smile that spread across Kyo's face then was the most beautiful thing in the world.
And it was made even better when Kyo pulled her into his arms.
Dudley could honestly say that this was the strangest thing he had ever seen before, and he's seen some pretty strange things. It was like a requirement if you lived with Harry Potter or even knew him.
He'd seen an eight-year-old boy disappear into thin air.
He'd seen several people blast their way into his living room through his fireplace.
He'd even seen his Aunt Marge inflate like a balloon and float around on the ceiling.
But this . . . this was just completely bizarre.
It wasn't every day that you watched a room of people succumb to tears out of nowhere. One minute they're all talking and trying to get to know each other, and then the next the entire family is crying their eyes out.
Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, no one was actually wailing, but they were still crying.
All together.
Which was still weird.
"What's going on in here," Harry demanded, coming into the room with Ron and Hermione trailing after him. He was looking around with a befuddled expression, like he wasn't completely sure of what he was seeing.
He knelt beside the closest Sohma, which happened to be Kisa, who was crying into Hiro's shirt. Hiro, Momiji, and Kureno were so far the only three not crying.
"What's wrong," Harry asked the young girl kindly, patting her soothingly on the back.
It wasn't Kisa who answered though.
"It's gone," Akito was the one to say in a thick voice. "It's broken."
"What's broken," Hermione questioned after sharing a bemused look with her husband.
There was a sudden ruckus outside of the room before Kyo ran in, dragging a bewildered looking Tohru behind him.
"The curse is gone," he announced to the entire room, holding up his arm.
Dudley wasn't completely sure of what they were talking about or even what Kyo was trying to show them, but the Sohmas seemed to get it.
"What curse," Hermione asked at the same time Harry said, "Is that all?"
Rin rounded on Harry, her eyes practically blazing despite the tears cluttered there.
"What do you mean 'Is that all'," she demanded.
Harry looked around the room slightly confused.
"I thought it was obvious that the curse was ending," he said, his voice reflecting his innocent confusion. "I mean, Kureno hasn't been cursed for years and just recently Hiro and Momiji were released."
A kind of tense silence settled on the room as everyone stared at one of the guys mentioned – well, everyone except Akito who was still crying into her hands.
"Maybe it was just me noticing," Harry then said softly, like he didn't really want to break the silence that had fallen.
"I'd still like to know what curse you all seem to be talking about," Hermione suddenly inputted in a stern voice.
"Its moot point now, Hermione," Harry told her, patting her on the shoulder.
Hermione whirled to glare at him and Harry swallowed thickly. There were few things that scared him now that Voldemort was gone, and a Hermione determined to get all the information was one of the few.
"I'll tell you later," he amended.
And then he maneuvered his way further into the room and over to Tohru's side.
"Tohru, it's nice to see you awake and feeling well," he commented, hoping that now that he was talking to his cousin Hermione would leave him alone.
Tohru looked away from the Sohmas, who were still eyeing each other, and turned to Harry. A bright smile made its way onto her face.
"Harrison," she greeted him and then proceed to pull him into a hug that had Harry feeling warm all over. "I want to thank you so much for rescuing me! I'm just sorry that it had to have happened."
"It was no trouble at all," Harry told her. "In fact, I should be the one apologizing. If it weren't for me you wouldn't have even been kidnapped."
"No, no, you really shouldn't blame yourself for that," Tohru said, pulling back and shaking her head. "If anything I should apologize for worrying you."
"It really was nothing Tohru," Harry said with conviction. "You honestly have nothing to apologize for. If anything I should be apologizing for not warning you about what happens to the people who associate with me."
"Well, we definitely know that they're related," Ron muttered, watching the two try and convince each other out of their guilt. "Think it's something in the blood or something?"
"Honestly, Ron," Hermione said in good fashion with a shake of her head.
It took a while to gather everyone.
There was a surprising number of people now inhabiting the home of Ron and Hermione Weasley. Not even Harry could completely explain how so many people came to be under the same roof, and he offered to have them all relocated to one of the many manors he had inherited.
Draco had protested against that, saying that they weren't 'lived in' and therefore weren't suitable to house people, so for the moment things were left alone.
And then there was Mrs. Malfoy, a presence no one was sure what to do with. Really they weren't even completely sure why she was there, at least everyone else sort of had a reason. Harry supposed that it was only a small comfort that he had sent Vernon and Petunia back to their homes at Privet Drive – Dudley and his family, of course, had wanted to stay.
If anyone were to do a count, the number of occupants would probably be around the 30s, clearly a lot of people, and Harry was dreading the moment when he'd have to tell the Sohmas exactly who he was.
A story which came all too soon for his liking.
Harry had tried to weasel out of it by appealing to Hermione's good side and making everyone a nice, Muggle cooked, meal.
Sadly it didn't work.
It was story time, and all 30ish people were going to be there to hear it.
After all, it wasn't everyday that you get the full story behind the Boy-Who-Lived's overly exciting life.
Remember that whole idea where the story tends to run away from a person? Well this one completely did a number on me. At first it was all cool but then that pesky writer's block hit and I was literally stuck. Then I had inspiration but by the end of this chapter the story had literally took on a life of its own. I so was not going to break the curse anywhere in this story, I wasn't really even planning to follow the Fruits Basket storyline, but really, I couldn't help myself. Besides the whole Tohru/Kyo relationship is too adorable to pass up. Now I'm only sad that I couldn't fit any Machi/Yuki in this chapter because that scene in the manga was too cute for words.