Wizards, Elves, Mates-Oh My! - Chapter Five
"He's here!" Fred grabbed for Harry but Harry pushed him away in time to fall to his knees, panting.
'Join me. It will be much less painful. If you don't, I will kill you, and it will hurt.' Fred, George and Snape watched as Harry's eyes went glassy.
"I will never join you. You will never win. I will be the one to kill you," Harry rasped. The other three blinked in confusion.
It instantly turned to worry as Harry screamed, falling onto his side. When Harry started to twitch, George reached for him, but Snape grabbed George's hand.
"It's Voldemort. He's using Occlumency and the Cruciatus on him. He has to fight it off alone." Snape pushed George's hand away from Harry until it was resting on the nape of his neck.
"Harry, come on, fight him. He can't win, you hear me!" Fred demanded. Snape also had his wrist, keeping him from getting any closer to Harry.
Harry forced his eyes open to see Fred inching closer by dragging both Snape and George. He could see Free yelling at him but he couldn't hear him over his own breathing. That was when Harry saw Lucius coming up behind Snape, Sirius hurrying after him with his face bloody. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna were all following, but none of them were raising their wands. He tried to warn Fred and George, but his voice was completely restricted.
'None of them need you Harry. They all have each other. Once this is done, they will all leave.' Harry could see Voldemort—he was in the mirror where Harry's reflection should have been. He was Voldemort—Voldemort was him.
"No." It was a rasp, nothing more would come out. Everyone watched as Harry stopped twitching and screaming in pain. Harry's hand slowly twitched forward, slowly raising above him. It was shaking horribly but it had force.
In Harry's mind, he was slowing bringing his aching arms up to punch the mirror. He felt a few shards push into his knuckles, but he ignored it to watch Voldemort's face contort in fury as it shattered.
"I know them! They won't leave me! You don't know because you don't understand love, or friendship. You don't know anything of friends!" Harry screamed, before his voice lodged as Voldemort forced another Cruciatus on him.
'You're a fool, Harry Potter. You will lose. You know this, they have already left you once. Why do you think they will stay?' Voldemort sneered.
"I just know they love me!" With that, Harry punched the mirror continuously until it was just shiny shards on the black floor. Harry closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to stop his body from shaking. But when he tried to open his eyes, he couldn't. They were too heavy and his body hurt too much for him to really care.
"Harry, you need to open your eyes," Snape whispered into Harry's ear. Harry whimpered—he didn't want to move.
"Sev, we know he's alive, can't we take him home?"
Was that Draco? Why was he here and when did he get here? Why would they want to take him home? Harry panicked, forcing his eyes open and forced his body to move away from Snape, who was holding Harry across his lap.
"Not going," Harry whimpered, moving slowly backwards. He tried to get away. Why weren't his friends helping? They all just stood there—Ron, Hermione, Fred, George. Even Draco and Lucius were standing on either side of Snape, free. Not wrapped in a rope like Harry would have had them. (Why did that thought arouse him?)
Maybe they were under the Imperius curse! Harry groped for his wand. When he finally found it, he pointed it at the dark trio before casting a stupefy. Instantly his body was forced into a hot lava-or so it felt. When it ended, Harry could only pant. His throat felt like it was dripping blood into his lungs, giving his breath a wheezing, wet sound to it.
"Harry, you can't attack your mates! The pain will only increase with every attempt." Harry only managed to get his eyes half open to see George kneeling in front of him, holding Harry up by his shoulders. Black spots danced in front of Harry before he collapsed.
George caught Harry, slowly lowering him to the floor before turning to the others. "What do we do now?"
"We will return the children to Hogwarts and you and your mates will take Harry to whichever house you wish. You will be excused from your exams Mr. Weasley's, Mr. Malfoy Jr." All the occupants in the hall turned to see Dumbledore with Sirius and Remus on either side.
"Sirius, if you please."
Sirius walked forward, glaring at Snape and both Malfoys before reaching the group. "Come on—everyone touch the book." He pulled a tattered, well-loved book from his coat pocket, holding it out for the group to touch.
"But Harry, Fred and George!" Rom exclaimed.
"Do not worry, they are safe with their mates," Remus explained, taking Ginny in his arms.
"Mates?" Everyone in the group shrieked, but Remus had grabbed Ron's hand and forced him to touch the book, activating the portkey and sending them all back to Hogwarts.
"Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Malfoy Jr., Severus, and both Mr. Weasleys, please take Mr. Potter back. Severus, you know what is needed. Don't force too much too on him too quickly—he is very sensitive, so be gentle." With his usual eye twinkle, Dumbledore vanished in a flash of green flames.
"Let's go." Snape knelt beside George, scooping Harry up and walking to the closest fireplace. In moments, the hall was empty again, the last of the green flames dying in the hearth.
*o*o*o*
When Harry woke, all he could feel was pain. His throat was raw and his head felt like it was repeatedly exploding, only to be forced back together by his skull. His back felt like a never cooling hot poker was stabbing into it. The only grace Harry had was that his limbs had gone numb, as if lead filled his veins in place of blood. Harry attempted to move only to feel the pain increase tenfold. He whimpered, but forced himself to sit up. As soon as his feet touched the floor, he vomited. His vision swam, his body ached, and thanks to the dry heaving, his throat felt like shards of glass were being slowly dragged through its tissue.
"Harry? You awake?" It was George, concerned per usual. Harry didn't answer. He was still mad that Fred and George had left him. Harry could hear a soft sigh come from somewhere in front of him. It would have helped if the room wasn't completely black.
George whispered lumos, and the soft glow was enough to see a small form sitting on Harry's bed. He walked closer, slowly revealing the figure to be Harry with his head hung. George quickly closed the gap between them.
"Harry?" George tried, but Harry didn't look up. George went to kneel to see Harry's face, but stopped when the smell of vomit reached him. He cleaned it with a quick spell before kneeling. He placed his hand under Harry's chin, lifting his head just enough to see Harry's pale face.
"Harry, you need to lie back down. Snape said your body went through a shock and it also has some nerve damage along with a few tears in your muscle tissue and throat, so you have to take it slow."
"George, is he awake?"
"Yeah, and sitting up."
"Yeah, sitting right here and I can hea—ah!" Harry flinched as Fred flicked on the light.
"Fred!" George chastised.
"Sorry, but I'd rather see him than try to care for him while balancing my wand."
"And what if I don't want your help?" Harry growled, pushing away from George. He only managed to increase his pain and fall back onto the bed.
"Then you're out of luck, 'cause we ain't leaving you alone again," Fred said.
"Not that we ever wanted to leave the first time. We just needed the rest of our mates—your mates, Harry," George rushed to add. Harry rolled over so his back was facing the twins, and curled up into a tight ball, no longer caring about his protesting muscles.
"Harry, come on, we never meant to hurt you. Talk to us," Fred pleaded.
"Alright, screw off! There, I spoke to you," Harry grumbled. He really didn't want to talk to them. Harry knew he was being harsh, but they had hurt him, and Voldemort's words still rung in his head. They will all leave you. He wanted to cry. The silence stretched on for some time. Finally, Harry heard two identical sighs.
'Finally,' Harry thought. He could feel two sets of lips press gently to his shoulder before he heard Fred and George walk out of the room. When he heard the door close behind them, he couldn't stop the tears that fell. He didn't want to be alone, but he didn't want to see any of them—his mates or his friends.
After some time, Harry calmed enough to hear the voices outside the room. He could only hear mumbling but he had a feeling they were talking about him. So as much as his body didn't want to, Harry got up and carefully walked to the door, pressing his ear against the wood.
"...we need to get him to eat something."
Was that Draco?
"We will, just give him time and wait until he comes out." Snape?
"Draco," -so it was Draco!- "let Fred and George take care of him for now." said. It was easy to tell because his voice was a deeper form of his son's.
"But I want to be near him!" Draco pouted.
"That's because you're second to him, you will feel that connection to him, but for now, leave him be Draco." Snape drawled. Harry could hear Draco whining before a crack was heard. Draco yelped but stayed quiet after.
"Now you need to eat just as bad if not more so than Harry," Mr. Malfoy said. Draco protested weakly but Harry could hear them walking away. Harry sighed in relief-he really didn't want to see the Slytherins.
Before Harry could move away from the door, it swung open, smacking him in the head and forcing him to the ground. Harry groaned in pain, glaring at the person who came through the door—Severus Snape.
"My apologies, Harry, but take this as a lesson on why you shouldn't eavesdrop on people."
"Well, when it's about me, don't I have a right to know?" Harry questioned, slowly dragging his body off the floor. Snape watched for a moment before scooping Harry up to rest in his arms.
"Hey!" Harry protested, but he didn't struggle. His body hurt too much and for some reason, being in Snape's arms made Harry feel warm and safe.
"We were talking about you, not to you, Mr. Potter," Snape said in his smooth drawl.
"Whatever." Harry attempted to sound ignorant but it sounded more like a child pouting. Snape rolled his eyes as he placed Harry on the bed. He then proceeded to pull a vile out of his pocket.
"Here. This should ease the pain." Harry glared at it, but he grabbed it from Snape's cold white fingers. "Drink it all—it will also help repair the nerve damage." Harry continued to glare, even as he gulped down the potion, simply to ease the pain.
"Never seen you without your robes," Harry mumbled, his words slurring together. He frowned. "It's not just for pain and nerves, is it?"
Snape just chuckled, the sound causing Harry to shiver and his blood to flow south. "The nerve repair can only work while you sleep. Did you ever pay attention in my class?"
"Sometimes. Liked hearing your voice." Harry's eyes slipped shut and moments later his breathing calmed to a rhythm of sleep.
"Good boy, Harry." Snape smoothed his hair back. He had never noticed how young the boy really looked. He could pass as a 12-year-old, and he was thinner than any other child he had seen. Fred and George had been with him—why wasn't he bigger?
"Severus? Draco needs another potion." Fred popped in, walking to stand next to Snape.
"Alright, I'll get on it as soon as I set this spell up."
"To tell us when he wakes up?"
"Correct." Severus cast a quick spell over Harry. "Now which potion did he need?"
"Umm..." Fred stalled, looking over at Harry.
"He is deep asleep. Do not worry about it, he cannot hear you."
"It's not that. We would just love to see him swollen with child, just like Draco. Plus, I don't remember which one he said." Fred laughed lightly.
"How is it you can remember every experiment you have ever done, every person who's bought your tricks, but you can't remember what a person said five minutes ago?"
"Just me!" Fred smiled. "Oh, wait! It was the nutrition potion!" Snape raised an eyebrow. Fred blushed and turned away. "By the way, what happens when we all join?"
"These markings," Snape caressed his own black ring that wrapped around his bicep. It was a jagged circle that looked like shards of glass gently placed to create a mosaic on Snape's arm. "They will all change colour. The colour will be according to personality and position in the mating." Snape calmly explained.
"Oh. Is that all?" Fred asked quietly.
"No. Once it happens, none of us will ever be alone, because no one can leave the mating and if someone tries or someone goes with another, it will cause the others immense physical pain."
"Oh."
"Now let's go. We need to get Draco his potions." Snape pressed a soft kiss on Harry's head before going to Fred and pulling him tight into his side. As they left, they both cast a longing look at Harry before once again leaving him to sleep peacefully.