Chapter three
"Jaskier! Jaskier! Jaskier!" Teddy whispered shaking Jaskier.
"Teddy?" Jaskier cracked open his eyes and blinked at the young black-haired boy in the early morning sunlight.
"Jaskier, can we make Daddy breakfast?" Teddy whispered, Jaskier yawned and sat up in his bed, Teddy crawling onto the bed.
"You want to make him breakfast?" Jaskier smiled.
"Yes, he has brought us on holiday and he has been working hard, I want to surprise him, but I am not allowed to use the cooker," Teddy nodded, his hair turning into a matching colour to Harry's.
"What is it that we should make him?" Jaskier asked, and Teddy looked stumped for a moment, "how about pancakes? They are his favourite,"
"Yes! Raspberry pancakes and banana pancakes!" Teddy exclaimed.
"Shush we will wake him, and that will spoil the surprise," Jaskier pressed his finger to his lip and Teddy imitated him with a giggle, nodding in understanding. "Come on, let's get going!" The two of them scrambled out of bed and hurried through to the kitchen in the holiday home.
"Oh…wow!" Harry stood stunned in the doorway to the kitchen.
"We made pancakes!" Teddy announced brightly, waving to the pile of misshapen pancakes that they had piled onto a large plate.
"I can see that, for me?" Harry asked walking into the kitchen fully with a growing smile.
"Yes! To say thank you for taking us on holiday," Teddy grinned.
"Especially here," Jaskier added.
"Well, this is an amazing surprise," Harry said walking over and sitting at the table, Jaskier picked Teddy up off of the stool he had been standing on and placed him onto the floor before helping him carry over the plate of pancakes and put it on the table. Harry smiled softly as the two of them went back and forth until there were plates, cutlery, glasses, juice, and two cups of coffee for Harry and Jaskier.
"Are they ok?" Teddy asked nervously when Harry took a big bite from his pile of pancakes.
"They are brilliant!" Harry said through his mouthful, Teddy and Jaskier high-fiving before they tucked into their own piles. "I thought that we could go down to the beach today?" Harry suggested once they had all had a few mouthfuls.
"Yay! Can we go swimming? And make sandcastles? And can we look for kelpies?" Teddy reeled off excitedly.
"Yes, yes, absolutely not," Harry snorted.
"Awwww,"
"Awww all you like, we're not going looking for something that wants to drown us," Harry shook his head amused.
"The travel book said that there is a nice walk on the cliffs here, can we do that?" Jaskier asked quietly.
"Of course, that sounds really good, we could take a picnic and have it at the top of the walk," Harry nodded.
"Is there something that you want to do?" Jaskier asked, and Harry blinked at him.
"Huh?"
"Is there something that you want to do while we're here?" Jaskier asked.
"There is a bookstore that is meant to be wonderful, I would love to visit it," Harry said after a moment.
"That sounds good!" Jaskier nodded.
"Looks like we have plans for the next couple of days," Harry smiled.
"Beach today?" Jaskier said making Teddy cheer.
"Beach today," Harry agreed.
"I can swim, Jaskier, can you swim?" Teddy asked.
"I can, I haven't been to the coast before, but when I was travelling around a lot of the time the only way that I could bathe was in rivers and streams which meant that I had to learn to swim pretty quickly," Jaskier explained.
"You had to bathe in rivers and streams?" Teddy asked eagerly.
"Cold rivers and streams most of the time!" Jaskier shuddered dramatically.
"That sounds awful! Did you have hot baths and showers?" Teddy asked, Harry and Jaskier met eyes across the table and both of them started laughing, remembering Jaskier's reaction to the shower the first time he had seen it.
"No showers, I hadn't seen one before coming here. We had baths though, they weren't like the ones here with running hot water, you had to heat up multiple buckets of water and pour them into the bathtub," Jaskier explained.
"That must have been terrible, the water must have gone cold quickly as well," Teddy blinked.
"It did sometimes but my…friend would use the magic that he had to heat it back up again," Jaskier said a little more somberly. Harry met his eyes and gave him a small, sad smile clearly knowing who he was talking about.
"Well, let's get ready to head to the beach," Harry smiled, and Teddy cheered loudly jumping down from his chair and running down the hallway to his room while they were here. "Thank you for the breakfast," Harry said as he and Jaskier made their way to their own bedrooms at a much more sedate pace.
"It was Teddy's idea," Jaskier shook his head.
"Thank you for helping him do it though, it means a lot to me,"
"All I did was make sure that he didn't set fire to the kitchen," Jaskier laughed, but he stopped and paused when Harry caught his hand.
"Jaskier, you never really take compliments very well," Harry said softly.
"I do, I don't know what you mean, I take compliments, I love myself, I talk about how wonderful I am all the time," Jaskier laughed, but Harry just shook his head.
"You do, but the minute someone actually compliments you, you deflect it, normally by making something discouraging about yourself or minimising what you have done," Harry said gently.
"I…that was…very…" Jaskier stammered, and Harry grinned sheepishly at him.
"I went to counselling, I do the same thing, that is why I see it," Harry admitted.
"I am not….I don't do…"
"I do it, did it, because I had been told a lot that I wasn't enough, that I wasn't right, that who I was wasn't enough," Harry said before he smiled gently at Jaskier, "just…you don't need to do it, you're very talented and a good person, don't put yourself down all the time, it upsets me to see you doing it," Harry squeezed his hand before letting it go and walking into his own room.
Jaskier walked into his room, shutting the door behind him as Harry's words echoed around in his head. He made his way to the window and looked out over the beach as he rubbed the hand that had held onto his.
When was the last time that he had received a compliment from someone that he cared about? From someone who was not one of his random fans, when was the last time Geralt had complimented him? When was the last time he had said something nice about him that wasn't a roundabout compliment or wasn't a compliment posed as an insult?
"Jaskier!" Teddy shrieked racing up the beach towards him, the Bard laughed as the small body impacted with his own, soaking him through right before Harry let out a shout and tackled the two of them.
"Harry!" Jaskier shrieked in protest when Harry's tickling fingers caught his own sides as well as Teddy's. "I thought you were making sandcastles!" He managed to shriek amongst his laughter.
"Jaskier! Help!" Teddy squealed.
"I'm pinned as well, kid!" Jaskier laughed.
"Right!" Harry said, and Jaskier squealed a lot louder than he would like to admit when he found himself gripped and thrown over Harry's shoulder while Teddy was being held under his arm, and then the dark-haired man was running towards the sea.
"Harry! No! Harry! Harry!" Jaskier shrieked realising what Harry was meaning to do. He shrieked even louder when Harry entered the water and the next thing he dropped them forward and submerged them under the water.
"Daddy!" Teddy laughed as Harry grabbed him around the waist and helped him tread water as the three of them bobbed back to the surface.
"Harry!" Jaskier huffed splashing water in Harry's face. He glowered as the three of them paddled back to the beach making Harry laugh as they stepped onto the sand.
"You look like a soaked kitten," Harry laughed.
"You are cruel and mean," Jaskier huffed dropping onto the blanket that he had been on before he was attacked.
"I am sorry," Harry grinned.
"You look it!" Jaskier grumbled before blinking and then blinking again as he watched Harry stripping off his shirt. His tanned skin was nicely golden, and his torso and back were covered in scars of different depths, one was worryingly deep where it ran down from his shoulder down to under his trunks. He was muscled which Jaskier had already known, but he didn't realise how much.
"Jaskier?" Harry laughed.
"Sorry, what? The sudden dunking seems to have scrambled me a little!" Jaskier mock glared while he tried to ignore the way his heart was fluttering.
"Are you wanting to make sandcastles with us?" Harry grinned at him, and there was a fondness there that didn't help that flutter in his chest.
"Well as the only one of the three of us that has seen a proper castle, a school doesn't count Harry, I will have to take the lead on this artistic masterpiece," He sniffed, standing back up and stomping down to the shoreline.
"Jaskier!" Harry shouted through his laughter when just as he reached Jaskier the Bard scooped up a bucket of water and threw it right at him. "Traitor!" He shouted as Teddy cheered, the boy and the Bard taking off down the beach laughing with Harry chasing them and throwing threats at them.
Geralt stared at Yennifer unable to believe what she had just said to him.
"You did what?" He asked incredulously. He hadn't been expecting this to go well, but he definitely hadn't been expecting to hear what he had just been told.
"I sent him away for good, you took something I wanted away from me, so I sent your toy away," Yennifer waved her hand where she was sprawled on the chaise lounge with a glass of wine in her hand. "I reacted in anger, I apologise, I will fix it," she sighed.
"You can bring him back?" Geralt sighed in relief.
"No, I sent him where he can't possibly come back, I will find you a replacement toy," Yennifer shrugged.
"Toy…toy…he isn't a toy," Geralt shouted standing up suddenly, but Yennifer didn't even blink.
"Could have fooled me with the way that you treated him, in fact, I have seen some royal children treating their toys better than you treated him," Yennifer said nonchalantly, but the flash in her purple eyes said otherwise, and he realised belatedly that she was still angry at him, he should have known when she apologised so easily.
"I didn't treat him like a toy, I care about him!" Geralt snapped, and the look of satisfaction in her eyes as she stood chilled him to the bone.
"That isn't the way he saw it, or I saw it, you always threw him away so easily, you always came running into my arms and between my legs whenever I so much as hinted at it - leaving him behind wherever you were until I was done with you - aside from mild chiding you never truly said anything to me about dropping him off here there and everywhere around the Continent when I was annoyed. Don't be silly Geralt, he was nothing more than a toy to you, and I will find you a replacement, I may even be able to find one that sings, though I will admit he was talented, I might not be able to find someone who can sing quite as well, and I may have to charm them to let you touch them, but then a toy is a toy, you won't notice the difference when they're face down in a pillow and you're fu…"
"Enough!" Geralt roared, and this time she did take a step back, her eyes widening just a little. "Bring him back!"
"I can't," Yennifer shrugged.
"Then…then…send me to him," Geralt stammered, his mind flashing over the weeks, the months that it had been since Jaskier had gone missing, since he had been sent away, and Geralt hadn't gone looking for him, so sure that the Bard would find him the way that he always did.
"I can't," Yennifer repeated.
"I am not playing Yennifer, you will send me to him or I will make you regret it!" Geralt growled.
"As entertaining as you barking and snapping at my heels is, I said that I can't not that I won't," she smirked.
"What do you mean you can't?" Geralt said slowly, a sense of dread building and building inside of him.
"I have no clue where I sent him, only that I sent him somewhere where he would be miserable for the rest of his life," Yennifer's smirk sharpened.
"What have you done…why have you done this to him?" Geralt shook his head stunned.
"You took what I wanted most and kept it from me, I took what you wanted aside from me and sent it away," Yennifer spat.
"I would have helped you,"
"You kept your child of surprise from me! We are bound together because of your wish! They could have been my child!"
"They…they are not a replacement for what you want, Cirilla isn't a possession, or an item, that I could have taken and presented as a gift to you, she belongs with her family for as long as she can be with them,"
"I want a child, you have one, you should have given her to me!"
"I would have helped you get a child Yennifer! This was between you and me, not Jaksier!" Geralt shouted.
"You made it about him as well, you made him involved in this! You wanted both of us, well that comes with consequences, that fucking annoying gnat was the only way I could make you feel the way that you had made me feel! And if I can't be happy, neither can you!" Yennifer screamed, before yelping in shock when Geralt's silver sword slashed across her face.
"Nothing will ever make you happy because you are determined to always be the victim!" Geralt growled.
"Look who is talking, why do you think we get on so well Geralt? Why do you think you are pulled to me!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about!"
"You wallow in what you are and what was done to you, you wallow in how people treat you, you wallow in the tough hand that the fates assigned to you, and you use it as an excuse for your behaviour! Jaskier was there the whole time, loving you with everything that he had, but you were so busy wallowing and determined to carry on suffering that you ignored it, you bound us together, you demanded that he allowed you to have me as well or you wouldn't be with him knowing that he would give in to you because of how much he loved you no matter how much you protest otherwise. If you had been happy with what you had if you had not been so determined to be the hard done by, unloveable Witcher, then I never would have sent him away because I wouldn't have been involved," Yennifer smirked.
"You…" Geralt snarled, taking a step forward before he stopped himself and stepped back again. Without saying anything he just turned and walked out, ignoring Yeniifer's shrieks and shouts, her insults, and her anger as he walked out of the mansion and to where Roach was waiting for him.
Completely absently he climbed into her saddle and set off at a fast trot, needing to put as much space between himself and Yennifer as he could, though he couldn't get away from the words that she had spoken to him, the words spinning round and round in his head as though they were being shouted in his ears. She was right, that is what it came down, she had been right.
And now Jaskier was somewhere…who knew where…somewhere that Yennifer had sent him to be miserable, somewhere where he was suffering, and had been for months and Geralt only just knew because he had done what he normally did and left Jaskier to deal with the consequences of Geralt's actions, with the words that he had said the last time they had seen each other, the poison that he had spat at him in anger because…because he was upset about Yennifer being angry at him.
He had wanted to hurt Yennifer, he had wanted to attack her, but he knew that leaving her to stew in her anger would hurt more in the long run. He closed his eyes and went over again and again and again that moment on the mountain, everything that he had said and done on that mountain… Geralt pulled Roach to a halt when he realised that he had missed something, he remembered the one part of the mountain that he had ignored because it had been after Jaskier and Yennifer had left.
Borch had offered to send him to Jaskier….what was it that he said?
'Hmm, very well. I offered and you rejected. I hope you are happy with the choice that you made'
He had known what had happened, he had known what Yennifer had done and he had tried to give Geralt the option to make the right choice, and he hadn't, he had been stubborn and determined to hold onto being hard done by and keeping Jaskier at arm's length to try and keep power in a relationship where the man who loved him had given him everything, that he had missed his chance to get straight to Jaskier and help him, even if they had both been stuck there at least he would have been there to protect and help the bard in whatever hell hole Yennifer had sent him to.
He just needed to track the Dragon down now.
Jaskier grinned as they made their way up the hillside, Teddy was running ahead of them, detouring every now and then to pick something up that he had seen. He had about 10 flowers in his hair, as did Harry and Jaskier, and Harry's pockets were full of rocks and other bits that Teddy had found. The sun was shining down on them but there was a lovely cool breeze blowing over them as they walked up the little dirt pathway.
"He is definitely going to sleep tonight," Harry laughed watching Teddy run towards the edge of the cliffside, he bounced slightly when he was about 2 feet away from the side, pausing to turn and pout at Harry before carrying on.
"Being a wizard definitely has major pluses," Jaskier snorted, it was about the fourth time that this had happened.
"Major pluses, I am sure that I would have had a heart attack years ago without being able to cast charms on him," Harry shook his head. "It is beautiful up here though," he said turning and looking out over the water glittering in the sunlight below them, stretching out as far as their eyes could see.
"It reminds me a little what my days used to be like," Jaskier said, looking into the forest to their right.
"You miss it," Harry said sympathetically.
"I do…and I find myself not," Jaskier said slowly, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Harry's head snapping around to look at him. "I…there are certain things that I miss from my world, and there are people that I miss, but the longer I am here, the more I enjoy this world and the differences from my own. I miss Geralt…" Jaskier cut himself off.
"But?" Harry asked gently.
"The longer I am away from him, the more I feel like I can see our relationship clearly for the first time. The longest that we were apart was four months, and even then I would be thinking about him, writing songs for him. I was determined to change how the world saw him, so he was always there. But here, being away from him without the chance of seeing him, it wasn't healthy, it wasn't a good relationship. I still love him, but I excused his behaviour and the way that he treated me, I ignored what I wanted and what made me unhappy because he has been through so much I didn't want him to have to sacrifice any happiness that he could find,"
"But your happiness is equally as important," Harry said softly.
"I didn't see it that way, I wanted to make him happy but…but I don't think the sentiment was returned," Jaskier sighed. "He didn't want me miserable, don't get me wrong, and he would do little things that let me know he cared about me, he always kept spare lute strings for me and would take me along pathways that he knew I would like where we were travelling. But we wouldn't go out of our way to do something that I wanted or would have liked, and he never did something that he wasn't really interested in doing because it was important to me. We had a major singing competition in one of the big cities at home, winning it was so important to me and would have been amazing for my career. He wouldn't come with me because he said he didn't like cities because of his sensitive senses. Three months later we were in that same city because one of his friends, Triss, wanted him to run some errands for her," Jaskier sighed.
"I am sorry Jaskier," Harry said softly.
"I looked out into the crowd a million times it feels like hoping that he would realise how important to competition was to me and would show up, I won it, but he wasn't there," Jaskier looked up the hillside in front of them.
"You deserve better,"
"I don't know if I deserve better, but being away, I want better," Jaskier admitted.
"Well you have your room with us for as long as you want it Jaskier," Harry nudged their shoulders together, walking a little closer to Jaskier than before. Jaskier smiled softly to himself as they walked up the hillside, Teddy shouting excitedly to them every now and then, bouncing off of Harry's wards every now and then.
Geralt felt as though he were a child again as he sat there under the scathing gaze of Vesemir, Lambert, and Eskel, the three of them looking at him incredulously and the worst part Eskel and Vesemir were looking at him with utter disappointment.
"I have a question," Lambert said, and from the thoughtful frown on his face, Geralt knew whatever he asked was going to make this worse for him. "We all thought that the Bard never came here with you because he didn't want to mix with more Witchers, you were the exception to the rule. But from what you have just said, you never invited him did you?"
"I…I thought about it," Geralt muttered, but that was enough.
"What were you going to bring him here when he was about 90?" Vesemir snapped.
"I can't believe that you didn't even try and find him till now!" Eskel shook his head.
"I just…I didn't want him to know how much power he had over me," Geralt hunched his shoulders.
"So better you hurt him than he hurt you?" Lambert snorted.
"Which from what you have now said about him seems highly unlikely," Vesemir shook his head. "I told you that Witch wasn't good for you,"
"Will you help me?" Geralt asked.
"No!" Vesemir snapped, and Geralt sat up straight with wide eyes unable to believe what he had heard, even Lambert and Eskel turned to look at their mentor shocked. "We will help the Bard that has loved you, helped improve the way we are treated by the extent of improving your reputation, and has been dropped into this mess because you were so blockheaded and cruel. Helping you will be a consequence of helping him!"
"All I want is to find him, anything," Geralt muttered, his face burning with shame.
"I will go and look into some of the dragon books, see if we can narrow down where he might be," Eskel shook his head, not even saying anything to Geralt but making him feel as though he had roared at him as he turned and walked out of the room.
"I know someone that may have heard word of the dragon, I will pack and get out there, I will let you know if I hear anything," Lambert shook his head. "You have no idea how much any of us would have killed to have someone love us the way he seems to have loved you? And you just pissed it up the wall,"
Geralt watched Lambert leave before turning to look at Vesemir. His mentor was already staring at him, his father figure, and he was looking beyond furious, and beyond disappointed. Without saying anything else to him he just turned and also walked out of the hall leaving Geralt sitting in the middle of the hall that had been filled with laughter and chatter, sorrow and grief, mourning and celebration, but he had never felt as ashamed as he did right now, sitting listening to the echo of Lambert, Eskel and Vesemir's feet as they moved through the Keep to help him…help Jaskier.
He had pictured a million times bringing Jaskier here with him for the winter, and he had known that Jaskier was desperate to do so, to meet his family, to see the closest thing that Geralt had to a home, to see where he had become who he was. He had imagined how well Jaskier would get on with Eskel with their love of books and poetry, how well he and Lambert would get on with their quick tongues and loves of verbal battle, and how much Vesemir with enjoy sharing his stories with someone who didn't roll their eyes because they had heard them a million times, and how much Jaskier would delight in hearing them.
But he hadn't brought him here, even though he hated it when they were parted for the winter, why? Because it felt like letting Jaskier too close, it felt like opening himself up too much to him. He planned on bringing him here, but when would it have been? When Jaskier was 90? Nothing the others could throw at him would make him feel as bad as he thought about the distraught look Jaskier had worked fast to cover up when it had been revealed that Yennifer had sent some time during the last winter at Kaer Morhen, and how Geralt had made himself dismiss seeing the look, forget it, even though he had tried to explain that it had been because she needed things in the Keep and had just shown up. Jaskier had smiled and nodded, but his blue eyes hadn't been able to hide his hurt, hadn't been able to suppress how much it had wounded him.
Geralt dropped his head into his hands as the image of those blue eyes became burned into his mind.
"You're back!" Hermione cheered, throwing her arms around Teddy, then Harry, and then tugged Jaskier into a tight hug of his own. "Did you have a good time?" she grinned.
"It was amazing," Jaskier nodded, and then Teddy started talking a mile a minute, telling Hermione every single moment of their trip while Harry and Jaskier exchanged amused looks over his head.
"Home sweet home," Harry groaned, dropping onto the sofa.
"It will be nice being in my own bed, as comfortable as the one in the holiday home was," Jaskier smiled.
"What can Marcus be getting the masters and mistress," Marcus popped into the room and swept into a deep bow before standing creakily back up.
"Can I have water please," Hermione said loudly.
"Coffee please,"
"Water and tea," Marcus nodded.
"No coffee!" Harry shook his head.
"I heard you, tea," Marcus frowned.
"No COFFEE!" Harry shouted.
"Tea for all of you, got it masters!" Marcus bowed again and popped out leaving the three of them looking amused.
"Tea is fine right?" Harry asked amused.
"It is," Jaskier said between his laughter. The three of them however lost it when three seconds after Marcus had popped out from leaving them with their tea Winky popped into the room and with a huff delivered what they had actually asked for, before popping right back out again muttering about 'deaf old bat'.
"Harry it is early!" Jaskier whined.
"It is ten o'clock," Harry laughed as he reached out and grabbed Jaskier by the wrist before he could walk into the wall and started towing him through the house.
"I was performing," Jaskier pouted.
"You have had eight hours of sleep, that is all you need to function," Harry grinned.
"Heathen!" Jaskier clutched his chest, "function and optimum performance level are two very different things,"
"You will like this, I promise," Harry grinned.
"Hmm," Jaskier narrowed his eyes at the wizard and pouted a little for full effect, not missing the way Harry's eyes dropped to his lips before his head whipped around and he carried on leading them through the house.
"What are we doing Daddy?" Teddy asked excitedly when they walked into what had become his and Jaskier's music room. Jaskier blinked around when he realised everything had been shrunk and was sitting safely on a table opposite the room. The room was completely bare.
"We're going to decorate, whatever colour and shade you guys want on these three walls, and I thought that for this feature wall we could use all the things that we collected from our holiday to make a collage," Harry explained waving his hand and revealing every single rock, shell, branch, and flower that Teddy…and Jaskier had collected during their trip. There was also a bucket of sand that Harry had clearly taken with them, and a few buckets of water.
"This is amazing!" Jaskier laughed happily, carefully picking up one of the flowers that he had collected, running his finger over it, and recognising the hum of Harry's magic over the delicate object, sure that the spells that he had cast on it would protect and preserve it for years.
"Shall we start?" Harry asked and was greeted with two very enthusiastic shouts.
Five hours later they stood back and looked at what they had created, the wall looking stunning and filled with the memories of their time together.
"Alright, step back," Harry instructed and Jaskier picked up a now tired Teddy and settled him on his hip before stepping further into the room, the two of them watching with interest as Harry rolled back his sleeves and then flicked his wand as though he was a conductor leading an orchestra, which he almost was Jaskier thought as he watched the sand leaping to life and flowing out of the bucket as though it were a snake, twisting and twirling through the air until it reached the wall, and then it slid into place amongst the different things that they had placed on the bottom of the wall, the three of them having decided to recreate slightly the beach and hillside with the things that they had, dotted amongst them were the tourist leaflets, entry tickets, and a couple of pictures of the three of them that they had taken while they were away. The sand slid around them until it settled into place and glued itself to the wall.
Then Harry flicked his wand at the water, and it shuddered in the buckets for a second before leaping to life, twirling and dancing through the air, Harry glanced over his shoulder and smiled at the two of them before the water became the shapes of dolphins and fish as it travelled towards the wall, and then as soon as it touched the wall it seemed to crystallise, turning a stunning shade of blue and silver as it flowed around the upper part of the wall, settling perfectly into place against the line of the sand.
As soon as it was settled into place Harry stepped forward and tapped the wall with his wand, and a shiny layer seemed to trickle from his wand across the wall, sealing in their art and memories as it gave them extra protection from being damaged.
"It looks amazing," Jaskier breathed, stepping forward with Teddy to look over the artwork.
"We did a good job," Harry nodded.
"I love it," Teddy smiled brightly before settling his head onto Jaskier's shoulder. "Can we make a den and sleep in here tonight?" He asked.
"I am definitely up for that," Jaskier nodded when Harry looked at him questioningly.
"Well, why don't you two run out and get us some takeaway, and I will get in here setup," Harry suggested.
"Yay! Can I have fish and chips?" Teddy asked.
"Of course, here…" Harry started pulling his wallet out but Jaskier shook his head.
"My treat," he said already walking towards the door.
"Thank you," Harry just smiled at him, and Jaskier felt a thrill going through him that he had not tried to argue. As he mostly listened to Teddy chattering excitedly about the last time he and Harry had built a fort and slept in it, Jaskier realised how grateful he was that Harry got him, it was something that was important to Jaskier, now that he had his own steady income coming in he wanted to be able to treat Harry and Teddy here and there were he could as thanks for all the things that they had done for him. The first few times he had done it he had been expecting Harry to protest, but he had just looked at him and then thanked him.
"That was amazing, thank you Jaskier," Harry groaned as he dropped back onto the cushions that he had laid out on the floor for them to sleep on, again Jaskier was delighted with Harry's magic as it was one of the most comfortable things that he had laid on. There was a large sheet over them and Harry had enchanted small balls of light in multiple colours to float above their heads.
"I only bought it," Jaskier snorted.
"But it was delicious and perfect for tonight," Harry rolled his head to grin at Jaskier, and that feeling swelled in his chest again and he looked down at the dark-haired wizard.
"Are we getting to watch something?" Teddy asked looking at the tv that Harry had set up while they were gone.
"Yes, I think it is something that you will both like," Harry smiled rolling to his feet and made his way over to the TV. Jaskier and Teddy shuffled so that they were lying on their fronts on the pillows, waiting for Harry to get back to them, he lay down on Teddy's other side, the three of them settled down and then Harry turned the TV on.
"Oh my god a ballet!" Jaskier grinned sitting up a little to see Harry better.
"I thought you guys might like it," Harry smiled.
"But you don't like these?" Teddy looked at his dad.
"I can get some sleep through it," Harry teased before closing his eyes and making exaggerated snoring noises. Jaskier and Teddy snickered as they settled down to watch the ballet, Harry opening his eyes and watching it beside them, listening fondly to their chatter about the ballet, but mostly about the music.
"Whazat?" Harry snorted sitting upright to find Teddy and Jaskier grinning at him. "How loud did I snore?" he groaned dropping his face back into the cushion.
"Not very loudly at all," Jaskier chuckled.
"I'm sorry guys, I tried to stay awake,"
"It is fine, you stayed awake through more of it than I expected you to," Jaskier said as he and Teddy shuffled around to get settled down for sleep.
"We know you don't like it, you put it on for us anyway," Teddy snuggled down into Harry's side, the dark-haired wizard turned over onto his back and wrapped his arm around his son.
"The fact that you put it on and tried it for us is all that matters," Jaskier agreed settling down himself.
"I liked the part with the swans," Harry said making Teddy and Harry start laughing.
"It is called Swan Lake, Harry," Jaskier said through his laughter.
"And the swans were the part I liked," Harry nodded sagely. "Oomph," he grunted when Jaskier hit him in the face with his pillow before he threw it back under his head and settled down, Teddy and Harry chuckling as the three of them settled down.
"This has been really cool, thank you, daddy, thank you Jaskier," Teddy smiled as he snuggled down.
"You're welcome, I had fun today too," Harry kissed Teddy's cheek.
"Me three," Jaskier hummed snuggling down into the covers.
Harry waved his wand and the orbs of light dimmed and then went out, and Jaskier and Teddy gasped when the water of their mural behind them started glowing a soft blue.
"Perfect," Jaskier sighed contently as his eyes got heavier as he lay falling asleep looking at the wall.
Harry hurried up the stairs to the music room, but just as he got to the floor he paused at the sound of the music that was coming from the room, the music was a little melancholic and sad, yet beautiful as well. He slowed down and pulled to a stop halfway down the hall, leaning against the wall as Jaskier started the music again, and then he started singing.
"The fairer sex, they often call it
But her love's as unfair as a crook
It steals all my reason
Commits every treason
Of logic, with naught but a look
A storm raging on the horizon
Of longing and heartache and lust
She's always bad news
It's always lose, lose
So tell me love, tell me love
How is that just?
But the story is this
She'll destroy with her sweet kiss
Her sweet kiss
But the story is this
She'll destroy with her sweet kiss
Her current is pulling you closer
And charging the hot, humid night
The red sky at dawn is giving a warning, you fool
Better stay out of sight
I'm weak my love, and I am wanting
If this is the path I must trudge
I welcome my sentence
Give to you my penance
Garrotter, jury and judge
But the story is this
She'll destroy with her sweet kiss
Her sweet kiss
The story is this
She'll destroy with her sweet kiss
But the story is this
She'll destroy with her sweet kiss
Her sweet kiss
But the story is this
She'll destroy with her sweet kiss
The story is this
She'll destroy with her sweet kiss,"
There was a sadness and emotion in his voice that Harry could practically feel. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, waiting as Jaskier started strumming again. He leaned his head against the wall and listened to Jaskier strumming before he pushed off of the wall and made his way into the room.
"Jaskier," Harry said, alerting the Bard to his presence, Jaskier still started a little but looked up with a smile for Harry.
"Is everything ok?"
"I have been able to figure out the magic that brought you here," Harry explained, Jaskier sat up straighter and set his lute to the side, Harry pulled a chair across the room to sit near the Bard. "You said that there was a dragon there?"
"Yes, Borch…he was a golden dragon," Jaskier pinched his nose. "I can not believe that I didn't realise that,"
"It looks like he interfered with her magic when she cast the spell on you, from what I have been able to tell from taking the magic apart her spell was too developed for him to be able to cancel it, but he was able to interfere with it, redirect it really,"
"What was her spell meant to do?" Jaskier asked, unable to keep the hint of fear from his voice as he looked at Harry's face and realised that it wasn't going to be good.
"I am sorry, it was meant to send you somewhere that you would be miserable, unhappy, and it was meant to send you away from your world so that you couldn't get back," Harry explained.
"I had figured out the last part," Jaskier sighed after the two of them sat there in silence for a few moments while he stared at his hands, Harry watching him concerned, "but the first… I knew she didn't like me, I knew that she wanted to get rid of me. I didn't think that she hates me though, not this much, so much to send me away somewhere that I would be miserable,"
"I am sorry," Harry reached out and took his hand, squeezing it supportively.
"But I am not miserable, obviously it has been a difference settling in a new place, but I don't imagine that that was what she wanted," Jaskier frowned looking up from their hands.
"That is where the dragon magic came in. He was able to interfere with the spell, as I said it was too developed for him to interfere with it in the manner of stopping it, but he was able to interfere to change its intention, because his magic wasn't the origin of the spell it has been harder to figure out, but from what I have been able to get he managed to turn it to something like you being sent somewhere where you could be happy,"
"And I was lucky enough to land on your doorstep," Jaskier said, but his hand tightened around Harry's and the wizard watched concerned as Jaskier actually shivered in fear.
"Jaskier?" Harry stood from his chair and sat on the arm of Jaskier's chair.
"I know that your magic and her magic are different, but when you said developed, could she have been planning this?" Jaskier asked quietly.
"You think that she had been planning to do this to you for a while?! I…yes it is possible that she had been developing the spell for a while," Harry said through gritted teeth.
"She was saying things on this trip, things that with hindsight make sense. When we were halfway up the mountain she summoned Geralt to her tent, I wasn't going to go in as well anyway, but she said for him to send me further away or she would send me further away than I would like,"
"Jaskier, I am sorry," Harry squeezed his hand again.
"Like I said I knew she didn't like me, but knowing this much…I don't know why that hurts so much,"
"No one likes to know that there is someone in the world that hates them enough to want to send them away, especially when there is nothing that you have done to give a reason for that hatred," Harry shook his head.
"I jibed at her as well, got my digs in where I could," Jaskier sighed.
"Jaskier there is no excuse for what she did, there is very little that you could have done to her that would justify what she did to you, never mind what she intended to do to you,"
"I just…hate this," Jaskier sighed, sinking back into his chair. He wanted to complain when Harry let go of his hand, but then there was a whoosh of Harry's magic and then he had a laugh startled from him when suddenly his teal blanket swept into the room and covered him, twisting around him and settling over him.
"Here it is," Vesemir nodded as the instrument in his hand started humming, the four of them looked up at the nondescript manor in front of them, not where they had expected to find a golden dragon, but then again they had no clue where he would have been.
"What if he won't help?" Geralt said, staring up at the house.
"If you are looking for us to be sympathetic with you, you're going to have a long wait," Lambert snorted, spurring his horse up the pathway.
"The longer that you hover out here, the longer the Bard is wherever the hell that crazy bitch sent her," Eskel said following Lambert, Vesemir gave him that same disappointed look that he had been giving him for the last two months.
Geralt took a deep breath before urging Roach onward, he prayed to any of the gods that were listening that Borch would be able to help him, that he would be able to send him to Jaskier, that he would send him to Jaskier. The last part that he had said to Geralt had made it sounds as though it was a final choice Geralt had unknowingly made, he just really hoped that it wasn't.
He didn't care though, he would find a way to Jaskier, he would find a way to reach him, to apologise to him, and to rescue him from whatever horrible things were happening, from whatever hellhole Yennifer had sent him to.
"HARRY!" Jaskier screamed as he ran into the house, slamming the door behind himself and racing through to the kitchen.
"Jaskier? What happened? Is everything ok?" Harry asked frantically as he ran to meet Jaskier, the two of them nearly bumping into each other, but then Jaskier continued the momentum and threw his arms around Harry in a tight hug.
"I have been signed up for a record! A witch approached me when I was playing in The Leaky Cauldron and spoke to me about recording some songs and releasing them!" Jaskier started jumping up and down with his arms still around Jaskier.
"Oh, Merlin! Jaskier!" Harry started jumping up and down with him, hugging him tightly back. "Oh Merlin, that is amazing! Congratulations!"
"It still has to be recorded to see what her company thinks, and she wants me to write a whole new song and…"
"You're going to wow them Jaskier, this is amazing, totally amazing! You deserve this!" Harry grinned before scooping Jaskier off of his feet and spinning him around in the air making the Bard laugh and cling to him.
"Are we celebrating something?" Hermione asked as she and Teddy walked in.
"Jaskier is making a record!" Harry beamed.
"Jaskier!" Hermione dove onto them and started hugging Jaskier as well, Teddy wrapping his arms around Jaskier. "We need to celebrate!"
"Oh you guys don't need to make a fuss," Jaskier flushed.
"It deserves a fuss Jaskier, I will call Molly," Harry said.
"I will call the twins!" Hermione raced out of the room.
"This is so cool Jaskier!" Teddy hugged him tightly as Harry started the fire.
"It is really cool," Jaskier smiled as he listened to Hermione thundering up the stairs to the next floor where the living room fire was.
Jaskier took a deep drink from the cup that Bill had handed him, the kids had all been put to bed in The Burrow and now the drinks had come out, the sun was starting to set and Molly and Arthur had cast some spells to make candles float over them and around them.
They were seated outside with warming charms around them to take the edge off of the still cool weather even though they were mid-spring, the kitchen table was outside and it was still groaning under the amount of food that Molly had somehow managed to cook up in the hour that it had taken for them to get over to The Burrow, even though they had eaten their way through so much of it they were all sitting around the table groaning, Charlie had even undone his belt and the top button of his trousers much to Molly's disapproval.
Jaskier was a little overwhelmed with the turnout, the people who had come here to celebrate for him at short notice. Hermione, Ron, Nevile, Fred, George, Luna, Ginny, Molly, Arthur, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Lee, Seamus, Dean, and Andromeda were all here for him, celebrating his music. There were banners hanging everywhere, streamers were floating in the wind and there were fairies bobbing around in the air, as well as fireworks silently going off over their heads in colourful explosions.
Jaskier sat back in his chair, tilting his head back to look at the fireworks, watching the colourful sparks exploding in the air. He brought his glass up to his lips and took a sip of the firewhisky in it before settling to watch the fireworks again as he listened to the laughter and chatter going on around him, he could hear Hermione squabbling with Ron, and Arthur and Luna having a deep conversation about something that was no doubt going to be very strange.
Looking back down he looked over the people that had become his friends over the nine months that he had been in this world, the warm feeling in his chest as he looked over them brought a smile to his face without any real thought about it, he felt warm and comfortable as he sat there curled up in his chair. There were shouts from one end of the table as Ginny arm wrestled Bill, Molly clucking and scolding them while trying not to laugh at them, especially Bill's face when Ginny beat him. Jaskier chuckled at Charlie's face when Andromeda slammed her elbow down onto the table and offered him her hand in challenge, Jaskier would tell him later that she used a charm to cheat, right now it was more amusing to see the muscled dragon tamer clearly trying not to hurt the older lady as they gripped hands.
"Everything ok?" Harry asked, and Jaskier turned as his friend touched his shoulder, still smiling with lazy contentment.
"Yeah, I am just happy, really happy," Jaskier admitted.
"Good?" Harry smiled slowly at him before the smile became something else. "I am glad you are happy,"
"This is more than I expected. Thank you," Jaskier said honestly.
"You don't need to thank you, you deserve this, it is amazing news, and everyone wants to celebrate it," Harry reached forward and refilled both their glasses.
"Jaskier, do you have any idea what you're going to write your new song about?" Ginny asked before throwing a grape into the air and catching it in her mouth, Luna clapped next to her while Molly just snorted, waving her hand.
"What the fuck!" Charlie exclaimed from down the table staring at Andromeda in disbelief as the grandmother flexed her biceps and then kissed both of them mockingly.
"I have some ideas," Jaskier hummed, "I need to lay it out in my head,"
"I can't wait to hear it," Luna said dreamily.
"Me either mate, such good news, I can't wait to tell everyone at work that I know a famous musician," Ron grinned.
"He's going to obviously write a song about how utterly amazing we are," Fred announced, dramatically standing with his hand in the air.
"Jaskier doesn't write shit songs so that isn't going to be it," Harry said right away before taking a sip of his drink while the twins gawped at him. Jaskier listened to the twins squawking at Harry and Harry just batted everything back to them, the others around them cheering Harry on and listening to the verbal match that Harry was clearly winning. He settled back into his chair and looked around the group again as the strums of music started creating itself in the back of his mind.