Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Harry Potter and co. All belongs to J.K. Rowling and the publishers. I just do this for fun, no profit. I also in no way own the quotes or lyrics.
Power of Will
By: Jodelle
"Desperation is like stealing from the Mafia:
You stand a good chance of attracting the wrong attention."
-Doug Horton
Previous Chapter:
He wondered what they'd find when they reached the ground. Would they find a whole new world or the same world they'd left? Safe in Draco's arms Harry lost consciousness.
Chapter 2: Grave Robbing
Draco Malfoy had almost passed out when he was safely on the ground once more. His knees had buckled leaving him sprawled out on a soft patch of grass. His breathing was labored and he winced at the pain in his throat.
Even with the pains he'd had to go to in order to come out of their fall alive it was the best he'd felt since his imprisonment. He didn't regret saving Ginny but to have admitted his reasoning behind saving her he would have been killed immediately over being imprisoned for those three weeks. He hoped Potter wouldn't ask too many questions as he wasn't sure he could talk about it all just yet.
After being at Azkaban for three weeks with his thoughts centered around gruesome things it was a relief to be able to think of the time at hand rather than his past. It had also been a great feeling to feel his magic rushing through his veins as he'd done his partial transformation. His thoughts froze in their tracks as he heard someone groaning.
Finally catching his breath he stopped panting and was able to get into a sitting position with some difficulty. Looking to his left then his right he spotted Potter.
It wasn't his fault the Potter had fallen so roughly but he still felt guilty for not being able to catch him. When he'd lost consciousness he'd started slipping out of Draco's grasp. It was lucky that when he'd fallen he'd fallen less than ten feet or he might not have made it.
"Potter?" Draco tried to say only to find himself coughing. In his hand was a small amount of splattered blood. He would have been worried had he not realized that the potion must have blistered his throat. Instead all Draco had managed to say, "erder."
In response to Draco's attempt at speech Harry lips moved although no sound came out. Upon Draco's fingers brushing the boy's palm Harry's hand grasped at them. That Harry was moving even in the slightest of ways was good. It wouldn't have gone over well if he'd been paralyzed by his impact with the ground.
Draco wondered for a moment if the boy-who-lived was asleep and then snorted at the thought. There was no way Harry was asleep because the pain wouldn't allow for it. No, only blackouts could make the pain of starvation and injury go away long enough to allow for sleep.
Draco knew you weren't supposed to move someone that was injured in case they were injured in ways you couldn't see. Draco got closer to Harry putting two fingers in the place between the eyes and his other palm on Harry's stomach. This was going to hurt like hell but if it worked they could be on their way.
In position Draco mentally chanted a healer's spell. When he saw the small injuries such as scratches and bruises start to give way to pale skin he smiled. Taking a deep breath and letting it go with a huff Draco began the spell that would drain him greatly but was necessary.
Although no one could tell by just looking at him what work he was doing when a blue light enveloped Harry it was clear that something had been done. He felt his energy being depleted during the few minutes the spell lasted and knowing he'd done what he could he pulled back.
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Harry felt a tingling go through his body. He shivered at the sensation that felt similar to being enveloped in an icy wind and becoming numb. When he started to tremble violently he felt someone hold him down before a wave of pain crashed over him.
Harry tried to break free from the grasp of the person subjecting him to this torture but only managed to scratch him with his ragged bitten nails. Hearing a grunt of pain coming from above him Harry was torn between feeling sympathy or satisfaction. He wouldn't go down without a fight.
It startled him into silence and stillness when he realized what he was doing. Over the past few months he had wanted to die and had been insisting there was no reason left to live. If life was meaningless what with being Voldemort's toy then why not let himself die? But, Harry thought as memories of the meeting came back to him, he was free now and therefore could do something other than just take the abuse. Harry could fight back now.
The person above him screamed as Harry started lashing out. Not being able to see Harry simply tried to hit at the solid shape of a man before him. Trying not to cry out and set his throat aflame with pain Draco franticly scrambled back away from Harry.
Draco glared at the boy he'd been trying to help. The nerve of him attacking just because he still had that school days grudge! And surely he knew he wasn't a Death Eater! He'd almost healed everything except the bruise to his temple and his... oh.
It finally occurred to Draco he hadn't healed Harry's eyes. No wonder he'd lashed out, Draco laughed. This was going to be one for the masses, "Draco Malfoy mauled by a blind Boy-Who-Lived."
Unable to speak Draco wasn't going to be able to identify himself. Sighing, Draco realized he was going to have to wrestle with Harry in order to fix his vision. He hoped Harry wouldn't claw at his eyes as some patients did in this painful procedure.
Crawling over to Harry's side as silently as he could Draco watched Harry warily. Draco showed some moves often seen in the muggle game twister although he wouldn't know that. Moving over Harry he twisted himself about like a pretzel trying to think of how to pin Harry down most of the way. When Draco sat down on top of Harry's center he felt the boy tense and start thrashing about again.
Draco kicked and smacked Harry around wincing as he received blows in turn. His hand was already bloodied by Potters attempt to claw at his eyes which were covered with Draco's unused hand. On his other hand two fingers were once again pressing into the space between Harry's eyes.
Feeling like he was about to collapse Draco finally released Harry after a solid five minutes. He once again backed away from the boy wary of another attack as he was unsure of how he'd be received by the boy-who-lived. Panting he blew on his bloodied hand while silently chanting another Healer's spell. The pain disappeared and the scratches started to scab over. Too tired to do anything else Draco looked over at Harry.
Harry's head snapped around in many different directions fear plainly painted on his face. When he finally caught sight of Draco he stared. Then he did something unexpected.
Standing Harry walked over to Draco. Before closing the distance completely he knelt down and with his hands made the sign for friends before pointing from himself to Draco.
The resistance had picked up a type of sign language during the third wave of attacks from the French. Draco had learned it from two men at the campsite where he'd met Ginny. It wasn't hard to learn if you were determined to do so.
Draco put out his hand and was surprised when Harry grasped it eagerly. He used the alphabet signs to fingerspell G-I-N-N-Y trusted you... Now I trust you too.
Draco nodded before gesturing to Harry's eyes. Harry flushed signing his apology before looking away and into the woods surrounding them. Looking wary he asked where they were.
I don't know. We could be in any forest anywhere. This could very easily be heaven for all we know.
Harry snorted. If Voldemort isn't here then it might as well be. I'm just wondering if it's a dangerous area with wild animals. It's not as though we have our wands.
Draco raised a brow shaking his head. Potter I healed you without a wand and grew wings do you really think we need wands.
Harry blinked hard realizing that, yes, Draco had in fact done those things without his wand.
Draco held out a hand and at the tip of it a flame appeared reminding Harry of muggle lighters. Harry saw all sorts of things come to life in Draco's hands from milk to sand things just came into existence out of nowhere.
Power of Will, Draco signed looking smug. Conjuring them both turkey sandwiches he leaned against the trunk of a tree yawning. As they finished their sandwiches they both started to nod off.
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After camping there for several days sleeping off and on the two of them finally stopped feeling tired. Their trip from Azkaban and in Draco's case the intensive healing done had exhausted them. On top of being in bad shape from the treatment they received in Voldemort's care they'd had to be quick acting not to get killed from their fall.
Knowing they'd both like a hot shower and a place to stay they faced a problem. Wands were shown when purchasing anything much as id is asked of muggles. Since it would prove hard to show every person they came across wandless magic like Draco had done it was just practical for them both to get wands.
"And no offense, Potter, but your attempts at this so far have been terrible."
Harry said something rude in with his still raspy voice. He'd thought he'd done very well although, he thought looking at him companion, he wasn't anywhere near as talented as Draco at directing his spells.
Harry was lost in thought when it finally occurred to Draco what to do.
"We're going to raid the Malfoy crypt."
"The Malfoy what?!"
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It had taken a lot of persuasion on Draco's part to get Harry to agree to side along apparating. Harry had argued that the Malfoys might have anti apparation wards but Draco insisted that he knew how to bypass them. The only thing that they'd had to prove was if this was the same world they'd come from.
If the Malfoy's didn't exist then the plan was worthless. Malfoy and him had mad a game out of guessing how bad this world could be. The first scary scenario was that Voldemort now ruled the world without opposition followed by the idea that they could have fallen into a world where there was no such thing as magic.
When they'd visited Hogsmeade a day earlier they'd found a newspaper and came to a startling realization. The year printed at the top of the page showed the date to be July 21st, 1992. Now they knew that this world held their eleven year old selves. Harry and Draco's eyes had met as they smiled grimly at the date. They could fix so many things but they might also make a mess of everything if not careful.
He heard Hermione saying, "Professor McGonagall told me what awful things have happened when wizards have meddled with time...Loads of them end up killing their past or future selves by mistake."
When he opened his eyes he was in a new place. In the distance he could see the top of a tall white building that he assumed must be Malfoy Manor from the sketch Draco had done in the dirt at their camp. The rather tall bushes made it impossible to see clearly but they weren't here for a tour so he fixed his attention back to the task at hand.
Draco gestured for him to come forward towards what could only be the crypt. It looked to be a structure that was mostly underground from the fact the upper part was only the size of a shack and clearly not big enough to house all of the Malfoys of the past. Draco had explained that his family had only lived in England for the last three hundred years so this crypt held a small number of Malfoys.
Grabbing Harry's hand roughly Draco made a cut across his palm. He cried out trying to pull his hand back only to see Draco do the same to his. Before Harry could reclaim his hand Draco held their hands together tightly letting the two bloods mingle. Draco didn't seem surprised to see that the cut had vanished but Harry held his hand up inspecting it.
Draco snorted before turning to the door again. "Sorry, Potter, but it you didn't have Malfoy blood the alarms would have gone off."
Harry nodded. He'd heard about a band of grave robbing vampires who hunted purebloods just for this purpose. It was safe enough to say that most purebloods took a couple of extra DA classes to protect themselves against the vamps.
Draco had traced a strange symbol in the air with his wand. An ornate M, that glowed a bright yellow, appeared on the door. It took a moment but after watching the light fade into the stone there was a loud cracking sound and the stone split down the middle before both ends opened inwards.
Following the path straight in they walked forward a short distance before they saw stairs leading downwards. Behind them they heard the doors slam at the same moment the torches lit up. Following Draco Harry felt along the wall to keep his balance as there was no railing. As they came to the bottom level of the stairs Draco stopped before a large row of shelves that were ladened with clothes of all sort. Draco appeared to be reading something written on the small plaques hovering above the shelf.
He turned around briefly and eyed Harry with a considering look. "You're around 6'3 I'd say," Draco muttered, "And I think green would suit you best." Nodding to himself he tossed Harry a pair of black slacks, a black undershirt, and a Emerald green cloak. Harry raised a brow as he looked at the pristine outfit. Glancing down at his torn clothes he could see Draco's point of him needing something new and clean but what were clothes doing down here?
"Yes, Potter, before you ask it's a tradition to bury the clothes you wear to the funeral as it is bad luck to ever wear that outfit again. We think the superstition came from when an ancestor of ours wore the same dress to get remarried in as she wore to bury her dead husband. It was a period in which our family was poor and she thought her husband wouldn't mind but for three weeks after the marriage she swore she saw his ghost and had nightmares."
Harry shuddered. He had enough bad luck but knowing that they needed these things he picked them up. They saw one of the torches up ahead go out but as he reached for his wand to relight it Draco grabbed his hand.
"You can't do magic in here! That's a trap to catch grave robbers. If you'd done so much as tampered with that light the torches would have flared up and burned us to a crisp!"
Harry flushed deeply before nodding his understanding. Draco gave the room a once over before pointing down a hallway to their left. They walked for about five minutes before pushing aside a tapestry and coming into a room that bore a great resemblance to Ollivander's Wand shop. Draco nodded before walking up to a shelf without even looking at the others. He made a hmm noise before reaching out and grabbing a wand box. He turned to Harry before reading aloud, "hawthorn, 10' reasonably springy, with unicorn hair." I'm lucky Potter my origional wand came from down here. This wand origionally belonged to my great-grandfather who passed away a good twenty years ago."
"It's a family tradition to keep using wands if we can but if there isn't one that suits us we buy another."
Harry looked thoughful before saying what was on his mind, "I thought only poor families did that."
Draco rolled his eyes. "Didn't you hear anything I said about my poor ancestors. When we came to England we had nothing and had to earn everything we did come to possess. We act as though we will become poor. My father reads all the fine print when looking into financial manners. He says fools are tricked out of their money so he says I best not be a fool." He gave a harsh laugh, "And listen to me still listening to him after what he did to me!" Slamming a fist into the wall behind him he laughed darkly before turning on Harry with an angry glare.
"Just pick your wand and let's get out of here. I want to be as far from this place as I can get."
"How?" Harry looked at the large number of wands and appeared perplexed.
Draco sneered at him. "They're sorted alphabetically by wood type and then core. It would help to look for ones similar to the type of wand you had although that doesn't always work."
Draco's face softened as he looked at his wand. "Potter this place isn't one filled with good memories. I got lost down here when I was five years old during my grandfathers funeral. I'm still worried that I'll get us lost or blow to pieces so if we could leave quickly I'd appreciate it." Draco leaned deeply against the wall twirling his wand between his fingers in a nervous habit. He didn't look up as Harry approached the shelves.
After the holly ones failed him he moved along to the willow ones wondering if what had worked for his mother would work for him. His hand had only halfway reached the box when the box jumped into his hand. Looking startled for a moment Harry pried the dusty lid off to reveal a gleaming willow wand that was ten inches long.
Smiling triumphantly Harry walked over to Draco who looked up in alarm before snatching the wand from his fingers. He looked awed by the wand before handing it back. He grinned.
"You picked the oldest wand here Potter. The founder of this branch of my family handmade that wand," Draco gave him a hostile stare, "So you had better take good care of it!"
Harry nodded fiercely as he followed Draco towards the exit. Draco visibly relaxed as they got closer to the end of their mission. Harry didn't fall for any of the traps as the other boy pointed them out well ahead of time. In fact Draco hadn't stopped talking since they left the wand hall.
Harry yawned. Looking at Draco he wondered aloud. "Won't your past self miss that other wand?"
Draco swore. Then shook his head miserably.
"I honestly did him a favor. Father made me take this one rather than get a new one that would have suited me better. It just makes me feel closer to home having this even if a different one would have worked. And between you and me I'd rather battle a dragon than go back there."
"Are you claustrophobic?"
"Only in this place." Draco said without looking at him.
" You took a lot of risks to help me." Harry said softly.
Draco shook
his head, "I helped myself Potter. I only brought you along
because I didn't want to do this alone."
"If father had
caught us in the days of Voldemort he would have recruited us as
Death Eaters. As it is now we would have been seen to Azkaban for
grave robbing and probably have had to pay him some unseamly amount
of money"
Harry shuddered and the light at the end of the tunnel appeared. They were off again. Now they could find work and, hopefully Harry thought as he smothered another yawn, a warm bed.
-Jodelle
Note: I'm okay with romance but I'm not writing smut. So don't worry about reading & reading with someone watching over your shoulder. I'm not homosexual so I'd probably wouldn't be able to capture that in a way that's not offensive.
I personally think that if I write well enough there's no need for it. Please Review.