DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter and all other characters and locations belong to J. K. Rowling.
Chapter Fourteen - The Iron Chamber
Harry slipped through the shadows like a ghost, his feet moving soundlessly across the black marble floors of Hell. There was no hesitation in his steps as he prowled silently forward, his fingers trailing along the warm stone of the passage's wall. Each dimple and curve in the rock was familiar, the rasp and scrape bringing him some small measure of comfort. The path he traveled was engraved within his mind, every turn coming as natural as each breath he drew.
Somewhere within the snaking maze of corridors and chambers, a barrage of barks sounded. The noise froze him mid stride, tipping his head and stilling the passage of air into his lungs. Eyes searching the unforgiving darkness, he exhaled slowly and tipped his head. He sniffed delicately, nose wrinkling at the strong smell of brimstone. A drawn out exhalation had him stiffening and glancing over his shoulder, emerald orbs narrowing upon the bored looking Incubus standing impatiently behind him. At Remus' innocent shrug, he growled softly and spun back around, eyes widening as they landed upon the individual silently watching them. Straightening, Harry lifted his chin and glared down his nose at the strawberry blond.
"Dwayne," he bit out.
"Potter," the other Retriever drawled, "I heard you got grounded." Flashing gently curving fangs, Dwayne waltzed forward smugly. He raised his left hand as he approached, proudly displaying the black circle upon his milky skin. "Hades is sending me to execute Voldemort. Imagine, the first execution of a High Court demon in seven hundred years. It's a terrible pity you screwed so badly."
Smiling sweetly, Harry glided forward to meet him. As soon as he was within striking distance, his right hand shot out and seized Dwayne's left, twisting brutally until the fragile bones in the other Retriever's wrist snapped. The pained whimper that escaped the blond had him sighing in delight and crushing the fingers he still held. "I heard you liked to play with Cerberus' balls." Grinning maliciously as Dwayne's cheeks reddened in anger, he slid backwards, dragging the taller Retriever with him. "My apologies, I meant to say 'play ball with Cerberus'."
"You white-winged dunce!" Dwayne hissed, attempting to free his captured hand.
Eyes narrowing at the insult, Harry lashed out. His right foot connected solidly with the other Retriever's groin, bringing Dwayne to his knees with an almost inaudible gasp of pain. Releasing the blond's mangled hand, he stepped forward and ducked his head, whispering softly into Dwayne's ear, "if anyone executes Voldemort, it will be me." That said, he slammed his knee into the strawberry blond's down turned face. His eyes drifted closed at the crunch of bone, nostrils flaring at the coppery smell of freshly spilled blood. Opening his eyes, he watched with interest as the other Retriever collapsed completely and curled into a ball upon the floor.
"I thought that was just a rumour," Remus said, gliding forward to stand next to Harry. He shifted nervously as Dwayne whimpered, glancing over his shoulder into the hovering shadows.
Giving an absent shake of his head, Harry flexed his wings and rolled his shoulders. "It's not. Hades wants Voldemort executed as soon as possible." He tipped his head as he considered the groaning Retriever rocking gently back and forth on the floor before them. His lips pursed, he delivered a sharp kick to Dwayne's stomach before stepping over the blond's quivering form and continuing on down the hall.
"I meant the other one," Remus muttered in a distracted voice. He shot the downed Retriever a sympathetic look as he stepped over him, lengthening his strides to keep up with Harry. "The one about Cerberus," he added helpfully, breaking into a light jog as the raven-haired Retriever chuckled and leapt neatly down a narrow flight of stairs.
Snorting, Harry slowed and turned down a long corridor. "If Hades found out anyone was playing anything other than fetch with Cerberus, he'd have them hung by their balls from the chandelier in the Grand Foyer." His strides shortened as he eyed the door they approached, the change of pace allowing the panting Incubus to catch up with him. A shiver raced down his spine at the strong smell that hung in the air; the scent enough to turn back any demon worth his wings. Drawing a deep breath, he walked forward, emerald eyes sweeping the runes set within the frame of the portal.
At his approach, the door lock clicked softly, the faint sound seeming to ricochet through the shadowed hall. Groaning slightly, the stone door swung slowly inward. Light pierced the darkness, sifting around the shifting door to chase back the shadows. Drawing a deep breath, Harry walked forward, lifting a hand to shield his sensitive eyes from the glow. He blinked for several seconds before lowering his hand, emerald orbs studying the chamber's contents. With a moan of delighted pleasure, the raven-haired Retriever skipped deeper into the room.
Remus followed slowly, curling a lip in disgust as the smell of iron wrapped itself promisingly around him. The strong scent whispered of death and pain, both which could be had at the hands of a hunting Retriever. Hunching his shoulders, the Incubus scurried after Harry's frolicking form, wincing as the younger male stopped to coo over a particularly vicious looking mace. "Harry," he whispered loudly, wrinkling his nose in disgust as the dark-haired Retriever ran a gentle finger down the hilt of a katana with a loving sigh.
The Iron Chamber, as it was called, was a chamber that only Hades Retrievers had access to. It was their armory. An iron armory; a room full of weapons crafted almost completely of iron. It was every demon's nightmare, and every Retriever's wet dream. Any weapon a Retriever desired could be found within the room's confines. Throwing axes, spears tipped in iron, flails, morning stars, and swords of every length lined the walls. Shelves and racks held daggers of varying width and weight. And each weapon lying gleaming in the candlelight had tasted demon blood.
"Yes?" Harry replied absently, plucking a long sword from one of the racks. He tossed the blade from hand to hand, gauging the weight and balance with a thoughtful frown. With an abrupt wag of his head, he replaced the blade and prowled further down the wall, glancing back at Remus with an arched brow.
"How long is this going to take?" The brown-haired Incubus demanded, suppressing a shudder of fear. He couldn't help but glance hopefully in the direction of the portal, and safety.
Smirking at the older male, Harry lifted a steel and iron hurlbat from a hook and examined its blades. "Afraid, Remus?" He drawled, running one of his nails carefully along the shining iron edge. The hurlbat wasn't one of his favourite weapons, but it was amazingly useful. With one throw, he could take the head off a fleeing imp or drop a demon from the sky. Biting his bottom lip, he considered the sharpened blades for a moment before shoving the weapon into his belt.
"This room always gives me the willies," Remus replied tensely. He tucked his wings close to his back and shot a nervous glance at Harry, rolling his eyes as the Retriever grinned broadly and lifted another sword from the wall. His mouth went dry as the dark-haired demon twirled the blade experimentally, the shimmering tip passing frighteningly close to his nose. Taking a small step backward, he crossed his arms protectively over his chest and narrowed angry blue orbs. "Would you just hurry up and pick one," he hissed.
Brow furrowing in concentration, Harry replaced the sword and wandered further into the chamber. His practiced gaze swept over the racks of swords and shelves of daggers, searching for the perfect weapon. "These things take time," he breathed, extending a hand and caressing the intricately designed hilt of a broadsword. His fingers slid over the tanzanite set in the golden pommel, the gem prompting him to remove the sword from its place upon the wall. "I am, after all, replacing my favourite sword."
"Yes, well, that one looks lovely. Can we go now?" Remus muttered, arching a brow. His eyes narrowed suspiciously at the gleam in the Retriever's orbs, the glint making him take a cautious step backwards. Goose bumps raced along his arms as Harry turned to look at him, the smile curving the dark-haired demon's lips becoming more malicious with every passing second.
Chuckling darkly, Harry slid the tip of his middle finger down the sword's blade. "I believe we can," he whispered as his skin smoked and parted beneath the glistening iron. As blood began to spill down his finger, he glanced at Remus and laughed.
XxXxX
In a small abandoned classroom deep within the bowels of Hogwarts, two wizards and one minor demon studied an ancient text. Or rather, two wizards studied an ancient text while one minor demon carved deep circles in the wood of the long desk they sat at with the nail of his index finger. Slumping in boredom, Sirius applied more pressure to the tip of his finger, watching in avid fascination as his nail slid further into the hard wood. His concentration was broken by the rustle of fabric and the whisper of parchment being moved.
"It's almost time," Severus Snape stated, glancing at the demon warily. He straightened in his seat as the dark-haired male loosed an excited squeak and hopped off his chair. In his lap, his hands fisted, wishing for the comforting length of his wand. Drawing a deep breath, he turned his head in the direction the demon had gone, lips pursing at the heavy leather bag the immortal male had unearthed in the concealing shadows.
With great gusto, the shaggy-haired demon tossed the bag he carried carelessly upon the table next to Draco. He smiled widely as he grabbed the bottom of the bag and spilled its contents across the scarred wood of the old desk. "I got everything we'll need," he announced gleefully, raising gray eyes to the shocked wizards gazing at him in horror. His brow furrowed in confusion when Severus took a shaky step backwards, distancing himself from the mess resting before him.
"What the hell is this?" The Potions Master hissed, waving a pale hand to indicate the table and its bloody contents. Compressing his lips, he turned dark orbs upon the grinning demon, one of his hands sliding into the pocket of his robe in search of his wand.
Snorting in disgust, Sirius began to paw through his findings. "If your Headmaster had agreed to use the spell and potion combination I wanted to use, none of this would be necessary. However, seeing as you've denied me my human heart, we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way." Lifting a hand dripping with blood, he eyed his fingers and licked his lips, unable to resist the temptation. With a happy purr, he stuck two fingers into his mouth and closed his eyes, moaning around the digits.
Exchanging a nervous glance with Severus, Draco shifted on his stool and eyed the demon. "What exactly is the 'old-fashioned-way'?" He asked softly, his gaze falling to the viscous liquid slowly creeping toward his folded hands. Nose crinkling at the sweet smell of copper, he lifted his hands from the blood's path and rose. His hands ran idly down the front of his dark robes as he moved, smoothing away the wrinkles and creases in the material.
Eyes lazily sliding open, Sirius pulled his fingers from his mouth and shuffled closer to the table. A sly smirk stole across his features as he examined everything he'd collected from the forest; some of which had been quite unwilling to accompany him back to the castle. "You'll see," he breathed in promise. Gray orbs flicking to the greasy-haired wizard, he flashed slightly yellowed teeth and transferred his gaze to the young blond, saying "of course, if you allowed me to put him in the circle, all of this would be completely unnecessary."
"Don't even entertain the thought," Severus growled, slipping his wand from his pocket and holding it before him in warning.
Sirius snorted in disgust and slipped away from the wizard, walking silently to the far side of the room. "A circle of salt is the first requirement," he stated. Tongue protruding past his lips, he hefted a bag from the floor and carried it to the center of the room, dropping it carelessly when he reached his destination. He delivered a sharp kick to the side of the sack as he eyed the pair of wizards, gazing at them skeptically. With a brisk shake of his head, he leaned over the bag and slid the tips of his fingers into the rough canvas, slicing cleanly through the material. "I'll assume neither of you are going to help me."
When neither mortal replied, he huffed unhappily and lifted the bag to his shoulder, beginning a slow and tedious circuit of the chamber. Twice his progress was halted by the need for more salt. And fifteen minutes after he'd begun, he stopped and looked back over his work, smirking smugly.
Drawn in salt upon the smooth stones of the dungeon floor was a large circle. Well, it was almost a circle. The egg-shaped loop was nine feet wide; the lines that created its circumference thick and layered. In the darkened room, the salt shimmered, seeming to shift under the faint light cast by the two torches hanging on opposite walls. It may not have been the perfect circle for summoning, but in a heartbeat, it would do.
"Now what?" Severus asked, his voice breaking the silence that had fallen. He glared doubtfully at the circle of salt on the floor as he rolled his wand between long fingers, brow creased.
Rubbing his hands eagerly together, Sirius swept back toward the table and its contents. He snatched the waiting cauldron from where it sat and plunked it down on the dark wooden desk, sparing a quick second to peer into its shadowed depths. "Now, we put everything in the pot and stir it all together."
Draco and Severus exchanged a doubtful look as the dark-haired demon began to dig through the pile of gore-covered ingredients lying on the table. Their faces bore similar expressions of disgust and horror, their lips curling and their noses crinkling. Neither wizard moved forward to aid the humming demon; instead they slid backwards, halting only when their backs met the damp stone of the dungeon wall. Each held their wand tightly, knuckles whitening on the worn handles.
"Unicorn blood, a Thestral heart, a mature Wood Nymph - which was extremely hard to catch by the way - the liver of a cow, an owl-" Sirius stopped in mid tirade, tongue caught between his lips as he considered the bloody fowl dangling from his fingers.
"Enough!" Draco snapped, looking quite sickened over the fact that someone's owl was about to end up in a demon's soup pot. Face whiter that normal, he waved a graceful hand, indicating that the immortal male should continue making his creation without citing each ingredient as he dropped it into the cauldron.
With a shrug of his narrow shoulders, Sirius continued tossing stuff into the cauldron. He licked his lips at the smell emanating from the large pot, drool pooling in his mouth. When the last ingredient fell into the cauldron with a splatter, he smiled and stepped back, his demonic stew finally completed. "It's done," he announced proudly, glistening eyes lifting to meet the disgusted gazes of the two wizards.
"Great," Draco mumbled, raising a hand and shielding his nose with the back of his wrist. Gulping delicately, he bit his bottom lip and stared at the cauldron, brows drawing down in confusion. "What is it?"
"What is it?" Sirius parroted in disbelief, disdain creeping into his voice. "It's a veritable feast! Any demon worth his shadowed soul would leap multiple planes just for the chance to inhale the smell of cow liver drenched in unicorn blood. Why, Wood Nymph is considered a delicacy in Hell! And the barn owl! It might be common but the fact that it was someone's beloved pet will make its flesh even sweeter." Shaking his head, he dragged the cauldron from the table and carried it toward the circle. He stepped carefully over the thick line of salt, eyeing it nervously as he upended the pot in the center of the circle and then leapt out quickly.
Sirius drew a deep breath and backed slowly away from the salt circle, glancing anxiously at the two wizards as he shifted. His gray eyes glowed eerily, the pupils contracting until they were nothing more than dark lines within twin pools of molten silver. Blinking once, he turned his orbs to the circle and lifted his chin. "Harry James, I call you," he stated clearly. His deliberate exclusion of the Retriever's surname went unnoticed by the pair, neither having heard Harry's name in its entirety. "And now, we wait," he whispered.
The minutes crept by slowly as the trio waited patiently, their complete attention focused on the circle. Their patience was rewarded by an explosion of jade flames. As quickly as it had begun, the blaze died, leaving the two wizards and minor demon staring at the individual contained within the circle.
Arching wings of ivory, the golden-haired male glided forward and widened violet eyes. "You called me," he purred softly. A beatific smile crossed his lips as he extended a hand toward Draco, his knuckles halting millimeters away from the invisible wall that held him. "Release me, Master, and let me do your bidding." Dark lashes dipped to hide glowing purple orbs, a delayed attempt to conceal the unusual rectangular pupils he bore.
Clearing his throat, Sirius took a small step forward, his movement gaining the angelic being's immediate attention. "Ah, sorry," he muttered, lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment. "You're actually not the demon I was calling." Shrugging his shoulders apologetically, he shot a wide-eyed look at Severus and shifted warily.
Drawing back his hand, the white-winged demon crossed his arms and glared petulantly at Sirius. "Release me anyway," he snapped, violet orbs flashing.
Sirius licked his lips and slowly shook his head, denying the other demon's request. "I'm sorry but Harry'd have my balls if I let you out."
"But I'm Harry James!" The violet-eyed demon howled angrily. Wings as white as freshly fallen snow opened with a crack, displaying feathers with iridescent lines that mesmerized. "You want to release me. You wish to please me," the angelic demon crooned, focusing his shimmering orbs on Draco and delicately ruffling the glossy feathers. Before Draco had the chance to do his bidding, the white winged demon vanished in a roar of emerald flames.
A new demon stood within the circle, eyes of scarlet sweeping the assembled trio with undisguised interest. "I'm Harry James," the newcomer announced blithely, forked tail tracing absent patterns in the air behind him. His horned head dipped as he gazed thoughtfully at Sirius, considering the other demon with narrowed orbs. "Cousin," he greeted finally, nodding respectfully to Sirius.
Closing his eyes, Sirius sighed heavily. "You're not the Harry I was looking for. I was actually trying to summon Retriever Harry-" His mouth closed with a snap as the other demon chuckled lightly and shook his horned head, waving away Sirius' explanation with flutter of his hand.
"Didn't you hear? Potter's grounded. Got himself banished by some little witch, and then argued with Daddy about his competence," said the scarlet-eyed demon. Laughing again, he clattered forward on shod hooves and gestured at the circle of salt that surrounded him. "You can let me out. It'll be our little secret."
"Sweet Hell!" Sirius snarled loudly. Tossing his hands into the air, he whirled around and cursed angrily, aiming a hard kick at the cauldron lying abandoned on the floor. Tightly shutting his eyes, he drew a deep calming breath and swung back around. Teeth grit, he exhaled slowly and then called, "Harry James Potter, Retriever of the Devil's wandering disciples, I summon you." He blinked rapidly when he was finished, brow wrinkling as he tilted his head and stared at the demon standing stunned before him.
"Fool!" The contained demon barked, tail thrashing wildly. Eyes widening in fear, he glanced nervously over his shoulder and then disappeared in a swirl of green sparks.
"What, exactly, just happened?" Severus Snape demanded in a soft hiss. He tightened his grip on his wand as the shaggy-haired demon lifted a hand in warning and leaned forward slightly, his attention completely focused on the salt circle. Lips firming in displeasure, Severus raised his chin and narrowed dark eyes, fingers tightening reflexively around his wand. Opening his mouth to issue an angered ultimatum, he stilled, his words dying upon his tongue as green flames once again leapt to life in the center of the chamber.
XxXxX
Harry moved swiftly down one of Hell's many halls, his eyes sweeping the shrouding shadows anxiously. Drawing a deep breath, he flexed his left wing, testing the strength of the recently broken appendage. A pleased smile curved his lips when the wing lifted easily, the dark scales shimmering with good health. He turned his head slightly, listening to the patter of Remus' feet on the floor as the Incubus trotted after him. "Are you ready?" His voice rang out in the darkened corridor, echoing softly.
"For someone who says they hate the mortal plane, you're in an awfully uncommon hurry to return there," Remus commented breathlessly. His eyes widened as the Retriever swung around suddenly, sliding to a startled stop and hastily skittering backwards. Holding his hands up apologetically, he opened his mouth to commence groveling but halted, eyes narrowing.
"My actions are none of your-" Harry's mouth snapped shut and he ground his teeth together angrily as the Incubus leveled a shaky finger at him, mouth opening and closing silently. "What?" He snarled unhappily, one foot beginning an impatient tap as his hand dropped to the grip of the hurlbat.
"You're glowing," Remus hissed quietly, as if sharing a secret. His eyes wide, he leaned forward, watching curiously as the green glow intensified.
Emerald orbs flaring, Harry jerkily glanced down, lips parting on a curse as he glared at the magic pulsing around his torso. "It's-"
In a soft whoosh, he was consumed by cool green flames.
XxXxX
Thank you to everyone who took the time to read and review. Due to length, this chapter was broken into two pieces. I hadn't originally intended to leave it a cliffhanger . . . my apologies.
PrincessEmeraude – I hadn't really thought of bringing either James or Lily into this story. To be truthful, I'm not a fan of James either. Unfortunately, Harry was spawned rather than birthed, which means that Severus can't be his father, though it would add an interesting twist to the story. Lily the Succubus seducing Severus the angry Potions Master in his dungeons?
TorringMay – lol, I seem to always be able to find a place for both Remus and Sirius in my fics.
Triden – You don't want it to end, eh? lol, I actually can't wait to write the epilogue and bring this story to its conclusion. I think Harbinger is the most difficult story I've attempted yet.
Mangacat201 – there will definitely be some EXTRA demons appearing.