Title: The Boys Who Lived
Author: Shara Lunison
Beta: Batsutousai
Rating for this Chapter: T
Pairings: Harry/Henry (OMC), several others—none of them canon
Warnings: SLASH, twincest, slightly manipulative!Dumbledore, grey Harry/Henry, OoC-ness, others as I think of them.
Summary: The Potter twins are attacked by Voldemort and somehow defeat him. Now the Dark Lord has returned and they have to choose between light and dark. SLASH, Twincest, rated M for later chapters.
Disclaim Her: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: This may not be completely accurate, but by my estimation, there will be about 37 chapters total for this fic, plus an epilogue. So we're nearing the end. :D This chapter and the next two, I know exactly what's going to happen. After that, it gets a little less certain how many chapters might be left, because I've got a lot of little things that cover a fairly large period of time that we have to get through before the epic final battle. Just thought I'd give a heads up to anyone who's wondering how much longer it will take me to get there. :P As you might have gathered, I've condensed the events of years three and six into this whole past year, so all that's left are the events of book seven (I'm cutting out four and five). And I promise, while there will be camping, it won't take months of wandering around without aim to complete this fic. :D
Chapter Thirty-One: The Crux
Harry woke up to see the familiar white walls and ceiling of the hospital wing. His mind felt empty. The connection to Henry was so tenuous and thin, it might as well not have been there.
He knew why. An idea had formed in his mind just before the duo universus spell collapsed. The spell had collapsed because of the idea.
Harry sat up and looked around the room. Henry was in the bed beside him, still apparently asleep. He sighed, running one hand through his hair.
Every time they combined into Lylas, it got easier and easier the more they did it. And after sleeping together—"consummating the bond" as Dumbledore had accidentally revealed—coming together into one person was second nature.
Now Harry couldn't help wondering…what if they stayed like that? They could live a normal life—have a partner that wasn't their own sibling; their own twin. Always together, one soul as they had been meant to be, perhaps.
And yet…as soon as Harry had thought it, Henry had rejected the idea. And the spell had collapsed. But Henry had had much more trouble accepting their relationship than Harry had, so why? Wouldn't being normal make his brother happy?
"No," came a whisper from the bed beside him.
Harry looked over and saw that Henry was awake, blinking sleepily and rubbing his face.
"Why?" Harry asked softly.
"Because now that I've finally accepted this—accepted you—I don't have any doubts anymore. We belong together. That's the way things were meant to be."
Harry nibbled his lip. "But…if Voldemort hadn't attacked us, we wouldn't be."
Henry sat up, ruffling his already messy head of hair. "Do you believe in the prophecy?"
"Of course," Harry said, blinking. Where did that come from?
"Then you believe in fate. How do you know we aren't fated to be together?"
Harry frowned. "But our fate was changed. We were supposed to complete the prophecy, but it stopped applying to us when Voldemort marked us."
Henry waved his hand negligently. "We're the only ones who know the prophecy. How can you know whether or not that will still cause the prophecy to fulfill itself? If it's our fate to complete the prophecy, aren't we still doing so by actively searching for the new person it affects? And if we succeed, doesn't that mean we still completed our fate?"
Harry nodded slowly, and Henry smiled gently at him.
"It is our fate to be together, Har. Maybe if Voldemort hadn't attacked us, we still would have ended up soul bonded somehow. Maybe he would have attacked us later, and it would have happened the same way. Maybe we would have chosen it ourselves. Maybe our parents would have done it to protect us. No matter what other circumstances you think up, I truly believe I would still love you the way I do now. You are my soul mate," he finished strongly.
Harry sucked in a sharp breath. Soul mates… "Isn't that a little cruel, to make twin brothers soul mates?"
Henry shrugged, pushing back his covers. He padded barefoot across the space between their beds and climbed in beside Harry. Warm arms twined around him, pulling him close. "Do you really think this is cruel?" he asked softly, lowering his head to kiss Harry gently on the lips.
A warm tingling started in Harry's toes and bubbled up into his chest. It was happiness. Joy. "No," he said honestly, shaking his head.
"Good. Now let me back in."
Harry realized that the bond had been slowly growing at the back of his mind. He could feel Hen again, fully open to him on the other side of the barrier he had created with his idea about remaining as Lylas for the rest of their lives. With a small push, the wall collapsed and he smiled as he felt Hen's thoughts and feelings mingle with his own once more.
"Good," Hen said again, snuggling down a little further in the bed and squeezing Harry closer once more.
Feeling warm, loved, and complete, Harry drifted back to sleep.
-o-0-o-
"We lost three days when you collapsed," Remus said, "So we have a lot of time to make up. Honestly, though, it was probably for the best that you rested after the first set of spells. You were a lot more exhausted than we anticipated. If you start to feel that tired again, don't hesitate to ask us to stop training for the day."
Nodding seriously, Lylas raised his wand, ready for the first spell.
"All right," Remus sighed. "Today we'll start on the three offensive spells. Sirius will conjure a dummy for you to attack with each spell. The first one is vulnero erado; it causes multiple cutters to attack your opponent. Each one can cause anything from a scratch, to a deep wound, and possibly even removal of limbs, depending on how much power you put into it. Think of it like scratching frantically at someone who is attacking you—it causes the same sort of damage at the lowest level. The wand motion is a six-pointed star." Remus demonstrated, drawing first one triangle in the air, then another that over lapped the first and turned on its axis to make a six-pointed star.
Lylas nodded and turned to the dummy that Sirius had placed at the opposite end of the room. The walls and floor glowed with a powerful spell absorption shield, which was keyed to two ward stones safely hidden underneath Remus' desk behind where they all stood. With deft flicks of his wand, Lylas traced the triangles in the air and spoke the spell, "Vulnero erado!"
A flurry of bright violet lines erupted in the air and flew toward the dummy. They hit with audible thumps, ripping long lines into the stuffing all over the dummy's body.
"Excellent. We'll work on adjusting the power levels at a different time," Remus said, clapping Lylas on the shoulder. "Next is pulsus everbero; this is a really useful spell that is very similar to the blasting curse. The difference again is that instead of one single push from the spell, pulsus everbero will continue beating or striking your target unless they move out of its path. So you can take down a brick wall, or beat someone to death, depending on how you use it."
Lylas gulped, but raised his wand gamely.
"The wand movement is a hard flick. Start with the wand at your shoulder, start saying the spell and then fling your hand towards your target as you finish."
Lylas raised the wand as directed and faced the target dummy, which Sirius had repaired. "Pulsus everbero!"
A blast of air rushed across the room and slammed into the dummy, pushing it against the wall. Then, about a third of the distance away from the dummy, additional gusts of air formed along the spell path and continued to slam into the dummy over and over again.
Lylas distinctly heard it when the wooden pole that held up the dummy snapped, and hurriedly ended the spell.
"If that were a person, you would have just broken their spine," Remus told him softly.
Lylas paled and stared at the dummy as Sirius fixed it again.
"Do you want to take a break or continue?" Remus asked. "There's only one more spell today. And I can promise that our next lesson will be much more fun than this."
Lylas swallowed, his hand tightening on his wand. "Let's finish the last one."
"All right." Remus didn't argue. "This one isn't as deadly; depulso extundo is almost the same as the blasting curse as well. The only difference between this one and pulsus everbero is the direction of the push. This spell is designed to simply push someone or something aside, to get it out of your way. Now, it can still seriously injure or kill if used correctly—but that will depend on what sort of objects are around when you throw the person. The wand movement is a little more difficult as well. You'll want to start from the opposite shoulder from the direction you want to throw the person or object."
Remus demonstrated, raising his own wand to his left shoulder and slowly flicking it straight in front of him, with a hard flick to the right at the end of the movement. He repeated it from his right shoulder, this time flicking his wand almost in a downward movement because he was holding it in his right hand. The hard flick at the end this time twisted to the left.
"Got it?" Remus asked.
Nodding, Lylas raised his wand to his left shoulder, deciding to try that first. "Depulso extundo!" He slung his wand down and slightly to the right to make the flick at the end easier. This time a yellow-tinged blast of air departed from in front of him, but went wide of the target.
Remus nodded. "It's difficult to keep your wand path straight and flick right at the end. If you start to turn your wand too soon, the spell path will veer in that direction instead of going straight and then curving at the last moment. Think of the spell path as a direct reflection of your wand movement.
Raising his wand again, Lylas recited the spell one more time. "Depulso extundo!" He made sure to keep his wand movement straight this time, then sharply flicked to the right at the end of his extension. This time, the blast of air hit the dummy and glanced off, only knocking it back a few inches.
Frowning, he asked, "What am I doing wrong?"
Remus smiled. "Nothing. You did it exactly right. But do you remember what I said about your spell path reflecting your wand movement? Why do you think you missed?"
Lylas thought about it and realized that he had attacked the dummy head-on with a spell that was intended to knock it aside. So instead of coming from the side and knocking it out of the way, the spell had glanced aside at the front.
He raised his wand to his shoulder again and cast the spell one last time, "Depulso extundo!" This time he made sure his wand pointed at the dummy's left side during the it's descent, then sharply flicked to the right to demonstrate the direction he wanted to move it.
The yellow blast of air struck the dummy on its left side and threw it violently against the right-hand wall with a sharp crunch.
"Great job!" Remus clapped him on the shoulder again. Both he and Sirius were grinning.
The dog animagus had remained surprisingly quiet during the lesson, but he spoke now. "And tomorrow, we get to teach you to fly!"
Lylas gaped at his godfather, absently casting the duo abscido spell to separate into Harry and Henry again.
"Fly?" Harry asked, an unholy light coming into his eyes. "You mean without a broom, don't you?"
Grinning, Sirius eagerly rubbed his hands together, his eyes just has manic as Harry's.
Henry traded dry looks with Remus. Quidditch fans.
-o-0-o-
"Volaticus volatilis!" With a whoosh, Lylas burst into the sky above the Quidditch pitch, his robes flapping in the air around him. "Whoop!" he screamed, delighted. Instinctively, without effort, he maneuvered through the air in complicated loop-dee-loops and rolls. This was freedom, and joy, and life…
"LYLAS SIRIUS POTTER, YOU'D BETTER NOT STAY UP THERE FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR, OR I WILL COME UP THERE AFTER YOU!" Remus shouted.
Lylas just laughed, unconcerned. He would stop when he felt tired. He knew the dangers—Remus had pounded them into his skull for long enough that morning. And in the meantime, there was only him and the sky.
Nearby, Sirius was perched on a broom, literally rolling through the air with laughter.
Far away on the ground, Remus threw up his hands in defeat and walked into the Gryffindor section of the stands, content to watch his lover and his godson have fun for a while.
-o-0-o-
"All right, Lylas," Remus murmured. They were seated in chairs in his office this time, discussing the final three spells before they actually attempted to learn them. Sirius had chosen to remain absent this time, realizing that humor might not be the best thing during their last lesson. "We're down to the last three—the Deathly Trine. These spells are worse than the Unforgivable Curses. I want your solemn promise that you will not use them unless absolutely no other option is available to you. I wouldn't even sanction the use of one of these spells on Voldemort himself."
Taking a deep breath, Lylas breathed, "We swear, Remus. We will not use the Deathly Trine except as a last resort."
Nodding, Remus took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Like all the other symbiotic spells, the Trine are just stronger versions of other spells. In this case, they're stronger versions of the Unforgivables. Are you familiar with those?"
Lylas shook his head. "We've heard them mentioned a few times, but nothing really in depth."
"There are three Unforgivables. The first is the Imperio Curse. With it, one wizard can take over the mind of another and force them to do whatever they ask. The second is the Cruciatus Curse, which causes horrible pain. The third is the Killing Curse, which causes instant death. Now, it's just a theory, but it's believed that the Killing Curse actually causes death through fear. No one has been able to prove it, because no one but you two have ever survived it.
"The Trine are very similar. The first is tempero iuguolo. Through it, you take over a victim's mind and cause them to want to kill themselves. In all cases, the desire for death is so strong that they take the most immediate means of killing themselves that is available. If they have a blade, they will stab themselves. If they are in a high place, they will throw themselves off the edge. If they are sitting in an empty room, naked, they will simply beat themselves to death no matter how long it takes."
Lylas swallowed and looked away from Remus' eyes, which had gone bright amber as he imparted the terrible truth of the spells.
"The second spell in the Trine is excrucio mortis. It causes more pain than even the Cruciatus, if you can imagine such a thing. And it does not stop. The person will continue to feel pain, until they die. That is the only purpose of the spell.
"The last spell is pax pacis caedo. Given the etymology of the Latin, it ought to cause a peaceful death for the person you cast it on."
"Ought to?" Lylas asked, frowning. "But how is that worse than the Killing Curse?"
"Because no one has ever seen it cast, or performed it themselves in living memory," Remus said, spreading his hands. "Regardless, the wizarding world regards it as murder if a spell causes another person's death. So even in places like St. Mungo's, wizards and witches must die by natural causes or failure to cure a magical malady. If a Healer were to cast the Killing Curse or pax pacis caedo on a patient, the Wizengamot would try them for murder."
"But that's…"
"Ridiculous, I know. But that's the way things are. Personally, if you have to kill someone, I would use pax pacis caedo, since it should promise a peaceful death. Even an enemy deserves that, don't you think."
Lylas thought about the torture that Voldemort put his Death Eaters through on a regular basis, and he nodded.
"Do you want to try casting these spells, or would you rather just know them and hope you don't have to use them?" Remus asked then.
Sighing, Lylas ran one hand through his hair. "I can't imagine how I would practice them in the first place. And I'm sure I don't want to feel what it's like to cast any of them. Is it all right if I don't cast them? I thought we needed to learn all twelve spells to master them?"
"I have a jar of spiders we can use if you want to practice on living targets," Remus said softly. "Or you could just cast them at the wall and let the wards absorb them. But I understand if you have misgivings. I've taught you the incantations, so you already do know them."
"Then I'd rather not," Lylas said. He cast the duo abscido spell and suddenly Harry was sitting in Henry's lap on the chair.
Remus smiled. "I'm glad. As wonderful as it is that someone is capable of casting all of the spells, I think we're all agreed that these last three are more terrible than they are useful."
"Except pax pacis caedo," Henry said softly. "I wouldn't want to kill anyone, but if I had to…"
Harry followed the train of his brother's thoughts and hugged his brother fiercely. "We'll find another way to get rid of Voldemort's horcrux, Hen!"
"I know. Or I hope so, anyway," Henry agreed, hugging Harry back. "But if you have no other choice, that's the way I would prefer."
Nothing else remained to be said. The three sat quietly in the Professor's office as the sun went down outside. They had mastered all of the spells. Now all they could do was practice and prepare for their outing with the Headmaster.
-o-0-o-
Far away across Britain, Marcus Flint was kneeling before the Dark Lord with his final report for the school year.
"Theo will be bringing the collection of hairs to you tomorrow, my lord," he said. "The only other news I have to report is some extra lessons that the Potter twins have been receiving."
"Extra lessons?" Voldemort snapped. "Why didn't you mention them at the beginning?"
"I-I didn't think it was important, my lord," Flint said, shivering with terror. "T-The Headmaster has them learning something called symbiotic spells from Professor Lupin and Professor Black."
Voldemort's eyes bulged and he leaned forward on his throne. "And have they been successful?"
"Y-yes, my lord," Flint said quickly. "They arrived at dinner last week as one person, but I don't know if they're learning anything else."
Voldemort leaned back again, a crease appearing in his brow as he thought.
Flint remained kneeling on the floor for several long minutes, eventually shifting uncomfortably. "M-My lord…?"
Voldemort waved his hand in irritation. "Be gone!"
Quickly, Marcus Flint scurried from the room, thankful to have escaped without punishment this time.
From where he stood in the shadows beside Voldemort's throne, Snape watched his lover thinking and felt a cold shudder run down his spine. Something bad was going to come of this, he could feel it in his bones.
-o-0-o-
A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short, but all of this was supposed to be part of the last chapter. It's pretty long, considering. Next chapter, the trip to the cave with Dumbledore.