Notes:
Yes I agree that I an rushing through the seasons but the fact is that if I go episode by episode then the story I'm trying to tell will get away from me and it will be very boring because there is a lot restricting Harry/Castle from using his magic. It will all he a rehash of Canon with some of my story thrown in.
That being said, there will be a divergence from canon soon once all the magic is out in the open. Til then please bear with me.
Thanks again for all the reviews. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter Six
So they went off to the Hamptons together, nothing really happened there in terms of their romantic relationship but as friends and partners they grew closer together and when her leave was up he was truly sad for her to go, he promised her that he'll be back as soon as the holidays were over and he kept to it showing up at the precinct two weeks after Kate came back to work, coffee and bear claw in hand.
They continued their little dance, solving cases and bantering and bickering and slowly but surely finding their new normal. The second major case that they had surprised him, as it concerned the murder of a witch, a Seer actually and he was surprised that a muggle woman managed to actually murder her, it wasn't until he questioned her squib daughter privately that he learned that the woman was a very low powered witch and had actually dropped out of Salem.
His own history with the finicky concept of Divination aside he couldn't help but bait Beckett's skeptic side and kept on insisting that Vivien Marchand was actually psychic until she got exasperated.
"Castle, why is it so important to you that I believe all this stuff about fates and psychics and Santa Claus?" she asked him pointedly.
"Because if you don't believe in even the possibility of magic," he said his voice a little bit more serous. "you'll never, ever find it."
That gave her a bit of a pause before Toni Johnston opened her door, he hoped he got through to Kate because he needed her to be open to the idea of magic if he was to ever reveal himself to her. He understood her perspective, it was hard to believe in magic when your life lacked so much of it, she had been given a shock of reality that January night twelve years ago and she had stopped believing. He just needed her to believe again.
The arrival of Mike Royce back in her life rocked the boat a little but she surprised him by sticking by him during most of the case. In the end when Mike's true motives were revealed he was there to lend a shoulder for her and she admitted her crush on her training officer which turned to genuine affection and admiration during her partnership with him but it never went anywhere because he refused to jeopardize her promising career for what was, in effect, a doomed illicit affair.
He found himself surprisingly not jealous, whatever Mike Royce was to her he was in her past. He hoped to be in her future, forever. If she would have him, of course.
His own experience with time travel coloured his views in their next case and his mind eventually wandered back to thinking about the fate of all those time turners that had been destroyed on their unofficial field trip to the Department of Mysteries in his fifth year.
Thinking about time turners brought a pang to his heart as his mind drifted to his brainy best friend Hermione and he wondered what his Healer friend was doing right now. Was she still with Ron? He hoped they were happy.
Leaving his friends had been the most difficult thing he had done and after twenty years he didn't doubt they were more than a little angry at him. He wondered if Ginny ever mentioned him to them, ever mentioned that Ron had a niece living in the States. But then Ron might be just as biased against Alexis as her mother was and he would never forgive his friend if he degraded his daughter in any way.
It had been the logical decision to cut ties with them but it didn't mean it didn't hurt, he wondered if Minerva kept in touch with them, maybe he'd ask one day. Not today. Someday.
Linda Russo, their first victim in the another case, gave him pause. He didn't know how but the woman looked frighteningly familiar to him but he couldn't put his finger on where he had seen someone like her before.
The Triple Killers return had them all on edge but he had felt a particular sense of unease when questioning their suspects cell mate Jerry Tyson, something in his eyes called back to him but again he just couldn't put his finger on it. That was happening a lot with this case. It all came to a head at Tysons motel when he finally figured it out.
Gates wasn't 3XK. Tyson was.
Unfortunately Tyson managed to knock Ryan out and pulled the detectives gun on him.
"It was you all along?" he asked raising his hands waiting for a chance. Wizard or not bullets still hurt and using a focus ring was harder than using a wand.
Tyson smirked, a hauntingly familiar smirk. Where had he seen that smirk before? "You think you have it all figured out, Castle?" he drawled. "You think just because you know I'm the killer that you know everything?"
He frowned. "What else is there to figure out?" he asked fiddling with his ring. "You and Gates planned this all together, you knew Paul Mcardle was the only person Gates cared about so you used him as leverage, you told him to kill Linda the way you killed to point us to 3XK then you told Gates to be sloppy enough to allow us to catch him.
"You knew we would have to come talk to you, you made sure of it. Then you made that deal, got some inmates to beat the crap out of you so we had to get you out and now you're looking to get away scott free while Gates rots in jail instead of you and you can go on killing."
The smirk remained plastered on his face and it irritated him, he was ready to act but he just needed an opportunity but Tysons next words froze him to the spot. "Trying to get that focus ring working?" Tyson asked nonchalantly and his blood ran cold. "Its a a fancy piece, you get Ollivander to make it for you, Castle? Or should I say Potter?"
He swallowed past the lump in his throat and stammered out. "Y-you know who I am?" he gasped out now worried.
The infuriating smirk persisted. "You really don't know, do you Potter? I guess she did a good job after all." He said rubbing a hand over his stubble.
"You're a wizard?" he retorted finally finding his voice and raising it. "And you're killing Muggles? Why?"
Tysons eyes flashed. "Well isn't that all they are good for? Filthy muggles? I'm doing the Wizarding community a favor by culling these worthless cattle... Ah ah, you move that hand one inch Potter and I put holes in you, don't even try it."
"Some wizard, you talk about culling muggles and you want to kill a fellow wizard with one of their tools?" he asked trying to make him falter.
His smirk drifted down to his weapon. "Well I have to admit, the filth have invented imaginative ways to kill each other, so much so that sometimes I wonder why I even bother, but you're right. Guns and rings are all well and good but nothing beats a good old fashioned wand." and he reached inside his sleeve and pulled out a sleek, slender wand, a wand that he recognized, a wand that he had used for a couple of days when his own had been broken. Hawthorne, ten inches, reasonably springy...
"Malfoy?"
"Took you long enough Potter," he spat out. "And now, I'm finally going to be able to shut you up for good."
"Avada Kedavra"
He just managed to dodge out of the way as the rushing green light missed him by inches. He threw up a shield and took cover behind some tables as Malfoy threw curse after curse at him, thankfully no more killing curses so his shield managed to absorb most of them.
Contrary to popular belief it takes a lot of effort, anger, hate and magical reserve to successfully cast a killing curse, so you better hope you land that curse the first time you cast it, other wise you're not going to have enough energy to cast another one, hence no more killing curses from the Malfoy heir. He was still reeling from that revelation when the shield gave was and an arm of the table was blown away by Malfoys Reducto.
He rolled to the left and under the bed coming out the other side, he flicked his hand upwards hoping to land the non verbal Levicorpus but Malfoy managed to deflect. He was loathe to try an Unforgivable because it wasn't something he did anymore. Those were for the Death Eaters to use, he was no longer that angry young man.
He cast another shield as Malfoy started another barrage of Reducto's and Leg Lockers, with an occasional stunner thrown in until...
"Crucio," Malfoy growled out and the Unforgivable sailed past his shield and landed on its mark.
He screamed for just a moment before it cut off and he stood back up. Malfoy was looking at his wand in surprised shock.
"You forget Malfoy? That wand owes me it's allegiance and I used it to kill your Master, so forget about it hurting me," he shook his head and tuned out the lingering stab of pain and held out a hand. "My turn."
"Fuego," he yelled and a band of white hot flame lanced out of his ring, Malfoy only barely managed to dodge but his jacket caught on fire and he struggled to get out of it. "Like that Malfoy? I'm not the same boy I was twenty years ago. I've learned a few new tricks."
Malfoy looked completely thrown by his display and the fact that if the curse had landed he would have been toast.
"This isn't over, Potter." He grit out and turned on the spot disapparating out of the motel room.
He stood there for a moment panting for breath before he shook his head and moved across the room. The wall that had been hit by that flame curse was ablaze and he noticed Ryan's unconscious body was dangerously close to it so he waved his hand casting a bubble head on himself and Ryan before vanishing the oxygen molecules in the air. No oxygen. No fire. the flames imploded into themselves then dampened down till only cinders of wood remained which he transfigured to look like the rest of the wall.
He opened up the windows to let the air back in then removed their bubble heads. He cast several house keeping charms to straighten up the room then pulled up a chair and sat with his hands behind his back and made roped tie him up as he heard sirens approaching the motel.
So Draco Malfoywas 3XK? This was going to be a problem.
End Notes:
So how was that? Surprise! Yet another HP character crossed over! Yay! I think I merged them pretty well? Do you? Tell me in the reviews. Til next time. See ya!