Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or The Chronicles of Narnia, nor do I make any profits from posting this fanfiction.
Summary: Non-Epilogue compliant. Harry, mid fight against remaining Death Eater factions, finds himself somehow transported to a strange world, Narnia. He learns to live, to love, and eventually to be a little bit selfish.
Warnings: Slash. Cross dimension travel. Character death. Murder, violence, fighting.
Pairings: HP/EP.
Notes: This was my favourite chapter to write all those months ago.
Chapter 8
Narnia year 1007 – autumn.
Their armies were lined up facing the opposition.
Their enemy were disorganised, all over the place and sloppy, but they had numbers on their side…and trolls.
Harry all but bounced on the spot he was so nervous and full of energy for the battle to start. Everyone was present for the battle except for Peter who was needed in Cair Paravel because the slavery issue was bigger than they first though. Beccon's bride-to-be lived in a village on the border between Narnia and Calormen, though she was thankfully still Narnian. Upon arriving in the village the guards had found that there was a lot of 'trade' going on with Calormen in which it was often Narnians being traded for riches. Peter was undergoing treaties and envoys with Calormen to sort out the issues that had arisen.
That left Edmund, Harry, Susan and Lucy on the battle fields in the March lands. Susan was with the archers, ready to lead them but no doubt preying she wouldn't kill any thing. She was far too gentle a soul to be suited to the battle field but she wouldn't dream of being left behind unable to help. Lucy was there to heal the wounded and was back at camp waiting, hiding. Edmund was at the front of the army in full armour and ready for war with his generals by his side.
Harry was with the ground troops. He needed to be right in the thick of it, just another man until the very last second when his true power would be known. Hopefully the other side didn't have any witches, but if they did it was Harry's job to incapacitate them so they couldn't harm the Narnians.
The enemy blew a horn.
They charged.
"ARCHERS!" Edmund yelled.
"AIM!" Susan took over and the archers readied themselves, bows pointing into the sky. Harry clutched at his wand then aimed that too.
"HOLD!" The next order came and they all held their aim.
The soldiers drew their swords, holding them at the ready. Spears were hefted up. The eagles who answered the call for battle grasped rocks and lifted to the air on the command.
"FIRE!" The archers released their arrows, a hundred splinters of wood went soaring through the air towards the enemy.
"Avis! Avifors!" Harry cast, first to make a flock of birds appear then to make the birds and some of the arrows turn into other birds and directly attack the enemy as Harry willed them to.
The archers reloaded, re-aimed then fired again. Harry recast and recast and recast the same spells. The trolls and other hideous creatures would have looked humorous batting away the birds if it wasn't for the swords and axes they carried.
Harry let one final set of arrows fly without casting the bird spells on them and readied himself for the next order.
"CHARGE!"
He charged.
Harry fired left and right, swinging with his sword when he could to take down the enemy. His spells may have been the non-lethal kind but the edge of a sword knows no gentle touch. It sliced and carved and Harry did his best not to look at the devastation caused at his hand. A bear wielding a sword charged him and Harry had only just enough time to knock the sword out of the way so he didn't get skewered. The bear crashed into him and knocked him flat to his back. Claws sliced across his chest.
Harry screamed.
The bear's paw sliced through the air again, striking him.
Harry only just got his wand aimed on time.
"Bombarda!" The first spell that came into his head made blood explode all over him. The bear roared in pain but even that was short lived as it fell to the side of Harry half crushing him as it fell down dead.
"Oh good Merlin…" Harry breathed. He shoved and shoved at the bear, eventually managing to slide out beneath it and very grateful that a different enemy hadn't set him in their sights while he was reasonably defenceless.
Harry picked up his sword, readied himself, and charged again.
On and on the battle went. The enemy seemed never ending. People fell left, right and centre. Harry sliced, stabbed, blasted, stupefied, petrified and hexed his enemies. At one point one of the spells that spewed from his lips had been the jelly legs hex which had caused both him and his enemy some confusion until Harry got his act together.
The battle field was filled with the fallen and caked in blood. Harry was exhausted, out of breath and even his spells were sluggish as the sun tipped over midday and began its descent across the skies. Clouds had set in and were lingering ominously grey against the glorious blue sky. It was going to rain, Harry just knew it. Wouldn't that be perfect.
Harry swung his sword round to block an incoming attack from an Orkney, then faced off against the snarling, spitting efreet with magic all but buzzing around him. Harry slouched a little, disheartened at yet another attack, then readied his magic. With two spells he had the efreet tied up and unconscious on the floor, the efreet only managing to curse Harry with gashes because Harry had been able to dodge the attack as it came at him. A usually invisible spell to normal humans, it seemed, but because Harry was magical himself the magic cast by the efreet was visible as angrily buzzing puke yellow lights.
Another enemy down Harry faced another and another and another.
"They never stop coming!" A faun cried somewhere off to Harry's right. Harry risked a glance over. The faun was caked in blood; it was matting the fur on his legs and made his armour and grip on his sword slick. The faun took out his next opponent only to get felled by a body that flew through the air and landed on top of him.
A troll had thrown bodies left and right. More bodies flew towards them, allies and enemies alike because the trolls were too stupid to tell the difference. It was nice to see nothing had changed between the worlds.
Then Harry saw where the troll was heading.
"EDMUUUUUUNNNNNDDDDD!" Harry screamed and ran towards Edmund who was not aware of the troll heading straight for him. Edmund glanced over briefly to Harry then in the direction Harry was looking and his steps faltered. A centaur charged at the troll but was slapped away like a pesky fly.
Harry jumped over a fallen body of a boggle, dodged around the pairs fighting. He cast a confusion spell, avis, various hexes and curses to pull the troll's attention away from Edmund who staggered as he fended off the attacks of some wolves who had crowded in on him.
Harry heard Edmund yell out in pain, saw a wolf digging its teeth into Edmund's shoulder.
The troll was, thankfully distracted, but it didn't stop him from lashing out and unintentionally hitting Edmund and the wolves with one flailing limb.
A wolf yelped. Edmund yelled again then shouted out as his shoulder and neck tore as the wolf's teeth sliced through his skin.
"Stupify! Immobulus! Incarcerus! Petrificus Totalus! Sectumsempra!" Harry shouted, pointing and aiming at the wolves in order. They yelped as they were pulled away and tied up.
Harry almost felt bad at the state of the poor wolf that got the sectumsempra because it was just one open wound because of the angry slashes made by Harry's wand, except then Harry caught sight of Edmund and any sympathy he would have had died.
"Edmund! You're OK. Hold still a moment!" Harry threw himself to his knees, cast a protego to shield them from any incoming ammunition and pushed off Edmund's helmet to get a better assessment of the damage done.
Edmund's neck and shoulder wound was horrific and pouring out such copious amounts of blood that it made no wonder Edmund was growing paler by the second.
"H-harry…" Edmund garbled and Harry blanched as blood oozed a little from Edmund's lips.
"Shhh don't talk. By Aslan Edmund!" Harry pointed his wand at the wounds and cast as many healing spells as he knew how to do, only he got distracted part way through by another attack and he defended Edmund's prone body all the while not getting up from his knees.
"Stop it Harry…the battle!" Edmund tried to insist and weakly pushed away at Harry's hand. Harry snarled.
"Don't be stupid Edmund! The battle isn't going anywhere." Harry cast another healing spell, grimacing as all it did was force more blood from the wound and make Edmund moan in pain.
There was a roar from behind them and Harry felt every hair on his neck stand up on end as a dead bird impacted the ground next to Edmund's head. The troll!
Harry spun round and saw the troll bat the last bird out of the sky then turn rage blazing eyes on Harry and Edmund. Harry fumbled with his wand, pointed it at the troll and just cast and cast and cast.
"Incarcerous! Incarcerous! Incarcerous! Incarcerous!" Harry yelled, the trolls being too thick skinned for most spells to work on them.
The ropes tied the troll from the ankles to his chest and he fell again. The burly troll wiggled and roared in anger, fighting the ropes with brutal determination. Harry cast another incarcerous spell, tightening his hold on the creature.
There was a flash of silver, a rush of hooves, then a splash of blood as a centaur rammed his sword into the troll's throat severing his windpipe and arteries and killing the being.
"Rodak!" Edmund gurgled. Harry decided that was the name of the Centaur, but couldn't ponder on it for long as another enemy appeared in his line of sight. Harry spelled it unconscious then grabbed its wand.
"Kill them! Do not just tie them up!" Rodak ordered Harry with rage burning in his eyes.
"I have killed some of them!" Harry defended himself.
"Yes, some of them. Kill them all! Use your spells and kill them wizard!" Rodak yelled then glared past Harry to the prone body on the floor. The centaur's expression went from angered to devastated.
"My King!" Rodak yelled and trotted over immediately, glaring around them to watch for oncoming enemies.
"He's got a wound to his neck." Harry pointed to the wound then tried to cast healing spells again. Edmund's eyes rolled. The wound only closed a little bit. Harry choked feeling desperation claw its way at him. "I can't heal him…" He admitted painfully.
"He needs to see Queen Lucy."
"How?!" Harry begged. "Can you take him?"
"You are a wizard, I have seen you appear from thin air. You must take him."
"It would hurt him if I took him." Apparating was horrible for a non-wounded person. It was likely to be torture to Edmund. Edmund clutched at Harry's hand.
"He will die if you do not."
"Leave me…the enemy…" Edmund whispered and Harry felt his temper rise even as tears sprung into his eyes.
"Oh no. You do not get to tell me to do that! Don't you ever say it again. I love you! I will never leave you!" Harry declared and gathered Edmund up in his arms dragging them both up to stand.
Harry staggered a little under the extra weight and Rodak steadied them. Edmund's arms dangled uselessly around his side, he was too weak to raise them. Harry nodded to Rodak then pulled Edmund's arms around his neck and hugged the king's body close.
"Hold on to me. This is going to be very unpleasant." Harry warned then spun on the spot calling on his magic. The world went black and compressed down upon Harry like his body was being squashed into a very tight space that was only getting tighter. He could ignore the other unpleasant sensations of apparition but he knew with Edmund's wound the king would be in agony. The torture of apparition made worse by the severity of his wound.
Solid ground beneath his feet, the world suddenly became huge again and Arry could breath.
Edmund screamed, the sound gugling like he was screaming underwater. One look at Edmund proved it was blood.
"LUCY!" Harry yelled and lowered Edmund to the floor, pushing him over on his side to let some of the blood drain from his lips. Edmund choked, eyes rolling and body shivering. Harry quickly cast a heating charm to keep Edmund's rapidly cooling body warm. "LUCY! COME QUICKLY! LUCY!"
Harry vaguely heard running footsteps, then a gasp, then the footsteps disappeared only to return a few short seconds later and Lucy fell to her knees beside Harry her fingers already undoing the top on her cordial bottle.
"Oh my goodness Edmund! It's OK Edmund, you are going to be alright!" She put one drop into his mouth and then pushed his lips closed with her fingers. Edmund choked a moment, muscles straining to help him breath. Then he swallowed and both Harry and Lucy released breaths they hadn't realised they had been holding. "He will be OK now. I have to go, there are others who need my help."
"OK. Go." Harry assured her and nodded, looking down at Edmund who was already getting some colour back in his cheeks. He had his eyes open and was just breathing, staring at Harry. Harry slumped down, squeezed his eyes shut and tried to shake off the remnants of the panic and desperation. Edmund was OK.
"Harry…"
"I thought I had lost you." Harry blurted, wincing at the whine in his own voice. He opened his eyes and looked at Edmund who had enough health back now that he was smiling.
"I'm not so easy to kill."
Harry laughed and nodded his head fully recognising the irony of that statement, caressing the side of Edmunds' face from his temple, down his cheek and to his chin. He pulled his hand away when he realised what he had done and brushed a few tears from his eyes then stood and backed away from Edmund who sat up immediately and followed Harry's retreat with his eyes.
"I better get back." Harry muttered needlessly. "The battle…"
"I'll come with you." Edmund muttered and stood up, couching and wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve. Harry rushed forwards and cast a quick aguamenti.
"Here. Drink." Edmund opened his mouth under the spray and took a drink, swilling the first few mouthfuls around his mouth and spitting out the mix of water and blood. Then he drank to water down.
"Thank you. Take us back then." Edmund nodded to Harry.
"No. You stay here. You need the rest and, besides, you haven't got a sword."
"It will be where we were before you brought us here. Take us back Harry. We have a battle to win." Edmund spoke with determination and strength that just had not been there only moments before. Harry gave him a doubtful look and Edmund held his arms out to the side of his body. "I'm healed. I feel perfectly fine. You know Lucy's cordial works wonders. I am ready to fight. Take us back, we have a battle to win!"
"Alright, but you better not try to die on me again because if you do..." Harry waved Edmund forwards, reaching out to take the king's arm. Edmund stepped up really close to Harry so there was only a few inches between them.
"I know." Edmund breathed. "I'd do the same for you."
Harry nodded, certain they understood each other and apparated them right back into the thick of the battle. Rodak was there looking a little worse for wear and fighting a pair of woose. They were surrounded by the enemy on all sides, only a few of their army in that area with them. Many more bodies were on the ground wounded or dead. There was blood, weapons and body parts all over the place.
Edmund stooped down and picked up the first sword he came across. Then came across his shield only a few meters away. He lunged for it, picked it up and slid his arm into the grasp. Harry transferred his gaze to the many creatures targeting on them, the crack from the apparition having drawn their attention.
"Ready?"
"Doesn't really matter, does it? They are coming ready or not!" Edmund joked and Harry had to laugh, however reluctant it was. Edmund grinned at him and swayed in his stance making sure his body was ready to move when it counted. Harry lowered his stance, pulled his sword back out and flexed his grip on his wand.
"I have your back Ed." Harry whispered and Edmund glanced at him and nodded.
"For Narnia then."
"For Narnia. Deprimo!" Harry pointed his wand at the earth causing a huge blast of mud and rock to be jettisoned into the air and onto the enemy. He flicked his eyes to the side and fired of 'everte statum' making a Horror fly back.
At his back Edmund was clashing swords with something judging by the sounds Harry could hear. They circled together taking out opponents as they came across them until eventually Harry was faced with the confounded troll who was still batting away birds. Harry aimed his wand and cast a tripping hex followed by numerous incarcerous spells tying the troll up from head to foot even as the birds continued to attack him.
A Cruel shrieked and lunged, catching Harry's shoulder with a vicious claw then grasping Harry's neck. Harry struggled to breath, only just remembering to lift his wand when the Cruel went still all of a sudden, gasped, then went limp and fell to the floor releasing Harry.
Edmund nodded, a brief check that Harry was OK and a reminder that Edmund had his back too. Harry nodded back, breathed, and got back into the fight.
More enemies, more spells, more time taken up in battle. Harry didn't know how long he had been fighting for but it felt like days. The sun was setting and the rain had set in for good when the enemy's horn sounded for a surrender.
Cheers went up and the enemy threw down their weapons. Some battled on, refusing to surrender and choosing instead to go down fighting, but at least the knowledge that the Narnian's had won meant their troops were spurred on by the exhalation of winning that they had more energy to survive past the continuing few determined enemies.
The battle was won.
Various knights began herding off the opposing soldiers and beings off the battle field, others began searching the wounded, dying and dead and giving medical care. A horn went off to call their healers and Harry knew that within minutes Lucy would be there and her healing tonic would cure those only moments away from death.
Harry bent over, held his knees and breathed.
It was over.
Thank Merlin it was over.
He had fought in many battles, magical and Narnian. That battle had been different though. The enemy were too many, too strong and too brutal. Harry had never fought in a war like that…except when he had first arrived in Narnia all those years ago and was taken out while helping to heal-
"Edmund!" Harry called and spun around searching desperately.
He and Edmund had been separated again only a few hours ago, their fights pulling them apart. Harry scanned the battle field searching but he couldn't find Edmund. He snatched out his wand, lay it in the palm of his hand and commanded 'point me Edmund Pevensie'. The wand spun full circle once then pointed left. Harry spun around and ran searching wildly for Edmund.
"Over here Harry!" Came Edmund's voice and Harry twisted round to see Edmund fighting a black dwarf who was refusing to surrender.
Harry jumped over the body in front of him and dodged around others in an effort to get to Edmund who slay the dwarf only seconds before Harry got there. Edmund swept back his sodden hair from his face, relaxed his stance and faced Harry with a grin.
"We won!" He declared with a laugh and slid his sword away.
Somebody came up to him and clapped him on the back, another shook his hand before bouncing off, others still called his praises and yelled to the sky 'long live king Edmund', followed of course by the same call for Peter, Susan and Lucy.
Edmund accepted it all with a smile then approached Harry jubilatory, hands raised and cheer in every millimetre of his tired face.
"We won!" Edmund said and crossed the remaining distance to hug Harry. Harry clasped Edmund's back tightly, closing his eyes in relief for a moment and enjoying the knowledge that they were both alive and well.
"Are you OK? Are you injured at all?" Harry whispered and pulled back searching Edmund's face for injuries only to find none so he transferred his gaze to the rest of Edmund's body.
Edmund looked bruised and bloody but in one piece. There were some long gashes on his arms which had Harry immediately pointing his wand at them and casting spells. A hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled his wand away. Harry glanced up questioningly and with an forceful demand on the tip of his tongue. Edmund just laughed.
"I'm fine. Really, I'm OK. They aren't too bad."
"It won't take a minute to heal you." Harry insisted and Edmund laughed again and shook his head, releasing Harry's wrist and allowing Harry to continue.
"OK." Edmund acquiesced and Harry positioned his wand again and cast the spell. Once the gashes had closed up and he was happy that they had healed completely, judging from the smoothness beneath his finger pad, Harry patted down Edmund's body searching for other wounds. Edmund winced and gasped when Harry found one, then sighed when Harry healed it and checked over them. Edmund had a wound across his stomach that proved shallow but temperamental to heal. He had lots gashes all over his body but nearly all his cuts were shallow and superficial, just in abundance.
Harry healed them all sweeping his hands over Edmund's arms, chest, and stomach checking for wounds.
"Enough. Harry enough." Edmund ordered softly and grasped at Harry's hands. Harry fought the hold again until Edmund moved his hands up to cup his face and smiled at him. "I'm fine, you are fine, and we won! Harry we won and it's over and I promise you can make sure I am all healed up later but for now just stop. We won!"
Harry sighed, breathed, and all his fight and stubbornness to push the issue with Edmund fled his body. He sagged, shoulders slumping.
"We won." He breathed. "Thank Aslan for that…" The words were whispered but he managed a smile up at Edmund. Edmund's grin widened, looking radiant even in the rain. His hands still cupped Harry's face, eyes still pinned on Harry with joy and triumph. His good humour was infectious and Harry couldn't help but smile with him. Edmund's smile became wider if anything.
"I have a lot of things to be grateful to Aslan for." He whispered and gently adjusted his grip on Harry's face. Harry grasped one of Edmund's elbows not wanting to push the king's hands away but needing something to hold on to.
"Oh yeah?" Edmund nodded and pressed their foreheads together. The move was shocking but so trusting and intimate that Harry closed his eyes at the touch and revelled in the close contact with Edmund, his friend, his king, and his brother in arms.
"You love me." Edmund whispered and Harry's eyes flew open meeting dark blue head on.
"W-what…"
"You said you loved me." Edmund repeated firmly. Harry swallowed, thinking back. Yes…yes he had said that…and he meant it. In every way a person could mean it, he meant it.
Harry closed his eyes and pushed aside the anxious voice that insisted he was wrong, that told him he was taking advantage of a young man many years his junior. He pushed aside the voice that told him he was betraying Ginny and his relationship, a relationship that had barely begun and Harry had been away from for many, many years. His brain came up with a million and one reasons why he should deny ever saying he loved Edmund, questioned whether he was actually attracted to him, queried whether he loved Edmund the way Edmund wanted, did he love him enough to throw away the life he could have had.
The fact of the matter was Harry's old life was long gone. England was long gone. The life he could have had there was a figment of a dream now.
Narnia was what he had now. Edmund was what he had now. Edmund was all Harry wanted now and yes…yes he loved him enough.
"I meant it." Harry croaked and Edmund laughed a deep throated chuckle and pressed his body up against Harry's, moving his grip to around Harry's back and pulling him in tight for an embrace so tight Harry could barely breath inside it. Harry gripped back just as hard, pressed his face into the juncture of Edmund's neck and ignoring the armour that dug into his cheek. Edmund pushed a hand through Harry's hair and grasped it tightly keeping Harry in his hold, as if Harry wanted to be somewhere else.
"I love you." Edmund whispered clutching tighter at Harry momentarily then using his hand on Harry's head to pull him back. Their faces were inches apart and Edmund stared hard into Harry's eyes willing him to see the truth of those words as he repeated them in such a deep, emotion filled voice that the blazing heat branded them into Harry's very soul cauterizing wounds he didn't know he had there. "I love you."
Harry closed his eyes. The weight of those words and the impact they had was so great he could concentrate only on them. He grasped Edmund hard using him as an anchor as the tidal wave of emotion rocketed through him.
Hot breath puffing over Harry's lips made him open his eyes. Edmund's face now so close it was impossible to see anything but his eyes. Harry flicked his eyes down trying to look for Edmund's lips but they were out of view. He could feel them though. HE knew Edmund's lips were only a few millimetres from his, he knew the offer being made from them and he knew without a single doubt that he would take that offer and relish in it.
HE raised his chin, sought with his lips and smiled as his lips pressed over Edmund's. Edmund's grip became firmer and he pressed back, taking now and not offering. Harry closed his eyes, steeled his arms to hold himself to Edmund and opened his lips to capture more of Edmund's lips in a kiss.
It burned. It soothed. It devoured. It put all the pieces back together. Edmund's kiss was as fierce as the man himself, demanding only the best and not holding back to wait for it. He was honest even in his kiss and Harry threw as much of himself into the kiss as he could. He was like a starved man finally being allowed food…he hadn't realised how much he had been denying himself until he had Edmund right there.
They pulled back, breaths mingling harshly in the space between them. Edmund pressed their foreheads together still gripping Harry's hair in a vice grip. His eyes were closed and unseeing. Harry wondered if Edmund was overcome by the kiss as he had been and watched and waited for Edmund to finally open his eyes again. When those ocean deep eyes did open Harry saw all the relief, affection and joy directed at him. He could do nothing but smile and he lifted up into another kiss, then another and another. He kept them brief but he couldn't keep his lips from Edmund's for long. Edmund grinned into the repeated kisses then he laughed and pulled back, releasing his hold on Harry. Joy filled his entire demeanor and he leaned his head back laughing up to the sky. Harry couldn't help but laugh too, one hand still on Edmund's shoulder, the other on Edmund's cheek.
When Edmund finished laughing he pressed his lips to Harry's in another brief kiss full of promise and affection.
"Come on. We have stuff to do." Edmund laughed and pulled back from Harry with a flush on his cheeks. Harry wondered that Edmund didn't feel the separation between their bodies as keenly as he did. He wanted to reach out and touch Edmund again, assure himself that Edmund was still there and that what just happened wasn't a dream. Edmund laughed again, cupped Harry's cheek and stepped in close once more. "Come on wizard. I want you to myself and I cannot do that while we have things that need to be done."
"Alright." Harry nodded and drew his wand back out. Just as Harry took a step back Edmund lunged back in steeling one more kiss before stepping and turning away.
Harry couldn't wipe the smile off his face for the next few minutes and later, when he caught Edmund's eye, the smile would completely take over his face again as he revelled in the memories.