Chapter 4
Notes:
I'm too impatient so here's chapter 4
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The next morning, Amycus was the one giving Draco his breakfast. He stepped into the room, his robes trailing behind him. Draco had put on the clothes, even though it had a few holes in the shirt. Amycus placed the tray down before him, his face unreadable.
"I heard you almost stabbed my right-hand man to death," Amycus said, and Draco glared at the Death Eater. "He came to me looking like someone painted him red."
"He deserves what he got. And tell your fucking scum to stay away from a bonded Omega," he said, sneering at him. "Next time, I won't just stop at stabbing. I am Harry's mate and his only."
Amycus flashed a smirk at him, and Draco ignored it. He picked up the bowl, it was soup this time, since he couldn't endure the smell of bread anymore. Draco brought the spoonful of soup to his mouth, his nose wrinkled at the scent and he covered his mouth with his hand, once again, rushing to the corner of the room before retching it all out.
"Well, look at that, seems like my right-hand man forgot to tell me that we were kidnapping two people after all," Amycus said, and Draco wiped his mouth, turning back to him with his eyebrows knitted together. "Could it be that you've plunged that candle in Fenrir's nose instead of his eye? His keen senses are usually on point."
"What did you say?"
"Do you know you are pregnant, Omega?" Amycus said, tipping his chin up and breathing in the air as Draco stepped back. He smiled, his hands tucking behind his back. "Yes, I believe you are carrying two more souls inside you," he said, turning to the door. "I guess we have to take better care of you now, Potter might want both his mate and his pups back safely."
Amycus closed the door, and Draco was still stunned, staring at the wall without blinking. He touched his stomach, calming his breath as he broke into a smile. Pups. They were expecting, and it was twins. Jamie would have two more brothers or sisters now. Draco hugged his stomach, sliding down against the walls. Tears of joy filled his eyes and trailed down his face. He hadn't had the faintest idea that he had his angel with him this whole time when he thought he was already submerged in the darkness and isolation. "I'll protect you, darlings, I will."
Harry looked at all the opened files on the table, faces of Death Eaters, their information, locations. All were there, but he hadn't found Draco yet. There were three Death Eaters left that the Aurors hadn't been able to find, and it gave Harry an irritation that he couldn't scratch off.
He glanced at the framed picture of him and Draco next to his coffee mug and felt a pull at his heart. He groaned, burying his face in his hands, feeling defeated for the first time. His world was crumbling down, breaking every second he couldn't see Draco. It felt like there was a knife stabbing at his heart repeatedly, and it won't stop until he found his mate.
Harry groaned, slamming his fists on the table and swatting everything to the floor. He flipped the table over, smashing it against the window, breaking the glass entirely. The bond yanked at his heart, and he knew Draco was in pain, he could feel it. He felt every pain, every fear, every despair his Omega was suffering, and it shattered his heart when he couldn't do anything. He had never felt so powerless. Draco was his strength, and now he wasn't here, Harry was a lost man.
"Harry!" Harry turned to look at the door, where Pansy and Hermione were staring at him with wide eyes. He panted, looking at the chaos in the room. Broken cup, parchments ruined, and window destroyed.
Pansy stepped forward and stopped when she was in front of Harry. Without warning, she slapped Harry right across his face. "Do not growl at me, Harry James Potter," the Alpha said before Harry could show his fangs at the sting on his cheek.
"Look at what you're doing to yourself," Pansy said, digging her finger into his chest, scolding him with her voice firm. "You've lost it and gone savage, Harry. Your eyes are bloody glowing red right now. You think Draco would want to see you like this? Pull yourself together and instead of lashing out, clear your bloody mind so you can think better and find your mate faster. You're not helping anything when you're destroying furniture. Do you understand that?" Her nostrils flared and she exhaled before her expression softened down. "Are you calm now, Harry?"
Harry looked at her, trying to steady his breath. Two Alphas exchanged eye contact, and Pansy's gaze was just as unyielding as his. He swallowed, knowing she was right. He nodded. "I-I am. Thank you for slapping me, I needed it."
"I'm always here for that," Pansy said, a smile curving on her lips as she fixed Harry's disheveled clothes. "And are you wearing Draco's scarf?"
Harry touched the black scarf around his neck and gave her another nod. "I needed…to smell him." He had missed Draco's scent too much, and his bed was filled with his mate's clothes just so he could fall asleep each night without having nightmares about losing Draco.
Pansy sighed, pulling him in a hug and running her hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, honey. It's all been hard for us, but for you, Merlin's fuck, I can't understand how you're feeling. I just want you to calm yourself, Harry."
"I know, I should be, you're right," he said as she broke the hug off, rubbing his arm to comfort him. "What are you two doing here?"
"Well, Pansy said you might need help," Hermione said as she was crouching down to pick up the files. She looked up at him, a soft smile appearing on her lips. "And she's right." The Omega stood up and scanned her eyes over the files. "Have you found the rest yet?"
"No, nothing, no clues at all."
"I'm sorry," Hermione said, breathing out in despair, "I'm contacting everyone I know too, they just can't find out where they stay."
"I know," Harry said, eyeing the files on Hermione's hands. "The last time we saw Dolohov, he was in Italy, but that was a year ago, we don't know if he's returned or not. Carrow is still missing since he escaped Azkaban. And Travers is hiding someplace else, we searched his Manor, and it was empty."
"We will contact more," Pansy said, and Hermione agreed with her wife with a nod. "All you need to do now is to stay composed. All right?"
"She's right," Hermione said, stepping forward to run her hand up and down Harry's arm. "Draco needs you right now. And you need to be in your right mind, Harry. Calm yourself, stay grounded, you will find him. He'll be okay."
"Draco's stronger than you think, I'm sure he might have even injured his kidnapper by now," Pansy said, and Harry smiled softly at her consolation. "No, don't think of it as a joke, Harry. I've known Draco since we were kids and he was still collecting articles about you from the Daily Prophet. He's a smart one, he can fight back."
"And, if," Hermione said, tilting her head to the side, "if anything happens to him, you will know, immediately, and it will be a pain you've never experienced before. Excruciating, sickening pain, you'll feel as though you're dying."
"Then why does it hurt so bad right now?" Harry said, his voice broke, and both the girls tugged him in a tight embrace. He let the hot tears trail down his face, his heart and his soul were aching for Draco again, for his mate. He craved his Omega back, desperately. "I feel like I've lost half of me already."
"You'll be okay, Harry," Hermione said, soothing him quietly, "you two will find each other again."
"And that is how your daddy proposed to me, it was utterly cheesy, but your daddy is a huge romantic, and I love him for that too." Draco covered his hand over his stomach, unable to stop smiling. He was still trapped and isolated, but the little souls inside him were warming up his heart. Their pups couldn't be older than a month old, since Draco's heat was exactly a month ago, and Harry had been the best mate he could ever have, taking care of him attentively.
"You know, your daddy is a very popular Alpha," he said, rubbing circles on his belly. He'd been telling stories of Harry and him all day, so their pups could hear and recognise his voice. "He presented early, at thirteen, I was way later than that. In a way, I'm kind of like your grandfather at that point, your grandfather also presented late at eighteen." It was a memorable day, when he presented as an Omega right after his graduation day, and Pansy had insisted that it was Harry who triggered it. Draco didn't believe her at first, but she might have been true.
"Your daddy and I, we didn't like each other at first, for a long time. And it didn't get better until after the war. The war…changed us all a lot." Things had definitely gone in a different direction for Omegas after the war. Before that, Omegas were looked down on, abused, sold for money. However, when an army of Omega had helped taken the Death Eaters down during the war just from releasing their pheromones and making the Death Eaters fight and kill each other because of it, it had changed the way people thought about them. Now, they were lusted after, and highly appreciated. Draco was grateful for it, because now their pups would be able to live in a more modern world.
"We didn't get closer until I became a Healer, actually, your daddy is prone to having injuries," he said, his lips curling up to form a smile. He had healed Harry many times, and it almost felt as if Harry was his most frequent patient back then. "We still didn't stand each other, until…until one day." He leaned his head back on the wall, exhaling softly. "You're not old enough to hear it yet, so I'll skip it."
He chuckled, continuing, "After a while, and one huge injure your daddy had, we finally become a couple. I don't know why I even fell for him," he said, shaking his head, "I'm sorry, darling, that was such a horrible lie, I actually do. I've fallen for your daddy since I could remember. I thought what I felt towards your daddy was merely admiration. He's an Alpha, who killed a big dark wizard, and I thought your daddy was pretty charming."
He felt his cheeks heating up just from thinking about Harry again. "I was an arrogant, dumb kid, and we didn't get along at first because of me, I was mean to your uncle Ron. We were on a rough path for years, and I still can't believe we're a family now. Jamie would love you two so much, sweeties. Your daddy and I love you too."
Draco slid down on the floor, lying on his side as his hand was still draped over his stomach. "Your daddy is a hero, so don't worry, little ones, I know your daddy will save us, he will." He let his eyes flutter shut, and for the first time in many nights, Draco was able to sleep without struggling.
Harry furrowed his eyebrows, hearing the sound of kids laughing near him. It was strange. He opened his eyes, only to realise he was standing in a wide yellow field with one big, green tree in the middle. He stepped forward, following the sound around him.
"Jamie?" he called out, it was Jamie's voice, he would recognise it anywhere.
"Harry?"
Harry spun around, his heart thumping hard in his chest when he heard Draco calling him. Draco was here.
"Draco?" he shouted, looking around the empty field, searching for a familiar figure, for his mate. "Draco, where are you?"
"Harry? I'm here."
"Draco! Love, where are you?" Harry marched through the field with forceful steps, calling out for his mate. "Draco? I'm here! Tell me where you are! I'm coming!" The wind blew past him, and he could hear the rustling close to him. He no longer heard the kids laughing, only silence filling the air now. "Draco? Answer me."
"Harry." Draco's voice was barely a whisper, and Harry turned around as a loud thunder crashed above them. When he saw Draco, it was no longer a field around them, but a rotten place under his feet.
"Draco," Harry said, voice faltering when he saw his mate before him. He was standing under the same tree in the middle of the field, but now the tree was dead, leaves disappearing from its branches, replaced with a flock of crows there. The birds were making loud caws from above as the sky darkened, grey clouds gathering like a rainstorm was about to arrive.
When he reached Draco's spot, he cradled his mate in his arms instantly, feeling his tears soaking Harry's bare shoulder. "I'm here now, love, I'm here, I'm right here with you."
The crows were screeching louder behind them. Harry looked up and noticed they were all watching him, their eyes piercing through him. Draco cried into his neck, his voice soothing Harry's heart. He closed his eyes, taking in the scent of his mate.
"Save me, Harry."
Harry opened his eyes again, looking up at the dark ceiling of his bedroom. He sat up, panting heavily as sweats drenched his body. It was only a dream. He looked at the empty side of the bed, the now cold side next to him and his heart ached. He'd thought Draco had returned to him.
He got off his bed in a rush, grabbing his robes and heading to the Floo. When he arrived at the Ministry, it was only five in the morning. He didn't care, as only one thought occupied his mind, Draco. He had to save Draco, now.
He wasn't sure how long he'd stayed in his office, drawing up maps and connections between Death Eaters to find out where they were staying, until the door was opened and pulled him out of his tracks of thoughts.
"Harry, how long have you been here?" Ron asked, stepping into the office and glancing at the board next to Harry's table. "You didn't stay here all night, did you?"
"No, only since five," he said, shaking his head and returning to his big whiteboard.
"There are like ten cups of coffee here," Ron said from behind and cleared his throat, "Harry."
"Yeah?"
"I found them," Ron said, and Harry turned around, the light of hope shining in him when his best friend said it. "Well, actually, Hermione did. Her source sent her the location just this morning, and she called me right away, she couldn't call you."
"Oh, I-I forgot my phone at home," he said, he'd rushed to work so fast that he had forgotten to grab his phone. "You found them?"
"Yeah, all three left." Ron nodded, splaying the three profiles on Harry's table. "Dolohov, Carrow, Travers, they're all here. Should we go? I'll call Neville and Penelope."
Harry looked at the pictures, his eyes fixated on Carrow's picture for some reason. His dream earlier kept coming back to him, the crows, the tree, the sky. As he looked into Carrow's eyes, it felt unnerving and the bond at his heart tingled.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?"
"Should we go to Dolohov's Manor now?" Ron asked, and Harry shook his head, pushing Carrow's profile into the Omega's hand.
"No, we'll go find Carrow first," Harry said, standing up and tugging his wand in the holster. Ron nodded without a word, following Harry as they exited their office.
Notes:
The angst will all end soon, my babes, well...