Chapter 17: Fire

Harry hadn't been back to the square for three days, Hermione had treated his wrist on the first night, but he wasn't ready. He needed time to digest what had happened with Master Kangae and also what was expected of him to free Jasper. He missed the vampire, but he refused to let that feeling dictate his decisions and had turned his thoughts away from the empath, well, he'd tried. He didn't like not hearing from the vampire, and he thought about him all the time. He didn't want his sexual desires to drive him to play with his feelings, and the image of that perfect body to his liking, molded by close-fitting clothes, grazed his mind too often. He'd discussed his problem many times with his friends over the past few days, but none of their exchanges had allowed him to decide what he was going to do. All he knew was that he was the only hope for this man, except that the man in question was dominated by his vampire. Harry refused to fall in love with the vampire; he wanted to get to know the Texan.

It was late in the evening of the third day, the trio had dined and were sipping a digestif for the boys, herbal tea for Hermione, when there was a knock at the door. The young woman went to open and returned with Edward and Alice, whose faces were closed.

"Is something wrong?" asked Harry, alarmed.

"You could say that," replied Alice. "Several things, in fact."

"Jasper?"

"He's not well," replied Edward, his face turning even darker. "He's angry with himself for telling you to leave and at the same time he thinks you did the right thing, that he's a monster. More and more painful memories loop around in his head."

Harry felt bad for letting Jasper think he'd left because of him. He'd wanted to distance himself, not hurt him. However, his self-pity was cut off by Hermione.

"Seeing his memories makes you lose control, doesn't it?"

"Yes, I... never mind, Alice had a vision."

"The redhead from the other time was coming to the square and going to talk to Jasper. What it triggered in him, made Edward lose control", the seer explained.

"When?" panicked Harry at the thought of what Ginny might have had in mind.

He had jumped to his feet, imitated by his friends, determined to avoid murder, no matter who tried to kill whom. Grimmauld's owner cursed himself for forgetting to bar his ex from entering, caught up in his thoughts as he had been.

"She must already be there," Alice replied.

"Ron, you go and get your parents," ordered Harry, whose war reflexes were returning at full speed. "Hermione, you come with me. You, you stay here."

No one protested and the wizards apparated away. The duo appeared in the middle of Grimmauld place living room and rushed up the stairs, where screams were coming from. The scene they discovered on the attic landing gave the Survivor the urge to murder. Now he knew why he'd asked his friend to accompany him, no one else would be able to stop him from killing Ginny. The young woman had erected a barrier that kept the vampires on the stairs. Fire poured from her wand as she repeated to Jasper that he could never have Harry, that he was her boyfriend and that she wouldn't let a monster take him away from her. The empath was trembling with rage, his features were distorted and everything in his posture showed he was ready to kill. At that very moment, he was closer to the monster than to the man.

The wizard saw red, apparated on the other side of the barrier and sent a spell to his ex-girlfriend to drop her wand, but it didn't work and the young woman replied. She was an outstanding duellist and a fight ensued between them.

Hermione joined them and attacked her sister-in-law in turn, screaming.

"The roof's on fire! Look after Jasper!"

Harry turned and discovered to his horror that, if the flames continued to devour the frame, the prisoner would have a clear path to a massacre. Without waiting, he broke through the barrier keeping Jasper locked in and found himself tackled to the floor by the Major. Jasper put his mouth to his with violence, but the young man didn't let him. He cast a spell that sent him to the bed. Feelings of jealousy, betrayal and fury washed over Harry, who began to suffocate even before the empath's hands came to rest on him again. His head began to spin, he was running out of air. His wand slipped from his hand as his strength diminished, his vision blurred.

The frame creaked and Jasper's attention was diverted by a burning beam that fell on them, setting fire to his shirt. The emotional blanket that had been suffocating Harry vanished and the young man began to cough, regaining contact with a still blurred reality. He searched frantically for his wand when he had recovered enough to understand what was going on around him: Jasper was shirtless, but just like him was trapped by the flames. Hermione was still fighting Ginny and no one could come to their aid. The ceiling had collapsed and the only thing keeping the enraged vampire inside was the fire, which was also the only thing preventing him from attacking the wizard. The latter spotted his wand a few yards away and grabbed it. He did the only thing that seemed acceptable: he created a shield around his soul-mate. The latter began banging his fists against the walls, furious at finding himself trapped within these invisible walls, then turned to Harry and the expressions on his face followed one another. First he was surprised, then confused, grateful and finally frightened.

The young man was afraid too, but he wouldn't let the vampire be eaten by the flames as long as he could avoid it. He could feel the furnace closing in on him, he knew that soon the flames would lick his skin, but he refused to let Jasper suffer again and more than anything he refused to let him die because of him, because of his ex who wouldn't move on.

Death held out its arms to him and he saw the telepath's features change, the gold return to his eyes, his mouth open with an inaudible cry. Harry smiled, Jasper was there, the vampire had left him his place, but he couldn't dwell on that thought, he had to figure out how to extinguish the flames without raising his shield.

No matter how he turned the problem around, he was thinking less and less clearly. His eyes stung, his lungs burned, his mind blurred and he had to put all his energy into his spell. Just as he thought it was all over, a figure appeared at his side, threw a shield around them and picked up his wand without breaking the spell. The smoke had been pushed out of their bubble and Harry managed to identify the one who had just saved them.

"George?"

"You're a sick bastard, you've got to stop playing with fire."

Harry couldn't help laughing at the joke, despite the inventor's sad face. He knew that at that moment, he was thinking of Fred, that his twin would have outbid him. So he put a hand on his thigh and squeezed. A violent blow shook their shield and Harry looked up at the furious empath, his eyes once again black, his actions once again controlled by the Major. The Survivor preferred not to dwell on what had just happened and looked around them. Ron, Arthur and Molly were spraying the room. None of the new arrivals wore Death Eater garb, yet the vampire's fury was directed only at the two men hidden beneath their bubble.

Harry turned his gaze towards the stairs, Ginny was nowhere in sight, nor were the Cullens with the exception of Carlisle under his black cape. The minutes dragged on as the three wizards tried to control the fire and George tired, the spells drawing heavily on his magical core, all the more so with the emotional attacks sent against him. These had to be very powerful to go through the first shield, and Harry began to fear what would happen to them both if the shield around them weakened.

He then took up his wand again and the two magical protections regained their power, now blocking the Major's emotions, whose features hardened even more. The two wizards didn't speak, concentrating on their spells and on the fire, which wasn't slowing down fast enough for their liking. The flames traced the contours of the two shields, rekindling as soon as no one was left to douse them.

Finally, a handful of hooded figures appeared in the midst of the flames and cast multiple spells, one of which covered the three cloaked wizards. Only George did not receive a cloak, out of reach because of the dome that protected them from the flames. The flames finally began to weaken, and ten minutes later the fire was under control.

Harry exchanged a smile with his friend, who retracted his shield, and both were struck by a wave of fury that overcame the younger man. Darkness and silence surrounded him.